#i think his character was very well written; he really embodied a lot of traits of t.ezca and

[darabeatha]

/ My dream is to actually get to write Tezcatlipoca here :nods:

[lurking-latinist]

re: these tags

THAT'S SO COOL AHHHH!! good for you aubreyad community stays winning

[introducing this with a disclaimer in case i'm wrong about everything: i am only halfway through the series rn (just about to finish 10) and also am but a mere undergrad classics major who has yet to even declare said major and I probably don't have the right to be yapping about propertius. nevertheless i shall.]

anyway i have been growing persistently more insane about diana's proximity to a Lot of classical imagery, like how her first appearance in post captain is literally during a fox hunt + all the gender stuff she has going, obviously linking her to mythological diana (and artemis if we're going to conflate the two) but your take has sent me in a whole new direction with that-- because she doesn't actually really embody the artemis archetype all too much overall (an emphasized character trait being that she's notably Not Chaste) EXCEPT in relation to stephen, w/ whom her relationship is much more brotherly than it is sensual i guess?

which would align very well with your idea of diana as elegiac puella-- sort of in a way being mythologized by stephen-- resulting in the reader actually being able to see two different manifestations of her character (one through the eyes of an omniscient prosaic narrator and one through the perspective of stephen as a "poet" figure). and i just think that's neat.

my latin class has also been looking at a few of propertius' love elegies and, at least to me, they read a lot like if stephen 1.) hated himself significantly less and 2.) were less indecisive in writing about his Feelings?? 1.8 (and all of the poems concerning cynthia moving/traveling away and propertius being all moody about it) is very reminiscent of the arc from post captain to the surgeon's mate imo. 1.12 is also Literally Him-- "cynthia prima fuit cynthia finis erit" can be compared to stephen's poetic catastrophizing about how his life is Literally Over and Love Is Dead when he believes to have fallen out of love with diana!?!? i'm going to lose my mind.

sorry for dumping all of this on you unprompted and also sorry for the fact that it probably does not make sense. peace and love

if undergrad classicists don't talk about propertius literally WHO WILL. (genuinely my currently-being-written phd dissertation chapter is based on an idea I had in the class I read propertius in freshman year. never feel like you're not a 'real scholar' or something yet, because you honestly never do become something different, you just keep reading and talking and this is what we do! there's nothing realer than this!)

oh wow that's really well put--we kind of get to see her from an omniscient-narrator perspective and through the eyes of her lover who is Not Being Normal About Her. very nice!

yeah I keep reading bits of propertius and being like "hmm is po'b going to quote this one I wonder." (he doesn't mostly but I keep thinking he should. because I want the aubreyad to be denser and less accessible I guess? :P) there's a lot of catullus woven in too of course - I associate Catullus 72 with the 'falling out of love' arc (my dude that is not what falling out of love looks like).

oh gosh yes 1.8 -- that was one of the things I was trying to describe to Distinguished Classicist, the way she's so -- what's the word I want? not volatile... she disappears. she's constantly Gone. you turn around and oops, she's eloped to Sweden. (honestly though if Cynthia and Propertius could manage to have *fake* revenge affairs that would actually be *great*, for them that would be an improvement.) Gareth Williams (in a chapter called, amazingly, "From Grave to Rave") describes Cynthia as "ever only elusively visible in the narratological mist" and I feel like that's a bit what's going on with Diana. For her there's a genre element as well--she's a woman in the Men Going to Sea books, and even though the Aubreyad gives way more time to women than the average Men Going to Sea book, the fact is the camera frequently simply isn't on her. We see far more of Stephen thinking about her, hearing rumors, etc. than we do of her actually being on the page. Now in elegy nobody seems to be quite fully on the page, we only get "fragments of story" as Genevieve Liveley and Patricia Salzmann-Mitchell say (excellent collection by that name btw, I recommend checking it out if you're at all interested in narrative and lyric/elegy). But Diana manages this while being in a novel, which is impressive to me.

yeah stephen as a character is a lot more... self-reflective? than propertius' speaker. for one thing he's in a novel, I think, so he can actually... have a series of contiguous experiences. he's also a compulsive diarist which is helpful for self-reflection I guess. and more mature, like, as a human being, than propertius' speaker, who apparently does nothing with his life except be in love and write poetry, he doesn't exist outside of as a poetic voice whereas, again, stephen benefits from a third-person narrator and has medicine and spying to do and so on. also he's Catholic.

I love the "Catullus-and-water" line, it's like O'Brian just put in a little wink to those of us who would notice this, like, "yes I am doing this on purpose." All in all I've pretty much defaulted to assuming that O'Brian is doing things on purpose. although he did forget Babbington's first name that one time and retconned it very awkwardly

[honeycreammilkshake]

"What do you think are x and y’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic?"

So, just found this kinda ask for various ships, I was thinking to ask you, if you don't mind and have free time, of course.

For your fav ships: Sukuita, Lawlight, Sherliam, or Tenjoh (feel free to pick whichever you want to answer). 🌻🌷

hi, anon! thank you so much for this ask! so sorry for the late reply.

i know sukuita is my number one ship and all but i kind of feel like talking about tenjoh more, since it's very underrated, so i'm going to go ahead and rant about those two.

spoilers ahead if you haven't watched monster yet!

i only recently started in on this series, but i'm already obsessed with it. what first drew me to it was, of course, johan. i love a complex, chilling, deeply philosophical villain, especially one who people think they understand when they really don't. and even johan doesn't fully understand himself either.

though his presence is a very dark and disturbing one that hangs over everyone, johan himself doesn't have much screen time for the majority of the series (much like james moriarty or hannibal lecter), and it's only towards the very end that we actually come to understand more about him and who he really is. even his true name is never given. and this is essential to his role in the story as it gives him a lot of nuance and complexity.

johan is depicted at first as the very embodiment of evil, a literal monster, yet his relationships with characters like his sister nina and his savior tenma give him a lot more depth and even contradict the idea of him being solely "bad."

arguably, johan has no "positive" traits initially, but his greatest strengths do like in his immense intelligence and incredible understanding of the human mind. he is able to come across as charismatic, compassionate, and kind-hearted to many others precisely because of how adept he is at essentially slipping into other people's lives, much like the monster from the storybook he read over and over as a child. his worst personality traits, morally, are his murderous intentions and manipulative nature.

like johan, tenma is also very intelligent and perceptive, too, but unlike johan he's truly kind-hearted, caring, and puts other people ahead of himself. i would say that the greatest strengths tenma has are his uncompromising optimism and empathy as well as his intelligence and sense of purpose. i would say his worst weakness, though, are his lack of self-preservation and his unflinching sense of morality, although his experience with johan does change him a bit towards the end.

for me, personally, i think the best thing about johan and tenma's dynamic is how unconventional it is. unlike the "heroes" in shows such as death note or psycho pass, tenma is not well-versed in criminology or psychology, as he's a doctor and not a detective. johan's relationship with tenma is also different from how a lot of traditional hero/villain dynamics are written, especially because tenma didn't create johan (bonaparta did) but still feels such a strong sense of responsibility towards him.

it's common for villains, especially the ones in comics or literature such as frankenstein, to have a vengeance against those who created their monstrosities. but tenma never did anything negative to impact johan or drive him into becoming a villain. in fact, tenma was the one to save johan's life as a child, even going as far as to prioritize the boy's life over the mayor's, which inevitably led to the ruination of tenma's successful career as a neurosurgeon.

though tenma was briefly bitter about this, he never regretted saving johan's life, even though the boy would grow up to become the "one in the shadows" who orchestrated so much of the death and destruction in the series.

johan was at the brink of death due to asking his sister to shoot him and kill the monster inside of him, but tenma chose to save johan's life, which led to johan returning the favor - in his own way - by killing the people responsible for the downfall of tenma's career. it was almost like his really messed up way of saying thank you. but learning that fact drove tenma to feel like johan was his responsibility. and even though tenma could have left johan's fate in the hands of others, he chose to pursue johan - obsessively and single-mindedly - for almost a whole decade.

although his personal mission was to kill johan himself, tenma failed to do so multiple times, mostly because of his overwhelming sense of ethics, his unshakeable belief that "all lives are created equal." his position as a doctor, as someone who wanted to live to help others, makes him almost completely opposite from johan, who believes that only death is equal for all and puts no value in even his own life.

even though johan kills pretty much everyone who remembers or knows about him, he spared tenma's life out of thankfulness that the doctor saved him... and also so that tenma could be the one to destroy him. he puts tenma through a living hell in order to create his own "perfect death" and wants to die from the very hands that saved him by driving tenma into breaking his ideals (which i find beautifully twisted and almost poetic).

but instead of coming to despise johan enough to kill him without regret, tenma actually uncovers the truth of johan's past and even feels an intense empathy and desire to forgive him.

johan wanted his own life, the life tenma gave back to him, to end so that he could prove his point that life has no meaning. but tenma saw meaning even in the monster. and even though johan killed so many people for no apparent reason or motive a lot of the time, tenma comes to understand that johan isn't a mindless monster with no other purpose than to destroy.

i have a lot more to watch before i actually finish the story, but based on what i already know and have gathered so far, the relationship between johan and tenma is one that i find really fascinating and complex. i would highly recommend more people try out this series - not just for them but also for the many amazingly interesting side characters and the thoughtful philosophical elements.

[sunnykeysmash]

my thoughts on the first two episodes of s16

I don't even know where to begin, so let's start with just opinions: I loved it. Honestly, I've wanted sunny to delve into the characters for years, so this is all I've ever dreamed of. The differences in direction are also stunning and very visually interesting. idk it's great

If you've read my meta post on s14 and s15, you know what I think about the direction of the show, and season 16 is following exactly what I had expected in that regard imo.

It's not just how it revolves around nostalgia and "legacy/history" though. It also manages to do so in the direction and editing style of these two episodes.

Many choices surprised me here: we all know the zooming in during the pulse scene, but also the tendency to move the camera to reveal a previously unseen part of the environment (which has happened... three times! in inflates), the camera following the characters through the environment (dennis going from kitchen to living room, charlie moving from the new room to the entrance) which reminds me of the camera work in charlie work, roller rink and jumper (when they battle for the casaba specifically), all moments that have been praised for being "different" regarding to usual MO for sunny, and many close ups which usually aren't something that's used a lot.

Many times the usual sunny music came on and it felt almost jarring (POSITIVELY!!! intentionally wrong) because of how serious the moment had been. Like old lady house, you know?

So, to me, this is the first season without a structure. Nothing is sacred, especially not the past (dennis and mac get rid of the couch they've rented for 15 years [don't have to explain why 15 is important right], mrs mac wipes her butt with the "legacy of war" [aaah we'll come back to this], frank gives up the gun which is called his legacy and history, etc).

It may seem like s16 is being episodic and "back to past form" but I think that couldn't be further from the truth!! This is a new sunny, and the characters have continuity.

I have a feeling that by the end of the season those new room and bathroom will be used, because there is no "return to status quo", and to pretend there is would just be denial. Frank knows about the rooms now. But ehh anyway.

Something else that really surprised me these new episodes was Mac.

If you know me you know that I think Mac is pretty much the structure. He's the man who carries.

In a season with no structure, Mac is off.

He's unable to see any subtext no matter how obvious (buys literal nuts, doesn't see what Donald means), he's once again in complete denial about everything, he often guesses the complete opposite of what's actually intended ("consider it an offering" "of war?" "of peace- what is going on with you dude?" / "frank just shot us" "AWESOME!"), hyperfocused on the past, on legacy and history, (on winning a prize in risk e. rat?), he honestly seems to embody everything that Big Mo was fighting against.

This isn't entirely new for mac, he's displayed these traits before, but it seems much louder right now and intentional.

Especially if you consider, for example:

"I think it's time that I started sucking down the words of the Bible. And instead of looking for pieces of ass, I'd just look for peace."

Now, here's what I think happened.

He did get unraveled in s15. Not in the sense that he wasn't him anymore, but in the sense that he lost faith in the church, and is now trying to find something else that can "fill him up".

In a continuation of the identity themes in s15, I think Mac doesn't know who he is anymore, and is looking for any sense of meaning. Especially clinging to the past, even if the past was worse.

"This place has a dark past. Murder, betrayal, beheadings."

"Well, you know, it's a castle, Dee. You know, people were going crazy in castles all the time. And beheading people... well, that was just their way of solving problems back then, you know."

Even the letters Mac is so fixated on, written during world war II.

So if the past is war, and the future is peace, Mac is stuck in the past. So he still embodies the structure, it's just... we're not doing things that way anymore.

We may be redefining what legacy is. The gang thinks it's your past, when really, it's your future. It's what YOU pass down. (god stop me from quoting hamilton but... it's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. cmon it's perfect. anyway)

And when you're so focused on the past, you miss what's happening right in front of you, you don't realize you have everything you've ever wanted right in front of you (like Mac with Donald...).

So what we're doing right now I think, is actually pivoting.

But... a pivot is also "the most important thing that everything else is based on or arranged around".

I don't know, maybe it's not farfetched to say that it's Mac and Dennis. Being codependent, they revolve around each other, they're each other's pivot.

Dennis is changing, which throws Mac off balance.

What else... uhh the lamp thing, definitely lampshading. And Charlie insisting on the return of the status quo and saying his investment was only "ten dollars a unit", to me that's again the seasons we used to get.

The teeth thing is a lot like the soup... they're being used incorrectly. He should keep them in his mouth... obviously.

I think that is to say that they're probably gonna find their way back to the structure, like, that it was simply used incorrectly. Like if Mac and Dennis got together for example, that wouldn't be something scandalous and against the structure at all, because it was already built in. Nothing changes. It's like the circle of life, like... it's all a circle (or a hole!), and they're just going round, ending up exactly where they started. Maybe. (!!)

Also ep2 calls back to tends bar:

"You figured out the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the entire world and you got it for me."

And this dialogue

"should we just attack him and take it?" "no he'll mow us down like Scarface, we can't come at him like that, we'll spook him." "you give that dog the best day of his life, and then you turn off the lights when he least expects it..."

Reminds me of season 14. One last classic season before you "turn the lights off" (but dee and dennis never meant to kill frank! just like big mo wasn't the finale). It also reminds me of season 12 now that I think about it, I mean... "turning off the lights", DDL... yeah.

Also reminds me of chop

"He came back! My dog came back!" "How the hell is that dog still alive?" "Yeah, Mac, why don't you just put that poor thing out of its misery?" "Put him down? What, are you crazy? This is my dog, Dee. I love him."

And!!!!

Wait, speaking of "history".

-"I'm the one who stayed, I'm the one who takes care of you, how could you do that?"

[...] -"it's okay, I'm not mad at you. it's fine."

"I love you."

"I love you too. I love you too, you know that."

"I made a mistake."

"you did make a mistake. I didn't mean to upset you"

This dialogue resonates to me as very applicable to Mac and Dennis (so much dialogue tends to 😭), because you know who else "gave away their history"? Dennis, when he went away. Mac stayed, Mac takes care of Dennis... (well, now I'm just hoping we'll finally get a north dakota mention)

Aaaand idk what else. It's never wise to try to read meta when so little of the season is out yet... also I'm tired and rambly and I know a lot of this will be wrong but uh. There's a lot of macdennis in the air. And I also think both Mac and Dennis are at their very lowest points, and they need each other, or things may go south.

[ryuichirou]

Agree with you guys that Leona's pretty lackluster when compared to Scar, so what are your thoughts on how the other OB boys compare to their inspirations? I think that the other six hold up pretty well in terms of living up to the legacy of the classic Disney villains they're inspired by, taking into account of course that Twst doesn't really have villains or even heroes. So they'll never be quite as extreme or simplistic in terms of evil as their inspos.

Hi Anon! I’m so glad that you agree with our thoughts on Leona. There was so much potential with Scar, so much traits and motifs to play around with, it really is unfortunate that we didn’t really get much of that.

And I agree with you about the other OB boys!

Maybe it’s because we’ve rewatched Hercules, the Little Mermaid and Aladdin fairy recently, but I feel like Idia, Azul and Jamil embody their Disney villain counterparts the best. With Idia, I didn’t see it well at first, but every now and then he opens his mouth, and you just can’t unsee Hades, the boy is straight-up quoting him lol It was also pretty fun to watch Ursula and just go “yep, that’s very Azul of her” the entire movie. Which sounds stupid, but still, makes sense….

I don’t remember much about the Queen of Hearts, but I feel like it’s pretty obvious Riddle is a great representation of her. Overall, these four nailed the vibes and quirks of their villain counterparts quite nicely.

I can’t say much about the Evil Queen either; it’s been years since I watched Snow White. But I think she was one of the trickiest ones, because the original movie is so old and her character is so, well, simplistic, with not as much to play around with. But it’s obvious that Toboso had a lot of fun with what she had, and managed to actually use a lot of motifs and influences from the movie in the Pomefiore chapter and Vil’s character.

As for Maleficent, well, we’ll see. She is one of my all-time faves too, so I’m looking at Malleus veeeery closely.

To be honest, all of this is saying a lot, because I usually really don’t like almost any reimagining of Disney villains or attempts at making them more human and nuanced. I am a big advocate of cartoony villains staying cartoony villains, but Toboso managed to keep twst boys, well, quite villainous and even nasty, while still having them nuanced enough so one could feel for them, relate to them and pity them. Their backstories don’t make them less unhinged, evil and fun.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that twst is very good at making us remember why we loved these villains in the first place, the charm and charisma is intact. But at the same time, it doesn’t heavily rely on the nostalgia factor, and the characters are very well written and independent enough to be loveable even if you don’t know the source material.

[saltymongoose]

Hello! ♠️ Anon here

So...super duper cliché ask, but I got another idea, ya' know Steven Universe right? If you do then I think you know where I'm getting at with this. What if Player could fusion with their vessels? Like they change their appearance and gain some different abilities, but they also need to keep a balance in the emotions or at least be at some level of synchronization to keep the fusion together (Ex. If one part feels very different about something or experience a strong emotion but the other doesn't the fusion breaks)

Heya ♠️ Anon! Another Anon asked about this as well, complete with some art, so I'm going to compound their ask with this and share their art at the end of my response (cause there is quite a lot of it wow 0o0).

Within my own fic verse and self ship, I've added the idea as semi-canon like... What if the characters could fuse (a la Dragon Ball or Steven Universe)? What would those fusions be like, what would be their biology, their PSYCHOLOGY even? How would it embody their relationship? Would they be multiple people existing within one thing, or are they close enough that the fusion would be its own sort of person for as long as it is done?

Anyway I am leaving this to encourage you and others to think about their own spins on this! I have art of some of mine as well as interpretations of what those fusions function like, but they're all for my self insert haha. Feel free to just use them for ideas. Faers name is F94G (pronounced as "Frag" as in "frag grenade" and written in LEET/L337.) The fusions present are F94G/Hank, F94G/Doc, F94G/Deimos, and F94G/Tricky. (On my self ship blog are full descriptions of what those fusions have going on with them but like... Lil nervous to out that I'm sorry lol.) Anyway the art! Enjoy toying with the ideas! - The other Anon <3

Alright, to finally get to the topic of fusion, I think if emotional stability is what keeps it together, the Player would have a difficult time keeping it together. It's not like all of the characters are particularly emotionally volatile or unregulated, but given how experiences of strong emotion could break a fusion, there is the question of whether the type and level of love the grunts have could do so. Love to the level of obsession and ignorance of rationality at times definitely is a strong feeling, so it would at least be a lot for the Player to come to terms with.

Since we're on that topic, I think that this would also be an effective way for the boys to sort of "confess" how deep their love for you really is. It's one thing to convey it through any number of love languages, it's another to fully project the pure feelings themselves. No matter how long it may take you to fully process this sudden rush of adoration and overwhelming happiness the perspective grunt feels, you'll never doubt their feelings for you, so that's a bonus.

When it comes down to how the fusion appears, its personality, and general behavior, this can be attributed to who you'd be fusing with. With Doc and Jeb, they'd be more reserved, while Deimos, Sanford, and Hank would likely lead to a more expressive fusion. (Though a fusion with Hank is unlikely to be very verbal given how he doesn't talk a lot).

Tricky's fusion would likely be more difficult to keep together as well, considering his unpredictable personality and how the improbability drive effects him. It's a challenge that he's more than excited to take on, mind you, so even if that's a difficulty, you can make it work.

Either way, I do think the resulting fusion would be extremely confident with themselves due in no small part to your vessel's love for you (in addition to how self-satisfied they feel that they're your partner for this). You could make this a less obvious feature considering you're probably calm not completely obsessive with your affections compared to them, but it's still easy to see, regardless of who you fuse with.

Speaking of any other specific traits can be rather difficult considering how each vessel would imprint their mark on the fusion, and the fact that the character of the Player is a reader insert ofc. However, it is likely that the more dominant traits of the vessels would still make themselves apparent. For example, Hank's fusion with you would probably still find violence as the solution in a great deal of situations, while Jeb's fusion would take on much of his savior complex. If you want to get really wild, I'm willing to bet that Phobos' god complex would also permeate through the fusion you would create, and it's only enforced by the fact that you (an actual god, insofar as he's concerned) are a part of it.

As for abilities, with grunts like Sanford and Doc, you probably wouldn't gain much except for perhaps increased strength and intelligence. Hank's agility would definitely come into play, and given how The Machine refuses to let him die, they likely wouldn't let a fusion do so either. Deimos' pyrokinesis would occur in the fusion as well, as would all of Tricky's odd abilities.

I think the appearance of the fusion is better left up to your interpretation as the reader, but in my mind, you'd probably will have both a visual cross and your eyes, which is very interesting. Having more arms is also pretty basic for a fusion, so that's to be expected as well. I believe it's really up to you though, as I'm not one to assign many physical traits the Player anyway lol. Plus, this can lead to some extremely creative results, as can be seen with the wonderful art below with F94G (the other asking Anon's OC). :)

(and lastly for reference, the lil grunt doodle of F94G)

[erdasmcnonsense]

Since @theminecraftbee gave me permission to do so last night - just to prove OP's point of these being common enough in other fandoms as well - let's see how many of these can I get hits on just in Tolkien fandom alone! (Tolkien fandom here defined as "all Middle-Earth books and also the most prominent live action fandoms, minus Rings of Power" because I haven't watched that and am trying my best to stay ignorant about it because the other option would be frothing at the mouth with rage bc of everything I think they did wrong, so I really don't know that part of things at all. I'm going to treat any material the fandom takes as given but that is sourced from HoME or NoME as confusing to the newcomer because frankly, they are, since a newcomer in Silm fandom is likely to have only read Silmarillion and /maybe/ Unfinished Tales and CoH but almost certainly hasn't read HoME. Anyway, that's still a narrower fandom, though more well-established with older roots, than mcyt fandom, given that mcyt is more like a genre with lots of different specific fandoms that have some overlap in the fanbase)

unintuitive duo names/ship and group names: just off the top of my head, Silvergifting (formed of the English translations of the names Celebrimbor and Annatar), Russingon (technically a traditional mashing two names together, except that the first name does not actually appear in Silmarillion-as-published and is only mentioned I think in one of the texts in HoME, so a newcomer is not going to know how you get "Russingon" out of "Maedhros/Fingon"), Angbang (Sauron/Morgoth, pun on the name of Morgoth's stronghold Angband). M&M and C&C (maedhros and maglor, celegorm and curufin). Also idk if it counts when it's technically a canon collective name, but Ambarussa, since again it comes from HoME.

reducing characters to a specific trait: given the inherent weirdness of a fandom where a lot of material is actually unfinished draft versions and notes and summaries and so a lot of characters aren't very fleshed out, there is an argument to be made that it's not reducing if the character didn't have other traits to begin with, and there's also definite overlap here with the "treating fanon as canon" point but...

-> Pippin written as just inattentive and chaotic with basically no ability to read the room or shut up

-> Denethor being only considered as an abusive dickhead (which, fine, he is that too, but still), without taking into account the themes of despair vs hope his character embodies, or his intelligence or strength of will or any of a number of other qualities of his the book shows or hints at.

-> For that matter, Thingol being reduced to a greedy powerhungry asshole

-> Celegorm and Curufin being reduced to the dumb jock and the smart guy. Also, Maglor as just the music guy, following his eldest brother around and basically never making his own choices.

common au fanon that's confusing to the outsiders: okay i can't actually think of anything that'd really fit this one well that's actually a fanon au - Tolkien fandom has its fair share of aus, but none of those really fit this. If you're a LOTR fan, not familiar with the Silm part of the fandom, I suppose "Maglor living in Rivendell in the Third Age" might qualify, that's something i see people do even in fics that aren't specifically about that

-> Also, a lot of long-time Silmarillion fans have a habit of cherrypicking their favorite elements from alternate, older discarded for something new, or just-not-the-one-christopher-preferred, versions of events, and then using those and leaving new fans to just figure out by themselves, if they can, whether something is 1) firmly held headcanon alteration of that specific person, 2) common fanon, or 3) actually something that's mentioned in some more obscure text they haven't read. It was literally years after I joined the fandom before I figured out that the "crispy Amrod version" was actually from an alternate canon text, instead of a popular fanon au.

fanon being treated as canon: Glorfindel's personality being "a golden retriever in elf form". Likewise, Erestor's personality being "super serious and stoic". (Honestly it's a bit of a chicken-or-egg question for me - are Glorfindel and Erestor written with those personalities because they're shipped and "blonde guy with golden retriever personality/super serious dark-haired guy" is a common and popular ship dynamic so their fanon personalities were made to fit, or are they shipped together because their fanon personalities were already being written as "elven golden retriever" and "serious guy" and that's a popular ship dynamic? I genuinely don't know. Also, actually, Undying Lands granting immortality to non-immortals! Like i'm pretty certain, although i could be wrong, that at least one version of the Fall of Númenor specifically says that even if humans were allowed in Undying Lands they still wouldn't gain immortality by living there and that presumably also applies to everyone else, but I've seen a lot of people writing post-LOTR hobbits in the Undying Lands stuff as though Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, and once he gets there, Gimli, would be immortal

characters being treated badly to make a different dynamic look better: Elwing, and to a lesser extent Eärendil, being portrayed as jerks, and as bad parents (sliding scale from simply neglectful to outright abusive) in order to make the Kidnap Fam dynamic look less messed up by comparison. Look, I like the Kidnap fam as much as the next person (although admittedly I personally like it a little bit fucked up, even though i also like it to have a good amount of sweet moments), but writing Elwing to be a selfish and abusive bitch just to justify the Kidnap fam being cute and fluffy is just pointless and mean.

characters being reduced to their family dynamics: okay i can't actually think of a good example to this, though i'm sure there are some. Unless you count Elladan and Elrohir often being written as having functionally the same personality and generally only showing up as a pair, but frankly the source material does the exact same thing with them too and it's very common (if irritating) way of writing identical twins in the first place, so I can't even muster the energy to be annoyed about it.

characters being reduced to their ships: I've seen this done with Fingon when shipped with Maedhros sometimes, and like... honestly I don't even feel the need to prove this point though I probably could find other examples, literally every fandom i've ever seen does this to some degree with some characters.

The Discourse: *sigh* who would have thought that a book about elves being war criminals and murdering other elves over a bunch of shiny rocks would generate insane amounts of discourse (sarcasm). Yeah I am so fucking tired of watching people fight over whether Thingol/Dior/Elwing should have given up the Silmaril or done this or done that. Also, all the nonsense that periodically pops up over whether Frodo or Sam is Actually The True Hero Of LOTR and nonsense about Frodo being weak or whatever. Also the eternal arm wrestling over whether the Valar are good or Actually Evil or what (they mean well but also fuck up and make poor choices a bunch, if you ask me)

so a thing this fandom does that remains FASCINATING to me, as a function of the fact a lot of this fandom is people's first fandom or only current fandom, is just... assume a lot of things it does is a scourge that this fandom has invented or doesn't exist outside of it? or like, is uniquely bad here? and i won't deny that sometimes mcyt fandom is a bit more intense by virtue of numbers, but like...

duo names: confusing fandom-injokes to describe duos and groups tend to be an anime fandom thing specifically for many historical reasons, but they're not uncommon. hey quick--if you haven't been in KHR fandom, can you guess what 1827 is? no? i'll give you a hint: that's actually a ship name. or, ygo fans, tell me the difference between puppyshipping, prideshipping, violetshipping, and rivalshipping. my hint is that they're all kaiba ships and two of them are actually the same ship. good luck!

reducing characters to a specific trait: have you read fic in another fandom before? i would recommend you go do so and come back to me. my example here is "sasuke likes tomatoes", for the record.

common au fanon that's confusing to outsiders: my deep cut here is "when i got into certain tv fandoms i was baffled by the existence of sentinel/guide fics", which is a slightly older tv fandom thing so many of you probably don't know what i'm on about. but trust me: in certain fandoms it's ubiquitous and unless you've watched a completely different tv show you're gonna have to entirely pick it up from reading fic. oh hey, hybrid aus and watcher!grian, nice to see your relative here,

fanon being treated as canon: did you know there's this whole bnha character, naomasa, who is treated as canonically having a lie detector quirk? did you know that, best i can tell, that's not in canon anywhere, it just got echoed through fanon enough that everyone treated it as canon? 'fanon trait becomes so ubiquitous everyone assumes it has to be there' is not a new thing. also, batfamily fans, i have been lead to understand the tim and coffee thing is also this.

characters being treated badly to make a different dynamic look better: the fact we have the term 'character bashing' tells you all you need to know, here. if anything my one complaint on this front isn't even that it's happening--it's that i wish bashing and/or "not [character] friendly" was tagged a little more frequently, haha.

characters being reduced to their family dynamics: tale as old as time. "even the family dynamic thing" yes even that. just because this fandom tended to be particularly ship-adverse in the past didn't mean it didn't do basically the same behaviors as any fandom with shipping did with those dynamics, just gen. and other gen fandoms also do that. yes, down to the "and shipping reduces them to a ship, unlike my gen dynamic, which is very in-character; why can't people just be friends?" thing. some of you have to have been marvel fans right.

characters being reduced to their ships: some of you have to have been marvel fans right.

The Discourse: yeah this is an "actively running show" fandom thing, but also a hiatus fandom thing. ask a homestuck about vriskourse sometime. as much as i hate to say it, it probably made doomsday discourse look cute.

and those are just like... some things i've seen people complain about on my dash recently. idk it just hit me there are probably fans in mcyt fandoms who are assuming that some things (like hybrid aus or duo names) are the kind of things that only happen here, so i thought i'd offer some examples of other places they happen! i also have even more examples if you'd like.

to be clear: this isn't shaming anyone for complaining about any of these things. lord knows i go complain to my friends about it all the time, just the other day i was complaining in the category of 'they keep bashing my guy'. it's more of just... a gentle reminder that maybe we're big, maybe we're loud, maybe we have problems... but these problems aren't always unique.

so uh. we're all suffering together i guess...?

[socoolinmypajamas]

This is something I have to take out of my system: Christopher Columbus is a VERY well made character in Fate/Grand Order.

His design is unique, his seiyuu is amazing, his performance gameplay-wise is quite good, and he manages to shine no matter the quality of the story. Every human trait he could be the embodiment of, he does it almost flawlessy.

Now, this doesn't mean he's someone we should love, like nor even feel something for that isn't disgust. And if we do, that's just us falling for his facade which, again, shows how well written this absolute bastard is.

In Agartha, a horrible story overall, he becomes our ray of sunshine during the first 3/4 of the story. He's the old rebel captain telling us to never give up and push through all the hardships, making the reveal that he's the worst of them, ready to kill and steal everything in sight, a fitting thing for his record as a "hero" despite being a genocider.

In Oniland, he got trick and ended up lost in a house of MIRRORS, which is hilarious when you think of all the stories in which he and other conquistadores scamed natives by trading GLASS beads with them. It was also a situation where his "never give up" trait shone, and we are again wondering if we should trust him or not. (Maybe I'm reading too far into this one but meh, worth poiting it out).

In Summer 3, he was scamming artists under the pretention of doing a fair trade, so we had to beat his ass. Again, good use of him.

In Fate/Grand Carnival and Summer 5, we see how his most positive trait mix with his hideous greed: In the first one, he's playing slots just to hit the jackpot, even if it lefts him bankrupt because he set his dream on hitting it, and will not stop no matter what until he does it. And in Summer 5, when we se a version of himself that couldn't reach his dream, he's... The same. Just because he couldn't archive his dream doesn't mean he gave up trying. It was just another example of how feral and determinated (obsessive) he could get to reach his dreams, the further away from them he is pushed.

And finally, his interlude. Probably one of the better written ones in the entire game. I'm not going to spoil this one because it really is THAT good and worth reading, but I do gonna say that every good and bad aspect of his character is explored, well used and detailed stablished without making him likeable.

Columbus' writting is consistent (hopefully it will in Summer 6) and does a great job portraying an irl villain that lots of people keeps thinking was a hero, even up to this day. He's a servant that only shows up in the Grand Order because it would be bad for bussiness if the Earth was destroyed, and while is ok (and encouraged) to hate him (because that's like, the whole point), I think is important to consider where does the strong feelings for a character come from.

Tl;dr: Columbus suck and I hate him but his FGO version is a fantastic fictional portrait of a historical figure.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

looking at your dislike tier list and cackling at how you came swinging for almost all dorm leaders hdhdjd

on a heavier note the relatability about azul though... yeah i get it too i remembered playing thru his chapter in jpn, realised everything about his character layers hit too close to home, but also how fascinating his response of a coping mechanism was, made a meta commentary of his layers and nuances and how hes objectively a well written fictional character that works well within twst's setting, and the immediately shoved him to the back of my mind.

its been 2 years. he's still there and i haven't been able to feel much for him except neutrality and a surface level enjoyment alas. although still better than the rare 1-2 twst character i feel absolutely apathetic for. nothing to feel bad about though in all works of media and esp within a main cast this big and varied its normal to have favourites and non-favourites and also characters you just don't care about

[Referencing this post!]

asdhkuasydvasdbIDBba Ah yes, I have a very strong case of "anti-main-guy syndrome" 😅 so of course the dorm leaders, the most marketed group in TWST, would not appeal to me as a collective.

I think the only dorm leaders I don't outright dislike are Riddle and Kalim. I don't exactly like Riddle though... It would be more accurate to say that I don't mind him? His temper is definitely a big con for me, but I have a soft spot for him because his youngish appearance vaguely reminds me of Ciel Phantomhive (and he's the first dorm leader the public ever saw when the first TWST promotional materials were released). In other words, it's the nostalgia--

Kalim is easily my favorite of the dorm leaders, and that's mostly because he isn't your traditional "leader". Kalim doesn't wield powerful magic or impressive skill like the other dorm leaders, but he has great emotional intelligence and is still able to embody the spirit of Scarabia in his own way. Kalim is not your conventional NRC student either, not with his sunny disposition. These traits help make him stand out from the others, which is why he has risen to the top.

***Chapter 3 spoilers below the cut!***

About Azul! There are some aspects of him I enjoy (namely, when he goes capitalist octopus mode displays his shrewdness and his unabashed greed). However, I can really pinpoint the exact moment when my love for him significantly died down, and that's the scene in chapter 3 where he breaks down. Again, I'm not saying that his reason for breaking down wasn't valid, or that I don't sympathize with him. It's just that I feel this point marks a change in the fandom with how it portrays and/or sees Azul.

A vulnerable side of him is revealed, and some fans interpreted that moment of vulnerability as "Azul is actually a super soft crybaby and he needs a lot of emotional support". I'm not saying this interpretation is wrong, but the popularization of it (sometimes to the point of being mistaken as canon) bothers me because it disregards other aspects of his character (namely, present day Azul). Azul himself has made it clear that he is dislikes that "old him" and is honestly trying to change, to be someone who is more confident in himself. The twins even remark that Azul is "no longer that crybaby octopus", so why is it that that depiction of Azul is what is generally accepted as what Azul is like in modern day? If anything, Azul buries that part of him because he wants to move on from it. He still probably has a softness to him, but it is buried deep, not just left out in public for anyone to bear witness to.

As I mentioned before, I identify a lot with Azul in his desire to change, to better themselves... and I get that it can hurt to have the "past you" constantly be the focus when you are brought up in discussion. In fact, part of the reason why I've grown to dislike characters that I closely relate to instead of loving them is because if that character is hurt or I see a thought on that character that may not align with my own, I might take it more personally and react in a negative way (and I'm not for those kind of vibes).

Despite not enjoying Azul as much as I used to, I still think he's a very interesting character to write. The TWST characters are all layered and offer a lot of different angles and lore to explore 🤔 even if I don't care for them on a personal level (whether it is dislike or neutrality).

Thank you sharing your thoughts with me and those that frequent this blog! Azul is honestly such a popular and beloved character that it's rare to find people that express other opinions on him, so I really appreciate your openness.

[maxwell-grant]

Having asked your thoughts on designing Frankenstein's daemon, might I now ask your thoughts on bringing Count Dracula from the written word into illustration? (I'm definitely in favour of the 'Hairy Old Mountain Man of Horror pretending he's people' look from the original novel; one of the small tests too many Draculas fail to pass is an absolutely tragic lack of the Evil Beard and/or Wicked Moustache explicitly described by Mr Stoker).

Unlike with Frankenstein, where I think the design needs to be painstakingly thought out in order to achieve the best balance of the creature's traits for horror and tragedy alike, I think with Dracula you can actually just take an approach of "whatever works". Because as I mentioned before, I think much of the appeal and longevity of Dracula is how the character's both a layered villain as well as a shapeshifting narrative force that can be tailored to whatever you want to do with. Granted, there are bad or dissappointing Dracula designs, of course there are, but in regards to the leeway you get for reinterpretation, you get a lot more of it with Dracula than with other literary icons.

Like with Frankenstein, I'm gonna bring up how I'd tackle a less grim, more comedy-centric Dracula first, one that's less a force of horror and more of a charismatic villain, and I think to that end I definitely agree that people are sleeping a lot on the hairy old man barely-passing-off-as-humanoid of the original story. Despite very much loving these performers, I'm actually not a fan of takes that mold Dracula too closely to people who've portrayed him, like Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, partially because I think it's a waste of an opportunity to create your own Dracula design. Since I can't draw (yet), I'll do what I usually do and make a board of images to try and convey some of my thoughts on one way I'd design Dracula.

(Pictured: Kiwi's design for Dracula, Hotel Transylvania concept art, Nandor, Castlevania Dracula, Charles Dance in Dracula Untold, Vladislav, a Transylvanian rug)

I used the images in my other Dracula post and I’ll post it here again because I absolutely adore @kiwibyrd's designs for Dracula and it's main heroes, in particular I love the way it strikes a good balance at making sure Dracula looks distinctly separate from the humans, but not too much that he couldn't conceivably operate in society as just a harmless old man. I also adore the mustache and bushy eyebrows and pointy ears and I think these three are wonderful features to keep on any Dracula design. I'm also very partial to the Hotel Transylvania concept art, even if it makes me incredibly depressed to look at all the great designs they had for Dracula that they threw in the trash because they somehow decided making him look like Adam Sandler was the idea to go with.

I deeply adore What We Do In The Shadows, both the movie and the show, and Jemaine Clement's Vladislav is one of my favorite (maybe even my actual favorite) on-screen Draculas. But I also enjoy Nandor just as much, and I think it's really great that as a character he's completely different from Vlad while also being ostensibly a take on Dracula, and in particular I bring up his Jersey look because "Dracula in common clothing" is a criminally underrated concept for a joke.

As a character, I'm very partial to comedy takes on Dracula that play him up as a decadent aristocratic supervillain, the kind that can get away with talking in third person. I also have this idea for a version of Dracula who dresses ostentatiously in finely-broidered Romanian or Transylvanian patterns, maybe even wearing a rug as a cape, claiming that he's carrying the legacy of his people on his back. And of course he's lying, he's not Vlad Tepes and he's not even Romanian, he is just a parasite pretending to have a history to be proud of, but good luck getting him to admit that. And finally, I'd like this version to be played by Charles Dance, and I consider it a tremendous crime against humanity that he has yet to play Dracula proper even despite being in a film with the character's name on the title.

So that's kinda how I would design a take on Dracula for something more comedic or more based around him as this guest character and personality on-set. Now, if we're talking a more serious version, I think the possibilities increase, and I won't be getting into all of them because I may prefer to keep them to myself, but I'll elaborate a few ideas.

For example, the edition of Dracula I personally own comes with these really scratchy, really creepy B&W illustrations related to the story, that I can't find scanned online so I'm uploading them here so you can look at. They don't necessarily depict the scenes but rather some of the story's moments, like Van Helsing staking Lucy, Renfield in a straightjacket, Dracula as a coachman, and they are more focused on conveying the horror of the concepts at play.

Dracula never looks the same way in any of the illustrations, in fact you kinda have to piece him out of them by trying to find teeth or capes or eyes or bat-features to see where he's hiding this time. In the first, it's the half-man half-bat, in the 2nd, he's the shrieking bat silhouette next to Renfield, and in the latter, he's the gaping jaws and eerily humanoid eyes in the wolf. The effect to me almost feels like if you were to look at a bunch of tv static and then see a humanoid shape form for a split second before everything went back to normal, something like you'd get from Slender Man or other modern creepypastas, and I’ve argued before that Dracula’s form of horror is a very modern one. 

In terms of illustrations of Dracula that keep up the original traits while still pulling off horror, I definitely have to hand it to the one at the left of the image above, drawn by regourso on Deviantart (account deleted at present). Going back to Castlevania’s many takes on Dracula, two in particular that stick out to me would be Castlevania: Judgment’s armored dress Dracula, who’s got this great twisted heart/rose motif going on in his outfit, and Dracula’s final form in SOTN where he just sits in his throne and his cape twists into all these monsters, particularly how it’s depicted by witnesstheabsurd’s depiction. 

I’m not particularly a fan of how Dracula’s “final form” in these games is usually just some big demon, and part of what I like about his final form in SOTN instead is that, while it’s not a particularly challenging final boss, I do find it interesting the idea of us never actually getting to see what Dracula’s true final form looks like, only an ever-shifting pitch-black torrent of teeth and claws and bloody veins pouring out because that’s ultimately what Dracula is and brings to the world.

On the flip-side of the rotten old monster, we have the charming seductor Dracula, and while I’m really not a fan of how various adaptations have convinced people that “the point” of Dracula is that he’s a seductive force and an allegory for Victorian xenophobia and I’m reeeally even less of a fan of adaptations that make Dracula some misunderstood tragic hero (and I think I’ve made rather violently clear my feelings on interpretations that play up a romance between him and Mina), that the seductive force part exists is impossible to deny, so conversely, while on one hand we can have Dracula as the gargantuan whirlwind of predatory violence, we can also go for Dracula as the tantalizing lover.

I’ve seen a lot of opinions proclaiming Frank Langella as the best Dracula because he was the best at actually being seductive while still playing Dracula, although I haven’t yet seen his performances. If I had to point at one picture I look at and do buy for a second the idea of Dracula as a romantic character, it would be that particular still of Raul Julia in the left of the above image. And it’s strange for me to think of Raul Julia as attractive because I mainly associate him with his brilliant comedy performance of M.Bison (I know it’s far from the highlight of his career but, look, I grew up with Street Fighter, I can’t help it) but those eyes are definitely looking pretty convincing to me, if nothing else. 

And I’ve included this still of Sebastian Stan in the right because, during a conversation between me, @krinsbez and @jcogginsa about who could be a good fit for Dracula, jcog suggested Sebastian Stan, partially because he’s Romanian, and I’ve learned recently that Stan was actually interested in playing the character in Blumhouse’s upcoming remake. And you’d think I’d hate this idea  considering how much I don’t care for tragic anti-hero Draculas, but who says that’s what he’d have to play? 

Do you have any idea how much actors, who are traditionally known for heroic or supporting roles, usually LOVE it when you give them a chance to cut loose as the main villain?

I’d want Sebastian Stan to put all of his charm, all of his talent, all of his good looks and etc, into playing the absolute most vicious, bloodthirsty and irredeemable Dracula put on screen. Someone who is exceedingly, eerily good at being a lovable protagonist, who’s all smiles and charming eyes and politeness mannerisms and maybe even a funny accent, and then it isn't as funny when he's flying through your window intent on kidnapping babies to feed to his brides, except he may take a moment or two to do so because he's feeling pretty hungry himself right now.

Now, admittedly this is kind of a lot to juggle in regards to a single character, which is why my answer for questions like these inevitably has to be “depends on what I’m going for”. That being said, if I was going to try and cast someone who I think could both look the part of Dracula, as well as respectively, play “cartoon aristocrat” Dracula, “mercurial embodiment of evil” Dracula, as well as realistically be an attractive, even seductive performer who can charm viewers even as the character descends into horrible villainy, and juggle these performances even?

I think I’d have to go with Mads Mikkelsen. Not specifically because of Hannibal (I actually haven’t watched it yet), although it’s definitely a factor, the thing that actually made me pick him specifically is, other than his looks, his voice, his reputation for playing sinister characters, the fact that he loves the role and wants to play it, or how many people are deeply in love with this man, or that people already joke that he looks like a vampire, was watching him in Another Round, and specifically that glorious final scene where he’s just dancing to his heart’s content and just, moving with such spring in his step and such joyful vitality even though he’s past his mid-fifties, and that was the moment where, in regards to how much you all love this man, I went

And now I am going to add “casting Mads Mikkelsen as a dancing Dracula” to The List of Reasons Why I Became a Filmmaker.

[paranormaljones]

SO really I think these thoughts mostly just stem from identifying so much with Dipper and his experiences when I was younger, and not really a criticism of the writing or handling of his character by Mr. Hirsch. He was written fantastically well, and the fact that I'm still deeply affected by him is a testament to that.

That being said, when I think about the timeline of events that happen to Dipper specifically throughout the series and how the other people in his life respond to them, it does make me livid. Dipper is the Cassandra of the series; when it comes to significant threats, he tells the truth (or at least what he perceives to be truth), and is rarely believed. Even if he is not perfectly accurate in identifying what the danger is, he does know that there is danger and tries his hardest to protect everyone else from it (i.e., the pilot, when Mabel is not in danger of being eaten by a zombie, as previously suspected, but is in danger of being made queen of the gnomes against her will).

Sure, it's played for laughs and it's genuinely funny. But the fact is that Dipper knew from the second "Norman" showed up that there was something wrong; more importantly, that "Norman" posed a threat to his sister. And Dipper responded by trying tirelessly to convince Mabel of the danger and figure out exactly what that danger was (to no avail, on both counts, until it's too late).

And this sets the tone for the rest of the series, and for how the rest of the characters treat Dipper's anxieties, insecurities, desires, and fears. He is immediately cast into the classic role of "paranoid conspiracy theorist", which, hey, I'm not dogging on at all. I nicknamed myself after Fox Mulder, after all. But with Dipper in this role, there is always the underlying knowledge that he's not just a trope, he's not just a paranoid conspiracy theorist, he's a 12-year-old kid who is the embodiment of "do it scared". He's brave as hell and scared to death of things that, for a while, only he can see, and even the people who know that he's telling the truth the entire time consistently shrug him off.

As someone who also grew up rarely being taken seriously (albeit with much less significant threats to worry about than Dipper), this always majorly affected me. And still does in other media with characters that possess these traits (Endeavour Morse, my dear, dear man).

The Prophetess Cassandra character archetype is often played for laughs, really good when played straight (i.e. Fiver from Watership Down), and downright excruciating in Gravity Falls. You know it's good when it still makes me mad like 10 years later. 😂

On top of these things, there is of course the fact that Dipper is repeatedly forced/manipulated/guilted into sacrificing nearly everything throughout the series, with very little acknowledgement of this in-universe. His dignity, his dreams, his passions, his literal one chance to not physically hurt someone very dear to him, his privacy, his bodily autonomy.

This kid gives up everything. And no one in the series cares at all.

(I think I could make a whole nother post about how bothered I am by the way Dipper's crush on Wendy is treated throughout the series but that's a rant for another time.)

I will note: a lot of people who talk about these points tend to blame Mabel for a lot of them. I'm not going to do that because I love Mabel and I recognize how important it is to understand that she is also 12 years old. That Dipper is frequently put into positions to be self-sacrificing is not always her doing; that he has the maturity to take those opportunities is not her fault either.

Anyways. Thank you for prompting me to share my thoughts, it took me two whole days to put them together. 😂

not to be 14 again but the way Dipper Pines is treated by his own canon will never not make me absolutely livid sometimes.

[surrealsunday]

Jaime, hey! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw your profile in kinnporsche tag, like my favourite Elu ficwriter is also into KinnPorsche? What a luck! Really, it's like meeting an old good friend. Btw, Tempo and Mood Tattoo are my two warm blankets I like wrapping myself in when I'm in a certain mood. Never written it here, only on ao3, but thanks for these masterpieces. And about KinnPorsche, I see you're enjoying it a great deal, right?) Just out of curiosity - do you have a favourite character in this couple or you love Kinn and Porsche equally?) For me, f.e., Elu was the only ship where I loved both of them very much, couldn't be angry with any of them even if they did some stupid things. Eliott was the sweetest guy on the planet and Lucas was such a menace but I just adored him because how couldn't I. But Elu is an exception for me, in other ships I always had a favourite guy. In case of KinnPorsche it's definitely Kinn cause just... he's so broken, so messy, he's dealing with so much shit in his life yet he has such a big heart and loves Porsche so much that I'm just drowning in his feelings. And also Mile, oh gosh, he's sooo good, can't believe it's his first bl (mine too, btw :)). And as for Porsche, he has lots of good traits too, for sure, but for some reason I feel more empathy for Kinn than him. So, what about you and your favourites?) Again, so glad to see you in KinnPorsche fandom :) good to see a familiar face here, especially when all the angst and drama are only coming :)

This is so nice?!!! I'm so glad you messaged <333! And I akdjfakdsjf at you calling Tempo and Mood Tattoo blankets. That is such a lovely compliment. 

I also freaking love this question. It was super fun to think about - especially because Kinn and Porsche are currently occupying 98% of my brain. With couples I really love, I tend to love them both even when they are being total fuckups (kinda live for the fuckups if I'm honest because I'm an angst whore). That was definitely true for Elu. But I will also have one character who just *gets* to me a little more. Like they're *mine*. Maybe because I relate to them more, or maybe because something in their personality is a trait I adore/ recognize/ like... any of the above. In KinnPorsche that is for sure Porsche. I adore Kinn too and honestly he's a pretty perfect prototype for the fucked up, tortured characters I tend to live and breathe for. And so, I totally agree that the broken, messy, desperate way he goes about life and falling in love with Porsche is soul destroying and I love him so much for it. I also love the duality of the man. I loved episode 6 so much for this reason - getting to see unfiltered, unburdened Kinn. Like it's no wonder Porsche was totally enamored. Kinn was cute af. And I just really love how his cuter/ softer/ more vulnerable tendencies with Porsche are balanced (and sometimes opposed) to his colder, BAMF mafia self. And like you, I love how he loves Porsche. I love that Porsche is his undoing, and I love the way he delights in coming apart for him. I just really love his joy when it comes to Porsche. And I love the way Porsche brings him peace. 

Ok but I didn't mean to wax poetic about Kinn. We're supposed to be talking about my love of Porsche here lmao. So Porsche... first and foremost, he's a brat. Like a menace of the highest order. I am and always will be the biggest sucker for a character like that (at least when well developed and embodied by the right actor). It reminds me a little of when I worked with kids in after-school care, and the little boys who were the biggest pains in their teachers asses - like the biggest troublemakers alive - would always steal my heart and become my best buddies. That's likely at least part of why I see Porsche and think about tucking him in my pocket and keeping him forever (nobody tell Kinn). I love so much all his bratty tendencies and I love that he put them on full display from the get-go. One of my favourite things about him is the way he doesn't back down and never diminished himself or who he was for Kinn. Sure, at the beginning, he was new and didn't have the lay of the land. But it's months later that he's still mouthing off to Kinn left and right and I just love that for him and me (clearly Kinn 100% loved this as well). And I am most especially done for when it comes to the side of Porsche we're seeing because he's fallen in love with Kinn. Watching this cocky, bratty, confident little shit be so desperately vulnerable, so loving and achingly sweet... watching the way he wants to take care of Kinn (vs the way he's had to take care of the people in his life, all while knowing that Kinn is more than capable of taking care of himself)... it all completely kills me. So yeah... I suppose he's my fave.

But I am all for the way they both have and will continue to fuck up. I very much don't want or need my faves to be perfect. I love when things get messy and angsty and these two do it better than anyone.

And on that note... excuse to list my fave/ underrated (only because there are so many delightful bratty Porsche moments these get lost in the fray) Porsche-as-a-menace moments aka. why I (and Kinn) were completely fucked from the get-go (screencaps because I can't make gifs... rip me):

Porsche kicking Ken

Listen. This moment was the moment for me. The moment I knew I was completely done for and would absolutely love Porsche. (Side note: the look on Kinn's face adkjfadsjkf... he was just as amused).

Are you a God?

This is a little less brat than it is just being a mouthy little fucker but I love. I love that Porsche wasn't ever afraid to challenge Kinn. I love that from the start he was established as a polar opposite to someone like Big (aka. Kinn worshipper). And I love that challenging Kinn is something he continues to do (and something Kinn really needed in a partner imo). Side note: Big's offended face in the background lmaoooo.

Stand up

This whole scene really. This is a 'Porsche's nature is to make Kinn's life difficult' kind of scene and the interaction between them is so normal at this point that I think how different it is gets lost. Like Kinn walking in and telling Porsche to stand. I keep comparing that in my mind to the way the other bodyguards leap to their feet during the awkward post-spa lunch. And then when Kinn tells Porsche to take his shirt off Porsche just outright refuses. Like, yeah, he gives in (while looking annoyed and confused the whole time). But that initial 'no'? Like anyone else would dare say that to Kinn...

Bonus: Spitting fruit all over Kinn

Let's be real... all of episode 6 is Porsche being the most hilarious, adorable brat in the world. None of it is underrated but I had to include this moment because it cracked me up so much and I just really wanting to include one brat moment where the two of them were in their little bubble. The fact that Porsche really waits for Kinn to genuinely panic and stick his fingers into Porsche's mouth?? All so Porsche can laugh and spit all over him? Shut up I love so much. And Kinn's 'I hope you choke on it'? Listen. I'm snorting just typing that. I love them.

Ok this got hella long. It's my nature but I should really stop. Keep chatting with me though! Especially when the serious drama hits. We will need to discuss.

[smallpumpkinboi]

Ron Weasley is one of the most realistic and well written characters in the whole series

Lots of people (especially Ron haters) get really defensive at this concept. But Ron being well written isn't inherently an opionion on if you like his character or not and more on the realism and traits he protrays.

To starts he is relatively normal. Loads of the otber characters have something so special about them, some great ability or extramly strong talents, but Ron is just average, which is good, it makes his character more relatable and helps the story feel more real.

Then we move onto his home life. Hes a poor kid with a large family. As normal and commen this dynamic is in real life its rarely ever seen in literature or media, he beings a uniqueness to the stories without it being unrealistic.

Nevermind his personality. He has a wide variety of traits, both postivie and negative and some a bit of both. He can be funny, a hothead, brave, jealous, kind, mean. He says sweet supporting things while also being rude to others. This idea makes him so much more human. Everyones done something a bit mean, has a trait thats not very desirable and can be lovely all at the same time. This roundedness makes him so much more interesting, hes not entirety predictable while also having a solid personality.

Furthermore, his "negative" traits are usually seen in his age group and helps bring the story alive. Harry Potter would not feel like Harry Potter without Ron being occasionally immature, crushing on girls or being friendly, he embodies a teenage boy and makes Hogwarts feel like a actual school. With only "special" characters this idea is taken away and feel like Hogwarts is only for the best and most talented of witches and wizards. Ron makes the schools feel like a school.

He has lots of internal dilemmas which people can relate to but not feel as if its to much to read or as if there was to much big drama. Rons dilemmas would show him grow and learn lessons, every single one of his actions has consequences, good or bad. We see him grow and become so much more, despite how different and "boring" (in the sense of he doesn't have some badass or intense background story) he is, he grows to become great. We see Ron choose great things because in the past he chose wrong.

Ron can be a bit of an ass, he can be stupidly brave and everyones best friend. He is funny and different but lovable and relatable. Ron is realistic, we see him in our everyday lives. Hes written like a teenager while also being a part of a fantasy world. He brings a normalcy to the story while also keeping it magical. He grows to be great by choice, by choices we watch him make by lessons we learned. We see internal struggles being delt with in so many ways, which also not changing up his personality or creating a whole new character. Ron reminds me of real people, I real about him and I can think of those I know. He is by far the moat relatable and realistic character I've ever read about. And it makes him just so lovely

[evertriedsoywithyourpopcorn]

5 Reasons Roman Is Infuriating (And Why I DO NOT have a crush on him)

(Logince with a bit of denying and pining) Read on AO3

My first fic, based on my Logince drawing (If someone ever wants to make anything based on my art, feel free to ask. Making content is hard and people fleshing out concepts is always fun.) Word count: 3641

Tw: Cursing, Food mention, Balloon popping, Remus being his authentic self

Character’s: Remus, Virgil, Janus, Logan, Roman (At the end), Patton (Mainly implied)

~~~

He had everything ready.

"Ahem."

Three heads turn to look at him.

"Logan, I really don't understand why you're doing this. You know I'm literally the Lord of the Lies, right? I can tell when you're lying."

"Falsehood. I am here specifically to prove to you three, the ones that have doubted me the most, what I think of Roman, so that you'll stop teasing me about emotions that aren't even there." Logan says, standing in front of a long classroom table. Virgil, Janus and Remus sit there, each maintaining their own postures and looking at him with disbelieving expressions.

"Logan, we can see your heart boner from here. You really think you can convince us with a slideshow presentation?" Remus picks his teeth, seemingly bored of the idea.

"That's exactly what I'm doing- What? Why would my heart have a boner? It doesn't have the proper parts to do that-" Logan looks lost, clutching the presentation button in his hand.

"It's an expression, Pocket Protector. It means you've got feelings for him." Virgil sighs.

Logan squints at him. "Of course I have feelings for him." Logan looks behind him, to the SmartBoard behind him. The board turns on, displaying the presentation title. "And those feelings are feelings of irritation. My name is Logan Sanders, and welcome to my Ted Talk."

There is a collective sigh from the others.

Logan takes a pointer stick (the one with the little hand on one side) from a holder on the wall, and points at the words on the screen. "This is 5 reasons why Roman is infuriating. And unlike your cognitive distortions may suggest, I DO NOT have a crush on him." He gestures with the stick where the same thing is written. "So, let's begin."

~~~

1. He likes to insist that he's the most handsome side, despite us all looking like Thomas.

It's ridiculous. All of their traits are reminiscent of Thomas's.

There are some mild changes they go through when they aren't summoned, but they are just slight shifts. For example, Janus and Remus both have different long hairstyles, and they all have a bit of a hair color change. Their features do shift too, emulating ones Thomas has seen over his lifetime that he'd associate with their personalities.

However, in person and in the mindscape, Roman really thinks 'he's the sh*t' (Virgil taught him that expression). He flaunts his beauty over everyone else's, strutting like the prettiest peacock in the flock. Sure, he's good looking, but the same level of good looking as all the other sides.

"You're all so handsome. But not as handsome as me." Logan recalls him saying in an episode.

He tries to use it to one-up the other's, even though they all know they look the same. He also enjoys flaunting his ego, attempting to emulate a lifestyle of the rich and famous when he feels like it.

It's rather ridiculous.

"You think he's good-looking?" Remus coos.

Logan glares, and changes the slide of the presentation.

2. He fights everyone all the time. (Except for Patton)

It seems that Roman has made the most rivals out of everyone.

He's rivals with his brother, he's got a rivalry with Janus but with more betrayal behind it, he's got his past rivalry with Virgil, even though now they're the closest friends, and despite making up several times, Logan is also his rival. Patton seems to be fine, despite their post-wedding event. Logan believes Roman is too worried of defending what he believes in against the literal embodiment of Thomas's morality.

"So, you two have tried making up, but have you considered... Making out???" Remus pitches, his smile all teeth.

Logan sputters a bit. "Puh- Wha- I don't think that would work."

Logan has in fact not thought of making out with Roman, thank you very much. Not even when they're so close, passionately arguing about who-knows-what in the spur of the moment, where it would be so easy to move just a little bit closer and connect his lips to the soft pink ones of the prince.

He has not thought about making out with Roman, because he does not have a crush on him. Period. End of story.

The two of them argue a lot. Whether it's how Thomas should spend his day, to the Chicken or the Egg dilemma (Logan knows he's right, by the way, Roman just won't see that the egg came first), to the ideal temperature for a heating pillow, to the best Crofter's flavor. They can range from productive, to stupid, and by the end of it they may just be fighting about nothing at all.

They jab at each other, come up with clever arguments, and although they're technically fighting, it sometimes feels more like a duel.

"Or a mating ritual." Virgil says under his breath.

"These points don't sound very negative." Janus adds, twirling some of his hair with his finger.

"It is negative. We fight a lot. He fights people a lot. Every issue seems to be a battle to him that he can outmatch, despite being better suited as a civil discussion." Logan stands taller, trying to defend his point.

"Well, that makes sense. I understand this point now. Go on." Janus waves his gloved hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Alright." Logan clicks his presenter button, and the slide changes.

3. He's loud. Super loud. All the time.

From singing to dancing to bantering, there never does seem to be a dull moment when Roman is around. Some may call it nice, but Logan would say that's a very polite description. It certainly isn't nice when Logan's trying to get work done, or watch a movie, or enjoy a peaceful breakfast, or most of the time really.

Logan has stopped working outside when he's trying to be productive because Roman will, without fail, come in singing, and then start a little fight with Logan that distracts him from his work and renders him unproductive for a long time because all he can think about is Roman.

"Hm... Wonder why that is." Janus interrupts, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you don't need to wonder. I said it was because of our fighting." Logan nervously adjusts his already immaculately placed glasses, resuming his point to his slide presentation.

It's odd, because sometimes even without leaving his room, he can still hear the sounds of Roman's voice in his head. He theorizes the absence of all that noise is making him subconsciously fill it in ( even though his mind also provides him with clear images of Roman's smile).

He can't escape the noise on movie nights. Roman will sing along to any song, scream at the most poorly-timed jumpscares, and no matter what, criticize the movie. Logan does participate in that last step from time to time.

During dinners, it depends. Sometimes, Roman will come in and do his thing, sometimes he'll make a dramatic entrance, grab a plate and then go off to work on something, and sometimes he won't show up at all, off on a quest in the imagination. Those particular meals are peaceful. Sometimes they feel empty, but so far, no one else has complained. Especially considering with Remus' and Janus' seats added to the table, dinner can be a wild event.

Sometimes, when Logan gets lonely, he'll bring his work outside. Every time, he can guarantee that Roman will be there eventually. He provides a healthy distraction, and he always feels much lighter after a bantering session.

But most of the time, he just can't stand it. How can one be so flamboyant for so many hours of the day? Logan had theorized it had something to do with overcompensation, his need for validation and attention, but then thought it was strange theorizing about his friends and went back to work.

Overall, not the worst trait, but it being applied to every scenario adds to the fact that he is infuriating.

"Hold on, can we circle back to the part where you said you thought of him smiling-" Virgil begins, only to be interrupted by Logan pointing his pointer at him.

"No, we will not. Next point."

4. He makes up stupid nicknames.

And he makes a lot of them. Even during serious talks, you'd think he had forgotten your name and was too scared to ask, so he supplies an abundance of back-ups to make you feel special. And they are quite varied, though all slightly jabbing. There are play-on-words, references thrown about... It would have impressed Logan, had all of his designated nicknames not revolved around him being a nerd.

"Hey Microsoft Turd."

"I need your help, Egghead."

"Listen here, Erlenmeyer Trash-"

"Calculator Watch."

"Oh Book Geeeerm~"

"Sure thing Specs."

Logan actually didn't mind specs, but his point still stands. All insulting, clever, but still stupid nicknames. Sometimes, he wonders if Roman keeps a book of them around. Somewhere in his room, filled with all the names he'll unleash onto his unsuspecting companions. Logan may have tried to come up with a list of his own in retaliation, but he couldn't think of anything Roman would think was clever. He spent almost a full night on it, hair a mess, glasses askew, head resting on his desk as he tried to come up with something at least remotely good enough. It interrupted his perfect circadian rhythm. Never again.

Except for the next night, where he tried the exact same stunt again, but that doesn't matter.

What does, is that all of those factors cause aggravation. He always feels weird when Roman gives him a nickname, varying from annoyance to a strange tingling.

"Are you saying he should stop?" Virgil interrupts, frustrated. "This point is going nowhere."

"I-" He's not sure. Although some of the insults are quite jabbing, Logan does want to support Roman's creative process. Not to mention, the nickname ‘specs’ oddly does hold a place in his heart.

"OoOoOoohhh, I have an idea!" Remus cackles. Although Logan is hesitant, he gestures to continue. "Okay, so pinky swear I won't try anything on you, but just close your eyes, and imagine how this nickname would make you feel if Roman said it."

Logan apprehensively closes his eyes, and Remus does nothing but lean slightly forward in his seat, and puts on his best Roman impression. Which is pretty good, considering they're twin brothers.

"How are you today, my love?"

Immediately, Logan flushes bright red from head to toe, covering his face in his hands and squirms. Remus's cackling intensifies by a tenfold, and the other two are poorly failing to contain their laughter.

"That's- That's- That's... N-not a nickname. Th-That's a p-pet name."

"Awww, but you're blushiiiing!" Remus squeals in amusement.

"Falsehood. N-no." Logan says, not enough bite in it to hold value. "We are going to move on now. That just... caught me off guard." He says, adjusting his tie several times, trying to compose himself. "The point is, his nicknames are stupid, and I don't like them- No, don't look at me like that Remus even that one- so it adds to his infuriating nature." Logan grabs the presentation button and clicks it aggressively to the next slide.

"And now, for my concluding point."

5. He is incredibly and willingly dumb.

Sometimes Logan thinks he wouldn't be surprised by the illogical things Roman would say. And then he gets proven incredibly wrong.

"Much like your... 'illogical feelings', mayhaps?" Janus drawls.

Shush, Logan is talking.

Granted, both Creativity twins have proven to be rather illogical, as they are embodiments of creativity, a force that knows only slight bounds to logic. Only with a defying mind can people push boundaries in the advancement of society. That doesn't mean however that those defying minds need to be intelligent.

"I believe Virgil specifically had called Roman a.." He takes out his special cards, flipping through them. " 'A Himbo'. Judging from his past and present behaviors and from the definition itself, it is safe to assume that yes, he is in fact a Himbo."

One instance he can remember is during a picnic in the imagination. It was Patton's birthday, and Roman wanted to do something special, so he set up a picnic for them all to attend. Logan doesn't enjoy visiting the imagination as much, as when he's there, things become more realistic and that makes him feel like a burden. Regardless, it was for Patton's birthday, and so he decided it would be polite to come along.

Everyone was guided by a trail of flowers to an opening in the forest, where a giant picnic blanket was laid out, pillows thrown around, and a large picnic basket stood in the center. There were many balloons of pastel pink and blue tied around, and the birds were chirping in a joint melody. It sounds almost like Happy Birthday.

Logan, as he approaches, hopes that his influence won't cause ants to emerge, because although that would be realistic, it would also be quite the nuisance.

He and the other's are just dressed in their usual attire, but as Roman emerges from the trees, he is wearing a shiny red party hat to go along with his prince outfit.

Roman immediately goes to serenading Patton and placing a party hat on top of his head, light blue with a little pompom on the top. He ushers him to sit on one of the largest pillows, and then goes around giving everyone else party hats. Logan stills when Roman gets to him last, a dark blue party hat with little stars in his hand.

"Do I have to wear that?" He asks. Although, sure, it does look nice, he doesn't want to seem ridiculous.

"Come on, you're in good company. Please? For Patton?" Roman bats his eyelashes at Logan, who sighs and lets him put the party hat onto his head.

Roman runs off to the birthday boy, and they all sit down. The time passes peacefully, songs being sung and Roman releasing a horde of puppies to the joy of the guests. By the time the food is out, everything seems to be going well, until they're all eating, and Roman pulls out an orange. As he's about to peel it, Logan speaks up.

"Roman, I would advise against that." Which may sound ridiculous to most people, but Logan is an expert on many logical things. ( Orange peels have a flammable liquid in them called limonene, and as both it and a balloon, made of latex, are non-polar, the liquid can dissolve the balloon, thus causing it to explode.)

"Against what?" Roman asks, but he does stop his attempt.

Logan adjusts his glasses, ready to explain. "Eating an orange near a balloon. As I cause the imagination to become more logical, doing so will most likely cause-"

"Oh puh-lease! I'm sure whatever wacky science things you're going to say don't actually work here! I mean, there is plenty of influence to go arou-" Roman, the spiteful side he is, gets even closer to the balloon, starting to peel it. Lo-and-behold, he can't finish his denying before the balloon right beside him explodes with a loud POP. The sound sends him jumping back in fear, screeching to the nine hells, and then falling backwards onto another balloon, scaring him again. Several sides laughed out loud at his pain, while Patton watched him, worried. Logan smiled internally at the karma, before getting up and making sure he was okay.

Roman did spend the rest of the party in a sulky mood, but the party was still a huge success. They had some good food, and while Logan made Patton a flower crown, he fed him forfulls of cake. It was a nice bonding moment. When everyone separated to return to the mindscape, Roman waved them all off from the imagination door. Logan turns back to look at him, but Roman makes no move to follow them all out.

"You're not coming back yet?" Logan asks, adjusting his glasses.

Roman sighs. "No, not yet. I'm afraid this dashing prince has a little bit of cleaning to do. And perhaps an adventure. You never know." He leans on the doorframe, smiling.

"Well, that is correct. I in fact do not know what you'll be doing." Logan nods to himself. "Do you need any help cleaning? I doubt I'll be much help with the adventure, but I do have hands." He gestures to his hands.

Roman looks quite surprised. "Oh, thanks for the offer, specs. I think I've got it all covered though."

Logan offers a hesitant smile. "Alright then. Let me know if that changes."

Roman quickly smiles back, a faint pink dusting his cheeks, and turns back into the imagination and shutting the door. Logan stands there for a moment, but not sure why. It's clear that Roman was not feeling all that great from the balloon moment. Even Logan, terrible at deciphering emotions, can tell that much. Perhaps he needs to let off some steam.

He just can't understand Roman most of the time. They do have so many similarities, being too proud for their own good, but it's almost like they're in two separate worlds. Logan, the learner he is, wishes he could explore Roman's own. Understand it. Understand him, and his way of thinking. Even though Roman is mostly dumb, he does make good points, and Logan tries to prioritize his input, as it's usually what Thomas is hoping and dreaming for as well.

~~~

The last slide shines back at them all. A concluding statement that makes the three watching sides snicker a little bit.

"And I believe he just doesn't understand how much we all think he's great. I swear, he's just so dense! It's so aggravating! How can he not tell that he's worth everything? Why doesn't he understand that we all care for him? That I care for him? He's wonderful, for god's sake! And that I don't mean to hurt him with my critiques. I want him to thrive! I-"

Everything stops. Logan takes a moment of silence. The three sides look at him, each with different degrees of anticipation. One looks pretty much ready to pounce out of his seat.

"...Oh."

And all at once, everything gets strung back into motion. Confetti literally falls from the ceiling as Remus jumps for joy, circling a very mortified looking Logan. Janus, the tired soul, rolls his eyes and lets out a slow, long clap. Virgil just rests his head in his arms.

"I can't believe this. You sit us all down for a presentation you probably double-checked and proofread, like a nerd, and only NOW you realize you were wrong all along? Why didn't you say anything, snake-face?" Virgil complains, sitting up just to glare at him.

"Wo-ow, it isn't as if I was saying that this whole time? No, it couldn't be." Janus deadpans, sarcasm spilling from his mouth like an old, worn, broken dam.

Logan doesn't move from his stand-still spot beside the projector, but Remus manages to bounce in circles around him, cooing. "Lo-lo's got a cruuuush! A crushy crush! A crushed crust of a crush! A crevice cracking ‘cause of the crushed crust-" He was going to continue, throwing expired banana peels around to substitute rose petals, until the sound of the door opening catches everyone's attention.

"Hey losers, Patton wanted to know if you-" Lo and behold, Roman walks in, regal as ever, smiling until he takes in the sight before him. The boring classroom look, contrasted by the amount of confetti that stopped falling as soon as he walked in. Janus and Virgil, wide-eyed and looking at him, completely still. Remus, caught mid dance, frozen in place with a smile. Logan, looking at him in the way one may look milliseconds after being caught stealing government secrets. Roman's eyes flicker to each of them, before settling on the projector.

"Roman. I-I can explain-" Logan starts, but Roman is already reading the words on the screen.

"... 'In short, he saddles me with unnecessary... feelings'? 'Unease, and uncertainty'? Who... Oh my god! Logan!" Roman looks at him, smiling in disbelief and amazement. "I know what this meanssss!" Filled with giddy delight, he sidesteps the table.

Logan gulps as Roman approaches, turning beet red as Roman takes his hands in his two own. "Y-Yes?" He practically squeaks as Roman looks him right in the eyes.

"Yes! Ohhh, this is so exciting!" The three bystanders watch, once again in anticipation, as Roman swings their interlocked hands.

"Yes?" Logan offers a small, tentative smile.

"You have a crush on someoooone! Oh Logan, you should've told me!" Roman smiles, completely oblivious to the internal facepalm of several present members.

"I-I'm sorry..." Logan looks down, slightly disappointed but still too flustered to say anything.

"God save the dense." Janus mutters, inspecting his gloves fingers.

"Don't be sorry! Come, we must make plans! I shall be your matchmaker! This is going to be perfeeeect!" Roman, sings, dancing out of the room and dragging Logan along by their still intertwined hands. The other sides watch them go.

After a moment of processing, Virgil sighs. "Well, I thought that was going to be resolved. Turns out they're both as dense as... dense people." He can't seem to think of any other similes.

"Welp, I'm just happy that they're one step closer to getting. it. on. romantically." Remus punctuates every word with some rather immature hand gestures. “And that they stop dancing around each other.”

"Who do you think Roman thinks Logan has a crush on?" Virgil asks, cogs turning in his brain.

Janus lounges backwards. "Well, let's see... Soooo many options. Either he thinks it's someone outside of Thomas's head, or the simple answer..."

Remus and Virgil both look at him, both with looks of realization.

"Patton."

~~~

[alfredosauce50]

would you be down to do 2p china hc’s? im very curious on how you characterize him!

I’m down! I’m guessing you figured I had my own interpretation of the guy after I answered an ask saying I’d write for him. I really like 2p! China as a character, but I have to say, I haven’t properly written for him before. Nevertheless, I’ll give you my thoughts on him as a person!

2p! China Headcanons

Zao’s appearance doesn’t give away much of his personality. He’s got a bit of a baby face, and he has a sociable and pleasant demeanor for the most part. So if you didn’t know him well enough to see past those traits, you would be surprised at how shady he can be.

Appearance

Like his 1p counterpart, his dark brown hair goes past his shoulders and is tied back in a low ponytail. It’s pretty thin too, so it stays flat against his back. But that’s what makes it look so good. He isn’t the tallest guy out there, as he stands around 170cm or 5′7″. Doesn’t mean you can easily take him out in a fight, though. He’s quite slender, but he’s muscular and knows a few martial arts to boot.

He has a lot of tattoos, and he doesn’t try to hide them. He has dragons curling down his arms, as well as Chinese characters etched into his back. Most of the time, he wears traditional clothing, such as a sleeveless Tang suit, so his arms are exposed. It’s almost as if the colors black and red were made for him. And he knows it. So unless he’s having a bad day where he’ll go for a simple T-shirt, he likes to dress to impress. Not that he even needs to try.

He’s devilishly attractive, and the way he talks gets girls flocking to him.

Personality

Zao is very easy-going and open-minded. He’ll talk about anything with anyone. Everything is fascinating in a way, and nothing seems to faze him either. So he’s the type to question the most trivial things in life--or list drugs as casually as you would your favorite candy bars. It’s also difficult to shock him, or anger him. When life deals him a bad hand, or springs up inconveniences, he’ll go with the flow because that’s life. So unless something involves the person he likes, he keeps himself pretty level-headed.

With his willingness to talk about anything, comes his brutal honesty and bluntness. So sometimes, he’ll find himself offending people even if he never meant to. If he does this to women, they’ll slap him before storming off, leaving him in confusion at what he did wrong. But if he does this to men, he’ll have to be quick on his feet to escape a potential fight. Unlike a few other 2ps, he has a good temperament so he avoids violence, but he’ll resort to it if he absolutely has to.

Despite the careers he’s depicted to have, like being a drug-dealer, something in adult entertainment, night-life, or anything illegal, he has strong fraternal instincts. If somebody embodied the “big brother” trope, it would be him. He cares a lot for his younger siblings, and they look up to him as a role model. But he’ll always tell them, “Do as I say, not as I do!” As comfortable as he is in his own skin, his own identity, he wouldn’t want them taking after him.

He’s very flirtatious, and a huge tease. How he shows he likes you is through making you blush, or embarrassed. He’ll call you pet names. Shower you with compliments. Refer to you as if you and him are already an item. If you bumped into him at a grocery store, he’ll help you shop, then say, “So, is that all we need? I can’t wait for dinner tonight.” Zao is also unapologetically dirty-minded. He’s all about dirty jokes, conversations, and gestures. The bigger reaction he gets, the more addicting they are.

He doesn’t have any qualifications, not even a high school diploma, but he’s street-smart to make up for it. That’s how he makes so many connections and hustles his way up to the top in shady businesses. If you need something, anything, legal or illegal, expensive or cheap, you can ask him, and 99% of the time, he’ll say, “I know a guy.” If he likes you, all he wants in return is something perverted. A kiss, maybe. Or maybe your underwear.

Interests

He loves anything cute, and he doesn’t hide it. Sanrio is a must--he keeps a collection of their plushies, most of them being Hello Kitty, but he also likes other characters such as Cinnamoroll and Pompompurin. Sometimes, he can get a bit obsessive over whatever sells fast. So if he has to, he’ll stay up and keep refreshing the page selling whatever he has his eyes on. If he’s infamous for his connections that let him get pretty much anything he wants, surely he can get his hands on the limited-edition Hello Kitty-themed towel, right!? He isn’t against having other kinds of merchandise either, like household items, but he keeps it lowkey for functionality.

In his house, you’ll find a lot of imports from East-Asian countries. Not only is he used to using them when he was back in China, they’re better than what you can find in America. Or at least, in his opinion. This includes cosmetics, snacks, alcohol, and decorations.

Although he doesn’t have a lot of time to, he enjoys watching anime. That’s why he makes sure to get through the most popular and mainstream ones first.

Zao likes to keep connected with his culture. He doesn’t care to assimilate, and being ‘different’ doesn’t bother him at all--he thinks it’s what gives him a unique personality and background. Since he doesn’t have a lot of friends to speak Mandarin with, he’ll look for his neighbors who can, and strike up a conversation every now and then. As well as that, he’ll give his siblings red pockets for Chinese New Year so they can spend it on food, videogames or whatever they want.

He can’t cook for shit. Even then, he has strong opinions on food, especially Chinese. While he enjoys westernised take out like Panda express, he wishes people would stop assuming Chinese cuisine is just dumplings, fried rice, noodles and yum cha. They’re B-tier at best. For a country with that rich and long a history, there’s so much more to indulge in. Too bad he can’t make anything if he tried.

Psychology + romance

Zao is used to being a second choice. His cheerfulness and bluntness make other people think he’s creepy or weird, so he can’t quite wrap his head around somebody liking him to that degree--or getting particularly close to him. At least, emotionally. There are a lot of girls who want him for one-night stands. But this doesn’t stop him from flirting with someone he genuinely likes, even if he doesn’t expect anything in return. It’s fun because they get flustered, after all. But when they start returning the same energy, get persistent, or even make him suspect that they like him back, he will get nervous. He’s used to being the chaser, not the other way around. So if the tables turn and things start getting real, he will back away.

As confident as he is with his image, it’s difficult for him to get intimate with somebody romantically. He’s open, but can’t be vulnerable. He’d rather keep things casual, so when he really falls for someone, he’ll be conflicted between keeping things the way they are, or pursuing them.

Eventually, these feelings will deepen to the point being just friends becomes suffocating. That’s when Zao loses his cool and gets frustrated. It could happen due to a build-up of his emotions, or an event that makes him explode from jealousy. He’ll get desperate after so long of not doing anything and make it very clear he wants you. “Just date me already!”

When he finally gets together with you, prepare to be coddled. He’ll want to help you with anything the best way he can, and go to extreme lengths to do so. Nothing seems extreme when it’s for somebody he cares so much about. While he never holds it against you--how much he does for you--he may or may not guilt trip you into giving him more affection. But only subtly. Instead of him kissing you, he'll loiter around your presence until you kiss him. And when you do, he’ll smile like an idiot.

He never makes it explicit when he wants to take you out on a date. Zao will just ask you if you’re free, and take you out for the night. He doesn’t see a point in labelling it as a ‘date’, because he doesn’t just see quality time with you through a romantic and sexual lens. He values the friendship aspect of it as well, and you really appreciate him for it.

Zao loves to cuddle. He doesn’t hug you much throughout the day, but when you’re at home and about to sleep, he will hug you, a lot. He won’t let go while he talks to you, and will only loosen his coils when you fall asleep.

Acknowledgements

I was mainly inspired by the 2p! China in the story, “Dragon District”, written by xYourHero. So props to them. The fandom’s perception of him has definitely deepened because of it, and it’s great seeing underrated 2ps finally getting the attention they deserve! I’m one of the people who’s had my characterization of Zao take after hers, so I’ll also be crediting her for my headcanons.

You can find the story on DeviantArt, Archive of our own and Wattpad. I adored that fic back in the day. Such good memories. I wasn’t even writing back when I was reading it. Any who, let’s get right into it. I’ve divided the headcanons into subcategories, appearance, personality, interests, and psychology + romance.

(Look at this fanart is by Amphany on DeviantArt. It was drawn for xYourHero. I’m gonna put it here for reference. https://www.deviantart.com/amphany/art/Dragon-smoke-548426383)

[mikaze-discord]

Quartet Night: Love letters

Annnnnd these are the love letters written for Quartet Night!!!

Please enjoy under the cut~

REIJI KOTOBUKI

From Anon:

I've always been drawn to characters with complex (and fairly dark) personalities, so liking Rei-chan was honestly inevitable for me.

He looks like a very bright and cheerful character at first, which he is, but sometimes that part of him is a little misleading because, in actuality, he's a character that holds a lot of negative feelings about himself due to a past that he can't seem to move on from. He holds a lot of those feelings to himself because he doesn't want to burden anyone else with them. He's a reliable, cunning, and ultimately selfless character that chooses to shoulder a lot on his own out of his infinite care for others, and perhaps a secret sense of atonement, all hidden behind his bright demeanor and goofy smile, and it's endlessly interesting to me.

Besides the duality of his personality, he has a lot of other endearing quirks to love about him. He loves his mom a lot and is a mama's boy. His old-man jargon and catchphrases never fail to amuse (I still can't get over the way he says "my girl"). His obsession with anything even remotely British is something my APH England phase can relate to. His style of music brings a lot of pleasant feelings of nostalgia for me, and his pretty voice suits them a lot. And most of all he's just a very good boy overall. I rate 99999 out of 10 would love and support him and also maybe pay for his therapy because god knows he needs it. Happy anniversary!!

From another anon: 

Would you like to hear a story? You do? Very well then, may this story be one you enjoy.

What do I like about Reiji kotobuki? A Lot of things actually!

Well, I've always really liked Reiji as a character as he seemed to be one of the more interesting characters to me, due to how complex he is with his backstory and general just personality.

I have always really enjoyed how Reiji just solves problems too? Like he is just such an outgoing person who deserves all the support!!!

Like the best word I can use for Reiji is just, unique. Everything about him is just so Reiji. From the way he talks, to his nicknames or even his texting style. Like have you seen how many people use emoticons when texting as Reiji? It's just so him.

I like his way of thinking too! I feel like some of the interactions in the games are just so interesting, just seeing Reiji’s point of view. How he deals with a sort of survivor’s guilt and all of that.

Personally, some of my most memorable roleplaying moments were watching a Reiji rper in action, like just seeing them interact and flow so seamlessly with the other characters was just so fascinating to wee baby rper me. Such a large part of playing Reiji is just how you flow with the people around you and comedic timing. I have so many funny moments where Reiji was just interacting with people and it was just so inspirational (?) like I couldn't stop the smile on my face. I had learnt alot from them. I still consider them my roleplaying senpai almost! I don't talk to them anymore but I really had an amazing time just seeing their spin on the character.

I don't find him to be a romantic partner towards me nor do I see any of the characters in that light, but I've always found Reiji as such a personal character. Not even just towards me, like even with other utapri stans. The most relatable character always seems to be Reiji.

I've always been pretty similar in many aspects to him and I often find myself relating to him in numerous ways like his vibe is just relatable! I have often found myself trying to make other people laugh and have fun that many times I'm spreading myself thin and feel unappreciated...Reiji really helped with that.

This is where i start getting into the really personal stuff LOL feel free to skip if you dont wanna hear the angsty backstory.

I had really come to love Reiji when I had just...hit a low. I had a group of friends who I enjoyed hanging out with and just talking to, but they weren't very good friends per say. I often had to schedule every activity we did and I spent days and nights trying to think of concepts that might be fun. They took it for granted.. I had spent 4 months trying to make a game for them, and they had constantly pushed back times that we would play it. Using excuses to not play it, without telling me out right what they did not like or even why. The site I used was later taken down without notice and thus I had lost all my progress. Later, they had mentioned how they would like to play it except that later ended up being two years later. I really wish I could've solved things with that friend group like Quartet Night did but that didn't happen. That is when I started seeing things Reiji’s way? Not to say that it was the same or similar scenario to Reiji but I had just associated it with him.

RANMARU KUROSAKI

From Anon:

Ran is such a fun character! He sounds like a "rough outside, soft inside" kind of character, but his roughness is more like an integral part of him and it's through it that he shows he cares rather than setting it aside. That's what made me want to rp him. I also like how he is such a strong guy who's always determined to do his best in everything he does despite so much having gone wrong in his past. And it's very satisfying to see him form bonds and start to trust people.

From @mikaze-san:

Originally, my favourite Utapri boy was Ai, and it had been the robot boy for several years upon entering the fandom. In fact, it only switched to Ranmaru sometime late last year but regardless, I would still die for this man. Part of the reason why I switched is because I’ve always been a fan of Suzuki Tatsuhisa and I have a huge bias towards any man who wears nail polish without fearing being “feminine” because fuck gender roles.

As someone who studies fashion, I think Ranmaru is very coordinated and confident when it comes to portraying himself that way. He knows he’s not very good at expressing his emotions and utilises his passion for rock and playing the bass to portray those feelings through his songs. It’s also incredibly inspiring to know that he bounces back from pretty much anything considering his backstory and the stuff he deals with in the game/anime.

But my main reason for loving Ranmaru so much stems from the fact that I admire him a lot and want to be more like him. For a long time last year, I got to roleplay as Ranmaru in a few Utapri groups and through those experiences, I gained a better understanding and appreciation of the characters that I wrote for. In some weird way, by highlighting his flaws, character progression and how he dealt with different emotions, I ended up providing insight into how I dealt with similar issues by looking at them from a 3rd person perspective.

I used to be very shy and was very shut off from friends and family, and due to this I’ve always admired people in my life or fictional characters that are so confident in being who they are. Ranmaru particularly struck that chord in me because his bluntness knows no end. He’s very opinionated and doesn’t fear confrontation, in most cases being the one to provoke it. He speaks his mind openly without being overly anxious of the consequences. This is something that I feel is especially relevant today with being your authentic/unapologetic self is such a trend.

It’s something I’ve also noticed with having met people in or outside of this fandom, the notion of idolising a fictional character containing traits that we want to see in ourselves. Which made me think about a lot of my favourite kinds of characters which at the end of the day all boil down to sharing one similar trait: Being a bitch.

And in Utapri, Ranmaru embodies that. So naturally it’s very easy for me to idolise him.

(Tldr: I like his bitchy attitude.)

AI MIKAZE 

From Arashi:

It's hard to put into words why I love Ai Mikaze, perhaps it's because I'm subconsciously drawn to him, maybe it's because his hair and eyes are my favorite color, maybe it's because his voice is that of an angels, there are many reasons why I love him. I couldn't tell you a definite, "These one or two reasons are the entire reason I love him", but I'll try to sum it up.

I grew to love him by admiring his personality, his smile, his determination to reach his goals, everything about him made me happy. He's strict and a little scary at times, but when he sees people caring for him, he becomes happy and in a way, sentimental. He's not sure how to explain the way he feels, but he tries. I think I admire how he holds all the little things precious to his heart as he learns about them, and he wants to understand how to care for others and how they care for them in return. Even after six years, he still remains the most dear to me. I think that he now has a sentimental value to me, because even if I 'loved' another character more for a while, I will always come back to Ai. Ai deserves the world, and I'd give it to him if I could. He'll always be special to me, and I think that he very much deserves that.

From Maronda: 

My love for Ai started after I found Shining Live by chance and started to play. At first I wasn't particularly attached to any of the characters and decided to go back and watch the anime to maybe remember some context other than who Starish was. When I got to the episode focused on Ai and his "secret" I was absolutely thrown off by it all. I ended up feeling like I had so many questions and I knew that the anime would give me little to no answers, so I frequently turned to rambling on the internet about it. Eventually, this fixation on weird things about him seemed to turn into a clear fondness for him, and friends made me realize just how much I liked him. Knowing the cold and often strange aspects of his personality was due to something out of his control was something I resonated with as someone on the autism spectrum. He reminded me of some of the ways I used to think and behave.

I also began to notice other things I loved about him. Things like how soothing I found his voice, the pleasant shade of light blue in his hair and eyes, how ridiculously pretty he is... but the best things are the endearing parts of his personality. Though he's somewhat harsh, he's still entirely genuine. His curiosity is absolutely precious and his occasional awkwardness in expressing emotion or understanding the emotions of others made me empathize with him. And if you look at the Ai in Shining Live and compare it to the Ai in the anime and games... he really has changed a lot and grown as a person. He now seems so much gentler and understanding, and he clearly values the friendships he has now too! I think he's a wonderful character and ever since friends of mine encouraged me to selfship I've essentially been in love with him, but it also makes me happy to see other people appreciate him for other reasons as well. He's just so lovable!

CAMUS

From @uta-no-fakku-sama:

At the very beginning of my UtaPri interest, Camus never really caught my attention. That is until he became my first My Only Prince UR. I’ve come to appreciate him a lot more ever since, and now he’s become my favorite QUARTET NIGHT member! Along the way, I learned more about him and realized he’s one of the more complicated characters to understand. Nonetheless, I absolutely adore him. I tend to tease and make fun of him a lot, but deep down I truly do like him a whole bunch!

From @/waddamaloooon on twt: 

A little Camus appreciation post

(alternatively known as; how this guy managed to harshly take my heart and step on it like the gumin I am.)

Hello, this is Suikamaru, here to share a tiny story of why I, and eventually you, love Camus Rondo Cryzard.

At first glance, his looks appealed to me, but not his behavior (and ironically enough, his voice) so I didn't bat an eye on him. I've always been on a neutral leaning to dislike opinion on Camus, which is quite understandable because have you SEEN the way he acts. Unfathomable.

…..To a Young Suikamaru, that is.

I've grown, so naturally I've changed preferences regarding characters, ikemen, and who to stan and who to avoid like the plague. I will lie if I said that I expected to like that blonde confectionery devouring machine at any point of my life.

But it did happen so who are we fooling here.

It dawned on me that Camus is the type of character that you cannot appreciate unless you go in depth into his lore, backstory, and see him for who he really is. Because then everything else will make sense. And that never happened in my case until I started roleplaying as him.

I realized that he's not just a two faced, sweet toothed mean man. He's a perfectionist, someone who's always been raised since his childhood days to be nothing less than complete, who has locked on his heart and emotions to devote himself completely to the purpose given to him. He has the looks and brains for what though? He should be a little stupid honestly.

But his intelligence gave him the complexity that he just needed for his characteristics. Because as aforementioned, he's not someone to easily like or fall in love with. And I think that's quite rare in characters, and very much appreciated due to the fact it gives the fans a chance to not actually stay on a flat level of knowledge regarding their favorite characters.

I've slowly started to see myself in some aspects of him, which was the number one factor of liking him. Then came the Maeno magic when I realized Camus shares the same VA as another character that I love as well. (Hamelin, from SinoAlice.) From then, everything went downhill.

In a good way. I think..

Well, that is all from me, please read about this handsome man and appreciate his hard work both as an individual and as an idol. There is SO much to him that's p much overlooked and I'm getting broke from spending my money on his living expenses rent free in my head. Take him off my head.