#but this is my favorite flavor of fictional couple

[screenshotsonpinterest]

“I just think they deserve the world”

And “they” is a fictional straight couple from a media property primarily aimed at young boys

[radioisntdead]

Accidentally stumbled onto the dark side of Tumblr again, DEAR GRACE SOME FOLKS NEED INTENSE THERAPY, or need to stop doing drugs, maybe both, my eyes, my poor, poor eyes, I need a holy water and bleach combo

Also I should watch gravity falls again

[carmenberzattosgf]

my hand is good! I have two scars now under my middle finger on my palm but all is well!

I'm also here to ask about birthday treatment from carmy? I dontnthink he does a lot for his birthday and I personally don't do a lot so I think its either a sup casual affair or he's celebrating the fuck out of it because he's like that's my s/o and I love them and this is the day they started existing and I love that.

it is simply my birthday and i want to be spending it with fiction people but alas!

-🌂

OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I hope you have a wonderful day my dear friend <3

To answer your question though, Carmy is 100% celebrating the fuck out of you. He’s going to wake you up with breakfast in bed with your favorite breakfast foods. He’ll even buy some silly little balloons to have in the kitchen and the living room. They’re not even displayed all cute they’re just, floating on the ceiling, but he made the effort!

The whole day is all about you. If you want your nails done? Okay, sold, he’s paying for them. Hair done? Yep, he’s tagging along and covering the bill. He’s going to watch all your favorite movies and shows with you cuddled up on the couch.

If you want to have a proper birthday dinner, he’s going to make a phone call and get a table for you and all of your friends ( and him of course) at the nicest restaurant in Chicago. Carmy’s also going to make sure they do a dessert with the candles in it as well.

Although, if you don’t want a proper birthday dinner, he cooks one for you at home, anyway. Carmy’s already come up with the perfect birthday dinner menu. Literally, he’s thought of an appetizer, main course, and he’s made your favorite flavor of birthday cake. Oh, and he sings you happy birthday while you blow out your candles. To be completely honest, he films you blowing out your candles just because he wants to keep the moment forever.

Now to talk about gifts, he probably asked Sugar or Syd for help a couple of days before your birthday. While Carmy is talented in so many things, gift selecting is not one of them. He’d much rather prefer to go ahead and buy you the things you’ve mentioned wanting. There’s so much going on in that head of his, he doesn’t want to forget about things you’ve said.

I like to think that after talking with Syd and Sugar, he decides to buy you a gold necklace with his initial on it. It’s not huge or flashy. The necklace is a simple gold chain with a small round pendant attached to it. He opts to have a “C” engraved on the pendant in a dainty, cursive font.

The gift is perfect. You can’t help the tears that well up in your eyes as you look over the pendant in the velvet box. Your eyes widen when you see the 18k gold certification in the box. “Carmen—this is so gorgeous—you really didn’t have to splurge like this. I would have been happy with nothing.” At this point the tears freely flow from your eyes as you look at Carmy, who’s just smiling happily.

“It’s your birthday, baby. I love you.” There’s a break in Carmy’s sentence as he cups your face, wiping your tears away with his thumb. “You’re worth every single penny and more,” he says before leaning in to give you a small kiss.

“I love you so much, Carm. Wanna help me put it on?” He’s eager to see the necklace on you, so he stands up fast to get the box from you. Carmy stands behind you and clasps the necklace at the back of your neck.

“There we go. How’s it look?” Carmen asks before walking back in front of you. Honestly, he has to catch his breath for a second. He didn’t realize how much of an effect seeing you wear his initial would have on him, but he is a man after all.

“It’s so gorgeous, Carm.” Your face beams you stand up to look at the necklace through the mirror on the wall of the living room. “What do you think?”

Carmen walks up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and setting his head on your shoulder. “I think you’re beautiful. Absolutely beautiful, my love.”

[cerisefait]

Food Critic

sanji x reader

[2.4k words] [I'm working on the second part!! stay tuned]

a/n: hii! this is my first sanji fiction, hope you enjoy it. I would love to hear your thoughts about it and my reqs are open. there aren't any trigger or spoiler warnings on this fic.

summary: food critic reader goes to Baratie to enjoy a nice evening and analyze the restaurant without knowing what awaits her; a couple of romantic moments with the sous chef of the restaurant. 'apologies madam' scene included with slight changes and much more...

‘I’m going to be the greatest food critic of all time!’

The phrase echoed in your head as you stood outside the restaurant on water, otherwise known as ‘Baratie’. Ever since you were a little kid, you had one particular dream: To become one of the most respected food critics alive.

In a world full of pirates and bounty hunters, some may say your goal was boring, ordinary. Rather than fighting sea creatures and thieves, you were going from one restaurant to another, tasting all of their signature dishes; taking notes about the flavors in your mouth and the emotions each dish has brought you.

Don’t they say to follow your passion? Food has always been yours. You never saw it as a ‘boring’ task, you were enthusiastic about it.

It all started when you were a little kid; you sat there in the kitchen, watching your grandmother cook delicious smelling meals. To you, those were the best times of your childhood. Watching her skilfully chop up the vegetables, hearing the simmering pots, seeing the baked goods rise in the oven…

All of it brought you a sense of comfort. As you grew older, she allowed you to help her in the kitchen, teaching you each spice and many knife tricks.

When she sadly passed away, you were only 12. Needless to say she was your favorite relative, you made her a promise at her funeral, to learn the dishes all across the four seas.

It was her dream but when she started a family, she had to quit pursuing her goal. So you took it upon you and made her a vow in which you don't intend on breaking.

***

Once you stepped into the restaurant, you found yourself admiring the interior. Baratie’s ambiance was astonishing. You’ve been in many restaurants overseas but this place was nothing like you’ve ever seen before.

The open floor plan made the place look elegant. The choices of colors maroon, beige and wooden brown added more to the elegant look as well as the wrought iron handrails on the balconies of the second floor. The lightning was dim and there wasn’t much sunlight due to the lack of windows; it made the restaurant more alluring and mysterious.

While you were busy observing the interior, one of the hosts of the restaurant greeted you, saying

‘Welcome to Baratie, how can I help you?’

‘I would like to have a seat.’ you said, looking kindly at the man.

‘Do you have a reservation ma’am?’ He said, looking at you then directing his attention to the line behind you that had just been formed.

‘No, I don’t have one. Would it be a problem?’ You asked, batting your eyelashes. You weren’t the most experienced critic considering your age but you knew how to use your charm to get what you wanted.

He quickly looked down at the tables, searching for an available spot. There were some empty tables but looking at his attitude, you can tell that the restaurant didn’t want just any customer: Especially the ones who who looked like they could easily stir some trouble up. Lucky for you, you knew how to clean up nicely.

‘Normally, we’re very full today but we’ll be making an exception for you ma’am. If you’ll follow me...’

You followed him down the stairs just like he asked you to and he led you to your table. When you sat down, you sank into the velvety cushion of the dark red booth.

‘Here is the menu. Your waiter will be with you shortly.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

You began to wait for your waiter, as you were told. The antique table lamp’s soft yellow light reflected on your face while you listened to the background noise: Classy jazz, waiters rushing in and out of the kitchen, customers’ enjoying their dishes while chatting and clinking their glasses of wine…

Everything seemed peaceful until you heard the yelling noise coming from the kitchen. You directed your gaze towards the kitchen door, curious about what’s happening inside. Seconds after that, you saw a tall blonde man get out of the kitchen, looking annoyed as he quickly wore his jacket.

He stopped by a table full of appetizers and got a plate in his hand, holding it up to carry it around the tables.

Just as he was making his way to a nearby table, a fight seemed to occur right in front of him. Two guys were fighting over the table, the one already sitting at the table claiming it is his right to sit on the table, the other telling the opposite.

They began to talk more aggressively and one of them threw a plate of food that was sitting on the table as the blonde man stopped in front of them flashing a smile, saying

‘Now now, gentleman. You know the rules here, we don’t waste food. And there’s no fighting at Baratie.’

They didn’t seem to care about the blonde as they continued their bickering. He offered to pour them each a glass of Ithürzburger Stein, free of charge in hopes of stopping the chaos which was disturbing the other customers.

They seemed to like the idea at first, but that didn’t stop one of them from pulling his gun out only a few seconds later. The blonde was quick, just as he saw the gun he kicked the guy’s hand and sent it flying straight to the floor. He blew a few more kicks and in a blink of an eye, the two customers were laying on the ground.

After the fast paced sequence, he didn’t change his calm and -more so- annoyed attitude one bit. He took his appetizer plate back in his hand, let out a sigh and proceeded to walk away exclaiming

‘No cause for alarm, folks. Please enjoy your meals.’

Then, he walked straight to your table while being busy eyeing other tables. Without paying attention to your face or your figure, the words fell quickly from his lips.

‘Hi, welcome to our shitty restaurant where the only thing worse than the ambiance is the food. My name is Sanji, what can I get for you?’

‘Shitty ambiance? I couldn't take my eyes off of it ever since I came here.’

Hearing the sound of your voice, he swiftly turned his gaze on you. His expression of annoyance left its place to a more loving, soft look. He ever so slightly tilted his head to the left and put on a little smirk on his face.

‘Apologies madam, didn’t see you there.’

The tone of irritation in his voice was completely gone and now it was much more... suave.

‘You’re liking the ambiance eh? Can’t say the same about the second part ‘cuz you’ll be the only thing I can’t take my eyes off of tonight.’

You did not expect the bold flirtatious act nor the quick word play from him. Given that he caught you off guard, you were thankful for the dim lights as you felt your cheeks getting warmer. As you remained silent, he continued

‘Will you care for an aperitif to start? Or maybe a beverage. We have several rare Micqueot vintages in stock…’

‘Actually, I would love to have a glass of Umeshu.’

‘I should’ve figured. Y’know, something sweet for.. someone sweet.’ He winked as he said the last part. He was shamelessly flirting with you. You turned your head sideways to avoid staring at his eyes for a second.

Normally, it would give you the ick but when he did it, you surprisingly enjoyed it. Say whatever you want; whether it’s his amazing kicking abilities, how he looks in his suit or his flirtatious personality, you can’t stop yourself from having butterflies in your stomach.

‘Anything else, madam?’

‘I also would like to order every one of your special dishes, could you do that for me?’

‘...Anything for you. Coming right away.’ He flashed you a smile before returning to the kitchen.

***

When he came back with the plates, you were starving. All of them looked amazing as he put them in front of you in a professional manner.

The waiter who greeted you didn’t lie when it came to the restaurant being busy. There were new customers coming in and out every other minute and it looked like they were short on staff tonight.

Just as he was going to strike up a conversation with you, one of the customers from a nearby table called him up. Sanji told you to enjoy your meal, excused himself and cursed to himself under his breath, hating that the precious time you could’ve spent together was going to be wasted.

When Sanji left, you started with one of the most appealing dishes: It was a buttery seafood sauté with complimentary herbs, garlic and spices. The way the flavors danced on your tongue left you speechless.

In order to note it all down in your notebook, your eyes searched for the restroom. While you were looking around, you locked eyes with Sanji.

He immediately flashed you a genuine, warm smile. You returned his smile by squinting your eyes slightly and smiling back at him, before mouthing the words ‘Where’s the restroom?’

He couldn’t (or maybe wanted to make it seem like he couldn’t) understand what you just said as he put the plates on one of the tables he was attending and made his way up to you.

When you saw him coming, you stood up and went up to him with your small bag in hand. You met in the middle and as he saw you standing, he couldn’t help but check you out from head to toe, taking his sweet time. His warm smile turned into an arrogant grin which meant he enjoyed the sight.

‘Yes madam?’ he asked, leaning slightly towards you.

‘Where can I find the restroom?’

‘Oh it’s right this way… Can I?’ He swiftly gestured to your arm. You nodded, eyes wider than usual, as he took your arm with one of his hands, lightly touched your shoulder with his other hand and turned you around.

Your breath hitched in your throat, his intoxicating smell filling up your nose as he stood right behind you. He was being careful, not to step on any boundaries.

‘So, you go straight ahead. Then turn to your left, first door to the right.’ He pointed out.

You turned your head towards him, only to realize there are a few inches between your faces. Looking up at him, you stared at his gorgeous features. At that moment, everything around you seemed to slow down. When his gaze finally met yours, you were mesmerized.

His blue eyes were shining, the way his lips curled upwards to form his pretty smile was stunning. Feeling the heat his body radiated was enough to drive you over the edge… But you were here to pursue your goal.

In order to continue the task at hand, you whispered him a thank you and went flying to the restroom. Luckily there was a table with decorations in between the sinks, giving you a place to write your notes down on.

***

Time seemed to pass by quickly as you were going back and forth between your table and the restroom. You were trying to be smooth with it but you weren't exactly acting like a professional.

Not that you were being clumsy or carefree, you were a bit amateur. Considering your age, it was understandable.

Plus, the blonde who was gazing at you all night didn't help at all. It was fun though, catching his glances every now and then, seeing his little smirk form up every time you made eye contact (occasionally with a wink), made you feel things.

You couldn't help but to think that you didn't want the night to end here. You wanted more than secret glances and formal discussions…

Just as you finished taking notes about the last dish and made your way back to your table, Sanji stopped you in your tracks, pulling you flush against his chest and moving you both to a near dark corner, trapping your body against his and the wall behind you.

Taking a step back, he looked you in the eyes, searching for a sign of distress or unwillingness.

Upon seeing the pure shock on your face turn into a more relieved look, he leaned towards you, a hand pressed against the wall over your shoulder, right next to your head.

'You a food critic?' He questioned, leaning over.

'Why do you care, waiter boy?' He put his hand on his heart, grimacing his face upon hearing your words.

'I am the sous chef of this restaurant.'‘

‘It didn't seem like it.’

‘Don't try to change the subject now, love.’ He looked deeply in your eyes, it was evident that he was growing impatient.

‘Fine, I am… but you can't tell anyone about it.’

‘Why not? You don't seem to care as you made it pretty obvious.’

‘I want to remain anonymous to be respected. Also, I don't think anyone other than you’ve noticed.’

‘Told you that I wasn't going to be able to take my eyes off of you tonight… I am a man of my word.’

And with that, both of you were laughing. It was a moment of pure sweetness. After a few seconds of the sound of your laughter filling up the empty corner, you continued with a serious tone:

‘Just… promise not to tell anyone.’

‘How about we make a deal, eh? I’ll keep your secret and we’ll have dinner tomorrow.’

‘...It’s not like I have another choice. Right?’

‘C’mon, we both know you want it as bad as I do.’

‘Keep dreaming.’ You said, making your way back to your table.

He didn’t expect you to react this way, when he saw you leaving his side he turned around, looking at you like a lost puppy. You wanted to shock him for a little bit, make him chase after you.

As you sat down, you drank your last sip of wine and took your sweet time before calling Sanji to pay the bill. He immediately went to get the bill and put it in front of you, still shaken. You checked it out, put the money in and thanked him for his service.

He was standing still in front of you as you gathered your things and got up off of the booth. Then, he hesitantly offered you his hand to give your hand a quick goodbye kiss.

You put your hand in his and said:

‘Meet me up at 7?’

He changed his posture, he was more confident now than heartbroken and gave your hand a swift kiss before telling:

‘It’ll be my pleasure.’

[thedevildeer]

People I’d like to know better

Thanks for tagging me lovely @mare-sanguis 💖

I’m not that interesting to get to know actually hehe, the last time I played this was like 3 years ago? 🫨

okay well let’s begin 🧑🏻‍🦯‍➡️

Last Song: “You don’t belong here” by Jeon Sejin from Black Out OST album. I’m a sucker for instrumental music, Korean dramas do have really nice instrumental soundtracks 👍🏻

Favorite Color: Black and Purple (and nude colors). Black is just perfect, I once wanted to dye my room all black but it didn’t work out haha. I like wearing all black or black & white, I feel confident and I think it suits me best, and purple I just LOVE different shades of purple because it gives me a sense of power, tho I don’t wear the color much but even my phone case is purple rn.

Last Book: Umm the last book I read must be, “A good girl’s guide to murder” one day after hitting the gym I stopped by the bookstore and it caught my eye, then I sat at the cafe nearby, started reading and couldn’t put it down, there’s a murder going on and after five years a high school girl decides to reveal the truth behind it. *yes I am a sucker for mystery thriller books/movies* I totally recommend the series, I’m reading the second book rn.

Last Movie: “Hijack 1971 2024”. In one word HEARTBREAKING. I couldn’t stop crying in the end. And “The Crow 2024” I like movies with dark themes, and crows are one of my favorite animals, such clever creatures 👌🏻 I used a line of the movie in my recent fic hehe

Last TV-Show: I just finished watching the last episode of “Doubt” a not surprisingly mystery drama. But I didn’t enjoy it as much? I mean the story was ok but it could be better if wrapped up in 6 eps instead of 12, a little bit hard to get through but the cinematography kept me going, loved it👌🏻 *beside thriller-mystery dramas you can fool me with dope cinematography😺*

Also I’m currently watching Go Jun’s “Oh my baby” his character is so boyfriend material istg and his outfits 👌🏻 thanks to costume department

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: I like all flavors, anything tasty is okay with me, but for me spicy is always first choice 🤤 I am allergic to it and my arms itch when I eat too much of it but will that stop me? HELL NO!

Relationship Status: In a longterm relationship with Leon S. Kennedy, Thank you very much (in delululand) other than that single, I love my own company more than anyone’s.

Last Thing I Googled: sounds boring but here we go, gold nanoparticles’ color 👁️👄👁️ um well I’m a masters student and I have to do research a lot so..

Current Obsession: Well as you can see by the state of my blog, Black Out.

Once in a year I get obsessed with a fictional couple and they ruin my life for that year and also stay at the back of my mind for my whole life (yes I haven’t forgotten about my other babies)

Looking Forward To: I wanna finish reading “If we were villains” it’s been sitting in my library for how long I don’t know T~T

Also I want to get through my fic drafts, at this point I don’t even know if anyone reads them, but I don’t wanna get discouraged. I just wanna get the ideas out of my mind and It’s kind of a practice for me, to gradually get better at writing hehe 🙌🏻

Well it seems we’ve reached the end, again thank you so much for tagging me @mare-sanguis 💖

I won’t tag anyone, since the people I currently interact with must’ve been tagged beforehand 😅

I enjoyed this~ ^^

I’ll drop some pretty shots of Go Jun’s drama as a thank you 😸🫶🏻

[knickknacksandallthat]

if you don't mind me asking, what got you into kevin's character?

for me it was actually your fic, but since its so normalized in the fandom to dismiss his trauma and call him a coward and annoying for doing things that other characters are loved for, i didn't really care about him when i first read the books

now hes my favorite

Oh, anon, I love this!! What an honor, I’m so glad to have helped you join the Kev lovefest 😊 (Welcome to the dark side lol!) It makes me so happy that the A Fallen Star series has awakened this in you! 💖

And wow, what a good question. I don't mind at all! I actually had to think about this for a while to try and remember…how the heck did I get here???

So here is my ridiculously uncalled-for POV on Kevin’s character and slow descent into madness below:

(Disclaimer that these are just my thoughts and anyone in the aftg fandom can hc or think whatever they like about Mr. Day 😊)

Like you, anon, I was easily swayed by Neil’s perspective of Kev on first read. It makes sense and is a credit to Nora how we so fully buy into Neil’s opinion of Kevin that many of us just run with it. And to be fair to the fandom, it’s canon – Andrew, Neil, and all the Foxes tell us he’s a coward and annoying and so we assume it must be true.

So, I created many fics that played into this image and focused on andreil. (Because who isn’t enamored with andreil??? Legit, deranged obsession and couple goals lmao). Using that lens, it was easy to make Kevin the punching bag because he is the quintessential “straight man” in comedy (and yes, I do hear the irony in that) – the foil to other characters to make them seem better, braver, funnier, smarter, etc. It’s an age-old trick/trope in fiction that works very well. And it was an easier transition for Nora to make, I think, once she made the decision to remove Kevin from the main narrative of her story.

This character setup works well enough when you’re doing a fic from Neil or Andrew’s POV, providing an easy source of humor to fall back on. So, for me, I think my thinking shifted once I started working on Flavors of Fall and delved into Andrew and Kevin’s storyline there. That fic forced me to think from Kevin’s perspective, and I found at the time I had a shallow understanding of what made Kevin tick. It totally threw me once I really started considering sequels for that fic and the 12 Day Program for Courtship, both of which have Kevin cast as a main character. I had to dive deep into his makeup, seriously considering his motivations, his likes/dislikes, his personality traits, his relationships, and how he would react in any given situation.

Because I was interested in his character development, I started delving into fics like orionauriga’s just pretend , @likearecordbb's Long Walk in the Woods, @thetrojeans daylights, sunsets, and @dayurno's the age of no regret series. They are all brilliant, fascinating character studies of Kevin Day and his relationships that are extremely well done. There’s many more, of course, but I was searching for fics that specifically delved into Kevin’s thought process and choices and stayed there a while.

That’s what led me to feeling like I needed to tell his story with Dead of Night. Of course, it turned into a larger series with my flavoring of Kerejean added because I’ve never been a huge Kevin/Thea relationship fan. (But that's a discussion for another day which you can start here and here for that adventure.)

Now all that I’ve described above gives you the mechanics of the descent – the when, the where, the how. But it crucially misses the why. What is it about Kevin that got me in the end?

Ironically enough, it was his potential.

I think when Nora stripped away any kind of romantic narrative (RIP Kandreil OR Riko/Kevin/Jean) or a chance for a tragic storyline (Kevin dying in the end) it resulted in removing a lot of Kevin’s emotional vulnerability. We don’t get to hear what he’s feeling or thinking unless it’s related to Riko, the Moriyamas, or Exy. This means his storyline is consumed by the stereotypical sports underdog story, with us following his rise to champion (which is still a powerful enough narrative on its own that shines even in the midst of Neil’s crazy plotline. Switching that racquet to his left hand in the championship game? Iconic.) 

However, it leaves us very much with a shell of a person. Kevin’s character outside of Exy is reduced to a handful of facts – there’s a passing comment on his like of history, and the stark evidence of an alcohol addiction as a coping mechanism. We’re told he used to dance. That he learned French because Jean Moreau taught him. That he has no qualms about taking (mild?) drugs (cracker dust). Despite how much we’ve run with it as a fandom, the only allusion I’ve found in the books to him being strict with diet is this section from The King’s Men:

“No one needs to eat this before a game,” Kevin said. “Eat some granola or protein if you’re that hungry.” “Hello, there’s protein in the peanut butter,” Nicky said. “Let go of me before I tell Andrew you’re outlawing chocolate. I said let go. You’re not the boss of me. Ouch! Did you seriously just hit me?” … “Kevin, just let him go,” Neil said. “It’s not worth fighting over.” “When our defense is sluggish, we all suffer,” Kevin said.

From what I can find in the books, Kevin never once denies Andrew eating ice cream. (Which I’m 100% able to admit I might have missed something so feel free to quote me where that scene is because I was totally searching for it). In fact, every time they go to Sweetie’s, it’s implied Kevin orders ice cream with them. In the infamous kissing scene in The King’s Men, we actually have proof that Kevin got ice cream:

Kevin still hadn’t messaged Nicky by the time they reached the ice cream aisle, so Nicky gave in and called him. Neil half-expected Kevin to ignore Nicky’s call, but Kevin wasn’t so sour with them that he’d turn down a free snack…Nicky grabbed spoons from the kitchen and distributed pints to their hungry owners. Neil checked his expression when Nicky came back from dropping Kevin’s off….

Now I do think it’s in line with his character and his upbringing to have issues with food, so I’m all for buying into that specific hc. But we have very little evidence of it in the text.

His personality is reduced mainly to anger, arrogance, or cowardice (all traits that don’t make us sympathize with him). The only facts we have about his Tragic Past™️ are two things: his mother’s death, and his hand injury. Everything else we assume is based on Neil’s knowledge of the mafia, Wymack’s hearsay, Andrew’s deductions, and Kevin’s reactions to Riko and Tetsuji. We have literally no idea what happened to Kevin in the Nest. His trauma and his time spent there is a complete mystery. The closest we get is Riko’s comment to Neil in The Raven King:

“I am going to love hurting you,” Riko said, “like I loved hurting Kevin.”

This, I think, is one of the main reasons many of the fandom “dismisses” Kevin’s trauma in comparison to Neil’s because we can’t see it. We don’t know what happened and we don’t get to experience it, so this lack of explanation or motivation leaves us only with very cold personality traits. We’re unable to root for him as a character because we can’t sympathize. We can empathize because we know Very Bad Things™️ must have happened in the Nest, but we don’t see them happen the same way we do Neil or Andrew. Even Kevin’s hand injury is old and “healed” when we’re first introduced to the character.

The only true canon moment where Kevin appears “human” is in The Raven King with Kevin’s “then run” and “you should be court” conversation with Neil. His admittance that Neil’s life is more important than Exy is instantaneous – he doesn’t even pause to throw his Exy dreams down the drain if it means Neil can survive.  In a weirdly parallel way, we see Kevin’s thought process implicit in his conversation: “at least you’d have a chance.” It is strikingly similar to Neil’s internal conversation of: one of us should make it. (And there’s another whole separate discourse I could get into on how Kevin and Neil are two halves of the same coin, but we’ll save that for another day.) But even the revelation of Wymack as his father has more shock value than true emotional weight – we never see what that conversation looked like or how either party actually reacted. (In some ways, I feel like Dan being pissed at Kevin is given more “screentime” than Kevin’s response to telling his father and how Wymack reacted.)

So with Kevin’s emotions and past firmly locked down, we’re left to brush off Kevin’s reactions (or lack thereof) as part of his indifferent personality. It is what it says on the tin. (And that’s not to say Kevin is a perfect character by any means. He has flaws just like every other character.)

Now some people very accurately depict and buy into those limitations as simply being Kevin’s character/personality – I’ve read some awesome fics where Kevin is Ace/Aro and/or on the spectrum. These are completely valid, extremely well done, and I could totally see why others see and write him this way. Canon practically sets them up for it.

For me, though, it circles back to our skewed view of Kevin given to us by some deeply loved but also deeply flawed characters (cough, Andreil). Those same characters that we’re told time and again not to judge them by their cover but to try and understand how they’re affected by (and make choices because of) their trauma.

While Andrew and Neil end up giving each other this grace through a hard-fought battle of truths and exchanges, they do not extend this same courtesy to Kevin, and neither are we given the chance to do so. We literally can’t because, again, we don’t know what the full extent of Kevin’s trauma is.

Kevin doesn’t talk about his time in the Nest to any character, meaning we know nothing about it. Ergo we don’t know what choices Kevin makes because of it. In The Foxhole Court, Wymack specifically tells us Kevin was Riko’s pet. In fact, there is so much specific language that Kevin himself uses around the concept of ownership, and that Nora uses when referring to him that it jarringly sticks out in the text.  He has no sense of personal space or proper boundaries, viewing people only as assets to be used for the good of the team, which at the very least is a sign of mental abuse. But the fact remains that we just don’t know. We don’t know how far this mental abuse was taken, how often or severely he was injured, if he injured or was forced to injure others – we don’t know.

But it’s obvious whatever happened to him started as a child and built from there. Which means he has years of abuse and power dynamics embedded into him. He has every right to be afraid. In fact, we are demonstrably told and shown often in canon that Kevin is afraid…but fear does not equate to cowardice. In fact, we know that bravery often means being scared and doing something anyway. And in many cases, that’s just what Kevin did (with a crutch named Andrew). But even before he entered his deal with Andrew, it's important to remember that even though he was brainwashed and beaten from a young age to understand that he would die if he betrayed the Moriyama family in some way, he left them.

This is always so significant to me because so many abuse victims stay in their situation thinking/hoping/praying it will get better – either because of an idea that their abuser will change (“they’re just having a hard time at work rn”) or that the victim will fix whatever flaw the abuser finds lacking. Or alternatively, they recognize the situation is bad, but they can’t leave because they feel like they have nowhere to go, no one who will help them, trapped by their lack of skills/contacts/money. In Kevin’s case, both situations rang true. And yet he left. He left, and in only a year and a half’s time he recovered from his injury and led his team to the championship.

But he is only at the start of his recovery. I think he’ll need years of therapy to recover from all that happened in the Nest. I think many of his emotional and social shortcomings are a direct consequence of that timeframe and he did not have the freedom to address them until the threat of the Moriyamas was removed. I do not think they are permanent parts of his personality – I think in time, he will be allowed to grow and recover and contribute much more to his relationships than he’s capable of doing at the end of The King’s Men.

Though the series finished, I think Kevin’s story is just beginning.

That’s why I think he’s fascinating to explore as a character. That’s why I love writing him right now because in many ways, his possibilities are endless. There’s so many opportunities to explore different facets of his story that we never get a chance to in canon. Kevin’s character and narrative is a tantalizing tease which many of us have fell hook, line, and sinker for. (Including yours truly.) We want to rabidly sink our teeth into it and shake it, like a dog with a bone.

So we do. 😉

Phew. Okay, that’s enough. None of what I’ve written above is new I’m sure to those of the fandom who have been here since the beginning or have become diehard Kevin fans. But thank you for letting me ramble in this ask, anon. Writing about Kevin has been a very fun and therapeutic adventure for me. So I’m so glad that there are others out there who are enjoying it too 😊

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #309

Git yer boots on!!! We goin' on a walk!!!

…Or… rather… I took video of a walk I went on for you. Because I can't actually go on a walk with you. Which sucks, but… I'll make do with what I've got.

Unlike the videos of the drive to Great Barrington, I kept the sound on so you could hear the birds and the wind and the rustling leaves. I speak at a few points. But fair warning… I had to walk around looking like this:

...So now we can both be "cyborgs". I do not care. Even if the one lady I passed on the trail with her dog laughed at me (you'll catch it if you listen for it... sigh...) probably because I looked strange, I do not care; I'm too busy trying to create something beautiful for you to care about the opinions of people who couldn't possibly understand.

...I wrote recently about looking through each other's eyes, and... I can't exactly do that literally with you. But... I can give you an approximation by centering the lens of the GoPro between my eyes. So that is what I did.

I used the one of the mittens of my hat to try to cushion my face against the camera and to straighten the camera out, but uh... my nose is still VERY squashed to my face and impossible to breathe through. And yes, one of my eyes is also not usable. And also my glasses weren't usable, because obviously.

So... I couldn't see very well, and I had to breathe through my mouth with the braces in my face the whole time. And that's... definitely audible, even though I tried to breathe quietly (hence, the tremble you might notice; I'm not out of breath, I'm just trying and failing to be quiet).

...My breathing does sound a little weird because the camera is so close to my face. If it bothers you, by all means do turn the sound off; there are captions for the parts in which I speak, so you don't have to worry. I will try to figure out a way to stop the thing from squashing my nose next time so that it isn't a problem.

...Because there will be a next time. I don't know when, but it'll happen. I decided it. I just gotta arrange things a little better. I'll figure something out.

Anyway, here; you might have to check back later before it's visible, but... this is the link:

Today was otherwise relatively uneventful.

I made one of my favorite teas, though!! Check it out!

...Starbucks doesn't own Tazo anymore (which I only found out recently!), and so I can get it now, at least as far as I know! 😄 I wasn't getting this tea for a while because Starbucks seems to be generally against workers' rights to negotiate for fair employment terms; I don't wanna give money to a company like that if I can avoid it! But now they are not an obstacle!!!

I wish I could give to you the scent and flavor of this one; it's absolutely fucking dazzling! Alas; the best I can do is give you a couple pictures...

...I wish I could share this with you. There's so many things I wish I could share with you. But... I'll do what little I can, and hope that it's enough.

Not too long after this, I went on a walk on the trails with J. I didn't take video during that walk, but I did get a few neat pictures for you:

...Do you suppose if I go through the impossible archway in the photo above, it'll bring me to you? Hahaha...

...I know, I know. I'm just kidding. Haha...

J and I ran an errand after that. He had to do some things at the little airport, and he wanted company, so I accompanied him! I took the little video for you of my solo walk after I got home from that.

...And then it was sunset. I got a couple more pictures... I thought the sky looked a lot like you today...

...Do you have to wonder why I think the sky looks like you...?

...

...I hope the skies you fly in are kind to you...

...

I got to watch some more Trinity Blood with one of my friends from this space today!! I had a really great time doing that; Mr. Abel is so much like you it's almost uncanny. You'll have to see how he speaks to others sometime in order to see what I mean. I think you'll like him a lot.

...May you view him, and then view yourself with a kinder lens. Give it a try, okay?

...For now, though, I'm pretty tired. So I'm gonna stop writing now.

I love you. And I'm eager to see what tomorrow brings, so that I'll have another reason to write to you.

Please stay safe...

Your friend, Lumine

[olivieblake]

Hi! You are one of my favorite authors in traditional publishing and particularly in fan fiction. I reread Clean and Marked at least once every couple months for my mental health, and I recommend them to literally everyone.

I was bawling last night reading Clean and I’ll probably be crying tonight too when I read Marked. I have a playlist I made specifically for those two fan works with most of my favorite songs.

Your writing is so evocative and amazing and I love it! Just wanted to thank you for putting yourself out there and writing such awesome things! I know you don’t really do a lot of fanfics anymore because of your original work, but I wanted to express my most sincere gratitude for you and your writing. Much love!

thank you so much!! I don’t do fanfic in that arena anymore because the enjoyment of the source material has been,,, shall we say,,, tainted (I actually handsold a lot of copies of EVERY HEART A DOORWAY by Seanan McGuire at the tor booth at Comic-Con by asking “do you happen to have a complicated relationship with harry potter?”���very amusing to see the replying facial expressions) (and also I do always feel a bit odd about clean because I wish it did not have the “not like other girls” flavor I have come to resent that was very much the standard at the time) (sorry for all these caveats)

what I’m trying to say is thank you very, very much, and I’m happy those stories continue to bring you joy! that’s an honor and I do not take it lightly

[yanderomantic]

Hey!! 1, 2, 3, 9 & 13 for the ask game? 👀

what got you into proshipping? -- politics. i started educating myself on marxism, dialectical materialism, i realized that pushing towards censorship is a conservative view, that in practice its the most disenfranchised members of society that get censored--people of color, trans women, queers of any flavor. in a world where the definition of pedophilia is getting expanded to include open trans women in florida, im not comfortable equating the exploration of dark fiction with child abuse. theres real world political impacts to this pedojacketing shit that harms the oppressed before the privileged, and im not taking part in it. also--we should normalize discussion of dark topics, in order for victims to feel safe processing their traumas--theres a lot of traumatized people stuck in anti circles who are too afraid of admitting the complicated truths of their trauma because the mere discussion of dark topics is such a deep taboo. theres a lot of social and political benefits to destigmatizing discussion. also i became staunchly pro-kink for about all the same reasons as i mentioned before, and in my mind kink & dark self shipping is basically in the same boat--imaginative play with dark themes & power dynamics.

what got you into selfshipping? -- friends! i mean, i always enjoyed daydreaming about my favorite characters, but i didnt realize there was a community to partake in until my pals got me into it. thank you lav ^_^

who is one of your your first/oldest f/os? -- good question! i mean, theres the characters ive adored since childhood that i spent my time daydreaming about, maybe even making ocs for--flippy from happy tree friends was probably the first character i properly self shipped with before realizing what self shipping even was cuz i was like, 9... but i had made ocs id project onto. the first few characters i decided to call my f/os--when i was first introduced to the self shipping community--will graham & herobrine, though i dont really self ship with herobrine & not sure if i ever truly did, i just liked him ^_^

9. who is a f/o you want more content of? -- not too sure! i have a couple that dont have a lot of content, but im not too pressed about it--mr robot, from mr robot, is a character i really really really like but the fandom doesnt explore him in the ways id like for it to. hilbert from w359 could definitely use some more content that appeals to me, im a little picky about my interpretations of podcast characters though.

(and i got your other ask specifying you meant 14! i assume you meant 14 over 13, so i'll answer 14 instead (: )

14. do you prefer romantic, platonic, or familial f/os? -- my familial f/o's have always meant the most to me & have brought me the most comfort. crowley from supernatural most of all. supernatural as a source has been deeply important to me in many ways. and then theres lucas baker from re7, who hits the sweet spot between romantic & familial both! which is a very very awesome spot for an f/o to be. i need more incestuous f/os in my life i think itd fix me whats kinda funny about platonic f/o's, if i like them enough they either start branching into romantic territory or familial territory eventually. like a few other spn characters, like kevin who i started crushing on, and um. jack. who. um. Well we're kind of incestuous. thematically. It was unavoidable. jack kline parallels me too much and his (biological) dad is grooming me so. It happens. we started having some kind of codependent sibling incest even before i accepted that im proship. it was unpreventable. Love you jack kline forever

(and yknow what just cuz i love talking ill answer 13 too)

13. do you create self inserts to be more like you, or an idealised version of yourself? -- it depends on how im feeling/who im feeling like when i get into the source/make my s/i! or, depends on the source and how it makes me feel. of course my spn self insert is pretty idealized, yet true to myself and my emotional complexes--fallen angel turned demon, but is still pretty bad at being a demon. and my re7 self insert is pretty true to my teenage self while being very much inspired by who i am today at 23. kind of an homage to the teenage self i couldve been if i was less lost in my identity. the self inserts i made for media i got into 2020-2022 are pretty different from the self inserts i make in 2024, because im just a different person. each self insert is kind of a snapshot of a person i once was/used to be/used to want to be. ive got a couple self inserts that are more idealized than others, like an au version of my spn self insert that gains her angel status back--very confident, reclaiming her femininity, revenge against abusers--a type of person i once looked up to, but i dont really idolize her the same way i once needed to. im always ever growing & so are my self inserts--ive got trans men, cis women, butch dykes-- all self inserts are versions of me ive been or can be

[wraithsoutlaws]

[ SUBJECT INTERVIEW: ASHLEY "ZEPHYR" ZAIDE ]

NAME? This isn’t an interrogation, right? Y’know legally you have to tell me if you’re with the NCPD… NICKNAME? Well, Zephyr usually. I always liked it more. My aunt was the first one to call me that and it felt like sliding into a pair of old shoes that already fit real well and you don’t gotta break in again, you know what I mean?  GENDER? He/him baby. See this cool pin I got?  STAR SIGN? I guess I’m a cancer, but Misty knows more about that than I do. She knows everything about that stuff. She made a whole fucking chart about it once, tracked every second of my life based on stars alone. And it was fucking right, too. Spooky as hell if you ask me but I do like listening to her talk about it. She gets this crinkly little smile.  HEIGHT? I’m 5’7’’ which isn’t far off from the average height for men, by the way. If you care.  ORIENTATION? Truth be told, I’m not real picky.  FAVORITE FRUIT? I gotta go with cherry. I don’t really eat ‘em a lot, but fuck me, it’s one of the best flavors out there, isn’t it? I got this cherry flavored–you know what? Nevermind…hey, if you like fruit I know where to get the best ‘ganic plums you’ve ever tasted. All above board, of course. Legal like. Just let me know.  FAVORITE SEASON? I like the Summer…reminds me of being a kid. Before things went to shit… FAVORITE FLOWER? I dunno, I like those little weeds that come up through the cracks in the sidewalk. Little fucking guys. I try not to step on ‘em. FAVORITE SCENT? I got this incense from Misty’s Esoterica and I couldn’t tell you a single fucking thing about it, it’s not really my jam but…every time I light it it’s like she’s standing right next to me. Makes my place feel better. COFFEE OR TEA? Misty keeps pushing this special tea blend on me. Says its holy or, er…holistic. It tastes like fucking socks if you ask me, though I’m not really big on coffee either. Give me a few lines of synth-coke y’know, don’t be a pussy. I mean, not that I do that sort of thing. AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP? Kinda depends, I guess. Some nights I sleep like a baby. Others feel like they’ll never end…more of those than not these days, I guess. DOG OR CAT PERSON? I don’t really trust dogs. Been chased a couple times and bit in the ass more than I can count. Come to think of it, I don’t really trust cats either. They can see shit, you know. Right through you. I mean whatever happened to hamsters? But whatever man. If you’re in the market for some exotics, I got you covered. DREAM TRIP? Oh, I’m just counting the days and the eddies ‘til I can hightail it outta this city and settle down on a beach in Belize or the Bahamas away from all this shit. Sip a fuckin’ mai tai on a clean beach and watch the waves every morning.  FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER? Who’s that fucking dog…he does this little dance. I dunno, always makes me laugh though.  NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH? You’re assuming I make it to the bed…I mean, of course I do. Couple nights in the elevator don’t mean anything…just because I know the feeling of my bathroom floor better than my own mattress–hey, maybe I should leave the blankets in there? Shit. I’m kidding, obviously. I’m a normal guy. What–what was the question again? RANDOM FACT? I got a junk shop in Japantown, got anything you need or I can find it fast, and that’s a guarantee. Just don’t ask anymore questions, alright?

was tagged by @therealnightcity and wanted to complete the trifecta of my boys!! once again, won't be tagging anyone but as always feel free to tag me, i would love to read more!

[internetgiraffekid1673]

John Darling Through The Ages:

This is post number 3 for this project! I am making a crossover AU with high school AU undertones for Peter Pan, Milo and the Phantom Tollbooth, the Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Wonderland (Too much fantastical stuff will happen for me to think of it as just a high school AU). Long story short, all the main kids from these stories end up in the same town and going to school together after their fantastical adventures.

Posts for Wendy, Alice, Michael, Dorothy, and Milo! More information about this AU will be under the cut. The art without the fact file will be at the bottom.

Chicken Scratch Translator (boxes in the order they should be read):

[Neverland Era. Age: 9. Source: Doodles from Milo Johnson's school notebook]

[Notes: A precocious and curious boy who is fascinated with both life and fiction, and everything that may be possible. He is adventurous and wants to see and do everything, but he does have more common sense than most his age, and feels pressured to be "the responsible one."]

[Gay Theatre Kid Era. Age: 16. Source: Dorothy Gale's Digital Journal]

[Notes: Leaned into both his zest for life and his absolute nerdiness by being a dedicated theatre kid. Although he's a good student at heart, he often slacks off or misbehaves to piss of his dad, who puts a little too much stock in John being his most academically inclined child. Out and proud gay, although he exaggerates the flamboyance for a variety of reasons.]

[Dork with a Day Job Era. Age: 26. Source: Michael Darling's lockscreen photo, taken when he first saw John's workplace in person]

[Notes: John managed to surprise everyone by choosing to become an accountant. His genuine love for math, statistics, and keeping things organized certainly help, but his favorite parts are all the strange and wonderful people he gets to meet. Although he is very good at his job, he absolutely refuses to adhere to a dress code or even attempt to hide his dorky, nerdy personality.]

Also, the second photo has context that's not immediately clear: John fell asleep in class and his friends spray painted his glasses orange then recorded his reaction.

Extra AU Information (tentatively named The CrossRoads)!

1. This AU takes place primarily during their time in high school and sometime between the 90s and 2010s.

2. I get to do what I want, so I decided the Darlings are 1/4 Japanese, from their maternal grandmother.

3. The Darling kids and Alice still lived in England during their original adventures, but moved to America sometime after for reasons I have not fully decided on yet. Dorothy is still from Kansas and Milo is from an indeterminate area in American Suburbia.

4. Their school is 7-12. Michael and Alice are 8th Graders, John and Milo are sophomores, and Wendy and Dorothy are seniors.

5. I'm mixing source materials! The canon I'm building from is the books for Alice and Wonderland and Milo and the Phantom Tollbooth, the Warner Bros Movie for Wizard of Oz, and some unhinged combination of the book, the Disney movie, and the stageplay for Peter Pan, skewing towards the Disney movie. This is almost entirely due to my familiarity with the source materials, but I do have a couple other reasons that I may specify in a later post.

6. Just because I don't specify a character's sexuality in their "file" doesn't mean they are automatically straight! John is specified as gay because leaning into gay stereotypes is a big part of his teenage personality and life experience.

7. More specifically, Wendy and Dorothy are some flavor of sapphic and will be shipped (I haven't decided exactly what their identities are, and to be fair, they probably haven't either during the main period of this au). Milo is aspec, and there will be some aspec version of a John/Milo ship. Alice is a raging pansexual and Michael is straight and also too busy to care.

8. Neverland, Wonderland, Oz, and The Lands Beyond will all factor in and be visited, but equal focus will be given to the regular high school parts of the story

9. These information files exist in story, but it's a secret who's writing them! :)

10. I didn't have room for it in the fact file, but adult John is also a LARPer, cosplayer, and convention-goer.

Here are the pictures of John without the fact file!

[alltimefail-sims]

In honor of me rising from the dead I think its time I talk about my two(?) fav lore families in the sims franchise the smith-curious and the spector-beaker families and I guess also the singles as well - lore anon

Hello lore anon and welcome back! ❤️

Sorry I took a minute to answer this, it has been a crazy busy couple of days! I'm going to put my whole response under a read more because I have lots of thoughts on this topic!!!

We all took for granted how insane and amazing TS2 lore was. God, I pour one out for her everyday RIP.

Anyway, let's get into this! ↓

Strangetown is my favorite world in TS2 as well! No one is surprised by this I'm sure. I actually ended up tying it (and some of its townies 👀...) into my Strangerville story because I just couldn't help myself. But I'll be honest - the family tree stuff with Lola/Chloe/Jenny/Pollination Tech 9 has always made my brain melt a little. I'm a visual person so I had to reference their family tree as a guide for our conversation. I'll provide the one that I used below!

Lore-wise, you have to start this conversation by talking about alien pollination and normal sim reproduction. You just can't avoid it. For me, I've always seen them as completely separate entities... otherwise Jenny is married to a man who, for lack of a better term, knowingly banged and impregnated her father lmfao. But not only that - if they were the same, that would imply that aliens are abducting people and engaging in sexual relations with them (with willingness or unwillingness not playing a factor; sim abductions can happen to sims who want or fear them) and this is kind of reductive and uncharacteristic of what we know about their species (plus the implications are icky imo). Therefore, I never thought that Pollination Tech 9 would view Lola and Chloe as his children, even though they technically are, in the way that Poli Tech wouldn't view Tycho as his child either (nor would Pascal regard Poli Tech as the father either).

If I'm recalling correctly, I don't think sims are necessarily aware which alien pollinated them in game (even though each sim neighborhood in TS2 has only one Pollination Technician, therefore making all the half-alien babies in that neighborhood half-siblings by default within the limited span of the game). I also don't know that male sims in TS2, from what I remember, are aware they've been pollinated because they're always surprised to find they're "pregnant," meaning there likely wasn't any a-typical intercourse happening that they could connect to the pregnancy (even if, let's be honest, Pascal might have been down for that). I think of pollination as an act similar to cloning, (the wiki says through "advanced technology") or as the name implies it could also just be a consequence of coming into proximity with their species (their name being a reference to reproduction methods of flora by pollination, for example). But realistically... it's a fictional simulation game, and in the case of TS2 it was super campy and a knowingly-leaning-into-the-outrageous kind of simulation game (which I loved and miss). So who knows!

All that to say that I agree; regardless of how the baby process works for aliens, it is still an absolutely crazy family tree lmao. But on the bright side... that at least implies that Pollination Tech 9 wasn't into his wife's father, nor might he be aware that Chloe and Lola are his children. 😅 But I'll stop here because if I think about it for too long, I think my brain might explode lmao. Still, I'm inclined toward the belief that the messiness adds to the flavor! 😂 The Sims team today could never write such a juicy bit of lore. My ass ate their dynamic up.

Also, quick note, JILL HAS EYES IN THE BACK OF HER HEAD?! THAT IS WHY SHE WEARS THE PIGTAILS? WHAT THE HELL?! Gonna look this up -

Holy shit!!! This fact is equal parts incredible and terrifying. Thank you for bringing this my attention. I can't believe I did not know this before this moment. What a (horrifying) little legend.

Oh I loved (and still love) Nervous Subject and Pascal together. Just thinking about that ship makes me giggle because it was one of my first exposures to "shipping" and "fandoms" as a preteen. I always put them together and had them raise little Tycho to fulfill Nervous' family aspiration. (I should note that I was also an avid JRO enthusiast. Johnny has two hands, why should he have to pick between Ophelia and Ripp?) Another interesting layer to the Ophelia/Olive/Nervous family is that Ophelia would be unaware of her direct relation to Nervous (1st cousins)! I loved playing around with this; Olive was a very secretive person who had a dark side for sure, so I'm sure Ophelia would have a lot of questions following her aunt's death (the first being why her aunt's inheritance is going to some rando named Nervous lmao). Plus, who says Ophelia didn't know her aunt was taking people out? She might not have known why, but she had to know all those deaths around Olive couldn't have been coincidental. That's messed up on its own lmao. I like to think that once Nervous and Ophelia meet, they become close and he even helps care for her in a weird-older-brother type way. I just know they would trauma bond lmao.

I didn't care for Loki or Circe (I never played with their household), so I don't have super strong opinions on them. That being said, I love reading people's theories on their connection to the Curious brothers. I think the ongoing feud with the brother's and their connection to Nervous is the most interesting part of their story, but my ideal ending for them would have been being exiled from the town and their careers in general for their shady practices. Pascal seemed like the science antithesis to Loki and Circe who seemed to believe that it was okay for scientific truths to come at the cost of the wellbeing of others. Also, I think Circe is too hot and too evil for Loki AND Vidcund. That's woman commits many crimes, but her taste in men is up there as one of the worst things about her lmao.

Lastly, LAZLO. He's so silly goofy and so chill in comparison to his brothers, and he's definitely the black-sheep of the family. I love how in comparison to Vidcund and Pascal, his personal life is pretty typical and mild. He's just vibing as a third party witness to the chaos. He didn't sign up for any of the drama, yet you know he's a ride-or-die. In my mind, he's also the cool uncle. He'd catch Johnny smoking and be like, "Gotta share little man." He's the best. Little Fun fact - when I watched season 4 of Stranger Things, I couldn't unsee Lazlo Curious every time Argyle opened his mouth.

If you don't see it, that's okay. I can't unsee it though! He's high af, he's precious, he's always has snacks, he will take down the government or transport a dead body for the homies. He should be protected. I totally, 100% agree that Nova is his child!

WHEW sorry for blabbing! Strangetown was a doozy and you're right that the Bella Goth situation adds a whole other intricacy (which I'll definitely be talking about in her specific deep dive post).

So glad to have you back! 🤗

[gefionne]

Hi Gefionne!

Have you been reading any good books lately? I recently read “A River Endless” because I saw you mention it, and I enjoyed it a lot.

I noticed you have written quite a few fanfics set in a historical AU. I can only imagine the amount of research this takes and as a fellow fanfic writer I would love to hear a bit about your process when you write these.

Do you enjoy reading historical fiction in general, do you have any favorites that you would recommend?

Hello, friend!

I'm glad you enjoyed A River Endless! I also enjoyed those books, since I've been on a fantasy kick in the past 6 months. I loved fantasy most as a kid, and while I moved away from it for a while, I reread the Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab and got yanked back into wanting to read fantasy.

Shades of Magic is a favorite, though iirc Schwab's first move from YA to adult fiction. It still has a very YA flavor because of that, but it's such an engaging world that I got sucked in. Totally wrote an OT3 fic based on the series when I finished it again this time lol.

Other stuff I've really liked lately:

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries and Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawlett - I really like her prose style and the books overall are whimsical and endearing.

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas - Dark academia with a supernatural twist; reread it recently.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan - Also YA-flavored adult fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo - I love this book. I will never stop gushing about this book. I reread it this summer because it's a creepy, humid Southern gothic that's queer af and has delicious prose.

In terms of historical fiction, I've had a lot of trouble connecting with it for quite a while now, despite having written a couple of meaty historical fics. There are some quirks of historicals that will bug me enough from the start that I can't get into them: mostly that they info dump the setting within the first paragraph with a laundry list of historical details that's like "Hey, look, I did my research!" but it actually makes the story sound like a freshman HIS101 paper, not a novel.

One of the toughest things about writing historicals is doing all that research and then judiciously weaving it into the story, not putting your whole-ass knowledge of details into every page. While of course I want to make the setting come alive with historical detail, in the end, the story is about the characters and their arc, so you have to walk this line of putting in enough detail to make it believable while not getting bogged down in the details. If a historical novel leans too hard on establishing the setting at the very start and less on introducing the characters, I tend to put it down because it seems like a book about the period, not a book about these people I'm supposed to care for. I might as well read non-fiction for that. All the historicals I've picked up lately--which, admittedly, isn't that many--have been like that, so I noped out.

My research for fics is not anywhere what would need to be done for a novel I'd be willing to query. I read 3 books about the Eagle Squadrons, watched a movie or two, and always had the internet's legion of aviation nerds at hand when I was writing my WWII Royal Air Force AU, but I still fudged enough that I'd be reluctant to do more than fanfiction with it. All historicals require some fudging, extrapolation, and creative license, but if I wrote an RAF novel, I'd have a far larger reading list.

For Limerence, the 70s English public school AU, I read a book of accounts of queer men and their experiences in public school, with some history of public school in general. Again, not half enough to float a novel, but perfectly adequate for my purposes of writing a fic for fun. The Good Omens fic that spans several historical eras is a product of internet research, and I believe one commenter found an historical misstep with tea, when it wouldn't've been available in the place Zira and Crowley currently were. I nodded to them for noticing the error, but didn't go back and fix it because while I put a lot of work into my fics and take them seriously as an art form, I'm comfortable with some anachronisms or imperfections in historical accuracy because I do, in fact, write these fics for fun around a full-time job, house, partner, and pet, and people can read them for free.

My advice for writing historical fics: pick up at least one non-fiction book about the period you're writing about, then see if you want to read more books or just chill on the internet. Decide how much you're comfortable fudging and what you need to be super accurate. Then focus on your characters and plot, using the setting to prop them up and make them come alive. The setting/time isn't the main focus, but you have to know enough about it to let your story unfold within its confines.

Anyway, this is so long and if you've made it all the way to the bottom, anon, that's lovely. I was just taking a break from my workday to reply, so it's back to the grind. ;-)

Love, Gef

[angelnumber27]

7, 8, 15, 39 🦋

7. Have tattoos?

Two old stick and pokes lol that’s it

8. Want any tattoos?

Yes I just don’t know what and as I’ve said before my style and interests change and evolve regularly so I’m trying not to have something done I’ll no longer like in a couple years

15. Favorite movie

Mmm pulp fiction is one of them

39. Favorite ice cream flavor

Strawberry cheesecake Ben & Jerry’s but I also love a good vanilla bean

[lowkeyliminal]

A couple of ghregnant Swisstophers for @readitnreap from our shared canon (for which there is lots of writing over on AO3, links on their tumblr page). 

First image is early on, he isn’t quite sure what to think of the situation as the whole thing started out as sort of a trick masterminded by Special. Endgame unknown.

Second image, he is very much done with the ordeal and will straight up murder the next person who inconveniences him, or runs out of his favorite popsicle flavor. 

Note: In our canon, Swiss uses He/Him pronouns but generally uses vagina and like anatomical terms (including slang) for the uh....swussy.

standard disclaimer: all this, plus my ghoul designs are very fictional and bare little resemblance to any real people. This is intentional. These are characters, not actors/musicians

[who-is-muses]

@dcwnthercbbithcle | Shipping Bingo [ ACCEPTING ]

Shipping bingo for OUR Evan/Phiwip disaster ship and mayhaps Carmina and Sally too??

[ MY TURN TO GUSH NOW 🫵👁v👁💙 djdjjdjdjs ]

[ Like obviously I'm going to be biased because these are OUR little freaks, but !!! Evan isn't strictly the macho he-man testosterone fountain a lot of writers (INCLUDING THE DEVS) make him, and Philly is allowed to A) keep his specific intelligence instead of being dumbed down to a himbo that needs Evan to solve all his problems be they major or minor, and B) be a little Deeply Fucked Up instead of an uwu smol bean flavored bad circumnavigation of stereotyping African men. IT'S ABOUT THE NUANCE AND CHARACTER DEPTH!!!!!!! ]

[ And like! Their relationship doesn't have to be strictly perfectly smooth romance and roses because it won't ever be!!! They're both tragic victims turned monsters themselves, and the reality is they are always going to have rough edges! And that's absolutely okay!!! Fuckin hell!!!!!!! In both fiction and reality, healthy relationships experience turbulence! There will be arguments and butting of heads! While Ev and Phil aren't exactly the most healthy, they're gradually learning how to move past their respective limitations and actually communicate, including properly making up to one another after fights- which is also important! Hrhrnrrhrghrnrnrhrhn!!! ]

[ NOW TO COMPLETELY CONTRADICT MYSELF- bdjdjdjdkd not actually, but like. I think part of it is their respective temperaments- Sally's no-nonsense and Carmina's blunt-but-not-necessarily-cruelty- but they’re one of the best cases scenario for a couple to come out of the Fog on any side of the Campfire. Despite being partially and fully mute respectively, I feel like Sally and 'Mina have some of THE BEST communication skills out of the killers and I'd argue even the survivors. Maybe not always in the nicest ways, but they both make themselves VERY clear a majority of the times. ]

[ But at the same time, they're both relatively quiet ladies that lean towards getting lost in projects than large crowds or loud parties. One of my absolute favorite Romance Things is parallel play, being able to exist in a room together without necessarily doing the same thing, just sharing a space with your person being enough to feel their love and send yours to them as well qvq I could absolutely see them having one big ol "common room" type space where they can both work on their projects independently without getting in the others' way, but still sharing a room. (And where Carmina can keep an eye on Sally and bring her food and water when she herself has to force herself to take breaks.) ]

[ There's also. Like. The factor of Carmina's overabundant confidence. She can't fix Sally's body issues or the experiences she's had because of them- nor would she ever want to- but 'Mina can and will try to gradually help (not fix) her image of herself. 'All bodies are good bodies' is one of Carmina's strongest and most important beliefs- both in general, and personally in her life as a transwoman. While she's never been one to force her beliefs on anyone- another strong belief of her- she does her best to make it loudly and widely known that there is never one way to think about something. Body positivity wives qvq ]