#i mean you guys could interpret their relationship as platonic or romantic

[smallishzine]

we received a question about shipping, so here is our answer: (there is also important zine info unrelated to shipping at the bottom of the post)

Yes, ship art/writing is allowed, *however*, this is still a zine dedicated specifically to Joel, so if you choose to incorporate that into your piece, it must:

Have Joel as the central focus of the piece

Have something in the piece contributory to the zine besides shipping

be entirely sfw. This goes for any piece anyone makes, keep it Family Friendly. You don’t have to make it, like, toddler safe, and you’ll have a lot more leeway in gore and blood and violence and arson and all that good stuff because it is Joel we’re talking about, but please take pity on the ace-spec minor modding this zine.

try your best to stick to c!Joel’s canon relationships. We’ll be polling about this later but current plan is for the zine to feature pieces dedicated to all the eras of Joel’s content creation as like the thing that our zine is. I don’t know if we’re gonna go as far back as mousyluvscheese, and we’re probably gonna focus on just his Minecraft content unless someone expresses specific interest in doing a piece for something he did outside of that, but yeah that’s currently the plan. With that in mind what I mean by stick to canon is basically with the current plan everything we make up will be based off of what’s already there, so if your ship requires you to retcon and rewrite then probably no. The one exception is probably Lizzie, if she was on the smp then you are allowed to ship them as romantically (or non romantically qprs and other aroacespec headcannons are totally okay) as you want. I’m not sure if I’m explaining myself well so if you want me to elaborate further then feel free to send in an ask.

also I know that everyone has different definitions of ship art so like if you make it with romantic intent but it could also be interpreted as platonic then you don’t even really need to ask if that’s okay (in terms of shipping we’re still gonna make you run your ideas by us before you start working) Also if it happened in canon exactly the way you depicted it, such as Real Life smp smallidarity, double life boat boys, or esmp2 mythicalbeans, then you’re also probably in the clear.

also!!! And this is extremely important even if you definitely aren’t planning on including shipping!!! The plan for what’s going in the zine is in no way set in stone, it’s just a starting place to work off of right now, if you guys wanna do something else then fine by me! However, if the idea gets more difficult/complicated, then I’m gonna need your guy’s help to pull it off. If you wanna tell a complete story, like hotguy comic zine did, I’d love too!! But I’d need you guys to help come up with the story and write it and stuff, as I’m rather incompetent at most things. It was probably a bad idea to put me in charge of this thing. If you wanna make an in universe art book documenting a specific thing Joel has made, like scarland art book did? Sure, super down for that! But you guys would need to pick what thing. You wanna do something that’s never been done before in the zine scene? I’d love too! But you guys would have to come up with the ideas and then let me know, cause currently I got nuthin’. Don’t be afraid to send me asks, if there’s something you want to see Let Me Know!!! Everything is subject to change, and I love getting input from people who want to see the zine get made. If you’ve got ideas, send em’!

wow I got really off topic.

-mod Dinn

[strawberryshortcake1495]

I just realized I like- never introduced my TOH Folklore OC to you guys? Idk why I forgot, but here you go.

This little goober here is Eden. She was the very first human to arrive in the Demon Realm. She lived in an orphanage for the majority of her life until she was 12 years old. The owners of the orphanage were very cruel and unfair, they made the children work while they lounged and drank all day long. One day, Eden grew tired of the abuse and went to a lake to drown herself. She jumped in and assumed this was the end of her life. But the lake she jumped in happened to be a portal to the Demon Realm. She woke up in a cave and was pretty confused on why she wasn’t dead yet. The Collector, who was exploring the Demon Realm, found her and was amazed by her strange features. He carried her up into the air and took her to the Titans, who welcomed her with open arms. From then now, Eden’s life was paradise. She made so many new friends and grew closer to the Collector, becoming their best friend. During this time, she created a mask which replicated a titan’s skull. Eden occasionally wore this mask when she was goofing off with the other baby titans.

But of course, nothing ever lasts forever. The Archivists have learned about the titans and had decided that they needed to be killed immediately. The Titan Trappers began to lure the baby titans to private locations where they’d brutally murder them and steal their skulls, one by one. Unfortunately, Eden was mistaken as one of these baby titans since she was wearing her mask. She followed a Titan Trapper to an empty room where they grabbed her by her hair and began bashing her head against the wall. She took off her mask and was screaming that she wasn’t one of them, but the Titan Trapper killed her anyway because she had already seen too much. This was what began the Archivist and Titan War. The Collector didn’t know what happened to his best friend and tried to bring her back repeatedly, but to no avail.

Papa Titan’s anger and grief then stirred to the Collector, he blamed them of being involved in the murder of his children. Of course, we all know what happened next. Eden was a buried memory in the Collector’s mind, but they never truly forgot her. When they were venting to Luz in Watching and Dreaming, he brought her up for a second, which caused Luz to ask who she was. He then proceeded to explain his history with the titans and how Eden was his only real friend because she never lied to him once in her life. In the In-Between Realm, Luz hesitantly asked about Eden. Papa Titan told her that she was like a daughter to him, and that he loved her so much.

But what happened to Eden? Well, her soul was captured by the Archivists but couldn’t be archived as it was VERY strong and resisted archival. The only way to be able to archive her soul was to weaken it to the point where it wouldn’t be able to resist archival. So, they erased her memories and placed her inside this world where all her titan friends were these monstrous beasts who were out to kill her. The only person who was on her side was the Collector, who existed as a shadow in this world. But they were pretty shady and would sometimes kill Eden if they were to trust him. Other times, Shadow Collector would help guide her around the area and give her helpful tips to avoid the dangerous wrath of the titan beasts. Eden wore her titan mask in this nightmare world, and there were vague hints of her past put in there just to mess with her. This torment went on for thousands and thousands of years until she finally snapped and transformed into this giant blob creature with many eyes. The Archivists managed to archive her soul into a scroll before she could attack any of them, and that is where she remains to this day…unless someone finds the scroll and frees her.

Also she can say 🚬.

[reyesranch]

“tommy is not even enthusiastic or excited to hangout with buck like he is eddie. he spends the entire episode laughing and smiling hanging out with eddie and whether or not that interest is romantic or platonic—“ im gonna stop you right there.

that’s THE difference. with buck and tommy currently dating, it’s 100% safe to assume tommy had only platonic intentions with eddie (because its kinda weird to think a gay man will automatically be into every guy they meet and can’t just be friends with them) but he’s romantically interested in buck. therefore the approach with buck is going to be much different.

does tommy even know if buck is queer? he definitely picked up on the vibes in the loft scene. but while you may interpret it differently, we can also interpret that tommy could be just as anxious to be the one to contact buck first to hang out, possibly in fear of rejection/reading the room wrong. the vibe of the harbor scene is flirtatious, maybe it’s difficult to see it the first time because hey, it’s two guys, but watching it back a second time it’s there and you can practically see tommy trying to feel out the vibe himself. he also tells buck to hit him up at the end. we didn’t get to see tommy’s side of it all. it could be implied tommy was also fishing for information about buck from chris, that tommy could have been hoping eddie would invite buck to hangout, we simply don’t know! but what i do know is that if tommy was to be a bad guy in the story, we would have known by now. 911 doesn’t exactly shy away from showing you who the villains are in the story.

furthermore,

why else would tommy kiss buck? because buck’s a dude and tommy’s desperate? the excuse that tommy is just wanting to get to the 118 is overused and ridiculous. he already has the 118. he’s friends with hen, chim and eddie outside of buck and bobby was his boss before too. is he getting a little small found family in return? sure, but to think tommy’s some evil mastermind about is… definitely a choice.

saying that tommy letting buck set the pace means he making buck do all the work is also just, completely fucking wrong. tommy letting buck set the pace means he cares, because he doesn’t want to pressure buck, he wants to make sure they’re moving at a speed buck is comfortable with. buck is a newfound bisexual, it’s actually pretty considerate for tommy to let buck take the reigns of the relationship.

then, to even imply tommy only might want buck for sex is also just, gross. if that’s all he wanted he would have been gone after their date. he wouldn’t agree for a second chance, he wouldn’t put in the effort to show up for buck. he could just go on grindr, it’s fucking los angeles dude. this is a guy ready for a steady, committed relationship.

im once again begging you guys to actually watch the show without any biases. you’d be able to understand and pick up on what is truly happening on your screen if you did.

addition: also to act like tommy has never smiled or laughed around buck… be for real.

[noeou]

THE ART OF AVOIDANCE.

the only way to get rid of a crush is by avoiding them, at least in your mind.

includes: vil schoenheit, idia shroud, and riddle rosehearts. ( x gn!reader. )

next parts: curently unavailable.

contains: fluff! platonic to romantic. open ended for idia and vil. ooc 'cause i said so.

sincerely noe ,⠀this takes up 8 pages in google docs 0.6k words minimum (each), lhm. i'm gonna go eat now. also a quick thank you to the person that answered this, you helped me pick the other two characters <3

vil schoenheit [ pomefiore ]

the main reason you and vil got along was because you could take criticism. that and the fact that you didn't take his long and (oddly) specific 'observations' to heart, but after a while it got hard to put up with.

no, your skin didn't get weaker. it was just the fact that the person you loved (debatable) and adored (also debatable) was constantly telling you your mishaps and it's impossible for it to not get to your head.

it felt that you couldn't tell anyone about your feelings 'cause you knew you'd get met with judgement on you 'type' and get told 'but you're yn, you can take it!' if you say you can no longer take his criticisms.

"Ace, hand me the glue gun please."

But you'd always have the duo and Grim. So that's where your time went instead of chasing the around house warden that probably didn't notice your absence.

"On it!" The red head turned from his project to hand you the glue gun.

"Are you guys almost done?" Deuce asked, pausing on his as well.

Grim jumped up excitedly, "Yeppers! Look at our super cool one!"

You chuckled as your companion showed off a mini doll version of him you both knitted.

"Mine's cooler!" Ace joined, except with his doll.

Their banter was interrupted with a knock on the door. Ace visibly paled, becoming nervous as he went to get the door.

"Warden Riddle, I swear it wasn't me!" You facepalmed at the sight of your friend. He didn't even look at who was at the door before he spewed apologies.

"I'm not Riddle..."

Apparently, you didn't check either. It was your turn to panic at the sight of the very person you tried (not that is was hard) to avoid.

vil didn't mean to criticize you to the point of scaring you away. all the little details he'd point out were things, most of the time, he admired about you. it was just impossible to say. people in his life would take the smallest compliment from him and twist it to fit their fantasy of him being in love with them or something to that affect.

he knew that repeating all those observations may affect how he thought of you so he did keep a journal, expressing the little things he felt too suffocated to say.

when epel suggested he may have scared you away, he was afraid the first year was right. that's why he went to go find you, not sending rook or epel but going himself. and his worse fears may have been confirmed.

Vil had no intention of forcing you to interact with him, he just intended to give you said journal and leaving. He wanted to leave the future of your relationship to you and he'd keep his distance until the decision was made.

He was willing to share thoughts and feelings he kept between him and the pages with you, a small hope that was put out by the sound of your laughing with the Heartslabyul two.

It took a minute, a foreign hesitance, before he knocked on the door.

The sudden silence made him even more anxious. Until it was filled with apologies addressed to the Crimson Tyrant, then he was simply confused.

He scanned the room for you, meeting not your eyes but a hand covering your face. Did you know it was him? Was he making a mistake?

You looked more comfortable as well. Your uniform was messed up, your hair was down. It was as if he was looking at a much younger version of you, a look of youth that he purposely had you hide.

"I'm not Riddle..." he managed, not looking away from you.

The mixed emotions on your face didn't go unnoticed, but he had no time to try and interpret them.

"Vil." Ace bowed again, not as deeply as he was a moment prior. The blue haired one stood as well, fists clenched and tied with a look of irritation.

"I mean no harm—"

"As if!" Vil nearly screamed why your cat-like companion jumped up onto Ace's head. "All you've done is harm! It's better for all of us if you leave now."

"Grim!" You pulled him off the redhead and pulled the other away. "We should talk."

The expression of surprise on the house warden's face was mirrored by your friends, only without his relief tied in as well.

"I would like that— if only if you're comfortable."

You led him out of the twisted Heartslabyul halls. Neither of you able to look at the other as you walked.

It was strange. Suddenly the roles were reversed and Vil was the one following you. He didn't mind it completely, but the anxiety of your next move was too great for him to think clearly.

Eventually, he was forced to speak.

"I've only come to deliver this to you," he handed you a hardcover book, magic sealing it.

The moment it made contact with your skin as you took it, the magic seemingly became void and you could open it. For a moment, a childlike curiosity took over as you examined it.

"But..."

You looked up, returning to reality.

You had no idea how to react as you watched Vil's mask so tightly sewn on break before you. The emotion made him unrecognizable, in a good way. For the first time in you knowing him, the Fairest of them all became personable.

Was it really possible for a perfect person to become more perfect?

"I've decided that waiting is something I don't want to do. I feel stupid for trying to tell you in any other way than face to face… but infatuation is something I rarely encounter, and I want you to know— I want you to know I like you. Like in that way.”

idia shroud [ ignihyde ]

you tried your hardest to be patient, knowing idia’s rocky relationship with human interaction. you made sure he was taking car of himself and had neat surroundings and as he got more and more comfortable with you, he’d help you out and join ortho and you when you’d visit.

getting to know him was not, at all, an easy feat. but it was fair to say it was worth it. you ended up falling for him, no? the hard thing about that is, you fell for a side of him he kept well hidden.

you knew pulling back and away would permanently damage your relationship to a point of no return, however staying knowing the potential would break you.

“Do what you think is right, Y/n.”

You and Ortho were collecting scraps to bring back to the dorm when you broke the news to him.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt Idia—”

“As much as I care for my brother, I also care about you. If he truly is putting you through this, especially if he doesn’t know he is… I think you’d Gould put yourself first.”

It was times like this Ortho’s childlike form truly didn’t fit his maturity. You smiled at his words, nodding as your confidence grew in your decision.

“Thank you, I hope our friendship—”

Ortho used his shoes to propel him higher in the sky, high enough to pat your head. He grinned as he said, “Nothing will change between us, you’re like an older sibling to me!”

From that day forward, you continued things as they were only when Idia wasn’t around. Ortho was a big help in this, not forcing you to talk to his brother if you didn’t want, but not even he was able to predict the older’s every move.

idia knew something was up when your time on animal crossing increased as the amount he saw you decreased. you were never one to be interested in games as much as he, but he made you an account anyway and you played together sometimes.

he had a full proof plan, he'd log onto his computer like a facetime and confront you when you came to visit while he was out. however, you looked calmer, ignoring the evidence of lack of sleep in your eyes.

he decided to keep his mouth shut, watching you for a moment longer before hanging up.

Idia is not stupid, he was aware that the more time that passed would only mess up your relationship further. He needed to act quickly.

Locking himself in his room for a few days, he thought up a full proof plan to win you back but as more than friends. Double or nothing, as they say.

Staring at his hightech whiteboard, empty for hours at this point, nothing was happening. He frowned to himself, retreating to his gaming chair with an exasperated sigh escaping him.

He did as you'd do in a situation like this and logged on to animal crossing. If his assumptions were correct you wouldn't be able to log back on for a few hours now, logging onto your account he started working.

Back when you were still talking to him, you mentioned you wanted to build something that resembled the hade's underworld. You said it reminded you of something called 'Hadestown' and you showed his a few pictures so he had the idea.

So far it looked really good, he just planned on helping get you the necessary tools you need. Maybe it was the tiredness getting to him, but he made a pin, telling you it was him as well as all the things he also wanted to say.

Logging off, he went to take a nap without a second thought.

riddle rosehearts [ heartslabyul ]

the main reason you chose to distance yourself from riddle was actually because you thought he'd hate it if he found out you had feeling for him in that way. you were hoping, since it's exam week, that he'd be too busy preparing to notice you were gone and after this week your feeling will be gone and things could go back to normal.

it felt weird though, studying without him. normally study sessions would be productive, but with you carrying the team with the last two braincells… productive isn't the word i'd use.

considering how riddle is the housewarden of your bestfriends, you had to take them in when your plan started. while you trusted them to keep your secret, ace would most likely slip up in one way or another during a scolding.

It wasn't as bad as you thought having the two over, it was like a long sleepover. They had made makeshift beds on the floor out of fear of your (mostly) see through roommates. 

Most of your time was spent attempting to study before the four of you inevitably gave up and headed to Sam's for ice cream to sulk about how you'd definitely fail. It was a cycle with seemingly no end. 

"We can do this!" You pumped a fist in the air, the others beginning to match your energy. 

Grim put on a look of determination, much like the other two. "We'll mop the floor with this!"

"Indeed we will."

And just like all your other attempts that week, you only ended up 'moping the floor' with your tears. 

You werent sure how you got in this position, but you stared at Deuce's paper through glossy eyes at an attempt to understand the explanations he tried to provide. It was dark outside, cool in your room. A blanket was laid over the both of your laps and over Ace's face as he gave up long ago and took a nap on the Deuce's leg. Grim did the same, but rested on your head. 

"I want Riddle back," You mumbled, the last of your frustration transferring into sadness. You wiped the threatening tears with the back of your hand.

Deuce let out a sigh, trying to think of what to say. "Maybe we can get someone else's help?" 

"Like who?" You sat up, pulling your companion down from his resting place above you.

"Az–"

"Don't mess with me, Deuce. We both know how that'll end."

"Or you could ask me as you usually do."

in the beginning, riddle thought that you, ace and deuce were up to something when you went missing at the same time. there wasn't much he could do about it with his schedule. don't be mistaken he didn't forget about you.

normally around this time he'd be pulling all nighters with you, feeling frustrated at your slowness, but still trying his best to stay calm. he missed that, not the lack of sleep, but having an excuse to be with you without having to initiate it. it was a mutually understood (?) thing. 

no, he didn't ask questions until those days turned into the majority of the week. during a sudy session with trey and cater, they pointed out how he should at least message you, because even they were getting worried. he sent you a quick message that turned into two, then three, and four. 

Riddle isn't one to appreciate interruptions, especially when studying so it was surprising how irritated at a lack thereof. 

"Where are you going?" Cater watched him, curiously.

In one moment, Riddle was sitting working somewhat peacefully and the next he was fuming out the door. He thought of the worst case scenarios, you were never one to ignore messages; he also couldn't get ahold of his freshmen (though that was that out of the ordinary.)

A shiver was sent down his spine upon entering the cool place. It was also possible it was because he walked in on three ghosts playing cards.

"Are you looking for your lovely?" the smallest one asked.

"Y/n! Your boyfri–"

"Refrain from that." Riddle addressed the biggest one. He patted his uniform, calming himself. "They're upstairs?"

"Who's asking?" The slim one dragged.

The smallest floated up to whack the other's nonexistent head, "Y/n's husband, obviously!"

"Wait they got married?" 

"No!" Riddle headed for the stairs, deciding not to waste a moment more on them. 

In their laughter, one managed to warn, "Knock! The youngins' are hard at work up there."

Riddle wanted to make sure you three were at least alive and not wanted criminals, the first confirmed at the sound of your voices. He wanted to scold each of you for scaring him, but the mention of his name made him stop and listen.

"I want Riddle back," You sounded weak, and low on energy. It wasn't something he wasn't used to, but knowing he wasn't there to help in the ways he was able.

Deuce let out a sigh,  "Maybe we can get someone else's help?" 

No, why weren't you going to him?

"Like who?" He heard shuffling in the room, pressing his ear to the wooden door to hear better.

"Az–"

"Don't mess with me, Deuce. We both know how that'll end."

Unable to listen to you foolishness for a moment longer, he made his grand entrance. He wasn't sure if he was angry or sad, but looking at your tear stained face made him concerned.

"Or you could ask me as you usually do." He managed, taking in your conditions.

"Housewarden!" Deuce tried to shake his redheaded counterpart awake but stopped at Riddle's command.

"Do not bother, I'm here for Y/n. You get some rest, as well, we can review tomorrow. I'll return them safely." Riddle looked to you, who didn't return his gaze. 

He let out a sigh of relief as you got up and collected yourself– "wait for me downstairs."

That he did, awkwardly being examined by the three transparent elders.

"Win 'em back, alrightie?"

"Yeah! It's been a snotfest without ya', a pain really."

"Mhm, they're not all that bright."

In sync they laughed, in sync they stopped. Looking at him again, they disappeared into puffs of smoke and reappeared the same way around him.

"Break their heart again and I'll request that you join us in a game of cards."

"And we've been playing for a while…"

"I wasn't planning on it!" Riddle face felt much warmer at the thought of doing so. 

"Guys, leave him alone." You groaned, groggily. 

He led you outside and you found a seat on a cut down tree's trunk. Patting the space next to you, he joined you. 

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you not talking to me?"

More awkwardness ensued when you both said that at the same time. He looked at you, again not meeting his eyes.

"'Cause you'll hate me. Banish me even," The lack of sleep was talking. 

"Banish you from where?" He asked, confused.

"Heartslabyul… and here," – you pointed at the spot on his chest his heart would be– "Because I think you're adorable and smart and amusing and so many other things. And because I like you, but I don't think you'd like that, would you?"

His expression changed to one of more surprise, his lips tugging upward only for the keenest of eyes to notice. Looking down at the landscape before him, with another relieved breath, "And what if I would?"

[michaelmilligan]

Do y'all even know how much I rotate post-canon Midam in my mind? Like, every day my brain is speed-running a fix-it where Michael is brought back.

And it can go so many ways.

Michael getting brought back, immediately rushing to Adam, and Adam accepting him back with only love and relief in his heart? Absolutely believable.

Michael being brought back, dragging his feet about going to Adam even though he desperately wants to see him, but also he pretty much betrayed his brothers and sided with God, and when he does finally go see him, Adam hits him with the whole 'How could you, I thought we were friends!' and takes a really long time to be convinced that Michael still likes him and wants to be with him? ALSO absolutely believable.

There's so much in between that, and there are of course several factors influencing which would be more likely - like how much time passes until Michael is brought back, whether Adam has been spending time Sam and Dean or not, and how much they told him, if anything. But at the end of the day, there is I think one big question that decides where it comes out to. And we simply don't see enough of those two on screen to be able to answer that question with any clarity.

The question is, how much of their feelings have these two shared?

And I don't necessarily mean this in a romantic way. I'm all for big dramatic 'I love you's and all that, but this would work just as well with a queer-platonic, or purely platonic, relationship between the two. In fact, I think even if they had exchanged 'I love you's before rapture, that still wouldn't answer this question.

The thing is, how much do they know about the depth of each other's feelings? Do they both know just how much the other wants to be with them? Does Adam know that Michael would burn the world if he asked? Does Michael know that Adam doesn't need him to kill for him, he needs him to LIVE for him? Does Adam know that the reason Michael didn't go back to Heaven is at least 90% him? Does Michael know that Adam isn't just keeping him around because it's convenient, but because he genuinely enjoys hanging out with him?

There is a lot of interpretation here on my part, but yeah, I think whatever configuration you put these two in (romantic/queer-platonic/whatever else), these two are just absolutely unhinged about each other. As in they cannot imagine a life without each other anymore. Adam just spent at least a thousand years with Michael alone. That's the equivalent of several human lifetimes! And for Michael, it's of course considerably less, but do you really think he has been this close with, this focused on anyone since Lucifer fell? Since his family broke apart, and he became a general above anything else? Do you think he isn't absolutely thrilled to have Adam, a guy who doesn't always agree with him but likes him anyway, a guy he is literally chilling in the same body with, as close as two people can conceivably be? You think he's not insane about that guy?

Anyway, this got off track, but I truly do believe that how the fix-it goes depends on whether they know this about each other. How secure they are about each other's feelings. Because I think if Adam knows how Michael feels about him, he's more likely to think along the lines of 'Michael was manipulated by his abusive dad and went back to him, man I wish I could have been there and helped him untangle his emotions, he must have been at rock bottom :(' and less likely something like 'Michael went back to his dad as soon as I was gone, guess he never cared about me at all'.

And I guess in the end it does come down to Adam, because while I can see Michael being insecure and not knowing if Adam will take him back, he would also jump immediately if Adam called for him in a prayer or anything like that. Meanwhile, if Adam is angry, I think Michael would withdraw pretty quickly, which Adam would take as confirmation that Michael never really cared much...

So, yeah. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it can go many ways, and to me it depends heavily on whether they (especially Adam, but also Michael) know how much the other cares for them.

[nordickies]

I kindly request more NedDen content because I miss them. I know you’ve drawn them before but how would you interpreter their relationship (platonic or romantic)? I was in Amsterdam last year and I feel like they’d be the kind of couple that would just bike everywhere together.

They definitely would bike everywhere! I think the "unexpected" cultural similarities they share are precious and something that bonds them so exceptionally well. And since they get mixed up in many corners of the world, they feel even more alike. When someone they're not too familiar with wants to talk with Ned, they somehow always go up to Den first, and he has to remind them he's not the same guy.

They have known each other from a very early age, but perhaps their paths didn't cross until their later teenage years when their respective countries started to work together more. And cooperation started to get even more extensive after the Dutch Republic gained independence from Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. I think their relationship was purely professional in the beginning since both of them are rather work-oriented personas. Still, over time, it evolved naturally to something more meaningful for both.

I like to think that when Denmark's relationship with Sweden, or even Norway, was strained due to conflicting interests, he'd turn to Ned to ease his frustrations and loneliness. In a way, being with his colleague-turned-friend was like a breather from all the family drama, and the company started to mean a lot more to the Dane; he felt better understood, and someone listened to what he had to say. As they started to work along more often, Den began to look up to Ned, almost wanting to impress him. Netherlands and his country represented something Den should strive towards, too. He'd listen to Ned's stories and lessons so intrigued. I can imagine poor Norway just shaking his head when Den comes back home, his head full of new grandiose ideas and constantly quoting stuff he has��clearly heard from Ned, thinking he sounds so intellectual.

But I also think Den relied on Ned not only as an ally but as a source of comfort, too. Whenever Den was going through a rough time, he'd find himself longing to be with Ned, doing the stupid things they always do, and getting a break from all the unpleasant work. But Ned is rather ambitious, never settling in one place for too long. He's always got one foot out the door, ready to seek new waters and adventures when they call him. He had way more going on in his life than Den was even aware of. Fortunately, Ned would always return home and share tales about the places he had been to, keeping Den entertained for hours. Even though Denmark is curious about Ned's travels to, e.g. Japan, it always crushed him a bit, knowing Ned had other important people he could open up to, and he didn't rely on Den as much as he did on his Dutch friend. But Ned would probably disagree if he heard that; he wouldn't return home and see Denmark as soon as possible if he didn't find him somewhat meaningful. 

The Netherlands, as serious as he may seem, really likes Denmark - the admiration isn't purely one-sided. The Dane can be full of energy and willpower, but he's sincere. Den has an evident passion for the things he cares about, and he isn't letting others discourage him from achieving his goals, no matter how silly or insignificant they may be to people. Denmark is never boring, and for Ned, who always expects variety in his life, it's an appreciated trait. Ned always admired Den's persistence; if he were frustrated at his peers about things not going as he had initially planned, Den would just storm off and tell everyone to screw themselves, which Ned would find hilarious - though, for some reason, he was the only one in the room laughing about it.

They're good friends who always support and inspire each other - offering a break from the more complicated and messy nature of their existence. But at some point, their friendship took a turn, and they started hooking up. I don't think they had ever intended things to go that way or even continue after their first experiment, but somehow, they often find themselves in each other's company in the late hours of the night when both feel lonely and starved. Their fling, if you can even really call it that, probably began from innocent experimenting. It was perhaps just harmless fun, exploring new sides of themselves with a safe and understanding person; maybe they weren't all that experienced or even comfortable with their identity at that point. But it has always been kind of an unspoken rule between them. They're friends, and bringing up anything more complicated than that would just make things awkward. When they hook up, they have fun, but they won't really talk about it the next day. They just continue with their lives - until it inevitably happens again.

That's how they thrive, being friends first and foremost but also making sure the other gets laid. They strike me as a pair who just like having fun together, regarding all aspects of life. They release their stress by being idiots because they don't know how to talk. When they hang out, they can feel liberated and unpoetically themselves. They're on the same brain wavelength, almost managing to guess when the other is about to call them. "I've had an awful week, let's go get wasted" sort of friendship. They use outdated slang and terms while listening to music the younger generation doesn't understand. They watch sports together and debate about trivial topics. Spend the warm summer nights on terraces, drinking and smoking too much for their own good. But they can also get surprisingly deep and philosophical at times, whether or not they actually misuse substances. It's not unheard of for either Den or Ned to get outlandish ideas out of nowhere, like traveling through the entire continent on bikes - to which the other is immediately on board! They're very impulsive and feed into each other's madness, which may not always be a good thing.

And perhaps that's one of the reasons why they have never desired to make their thing official. Deep down, they both know they'd never last anyway, so neither of them even seeks to make it more serious than it is. They're content with their situation and don't want to ruin their friendship. But I feel like Denmark would be more sentimental and affectionate of the pair, and he can't help but sometimes feel empty afterward, wondering if they should actually talk about these things between them for once?

But those are just my thoughts - how I like interpreting their relationship. There's tons of reference material for these two, so anything can happen! The Netherlands has historically been one of Denmark's most important allies, with long traditions of trade and cooperation. I think there are lots of historical factors that could be interesting to explore but maybe some other time!

[the-laughing-lunatic]

Mediscout cute headcanons!!!

(Omg yea I love these guys so much, def one of my main ships. I also rlly like their dynamic in emesis blue but y’know, not very cute. I have a lot of thoughts about these guys so I accidentally made this really long— word count: 1714. Thx for requesting! :3)

Medic x Scout headcanons!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

☆Platonic☆

Scout’s definitely scared of Medic at first 

I mean, when your coworker mentions plans about putting a baboon uterus inside you you’re gonna be a little on edge

Avoids checkups for so long Medic has to find him and drag Scout himself to the medbay

“Sheiße, you are acting like a little child right now, it is not such a big deal Herr Scout. I am simply going to check a few things.”

“Well I’m sorry if I ain’t too thrilled to have some psycho puttin’ needles or animal parts or whatever in me.”

Medic groaned. “I just need to check your temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Now can you please shut your mouth and let me work?”

While he took Scout’s heart rate, both annoyed, Archimedes flew to Scout’s shoulder and nuzzled into the man’s neck

After the checkup Medic sighed and ushered his dove over. “Him? Really Archimedes?” 

The dove cooed. “Well then, I trust your judgement, I suppose I’ll try to be nicer to him.”

After that he did try to be kinder to Scout, staying around him more, listening to what he’s saying at dinner, looking through his room to learn more about him—

That’s not how Scout interpreted it though, and one day when Medic was trailing a little too close to him again he just snapped “Will you fuckin’ cut it out!?”

“Cut what out?”

“This- this weird stalkerish thing you’re doing. What, you makin’ fun of me? You gonna take my organs in the middle of the night? What do you want?”

“Oh. I was trying to be nicer to you. I could stop if you want.”

“If you wanna be nice you could try talkin’ to me for once.”

And Medic did

Both of them are absolute yappers, and Scout quickly got more comfortable with Medic as they talked more

He’ll never forget the first time he saw Medic laugh

Like, genuinely laugh

He’d seen Medic laugh many times before, either on the operating table or during battle but it was always just…scary

When he actually laughed Scout couldn’t help but laugh as well, because Medic’s real laugh was so different of what he had thought of him

It was warm and nice, and suddenly Medic wasn’t just this psycho ex-doctor, he was also his friend

When they go out for drinks Medic often has to carry Scout back to the base because of his incredibly low alcohol tolerance (not that it’s hard though)

Medic would teach Scout how to take care of his birds in the case he was especially busy, Scout’s their godfather now

I feel like they’d also work well in a qpr, though Medic would have to help Scout a little since he’s been comfortable with his asexuality for longer and has probably been in one before

I headcanon them as both on the ace spectrum so I’m gonna delve into that a bit

I feel like Scout is graysexual while Medic is completely sex-repulsed

Scout honestly would’ve thought he was allosexual for the rest of his life until he heard Medic talking about how being ace felt for him

And he was like “huh, I relate to some of that”

Scout definitely has a lot of questions though

“So like- what’s romantic? Cus I don’t wanna take this too far, but you’re my cucumber, or squash— whatever the word is an’ I wanna show that I care about ya.”

“It’s zucchini, Jeremy. And the point of being in a queerplatonic relationship is that we get to make our own rules for what works for us. All you have to do is ask me if you want to try something.”

“Oh, um, well then. Is it okay if I kiss your cheek, doc?”

“Yes, Jeremy, it’s very okay.”

♡

Biggest dorks ever btw

Just so you know

☆Romantic☆

Medic would fall in love (or realize it at least) over something trivial

Accidentally brushing hands, a word of praise after a battle that made Medic especially appreciated, Scout falling asleep on his shoulder at movie night, etc.

It was weird, because Scout was almost the opposite of his type, he was loud, arrogant, and less than intelligent, but he accepted Scout as the outlier

Even though Medic fell first he didn’t initiate it

Though his moral compass was less than straight when it came to advancing the field of medicine, it felt weird to be the one starting anything with a guy nearly 20 years younger than him

He even performed a brain scan on Scout just to double-check his brain was fully developed (surprisingly, it was) so he could feel less weird about his crush

For a long time he just thought of it as an enjoyable distraction, not anything that could go anywhere

Scout liked Ms. Pauling, and Medic was fine with it. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to date Scout, he just liked the idea of a relationship, and Scout was an attractive man he could project those wants onto.

At least that’s how he reasoned it to himself

The giddy laugh Medic couldn’t help but let out every time he saw him, the way he always made sure to be gentler when he gave Scout his shots, how a Boston accent now equaled attractive in his mind (that didn’t come from Scout though, that’d be ridiculous)

With Scout though, his moment of realization was much less trivial

He was at four health a minute away from the end of the match, desperately trying to keep the blood from the bullet wound in so he wouldn’t have to go to respawn

Getting in respawn at the end of a match was miserable, because you might get stuck in there for hours after so everyone tried to avoid it at all costs

Scout’s eyes widened as he watched his health drop to three, no dispenser in sight

He closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for sitting in the cold room for god know how long, until he saw a light above him

Holding his medigun, Medic stood above him, and the red glow surrounding him as he healed him made him almost look like an angel, his saviour

A psychotic angel, but an angel nonetheless

He felt Medic grab him by his collar (at what point did his knees go weak?) and say to him “Get up schweinhund, and fight.”

They won the match, at least that’s what Scout heard, he didn’t remember anything after Medic saved him

His entire body was on autopilot until the time he went to bed, when he had all night to think about how he was definitely attracted to guys

He definitely had a type though, regardless of gender

Glasses, dark hair, smarter and more mature than him (though that was a low bar), an itty bitty bit psychotic and have huge honkers— (jk jk jk) 

Scout starts coming to the medbay for the tiniest things now so he can see Medic more

“Medic, I got a splinter” “Medic, my elbow’s sore” “Medic, I have a major crush on you and don’t know what to do with it”

After a bit of this, Scout just gave up excuses, Medic didn’t seem to mind his company

It became routine, after dinner Scout’d follow him to the medbay and talk with him while  Medic filled out paperwork, occasionally giving a nod or short question to let Scout know he was still listening

One night though, Scout didn’t follow him back

Medic was disappointed, he had gotten rather fond of his chatter, but shrugged it off as Scout being tired

After a few minutes of paperwork, there was a knock at the door

He opened it to see a very nervous Scout holding a bouquet of roses

“H- hey doc! Um, y’know, we’ve been hangin’ out for a while, I really like you, and I hope you at least like me a little, so, uh, wanna go on a date sometime? Please?”

Medic just stands there for a solid bit before taking the flowers and smiling. “I’d love to.”

Scout takes him to a nice restaurant (that was definitely his idea and not Spy’s) and pays the bill for the both of them, which was substantial because Medic has a taste for the most expensive things on the menu

And Scout is a hella picky eater

“So like, can I have the steak, but - and stay with me here - you grind it up, grill it, cut one of the rolls in half and add the steak, along with fuckin’ ketchup, mustard, lettuce, pickles—”

“Sir, are you describing a burger to me?”

“...yeah?”

“It’s on the kids menu.”

“Oh. Sweet, then can I have that?”

After the date Medic lets Scout kiss him

They suck I hate them so much I don’t think about them all the time (lying)

Nicknames Scout calls Medic: Doc, Angel, Angelcakes, Babe

Nicknames Medic calls Scout: Hase, Schatz, Liebling, Dear

On the battlefield Scout’s constantly by Medic

“Hey Angelcakes, check this out!” “Didja see that? Didja see that?”

If they have to be separated any time Scout sees him he’ll give Medic a kiss

“Hase you’re at ten health, can you please stop trying to kiss me for a second so I can heal you?” 

“Ugh, fine.”

After he’s done Medic gives Scout a kiss. “Thank you, on your way.”

Clingy ass motherfuckers

Scout’s way more obvious with it than medic though

Medic hardly even has to do anything, they’ll just be talking and Scout’ll notice half-way in the conversation that he’s cuddled up in Medic’s arms

Scout often sits in Medic’s lap as he works, rambling on about some comic he read or whatever.

After a few months of dating Medic only sleeps in Scout’s room

It feels more homey than his, which he admittedly already slept in very little due to his unfortunate habit of passing out at his desk

Nights often consist of Scout cuddled into Medic’s chest while Medic reads aloud to the both of them

(real talk reading together is such an underrated couple activity can we talk about this—)

“ —alright, that’s the end of the chapter. Liebling, are you asleep?”

“Nah, just relaxed. Love you angel.”

“I love you too Jeremy, Goodnight.”

They are the biggest saps ever and I will stand by this until the day I die

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

[erynshouseofhorrors]

My Queer Marble Hornets Headcanons

This is mostly going to be Alex, Jay, Brian, and Tim since I'm not as familiar with the other characters. Jessica's at the end but there's not a lot, so I welcome people to add on!

Warning: Tim/Brian/Unnamed OC, Jay/Alex, Amy/Jessica, and mentioned Alex/Amy. Obviously very little of this is canon lol.

Jay Merrick

Jay is canonically gay and I think that just fits. He didn't find out he was gay until their junior year of high school, thanks to a guy whose name he has long forgotten.

Jay is definitely transmasc. I don't think they're entirely male, but not exactly both male and female. He's somewhere in-between male and neutral. I purposefully left their AGAB up to interpretation, I think it could go either way. Transmasc just means identifying with a masc gender that you weren't assigned at birth.

Jay uses he/they pronouns.

The first person outside of Jay's family that they came out to was Alex during their sophomore year of university. Alex is also the only one of his friends aware of Jay's struggle with gender identity, making their bond extra special. Eventually Jessica would also be looped in on that secret.

He thinks about using makeup, but they're too scared to actually buy himself anything in fear of judgement... until Alex bought him an eyeshadow palette.

They actually got pretty good at applying and styling makeup, and he helped Alex out by being the makeup artist (and script supervisor) for Marble Hornets.

Alex Kralie

I can't picture him dating a girl and actually enjoying it. His relationship with labels is difficult, because he struggles to tell the difference between romantic attraction and platonic love, which is mostly why he got with Amy to begin with. They broke up because Alex wouldn't take their relationship past a kiss on the cheek and arm around the shoulder.

When he met Jay his freshman year of uni, that was the first time he felt physically attracted to someone. The weeks to follow were filled with "am I gay" quizzes and articles.

Alex only settled on the gay label for the sake of convenience. He doesn't mind going unlabeled or switching labels around as things change and his relationships grow.

He probably doesn't know this yet, but he's definitely on the asexual spectrum. He feels sexual attraction, but only sometimes. I hc him as either greyace or demiace.

Alex uses he/him pronouns.

Brian Thomas

Brian uses both pansexual and bisexual to describe his sexuality. "Ass is ass, man. I don't care."

His sexuality has never been something he hid, but it also wasn't obvious to his straight peers. He'll casually bring up an ex-boyfriend or first kiss and everyone has their jaw on the floor. Almost everyone. Tim's usually in the corner of the room, smirking at their obliviousness.

Brian uses he/him pronouns, but he won't flip his lid if someone calls him something else. He knows his identity isn't defined by how others choose to perceive him.

He's definitely that friend who's known they were gay since grade school, so he's well educated on queer history and terminology. He even helped Alex and Tim out while they were questioning.

He dated Tim in their early years at uni, but split up after Tim had a mental breakdown and ghosted him for a few months.

Brian is also ambiamorous, which means he's okay with being in a monogamous or polyamorous relationship. This is partly why he wasn't too upset when Tim moved on and started dating a girl from another town. Why try bagging your ex when you can bag him and his new girlfriend, am I right?

Tim Wright

Tim never bothered with sexuality labels until he was finally free of psychosis and constant hospital visits. He was too busy fighting for his life to think and fantasize about love interests.

He was completely convinced he was straight until he and Brian shared a drunken kiss the night after final exams. After that, he and Brian were hooking up in secret, and Tim was having an identity crisis behind the scenes.

Tim and Brian were together for at least a few months before Tim ghosted him. It wasn't his fault, or Brian's. Tim's psychosis had been coming back, causing him to self-isolate out of paranoia. Whenever Brian tried reaching out, Tim replied with radio silence.

After getting better (again) he was too scared to contact Brian, so he forced himself to move on. And he did! He started dating a girl he met while working, and things just kind of took off. And then Brian enters his life again.

His girlfriend, surprisingly, was amused by Brian's flirtatious remarks toward her and Tim, and even teased back. After a long conversation with Tim, they decided to ask Brian out.

Tim still doesn't care for labels, but when asked he'll say he's bisexual and ambiamorous. Also he uses he/him because I forgot to mention that.

Jessica Locke

I believe someone working with Troy on the comics believes Jessica is a lesbian and honestly I love that interpretation. Nothing about her screams "straight" to me.

I truly, truly believe Jessica is trans MTF. She does voice training every morning to get better at sounding feminine, mostly to avoid harassment from her peers.

She's incredibly skilled with makeup, since she's had lots of practice in middle school. She was the one Jay came to when he got his first eyeshadow palette from Alex.

Jessica was there for Amy when she and Alex split. They had a sleep over for three nights in a row, ignoring the fact that they were roommates and already slept in the same building. They switched back and forth between Jessica's room and Amy's, making pillow forts and watching cartoons until all thoughts of Alex were gone. A month later, Amy asked Jessica on a date.

Honestly I think she'd be okay with any variant of she/her, so get creative.

aaaaaaa I hope you enjoyed! I haven't posted any headcanons before so I am nervous lol also fyi I didn't proofread this so oh well

[hoshibait]

a late night analysis of sports by beach bunny and how i associate it with ryoena. heavily inspired by that one anon a while ago and my lovely follower who made me a ryoena moodboard today, to those two, thank you <3

(please note that i’m gonna use my own interpretation of the song, i know it’s commonly associated with complicated and unrequited/ambiguous feelings but if anything i feel like that intensifies my reasoning for associating it with ryoena LMAO. also this is just for fun. don’t take it too seriously unless you wanna use this as a way to get to know my selfship more.)

anyway! onto my gay little ramble.

okay hi, i love overanalyzing things so if anything i’m using this as a way to articulate my ryoena dynamic. to start things off, let’s look over the generally accepted meaning of the song.

i basically take this as a helpless clumsy person chasing after an emotionally closed off person after a few times analyzing the lyrics. and if any of my mutuals know anything about ryoma and ena’s dynamic, that’s basically how i describe them. their whole thing is that ena’s just hopelessly smitten over this closed off stern boy and it’s ambiguous if he even returns such feelings for a while. and if he does, he’s really bad at confronting them. not only complicating things for him, but also frustrating ena in the process. basically i see this song very obviously being from ena’s perspective.

first two lines are self-explanatory if you know anything about ryoma hoshi. ryoma’s very stern and more of a loner right from the start, and ofc noticeably depressed due to trauma and other mental health issues. ena immediately takes interest in him and wants to get to know him. “i could be lonely with you.” could be them wanting to spend time with him regardless of him feeling down a lot. “why do you seem so blue?” can be taken as them still being curious about him and why the way he is.

“why are we so complicated?” is self explanatory, their relationship is odd. i often like to joke about it being “friendship goals!!!” or whatever as a sarcastic thing. although tbf their relationship is very ambiguous even when they’re intimately together. not quite romantic, but very much not platonic either.

“maybe love is overrated” is very interesting to me especially. i’m definitely just looking too much into it but i personally find it PERFECT for ena. and if anything a huge part of their character. ena’s the ultimate relationship counselor. being especially known for being good at tackling romance problems. however the bitter irony being that well, they’re very much on the aromantic spectrum, and that they heavily struggle with own romantic life, or rather lack thereof. as good as they are at handling romantic problems for other people. romance frustrates them beyond relief when it comes to themselves. that’s why it’s so agonizing when they eventually fall for ryoma. not only do they have mushy feelings for someone for the first time, but the person is, very emotionally closed off.

i absolutely love this verse. it’s a simple metaphor but it works so well. sports very much being a metaphor for the “game of love” so to speak. and again, adds onto ena’s characteristic of struggling so much with romance for themselves. “save the games for the girls on the tennis court” can refer to ena’s insecurity and frustration, basically saying “find someone else to toy with.”

and of course, the sports metaphor being perfect due to ena’s crush being a former tennis prodigy, down to the tennis court line, like cmon it’s perfect.

“say you need me, but lately, you feel unsure.” fits ryoma in this universe, so well. LMAO. even when ryoma eventually starts to return those feelings, he’s reluctant due to his fear and paranoia of letting his partner down or losing them immediately. he feels he’s not worth the energy, so he simply pushes people away.

“come on to me, i need more.” is ena’s desperation to just, help this poor guy LMAO. but also just being starved of his affection.

“if you feel broken, promise i won’t break your heart. if you shatter, i won’t let you fall apart.” is self explanatory. it’s ena’s constant reassurance and comfort for the boy. they’re basically a hypeman for him lmao, although they don’t come off too strong. they come to learn that he dislikes it when people are too intense, in a way this kinda instills a new fear into ena. with them accidentally coming off as too avoidant sometimes as a result of not wanting to overwhelm him.

“love’s a word i always hated.” just really reinforces why i associate this song so hard with ena and ryoena as a whole.

again, more of ena’s desperation just turning into frustration. calling ryoma confusing in the process. “if we keep score, bet my money that i’m losing.” i interpret as them being dejected and hopeless about the relationship.

aaaand that’s about it! this is my first time doing something like this so bear with me. hope this wasn’t too cringe lmao. my phone is about to break bc of how long this post is so i’m gonna end it here lol

[plus-i-miss-you]

Hey Hey! Can you do Yandere! Haruka having to hunt the reader down?

▷ listening to:

"he chased me and he wouldn't stop" (gn!reader)

⇆ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻ ılıılıılıılıılıılıㅤ

♪ note: yes i used melanie martinez lyrics for the title. hope you like this one, anon! it ended up being a little bit more like a scenario rather than headcanons, haha..

♪ summary: it turns out that arguing with your best friend who most likely has feelings for you and likes you a little too much and threatening to leave him is actually a surprisingly dangerous idea.

♪ warnings: general yandere themes, the reader and haruka are friends, but it's implied that haruka's feelings for them are romantic (you're free to see them as platonic though!), toxic relationships, there's a scene of haruka almost hurting a cat because yeah. he. he is still an animal murderer, but the cat ends up being safe, haruka's relationship with his mother is mentioned and it's one of the reasons why he's so obsessed with the reader, the ending is ambiguous and is up to interpretation.

♪ "y/n! y/n, where are you? y/n, please, just.. c-can you hear me? y/n, i-i know you're here!"

so, uh.. how did you two end up like this? everything was fine. you two had a completely normal conversation, so how- oh, who are you kidding. haruka's been acting really weird lately and you knew it. yes, you know it's your fault for not taking any action and just continuing to act like everything is okay. you've tried to convince yourself that it's just your imagination and this guy isn't obsessed with you and doesn't even have any feelings for you. you two are just friends, right? two friends who have a totally healthy relationship! except right now you're running through this forest just so that your friend leaves you alone and doesn't do anything to you. 

♪ you knew about his family situation. you knew about his mother and everything. you allowed him to talk about it if he wanted to, but he never did, he preferred to simply listen to you instead. you knew that he doesn't seem to like animals that much. you found it a bit weird, but you were fine with it. but today, while you two were having a walk and haruka wanted you to take a look at something, you interrupted him and pointed at a cute stray cat walking not so far away. haruka stood there, trying to get your attention, but you wanted to have a chat with a little guy instead. you walked closer to the cat and said hi to it, but before you could have a long and meaningful conversation with it, you suddenly saw a small, but a sharp-looking rock flying above your head. thankfully, the kitty quickly ran away and didn't get hurt in the process, but the moment you looked at the rock lying on the ground, you felt like your heart has stopped beating. 

"o-oh.. i-i am s-so sorry!.. i-i could've hurt you.. why am i so dumb.."

♪ you didn't want to turn around. you didn't want to even look at him. there was nobody else around. of course it was him. the thing is, if it was someone else, you would just get angry at them and call them out. but something about haruka, out of all people, being okay with hurting a cat just to get your attention was.. it was so messed up, but for some reason, you could imagine him doing it. you slowly stood up and, still refusing to turn around, asked haruka why he did it. he didn't reply. you repeated your question, but now it sounded much louder and you couldn't hide your anger anymore. it was enough to make haruka scream and tell you at least something.

"i'm sorry! i really am! i'm so sorry!.. it's just.. i.. w-wanted you to look at me.."

"you could've just told me that, you know that? what did that cat do to you?!"

"I'M SORRY! I TOLD YOU I'M SORRY!" 

♪ at this point, you were feeling tired because of him apologizing all the time. actually, haruka's behavior in general was making you feel tired. yes, you didn't want to leave him like this. yes, you knew just how much you mean to him. but you thought that for your own mental health (and for your own safety) it would be better to just go home. 

"i'm leaving, haruka."

a pause.

"h-huh?.. leaving?.. w-what's that supposed to mean?"

"it means exactly that. i'm leaving."

♪ you started to walk away and you tried your best to ignore haruka begging you to stay and sounding like he's about to cry. he probably really was about to cry. yes, you did feel bad for him. yes, you felt like a horrible person for leaving him. but you seriously should have noticed all the signs and red flags when you just became friends with him and now you can see how bad your relationship can get if you continue this. 

ignoring haruka's cries wasn't.. a good idea though. 

"I SAID DON'T GO!"

okay. you have to run.

♪ maybe this situation wasn't that bad. maybe you've made everything up. yes, haruka is.. kinda unstable, but it's fine, he just needs attention. your attention, to be more specific. maybe you really shouldn't have ignored him-

no. no, a normal person and a normal friend with normal feelings for you wouldn't chase you like his prey. if haruka really didn't mean to do anything bad to you, you two would have solved this issue already and you would be eating cotton candy and talking about stuff on the way home. "oh, but he's not good with expressing his true feelings!" but he's also not THIS bad at it.

♪ you seriously didn't know what he was planning to do to you. he won't hurt you, right? why would he hurt you if he needs more affection from you? and he won't, like.. kill you or anything, right?.. i mean, why would he? you're so special to him, you're so important to him, you're the only person who talks to him nowadays, not even his own mother looks at him anymore, she even refuses to call him by name sometimes, but he has you! and that's okay! because you make him happy! if he has you, he doesn't need anyone else! you are literally the only reason why he's still alive!

so if something happened to you.. what would happen to haruka-

"y/n! there you are!"

a tight embrace. it feels like your ribs are about to break.

"y-you've scared me, haha.. let's go home, okay?.."

[queerplatonicshipshowdown]

Round 2, Match 3

John Doe and Arthur Lester (Jarthur) from Malevolent vs. Kotetsu T. Kaburagi and Barnaby Brooks Jr. (Taibani) from Tiger and Bunny!

Propaganda for John and Arthur:

The inherent intimacy of having a guy (John) inside your (Arthur) head who you don't know the history or goals of but still bond over the atrocities you go through in your shared body. And sometimes he's an arsehole but you know that he wants the best for you and it's so much more than any other relationship they could have and in the end they always have eachother and I'm jealous of a sad British man and the voice in his head. They're friends and each others world and everything and I want what they have. OH DID I MENTION THAT ARTHUR IS FUCKINF BLIND AND JOHN IS HIS ONLY ACCESS TO SIGHT? IT'S BEAUTIFUL. Like John always takes such care to describe their surroundings (no seriously he starts waxing poetic). I mean yh he withholds it sometimes but every door has its issues. Anyways yh I love them and they deserve the world.

They are extremely close, both literally and figuratively. John is inside of Arthur's head, and they often fight in ways that have been referred to by the fans as 'divorce moments' but they still very clearly care about and love each other, in a way that is explicitely non-romantic. Their love is desperate and aching and they're not just friends, but they are definitely not dating, and a LOT of the fandom interprets them as queerplatonic.

Oh, the special kind of affection and friendship that can only bloom between a 1930s private detective and the eldritch entity that ends up possessing his eyes and left arm. 95% of this show is Arthur (the detective) bickering with John (the eldritch entity) like an old married couple, and falling in and out of trust with each other. Despite that they are both fiercely loyal to the other and by the point the podcast is at now they seem to trust each other implicitly - Arthur has to rely on John to guide him since John can see out of the eyes of their body and Arthur can't, but when they fall into an abandoned mine and are reunited (long story) they immediately fall back into that old, trusting rhythm. They share a body and their initial goal in the podcast is to be separated, but by the point we're at now they're not too fussed about it. They're making plans to go out to dinner and the movies. Also, Arthur is aro-coded - there's a big emotional arc that involves him accepting the fact that he never had romantic feelings for his wife, even during the birth of their child or her death, and how that doesn't make him a bad person or diminish the love he felt for that child.

Propaganda for Taibani:

The creators said that their relationship could be read as either platonic or romantic so why not queerplatonic

[goodluckdetective]

An update post season 2 release: I’VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE. I’d delete this post but:

1. I was wrong and I should admit it.

2. This post actually explains what queerbaiting is pretty well: it’s this kind of marketing except unlike Good Omens, there is 0 payoff. Cus shows marketed like this before with 0 payoff which is why I was so worried.

Anyway, glad to be terribly wrong on main. I accept my position as clown.

A Good Omens hot take on “queerbaiting” below. No spoilers, but lord knows people have talked this to death, so I’m sorry in advance:

As a queer person, I didn’t think the first season was queerbaiting. I know some folks did and that’s fine, I’m not here to change your mind and I respect your opinion. But to me, while it was somewhat ambiguous, it was very obvious the two loved each other, that it was a love story and regardless if it was platonic, romantic or “whatever these two got going on”, the text was clear that all of those perspectives were valid. Especially since it was a close adaptation of the book. Never did I get the feeling that the show was mocking me for thinking it could be romantic, or just playing around: it felt like the show respected that read.

Now, as season 2 comes up, I think the show has set itself up to fall into queerbait if they keep things ambiguous. This mostly has to do with regards the marketing. The marketing has been pretty damn romantic in a way season 1 wasn’t: Amazon Prime clips on youtube label the pair as a couple. Like this ain’t subtle:

The playlists being full of love songs (Take Me to Church? Really?). The Twitter ship teasing quite a bit. Outside of marketing, Neil describing the season as romantic. Having a romantic couple (Maggie and Nina) mirror the main pair (the lesbians are not queerbait of course, it’s the mirroring that can be an issue: Supernatural pulled this multiple times). This is pretty classic queerbaiting should this be left ambiguous. It is one thing to have a relationship be open to interpretation but have the narrative respect each interpretation equally. It’s another to imply a specifically romantic relationship and then never actually follow through.

“But Iz-“ You say. “They’re supernatural beings, they aren’t interested in sex-“ I never said there had to be sex. Hell, there doesn’t even have to be kissing. Holding hands or a love confession I think would be entirely acceptable for me (not for everyone, this is just me personally). I think you can have them be supernatural beings and still denote a relationship as queer without a huge make out scene. My concern here is that we get something so ambiguous that the build up feels deeply dishonest. Where you constantly hype up something as a romance and then when the curtain is about to fall, go “but it’s all up to the viewer, why would you guys think it HAS to be a romance, you can if you want but that’s just your read!” Like yes, it is just my read, but you’re the one who has been advertising this as a romance for months, not as a “odd couple who can be romantic if you want!” There’s a difference there to me. The second feels like making fun, and in a way that’s kind of mean.

I am of course, one lesbian, so don’t take my word as gay gospel. Just my thoughts.

(And don’t @ Neil or anything. The show isn’t out yet and even if it was and my concerns prove valid, I don’t need to staple my critique to his internet door)

[miss-dollette]

I saw your tarot post yesterday and since I can't fall asleep I figured I'd give it a go now. Plus all people are posting in the simon tag is hardcore kinks.

SO for a breath of fresh air, what do the cards think my relationship would be like with a 141 guy of your choosing, platonic or partner idc? (Genuinely from the cannon i know about Simon's character I think he'd think I was a big baby but I could see myself attaching to him like an annoying little sibling. Hands down I think it'd be completely platonic for all of them. EXCEPT maybe Gaz. maybe. I'd probably crush on Kyle hard.).

also I have this story-ish idea that's basically a completely normal person being isekai'd into the 141 rec room right as the boys show up and since they're professionals they'd 100% detain them and then let the military police take over which ends that story immediately. I've had that idea in my head for weeks and it just gives me a chuckle so I'm sharing it.

Sure! So happy I finally got my first commission, so thanks so much!

Omg, It wasn’t until I was completely finished with my reading, did I realize you mentioned Gaz 😭. I would have done a reading between you and him 🥲. Fuck, well that’s my fault. Let me know if you want a reading between you and him.

Just to let you know, this is a reading and some personal things that you would prefer to keep to yourself may be revealed. I'll delete this without hesitation if you tell me to, but i would need a bit of proof so I know it's not some shithead fucking around. Don't worry, everything will be kept between us :)

Let's see what your relationship with the Captain himself - Price - would be like. Platonic and romantic.

Platonic:

Question - What would a platonic relationship/friendship between him and Anonymous be like?

Cards pulled: Knight of Swords (Reversed), Ace of Cups & Queen of Cups. And Ace of Swords for you, Anon - just to get to know ya' a bit more, bbygurl.

Card 1: The Foundation - Knight of Swords (Reversed).

Interpretation -

Keywords: Impulsiveness, Miscommunication, Unfulfilled Potential, Restlessness.

So, while there is a lot of energy (intense), the direction isn't really clear. John Price's personality may clash with yours a bit. You're smart, but you have a tendency to overthink and have a lot of inner conflict. You struggle with clear decision making, dear.

You may second guess yourself a lot, and this would lead to a lot of frustration between you guys. Paired with such a straightforward and action-oriented person such as Price, this would lead to misinterpretations.

Captain Price is a bullet heading straight for the target, while you’re a bouncing ball that misses his path every time he speeds by, making the both of y’all miss out on opportunities that would strengthen your bond. 

You guys would need to meet face-to-face and just lay out plans for things to get better.

Card 2: The Growth - Ace of Cups.

Interpretation -

Keywords: Emotional Connection, Compassion, New Beginnings, Deepening Bonds.

Wow, there's so much love to grow! Once you guys get past all the confusion, there's so much potential for mutual respect and a truly rewarding connection.

The Ace of cups can mean new beginning's in a friendship, so I could see the tides shifting, and the both of you surpassing the initial confusion and disconnection.

You guys would bond and become a source of comfort for each other, at this point.

Card 3: The Outcome - Queen of Cups.

Interpretation -

Keywords: Nurturing, Intuition, Emotional Depth, Compassionate Support.

You guys would bring out the best in each other. Yin and Yang - where you a chaotic little ball of energy, he's a steady stream. You guys would compliment each other like PB&J.

He would lean on you to understand his emotions and frustrations, and he would offer you a place to lay your head on, where you could see much clearer.

Overall: The beginning would be a bit rocky, but you guys would eventually come to a point where the both of you could find comfort in one another. Both of you would find a nurturing and reliable friend.

“Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.”

Coldplay - Fix You.

Romantic:

Question - What would a romantic relationship between Anon and Price be like?

Cards pulled: King of Swords, Death Reversed, and Ten of Swords.

Card 1 - The Nature of the Relationship - King of Swords.

interpretation -

Keywords: Logic, Authority, Clear Communication, Rationality

Like the natural born leader he is, Price would take on the mantle of leader in this relationship. He would take charge all logic, fairness and rational decision-making.

This relationship would be kind of cold. While you both value each other, emotions would need to take a backseat in exchange for logic and practicality.

Both of you would value honesty and direction.

You are such a sweetheart, Anon, and a ball of emotions. Price would have trouble understanding you. This would lead to disappointment on both your ends. Partly because you’re prone to mood swings - leading to miscommunication.

Card 2 - The Challenges - Death Reversed.

Interpretation -

Keywords: Resistance to Change, Stagnation, Fear of Transformation

Stagnation. Both of you are resistant to change and transformation.

There would be difficulty evolving past the initial stage of the relationship. Both of you would be afraid of change, and that would lead to a lot of tension. Anon, I don’t see this going well 🥲

Card 3 - The Outcome - Ten of Swords.

Interpretation -

Keywords: Betrayal, Endings, Painful Conclusions, Release

This is so sad. The challenges would be too much to bear, and the both of you would need to let each other go. You guys would just clash too much, anon.

Even though it’s painful, the both of you would move on and heal. It would be for the best, honestly.

“I’ve done everything I know to try and make you mine, and I think I’m gonna love you for a long, long time”

Linda Ronstadt - Long, Long Time.

(Ignore papi Alejandro pls)

How would the boys react to a person from our universe being “Isekai’d” to their universe?

Simon “Ghost” Riley: Six of Wands Reversed - Man’s would not trust you. Like, at all. This is gonna sound so mean, but he would be disappointed (pls don’t kill me im just the messenger) until you proved your value to the team. He’d be wary of you.

Gaz: Knight of Pentacles Reversed - Disturbed that the established order would be messed up. Would slowly warm up to you, and would be reserved. Most focused on his team’s safety.

Price: The Sun Reversed - Mixed feelings. Would have expectations out of you. Guarded optimism. He would be concerned about the challenges you would bring. Would investigate why you suddenly appeared.

Soap: He’s so fucking smart. Idk why people write him as dumb. This man is logical as fuck, and would approach the situation with a clear vision and assess all the data he could gather. Would ask questions. It would almost be like an intimidation. Man’s is kinda scary.

Anon: Two of Pentacles Reversed - You would be scared as fuck lol. Like, freaking out (I think anyone would). You wouldn’t know how to adapt.

[tinukis]

i may seem to lean in more towards romanticism of zolu but imma be real here

theyre a whole secret third thing to me like— idk how to explain it it other than their love and bond transcends what romance and platonic. yes i will draw them smooching and have hearts flying all around them but it is not exactly romantic/platonic... (i mean honestly i dont mind how ppl interpret zolu whether its my art or in general)

bc i saw this one comic that just... perfectly described zolu and the strawhats to me? it was about law catching zolu and then discussing with the other strawhats about it and they explained that luffy does in fact love everyone equally and the same. for luffy, romantic nor platonic is Not a thing to him. (this is how i view luffy's aroaceness !! love isnt a category for him. love isnt something he could just pick and choose or whatever. love is just... loving someone. love is for the people very dear to him.) and in the comic, the strawhats say that zoro's the one and only guy who could keep up with luffy's energy and antics. so they dont mind the things they do together in privacy or in front of them. they know how much luffy loves them ALL EQUALLY and they all love him back

on topic of zolu and aroace... i've been around spaces and talked to a few zolu shippers (qpr shipping count) and noticed how many of us are at least on the aro/ace spectrum. there's just Something about zolu's special relationship that attracts us, and if you ship them and are aro/ace, im certain you'd agree. (even if you arent, we can mutually agree that they are a third thing, right?) like, theres something so... aroace about their relationship. they can be seen as romantic and they can be seen as platonic, but what can be absolutely certain is that their relationship is definitely queer. bc it's not something you can easily describe or that their relationship is The Norm. theyre insane for each other. luffy's the sun. zoro's the moon. luffy's a good. zoro's the king of hell. they complete each other. they absolutely need each other.

my memory is horrible and i cant say the words properly but basically: zolu's love and relationships transcends romance and platonically. yes you can see it as either, but as an aroace, i Feel it is way beyond that.

and again, will repeat it a million times over (mind you, it's not canon. it's a widely accepted HEADCANON. if you think luffy's sexuality is something else, thats cool): i believe that luffy's aroaceness is way beyond "not interested in attraction/xyz/whatever" like yeah, he doesn't think about it because it doesnt matter much to him. he doesnt apply whats romantic or platonic to HIS relationships. he can recognize romantic, sexual, platonic things. it's just not his thing to really think hard about (he doesnt think much in the first place (affectionage)) he feels love for the people he cares about and if they feel loved by him, however he approaches the love (and if they accept that kind of form) thats all that matters to him. he doesnt label/categorize love because it makes no sense to Him to prioritize someone over the other just bc he loves that someone a different way. he loves everyone equally and treats them as equals.

and when it comes to Any luffy ships, calling his significant other "partner" is what fits best. theyre not just best friends, theyre partners.

this is a mess of a rant but this is just how i feel abt zolu, luffy, his ship pairs, and his aroace hc :]

[beanghostprincess]

Same anon about buggy hate here

Yeah I do think it’s especially funny when I see hate from die hard OP fans who definitely are up to date. They just misinterpreted 1082 because they want to hate this character. And for no actual reason whatsoever, other than they want their cool hot characters to be always on top (not that I don’t find buggy hot, please buggy simps spare my life)

I think of buggy more like an absent minded character though. Like I don’t think he’s just dumb dumb, but definitely he has this great comedy moments, coming from his hotheadedness and completely not paying attention. I genuinely think he’s one of the funniest OP characters. And I do think 1082 was big change of that in a way. He didn’t lose those characteristic, he just got more.

Tbh I didn’t even mean it in shippy way? I don’t really engage that much with shipping other than zolu tbh. I guess it could be interpreted in shippy way though so yeah… I meant just dynamics that people choose to portray between those two. Definitely just see a lot of zolu/shanks/buggy mix there which is… kinda iffy to me. People already have this type of relationship there but something stopping them from engaging

And yeah shanks and buggy literally have insane bond just on the fact of their shared experiences growing up. Just that fact is enough to make shanks like buggy, or see him as brother, or whatever you want to portray them as. (I’m more on brotherly bond but hey, it’s just marine’s interpretation, so nothing canon! Not hating on any shippers here). And I truly do think shanks just genuinely likes that guy. As in his character. The way he acts. He loves being playful with him, like me and my siblings. For me it’s like someone saying to me “why you love your sisters, she’s annoying”. That’s my sister and I don’t care how others see her. She’s just mine and always will be. You know? So definitely I agree with your point (in twisted way, agree bond exist, just different interpretation)

I’m sure buggy will have nice arc with cool finish. Probably do have some kind of moment about shanks too. It’s just makes sense from writing point and I think deep inside many people hate that fact.

Thanks for taking your time with answering me!

[Context]

As somebody who reads chapter 1082 every day (a normal amount of times, thank you very much) people misinterpreting it makes my blood boil.

And I wish I could expand on what you've already said but I think we've talked about everything I've had in mind? Like, yes, Buggy is still himself even after 1082. In fact, it just added depth to his character and made him even better. The ships thing is pretty real too, and people often are afraid to engage with new dynamics and stick to what's safe. And it doesn't even need to be romantic, if you see them in a platonic way that's cool too, the point is that Shanks still cares for him and has his reasons to love Buggy.

I'm not even worried about Buggy's arc because I trust Oda with this, so we'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

[crumblingreader]

Okay so I started reading the lyrics of Slut! and oh my god...

So, the song starts, she gives us a look at the atmosphere she's in, it's the summer, in Florida apparently, and she's in love.

Then...

Got love-struck, went straight to my head Got lovesick all over my bed Love to think you’ll never forget Handprints in wet cement Adorned with smoke on my clothes Lovelorn and nobody knows Love thorns all over this rose I’ll pay the price, you won’t

She's in love, nobody knows, and she suffers because the other person isn't as involved in the relationship as she is, right? And even if it's beautiful (rose) it's dangerous (thorns).

But if I’m all dressed up They might as well be looking at us And if they call me a slut You know it might be worth it for once And if I’m gonna be drunk I might as well be drunk in love

Here, what she's saying is that people are looking at her, maybe her and her partner, and they don't understand what they see. "They might as well be looking at us" they will look at them, but they don't know she's not dressed up for them or in general but for this specific person.

"If they call me a slut you know it might be worth it for once" sounds a lot to me like she is being slut shamed all the time (which we know) and this time at least they will be talking about an actual romantic relationship of hers and not a platonic one. It's the "you know", in my opinion, that makes the difference, because if it wasn't there I would interprete this sentence as a way to say "well, maybe the media will eat us alive but I love you so it's worth it" but with the "you know" I understand it as "this time you know that it's real".

Send the code, he’s waiting there The sticks and stones they throw froze mid-air Everyone wants him, that was my crime The wrong place at the right time And I break down, then he’s pulling me in In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

Pronouns switch, she's not talking about her partner here!

She sends a code (a message), then that guy appear and stops the "sticks and stones" (which sounds an awful lot like snakes and stones imo but maybe I'm reaching) people were throwing (hum hum because people thought she was dating someone else? Someone they weren't so keen to accept?). Sadly this guy comes with his bunch of problems: people want him so they project their jealousy on her, because they were at the wrong place when she needed him (the right time), but he's still helping her.

Half asleep, taking your time In the tangerine, neon light, this is luxury You’re not saying you’re in love with me But you’re going to Half awake, taking your chances It’s a big mistake, I said, “It might blow up in your pretty face” I’m not saying, “Do it anyway” (Do it anyway) But you’re going to

Back to "you", her partner telling her that they love her is "a big mistake", might blow up in their face... Why is that? I mean it could be that she's overexposed and all... It could be something else too.