#but it is really interesting to see how these sort of role reversal and dynamic changes in spn reflect OR argue against the original trope

[beatsheetromanroy]

Castiel + Born Sexy Yesterday, part i

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Okay so I’m curious…we see a lot of pony boy and Johnny relationship. How do you feel about Ponyboy and Dallas relationship dynamic? And how that affects Ponyboy as a character.

Hi anon! I think Pony and Dally's relationship is really interesting and impactful HOWEVER I think it's sort of...glamourised and misconstrued a little bit sometimes by the fandom. Dally's care for Pony is evident throughout the book, and there is an argument to be made that it's almost on par with how much he cares for Johnny, but I think people don't like to recognize how Dally's care for Ponyboy doesn't manifest the SAME as it does for Johnny. Like, we get a scene in the book where Dally is 'soft' on Johnny- I don't think we'd ever see a scene like that of Dally and Pony, even if the roles were reversed and Pony had been burned instead of Johnny, because I think HOW Dally thinks he needs to protect Johnny and Pony is different. Dally allowed himself to show softness to Johnny because Johnny lacks it in almost all other aspects of his life, whereas Pony is often treated softly by his brothers (YES by Darry too, the nicknames 'honey' and 'baby' are not just used by Sodapop) thus I think Dally would still give Pony the 'you get tough like me and you don't get hurt' talk in every universe, hurt or not. Dally DOES care for Pony, and Pony DOES look up to Dally for all he recognizes Dally's flaws, but their dynamic is very different from Dally and Johnny's and I wish the fandom explored that a bit more.

Thanks for the ask xx

[aihoshiino]

chapter 151 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 8

Aqua Hoshigan Status: Black

Kana enjoyers continue to eat good in this new arc, as 151 very clearly parallels what's considered one of the more iconic AquKana chapters from the first half of the manga with a bit of role reversal in the mix. 'Reversal' is sort of the keyword for this chapter for a handful of reasons but we'll get into that when it's relevant.

the usual shout out to mengo for Peak Faces this chapter. my faves were kana's blushy face as she takes off her glasses and aqua covering his blush with his baseball glove… it does NOT get cuter than that.

It's pretty cathartic to see Kana get a similar TV spotlight to BH!Ruby, where she's centered in B-Komachi's success and Ruby is sort of just in the background lol. That said… kinda of hate that OnK is continuing to frame the ShimaD shit!!! I have a lot of complicated feelings about it but I will say that overall, it's pretty fucked that the story made all those correct assertions about sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and how women and young girls specifically are pressured to kowtow to men to retain their place in the industry and then like… not? link any of this?? to what happened to Kana??? Weird and bad!!!!

on the plus side. megarima and maskua <3

It feels like a good step for Kana to confidently assert that they are, in fact, on a date and their shared visible embarrassment is pretty cute. This is what I meant when I said this chapter was a bit of a reversal of chapter 30, which Aqua even calls explicit attention to - running from school to play catch vs running to school. It works well, imo, as a sort of marker of both change and consistency for both of these characters, showing us how far they've come… but at the same time, how much has managed to stay the same. This return to the early AQKN dynamic is really nice… their moment to moment rapport is the one I enjoy most in the series so even though it's definitely jarring to whiplash back to it after the Movie Arc… idk!! I am still enjoying it all the same.

aqua calling her out on it being a baseball date was really funny btw

And their talk about dreams is… Very Shrimptresting. I keep waffling back and forth on what to take from it, because hypothetically I think it's really interesting but whether or not I really end up liking it is going to depend on how things are handled with Aqua going forward…! IDK, this is the obvious pitfall of analyzing the story like this week to week,

I guess all I'll say now is that this falls in line with how I was reading last chapter's framing of Gorou -> Aqua, where Aqua's inheritance of that identity is just that - an inheritance and it's up to him what he chooses to do with that legacy. He can decide for himself what parts of it he wants to take with him into the future and what he chooses to leave behind.

That said: this is still black hoshigan Aqua. Is this just a 'dream' because it's something he wants but doesn't think he'll be able to have? Or is Aqua starting to seriously consider a future for himself past the end of his revenge quest? It was Kana who prompted him for an answer, after all, and he's already had to make a promise to her that he won't 'disappear'. Is he just lying here to put her at ease? Much to consider…….

Kana's side of this conversation is also really interesting. Kana is a person who acts out of genuine love for her craft, yes, but she's also correct that she kind of already got her assumed end goal of 'be a nationally famous actress' when she was a kid and it didn't necessarily make her happy or fulfilled. To a degree, she's been operating on momentum and desperation to cling to the industry so much of her identity was formed around. But if a 'dream' is something she just wants for herself, without her career coming into it… then what does Kana really want?

And the answer, obviously, is Aqua. With another 'oshi no ko' title drop, to boot…!

It's a little sad that even as Kana makes this tentative confession to him, she still downplays herself in favour of Memcho and Ruby but the emotional stakes she's putting on the table are very loaded. This essentially, without either girl knowing it, puts her in direct competition with Ruby who very much seems to still want to milk her sensei's Little Aqua and I don't imagine that conflict is going to go off without fireworks.

Interestingly, though, this isn't the only point on which the two are opposed here: this is what I mean when I said this chapter's keyword was 'reversal'. While Ruby insists that 'Sensei' is her oshi, Kana offers to be Aqua's oshi. This isn't the first time it's happened, either - when Kana talks about her feelings last chapter, she describes them as 本気の恋 (honki no koi), i.e, seriously, earnestly, truly in love whereas Ruby's confession uses the term ガチ恋 (gachikoi), a slang term referring to a fan who considers themselves to be legitimately in romantic love with a celebrity/idol/etc - and specifically says she's gachikoi for Sensei. Gachikoi is also how the first generation of B-Komachi are described in both Viewpoint B and 45510 in the original Japanese text. On just about all fronts, these two are bound to clash going into the final arc of the story and I'm tentatively interested to see where it goes.

No break next week!

[necrotic-nephilim]

saw you wrote reverse robins too, it always has a thing for me. what's your headcanon about it? any particular ship you like?

oh i ADORE Revers Robins, i wish i got the chance to write it more! i think there's something interesting in the challenge of flipping these characters and trying to see how they would change in each other's arcs. How Tim would approach being Red Hood, how Damian would approach being Nightwing, etc. it's all so interesting to me. some headcanons i have are

i think, making Damian the oldest and forcing him to mature on his own with just Bruce is fascinating. bc it's going to make a *very* emotionally closed-off Bruce. the bulk of Damian opening up happens when he's Dick's Robin, so to make it just him and Bruce destabilizes a lot of that. Bruce chose Dick, but if Damian's the oldest, it's likely he didn't choose Damian, he got stuck with him. which adds to their dynamic and imo makes Damian a bit more stunted in the way Dick is, in that being raised solely by Bruce can make one. emotionally constipated. i do think Damian would be forced to mature a lot faster and would be a very quiet person.

i've mentioned this in a post talking about JayTim in RR AUs, but Tim as Red Hood would be *far* more calculating, imo. i think a lot of the emotion of Jason's actions would be stripped from it. even if you make Tim a killer (such as when Tim is Savior in a future universe) he's never going to be a "heads in a duffel bag" killer. he's going to be planned and methodical about it. (like how he almost killed Boomerang) half of his plans would be hidden from Bruce and i think part of the game for Tim would just be seeing how much Bruce even figures out.

replacing Tim with Jason instead of vice versa is interesting, bc it forces Jason to enter the role of Robin with a lot more caution. i think his backstory still works in a RR situation, street kid Bruce just kinda plucked from nowhere and called Robin. bc Bruce is grieving, and this if the first kid whose mischief sort of reminds him of Tim. but bc there's a dead Robin before Jason, it means he's going to be treated with much more care. and his anger regarding entering a Red Robin role could be interesting bc he is known for his anger and i do think he'd be far more violent about the transition, as opposed to Tim's self isolation route.

for RR, i always always prefer that it's Damian who adopts Dick. usually i like it best as Damian adopting Dick when Bruce is "dead", but i think it also works if Bruce is alive when Dick comes into the picture. it'd make for a stunted relationship bc of how closed off Damian is while *wanting* to do right by this kid, or at least do better than Bruce did. and i think Damian as Dick's mentor figure would make how Dick confronts his anger very different.

as for Steph, in any case where i do a Reverse Robins, mentally know i'm also picturing it with a Reverse Batgirls. and to keep from Cass just not moving around, i'd include Helena's time as Batgirl and thus, Steph is Oracle, Cass is Huntress, Helena is Black Bat, and Babs is Spoiler. which, makes canon ships like TimSteph and DickBabs a lot of fun. also you have a lot of curious things to explore by flipping Cass and Helena's moral codes under their vigilante titles. Cass as an outsider to the Batfam instead of being under Bruce and Babs' wings? could *really* force her to do unsavory things. and Helena with more support could be a bit softer around the edges. honestly, i could make a whole post about Reverse Batgirls too bc i think most RR AUs don't tend to address the women in it, which is terrible. gimme Oracle!Steph. and with Spoiler!Babs, if you play with Babs brother that rarely exists being the person she becomes Spoiler to stop, that could be super fun.

as for my favorite RR ships: i'm a suck for RR!TimDami. i think it's just bc of all ships, that one tends to play with the AU the most, in my experience? which is *so* fun bc Nightwing!Damian and Red Hood!Tim struggling to reconcile is everything. i devour every fick. i'm also particular to JayTim, just bc i think Jason as Robin seeing Red Hood!Tim would *immediately* be too interested for his own good as he copes with his anger of being replaced as Robin. but seriously any RR ship if the worldbuilding is done well will always draw me in. i just adore seeing how ppl explore filling in the logical loopholes and if backstories need to be adjusted or not and how personalities would naturally change in the situation. it's endlessly fascinating to me.

[musicalmoritz]

Though on genderswap Mitsukou? What would their characters belike both appearance and personality wise?

Yuri Mitsukou!! I love this question

So awhile back I posted smth like “no fem4masc Yuri Mitsukou it has to be masc4masc” which like. I don’t really agree with anymore. I like that in canon one of them is feminine while the other is masculine and it’s not really done in a stereotypical way. Fandoms make a really big deal about people feminizing male characters- and for good reason, it does happen a lot. But that gets taken to the point that they end up unintentionally reinforcing traditional gender roles. “How dare you draw that man in a skirt” or “that male character would never cry.” It’s also weird to me that I never see the same defense given to female characters being masculinized, so it ends up feeling like a lot of fans just hate femininity. So when a male character is feminine and seemingly likes masc dudes but has one of the loudest personalities in the manga, I think it’s pretty neat. Ofc there are fans that are weirdly against calling Mitsuba feminine but I already blocked most of them so idk what they have to say

(I could talk more in-depth about how fans are so worried about feminizing Mitsuba that they erase all the soft parts of his personality and make him one-dimensional but I’ll hold my tongue)

However, with fem!Mitsuba things are usually portrayed differently. Since dude Mitsuba’s initial conflict was being bullied for looking like a girl, most people say that the reverse would be girl Mitsuba being bullied for looking like a dude. This is fine but we also have to keep in mind that the entire gag of Mitsuba’s character is that he looks feminine but has an unfiltered personality, based on his looks you would never expect him to act that way. So if girl Mitsuba looks boyish, does that mean her personality would be super soft and delicate?? Because, yeah Mitsuba does have a soft side but not in that way, and it’s not at the forefront of his personality. Plus girl Mitsuba could still get bullied for looking too feminine, internalized misogyny is very much a thing

However, at the end of the day it really depends on personal preference so I’m not at all bashing either depiction of fem!Mitsuba. I go back and forth over which one I like more. Gender themes are a pretty big part of how I write Mitsukou so it’s hard for me to imagine that switched up, but it’s also incredibly interesting to think abt. All in all I like to keep fem!Mitsuba looking androgynous, maybe she has a boyish face but still dresses very feminine. Or maybe she has a girly face but dresses very masc. It’s one of those things I like a variety of interpretation on. For this I say she keeps the same hair length and pink cardigan but wears the girls uniform. So like yeah she basically just looks the same

As for Kou, those of you that read my wlw Kou//Nene fic should know that masc girl Kou is actually everything to me. A lot of fans sort of flip their gender presentations when gender bending them- Mitsuba becomes masc and Kou becomes fem. That’s totally great if that’s what you like but for me personally Kou is gonna be wearing Old Spice. I like to imagine her hair a tad longer in the back, like a choppy version of the Bisexual Bob. She wears some type of hoodie over her uniform the same way canon Kou wears a t-shirt under his uniform. The hoodie is blue btw (gotta incorporate the lore from my mtsk fics)

I feel like their personalities and dynamic would stay mostly the same! Maybe make them a bit clingier the way female friendships are but they’re already pretty clingy in canon lol. I do wonder if Kou’s flaw of not being able to open up about his feelings properly would change due to gender socialization. But many women (including myself) have that problem too so I think it would stay the same. She might be able to open up to Teru or Yokoo and Satou better but she’d still struggle to admit when she’s feeling overwhelmed. I could see her not being the type to tell someone how she’s feeling until all those emotions have built up for months. That’s how I’ve seen the whole “can’t talk abt your emotions” problem present itself in women. And men tend to only feel comfortable opening up to their romantic partners, which is something we very much see with Mitsukou in canon. But with fem!Kou, if Yokoo and Satou were girls two they would probably encourage her to talk abt her feelings rather than just being like “let’s give him a task to distract him” (which is fine too, men have different ways of comforting their friends)

Thank you for this ask!!

[swordfright]

any tips for writing c!punz? I'm losing my mind out here

I'm gonna start by referring you to some posts that might be helpful:

elm on c!Punz as a very emotional character

my thoughts on c!Punz's self concept

aidan on c!Punz as an enabler

c!Punz is great at putting on a chill, laid-back demeanor, but underneath that he can be very intense, and if you rewatch some of his key plot-heavy streams chronologically, you can very clearly see him becoming more and more intense as the story progresses. Two things I think a lot of ppl tend to either forget or gloss over are 1) he was there almost from the beginning and presumably remembers the golden past that c!Dream so desperately wants to recover; and 2) he was possessed by the Egg, which would've had a pretty big impact on him vis-a-vis how he views his own autonomy and role/involvement in plot events.

In terms of motivation, I think he can be quite tricky to pin down. He claims his motivation is to "live a life without mystery," but that's in the No Way Home stream when he's angrily berating c!Tommy, and personally I don't see this as a terribly reliable admission. I'm not saying he isn't interested in discovering the secrets of life and death, but if you pay more attention to his actions than his words, I think it's fairly clear that this motivation is second to his desire to help c!Dream. He doesn't just want answers, he wants to help c!Dream get answers. What this tells us is that, in a complete reversal of his "money-motivated hired goon" facade, Punz is actually very discerning when it comes to who he's willing to pursue long-term projects alongside. Will he work FOR anyone? Perhaps (he certainly wants you to think so.) Will he work WITH anyone? Hell no.

Another thing I find really interesting is his relationship with Sapnap and how it informs his relationship with Dream. The two of them have been on opposing sides of various conflicts at various points, but Sapnap seems to continue to see Punz as a friend throughout the story, and Punz plays along even after the staged finale. He helps Sapnap and Karl plan their wedding, Sapnap even says he wants Punz to be a groomsman! The two of them are so interesting in relation to Dream, it's a really under-explored dynamic imo! Former brothers-in-arms vs current brothers-in-arms. I think you could definitely argue that, post-prison, Punz is trying to be Dream's replacement for Sapnap in all ways except one: he isn't going to tell Dream no. He's the yes man Sapnap couldn't be.

Also, I think it's important to remember who he was and what sort of stuff he was up to prior to his involvement in the major plot points. He was a beekeeper! He liked giving gifts, and still does! His sense of humor is goofy and sometimes pretty immature, just like c!Dream's. He wants to be respected by the people he respects. He takes good care of his things. In short, assistant manager at the necromancy store isn't his only occupation.

(Lmk if you want clips for any of these points btw! I’ve done a lot of generalizing in this post but I’m happy to find clips if that’s helpful for you.)

[pynkhues]

Heyy! Would you mind if i asked u to explain to what extent is lestat and his mother’s relationship incestuous? I havent read the books but i keep seeing everyone talk about lestat’s fucked up relationship with his mother altho they never talk about specifics and i’d like to know bcs i love lestat and i wanna know everything about him!!! And i also i dont trust just anyone to know bcs some people on twt just lie about having read the books😭 so yeah i trust you lol i hope it’s okay Thank you!!

Hey! Of course! It's - - mm, kind of a how long's a piece of string question to ask how incestuous they are, because on the one hand, very, haha, and on the other hand, it's more complicated than something like, say, Jaime and Cersei? I think what Anne was interested in exploring between them was an already unclear identity dynamic born out of isolation and trauma - mother-son, lovers, and avatar - and then reversing the parent-child with maker-fledgling.

In that sense, context is pretty important. To give you the short version, Gabrielle is an Italian woman (her gender identity is totally up for discussion, but I'm going to use she/her pronouns here just because Anne does) who's both highly educated and pretty independent for her time. She's an avid reader, well-travelled and wealthy, when her family marries her off to a French aristocrat from the Auvergne countryside. The Marquis - as his name implies - is titled, which means something in this era, but he's otherwise totally destitute, and also very abusive. Gabrielle is - in this sense - the total embodiment of a gothic heroine where she's isolated in a foreign country with a cruel man who basically bleeds her dry financially.

She has eight children to him, only three of whom survive childhood (and I tend to think this feeds into Gabrielle's complex relationship with her own body). Lestat's the youngest, and is pretty much immediately Gabrielle's favourite although she struggles to show this. We don't know how much Gabrielle's detachment from her children and her unwillingness to show affection stems from the years married to the Marquis, how much she's divorced herself from her body and role as mother as a result, and how much is just her, but it definitely shapes how Lestat receives love (which absolutely feeds into his relationship with both Louis and Nicki). He's desperate for Gabrielle's attention, and she loves him but neglects him to the point where she doesn't even teach him how to read, despite literature being her only solace in the Marquis' house.

Gabrielle and Lestat basically become emotionally enmeshed at this point, especially as Lestat's brothers follow in their father's footsteps and become further vectors of his abuse, and that enmeshment leads first to emotional incest and then a physical attraction that's acted on at least in kissing if not more (it's ambiguous). Their sense of intimacy is in a lot of ways perverted through trauma, but Gabrielle's really unclear with boundaries with Lestat which also leads beyond emotional incest to a sort of identity bleed. As I mentioned above, she also sees Lestat as avatar - he's her masculine self, she literally calls him her phallus in the book - which as a parent, is manifest of her own abuse of him. She, in those moments, can and would deny him his own personhood and independence and see him only as an extension of herself.

There's a reading there that that's reflective of Gabrielle being either non-binary or a trans man (and a number of parallels that Claudia and Gabrielle were both turned in the wrong bodies - Claudia as a child, Gabrielle as a woman), something amplified by the fact that she predominantly wears men's clothing after she's turned into a vampire. I can and do overall agree with both those readings, but I think it's also reflective of Gabrielle recognising Lestat has social power that she never will and that dressing as a man gives her greater freedom and mobility in an era where women had little.

Their relationship actually becomes a bit less incestuous when they're less isolated in Paris and Lestat starts whatever weird psychosexual thing he has going on with Armand, haha, and Gabrielle tries to help Nicki adjust to a vampire life he's never going to adjust to. She and Lestat have a pretty loving departure from one another where she goes to travel the world again, and they spend a long time out of touch as a result because Lestat can't communicate with her as his fledgling (and still can't read or write). They only actually reunite when she realises Lestat's in danger while on tour towards the end of TVL, and then teams up with Louis to try and save him from Akasha.

So yeah! It's a really complicated relationship and in a lot of ways I think goes beyond just incest and feeds into trauma and abuse as something that perverts family dynamics, but also has profound impact on personal identity. She's kind of the worst in a lot of ways, but I honestly love Gabrielle as a character and she's often really fun (her and Armand hating each other's guts is very funny) and I can't wait to see her on screen. There's a reason she's the character Sam and Jacob are both the most excited about, but I do think she's probably going to be a very polarising character for audiences.

[thefloatingstone]

Sailor Moon Questions: Why is Mamoru the worst part? Is it a Kaiden Alenko sort of thing or did you inherit Kunihiko Ikuhara's dislike maybe? Also, what about PGSM gets past your dislike of live action remakes?

Mamoru is the worst part of Sailor Moon because he is BORINGGGGG. He is literally just a prize for Usagi. And I mean that's perfectly fine because, to put it bluntly, "this ain't about him". Mamoru is only important because he's important to Usagi. We only care about him because Usagi does. If she didn't care about him we could kick him out of the group and never think about him ever again.

The problem is just that sometimes, although very rarely in the 90s anime, the story makes a big drama over him and Usagi's relationship. Honestly the ONLY reason is works in the anime is because we're always seeing it from Usagi's perspective. So we care because she cares.

But whenever we have to spend time with Mamoru it's just so incredibly dull and uninteresting because the guy has no personality. And what little personality he DOES have isn't particularly enjoyable. In the manga he's a bit of a sarcastic bitch which is at least SOMETHING I like about him. But in the anime and in PGSM... he's just a anal retentive jerk most of the time, brooding and aloof to make him ~*mysterious*~ and desirable to the preteen audience because he is uncomplicated and therefore nonthreatening. But in the anime especially, as soon as he and Usagi officially get together he is all but a blank slate. Just passively nice in a way that forgoes any individuality. He's literally the opposite of Bella Swan. A sort of reverse Y/N where instead of being a self insert for the audience, he's an insert for the audience to project whatever they think would make for a cool boyfriend because he has no describable traits. Hell we barely even know what he's supposed to be studying!

This is why a rather big group of fans, especially back in the day, preferred Usagi with Seiya in the anime. Because at least Seiya had SOMETHING resembling a personality. I don't like Seiya but they at least are a CHARACTER.

And then because Mamoru has 0 personality it brings up a lot of questions the source material isn't built to address which is "why are these two together?". Because without actually having a personality, they don't seem to have anything in common at all. And that brings up a lot of uncomfortable questions regarding fate, and destiny, and whether the only reason they are together is pressures from a past life and pressures of a Utopian future they are obligated to fulfill.

None of this is something the story is equipped or interested in discussing, however. Because it's a story for preteen girls (except for the final Stars arc, especially in the manga, where Naoko decided to go off her shit and make the entire thing about philosophy regarding the self, static death versus dynamic life, the acceptance of chaos because it is the only way good can exist even if it means the possibility of evil, self love, the universe as organism etc etc).

Mamoru isn't like Kaidan at all tho because Kaidan is an actual character. I can tell you things about Kaidan, both good and bad, about his personality, how he sees things and how he thinks about things. Mamoru is literally just the male version of a sexy lamp.

I clown on Kaidan and make fun of him because I really appreciate his role in Shepard's story and his importance to the games as a whole. He enriches the world and plot, especially as a foible to Shepard. I think Kaidan's clashing with Shepard makes her personal story BETTER. kaidan ADDS to the narrative specifically because of who he is, how he thinks and how he responds to things, and how he and Shepard have to work out their shit to reach equal grounds and overcome their past issues and mistakes with each other. Kaidan also humanises Shepard in a way that I adore. Because Kaidan and Shepard's messy relationship shows that Shepard is just a human being. Which is immensely important to Mass Effect as a whole.

Shepard isn't space Jesus. She's a human being. Which is why she makes me so emotional.

Mamoru is just there so Usagi can give the preteen girls watching their wish fulfillment of a cool older boyfriend.

And that's just incredibly dull. Especially when the canon within the story itself, in all its incarnations, has other really great relationships which are complex and nuanced and actually interesting.

[minijenn]

I think it would be interesting if in UF Future Dipper and Steven had a role reversal, with Steven being more about taking things seriously and being more nervous about everything and Dipper being the chill one that wants to have fun and relax, having taken after Wendy in his teenage years, having overcome most of the stuff he has come through with the help of his friends and starting to grow up into a capable adult. Opposite of how Steven is insecure about the Future, I think Dipper would know exactly what he wants, go on adventures and become a paranormal researcher like Ford, I think that at that age Dipper probably even feels a little cocky, thinking that he has dominated Gravity Falls and knows all its secrets, long past were those days of him getting into mortal danger and barely making out alive. Maybe getting a little too cocky?

It would be kinda funny seeing Dipper being now the one telling Steven to cheer up, relax and have fun. Maybe some drama between the two because Dipper feels his life is in a really good spot right now and can't see why Steven is being so unhappy. Like imagine Dipper borderline bragging about how good things are an how they got everything solve just to see Steven lash out for apparently no reason.

NO BUT YOU BASICALLY HIT WHAT THEIR DYNAMIC IS GONNA BE LIKE IN UFF EXACTLY THOUGH! Because Steven is gonna be gradually stressed and anxious about his future while Dipper has kind of settled into things and has come of age, which is something Steven is still sort of struggling with. There's also the fact that UFF Steven struggles to accept help from others, which is the exact same thing UF Dipper struggles with. Their roles honestly really do reverse by that point and it'll be fascinating to explore.

[yukine-sakamoto]

Review of Cells at Work: Code Black

I know it’s in the name, but this show was dark. I was expecting something a little closer to the light-hearted slice-of-life of the original, but this was depressing. It was interesting to see how the body responds to adverse conditions, so the educational draw was still there. However, they throw a lot at you pretty quickly, so it’s not like I’ll really remember any of it. I certainly don’t remember much from the original. I did appreciate that there was a bit more characterization and plot in this one. The issues that the body faced each episode built up and the stress affected the characters. But I can’t say I really enjoyed watching all these characters nearly or fully lose it because of the stress and trauma of their work, and there really wasn’t much character depth other than that.

I mainly wanted to watch this show because it featured a strong girl (WBC) protecting a relatively weaker boy (RBC), which is a dynamic I like and is so very rarely seen. (Kinda messed up that role reversal is only seen in the unhealthy body, not sure what they’re trying to say there.) I thought I was just being a perv, but apparently the artists had a similar idea. I won’t lie, I liked the WBCs’ designs. They’re tall, strong, confident, busty, dressed for action, and wield katanas. And, I could have appreciated a bit of fan service, but I think they went a little too hard. The tonal whiplash between watching the cells’ repeated near-death experiences and the copious boob shots was very difficult to process. The uniforms were nice but the plunging neckline felt out of place, and honestly some times the chests looked like they were drawn by amateurs, like, two big circles sticking straight out instead of the sort of tear-drop shape with actual gravity. And the characters weren’t deep enough to have any kind of real romance anyway. There were some cute moments but not much. I mean I knew it wasn’t a romance show going in but still.

I thought the show was a tad preachy as well. Like it felt very clear that it was urging people to lead healthier lives as well as commenting on work culture, especially Japanese black companies (thus the name). I think the weight of the work commentary is somewhat lost on a foreign audience, and while it’s not bad to encourage people to care for themselves, I don’t want to feel guilty while I’m trying to relax and watch tv. It was odd in the ED episode especially that they seemed to take a negative stance toward casual sex. I think that’s actually a very unhealthy stance to espouse, and it wasn’t really as scientific. Sperm die all the time no matter what your sex life is, so it’s weird for a cell to get worked up over it. Plus it felt strange coming after the episodes on smoking and alcohol, which are different and obviously unhealthy. It was honestly strange to spend a whole episode fixated on this guy’s boner. I mean sure, the follow up episode on STIs kind of makes sense, safe sex and all that, but those two came off with a different vibe for me.

Overall, it was decently enjoyable though somewhat forgettable: 7/10.

[panzerprincess33]

oh, i get that!! very real. hopefully you’ll get some time soon to work on the things you want, life is like that unfortunately. but it’ll calm down eventually

definitely agree with the weather changes too, i like this middle ground where its not too hot but not too cold either, and the leaves changing is pretty to see in real time. and, i did have a question! xx

would you ever do something similar to worship for a.h with the MC as a secretary again? maybe the roles are reversed and a.h is the lovelorn one? im just thinking!! and, another question sorry! xx who do you like to write for best? is there anyone you wanna write for that you haven’t yet?

have a good day/night!!

Ooh yeah that’s a great idea! Yearning men are always fun to write. I think I started to explore that hungry yearner dynamic with A.H in some of my other writings, but definitely not to the degree of that Himmler fic lolol..That would be super interesting..

I think prefer writing Himmler the best. He comes the most naturally to me for some reason, I’m not sure why. Don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like I understand him the most? Followed closely by Goebbels. He's got a serious sort of intensity that I really enjoy exploring.

Randomly, I sort of want to write about Hans-Joachim Marseille, or Bubi (Erich Hartmann) but I feel like there's probably like no audience for that lmaooo. I am open to out of the box suggestions though, I did fulfill an Otto Günsche request a while back. A little off the beaten path there.

It’s always funny to write about the men in this era because, of course, they've been dead for 79+ years and I’ll never truly know just what they were like, or what they would say. There's just so many different accounts and conflicting information and still so much secrecy about them, personally, that I always think, "Would he really say/do this? Oh well" and just go for it haha. Typically I just write what I think feels right or accurate to me.

Lol I went a little off topic there but I hope you have a good day or night too!! :D

p.s yess I love watching the leaves change as well :)

[musepondersthings]

Here is EXCITED RAMBLINGS with Muse over a VERY SWAG Nanami fic written by pennjammin here on tumblr, you can find the fic here! Please go check their work out!

(Preface: this ramble is ripped directly from my notes app! No editing done besides text breaks, this is my live reaction to everything)

Thus begins the: “EXCITED MUSE RAMBLINGS” vol. 1, formatted on tumblr mobile.

Establishing a relationship and a dynamic between the reader and Nanami early on is great, specifically the reader being very involved in supporting his family as he works. It’s a genuine act of kindness! To go above any beyond as a support for him and already know his close family. To me it feels like it makes the picture more fleshed out and their relationship has an added layer of depth. I don’t blame reader for having a crush on dilf Nanami.

Reading over the situation, Nanami HAS to know about Reader’s feelings, if they’re being super obvious about it, he’s not one to miss those sort of things. Knowing him he likely thinks he HAS to have a professional boundary between him and reader, and doesn’t want to mix those aspects of his life. Oooh but reader is showing up at his party, where there’s probably going to be alcohol and he’ll be less guarded…

AWWW HERE HE IS!!! The dad joke is adorable, Nanami’s introduction is well done. He’s looking scrumptious tho. Yes wow he’s super unguarded, he’s being very open with reader. He has to be SMASHED right now, given how he’s described and his general demeanor, he’s much more laid back that usual. The talk about his kids and the wife fits perfectly. A call back to established relationship fits like a glove here. I enjoy the sllllow burn and establishment of prior events. I’m a sucker for lore and world building.

Good god Nanami is head over heels for reader. I can sense it. The way he treats them compared to his other workers is special, not that he treats his workers badly, but how he talks to them is notably more laid back, and dare I say, intimate. The introduction of Agnes and how he dealt with the girl talking to him really shows off the magnitude of his feelings, intended from him or not.

The reader’s thoughts are so captivating to me. The obsessiveness of putting themselves down for their crush yet leaning so far into it, makes me want to yell to em that their feelings are valid!!! /pos.

Augh Nanami is so sweet!! “Meanie” he is DRUNK drunk oh my lord. Despite everything he’s trying so hard to make reader comfortable and this shows how much he truly cares for them. Even while drunk, at a party he’s hosting, he takes time to take reader aside and listen to them and talk. The moment where reader says they should get to know each other better is nice, I enjoy the brief exploration of their relationship which has been “professional” thus far. Professional in quotes due to reader being HEAD OVER HEELS for Nanami and him acting like he doesn’t realize they’re flirting.

Said exploration attempted by the reader is cut off by Nanami approaching reader with a bluntness only alcohol can draw from him thus far lol. I find it interesting that their roles are reversed in this moment, he’s being very obvious while they’re “ oblivious” (not truly).

The sheer hunger of this man to eat reader out is astounding. He’s on readers level of adoration, if not more. He was just really good at hiding it.

HE STILL. TAKES TIME. TO BE NICE. AND DOUBLE CHECK FOR CONSENT. Consent is HOT!! The way he moves when given the word really shows how long he’s been waiting, he takes off their clothes so quickly, in three swift moments. How Nanami shuts down reader’s self deprecation of their body, how he needs *verbal consent* and double checks if they’re okay just melt my heart.

Christ, he’s so good at this reader is speechless, honestly I would be too. Being very conscious about how his actions affects them is refreshing to see.

There is such tenderness in Nanami’s actions and words even while he’s being mean. This is a very intimate act, there’s truly love and care there, and it just amplifies the entire thing. The slow buildup of trust, the comfort of being able to share fantasies and indulge in them together is delicious. The descriptions here during this scene has me captivated, just wonderful.

This moment of Nanami confiding just how MUCH he cares for reader and wants to have them a part of their family… it brings tears to my eyes. The passing of power, the amount of trust that takes, how he wants to repay reader is so wonderfully loving. The sex is so *hot*, and love they both feel for each other is always there. They play off of each other nicely both in and out of the bedroom, Reader awakening a breeding kink in Nanami catches him so off guard, they both can read each other like a book!

The after sex conversation is so down to earth, checking in, affirming that he only intends for this side of him to be for reader. It’s so tender. Both a heartwarming and sexy fic. I would read like. A novel about them.

This concludes “MUSE’S EXCITED RAMBLINGS” vol. 1

[chloesolace]

Book Review: "The Scarlet Veil" by Shelby Mahurin

Spoiler-free

Genre: young adult, fantasy • Triggers: trauma, death, graphic descriptions of corpses, kidnapping, blood, misogyny, murder • Year of Publication: 2023

Plot: ★★★★

Characters: ★★★★

Writing Style: ★★

Re-Readability: ★★★

all my reviews - blog navigation - Discord Server

General Thoughts

During the first half of this book I thought I would end up disliking it, and was very disappointed because I have been looking for an aristocratic vampire romance for ages. Not reverse-harm, not vampire warrior, no, the actual aristocratic-long-hair-wine-glass-in-hand-elegant vampire one might associate with figures like Carmilla and Dracula. This is also the main reason I did not DNF this, and I'm really glad I gave it a chance, because it ended up getting better the further I got and had me at the edge of my seat toward the ending.

I do wanna say that I have not read Serpent & Dove and although this is a spin-off with the same characters (just a different one taking on the role as MC), I understood everything I needed to. So, in my opinion, reading the Serpent & Dove trilogy is not necessary in order to read this. Sure, you might not have as much of a connection with the characters when you begin to read, but everything that's relevant to the story is explained quite nicely in my opinion. Now, moving on to the actual review.

Plot

The plot is a murder mystery. Bodies of supernatural beings turn up with two puncture wounds in their throats. Without getting into spoiler territory, I can say that the plot is very interesting and has some nice twists in there, too. You will definitely be entertained by it if you enjoy this sort of thing.

Celie being kidnapped and brought to the vampire castle is a scenario I also enjoyed reading. There was a bit of an enemies-to-lovers dynamic going on at times, since Celie, our MC, justifiably disliked Michal, the vampire king, in the beginning. Yes, I know that being kidnapped and then falling for your kidnapper is somewhat problematic but really, this is fiction and YA (not a dark romance). Celie was not actually treated like a real prisoner, and that only progressed further as the story went on; she was dressed in beautiful gowns, walked around the castle grounds and island, and even went on an undercover mission with Michal at a brothel *ahem*.

Also, if authors tried making every fictional scenario inherently healthy and unproblematic I'd die of boredom. I want that in real life, not my books x). But I digress.

Characters

I really disliked Celie in the beginning. Her actions and internal monologue felt juvenile, to the point where I seriously struggled to believe she was 19 and not, say, 15. I understand that she was supposed to be this soft, feminine and lady-like character and this is actually a character type I'd like to see more of, as feminity is often demonized and seen as weak by readers. However, it wasn't Celie's "lady-like" personality I had an issue with, but how she felt infantilized sometimes. The other characters kept her entirely separate from any plans they made, even if she was directly involved in one of the murders since she found the body. This is a good idea, but the execution made it feel like "go away, the adults are talking" instead of "she is too traumatized to take part in this", which is what I believe Mahurin was going for. It is also easier to believe the former due to Célie's often childish behavior and reactions. You can be soft and feminine but still behave a bit more maturely, which is what I would have hoped for her. Still, her character development was fairly satisfying. She still has a long way to go, I think, and I am looking forward to hopefully seeing that develop in book two.

Michal is a character I hope to see Mahurin elaborate on more. We don't know that much about him yet, so it is really hard to judge. He states at some point, and this is no way a spoiler (honestly, it felt kind of random for him to say it), that he is afraid of love. Why? What happened for him to develop that fear? So far I can say that I love how he has a very ruthless and violent side, but can also be extremely caring and sweet at the same time.

I also loved the side characters, at least the vampire ones, Odessa and Dimitri. Especially Odessa. I cannot say much for the Serpent & Dove characters because they mostly appear in the first section of the book, which is exactly the section I disliked.

In general, I enjoyed the characters. I'm giving four out of five stars, though, because as I said before, I think Célie's character could have handled a bit more maturely in the beginning, especially since she was supposed to be 19.

Writing Style

As always, this is entirely subjective but I include this part in my reviews since writing styles have made or broken books for me, and I would like to offer those interested in the books insights into the style before buying it, so you can decide for yourself if this is something you'd enjoy reading.

Oh boy. I didn't really like it, I fear. Firstly, the narrator is a first-person present tense which is already not my favorite combination, but it is easy to overlook really. The main issues I had were t-t-the c-c-onstant s-stuttering l-like this. It was wholly unnecessary in my opinion and widely overused. I also think we have been past this in publishing and established that there are better ways to write stuttering t-than t-t-this. There are stuttering writing guides online. I actually loved the fact Celie stuttered, since it showed her character development very well, I just wish the stuttering had been written differently.

Secondly, the constant italicization of words for emphasis got on my nerves, too. Using it sometimes is totally valid, but I swear there was not one page without at least four or five italicized words for emphasis, and that's not even counting the constant repetition of sentences that had already been said at some point before, just so the reader doesn't forget anything. Those were also in italics, of course.

Overall, this improved toward the end of the book, though. Celie's stuttering ceased and so did the italicization for emphasis (mostly). Still, this is something that annoyed me a tremendous amount and one of the reasons why it was so hard for me to get through the first part of the book, hence the two stars.

Re-Readability

I think this book can definitely be re-read. Especially if you enjoyed the romance scenes between Michal and Celie, like I did. However, keep in mind this book has about 620 pages so it is not short by any means. Also, I would probably skip the first part of the book if I ever re-read it and jump straight into Celie arriving in Requiem.

Conclusion

In essence, I enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I was looking for in terms of vampire romance, but it also pulled me right into the story and I am very excited to see what will happen in book two, especially after that ending. I don't think I will pick up Serpent & Dove, however, since the story of that trilogy doesn't peak my interest as much.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I have a friend whos getting into romance novels and would love some recommendations, she's into bdsm, dom/sub dynamics (with a preference for femdoms) harem/reverse harem and polycules. They can be any subgender of romance really, however she's not the biggest fan of mafia books and I think she's not super into dubcon stuff. If you have anything that fits into this it would be greatly appreciated!

For sure!

In general, I would recommend Sierra Simone. Most of her books are kinky with a heavy emphasis on dom/sub, and several of her most famous series are poly. At points, her characters may practice CNC (consensual non-consent; everyone consents to the fantasy beforehand and there are safe-outs ahead of time, in fact she's one of the only authors I've read who covers things like "snap your fingers if you want me to stop" when gags are in play) but it is not dubcon.

A quick rundown of her books and their kinks/tropes:

The Bell Brothers series, which includes:

Priest--Catholic priest/parishioner (sort of), BDSM with a dom hero and a submissive but bratty heroine, obviously a lot of play surrounding Catholicism

Sinner--Novice nun/her brother's slutty best friend, age gap, BDSM with a male dom, virgin heroine

Saint--Monk/his ex-boyfriend, m/m obviously, lighter on the kink but Dom/sub is still present; there's also a chastity device involved.

New Camelot:

American Queen, American Prince, American King--must be read in order, MMF, Dom/sub with a dom hero, a switch hero (subs for the other hero, often doms the heroine but there is more of a power play between them wherein she engages in some light domming) and sub heroine. Begins as a love triangle but is a polyamorous triad by the end of book one. VERY kinky, with things like bondage, spanking, CNC, role play, edging, pain play, light CBT, etc.

Lyonesse:

Salt in the Wound and Salt Kiss--must be read in order, in progress. MMF, though the triad is currently in its early stages. SitW focuses on the main dom and the heroine, who is a sub but is very particular about her submission (she's into pain and is quite aggressive in some ways), and SK focuses more on the submissive hero falling for the dominant hero and then the heroine separately (he has a somewhat more dominant role with the heroine, but it's more of a trade off). A little darker than NC I'd say, due to the dominant hero being more of an enigma and all three leads being more... violent? Not necessarily with each other. Breeding kink (not for actual conception... it's quite queer), bondage, wax play, pain play, etc.

Thornchapel:

A Lesson in the Thorns, Feast of Sparks, Harvest of Sighs, Door of Bruises--must be read in order, VERY poly, six leads with two core relationships (MMF and FF) but everyone does have sex with each other at some point. There's some free use, Dom/sub, very taboo relationships, and there is femdom in the FF pairing.

Outside of Sierra, I'd say...

Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre. Femdom, the heroine is paid by the hero, her boss, to be his domme. It's actually quite fun and romantic in a lot of ways, but she's also sort of financially dominating him by making him donate to women's shelters and stuff lol.

The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham. This is a femdom historical, though the heroine doesn't realize that the hero wants to be dominated until the last third of the book or so because he's been trying to hide it from her. He does see a dominatrix during this time, though there isn't explicitly sexual contact (I believe he gets caned, which does arouse him, but doesn't involve direct skin to skin engagement); I didn't have an issue with it as a READER, but obviously it's not ideal for a relationship lol. I liked how it was handled, personally.

Her book The Earl I Ruined also has some light Dom/sub stuff, with a male dom and a newbie female sub.

Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette. Another historical. The heroine is less experienced than the hero (but not a virgin) but they're both interested in kink and they switch off on dominating each other. At points she ties him up, at points she whips him until he comes, all that.

Sara Cate's Salacious Players Club has generalized kink and I'd recommend:

Praise--Dom/sub with a male dom. He's a pleasure dom, which is depicted here in what I would consider a pretty soft but also very clearly set out kind of way?

Eyes on Me--This isn't D/s so much as it is voyeurism. The heroine is a camgirl and her stepbrother (yes I know... they didn't grow up together) begins watching her, because voyeurism is his thing. Not for everyone, but Iiiiii liked it.

Give Me More--This isn't as heavy on the kink (though there is some bondage stuff and what one hero initially thinks is cuckoldry, but that's actually not his kink) but it is heavy on the MMF, as it's about a married couple realizing they're both in love with their male best friend. Very hot.

Mercy--This is a straight up femdom romance (with pegging, a rare find). The hero realizes that he's a brat, the heroine realizes she's not only a domme but a brat tamer, and we go from there! Super good. I'd say GMM and Mercy are the strongest installments in this series, for sure.

And then leaving Sara Cate...

Scandalous Passions by Nicola Davidson. A fun historical FFM romance with femdom! The older heroine is a domme, and the hero and the younger heroine both submit to her. She falls in love with both of them separately before they fall for each other. Kinky and also pretty clear on consent.

Minx by Sophie Lark. This is a kinky escort/billionaire romance. I'd say that he's the more dominant partner at first, but she's very actively involved and they start switching towards the end. The big kink with this one is PET PLAY, and they both get turns wearing the collar.

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield. Contemporary that focuses a lot on daddy kink, with some stepfather/stepdaughter roleplay. Some light CNC is involved, all carefully discussed beforehand.

Possession by Adriana Anders. Generally very kinky, set in a literal "kink camp" where people go to work their shit out. The hero is dominant and the heroine is submissive; there's roleplaying kidnapping, as well as some sharing of her with his friend. There is also a bonus scene wherein he shares her with uhhhhh like... four or five people lmao.

A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon is a historical monster romance, wherein the heroine is a sex worker who ends up with... five...? Male partners. Of various monster origins--vampire stuff, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde vibes, there's a sphynx, one guy is like... invisible, one is a gollum I think lmao it's wild. There are many kinks involved, including generalized BDSM, somnophilia, etc; I believe one guy is a little more on the submissive side. Some of them interact with each other sexually on the reg, some prefer only her.

Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha is a fun fantasy romance (ongoing series). It's FFM, with the two heroines already in a relationship when one of them marries the hero, and they all begin to fall for each other. The hero is definitely on the switchy side, and we are working up to some light femdom imo. Super hot.

Triple Sec by TJ Alexander... This one isn't out until this summer, but I'd recommend that anyone who loves a poly romance pre-orders! The heroine is recently single and meets this female lawyer she hits it off with; the lawyer is open about being in a polyamorous marriage, with an NB spouse. Initially, our main heroine only dates the lawyer, but slooooowly sparks begin to fly with the spouse as well. Has some light femdom, I'd say.

[samuelroukin]

re gazprice dynamic, I def agree dom/sub doesn't fit them well, price in particular doesn't have the right life setup to get off on being a dom imo, and after all one of the great horny truths is that people almost never want more of exactly what they're getting in their vanilla life in bed and like, doming is his day job lol, I think the #1 thing he wants is probably to fucking relax for once, but I can't see him being comfortable with anything that looks like submission from the outside

gaz I could see being a little more flexible bc hes not shoved so hard into a particular social role by circumstance, but even so I think submission is more something hes capable of enjoying than something he is, and tbh I think the rule of reversals would have him going the other way - something that strikes me about his dialogue is how fucking fast he is on the uptake, like he never seems to break a sweat coming up with an instant reply and almost everything he says is elquoent, measured, he gets emotional sometimes but he's never out of control, hes funny but he's not trying to get people in stitches. there's a lot of moments where you can see him thinking but he doesn't say much. which is interesting, bc that level of control implies he could be running conversational circles around the others if he wanted to, but thats not what he chooses to use it for. the why of that is up to interpretation, but my vote is for deliberate restraint, like he knows exactly what he's doing/not doing and its on purpose, and that is exactly the sort of thing that sets someone up to enjoy letting loose a bit in bed

all of that feeds into an indulgent daddy kink thing really well so like, yeah absolutely sold on that. personally I think there's maybe a bit of corruption kink in there too, like bc that seems to be a pretty significant element of their working relationship and I can't imagine they don't have feelings about it, but I think it could go a lot of different ways, and either of them could be in the drivers seat for that one (price orders gaz to get blood on his hands, gaz responds by taking another thing off prices 'never have I ever' list when they get home), but I'm also partial to the classic 'I fucked that old man (smug)' and 'and I enjoyed it (guilty)' vibe

(sorry so much of this is like, saying what you said with more words, I went and actually watched bits of the game for the first time so I'm just like, confirmed via independent research and I think you're right sfgdfsgsdfgd)

if you're willing to entertain more questions, I am stuck on trying to figure out how much and what kind of experience price has and what his relationship with being gay is - thoughts?

YES to all of this! i'm actually super glad you put it into words way better than i ever could, especially about gaz being so deliberate in his words and actions.

also this "the classic 'I fucked that old man (smug)' and 'and I enjoyed it (guilty)' vibe" like. Yeah. yeah. like to me i can't see price completely giving up control and reversing their dynamic when they're together but the. allowing gaz to do what he wants...

to me, price is like a 2 (maybe 1.5) on the kinsey scale. comfortable being attracted to men occasionally but with his job it's easier to separate personal and private if work is (mostly ofc) where he doesn't think about men like that, and i like the added layer that brings to him being into gaz. not so much a 'ew i don't like men' reaction but 'i'm his superior and i'm not supposed to feel like this at work' if that makes sense. (like yeah he shouldn't in general, but idk.) as you can tell i don't do deep thoughts, just vibes lmao

so i think he def has some experience, more when he was younger, although he gets more attention now, but it's not something that comes up a lot

[xfindingtrouble]

percy nsfw headcanons

leading up to his relationship with vex [ or any plotted relationships ], i don't think percy had a lot of time to think about sex during his ' i will kill everyone who's ever wronged me ' mission. of course, there were a few drunken fumbles but nothing mind-blowing. i think this partially because where would he have the time? he's a bit prickly, he's not gonna crawl into bed with just anyone. but i also think this because of a throwaway line where percy alludes to vex showing him the ropes [ I'll site it sometime when i find it again ]

i definitely think he's a switch / versatile but he is someone who prefers to be on the submissive end the first few times he's with someone. it's almost analytical, though i definitely think he is some flavor of touch starved / super physically sensitive so it can't quite stay that way. regardless he likes to follow his partner's lead a lot of the time because he can catch onto how they handle him / how to apply it if the roles were reversed if that makes sense?

i bring that up because i think percy is wildly experimental in bed & outside of it. i think he's up for most things, though certain topics may require more patience than others. i think he's spent a lot of his life sticking to smut books & has a repoitore of ideas but is more careful in executing them. fantasy is one thing, but the intimacy of trusting someone with that part of yourself is different... so he definitely likes a defined power dynamic. he likes a bit of planning a bit of discussion if they're doing anything too kinky. not saying that sex is like this every time but he likes to know what to expect while finding different ways to thrill & be thrilled

opinion: i think he would like being tied up. i think it would have to be with someone who he trusts with his life & it would be a very carefully planned out scene but percy is one for extremes. his body reacts extremely to being bound, so why not rewire that extreme reaction to something a bit more thrilling? a bit more fun? there was a conversation i had with someone once where we talked about him rewiring his brain in regards to that negative reaction & reclaiming it for his own which i think is something he would enjoy on several fronts.

man also Definitely makes sex toys. Especially if his partner alludes to liking some sort of sensation he thinks he can replicate. i think he would be mortified to buy any & would prefer they had a personal touch about them.

praise kink praise kink praise kink. giving or recieving. praise kink. someone tell him how good he's doing. let him tell your muse how lovely they look. he will lose his mind, simply

there are also plentyyy of other kinks i won't go into just know that it's more likely he wants to try new ideas than not. he has a few hard limits that he is not interested in but he's pretty immovable on those subjects. a lot of percy's love language is reflecting his partner's needs in whatever way he can & that translates here. i think a lot of the pleasure for him is in mutual satisfaction, he's there to serve whether he's in a more dominant or submissive role.

in regards to kink percy's sub-space can get pretty intense. he's sooooo high-strung most of the time that when he can trust someone to have that sort of control over him, he really commits. there's a bit of him that simply cannot help it when he's in the right hands

man can be a merciless dom given the chance. it's partially why he likes to see what someone likes taking on a dominant role before stepping into it himself. he likes pushing people & things all the way to the edge via whatever kinks & things they've agreed on or he's observed in them. man is wildly experimental & is up for most things, but doesn't expect his partner(s?) to share the sentiment.

aftercare king. he will pamper your muse after they sub for him, given the chance. he'll generally ask what works for them beforehand but he loves working someone out of their subspace through soft touches, snacks, bath time, whatever works for them he will do in excess.

if you ask about his sex life & he doesn't know he might be offended & embarassed. if you're a close friend, he'll probably tell you a bit too blatantly whats happening. it's all or nothing in this regard