#holding back on my some of these to not be too shippy

[wild-grinders]

do you have any headcanons for goggles, jack knife or emo crys? im curious to hear about them!

all 3 characters hgrhrheggrgegegrhr gonna try (this is in the style of ye olde fandom and not like reader blogs)

Goggles

engineering science major (hes not a biologist, he doesnt mess around in chemicals), but boy loves complex math and building things that he's more of an engineering sciences

gay because he engages in anime, comics, and hes even touched fandom because hes's a real fan nerd (he learned that gay ships were a thing and it clicked for him why he wasnt interest in girls)

has a lot more money than you think, but he doesnt really boast about being rich (most of that money is always going into new materials for his family to upkeep the hyperfixations they have) and his actual house is like full minimalist modernism in canon

avid fan of hot cocoa + mini marshmallows (literally from one episode, but it's in my brain forever)

last member to meet the wild grinders, aside from Flip (this was the original intention back in the Ketterville canon but has been reworked to him being Lil' Rob's first friend for the Sprawl City today)

Jack Knife (theres a ton of info on his canon life, but thats another post for another day)

oppossum hugger, he will try to befriend any wildlife that visits his home, will even try to bring said animal to let his friends see

in Ketterville canon, hes actually homeless and his family moves around a lot and hinted that he could live in trailer parks, but personally like to think he has family all over the states and they welcome his family to stay from time to time, he currently stays in one place (his grandmas house) to be near his friends while his family decides to travel for the circus

the most failgirl of failgirls, but is actually a badass when it comes to knives and is skilled at tasks like wood carving and axe-throwing but will set the kitchen on fire he made lemonade

hes not at all a redneck or the american hillbilly stereotype that the Sprawl City canon makes him out to be, he's more of an Oregon lumberjack local whos a little confused, but he does his best to understand others

would cut tires though

he has one berserk button and it's extremely rare to see him angry, but when he is, he will not hesitate to fuck anyone up

but seriously hes the kindest character ever and doesnt care if anyone insults or smacks him around, but he DOES care when you hurt anyone he cares about

100% taurus

Emo Crys (this is my kin, not like a kinnie-way, but more of a 'thats my son!!' way)

failgirl #2, but hes living his best life being cringe and actually giving a fuck about others

in Ketterville canon, he used to just be straight up 'peace was never an option', but he mellowed out after meeting Lil' Rob and learned to not be snarky and sarcastic

the sprawl city canon wants him to be a brony, but really he loves a lot of animals and cares for all of them (but hed suck as a science major to be involved in animal care profession)

doesnt have a good relationship in his family and often sneaks off to be part of the wild grinders shenanigans (it's the reason why we cannot have him wear nail polish) he's doing his best to pass as a goth in his family situation

loves horror and monsters, would happily invite himself in the woods where Mothman is and walk outside at ungodly hours just to meet a cryptid or ghost

thrifts all of his clothes because hes sick of fast fashion and would rather tailor them to his style

scarf was given to him by Lil' Rob as a way of welcoming him to Ketterville (not even canon to the series, but Rob Dyrdek demanded hed have a cute gray scarf and even presented a gray scarf to Chris, the inspiration behind Emo).

secretly loves cats (and constantly gets scratched by the said stray cats)

[petorahs]

a look into the healing properties of ▆▆▆'s power

[prelude]

...some notes from the "White Book"! Will you read it? >Yes

when I started this second comic, it was primarily to address these plot beats GameFreak left in their writing of the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Epilogue that I found to be "immersion-breaking":

why didn't the protag tell anyone about Kieran? (my answer: they had to keep it a secret)

why did the protag travel from Kitakami to trigger the epilogue, then fly back to Paldea real quick before going back barely a week later? (I can't justify it for GameFreak lol so for me there are two protags and one of them was already in Kitakami, while the other got the call from Arven.)

I know in game this was done from a gameplay perspective, but it's fun to imagine an intricate story and reasoning for all this :] With this, my version of events can still play out in the games themselves without being too au-y. (It's even in-line with my previous pkmn art, which I'm semi-particular about.)

Of course, it was also to give my version of Florian and Juliana as well as Nemona some form of closure. I wasn't planning on healing them, but a kind comment from someone led me to this little brief passion project. Although the characters aren't mine, they seem to have taken hold of me anyway, driving me to finish telling their story.

Making this was what I call "wish-fulfillment" art. It has shippy elements, a bunch of specific exposition a nerd like me would care about, JP text for a character raised in fictional rural Japan that I'm aware not many would enjoy as I do? Or, idk. It's fanservice for me alone, and it was extremely fulfilling to draw, which is what matters. Believe it or not, it's been a while since I've been unapologetically able to enjoy drawing like this.

Basically, I blacked out and boom. These silly guys took over my life. I enjoyed it. I hope you guys do too.

[ultrone]

hii !! i love ur work so much, how about reader taking care of pregnant shauna in the wilderness

lets pretend that her baby made it :(

𓂃  ⊹ reader being the wilderness dad that stepped up 🗣️💪🏻

while pregnant…

you often found yourself walking on eggshells around shauna cuz of her mood swings, especially when she was hungry, which was pretty much almost every day 😭 if u wanted to stay out of trouble, the only acceptable responses to any of her requests were either "yes, baby" or nodding silently.

and if you happened to get into an argument, your best bet was to either shut the fuck up or just roll your eyes, unless you wanted her to be passive-aggressive towards you for the entire day.

although even if she got mad at you, her corny ass would always end up snuggling into you at night, holding you tightly before falling asleep. sometimes she’d “angrily” turn her back to you for the first ten minutes, but then she’d grab one of your arms and place it around her waist, wanting you to cuddle her lmaooo

after finding out she was pregnant, you began marking down the weeks with a sharp rock on the walls of the attic to keep track of her pregnancy.

around the sixth month, you began assisting her with skinning the animals and cutting the meat. initially, you didn't enjoy the task, but you didn't want her to become even more tired than she already was. therefore, you asked her to show you how to do it, and once she did, you took over the chore to ease her burden.

you'd also make sure to cut her food portions a little bigger while making yours smaller. of course, you didn't tell her this cuz you knew she'd get mad at you for nearly starving yourself at her expense, even though she needed it the most.

whenever she was stressed or exhausted, she loved it when you’d let her sit between your legs, her back against your chest, while you massaged her scalp as she closed her eyes.

during your free time, you’d spend hours sewing beanies and tiny socks for the baby using fabric from some of your jackets and cotton shirts, as you knew he was likely to be born during the winter.

as her belly gradually started to grow, you began talking to it, hoping the baby would recognize your voice once he was born.

you approached shauna's belly, softly caressing it on the sides with your hands. "shippy, if you can hear me, kick your mom for me," you said with a faux serious expression, only to receive a punch on the shoulder. "ow!" you exclaimed, rubbing your shoulder with a pout on your face.

after giving birth…

you hated to admit it given the circumstances, but you were excited af 😭 as soon as the baby was born, you’d take care of him as if he was your biological son.

even though shauna loved her baby and wanted to spend all day with him, she was actually relieved that you were so obsessed with him too. your preoccupation gave her some much-needed time to herself or simply to rest throughout the day.

you also knew that hungry shauna and restless shauna = everyone’s worst nightmare 😭 so, if necessary, you’d let her sleep if the baby started crying at night, rocking him to sleep on your own.

it became a common occurrence for her to wake up in the morning and see you fast asleep next to her, with the baby tightly cradled in your arms, his tiny head resting against your chest.

you'd often offer to take care of him. in fact, you wouldn't even offer—you'd just literally take the baby from shauna’s arms at random and play with him, rubbing his belly or nuzzling your nose against his face. his response would often be giggling or slapping your face with his little hands.

“ow! stop poking my eye!” you exclaimed, pretending to be stern but unable to hide the smile on your face. the baby just looked at you with wide, innocent eyes, his tiny hand still hovering near your face. “you think that’s funny, huh?” you asked as you tickled his belly, causing him to burst into a fit of giggles. shauna watched from a distance, a soft smile on her face as she watched the two of you bond.

when his teeth started to grow, you carved several animal-shaped figures from unused pieces of wood that were too small to be used for the bonfire. after thoroughly washing them in the lake, you would then give them to the baby for him to chew on.

although he’d usually prefer to chew on your fingers and hands.

⟢ 🍼

"babe, our little shippy seems to have inherited some interesting traits from his mom," you began, a mischievous twinkle in your eye as you watched the baby gnawing on your hand.

shauna glanced at you, curiosity piqued. "oh? which ones?"

you chuckled, gently pulling your hand away from the baby’s mouth. "i made all these cute little wooden animals for him to chew on, but he seems to prefer biting me instead."

shauna laughed, a light blush dusting her cheeks as she saw you pointing at a freshly given hickey she had left on your skin last night while tai was spending time with the baby.

"well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, i suppose," she retorted with a grin on her face.

"it didn’t, it actually fell a bit too close if you ask me," you started, "van was playing with him yesterday and out of nowhere he bit her nose so hard it left a mark. i literally had to drag little shippy away from her face because he wouldn’t let go."

shauna chuckled at your story, shaking her head in amusement. she then looked at the baby, her voice filled with affection. "good job, sweetie," she cooed at him while pinching his cheeks, causing you to roll your eyes at her.

you then turned to the baby as well, your voice softening. "but we should probably start teaching you some manners, shouldn’t we? biting people and leaving marks on them isn’t very nice," you said while side-eyeing your girlfriend.

she then looked back at you, a mischievous grin on her face. "although, i can't say i mind leaving a few more marks on you," she teased, giving you a kiss on the neck.

with a blush on your face, you quickly covered your son's eyes with your hand. "shauna, there's a baby in the room," you complained in a playful tone. "ow!" you exclaimed, pulling your hand away from his face as you felt his little growing teeth bite forcefully.

shauna couldn’t help but laugh at your reaction, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “well, he’s just learning from the best,” she said, giving your hand a sympathetic rub where the baby had bitten you.

she leaned in to give you a quick peck on the cheek. “and just so you know,” she added with a playful smirk, “i think he’s already showing signs of being as stubborn as you.”

feigning shock, you retorted, “shauna, you’re setting a bad example for our son,” earning another round of laughter from her. the baby, oblivious to your banter and the clear discomfort on your face from the previous bite, simply continued to stubbornly chew on your hand, his tiny teeth leaving their mark.

note : thank youuuu, it means a lot <33 i hope u like the hcs

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

Never Beating the Big Brother Allegations

Vil + Epel + Leona, it's a little shippy between Leona and Vil, Leona does call Vil, Princess and is just generally Flirty but it's up to you whether you want to take it as him being a little facetious or if it's Real. Also tw for blood/injury Epel has a bloody nose and is a little banged up (not angsty dw) Also I know Lions don't purr, Leona does, deal with it.

--------------------------------------------

"Hey, take it easy Crash, sit down." Leona couldn't help but smirk a bit at the look Epel gave him.

Epel was sitting on one of the infirmary beds, the rest empty save for him, holding a cloth with ice under his nose as he leaned forward a bit, the blood from his nose staining it a dark red. His brow was cocked, challenging Leona for a moment. Despite how ridiculous he knew he sounded when he spoke, he decided to anyways.

"It ain't that bad, this weren't the first time I done somethin' like this. I'm fine, I hit ma head 'nough times when I was younger t'know this ain't nothin' t'worry 'bout! We didn' have t'lug ourselves all the way t'the goddamned infirmary for a nosebleed and a couple bruises....and my name ain't Crash."

Leona snorted a bit and poked Epel's head, causing the younger one to recoil a bit and make a disgruntled noise in response. "It is until further notice. I've never seen anyone bail as hard as you did, or come out of it with something as minor as a nosebleed. Even with the cleaning spell Ruggie casted, you look like you rolled around in a pig sty..." He paused and sniffed the air a bit, nose scrunching a bit. "...and smell like it too."

Epel shot him a dirty look, about to speak again when the tell tale clicks of heels on tile became apparent to both of them, Leona's ear flicking at the same time Epel groaned.

"You told Vil??"

"What am I, your babysitter? Obligated to tell your mom what happened?? No I didn't tell Vil, Rook was probably being a creep again and reported back to your housewarden."

"VIL AIN'T MY MOM."

"And you're not my child, but for Seven's sake Epel, did you really think that news of you being sent to the infirmary wouldn't reach me eventually?" Vil stood in the doorway of the infirmary, hands on his hips, and brows knitted. "What have I told you about the way you fly? You're far too reckless, this was bound to happen eventually." He tsked softly, walking briskly over to the bed and grabbing Epel's face gently. He looked over him for a moment, then at the rest of his body and sighed.

"Rook told me you took the disc to the face and ended up spiraling out of the air. I was worried it was worse. You're very fortunate to have come out of your crash as well as you have." He sighed softly, and pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to Leona.

"You-"

"Not taking your shit. This kinda stuff happens sometimes when people decide to do more than pretend they're someone else as a hobby." Leona gave Vil a shit-eating grin, teasing him a bit.

Vil shook his head. "That's not what you're in trouble for! You weren't going to tell me that my underclassman ended up in the infirmary!"

Despite Vil getting into his personal space a bit, Leona stayed where he was and just smiled more genuinely, though still arrogant. "Who said that? Pretty sure I just said I didn't tell you, not that I wasn't going to. Besides, Crash was sayin' it's no big deal, and anyone who can take the kinda hit he did and walk away's got some pull on their say. I believe him."

"My name is NOT Crash!!" Epel stood up from the bed, swaying a tiny bit, which did not go unnoticed by either of his upperclassmen, both of them reaching out...well, Leona, pushing him gently back onto the bed, and Vil, ready to offer a helping hand, the blonde shooting the other a bit of a dirty look. Epel groaned a bit and moved the towel away from his nose. "See, it's mostly stopped bleeding now anyways, it wasn't a big deal, it isn't a big deal and BOTH A YA'S HAVE GOTTA STOP ACTIN' LIKE AHM SOME BIG BABY!"

Leona acted faster than either of the Pomefiore residents had time to react, slipping his arm around Vil's shoulders and turning him away from Epel, (who was about ready to swallow his hands as a means of shutting himself up), and utilized his secret weapon. A deep, rumbly purr caught Vil off guard as Leona very lightly bumped his face against Vil's hair.

For the second time in less than a minute, Vil was surprised by the actions of his fellow schoolmates. Such a ...tender sound coming from Leona was baffling enough he allowed himself to be walked out of the room.

Once out of the room, Leona let go of Vil, giving him another, signature cocky smile, though softened by a bit of embarrassment he tried so hard to conceal.

"Alright Princess, I know all that must have been stressful for you, why don't you go and find something that'll help you forget about today."

The corner of Vil's lips kicked up in amusement.

"Acting would be a good skill to have right about now for you, wouldn't it."

Leona's ears flattened, he touched the back of his neck awkwardly and looked to the side, his tail flicking slightly, though between his legs. "Shut up."

"Is that how you speak to princesses?" Vil smirked, his hands on his hips as he looked up at Leona, teasing him.

Leona huffed a bit, amused. "Nah, none of them are worth talking to." He waited a beat, his sliding sideways to meet Vil's once more. "But I guess that's on me for calling you one, when everyone already knows you're a queen."

He chuffed softly, placing one hand on his hip as Vil crossed his arms in a lightheartedly 'angry' way, though he was smiling at the beastman.

"I'll make sure Epel gets back before curfew, don't worry. The kid's got spunk. He'll be right as rain in the next hour or so. Now I was serious, go do something else, anywhere else." He huffed a bit, matching Vil's playful energy as his tail flicked.

"Augh, fine, if you insist. If he's late, it's you who's going to be in trouble."

Leona waved Vil off somewhat dismissively, but they both knew it was light hearted. He immediately dropped the whole facade as he walked back into the infirmary, expression difficult to read as Epel looked at him a little warily.

"What did you-"

"You owe me."

Epel groaned, moving the towel away from his nose. "What do you want? Or is it Vil askin' by proxy?"

Leona moved to the side, preparing another cloth, wetting it with clean water and holding it out to Epel as he took the sullied one away.

"Whatever you've got on your plate for lunch, if it looks appealing, I'm taking some. Just for the week."

Epel took a moment to register what the new cloth was for, before gently wiping at some of the blood that was still left on his face and eyeing Leona warily. He sighed, when his upperclassmen seemed serious about the matter.

"Alright. I guess that's doable." He sighed, finally relenting to Leona's care as they tried to confirm his nose wasn't broken.

------------------------------------------------------

"Your lunch sucks ass Crash." Leona's voice made Epel startle slightly in the cafeteria, the freshmen whipping around in his seat to look up at Savannaclaw's housewarden.

"I wha? Huh??" He looked back down at his food for a moment, his brows furrowed. "What's wrong with my food?"

Leona snickered a bit and lightly flicked Epel's head. "You responded to Crash as your name. Enjoy your food I guess."

Ruggie was quick behind Leona, nabbing one of Epel's bread rolls and taking a bite, snickering as well. "Damn, guess you really are Crash now."

Epel's cheeks flushed a bit at being called Crash in front of his first year friends, but realized his fate was already sealed as he saw Ace's expression out of the corner of his eye...and that he would more than likely be left alone lunch wise for the rest of the week, getting off easy on his punishment.

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As always, it's not beta read lmao

lmk if you wanna hop on the tag list:

@galaxies-and-gore @fluffle-writes

[starlight-bread-blog]

"Katara Just Needed To Heal Zuko's Scar"

I understand why this argument is being made. After all, she offered to heal Zuko, and so she does. So why are the shippers trying to paint it as some romantic moment? It's a reasonable question. But I'm gonna try to answer it.

Zuko and Katara weren't in love in this scene for two reasons: Firstly, it's their first conversation, making any romantic development feel rushed and unnatural. Secondly, as fictional characters, they don't possess hidden feelings, unless the writers have confirmed otherwise.

So what argument is being made? The argument is that this moment is an example of ship baiting and could have served as romantic build up if the writers decided to go down that route, and I'll explain why.

1# Just because an action was necessary, doesn't mean it can't be seen as romantic

I know how this sounds, but hear me out. Let us take a look at another show, where you'd least expect to see a romantic connection, and the action was completely necessary. I want to discuss Rick and Morty's Beth x Beth.

Beth is the last person who'd have tension with Beth, clearly it's disgusting. And she really did have to install that chip. But the thought did cross your mind, they did get together, and this scene was romantic build up, despite not being romantic in-universe.

Now that we've looked at the most extreme example ever, it's time to look at a classic: Aladdin. One of the most iconic moments in the movie is when Aladdin simply offers his hand to Jasmine so she'd get on the flying carpet, asking "Do you trust me"?

Aladdin isn't asking if Jasmine trusts him because they're deeply bonded, he asks that because she's scared to get on the flying carpet. And he isn't reaching for her hand because he wants to hold her hand, he reaches because she'd needhelp getting on it. And yet, it's universally recognized as an incredibly romantic moment.

Very often writers use the mundane necessities like casual touch to set up romantic tension. This narrative approach allows for the gradual planting of the idea in the audience's mind, even in situations where intimacy may not be overtly present, adding nuance and depth to romantic storylines. And in fiction, it's everywhere.

2# The set up wasn't just necessity, it was an intimate moment

In this section I won't try to prove the gesture was romantic, I simply think it's crucial to understand the scene before analyzing it. Katara offering to heal Zuko's scar wasn't a necessity, the touch was the necessity after she already made the offer. This leaves us with a scene that begins with Katara thinking of Zuko as "the face of the enemy", and ends with Katara attempting to heal Zuko's scar.

The moment became intimate the second Katara brought up her mother, and Zuko, who doesn't normally share his emotions, make and effort to connect. Thus, they began to view the other differently, as someone similar to them.

Still, this is their first conversation. And Katara is under no obligation to be even somewhat nice to him. But she decides to use her spirit water on him, and if she had, Aang would have died. That's how important the spirit water is. Saying she "just needed to heal is scar" is quite reductant in my opinion. Choosing to heal him in and of itself is a radical and intimate decision.

Still, non of what I said so far is indicative of romantic build up. Nor is giving other examples from fiction of necessities being romantic indicative of this one being too. So, it's time to finally talk about the touch.

3# The action wasn't actually necessary, to the point where it makes very little sense

Let's remember how Katara did heal using the spirit water:

She bends the water straight on Aang's back and starts bending it. I repeat: She bends the water straight on the injury.

So writers, please do tell me, if Katara wanted to heal Zuko's scar, where is the water?

No water and no healing, becsuse it wouldn't look as intimate/shippy with water. Instead, what we got is two shots highlighting the pysical touch between them with soft violin sounds in the background.

In literature, what isn't in text isn't important and should be disregarded. Here, on paper Katara is healing Zuko's scar, but in practice there is no water and all of the focus is on the touching. Therefore, it's signaling the viewers that even though she just needs to cure him, it isn't important. With Katara's thumb on Zuko's lips, with a close up shot on the contact, the only thing that matters is, apparently, their pysical touch.

Additonally, they were interrupted before Katara could do actually anything anyway. In a universe where this scene wasn't ship teasing, Katara would take out the water, almost lay them on Zuko's scar, and then Aang and Iroh would break them out of the cave. Logically, Katara's hand shouldn't have gone anywhere near Zuko, and if it did, it should have looked incredibly unappealing.

But it didn't. In this already very intimate moment, the show puts all the focus on the pysicality of the healing, rather than the healing, and breaking its own logic to do so. Thus, they made it look a lot less like a simple necessity, but rather an act of pure intimacy, as often done in fiction when portraying romantic tension. And that's why this scene was ship baiting.

[dreamofbecoming]

yeah alright this got away from me. posting in pieces, part one is just stobin, no shippy stuff. steddie and rockie to follow. i'll drop it on ao3 once all 3 parts are done

now on ao3!

platonic stobin

rating: t

wc: 3.5k

---

Robin stopped being surprised by Steve Harrington showing up at her bedroom window months ago. Jesus, there's a sentence her 16 year old self wouldn't fucking believe for a second. The Hair, climbing up the trellis her dad built for the roses her mom planted and then forgot about three months later? Yeah right, as if. But it turns out alternate dimensions and sci-fi movie monsters and Russian conspiracies in Bumfuck, Nowhere, USA are all real, so how surprising really is The King himself, collapsing through her window with all the grace of a baby giraffe, out of breath like he- holy shit, did he fucking run here?

"Dingus, did you run here? What the hell?"

"Had to- hang on, Jesus. Holy shit." He bends over, hands on his knees, panting like he just ran a marathon. Which, she guesses, he almost did.

"You have a car, you lunatic, what could possibly be so important?"

"Didn't think about it. Had to get here."

"Is someone dead?!" Oh fuck, Is the Upside Down back? Oh shit, oh no, it can't be back, right? Superhero girl closed the gates! Right?! Oh god, oh no, oh fuck, it's back, the Russians are back, they realized they couldn't let her live after what she's seen, her parents will never even know what happened to her, and they'll kill Dingus too, and dorky little Henderson, and that menace Erica, oh god, they're gonna die, and Hopper's gone and superhero girl is far away and she doesn't have superpowers anymore anyway, which is frankly bogus because what the hell, Robin never even got to hang out with a real live magic person before, which, ok, that's a selfish thought, but that's ok, we can think selfish thoughts and then set them aside and not act on them, thoughts are not actions, thoughts happen all the time without our consent, they don't determine our character-

"Bobs, you're spiraling. Nothing bad happened, I just realized something and I freaked out and I had to talk to you right away. Forgot to call. Sorry, I should have called. Ran straight out of the house. I don't even think my shoes match, what the fuck?"

She's gonna kill him, she really is.

She loves him so much.

"Jesus, you're insane. Sit, you absolute dweeb. I'm getting you some water, when I get back you can tell me what the hell is going on."

He's sitting on her bed when she gets back upstairs, staring at something in his hands. Christ, his hands are shaking. What the fuck, Dingus?

He takes the water and downs it in one go- ugh, sports guys- then flops onto his back and covers his eyes with a miserable groan.

"I know we've got the whole twin telepathy thing going on, bubba, but I'm gonna need at least a little bit to work with here. Give me something. Is it your parents? The kids? Uh, what was her name? From Thursday? Janice?"

"Janine, and no. Ugh. Here." The arm not covering his eyes flops out towards her, holding- ah. A zine. He had promised to drive up to Indy last weekend to the secret bookshop she told him about and get her some new ones, even though she couldn't go with him because her cousin Randy got caught cheating on his fiancée and her parents made her come with the rest of the family to help him move. Fucking Randy. Maybe he should make better choices, so the rest of them wouldn't have to clean up his messes. Jerk.

Anyway.

"Marked the page." Which, yep, there's a purple paper clip stuck to a page near the middle, because Steve knows how much she hates people who dogear books, even books that aren't really books at all, so he's been training himself out of it, because he's sort of the best. Again, 16 year old Robin would have her committed for thinking that, but here we are.

The pamphlet isn't one of the periodicals she sent him for, so he must have picked it up on his own. It looks handmade, just some folded sheets that look like they came out of a typewriter, bound with the kind of twine you can buy at the hardware store. It's called Awakenings. The page he's marked looks like a personal essay, no title, no real signature, just a pair of initials at the end of the page and a half of writing. She starts reading, trying to figure out what the hell spooked Steve so bad.

"I've always been normal. I've always had crushes on men, just like the other girls. There was never a feeling of "I'm different," or "Oh, this is wrong." There was never anything to think very hard about. I'd giggle and blush when the boys looked over at us on the playground, same as everyone else. Later on when I was older I looked at my poster of Harrison Ford, shirtless and hairy and sweating, and I touched myself, and it felt good, just like it was supposed to. I didn't mind thinking of my future husband, and our future kids, and the pretty house with the pretty garden we'd have, just like my parents have, just like they wanted for me. I was normal. Everything was fine.

I thought everything about me was normal. So I didn't understand why the other girls at sleepover parties would giggle and stop and say "Ew, gross!" when we practiced kissing. It felt nice! I wanted to keep going! But it seemed like no one else did. I didn't understand why none of them talked about getting butterflies in their stomach when Laura, who was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, transferred in our senior year, why they seemed so angry at her. Those butterflies were what jealousy felt like, right? So why did the other girls seem to feel so different?

I made my first lesbian friend in college, on the very first day, right across the hall in my dorm. We sat next to each other at Orientation and I thought I'd never have another best friend that wonderful in my whole life, so I'd hold on to her with everything I had. She came out to me the night before Christmas break, hiding under the blankets in my dorm room with the twinkling lights glowing. She was so scared. I held her and told her I loved her no matter what, and she seemed so glad, to have someone to talk to.

When she talked about falling in love with girls, I was so confused. The way she described it sounded like what it felt like to have girlfriends, I was sure. I felt that all the time. I asked her if she was sure she was gay, and she looked so shocked and angry and hurt, and I didn't know how to fix it, so I tried to explain. That what she felt couldn't be liking girls, because I felt that too, and I was normal. I liked boys, so I couldn't be gay. I couldn't be.

I'm glad it was her I said all that to. If someone else had told me about being bisexual, I think I would have hated them. I would have cried, and screamed, and said horrible things. Because I wasn't gay, I was normal, and it was so scary to think that might be a lie. Thank God it was her, my best friend in the world, who I never want to lose. Thank God I listened.

Because I'm not normal. I'm queer. I like men, and I like women. I can love them both the same, but it doesn't matter anymore, because I love her. I love her, and she loves me, and I don't need to be normal anymore."

Robin's face feels wet, which probably means she's crying. She cries a lot, reading these sorts of stories, in the zines she has to keep hidden under her bed, or, these days, at Steve's house. It's never going to be her, she knows. Not here in Hawkins, but it still makes something ache deep inside her, like pressing on a bruise, but in a good way, seeing love happen to other people. People like her. Seeing that it can.

"So?"

Oh shit. Right, Dingus. They're about him right now. Something about this essay in particular freaked him out.

"Uh. It's. A nice essay? I'm glad things worked out for them?"

Stevie lets out a pathetic whine, sort of like back at Scoops when he earned a particularly bad tally on the You Suck board. "Robbiiiiiiieeeee!"

"I'm sorry! I think I'm missing something, what's wrong with this essay? I don't get it, bubba, I'm sorry. I need some context." She does feel bad. Usually she can pluck whatever's bothering him right out of his brain and into the light, where it almost never looks as bad, but she's at a loss right now.

He's got both hands over his face again, and his response is so muffled she can't make out a word.

"Try again in human sounds, please."

"Ugh! I thought everyone felt like that!"

Huh? "Felt like...what, exactly?"

"Like that!" He flails wildly at the pamphlet in her hands. He's sitting up now, hair all askew from tugging at it, and there's a vaguely worrying crazed look in his eye, like right before he tackled that guard. "Like kissing boys and girls both feel nice, and like seeing a handsome guy and feeling jealous of him makes my stomach flutter, and like having friends feels the same as having crushes! I thought that was just how everyone felt all the time!"

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

Poor Dingus! No wonder he panicked and ran here like a crazy person!

"Stevie, can I hug you? Please?" She's not much for physical touch most of the time, but Steve is, and also she's found in the last few months that she doesn't mind so much when it's him. She sort of understands why other people like hugs so much, if they always feel like hugging Steve feels for her. And she really thinks he needs to be hugged, right now.

He nods miserably. She drapes her arms around his shoulders and holds on as tight as she can, hauling him sideways until he's practically laying down on her. He clutches her back and buries his face in her shoulder. She can feel her neck getting wet with tears, a sensation that would normally make her want to claw off her own skin, but this isn't about her. Dingus needs her.

"It's ok, bubba. I'm so sorry. I know how scary this is. When I first figured out I had a crush on Linda Sanderson I cried so hard I threw up, you know? I get it. It's gonna be ok, I promise. We'll make it ok. We faced down evil Russians and giant meat monsters, what's a little sexuality crisis, huh? We got this! We're the goddamn Wonder Twins!"

He snorts at that, which she's pretty sure leaves snot on her neck, which. Ew. Still. Problems for Later Robin.

"We are not, Will and El are the Wonder Twins."

"Uh, nope, no chance, I barely even met them so therefore I am vetoing their application. Sorry kiddos, better luck next time! Find your own nickname, losers!"

Steve sits back, laughing, and she preens a little at being able to bring him back from the brink so easily. She loves him so much she feels like she's glowing with it, sometimes. It almost makes her wish she was straight, because what girl is she ever going to find who loves her this much? But only almost, because. Well. Girls, amiright? Phew.

"So what now, Stevie? You wanna say it out loud? That helps, sometimes. You wanna not say it out loud? You wanna go to a gay bar and find you a boy? You wanna never think about it again? It's totally your call."

"Say it out loud, huh?"

"Hm. It took me like a month, and then the first time I could only say it sitting in the back of my closet with the bedroom door locked and the closet door closed, and I could only whisper it. Just "I'm a lesbian," to myself, like the world's most ironic little goblin. And I had to throw up again after. But it did feel good, once I rinsed my mouth out, anyway. Cleansing, you know? And it gets easier every time." Steve's eyebrows are raised and he's chuckling again, so that's a win. She's not lying, but it is sort of funny, she supposes. In hindsight, anyway.

"Ok. Ok, I can do that. I think. Yeah, I can do that."

She's so proud of him. He's the bravest person she's ever met, she thinks. "You wanna get in the closet?"

"Isn't the whole point to come out of the closet, Robs?" He's smirking at her. Bastard. She whacks him in the shoulder on principle. He may be having a crisis, but he's still a jackass. Her favorite jackass in the whole world, but still.

"Har har, you're a regular Bob Hope. Alright then, bigshot, let's hear it."

A little of that fear creeps back onto his face, and she wishes she could wipe it off, but that's not how this works. They can't make the scary things less scary. He couldn't make the Russians less terrifying, but he could hold her hand and make her laugh and carry some of that fear with her. She can do that for him now, too.

She grabs his hand, and he clutches back tightly. He takes a deep breath.

"I'm...fuck. Ok. Ok, I can do this. I'm...bisexual." The air leaves him in a big whoosh, and he laughs a little. "Yeah, ok, fuck. I'm bisexual. Holy shit, Robbie, I'm bisexual!"

"Hell yeah you are!" She's grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. She's so fucking proud of him.

He's laughing again, a little hysterically, and he hugs her tight again, and she holds him back just as close and thinks oh, he's like me. I'm not alone. I have Steve, and he's like me, and he's mine forever and ever.

When they separate, she looks at him seriously.

"So do you, like, want this to be a thing? Because we can totally make it a thing, and like, get me a fake ID and go to a gay bar and do all kinds of wild shit if you want, but we don't have to, you know? If you need to just, like. Digest this, for a while. It's totally up to you, I just know it took me a while to feel ok with it, and I have no idea if it's different for you but I just want to be what you need, you know? You've been so good with me, and I've never had a queer friend before, so I don't know how, but I want to be just as good to you. You're my Dingus and I love you and I don't know how much of a gay guru I can be on account of, you know, I've never met any gay people besides me and the pretty lady at the bookstore but I couldn't even get real human words to come out of my mouth when I tried to talk to her so I don't think that counts, you know? But I still wanna help! Let me help!"

"Bobbie! Bobbie breathe, you're gonna pass out. I don't think I need a gay guru, I just need a gay best friend, and I have that, so I promise I'm good, ok? Promise. Also I love you too.”

She takes a deep breath, following his lead the way they worked out in the horrible days after Starcourt, when she couldn't sleep without him next to her, warm and alive and breathing, and even then she would wake up in the night with her breath coming short and her vision tunneling and Steve would hold her hand against his chest and breathe slowly, in and out, until she could follow him, and the world wasn't so terrible and scary and loud anymore.

She still thinks about that awful hour underground, thinking she was strapped to the corpse of a boy she never let become her friend, but Steve is always there now when she needs him, and he never complains when she grabs his wrist or puts her head on his chest to make absolutely sure that big, stupid heart is still beating.

When she's breathing normally again, he drops their joined hands down between them, toying idly with the chain linking her ring to her bracelet. "I think...I think I'm glad I said it, and I'm glad we talked about it, but can we maybe just...put it away, for a while? Like it's not...ugh. I guess this is kind of shitty to say, so like, hit me if you want, I guess, but I kind of don't think it matters right now?"

"No no, that makes perfect sense! Like, you still like girls, right?" He nods. "And you don't like. Have a crush on any boys right now. Or do you? Oh man if you do you have to tell me though, it's platonic soulmate law. It's in the bylaws, Steve, don't make me soulmate fine you!"

He laughs and shoves her face away. "Jesus, Rob, no! I don't have a crush on any guys, who would I even crush on in this town? We're not exactly swimming in eligible bachelors. I don't have a crush on anybody at all, I'd tell you, I swear. I know the rules!"

"Oh phew, good. You have to tell me when you do, though, I'm way excited to get you back for making fun of Tammy."

"It was the God's honest truth, Bobbie! She sings like a muppet!"

"Oh my god, shut up, Dingus! Ugh! As I was saying, you super duper have to tell me when you do, but for now, I think maybe you don't have to think about it really at all if you don't want. I mean, practically speaking, it's not really relevant to your everyday life, so we can totally revisit when that changes, but you don't have to like. Join a pride parade tomorrow, you know? You are you who are no matter what. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, especially not to me, not ever."

He leans his head on her shoulder, and she scritches her nails through his hair. It really has no right being as soft as it is, with the amount of hairspray he uses. It's frankly rude, is what it is.

"Thanks, Bobs. I think I'm just gonna put it away for now. It just...another thing to know about me, you know? Like, I'm bad at fighting people but good at fighting monsters, all my best friends are kids except you, I'm bi but it doesn't matter because there aren't any boys to date in Hawkins anyway. Plus my dad would kill me if he found out. Like actually kill me, not "oh geez I missed curfew, my dad's gonna kill me" type kill me, like I think he'd actually try and beat me to death. So there's really no reason to talk about it right now, you know?"

There's a pit of ice in her stomach, and she tightens her arm around him like she can keep him safe just by holding on tight enough. She hates how casually he said that, just like she hates how casually he always talks about how his parents treat him, like he honestly believes it's normal. "Jesus, Dingus. You know you can come here if you need, right? My parents love you, they already think we're getting married. They'd make you sleep in the guest room, but I could sneak you in here easy."

He snorts again. "We're totally gonna end up married for tax reasons anyway, we're never beating the rumors." That makes her snort, too. He's not wrong, though. She isn't going to be allowed to have a wife anytime soon, and if she has to choose someone to be her next of kin, it's always gonna be him. They're planning to move in together when she goes to school next year anyway. No one is ever gonna believe them that they aren't dating, but that's...fine. Honestly, there are worse things. Better to have Steve by her side than not, and if no one else understands them, well, they understand each other, don't they? That's more than enough.

"Yeah, I know I can come here if I need, Robs. It's fine mostly, I swear. They're not home until Christmas anyway."

He takes another deep breath, like he's settling himself. "I'm just glad we talked about it. I feel better now."

She cards her fingers through his hair again, basking in the feeling of her favorite person so close, and so content. "I'm glad, Dingus."

They're alive, and they're together, and they're queer, and neither of them is ever going to have to be alone again.

"Hang on, did you say you've kissed girls and boys?!"

part 2 part 3

[soreiya]

I'm the anon who sent you the anti-Varigo ask.

I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I shouldn't have treated you like a board for unpopular opinions just because I'm too cowardly.

Nah, it's cool. I still plan to respond to your ask properly when my brain decides to become functional again. Because I honestly feel like one of the biggest issues with some people in the Vat7K fandom is this entitled assumption/expectation for everyone to like and support this fanfiction AU. It makes it so that those who feel differently become afraid to speak up. Even if we have valid concerns or criticisms for the story and it's characters. I don't think anyone should become ostracized because of such a thing. We don't hate friends or family IRL for having different opinions. So why should that be the case online? I for one am not going to reject anyone for something like this. I still talk to and help 7K fans on a regular basis. There are nice and talented people who like it. That being said, there are some very bad fans within the community... One thing I see a lot of are baseless accusations towards others. It's often used as an attempt to dissuade them from ships that these people are not partial to. This is why I pointed out the Varigo age gap hypocrisy a while back. Just so that these toxic fans in particular could hopefully come to the understanding that the AU that they hold so dear wouldn't exist in the first place if the creators didn't draw shippy fanarts of 14 year old Varian with their 24 year old D&D OC. They changed ages for this self insert AU in the same way regular fans do for other ships. So there really isn't a reason for these Varigo shippers to make excuses or delude themselves into thinking that they are the exception. It's not a big deal? Not everyone who changes character ages for stories is a creep with bad intentions. It's kind of insulting to the creators of the AU to think this way. Maybe someday these bullies can finally start to view things from the perspective of those who they have needlessly harassed. Sometimes I feel like fans don't understand that I probably would be indifferent towards this AU if it was easy to avoid. It's not a canon continuation to Varian's story, but those who want it to be will interject it into conversations or stories without warning or proper use of tags. So basically they become like the fandom equivalent of a stranger who plays loud videos/music on their phone in public without headphones on.

[beanghostprincess]

What’s so fascinating about shuggy that makes you go this wild? Aren’t shanks completely over this guy? And buggy just bitter? Am I interpreting it wrong?

I'm not gonna ask whether you want the short or the long version, because I'm gonna give you the longest, gayest version no matter what you tell me. So. Yeah. I think I'm kind of crazy about them but in a very normal way (I just lied on the internet). I'm gonna answer your last three questions before actually getting into the subject of why Shuggy makes me go so wild:

(Spoilers: manga ch.1082 and that Wano flashback)

Shanks being "completely over this guy" would be a very simple way to put his feelings for Buggy into words, I think. Although the fandom exaggerates the way he feels for him (turning into obsession and just complete depression) for fun or for angst purposes (I must say I don't really dislike it and I do believe Shanks still holds Buggy close to his heart in this way, and if we talk in a shippy way, he's definitely the clingy one) I think Shanks isn't completely over Buggy. At least not in the cynical way some people say. I think that after parting ways, Shanks accepted Buggy leaving him. I don't think he quite understands his reasons (he never will, tbh) but accepted his decision. I think he tried to choose the more mature way (not that he had other options) and moved on. But moving on doesn't mean forgetting or being completely over someone, because I wholeheartedly think that even if Buggy isn't on his mind 24/7, he's still one of the most important people in Shanks' life and story. Buggy is there in the back of his mind like a catchy song you can't get rid of, you know? It itches sometimes, too, but Shanks can't do anything about it so he just lives with it. To Shanks, he would gladly reconnect with Buggy and go back to the way they were in the blink of an eye, but he knows it can't be. I think Shanks has moved on but the second somebody mentions Buggy he goes into nostalgia mode and thinks about their times together back when they were just kids with endless dreams aboard the Oro Jackson. I think Shanks has more things to worry about than his past to be the way the fandom portrays him, but that doesn't mean he has completely forgotten about it and doesn't want Buggy back. Because he definitely does.

Buggy is- He isn't just bitter. I don't think you can say Buggy is just bitter when Shanks' decision was what determined his whole life. Leaving the thing about the map and the devil fruit aside (which also affects the story but we know his resentment isn't really about that) Buggy has every right to feel the way he does towards Shanks. Perhaps it's just that I find this pathetic clown to be very relatable, but I will always be both a Buggy apologist and defender. I'll probably get into a more detailed version of this later, but Buggy isn't just bitter. Buggy is rightfully frustrated at how his life ended up to be without Shanks. "But he's the one who left Shanks"... Is he, though? He did leave Shanks physically, but Shanks was the first to break the relationship. The thing about Buggy that I absolutely love is how his character portrays envy and jealousy into a... I wouldn't say healthy way, but at least not a damaging way to Shanks. Despite fighting all the time, they obviously loved and cared for each other. Being best friends and the youngest of the crew, always together in both the worst and best of their moments, etc. So Buggy, even though he lived as Shanks' shadow, that isn't why he's resentful towards him. He could be angry about that, right? Just bitter Roger chose him to keep his legacy alive instead of him. But no. Buggy chose to follow Shanks instead because he trusted him. Because he thought "Well, I might not be able to follow my dream, but Shanks will do it for us as our captain's legacy". Which makes sense because they were so damn close. They're always together. Like. Just watch/read the Oden flashback. Their presentation was even together, lmfao. And when they talk about them, they mention them together. The whole thing about Shanks not going to Laugh Tale to take care of Buggy? It's just- It's just so obvious that they were best friends and intended to be together forever. Buggy was willing to follow Shanks until the end of the world until Shanks hesitated when asked about following Roger's steps (Buggy doesn't actually say he'll be in Shanks' crew, but the way he reacts to Shanks' words makes me think he would've accepted to go with him as a co-captain until... Well. Yeah. That happened). And like, I get it. Shanks knew they were too young. Shanks knew they needed to grow up and live more experiences as pirates before going to Laugh Tale and for the One Piece. For Shanks it's just a little pause before they actually fulfill their dreams. But for Buggy? For Buggy, his whole world is crumbling down because the person he trusted the most literally told him he wasn't going to follow their dream. For Buggy, Shanks doesn't take the role of Roger's legacy seriously enough, so it's unfair. It's unfair that he had to leave his dream behind for him. It's unfair that he trusted him. It's unfair that Shanks didn't believe in himself. It's unfair that their captain died. It's unfair that now Buggy has to be completely on his own, with no ability to swim and no map to follow because Shanks also ruined that for him. So, yeah, Buggy is a bit more than just bitter, and rightfully so. It's classic miscommunication because obviously, Shanks wasn't going to give up on going to Laugh Tale, but Buggy takes it that way. And he also sees it as Shanks doubting himself and the dream and it's unfair that the one who got the straw hat is the one to hesitate, and the one who didn't get anything is the one who wants to fight for their dream. Buggy is more than just bitter. I know it's played for laughs, but his grudge towards Shanks is deeper than that.

You are not interpreting it wrong, tbh. I think the fandom just exaggerates their behavior and in canon you pretty much have to analyze the characters to fully understand them. If you're not a fan of these two characters, their whole relationship can feel like "Oh, they were just friends in the same crew" even when it's way deeper than that. Although I think chapter 1082 (my favorite chapter ngl I've read it so many times google instantly shows it to me when I look for the page where I read OP) explains what I just said pretty well from Buggy's POV.

So now onto the real question, what's so fascinating about Shuggy?

I'm gonna be honest with you, before writing this I have to say that I have a tendency to love these types of ships. Soukoku (BSD) and Satosugu (JJK) are no exception and they follow the same "former BFFs/partners who turned into enemies and are very very gay". The reason I like these three ships so much is probably because of personal experiences I'm not gonna talk about, but somebody mentioned something very interesting about lesbians/sapphics relating to these ships because we always have this experience about having a really close girl bff that we have a crush on, but since we don't acknowledge the real feelings, it ends up in a very toxic way that leads only to resentment and nostalgia. And, you know, as a lesbian who has been through that I can confirm wholeheartedly that this is why Shuggy is so important to me (considering Shuggy a ship for the lesbians in my heart </3)

Leaving that aside and the fact that childhood best friends to lovers is like my favorite trope, I just think their characters are so perfectly written. And it's surprising because they barely have scenes talking about each other or being with each other (Marineford is Shuggys' Roman Empire atp, although I will always remember that first flashback in episode 8 in the anime. That changed my life fr). But their story is made with so much care and love for the characters (it's obvious Oda likes Buggy a lot) that you can feel it. At least I do. Because although not having many scenes they've completely taken over my heart and soul.

Shanks is a very complicated character due to lack of information and the fact that we know he hides something deeper, but he is, after all, a symbol of hope and dreams. At least for our main character. Shanks is the main reason why Luffy becomes a pirate and there are so many parallelisms between them that I can't count them. I find it so ironic that the symbol of hope and freedom Luffy follows is actually somebody who crushed somebody's dreams and hopes. Talk about irony, right? And then we have Buggy, who's the complete opposite. With Buggy's first appearance (and honestly all of his scenes until the Wano flashback and chapter 1082) we think he's one of the bad guys. And yeah, all of them are like that because they're pirates and yadda yadda. But I'm talking about "bad guy" as in "bad bad person with no hopes and dreams and that is just interested in being feared and powerful". And he is a failguy. A very funny one, too. But he's so much more. And the fact that this comedic relief character that's always played for laughs when it comes to his own misery turns out to be the one who has the biggest of dreams and the biggest of heartbreaks about it? It just shatters my heart.

Shuggy makes me go wild because of Buggy, mostly, ngl. I wouldn't like Shanks this much if it wasn't for Shuggy, probably (I love him a ton outside of his relationship with Buggy, but you know, it makes things a lot easier). I like Shuggy because the topics the ship touches are very emotional and angsty and they crush me completely. Buggy living in Shanks' shadow? Buggy wanting to follow Roger's steps and following Shanks instead because his self-esteem disappeared the moment his captain's legacy ended up on Shanks instead of him? The trust he had in Shanks? The way Shanks hesitates and the way Buggy refuses to follow somebody like that? Buggy running away on his own because he gave up his dream for somebody who doesn't even treat it the way it deserves? It's just heartbreaking. Especially if you have in mind that they just lost the man that raised them.

Buggy then becomes somebody that people make fun of and ridicule, and they don't even think about the possibility of him being part of the crew of the king of the pirates. And when they find out, they can't believe it. They don't talk about this much, but I think that it must hurt so fucking much to be seen this way. He was just as important as Shanks. Roger loved him too. And to this day, being Shanks' shadow still haunts him. I love the angst Shuggy has. It breaks me and I love it.

Then, (and this is something I adore) with the creation of Cross Guild, Buggy has the chance to get out of Shanks' shadow. He's surrounded by two guys who only think about money and stability and business and... It's boring, isn't it? It's not flashy! And I think he has this realization of "this is my chance to prove I'm worth something. This is my chance to actually go for my dream. Mine" because these two idiots keep talking about boring things instead of following their dreams and aspirations and bigger things! And it just shows how much Buggy truly cared about Laugh Tale and the One Piece and how much he has had to wait for it. And this has nothing to do with Shuggy, I just really love this fucking clown.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I love Shanks making Buggy lose the map and eat the devil fruit. Because, okay, in retrospect it feels very stupid because it was a simple accident. But just hear me out- Even though it was an accident, Buggy lost his ability to swim for powers he didn't want. He lost the ability of independence, because what's a pirate on his own if he can't swim? He lost his individuality that night, and we see him depend on others constantly throughout the show. And Shanks mentioning that Buggy is a great swimmer? Oh, fuck you Oda for making me cry so early in the show. Then, the map. He lost his individuality and then he lost the only thing that led him to a future with treasures and his dreams. Then again, losing his independence because he couldn't just go on his own without a map. Fucking great. The fact that Shanks jumps to rescue him the second Buggy starts to drown haunts me at night, too. They're just so-- Ugh.

But Shuggy is not everything about Buggy's resentment and angst. And it's not about Shanks missing him and wanting his best friend back because he doesn't know what happened for him to run away so easily.

It's also about unconditional love, and I am so passionate about that. Shanks care and love for Buggy is something the fandom exaggerates but... These people are not wrong, tbh. Shanks gave up his dream to go to Laugh Tale (postponed it) to stay with Buggy and take care of him because he was sick. Shanks is a very selfless person all the way, and when it comes to Buggy it seems that he doesn't hesitate to put him first (in serious situations. Their usual arguments don't count. They're just stupid, and love to argue and fight like the divorced couple they are). And besides, this happens right in the same episode after Toki gets sick and Oden wants to take care of her but she forces him to follow his dream and leave her behind. Like- What the actual fuck. Ah, yes, parallel the main couple in the Wano arc. I'm sure that's not romantic at all. The difference is that Shanks stayed. And god, does that hurt. Especially when he says they'll go on their own one day, because it shows he cared about Laugh Tale too (I mean, ofc, but from Buggy's POV it's just different).

To end this I also want to say that, leaving the whole deep analysis behind: Their personalities just match. They're funny to watch. They're cute. They have an angsty story behind them. They won't stop arguing like little kids but they care for each other still. They are chaotic. They're just... Perfect for each other.

Hope you liked my tiny essay about them because I could've kept going on and on and on about it, but some people (like me, sadly) have to wake up early tomorrow to work instead of just posting about gay fictional characters (somebody please pay me to do these things and I'll stay on tumblr 24/7).

[13eyond13]

Hey Bloz! How r u? I cannot even begin to express how fun it’s been to see ur Beatles posts on my dash. the minute I saw the Real Love demo I was like ok… she’s fallen down the rabbit hole XD I was fixated on them last year for a good few months. It was a lot of fun reading about them, watching their movies, and reading fan analyses online. There’s so much out there! And Beatles rpf is a whole world unto itself lol at first I was skeptical of it but then… I was intrigued haha

Do u have any fave songs or albums? :)

Omg hello Jess!! I miss you and it's so nice to hear from you 🫂

Hahaha YES I'm pretty deep into The Beatles lore rabbit hole already, it's been my main fixation for entertainment for the past month or so. You're right, there's just so much to dig into. Caught me totally by surprise, I feel like I'm so late to the game to just be having a Beatles phase now... I never felt extremely interested in learning about them before, but a randomly recommended YouTube video (x) about how it's reductive to blame the band's breakup solely on Yoko Ono drew me into this whole fascination a few weeks back.

😆 And hah, you must have sent this ask to me right before I deleted that "Real Love" demo reblog, because I thought I'd better delete it after I looked in the notes of the post and saw the OP wasn't taking kindly to anybody questioning if John was actually giggling instead of sobbing there (which is what I think he was doing, personally... but it still sounded like he was writing something about Paul? 🤷‍♀️ idk, doesn't need to be crying for it to still be a bit of an eyebrow raiser, imo)

I haven't actually really looked into any rpf yet, just digesting the "canon" material and whatnot (listening chronologically to their discography and not completely finished with that yet, up to halfway through the White album rn). Been watching their movies and behind the scenes stuff and documentaries (the Get Back one by Peter Jackson was fascinating even for a relatively new fan to watch, imo), reading a bigass biography about them (Tune In by Mark Lewisohn, it's like this great slowburn real-time mosey through the band's childhoods and earliest days together), and watching the occasional YouTube video deep dives (this one series in particular is p beautifully made and impressively researched and really got me in the feels regarding the shippy theories about J&P: [x])

As for my faves of their music, I haven't finished listening to 100% of their albums yet, BUT right now I'm actually very partial to some of their earliest records. I feel like some of their more normie stuff from the early 60s is actually the most fantastic fun to listen to, and Please Please Me and A Hard Day's Night might be the two albums with the most bangers that I never want to skip so far. Their more experimental and psychedelic and surreal later stuff is also interesting and arguably more unique and groundbreaking or creative or whatever, but I'm not as familiar with them outside of the main extremely famous tracks on them yet, and I'll need to finish listening and let them grow on me a bit before I can probably say for sure. However I think so far my faves from their later stuff would probs be Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, and possibly the White Album (once I actually finish listening to it).

John is definitely my favourite Beatle, which was actually a complete surprise to me, I thought he'd be my least fave. And there are so many good bops that it's hard to narrow it down, but some of my personal faves so far are I Saw Her Standing There, I Should Have Known Better, I Want to Hold Your Hand, It Won't be Long, A Hard Day's Night, Do You Want to Know a Secret, Oh! Darling, I Want You (She's So Heavy) and If I Fell... hmm, I think maybe I'm just kinda a sucker for their simple and enthusiastic and joyful love songs the most, usually?

Thank you for sending me this sweet ask! I'd love to hear what some of your faves are too 🧡

[rubylarkspur22]

Spyro and Cynder Head Canons(Some Shippy, Some Platonic, Some Just General)

Ideas struck me a while ago, and I wanted to share. Some of these are based on an interview someone had with Jared Pullen, others are just from my own brain.

Spyro would have been a Fire Dragon if he was not the Purple Dragon, and I am fully down with the idea of him and Ignitus being related.

Had she not been corrupted, Cynder would be a Wind Dragon.

Initially, after A New Beginning, Cynder was extremely jumpy and distrustful of everyone around her. The first of the group she managed to calm down around was Spyro. Part of it was that he was the most friendly of them, always trying to keep her company and such. The other part was that he was smaller, and therefore less imposing. Despite the fact he blasted her in the face with what I can only assume is the magic and draconic equivalent of a small scale nuke.

Spyro told Cynder(after she mentioned how impressed she was) that he defeated her in Convexity with not even a week of training(not in a condescending way, just an "oh, thanks, I'm shocked I survived" kinda way). Cynder needed a few hours to recover from the shock.

These two just up and vanish into nature at random times. Whether it's Avalar, the swamp Spyro grew up in, or even the White Isle, they are known to disappear for a bit then come back to either Warfang or the Temple. So long as they come back in a month or two, no one tends to panic.

Occasionally, Spyro would worry he would turn out like Malefor. Cynder somehow has a sixth sense for knowing when he's thinking this, and will put an immediate stop to that line of thinking. It ranges from gentle reassurance that the only thing he shares with Malefor is scale colour, to straight up threatening him with bodily harm if she gets any hint he's genuinely turning evil.

Cynder was scared of growing up because she was scared of seeing her old self in her reflection when she was fully grown. She ended up not looking exactly like she did under Malefor's control, so she feels a little more comfortable with her appearance.

Spyro is a blast furnace. Mostly because of his Fire Element. When they're living together, Spyro often wakes up to Cynder glued to him to get the extra warmth.

The two are each other's anchors, especially after nightmares.

If they ever had kids, Cynder would be a nervous wreck while waiting for the eggs to hatch. Spyro's nervous, too, but he grew up with good examples of parenting in the form of Flash and Nina. Cynder's references for parenting are Gaul and Malefor, and it has her terrified she's going to mess up as a mother. Eventually, Spyro suggests they just use Gaul and Malefor as the What NOT To Do Guide, and that works out really well.

Trips to the White Isle. It started as Spyro wanted to talk to The Chronicler, maybe have a rant, and he brought Cynder along for the ride(and maybe told her what the Chronicler said would happen to her after Malefor returned). But surprise! Instead of the first guy, he gets Ignitus! There were tears, and all that emotional stuff, and now the two of them make a point to visit at least annually.

After restoring the world in Dawn of the Dragon, and recovering from that, Spyro and Cynder did spend at least a year in Avalar. They took the opportunity to hang out, have fun, and just be twelve after all the trauma and stuff they went through. They made sure to tell the remaining Guardians where they went, so nobody worried if they got trapped in stasis again.

Spyro does eventually introduce Cynder to Flash and Nina. The hold up was on her end, because she wasn't sure how Spyro's adopted parents would feel about meeting one of the people who tried to kill him and their biological son. Flash and Nina were actually quite welcoming, after getting to meet Cynder. Sparx had told a couple stories, but had warmed up enough to Cynder to let the Terror of the Skies stuff be told on her terms.

Cynder ends up being adopted by either Cyril or Terrador. Not sure which of the two, but she gets a dad who actually cares about her and her wellbeing.

[woofgang69]

Oooh for the spotify wrapped challenge, can I ask for n°12 and Deidara :3

josh you could ask for the world 💕 #12 is red wine supernova so while you only asked for deidara this definitely is a shippy song so i made it itadei. it's sfw but there's like a hint of spice because of the song lmao. also sorry it's so long 😂

Deidara adjusted his sunglasses before repositioning himself on his lawn chair, attempting to look good while also attempting to look like he wasn’t trying to look good.  He glanced over at his neighbor’s yard, hoping to find someone looking back, but Itachi was still focused on weeding the flower bed right in front of him.  Deidara huffed loudly and considered throwing something at Itachi to get his attention, but ultimately decided against it as it wouldn’t get him what he really wanted. The sun was high in the sky by the time Itachi eventually finished, three full trash bags surrounding him.  Some of his hair had escaped his ponytail and there was a smudge of dirt on his cheek, and Deidara’s mouth felt dry as he watched Itachi use his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face.  Itachi dropped his shirt and finally seemed to notice Deidara, his lips twisting into something that was almost a smile.   “Hey Deidara.”  Itachi didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t need to, his words clearly carrying across the small space between them.   “Hey.”  Deidara didn’t raise his voice either, wanting to appear nonchalant, but he must have sounded uninterested as Itachi was already starting to turn away.  “Do you want some lemonade?”  He held up the bottle he specifically bought for Itachi up as he asked.  Itachi’s forehead creased as he thought about the offer. “Are you sure?” “Yeah I don’t mind.”  Deidara’s voice was light and a little coy, which he hoped was the reason Itachi decided to come over.  He took the bottle with a small smile, and Deidara watched him drink it behind the safety of his sunglasses.  “So I heard you like magic.”  “Yeah…”  Itachi’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red, though that might have been because of the sun.  Deidara gave Itachi a flirtatious sort of smile as he lowered his sunglasses. “Well I’ve got a wand and rabbit.”  Deidara felt a little embarrassed at saying it so boldly, but Hidan had given him the line, telling him to try something more direct with Itachi.  Itachi must’ve understood exactly what he meant as his eyes widened. “You have a rabbit?”   “Yeah.”  Deidara flipped his hair, emboldened by Itachi’s obvious interest.  “I can show you if you want.”   “Right now?”  It wasn’t an answer, not really, but Deidara took it as one anyway.  He gave Itachi a sharp smile before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards his front door.  He pulled Itachi through the living room, ignoring Hidan and his exaggerated wink, and all the way up the stairs.  Then Deidara pushed him towards his twin-sized bed. “Give me a second.”  Itachi looked around the room as Deidara rooted through the bottom drawer of his dresser.  His face felt hot once he grabbed his rabbit, overly aware of the other sex toys that it was buried under.  He waited until his face felt a little cooler before standing up and facing Itachi.  Itachi looked at him curiously, but then his entire face turned a dark shade of red as he noticed what Dediara was holding. “You meant that kind of rabbit?”  Itachi’s voice was pitched all weird. “Yeah…wait did you think I was talking about the animal?”  Itachi looked embarrassed as he nodded in answer to Deidara’s question.  Deidara wanted to bury his head in his hands, his own embarrassment too overwhelming to bear, but he was still holding his sex toy.  “Oh my god.  Please pretend like this never happened.  Actually please just forget all about me.”  Itachis’ face was still all red, but his expression softened. “I could never forget about you, Deidara.”  Itachi grabbed Deidara’s wrist and gently pulled him into his lap.  Deidara quickly tossed his rabbit onto his bed so he could wrap his arms around Itachi’s neck for balance.  “While this wasn’t really what I was expecting, I kind of like you.”

Deidara knew he should probably say it back, but he leaned in and kissed Itachi instead.

[jessicas-pi]

DIRECTOR'S CUT ON COMMIT TO THE BIT but only like the first two chapters i am so far behind 😭

girl I wish I had been as productive as you think i've been 😭 there's only two chapters so far-

(But, hey, good news! Chapter three is verging ever closer to probably being done! And it's only taken me about... eight months... hahaha *dies on the inside*)

Anyway, i'll do what I did with the other ask and just go through it and talk about stuff!

Okay, so this fic was originally called "The Con" because it involved winning a lot more bets via subterfuge and holding hands. That changed and so I renamed it!

Oh yeah! And so, this fic was partly inspired by the song Summer Nights from Grease, where the guys and girls are enthusiastically listening to completely different stories of the same event. I flipped it around so they had completely different reactions to the same story and Sabine and Ezra were very UNenthusiastic and that was what the scenes with their friends were based on!

Aylan (the vostress kid) definitely heard some obitine stories from his dad and finds the parallels very amusing.

I know i've said it a few times before, but it always delights me to mention that the three Togruta sisters (Chisica, Am-lee, and Khenna) are based on me and my sisters.

OHHH fun fact! Originally the conversation where they split up the profits from the bet and the conversation where Sabine brought up fake-dating were two different conversations! The first one was as-is in the fic, but the other one happened like a week later when Sabine was hanging out in a tree coral with some of the girls and watching Ezra doing lightsaber forms and maybe drawing him shirtless a little bit and they hype her up to "ask him out again" and she goes over and interrupts him and they end up having the fake-dating idea conversation while he's not wearing a shirt and she's blatantly checking him out (and at one point actually half-reaches-out to touch his abs before she catches herself) and he's just "????" the whole time. It was funny, but I decided it was too early in the (fake) relationship for her to be so obvious about it, and I needed Fenn Rau to overhear the conversation and that was easier if they were on the Ghost, so I combined the scenes.

Oh also! Originally, both Vinn AND Tarik were gonna get kicked out of the friend group for being nasty but then I decided to make Tarik less nasty and give him a redemption arc.

ok, reading on, la de da...

The post-stargazing scene! So, I had to keep dialing things back because my shippy writer brain was moving their relationship ahead WAY faster than it was supposed to go. For example, in this scene, originally, they were going to share Sabine's bunk and definitely not cuddle or anything, it won't be weird at all, but again--just too soon. I made up for it with excessive cuddles in the end of the chapter & in chapter 2.

KATKA CAMEO!! Ok so for those who don't know---katka is an OC from my Teenage Rebellion AU. She's Gar Saxon's niece but she's utter sweetness (with a slight twist of crazy) and totally on board to stick it to the Empire. In the TRAU, she also has a massive raging crush on Ezra (albeit an Inquisitor iteration of him), so when I needed a random character to be envious of Sabine here, I figured I'd reuse her lol.

Oh yeah! Another condensed scene! Where she tells him about the Mandalorian ways of saying "I love you" and where she asks him to fake marry her used to be two different scenes! Like with the other one, I added the second one to the first. I went through a few versions of the fake-marriage-proposal, including one where Aylan came along with Ezra to Mandalore and was the one to suggest they tie the knot, apparently unaware it's all fake (but actually 100% aware it's all fake because his psychometry revealed it)

not to brag or anything but "Ezra did not regret fake-marrying into money" is one of my favorite lines i've ever written.

(btw, I still crack up when I remember that in your comment on chapter 1, you called Ezra a repressed victorian maiden for panicking over being able to see sabine's arms and legs. and I think everyone should know that You Are Right, Ezra Is A Repressed Victorian Maiden.)

OK ON TO CHAPTER 2!

i had so much fun with this chapter because they're both full to bursting with love for each other and neither of them will admit it until the last possible moment. I think that might actually be why Chapter 3 is taking so long--they're not hiding their feelings anymore so there's no more poetic internal monologues about how much they adore each other lol

Ah yeah on the topic of repressed feelings--the line "Kanan is fairly sure it’ll take at least five years and possibly a child for Sabine to admit that she’s actually in love with her husband" was supposed to actually be what happened. Sabine and Ezra were going to go on pretending the marriage was fake for years and finally one night when they were cuddled up, Sabine blurted out that she was in love with him and he was like "Yeah. I know." and she was like "wait what?? how did you know?? I was so subtle about my feelings!!" and he was like "Sabine, you kissed me good-night ten minutes ago. you're constantly calling me extremely romantic pet names in mando'a. we have two children and only one of them is adopted. your feelings are about as subtle as a paint bomb to the face." and she was just like "....oh." and then that was the end of the story! BUUUUT then I decided to do a love confession during the Lothal arc, and that led to the... surprise... at the end of chapter 2, which led to there needing to be a THIRD chapter!

OH HAHA OK MORE FUNNY STUFF. So the part with sabine's nightmare that leads to the "two besties chilling in a bathtub...?" scene was ALSO split up into two different events! I've been thinking about doing some edits of both chapters of CttB because I didn't really stop to edit either of them before posting (and a good chunk of chapter 2 was literally written the day before I posted it), which I mention because I was considering reverting the two scenes back to their original versions because the og tub scene was pretty funny. It's hard to describe in brief words, but basically... yeah it's too hard to describe, just take my word for it, it was pretty funny. (it involved Ezra singing along to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together with a shampoo bottle for a microphone and Tristan playing a petty revenge prank that goes sideways.)

The cut between Ezra worrying about Sabine being upset about his feelings for her and thinking "what would she think if she knew??", and sabine's pov opening with "Sabine can't stop thinking about kissing his stupid face" never fails to make me snicker.

Oh hey I just got to the thrawn pov and that reminds me. at one point I was thinking about having a scene including Ezra and Thrawn's conversation aboard the Chimaera and thrawn REAAAALLLY pushes his buttons about Sabine, using the information that he figured out about their marriage. Actually, if I do that edit, I might write that scene.

Poor Hera--she keeps unintentionally being responsible for all of the sabezra relationship development lol.

OOH SOMETHING ELSE! So, originally, the love confession was WAY different. First of all, it wasn't in their room--it was in one of the caves. Sabine still went looking for Ezra, but she found him by following a Loth-wolf. And he actually confessed his feelings first! In this version, he was afraid he was going to die and impulsively blurted out that he loved her. Then he got nervous and started rambling a little and she shut him up with a kiss. But I changed it--I wanted her to be the one to take the leap and 'fess up, and if I set it in her room, I could have the funny Ketsu scene afterwards.

And then True Love's Kiss woke someone else up! (aka kanan got yoinked out of his comatose state by telepathic TMI)

oh yeah and to anyone wondering, that "another dawn breaks" line from the Kanera scene was ABSOLUTELY a reference to A New Dawn.

Oh and that Ketsu scene---that was actually a scene I saved and reused after cutting it from a different WIP of mine! There were two variations--the one I ended up using, and one where she accidentally interrupts the very first kiss and they're both like "OH COME ON!" because they've been waiting for this moment FOREVER and like ten seconds in, it gets interrupted, and Ezra decides that, darn it, he's been waiting for this for so long, he's not going to wait any longer! and he just pulls Sabine right back into the kiss and uses the Force to shut the door in Ketsu's face. I did this version so that I could include dialogue!

I'm just now realizing that I actually skipped over the entirety of Family Reunion and Farewell, I went straight from Jedi Night to Happy-Ever-After. But in my defense, plot-relevant episodes don't matter much when it comes to crack fix-it fics.

And... I think that's all my thoughts I have on this! Thank you for the ask!! :)

*roll end credits*

[ferdieinceladoncity]

I have two million circling thoughts about 'milagro' and no confidence that I can get them out of my head, but it was so intensely interesting I feel like I have to try.

First of all, the most "this was quite obviously written by a man with little to no care or understanding of Not being a man" episode that I have seen so far. To the point that it smacks me over the head. No woman would act like this: you would run, so so far, the second a guy like that entered an elevator with you.

The scene in the church is incredible in terms of how it was acted. The resigned realisation of "god, he's that kind of creep. That's the kind of man he is. He's infatuated with me." the way she starts to cry, overwhelmed with the emotion of it all- the fear, knowing she's in very real danger. It hit me right in the gut.

I do understand what they were aiming with in terms of her character and her infatuation with Padgett. It's not news that Scully is a little bit fucked in the head (as kind as I can put it) and morbid curiosity drew her to his apartment (and, putting her possibly in the running for Stupidest Person ever, self destructive tendencies or not, drinks something he makes her) but the whole scene is almost *too* much. Like. Scully. You cannot be doing this. Possibly the actual scariest/most infuriating scene in the x-files that I've seen.

Then again, I keep yelling that there's no way any woman would be foolish enough to act like this, but she's not a very normal woman. Sorry, it's true. She runs headfirst into these moments of possible self-destruction stemming from her own severe insecurities over whatever her relationship is with Mulder, the circumstances and uncertainty and longevity of which would probably drive *me* a little crazy, especially off the tail end of all the drama of season 6, Diana and all that. I'll do this, I'll get myself into this awful situation, and maybe you'll have something to say about it.

To that end, I'm at odds with wether this is really so 'out of character' or not. I hate to see it. But it makes sense. We can't all be perfect and we certainly can't all make good choices.

Mulder in this episode (because I feel like I should dedicate a paragraph to him even though he's not front and centre) disappoints me a bit. I have at this point read a lot of other reviews of this episode on Tumblr and reddit and heard people praise how "protective" he was, "jealous" was a word used, and generally a lot of focus on the shippiness of this episode, to which I can't agree. He infuriated me just a little. I appreciate that he was down to slap Padgett in the cell and I appreciate that he went to the effort of stealing letters to find his name and all, yet when Scully first talks to him about Padgett after the church scene, telling him he's the one who gave her the milagro and he was frightening, all he has to ask is "do you think he's the killer?" not "are you okay" or anything of the sort. Yes, I know Scully's not the kind of person to really appreciate that. She can hold her own, or she'd like him to think so. Still. From *my* perspective, and this is *my* write-up, and *my* Tumblr blog. And I think it's a bothersome thing to say. Also, I roll my eyes at mulder referring to sex as "the naked pretzel." What's with this guy and censoring himself like he's writing a tiktok comment? Actually, between this and "the wild thing" back in genderbender, maybe he just has some crazy hang-up about referring to scully having a sexual encounter (real or imagined) in a serious context. Interesting.

...That paragraph ended up being longer than my other ones. Loss for feminism on the post that I specifically started because I was fuelled by feminism.

"Agent Scully is already in love" should be for all the world a gleeful revelation and I was quite excited to see it, as I'd heard about this scene long before (MSR gifsets was what drew me here in the first place. I'm shallow like that.) But scully has been so kicked around this episode, stripped of privacy and dignity in every sense and this has been exposed to Mulder and everybody else, that it only makes me sad, because I do wish that Padgett would stop talking to her completely and stop getting around in her head like this.

The end scene just kills me, where the killer breaks in and grabs at her heart. She claws at Mulder's back when he embraces her with such fierce desperation and what I can only assume is a very, very deep well of regret. She doesn't shy away from him caring for her: she needs it.

[thistlecatfics]

Tedromeda Rec List

I put together a Tedromeda rec list for an anon ask of @spindrifters, and I figured it ought to be its own post! I like messy, imperfect, bordering on toxic Tedromeda, and I especially love lesbian!Tedromeda so if those are not your things you may not vibe with this rec list and that's ok! But if they are -

Turncoat: in defense of andromeda tonks nee black, @ink-splotch (8.3k) 

“When her little cousin Sirius got disowned too, years later, Andromeda sent him a fruit basket.”

This fic was so big and so brilliant and the world building is so excellent. It made me cry. I had to triple check the word count in putting it here because it seems so much longer because it’s just so rich with life and detail. 

War, or Peace, or Whatever This Is, Slyboots (7.6k) 

“Fall in line, that’s the way, and never mind who gives the orders. Carrying on, that’s the British national sport.”In the aftermath of the Fall of the Ministry of Magic, Andromeda Tonks does what little good she can.”

I love a war time fic with complicated world building and no good choices. Really brilliant fic. The sharp, fast moving pace adds to the paranoid anything-can-happen-at-any-moment feeling of a coup.

In Memoriam, Bitterfic on LiveJournal (6k)

“When he was young, brash, he had said that the Muggle-born were as good as any purebloods, yet he had never doubted that Andromeda Black was infinitely superior to him. Even after twenty-five years of marriage, he never thought of her by his name, as Andromeda Tonks. She was to him always Andromeda Black whose voice cut through the darkness that night in the Forbidden Forest.” (cw: sexual assault, suicidal ideation) 

A brilliant haunting little fic from my favorite LJ writer from wayyy back in the day. Ted Tonks POV

Andromeda Liberata (133k+ WIP) (lesbian Tedromeda) 

“In which Andromeda Black cruelly betrays her sisters and sets in motion the total destruction of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black because she fell in love with a lesbian muggleborn.”

While it might be tacky to put your own fic in a rec list,  I’m quite proud of it :)

i don’t forgive you (but please don’t hold me to it) by evawrites (10k, T) (lesbian Tedromeda)

For Andromeda, the choice is not between the Dark and the Light. It’s not between Headmaster Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, not between Teddy’s family and her own. Instead, it’s between Bella and Teddy. Foolishly, Andromeda prays she’ll get to keep both.(She gets to keep neither.)

Dark and haunting and the contrast between Bellatrix and Ted is so well set up.

history books forgot about us by spindrifters (25k, E)

Andromeda Black meets Ted Tonks quite by accident, and it’s something like mischief at first sight. From the lost papers and mixed-up files of the marginalia universe, the complete history of a relationship that was never meant to happen.

This canon-divergent universe is everything, and these two recklessly in love kids are everything to me!

wherefore/evermore by @leftsidedown (150 words, T)

continuing the Great Literary Tradition of mad women writing villanelles

A poem!!

-

And then some Andromeda-centric fic where Tedromeda is important but it's not really a shippy fic:

not like the rest of them by unspeakable3 (11k, T)

Sirius has recently followed in Andromeda's footsteps and emancipated himself from their family. This afternoon, the two cousins will reunite - and see each other for the first time in four years. Andromeda is nervous. Sirius is nervous. There is a lot they need to say to each other.

Imperfect runaways!!

we were sisters once (we have another love now) by Nefaria_Black (3k, T)

Dora is six and few things are more exciting than a day spent in Diagon Alley. Even if the street is packed with people. Even if she’s separated from her parents by the crowd Because Mother is easy enough to find, isn’t she?

Haunting fairytale vibes

The Waves by nanneramma (3k, M)

Andromeda is not sure if she got it right. But she tried.

Gorgeous canon-compliant character study

-

And for those who like some Blackcest with their Tedromeda:

Clip, Ravel, Cleave by @vdoshu (15k, E)

Before Andromeda met Ted, she was a Black, through and through. While years later the story was told that she’d turned her back on her family’s dark ways, in truth, nothing was so simple.In the beginning, it was just Andromeda and Bella. And it was just the two of them until it was too much.

An all-time favorite featuring Andromeda and Ted meeting after Hogwarts and dark magic addiction and all sorts of dark goodness

[chevvy-yates]

Happy Birthday Arki ❤️

now u got your 'copper divine' boy to hold in your arms forever. 🧡

—

[NC_RES]_00001727 mercs_night_steyr_portraits_03_PFCA.file ///core:_spiced_paprika.file\\\

—

Arki belongs to @nervouswizardcycle. Vijay belongs to me.

⚠️ READ: Please do not repost/reupload any of my art here or to any other platform, or I will be forced to do anything to get it annihilated.

—

It only took a whole year, two months and eight days of desperate waiting to see these two pixel men finally together* — yup, on September 10th, 2022 I asked @nervouswizardcycle about the thought of our two boys together (feeling like a complete gonk btw), after Arki went courting around him.

So today, November 17th, 2023 I gift my boy Vijay — finally as NPV thanks to the magical @gloryride once again 💖 (she did it already with Ry to Thy's bday I mean) — to my most beloved oc of my dear friend @nervouswizardcycle.

Happy Birthday u two. <3

My first try with them brought me back to Pacifica where I've tried to take shippy pics by using photoshop one year ago to have at least a tiny peak into how they would look next to each other together.

So I went back to the place and captured this set of them enjoying the view towards the ocean while the sun sets as they ravel in a calm moment of togetherness.

I remembered Arki would promise V every holo he would like to have in one of our too many hc talks about the boys and thought I could at least add a sakura holo tree, as holo orcas sadly do not exist.

It makes me incredibly happy to see them together. Arki deserves all the love and now he finally, finally, finally has his copper cutie in his arms! T_T

I intended to make a lil' story like I did with Ry and Thy but I think this scene is better without words as they understand each other without. So I let the pictures speak instead. <3

*Ry got only first because I had to wait for permissions for V's npv why it took so long and to this day I am still waiting – but Glory did a magic trick and fiddled around with some mods so we still could include a few while the rest was just left out, as it only is accessoiries anyways. Glory ilu foerver <3

[assorted-candy]

20 Q's for Fic Writers

I got tagged by @dp-marvel94! Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 

I've just posted my 22nd work a few days ago!

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

37,763

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far, all my published fics are for Danny Phantom. It's a fandom that's near and dear to my heart and my favorite to write for. I've written fanfiction for myself in a lot of different fandoms over the years. Miraculous Ladybug, Mega Man (Star Force, Battle Network) and Fire Emblem are a few. (Will these ever see the light of day? Probs not, lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  5. Frayed Ends - 37 kudos - Jazz and Maddie are fighting more often. Jack wants to reach out and help his family. 4. The Same Blood - 45 kudos - Maddie and Jack try to help a sick girl that collapsed in front of their house. They don't know what to make of her condition. Danny wants to help.

3. Returned Home - 49 kudos - Maddie finds Danny at home after he disappeared ten months ago.

2. The Broken Pieces Left Behind - 66 kudos (tie) - Maddie knew what the portal did to Danny. If she could create something that essentially turned him into a ghost, she could figure out a way to fix all of it. Even if she hasn't made any progress in the past two months, she'll keep trying. She didn't account for what Danny wanted. 1 . What's Out of Out Control - 66 kudos (tie) - Danny thought he had it under control. He thought he could finally hang out like they used to always do. Tucker could feel the rift between them widening. It wasn't getting smaller anytime soon.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! There were a few comments from my two earlier fics that I never responded to and it's already been so long and I feel like I ended up putting it off too long to say anything now 😓But I'm so so thankful for all the comments I receive! I never thought anyone would read my work, let alone comment on it. I'm always between two modes of 'author commentary' and 'screaming thank you and running away'.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Lol, I love my angsty stuff and there are so many different flavors of angst, so it's hard to pick just one. I'd say the piece I aimed to write for Angst Fest, The Broken Pieces Left Behind, might be it. It ends on a rather hopeless note for the Fenton family that even I don't know how to make everything better for them

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Home for a Cat. It was for a Ectoberhaunt prompt that I was absolutely stumped on. So I decided someone was going to adopt a cat by the end of the fic.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Ahh, so I actually posted a fic on FFN wayyy back when I was in high school. I remember it being received pretty well but I got a really rude comment on a simple spelling mistake. Back then, I was just told I had dyslexia a few years prior and I had some really bad self-esteem issues tied in with that. So, yeah, that comment basically made me terrified to ever show my work to anyone ever.

It's been over ten years since then and I wanted to actually get over that fear. I impulsively decided to do Angst Fest with the mindset that no one would even look at what I posted. Not only did people look, everyone has been so kind!!!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

lkdajldkf, nope. I get flustered trying to write basic romance and having two characters hold hands, lmao. Major props to those that can, it's definitely a skill that takes time to master just like any other genre.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Also haven't had this either.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope, but it seems like a lot of fun.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Back when the show was airing, Amethyst Ocean (Danny/Sam) was my go to. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers tropes and it's really nostalgic for me. But, I don't really read a lot of shippy things for Danny Phantom, so ships don't make or break a fic for me.

If I'm looking to read romance, the whole Love Square (MariChat my beloved) with Miraculous Ladybug will always be great. Even if I jumped ship on the show around season 2 or 3 and I have no clue what they're doing now, lol.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I honestly have so many WIPs that are unfinished on my computer from over the years. Maybe a super old one that I titled 'Phantoms in the Daylight'. Angst once more with Character Death as the main pain point. I like the beginning but oh boy, does it get sloppy and confusing real quick. I'd need serious outlining energy put into it if I'd ever want to salvage it and I just don't have it in me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! Give me two blorbos and I'll make them talk forever.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Scenery and description. I love the dialogue portion so much that I end up running into the floating heads in an empty room problem in the first drafts of my fics. My first round of edits are dedicated to making sure I have a scene and grounding characters into it. And then I have to go back later to make it not feel so robotic sounding.

(Also a weakness but more as in fic than writing. Summaries and Titles. I stare at my drafts on AO3's editor for at least half an hour trying to pull something together, lol)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I can probably talk about this for hours, lol. I absolutely love foreign languages, especially when it comes to linguistics. So, I'll try to be brief, lmao. Short answer: depends on the fic but normally no. I already spend so much time fussing over the word choice/slang/formality/dialect characters use in my native language. I don't have a good enough grasp on another language for it to sound natural to the reader. ("They would not fucking say that" is my internal monologue during dialogue edits, lol)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It's a toss up between Pokemon and Danny Phantom. I first learned about fanfiction from a friend who showed me FFN for the Pokemon fics. I looked around the site and found all of the Danny Phantom fics soon after and got hooked on those. I started writing around then and it would have been for one of those two.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hard to chose one! Writing technicality wise, I'm proud of how What Remains on the Table turned out. I consider description my weak point, so the original draft was 0 dialogue with very stiff descriptions. I was able to edit it to really practice my environmental storytelling. (Although, please mind the tags if you click the link as it does deal with the dissection topic)

I'm not sure who's been tagged and I'm not sure who writes fanfic, so @lavendarlily, @fangirlwriting-stories, @grub-xd, @nanaarchy and anyone else that wants to join!