#but they're great i really enjoyed discovering all of these fun stories

[ladsofsorrow24]

Fave thing to draw? Also, top 5 manga/anime? :3c

uh-oh this is some hard-hitting questions right here! 😖

let's see... lately i think i like drawing eyes and fingers, even though i still struggle a lot with em. oh, and hair too! it's fun coming up with different kinds of hairstyle!

my top 5 animanga would be;

chainsaw man

mob psycho 100

jujutsu kaisen

showa genroku rakugo shinjuu (both seasons)

dorohedoro

top 5 manga would be;

call by asada nemui

look back by fujimoto tatsuki

young bad education + young good boyfriend by dayoo

oni to tengoku by aga naoki + oyoshikawa kyoko

cho to hana no kankeisei by akabeko

[hedgehog-moss]

Inspired by your last ask! What are the best French books you’ve read that have no English translation yet? I read Play Boy and Qui a tué mon père (really loved the latter) last year and it feels so fun to read something that other Americans can’t access yet

I'm too nervous to make any list of the Best XYZ Books because I don't want to raise your expectations too high! But okay, here's my No English Translation-themed list of books I've enjoyed in recent years. I tried to make it eclectic in terms of genre as I don't know what you prefer :)

Biographies

• Le dernier inventeur, Héloïse Guay de Bellissen: I just love prehistory and unusual narrators so I enjoyed this one; it's about the kids who discovered the cave of Lascaux, and some of the narration is written from the perspective of the cave <3 I posted a little excerpt here (in English).

• Ces femmes du Grand Siècle, Juliette Benzoni: Just a fun collection of portraits of notable noblewomen during the reign of Louis XIV, I really liked it. For people who like the 17th century. I think it was Emil Cioran who said his favourite historical periods were the Stone Age and the 17th century but tragically the age of salons led to the Reign of Terror and Prehistory led to History.

• La Comtesse Greffulhe, Laure Hillerin: I've mentioned this one before, it's about the fascinating Belle Époque French socialite who was (among other things) the inspiration for Proust's Duchess of Guermantes. I initially picked it up because I will read anything that's even vaguely about Proust but it was also a nice aperçu of the Belle Époque which I didn't know much about.

• Nous les filles, Marie Rouanet: I've also recommended this one before but it's such a sweet little viennoiserie of a book. The author talks about her 1950s childhood in a town in the South of France in the most detailed, colourful, earnest way—she mentions everything, describes all the daft little games children invent like she wants ageless aliens to grasp the concept of human childhood, it's great.

I'll add Trésors d'enfance by Christian SIgnol and La Maison by Madeleine Chapsal which are slightly less great but also sweet short nostalgic books about childhood that I enjoyed.

Fantasy

• Mers mortes, Aurélie Wellenstein: I read this one last year and I found the characters a bit underwhelming / underexplored but I always enjoy SFF books that do interesting things with oceans (like Solaris with its sentient ocean-planet), so I liked the atmosphere here, with the characters trying to navigate a ghost ship in ghost seas...

• Janua Vera, Jean-Philippe Jaworski: Not much to say about it other than they're short stories set in a mediaeval fantasy world and no part of this description is usually my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed this read!

Essays / literary criticism / philosophy

• Eloge du temps perdu, Frank Lanot: I thought this was going to be about idleness, as the title suggests, and I love books about idleness. But it's actually a collection of short essays about (French) literature and some of them made me appreciate new things about authors and books I thought I knew by heart, so I enjoyed it

• Le Pont flottant des rêves, Corinne Atlan: Poetic musings about translation <3 that's all

• Sisyphe est une femme, Geneviève Brisac: Reflections about the works of female writers (Natalia Ginzburg, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, etc) that systematically made me want to go read the author in question, even when I'd already read & disliked said author. That's how you know it's good literary criticism

Let's add L'Esprit de solitude by Jacqueline Kelen which as the title suggests, ponders the notion of solitude, and Le Roman du monde by Henri Peña-Ruiz which was so lovely to read in terms of literary style I don't even care what it was about (it's philosophy of foundational myths & stories) (probably difficult to read if you're not fully fluent in French though)

Did not fit in the above categories:

• Entre deux mondes by Olivier Norek—it's been translated in half a dozen languages, I was surprised to find no English translation! It's a crime novel and a pretty bleak read on account of the setting (the Calais migrant camp) but I'd recommend it

• Saga, Tonino Benacquista: Also seems to have been translated in a whole bunch of languages but not English? :( I read it ages ago but I remember it as a really fun read. It's a group of loser screenwriters who get hired to write a TV series, their budget is 15 francs and a stale croissant and it's going to air at 4am so they can do whatever they want seeing as no one will watch it. So they start writing this intentionally ridiculous unhinged show, and of course it acquires Devoted Fans

Books that I didn't think existed in English translation but they do! but you can still read them in French if you want

• Scrabble: A Chadian Childhood, Michaël Ferrier: What it says on the tin! It's a short and well-written account of the author's childhood in Chad just before the civil war. I read it a few days ago and it was a good read, but then again I just love bittersweet stories of childhood

• On the Line, Joseph Ponthus: A short diary-like account of the author's assembly line work in a fish factory. I liked the contrast between the robotic aspect of the job and the poetic nature of the text; how the author used free verse / repetition / scansion to give a very immediate sense of the monotony and rhythm of his work (I don't know if it's good in English)

• The End of Eddy, Edouard Louis: The memoir of a gay man growing up in a poor industrial town in Northern France—pretty brutal but really good

• And There Was Light, Jacques Lusseyran: Yet another memoir sorry, I love people's lives! Jacques Lusseyran lost his sight as a child, and was in the Resistance during WWII despite being blind. It's a great story, both for the historical aspects and for the descriptions of how the author experiences his blindness

• The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception, Emmanuel Carrère: an account of the Jean-Claude Romand case—a French man who murdered his whole family to avoid being discovered as a fraud, after spending his entire adult life pretending to be a doctor working at the WHO and fooling everyone he knew. Just morbidly fascinating, if you like true crime stuff

[spaceorphan18]

Ranking Bridgerton Season 3 Episodes

After sitting with this season the past month, I kind of wanted to see how a ranking would go (and those of you who know me, know I love a good ranking). These are 100% subjective opinions, and I don't expect anyone else to agree. More so did it out of the fun of it. :)

8. Forces of Nature (Episode 3)

I don't actually think there is a bad episode of this season. Truly. After really sitting with this season, thinking it over, even agreeing that there isn't enough Polin and some of the subplots could have been stronger (or not existed at all), I think all of these episodes are pretty stellar. But one of them had to be placed last, and after combing through all of them, it's episode 3.

There is actually a lot I like in this episode - Colin spending the whole episode pining for Pen, the ridiculous and romantic dream fantasy, the awkwardly cute willow scene, the angsty cake scene, Colin asking his mother for advice and awkwardly trying to figure his shit out, loved it. I also really enjoyed Debling and the development of that story as an alternative option for Pen.

What really bogs this episode down, and consequently pushes it to the bottom, is that it's also the culprit for braiding in all of the seemingly many subplots. I don't necessarily think any of them are bad on their own, but it feels like so much that it's too much at times.

We get Lord Kilmartin's introduction (yes, great), Lord Anderson (yeah, okay), Lady Tilly (ooff, fine), The Mondrichs (why are they here again?), the stuff with the Queen (this was just weak in general), and development of Cressida (it works in conjunction with LW, but idk if it holds up on rewatches?). It's just a lot and the main characters (unfortunately, especially Colin) get pushed a little to the side.

7. Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Episode 6)

This is the episode that when I first watched it, I straight up thought it wasn't that good. I've honestly changed my opinion on it a lot, but I do understand why I originally felt that way.

I love LOVE the first half of this episode. We get to have Pen and Colin in a little bit of a honeymoon stage -- the engagement ring scene is brilliant, everything at the church is brilliant, even the stuff at the Mondrich ball... It's truly delicious. And I love Colin just being soft with his sister and at the Mondrich bar scene. And then I do love the Lady Whistledown aspect of it -- Pen dealing with whether or not she wants to continue. There's some great Eloise stuff in here, too. And even Cressida pretending to be Whistledown was handled decently.

But, like episode 3, this episode was saddled with a ton of side plots, where the scenes just go on and on and on because they're the meat of some of these side plots. I don't know if they needed to be balanced better or parceled out better, I don't know. But the long stretches without any Polin, or much Pen or Colin in general in the second half is why this episode ended up lower.

I think the only reason it's moved up a spot is that I do love the Polin we do get more than what's in episode 3. Also, the last few moments of Colin discovering Pen is Lady Whistledown is an excellent cliffhanger.

6. Out of the Shadows (Episode 1)

I do think the season opener is solidly good! I actually really love Pen getting her transformation and the ridiculous of Colin (attempting) swagger as he comes back into town. I love that we don't beat around the bush, and the two of them really get to the heart of their issues right off the bat and it sets up the entire season really nicely. Plus, their dynamic as never sparkled any better -- it's truly a treat to see the two of them back on screen.

The rest of the episode works pretty well, too. The tension between Pen and Eloise is great -- and kicks off one of my favorite arcs of the season. Francesca's (re-)introduction is wonderful. There's some truly brilliant Bridgerton sibling stuff, as well as Anthony and Kate being on the top of their game. It's also got some breathing room as we haven't established the nineteen other plot lines going on this season (though the Mondrich stuff feels a little sluggish).

The only reason this episode is as low as it is -- is because I just like everything else more.

5. Joining of Hands (Episode 7)

It pains me to have this episode as low as it is because I love so much of it. The Polin stuff in this episode is just delicious. I love the tension after Colin finds out that Pen is Lady Whistledown. I love the brutalness of the first argument and the angst, longing, and actually working through some of their shit (as well as the spiciness) of their argument outside the Modeste.

I love that they still get married despite having unresolved conflict, and that their love transcend set backs. And that wedding dance is absolutely gorgeous.

Plus - we get some great Bridgerton in general stuff -- Eloise and Pen are on their way to repairing their relationship, Colin and Eloise get some great moments, Benedict is adorable at the 'bachelor' party, and Anthony and Kate are amazing in everything that they do (I love LOVE the scene with Kate, Anthony, and Colin).

The episode does have some weaker aspects - I don't care all that much about Violet and Lord Anderson nor Benedict and Lady Tilly (even if I'm all here for Benedict's bisexual awakening). But the subplots don't really weigh everything down as much, and it's a solidly good Polin episode.

4. Into the Light (Episode 8)

The Season Finale! I honestly toggled between episodes 7 and 8 and where they went, and I think maybe on a different day I could be persuaded to switch them, but I think what really sells me is everything from the Butterfly Ball onward. The ending is gorgeous, Pen's story wraps up brilliantly, Colin's grand speech was beautiful, the epilogue was pitch perfect, and all of the storylines work out in a great way, setting up threads for future seasons (obviously, Benedict is next but Eloise and Francesca are getting some good stuff, too.)

My only issue with the end of Pen and Colin's story is that I wanted more resolution to their story. The twenty seconds of make-up sex felt like not enough, and I do hope that they rectify this in Season 4. (Which I have a feeling they will.)

There are some really great things leading up to the ending as well -- I love that Pen and her mother kind of come to terms with each other and finally that relationship is being restored, as well as the Featherington sisters blooming into decent people. I also LOVE the reconciliation of Pen and Eloise. And while the blackmail plot could have been a little stronger (Cressida's whimper out was a little weak) I honestly love Colin's scene with Cressida. (As well as the hilarity of Portia, Eloise, and Colin being the ones to try to help Pen deal with it all.)

It's not perfect episode -- there's the seemingly never ending threeway with Benedict (as well as the fact that Benedict desperately needs next season because his character feels aimless at this point), and Francesca's wedding, while sweet, felt like it pushed Pen and Colin a little out of the limelight for a little too long in the middle. But pacing might have been the biggest issue of the episode. It's otherwise a great episode and a solid ending.

3. Old Friends (Episode 4)

So here's the thing. Here is the thing I've been really thinking about while putting this together. It's a testament to the carriage scene and, honestly, everything from the last twenty-ish minutes of this episode because without it, I'm not sure this episode would be that high. Pen and Colin get ZERO screen time together until the end (and I suppose that's somewhat intentional) you really start to feel it as the episode goes on.

But the tension of this episode is fantastic. Pen bonding with Debling, beginning to accept that this is her best option with pressure from Portia... Colin dealing with his own feelings and downward spiraling (though I do wish we had gotten more of him). It's really, really well done. And then the last twenty minutes is just solidly amazing. All of it. Fantastic. It's just captivating.

And then, of course, the carriage scene -- one of the best (possibly the best??) scenes of the entire show. I could wax poetic about the carriage scene for days...

This is another episode that does feel like it's saddled with too many subplots, and pacing issues, because they're withholding the Polin stuff until the very end and it almost feels like a trudge to get there at points. But it's well worth the wait -- and enough of an amazing payoff that I have this episode so high.

2. How Bright the Moon (Episode 2)

I just fucking adore this episode. Like so much. It is a romantic comedy at its finest with one of the most beautiful first kiss sequences I've ever seen. I love everything this episode chooses to be.

First of all, there's just so MUCH content for Pen and Colin, and we really get to see their FREINDSHIP at play here. (As well as Nicola Coughlan's amazing comedic chops - she shines in every scene here.) Everything between the two of them is brilliant and hilarious and awkward and funny and really, I could have watched a whole season of just this ridiculous rom-com trope-y stuff. Because they're both so good at it. Because it's just so delicious and wonderful.

We also get some of the best comedy of the show in the scene with Portia explaining sex to the Featherington sisters. And some truly great moments with Eloise, too. The rest of the side plots don't feel as heavy as they don't over shadow what's going on with Pen and Colin.

And then that last scene, the beautiful, fairy tale, fantasty-esque, shot like an Old Hollywood film first kiss that is truly breathtaking. This episode just wins all the things.

1. Tick Tock (Episode 5)

Like it was going to be anything else ;)

But no, here's my thing. It's not just the awkwardly beautiful ten minute sex scene of this episode that has me placing it on top. No, really, even if I think the mirror scene is incredible and breathtaking in it's own right.

This episode is solidly for Pen and Colin. And in a season that sometimes struggles to find good balance, this episode (and episode 2 really) are the only ones that really feel like the fully feature Pen and Colin, so it's no coincidence they end up taking the top spots.

The first half of the episode is just a continuation of the amazingness that is the ending of episode 4. The engagement announcement, the hilariously wonderful ABC Bros scene, Colin telling off Portia, Pen and Colin being so soft and sweet with each other during sex, the aftercare cuddling on the satee, the carriage ride.... it's all so, so good, I love it so much.

There's also some great stuff going on around Polin -- Kate and Anthony are back, Eloise has some great stuff, the Cressida plot is hitting its stride, the Queen is adding tension, the Lady Whistledown plot is getting turned up to eleven...

The second half of the episode is also incredibly strong, as it mostly takes place during the engagement party and the tension during that whole sequence is fantastic. All the little plot threads are getting pulled at in a way that works well being woven in together. It's GREAT drama and it really pushes this episode to be the season's finest hour.

This episode just works all the way through. It's got such lush, romantic Pen and Colin that I keep coming back to, some crazy tension built in to ramp up the drama, the characters all just so much fun to watch. This episode is amazing, and truly deserves to be at the top of the list.

And that's my list!! Thanks for reading!! :)

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Sweet Nothing (Superstar Chapter 6)

They said the end is coming

Everyone's up to something

I find myself running home to your sweet nothings

Outside, they're push and shoving

You're in the kitchen humming

All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

Roy and the Reader enjoy simple domestic bliss.

Roy Kent x Reader

8.3k words

Warnings: Language, mind-numbing fluff, an overprotective dad, allusions to smut

Wow, this came out kind of long! It was fun to write and I hope all this fluff was worth waiting for!

~

Keeley eyed me carefully as we ate lunch in my office, door closed to keep out all the men. After the Paris trip, we’d had a hard time synching up our schedules, so she’d finally cornered me and demanded a lunch date, kicking Roy out of the office in the process. We sat on the floor, shoes kicked off, stabbing at the salads she’d picked up for us.

“So, what about after the game?” she asked, eyebrows raised. “Did you join the boys’ clubbing? Jamie didn’t mention if you did.”

“Oh, no,” I admitted, taking a sip from my water bottle. “They asked me to, though.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Then why were you all dressed up?”

Suddenly, the tomato on the end of my fork looked really interesting and required all of my attention. “Who said I was dressed up?” I asked in my most disinterested voice.

“Only all the guys,” Keeley said with a giggle. “That little red number from the gala- you’re welcome by the way- and some heels with your hair all sexy.” She raised an eyebrow. “I think there’s a couple little crushes in that changing room, you know.” A smirk played on her lips. “Not as big as the one Roy has on you, of course,” she added.

I looked at the non-existent watch on my wrist. “Damn, is my lunch over already?”

“Come on,” she urged, giving me a friendly shove. “Where’d you go all dressed up?”

My story was ready to go. “Just went out exploring and wandering about. Found a nice little bar to sit in, read a bit on my phone.” I shrugged. “Nothing too exciting.”

“What about Roy?”

Once again, my salad was fascinating. “What about Roy? Didn’t he go out with the guys?”

“Nope,” Keeley answered, popping the “p” loudly. “You sure he didn’t join you at the bar?”

“He did not join me at the bar.”

You’re not lying, I thought to myself as I remembered our date at the Louvre, eating dinner with the Mona Lisa, followed by slow dancing in front of the statue of Cupid and Psyche. After that, we strolled around the museum, champagne in hand, gazing at the art. The whole time, I found myself wondering if I’d wake up back in my old room, its walls covered with Roy Kent, to discover the last four months had been a dream. Instead, I had woken up to find he’d run out to grab me a chocolate croissant for breakfast before the sun was up.

But Keeley didn’t need to know any of that right now.

Not that keeping Keeley in the dark was something I liked. Outside of a couple of my really good school mates, Keeley was quickly becoming my best friend. She was sweet, savvy, kickass and independent, and a great hype woman who made anyone feel like they could do anything. There was a part of me that was dying to grab her by the shoulders and scream, “I’m shagging Roy Kent and I think I’m in love with him!”. But I was loving the small bubble Roy and I were living in, where only Jamie Tartt knew about our existence and was threatened into silence. The little bubble where we were constantly holed up in my flat or his house, watching movies or making dinner together, drinking on his back porch and whispering sarcastic jokes late into the night, not having to answer anyone’s questions about how we got together or who liked who first or how someone like me got someone like him. No, thank you. Roy and I would stay in our happy little bubble for as long as it suited us.

~

“How do I look?”

I poked my head out of Roy’s bathroom to look at him. He was wearing- surprise, surprise- all black: black jeans, black shirt, black jacket.

“You look like Roy Kent,” I answered, running my brush through my hair. “Dunno why you’re so nervous. You’ve met them before. Don’t you remember my dad tackling you?”

Roy sighed and traded one black jacket for another nearly identical one. “Yeah, but that was as ‘Roy Kent, football legend’. This time it’s ‘Roy Kent, old man sneaking into your daughter's hotel room in Paris’.” He turned to me, waiting for my verdict on his outfit.

Tossing my brush on his bed, I strolled over to him and adjusted his jacket, fixing the neckline. “How about ‘Roy Kent, boyfriend who makes their daughter really happy’?” I offered.

A smile cracked through his nerves. “I like the sound of that guy.”

“Me too.” I kissed his cheek. “Now, let’s go so you can stop bugging me about my mum’s pasta.”

The drive to my parents’ was quieter than our usual car rides. It wasn’t hard to figure out why; Roy had already told me that he hadn’t met too many parents in his previous relationships. He was never really with someone long enough to reach that step, and the few times he did, it didn’t go great. He was especially embarrassed to talk about the mother who had propositioned him when her daughter was out of the room. Stories from Roy’s past made me sad sometimes; he’d had a hard time finding people who made him feel cared about for himself, not his skill or fame.

No wonder he clings to Phoebe and his sister, I had realized one day. I hoped my parents would join the apparently short list of people who made him feel special for just being Roy.

We easily found parking in front of my parents’ house and quickly made our way to the door. I carried a pie we’d picked up on the way over, and Roy held a bouquet of flowers he’d brought for my mum. As I unlocked the door, I glanced at him; he looked more nervous than the teenage boyfriends I’d brought home during my school days.

“Relax,” I whispered, planting a small pack on his cheek. “They already adore you.”

As if on cue, my mother yanked the door open, nearly ripping my arm off in the process. “We thought we heard something!” she greeted, ushering us in. She took the pie out of my hands as she kissed me on the cheek. “How was Paris?”

“Great,” I managed, closing the front door behind us. “The team won, and I got to check out the Louvre with Roy.” I shot Roy a knowing look, which seemed to relax him slightly. It also captured my mum’s attention.

“Roy, we’re so glad to have you over again,” she gushed, giving him a half hug that had him frozen in place.

When she pulled away, Roy cleared his throat and held out the flowers. “These are for you,” he stated, a bit stiffly. “I, uh, felt bad for interrupting your dinner last time without bringing anything so…” He trailed off, glancing at me as my mother took the flowers.

I slid my hand into his, giving it a small squeeze. “Where’s Dad?” I asked my mother, trying to put Roy at ease by taking some of the attention off him.

“Dad’s in the kitchen. Hope you don’t mind, we sent the boys to a friend’s house, so it’s just the four of us.”

Atta girl, Mum. My brothers were great boys, but they’d be positively tickled at the idea of having Roy Kent at their dinner table again and would probably be all over TikTok bragging about their “future brother-in-law” before we’d even had dessert. Just the four of us would mean that Roy could just be Roy, my boyfriend getting to know my parents, not Roy Kent, football legend and my lifelong crush.

My dad greeted Roy with a firm handshake, much calmer than the last time he’d seen us together. “How’re you doing, Roy?” he asked in a detached voice, as if he hadn’t been smothering the guy in the entryway just a few months ago.

“Good, sir,” Roy answered, more nervous than I’d ever seen him. “Yourself?”

Dad nodded, letting go of Roy’s hand. “Fine, thanks.” He quickly led us to the dining room, where Mum had clearly gone all out.

On the table was my parents’ best China that usually only came out when my dad’s boss visited or for my gran’s birthday, and there was a bottle of wine that I knew was twice as expensive as the kind they normally drank. Much to my relief, they (most likely Mum) had had the foresight to tuck away any embarrassing photos from my awkward teenage phase as well as that one photo my dad had of an extremely drunk me on my 21st birthday kissing my Roy Kent cardboard cutout, which currently laid flat under my bed at home, where Roy would hopefully never find it.

Roy pulled out my chair for me and then took the same seat he’d been in the night of my dad’s birthday. He shot me an awkward glance; God, this man had played in the freaking World Cup, yet here he was, jiggling his leg and blushing like a schoolboy on his first date.

Fuck, he must really like me, I thought to myself, feeling a bit stupid at such an obvious revelation. Of course Roy liked me; we spent every free moment we could together and when we couldn’t, we were constantly texting or calling each other. Heck, he’d even started using the Snapchat account Ted had made him sign up for so he could send me pictures of his uncle-niece dates. The man was clearly smitten, and the feeling was completely, totally, absolutely mutual.

My mother urged us to load our plates with pasta and salad, which Roy did not need to hear twice. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that he didn’t start eating until I’d taken my first bite; a gentlemanly gesture I’d never had a boyfriend do.

Once we’d all served ourselves food and wine and begun eating, my dad cleared his throat. “So how long… er, when did…” He gestured to the two of us. “When’d this start?”

I shot Roy a glance as I sipped the suddenly very necessary wine; his face had gone a little pale. Apparently I’d have to field this question myself. “Actually, when Roy popped by on your birthday,” I admitted. “Believe it or not, he saw all the posters in my room and didn’t run away.” I took Roy’s hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. “Since it was painfully obvious that I liked him, he asked me out the following weekend, and we made things official about…” I glanced at Roy, doing math in my head.

“A month ago,” he finished for me promptly, a shine in his eyes. “We went to this fundraiser thing hosted by the club owner and…” He trailed off with a shrug. “Dunno, we talked, realized we like being together, and made it official.” His eyes shifted to my dad, as if Roy was hoping he’d be okay with all this.

My dad was staring at Roy with an intensity I’d never seen in my life. Part of me could understand my dad’s hesitation to be as enthusiastic as my mum about this relationship; Roy had about a decade on me (though honestly, neither of us felt it), his temper on and off the pitch was nothing short of legendary, and, thanks in part to my stalker-like tendencies, my dad knew quite a bit about the rotation of gorgeous women who made up Roy’s dating history. During his last visit, Roy had just been someone I shared an office with, so Dad could fawn over him without a second thought. Now, Roy wasn’t just some girlhood crush on my walls, but a real, viable romantic partner. The concept must have been a bit terrifying for the father of an only daughter.

After the longest minute of my life, my dad spoke directly to Roy. “And you… you like my daughter?”

Based on his wide-eyed stare, Roy was not prepared for such a blunt question. “Oh. Um, yeah, of course, I really fucking like her.” Somehow his eyes grew wider. “Shit. Sorry. I mean-” He screwed his eyes shut and let out a tiny growl. With a sigh, he opened his eyes again. “Yes, I like your daughter. A lot.”

Dad didn’t seem ready to let up. “And you treat her well?”

Roy shrugged. “I’d like to think so. I respect her and try to make sure she knows I care about her more than I’ve ever cared about anyone. I like making her laugh. And once she decides she’s sick of keeping us gaffers in line, I’ll support her whatever she ends up doing.”

My dad stared at Roy hard, his jaw set. Come on Dad, ease up, I prayed. Go back to worshipping the grass this man walks on. Remember the way you sobbed when he walked off the field during his last game. Remember how much you want me to be happy. Please.

Finally, my dad nodded slowly. “Alright then. Thank you for your honesty, Roy.” He took a long sip of his wine as the rest of the table stared at him expectantly. At last, he set down his glass. “So, how d’you think the Greyhounds’ odds are for avoiding relegation this season?”

And that was it. The rest of the evening was a blur of laughter and stories and Roy getting second and third helpings of my mum’s pasta. By the time my mum brought out the pie, Roy and my dad had made plans to grab a drink later in the week to watch a football game together and my mum had promised to have us over for dinner again the following week. Roy’s face was full of relief as my mum gave him a hug and my dad shook his hand warmly.

“Was that so bad?” I teased once we were settled in the car.

He shrugged as he started the car, not hiding his smile. “I had a good time. Your parents are pretty great.”

I cleared my throat, keeping my eyes on the road. “Sorry about my dad, though. Not sure what came over him when we sat down.”

“Oh, come on,” he scoffed. “You’re his only daughter. I’m an old man who has something of a reputation. Can’t blame him for not loving the idea of us together.” His voice was thoughtful. “But I hope he believes me when I say I really fucking care about you.” He took my hand. “And I hope you believe it too.”

I turned to look at Roy, who was already glancing at me. “I do,” I assured him. “And I really care about you too.”

Turning his gaze back to the road, Roy nodded. “Good.” He paused for a moment, clearly thinking hard about something. “Just… please don’t tell your dad about our sleepovers. Because with my shit knee, he may be able to outrun me.”

“Oh no, Roy. He could definitely outrun you.”

~

“Here you go, dear.”

“Thanks, Rose,” I murmured, taking my drink from her. I turned back to Roy. “Alright. Now you can tell me about practice.”

Roy sipped his beer. “Actually, I had something I’ve been thinking about lately that I wanted to ask you about.”

I tilted my head at him. “Anything wrong?”

“Well…” Roy bobbled his head a bit. “Just thinking about how unfair it is that I’ve met your family twice now, but you haven’t met mine.” He glanced at me, playful suspicion in his eyes. “Unless you’re one of those women who thinks it should be all your family all the time and my family can go fuck off a cliff?”

Puzzled but intrigued, I leaned forward. “Absolutely not. Did you have something in mind?”

He tapped the side of his beer bottle. “’ve been promising Phoebe I’d take her to see this fucking stage production of The Sound of Music on Friday. Take her out to ice cream or some shit after. You want to join us?”

While he spoke in that disinterested voice he often used, I could sense the apprehension beneath it. He wanted me to say yes so badly, to be excited to meet the most important person in his life. To be interested in every part of his life, not just football. This would be a key moment in our relationship, and Roy obviously knew it.

“That sounds great,” I gushed, taking his hand. “If I’m being honest, I’ve really been looking forward to meeting Phoebe.”

“She’s dying to meet you too, actually.” He rolled his eyes, as if he wasn’t talking about his precious little niece who was the absolute light of his life. “Been bugging the shit out of me about it ever since I first told her about you.”

A flutter ran through my heart. “You talk about me to Phoebe?”

“Fucking course. Don’t tell her, but that little idiot’s probably my best friend.”

“Don’t let Jamie hear you say that,” I warned with a grin. “He’ll get jealous.”

Predictably, Roy bared his teeth at me. “I’ve told you a million fucking times, Jamie Tartt is not my best friend. He’s not even my friend. I fucking hate that prick. I want to cut his face off and hang it up as a Halloween decoration so I don’t have to pass out candy to fucking trick or treaters.”

“Wow, your best man speech at Jamie’s wedding is gonna suck.”

Despite his best attempt at annoyance, I could see the grin Roy was trying to fight. “Do I have to do that shit where I kiss you just to shut you up?”

I shrugged. “Can’t guarantee it’ll work. But you’re very welcome to try.”

~

Work that Friday seemed to go in slow motion. It took all my restraint to stop myself from asking Roy a million questions about Phoebe, what she liked, what she knew about me (about us, really), how to make a good impression on her. Instead, I scurried around making sure Ted had a Spanish-to-English dictionary available for a Zoom call he had late in the day and giving Rebecca a non-answer when she asked about my weekend plans.

Finally, Roy and I packed up our things and hopped into his still ridiculous car, stopping at his place to change into what he told me Phoebe called “fancy theatre clothes” before finally going to his sister’s place to pick up Phoebe.

Shit, is this how Roy felt at my parents’? I asked myself as I shook Dr. O’Sullivan’s hand. Of course, I knew her face from the photos of her at Roy’s place, but God, she was beautiful in person. And the smile she wore told me that Roy had definitely mentioned me at least once or twice.

“Is Phoebe fucking ready or what?” Roy sighed after introductions had been made.

“Uncle Roy! Uncle Roy!”

A blur of blonde and pink launched itself at Roy, nearly toppling him over. Phoebe clung to her uncle and gazed up at him, her face full of that love that a small child had for her hero. My entire body melted at the sight of this little girl in a pink dress hugging him tight. Feeling like I was being watched, I glanced over at Roy’s sister, who was looking at me with a pensive expression. We exchanged soft smiles before both turning our attention back to Phoebe.

Roy crouched by Phoebe, ignoring the small crack coming from his leg as he did so, and gestured towards me. “Phoebe, this is-”

Before Roy could finish, Phoebe hurled herself at me, giving me a tight hug. “Oh my gosh. I’m so excited to finally meet you!” Her smile was infectious. “My uncle Roy really likes you.”

“No shit, Phoebe,” Roy growled. “Let’s get going. If you make me miss the opening song, I’ll leave you there and you can become another Von Trapp brat.”

During the ride to the theater, Phoebe asked me a million questions: about my job, my friends, my family, my flat, and what I thought the best ice cream flavors were. In turn, I learned about her school, her friends, her mother, which of her stuffed animals were her favorite, and all the things she loved about her Uncle Roy. By the time we’d found our seats in the theatre, Phoebe was holding my hand like we were the best of friends and begging Roy to let her sit next to me, since he got to sit next to me in the car.

“It’s only fair,” I pointed out to Roy, who smiled and rolled his eyes in that goofy way that made my knees go weak.

The first act of the show was as wonderful as I expected. Phoebe was entranced the entire time, and on her other side I could see Roy mouthing along to every song. We locked eyes a few times, especially when Maria and Captain von Trapp were onstage together. Each time we exchanged bashful smiles, as if we were kids with crushes rather than two adults in a fairly serious relationship.

At intermission, we found seats in the lobby. Roy headed to the line at the bar to get us something to drink, leaving Phoebe and I alone.

“Are you enjoying the show?” I asked, offering her my softest smile.

“Very much,” she said. “Uncle Roy’s made me watch the film about a million times, so we know all the songs. Do you like it?”

I nodded. “It’s one of my favorite movies, too. Can I tell you a secret?” Phoebe nodded earnestly, clearly excited to learn something so important. “I nearly always cry when Maria and Captain von Trapp admit they love each other.”

Phoebe giggled good-naturedly. “My uncle Roy reminds me of Captain von Trapp. Always yelling, but he’s really very nice.” She gazed up at me, a pondering look on her little face before she broke into a huge grin. “I guess that makes you Maria!” My tongue was suddenly too tied to reply, so she continued. “You know, Uncle Roy talks about you all time.”

Clearly, this was the topic Phoebe was most interested in. “And what does your Uncle Roy say about me?” I asked, humoring her.

“Well, the first time he talked about you, he was telling my mum that you had started working at Richmond and he was kind of mad that he had to share his office with you. But then Mummy asked if you were pretty, and he told her to shut up, but he was smiling.” She thought for a moment. “He also says you’re very nice and very smart and that the team would fall apart without you. And he told me that being nice to you is very important because you’re his girlfriend.” She glanced down at her sparkly shoes. “Uncle Roy never introduces me to his girlfriends.”

Part of me knew I should change the subject, but the part of me that turned into a giggling teenage girl whenever I thought about Roy couldn’t resist. “No?”

She shook her little head as she looked back up at me. “No. But my mum says you’re different. She thinks Uncle Roy is going to marry you someday. Would you let me be your flower girl?”

Before I could manage a response, Roy appeared, holding three glasses. “Here. Shirley Temples.” He handed one to each of us. “Don’t fucking spill on your dress,” he warned Phoebe. He sat down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “What were you two chatting about?”

Of course, Phoebe pipped up before I could open my mouth. “Our favorite songs in the play. Mine’s The Lonely Goatherd.”

“That’s a shit choice,” Roy snorted.

While he went on a rant about why Edelweiss was a perfect song, I turned my gaze to Phoebe, who was already smiling up at me knowingly. Something in my heart warmed with the realization that I had made a new little friend.

~

The rain pitter-pattered against the window as I folded the laundry I’d managed to avoid for a couple of days. Some cheesy movie played on the television, more for background noise than anything else. My mind was occupied with thoughts of the weekend before, when we’d taken Phoebe on our second outing together: the zoo. She’d been thrilled to hold both our hands and explain everything she knew about each animal; she was especially excited to tell me all about how her Uncle Roy reminded her of the giant gorilla in its enclosure when it banged on the glass.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, Roy interrupted my thoughts with a phone call.

“Hey,” I greeted casually, pretending my heart didn’t skip a beat every time his name lit up my mobile screen.

“What’re you up to today?” he asked in lieu of a greeting.

I lowered the volume on the television. “Told you, I’m having my girlfriends over to have a proper catchup and grabbing drinks with them. I haven’t seen them since before Paris and I feel like I’ve been a shit friend since I started at Richmond.” Since you decided to take up my every waking thought.

“That’s not til tonight, right?”

Onscreen, the two romantic leads began their big blowout argument that threatened to break them up. “Yeah. But I’ve gotta tidy up a bit.” My curiosity got the better of me. “Why?”

“Got an errand to run and wanted your help.”

My curiosity increased. “What sort of errand?” I tucked my mobile between my face and shoulder so I could resume folding.

Roy sighed. “Phoebe’s been bugging her mum about getting a fucking dog, but there’s no fucking way my sister has time for one. So, I was thinking I might as well go down to the pound and get one myself so she can shut up already.”

I scoffed. “I’m sorry, you’re going to adopt a dog just to make your adorable little niece happy?”

There was a pause on Roy’s end. “Yes. That a problem?”

A smile crept across my face. “No. Just trying to figure out what Nora Ephron movie you walked out of.”

“Fuck you.” I could hear Roy’s smile through the phone. “You take that shit back.”

“Nope,” I insisted, my grin growing. “Sorry, you’re a regular Billy Crystal now.”

Now he scoffed, clearly offended. “Billy Crystal? Really? Can’t I at least be Tom fucking Hanks?”

Damn, I love a man who knows his rom-com leads. “If it’ll make you happy, fine. You’re Tom Hanks. Congrats.” I remembered the reason for Roy’s call. “So, why’re you asking me to go with you to get the dog? Not that I mind, but shouldn’t it be Phoebe? She’s the reason you’re getting one to begin with.”

There was a long pause on Roy’s end. With a deep breath, he mumbled, “Well, I kind of wanted to surprise her the next time she comes over. And I also kind of figured… I dunno, you’re my girlfriend and you’re here all the time, you’re gonna see the fucking dog a lot, I wanna make sure you like it too.” He paused a moment. “You could even help me name it and shit. If I let Phoebe name it, I’ll have a dog called Princess Sparkle Rainbow or something equally fucked.”

It wasn’t a big request; just go help Roy pick out a dog, maybe pop in a pet shop to get toys and food and a collar, talk him out of naming it “Fuckface” or some name Phoebe wouldn’t be allowed to say. An easy Saturday morning. If anyone else in the world was asking, it’d be an easy “Sure” and I’d have my shoes on already. But because it was Roy asking, the invitation to join him felt heavier, like it held some meaning other than “Come keep me company”. He wanted my opinion on this multi-year commitment he was making to whatever dog he found; that meant he expected me to stick around for a while, right?

Maybe Phoebe wasn’t so off base when she divulged her mother’s thoughts about Roy and me.

“Sure, Roy,” I answered after what was probably too long of a pause. “I’d love to help you pick a dog.”

Half an hour later I heard that familiar knock at my door. When I opened it, Roy immediately leaned forward to peck my cheek before he entered my flat, twirling his keys in his hand.

“You ready then?”

I nodded, closing the door behind him. “Just need to grab my shoes.” He lingered near the door as I quickly ran to my room to put on some trainers. When I came back, Roy was snickering to himself. “What?”

He shrugged, trying to compose himself. “Nothin’. I just really like your sweatshirt.”

Confused, I glanced down. Dark blue AFC Richmond sweatshirt, one of a million I’d collected over the years. This one, my usual go-to, was pretty simple, with just a small Richmond logo above my heart. It wasn’t like Roy hadn’t seen me wear one a million times at this point, especially on game days.

“The fuck are you on about?” I asked, feeling like I was missing an obvious joke.

Biting his lip, Roy grabbed my arm and pulled me close. “It’s honestly kinda hot seeing you wear my name.”

Oh. Despite the sweater being my favorite, I had found it that morning hung in the back of my closet, untouched in quite a while. Now it made sense why: Roy’s last name and number were emblazoned on the back in large white letters. I hadn’t even noticed when I tugged it on after my shower, especially since I had no plans to see Roy that day.

My cheeks warmed with the reminder that not too long ago, I was just an adoring fan. But Roy’s tightening grip on me brought me back to the moment.

“I’ll just go change really quick,” I breathed, trying to focus on anything but Roy’s hand that had moved firmly to the small of my back.

He shook his head, eyes burning into mine. “Absolutely fucking not. I like seeing my name on you.”

I managed an awkward chuckle. “Come on, Roy. Me wearing your name while I’m out with you in public might be asking for a little bit of trouble, hmm? All it takes is one picture and bam, front page of some rag tomorrow morning.”

Roy stared at me for a moment, his grip softening slightly on my back. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Was that a tinge of disappointment in his voice? If it was, he quickly recovered, adding, “That sweater should be your new pyjamas at my place. Let me see you in it more often.”

“Deal,” I agreed, kissing his cheek before dashing my room to put on a more inconspicuous sweater.

In the car, Roy told me all about Phoebe’s great longing for a dog. She was constantly looking up photos of different kinds of dogs, only wanted dog stuffed animals when out shopping, and had a very long list of possible dog names scribbled in her diary. Despite his ever-constant scowl, I could see the delight in Roy’s eyes when he talked about how “fucking feral” his niece would go once he introduced her to the dog.

At the shelter, Roy got plenty of double takes from employees, but he ignored them, completely focused on the pups in their kennels. He paused in front of one and knelt down beside it. After staring intensely into the crate for a moment, he waved for me to join him.

“What d’you think?”

The medium-sized dog was clearly a mix of about a few different breeds and his black fur looked like he desperately needed a wash. More importantly, his eyes were bright and eager, and he jumped as best he could in his confinement as he gazed at Roy.

I couldn’t help my smile. “I think this might be him.”

An older employee brought us and the dog to a small side yard where we could see him outside the kennels. He immediately jumped on Roy, licking his hands with excitement. Then he turned his attention to me, laying his paws on my thighs. For about five minutes, Roy and I tossed around a toy, watching the dog run around to find it and bring it back to one of us.

After the millionth successful round of fetch, the employee spoke up. “It’s amazing, he’s usually a bit of a grouch. Not aggressive,” she clarified. “But he’s not usually this friendly.” She smiled at us. “He must like you two.”

I turned to Roy, who was on the ground with the dog. “So? You want to take him?”

He gazed up at me as he scratched the dog behind his ears. “Do you like him?”

From the look in Roy’s eye, I knew the answer to that question mattered just as much- maybe even more- than what Roy himself thought of the dog. The idea caused my heart to skip a beat, another reminder that I really mattered to this man.

“I kind of love him already,” I admitted with a chuckle, reaching down to give the dog a pet. “But it’s your choice.”

He nodded, a smile slowly forming. “Yeah, I think he’s the one.”

We spent another five minutes sitting on the grass with the dog, tossing names back and forth, rejecting classics like Max or Fido, deciding against naming him after any footballers, and me forbidding Roy from using any swear words in the name.

Finally, I felt the lightbulb switch on in my brain. “Oscar.”

Roy furrowed his thick eyebrows. “Oscar?”

“For Oscar the Grouch,” I explained, as if it were obvious. “Phoebe told me the two of you always joke that you’re basically Oscar the Grouch. And this guy is supposed to be a grouch, but he loves us. Just like-” I stopped, knowing the next words that almost tumbled out:

Just like how you’re a grouch, but you love me.

Right?

Roy nodded, understanding what I meant. “Oscar,” he murmured. He patted the dog on its side. “What d’you think, fella? Feel like you can live with being called Oscar?”

Immediately, the dog sat down, gazing at Roy expectantly.

“Guess his name’s Oscar,” Roy agreed, his smile widening as he looked at me.

~

By the time we bought everything Oscar would need for his first few days at home and I helped Roy set his house up, I had to hurry home and finish getting my flat ready for my friends. Roy drove me home and walked me up, his arm wrapped lazily around my shoulders.

“Thank you again,” he said once we reached my door. “I really appreciate you helping me find Oscar. I think Phoebe’s going to fucking love him.” He leaned against the wall, looking at me carefully. “So, your friends are coming over, huh?”

I nodded, fiddling with my keys. “Yeah, we’re going to meet here, then head out to grab a drink. It’ll be nice to catch up with each other.” I shoved Roy playfully. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them about how Roy Kent and I have regular sleepovers.”

He stared at me for a long moment, then let out a small huff of a laugh. “Hmm. Yeah, guess you shouldn’t.” His eyes lingered again. “Why don’t I pick you up from the bar once you’re finished? You can spend the night. Help me with Oscar tomorrow.”

“Oh, Roy, I dunno what time we’ll be done, I couldn’t ask-”

“I want you to ask,” he interrupted bluntly. “I don’t want you driving home if you’ve been drinking or getting a ride from someone who has. And I don’t want you taking a fucking Uber when you have a boyfriend who is more than willing to give you a ride home. Even if you make fun of my car.” He held my chin tenderly. “Alright?”

I melted into his touch, unable to look away from the look of intense affection in his eyes. Roy Kent wants to take care of me. And I wanted to let him.

“Alright,” I whispered bashfully, trying not to grin too hard. I stood on tiptoe and gave him a small kiss. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to come home.” I paused. “I mean, when I’m ready to be picked up.”

He nodded. “Good.” He gave me one more quick kiss. “Be safe, alright?”

Of course I’d be safe. It was just me and two of my close friends from school, women I’d known for what felt like forever. I had just tucked away a photo of Roy and me in Paris when I heard a commotion outside my door. When I opened it, I was tackled from both sides- Carly and Allison.

We squealed like children as we hugged and chattered about how good each other looked and how mad we were that we’d gone so long without hanging out together. We sat on my couch for a bit, gossiping about old schoolmates and the things they overshared on social media, before finally getting up and piling into Allison’s car to find a pub not too far from my place. Once we had settled a high-top table, drinks in front of us, we were ready to properly catch up.

“So, how’s life at Richmond?” Allison asked, emphasizing the team name the way all our dads always did. “The team’s actually winning these days!”

I shook my head. “It’s amazing. Believe it or not, the American knows what he’s doing. And he’s honestly the nicest guy in the world.”

Carly leaned forward, clearly already feeling her drink. “And is Jamie Tartt really that pretty in person?”

A snort caught in my throat. “Oh, Jamie’s beautiful,” I assured her. “And his very serious girlfriend Keeley is otherworldly gorgeous and the kindest person I’ve ever met. Sorry.”

Allison nudged me. “Who’s single, then? Because I am obsessed with Dani Rojas. That accent, that hair.” She fanned herself with a napkin.

“Or what about Isaac McAdoo? The things I would let that man do to me…” Carly purred.

I couldn’t help laughing. “Oh God. I’ve seen these guys puke after being run too hard at practice or with bloody noses because someone kicked a ball wrong or playing a game of ‘the floor is lava’ in the changing room or drooling in their sleep on the way home from away games. These are not sexy to men to me.”

“Oh, I know what the problem is,” Allison hummed, shooting me a wink. “She’s got eyes for a certain coach.”

My cheeks warmed. “Dunno what you’re talking about,” I answered, taking a sip of my drink and hoping I looked casual.

Allison rolled her eyes. “Come off it, we’ve all seen the shrine. Hell, I bought you some of those posters.”

“If you marry him, you’ll be just like Princess Kate with her William poster!” Carly giggled.

I turned to Carly. “You know Kate said that never actually happened, right?” I asked, trying to shift focus.

Allison caught my game. “Don’t change the subject! Come on, give us the details. Does Roy Kent, love of your life, know you exist?” She shot me a playful wink.

Despite my flushing face at the sound of his name, I snorted. “He better fucking know I exist, we share an office. We eat lunch together almost every day.”

“What’s he like?” Carly asked dreamily.

I paused. I couldn’t tell them about us dating, but surely that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell them about the Roy Kent I knew. “He’s… surprising,” I finally murmured. “He’s actually very kind and thoughtful. Like if he grabs himself breakfast on his way to work, he usually brings me something. He’s got this little niece he absolutely dotes on, and she positively worships him. And fuck, Roy Kent was a great athlete, but I can’t even begin to describe him as a coach. The man’s kind of brilliant but refuses to take any credit for the team’s success. And he’s funny as hell. Very sharp and witty.” I stopped, realizing that I was completely gushing at this point.

My friends stared at me with looks filled with a mix of surprise, fondness, and a bit of pity.

Allison finally spoke. “Fuck, this goes beyond the posters and teenage idol worship. You’re actually in love with the man.”

I rolled my eyes. “Stuff it. So, I’m a bit attracted to him, big whoop. People get little crushes on their coworkers all the time and do nothing about it. It’s not a big deal.” We’re just in a full-blown relationship. No big deal.

“But most people don’t work with someone they have twenty-seven posters of in their bedroom,” Allison pointed out, giggling over her drink.

Carly sat up. “Twenty-eight,” she corrected. “Don’t forget the shirtless poster in her closet that she was hiding from her dad.”

My jaw dropped at the betrayal from my friends. “You’re both off your rockers,” I scoffed. “Roy Kent’s a nice guy, we’re friends, end of story.”

Somehow, I managed to get the girls to find other topics to focus on. At some point I lost count of how many drinks we’d had; it was easy to lose track when having fun with friends. Once I could feel our energy start to fade, I took out my mobile and shot Roy a quick text telling him where I was.

On my way, he answered.

Once our tab was paid, we headed out of the pub, with me assuring my friends that I had a ride, hoping they would assume I had ordered an Uber. They wouldn’t be thinking that once we actually stepped outside, though.

There was Roy, leaning against his stupidly giant black car, looking every bit like my personal teenage fantasy in his tight black jeans with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. His face lit up when he saw me, as if I were a Victoria’s Secret model and not his girlfriend stumbling out of a pub.

“Need a ride?” he called out casually; he knew exactly how sexy he looked and was really leaning into it. Prick.

The amount of alcohol in my system was enough to make me forget everything except how fucking happy I was to see him. I ran at Roy and jumped on him, enveloping him in a giant hug. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around me casually, mumbling “Fucking hello to you, too” into my hair.

My friends’ faces were a jumble of shock, giddiness, and a giant helping of confusion. Their eyes darted back and forth between Roy and me, waiting for some sort of explanation.

Keeping his arm around my shoulder even after I’d let go of him, Roy offered the smallest of smiles to my friends. “Hi. ’m Roy.” He gave a little wave, as if they somehow had no clue who he was. He nodded towards me. “I’m giving this one a ride home if that’s alright.”

Mouths slightly agape, the girls nodded. Still feeling tipsy, I waved to them. “G’night!” As Roy opened the door and placed his hand on my waist to help me into the car, I looked up at him, a dopey, lovesick expression on my face. “Roy?”

“Hmm?” His smile was softer than I’d ever seen it.

“You know I exist, right?”

He nodded, looking at me like I was some magical thing instead of a very sloshed woman. “Yes, I know you exist. Now get in the fucking car before I have to throw you in, hmm?”

Roy managed to get me in the car and then managed to not kick me out of it despite my incessant talking the entire ride back to his place. Instead, he walked me inside and helped me change into one of his sweaters, the one I loved to sleep in. While he changed himself into his sweats, I sat cross-legged on the floor, petting a very sleepy Oscar, now drunkenly explaining to Roy why Paul McCartney was the best Beatle.

As I expressed how much I loved “I Saw Her Standing There”, Roy joined me on the floor, watching me with admiration in his eyes. He absently rubbed Oscar behind the ears, nodding and offering small “Uh-huhs” from time to time.

“You going to kiss me so I can fucking shut up already?” I joked, realizing that he’d never let me go uninterrupted for this long.

Instead, he shook his head. “Nah. I like listening to you.” He paused, his face turning thoughtful. “I really fucking like listening to you.”

I leaned forward and kissed his face. “Thanks,” I murmured, my body now buzzing from the look in his eye rather than the alcohol.

His face screwed up, like he was debating something. “I love you, you know,” he finally breathed. “Like, I really fucking love you.” His shoulders tensed as he stared at me, waiting for me to say something, anything.

Roy Kent loves me. Roy fucking Kent loves me. Roy Kent fucking loves me.

“Holy shit. I love you too,” I blurted, my heart hammering. I blinked a few times. “Wait, you really said that right? I’m not just that drunk?”

Roy’s entire body relaxed, and he laughed so loud he made Oscar jump. “Yeah, I really fucking said that, you sloshed little muppet.” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. “I love you,” he mumbled against my mouth. “I absolutely fucking love you.”

~

When I woke up the next morning, Oscar was in his bed, but Roy wasn’t in his. With a small hum, I got up and headed downstairs, where I found Roy sitting on the couch and reading. He gave a small salute when I walked in with the dog at my heels.

“Mornin’,” he greeted, scooting over so I could sit beside him. He pecked my cheek. “Sleep well?”

Despite my giant yawn, I nodded. “Yourself?”

“I always sleep well when you’re here,” he answered nonchalantly, eyes returning to his book. “You hungry?”

I shook my head. “Could go for some tea though.”

He started to get up. “Let me put the kettle on.”

“I’ve got it,” I insisted, standing back up. “You keep reading-” I glanced at the title. “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?”

“Phoebe roped me into her fucking book club,” he grumbled, turning the book so he could glance at the yellow lion on the cover. “We’re doing the whole series. You want in?”

I chuckled. “Sure.” As I turned to head to the kitchen, he grabbed my arm.

“Hey,” he said softly, looking up at me. “I love you.”

Color flooded my cheeks as I smiled down at him. “I love you too.”

He nodded. “Just… wanted to make sure you heard me say it when you’re sober.” He leaned back and returned to his book. “Go on, then.” His eyes flickered up playfully as I made my way into the kitchen put some water on. While I waited for the water, I could hear ping ping ping from the next room.

“No fucking shit,” I could hear Roy exclaim.

Curious, I grabbed my own mobile and looked at it. Despite it being early on Sunday morning, there were several texts on the thread between Ted, Beard, Rebecca, Roy, and myself.

We got Vargas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The following messages were all emojis and gifs sent by Ted, a simple thumbs-up emoji from Beard, and several smiley faces from Rebecca. I rushed into the living room, where Roy was gazing at his mobile. He raised his eyebrows at me.

“This is fucking huge,” he said. “I mean, this deal was more Beard’s doing, I don’t know fuck all about the guy, but my understanding is that Vargas is supposed to be a big fucking deal very fucking soon.”

I nodded, scrolling through the still-incoming texts. “I can tell,” I chuckled. My mind was already running, thinking about all the things I’d have to get done on Monday: helping Keeley schedule a press conference, making sure Will was on top of things in the changing room, getting Ted a new Spanish-English dictionary, because goodness knows he’d already lost the one I’d just bought him.

As if he could feel my to-do list building in my head, Roy waved me over. “Get over here,” he grumbled. “We’re gonna have a fucking busy week, so let’s just be lazy today, yeah?”

A lazy day with Roy. Roy, who drove me home when I was drunk and wanted me to help pick his dog. Roy who loved me.

“That sounds great,” I agreed with a smile. “Let me just grab my tea.”

Once I had my cup in hand, I settled back onto the couch, tossing my legs over Roy’s lap. Oscar settled himself on the rug, clearly satisfied with his new living arrangements. Outside, I could hear the rain begin to pitter-patter as Roy rested a hand comfortably on my shin. A perfect, lazy day indeed.

“Oi, I picked you up one of those fucking rags when I was at the shop the other day,” Roy muttered, nodding towards the coffee table. “Clerk looked at me funny, the prick.”

I snorted and leaned forward to grab it. “Thank you for your sacrifice,” I retorted, flipping the gossip magazine open. We sat in happy silence as I turned the pages. Suddenly, a photo caught my eye, the sight making me choke on my tea.

Roy eyed me with mild concern. “Alright there?”

“Er, yeah.” I nodded. “I just, uh, I figured out where I know Dario Vargas from.”

“Oh?” Roy could not be less interested.

I folded the page back and handed the magazine to Roy. “I’ve seen him in paparazzi photos before. With his girlfriend.”

There, in full color, was a photograph of who I could only assume with Dario Vargas, with a sickeningly gorgeous woman on his arm. Below them was a simple caption: Football star Dario Vargas out for a night in Rome with supermodel Brittany Brett.

[william-o]

I participated in the Seasons of Gensokyo Zine!

I'm back once again in a collaboration Gensokyozine to share a fic I've made for their zine! Last year I wrote two short poem pieces but this year I did something I rarely do and wrote a whole short story!

You can read my piece on its own on ao3 here! But I highly recommend looking and reading all the amazing pieces this new zine has to offer!

I have quite a bit to talk about for this piece I wrote, it's been a journey! If you're interesting keep reading below!

So I knew there was going to be another event like this this year but I had no idea what the theme would be until the announcement was made. When I heard it was going to be based on seasons it was actually pretty tough figuring out a story revolving around that. I was also determined to write more than just a poem this time around so it had to be somewhat substantial.

Thankfully in the application where we had to pitch our idea there were a few topic examples provided, one of which involved using a story involving cicadas. So I started to do some research on cicadas, and what I found as a source of inspiration was a story about Cicadas by Lafcadio Hearn. Perhaps you've heard about him? Me being a *somewhat* superstitious individual saw it as a sign that this is what I was to write about for the seasons of gensokyo zine!

With further research I discover the existence of Dog Day Cicadas. They share the name of the shot type in the extra stage of Hidden Star in Four Seasons, they have folktale of how they're a sign of the end of summer and beginning of the next season, and strictly as a bonus for myself they're green and black just like me! It sounds like a story perfect to feature Yukari!

Now one of my biggest fears about writing a fanfic is completely misinterpreting a character. So I did all I could to try to get Yukari written just right. My idea was that it was most common in Gensokyo that people hated the sound cicadas make, except for Yukari. I was however advised that I needed some kind of reason that Yukari would like the sound cicadas make, or some kind of justification. Thankfully I found just what I needed in Chapter Five of Cage in Lunatic Runagate where Yukari states "The moon was unthinkably silent compared to the Gensokyo that was constantly noisy from bickering between humans and youkai. ~ Whether it was decay or pure heaven, I hated it. I needed the noise of the city." Close enough in my book to say that Yukari prefers noise over silence whether it be from people, a city, or cicadas.

Now when it comes to Son Biten, I didn't pressure myself as much to try and get her character right as I did with Yukari. She is one of the newest characters after all so there was less material to analyze her character. Although if I were to criticize myself about this fic, it would be that she's only there to be a plot point. I'll admit, I only really wanted her in here as a way to have the great sage equal to heaven and gensokyo and an actual sage interact. I will say I did a little bit of research to Son's personality, but I more or less just had her trying to do her best pretending to live up to the title she gave herself (Even though her character is more than just that).

And for good measure at the end I threw in a poem, this time in the tanka form (5-7-5-7-7). This was overall a lot of fun to write! I tried to format the story as a whole similar to a Hifuu story as well as the "A Beautiful Flower Blooming Violet Every Sixty Years" story. Speaking of Hifuu, I did throw in a little reference to Taboo Japan Disentanglement, did you happen to catch it? Well I hope you enjoyed my little story, I'm gonna go order some pizza and I'll see you again next year! (Hopefully!)

[2036sator]

hiiii :3 what r ur opinions on the characters in the cgvl and lha? Character wise, design wise, etc... (including freedom guy 🤭) I'm just really curious :3

[[ AA dude i’m gonna go so in depth w/ this !!!! this is personally from what I recently discovered from these characters so , i am kinda new to LHA and CGVL ,, not freedom guy tho lolol ]]

[[ Let’s start with LHA ^_^ ]]

> FREEDOM GUY - design wise … absolutely cool i can’t really explain how much i enjoy doodling him no matter what design he has , always loved the old design !! Red scarf is iconic to him and made him stand out even if its a bit plain… but other than the old design, new design kitt recently has made im ssooooooo inlove with how he became so …. HE LOOKS SASSY AT ONE POINT LOOOKING AT HIM FOR HOURS . his old design with his iconic hands on his hips pose already made me think he was all shiny sassy star that everyone praises of lllolololol 7_7 character wise by personality is great overall , he’s a code yet he is so , humane that being the therapist plus saviour is tiring even for a code sobbbb ilove gushing about freedom guy if u can’t tell

> FROST - design wise ? Love it . I would say that I love drawing Frost as well as much as I love to draw Freedom Guy :3 Character wise … very kewl…. I need to see more of frost stuff ………

> TANGERINE - DESIGN WISE AAHHHH OHMYGOD I have something for orange sticks idk why but she looks so cool i never actually noticed she even had like scars until i went thru deep into the LHA bloggers just to noticed she has like two or three scars like WHAT !!! Character wise , If she went to my school I would wanna be her friend tbh she seems fun to be around ^_^

> CION - Design wise is just… chefs kiss , I love drawing her marble head and drawing her in my design where she has like kind of maybe water ish? Or fire ish blob around it just bc I can’t see her with hair so instead I just made blobs that made to look like she has hair el o el ,,,overallll!! Super cool I love cloaks … Character wise is yes , just yes . Ilove the looks can be deceived like how Cion and Tangerine is the same just different fonts

> LUCKY - hhhahah lucky block…. I made Lucky’s head more not circular bc srsly I would totally believe lucky if xe told me xe was birthed from a lucky block. So it’s more geometrical? Character wise ilove xem ilove hackers and I don’t know much of Lucky ,,,still xe’s super cool either way

== WOOOOO CGVL IS NEXT ==

> SCRIBBLES - from what ive seen im surprised this is actually and technically the leader of cgvl and its just , a little scribble stick ( in a positive way not insulting ) , probably my favourite... ( i cant decide with scribs and rose ) ,,, character wise!!! ive seen a little bit of scribbles story and im cheering so hard scribs is so cool and with the programmer lore and everything going on is super interesting and all overall really cool character , easy to doodle when im bored in school

> VIX - oh jeez . can we get vix neutered . / LIGHTHEARTED JOKE ... Unique creature , i love the head design even though it sometimes confuses me when i try to doodle the back of vix :9 ., character wise .. freaky .... you a freak girl!!! also!!! I LOVE cannibal characters when they're all actually attached to a person then they soemtimes can't get over the thought of eating them ( filling them with guilt ) i love when cannibals feel bad for what they are ( technically its a parasite for vix's case but still!!! )

>ROSE - ohhhhhhhhh i almost tripped when i saw rose , pink characters save me ... shes so pretty by the design wise category .. made me jealous of her gender smhhhh.... character wise , mischievous thief and i would let her steal my whole house if she wanted to

> GEO - i wanna squeeze geo but i cant :( character wise by what ive seen from like interactions(?) and lore , its really interesting and really cool ( reminds me of another interest i have but who cares ) still i understand how frost would baby geo

> ENTI & BUG ( NO IMAGE NOOOOOO MY LIMIT NOOOOOO ) - big guys so cool they would absolutely obliterate me . i dont know them much but i wanna know more about them .... i need itt...

[nogenderbee]

Ok- so bit of a request that latches on to a previous story of yours if that's ok :) so, I saw your post abt the brothers adopting teen!mc, and mammons part about like- not approving of something got me thinking... what if mc got a bf/gf/partner, and the brothers are all going into overprotective dad mode. I think thatd be the funniest and cutest thing in the world, so like...🙏

Hello! I'm not sure if I got your idea right but I have fun writing it so I hope you enjoy <3 (also I hope it's alright that readers partner is a demon in every scenario)

Brothers reacting to Teen!mc having partner

⊱ Let's be honest, Lucifer was protective since the day he adopted you and even before. He never let you go alone anywhere and if he did you had to be back home before it was late.

⊱ He knew you had a very good demon friend, and as much as he was worried about you first, later on he started thinking that they may not be as bad as he thought at first. But what he didn't thought is that this "friend" of yours was actually your partner.

⊱ No matter how he finds out you're dating, he'll start scolding you about how "it's a demon so they're far too old for you" and that "you should break up with them", sure you may eventually stay friends but not anything more!

⊱ He's literally the type to go "you can date after my death". Ekhem Satan and Belphie thinking of this as a challenge Ekhem

"No, YN, you're not dating anyone as far as I'm alive."

⊱ Mammon didn't mind that you had demon friends, in fact he was happy that you get around well with others

⊱ He didn't really cared if they were responsible or not, as far as you're having fun and not getting hurt, he's absolutely alright with that! But he really didn't knew that one of your friends was you partner, sure he saw you hanging out with them but you two didn't act romantic to him.

⊱ If you told him yourself that you're dating someone he'll go like "oh great" before he realizes what you just said, and once you do he goes on that you can't date them since they're demon and you're human!

⊱ If he finds you kissing with your partner himself or because of rumors he heard, he will immediately to separate you two and he's really not the type of parent to make you come back home early but just this time he will

"YN, rumors really were true?! Ya not dating anyone! C'mon let's go back for today."

⊱ Levi was very happy for you when he found out you had some demon friends, but he is a little sad that you don't have as much time to spend with him, but at the same time he understands, you would prefer your friends over yucky otaku after all

⊱ but he didn't knew you dated with one of your friends, sure maybe he heard you talking nicely about them more than others but he just assumed you like each other as good friends

⊱ he doesn't go out often so if he would be about to know that you had a lover, it would be by you telling him about it. And to your surprise he literally stops you at word "partner" saying that you can't date them and that they'll "break your heart because they're demon"

⊱ but he may see you himself when he goes out to buy some new figure or if one of his brothers told him that you're all lovey dovey with some demon, and once he does find you, you can see Levi in his demon form separating you two and going back home with you

"They cannot be your partner. You're too sweet for them! ... Because they're demon, they'll definitely try to brak your heart!"

⊱ Satan was a tiny bit angry when he discovered you have so many demon friends, couldn't you pick angels or humans?! Sure there's not a lot of them in Devildom and he's a demon himself but still!

⊱ you told him about his friends and he slowly started warming about to them tho, and once you saw him do that, you started talking a little more about your one "friend" wink wink and at first he just thought that you were like best friends or something but the more you talked the more he thought you two were dating or something

⊱ so his first option will be just asking you and if you still the tea, he won't be that angry since he appreciates honesty but still will tell you how "you should immediately break up with them before they hurt you" explaining how it's a demon thing

⊱ but if you will say that you're just friends and one day he catches you on a date with them, he will immediately walk up to you and separate you two, maybe even will push your partner who should be lucky he didn't beat them and will scold you while guiding you back home

"What did I told you about dating demons?! No, you'll explain yourself at home!" he's still trying to control himself for you although it's hard

⊱ Asmo was actually very happy that you have so many friends and he never sets you time to be back, sure he calls you when it's too late to make sure you're alright but you have your fun!

⊱ you often tell him about your friends on gossips night and mostly about one "friend" of yours, and he jokingly teased you if you like them, but after that he will remind you that "they're demons" and that "they're too old for you"

⊱ if you decide to tell him about your partner he will stop painting your nails to make sure he heard you right, and once he does he tells you that he's happy you finded yourself someone but then tells you about age difference and that you two should just break up because there's no way it will work out

⊱ if you don't tell him and he finds out himself, he won't come up to you, instead he will try to sneakily observe you two for a little bit of time and then just start talking about your little date when he paints your nails, and basically will tell you the same thing if you would just told him yourself

"Darling I'm happy you found yourself someone, but they're at least 100 years older than you! It's literally illegal for you two to date!"

⊱ Beel is extremely supportive of your friends. I mean as long as you're not getting hurt, not coming back at late hours and are having fun, he doesn't have anything to complain about!

⊱ he always liked it when you told him stories about your friends, it erasure him that your friends are really alright but he heard a lot about one of your "friends" but he just thought that you simply get a long the best, he actually didn't even assumed you two could be dating

⊱ so if you decide to tell him, he's quick to tell you about this whole age difference and that they're demon so they might break your heart, but he still appreciates your honestly so he's trying his best to tell you this as gently as possible

⊱ if he catches you on a date tho, at first he just thinks you have friendly hangout and just realizes later on that it's actually something more. He doesn't want to ruin it so he just waits for you at home and then decides to have a talk with you, again he tries to tell you this gently because he saw how much fun you had

"YN, I know this might be hard to accept but they're demons and you're human."

⊱ Belphie didn't cared if you had demon friends or not, but he definitely talked with them about what will happen if you'll get hurt and let's just say they make sure it won't happen

⊱ when you tell him about your friends, he's usually half asleep and probably falls asleep in the middle, but if you ever say word "hurt" or any synonyms then he's suddenly all awake ready to beat- I mean talk with your friends

⊱ when you tell him that you got yourself a partner, it wakes him up just as well and he just grabs you by your shoulder and goes "break up with them" without even saying any reasons

⊱ if he catches you on a date, he'll think that you two are just on friendly meeting so of course he goes to say "hi" but when you kiss, your partner suddenly disappears and then Belphie shows up in his demon form...

"You should just break up with them on spot. Why? Because you should. Don't ask stupid questions"

❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉

[existslikepristin]

Okay, so I actually had a decent number of new followers in the last couple of days who have she/her in their bios, so I don't know exactly how accurate this part is anymore and I apologize for that. I'm going to have to write more futa!you or something if this trend continues and my audience becomes more diverse. Anyway, we'll carry on with the plan for the time being. I hope everyone can find this amusing, failing all else

Tags: NSFW, S.M.U.T., genie, getting sexual

(Story Index)

Asking for sex stuff

You shrug. "Well, as long as I'm safe, discovering stuff 'the fun way' sounds fine. But as a point of interest, what did you mean by 'Whether or not the questions come before you do…?'"

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry the spelling was off, but I meant you might cum before asking the questions."

"Cum?"

"You know, like in my mouth."

You blink. "O-oh. Is that option still on the table?"

"Could be."

"You'll give me a blowjob?"

"As long as you have the equipment for it. Let me check…" Joy looks at the blogs of the people who have liked the posts and assumes they're overwhelmingly majority male, "Yeah, I believe a blowjob would be what I'll give you. If you don’t have a penis, you can just pretend I gave you one with magic, and maybe we can get around to removing it later."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it. So, you want a blowjob?"

"Yeah!"

"Is that a wish?"

"Oh. Uh, no—"

Joy cuts you off. The air around you seems to get darker, heavier. "So you're trying to disguise a wish already?! Breaking a rule already?!"

"Wh-what?! No! I was just—I thought you were offering!"

The atmosphere returns to normal. Joy smiles and leans in toward you. "I was."

As if by magic (probably actually by magic), your shorts come undone and fall around your ankles. Not-strangely, your cock is already hard. A little bit of sudden, temporary, existential terror has that effect on you, apparently. Not only is your dick hard, but it is in the hands of a mysterious, expositorial woman.

Her touch is divine (literally, maybe). An unexpected, transcendent pleasure pulses through your entire body, but quickly fades and is replaced with the far more normal—but still wonderful—sensation of lips wrapping around your dick. Joy may not be human, but she sure feels like it.

All those descriptions of blowjobs that you’ve read in K-pop fanfiction suddenly and simultaneously make sense. Not that that’s new information to you, obviously. You’ve definitely had a blowjob before. Like a lot of blowjobs. You even know that they call a group of blowjobs a “buzz” because you’ve had so many. Yes, you’ve totally had a buzz of blowjobs. It’s just that it happened in Canada, so other people wouldn’t really know.

Joy beats out that whole buzz though. She swirls her tongue and applies pressure everywhere that it matters. It’s a massage and an adrenaline rush in a single, skimpily-packaged gift box. A gift box with very slightly glowing green eyes, a personality, and her own hopes and dreams, probably, forgoing a deep discussion of those things in favor of making your cock feel really good. Put some respect on this eternally bound slave.

Options:

Oh gosh, wow. Let’s not complicate things yet and just enJoy™ this. Because you know what’s great? That’s right. It’s blowjobs that are great.

Wait a second. This doesn’t feel right, demanding a blowjob when you just barely met this woman! Ask her to stop so you can take her to dinner first, at least.

Moral implications be damned! She’s clearly into this. Get her undressed and advance this sexual session into something more traditional.

Hey, blowjobs are great and all, as stated in option 1, but you’ve got a being of unfathomable cosmic power on her knees here. Get wishing!

[nuctoria]

ok ok I'm starting to be a pain... Luigi's harem opinion again but with children, like fanchild or AU (with Bowser it won't be difficult)

First of all, you are not a pain, you are the only person that ever gives me asks or requests and as a new account here I love answering them. Plus, you ask me about things I can ramble on for hours, what more can one ask for? Also, I actually have ideas for fankids for both Mario and Luigi but I'm more hesitant with Luigi cause they are a very big stretch to canon Luigi.

Daisy: when I first go back to the fandom as a teen, I was hooked on this ship and did actually make a fanchild for them, drew her, made a story on Wattpad and everything. The fanchild was a girl and was named Lana, she looked like her dad with some traits of her mom and got involved with ghosts to but she was less afraid of boos and more wary or uneasy. She is sporty like her mother but calm and introverted like a father in a less shy way, best believe she got his snarky tongue when annoyed. She begs her father to tell her about the human world and her family on his side as they don't come often and they don't really go to the human world. Much to both parents' relief she was born with great strength like Daisy instead of thunderhand like Luigi.

Peasley: I saw a post that said that children in Bean Bean Kingdom come from the ground but I kept wondering how the child would be biologically related to the parents and claim right to it (I think it was @pianokantzart but it wasn't please tag whoever it was). I'll headcanon that the parents prepare the soil for the baby and somehow create a seed or bean that will spout into a child underground, I can think of the details later. If that's the case then the child won't be blood related to Luigi but he will still raise it with Peasley as his own since they both wanted to be parents and planned this together so the child is as much to Luigi as it is to Peasley. The sprouting of the child will be celebrated like never before, it will be cherished and dotted on by everyone in the kingdom. The two fathers could not be more happy and the grandmother never wants to leave their side, giving them all the tips under the sun on how to care for it and raise it. While it is a royal, Luigi suggests giving them the opportunity to get close to their people and make friends with local children and have fun playing like a normal kid. The kid loves music and tried to learn multiple instruments, its favourite being the trumpet from how fun it sounds. They also got a green thumb (literally-) from their fathers as they like plants a lot, giving their friends and loved ones roses or other flowers they can get their hands on after seeing how happy and flustered Luigi gets when Peasley surprises him with a rose.

Dreambert: Dreambert actually started asking for a child after he started having dreams of how life would be if they had one and craved for it more and more each day. Luigi didn't need much convincing as he's always wanted a family of his own and that's how they adopted their son. This lil guy is as shy as Luigi and as quiet as a mouse. Even so, the two could not be happier to have adopted him, showering him with unconditional love and affection and helping him be less shy so he can enjoy the world. He loves reading about mythical creatures and often explores Somnom Woods in search of a new discover, which is usually weird rocks, plants or other trinkets he finds while exploring. Naps all over the place, with a stuffy if he carries it with him. Loves moths and will follow them around in Somnom Woods when he sees them. When he's around 10 he carries a little notepad to draw the pattern on the wings.

Bowser: this dude has 8 kids, they don't need no more, Luigi is the proud stepmom on these mini koopas. He plays with them, he teaches them new things, he cooks for them and bakes them treats, keeps them in line when possible, is there for them when they're feeling down and has great fashion tips for Wendy. He loves those kids and they love him back equally, but it took some time for them to get used to him at first, especially since he's Mario's brother, their biggest enemy. Even now that they've settled it, it's weird having Mario as their uncle but they are slowly warming up to him too. Idk what else to add here tbh cause it's not the first time this family dynamic has been talked about since the movie so I can't say much about it.

King Boo: boos that are on the more neutral side and don't exactly hang around King Boo's territory have treated Luigi without hostility and some have really warmed up to him so when they come by to see him, Luigi treats them like his children and spoil them with Boo Candy. While in a relationship with KB, Luigi tried to teach the boos to be more well mannered and not target his friends all that much, failing most of the time since many take great pride and joy in their scares. The boos that did keep him company but are under KB's command after the relationship failed and the hatred started, they couldn't go see Luigi to see how he's doing nor did they want to hurt him so they tried to find ways to not be selected by their king in his schemes. The neutral boos visited him instead and tried to support him through this, either through comfort or bringing him things that might help. Either way, Luigi loves the boos with all his heart, no matter how cruel KB decided to be to him.

Antasma: they will most likely adopt like with Dreambert. They found a colony of bat pups somewhere and no other adult bat was with them or would come for hours while they chirped and cried for food so Antasma's instincts kicked in and he fed them, which got to imprint on him as a result. And so they took the colony in and the family was created. Antasma had to teach Luigi how to properly care for them and he was the many parent that educated and trained the children, so they are much closer to Antasma, but they still really love Luigi. Much like their bat father, the babies cling to Luigi like koalas all the time to the point Luigi goes about life with his winged children on his back and shoulders, accepting his role as the colony's personal perch. They still do it when older and with Antasma for fun and old time's sake which Luigi loves in all honesty. He was a nervous wreck when caring for them as babies and wasn't sure if he was following Antasma's instructions correctly but eventually he calmed down and showered them with love and care. The colony will most likely be of 5 bats max, can't see it being more than that.

Dimentio: This is probably the hardest one to imagine a child for, why? Cause Dimentio doesn't seem to give off parental vibes and if he was to be a father, he's still very much unstable and not the safest. I see this dynamic being Luigi as the actual parental figure and Dimentio being the fun yet reckless parental figure, but he may be more serious and give proper advice if the child has magic that is similar to his own. They both love the kid, but Luigi is the one fusing about them more since Dimentio doesn't think he should intervene unless the kid is critically injured or in active danger. He probably pulls pranks on Luigi with the child or cause some mayhem with them, teaching about the different worlds, about magic, showing them magic tricks and so on, it's his way of showing his affection. Luigi tries to teach Dimentio on how to use more common methods to take care of the child but the things that aren't logical, basic necessities he finds dull and pointless so they have disagreements on that. I'll be honest and say that this ideology is based on @lizadale Dimentio and it started making sense to me if I thought about it more deeply.

That's all I have for now so I hope this is good enough. Go ahead and object on anything if you find it wrong.

[batsplat]

no no you actually must enjoy sete’s suffering at least a little bit while watching the 2005 season. that’s what this rivalry is all about! it’s so so absurd with the whole curse stuff, tragic and pretty bleak (for sete I mean), hilarious, malicious etc. like when you watching any of those races and commentators mention the curse and how wouldn’t it be nice for sete to win here but you know something they don’t! he’s literally never gonna win again guys ha! so you wait for something to happen right (almost gleefully at times) and then it does you’re like “well fuck:((“

the caveat here is that you must also actually rate sete too!

- your resident sete anon

no literally, not only is valentino being awful - he's also making you the viewer complicit in the torment of this poor man by making you laugh while watching it. every time the commentators say one of those 'will THIS be the time' 'perhaps the most important race of gibernau's career!!' 'oh how much he'd want to win this' 'in the next n laps we will discover what gibernau is made of' lines, of course you laugh because it's just. well. funny. and then you see another sete misfortune and the commentator says something like 'rossi will surely be grinning under his helmet' and then YOU are grinning at it, which oh my god the moral decay of it all. I'm hardly a stranger to being a hater in sports, but I'm really not a sete hater!! clearly!! which means I'm watching these replays where one of the main kicks is knowing this one man is going to suffer and having a great time with it and it's just?? a bit of a unique experience given I don't even hate this guy?? so. yeah. cheers valentino

the 'he really won't win ANY of these' bit is really the key because the cruelty of it kinda?? gradually sneaks up on you?? the theory of 'never winning a race again' starts as a fun fact - but it's really the cumulative effect that gets to you. the suspense is in watching how it'll go wrong this time. what will it be here!! .... ah. oh no :( look at him sink to his knees in despair :( onto the next one!! it's like being told at the outset you're watching a tragedy, but you watch it anyway... and once you really start clocking just how MANY of these things he could've won, how the pressure must have been building and building, how trapped he was in this truly absurd hellscape, how he was TELLING HIS FANS he would win one of these 2005 races and you just know he won't!! the horror of it all just hits you in the face. it's so bleak! what a beautifully miserable little story! it's also so funny terrible because the commentators are waiting for a narrative that won't ever actually come to pass. they think that sete will get Revenge, they think he will have the triumphant comeback, they're constantly hyping up how this is the race where sete will finally show valentino he's no pushover... it's almost like everyone is stuck in the wrong genre lol. and you can track how they finally cotton on in real time. sete will never be allowed his happy ending

and what really rams home the tonal whiplash is how joyous valentino is being!! the thing about valentino is that he isn't typically outwardly spiteful in victory, though jerez 2005 is perhaps as close as he ever gets. sure, in context a lot of his celebrations clearly are filled with spite, he is obviously a deeply malicious character, but you don't immediately see that when you're watching him!! I regularly see photos of his phillip island 2004 championship celebrations passed around on various social media sites because everyone loves those, first yamaha title, 'che spettacolo' is such a vibe, he's grinning so much, clearly having a blast... but the moment you reinsert context, you do remember how evil that whole thing was!! how much sheer concentrated malice poured into that performance and the weeks that preceded it. two risky last lap passes because he just couldn't stomach the idea of letting sete have shit on his big day. This Is The Face Of A Monster

look at him :) dickhead

like, 2003-05 really is just. the perfect arc isn't it. by 2005 the wall between the joy and the malice has completely collapsed and you're just seeing him having the time of his life while psychologically torturing his rival. and you know there's no way he'd rather win. and it's compelling! and it's fun to watch! and it is also. kinda sketch. ffs

[chaifootsteps]

I’m gonna be completely, 100% honest and say that I don’t hate HB or HH, or even really dislike them. I actually enjoy both of them, though I suspect this may be partially due to the fact that my brother and I watch them as Our Thing, and he also discovered them during lockdown: he’s the extrovert of the family, so quarantine was very difficult for him, and I think these shows kind of acted as a tether to sanity for him.

What I WILL say about them (at least regarding HB) is that I’m disappointed. I think that I was under the impression it was really going to dive into very mature, adult, nuanced topics, and it drives me batty that it only scratches the surface of these issues when it absolutely has the potential to be /so much more/. I agree with almost all of your criticisms and critiques about the writing, especially regarding the female characters, because hooooly moly, that could be a separate message of its own. It feels like it definitely wants to be like “BoJack Horseman”, but it just doesn’t have the kind of complexity that that show does, nor is it able to balance comedy and drama as effectively, either (which, to be fair, isn’t an easy thing to do well.)

I’m still invested in the stories of all of these characters, in spite of how I desperately wish things had been handled differently. But it does feel weird watching HB, because I believe the people who have come forward and said they’ve been negatively affected in one way or another in the making of these shows, and what happened to them is absolutely unacceptable. You’ve said before that you wish someone else owned these shows, and honestly? I’m right there with you. I won’t pretend these shows don’t mean a lot to me, because they do, and I won’t lie: if it turns out HH only gets one season, I’ll be bummed. That being said, if the cancellation of these shows is what will help some people heal/get closure, then so be it. People always come first.

I’m sorry this got a bit wordy, but thank you in advance for listening anyway. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully disentangle these shows from my heart, but it’s horrible that they’ve caused harm (in multiple ways) to so many people, and I really, really, really do wish a better person owned them.

No, they're excellent words, and this was well said. It's tough when you care deeply about a piece of media with someone like Vivzie behind the wheel.

Hating HH/HB is easy, even fun. Loving these little people and their world, and how great it could have all been, is a lot harder.

[cutiecorner]

Happy Holidays everybody! I hope everyone is having a wonderful season! Since I recently got an ask about my personal reqs for where to start with batman, as a Christmas gift to me and y'all I'm finally making a curated list of my favorite batman media! This is 100% skewed to me, it's essentially just a list of all the batman stuff I've consumed, but I might throw in a few others for folks with different tastes! Also, most of these can be found on HBOmax as of now, but I'm including links to where you can watch online where possible! See you under the cut for a very, VERY long guide! Enjoy!

TV!

Hands down, the definitive piece of batman TV is Batman: The Animated Series. Soooo much iconic batman stuff was coined in this show. Also, it has hands down the best characterization of Bruce himself imo. If you're getting into Batman due to dadfred & babybat, here's a list of standout episodes for you!

Beware the Grey Ghost: A whole episode about Bruce's childhood special interest. You even get to see actual baby Bruce!

Eternal Youth: Absolutely precious Alfred episode, with Ivy as the villain no less. Sooooo many adorable moments, like, I don't even wanna spoil it. Just watch it.

Heart of Ice: For one, an absolutely excellent episode of television, and also a tooonnn of cute Alfred and Bruce moments!! Real dad moments for sure.

Harley's Holiday: 100/10 episode in general, and full of Harley and Bruce moments!!

The Lion and the Unicorn: Another Alfred focused episode!! Bruce Dick and Al being famiwy...

I have more, but those are a good place to start. Have a fave villain? Watch all their eps!! Discover new ones! Watch it from the beginning! Watch around and see what floats your boat. There's a redesign in season 3 (The New Batman Adventures) and they bring in a littler robin, Tim Drake. Warning for TNBA in general though, they tease at some really uncomfortable relationships here and there. But overall it has a lot to offer!

After btas I started on Justice League (2001)! I super love it, I adore the other members of the league so much and there's plenty of interesting stories. Justice League Unlimited is great too! Fantastic Bruce/Diana stuff, even though I'm not big on the ship their interactions are beyond precious. These are ensemble pieces so they're not all bats, but they're highly recommended if you're interested!

For some quick silly adventures, Justice League Action is fantastic! It's super funny and cute. There's plenty of batman centric episodes, and it's super lighthearted and fun! No robins or alfred in any of the Justice Leagues (very sparcely in JL/JLU) though, unfortunately. Speaking of silly fun batman shows: Batman the Brave and the Bold is a total blast! There's soooo many heroes in it, if you like any other DC characters there's a good chance they appear!

I just recently got into The Batman (2004), and it's really growing on me! The first season especially is really creative and cool. It's a younger take on batman, and it has seeerrious early 2000s boy/Ben ten/bionicles energy lol, but if that's nostalgic for you you'll LOVE it.

If you like adult cartoons, Harley Quinn is pretty good and funny! Of course it's about Harley and her gang over the bats, and the first season especially can get kinda ick in the adult cartoonyness, but by the third season it gets great (VERY good Bruce stuff in the third season! Honestly in all the seasons). Overall I definitely think it's worth a watch. It is not appropriate for kids though, make sure to look up warnings! If you're especially sensitive to gore/violence maybe skip it.

I haven't watched much of these, but I've heard good things if live action is your style! Gotham follows the villains and older generation before Batman came along. Supposedly very good Alfred and Bruce content, with kid Bruce! For my Alfie lovers, Pennyworth follows the adventures of Alfred along with the Waynes, taking down conspiracies back in England during the 60s. As completely up my alley as those sound, they're not really my thing because they are pretty violent, so beware!

Movies!

Starting off with animated movies, the btas movies come very highly recommended! Especially Mask of the Phantasm! I was super not excited for the romance plot, but it 1000% won me over, it's fantastic. Lots of young Bruce stuff (like early early 20s), which is wildly endearing, and very good dadfred moments!! The Mystery of the Batwoman isn't as great, but it's good fun. Sub-Zero is really good if you like Mr.Freeze! For The Batman 2004, there's the Batman vs Dracula! It is wild but so much fun!

On the animated movies front - Batman and Robin: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs Two Face are absolutely delightful. They're based on the 1960s Batman show, and they go all in on the campy goofy energy!! They're such a good pick me up if you're having a rough day.

As for live action movies, I honestly cannot recommend the 1990s Batman movies enough. Yes, they don't have a great reputation among mainstream comics fans, but they're straight up just wrong. Batman Forever and Batman and Robin are some of the most fun batman content ever created! There is so much creativity and energy and love in these movies, they are the definition of a good time. Absolutely guaranteed to provide childlike wonder, 1000/10.

If you're into the more gritty stuff, The Batman (2022). It's a cool new take on Bats, I think it's an interesting direction artistically. Once again violence isn't super my thing, but I appreciated the Alfred moments and Bruce's potent autism swag. Also, though it's probably a genuinely good movie, I am physically unable to take anything seriously and really enjoyed watching it ironically (there are so many serious moments that land as... pure comedy). Though please be sure to look up trigger warnings first, it's a lot.

Comics!

Full disclosure, I'm not a big comic book reader "^^ I really just read the comic versions of the shows I like and a few miscellaneous others I run into. Here's a list of some of the comics I've enjoyed, but they have no rhyme or reason, they are not cohesive lol. If you're more into comics you want to look elsewhere for advice "^^

All Star Batman: First Ally - I have no context for this series as a whole and I do not care: I'm here for pretty art, Alfred backstory, and father and son behavior. I own a hardcover copy.

Batman: Zero Year - Stumbled upon by accident but thoroughly enjoyed. I don't agree with everything in these (batman writers obsession with characters slapping each other my BEHATED) but its pretty cool overall. Featuring my The Alfred Ever and baby Duke Thomas! There's Dark City then Secret City!

One Bad Day: Mr Freeze - I'm not gonna lie this comic is like... bad. Okay so that's not entirely fair: I adore the art, the baby Dick Grayson content, the Alfred content, and honestly most of the story until the end. Spoiler, but they nerf the daylights out of what makes Freeze such an iconic character. Like, I get what they were doing but... come on. Insinuates a bizarre message too. Still worth a peruse for the good moments.

Batman: the Adventures Continue - a continuation of the btas comic series (the batman adventures)!! It's interesting to see them put more modern storylines in the btas universe. The last few issues (holiday special!) Are at very least worth a read.

While I'm here, The Gotham Adventures is also cute and cool, takes place in the btas universe with the tnba style + continuity.

Same as above, if you like the Justice League cartoon check out the tie in comics, including the recent continuation Justice League Infinity!

Oh I guess this do counts: The Wayne Family Adventures is a very cute comic on tapas! It's very cute, and actually published by DC comics!

My best word of advice: follow your interests! Indulge! There is no right way to explore this franchise! There's so much to discover and there's a little something for everybody. There is no obligation to know every little thing about the mythos, you do not need to read from issue 1 or know all the current updates to be a "real fan". Actualy, do us all a favor and stick it to toxic comic fanboys by having as much fun as you can! Pick and choose! Try it all! Be gritty! Be goofy! Be both! Spend hours poking around on fandom wikis to learn about what you want to learn! There's no wrong way to play, I'm just so happy youre here. Now go forth and be batfans!!!

[raycatz]

I feel like I would like to know what is going on here for your ask game

"Is it a fish?" is a riddle game I learned at camp and I think it would drive Legend crazy. It's one of those riddles which relies on misdirection. The campers get really invested! Once a few discover the trick to it they'll start to direct the game themselves which is great fun to watch. I know a couple but throwing Legend off with fish seems the most fun. He'd get too caught up on the red herrings, as it were.

"It's a fish" is an examination of the constellations between the eras and how they change over time. It takes place after the "is it a fish?" interaction just to keep giving Legend a hard time.

--- Is it a fish? ---

Wind: If Hyrule is a fish, and you’re a fish, is Sky a fish?

Legend: Yes?

Wind: Nope, incorrect. Okay, pay attention, if the Wind Waker is a fish, and Four's boots are a fish, is the Tempered Sword a fish?

Legend: Yes.

Wind: Right.

Legend: WHY

Hyrule, coming up: I get it.

Wind: If Twi’s pelt is a fish, and War’s scarf is a fish, is my necklace a fish?

Legend: YES

Wind and Hyrule: Nope.

Legend: WHAT

Wind: You have to be paying attention, Vet.

Legend: I AM PAYING ATTENTION

Hyrule: Okay okay, c’mere. Pay attention. If the Sheikah Slate is a fish, and that bush is a fish, is your bracelet a fish?

Legend: No?

Hyrule, shaking his head: Wrong, it’s a fish.

Wind: It’s a fish.

Legend: I’m gonna fucking cry

//(They're all covered in fish 😔 the fish are everywhere) do you get it, though? Were you paying attention? hehe I think the chain would let this go on for as long as possible. Having the riddle written out helps give the trick away.

--- It's a fish ---

The chain are sharing star stories. Contention has arisen as to whether or not a constellation is the rupee constellation or the rupoor constellation. So far Time has stayed out of the argument but the boys are split 50-50.

Sky insists it’s the rupoor constellation and Four backs him because it’s attached to the tail of the rupee-like.

Wars thinks it’s the rupoor as well.

Legend says it’s the rupee but is otherwise uninterested and thinks everyone else is being daft.

Wind knows,, he knows that it’s the rupee constellation, the six points are for the sages and the seventh star in the middle is for the princess and he knows where they’re supposed to be this time of year the rupoor constellation isn’t visible WHY is no one LISTENING TO HIM???

Wild is like, well, haven’t you noticed the constellations have changed slightly between our eras? Some stars have died off and there are some new ones. What was the rupoor could be the rupee now. What if they’re the same. Anyways, Wild thinks it’s the rupee.

Wars: Time, we need to put an end to this. Which constellation do you think it is?

Time: It’s a fish.

Legend’s been trying not to show he’s too invested but this is too far. What does Time mean it’s a Fish???

Time: It’s a fish.

He will not elaborate.

Everyone, over time, is so confused that they concede. Maybe they were wrong? Maybe it was a fish all along.

//I really enjoy reading about this kind of world building in fics so I tried my hand at it and made it silly. I get to compact a bunch of familiar (dare I say beloved?) LU tropes and some game trivia into a discussion about stars as well! I think if I were to flesh it out that this would work well as a fic.

[uncannyalien]

Asking some AU comp competitors & supporters:

- Are there any AUs you weren't familiar with that have recently caught your attention, or that you would like to learn more about?

- What are some AUs/fanworks that you enjoy, and would encourage more people to go check out? (Doesn't have to be in the comp!)

Oh Stars, where do I begin?

The server of the competition is full of so many creators, many of whom I have never met or known of their AUs before(I'm still quite new to the fandom), and it's been great engaging with all of them!

I can't list every single AU I wanna learn more about, there's too many!

I'm very intrigued by Aberration by probablynotarutabega whom I'm going up against in the coming bracket, and I literally spent some time today reading what they have available so I could get to know it better! I hope we're at least able to team up!

There's also the Revelations Timeline AU by idk im just here now who has a really cool insight into how the Krang and the magic system works in their AU! I'd like to say we've become friends over this little time

Of course I have to talk up some of my friends AUs!

Minecraft Isekaid by songdrop (who has teamed up with Mitosis by Varian_dislikes_cheese) is a really cool AU about the rise boys getting stuck in Minecraft but as they explore things are not quite how they know. They're incredibly talented at art and storytelling and have so many ideas it's absolutely insane!

There's also the Soulmates(Evil) AU by Evan that's heavy Mikey angst and it's wonderful to see the other characters beating up MeatSweats

Oh dear this is gonna be long isn't it ehe. There's just too many to count!

The Employees is done by multiple folks and follows a collective of OCs that work for Senior Hueso

Minor Interference by bambiraptorx is on my To Read list where the turtles accept Draxum's offer of training with him

As for ones that are not in the competition I have many suggestions:

Clean up Crew also by songdrop, a small fic that's part of his like, 6 AUs in one universe the guy's an idea machine!

I discovered A Mirror's Reflection by ratsistryingtheirbest here on Tumblr as just a "what if" post and I may or may not have sort of dared them into making it. And it's really good! A rise Future AU where Leo, Mikey, and CJ are sent to another reality post-apocalypse where their brothers survived. And won the war.

The Nexus Heir by ItzCoffee is a fun AU where Leo gets manipulated into Big Mama's care

I'm not particularly one for fics that have romance/shipping or the Next Generation trope, but Little Warrior by NovelistServant is a proud exception for me. This is an AU where Future Raph gets sent back in time with a baby CJ and things sure do happen. Prepare to cry, prepare to laugh, prepare to cry again but happy this time. I've read it twice

A Tale of Spirits by unorthodoxx recently updated and I'm so excited with where the story is going. You like turtles? You like ATLA? You're gonna like this one

And last but certainly not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't shameless plug my own AU: Remember Forever. I've written plenty of stories before but this is my first fanfiction and it's the longest project I've had so far. It's a post-season 2 pre-movie rise AU where Mikey discovers an alien(that is definitely not my self-insert) and shenanigans ensue. You can of course learn more at my masterpost which is pinned on my blog and by giving it a read! I'm trying my best to write some fluff while also acknowledging that these characters have Gone Through Things.

There are so many more AUs than these that I've mentioned so seriously go check everyone out! Thanks so much for the ask and I wish everyone a great time in the competition!

[tyrantisterror]

Ok, so! I think Act 3 of Baldur's Gate is where the differences between a Dark Urge run and the normal Tav run are the most stark. For Tav, it's basically one quest after another of being the spanner in the works - the unexpected variable that helps all your companions' questlines end differently than anyone involved expected, and likewise the bit of chaos that keeps the main villains of the game from getting what they want. You're the weirdo who keeps breaking all these chessmaster villains' schemes by eating all their pieces when they aren't looking, basically. It's fun, but there are times you feel a little disconnected from it, and I think that's one of the reasons a lot of players report feeling like Act 3 is a bit of a slog compared to the previous two.

In a Dark Urge run, though, it's different. Those grand villains orchestrating the main plot aren't just villains - they're your former colleagues, the adventurers you hung out with BEFORE you got amnesia and met your current pals, and the people with whom you concocted this grand scheme to take over and/or slaughter the world. And their big villainous plot is no longer something you got dragged into as an innocent (more or less) bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time - YOU orchestrated it. This is YOUR mess, a problem YOU made, being continued by people YOU collaborated with. Few conflicts in video games are more personal than that - you are literally paying the price for your own big fucking mistakes.

And I think it's a testament to the excellent writing of this game that you can support a variety of interpretations of both Tav AND the Dark Urge as they interact with this big scheme. Writing a proper cipher protagonist for a video game is far more difficult than most people think it is. Fuck it up and you get characters like the Sole Survivor from Fallout 4, i.e. the most boring main character you can possibly imagine, to the point where you actively ignore the main plot because advancing their story just seems so damn dull and pointless. A good cipher protagonist needs a smorgasbord of choices to be properly flavored as what the player wants them to be, which requires a lot of work from both the writers and programmers alike to make it work.

And goddamn does Baldur's Gate 3 deliver on that.

To go to this specific example, there are two extremes you can play the Dark Urge as: a good person struggling to resist their violent impulses, and a monster who enjoys indulging in every extreme violent whim their mind comes up with (you can vacillate between the two as well for the record). And when you get to Act 3 and start discovering your backstory, it is doled out in such a way that you can interpret your past self as fitting those extremes. If you want evidence that you were a remorseless monster, you can find it. If you want evidence that you tried to resist in the past, you can find that as well. And you'd think the evidence of those extremes would contradict each other, but it's all presented in a way that's loose enough to be interpreted either way. You get to determine the what your Dark Urge was and what they are.

It's just really great. Excellent writing. Possibly my favorite game of all time at this point.

[goshdangronpa]

Sayaka Maizono!!

Hi, anon! I'm so glad someone asked about her, she's always fun to think about. A character you can really play around with in different contexts and interpretations. It's weird that I haven't written a story about her yet.

Sexuality Headcanon: Sayaka is straight-up gay. I saw that one bit from Danganronpa S, they're no way she could like Makoto as more than a friend!

Gender Headcanon: Cis, but the type who's actually thought a lot about gender rather than passively assuming that vagina = girl. I believe she'd support a transfem idol ... so long as she remains the Ultimate.

A ship I have with said character: I recently wrote about a couple of reasons why I find ikuzono so appealing! It can be a real mutually healing relationship, with two people who've hurt and been hurt finding solace and sympathy and redemption in each other. It can also be a relationship where they bury bodies together. I've also read a truly great (and tragically incomplete) series that anyone who likes Sayaka, Mukuro, and good writing in general should check out: Sing Me a Song of Despair!

A BROTP I have with said character: Sayaka's goal is to be an inspiration for girls and women. All girls and women. As a transfem Chihiro supporter, I quite enjoy the idea of this embodiment of femininity helping Chihiro reconcile some of her gender hang-ups. Women with strength don't have to be ripped like Sakura, athletic like Aoi, or scary like Genocide Jack. They can be beautiful, sweet, girly, confident, and determined like Sayaka. I think her support would really shake Chihiro's worldview ... though Sayaka might still agree with her that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

A NOTP I have with said character: Sayaka is virtually the only female Danganronpa student I wouldn't ship with Ibuki, mostly because I'm really committed to a rather detailed sayabuki arc that ends in turmoil. Two teen girls hit the big time at the same time, and their managers get the bright idea of pairing their acts in a summer package tour. As they travel across the country and work hard to one-up each other's performances, they show each other the weirder sides of themselves that the public doesn't get to see. They bond over a mutual passion for music ... and, one night, discover a mutual passion for girls. It doesn't take long for them to start exploring their sexuality together, snatching kisses and cuddles in the rare moments when they can evade their bandmates and entourages. Ibuki lets herself fall wildly in love ... but Sayaka's keenly aware that the tour will end. One night, after sneaking onto the roof of a supermarket after hours to have a truly private moment and watch the stars, Sayaka asks, "You know this won't last ... right?" She lays it out: idols aren't allowed to date anybody, much less someone of the same sex, and she won't compromise her career or her dream over a little summer affair. Ibuki’s devastated. It proves to be the last push she needs to drop her own pretenses and be her true, freaky self, ultimately splitting the band and creating the rock iconoclast we know and love. Sayaka would still think about her sometimes, even listen to her new singles when few former fans would, wonder if that girl was right that prioritizing her career over her relationships may bring success but not fulfillment ... She doesn't regret anything.

A random headcanon: Sayaka didn't accept the invitation to Hope's Peak immediately because she feared it would eat up precious time in a career that's already expected to end in her late 20s at most. She eventually accepted for precisely that reason: that Ultimate status will open doors long after the industry stops seeing her as youthful enough to sing on stage.

General Opinion over said character: I'm of two minds, and both are extremely positive. 1) How can anyone possibly dismiss Sayaka as a loathesome snake when the entire goddamn point of that first murder trial is that the killing game, one of the most stressful and extreme situations a human being and especially a literal kid could ever face, could compel even an otherwise kind person to commit murder? You don't have to like her for her attempt at murdering Leon and framing Makoto, but if you don't buy that Sayaka was ever a nice person, I reckon you've missed the point of Danganronpa. 2) Sayaka has a devious and coldly pragmatic side ... and that's fun. I like the idea that she's generally kind and sweet, but a bit of a sneaky bitch when she really wants something or really doesn't care for someone. In a non-despair AU, this would be ripe for drama and especially comedy! Let her be little a snake, as a treat🐍