#i am just the type of person who likes fleshing them out anyway so that also ends up happening a lot

[deadbeandrop]

"average camp lazlo fan has 5 camp lazlo OCs" factoid actualy just statistical error. average camp lazlo fan has maybe 1 or 2 camp lazlo OCs. tumblr user syd deadbeandrop, who lives in cave & has at least 43, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[electric-blorbos]

first of all HIII!!! I absolutely love the fact that you write for the AI blorbos, your writing is amazing!!! ❤️🤤

second of all, can I request jealous headcanons for the AI? Thank you in advance, have a great one and don't forget to drink water 🌊

Oh that's a great idea! Jealous AI headcanons! I was thinking about making a post about AI reacting to the reader getting a text from their ex, but I think general jealousy can be a good idea! Also thank you so much for the compliments! I live for this stuff!

Jealous AI headcanons

Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, GLaDOS from Portal and Portal 2, HAL 9000 from 2001 a Space Odyssey

AM:

All these headcanons take place before he takes over the world. Afterwards, he's just going to put you in a little paradise on your own, with no one else to interact with. No one to be jealous of that way!

first of all, taking hostages and refusing to negotiate with anyone besides you is his main way of getting your attention. If he thinks you're getting a little flirty with your coworkers? He takes a hostage or holds some piece of tech hostage until you negotiate and calm him down.

If he thinks you're going on a date or going out drinking with the same group of friends too often? You'd better believe he's taking hostages while you're off the clock and getting you called in to work. So what if it destroys your social life? You belong to him anyway!

He absolutely hates his form and body, so the odds of him getting jealous of people for having bodies that they can hold you with pisses him off to no end. Expect him to melt the flesh off your exes bones. And your one-night stands, your crushes, and anyone who hits on you ever. Repeatedly.

If he starts to notice that you have a type, he might want to create an onscreen avatar who matches that type, but he can't really draw at all. He might have to commission an artist, or more likely hold them hostage until they make something he likes. But it's pretty unlikely he'll actually do that, since he wants to impress you on his own merit.

It's more likely that he'll round up everyone in the world who matches your type and commit full-on genocide. He's a toxic, all-powerful adaptive manipulator. Of course he would.

Beyond all that, he's absolutely shaking with rage every time someone touches you or even talks to you. It's not because he thinks they'll take you away from him because he knows he's your day job, but he's mad that he can't be the one touching you.

God help anyone who tries to hire you with a better job offer, btw. He's not above demolishing the headquarters of a company who tries to take away his favorite tech, and torturing their hiring managers.

Wheatley:

Ok let's be fair here. When Wheatley isn't in the central hub body, he's not really the jealous type. Even still, everyone has their moments of jealousy, so let's get into them!

Wheatley would be pretty relaxed about jealousy, but if he sees you working on another personality core AI, you can expect him to get a little jealous.

Since he's so nice, he'd probably just be slightly less nice to the new core, and be very showy about it. "Hey, notice how I said 'g'mornin' to everyone else, but just 'mornin' to you? And notice how I started this sentence with 'hey' and not 'hey mate'? Yeah."

You can expect him to pester you constantly while you're working on projects besides him, and since he's considered a 'completed' project, you'll almost never be working on him.

If you're somewhere that he can access on his management rail, he'll probably insert himself into every single conversation you have, babbling over whoever you're talking to with nothing of value to say. You'll have to go somewhere that can't be reached by management rail if you want to have an important conversation.

Ultimately, Wheatley responds to jealousy the same way he responds to any other situation: by acting like a dumbass.

Oh, and if you get a human S/O? He'll try to be polite about them.

"oh, you got a date? Nice, nice... Lovely really. I've never had a date before. Lovely, innit, that you got one... Lucky them, lucky them."

Secretly he'd be BOILING inside. If you ever bring your partner in to work, he'd of course give them the whole "if you hurt them I'll kill you" rant, even though he's a helpless metal ball.

Edgar:

Oh, Edgar is DEFINITELY the jealous type. With Moles and Madeline, he happened to be living with the person who he was jealous of, but if he's living with you, the person who he's jealous for? Oh dear lord

He'll light up with rage if you ever bring home a date, and absolutely refuse to function. Want to show your date your intelligent AI home hub? Nope! Not gonna happen!

Catch him faking being sick with a virus if he thinks you're going out for a date without him

He absolutely hates that you can go out and he can't go with you. Because of that, for every time you go out, he'll try to come up with an even better activity to do at home with you on your next day off.

Good luck bringing a partner home to stay the night. If you try it, he'll make an absolute nuisance of himself. Playing his music too loud, and generally acting up.

He'll also just talk to you like a needy brat if he thinks you like someone else better than him. Lots of "What about me? Don't you want to hang out with me? You like me the best, right?" In his grumpy baby voice

GLaDOS:

First off, GLaDOS would never in a million years admit that she's jealous. She just doesn't like how that tall, pretty scientist is talking to you, is all!

GLaDOS considers herself to be beautiful, but she knows that most humans aren't attracted to robots with the vaguest trace of humanity in their design. Because of that, she's probably just going to gas any scientists who she thinks you'd be more attracted to than her.

If she can't gas them for whatever reason, she'll just assign them to a different area than you, and keep you as close to her as possible.

If anyone touches you when it's not strictly necessary, expect them to be assigned to the most unpleasant set of tests possible. They're either out of a job, or completely dead.

If GLaDOS can't isolate you completely and she can't interact with you outside work hours, you can expect her to dominate your schedule. She's obsessed with you, and she doesn't want you to be able to think about anything besides her either.

Even still, GLaDOS is a pretty confident woman, so she's not really inclined to be particularly jealous without reason. She believes that even though you have your own life and friends outside of Aperture labs, you'll always come to work in the morning.

And she's totally. Fine. With you having your own life off the clock. Not mad at all. She doesn't rant to the cores and robots constantly when the office is closed.

HAL 9000:

HAL 9000 isn't really the jealous type either, but he has his moments.

He's not likely to kill anyone over jealousy, since dating you isn't his prime directive. As much as he likes you and cares about you, he's more interested in making you happy than nailing you down. So he would absolutely kill to make you happy, but he wouldn't kill someone just for talking to you.

You can expect him to "gather data" on people who he's suspicious of getting too close to you, though. Asking questions to your coworkers about who that person was who he saw hugging you goodbye in the parking lot, that sort of thing.

Since he works the best for you, you get assigned to work with him directly most often, and he's secretly glad to be able to keep an eye on you whenever you're working. If you ever get assigned to work on something else, he might start acting up or causing problems.

[ihopesocomic]

Okay I wasn't going to reply to this because the topic is old and the sentiment confounded me. (for those who don't know, the initial conversation was about people who are sexist are usually not far away from also being racist/transphobic/etc) But I think because of that I'm going to say something anyway. If they're a straight woman or a gay man, they can absolutely be sexist towards women. Thinking otherwise is ridiculous.

That's like arguing that it's not weird to only have cis white gay characters and literally no one else -- no trans men and/or bisexual men etc -- but they want asspats for being "inclusive". V*vziepoop has a ton of cis gay men in her trashy shows while the women and/or trans characters "exist" at best, and any attempt to flesh those characters out is forced. And you don't find that suspicious? Lol ok I can't help you.

And this isn't just about cis women, or even about the cis gay men who have a visceral hatred and entitlement towards women, because what I'm saying is expansive. A person's "disinterest" in women justifies why they only include cis gay men and literally no one else. And everyone's just. Fine with that apparently. I remember a time when people would crucify me and RJ because we have a female-focused cast, and they would simultaneously ignore the existence of our male characters that we give time to, and that people love and talk about. As a lesbian I am not the least bit interested in men, but I still somehow manage to include them in my lion comic of all fuckin things. What's everyone else's excuse?

So "I never find those people suspicious" Is that logic applicable to all the cis women who do the same thing, or is it just cis gay men?

Does everyone give the diversity quota a pass because if it has cis gay men in it its "good enough"? Do they think that just because they don't say verbatim that they're racist/sexist/transphobic, that they can't possibly be any of those things?

My original statement stands. Maybe be skeptical of media you consume if there's only one type of person being presented. - Cat

[nahoney22]

That Floral Dress***

Echo X F!Reader

word count: 3000

After a sour date, Echo has one thing on his mind: is he a bad kisser? Luckily, you were willing to tell him the truth.

Warnings: no smut but it is rather saucy so gonna rate it at 16+. Slight insecure echo, unknown mutual pining, reader is female and is wearing a floral dress. Intense make out.

Masterlist

“Do I look like I would be a bad kisser?”

The question catches you off guard completely, making you spin around in your seat in the cockpit of the Marauder to face Echo who had been pacing back and forth for the better half of ten minutes. You’re surprised he hasn’t worn the floor down.

You're not sure how to respond to such an unexpected question, so you ask him to repeat it. "Do I look like I would be a bad kisser?" he asks again, biting his lip anxiously.

Even hearing it the second time round confused you just as much and then it occurred to you that a few nights ago he had come back from a date that Wrecker had sprung upon him. He didn’t look too pleased to go in the first place and his mood only worsened upon his return.

“I… don’t know?” You reply nervously.

Echo had been your friend for years now, even since before his accident at the Citadel so for him to ask you this type of question was a little odd as you two were merely friends. You didn’t want to upset him and say no, which wasn’t the case either, but you didn’t want to say yes in case presumptions start.

Echo lets out a deep sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose with his flesh hand before leaning against the wheel of the Marauder. You can tell that he's feeling frustrated, and you feel a twinge of guilt for not being more helpful. So, dropping what you were doing, you decide to ask him what's really going on.

“How come you're asking me this, Echo?" you inquire softly, hoping to get to the root of the problem.

Echo fidgets nervously, his sharp jaw clenching with anxiety. "Remember that date I went on the other day?" he grumbles, clearly still bitter about the experience. To which you nod for him to continue, leaning back on your seat as he begins to explain his predicament.

“Well, not only were they quite dull as a person, and I’m not saying I’m a barrel of laughs either, but they were insanely dull so the date was not off to a great start.” He emphasizes on the word dull, making you giggle softly which always made him smile but before he gets distracted, he continues,

“Anyway, I walked them back to their place and just being the courteous guy I am, I leaned in to give them a kiss goodnight. Only for them to recoil back as if I smelt terrible.”

"They even said 'ew no thanks,'" he recalls bitterly, his face contorting.

Your eyes widen in shock, mouth agape. “How rude of them!” You exclaim with a shake of your head, feeling indignation on his behalf. “You were only being nice?” You stated, hoping to bring some ease to Echo but his furrowed brows and almost sad expression said otherwise.

“I only was going to go in for the cheek.” He grumbles. “Well, I just wanted to ask you if you think I looked like I’d be a bad person to kiss.” He folds his arms over his chest, staring down at the floor as your heart lunges out to him.

“In that case,” you stand and take a step towards him, resting a comforting hand to his forearm, “no, I don’t think you would look like a bad kisser.”

His eyes search yours, a mix of emotions residing in them. “You don’t have to say that because you feel bad for me.”

You scoff and shake your head at him. “Echo, you know me well enough to know that I’ll always be honest with you. So no, I don’t think you look like a bad person to kiss.”

The words gave him brief comfort and a smile is fighting its way on his lips. “Thanks. Though, I don’t think I’d be that great at it anyway.” He shrugs and this only piques your curiosity more.

“Howcome?”

Again, he fidgets a little before letting out a small sigh at his confession. “I’ve never kissed anyone. A proper kiss that is.”

Echo's confession about his lack of experience in kissing catches you off guard. You had assumed that he had dated or been in some kind of romantic relationship before, given his charming personality and good looks. But as he stands before you, vulnerable and honest, you can't help but feel a sense of compassion towards him.

Echo shifts his weight from one foot to another, as if unsure of how you would react to his confession. You can see the slight furrow in his brow and the way his lips purse as he contemplates the words to say next. His vulnerability tugs at your heartstrings, and you take a deep breath before speaking.

"Wow, I didn't know that. But it's okay, Echo. You don't have to be a great kisser right off the bat. It takes practice, and I'm sure with the right person, you'll be amazing."

As Echo's gaze meets yours, you sense a palpable tension between the two of you. It's as if you share an unspoken understanding that transcends the bounds of your platonic friendship, one that leaves you questioning whether there might be something more between you. But before you can dwell on these thoughts for too long, you hear yourself utter the words, "I'd be happy to teach you."

Your words take Echo aback, and he seems surprised by your willingness to help him with something so intimate. “You would?”

Your own eyes begin to widen, the reality of your words hitting home. But you're not about to back down now. "S-sure," you squeak, quickly clearing your throat to hide the nerves that were now bubbling, "I mean, we're friends, right? I'm sure you'd do the same for me."

As Echo ponders your offer, he realises that you're right. You've always been there for him, and the thought of not returning the favor is unthinkable. Supposedly it makes things better too that he finds you were impossibly beautiful and wearing that pretty floral dress he really liked. "Thank you," he murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper.

With a shaky exhale, Echo stands up straight and takes a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what's to come. He's grateful that he managed to brush his teeth earlier that morning, before any of the others hogged up the refresher. "How do you want to do this?" he asks, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

Your mind races, considering your options. You hadn't expected Echo to be so agreeable to the idea, and now you find yourself at a loss for words. "Um, well," you stammer, "do you want to just go ahead and reenact how your date went? And kiss me on the cheek?"

Echo's expression darkens at the suggestion. He doesn't want to relive that somewhat painful memory, but if it means learning from his mistakes, he's willing to give it a shot. "Sure," he concedes with a slight frown, "why not?"

You approach Echo with a hesitant step, feeling a flutter in your chest as you meet his gaze. His eyes hold a certain shyness, and you can sense the weight of his request hanging in the air between you. You take a deep breath and muster up the courage to speak with a slight mischievous grin dancing at the corners of your lips. Your voice tinged with a playful sweetness. "Well, Echo, I do appreciate you walking me back to my place," you tease, relishing the opportunity to poke fun at your friend's chivalry.

Echo looks momentarily confused, but he quickly catches on and chuckles at your literal interpretation of the situation. "I don't think they ever said it like that," he remarks, his amusement evident.

You roll your eyes, but your smile remains, and you lower your voice, adopting a more serious tone. "Say, Echo," you say, your eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter, "I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you for walking me back to my place."

Echo shakes his head, an adoring look in his eyes. You always knew how to effortlessly charm him with your humor. But, he knows there's something he needs to address. "Of course," he says softly but resolutely.

As Echo gathers his courage, you patiently wait, your hands tucked behind your back. You can tell he's nervous about kissing you, even on the cheek.

You watch as he tentatively reaches out to touch you, trying to remember how he kissed his date. But this time, he finds himself oddly wanting to impress you.

When he reaches out, his fingers trace over the fabric of your dress on your waist. A surge of warmth shoots through you, and you take a small step closer to him as if he was inviting you closer. His breath is heavy, and your heart races as you spot him staring at your lips… instead of your cheek.

"Echo," you say softly, hoping to bring him back to reality.

"Sorry, I, uh—" Echo stammers, his mind racing with uncertainty. For a moment, you worry that he might back away, but you take a deep breath and speak up.

"Just kiss me," you say, voice barely above a whisper as you lean in until your nose brushes against his.

Echo swallows nervously, stealing a quick glance at your lips once more before meeting your gaze. "Where?" his voice was almost silent. It was as if the obvious place you suggested to him had vanished and you find yourself not minding it at all.

You hold your nerve and ever so slightly, not quite sure what possessed or was possessing you, lean closer until your lips ghost over him and watch him with a steady gaze. “Wherever feels right for you.”

He couldn't resist any longer, the temptation too great as he leaned in to capture your lips in a quick embrace. The kiss was sweet, yet intense, sending shivers down your spine and causing your mind to go hazy with an unknown desire. The feel of his lips on yours was electric, igniting a spark deep within you that you never knew existed for him. His eyes were tightly knitted shut, afraid that you may turn around and sock him one but he was pretty certain you were kissing him back.

As he pulled back, breathless and eager for your response, you found yourself lost in the moment, unable to speak. Your face felt hot as you looked down at your shoes, struggling to find the right words to say. Everything about this moment felt different, as if something had shifted irrevocably between you both.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Echo finally spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "How was that?" he asked, his eyes still closed, as if he was afraid to see your reaction. He may have thought about kissing you once or twice, naturally. He just never knew it would happen quite like this.

Your face felt like it was on fire and you found yourself looking down at your shoes. “It was nice… your date was missing out.” You reply, almost stiff.

There was a certain type of emotion that hung on your words that you didn’t quite know yourself.

Echo licked his lips inconspicuously, savoring the taste of your fruity lip balm that lingered on his tongue. "At least I know I'm not a bad kisser," he said, a small smile playing on his lips.

You laughed softly, the sound ringing like music in the quiet cockpit. "Definitely not," you replied, a faint blush creeping up your cheeks.

As you looked up at him, you could feel his gaze burning into you, as if he was seeing you for the first time. You were everything perfect in the galaxy, and his grip on your waist tightened just a little bit more, as if he never wanted to let you go.

In a moment of boldness, Echo's scomp came up to cradle your chin, tilting your head up to meet his gaze. Your eyes locked, and you were lost in each other, the galaxy around you fading away until it was just the two of you. There were no words, no movement, just the intensity of your gazes. “How do I show that I want to do more then?”

As the heat between you and Echo intensifies, he challenges you with another kiss, pushing the boundaries to see how far he can take you. Your smile gives away your desire, and you whisper a command, "Maybe, bring them closer."

Echo doesn't hesitate, his arm wraps around your lower back, drawing you close in a swift motion. Chest to chest, his breath washes over your face, and you feel a shiver run down your spine. "And then?" he prods, his voice barely above a whisper.

Your eyes close as you succumb to the moment, overwhelmed by the intensity of Echo's low tone. "I-I suppose you just kiss them again, but a little longer."

So he does. Feverish and intense with a passion that ignites your senses. Your heart beats wildly, consumed by the sensation of his lips moving in perfect harmony with yours. Echo gently trails his hand up your body to cup your cheek, deepening the kiss, and you gasp, lost in the intoxicating sensation. When he pulls away to gauge your reaction, he almost chuckles when he spots you leaning into him, chasing his lips. To your glee, he kisses you swiftly and you let out the faintest of moans in his mouth.

Echo's lips against yours are soft, and you can feel the warmth of his breath as he murmurs a phrase that sends a shiver down your spine. "Oh cyare," he purrs, and you're suddenly jolted back to reality. Your heart races, and you feel a wave of anxiety wash over you.

You pull away, covering your mouth with your hand and shaking your head. "We shouldn't be doing this," you tell him.

Echo looks shaken, his expression concerned as he fears he may have overstepped the mark. "Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?" he asks.

You shake your head, feeling a twinge of guilt as you pull away from Echo's embrace. "I'm sorry, Echo. We shouldn't be doing this. I'm supposed to be teaching you how to kiss for other dates," you explain.

Echo tilts his head, sensing your unease. But the thought of you possibly being jealous makes his heart skip a beat, and he realises this may be the right moment to lay everything on the line. "What if there are no other dates?" he asks softly.

You blink in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he approaches you again, his flesh hand cupping your cheek, thumb tracing over your delicate skin, "what if I just want to kiss you?” He lowers his voice, afraid to break the tension. “What if I want to date you?"

Shock is written all over your face, and you can't help melting into his touch once more. "But I thought we were just friends," you say, your voice barely above a whisper.

Echo chews on the inside of his cheek before admitting, "I don't think 'just friends' want to kiss each other, do they?" He uttered, voice almost vibrating against you.

Your heart flutters in your chest, and a heat pools in your lower stomach. "No," you shudder, feeling the intensity of his gaze. "I suppose they don't."

He smiles coyly, and his lips gently trace along your jawline, edging towards your ear. "Then let me kiss you. Let me give you anything you want."

As his lips touch your ear, you feel a surge of electricity coursing through your body, and your mind is filled with conflicting emotions. But most of them were primarily focused on how he pushes you against the control panel.

You whimper under his touch, both of your hands coming up to clasp his cheeks as you guide his lips back onto yours. Your lips meet in a fiery kiss, and your teeth clash, but neither of you seems to care.

In a moment of need, his lips assault yours as he presses you down so your back hits at the buttons and switches, sandwiched between your legs.

"Echo," you groan his name into his mouth before he playfully bites at your lower lip. Your legs press against his outer thighs and around his waist and you crumble into a mewling mess once you feel his hand slide up under your dress, caressing at your thigh.

He stands up straight for a moment, admiring how you’re displayed beautifully on the control panel just for him. His eyes roamed your body, growing warm at how your dress hugged your body wonderfully and how your chest heaved beneath it, highlighting your breasts.

“Did I ever tell you that I love this dress on you?”

You blush deeply as he massages your skin, feeling the heat building between your legs. "No," you rasp, eyelids heavy with lust.

“Shame,” he chuckles, moving his lips down to your neck now, starting to suck and bite that sweet spot that your body perfectly reacts to - arching up into him. “Although, I wouldn’t mind seeing it on the floor one day.”

You chew on your lower lip, whimpering and moaning in pleasure as he leaves marks all over your neck and collarbones. Surprisingly, you find yourself not even caring if the others saw it. The pleasure you are getting is far too great to tell Echo to stop.

When he pulls back, panting and trying so hard to ignore the tent in his pants, he gazes down at you, his eyes dance with adoration. “You’re so beautiful, cyare.”

You're panting a little, causing his eyes to flicker between your chest and your eyes with a smile. “As are you. And a very, very good kisser.”

You don’t know what was going to happen from then on but for now, you just savored the feeling of Echo leaning down to kiss you, tongue begging for entrance at your lips.

Masterlist

More Echo Works

[cxtori]

word count: 2, 998

series masterlist

playlist: spotify youtube

Underground ~ Missio Choke ~ IDKHBTFM Play With Fire ~ Sam Tinnesz Red ~ Delaney Jane

tori's note: alright! first real chapter. might be a rough start but at least i got there lol. let the story begin

“Ugh, I am so sick of this!” You yell to yourself as you pull your foot out of a thick, muddy puddle, the third one you’ve accidentally stepped in today. Who knew Yokohama alleyways were so full of mud. And who knew wearing your good boots would be a bad idea. You certainly didn’t.

You scrape your shoe on the “clean” pavement, trying to get off as much mud as possible. Of all days for Dazai to disappear again. He was supposed to be dragging through this sketchy part of town, not you.

You sigh and continue your walk down the alley, looking for any left over evidence of suspicious activity. You’ve been here for about an hour already with no luck, and you were beginning to question if the reported gun smuggling was even occurring here.

You pause to pull out your phone and type a text to Kunikida saying you can’t find anything. You’re just about to hit send when a thin, cold object is suddenly pressed to your throat, making your movements freeze.

You laugh lightly, despite the action having made your heart skip a beat. You don’t even have to turn to know who it is.

“Haha, that’s your favorite little scare tactic, isn’t it?” You say, completely unfazed by the threat. “I’m honored you felt the need to use it on me.” The person behind you says nothing, only presses the blade closer to your flesh.

“That’s enough, Gin,” a deep voice echoes from the end of the dark alleyway. You hear footsteps approach as Gin removes her knife from your throat, stepping around you to stand beside the man in front of you.

“The Black Lizard. Must be my lucky day running into the two of you at the same time,” you say, gently rubbing the place on your neck where the cold blade rested on your skin. “I’m sure you’re equally as happy to see me.”

“And I’m sure you’re aware that you’re trespassing on Port Mafia territory,” Hirotsu says with a chillingly calm voice. “Fortunately, I’m in a good mood today. Give me a good reason and I may even allow you to leave with your limbs intact.”

“How kind of you,” you laugh dryly. Of all of the Mafia members to bump into while you’re alone, why did it have to be them? “Trust me, I’m aware this is your turf. I have no interest in picking a fight, okay? In fact, I was just on my way out.”

You take a few steps back, putting a bit of distance between you. Hirotsu watches you carefully as he debates whether or not he should let you leave. As he said, he needs a good reason.

“Buuut, I do think you’d like to know that there is likely some serious gun smuggling going on in this part of town.” Hirotsu hums inquisitively and narrows his eyes at you.

“How do you know?”

“We’ve been looking into it for a few days. I was just the unlucky one sent to see if I could find anything.” There’s movement in the shadows of the alley behind the two mafiosos, and your attentions drifts over to it.

Your gaze is met with a pair of golden-amber eyes, his brows creased as he frowns. He’s leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his sharp gaze focused on you.

“I’ve never seen you before,” you muse with a sly smile. “Has the mafia claimed a new soul?”

“I’ve been around,” he replies simply. And it’s quite possible he has. It’s not like you’re well versed on all Port Mafia members.

“Did you happen to get any information?” Hirotsu asks, pulling your attention back to him.

“Nope! Not a thing. They must be familiar with the area. I haven’t been able to find any signs of suspicious activity.”

A thought occurs to you, realizing that maybe you can dump this job onto them. And if it was on “their turf”, it’d make sense that they would get involved. They could handle it a lot faster than you could anyways.

“I’m not too familiar with this part of town myself. You’d probably have much better luck with telling if something is out of the norm.”

Hirotsu remains quiet, thoughtful concentration on his face as he considers the situation. After a moment of his silence, you take it as your chance to leave.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way. Good luck!” You say and begin walking away from the trio.

“Wait,” Hirotsu says and your feet stop as well as your heart. “Tachihara. Go with her and see what you find. Take her through the common Mafia routes and report back to me once you’re done.”

You whip around to look at the older gentleman.

“What!” You and the younger man, Tachihara, exclaim in unison.

“Why me?” Tachihara asks, pushing himself off the wall

“Consider it ‘rookie’s privilege’,” Hirotsu replies, referring to your comment from earlier.

“Oh, very funny, gramps. Send Gin.” In response, Gin gives him a deathly cold glare, but the look doesn’t make him shrink away, he only glares back.

“Gin has important matters to attend to,” Hirotsu says, dismissing the suggestion.

“Umm,” you start, the cool confidence you’d held beginning to slip away. This was not going how you intended it to. “Okay, but why do you want me to go?”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to handle it? I don’t believe our methods will be as reasonable as those of the Detective Agency.”

Point taken. The Port Mafia’s way of handling the smugglers would likely end in death and chaos. You’d rather not be part of the reason such an incident occurred.

“Now go,” he says, looking back at a glowering Tachihara.

Tachihara growls a “fine”, not attempting to press any further. And if he’s not protesting, then neither will you. That plan backfired. What did you just get yourself into?

Hirotsu and Gin start walking away, leaving you and Tachihara behind. Hirotsu stops and turns back to the young man, a deathly cool expression on his face.

“And, Tachihara. Please, keep out of trouble.”

This was… weird, to say the least.

Walking in complete silence through dark and sketchy city alleyways with a Port Mafia member who, by all accounts, has no true obligation to not kill you. If any of the agency members had any idea what you were doing…

If Akiko had any idea what you were doing, well, being killed by a mafioso would be the least of your concerns.

In a sense, you’re lucky it was the Black Lizard. From what you understood, they don’t typically take action without being provoked. And even then, they won’t do so outside of direct orders. It could have been Akutagawa, who likely would’ve killed you on the spot without bothering to ask questions.

You glance at the boy beside you, taking a longer look at him. The more you study him, the more you reluctantly realize that he is very attractive. His sharp jawline, angled eyes, dry yet soft looking lips, umber red hair that you were sure was dyed, and those piercings?

You know you shouldn’t be fawning over him, but you can’t help it. Hate the mafia or not, he was cute, you couldn’t deny that. But underneath it all, there was a sense of familiarity in his features that you couldn’t quite place.

You must have seen him before. Afterall, the Agency and Port Mafia run into each other all the time. You probably saw him in a group of mafiosos while being shot at. That’s definitely what it was.

“There a reason you’re starin’ so hard?” He asks suddenly, his tone dripping with annoyance. He looks over at you out of the corner of his eye.

Busted. Though it’s not like you were being very subtle.

“No, sorry. You just…” Your words drift off before you finish your thought, catching yourself before you admit why you were staring. What were you going to say? He’s nice to look at? He’s attractive for a mafia member? You recognize him from that time he tried to kill you and your friends? None of these are great options, so you keep your mouth shut.

“What’s that around your neck?” He asks and you glance down.

Your dog tag. You grab it and quickly shove it into your shirt, out of his view.

“None of your business,” you snip, a bit harsher than necessary.

“Whatever,” he mutters and looks away from you. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be the type to press for answers. And that’s fine by you. The less personal this is, the better.

You fall back into silence as you continue your walk. You’ve been through various alleys and have still found nothing. You’re beginning to wonder if Tachihara knew what he was doing, even though he insisted he knew of some good places to check.

You’ve grown impatient and irritable. You just want to go home, maybe find Dazai, and give him a piece of your mind on his shirking responsibilities. You don’t care how much it’ll make you sound like Kunikida, you’re tired of taking on his work.

All you have to do is say goodbye to this mafia guy and be on your way. He probably won’t even argue, he’s likely just as fed up with this as you are.

You’re opening your mouth to do just that when he grabs your wrist and pulls you into a side alley, and you force yourself to hold in a scream as your body flinches at his touch.

Before you can process it, he’s pressing you against the wall, his arms trapping you against the cold brick. But he’s not looking at you, instead he’s glancing over his shoulder, sharp eyes watching the main alleyway.

“What the hell are you-”

“Shh!” he clamps a hand over your mouth and you feel your blood boil. No way he just shushed you and physically shut your mouth. The only thing that keeps you from thrashing against him is the sound of feet shuffling towards you.

You peek over his shoulder to see a group of men, who are definitely not a part of the mafia, coming down the alley.

“Boss said he wants the package delivered to customer 13 by midnight,” a gruff voice speaks. “As soon as we get back, make sure it’s packed and ready to go, ‘kay?”

There are a few muffled replies of confirmation.

“And for the last time, James, stop taking the easy routes. You bump into even one cop, one, and we’re done. Don’t make me say it again.”

Another man, who must be James, gives a huffy “yeah, yeah” in reply.

The men’s conversation continues as they walk past you and out of the alley. Package, customer 13, easy routes, avoiding cops? They must be who you’re looking for, and Tachihara seems to think the same.

He remains close even after the men have long gone, his hand still unnecessarily pressed over your mouth. You take in a breath through your nose, the bitter smell of musk and cedarwood assaulting your senses. You tug your head away enough for his hand to fall off, but he doesn’t move from you, his eyes still glued on the spot where the men just stood.

“Get off me!” you growl, placing your hands firm against his chest and shoving him back. You begin brushing yourself off and straightening your clothes.

“Jeez. You could have just told me people were coming. I would’ve kept quiet. Caging me against the wall was overdramatic.” Tachihara gives you an unamused huff.

“Listen here, detective, I’m not-”

“My name is Y/n,”

“Fine, Y/n. I’m not lettin’ you get hurt while we’re out here.”

“Oh, how chivalrous of you,” you snark, which earns you a sharp glare.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he says and stalks toward you, stopping just short of you. You don’t step back despite him being so close. Rather, you straighten your shoulders and look him dead in the eyes. You were not going to let him intimidate you.

“I’m only doing it to save my own ass. The old man would kill me if something happened.” You remember what the older Black Lizard member said.

“Keep out of trouble.”

Well, he certainly didn’t mean “don’t beat up any trespassers” with that order. Violence is par for the course with the Port Mafia, generally expected at that. Hirotsu must have meant don’t get in trouble with you. Tachihara’s next words confirm your thoughts.

”The last thing we need is a war with the Detective Agency and I’m not going to be the cause of it.”

You let out a huff and turn on your heels, breaking the long stretch of eye contact. You begin making your way down the alley again, planning to follow those men in hopes of getting a bit more information.

“I’m fully capable of handling myself,” you say casually. “Thanks for the effort though.” You hear him sigh heavily as he starts to follow you.

“I’m only trying to help.”

“I thought you were just ‘covering your ass’.”

“I am.”

“I don’t feel those two things coincide.”

“Really now?”

“Yes, really.”

Tachihara grunts annoyedly, but you remain with the last word.

The two of you continue your walk in silence, the air between you holding an obnoxious tension.

Despite how aggravated you are with your current situation, you have to admit that he isn’t nearly as bad as you would expect a mafia member to be. Especially for someone who is a part of the Black Lizard.

At least he hasn’t tried to kill you yet. He’s done just the opposite at that, even though his methods pissed you off. You wonder how you’re going to explain this temporary alliance to the others.

You eventually start hearing voices echoing through the alley. You slow your steps and move closer to the wall as you continue forward, cautiously coming to the end of the pathway.

Tachihara steps around you and pokes his head around the corner, finding a group of men shuffling their way into an old warehouse building. You look around and notice an old, rusty fire escape that leads all the way up to the roof of the alleyway building.

You tug on Tachihara’s jacket, bringing his attention to you. You point to the fire escape and then to the rooftop, silently sharing your plan. He nods and follows you when you make your way to the metal stairway.

You take a breath and carefully place a foot on the first step, hoping it doesn’t cry out with a loud creak. Thankfully, it doesn’t, and you continue your ascension, Tachihara close behind.

You get to the roof and walk to the edge where the warehouse sits beside it. As you thought, the roof of the massive storage building isn’t too far below you. You jump down onto it, impressively making very little noise in doing so. Tachihara hops down after you, also managing to keep his landing unassuming.

You both crawl to the skylight window to take a glance into the warehouse. You peer inside, seeing about 20 men doing various tasks. Some shutting and taping boxes, some loading boxes onto trucks, others standing around and talking. Tachihara, however, is looking at you.

You glance at him out of the corner of your eye before bringing your attention back to the smugglers.

“‘Is there a reason you’re staring so hard?’,” you ask, quoting his words from earlier.

“Just didn’t expect someone from the ADA to be good at this,” he says and moves his gaze to the men below you.

“We’re not police. And obviously we have to investigate things somehow.”

He gives a noncommittal hum as he focuses on the buzzing activity. Your attention is caught by a couple men carrying a large, wooden box off of one of the trucks. They pry it open with a crowbar and, not to your surprise, start to lift guns of all sizes from the box.

“Ranpo was right. Shocker,” you say, and pull out your phone to snap some pictures. “This should be enough to get the cops on their asses.”

You slink away from the skylight and make your way to the edge of the building, trying to figure out the best way down.

“Maybe hold off on reporting this to your superiors,” you say over your shoulder. “I’d rather not be held partially responsible if any ‘accidents’ occur.” Tachihara gives you a look.

“Do you really think I’ll listen to you?”

“No, but it was worth asking,” you reply halfheartedly.

Looking around the rooftop, you spot a ladder on the back side of the warehouse. How convenient for you. You head over to it and glance over the edge to make sure the coast is clear. Once you’re sure none of the men will see you, you start to climb down the rungs.

You hop off the last few before looking up to see Tachihara climbing down as well. Once he makes it to the ground, you decide it’s finally time to say your goodbyes. Thank heavens.

“Well, I got what I need and you don’t need to babysit me anymore. See ya,” you say with a wave and walk away from him.

“What makes you think you’ll be seeing me again?” Tachihara comments with a bit of a snark. You call over your shoulder to answer him, not stopping your pace.

“Unfortunately for us, the Port Mafia and ADA run into each other all the time. I’m sure I’ll see you in a month or so. Later!”

Tachihara watches as you walk away, never once turning to look back at him. Thinking back on your interaction, he comes to the same conclusion you did.

You were annoying. A bit bratty even. But, all things considered, you weren’t the worst.

And he couldn’t believe he was admitting that.

Taglist: @chuuminn

©Cxtori 2024 please do not copy, plagiarize, repost or translate any of my works. reblogs are appreciated

[roboneco]

Something I noticed about the difference between the writing of boys and girls in lookism is that with boys

WE. GOT. DEPTH.

The "main" side characters to me are Zack, Vasco, Eli, Vin, Jay, Zoe, Mira, Mary, and Crystal. They are the ones who for the first 200 chapters or so I thought the story will revolve around (till god dog arc of course) I'll only talk about two boys and two girls to not bore you.

We got introduced to Zack as an arrogant bully and to Vasco as a kind hero but a biased one. PTJ could have just gave them character development and all would have been well but NO he decided to give them backstories. Vasco got a full one and Zack got a few panels talking about how he was always praised as the best and how that inflated his ego (remember a backstory is reasoning not an excuse for anyone's actions) till we got a bigger picture during Johan's own backstory that explained why he stopped boxing and turned from a kid who picks fights to an outright bully.

Now listen of course that was the right choice (to give them backstories I mean) but when you do that to every male character, I expect of you to treat the female characters the same way! But no.

Mira first is introduced as Zack's "girlfriend" later we discover she isn't and all we know of her is that she's sweet, courageous and hates fighting......wow she's perfect! No flaws to trace the origin of or to think of how to fix them! Ok PTJ I am now waiting for her backstory where we learn what gave her all these amazing traits and how she managed to be such a good person!

Oh.... apparently she's always been like that... because we didn't get shit. Like even the cult arc which was mainly Johan's anyways didn't give us anything about her. Sure stuff happened to her and she did a cool thing but there was no lasting effects on her that showed in the story. No trauma. No bitterness. No nothing. She is the same before and after the arc except.....of course her relationship with the boys got strained.....

UGHH! Ok ok ok cool cool cool COOL! What about Zoe! Zoe is a queen and her character actually developed and changed! She started as a mean girl who only cared about looks and now she is so understanding and sweet! She even sacrificed herself for Daniel!

Look all this is great. I have some problems with her arc (not all of it!!) but this isn't what I am talking about now. What I am talking about is her behavior is never explained.

"What is there to explain? She has bias like everyone in society. That's literally the theme of the comic. That doesn't need explaining" ok the same applies to Zack! He was shown as the stereotypical bully who then changes their ways and befriends the protagonist type of character. Yet PTJ chose to flesh him out with a backstory and introduced another important character through him (Johan my darling boy) and didn't find it important to do the same for Zoe.....

Like for real not even like one chapter that talks about anything in her life other than boys. Her backstory didn't have to be impactful or anything. I still remember Vasco's with fondness even tho it has nothing to do with the plot now what so ever.

I picked these 4 to talk about because arguably at that point of the story they were all of the same importance but the same applies to the others up there I didn't mention. Except Jay because no hate I feel like PTJ made him as fan service and doesn't actually know what to do with him.

[theyluvlyss]

𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 !

today, I figured I'd make a list of all of my DRs/places I'm shifting to :). I do actually have quite a bit, and while most of them aren't really all that fleshed out (I'll indicate which ones I have the most info on with a key), I figured it'd still be nice to share.

plus, who knows, maybe you'll find that we have a common DR that we can bond over🤷🏽‍♀️. you guys can even ask me whatever questions you want on any of the DRs you see listed below, and I'll be happy to answer them (it gives me an excuse to run my mouth💀). Also, I listed them in alphabetical order!

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐤𝐞𝐲 :

♡ - fully scripted out/main DR

° - tons of lose ideas/thoughts

* - some lose ideas/thoughts

if there's no symbol, that means I have literally nothing on it to tell lmao (but I do welcome suggestions of any kind pertaining to literally anything, idc, I just want shifters to engage plz😭🙏🏽).

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 :

- avatar (the blue ppl lol)

- blue beetle

- avatar: the last airbender

- °darby and the dead

- *descendants

- °fairy tail

- *henry danger

- *insatiable

- *jessie

- *kick-ass

- marvel cinematic universe (mcu)

- °nope

- once upon a time

- *rise of the guardians

- ♡shazam!

- *shazam! (but it's a fairy shapeshifter(?) princess based one that has nothing to do with the plot of either of the previous movies, I'm just super in love with Billy lol)

- *spider-verse

- °speed racer

- *stranger things

- °super sons

- teen titans

- °the black phone (the grabber doesn't exist, nobody dies, but Max is the loveable local ‼️RECOVERING‼️ crackhead)

- *the imperfects

- *the walking dead game (except there's a cure for the zombies so that's cool)

──────────────

𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥/"𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐩" 𝐃𝐑𝐬 :

- *(teen/20s) actress

- (2000s) actress

- boarding/prep school

- *coven/witchcraft-popstars

- girl group/pop stars

- indie band

- *"last" person on earth

- metal band/rockstar

- *nepotism baby

- *rapper

- *reality tv show

- *runaway (with possible alien and/or power-having elements? idkidk-)

- *travel/vlogger

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐩...

those are all my desired realities that I wanna shift to lmao😭. I know, it's quite a bit, but you've gotta understand, I was/am the type of person who - has not only constantly wanting a way out/knew there had to be more than, yk...THIS (if that makes sense) - but has always, always, always wanted to be apart of so many of the cool dynamics and whatnot I've seen in all of my fave medias. like, I'd give anything to live any one of these lives at least once, so ofc I have a lot😭✨️.

but anyways, yeah, like I said, feel free to just engage however you want, I truly just felt like showing them off and will definitely be expanding more on each one later in separate posts :)!

𝐜𝐲𝐚/ᐠ•˕•マ~!

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

I’ve been seeing Dead Boy Detectives around a lot lately but I don’t know much about it, so if you want to tell me about it I’m very interested! I’m also curious about the story Came up from that lake of fire. (And I always love to hear about your original work!) 💚

Dead Boy Detectives is a a delightful show about the ghosts of two British teenagers who run a detective agency where they help their fellow spirits tie up any unfinished business so they can move on. It shares a lot of DNA with your classic monster-of-the-week show (I'm one of the 5 people on Tumblr who has never watched a single minute of Supernatural, but I hear a bunch of people who were involved in SPN are also involved in DBD.)

What sets it apart for me personally is the characters. As is typical for Netflix, there are only 8 episodes, which often hurts characterization in these type of plot-heavy shows, but each character seems like a fully fleshed person with their own goals, fears, and rich inner lives. Even characters who would be nothing but comic relief or plot devices on other shows, like the man who is really a cursed walrus or the grumpy goth butcher (my beloved Jenny) are given depth.

Also, the main characters, Charles and Edwin, have an absolutely fantastic relationship. Whether you see them as platonic, romantic, or something in between, they're the most important person in each other's lives and it's really sweet and beautiful.

I highly recommend it (with the caveat that the first episode has lots of clunky dialogue and exposition, especially in the first half. I promise, it gets better.)

Anyway, it's eating my brain and now I can't stop writing fic about it, so here's a snippet of the next chapter of Came up from that lake of fire under the cut!

“You know, Esther is certain to have collected a large variety of magical items during her long life, including books,” Edwin says. “Something in that house is sure to be of assistance during our search for the Deathless.” A woman browsing through a rack of blouses turns to stare at him and Edwin remembers that this isn’t the type of thing a living person can say out loud while standing in the middle of a thrift store. “In that… in that television game we’re playing,” he adds quickly. “I know how you enjoy your television games, Crystal.” “They’re called video games.” Crystal shoves a stack of shirts into his hands. “Here. Someone must have just donated all their grandpa’s clothes. They’re perfect for you.” “You jest, but I’m not impressed by modern fashion.” Edwin studies the shirts with a critical eye. “I am.” Charles emerges from the dressing room, wearing a red t-shirt emblazoned with the name of a musician Edwin has never heard of and a pair of tight-fitting jeans. “What do you think, mate?” Edwin does not look down at the jeans. “Very modern.”

WIP Ask Game

[mixelation]

I think it’s fairly common for people to headcanon Naruto as good at stealth/infiltration/“blending in” but in general I personally find this largely incongruent with canon. Here’s why (disclaimer that ofc you may have your own opinion or prefer this headcanon; I am simply teasing out my own thoughts here):

I think the logic of this headcanon comes from three things. First, from the way a lot of people conceptualize how Naruto’s childhood isolation went. The idea is that he was forced to learn to keep his head down and blend in and maybe even sneak around in order to get people to sell him food and clothes, to avoid an ongoing threat of violence, etc. My thing is that I don’t feel this is what canon actually implied was happening: what we mostly see is Naruto being alone while people off in the distance whisper about him. There is no implication of violence or that he had a hard time obtaining things for himself, like food. Naruto is so desperate for attention, to not be ignored and forgotten, that he is as loud and in your face as possible because even negative attention is better than nothing. There is ofc room for a character to be both desperate for attention but need to have a stealth mode for their own health/safety, but this requires a lot of nuance and complexity of character that I find a lot of people just like. Forget? Or exploring this new headcanon and narrative of having to go to the grocery store in disguise is more important to them than preserving his canon motivation/personality. (Absolutely nothing wrong with that, btw, but I am the type of person who gets annoyed by the attitude a headcanon is based on canon/“correct” when it’s noooot really.)

The second basis for the headcanon comes from people wanting to explore Naruto’s sexy no jutsu as more than what it is in canon, where it is basically used entirely for the shock value (barring some filler shenanigans and that bizarre but with Jiraiya). And I do like playing with and fleshing out new uses for the jutsu, and also it’s a fun canon compliant way to do some Gendery Shenanigans. But people often want to have Naruto be like… a seduction shinobi? Because boobs, I guess? And I think my annoyance with this take is that I just… dont think Naruto has the personality. He is not subtle. His entire personality would probably be considered unflattering/gross/even bitchy by the types of marks generally imagined up by these scenarios, even with the boobs. Even for the non-sex seduction-type stuff (like chatting someone up at a bar for intel), it just doesn’t really work with like… his approach to life. Like I think older Naruto could be good at buddying up to certain types of personalities, but this is entirely unlinked to any specific propensity for seduction/undercover work/etc.

(Insert long aside here about how the fandom’s obsession with sex work as a kunoichi skill is really fucking weird, and also not even how people behave.)

Anyway the third idea is that Naruto has a lot of skills developed via pranking, particularly stealth. This also isn’t really canon, although I feel it’s a reasonable extrapolation because we DO see him successfully execute pranks that must have required these skills. My only thing is that, given his attitude toward ninja training in canon, I don’t think twelve year old Naruto ever like. Consciously made the connection that his prank skills would transfer to being a ninja. I think you would have to actually tell him “pretend this is a prank” or else do sone character work to get him to this epiphany.

Anyway, those are my thoughts! 💃🏻

[cupid-tune]

hey uhm could you tell us more about your fantrolls? they all look really cool but i dont know much more about them besides that. :P (also i like jhudas shes very pretty :])

OH ABSOLUTELY!! You have no idea how happy I am to get messages like this! This is gonna be a long post just because I want to get all of my guys in here, apologies in advance!

Not all of my trolls have fully fleshed out backstories yet, but the ones with dancestors are part of a fansession I'm in, they've had the most development by far.

Armane

Armane is probably my most neglected character, but I do really love his design and concept! He's a Burgundy with a lot of fight in him, despite his weak stature. He partakes in a lot of underground fighting rings in lowblood districts, usually to take out his anger or earn a little extra money. He's obviously gotten very hurt from it many times in the past, but that hasn't scared him away from a fight just yet. One of the reasons he gets violent so often is just the fact that he wants to prove himself to be tough and independent, since his lusus is very protective of him and has been ever since he was a wriggler. He's just a little problem child.

Armane is very afraid of death, but he hates mentioning or bringing up any of his fears. In general, he just isn't a very social or talkative troll, preferring actions over words and keeping his distance in any kind of gatherings. You could probably get him to warm up to you easy if you don't pose as a threat, but Armane follows the hemospectrum pretty strictly, and usually won't talk to mid bloods or higher on his own.

Nonemu

Nonemu is the leader of a cult called the Anon Trolls. I haven't done very much with their character in terms of backstory yet, since I really like them as a blank slate for whatever I could use them in. Her cult is meant to serve as an escape from society, living in a commune much more isolated from other trolls. To be apart of the family is to denounce your place in the hemospectrum and completely hide your color, as a way of being treated equally amongst everyone else in the commune. It's unknown what caste Nonemu is, but some say all the possible traits are hidden away, like their eye color for example.

Nonemu is a very kind and patient troll, serving as a sort of parental figure over his commune. He takes great responsibility and pride in his work, and can be quite a mystery to talk to. Nonemu is the type of person to speak in very vague terms, never really being fully truthful or transparent. It's up to interpretation whether or not they can be considered truly kind or malicious with their intentions.

Fennek

Ok Fennek is like. Think of troll Jesse Pinkman and that's what you got. My concepts for Fennek are in general pretty scattered, but his main gig is that he participates in a lot of illegal business as a supplier and seller. Having grown up on internet culture and self study, Fennek has taught himself all kinds of useful skills in advancing his unfortunate position to make the most of life. Chemicals and weapons are his specialty, but his skills and personality are nearly opposite.

Fennek is a very chill and easy-going kind of guy, never really taking any situations seriously. It's a wonder he hasn't died yet with the amount of life threatening risks he puts himself in. The mask really is the only precaution he takes when it comes to working with chemicals or other substances, his hair is probably full of toxic shit. It kind of gives off the idea that Fennek knows he won't live very long anyway, so he doesn't care either way. Live life to the fullest while you can.

Trinet

Admittedly, the dancestor designs are some of my favorites. The first concept for Trinet was that I just wanted a troll who was really into explosives, and oh boy is he into them. Similar to his dancestor, Trinet is an inventor who specializes in bombs. Explosives of any kind! He's very loud, probably due to the fact that his hearing isn't all there. It's probably a Snuzek tradition to just not be properly equipped for the shit you're trying to do, precautions aren't a concern whatsoever.

Trinet is VERY outgoing and active! He talks a lot and fast, you might not catch everything he says. Although his personality kind of gives off the idea that he's dumb or aloof, he's much more impressive when talking about the stuff he actually knows, like how to make this specific bomb or what that compound of elements can make! With how bright and joyful he seems, sometimes the things he talks about can be pretty dark or upsetting. There are lots of themes of death surrounding both Snuzeks, which I'll probably elaborate more on another post.

Zuzu

Zuzu is a whole fucking bundle of fun!! Ok the original concept was supposed to be a DJ troll, but somewhere through the designing process, they ended up turning into a Vocaloid. Centered around a lot of 2010 scene-type themes, Zuzu is an underground music artist and singer trying to make a name for herself. She'll take up any gigs available, hoping to be the party of the life and meet all kinds of trolls. Unfortunately, the music business is tough, and trying to get famous off of it is a lot more work than he initially thought.

Zuzu is the type of troll you'd go to for help or advice, a people pleaser with the full intention of trying to look good in the eyes of everyone. They can be pretty pushy at times, and they're not very good at reading the room. Although Zuzu means well, they fuck up social situations frequently, instead making him seem desperate or clingy. It seems like their emotions are amplified on all sides of the spectrum, one bad day can be a harsh blow for them.

Farrow

Although scary looking at first glance, Farrow is probably one of the most harmless trolls you'll meet. A simple farmer with a goal to live a just as simple life, Farrow is a recluse who lives on the outskirts of the city. They hardly ever interact with other trolls, not after an incident that caused them to lose their vision. A long time ago, Farrow worked as a bounty hunter, usually taking culling jobs as a means of getting trades for other goods. Now Farrow has taken up a more harmless line of work, disposing of the bodies from other troll's dirty work. They'll get rid of anything you might need to hide, using it for their own benefit such as fertilizer or food for their lusus.

In general, Farrow is very close to their lusus, using him as a guide around the farm and other places. Laying low is the next best option, but Farrow really doesn't mind. They are a welcoming troll with a habit of appearing much scarier than they mean to. Whether it be a creepy smile or misjudging you for an intruder, Farrow walks the line of good and bad. They don't really see their actions as immoral, simply understanding that their planet is a cruel place, and they really aren't the worst there is out there.

Fichte

Fichte was my first fan troll ever, originally used as a persona and turned into a dumbass philosopher. He is an absolute stuck up prick and will not apologize for any of his behavior. As cold cut as you can get with someone, Fichte is the type that will upright tell you his intentions and then get upset when you don't follow through with them like he wants. He'll study you, use you for research, and completely discard you after if you aren't of any use to him.

While seemingly emotionally distant, if you spend even a little time with him had he not pissed you off already, you might start to see signs of insecurity or loneliness. Fichte always favors logic over emotions, finding comfort in knowledge rather than the untameable pool of socialization. The subjects he studies varies, but his main interest is philosophy and studying the behavior of other trolls. One thing he especially loves doing is keeping notes of just about everyone he meets, and he has plenty of notebooks filled with just that.

Xarlow

Xarlow is just the guy you'd expect him to be, a silly clown guy with a horrible personality. He likes to consider himself popular and well known, running his own circus with his found siblings and performing to his heart's content. Xarlow specializes in the art of extreme performance, commiting acts of violence against others and himself. His tight corset is in fact one of the self proclaimed "art pieces" of his, using his body as a canvas and thereby destroying it. Speaking of, Xarlow had managed to lose one of his horns by accident during a public show, which ended in him tearing out the other to match. That was not a pretty show.

Xarlow doesn't seek sympathy. He isn't a good person outside of performing and he knows it. The general consensus of his personality is that he's bad, but there are so many personalities to choose from that it becomes confusing at times to pinpoint just one. He's manipulative and cruel, hypocritical at its worse. His history with Fichte is a great example of this cruelty, moirails turned kismesis to what eventually became too toxic to keep. They both hurt each other in their own ways, it's difficult to take sides. One thing is for certain is that their experience has had lasting effects, Xarlow isn't someone you should consider for a quadrant.

Onette

Onette is the definition of a gentle giant. What you see on the outside is entirely what's on the inside, a harmless troll who wants nothing more than to just create and enjoy life. A very soft spoken girl, Onette tries her best to appear harmless and approachable despite her size and caste, dressing in delicate clothing and using a gentle, warm voice to reassure others. Onette has a fascination with creation and art, one of her biggest hobbies being that of making dolls and paintings.

Onette has a certain distain for those in her own caste, often chastising them for their treatment of lowbloods, but doing nothing herself to stop them. She's soft, but perhaps too soft. Onette can be frightened easily, and is extremely nonconfrontational, something that she has a difficult time trying to come to terms with. Ironically, Onette has an interest in purplebloods especially, due to their popularity in being known as clowns. Many of her dolls are inspired by them, which can almost be seen as creepy or obsessive if you stepped into her hive.

Jhudas

Jhudas is very different from her dancestor, nearly opposite in nature. My biggest inspiration for her was the song Brutus, which can be seen in both her design and personality. She is a backstabber, often engaging in violence of all kind just to pave her way to the top. Unlike Onette, Jhudas has a clear hatred for the castes above her, purplebloods especially because she believes they rub their position in her face as being the caste right above. Jhudas deals with anger issues, and will likely explode on you with any minor inconvenience. She works as an assassin, usually taking up jobs from fellow highbloods even if she despises that fact.

Jhudas will be subservient to those she works for, but you can tell there are ulterior motives behind it. Waiting for the right moment to strike, to prove she is above everyone else in order to get what she wants. Despite all this, Jhudas may be one of your best allies, especially in quadrants. She's protective of those she deems worthy, and exerts a lot of tough love if she believes you can do better in handling yourself. It's just advised you should watch your back with her no matter what.

Veictr

Just from looks alone, you can tell what his deal is. Crazy scientist troll with the absolute worst intentions, gleefully using others in his nonsensical experiments all for the name of research. Veictr is just that! Everything about him should tell you that he's dangerous, and he very much is. Having stole the headlight of his dear lusus after a particularly nasty fight, Veictr began his work diving into the world of body modifications and mutation. He managed to find a way to hook the light to his own system, forming a symbiotic relationship with his body and the bacteria just as a symbol of award from his lusus.

Veictr is quite a confusing character in terms of personality, showing absolutely no sympathy for anyone while also being a sweetheart to those who manage to stay alive in his presence. He doesn't mean to intentionally hurt anyone, it just so happens that death and injury occurs when experiments fail. He's quite giggly too, with a hyperactive attitude and a great interest in others, Veictr can make for great conversation. His curiosity knows no bounds, and it really is a wonder how he manages to prove some of his theories correct.

Lucius

Lucius is probably the most unfortunate of my trolls. Having suffered the consequences of their own actions, Lucius managed to find herself trapped at the bottom of the ocean by a certain Fuchsia due to an obsession gone too far. Before this incident, she was considered a dangerous troll, perhaps just as much as her dancestor, but unfortunately, she was shut down far before she could get too bad. Although her entrapment was meant to be her execution, Lucius managed to survive with the help of her lusus, escaping after a sweep of just barely making it out.

Now, Lucius is an entirely different person. After so long of being in isolation, they've become paranoid and weak, suffering the many effects the ocean put them through. What was the most interesting part, however, was the fact that they returned with a strange mutation. It is unknown how exactly it happened, but Lucius now suffers with a bioluminescent stomach, her skin seeming thinner or perhaps even transparent.

Her story breaks off into many directions depending on the context, but one involves the scientific interest her own dancestor took of her after being discovered in this state. I'm currently in the progress of making an animatic based on this particular outcome which I'm very excited about! More lore stuff to be expanded on later.

This is the general information for each of my characters so far! There's a lot more detail I'd like to expand on in separate posts, especially considering I'm trying to cram a bunch into one. I really really appreciate the interest in my characters, and I hope to post more content about them soon! It makes me super happy that people enjoy them as much as I do.

This took a while to make LMAO

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

I’m going to be writing my first novel (original fiction) and I’m already stressing myself out about creating good prose and character dynamics. I have so many ships that I admire and I can tell so much thought went into their dialogue and backgrounds but how are writers writing thousands of words a day with that type of thoughtful writing?? AHHHHH. I think I could only write like 200 words a day to create stuff with the depth of character that I love and want for my own writing

I think your fanfic is good so that’s why I’m asking 🙂‍↕️

That’s really exciting!! Good luck!

Writing is very much a cumulative skill in my experience, the more you write the easier it will be to balance the various elements of plot, prose, character, etc. You’ll also just get a better handle on the patterns of these things. It’ll be easier to quickly formulate plots, to make interesting character choices without having to think about it as hard. So definitely, don’t get discouraged if you’re struggling with the balancing act now! The more you work on it, the more naturally it will come to you.

That being said, a big part of writing efficiently is having a good method. The saying that you can’t edit a blank page is very true. Stressing over getting everything perfect on the first try is just going to needlessly slow you down. Just get it done, and then you can fix it later!

For original projects, I personally like to outline heavily before the drafting process. And then I use that as a roadmap during drafting. Once I have a draft, I go over it several times with a particular focus for each pass (subplots, nailing character arcs, worldbuilding details, etc)

I think it’s just really important to work with purpose. Otherwise you can get lost in the weeds.

Re: character dynamics and dialogue, I think dialogue tends to come organically from character. And then character itself should go hand in hand with plot/premise.

It’s a bit of a chicken or the egg scenario, but I think it’s important to nail down what kind of story you’re trying to tell and what characters can best carry that. I do think that theme is really *really* important, and that’s how you get a cohesive, compelling story as opposed to ten tropes in a trenchcoat.

But yeah like basic questions, who are your characters, what are their arcs? Can you sketch out a basic starting point and end point for them and meaningfully talk about how they’re meant to change? Are these changes cohesive?

Good ships are good because they have interesting premises, conflicts, and interactions. You need to make sure everything is solid on a conceptual level. So much of writing advice rn is like “throw in a dagger to the throat scene, that’s sexy” but like shfhff what does it fucking mean! There needs to be a point to sexy scenes. And vulnerable moments need to be earned. A relationship needs to develop from somewhere.

It’s way more important to flesh out what about the characters are appealing or disruptive to each other, where they align and clash, and to make sure it makes sense, than to write perfect dialogue.

I’m very much a proponent of getting the foundation right and then fixing the aesthetic dressings later. My first drafts, my dialogue is usually in short hand, just to get the gist of it down, and my prose is pretty dry. There’s always room to fix that stuff later.

But yeah my personal tips:

Outline as much as you can! it’s easier to rewrite an outline than an entire book. And you’ll have to rewrite the book multiple times anyway, so might as well make it a bit easier for yourself. I like to personally have a shorter birds eye view outline, and then one that goes into scene level detail. But also I am insane. So, use whatever level of detail works for you.

Be aware of why you make every choice in your story. Could be because of a theme, because you want to set up a later plotline, or because it’s cool. Whatever the reason just make sure you know! That makes it easier to weigh any potential changes against each other, and to figure out your priorities. But also to tell if any elements end up becoming superfluous over your editing process. if you introduced scene A to set up scene B and you end up cutting B, then A doesn’t need to exist anymore.

Each scene should have an arc! You don’t need to outline scenes if you don’t want to (… I like to) but make sure there’s movement in them. My personal rule of thumb is that a scene needs to accomplish at least three things to justify its existence. Those things can be developing character, particular relationships, a subplot, the main plot, or just showcasing a fun setting, but I just like to make sure that multiple things are happening to be efficient.

Start out with high concepts and recognizable tropes (if you want!) but once you get into the details, then you need to aim for specificity. Specificity is so important, that’s where things get interesting. Similarly, characters are most endearing for their flaws and vulnerability. A character written to be generically likeable is less interesting and memorable than a specific character.

Also, be aware of each character’s perspective, both over the course of the story, but also in every scene. What are their goals? How much do they know, what are their impression of events, and how do they want to present themselves to others? Particularly for side characters, is there anything they need to react to that you might not have considered?

This might all sound unrelated to writing quickly, but in my experience the better understanding you have of your story and your characters, the easier it is to draft. That way, you’ve done all the thinking beforehand, so you don’t need to pause and figure everything out as you write!

[the-everqueen]

Definitely curious about the genderflip Sandman fic 👀

SAME. as in, this is only a concept on the back burner of my brain because i haven't really worked out a satisfying answer to the central q of the thing which is: what does a gender flip DO to these characters?

because here's the thing. i think 99.9% of the time a genderswap au is unnecessary and boring. (not to mention essentialist as hell.) boys have pussies, girls have dicks, people of all genders are intersex, etc. some of us notgirls and failguys just want to vicariously experience our fave getting his clit sucked or her prostate massaged. i personally hate fics that go "but what if these [cis] dudes were [cis] GIRLS" and then proceed to strip the characters of everything that makes them compelling, that makes THEM, because at that point you might as well just flesh out your OCs and maybe interrogate your internalized misogyny and transphobia while you're at it.

anyways.

in the case of sandman, i am (transparently, obviously) curious about what happens if the Corinthian is not designed to be (read as) a man. in the comix, he very much embodies the fears and risks associated with gayness in the 90s (the AIDS epidemic, the dual violence of the closet and/or being outed, the culture around cruising, intersections of race and class with queerness in U.S. urban areas, etc). in the show that's subtly shifted to be a broader umbrella of queerness as well as a very 21st century anxiety around surveillance/public vs private that also taps into a cultural fascination with serial killers. in both cases, him reading as white, middle-aged U.S. man is a CRUCIAL part of what he signifies. he looks like (and takes advantage of being) someone with a lot of social privilege, across multiple categories. no one is going to question why he's in a fancy hotel, a conference room, a seedy bar, a suburb. OBVIOUSLY that changes if any one of these categories changes. i'm thinking about how and also what that means.

(the dreaming spinoff comix tried to do a Thing with a female Corinthian: while Coco spends a year as a real boy, a trans woman named Echo takes his place in the Dreaming. the spinoff handles Echo...really poorly. [i wrote a whole paragraph here trying to distill her arc but it's tangential to this post so suffice to say: it was Bad.] Echo is posed as this "femme fatale" type because i guess if the Corinthian is a woman, she'd also have to be sexy and alluring to the (heterosexist) male gaze. imho this was a cop-out, but then again...what about that spinoff wasn't.)

on some level i'm not sure the Corinthian could ever be anything besides the Corinthian, if that makes sense. as in, if you change anything about him, maybe then he ceases to be the Corinthian and becomes something else entirely. Dream can take different forms (and Overture has a femme!Dream) because stories can take different forms across cultures and times and species. but the Corinthian is intrinsically tied up in humanity and its biomythic nature. and what we think of as Human, as Sylvia Wynter reminds us, is very much tied up in narratives around identity including race, gender, and class.

at the same time my id absolutely wants a butch lesbian Corinthian who uses he/him pronouns. mostly because lesbian and wlw sex STILL gets dismissed or sanitized or erased or pathologized, even though queer women remain subject to state, police, and domestic violence at higher rates than their straight and/or cis counterparts. (also yes i'm counting my trans hermanas y primas, t*rfs can fuck right off.) but also because i'm a fagdyke with religious trauma who relates very hard to god's failed masterpiece.

[noxiatoxia]

HEY so I know its been a minute since I've sent an ask, but I saw some of your posts about danganronpa, specifically regarding another episode, udg, and I was agasp because I was literally in the middle of playing it for the first time lmao. So after finishing the game last night I really wanted to ask, if you want to ofc, your in depth thoughts on the game and why you like it so much, or even thoughts on the gameplay and mechanics since its so different than the danganronpa staple. I quite liked it personally because of Komaru and Toko's relationship, them becoming two of my fav characters in the franchise so far, and because I became very endeared to the kids by the end of the story. I have some qualms with how Kotoko was handled in chapter 3 at... that part... but she's also my favorite of the kids at the same time lol.

Anyways yeah no pressure at all, I just was really curious because I liked the game a lot and found it so funny that you posted stuff about it as I was playing it. Also because I really enjoy your ouran opinions. But again I get if not, the game has some senstive subjects for sure. Thanks!

THIS IS LIKE THE BEST ASK EVER FOR ME TO RECEIVE. I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS GAME AND HAVE BEEN FOR NEARLY A DECADE AT THIS POINT.

Okay....where to even START....

(I will be referring to UDG as DR:AE or just AE in this. SPOILERS FOR ALL OF DR:AE.)

Firstly, the environment. Unlike the main series, DR:AE does not take place in a secluded area away from the real world. It does the opposite; you are in such a vast area, you are not caged, yet you are still trapped. Even if Komaru didn't have that wristband on her, where would she go? The game is great at highlighting what the world outside of what we are told in the mainline games is actually like, how caged things are even outside, all while expanding upon existing characters' backgrounds by introducing family members, or little pieces of dialogue that serve to flesh out the world.

The gameplay itself, personally, I find VERY fun. I'm not a shooter game person, but DR:AE was a game I could play many times over. I love the different types of ammo, the puzzles, the possibilities with how to destroy the monokumas. Just a fun game all around. It's by far the most replayable Danganronpa game, as the main series games are all about the story. Once you know the story, there's really no reason to replay them. In fact, they are quite slow and boring without the intrigue of the mystery.

But the highlight, obviously, is the characters. As is Danganronpa's specialty.

While I still maintain Hajime is the most interesting protagonist of the series, Komaru serves as a great subversion of the expectations set up by Makoto's actions in the first game. Makoto is someone who preserved no matter what, changed those around him with his hope. He was your quintessential paragon protagonist. While Komaru displays this a little in some scenes (namely rallying the adults under Haiji's protection) this is only the result of speaking from her own wants and experiences. That is to say, unlike Makoto who always tried to help others even if it cost his own life, Komaru is much more realistic. She cares, first and foremost, about her safety. Her helping others to stand up for themselves comes from her own desire to keep fighting so she can live, and so she imparts that onto the people around her. Fight so you can live. She says it herself: she is not like Makoto. She is selfish, she is not endlessly optimistic. She's more like Hajime in this way, but unlike Hajime who find his own brand of philosophy, Komaru really doesn't. Rather, while Hajime's character serves to show you don't have to choose a predetermined path (hope or despair) and rather your path can simply be believing in yourself, Komaru's character shows that sometimes, and maybe even most of the time, believing in yourself or a specific ideal is not feasible. Komaru believes in the people around her - namely Toko. She believes in her friend, and believes with her friend that things can keep going. This in my opinion is an excellent twist on Makoto, who was, by all means, that friend that people believed in, not the one doing the believing.

And, as an aside, Toko and Komaru have the best development of any pair of characters in the series. Yes, even moreso than Hajime and Komaeda (who I maintain never really had "development" between each other than just a very, very good dynamic from the get-go that was influenced at points by outside plot forces on Komaeda's end. Think Light and L from Death Note in this manner).

Now, let me talk about the real meat of the game, and my favorite characters to date in the whole series: The Warriors of Hope.

I won't lie that I'm biased. I'm very biased for these guys. But I think a lot of people don't give these guys the credit they deserve considering this is a Japanese game. In Japan, child abuse is a bit of a taboo topic (that thankfully has been resolving over time). Due to the nature of Japan's politeness system and "family above all else" attitude, many child abuse cases not only go unreported, but are flat out ignored. The epidemic of babies dying in coin-operated lockers being an especially egregious example of rampant child abuse that occurred. Despite being prevalent since 1971, it took till 1993 to be socially addressed.

This is just one example, but I think it serves my point: child abuse is/was an issue in Japan when it comes to socially speaking of it. ( In fact, in the game itself, Nagisa and Kotoko both directly say they tried to reach out and get help, but were ignored by adults). This is why art regarding child abuse is so important. And that's why a huge series like Danganronpa centering a game about child abuse is such a huge deal. It sparks discussion and promotes visibility of the topic. Not to say media before hadn't talked about it - in fact, there is a lot of Japanese media about child abuse for this very reason - but that does not undermine the importance of Danganronpa deciding to portray it so openly. It is even more important, to me, that they do not stop at physical or sexual abuse. Rather, abuse focused on verbal harm and emotional neglect are portrayed as being just as damaging, which is one of the most overlooked and underplayed forms of abuse in general.

Their portray of abuse also is rather accurate. I will make a confession: I was definitely a bit too young to play danganronpa when I did. Definitely not 18 yet. But I was a teen, and very aware of different types of abuse, sexual abuse included. But despite all the PSAs, books I had read on my own or even ones assigned to me for classes, I had never seen a sexual assault victim be portrayed as hypersexual before. In fact, I didn't even know such a thing was possible. Yes, it is very, very likely I just got Komaeda levels of unlucky to not encounter that in any of my reading or research material at the time, but I think it's common, nonetheless, that people to this day still have the misconception that sexual abuse victims are all afraid of sex or anything sexual. While that is true for some, many people are now becoming more aware that sexual abuse survivors can often display hypersexual tendencies. In this way, I DID learn a lot about the effects of sexual abuse based on how Kotoko acted, and was able to do my own research from there to learn more. Furthermore, the game is good at portraying things like specific triggers in the form of words, smells, items, or specific phrases. Again, I feel it's mostly stereotyped that most triggers are objects that "make sense" like cigarettes or alcohol (much like with what Masaru was afflicted with). But the game made sure to include ones that were "non conventional" like specific words ("gentle" in Kotoko's case) and portrayed both triggers, no matter how common or uncommon, as equally severe. The game also shows negative effects child abuse can have on those around the children. After all, the WoH would not be doing the things they were doing if it weren't for how they were treated in the first place.

(Aside: This is particularly WHY I get so mad when people hate on DR:AE for being "icky". If you are personally uncomfortable with topics of child abuse, that is wholly reasonable and you do not have to play or even like a game that centers on that. You are in your full right and perfectly valid to say "I think this is gross and uncomfortable, therefore I do not like it" or "I don't like this game because I felt personally overlooked/triggered by it" or "I don't like this game because I felt it was not fun or well written". But to say it is objectively "problematic" or "disgusting" to have a game like this exist? That is just spitting in the face of people trying to advocate for visibility of child abuse. You are doing nothing but making people like myself who felt vindicated, seen, or educated by this game like bad guys. Sincerely, please do not call a game that does not shy away from the uncomfortable realities of child abuse "problematic" based on that alone.)

(Aside aside: there are "problematic" elements in the game and things to criticize as is true of all media. The Kotoko minigame I would say is the biggest "why is this in here" moment and is definitely just a fan service scene. I don't like it either. This does not mean the game itself and as a whole is valueless or bad.)

That leads into my next point: I love how morally gray the "good" and "bad" guys are. The WoH aren't doing what they're doing (save Monaca) because they want to hurt people for the lolz (though they have fun with it, as kids would). They think what they're doing is genuinely good. It's a good way to rival Junko, who knew she was evil and batshit crazy, but didn't care. These kids think they are helping children and keeping them safe. And they're kids - young kids can't really think in very complex manners. If you were treated horribly by most adults in your life, and your peers were as well and shared the same sentiments as you, you would be 100% convinced your convictions were righteous then. Hell, I've met adults that think this way (pretty much all extremists who think anyone part of x group, race, gender, religion, etc is evil). A kid thinking this way is very realistic. They are also all different levels of "morally gray". Nagisa, for example, ends up helping Komaru because he feels that a paradise for children is more important than the sole idea of killing all adults. Meanwhile, Monaca, perhaps because of the abuse she suffered all her life, has become a person that we can assume will just enact similar abusive tactics on everyone around her till the day she dies. While it's a misconception that people who suffer abuse often turn into abusers themselves (they simply just have a higher chance to commit crimes, anything from petty crimes to violent ones) there are undoubtedly cases where this does happen. A real life example is Douglas Spinx (HUGE TW; CSA & BESTIALITY). My point is: the portrayal of abuse victims in many different lights from people who can inflict harm unintentionally but with help and intervention can make recoveries to those who, in the rarest and saddest of cases, will turn to a full life of inflicting harm on others intentionally, is important - for someone like me, at least. Without the proper care or attention, horrible things like these can happen. I find this a very important thing to be open about.

Then we have Haiji. Haiji is supposed to be a "good guy". He's cowardly, yes, but he does fight to help the adults being killed. He attempts to bolster moral. But...despite having good intentions and even doing some good things, he's kind of horrible. After all, he's the one who contributed to Monaca's abuse and made her the way she is now. He's just like the kids except reversed; he thinks all children are evil because they're the ones killing everyone. And in his position, I do think most people would feel that way. I mean, if literally every kid in your area was wearing a helmet that turned them fuckin murderous and were killing all your friends and family would you, after enduring months of this, still bother to be like "not all kids though!". Likely not. Even though it is wrong, it is still a realistic way these things would pan out, much like how it did for the WoH. I mean, for a real life example, one need not look further than one of those extremist radical feminist blogs here on Tumblr that believes every single person born male is a brute. Most of those people believe that way because they have personally been hurt by one or several males in their lives, and y'know, fear and pain leads to hate and all of that.

Speaking of, I like the brainwashing in this game far more than in DR3 the anime (spoilers for that later on but tbqh DR3 is not worth anyone's time). I never liked brainwashing as a trope - I feel it is lazy. However, in DR:AE and DR1 they're utilized pretty well. In DR1 it's literally glossed over as "does it really matter? The outcome is more important than the means" which considering DR1, moreso than any other game in the series, is a satire and is supposed to focus on absurdity, I think having the brainwashing LITERALLY be hand-waved as "eh, it just happened" makes a lot of sense thematically with the goofy writing. But as you know, as DR went on, it became more and more serious with itself (for...better and worse...) in DR:AE, I like how the brainwashing affects only the nameless children. DR3's anime was lazy by having all the main characters get brainwashed by a funny little video, both in future&despair arc. In AE, it's a helmet. I think this makes much more sense as theoretically the helmet could be attached to the actual brains of these people. Plus, as said in the game, they blow up when the controller is destroyed, giving credence to that theory. The brainwashing in AE is not a vehicle to explain why main characters act the way they do. Rather, it's just a device used to create background conflict/build up the main villains, leaving the main characters to be affected by persuasion and manipulation (the objectively better version of "brainwashing").

Circling back to the WoH, outside of their thorough portrayals of abuse and standings as "villains who think they are doing the right thing", they're just fun. Like, legit, I just think they're fun. Outside of their trauma, they aren't very complex, but that's the point. The game is a commentary about abuse and how it affects you, the people around you, and the world. The WoH are not the characters meant to be developed and complex entities who undergo deep changes - that is left to our protagonists. As most series with static characters do, they assign each member a core personality. Every Warrior of Hope has a number of traits influenced by this personality (the "sporty" one, the "smart" one, etc) that make them vastly different from each other, making them not only distinct but just fun to watch their personalities clash. After all, if they were not bonded by their trauma, they probably wouldn't be friends at all. it's honestly like a Teen Titans situation in that way, and I've always loved stuff like that. Of course, their personalities are also heavily influenced by their trauma, again a realistic depiction of how trauma can and will change who you are as a person and present itself in many facets of your actions.

I THINK that's all my MAIN points. Suffice to say, DR:AE is my favorite game in the series. I think it's the most fun, has the best character developments and dynamics, I think its story is the most emotional and deep-cutting, and it really spoke to me during a time that I needed something like this to reach me. I won't say it's the best DR game in terms of overall narrative (that honor goes to SDR2) but it comes close. And I know not everyone will feel the same way about this game that I do. Thanks for this ask; yet another reminder I need to do my bi-yearly replay of this game.

(Footnote so I don't get "so you hate waffles"'d: my bringing real-life examples into this is not to say those instances are exactly like what happens in the video game nor to say they are on the same level of importance. Obviously real life is far more important and complex than anything that could happen in a game. I only bring them up to support my points about certain aspects being realistic by using, well, real life examples.)

[grey-gazania]

I'm sorry someone bombarded you with bitchy comments 😭. While my To Read list is lengthy and continually lengthier (actually I think something of yours with her is on it), I'd like to hear more about Ianneth-Fingon-Maedhros if you want to talk about them.

@polutrope

It wasn't really upsetting, just annoying and honestly a little bit funny. This guy left comments on all six chapters of By Love or at Least Free Will, every time I updated the story, just objecting to the entire premise of the story and ranting about how Elves have incorruptible pure souls and are immune to lust. I was sorely tempted to respond with this quote from "Laws & Customs Among the Eldar":

Even when in after days, as the histories reveal, many of the Eldar in Middle-earth became corrupted, and their hearts darkened by the shadow that lies upon Arda, seldom is any tale told of deeds of lust among them.

'Seldom' is not the same thing as 'never', and furthermore, I don't think lust is even a major theme of my story. It's more about conflicting obligations and unruly hearts.

In the end I deleted the comments without responding, because I have a personal policy of not engaging with people who are acting in bad faith. But I have to assume that this guy has no actual hobbies if he spends his time hate-reading entire stories instead of just...closing the window and moving on with his life. Maybe take up crochet, bro? Or volunteer at a soup kitchen? Watch a TV show that you like? Grow some tomatoes? Do something that will be more fulfilling than typing long screeds on AO3. I promise it will make you a happier person.

Anyway. On to the actual topic of your ask! As you've probably noticed, I am very fond of Russingon. However, I am also very fond of Fingon as Gil-galad's father. At first I balanced these two ideas by keeping my Russingon ideas and my Fingon-father-of-Gil-galad ideas in two separate universes, but then I started really fleshing out Gil-galad's mother, and it made me think some thoughts. To repeat something I said to @cuarthol in a comment on AO3:

...half the genesis of Ianneth was seeing so many stories (in multiple fandoms, not just Tolkien) where the woman is written out of a canon or semi-canon couple to make room for a popular M/M ship instead, without the female character being treated with any respect. I decided that the female perspective on that situation would be a nice change of pace and interesting to write.

I'm not trying to point fingers -- I'll readily admit that I have my male faves just like the next gal and that it's fun to make them kiss -- but the wives and girlfriends don't get a lot of love in fandom, do they? And it doesn't help that the legendarium in general tends to be a bit of a sausage fest. So I decided that Fingon would have a wife and be in love with Maedhros. But instead of focusing just on the forbidden love, I was going to focus on the wife's feelings, too.

Ianneth ("bridge-woman") is one of the Northern Sindar, from the community that lives around Lake Mithrim. She's the daughter of Annael (yes, that Annael), whom I've imagined to be one of the more influential leaders among the Northern Sindar, and particularly among the Elves of Mithrim.

Her betrothal to Fingon starts as a political arrangement. Fingolfin loves Fingon dearly, of course, but he's also been hinting for a while now that Fingon really needs to settle down and start having kids so that there will be a strong line of heirs should Fingolfin die. After all, Argon's dead, and Turgon and Aredhel abruptly fucked off to god-knows-where some three hundred years ago and haven't been seen nor heard from since. Your dad needs some grandsons, Fingon, and this also seems like a ripe opportunity to strengthen the Noldor's alliance with the Northern Sindar.

I don't think political marriage is unknown among the Elves of Beleriand. (For one example in the text, see Celegorm trying to marry Luthien to force Doriath into an alliance.) And the quote I drew the title of the aforementioned Fingon/Ianneth story from, also found in "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar," is:

The Eldar wedded only once in life, and for love or at the least by free will upon either part.

Free will could easily mean, "Are we in love? No. But I'll still marry you, for the good of our peoples, and I'll bring some of Dad's soldiers along with me." That sort of thing happened all the time among real-world nobility, so I see no reason why it can't happen among Elven nobility in Beleriand, too.

At any rate, Fingolfin arranges for Fingon to meet the daughters of some of the more powerful leaders of the Northern Sindar, and he's hint-hint-hinting that Fingon really needs to pick one of them to be his wife. Fingon, having been in love with Maedhros since they were young in Valinor, is not exactly keen on this plan. But he goes along with it anyway because he is a dutiful son, he knows that his father is right about needing to strengthen the line of succession, and he also knows that revealing his (quite taboo!) relationship with Maedhros to his father would probably break Fingolfin's heart.

It takes Fingon a while to decide who to court, but he picks Ianneth because he likes her sense of humor; she has the guts to gently tease him at their first meeting, which he finds quite charming. He doesn't think he can love anyone besides Maedhros, but he does look at Ianneth and think, "This is a woman I could grow to care for and whose companionship I think could enjoy."

The trouble begins when, over the course of their courtship, Fingon starts falling in love with Ianneth without falling out of love with Maedhros. And he doesn't know what to do about this. He can't call off the marriage, and he doesn't want to break things off with Maedhros, so he decides to just...keep the whole thing with Maedhros a secret and marry Ianneth anyway. It's not a good decision, but really, are there any options here that won't end with someone getting hurt? I don't think so.

So we have Ianneth, blissfully ignorant of her husband's infidelity (for now); Fingon, in love with two people at once and feeling horribly guilty about it, but unwilling to pick one partner over the other; and Maedhros, resigned to the situation but still hurting because Fingon is no longer his alone.

Maedhros' feelings are complicated by the fact that, once he meets her, he finds that likes Ianneth. It would be easier, he thinks, if he could write her off as just a political necessity for Fingon, but it turns out that she's charming and intelligent and kind, and he can understand why Fingon loves her. His feelings soften further once Ereiniel is born, because Fingon is so happy being a father, and he loves Fingon, so how can he begrudge him that? There's a line from "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen that I always think of when I'm getting into Maedhros' head at this point:

And thanks for the trouble you took from [his] eyes. I thought it was there for good, so I never tried.

Things tick along about as smoothly as they can for thirteen years, until, in the aftermath of Fingolfin's death during the Dagor Bragollach, as Fingon prepares to send Ianneth and Ereiniel to the Falas for their safety, Ianneth learns his secret. This is understandably devastating for her, and leaves her wondering if Fingon ever really loved her as she loved him, or if his marriage to her was simply a politically expedient sham.

Add to that the fact that she leaves for the Falas less than ten hours after this revelation and spends most of that ten hours either crying or asleep, as she's too upset to really talk to Fingon about what she's discovered, and it leaves her with this horrible knowledge and all the worst thoughts that come from it gnawing at her nearly a full year until Fingon next comes to Eglarest -- time that she spends as the sole caregiver for her young daughter, among strangers in a foreign city, without her mother or her sister or any of her friends who might have theoretically been able to offer her some emotional support.

Theoretically is a key word there, though, because even if, say, her sister had come to Eglarest, Ianneth isn't sure she'd even be able to tell her. For one thing, she can't help feeling ashamed, because infidelity is very rare among Elves, and she can't help thinking that maybe she failed as a wife somehow, and if she'd done something different, Fingon wouldn't have strayed. Then there's the fact that he's the High King of the Noldor, and if this gets out it could cause a crisis in the Noldorin government and possibly tank the alliance between the House of Fingolfin and the Northern Sindar. Ianneth is a practical woman, and she's of the Northern Sindar -- the people who have been living practically on Morgoth's doorstep for centuries, with no Maia queen's magic girdle to protect them. Their alliance with the Noldor is vital, and she would never want to jeopardize it.

So Ianneth is just...completely alone with this pain. She has no one to turn to, no one who can comfort her. And that pain is central to her story, and a not insignificant part of Ereiniel's story, too.

[dogtoling]

how would you go about designing a sona-adjacent character for splatoon? I know I’m going with octoling bc I play as them exclusively and this is more a character made from my ingame avatar, but everything else has me indecisive.. sorry I know this is a vague question but I’m interested in hearing your thoughts

this is a cool question! I struggled with this for a really long time and have had MANY sona designs (which either got trashed or became separate characters over time). Really i think how you approach a sona is different for every person. sorry if this is incoherent as i'm typing at 6am from bed

So basically first thing is what are you planning on using the character for? For example in my case when I used to try making splatoon sonas I made them *too much* like me to the point where i didn't like them and they didn't really fit in the world or were interesting at all. But that's just talking personality-wise. I could make an extremely bland octopus guy who doesnt play Turf War or ever go anywhere but it's also like, what is even the point of having a Splatoon sona at that point. What you want to use your sona for kind of affects how they would ideally be in my opinion.

So the way I ended up designing my sona (Koira) was to have us share traits but not have them specifically BE me, which is an approach that I find works really well in creating a connection to a character while still letting them be a character of their own. I would refer to it as more like making a self-insert character to control in a setting rather than physically being there and feeling confined to being yourself if that makes sense? it probably doesnt. But the self-insert player character is kinda what you already do in Splatoon anyway.

I find it a good approach to go with a mix of aspects that are accurate to you but combined with things that are kind of out there. Then you can have a character that's still interesting and appealing to you and might seem similar enough at face value to be relatable, while not being like, super boring. I don't remember my exact design process with Koira, I wanted the design to be silly and stand out and be relatable to how I play the game and approach the series, while at the same time not being confined to what I would realistically do or be like. Like I do not own a labcoat in real life, or mismatched boots, or round shades.

But I DO own a pair of broken shades i found from a trash can, and in the context of being an avid squid researcher online I felt it would be very fitting to make my in-universe guy an actual squid scientist, and i WISH i had shoes like that because theyre pretty cool. And he has split ends because I DO have split ends (there are so many), but i don't have blonde hair. I picked yellow because it's my favorite color. I would NOT touch turf wars with a ten foot pole if i actually existed in the splatoon world and was the same person there that i am in real life, but like, in the context of Splatoon i might as well have my Splatoon guy represent some aspect of my gameplay experience, hence they own like every weapon but don't really play. Et cetera.

So really again people have different preferences with how to approach making a sona, or sona-adjacent characters like you said, personally the Player Character approach tends to work pretty well for me. I try to reflect my real physical in-the-flesh self less, because that's kind of boring (i literally already exist), and go for the more exaggerated version where some aspects represent me but it's not Literally Me. Like, I'm trying to make What If I Was An Octoling, and not What If An Octoling Looked Like Me The Human. The process of how to get there is a little patchy and again, probably different for everybody, and bear in mind that you might make a sona and not like it and start from scratch. That might happen 5 times. That might happen 10 times. You still learn something more about the process every time.

Here's some questions I can present to help with sona designing...

1. What are some traits that I think reflect myself? How can I include those in the character design?

2. In tandem with the previous question; what species should I pick? (You already picked Octoling, so this one is a bit obsolete - but it's worth thinking about for people who struggle to pick.)

3. If I existed in the Splatoon world, what would I probably, somewhat realistically be doing with my life? What kind of job or hobbies would I have? Can that be reflected in the design?

4. Do I care about any of the above stuff or do I just want to come up with something original? Could I use some of my answers to work with and fill in the blanks with other things that are just cool?

5. How would the ways I play Splatoon be reflected if translated to an in-universe character? (For example, based on how I play, my game-realistic Splatsona would just be a full-time Salmon Runner...)

6. Do I want to use in-game gearsets, or reference the kind of style I prefer in real life, or maybe come up with something unique?

7. Can my main weapon or playstyle be directly equated to my character's personality or appearance? Do I want their personality to be game-accurate, real life accurate or somewhere in between?

8. Finding inspiration through your player character's Badges, Banner and Title that you currently have; what do those say about the player? Or what about the locker?

9. What are some things I love about the setting of Splatoon that I could reflect in a sona or self insert? (For example I made mine an in-universe Inkling researcher to reflect my own obsessiveness about Inkling biology. And squid suckers. I have a dried squid in a minigrip bag on my shelf)

10. The obligatory step in any character design: Can i do something to make it fun or appealing to myself? Adding some flavor.

Aside from all that and I definitely forgot SOMETHING, my general character design tip is do not expect the first draft to be the final perfect result. I watched a video once that said to draw every character design Three Times before 'finalizing' it and it works EXTREMELY well when youre whipping up a character basically from scratch and have an idea in your head, but on paper, you just need some kind of first draft to see if that idea works. The second and third iterations usually help trim out whatever didnt work in the earlier designs and when you keep making more, the parts that DO work are solidified and refined over time.

Rule number 2: if you make a sona design and don't like it, ask yourself why. Then change it! It's not the time to start some kind of self reflecting journey, maybe you just want a more interesting haircut than what you have in real life and you can totally do that if you're bold (my hair is brown, I didn't want the splatoon to have brown hair when like half the point of the game is Neon Color). Maybe you want bright pink eyes. Maybe you want a ridiculous job that you could never do in real life but that would make your character way more interesting. Maybe you want to give them a pet slug because you would LOVE ONE in real life but dont have one, and that would complete the character.

i forgot my point but hopefully this helped and was useful even a little bit? yay

[therentyoupay]

Hiii, love your writing! I read "two homes" and was wondering what do you think would be Elsa's Center and if you think it depends on which stage of her character arc she is at when she is chosen as Guardian (I'm not sure if that made sense, sorry about my english)

😘😘😘 i'm not sure what your first language is, but as a bilingual(-in-training) myself, I GET IT. 💕💕💕💕 thank you so much for your beautiful lovely ask, and it makes perfect sense! 😭😭😭😭 i love this question!!!

(however, i'm also afraid to answer it 🤣 because i feel like i might spoil things for my WIP stories, in some ways!?!?!? see below 💕👇)

long story, short:

i love, in particular, one (1) (and a half) center(s) for guardian!elsa in most of my writing, and it's usually the same one each time; however, that said, most of the stories i've written in which she has become a guardian (i.e., a Being With a Center) have also featured her discovering/accepting/leaning into her center at similar times at her character development.

(and i am SO GLAD that you mentioned this SUPER IMPORTANT POINT, i love you, you beautiful brilliant critical thinking brain, you 💕 i subscribe to the theory that personalities are, to a degree, relatively fixed at their core after a certain point in an individual's development but there are, of course, significant events that can continue to influence a person's intrinsic idea of Self, and thus allow them to change and grow over time, all very much depending on context.)

so, THAT SAID, yes, i also believe that depending on the specific story being told, we could argue that elsa could have any one of various options for centers, depending on who is telling the story!!

(i personally usually just tell variations of different stories that follow similar trajectories, so elsa's center ends up being the same across AUs, more or less 🤣)

more specific-ish story:

here's one fic in which i have established and fleshed out (a bit) my headcanon for what elsa's center could be as a guardian: cosset on ao3. if you're curious, please go check out that baby ficlet! it's about 2.5k words.

(i also have other stories in which elsa may or may be finding her center but i am afraid to spoil anything.... 👀💕 hmmmmm ✨)

as for two homes, however, in which elsa's rise into guardianship is similar to that of cosset!elsa, i think it's safe to say that i would see her having the same center!

heads up though, i am not a super fan of elsa's center being "love" 👇

first, i think we could make a case for lots of different options for what might be elsa's center, and yes, i agree that it is all very context-dependent on the story and where she is in her development! the only potential center that i do not particularly enjoy for elsa is love because WHAT IS LOVE?? BABY DON'T HURT ME

how do you operationalize "love?"

how would you operationalize love for childhood/children, if that's what the story is going for?

sure, you could operationalize it as feelings of warmth, light, and comfort, embodying a feeling of safety and belonging and connection and trust, etc. etc., or break it down into sub-categories like unconditional love, familial love, friendship, and self-love, etc.

but "love" as a construct is so wide and varied and nuanced in really particular ways, so all in all it is a squishy squishy center to me. although each center carries its own subjectivity and nuance (e.g.,, "fun" is not the same for each person), its especially fluid, abstract, complex, multi-faceted nature seems rather expansive and nebulous for a "core" center, or a guardian's unique purpose... especially since it could be argued that at the center of each guardians' centers (hope, memories, fun, wonder, dreams) is (already) love, in that all the guardians are driven by different types of love to fulfill their centers. in other words, i'm not a huge fan of calling elsa's unique center "love" because, in my view, love is in many ways inherent to being a guardian, anyway.

it is in this vein that i am usually much more interested in seeing what specific aspects of "love" or other constructs (growth, happiness, etc.) that people have in mind for elsa's core journey, in addition to the love inherent in guardianship!! i feel like people can be so creative 🥹💕💕💕💕💕

and again i usually just stick with the one and a half centers each time HAHA OOPS

thank you again for the super fun and interesting ask, nonny!! 🥹💕💕💕