#because i can never interpret a prompt properly

[topaz-eyes]

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Summary: He saved the rest for… well, for what he didn’t know.  A rainy day, he supposed.  Gen, Johnny Gage, 7233 words.  Written for the Summer of 51′s 2022 Day 2 prompt Change.

[sugoi-writes]

KNY HCs - A Surprise Kiss! Part 2

Prompt: You give them a kiss unexpectedly; how do they react, when they like you back?

A/N- Next part is here!!! Sorry i struggled to get this part out. This part includes Genya, Nezuko, Obanai, Mitsuri, Gyomei, Tengen, and Muichiro. Let me know if you guys would be interested in a part featuring demons (especially Upper Moons and whatnot). Anyways, this was really fun! Please enjoy! 💗💗💗

Content warning: some implied steaminess for some of the Hashira, and spoilers for the newest season (Sword Village). Proceed with caution if you haven't watched/read ahead! 💀💗💀

Genya

He has a hard time around people who are typically femme, but it literally wouldn't matter who or what you were: because you're still his type.

The second you get within 5 ft, he's blushing. The second you touch, his veins are gonna burst in his skull. The second that touch becomes a kiss...

Genya.exe has stopped working.

He is absolutely stunned into silence. He makes no move to continue the kiss or move away. But you seem to be able to tell that he didn't mind it. Not ONE bit.

You would take his hand, apologize for being too forward, and probably make yourself scarce around him. You figure this would be best if you really did overwhelm him.

It would take quite a few days, but similar to Sanemi, he confronts you head on. Whether it's grabbing you by your haori, or slamming his arms on either side of your head... Hes got you trapped. Even though his face is still BEET red...

"I-I don't understand yet... wh-why you'd do that to a guy like me... but..." He would hesitate for a moment, before planting a kiss on your cheek.

" But... I'll try... to become a guy worthy of your kiss."

Even if you try and reassure him, or persuade him into thinking he's a million bucks, he will go over the moon to impress you, protect you, etc. He wants to be better than what you want him to be: he wants to be your equal.

And while it certainly takes him a while to loosen up, his kisses are some of the sweetest and most sincere. He would try to hold your face, every time. He would never truly want to let you go of you and your warm cheeks.

Nezuko

"Hmmm...~ Hmm-hmmm-- mmm?"

Nezuko, who is humming and fixing her hair, is surprised when you kiss her. She'd blink a few times, her cheeks glistening with a rosy blush. She still struggles with most words, but smiles warmly to you.

"Th...tha...! Thank... you... Y/...N-san!"

You practically scream with delight. This would be the first time you heard her say your name!!!

Like many humans, Nezuko is very protective of you. But you find that she hovers around you a little more recentky, similar to how she treats Tanjiro. Almost as if you're a guide, interpreter, or just a person she can confide in, she'll often reach out to be near you. Whether it's holding your pinky with hers, tugging on your haori, or even grabbing your hand, she likes to stay in close proximity, especially if she can make physical connection with you somehow.

She sometimes struggles (mentally) with being close to you, especially in fear that her fangs may injure you, but her kisses are short and sincere. Similar to Shinobu, she would kiss you most anywhere but your lips publically... but every once in a while, you're blessed with direct kisses.

"T...thank goodness... Y-You like me too... Y/N-san...!

Obanai

Eyes narrowed with steely focus, he would be absorbed in his work, or freshly sheathing his sword. You roughly grasp him by the collar, forcing him to finally look your way.

"What is it you're doi--mmphm?!"

When do you finally get him to shut up? ONLY when you're kissing him. Even with a kiss over his bandages, Obanai flushes vividly, pushing you away. He turns away, checking his bandages hastily.

"NEVER surprise me like that!! You're lucky I didn't have a chance to react properly...!" You were about to apologize, when you see his shoulders relax," hah.... the bandages didn't move, after all..." The relief that floods his voice almost makes you want to cry. You were trying not to pity him, knowing he had his reasons to hide his face. But you wish he didn't feel the desire to keep those bandages on... or better yet, the shame he felt when they came off.

You place a hand on his shoulder, making him tense up.

"Obanai... next time I kiss you... if you're okay with it, i... I wouldn't mind it if it were without your bandages on."

That statement alone has him wide eyed, staring at you with disbelief," I... I don't..." For once, his stoic expression and tone is replaced with one of unease and uncertainty.

"I... I don't know if I'm ready for... that..." he would admit quietly," But... I appreciate the sentiment. I truly do."

You'd smile up/down to him, and place a kiss on his cheek instead," Whenever you're ready. I could wait a thousand years, if you'd have me..." Obanai squints at you, bluntly replying," We'd both be dead by then..."

You smile, winking," Then in the next life, maybe?"

Obanai would flush quietly as you'd walk away, reaching up to gently press the spot you last kissed him at,"... I see... maybe so, Y/N-san... Maybe so...."

BLESS you, if you ever do kiss him without his bandages on. Though his scars may have surprised you at first, it doesn't affect how sweet or chaste his kisses are. And once you receive them in earnest, they never stop... 

Oh, and the over protectiveness with you? Multiply it by 20. People aren't allowed to breathe the same air you do unless he allows it. And your missions, from henceforth, are either accompanied with or monitored by himself or Mitsuri. Almost NO exceptions.

Mitsuri

"Y/N! Y/N! Look here, look here!!" Surely, Kanroji has something absolutely adorable to show you. You turn to her quickly, pushing your hair back out of your face.

"What is it, Kanroj--"

The both of you turned too quickly, causing your lips to meet in the middle. Immediately, the two of you pull away from the other. Mitsuri whines, bowing her head rapidly.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry!!! I-I didn't mean to!!"

You have to grasp Mitsuri by her shoulders, before she listens to you again," Kanroji-san!!! It's okay, I promise!!! W-We're friends, after all... accidents happen."

Mitsuri's expression changes slightly, her lip quivering," R-Right... friends..."

You go back to your task at hand, not picking up on her disheartened cue. You notice her squirming beside you after a few moments, making you concerned.

"Mitsuri? Are you ok--"

Your lips meet again. This time... on purpose. Mitsuri clasps your cheeks with both hands, planting a fat kiss on your lips, before pulling away.

"Th-There!!! That one wasn't an accident!!! And that's going to be the first of many... I-- I--! Aaaahh, I don't want to just be friends, Y/Nnnnnn!!! Not anymore!!!" Mitsuri basically wails, making you smile sweetly.

You lean over again to kiss her, soothing her mild tantrum if only for a moment," I dont think I want to be 'just friends' either, Mitsuri... so we're partners now. Okay?"

Mitsuri would nod rapidly, mentally swearing herself to you, for protection and for marriage," Deal!!!!"

She's already planning your wedding. She hints at what kind of ceremony she prefers, or flowers she'd like to have in her decore... little does she know, you've already been saving up for something big... maybe her birthday could double as your wedding day?

But for now, that's wishful thinking. For now, you're quite alright with sneaking quick, heated kisses before major missions, and cuddling your tired, full partner after she gorges on her favorite food.

Neither of you mind. But the both of you know that you're actively working towards a future where there's more to your relationship than sweet kisses and embraces.

Gyomei

In a deep, meditative state, Gyomei sat practically motionless as you quietly approached him. Due to this, he hadn't heard you or your sweet giggles are you inched closer. You had always been his number one, secret admirer... and seeing him so content and serene made you want to kiss him. He just looked so beautiful, dangit!

Even with him sat before you, Gyomei was MUCH larger than you... but no matter!

Nimbly, you were able to wiggle closer, admiring the calm breathing of the Stone Pillar. It wasn't until you brushed your lips against his that his eyes instinctively fluttered open. As if from a deep slumber, Gyomei blinks a few times, dazed," Oh... I'm sorry, is this... Y/N?"

You nod and hum, knowing he knew your voice all too well," Guilty as charged~" Gyomei's eyes watered as he heard a genuine, airy laugh leave you, his hands folding neatly into his lap.

"Ahh... so the pining wasn't one sided, after all...," Gyomei sighs, as if relieved. You blink and audibly swallow, your face heating up.

"I-I guess not, Gyomei-san," you reply in surprise, reaching your hand down to brush a stray tear from his cheek. Had you known he had liked you back, you would have kissed him MUCH sooner...

Gyomei smiles brilliantly, tilting his head up as if to look at you,"... if that is the case, my friend... if you don't mind, I'd like you to join me by my side."

You have to calm yourself down as he pats the space beside him. You take him up his request, sitting and scooting closer until your knee bumped his. You feel a large, warm arm wrap around you, pulling you closer until your head was against his chest. Your face burned as Gyomei chuckled.

"...thank you for taking the initiative, Y/N-san. I admire your forwardness. I just wish I could have made that first kiss more..."

"Special?" You finished, Gyomei nodding back quietly.

"W-Well, that's okay-- I already feel like kissing you, on its own, is very special. But..." You sit up, before crawling into his lap. Gyomei would tense up, flushing as a coy grin makes it way to your face.

"I think we can make the next kiss particularly special... if you'll have me."

Gyomei couldnt reply verbally, as the impulse to kiss you tenderly overshadowed the flowery words and praise he wanted to give you.

His kisses were many, and they would be mostly reserved for your cheeks and temples. But most of all, your kisses would be an assured way to make his heart race. Due to his blindness, kisses feel electrifying to him. Making your kisses together all the more special and intimate for him. He loves you to bits, and would never pass up on a chance to engage with you, especially through touches and those sweet, featherlight kisses. Even if others may be close by...~

Tengen

Little to anyone's surprise, Tengen is a HUGE flirt. It didn't matter if it was a stranger or his bestie Rengoku: he would relentlessly do and say things that would tetter on raunchy or sappy. This, however, was something you were used to. And at times, you'd welcome it.

Tengen, many times, had made jokes about you becoming his fourth spouse. Quote him: "Afterall, who said polygamy had a 4 person limit~?"

You'd normally roll your eyes, and playfully shove him, not knowing what his other spouses thought of you. But after getting to know him more, and even being over to his estate a few times, the jokes felt more... sincere. As if he were wanting to propose more properly.

So finally, after a particularly rough Hashira meeting, Tengen would look at you again, with a serene look in his eyes," ...Y'know, Y/N... if you ever considered settling down more properly, or commitment in general... I think you'd make a really good spouse. The others think so, too." He would grin, nudging you playfully," Theres always room for one more, yknow~ "

And, after a few quiet moments, you hadn't yet replied. No shoving, no tickling, just... a heavy sigh. Tengen starts to worry he offended you... until you pull him down/up for a kiss.

Tengen, being the good man he is, immediately leans into it, eyes closing on their own. When you finally decide to part for air, you're absolutely beaming.

"Well, while I can't accept your 'proposal' without the others consent... I wouldn't mind being courted. Normally, yknow..." Tengen looks practically speechless, as your arms snake around to hang on his neck.

" How about we start slow... maybe dinner at your place, next time we meet? Im sure the 5 of us have a lot to talk about before we take it too far..."

Tengen, surprised that his forwardness may have actually paid off, smiles tenderly. He pulls away from you, only to take one of your hands. He guides it to his lips and kisses you knuckles, running his thumb in circles along your warm skin.

"Suma, Hina, Makio, and I... we'd be honored, Y/N. Let's shoot for next weekend, then."

Muichiro

"Huh...? What did you want to see me about, again?" Mui would probe, following behind you.

"I-I just wanted to go somewhere more private, to tell you something." You'd reply evenly, a steady blush spreading across your face.

"Is that so... lead the way then, Y... ahh, sorry, Y/N-san." You roll your eyes. Surely he hadn't forgotten your name so easily. Maybe he was teasing you?

As you finally get to a more private area, you turn towards him, face heated," Muichiro... I have to say it."

The mist hashira would look to you, eyes widening," Ahh... did I forget something again...? Sorry... I still struggle... even now, i guess," he would admit, making your knitted brows soften.

"N-No... you didn't forget anything... but..." You lean forward, trying to kiss him on the cheek, before he recoils quickly. You blink in surprise, face twisting in regret. Oh shit... so you were rejected huh... You can't muster any words as he looks at you, bewildered.

"...were you trying to kiss me?"

You were flustered, assuming your hunch was correct, but you nod shamefully. Then, Muichiro pulls you in by your wrist, placing a soft kiss to your lips. You gasp, taken by surprise even as Muichiro lets you go.

"...sorry... I feel like I would be able to treasure your kiss better... if I initiated it. I hope that's alright with you."

The both of you are perfectly flush now, but you smile warmly back to him, pulling him in for a hug," Well, if you ever forget... I can always kiss you again?" Muichiro would have an idea, leaning his head on your shoulder," Mmm... I think I'm in need of a reminder."

[tac-the-unseen]

JUST READ THE COD GANG REACTING TO READER FALING AN ORGASM SO WHAT IF READER ADMITS THEY NEVER HAD ONE BEFORE?????? LIKE- NEW RELATIONSHIP??????? SORRY FOR CAPS IM ECSTATIC RN BC UR WORK IS SO GOOD🫶🫶🫶🫶🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌

COD characters finding out that Reader's past lover(s) have never given them an Orgasm.

Am I exactly sure what Anon is asking? No, But I will persist.

I'm choosing to write this with the interpretation of Reader never having an orgasm even though they've had sex with others. (The other way I read it was that Reader just flat out never had an orgasm before, and I think that's extremely unrealistic. So we're going with that one) ALSO because of the prompt You and the guys have yet to bump uglies!

Ghost:

•Simon is a little confused "Like...None of them?"

•He takes it very seriously

•He asks you to elaborate a little more. He just wants to know if the other guys sucked (or just didn't in this case) or if you two needed to do something specific in order to please you.

•He understands if you need some kind of accommodations and will ask you what he needs to do

•You and Simon have a long discussion over what you want your first time with him to be like. He makes sure you both have a clear understanding of what's to come (ha).

Soap:

•First thing he says is “Would you like to?”

•He thinks it's a little funny but really sad too

•”Darling, you're too pretty to let subpar men just use you.”

•He immediately wants to show you how it's done and what you've been robbed off

•He asks if he can take you for a “good ol' mustache ride”

Price:

•”Young men are dumb.” He says and takes a drag from his cigar

•”But I guess it's nice to know I have no competition.” He smiles

•He does talk to you about your needs and what he needs to do to meet them properly

•He takes you out on a nice dinner date, goes on a nice walk with you, and end up with his hands wrapped around your waist taking you home

Alejandro:

•Can not stop laughing

•As soon as you tell him he erupts into a fit of giggles. He takes him a full 3 minutes before he calms down enough to hug you and pat you back.

•”You poor thing.” he chuckles and kisses your cheek. “I'll make sure to make up for all their failures, Mi querida.”

•He’ll ask you what they were doing down there the whole time. Which leads to even more laughter when you tell him.

•”But I think I should buy you a nice dinner first.” he winks

Roach:

•Stunned

•Absolutely floored

•”Like never?” He signs. You can see the horror in his eyes

•He’s got his head in hands, contemplating life. He's so concerned for you. He has to take a moment of silence to comprehend the level of incompetence the men in your life must have had.

•When he finally sits up he looks you directly in the eyes and signs “Thank God I'm good with my hands.”

Gaz:

•Slowly turns his head to look at you with his brows furrowed and confusion

•Is too shock to speak

•He gets up to pour himself some Scotch

•”How many times have you had to fake an orgasm?” “8” he proceeds to down the entire drink and pour himself another

•This time he hands it to you “You need this more than me.”

Rudy:

•He gets up and takes a lap around the house

•When he gets back he pulls you into a hug

•”You deserve so much better, Mi Tesoro.”

•Kisses your jaw and runs his hands down your back. “I can give you so much better.” He tells you in-between kisses

•He offers you himself until your properly satisfied, for however long that takes

König:

•”Why do you like incompetent men?”

•He means it in a genuine way, But he accidentally reads you to filth.

•”Why spend your time and affection on someone who cannot please you?” he asks. “I didn't want to seem shallow.” You replied. “Shallow? Liebste, No.”

•He practically scolds you for allowing such men into your life. It's actually the most you've ever heard him speak. Which really tells you how upset he is.

•”You're Lucky I'm here. I will not let such things happen ever again.”

•And fuuuck, he means it

Mace:

•”Other men are filthy animals.” he tells you like it was a normal thing to say

•He gets in close to you and rests his arms on your hips. “Don’t get me wrong, I'm a man whore.” He laughs lightly and kisses you “But you knew that.”

•He asks you for all the funny details and thinks it would make a decent bonding experience.

•He tells you about his less than great sex stories and failures

•”Rest assured sweetheart, I'm a pro at making people scream.”

Thanks for reading <3

(I realize now that I wrote them all in different mindsets of this prompt... Good luck with that, I guess)

[writing-on-eafv23]

i have a lot of ideas for A/B/O stuff, but i can't deny myself fluffy Grandpa Bruce

INCLUDES: A/B/O, there not really much of Danny in this because he's sleeping but he is here!, light Bruce x Minhkhoa, implied Bruce x others (Selina, Talia, Harvey, etc.), Danny is de-aged in this (up to your interpretation but i was writing this imagining Danny was like 5), Omega Bruce, Beta Minhkhoa, Jason is mentioned, Omega Jason, a few spelling and grammar mistakes, It was late when I was writing this

“You never told me you had a new puppy” The familiar voice of Khoa sounds from beside Bruce, had he been any less distracted with trying to babyproof the hallway he would have noticed Khoa creeping up behind him with Danny in his arms, bundled up in a blanket they all had scented. Danny’s lack of any scent, even a personal scent, had made their pack instincts go into a tizzy, so they took turns rubbing a blanket against their scent glands so at the very least their scent would rub off on Danny while Jason was making a safer safehouse to raise his new puppy. Honestly, if it were up to Bruce, Jason and Danny would be locked in the manor where they can be properly cared for and doted on by the pack, but Bruce knew better than to interfere with a very hormonal, very broody, first-time, Omega parent. Bruce practically bristles at the sight of Minhkhoa, someone who (although he does have a situationship with) is not part of their pack, holding his new grandpup. All this earns from the Beta is a chuckle, ignoring Bruce’s warning growls. 

“And such a cute one too, look at those little fangs” Khoa coos, drawing attention to how the little pup was gnawing at Khoa’s fingers as he slept, leaving little indents in the brown skin. It wasn't often Khoa was soft. Even with his own adoptive son, Phanton-One, Khoa saw the boy more as a project and a way to one-up Bruce than an actual son. So, to see Khoa genuinely coo over a pup was… odd, and Bruce ignored the way it made his heart flutter slightly. However, Bruce’s growls return with twice the strength when Khoa sniffs at Danny’s scent gland, or rather, lack thereof. Minhkhoa quirks an eyebrow under his mask when he notices the lack of scent, pulling his face back

“Pup’s got a weird smell though, where'd you pick this one up from, Brucie?”

“Don’t call me that,” Bruce replies curtly, returning to placing silicone protectors on the corner of the decorative table in the hallway, trying and failing to ignore how Khoa was holding Danny so gently. “Danny was found wandering the streets at night. He has no records, no documents, no missing posters, not even a birth certificate. And he's my grandpup, not my puppy”

“So, one of yours claimed the first orphan child they saw, it seems your adoption habits are contagious” Khoa always did have him pinned, though, that's what happens when you’ve been rivals with somebody for so long.

“Hn.”

“Don't you ‘hn’ me. Tonight was supposed to be our date night!” Comes Khoas's complaint, his voice almost whiney, though he quiets down when Danny whimpers in his sleep, which prompts a deep growl from Bruce that makes the Beta snicker. “But I GUESS since you are SO busy with the new grandpuppy, we can reschedule… but you owe me two dates next month”

“Hmn.” It’s a fair ultimatum, more time to get the new pup properly scented and used to the manor and then he gets to have two date nights, Bruce just hopes the others won't get jealous. It's hard to juggle multiple situationships, but Bruce (somehow) manages to make it work.

“Good,” Khoa’s lips curl into that familiar grin, and he transfers Danny from his arms and into Bruce’s, not even bothering to hide his chuckle when Bruce begins to purr in that rumbly bass and nuzzle his cheek against the top of the pup’s head. Pressing a short kiss to Bruce’s lips, Khoa quickly pulls away with a smirk, earning a grumble from Bruce.

“and don’t be so grumpy. Your pheromones will set the puppy off”

[fyeahaudiodrama]

Happy @podcastgirlsweek to all who celebrate! While I haven't had the time to properly work on fics (and probably won't this week because oops, hurt my hands yesterday) I still wanted to take the time to highlight some favorite podcast girlies along with everyone else!

The prompt for Monday is highlighting podcasts with women in the leading roles, so here's a few of mine (and hopefully, some new ones of yours if you don't know them yet):

Back Again, Back Again: Ilyaas, you absolutely fantastic disaster of a fantasy ace, never stop trying.

Breathing Space: While the show is anthology with a rotating cast, some of my favorites from across its run include:

Evie Yuriskin

Amity Archer

Any characters who were introduced one episode and then started referring to each other as "my wife" by the end or by their next appearance

Camlann: Some apocalypse survivors interpret dangerous dreams about dark magic to cope. Some knit sweaters. Both are valid and should kiss.

City of Ghosts: Featuring the grungy, disgruntled, tormented-by-visions LADY detective of your dreams.

Desperado: Take note - give your ladies knives. And god powers. And witchcraft. And a sniper rifle, for good measure.

Do You Copy?: I think [REDACTED] deserves three weeks of paid vacation

Fawx & Stallion: Madge Stallion is THE moment. She's six feet tall. She can't stop making innuendos. She's not your fucking Mrs. Hudson (although, she is - no, I shan't say).

Hi Nay: Mari & Laura are my everything - the loving and self-sacrificing hero and the newfound friend who chooses to stand by her side (fire axe and all).

Inn Between: Oh, my Inn Between girlies, where do I start? Fina and Betty, the OGs and life partners that even death couldn't stall? Rosie and Zara, the new best pals who chose to stay together? Phoebe, just one step at a time learning what she deserves and what she doesn't? All impeccable, A+.

It Makes A Sound: Any show focused on music is going to be a slam dunk for me, but Deirdre's quest to reclaim her memories as well as those that tied her to her mother is so damn real and compelling.

The Kingmaker Histories: No female character in this show has ever done anything wrong. Colette gets a migraine pass. Ariadne can turn people inside out. Daphne is owed this for working in a theme park.

Life With LEO(h): Janiiiiiine, so messy and smart and dedicated and she cares so much, I love yoooooou.

Me and AU: Kate's worries and desires and doubts are some of the realest out of any audio drama so when do I find an Ella too

Palimpsest: My faaaaavorite gothic horror anthology, each one fresh with a different brand of haunted, tormented, secret-keeping (and quite frequently gay) gothic protagonist

The Pasithea Powder: Jane and Sophie. Sophie and Jane. What more could you need? <3

The Silt Verses: Women who start cults/leave cults/seek an end to the endless cycle of meaningless sacrifice as so valid. For all your wet cat(fish) woman needs.

Second Star to the Left: Because I always love a good Ishani performance. Hi Gwen, please tell Boots I love them.

Small Victories: You want sad wet cat women? How about one that literally can't stop self-sabotaging (but at least manages to draw the line at sabotaging others...occasionally). She even gets stabbed!

Starfall: I mean, kind of a given, but anyway, Leona definitely exists because she's the kind of action protagonist woman I always wanted - one that could be unapologetically powerful, but still full of flaws and desires (especially ones that weren't about falling in love and minimizing her own strengths). She's even autistic!

Stories From Ylelmore: Keryth! Keryth, Keryth, Keryth! She reminds me so much of the kinds of characters I would make up when I was younger - I love her and her small magic so dearly.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris: Hi queer space pirates <3

Unseen: Another anthology show, but Harry Winters and Never-Ending Circles remains one of the most perfect premiere episodes I've ever heard in audio drama.

The Way We Haunt Now: Get your podcast ladies here, dead or alive!

We Fix Space Junk: My favorite type of repairman is a woman who could kick my ass.

Wolf 359: I don't think I need say much more here - y'all know and love 'em just as much as I do.

[kob131]

Out of nowhere I bet but I wanna try listing off why AI Art isn't good-

The common argument against the accusation of AI Art is that human beings themselves take ideas from their surroundings and mix them together to make 'original' ideas (like a horse with a horn to make a unicorn). However, the difference between an AI and a human being comes not only from how the human brain is infinitely more powerful than any computer ever made by humanity (meaning it can consider ideas and alter them at a far greater rate than any algorithm) but also that the human brain is affected by things like 'preference' and 'bias' for certain ideas or expressions.

For example, a person who prefers anime style drawings will almost always interpret the idea of 'badass horse' will interpret that to mean 'badass horse in an anime style'. While this seems simplistic and easy to replicate with AI (keyword being replicate)- there are INNUMERABLE preferences and biases that come into play when making art. To the point that an ultra specific prompt could still result in innumerable different interpretations because of people's individual tastes. This can then satisfy numerous peoples' different desires or perhaps even create a new demand. AI can't really do this- It will give you exactly what you asked for. ... Exactly. No differing interpretations or unique ideas mixed in. You ask for 'horse with a water mane' and you get a horse with a water mane. That's it.

Another reason why AI Art isn't good is that AI art...is just a dead end. The way it works is that the algorithm is taught to look at certain images in association with certain keywords and then, based off the data given, it will spit out an image to match. ... Notice how, in this process- the AI is reliant on outside information to make the image. As in, the AI NEEDS to be able to look at certain artstyles in order to properly fulfill its request. Unlike a human artist, who can use the data gained from other experiences (like touch, taste and hearing) along with how those would be associated with certain imagery to create new styles or interpretations. Humans can independently create ideas, AI can only regurgitate.

There's also how the human brain has this...uncanny ability to detect when something looks wrong or doesn't look real. You see this most often in movies or shows with heavy use of CGI- the images might be more technically impressive but without the grounding in real life that practical effects have they can easily look off because computers...just can't generate anything on par with reality. Same with AI- it can generate images resembling real works of art. ... But there's always something in them, some variable the AI can never account for, that will tip off the human brain to the fact that a human didn't make this.

In short- AI cannot take creative liberties, is basically parasitic with human artists and is too simplistic to match a real artist.

That's why AI art is a bad idea from my point of view.

[roseameilatempest]

Shinobu’s representation of feminism.

An opinion about shinobu i’ve had for a while now is that her having a male love interest would mischaracterize her, so this is an analysis to explain why.

Manga spoilers

To start off, i think i should point out that shinobu’s the only woman in demon slayer to never previously have, or ever get a husband. It does go deeper than that of course. Shinobu planned her own death to avenge her sister, she was always going to die in the main story. If she was to catch feelings for anyone she would probably ether not acknowledge them, or push them aside. Therefore a romantic plot line with anyone during her canonical arc would not benefit her character at all. So why am i specifically only saying ‘men’ and not people in general?

Shinobu has many feminist aspects to her character, nearly everyone that had an impact on her story was a girl, her sister, kanao especially, tamayo (in a more negative way) and even mitsuri. In general she’s drawn to strong feminine characters. Her entire story is about avenging her sister, the sister whom she envied for being physically stronger than her. Yet despite her lack of physical strength, she still was smart enough to create a poison to kill demons. Which resulted in her becoming a hashira.

You could even interpret douma vs shinobu as a metaphor for women’s rights, men being seen as superior to women because they are physically stronger, yet shinobu still outsmarted douma. There’s still ways to add a love interest, you’d just have to change her story, there’s two significant moments that could possibly change her fate, first if kanao got to douma on time when shinobu was fighting him, or, if someone was to talk shinobu out of her plan. I’m going with the latter.

Shinobus plan is caused by her desire for revenge, she’s not going to be persuaded to change her plan by simple conversations. She would need someone that she could trust to understand her reasoning and struggles. Shinobu needs that compassionate person to make up for the lack of compassion she shows herself. As an example, mitsuri. Mitsuri is very empathetic and parallels shinobu, shes very physically strong, while shinobu is the opposite, yet they still both share the same feeling of insecurity, and could relate that way. If something prompted it they could definitely have a deep conversation about shinobus plan, mitsuri probably would be heartbroken at the idea of it.

i don’t think the existing male characters could properly empathize with the feminist aspects of her character, many of them could definitely sympathize with her, but shinobu still has themes about the struggles of being a women. Comparing herself to the likes of mitsuri and kanae, like women commonly do. Even the fact she hides her anger because it’s immature is also a theme that a lot of women can relate too. A man would not be able to do anything about it and most likely not even understand. if giyuu was better at socializing then shinobu and him could definitely have a conversation about imposter syndrome and being ashamed in general but beyond that none of the men would know how to help shinobu with her insecurity, or her other related issues.

Having a character that falls in love with another, usually works better when they develop each other’s characters in some way, if there was going to be an alternative universe where shinobu didn’t die and instead worked on getting over her insecurity and anger then she would still need a feminine character in her life to help her with that. Shinobus a very theme driven character, a male love interest is not going to aid her story because of how focused her character is around feminism. That doesn’t mean feminist characters cannot have male love interests, mitsuri is a great example of that, a male character still aids in her development despite having many feminism themes.

Shinobu is a great representation for female rage, she’s very well written. This analysis isn’t to say you can’t ship shinobu with a man, i’m more speaking on canonical aspects of her character and how it would be extremely hard not to mischaracterize her or stereotype her if you were trying to rewrite her story and give her a male love interest.

As well as also giving my own reasoning on why i personally don’t like ships her and other men.

[nimona-week]

Nimona Week 2024 FAQ

What is this?

Nimona Week is a celebration of our favorite shapeshifting sidekick, in both her movie and comic incarnations. We're hoping to encourage new art and fics (of any length!), but we're also happy to see fic recs and art recs of existing fanworks (just remember to reblog/otherwise properly credit the artist!).

When is it?

Nimona Week will take place from Sunday, March 31 to Saturday, April 6, 2024. Those dates were chosen because March 31st is both Trans Day of Visibility and Easter Sunday in 2024, and @zyrafowe-sny couldn't resist a resurrection joke.

That said, it's never "too late" to be inspired or post fanworks. We'll try to reblog tagged posts during actual Nimona Week, so keep that in mind if you decide to post early or late.

Are there prompts?

Yes! There are three to choose from each day and some alternate prompts as well. This post has the final prompts and explains the tagging system. Many thanks to @candyskiez for helping finalize the list.

Are there event graphics?

Yes! @violet-prism-creatively has done amazing work. This post has the prompt list, banners you can use for posts, graphics for fic and art recs, and participant/completionist badges.

What can I make?

You can make or write basically anything: haikus, limericks, 100 word drabbles, ficlets, long fics, traditional art, digital art, gifsets, cosplay, embroidery, etc.

Is there an AO3 Collection?

Yes! The AO3 Collection for new fanworks will open sometime on March 30th (just ahead of Nimona Week). You can add fics directly and can also add bookmarks with links to other kinds of fanworks (Tumblr posts with art, etc).

What about existing fanworks?

You are welcome to recommend existing fanworks that match the prompts, including your own. Those will need to be tagged appropriately, and of course, the artist/writer needs to be properly credited. Click on the links below for more details and graphics.

Guide to Fic Recs | Guide to Art Recs

What if I'm not interpreting a prompt correctly?

We are not policing people's interpretations of the prompts. If a prompt inspires you to create, that's fantastic!

What about Goldenheart/Blackloin?

This event is Nimona-centric, but there will be a Goldenheart-focused event later this year. Fanworks for this event can absolutely include Ballister and Ambrosius (or other characters!) in addition to Nimona, but we want to keep her in the spotlight.

If you are interested in organizing Goldenheart Week, please reach out to @zyrafowe-sny. :)

Are there any other Nimona fandom events?

YES! There's a @nimonabigbang. Sign ups for writers are open through March 1st and sign ups for artists are open through April 1st.

What about...?

Feel free to send an ask if you have additional questions. We will also be updating the FAQ as needed.

[ghost-bxrd]

Ok so I’ve seen your thoughts on Talia being a good mom to both Jason and Damian and generally being a better person vs when she’s morally gray and really only good to Damian, but how do you feel about Bruce being a bad dad? Like personally I don’t like him being abusive but unfortunately…canon does not disprove it 😕🫠. Like do you have hcs or prompts where he switches from one interpretation to the other? Genuinely curious bc my thoughts on him going between these two have me conflicted bc I don’t LIKE him being a bad father, specifically in regards to Jason, but it does kinda fuel some ‘Jason leaves the batfam to go find himself’ stories I’ve seen, but you could argue that Bruce doesn’t NEED to be terrible for that to happen. Idk maybe modern comics have poisoned my ability to ignore Bruce’s history of abusing his children in some way by cranking up that abuse to a solid 20/10 (I’m sure I don’t have to mention what I’m referencing lmao), but it just makes me think. So much would be nicer if he was just a flawed father, but that’s not what his character fully is y’know (this is why I brought up Talia, just realized I was rambling without making that clear lol)

Phew ok, I’ll try to answer this to the best of my abilities!

So keep in mind that these are my personal thoughts and I’m actually not that well versed in comic lore (the comics I’ve read can be counted on one hand sadly but I’m trying to get my hands on more ksksks), and majority of my knowledge comes from research and fanfic.

Okay back to the topic at hand!

Generally I write/read fanfic for some fluffy family feels (and angst) and the occasional romance, hence why I prefer to write Talia and Bruce as being good parents and likable characters in general. I enjoy reading about it, so I enjoy writing it that way.

In regards to Bruce and his canon actions… well, that’s a tough one to answer ngl.

On one hand he’s displayed as a loving adoptive father who absolutely adores is children, on the other hand he’s shown to be ruthless when they violate his no-kill rules (reference to the Batarang incident).

To me this kind of juxtaposition makes little sense, but I’m afraid there are quite a number of character inconsistencies in the franchise from what I’ve seen so…. I don’t know. It’s just such a 180 turnaround to the early concept of the Batman who considers everyone to be redeemable regardless of their crime. Why would that suddenly not apply to his child?

I don’t think I could ever stomach writing him as a genuinely bad father, most I could do to mix it up a little and have him struggle to reach an understanding with Jason regarding his rule over Crime Alley and dealing with his own inability to communicate properly.

Batman was always supposed to be a protector, the “good guy”, but he’s also human. A human with significant trauma that he’s never properly worked through which… can screw with your people skills significantly.

So that’s usually the way I try to look at it whenever I want to write a Bruce who isn’t the World’s Best Dad at the moment. He’s trying, he just doesn’t know how to show it in a way that others can understand, especially his kids. (Yes tho I take full liberty with the more heinous stuff Bruce pulls/pulled in the comics and discard them as if they’re expired candy >.<)

To sum it up, I’m afraid you won’t ever find a fic where either Talia and/or Bruce are genuinely, irredeemably bad. Simply because I personally don’t think that’s how people work in general and because… well, I’m soft and I need some soft parenting in there somewhere. Sorry dear 🥺

Phew ok I think I was rambling a bit here, but I hope that answers your question somewhat? But if you’d like I could totally cook up a prompt for you that deals with Jason and Bruce struggling to come to an understanding and making compromises to be a family again. Feel free to let me know or send another ask if you’d like to stay anonymous 💚💚💚💚

[tenrousei-kuroi]

Hi. I was just wondering how do you perceive canon Sirius? I haven’t read any of the books and I keep seeing different interpretations (psychotic bully top, Regina George, woke gen z etc etc) of this character it really makes me wonder.

Oh, that's a really good question...and you have no idea the novel-length response it's going to prompt from me, lol.

I'll give my short response first and only the brave and masochistic will need to venture below the cut...

Sirius was as good a person as most people can reasonably be. He suffered a lot in his life and didn't handle it very well. While he showed that he logically understood right and wrong, the moral complexity of the world, etc., he was ultimately someone who struggled to live by his own standards. A hypocrite, really, though I say that word a bit more softly than most. He spent half his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit yet still felt guilty for and was never really given the chance to properly mature.

Ultimately the words I would use would be immature, depressed, selfish, and regretful. Very much the poster child for displacement, ie: someone who has been hurt taking that anger and acting out towards others.

We learn directly who Sirius is after Azkaban, through his appearances in the first five books. And we learn indirectly about his Hogwarts years through a few flashbacks and lot of very biased recollections...

Because Harry Potter is the point of view character for the series, we don't ever get to see anyone else's thoughts, and so any interpretations of character motivations are going to get run through two filters: one is Harry's perception, and the second is the reader themselves.

That's a longform way of me admitting that my interpretations of Sirius Black may actually say more about me than they really do about him.

So I can't claim to be right or anything like that when I spout off how I personally feel about a secondary character like Sirius. But I do like to think my ideas are grounded in pretty solid logic. I guess I'll start off with what Sirius Black really isn't:

A woke gen z-er, as you put it lol. There's of course nothing wrong with someone going this route in their fanfics, it's all just for fun, and I like a lot of these works, personally. And I can see how and why people gravitate towards them. But I will warn anyone whose entire experience with the Marauders is coming from fanfics where Sirius Black is helping Timothee Chalamet his brother navigate his trans awaking and calming his lover Remus Lupin down from a panic attack using Tik-Tok approved counseling tricks to not go diving into the actual canon Harry Potter series expecting that....because you will not find it, lol.

An incestuous and abusive psychopath. I gotta' be fair and throw my own works under the same bus here. As much as I think I stick closer to canon Sirius in a lot of ways....the Sirius that pops up in my fanfic shenanigans is just as out of left field. As much as Sirius/Regulus has been my OTP for basically forever, I could never actually see canon-Sirius displaying the level of deliberate, active cruelty or complete lack of basic morality that I like to attach to him. Like other people giving him the vocabulary of a 2020's Tik-Tok star, it's just a fun fantasy on my end.

So I guess that leaves us with trying to figure out what exactly Sirius Black is. At least as far as we can surmise from his canon behaviors.

Full disclosure that I am not including Pottermore or any of JKR's random tweets. As far as I'm concerned, canon is the 7 main books and I don't pay attention to much else. So let's break it down book-by-book:

Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone: He's mentioned once here, just in passing. Hagrid talks about Sirius lending him his motorcycle to get Harry to the Dursleys' faster. With the context we later gain from book three, we can plausibly assume that Sirius Black is incredibly reactive, and quick to go all-in on things in the wake of a huge emotional upset. With his friends dead and Hagrid refusing to give him his godson, Sirius essentially 'throws away' his most prized possession and only getaway--his motorcycle--and then goes away with the Aurors, laughing loudly instead of trying to proclaim his innocence.

Prisoner of Azkaban: This is Sirius's book and he spends 80% of it as the villain, at least until the Truth(tm) is revealed at the end. But even though he's proven not to be a Death Eater or murderer, he still behaves alarmingly. It's explained that Sirius's innocence was the 'unhappy' thought that kept him sane in prison, but it didn't stop him from becoming obsessive. He's so consumed with the desire for revenge against Peter Pettigrew (not necessarily saying I blame him, lol) that he is willing to endanger and even outright hurt Harry and his friends to do so. He does make mention that part of his motivation was to 'save Harry' as he felt Peter being in disguise as a rat living at Hogwarts was dangerous to his godson. But he did almost choke the kid out in that shack when he got in the way of Peter Pettigrew Murder Time, lol. So Sirius was somewhat emotionally volatile. It's clear he doesn't always think things through before he acts.

This is further reiterated with the whole Snape-Lupin-James werewolf fun times fiasco. We don't get a direct and honest retelling of "The Prank" events ever, instead having to make due with different characters giving their opinions on decades-old memories. Dumbledore first presents the issue without mentioning Sirius at all, merely telling Harry in the first book that Snape "never forgave" James for saving his life and then trying to pass off all of Snape's behaviors towards Harry as a sort of begrudging protective role and half-assed effort to make even with a ghost. By book three we get more context and learn that James "saved" Snape after Sirius told him how to get to the Shack. Sirius clearly has a habit of razing things down in anger without thought towards the consequences, and then hiding from the responsibility, possibly from selfishness or guilt or both. We know that Remus, Lily and others were able to forgive him for nearly getting Snape killed and Remus imprisoned, so it's likely that his guilt over the situation was genuine.

Basically here we have someone who does not handle emotions well. Possibly an environmentally learned trait from growing up with the kind of parents that burn pictures of you and loudly declare you're not welcome at home anymore yet never actually disown you from their will...can't say for sure, but...ya' know...

Goblet of Fire: After the immediate chaos of breaking out of prison fades and Sirius has a support group of friends who know and believe he's innocent, he gets to transition a bit, and we see that he is also very protective and eager to be involved. He has a couple moments where he goes full Dad-mode on Harry, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore finding him a good hiding spot in Hogsmeade was less of a "hey Sirius come hang out near the school" thing and more of an "okay I know I can't stop you from getting as close to Harry as possible, will you please at least stay in this safe hiding spot I found for you?" concession.

We also see Sirius criticizing Barty Crouch Sr. for not being there for his son. Sirius is able to connect the dots and comes to the logical conclusion that much of Barty Crouch Jr.'s behavior is the fault of his father for being uncaring in the first place. He sees that those around the Death Eaters do--in some cases--bear some blame for not paying attention, for not reaching out, and for ultimately setting them up to join Voldemort. Yet...Sirius does not seem willing to connect this realization to his own treatment of Severus Snape, his younger brother, or even Peter Pettigrew.

Order of the Phoenix: This is where we get the most of his character, I feel, and some of it is subtle. I'll admit that 90% of my characterization of Sirius as actually caring deeply for his brother comes from the sixth chapter:

"...my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them..."

...

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Oh no," said Sirius. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort...from what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do."

Harry asks if Regulus has been killed. And as Sirius corrects his assumptions about Reg being offed by an Auror, he also corrects the verb, from killed to murdered. And generally you don't describe a just killing as a murder. Death Eater or not, Sirius didn't think his brother deserved to die. He also admits that he went actively looking for information about Regulus. Again not the mark of someone who doesn't care.

And while I would describe Sirius as immature, that does not mean he was completely without maturity. He takes a lot of hits in this book, a lot of very harsh words get flung his way. He has to deal with Snape's constant snide remarks about how cowardly Sirius is for staying at home cleaning all day instead of fighting Voldemort, hell, he has to sit there and let the Weasley twins call him a coward to his face just because they're upset that their father has been injured and they're angry that Sirius is safe under house arrest while their parents aren't.

And all this because he's still a wanted fugitive, unable to venture outside safely. He wants to fight but can't. Powerlessness and depression hit him hard in this book.

In the chapter where Harry dives into Snape's pensieve we get our one and only 'objective' view of Sirius as a teenager, where it becomes clear that he was arrogant, handsome, talented, and very popular. He also liked to start altercations. This is actually our first big fissure between Harry and Sirius, and between Harry and his dad.

While James and Sirius are shown as going out of their way to pick fights with someone they don't like, Harry is such a passive and much more emotionally aware character that this causes significant pain to him. To find out that Sirius and James really were bullies is a big blow to Harry, who would never behave that way. He spent most of his childhood being bullied, after all, and I think that in that memory, Harry realized just how much more he identified with Snape as opposed to his own father and godfather and that really freaked him out.

Not to mention how uncomfortable it is to realize that these "bullies" were people Harry loved. Because once you have to come to terms with finding out someone you respect and love has done something cruel, it leaves your opinions on others shaky. This moment wasn't just about making Harry realize there was a "bad side" to Sirius and James, but also the first step towards helping him understand there may be a good side to people like Dudley Dursley or Draco Malfoy.

Sirius is quick to dismiss his past mistakes, he rarely owns up to them. This doesn't mean he's got no conscience, just that he--once again--does not deal with emotions easily. He clearly doesn't respond to his own guilt very well. So he brushes off his treatment of Snape and even his dismissal of his own family. In Sirius's mind, he and James are "allowed" to have matured out of their past bad behaviors and deserve to not be criticized for them...yet Sirius is unwilling to extend this grace to others. Everyone else around him is permanently stuck as how he first perceived them.

Sirius never finding out the full truth of Regulus's death is a huge disappointment to me, as I would have loved to have seen how he reconciled his inability to change his mind about his family with such an obvious act of heroism.

Ultimately book 5 shows that Sirius is, like a lot of us, very susceptible to "being a good person in theory". He very easily falls prey to cruel behaviors against "bad" people. He treats Kreacher the house elf terribly and uses his position as Kreacher's master to control and belittle him, using it almost as an opportunity for revenge against his family for what must have been a rough childhood. Yet he would never do that if Kreacher were nice to him.

It's a sort of complicated hypocrisy. Sirius treats people based on his personal feelings towards them, not based on what is right. Snape was "a little oddball up to his eyes in the Dark Arts", and that is how Sirius justifies his and James's behaviors. The reality is that Sirius wanted to be good, clearly saw himself as a hero, and was more than willing to die to protect the people he loved (he literally does die in this book to help Harry). But he still gave into the same kind of selfish cruelty he complained about growing up with.

It's not just that he was "an idiot at the age of fifteen", as he describes it. Most of us were. Anyone who claims they were always an enlightened progressive-minded justice fighter constantly standing up for the marginalized is just not remembering age twelve very well. The true mark of Sirius's character is that he can't handle the guilt. When the topic comes up, he hides from it, brushing people off quickly and making excuses. He is unable to openly and honestly confront his own mistakes.

Sirius himself told Harry "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters" and those are probably the wisest words in the whole series. Yet...he was unable to actually live by those words.

Do as I say and not as I do, right? Lol.

Ultimately this character flaw was his downfall. The climax of book 5--and consequently Sirius's death, as well--comes as a direct result of Kreacher's betrayal, a betrayal he was only able to pull off because Sirius, in one of his many fits of anger towards the elf, ordered him "OUT."

He was definitely one of the good guys. I'm not here with any edgy take about how Sirius was somehow worse than the literal wizard nazis. But also...he wasn't perfect, either, and he did and said some very bad things.

A lot of people I think find comfort in that binary split, where characters are either perfect angels or the worst monsters ever. And the meta that get the most clicks are going to be the ones that take those crazy stances of "'[Character You Hate] is Actually a Perfect Angel and Here's Why" or vice versa.

I know that I personally used to write like that, as well. It's actually a touch painful to look back at some of my earliest writings and see just how badly they lacked any nuance...(but boy did I feel like I was making some serious Statements(tm) at the time lol). So it's safe to say my idea of Sirius has definitely grown with time. As have my interpretations of the rest of the characters, too. The more life experiences you have, the better context you can bring to the stories you read. The more diverse people you meet, the more you can start to understand. As your real world grows, so too do the fictional worlds you read about.

So that's my idea of Sirius Black in a very large nutshell. This is the first time I've ever spit all these thoughts out at one time and it was fun to do!

I've seen a lot of different interpretations of Sirius's character over the years and I hope I didn't come across as dissing on any of them. What the reader brings to the table is key. My ideas of why Sirius did the things he did is heavily influenced by my experiences with friends and members of my own family. And the specific areas where my stories jump off from canon into my own little world is equally born of my own life. They come from my memories and from my interests. What ideas I personally like to explore. So when I see someone else's fanfic be just radically off base from how I would have ever conceived of writing the character...I get it.

He's not a real person. So no matter how you see him you can't really be wrong. Each different Sirius Black that pops up on tumblr or Ao3 is just a little window into what's interesting or important to that author.

っ◕‿◕)っ ♥

Love, Ten

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #37: Jin and Tiang

If you're wondering about last month's artwork... it's not out and about because it was kind of unfinished :'D hence why you haven't seen it at all. But once I get the last details in (who told me to do more ensemble pieces, really...?) I'll make sure to post it!

Instead, have a glimpse of two characters I've never drawn before! That was the prompt this time, choosing something either uncommon or that I had never really drawn at all, and Jin and Tiang got the win! Tiang's design is very much something I settled on very recently, so if anyone didn't picture him that way, I totally get it x'D but as an OC, all sorts of interpretations are valid, I'd say. As for Jin, I hoped she'd look properly elegant without fully setting aside her roots. Her hairpiece isn't too big and ornamented, her hairstyle is mostly the one we knew her for in the show, but her clothes are high-end now due to her new status in society.

... Or, uh, you could say that's not reeeeeally her status anymore, let alone his, but let's call this a picture of carelessly happier times for these two, shall we? :'D

Hope you guys liked it! Will make sure to post last month's piece as soon as I can!

If you'd like to be part of the creative process behind these pieces, a $1 pledge is enough to make you eligible for proposing poll options and voting in them monthly, along with reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before the next chapter releases!

[accidentally-in-fictional-love]

The Simon fic with the prompt hit me like a brick.

It was SOO GOOD, i really bow before you, you’re very good at what you do. The Hotel was such a nice little unique detail, really feels like you’ve given Simon more depth which i appreciate. Overall it’s such a nice change of pace from what i normally see written for him. Thank you for “fixing him” <3

ohmygosh thank you so much 💗😭💗 like I said in the notes I have a lot of feelings about him, and when I was thinking up how to tie the prompt to his canon I was wondering how to get the reader close enough to him to say it when we don't really see a ton of him outside of his villain plot, and what we do see is everyone just beating him down the whole time because they think he sucks.

It's good for short things where you can make him into whoever you need him to be for your plot and use those brief moments to still keep him in character however you interpret him, but since the prompt is intimate that made it a little harder for me to work up to, so I decided to go a little deeper and add him to my Deep Dive List of Characters I Really Enjoy and Need to Fully Interpret My Way.

More under the cut, it's finally deep dive time and I ended up writing a ton, here we goooooo

Okay so to start, here's what we do know about him from on screen things and context clues, things mentioned in passing:

He really is good with building things. Obviously the bomb collars weren't bought online, his credit card statements mention 'electronic equipment' and they have to figure out on the fly how to disarm them, they're something they haven't seen before. He also owns a giant satellite so he more than likely figured out how to hook it up to his minicam system so he could get the feed no matter how far they travelled, as well as keep his stream from being properly locked onto. He was only training in the Academy so he never actually made the bomb squad before he was kicked out, and it all just tells me he's gotta be smart, handy, his memory must be damn good to remember what he learned before his removal, and he for sure knows how to work with tech well enough that he didn't blow himself up while building the things.

He has a temper. It's seen the most when Jeannie is saved, that entire end of the stream did him no favours with him broadcasting how she felt towards him while everyone was on her side. When he hears her call him creepy he looks hurt, but to have everyone agree switches it to anger, panic, how dare she do this to him when he was finally getting the attention he deserves. When she's saved it's just insult to injury, she gets to bring him down this time to his face pretty much, have 5000 people join in on that, and when she not only lives he becomes the target of their hate before leaving him. It's no surprise he breaks his screen after this, he's just been insulted to high hell, and he's just learned that the man who did it got a second chance after doing way worse things than he did. I believe his temper stems from other emotions first, like sadness and panic, he only gets mad after everyone leaves, when the cops show up to save Kennex and them being on site could mean his arrest or worse, and when he's already emotionally vulnerable about venting about his black marks. He's never mad right out the gate, annoyed or frustrated yes but never truly angry, so I'll bet a lot has to build up first before his temper turns vocal or physical. I don't doubt a bit of this showed itself during the loan meeting, which got him the title of unstable if he started getting overwhelmed and worked up when things started going south.

He's desperate for attention and getting it makes him emotional. This one doesn't fully show until the end, but the entire episode is nothing but him vying for attention and approval and even respect. He's been nothing but rejected leading up to this, 'unstable,' 'unqualified,' 'creepy,' 'gives a bad feeling,' he had a bad psych evaluation, so when he finally gets that approval when he tries his killing game something clicks, this is it, this is what he's been yearning for. No more doubt, the viewers love it, he gets to enjoy seeing the people who hurt him get hurt, and having those two things overlap fills him with actual joy to the point that it makes him cry. It genuinely makes me wonder just how lonely he had to be and how bad his mental health had gotten for it to build up to this point, get this bad all around, and I truly believe that having someone there for him while all the bad things were happening could've avoided his turn to villainy entirely.

He truly believes that this is justice. They hurt him, insulted him, they deserve to pay. He really is a villain here, there is no denying that, but I also think he's probably completely isolated outside of work, and all that loneliness and isolation and pain can convince you to do anything, that what you're doing is right, and this time it convinced him that revenge was the best medicine. He thinks that using them to get him the attention he believes he deserves will also help his pain, no more reminders of being rejected, it'll be cathartic, and when people start cheering him on it only solidifies that thought. This is what they want to see, now he can deliver and feel better at the same time, two birds with one stone, no more villains out there to hurt him and others while he's finally respected.

He might work from home. When he sees Kennex during the stream he appears to look him up immediately, so he might have access to the trashed data from home, or he's made it so he can access it away from work, which again ties into how smart he is. This one isn't as big, but working from home would only isolate him more and send his mental health straight into the garbage with how much I already doubt he gets out, which would make his desire for positive attention even stronger; this is something I can relate to since my only means of social interaction is through my family and work seeing as I don't have any local friends, I know how your mental health can tank when it's just you alone in your room for days with no one to talk to, think pandemic times only it never ends, so I just know if this one is true then this is probably why he latched on so hard to every other point.

He's 'creepy'. This one I cannot fathom, since we don't get to see him outside of villainy stuff, but I will also fully admit that my DD bias also doesn't believe he was creepy enough to ditch before the date even started, that is legitimately so cold. I mean, he brought roses and packed a picnic, he was clearly trying, and he did want to meet someone enough to make a dating profile, even left it up after he was dumped, although I do bet he abandoned it after that since oh my god my heart would be so broken if that happened to me, writing that part of the fic nearly made me cry. Since she did leave before the date started he must've said or done something to give her that vibe, but like in the fic I bet it was something probably along the lines of not knowing how to talk to people and having it come off wrong; maybe he was overly affectionate right away and asked for hugs or a cheek kiss that first meeting, gave off the impression of needy/clingy right away and like she'd have no choice but to leave early? Like if she said something he would put her in danger and/or not let her leave? If something like this had happened before there would probably be more warnings in the forums for people to stay away, not just hers, so my guess is that a bunch of things happened that made her too wary, and that mixed in with the callout that he may or may not have seen hurt him bad enough to make sure she was on his list. She was probably the first match he made on the site as well, or really was his first date, so finally feeling wanted and then getting burned so bad did not help his already bad mental health.

Despite his knack for tech, he wanted to open a bar. This one is so interesting to me because why of all things would he want to open a bar? He was training to be on the bomb squad, he works part-time in Data Waste Handling, and he's smart enough to build things and quite possibly code and/or hack, so why a bar? This is another thing I really had to think about while writing since it stands out to me so much, and I think I might've been onto something with his desire to connect with people; they could've given him any reason to want that loan, it could've been to help get a better place or at least expand his trailer (my aunt and uncle did that and goddamn it turned into such a beautiful two-story house, no joke you can't even tell unless you already know), it could've even been to start a different business entirely based around the previous things they built up for him, and instead he wants to open such a social thing in a future where tech is already super advanced. I truly believe he was really trying to connect with people via this desire, his attempts to date, but thanks to his black marks haunting him as well as his social and personality problems it only pushed him further into his isolation.

I don't think he ever realized that not everything was terrible because of his black marks. As mentioned above I think his isolation and poor mental health convinced him that hurting people was the right thing to do, but I also think that he genuinely could not see that not everything was because of that bad psych eval. I think that he started rationalizing things away, blamed everything on the eval, and refused to acknowledge when something was actually his fault, creating a terrible personality that did not help his cause at all. I don't think he knew how bad he himself had gotten, and as such saw no need to work on himself, since it all went back to that black mark, so all that rationalizing warped his personality and made him bitter, stubborn, and cruel.

He really did kill someone. I had forgotten about this since it's only shown on screen so you have to pause, this one will be talked about more below.

Now, here's some things that the reader's presence and I changed based on canon:

He has a second job. We don't know how long ago the loan was, but I'm guessing it had to be recent and stacked on top of the heartbreak, which was only a couple months ago according to Jeannie. I don't think he'd have been a pretty good bartender with that little social interaction, so having him work in another bar to learn the ropes and teach him first would've been very good for him while he saved up. In my fic I never had it mentioned on his dating profile since DWH seemed more professional, and since he didn't actually get the bartending job he wanted he might not have wanted to add in Waiter to that section to make himself look a little better.

He doesn't drive, or at least doesn't currently own a car. It's a small detail, and Jeannie does mention that she bailed when he went to the car to get the picnic basket, but I wanted to give the reader an excuse to drive him around. This one was a purely plot-related choice but it works so well with how much things aren't going for him. Maybe when he got evicted he lived in his car for a while, it's how he was able to keep his computer and remaining things safe, and when he was buying his trailer he had to sell it to get the money? I can see that, I should've written that in the fic itself OTL

Jeannie asked him out, not the other way around. Since the reader was there to tell him to wait, he didn't rush into things, which he might've in canon, but he still did ask her to meet him at the park. I also chose to go the tech route instead of clingy route for their date because yeah it's such a bad start to tell someone you know where they work within five minutes of meeting them. Still creepy, but in a consistent-with-my-narrative misunderstood way since the reader knows him and how that wasn't his intention, in fact he probably thought it was okay because he was blinded by excitement and the fact that the reader already gave him permission to look them up, so he figured it'd be fine to do it again in case he did want to surprise her. Dumb of ass and clueless, not malicious or dangerous.

He needed encouragement to go through with his canon choices. He still would've done them, but having the reader there to cheer him on has him go into both situations with hope and more confidence than he probably had in canon, which only makes the fact that he still had to fail hurt so much more. He also probably went in with less volatile reactions, especially with the loan, since my version of him has him actively talking with people and has his emotions more under control, so I wanted to blame his rejection entirely on the psych eval instead of what had to be a mix of both.

His self-worth is directly tied to his canon situations. It isn't mentioned at all straight out in either canon nor fic but I dialed this one down; in canon he believes that people should've respected him, which screams delusions of grandeur based on too many times getting rejected mixed in with being unable to see the problems in his own life caused by himself, and blatantly ignoring them while blaming them on his black marks. In my fic the highest it gets is him believe that he deserved basic human decency after he keeps getting shot down over and over due to misunderstandings. This isn't a man who's about to become a vigilante for the views, this is someone who just needs anybody to be there for him, tell him it's okay, help him work through where he went wrong and adjust what he did so he doesn't fail in the future. Maybe one canon presence in his life could've led to this path and the episode could've gone entirely different with someone else while he lived a normal life, but sadly it isn't which is the entire reason I'm doing this deep dive in the first place.

He was able to open the bar with the reader's help. This one is only implied, as well as the fact that he now lives with them, but I feel like if he did have someone like that on his side then he'd have had a better chance at getting that loan, and he would be so much happier and social and mentally well thanks to it. Running the place would take up a lot of his time but it would also get him outta his own head a lot more, and having so many other people around directly interacting with him as the boss instead of sometimes ordering him around as an employee would really help him fix any remaining personality issues all around as well since he'd be more aware of how he was acting and treating others.

He killed someone in self-defense, not to actually hurt them. This was a big one, since it happened before the episode and he obviously was released prior to this, and I feel like if this was an actual homicide he kinda would still be in prison, right? His mugshot looks recent (only because of filming which I get but I'm rolling with it), so it couldn't be too long ago, but it's more than likely closer to present in canon than the five years ago I timed his eviction around, since I think if that happened too close then he would just be a mess. I can't see him getting his DWH job immediately after either thing happened, going for a loan after either is so out of the question as well, and killing someone and then going on a date is just ridiculous. For canon, my guess is that an argument escalated and that temper of his as well as the unstableness and reasons for his bad psych eval all came out at once, or maybe this was a test to see if he actually could kill someone, and it either had to happen before or while he was in the Academy like in my fic, or it happened in the two months leading up to the episode, even though I can't for the life of me explain him getting out so soon if he did do it on purpose. And that's fine, it does make sense if either of those are close, they needed something dramatic to put on his rap sheet and make him terrible so he's not just randomly jumping straight to murder, but I personally like the idea of him being broken down so much that this is just the icing on the cake, another black mark on his life that'll follow him forever, and it's only through him being acquitted and a miracle that he gets his two jobs a year or two later.

Things I'd love to explore in future fics:

He might actually enjoy streaming. This one is obvious but I wanna do my own take on it! I don't know if he would be the type to stick to only games, but there is someone I watch who does whatever makes him happy now as well as games, and I think Simon might mesh with that a lot. He would obviously put a lot of weight on the numbers aspect of it (again, very me-coded, it doesn't matter how much I do things for myself, having that approval makes all the difference in the world and I know he's the same), but the reader would help him try and get over that in time. When he's able to hire more staff and spend more time at home I think he would do random weekend streams, and if he got AH's version of the youtube play buttons he would definitely cry and put it on display with pride. He would treasure all his viewers, and make his streams very personal because of that, learning frequent viewers' names, doing stuff like giveaways and shoutouts, give all the appreciation back to them.

He would need to realize he needs to work on himself, no more excuses. While he is miles better in my fic, he still very obviously has depression, emotional issues, and relies too much on what others think of him, so him working on that and finding happiness in what he does have will do him wonders. Of course having the reader there every step of the way will also help him heal that much faster as he goes through it all.

I think that's everything! I did not wake up this morning expecting to write my first deep dive on Simon of all people lol but I'm glad I did, I relate a lot to parts of him, this is how I personally see him and how I wrote my fic based around all this, and I mean no harm if any of my thoughts conflict with anyone else's who checks this out 💗

Also as a bonus, I said it in the tags but the Hotel is real :D it's an ooooold restaurant in my small town directly across from where I live, and back when I was either in or just out of highschool they rebranded from the Hotel to what it is now, had to shut down and everything as they changed everything up inside and added in a bunch of new décor to fit the theme. Everyone calls it by the new name of course, but my family never really started, so whenever we talk about ordering from there we'll say something like, 'wanna get Hotel tonight?' I too have to correct myself whenever I accidentally say it around people who don't know about the old name lol

I always add in stuff from my personal life into my fics in some way, and since Simon wanted to open the bar I thought it'd be sweet if he and the reader bonded over something food related like I did with Joshua, instead of say meeting up for drinks instead and just getting afternoon drunk every Friday since it directly went with him wanting to be a bartender.

Maybe in the future I can do a drabble about a bar date before he and the reader get together, tie in that he also started to take lessons in preparation for applying for the bar he works for at the start of the fic, something sweet like that as they get closer 🥰

[dedahblog]

A two part analysis about Ichigo's fake emotional dependency and how beautifully Kub0 resolved it

I wrote this meta to criticize an aspect of IR relationship that is hardly considered a matter of concern.

It's the " Ichigo being a lost puppy without Rukia" trope

If you don't find any problem with it, then please ignore this post because it will be a waste of your time

Introduction

What I love the most in ichiruki is their trust for each other and how they both inspire joy, hope and courage for each other mutually .

The lost puppy trope contradicts this notion in one way or another since it doesn't put their importance for the other in an equal footing.

That's why I started pondering how this unpleasant frame of mind was established

Is it true that Ichigo's lost without Rukia ?

If anything the last arc proves he wasn't.

so what does that leave ?

does that mean that she's no longer important to him ? Or was this mindset fictious in the first place ?

This is just a personal interpretation. I'm not claiming I can read Kub0's mind (I wish I could)

First of all, I'll start with the chapter that prompted that idea in the first place

It's strange how the world keeps rotating without you

"It's a strange feeling.

Nothing seems out of place.

Even without Rukia, our world still keeps turning.

That's right.Rukia was originally from Soul Society (there). From the very start, there was never really a place where she belonged here

............if that's the case, what should I do?"

Kurosaki Ichigo, chapter 58

After Rukia was abducted, Ichigo was confused about how the world could continue to operate normally when she wasn't around.

In fact, while everyone was dealing with his life normally, he couldn't

It's a strange feeling.

Nothing seems out of place.

Even without Rukia, our world still keeps turning.

What Ichigo failed to understand was that there was no reason why the world wouldn't rotate normally without one person.

He was the problem here

The reason he felt that way was simply because he was extremely saddened that Rukia was not by his side

The feeling he felt was so immense and so new to him that he couldn't associate it with any other thing he felt before.

Since he was oblivious to the depth of his feelings at that time, he couldn't fathom the reason behind all his melancholia.

Someone as clueless as him could just deduce from all this that he should just bring her back to Karakura so that the world "can function properly again".

And that's it. End of the drama

However, as I explained here, Ichigo can't be selfish when it comes to Rukia.

That's right.

Rukia was originally from Soul Society (there).

From the very start, there was never really a place where she belonged here

He respects her individuality too much to do that.

He refused to let himself selfishly decide a fate for her (after saving her that is) just because the world felt odd without her

But at the same time, he wanted to understand why he felt that Rukia belonged here in this world when she was originally from another place

(spoiler alert he will realise it after 400 chapters)

............if that's the case, what should I do?"

Orhime unintentionally made him realise that the most important thing for now was not to ponder how the world could rotate without her but refocusing his attention on keeping Rukia alive and safe

And if Ichigo was sure of one thing, it was that the safest place for Rukia to be was by his side ( since he assumed everyone in SS wanted her dead)

He deduced that the reason he felt Rukia belonged here (with him) was because he was prioritising her safety (*)

Before he could give any closure to his confusion, Ichigo changed his train of thoughts and set his mind on one goal: after saving her, he would bring Rukia back to safety (by his side)

That's it. He just wants her to be safe with him... that's why he felt she belonged here no other reason

However, at the end, Rukia decided to stay in SS

.....

....

...

Rukia being separated from Ichigo at the end of the SS arc is one of the best decisions Kub0 has ever made.

First of all, it made Ichigo aware why he wanted to save Rukia. Her being denied of hope is what triggered him to do his best for her.

And I'm pretty sure that blockhead would never understand that if Rukia were to return home with him.

Secondly, Rukia knew Ichigo wanted her to go back with him and was expecting to be saddened by this news.

By witnessing how he accepted her decision without any questioning, Rukia was made aware about how unconditional Ichigo's feelings are.

Last but not least, it forced Ichigo to slowly realise what the whole thing about the world couldn't rotate without Rukia actually meant

Again I'll emphasize slooooowly.

At first, he got it wrong again

At the beginning of the arrancar arc, when Ichigo didn't think he could win against his hollow, once Rukia expressed her admiration towards him, he became self confident again.

Rukia's trust and opinion meant much more to him than his own impression of himself

Rukia's presence inspired him to be hopeful and courageous. From then, Ichigo deluded himself into thinking that what he felt at that time meant simply that Rukia was his anchor

That isn't of course totally false since Morita agreed on that but it's also can't summarized the depth of his feelings for her

However, by assuming that Rukia was so pivotal in his mental health, he was both belittling himself and her since she does have a life outside their relationship.

In short, he didn't learn jack shit

and his way of coping with his obliviousness was becoming a bit counterproductive as shown in this infamous poem

I can't go on in a world without you

This poem is very similar to his thoughts when Rukia was abducted but this one is a bit self conscious ( at last !!!!!)

This time, Ichigo understood that the reason he felt the world couldn't rotate properly was stemed from him.

He was the one who couldn't keep up with its speed when Rukia isn't by his side

This can be cute in some ways but as I said, this isn't the aim of my meta

Just like when Rukia was abducted, he was finding excuses to explain feelings he never experienced before

Now, Ichigo could only justify his emotions for Rukia with the fact that he can't function properly without her, plain simple.

Even, other translations claim the original japanese text could even mean that he was rather unwilling to even try

And that goes well with my personal theory which is pretty much the heart of this analysis

Ichigo wasn't dependent on Rukia by need but by choice

His low self esteem and insecurity weren't the only reason why he felt worthless when she wasn't by his side.

I think Ichigo unconsciously wanted to be dependent on Rukia because he wanted her to feel as if he needed her :

He wanted her to have a reason to stay by his side because he was afraid of losing her.

(the same reason orhime wants to be dependent on Ichigo and that's for another topic)

However, he never seriously acted on this seemingly selfish thought because as I said Ichigo can't help but be selfless when it comes to Rukia

But he doesn't want to lose her either.

I know I already linked this post but I explain here in depth my own perception of the duality of his feelings

And when he lost his powers, he lost Rukia too.

Part 2

...

(*) This is how I understood that scene, the anime team, on the other hand, had a different interpretation but in my humble opinion, it's out of character for dumbass Ichigo to be this self aware at this stage of the manga

[hrodvitnon]

Alternative Mothra Characterization

Heya- so one of my favorite Kaiju to write in my own stuff is Mothra; however, my reasoning for why is the very unique way I choose to interpret and write her character (I’ve not seen anyone ever get close to this when writing her). It’s interesting for me, but simultaneously kinda dissonant when I see her characterized differently (To clarify: this is not a bad thing it is actually a very good thing due to both the intensity of my version and that fans having many different interpretations of characters only adds depth to fandom). Anywho- this version of the character goes very hard on the angst, and I figured it may be a cool thing to share because of Abraxas being- Abraxas. Consider this me sharing my method to hopefully inspire additional ideas involving her. 

At her very foundation, this Mothra is very similar to how Mothra is usually presented. Queen to Godzilla, his better half in many ways, infinitely caring for her friends and the planet, etc. However there are some major alterations to the mechanics of her Rebirth Cycle. Whenever she dies- she cannot die in the same way again (she ‘adapts’ to what killed her last and cannot be hurt by it again), each time she does die she loses a seemingly random part of her mind (memories, personality, sense of self, etc), and each time she does die- she becomes more in-tune with the planet and her life (can sense more, becomes more connected to each being, becomes more powerful).

I usually pick up the story in the modern day when she’s died possibly hundreds of times. The consequences of which are discussed below.

The adaptation clause (which I call 8-Fold Wings) adds a new dimension to combat, as her enemies need to figure out what she’s vulnerable to and what she’s already been killed by (fool me once, shame on you). Usually she can manage to beat them before they figure it out- but has to be much more careful when she encounters someone with a unique set of powers.

She’s usually so interconnected to all life that she can sense basically anything, and often takes it upon herself to try and help anyone she senses is in pain for some reason (So I basically do what DA:I did with Cole). I’m sure you can see the sorts of interactions this can often prompt when she launches into an unprovoked therapy session whenever she deems it appropriate. 

Now- onto the heavy stuff. At the point in which the audience meets her, she’s died so much that she’s mentally caught between the afterlife and mortal realm; and can barely remember anything from her past lives properly and often gets things wrong that others will correct her on. 

Speaking of others: it’s usually a very mentally taxing thing for people who know her to be around her (Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus); as they remember who she used to be- and seeing her now, although she’s got this whimsical air, altruism, and degree of innocence, they can’t help but remember. 

Especially Godzilla. She’s died so many times in sacrifice to him, usually to power him up enough to kill some great threat, or to save his or someone else’s life, that she sometimes even forgets his name. He’s tried to get her to stop- begged her even, but it almost became an addiction to her. She grew so much stronger every time, gained so much knowledge; and each time she dies she does it to help, to save. Despite how much it hurts those around her, she can’t help but keep doing it because she could never bear to see any of them suffer the same fate. Death is a burden she believes only she can bear. She even believes that one day- she will become immortal- after dying in every way possible. Now I personally don’t write them being romantically involved for my own reasons (mostly because mothzilla’s kinda not my thing… Heresy, I know), but you easily could and it would probably be more tragic… Goji forced to watch his wife die countless times and slowly losing herself to the point where she needs to be reminded of who he is. This would tear him apart over the centuries- forcing him to either stay in a tragic relationship with her, unable to let go despite her condition, or him eventually gaining the strength to break it off and pursue something with someone else. You could even a heart-shattering moment when she returns after a death, Godzilla over the moon to see her again until she just tilts her head and him and goes, “Hello! I’m Mothra, don’t believe we’ve met before!”. 

So yeah, my own version of the Monster Queen. Could be another Abraxas timeline where the Rebirth works like this. Hope you got something outta this, whether it be ideas or just a fix of angst. 

(also sorry about doubling up on long submission posts lol. got that gxk on my mind.)

—

I really dig the idea that Mothra can’t die/be killed by the same means twice (perhaps there’s a life she’s lived where she died of old age and is now functionally immortal but can still die in other ways? Another kind of tragic element). I don’t gatekeep shipping tendencies around here, it’s cool. It’s like, I enjoy mint chocolate ice cream but someone else doesn’t, no problem, I’ll have more of the ice cream I like and they’ll have more of the ice cream they like! Win-win!

Oh, and… wow, yeah, the heavy stuff is fascinating and rife with potential angst and dramatic goodness especially where Godzilla is involved, but (and this is a good but), I found my mental playlist of earworms alternating between Die Toteninsel (Emptiness) and Schubert’s Ständchen (or Serenade) the more I read of that last bullet; specifically Schubert because I once watched a video where an opera singer analyzes video game music and intuited that the particular use of Ständchen isn’t really a happy love song but feels more about unrequited love, it feels frustrated, it feels like loss. And since this take on Mothra can tell when someone’s in pain, she goes from happy to introduce herself to who she sees is a complete stranger to all but slapped with a sensation of emotional agony. Oof.

[lemonsrosesandlavender]

BG3 Backstory Bash by Kelandrin

I was tagged by @dutifullylazybread, thank you! Tagging @commander-krios and @charmedcleric, if you fancy it :)

This is a challenge to help people flesh out their Tav’s backstory by exploring their past. It is organized into four sections with seven prompts. You can treat this as a monthly challenge or a general project. You can write headcanons, fics, or share art based on the prompts! You can interpret the prompts however you want. If you want to share use the tag #bg3backstorybash

Ok, I’m going to modify a whole bunch of this, if you want to do it properly probably look up the hashtag! I’m doing it for *my* version of the Steel Weave/Sharp Teeth Tav, though since it’s written in 2nd person with only sparse details of her life, I’m not calling it canon. I’m also going to do what @dutifullylazybread did and add in my version of Rolan and Tav’s future together <3 This ended up way more in depth than I thought, and I loved doing it :)

Baby

Birth & Parents: born in her paternal grandparent’s run-down house in Baldur’s Gate, to military parents. Her parents quickly returned to military service to support the family and defend the Gate, and were both killed when she was an infant in the same skirmish, defending a village against Orcs. Tav grew up with the understanding that her parents died heroes, and with the love of her grandparents never felt too much like she was missing something. Her grandparents were bakers, and she first built her muscles kneading vast amounts of dough when she was helping out in the shop as a kid.

Childhood

Friends/Siblings: no siblings. She did have a rotating cast of friends, some for a long time, although as her grandparents aged she found herself taking on more and more of the shop duties and seeing less of others her age. Her best friend was from the Little Calim part of Baldur’s Gate, and left aged thirteen with their parents to return home. Tav would like to go there one day, having heard many tales of its mountains and deserts (and a delicious drink called ‘coffee’ from its furthest reaches, that has yet to be widely imported up to the Sword Coast). They fell out of touch because of the expense and difficulty of long-distance communication, but Tav hopes they’re still out there somewhere, living well.

Birthday: Midwinter

Learning and Playing Games: Tav has always been very focused and determined about learning the things she cares about, whether that was the necessary reading and accounting skills to help her grandparents run the bakery, or the sword skills she began learning to follow in her parents’ footsteps. She’s curious, but felt she had to learn things with purpose first. A lot of the games she played were very physical - tag, Owlbear and ‘Fists vs Guild’.

Trauma: as she grew up, she got into a fair number of physical scrapes, especially when practising duelling and her grandparents privately despaired of how costly it was - though they were anxious not to communicate that, because they loved her energetic nature (if not her desire to go into the military). Those scrapes though, rarely registered with Tav herself, and she prided herself a little too much on being able to ignore physical pain in a way that sometimes alienated other kids (something she learned not to be so annoying about as she got older). The old loss of her parents though, and the increased pressure to help out her aging grandparents and grow up too fast, did have their effect. A gradual squeezing out of childhood.

Youth

First Love Crush on another girl in sword fighting class; Tav asked her out for a celebration after they were ranked joint first together. It went well until it didn’t; things fell apart in common teenage ways, when they forgot to notice each other’s upsets in the mess of their own feelings. They broke up after a couple of months and Tav sulked (a lot) and the other girl cried (also a lot) and then that girl quit sword fighting and took up warhammer instead. Whoops.

Rebellion and Running Away Tav did not really rebel much; on the occasion she misbehaved, stayed out too late or didn’t wake up for her morning shift at the bakery, she saw the disappointment and hurt of her grandparents, and felt terrible about it. They didn’t feel fun to rebel against, because as she saw them aging it only worried her. The same goes for running away, though she did dream of travelling. To Calimshan, or perhaps Icewind Dale - it would be so fun to be an adventurer, and to strike out on her own, though it seems impossible. How do you even start? What if you make the wrong decision? She ends up defaulting back to the military.

Peer Pressure, Risk Taking and Responsibility If anything, Tav was a bit of an (unintentional) peer pressurer herself, with her active and rather physically-risk taking nature. It’s something she learned to stop doing as she grew up, especially after she encouraged a friend to scale a tree with her after he’d already hurt his ankle and he fell and broke the other one too. After that, she got a lot more concerned about other people’s limits…. whilst still paying very little attention to her own. Her grandparents despaired of that, but they were deeply proud of her responsibility at home, even as she missed out on some more childish, fun things. Great at taking responsibility with adults, more likely to bicker with her peers. She was pretty resistant to peer pressure, as either she wanted to do something (drinking? Go on then) or not (stealing? she’s simply not interested). Can be quite judgemental of others seemingly not caring about their parents/family because she’s so concerned about her own. Cares a lot about doing good in the world, even as a teenager, because that’s what her parents died for.

Growing Pains I feel like most of the above covers it! Tav’s not the most introspective person, and her concerns were largely outside her - though some things did slip through. Her main struggle is having no very close friends; she hasn’t got a lot of time, and is a little bit singleminded about her military training.

Adulthood

Leaving Home Tav left home for the military barracks at 18, a hard decision knowing that her grandparents would have to sell their bakery without her. She sent her money home and visited them as often as she could - after all, they were all still in Baldur’s Gate - but they died quite soon after.

First Time Soon after moving into the military barracks. Technically not allowed but… they’re all very physical people who spend a lot of time getting sweaty in each other’s company. Tav’s not outrageous about expressing interest, but she’s happy to ask someone for a drink and see what happens.

Serious Relationships The relatively fast turnover of the military - recruits who can’t hack it, deaths at the front line, moving between posts or just to the Flaming Fist - means that she’s mostly had casual relationships. And in all honesty, very few people have stirred her soul. Everything is fine, but it often feels like others in the military are content with their lot, and the way the world is, and without being able to express it Tav feels like something is missing.

Aging Oof, thinking about Tav and Rolan getting older makes me a little sad. I think they have long and happy lives together, despite many close scrapes, and Tav keeps fighting even as her joints begin to creak. Jaheira was still at it, so why shouldn’t she? As for Rolan’s wizard magic… I don’t think he’d want to live an artificially longer life without Tav and Cal and Lia to share it, especially knowing that wizards need people they love surrounding them whenever the temptations of power get too strong. Either he finds magic they can all share, or they make peace with mortality knowing that there’s a place in Selune’s realm for them in the afterlife. (Well, as much peace as Rolan is ever capable of. He’d take Tav’s mortality as a personal affront, and his own as the deeply annoying but inevitable end to his glorious magical career).

Family Tav and Rolan have spent so many years of their lives being responsible for others, and for Tav, locked into the military as a default path without thinking enough about it. Both of them want to live life on their own terms, with their found family, and throw themselves into their work and passions rather than raising children. They’re often going off on adventures and discovering new things, and Rolan frequently works into the small hours on magic whilst Tav is out defeating mild zombie infestations or whatever is most recently plaguing Baldur’s Gate. But they do love Cal and Lia’s kids, and Tav considers Lae’zel, Astarion and Gale to be her extended family.

Work Tav was in the Baldurian Army, which I don’t think exists in canon but it exists in my head as more of an outward-facing force, dealing with wars and invasions and marauding Gith/Orcs, vs the Flaming Fist which are more of a domestic force (and are canonically awful, let’s be real. Not that the military is likely to be much better but… everyone in Baldur’s Gate has had personal experience with the Flaming Fist being incompetent, corrupt and otherwise terrible. Tav wanted to be a hero, and the Fist are for beating up hungry commoners for stealing apples. Not her vibe.) Her job is fine, and she trains hard, but it leaves little room for thought or individuality and she finds herself feeling stuck. Especially as she realises there’s a whole load of pointless skirmishes with neighbouring states over borders and trade, conflicts that only make ordinary peoples’ lives worse. She’s risked her life many times for civilians and that has stopped her getting promoted.

Finding Her Place The tadpole completely changed Tav’s life. Before, she’d have said that the military was her place - but she was never really anchored to it by more than rules and regs and a sense of duty. Now she’s struck out on her own - with Rolan and her companions by her side - she’s found she’s a strong and capable leader, and prefers making her own decisions about right and wrong to having the military make them for her. And she found the kind of deep love and devotion that she’s been lacking; a reason to live in every battle she fights. She would risk everything for Rolan, and he would risk everything for her, and then they will argue about it. Perhaps the arguing is something she’d missed in her closest relationships, previously, like with her grandparents; each too worried about the other to risk bringing up things that bothered them. And most people she’s dated, she’s simply never felt strongly enough about to have much conflict with. In contrast, Tav and Rolan can’t help themselves from arguing, and it means they always end up addressing whatever their problems are - even if they hurt each others’ feelings in the process sometimes. They know that they love each other no matter what, and they care so much that they’ll always make it up to each other in the end. (with lots of amazing sex in the process sorry did you think I’d get all the way through this post without mentioning that lol)

[chaoticdelinqueerwithglitter]

You'll change your name and change your mind (but you can't leave this fucked up place behind)

(Prompt #15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA | Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?")

Notes: Awww, did you all miss tl0 too? Worry not, because here we go again! This one it's settled in a very specific moment of canon, when our dear gremlin discovered katana-chan would always be the best way to defend Mikey's honor (no, it won't, but let him believe it is)

Also, I didn't specify exactly what happened to his classmates and left it open to interpretation on purpose. If Wakui can do it, I don't need to figure it out either, I'm just here for the angst!

Warnings: Blood and injury, dissociation (sanzu is clearly not okay), implied massacre with a katana.

Haruchiyo stood there, frozen in time like a bloody statue commemorating his victory. Fitting, considering Mikey's clock also stopped working properly so long ago. 

There was peace in the eerie silence that fell on the scene. No more mockings daring to defile the memories of his best friend, no more panicked screams, no more scared footsteps. Did they flee or did he manage to hush them forever? He couldn’t find it in himself to care now that his blinding rage had finally given way to calm.

Only his ragged breath and the constant dripping of blood could be heard — trickling from his katana, running down his face. Blood cleansing all his sins, a bizarre expiation dyeing the world scarlet.

Maybe he should feel pain, but he couldn’t. Impotence had rooted inside of him — his inability to do anything while his friend was wilting — but he might have found a way to get rid of it, to be able to breathe again. What was physical pain in comparison? Nothing. 

“Haruchiyo?” 

The voice, he knew that trembling voice, it belonged to the other half of his pain — but why did it sound so worried then?

“Look, Keisuke!” 

His smile might have looked weird because Baji didn’t seem pleased. Did he not understand how free Haruchiyo finally was? 

“You… you did this? Why?”

“Duh, they were badmouthing Mikey.” 

His friend only swallowed as an answer. Why was Baji so pale, what was going on? He was also starting to feel unease, his insecurities returning ten times stronger. 

“I did good, right?”

A plea, desperate for approval, for the confirmation that he didn’t fail Mikey this time. But nothing came, just silence — oppressive and charged of something he couldn’t pinpoint, long forgotten the previous peace. 

“Kei? Why are you acting so weird?” 

“Me?” 

He knew it was a mistake, that he shouldn’t have followed Baji’s gaze, that he should’ve ignored his choked whimper — no, he could never do that to Baji. His eyes widened when he finally registered their gruesome surroundings. 

“No.” A metallic noise echoed when he unconsciously dropped his katana. “No, no, no, no!”

Haruchiyo tried to cover his eyes, to stop seeing, but there was red everywhere, red threatening to engulf his vision forever. It was too much to process, he just wanted to disappear.

Suddenly, a pair of arms pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, grounding him back to the present — a present where someone was crying. No, not someone. 

“I only wanted to help… to protect Mikey...” It was a miracle that Baji was able to understand anything between his sobs and the sound of the sirens getting closer. “I didn’t… I…”

“I know, I know.” Of course, Baji always understood him better than himself. “I’m not going to abandon you, okay? We’re on this together.” 

No, they weren’t, he was the one who did something unforgivable — but judging by Baji’s tear-streaked face, maybe there was some truth in his words. 

“Please Kei, don’t leave me.” A quiet whisper again. “Please.” 

At least, he hoped there was. Because one thing was certain: Haruchiyo would go completely insane if he was left all by himself. 

Did I finish with this sentence as a reminder that Haru is going to have to deal with this completely alone in the future bc Baji won't remember shit and then will die? Yeah, totally, I'm evil, what can I say xD