#i’m really curious because there are some roles that i’d love to see some of my favorite actors play

[slozhnos]

what is a role that you want to see a musical theatre actor play? (can include a role they never performed on stage/can be a role they were on a concept album for)

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @66sharkteeth

66 is a comic artist and the creator of City of Blank, a WEBTOON original series. They worked in the game industry at companies such as 2K Games before entering the field of comics. They began their career in comics at Tapas, where they worked as an editor and lead typesetter, before being signed to create their own original series on WEBTOON.

Check out our interview with 66 below!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

The short answer is yeah, I’ve definitely had one. Overall, I feel like doing a lot of style studies during that time and trying to use new brushes helps a lot. In addition, because I’m a comic artist, I feel like writer’s block is in the same field, and with that, I’m really fortunate that I have an editor that I can work with, who helps me a lot there. Whenever I am stuck at a plot point in my comic, I can always go to my editor, who helps me hammer things out.

What medium have you always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

Animation. Of course, everyone loves animation. I went to school for game art and design and even did some animation courses, and I am just not cut out for it. I don’t enjoy the process, and I am not good at it. Animation is beautiful, and I admire people who can do it. I’d love for my work to be animated some day, I’m just not capable of being the one to do it haha.

Warm tones or cool tones?

It really depends on the scene! Especially in my comic, I really go with both of them, just depending on the moment in the comic. There was a major character death, and that scene was almost black and white. But normally, the comic is very vibrant, and people really like it, so when I switch it to a more cold tone, it makes the scene that much more impactful.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

Honestly, my current comic, City of Blank, takes up 100% of my time. But recently, I did a plushie campaign where I worked with Makeship through Webtoon to design the plushies and do a little bit of marketing for them. So that’s fun and different from what I normally do!

When planning a comic or a story, what do you do first, character design or character outline?

Normally, I have a design, and I fall in love with the character design, and then I find a role for them. That’s how a lot of my characters have started. Also, that’s how I’ve been tackling new projects that I want to work on after City of Blank. I just came up with a character, and I’m trying to make a story around them.

What is a convention experience that has stuck with you?

Meeting readers and realizing how much my work means to some of them. Some of them have started their own comics, having been inspired by mine. Learning that I’m part of the reason they started their own comic journey, the same way I looked to other inspiring comic artists to start mine—it means the world that I’m in that position now.

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Let’s see…bright, sparkly colors! I think just trying to make sure that the booth is eye-catching. I ended up making a big shiny banner for New York Comic Con, and I know many people stopped by because it caught their eye and they’re curious about what it is. I know a lot of people are selling merchandise of popular media. Even just a banner of your brand to get them curious about who you are and maybe interested in seeing what you make and taking a business card so they can look you up later. It’s better than someone just buying a pin and forgetting you exist. Lastly, put out a tip jar. You never know just how generous your fans are feeling.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

I’m mostly involved in the webtoon sphere! I am definitely inspired by my fellow Webtoon creators, @lark-wren, who created the series Woven. I love their work and seeing them interact with their readers on Tumblr. Same with fellow Webtoon creators, @miranda-mundt-art and @astrobleme-enterprises, who created Lovebot.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, 66! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @66sharkteeth and follow their webcomic, City of Blank, over at WEBTOON.

[daydreams-after-dark]

What's your fanfic fantasy? part 5

Chapter Contents.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7 // Part 8 // Part 9 // Parts 10 // Part 11 // Part 12 // Part 13 // Part 14 //

Chapter Summary: You and Minho chat after Chan leaves the room. You find out why Minho agreed to fulfilling your fantasy, and you instigate some roleplay.

Premise: OFC + Chan + Jisung 18+ fanfic. This is an AU story about Chan bringing your fantasies to life... but what happens when boyfriends Chan and Han fall in love with you?

Warnings: anal fingering, anal sex, role play, blindfolds, coming inside, fantasy play, comfort.

“Do you think Chan’s okay?” you ask as Minho nestles into the bed resting his head on his hands. He looks up at the ceiling and sighs.

“He did seem weird.” He agrees. “But I’m sure he’ll be fine. Jisung will look after him.' His tone is reassuring.

You slide down alongside him propping yourself up on an elbow to gaze at him. “I suppose so.”

You can’t help but feel concerned. Chan’s behaviour had been so odd, and you worry that you’re to blame. What if you’ve freaked him out somehow? But Minho’s right, Jisung would be with him now. He knows Chan more than anyone. He’ll know what he needs in this moment. Right? Right? You’re not entirely convinced.

“W-was this okay?” Minho asks with a hesitant voice, breaking your thoughts.

You look at him excitedly. “Yeah!” You grin like an idiot. “I don’t know where you learnt to be so…. skilled.” you smirk.

“So it was satisfactory then?” he searches your face.

Oh dear God what kind of question is that? Satisfactory? It was fucking perfect. Minho was perfect. You can’t fathom why he is feeling so insecure.

“I hope you didn’t mind me asking to take the blindfold off?” he adds. He watches your face carefully for your reaction.

“No, of course not.” You rest your hand on his muscular chest hoping to reassure him. “I actually thought it was endearing.” You circle his nipple with a finger.

“Really?” he says, sounding surprised.

You lean your head on his chest and he wraps an arm around you, and you snuggle in. “Mmm. It made my heart feel like it was going to pound of my chest, and… and actually,” you hesitate to continue, “I was really glad it was you.”

Minho beams at you.

“So what made you want to take it off?” you ask.

Minho takes a moment to consider his answer. “It just felt… right. Like the right thing to do. I thought I’d be okay with leaving it on…but… I needed to see your eyes.” He smiles sheepishly. “Is that cheesy?”

He is literally the sweetest man alive. “Nah.. Not cheesy.” you smile.

“You don’t think I’m…like… weird do you? With this fucking a stranger fantasy?” you sucked your bottom lip into your mouth.

Minho chuckles and squeezes your arm. “Nah, everyone’s got fantasies.” He hums.

You rub your thumb over his nipple and he shudders. “So how did Chan approach you about - this?” you're curious to know. It’s not something you go around proposing to people on a daily basis. Well apart from this week it seems.

“Hmmm. Well I can only imagine he didn’t ask Jisung because he can’t stay quiet, and you’ve fucked him already.” He explains like it’s common knowledge. “Then Felix has someone.” He adds, ruling him out too.

You fling your head up in excitement “Wait. What? Since when? Wow! About time. He's such a nice guy!” You gush. Felix has someone? You make a mental note to poke him about it tomorrow.

“Yeah, didn’t you know? He’s got a girlfriend now. I think they’ve been together for a few months.”

You rest your head back down. Fuck.

“Then there’s Binnie.” Minho continues his deductions. “I don’t think Chan asked him because Bin would hate you to confuse him with someone else. He’d be livid. He wants you to know exactly who’s fucking you. He wants you to see exactly what he’s doing to you. Plus- ”

“HIS HANDS!” You both exclaim and burst into laughter.

“Have you seen how rough they are? You’d guess it was him the minute he touched you.” Minho shivers with disgust like he’s imagining Binnie’s filthy hands on him. Minho doesn’t like rough hands then?

Binnie does sound interesting, and you wonder what it would be like to experience him.

“So you were what was left then?” you tease.

"Yah!" he pinches your arm playfully. “I was the best person for the job. I ticked all the boxes. Quiet. Careful. Diligent. Mysterious”. You gaze at him. He is right. He was the best person for the job.

“Hmm. So did Chan just come up to you and ask directly, or?” you push. You are so curious, you can't leave the subject alone.

“Pretty much, yeah. He explained the situation, asked if I would want to do it. And I said yes… obvs.” He shrugs like he does this kind of favour all the time.

“And why did you say yes?” you press.

Minho hesitates and wriggles to adjust his position. Maybe you overstepped with that question? “I… I wanted to take my mind off someone.” He sighs.

“Oh.” You go quiet and wonder if you should ask him more, or just leave it. You continue to caress Minho’s chest and stomach while silence fills the room.

“You know how I do dance performance?” he asks eventually, breaking the silence.

That’s right, when he’s not performing for the band he dances. He is a wonderful, powerful, strong dancer. You take in his physique. Mmm, definitely a dancer’s body.

“Well there’s this guy. His name is Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin. You say the name in your head trying it out.

“You like this Hyunjin?” you ask softly.

“Fuck do I like him, kitten!” he wails. “He is the most beautiful creature you’ve ever seen. He’s elegant but strong.” He sighs again as he describes him. “The way he moves it’s art… and his lips… Oh y/n, they’re the most plush lips I’ve ever seen. He’s perfect. Long hair, long fingers, long -”

“Long dick?” you poke and look up at his face, but he looks defeated.

“I… I wouldn’t know.” He says solemnly.

“Have you told him how you feel?” you ask.

“No… But there was this one night. After practice. Everyone else had gone home and I stayed back to work on a routine. I thought I was alone, but Hyunjin was there…watching me. He came out of the shadows and began dancing too.

I know it sounds silly, and like nothing, but it felt so intimate.

We practiced for hours until we were exhausted and I collapsed on the floor out of breath.” He pauses for a moment, wrapping his arm tighter around you. You in turn, wrap your arm around his torso in a hug.

“Hyunjin laid on the floor next to me. We were both just laying on our backs trying to catch our breath. Fuck his breathing is beautiful too. Then I felt his fingertips touch mine. I thought it was an accident at first. Until his fingers interlaced with mine."

"What did you do?" you whispered, hanging on every word of his story.

"I didn’t know what the fuck to do. So I just laid there. Then… Then Hyunjin... He slid closer to me and leaned over me.”

You can hear the longing in Minho’s voice as he tells his story.

“He was looking into my soul, y/n. I was mesmerized. Frozen still. I could’ve sworn he was going to kiss me, but…”

“But what?” you whisper.

“We heard a noise outside in the corridor. Someone had come back to the studio to collect something they left. Hyunjin was startled and he left. Just got up and left. Without a word. Then that was it.” He finishes his story and goes quiet.

Wow. You don’t know what to say. Poor Minho. Poor Minho’s heart.

“So were you able to take your mind off him tonight?” You try to lighten the mood.

“Does it sound like it?” he huffs, then laughs. “Actually for a little while yes. Thank you.” He says sincerely.

You lean back up on your elbows and scan the room, wondering whether you are meant to go back to your own room or stay here. Your eyes rest on the blindfold. You have an idea. A devious part of you springs into action.

“Minho?” you ask.

“Hmm hmm?” he responds lazily.

“I’m going to blindfold you. Is that okay?”

He looks at you suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. “Yeah.” He replies slowly, unsure about what you're doing.

You reach across his body to grab the blindfold, your breasts practically smacking him in the face as you do. “Just trust me.” you say as you place the blindfold over Minho’s eyes and secure it at the back.

“If you don’t like it I promise I’ll stop.” you reassure him. Minho lays there compliantly. He’s such a good boy.

“So,” You begin slowly running your finger down his chest and abdomen. “You have fantasies about this Hyunjin do you?”

“All the time.” Minho answers without hesitation.

“Do you imagine Hyunjin kissing your body?” you ask.

“Y-yes” replies Minho.

You kiss his chest delicately. His muscles tense. You kiss him again this time on his stomach, gently exploring the dips of his muscles with your lips. Minho’s breath starts to falter.

“Do you imagine Hyunjin touching your cock?” You whisper as you make your way down down down to Minho’s partially hard cock. You take it in your hand. For the first time that night. Well the first time ever, really. But you don’t plan to be y/n right now.

“Yes” he whispers back and swallows hard.

“Does he stroke you like this?” You slowly and gently stroke up and down his shaft. He moans softly. “Yes. Yes he does.” he manages to respond.

You watch his breathing become laboured and soft little moans start to fall from his lips as you stroke his cock.

“You know Minho,” you remove your hand from him and he whimpers at the suddenness of you letting it go.

“Hyunjin wants to suck your cock.” You say in a low tone. “Will you let him? Would you like him to?”

Minho nods vigorously. “Yes! Yes.. Please”. His cock twitches as he begs for Hyunjin’s mouth.

You position yourself between Minho’s legs and take hold of his cock again. How would Hyunjin give head? You have no idea. Minho isn’t fully hard yet, so sink your mouth down over him, taking him all in your mouth.

Minho moans in approval as you continue to gently suck and pull his cock with you mouth until he is rock hard.

“Hyunjin likes having your cock in his mouth.” You hum. “He looks so good sucking you off like this.” you do your very best to give Minho the best blow job of his life - as Hyunjin not as y/n.

Minho starts to breath faster. This is exciting for him. you want to keep playing this game. You want to please him.

You circle your tongue around Minho’s tip, tasting his pre-cum, before sinking back down the shaft.

“Oh fuck! This feels so good, Hyun - ”

“That’s right, Minho. Hyunjin is doing so well isn’t he?” you purr between motions.

Minho seems to be in his own world, he’s actually imagining you as Hyunjin. If you're honest it’s turning you on.

“Mmmm...aaah” he's getting noisy, which is a far cry from earlier on when he was so conscientiousness, diligent and so silent for most of it. You're loving watching Minho let go, lose control.

He whines and whimpers and begs for Hyunjin to keep going. You can see he is starting to come undone as he cries for Hyunjin to take him to the stars.

You want Hyunjin to please him.

You slip your mouth off of his cock and reach for the coconut oil. Minho cries out as though he’s been abandoned. “Hyunjin… please.”

“Minho?” You say timidly. “Hyunjin wants to ride your cock. Would that be okay?”

Minho tenses up at those words and hisses through his teeth. “P-please-" is all he can muster.

“Can he? You need to say it Minho.” You urge firmly.

“Please.. Hyunjin.. Fuck.. I need to be inside you.”

“Okay… it’s okay, Minho. Hyunjin will sort you out. He wants to take care of you.”

Minho sounds like he’s on the verge of tears, and you think he is going to come at just the thought of being ridden by Hyunjin.

“Minho? Hyunjin needs you to help stretch him open. Can you help him get ready so he take your cock?” You shimmy back to Minho’s side poking your ass towards him. You take his hand and pour some oil in it and direct his fingers to your ass.

Minho begins to press on and circle your asshole, much like he did earlier that night, and it doesn’t take him long to be working two fingers in and out of you. It’s hard to stay quiet but you don’t let your moans escape. You don’t want to distract Minho from his fantasy.

“That’s it, Minho.” you say. Fuck, his fingers feel so good that you rock back on his hands. You take his cock back in your hand and resume stroking it while you're being fingered.

“Hyunjin needs just one more finger.” you pant. It’s getting hard to suppress the sounds of pleasure.

Minho works another finger into you, stretching you open. You already feel so full like you're going to be torn in two, how are you going to fit his dick inside?

An orgasm approaches. Not yet, you tell yourself. “Hyunjin is ready for your cock now.” you announce.

Minho removes his fingers leaving you feeling empty. Hyunjin's going to be a lucky man if he ever experiences what Minho can do with his fingers.

You straddle Minho and pour a generous amount of oil over his cock. You hover over him, and holding his cock behind you, you guide him to your entrance. You haven’t had anal in a long time and you hope you can do this as gracefully as you want to. You want Minho to really feel like it's Hyunjin he's fucking.

Minho’s cock presses against your rim as you begin to sink yourself down onto it. The tip slips in fairly easily. There’s not a lot of resistance. You've really slicked up his cock, and Minho really knows how to work a hole.

He sucks a breath between his teeth and tenses his stomach muscles. “Fuck… Hyunjin… Oh God.” He pants.

You exhale slowly as you sink a little further down his cock. It’s so much more than a few fingers and you take a moment to adjust. It’s a mixture of a burning sensation, being stretched as far open as you can possibly imagine whilst being filled so fucking deep that your eyes might get poked out.

It’s glorious. You want more.

Eventuallly, you push yourself down all the way so Minho is fully inside of you.

You catch your breath. “Minho? Does Hyunjin feel good?” you manage.

“Hyunjin…” Minho grips the sheets with his hands in desperation. “Please… please… please… I need you to fuck me.”

You begin to slowly slide yourself up and down Minho’s cock. Just a little at first. As you pick up the rhythm the intensity builds. It feels almost unbearable, but you're full of lust and you're on a mission.

“Hyunjin thinks you feel so fucking good.” you growl as you bounce up and down harder. Your cunt clenches as you're being fucked in the ass.

“He looks so good riding your pretty cock.” you pant.

Minho has well and truly lost control. He isn’t even trying to hold in the primal sounds now. You allow yourself to moan now too, hoping it won’t distract him. You fucking want to scream but you don’t want to bring Minho out of his fantasy.

You rock your hips back and forth, rolling them so that your clit rubs against his lower belly. The wetness from your pussy covers his body and allows you to slide back hard against his cock. The angle of the thrusts reaching parts of you that have never been reached.

“Fuck!” you cry out. Everything that can be clenched clenches, and your orgasm hits you like a ton of bricks. Waves upon waves of relief wash over you.

“Fuck… Hyun - ” Minho cries out now. “I’m so close.”

You compose yourself and try to stay in character. “That’s right, Minho. Come for Hyunjin.” you urge him on as you pick up the pace again.

“Hyunjin needs your cum.” You pull yourself up off his cock and slam yourself back down.

Minho cries out.

“He wants you to come so far up inside of him… he wants to know your cum is inside him long after this… Can you do that? Can-”

Minho bucks his hips up against you, and pumps his cock violently into you.

“Hyunjin!” He cries out as he comes and you can feel the warmth of his release deep inside you.

You take your time to catch your breath before sliding off of Minho and curling back up alongside him. You quickly find a towel and place it behind you to catch any cum that leaks out.

Well that was wild!

Minho is shaking and panting like he has a fever, as you reach up and remove the blindfold. His eyes are watery and his cheeks are flushed.

He finds your gaze and smiles. “Thank you.” He whispers.

You return the smile and snuggle in close. You both lay there for what feels like an eternity.

“Y/n?” he asks eventually. “Can we...Would it be okay to keep this just between us?”

“Of course, Minho.” you promise. “It’ll remain in the sanctity of the Boudoir.”

You hold each other as you drift off to sleep dreaming of other people.

tag list : open

@rylea08 @channieandhisgoonsquad @noellllslut @itsseohannbin @weareapackofstrays @kangnina @3rachasdomesticbanana @palindrome969 @xxkissesforchanniexx @chuuchuu1224 @fun-fanfics @wolfennracha @rhonnie23 @jisunglyricist @strayywayy @rixenluv @piscesrising01 @lunearta @shltsnglggles @lilbabiebunni @jiminssluttyminx @armystay89 @krayzieestay @stellasays45 @hxnnielk @yaorzu-blog

[ofallthingsnasty]

Pretty please could you do F, H, N, or Y for crocodile one day! I’m curious on your thoughts about him and I love when you talk about him 😭 my new obsession is the pug who he hates but tolerates just for you, so sweet 🥺

Yandere Alphabet letters a, i and q for crocodile hdsjahj anon I'm glad you like my rambles because they are so much fun to write 💕💕 regarding the little dog - don't be fooled, it's 50% him wanting to see you happy and 50% having even more leverage over you 🤭 mean man...

tw.yandere, violence, minors dni

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Uh oh, you might want to reconsider doing that. You call it fighting back, he calls it being an ungrateful, whiny little brat and it pisses him off. There are few things that make his blood boil when it comes to you, and being defiant and insulting him is one of them. Does he know that you’re here against your will? Sure. Does he care? No. You see, he views himself as some sort of provider - he’s giving you a life a million times better than your old one. You’re cared for, well-fed, nicely dressed, don’t have to work - really, your only job is to play house when he’s around (which he isn’t all that often, busy as he is). He doesn't even expect you to fuck him for it, he just wants someone to come home to, who will let him rest his head on their lap and caress it. (Of course, he oh-so-graciously ignores the gigantic power imbalance between the two of you when it suits him, especially when it comes to the bedroom. But generally speaking, I think he can be rather mellow compared to others, can even be reasoned with to a certain extent. Just be good for him.)

He thinks he’s being more than generous, more than fair - for the position you're in. A lesser pirate would have killed you by now, he tells you, would have gotten a new toy already. No, no - he is here to stay, he wants to see you thrive, even.And if you throw it all in his face, spit at him, dare to fight him - oh, what he’ll feel will be beyond good and evil. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, darling.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

Okay, good news first: When it comes to Crocodile, I’d argue that the worst experience is really limited to just one. I’ve talked about him physically lashing out at you in a moment of rage and in the weeks that have passed that thought kind of stuck with me. At his core, this man doesn't want to hurt you (deeply). Manipulating you with visual threats and possibilities is one thing, but genuinely injuring you to make you bend to his will? Not really his style. Yes, he does corporal punishments - but only because they’re so effective and can be done so quickly. (A classic action - réaction, if you will.) So, what exactly is that nebulous worst experience? It’s him either using his Devil Fruit powers or his hook on you. To even get to that point, he’d have to be beyond angry with you. It’s probably something that happens early on while you’re not yet acquainted with your new role and you dare to insult him, try to escape - maybe you spiral, his temper simply cooks over and- Trust me, he’ll never do it again. It’ll leave permanent physical damage. But it’ll also traumatize you into submission, which is the only good thing to come out of this, at least to him. You’ll both regret it. And you’ll both learn from it.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

Spankings. Lots of them. It’s quick, efficient, shows you who is in charge, makes you sit a little straighter, makes you sweeter - he isn’t beyond mind games in general but when it comes to punishments, a quick correction is just more convenient. Manipulation and the likes are the long con, the work he puts in to undermine your self-esteem, to make you doubt your own feelings for your captor. But the spankings are the here and now, the thing that keeps the cat from sharpening its claws on the sofa.

You’ll learn to associate that telltale-look of tired disappointment with a sigh and over my knee, darling. He’ll ask what you’ve done wrong, will make you count, will leave you feeling so small, like an unruly child and not a fully grown adult - it’s a great way to keep you edge, to never let you forget who is in charge here, no matter how much time passes and in how many gifts he showers you.

And if it’s really dire - you get the belt. 

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

I always waver on this one. We know from the story that he isn’t afraid of planning, slowly building, waiting - Operation Utopia was a goddamn mammoth and he has the patience to wait on you for years and years to make it perfect - but. Doesn’t he deserve something soft? Someone to come home to? And what good is all that plotting and lying in wait and watching if he could have had you by that point already?He definitely won’t go ‘alright, that one’s spouse-shaped, put them in the bag’ when he sees you for the first time but he won’t wait too long for you either. Just long enough to gain sufficient intel, to get to know you a little better, to make your disappearance as smooth and seamless as possible. I’m not trying to sound harsh, but not only does he not want to wait too long - there are also other, more important things to do? He can’t spend months upon months learning about you inch by inch, he has an Ancient Weapon to seize and a country to overthrow. You can’t be mad at him when he pulls the plug at a certain moment and simply takes what he wants. It’s really only logical.

[therealslimshakespeare]

|| Marlon

Summary: after a strange interlude during one of their latest bike excursions, Elaine is left reeling at the new reality of sharing, and the insistence by the men around her that no more discussion is needed on the matter. Bereft, adrift and not a little curious, Elaine’s rather sure she’s finally crossed that damnable line that Elvis first nudged her up against.

Warnings: 18+ only -smut, hot tubs, pats threesome mentioned, sorta a foot job but only because that’s the only discreet body part nearby?? not trying to make that weird. public play, emotional (and some physical) infidelity. Elvis is in his Bastard era, be warned.

Authors note: this is a fragment but it may be all j ever produce on this subject, we shall see. It was requested and so here it is, such as it is. I always love answering Headcanons and theories so if this sparks interest, confusion or anger, lemme hear it. And Honestly? For those of y’all not into this? It’s not essential enough to be read or considered canon for Sarge, the breakdown of their marriage having only a small part to do with this. This entire side quest is a bit more of an exploration of Elaine, so feel free to leave it be if it’s not for you.

Apologies ahead of time for the poorly edited and misspelled content lol 💋

Circa: 1967ish

“I just saw the silhouette of a very attractive woman ridin’ an attractive man I thought I’d lend a hand.” Marlon answers her straight, Elaine deserves that with all the bullshit she has to deal with these days -threesomes included. And the kitchen is finally empty of kids. He knows whatever arrangement the Presleys have with the redhead has to be more concession than ideal. The least he can do is admit something he’s never hid before, even from Elvis himself: Elaine Presley is uniquely capable of giving him the hots and something about Elvis Presley mismanaging her magnificence tickles the masochistic tendencies Marlon has had it suggested to him by therapists might have a root in childhood perversity. Neglectful parents and weird nannies and that sort of shit.

Marlon doesn’t know. Sat at her kitchen bar, drinking her daughter’s lemonade, Elaine is owed this much, an answer to why he opened that tent flap and slurped cunt when he’s barely so much as held her hand before, not even during mealtime prayers. She’s got to be some sort of neglected if she can’t shake it, or maybe she’s wickeder than those gentle eyes has them all thinking.

“That’s not enou- thats, Marlon, you said yourself everyone used to…go at it..during those trips!” she hisses the last part as if there’s some shame left to this household where the man of the place flaunts his dalliances like it’s part of the press tour for the latest trash comedy. His wife’s dignity and pain be damned.

“Ma’am, I’m just a man.” Marlon insists- Elaine is in love with her husband, after all.

“That’s rather my point!” Elaine warms to it, “-there were a lotta couples you coulda lent a hand to and there were a lotta men loiterin’ about but only you chose to ‘lend a hand’ and you chose…us! Why! Why?”

“Have you seen the couple you make?” he asks levelly.

“What was that, Marlon? What was that?” she begs again, eyes no longer soft but wild and shimmering.

“You’re not this stupid, Elaine.” he takes a sip of lemonade Daisy made just for him, “Even if he likes it best when you act like you are.”

She doesn’t even bat an eye at it, and Marlon thinks it’s a damn shame, a crime really, for any man to wear a woman down this far. Maybe Marlon is as bad as her husband for pushing on the bruise he made. Can’t be helped, he’s always been an opportunist. He can be honest even if it’s a ugly, masculine, virulent truth that makes a mockery of vows and roles and institutions like marriage and dreams.

“Wanna show me just how clever you really are, little lady?“ he’s risen from his seat, sauntered over to her by now, no contact, except for his thumb that tugs at her bottom lip, thumbnail at the root of a tooth. Her eyes are brimming with tears -they both know it’s not sadness. If she were a woman to cry from sadness she'd never have a dry eye.

“The house is full.” Elaine sounds hoarse.

What a flimsy little objection for so virtuous a woman. The way Elaine chases his thumb as he retracts it tells him -try again, when it’s empty, test me once more.

Summers are long in Palm Springs, there’s always more lemonade to be drunk. He’ll be back, they both know that. For now, the house is full. He sits back down at the table. Elvis and five children and a buncha good for nothings he calls friends come in wet from the pool twelve minutes later. Marlon curses, he could have brought her to climax twice in that time. If only she’d stop looking at him like he’s planning to steal her from her husband, give it a few months and she’ll not be wary but eager for it.

Summer turns to Autumn and Autumn to Winter and the Presleys choose to ring in the new year in the gentle climate to California after a bracing Graceland Christmas.

Marlon doesn't know what a Presley Christmas is comprised of except for hearsay from Daisy’s long over the phone account and the toys shown him when he dropped by as soon as they were in town. He’d brought his own kids, the ones near at hand, to play for a bit and the rest had taken to them well enough while Daisy sat beside him and told him about the roller blades she’d gotten. He imagines a sickeningly happy affair with stiff smiles and a great deal of bling bought by Elvis and Elaine getting fucked in a Santa lingerie set.

Marlon doesn’t know about Presley christmases.

But he’s learning about their New Year’s -it’s past twelve, the kids are abed and champagne has been toasted, wishes swapped and the nighttime air rustling the palms has been obliging enough to even be a little brisk and chilly. Just for atmosphere, he guesses.

It’s nice as the hot tub they’re all in is bubbling like hell’s cauldron, with the jets on full blast and their buddies -Elvis’ buddies from the way Elaine is the only woman amongst thirteen men- are stacked in it like sardines. Marlon is here because he hasn’t driven himself home yet, he supposes, otherwise she’d be very alone.

The guys, the other twelve, they’re swapping stories and being loud, noisy and obnoxious as Elaine relaxes in her seat, frothy bubbles lapping around her clavicles and her neck, that lovely neck laying back on Elvis’ outstretched arm as he nearly forgets she’s there. She’s such an extension of him by now, her face lax with this chance to relax even as there’s hubbub all about.

Marlon, he can’t stop watching her and the way her eyes flit and flutter when the jets hit right, the way she melts into Elvis and the way he tolerates her adoration even here. Even at the beginning of a new year. Marlon wants to smack the man for telling anecdotes when he should be-

…

-hell Marlon doesn’t even know what he expects that Elvis should be doing, it’s not like he’s doing anything wrong or mean. no not at all in fact, he’s acting like a longtime married man and letting Elaine Presley vibrate beside him in euphoria unadmired. Talking to his buddies when Elaine Presley is turning to a puddle next to him and all Marlon knows is:

-if it were him, oh if it were him.

If it were him, Elaine would be melting sure, and he’d be watching every second of it like it were the meteor shower of the century. Turns out, even though she’s not his, he’s still watching all the same.

he’s still watching and forgetting to laugh with the cues when everyone else does. But she forgets too, floating away somewhere that makes her lips curl up a little and her face shimmer with sweat and steam. her legs float to the top of the roil from the jets, there’s a little giggle at the buoyancy. pink painted toes surfacing right in front of Marlon’s face opposite her.

He sees her, she looks to Elvis. To see if he notices.

He doesn’t.

That precious giggle of hers is lost in a roar of manly laughter over some unfortunate movie set story, as is the way Marlon’s hand reaches in the foam and puts his palm over the little pruned toes right in front of him, snapping at them with his hand like she’s a kid and he’s playing shark amongst the bubbles.

Elaine’s head swivels from watching Elvis to sending a questioning look towards Marlon.

She catches his eye, holds it. curious and pleased he’s in the same mood as her, stories and memphis mafia forgotten. A connection fizzles between them and she giggles again at having found a playmate.

But then he doesn’t let go, even as her foot goes down in the water, on the ledge, near between his legs and suddenly this isn’t playing shark.

Her posture goes rigid as Marlon starts to rub that dainty foot, engulfed in his warm hand, hidden by the discreet bubbles. He dared. It took her aback, it was offensive and flattering and she felt a violent fear at being suspected and then a pang of jealousy over the unlikeliness of it.

Between the warm water, the firm press of a man’ hand and the pummeling of the jets, her head starts to crane back again against Elvis’ shiny, toned bicep and the picture of a woman enjoying herself next to her husband but not from him shouldn’t make Brando so rash and angry but it does.

She fights for a minute but only in the way of guarding her face. but it’s been awhile since she’s been the center of someone’s universe -beyond a peg that this whole carnival that their life has turned into revolves around. perhaps a step of infidelity to let Brando see the pleasure he gives her, to see her the way Elvis once told her only belonged to him, but it was Elvis who cracked the door first, back in that tent, back in the spring.

Elvis notices, at long last, not the eye contact of a friend and his wife but the mewling body language of his woman. Not that Brando is holding her foot beneath the churning surface but that she looks nearly to the brink of orgasm from the jets. And snuggled up to him as she is -Elvis smirks. Of course his widdle baby is excited, sensitive little creature that she is.

Elvis thinks he’s being secretive when he keeps chatting with the guys but sneaks his hand to her bathing suit, not even looking over at her as his fingers find her seam and wiggle under.

Just the motion of his arm visible and Marlon sees the reflection in her face the minute her husband's hand begins to stroke her. His grip tightens on her foot involuntarily and she moans.

Her eyes are utterly focused on Marlon and it’s well that they are, if she were to tear away that frantic gaze he’s mad enough to make a scene right here and now, hopeless and damaging as it would be. But he has her eyes and the power that is in the caress of his thumb. He can see it, Elaine is imagining he’s stroking her instead of Elvis, using that suggestive tempo on her arch as a conduit to replace the coax of Elvis’ calloused pads against her bud.

Elaine braces her hand on Elvis’ thigh as she nears, just a reflex as he speeds his fingers up and she’s grips his thigh, almost wanting him not to intrude on this moment even as the brink nears. And Elvis, he thinks she’s trying to reciprocate but he is hardly in the mood for it, that would ruin his little game so he takes her hand away, puts it firmly back on her own lap and keeps up his pace against her slick petals.

When she comes, Elvis can feel her bow up beside him and without even looking he is smirking around his cigarillo, her legs kick out in a spasm and he feels bad for whoever’s crotch is opposite her. He smacks at her pussy once, twice, before quite obviously turning away from her to ask Charlie something related to arrangements.

It’s a damn game he likes to play with Elaine, seeing as she don’t mind it, she gets some benefit from it and he’s seen that face a million times, he doesn't need to look.

But Marlon.

Marlon’s gaze on Elaine is heavy enough it feels like the caress of aftercare all on its own, and some stinging part of Elaine’s battered heart feels loyalty to him for that. for watching her, delighting in her even as everyone else snickers or ignores.

She flexes her foot in his hand.

Her flex touches tender flesh and up to where he is pulsing and firm between his thick thighs. It startles her, somehow not expecting either the usual anatomy or else -not this level of arousal. Not to this degree, not in public, not when her husband just claimed her so casually. Her eyes sting at being flaunted as his little plaything, the one she’s been happy to be since that honeymoon train ride down to Texas. It feels belittling suddenly, and it’s Marlon’s aloof admiration to blame.

She flexes her foot again, heel firm to his base and eyes unwavering. A little repayment, a little show of thanks. It’s too much.

Marlon covers his eyes with his hand as if to wipe the mist away. Her coal smudged eyes are scorching his face and her foot, such a lowly part of her, and yet it’s pressing and he’s wanted her to admit to wanting for such a longtime and suddenly there’s the feel of his warm release flashing against Elaine’s foot in the broiling hot tub for an instant. Only an instant splash and a thob, then it swirls around them all, lost and sordid and utterly misused.

A waste. A deadbeat hope. A torn confession.

It’s late when they all get out, Elaine can barely meet his eyes now, dazed she willingly did that herself. Up in their room Elvis shucks his wet shorts off, relaxed and in a good mood to tease her about her being so needy for him in the tub as he leaves the shorts where they drop on the carpet and puts himself in her, into his wife, his plaything, his darling.

And God help her, for the first time in her life Elaine’s mind wanders to someone else as Elvis’ face is buried in her neck, huffing in pleasure over her swollen state.

After a long while of waiting for them to show again downstairs, the Memphis mafia laugh it off that the mister and missus must’ve gotten distracted -and it’s lights out and manly predictions about a noise complaint and a happy start to the new year.

Marlon goes to his damn car, he exits that beautiful house into the balmy night air with its twinkling stars and strong humidity that will now forever be tied to the curls at the nape of her neck and the beads of moisture on her nose, and he saunters away from Elaine Presley’s house where Elvis Presley gets to go home. Go home to lose interest and gain interest in that gorgeous woman at whim. Brando leaves it and gets in his car and stares at the single light in the house that’s still glowing for far too long.

Upstairs, throbbing and staring at the beamed ceiling and its whitewashed villa tile, Elaine startles at the sound of a car starting and pulling out of the drive. It’s late for a loitering guest, but Marlon was always one to loiter when it came to her family. Loiters with the kids and loiters with Daisy, accepting her adoption of his Godfather responsibilities with ease Elaine wants to hate him for, and he loitered in the tent on their motorcycle drive when Elvis and Elaine should have been left alone to be husband and wife, yet -he loitered. That once he had stayed. And no one speaks of it, that night gone by, though it tumbles around in Elaine’s mind like the jets that battered her flesh tonight, fresh as anything: the feel of Elvis’ shock at Brando’s presumption and then her husband’s pride warring with his excitement and for her -the feel of a man licking at her while her husband was inside her. How Elvis can think such a night can be tabled for all further discussion is beyond her, and Elaine stares at the ceiling and prays for forgiveness for this wild curiosity that has finally led her astray. She’s as bad as the papers would make her. Voracious and untamable in her appetites, finally it’s gone beyond Elvis alone, even if he was the one to crack open the floodgate with his hubris.

Now she wonders about an older face, a broader chest, almost fleshy shoulders and a hairy belly in the glow of the jacuzzi lights, Marlon had looked a man, older and impressive and unfamiliar compared to her precious and ever more pristine husband. And she had seen behind the screen of his hand the flash of agonized ecstasy her touch had caused him. She had made another man lose it. Someone besides Elvis. She knew, hypothetically, that a whole generation of boys had grown up tugging themselves to pictures of her, half of the barracks has been besotted and not in a wholesome way. But to have an older, impressive, commanding man enjoy her, want her?

Elaine throbbed.

There had been an emotional and sexual adjustment that Elaine had to make when she went from marrying a controlling manchild to being his emotional ballast and superior after losing Jo. Elaine hadn’t had a chance to think twice about how suited to it she was, how natural it felt to ease Elvis through it, whether she herself found it nice or not, whether it’s what she needed or not. Or what all she lost as she did so. It had been like pulling teeth to have him back in her bed at all, to have him something besides manically cheerful or pitifully morbid. She understood him. She didn’t even blame him. But it didn’t change how very -open, it left her to the slightest firmness of intent shown by another.

She’d been enjoying stepping into Gladys’ shoes, she’d been enjoying tossing off the role of being Elvis’ dolly and becoming his nanny, all of it had been a show of his trust in her until the load had become too heavy and when she turned to someone to rest her head, she found her husband's head already in her lap.

Until Marlon.

Until a grunted “huh” above her in the stuffy garage as she worked on the bike, only for her to look up and to find it wasn’t Charlie or Marty snickering at her for being all greasy again. It had been a wide stanced superstar looking at her like she was a specimen he wanted to inspect.

It had been Marlon and he’d come to meet her, to talk to her about bikes, to admire her shape in leathers and he stayed because Daisy liked him so.

Or maybe he’d stayed for Elaine. That had been reprehensible to imagine before tonight, perhaps only because if there was a man out there who would dare try to take her from The King, it would be him. And before now that had been impossible, not even fathomable or feasible, if she didn’t think it she wouldn’t invite it, she was sure. Marlon Brando wasn’t a good man, but he could be kept contained if kept at arms length.

Now though, that vision of him staring tonight, the feel of his hand stroking her, competing with her husband for her pleasure -there’s no ignoring now how he looks at her, has looked for some time, the way he loves to see her riled but not at him, strange how he’s never infuriated her like Elvis endeavors to on a daily basis. As if he knows his very presence is thrumming enough for her. And he wouldn’t want to see her vibrate apart. Not fully. Only because she’d hate that so. But if she ever asked he’d take her apart like a little marionette and then glue her back.

Rattling, that was more Elvis’ speciality, rattling her apart. She was tired of buzzing. If only he could always be one thing, but lately he was a myriad and she felt married to a performer more each day until she lay beneath him and wondered how Marlon would feel penetrated deep within her.

Elaine hears Elvis and his shower turn off at the same time she strains to hear the mechanical creak of the gates opening to let Brando out.

“Still layin’ how I left ya, hopin’ f’more, baby?” her husband asks her as he turns the light out and lays against her warm and familiar and moist.

In the drive, Brando bites his lip and forces his gaze from the rearview and the darkened house in it and speeds out of the hills. Daisy will call again soon enough, the call again and again, and if he’s lucky he’ll hear about how Elaine is from time to time or even hear her voice briefly as she answers before passing the receiver off to her little girl. Those are certainties in the new year.

It’s wicked of him, but his hopes are entirely different. They’re of her calling, and not another excuse being made.

Just Elaine calling to tell him “the house is empty.”

Taglist:

@prompted-wordsmith

@powerofelvis

@crash-and-cure

@elvisabutler

@heartbrake-hotel

@stylespresleyhearted

@thatbanditqueen

@crazymadpassionatelove

@myradiaz

@ash-omalley

@steph-speaks

@burningloverdoll

@angelface-555

@lookingforrainbows

@missmaywemeetagain

@coolgirl462

@kingdomforapony

@18lkpeters

@richardslady121

@from-memphis-with-love

@lillypink

@artlover8992

@pennyroyalcreep

@notstefaniepresley

@ellie-24

@waiting4brucewayne2adoptme

@presleyenterprise

@marriedtopresley

[laf-outloud]

I can’t believe how much press there is for Jared's role on Fire Country. Like, several articles every day, and not just the same info being parroted, but new details being trickled in as well. I really do think that, barring some unforeseen circumstances, Jared getting a spin off seems very likely. Why else would there be this much press hoopla for a three episode arc? I don’t know that so many people from the show would be speaking up if it wasn’t pretty certain there would be bigger coming.

Anyway, I love to see it. I’m excited to see Jared in a role that sounds pretty different from what he has done so far.

I also keep picturing him with highlights because of the surfer swagger description. lol. Though, I don’t think that will actually be the case.

I’d like to see him with just stubble and nit a full beard, though. I miss seeing more of his face.

If it's this busy now, just wait until his episodes air!

I'm so curious about how Jared's going to play Camden and what he'll look like. I know he's been growing his hair out, but that could just be his typical hiatus hair/beard.

As much as I miss Walker, Jared's fantastic at creating characters and I'm excited to meet Camden!

[oldstormyy]

hey! i don’t know if you’ve ever talked about it before but i’m curious what your thoughts are on the dynamic of dutch and hosea’s relationship specifically when it comes to the women that have been in their lives- bessie & annabelle/grimshaw/molly- the art you’ve done exploring those relationships has always been really compelling to me and i’d like to know how you interpret them!

thank you that makes me happy becos i love the way these relationships are written.... most of my opinions on any relationships within the gang involving dutch start from the premise that i believe that dutch is genuine and honest in his feelings and words, and that gang members' love for him is also genuine. so i do think he loved molly, he loved susan, he loved annabelle... the thing is, sometimes loving someone isn't enough and things don't work out.

i do think there is always a hyerarchy of importance in dutch's mind when it comes to people, even if he might not admit that to himself. i love the writing in this game because it's nuanced and thoughtful and highlights the flaws in people and relationships. they're chasing the mythical west as much as they're chasing the idea of a family......

anyway i don't have many thoughts involving annabelle because we know nothing of her and i prefer to stick to what we know. i do think it's stupid when people say dutch didn't love her because he never talks about her. like sure whatever you say! as for bessie, i think her role in the story is incredibly interesting, but i did write a post about her here. i do stand by all that and think it's very important lol.

susan grimshaw. i understand why some people find her triggering i do. but i LOVE that she's written the way she is. if she was all good and perfect she wouldn't be as interesting. and i LOOOOVE that she's lived with dutch for most of her life, and they were in a relationship but simply decided to stay friends? fell out of love? we don't know the details, but to me it's incredible that they are like family (and they clearly have a soft spot for each other) after all those years despite being exes. i don't know, i feel like that says a lot about who they are as people--so loyal and dedicated (and also forgiving). the situationships in this gang go crazy WHICH BRINGS US TO MOLLY LOL. now i think this might be one of my most controversial takes but even if molly "deserved better" i wouldn't change a THING about how she's written. it's SUCH a good tragedy. people love to take away her agency and pin it all on dutch, and while i obviously don't deny the damage dutch did, i see her self-isolating and being delusional and spiralling. i see you molly!!!! i think she and dutch are so similar, they have similar character arcs, i would love to see more discussion about that instead of "top 25 moments of dutch being evilTM"

ok i did NOT mean to type so much but when i get started on women in red dead i go crazy. i have so much more to say. i don't even know if this is what you wanted me to talk about? anyway tldr i love red dead because of these relationships and their nuances. sometimes you can love the worst person you know and that experience can haunt you for the rest of your life, and you will find yourself forgiving this person over and over, and you will feel disgust for the love you have, and you will keep on loving anyway <3

[musicalmoritz]

i’ve been following you for a little while because i’ve been considering getting back into TBHK. it was one of my strongest fixations but i was totally put off by the fandom’s reception of one part of the story until i dropped it entirely.

i thought i’d ask to see if the fandom has changed at all since i was last in it, and you seem really good at analyzing media: what’s your take on the amane/(possessed) tsukasa sa theory? i won’t argue regardless of what your opinion is! i’m just curious to see how the fandom is treating the story now. i miss the series alot ngl

Have I finally made it as a TBHK fan creator now that I’ve gotten an ask abt the SA theory?? Jk jk, that was a terrible joke I’m sorry guys

Before I get into this I wanna say thank you for being so respectful, people tend to have very strong feelings in this theory (for good reason, it’s a serious subject) and that can lead to pitchforks whenever it’s brought up. I’m going to try to discuss this as neutrally as possible but I will warn you that I’m very biased. I love Tsukasa as a character and the Yugi twins as a sibling duo so as much as I try to see both sides, I simply don’t want this theory to be true and that plays a large role in how I perceive it

TW: This is going to contain more mature themes than my usual posts. Talk of incest, abuse, sexual assault, sex, trauma, PTSD, and a very brief mention of lesbian fetishization

Starting off with how the fandom as a whole talks about it, people are very against it nowadays. When the anime first came out it was super popular, but now you can’t even mention it without someone telling you never to bring it up again. I have only posted about it once and it was a joke about Tsukasa and Teru both having allegations made against them (tho the Teru ones are way less common and only made by fans who want them to be true bcuz they hate him or ship him with his brother). So far I’ve strayed away from going in depth with my thoughts on it, writing this feels like I’m swinging a bat at a hornet’s nest. If your problem with the fandom was that they denied this theory, then I would continue to stay away from it. People on here are more open towards it than TikTok tho so if you still want to get back into the fandom, I would recommend staying on Tumblr. Someone made ONE post implying it on TikTok recently and the entire fandom was shitting on them for like a week. Those instances are rare, I like the fandom overall, but it has its toxic moments and areas just like every fandom

Okay now onto the theory itself. I’m not going to pretend I don’t see where it comes from, there are some scenes in the manga that are drawn and worded weirdly. Most notably the scene in the Picture Perfect Arc where Mei wrote “Brother Lover” on Amane’s face made me wonder if they were trying to imply something. I have since learned that other translations don’t have the incest implication, but it’s still odd to me that they allowed that in any version. Still, he just looked kind of annoyed as opposed to getting flustered like he would have if something was going on with him and Tsukasa (the way he gets flustered when his feelings for Nene are brought up). So I viewed that scene more as a dark humor joke from Mei, I don’t think it was meant to imply anything serious between the twins

There is another scene in that arc, however, when Nene sees Tsukasa clinging to Amane and Amane does get flustered. He starts blushing and says “um…we were just…” and doesn’t really finish his sentence. This made me raise an eyebrow, but I also wouldn’t take it as confirmation that there’s anything romantic or sexual between them. It could very much be viewed as Amane being embarrassed. I feel that the strongest evidence for the incest theory comes from this arc, but that’s only if you want to run with the scenes I mentioned. I also find it strange that people never use these scenes as evidence, only panels that are drawn kind of weird. Fans seem to be stuck on a lot of early scenes with this theory which weakens its substance

For the record, I will not be analyzing the scene from the anime intro. That has already been debunked, the shadowy figure wasn’t Tsukasa, it was a representation of Hanako’s guilt. Although I disagree with the theory, I’m trying to be fair to the campaigners by debunking the stronger pieces of evidence

The strongest evidence for this theory comes from the art, which is just as important to the story as the writing. With manga and graphic novels, the art tells half the story. It shouldn’t be overlooked, so I understand how some fans lean into it. Look back at the official art I put at the top of this post, it’s weird. Hanako is leaning over Tsukasa while Tsukasa holds his chin/lips and arm. They’re posed like a couple. We would never see the Minamoto brothers posed like that. In other scenes, we see Tsukasa touching Amane’s face or holding him from behind. They’re very touchy with each other, more-so than the other siblings in the series

I have two reasons for not taking these type of scenes/arts seriously in a romantic sense. One is that Tsukasa is simply an affectionate character, and Hanako is the same way. I think it’s more part of their behavior than being specific to each other. Secondly, if it’s intended to be taken in an incestuous way then I genuinely believe it’s fan service. That’s one part I don’t deny, AidaIro have certainly given us reason to believe the twins are like the Property Brothers. I just don’t believe it has any place in the actual story or their dynamic. Fan service is common in TBHK and sometimes it veers into problematic territory. Just look at the scene where Hanako possesses Nene to assault Aoi, and then Kou gets flustered by it and can’t help. A random lesbian fetish scene that is never brought up again and plays no role in the story other than moving us from A to B. I have also heard that there’s incest in some of the other works they’ve made, so it’s not a reach to assume they’d throw in a little fan service for the Yugi twins. How seriously you want to take those scenes is up to you, personally I will continue to deny it until we’re given undeniable confirmation

Back to the twins just being affectionate, we see them act that way with lots of characters. Tsukasa is clingy to Sakura and Mitsuba too, sometimes very suggestively. That doesn’t mean he’s into them. I will say that Hanako is most notably clingy to Nene, someone he’s in love with, but we see him get close and friendly with the other characters too (he sat on Kou’s side and booped his nose during their first meeting). And Tsukasa is the one who initiates their physical affection 99% of the time, Amane’s been receiving it since early childhood so him copying Tsukasa’s behavior makes sense. Romantic relationships in adulthood are determined by the way we interact with our families as children so him repeating these actions in a romantic context doesn’t indicate anything abnormal. In fact, it’s a very realistic portrayal of how our love languages and attachment styles evolve over time

And keep in mind, they’ve been that way since they were three years old, it’s just the way they interact with other people and each other. Tsukasa is a very childish character too, one who has very little concept of personal space and boundaries. So him being a little too clingy with his brother might not mean anything. Again, you could read into it if you really wanted to, but the way he interacts with Amane is nothing out of the ordinary. It aligns with his usual mannerisms, if it were specific to Amane then he wouldn’t act that way with the other characters (Amane was also clingy with Nene before he fell for her). Think of it this way, you don’t see Akane holding Teru’s hand or confessing his undying love to Nene. Characters are going to act differently in their platonic relationships vs. romantic/sexual, and we don’t see that difference with the Yugi twins

A difference we do see with them, however, is that Tsukasa isn’t physically aggressive with Hanako the way he is with everyone else. He never attacks him or tries to hurt him, in fact every time he sees him he gets overjoyed and tackles him in a hug. He has no problem hurting him emotionally and mentally, but we never see any physical aggression between the two. This leads me to believe that the SA theory is invalid, it doesn’t line up with how Tsukasa treats Hanako currently or in any of the flashbacks. If anything sexual took place between them, it would have had to be consensual, because the more solid evidence backing this theory focuses on Hanako’s side of things. He’s very possessive of Tsukasa, and he doesn’t experience a trauma response when they’re touching normally. If it’s an intense scene and Tsukasa is telling him horrible things while touching him, then he freezes in place and starts crying. But when Tsukasa is just hugging or clinging to him, he only gets embarrassed. Hanako does show some signs of PTSD, but that trauma is rooted in him killing Tsukasa. If the trauma were anything sexual, we would see him experience those same trauma responses he displays in violent scenes when Tsukasa touches him in any context. At the very least, we’d see him get way more uncomfortable than being mildly annoyed

(Note: I am aware that not everyone reacts to trauma and PTSD the same way. I do not have any trauma of my own so I am going off what I have heard throughout my life from others sharing their stories. I am in no way trying to invalidate anyone’s experiences, no matter how you react to your abuser your feelings are valid and I hope you get the help you need)

Another common piece of evidence used is that Hanako is hypersexual. I believe this is a serious misuse of the term, hypersexuality is so much more than being a pervert. People who are hypersexual usually think about sex all the time, they engage in excessive sexual behaviors and even think about it in completely normal contexts. This is a common response to many types of trauma, not just sexual. It’s a way for people to gain back control after they’ve been abused, or sometimes it’s a problem that arises from porn addictions or a weird relationship with sex. Even if Hanako were hypersexual, that wouldn’t necessarily indicate SA. He has canonical trauma aside from that, and it could also come from the pent-up frustration of being a middle schooler for 58 years

This is another situation where we have to account for the context. You can’t just take one element of a character’s canon personality and run with it, that’s the leading cause of mischaracterization. You have to consider how that behavior lines up with their other traits. Hanako is an allosexual boy who has been 13 for literal decades. Middle school boys are already one of the horniest species on our planet, it’s an awkward time when you’ve just learned those feelings exist and what they mean but you’re not emotionally mature enough to do anything about it. That usually goes away in the next few years when teens start getting into relationships. Now imagine that feeling staying with you for fifty-eight years. That’s over half a lifetime of being stuck in a transitional period. You have so many strong feelings, but you can’t do anything about them. Not just because of maturity, but because there’s no one to do them with. It makes sense that you wouldn’t know how to act when you get your first girlfriend (not excusing any of his weird behavior btw, frustration is not an excuse and it doesn’t make the way he treats Nene and Aoi okay. But it’s still important to understand his reasons, especially in this context)

I also want to note something I don’t see pointed out often, which is that most of the major scenes of Hanako’s pervertedness occur when he’s talking to Kou. TBHK has a very realistic portrayal of male friendship imo, and this is one of those examples. Having a girlfriend isn’t the only thing Hanako’s missed out on, he also hasn’t been able to make any friends his own age. He’s trying to get Kou to engage in “locker room talk” as a way to bond with him. Whether he’s trying to convince him to share his own preferences, or just wanting to mess with him, it brings them closer in a way. One of the main ways Hanako expresses affection is by annoying people, but I do think part of it is because he wants to be able to talk about hot girls with his only male friend. Sadly, he got stuck with the only middle school boy who respects women

We as a fandom tend to focus on these scenes as “omg Hanako’s a pervert,” or for people that ship him with Kou it’s “aww he’s teasing his boyfriend,” but I think the purpose is more-so to build a realistic friendship dynamic. I find it funny that the fandom as a whole leans more into the teasing explanation whether they ship Hanako and Kou or not, it’s funny to me that we all automatically go with the gay interpretation. But Hanako often uses jokes to cover up his deeper feelings, he acts like he doesn’t care when he actually cares very deeply. So him playing up his pervertedness in an attempt to make friends seems very on brand

My last piece of evidence against this theory is a bit silly and a lot of ya’ll aren’t going to want to hear this but Hanako is most likely straight

*the crowd boos me*

I know, I know, I love the bi headcanon too and I think it makes sense, but unlike with some of the other characters I don’t think it has a place in canon. He acts overly friendly with Kou sometimes but if you’re going to assume they’re queercoded, you have to assume the same about Aoi and Nene (both affectionate friendship that look a little queer sometimes). Shipping aside I read them as a purely platonic duo, if there are feelings on either side then it’s more likely Kou since he’s bisexual. Lots of people point out the scene where he flirts with Kou as a girl, and I agree that was gay af but I kinda think he was just trying to mess with him. And keep in mind that the first thing he wanted to do as a girl was look at girls changing in the locker room (yuri yuri lesbian yuri wlw gay gay lesbian yuri)

This isn’t to bash anyone’s headcanons btw, I headcanon Hanako as bisexual and I do ship him with Kou. I’m just saying that I wouldn’t bet my money on him being intended to be bi in canon. In my post about possibly bisexual TBHK characters I included him as an honorable mention, I just haven’t seen enough substantial evidence so far to believe he was intended to be interpreted that way

I’m aware that sexuality isn’t the biggest obstacle for Tsukasa and Amane, but it’s a relevant mention. If Hanako doesn’t like men, I doubt he’d want to be with his brother of all men. Even if he liked men that would be a terrible option. AidaIro have also confirmed in one of their official arts/doodle skits that Nene is Hanako’s first love, which further leads me to believe nothing happened between him and Tsukasa. You don’t get with your sibling if you’re not ride or die about it. And as I mentioned before, anything that happened between them would have had to be consensual in order to be in-character and line up with the evidence surrounding the incest theory

Lastly, I do believe the love between the brothers is somewhat genuine. It’s horribly toxic, Hanako left Tsukasa in some sort of void for decades and now he continues to keep him around as a yorishiro despite knowing it makes Tsukasa miserable. He loves him so much that he can’t let him go even when it would be good for Tsukasa. That’s selfish, it’s toxic, and on Tsukasa’s side things aren’t much better. He adores his brother but he also resents him for everything he’s done. He hurts him emotionally and attacks his friends. And, of course, Amane killed Tsukasa. Not exactly Brother of the Year

But through all of this, you can’t deny that the love is there. Fans who believe Amane hates Tsukasa kind of miss the point, Tsukasa wouldn’t be Amane’s yorishiro if he hated him. He loves him dearly but in a very complicated way. Adding romance or lust to that love frankly doesn’t make sense to me, it’s adds an unnecessary layer that doesn’t line up with the rest of their dynamic. It feels like a “yes and” to their story. I have read analyses that explain both sides, and ultimately I remain against this theory

I hope this helped you understand my perspective!! I tried to be fair to both sides but as I mentioned, I’m very biased. This is a very uncomfortable subject so it was difficult to write about, but I like tackling more complex topics. I don’t block people who believe this theory unless I dislike the way they talk about it, some people insist it’s canon to the point of hating Tsukasa for it or saying the series is bad. But for those that are more open-minded about this theory, I don’t mind interacting with them. In general though this is something I try not to think about lol

[sherl-grey]

dangerous words I fear but I’m craving some OFMD critical but civil discourse… s2 finale spoilers included below the cut. this is incredibly long FYI bc I’m truly desperate to get all my thoughts out

I want to preface by saying I loved S2. I think I loved it more than s1, I think there were some absolute GENIUS moments this season (the entire Calypso episode was *chef’s kiss* my favorite), and I think the cast, crew, and DJ deserve a lot of love and, of course, a renewal for another season.

I know there’s been a lot of anti-finale-critiquing posts out there (and yeah, I also don’t want to see baseless hate or, god forbid, people trying to interact with the cast/crew with anything less than love and respect) but personally, I think the biggest sign that I love a show is me wanting to pick it apart. I think digging into the writing and decision-making and characters of a show means you really appreciate the choices that were made even if you don’t agree with them, because you’re working to understand the story on a level most people only dive to if they’re forced to in an English class. No story is going to be perfect. No story is going to be written specifically for me unless it’s literally by me. But sometimes I still want to study it like a bug under a microscope, you know?

So here we go: I didn’t like the finale, and I didn’t think it fit very well with the rest of the season/show. Weirdly enough I didn’t feel a need to discuss online until I started reading the interviews DJ has been giving about the finale (specifically the choice to kill Izzy and Ed/Stede’s ending) and I’m so curious as to whether others interpreted things the same way. (Yes, they’re DJ’s characters. No, I don’t think all viewers are obligated to interpret things the same way as writers did—that’s half the beauty of storytelling and media consumption.)

Izzy’s Death

Let’s unpack the big one first. I think a lot of what DJ/finale defenders (if I may respectfully call fans who enjoyed s2e8 that) have mentioned is that Izzy’s arc was over and he’d served his narrative purpose. I’ve got a few different issues with this:

1. Part of what I love(d?) about this show is that I did not think this was a show that kills characters once they’ve served their narrative purpose, or a show that kills characters as punishment/retribution for mistakes/earlier actions. To me, OFMD symbolizes the idea that everyone is deserving of love, forgiveness, and second chances. I truly trusted that no one on the Revenge crew would die in this show, and to be proven wrong was a bit disheartening, to say the least. Will talk more on the suicide notion in the next bit because I think it was symbolic, but Izzy also now represents a suicidal character who finds the will to live again. I’d argue that a “full arc” for a character like that should be ending in happiness, not death (and especially not with a line like “I want to go” or whatever the specific words were).

2. DJ seems to describe Izzy’s role as being a mentor to Blackbeard, which I personally struggle to see at all. Despite the Captain/First Mate status difference, I think most signs have pointed towards them being roughly equals—the unrequited love Izzy feels for Ed, the way the two of them stand right up to each other when everyone else would be afraid to, the clear shared history and longevity of their friendship/companionship. (If anything, I’d argue Izzy takes on the mentor mantle for Stede in s2, though it’s a bit glossed over because of how crunched for time everything was.) I certainly have trouble seeing the “father figure” relationship that DJ mentions in interviews, because I think Izzy is the one crew member that puts himself on even ground with his captains.

But even humoring that, Ed’s story has been about shedding Blackbeard. And DJ has a great quote in the Entertainment Weekly interview where he says that Izzy and Ed are both Blackbeard, that the two of them together are what makes Blackbeard “happen.” So in theory, if we’re killing Izzy off to further Ed’s storyline, it’s to ultimately kill Blackbeard, right? Especially since his line at the end is to “just be Ed.”

Except we already have metaphorically killed Blackbeard, several times. I think S2E3 is a really interesting episode because in season 1, it can be argued (and is, by Chauncey Badminton) that Stede kills Blackbeard in his own pirate-y way—with kindness. The crew is also somewhat a part of this, as they all accept and love Ed for who he is and not only because he’s Blackbeard; the crew follows the example of their captain and it changes who Ed is as a person. S2E3 is a crew under Blackbeard, and they also kill Blackbeard following the method of their current captain—violence. And this “death” is, in my mind, the death of Blackbeard while Stede symbolically saves the part of him that is just Ed. (Bonus: we also get Ed trying to sink his leathers, and while it might just be because he’s on a damn boat, it’s interesting that Blackbeard’s clothes are drowned/sunk while Ed’s metaphorical comeback was being saved from drowning by Mer!Stede.)

So Ed’s half of Blackbeard is dead. If we stand by DJ’s idea that Blackbeard is half Izzy, we’ve still got half of Blackbeard left, right? Well, that would’ve been right immediately post-S1, but then they gave Izzy a beautiful arc that seems to be a shadow of Ed’s S1 track. Ed and Izzy are very similar characters, but in S1 Ed is on the receiving end of love, acceptance, and admiration—namely from Stede, but also from the crew. Meanwhile, Izzy is subject to contempt and hostility… once again, namely from Stede, and also from the crew. Ed blossoms under the love during S1 until that’s taken away; Izzy simply moves in the reverse direction. He continues to be an antagonist while being treated like one, but once others start treating him with kindness (Fang hugging him, Jim and Archie amputating his leg while Frenchie lies for him, the whole crew making him the unicorn leg), he too becomes a part of the family. And wouldn’t you know it—Izzy has a near death scene as well, a suicide no less. Izzy is the one who is responsible in S1 for “bringing back Blackbeard,” so the symbolism of him pulling the trigger on himself is huge. This is Izzy killing his half of Blackbeard! Because Izzy Hands continues to live, even if it takes him some time to remember how to live without Blackbeard at first, and his relationship with Ed effectively dies here.

(As a side note, this growth arc and the way Izzy fully transforms into a member of the Revenge crew afterwards—whittling Lucius a shark and talking to him about forgiveness, dressing up in drag and singing to the crew, cracking silly jokes about Ed and Stede’s relationship—are also why I find the “Izzy Hands is the symbol of traditional piracy and his death is symbolic of traditional piracy dying” argument to be weak. In season 1, he was that definition, but we’ve literally watched him grow out of it. He’s no longer symbolic of something stagnant that will remain the same or be destroyed—he’s symbolic of something that grows and adapts to the new situations, that survives when all of the rules change on him.)

And then we have the return of Blackbeard: Pop-Pop pushing Ed to go back to doing “what he’s good at,” Ed fishing his leathers out of the ocean, Ed killing a ton of people because he thinks Stede is likely dead or at minimum in captivity/grave danger. This bit seems to go against everything the season was building towards; Blackbeard was almost entirely gone, but Ed is now the one who brings him back because he thinks Blackbeard is the one who can save Stede. And that’s fair, but what does that have to do with Izzy at this point? Why does he need to die for Ed to put that part of him away again? While we’re not owed a main character having a death that serves a narrative purpose, I’d hope for that to be the case, and I struggle to interpret what happens to Izzy as beneficial to either plot or character.

3. I think the actual core arcs of the show are character arcs and not plots. I get that they might’ve been trying to wrap plots with Zheng and the British in case they aren’t renewed, but I don’t think it was necessary—the pirating has always been secondary to the rom com and the found family, IMO. In S1, we had two main characters, but I’d argue Izzy got enough focus and attention to be a third this season. Which left us with a great character-driven story: we’re watching all 3 of them come into their own and discover who they are individually, while also discovering that the changes in themselves are causing friction between them now that they’re growing into new people. Which is an amazing story to tell, if you ask me, but the fulfillment of that story requires all three characters to be there. The conflict to be resolved is how these characters can become the people they want to be and still coexist together, because on some level they’re family now. Notably each pair combination of these characters grows together or apart (or in Stede/Ed’s case, both) during this season. Ed and Izzy are growing apart because they hold each other back from becoming the person they want/need to be; to complete this narratively, I would’ve expected the next challenge to be finding a way to become friends again as their new selves while letting go of the fact that they used to have a toxic relationship when they used to be different people.

Ed and Stede’s S2 Ending

So Izzy’s death is the big talking point, but I also think DJ’s take on Ed and Stede was interesting. He said that they deserved a happy ending for the work they put in this season. I agree with him in theory, but I’m curious as to whether others agree that they put in a lot of work. I think Stede followed through with his goal to come back and tell Ed how he feels, and to stay instead of running away from his problems. I think Ed followed through with trying to understand who he is and what his needs are while also trying to find the courage to open himself up to love again. But critically, they never talk. E7 makes a point to highlight the miscommunication/lack of communication between them, and then in E8 they still aren’t shown talking.

(I realize part of the issue is the limited amount of time and the amount of plot shoved into episode 8. I get it; personally, I think the plot should’ve been sacrificed for the characters. At this point, we were 7 episodes into a very character/relationship-heavy season. Plot could’ve waited for a potential S3.)

What’s more—there’s a huge, glaring gap between where they left off and where they end up. Ed left in S2E7 after he begins panicking and realizing Stede is becoming deeper entrenched in pirate life just as he’s finally finding his way out of it. Not once do they talk about this, but suddenly they’re retiring together? And right after Ed says Izzy was his only family and Izzy calls the crew his family (which… is also an unearned line, as Ed and the crew have almost no bonding or forgiveness this season, since we focused mainly on Izzy with the crew and Ed with Stede), they leave the crew to do their own thing? They’re all relatively minor things that could be fairly easily addressed by dialogue, but they fact that they’re not only serves to underscore the way that Ed and Stede really aren’t on the same page.

I want them to get their happy ending. They deserve it. I’m just not sure that I agree that they earned it to the degree that it was received, with retirement alone together without their crew, if that makes sense.

Positivity Tax: Calypso Love 😊

I’ve probably got more to say but those were the big ones on my mind after reading the Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly interviews. Just to counterbalance some of the more critical things I’ve said, I wanted to share some loving analysis of the Calypso episode:

1. It’s a minor thing, but the way this episode shows that Ed’s actions as Blackbeard had consequences is amazing. Despite him arguably committing the more grievous wrongs in S1, he’s the one we get the least redemption for in this season (his apology to the crew wasn’t great, and most of his screen time is spent repairing his relationship with Stede), so for him to have to face something that happened because of his past actions is cool, especially because it was done in a way that doesn’t further damage his standing with the crew.

2. The way Stede saves the day is incredible. Competent Stede this season has been an absolute joy to watch, and his success in this episode is twofold: first he wins his way, with signature Gentleman Pirate flair. He listens to Ned’s crew, helps facilitate communication between them, and encourages them to stand up for themselves and demand better treatment. That’s a very classic Stede win. But then he wins in the traditional pirate way, and it’s absolutely glorious; he’s been working towards becoming a better pirate, both in terms of stomaching violence and building up the necessary skills. Ned’s crew can be taken down with kindness, but Ned himself is a pirate and will only be matched by another. I genuinely cannot think of a more perfect way to show that Stede is still himself while also showcasing the newer side of him that he’s been working towards this whole time.

3. Speaking of that newer side of him, the way this episode starts to open up Ed’s insecurities? The combination of seeing his least favorite parts of himself reflected in Stede as well as watching Stede grow into the career that he’s trying to leave? Amazing conflict development.

4. I’ve already talked so much about Izzy but the way this truly caps off the crew’s acceptance of him as part of the family is gorgeous. He’s an entirely new man at this point and there’s no jokes made, no friendly ribbing… just love and acceptance. It highlights both his newfound comfort and familiarity with the others as well as the extent to which they care about him.

5. Less analytical, but it’s also just a really pretty episode.

Considering the fact that I have zero OFMD mutuals and this was a whole essay (I’m on mobile and can’t see how long this is but I’m honestly scared), I would be shocked if someone made it down this far, but if somehow people are here and open to civil discussion… I’d love to know how you felt about this, if you thought DJ was right, if you were a little more on my wavelength and thinking things weren’t adding up, etc. Realistically I’m not sure if anything could change my mind as I’ve done a lot of stewing, particularly about Izzy arc, but new perspectives are always refreshing. Much love to the fandom and of course the creators, who hopefully never see this and get their s3 renewal 🤞🏼

[pub-lius]

Hi! Happy to see you’re posting again! Hope your recent traveling has been enjoyable.

Lately I’ve been deep in research about Alexander Hamilton’s tenure as a New York artillery captain (for purposes of my historical fiction series about AH), and I was just genuinely curious what your thoughts were on this short period? Besides the three or four highlights most books acknowledge, I’ve noticed the details of his men and such haven’t been discussed too often, which makes me sad because this little period has become super fascinating to me.

Hope this finds you well!

Hey man! Traveling has been great, it’s one of my biggest passions and I was very happy to recently see some historical landmarks in Boston recently

I absolutely LOVE that you’re interested in Hamilton’s time as artillery captain, because it’s often just a footnote in his life story, but it was his whole life for around a year. It is really sad that we’ve lost details about his men, since they were very important to him, and I wish we could know them too. It’s definitely one of the things I’d ask him about if I ever had the chance.

By all accounts, Hamilton was a very good leader, and he was very attached to his men in the artillery company. Even though he was younger than most of them, he took on a more paternal, caring role, which is later reflected when he tutored young law interns and with his own children.

It is absolutely to Hamilton’s credit that he advocated so strongly for his men to have the necessary supplies and accommodations, and it carried on with him when he joined Washington’s staff. There’s also some indication that he had a hard time with the decision to leave his command to be an ADC, not only for the fact that he’d be leaving an active position for a sedentary one in an office, but due to his connection to the men who remained. He would maintain contact with some of them for the rest of their lives, and those who spoke about their service under him were proud to have had him as their captain.

I wholeheartedly believe that this period really shows us a lot about Hamilton’s character, which is so multifaceted that we hardly see a particular time where all aspects of it can be seen. Given that he was so young at this time, much of his personality and wisdom had yet to develop, but so much of it is still clear. From his frenzied work ethic to his paternal gentleness, along with his adrenaline addiction and hunger for distinction and honor, it’s all visible in little glimpses in this early period. I highly encourage you to read through some of his correspondence on Founders Online if you’re unable to find a good book on it, since i know they’re scarce. Ive personally read through it, and its so distinctly Hamilton that its almost nostalgic for anyone who’s familiar with his writing.

Thank you for the ask, i love giving my thoughts. And i’m very interested in hearing more about this historical fiction series. I just finished reading another mutual’s novel about Lafayette, so know I will eat that shit up

[quirkyfries]

My concept of Dandy rebranding Gardenview to a new glory after the neglect of handlers, going back to their roots, and creating a toon with the use of research capsules.

[Mixed with your own theory of them, Dandy has a seemingly noble goal, they are just a bit evil and cause torment to the twisted and toons about it for their own satisfaction. The entitlement and audacity of a petal thinking they deserve to keep all the tapes of their history/training/making toons safety/learning videos/mlp/PSAs... you know the usual tapes you'd want to keep.] Now your theory was added, making Dandy seem more complex and interesting. Still mostly evil, BUT WHAT IF I MADE IT WORSE!!!

{A bit inspired by Sun and Moon Show <333}

... He was unable to figure out how to make an original toon, so tragic fan-child it is! Midnight Tragedy's Child (Astro x Dazzle) are they actually dating, or not. Who knows! They might not be, and that just makes it more funner(not in shipping, in the psychological torment sense <3 )

Dandy would totally family vlog, and Truman show the entire facility!!! They will compete at one point for the kid to do what challenges, and its Dandy vlogs vs Glistens lol.

I am planning on hopefully finishing chapter 1 today <3 wish I had written dopamine. I need it for my adding brain :D

Fun fact, the ideal design for the fan-child to have two-star shape'd eyes on the right of their face, was because the hands that Tron Astro uses are in his head, under his hat probably but in his brain basically.

So at will fan-child can move their eyes around to see into people's dreams or memories or to see if they are lying, who knows, dazzle hates it when Razzles acts.

what are your thoughts on it, I can't wait to figure out Glistens relationships with rnd, vee, and Astro specifically hehe. There are rnd headcanons that they look up to glisten, and glisten get along with vee. (karaoke, or has funner lines in trivia for the viewer to keep watching than winning all the prizes)

I love canon compliments, but I adore alterations if headcanons are not canon compliments. <3

oh yeah, and some doodles I did on a whiteboard. here are some of the concept chapters:

I'm too shy to show the last doodle with Astro and Rnd meeting up with Dandy, to figure out what their 'vacation' truly meant when they see the new toon on the bench(theirs another doodle of that on paper) I'm having so much fun with writing this, and I'm almost wondering how Dandy might become a manager. Can they ever get IDs?

:P

... Since they got research from the twisted themselves... whose child is it really [Family drama]

Hope you like my chaotic concept, i have no ideas for the other characters, but I just gave Poppy an HC that they are not allowed to drink pop because of a commercial aftermath incident :D

Astro giving others nightmares by accident will always be funny <3

Have a wonderful day! I didn't have this beta read, so my words may not make sense hehe

OOOO Thank you so much for sharing this with me!!

Between Dandy mixing Astro + RND’s (research? ichor? Toon dna) to make a toon from scratch, said child’s ability and the surrounding drama in the form of family vlog and Truman show’d facility, I’d say you’re in for a pretty solid story!

I’m really curious about Glisten’s relationships with other toons, I haven’t been able to look at the new update yet lol. I know that fella has all the deets.

Midnight tragedy is super cute, I love their design! I wonder, since it’s ambiguous who their parents actually are, if they’d chosen a parent figure? Unless Dandy filled that role by default, or maybe it was a “it takes a village to raise a child” situation? Or did they spawn fully grown and only needed some guidance to mature emotionally.. don’t let my questions point to spoilers for your fic, I’m just wondering aloud!

10/10 concepts and art, I will be watching for that fic when it’s posted! You have a nice day too :D!

[ryuichirou]

Replies

thestarlightfae asked:

Time for a question dump! Feel free to pick and choose which questions to answer, or not answer at all. LMK if this kind of ask is annoying to you please! Like, say it is annoying. I am autistic and will not understand it unless you say it outright. Alright! Here we go!

You know, I think I’ll answer pretty much all of your questions today! The only one I’ll keep for later is the “Twst boys as animals” one, because I really want to think about it + that would make this post way too long lol

I feel like I talked about a lot of these at some point, but it’s been a while, so replying again definitely wouldn’t hurt.

And no worries at all; if there were any uncomfortable questions, I’d just skip them. I like the format, it’s refreshing.

What are your favorite animals?

Both of us love a lot of animals… but mostly cats! Especially Katsu, Katsu is like a priest in the cat church. Sometimes I feel like Katsu and Mila (Katsu’s cat) speak the same language.

I also love snakes and lizards! And ever since my mom got a dog, something in my brain chemistry changed, and now I can’t look at dogs without wanting to cry because they are precious.

Do you have any pets? If yes, what are their names? Can we see pics?

Did you used to have any pets? If yes, what are were names? Do you have pics? Can we see them?

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pets… To be honest, I am too unsure about being able to take care of anything, I’m killing my plants all the time lol I used to have a grey kitten when I was like 5 (my parents took it away) and two parrots (yellow and blue) when I was 9-10 (both suddenly died…). And unfortunately I don’t have pics of them.

Like I already mentioned, Katsu has a cat <3 (Katsu used to have a guinea pig, hamsters, a rat, and a cat back in childhood.) Mila is adorable and very loveable, and also sneezes a lot… She’s an old lady, but still pretty spunky and talkative. I want her to have all the kisses and treats she wants…

Do you and Katsu ever disagree on if a character is top or bottom?

I don’t think so. I don’t know why, I guess it’s because we generally prefer the same types of characters to play a certain role. We do have discussions sometimes when we’re not sure what to do with the guy… Katsu also loves to hit me with “but what if he is a bottom though?” while fully believing that the guy is a top just to see if I’m going to hesitate or not. Or maybe just to mess with me lol

What are your favorite platonic relationships in Twst?

Octa-trio is fun, any other top with Ortho is fun, also Rook and Trey are a funny duo, and Vil and Idia… A lot of them are very good, to be honest.

Do you have a minimum age for discussing characters on here? Like, would you talk about Cheka? I'm not into that, irl or hypothetically so I wouldn't ask about him in a romantic/sexual way, but I am curious.

Not really. Everything is on a case-by-case basis, and if we’re not comfortable with something (either in general or uncomfortable with posting it), we just won’t post it at all. It’s mostly about people overreacting about literally anything we say.

How old were you two when you started drawing?

Did you learn to draw together? Your drawing styles are really similar.

I’m the only one who actually draws :) My mom said that I got my first crayons when I was 4 and has been drawing ever since, but I started to draw anime/people when I was 11-13. When I was 16-18, I started to actually work on bettering my skill, now with Katsu’s help.

We say “our drawings” because a lot of time we’re working on them together, especially if it’s the bigger pieces. We either discuss the idea together or Katsu comes up with stuff, then helps me to pick the best thumbnail, find references and inspirational pictures, gives me tons of feedback and keeps me focused and entertained by talking with me while I draw. Those artworks (the anniversary one, the Octa/Idia one are some recent examples) feel like projects sometimes, and I really feel like we did them together. Plus, a lot of sketches that I do myself are based on our discussions, AUs and inside jokes. But the more serious/complex ones have much more of Katsu’s direct influence.

In a way, despite the fact that Katsu doesn’t draw, we did learn together because Katsu is figuring everything out at the same time as me lol Me learning how to draw was just Katsu and I going “hey does this look right?”, “you should learn how to draw ears, the ears don’t look good” , “you keep forgetting about this bone” and “I hate how it looks, please tell me honestly if it looks bad” every single time I draw something. It’s been a long journey, we’ve been drawing together for more than 10 years now…

Also I am kind of wondering which artworks you thought could be mine and which ones are Katsu’s… hehe.

How long have you known each other?

14 years! <3 We started dating pretty early on; and we just had our anniversary a couple of weeks ago.

That is all for now! Once again, please tell me if I am annoying either of you in anyway or stepped over any bounderies!

You’re not annoying at all! No worries. Like I already mentioned, if there were any uncomfortable questions, I would’ve just skipped them. I know that people are mostly here for the twst boys, but talking about these things is a good change of pace every once in a while.

Thank you for your questions, I hope you (and anyone who is still reading) enjoyed the post.

[xx-watch-your-teeth-xx]

calvin’s introooo!!! :D

due to “popular demand” (aka: two comments saying I should make an intro), I’m gonna do an introduction.

let’s get into it! :3 ~

hiiii! my (full) name is calvin o’keefe, but you guys can just call me calvin or cal, and I’m sixteen-years-old.

for those reading who are ~curious (mwahaha)~ I’m a fictive of calvin o’keefe from the 2018 movie adaptation of the “a wrinkle in time” book series.

my system role: I’m a caregiver/soother, usually i just try and make everyone not panic in scary/dangerous/etc. situations.

my interest are: playing video games (usually with luke), watching movies of any genre, story-building, CATS OMG :33 (and dogs, too!).

my favorite food / meal of the day is breakfast :3 I love toast and eggs! (I <3 random ass fun facts.)

I almost forgot to mention! I’m bisexual with no preference whatsoever (funny, cuz I’m dating two guys lol).

I’m really just kinda a goofball (ew I CCRRRIINNGGEEEEEDDD saying that.), and I love seeing my loved ones happy and stuff! :))

fyi: i’d rather not get into the assets of my source in particular, as it makes me kinda uncomfy.

ANYWAYS ONTO THE GOOD SHHTUFF! Here’s what I look like:

I tried to pick the best photos, I think I did pretty well! if you read that ‘in-system dating’ post Finn made, you’ll notice that I’m wearing the red shirt and jacket he talked about in that post.

anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed readinggg! I hope I get the chance to make some more posts on here, because you guys seem so lovely. ^__^

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s4 episode 19 thoughts

very tired. brain empty. only mulder and scully in there

i am sat for the evening, reading the episode description. i'm curious as to if a “technology of the future” mentioned is still going to seem futuristic after 30 years have passed since it first hit TV…

(author's note: yes. we still don't have instant freeze potion. and the main takeaway from this episode is that we shouldn't have instant freeze potion)

i wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but i thought it was pretty interesting! it posed some philosophical questions i hadn't really considered in the real world re: time traveling. in the end though, it was left ambiguous as to what would really happen at the conclusion of the episode, like always, and i think there is enough going on in this universe that for my own sake and the sake of mulder and scully, i am going to assume that time travel was cancelled.

but i liked this episode- apart from the frequent needles! eugh...

we open at MIT, where a guy is running. it looks pretty late at night. 

two people are yelling about a guy named mcfarland while this older man watches. the kids are ignoring this guy telling them that the street is dangerous because they instead want to be loud and argue or whatever, idc. 

this kid in the red jacket (later revealed to be named lucas) seems like a massive douche, and when old man proclaims that he is going to die at exactly 11:46, i feel no deep sadness on the matter. this guy is trying to save your life and you’re gonna treat him like he’s trying to get money off of you??? and be mean to him????

omggg self righteous MIT kids…. yeah i’ll say it. shut tf up!

the campus security officer takes the old man away, but he tells jason not to let lucas cross the street, because he won’t see the bus coming… jason seems shocked that the old man knows his name.

see, if i were jason, i’d take this grouch of a kid and make him wait it out. maybe go to a restaurant or something. if there is one that doesn’t require crossing the street. no ma’am. i will NOT ignore a death prophecy.

lucas is shutting down jason, saying they have nothing to talk about. but the bus approaches!!!!

and sure enough, lucas drops his papers at the predicted time….. and thus concludes lucas.

the bus driver says it looks like jason pushed him in front of the bus! i didn’t see that. but okay. 

intro time woo woo woo woo woo wooooooo

(seriously, it didn’t look like jason pushed him?? am i tripping? i mean, i replayed the scene just to make sure. and it did not look like a pushing occurred)

scully is looking at the photos from the accident, and we learn that lucas was a post-doctoral fellow, which perhaps explains his intense arrogance. although i imagine that sort of thing only really happens if you were a douche BEFORE the phd. it just gets worse after it has been conferred.

OH the tea is: jason was his ACADEMIC ADVISOR!!!! and the bus driver said he pushed him!!!!

damn. can you imagine??? i’m imagining this happening to me. everyone would be shocked.

also, shocked that jason was not a fellow student because he looked to be of doctoral candidate age. but he is actually dr. jason nichols, academic advisor in addition to the other roles i'm sure he plays.

but that's not the point.

and jason wouldn’t tell the cops what they were arguing about!!! suspicious…

mulder sits next to scully on the edge of the desk and they watch jason’s alibi tape- i bet it was a pain to ship that around

(at this moment i got a text and paused to answer it and it froze on a frame of mulder looking at scully as she ponders the case and oh my gooooood. oh my gooood)

“well, he goes on to tell a pretty convincing narrative and to give a rather detailed description of the old man” “what was he wearing, a long black robe and carrying a scythe?” <- she is smirking at her own stupid joke and i love her soooo much

mulder has a pencil behind his ear…. yeah. i love him too. they’re a package deal <3

and a further plot twist: the campus security officer that picked the old man up ALSO died!!

i see that it is now boston autopsy time. and i just prepared myself a meal. okay. we must pause and eat before continuing.

mmm that was yummy.

RESUME!

there has been internal disagreement about if they should cut or saw the campus security guy's body? now what the hell does that mean 

he’s frozen!!! as if elsa got to him….

she says something was inserted in his ear, which was a thermometer. and he was found on campus.

well, boston is just like that. you don't get your dunkin one day and you freeze about it.

oooo, this officer would drink and drive on duty!!! this is not good. bad bad bad thing to do. but it was only 28 degrees last night! not cold enough for a guy to get drunk and freeze to death in such a dramatic fashion.

again. boston. it’s like that.

his body is getting colder somehow! that makes no sense.

i love when mulder asks for scully's medical opinion :) she thinks maybe he drank some chemicals!!

BLEAUGH mulder makes a joke about hoping he can keep the body frozen until thanksgiving... nasssssty 😭

this provides no answers on the jason situation. if anything, it only raises more questions. time to go ask him!!!!

jason seems to think that mulder is lying about the guy being frozen to death which is a presumptuous thing… what exactly would he gain from lying about that lmao

oh tea…. the reason the two of them were fighting that night was because lucas was going to say that jason’s research data was falsified!!! and they were competing for the same grant… for cryobiology!!!

OHHHH HE STUDIES FREEZING BODIES. this is not looking great for him.

(we also see jason's girlfriend very briefly which becomes important later. her name is lisa. i did not write it down in my original notes because i did not know she would become a major character in the episode)

scully calls while mulder is doing the questioning, and says she found jason’s thumbprint on the security guard’s uniform!!! oh man. again. not looking great for jason. but i don’t buy that the story is that straightforward.

scully is so pretty………….

cut to a hotel where a man named yonechi is trying to check in, but the receptionist is saying there is no reservation under that name!!! this is very unfortunate for dr. yonechi.

and who comes in but OLD MAN FROM BEFORE!!!!!!! he is giving yonechi a key and says he came on behalf of dr. jason nichols…..

who is this old man… and what does he want…? he looks sick!!!! 

yonechi invites old man in and he shuts the door to his hotel room…. omg something is gonna go down… 

he says he owes so much to yonechi. now what does that mean? did he use his research for something?

“you found a way to substitute water with a sugar- trehalose” (sobs in humanities) what does that MEAN???

HEY WHAT, OLD MAN PUT THAT NEEDLE AWAY. NOOOO NO AWAY. NOT INTO YONECHI. 

YONECHI IS FREEZING TO DEATH. 

(my original notes there were far less readable, just know that)

damn, that prop of frozen yonechi is crazy. scully is investigating and i’m contemplating how it was made!!!

she notices the injection mark… and mulder says he was at the hotel with a man in his 70’s when he arrived!!! the mythical old man that jason has spoken of proves to be real!

scully is showing mulder “a nuclear magnetic resident spectra” (YESSSS TALK THAT SCIENCE SCULLY 🔥 IDK WTF IT MEANS) 

yonechi was injected with… something. scully strongly suspects jason (AKA dr. nichols) did the killing, but mulder wants to talk to someone else….

the girlfriend, lisa!!! jason’s dating someone from his lab!!!??? that feels weird. is that unethical? is she his employee? hm.

scully shows her the nuclear magnetic resident spectra and she grows quiet. yeahhh they're onto youuuu!

“lisa, you can tell us now, or we can subpoena your testimony in court” <- DAMN scully said you will NOT be hiding evidence from me!

STOP SAYING SCIENCE WORDS I DON'T GET IT

okay, so the stuff that was shot in yonechi: it’s a rapid freezing agent. i get that. jason thinks that if you do it fast enough, you can unthaw whatever you freeze better. but he hasn’t been able to test it because it doesn’t exist yet!!! 

well. i think something changed.

oooooo look at the virtual chemical… so high tech… watch it rotate… yeah, baby that’s the stuff.

it would be impossible for him to engineer the non-existent chemical synthetically… BUT SOMEONE CLEARLY DID because they found it in that guy!!!

but!!!! lisa reveals that yonechi might not be dead!!! so they put him in a tub of slime and then try to revive him

scully announces that this will not work, because his body temperature was at 8 degrees, and the lowest body temperature a human ever survived was 70. i love that she knows that. it warms my heart. even if it doesn't warm dr. yonechi's.

blehhh, they put some stuff in his chest and then bring out the shocky machine…. and he starts to come back!!!! omg???

but he starts to fight the machine (what does that mean??), and his temperature gets WAYYYY too high, and he’s gasping and screaming and i feel myself growing faint….

(god that scene was NOT fun to watch. it was actually straight up horrible)

AND THEN HE CATCHES ON FIRE???????

wait, is this the episode where we get that one line…..

(sadly this was not the episode with the spontaneous combustion line i have seen in screenshots💔)

the only guess they have as to wtf made yonechi burn up is that whatever it was that was used to freeze him provoked an opposite reaction when they thawed him out

rip dr. yonechi :(

lisa goes to talk to jason…… what does he know!!!!!

old man is on the bus next to her. RUN GIRL. SPRINT. use your youth as an advantage. he’s going after her and i’m wondering how tf he knew that other guy was going to die?????

NO DON’T STOP TO LOOK AT TIE DYED SHIRTS. ahh she is seeing him follow her in the mirrors and not just merely shopping... very clever

lisa goes up a bunch of stairs, which is arguably the best move to escape an old man, but he is still pretty fast. 

she confronts him… and he says HE CAN KILL HER, TOO!!!

bro... i know grant money is hard to come by, but COME ON!! 

he busts out the freezy needle and says he came here to kill her… but he walks away. who tf is this guy??????

he bruised tf out of her arm when he grabbed her!!! rude!!!!

scully once again reminds lisa to STOP HIDING SHIT and she confesses to FALSIFYING THE DATA TO GET THE GRANT!!!! OHHH GIRL!!!!! this is not good. and jason is covering for her. 

and the people who could have figured that she did that out are now dead!!!

HOW BIG IS THIS FUCKING GRANT, BRO???

she swears that she doesn’t know the old guy and that jason wouldn’t either, but scully comes at her with “if he would lie for you, what makes you think he wouldn’t lie to you?” <- ohhh she ate her up there 

mulder does his thing where he says “scully?” and tilts his head a little, which means "we need to talk about this out of earshot of the person we're questioning" and i love it very much

ohhh, someone thinks they’ve spotted the old man!!!

(really hate that composite drawing of him they’re using as reference)

woahh, that shot descended from the ceiling as they arrived to his hotel room… it was really cool. but he is not here!!

“i’m not sure if ‘living’ is the word i’d use on this place” <- after that other line last episode i just KNOW she needs to be comfy and cozy, which i respect immensely. get scully a blanket right away. i need her in a mountain of pillows. STAT.

she finds yonechi’s flight written down in a notepad, and mulder finds a picture of yonechi, lisa, and jason!! they must have had an ice science groupchat or something

mulder seems to think this is a photo from the future??? and that if lucas hadn’t gotten hit by that bus, jason’s research being falsified would be exposed and he’d never get to work with dr. yonechi.

of course, this is baffling. and i have to rewatch the scene to get a better understanding on what he is saying

she has had enough of his shenanigans “and if your sister is your aunt and your mother married your uncle, you’d be your own grandpa” <- LMAO she said you NEED to start making sense!!

“okay, so this photo that was never taken, when was it never taken?” <- BAHAHA this has been added to my mental list of top scully one liners

he says it was taken at least 5 years in the future when the mystery substance was synthesized in the future…. and the old man came back from the future to fix the past!!

well. time travel isn’t something we have entertained on here before. so that’s new. not sure how i feel about it when there is already so much going on in this universe.

HE SAYS THE OLD MAN *IS* JASON?? and that is how he knew all of the things!!!

i guess it does make sense… if you think time travel could exist…

(she looks at him with great skepticism) “although common sense may rule out the possibility of time travel, the laws of quantum physics certainly do not. in case you forgot, that’s from your graduate thesis” <- she looks annoyed at this LMAOOOOOOOOOOO 

if someone quoted my thesis back to me in an argument we’d have to start kissing sloppy style right then and there.

so wait this complicates things. she did a graduate degree AND an MD?? bro, how many degrees was she collecting!!!!! how long did it take!!! HOW OLD IS SHE??? how can all of his have been accomplished??? 

you don’t write a thesis for an MD, and even if you did it wouldn’t be in physics… maybe she did like a 4+1 program? she was speedrunning grad school? can someone who knows what her degree history looks like PLEASE explain this to me.

ohhhh and she argues right back… “the limits of human endurance would prevent such a trip from ever happening” get his ass!!

(he can quote her thesis but not remember her birthday… what is with this man??)

he says to show the picture to lisa and ask where it was taken, which i suppose would answer that question as long as she doesn't frequently have people take her pictures, in which case it might be hard to recall

old man seems very sick as he stumbles back to his spartan hotel room…. perhaps time travel makes you ill? and that is the limit of human endurance she has described??

OAUGHHHHH HE IS INJECTING HIMSELF WITH SOMETHING OKAY HELLO. I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING.

it seems to make him feel better. it makes me feel worse. but i suppose that is irrelevant.

gag gag gag gag. so he keeps internally freezing himself to feel better?

lisa comes in and asks “jason?” <- OHHH SHE CLOCKED HIM!!!! he says she made it possible!!!!

is this how we explore the multiverse in this world??? never thought we'd see the day. i mean, i guess weirder plot points have gone on than there being an x files multiverse, but i thought we had enough to deal with just on this planet, what with the murderers and ghosts and ghouls and all that

jason says she’ll meet a guy in ten years that has discovered “tachyons” (which is a real word, i assume, because my autocorrect fixed it for me) which are particles that can go back in time!!! but only for a few seconds and only at a temperature of absolute 0. 

the temperature thing seems very specific.

and then she’ll realize…. 

and he came back to kill her but couldn’t do it!!!! her hand is in his hand...

OH HE LIED!!! HE GOT HER!!!!!!!!! lisa is now FROZEN!!

while that is deeply sad, i am kinda glad he prevented time travel from happening in this universe. that would be a little too much.

mulder arranged for (young) jason’s bail to go show him lisa at the lab, and he straight up says right there that the old man they’re looking for is him. which had to be hard to hear

jason is being a dick as mulder tries to explain what happened…. he proposes that maybe his compound would allow for time travel by making people very cold and allow them to survive the temperatures of a wormhole. sure. i don't know enough about wormholes to dispute that.

jason seems to sober up a bit when he realizes that what happened to lisa is his fault in a sort of cosmic way, and not even mulder can come up with a witty response to that 

ooooooh, jason had to use a fingerprint scanner thingy to get into the lab, and it said he was already there!! a showdown of the jasons!!!!

mulder says please get to scully NOW as they’re trying to revive lisa and blehhh more needles stop with needles no needles please i ask so politely. scully is watching this go down and ordering her to put lisa back in the slime tub now!!!

scully you are so pretty…….

mulder is off to track down old jason, and i wonder if showing his FBI badge would really get him into all sorts of places such as this one, or if anyone would wonder if he was lying. anyway, the research assistant says that no one has come in. 

breaking lisa news: THEY RESUSCITATED HER!!! but jason wasn’t there!!!!

oh it really is jason vs jason time… who will win? the younger, inexperienced, but more sprightly jason? or the older and wiser jason with the weapon of freezing???

in the computer, all the files about jason were erased!!!! he is really trying to destroy his own work. mulder is running running running…

but young jason has found old jason! who is frantically typing. 

older jason's explanation of a world with time travel does sound pretty fucked up. but then young jason is beating up older jason trying to get lisa back. mulder arrives to say lisa is actually okay, and older jason stabs younger jason!!!

while mulder is trying to break through, the two jasons…. CATCH ON FIRE!!!

damn. mulder probably did not like to see that. i still consider his fear of fire canon. because i like it. i think it’s interesting.

scully is explaining to lisa, who is on a stretcher, how they saved her

scully is so sweet trying to explain she doesn’t know what was going on….. and has to tell lisa that jason is dead, and she is very sorry, but she’ll see her in the hospital 

mulder arrives!! he says they won’t find the second corpse- i guess that makes sense. if you die, i guess your alternate timeline self has to go with it.

oh my goodness, he's quoting her thesis again: “although multidimensionality suggests infinite outcomes in an infinite number of universes, each universe can produce only one outcome”

HE MEMORIZED THAT SHIT???

“i was 23 when i wrote that” oh my GOD SHE REALLY WAS SPEEDRUNNING DEGREES HUH???

so she must have done either a 4+1 or graduated undergrad in 3 years, 2 years for a masters, and then (insert however many years it takes to get an MD here)

no wonder she is so smart... damn, i love her.

so what implications does her proclamation on each universe having but one solution have?? will his compound and time travel eventually be discovered as scully’s thesis seems to predict??

cut to lisa at the computer… and thus ends our tale.

NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.

so do we get time travel or not???

i actually liked this episode!! not the needles. but it was a super interesting concept and proved why we should probably not have time travel. something i already believed and now find myself agreeing with even harder.

it's kinda rare that i like an episode based off of its content rather than just the mulder-scully time the situation creates, so i'll give credit where credit is due.

i like to see scully be a smartass so this was a good day for me. AND that he has so much of her thesis MEMORIZED??? word for word???!! that is AMAZING. it really is like that though- sometimes you can quote a person's thesis rewriting einstein, but you cannot remember their birthday.

and maybe it was implied before, but i'm so happy to learn that scully got her masters when she was 23, and THEN went on to med school. that is the sort of information a fan like me needs to know to properly analyze a character, and it is fascinating! so she probably graduated early- either in undergrad or high school. and she got her masters in physics, right?! or something along those lines??

we forget how fucking smart she is because the narrative is skewed in mulder's favor with the whole "werewolves are real in this world" thing, but goddamn. she is really a genius who can tell you exactly how someone is dying and fix it, OR administer the death herself via her sharpshooting skills, AND gets stuck dealing with the bestie babble alien nonsense while she tries to figure out how to rationalize all of the universe's inexplicable phenomena through the lens of a scientist. AND she paid attention in catechism.

is she not one of THE best characters of all time???

[galwithalibrarycard]

Any ideas you'd like to share? I'm curious about any aus you may be working on

It’s interesting, because I tend to write a lot of either canon-compliant missing moments fic or canon divergence AUs, rather than transplanting characters into an entirely new universe. So most of my fic ideas aren’t true AUs, but I do have a few.

Of course there’s the Bones mermaid AU, which I’m still thinking about. I’m also loving the butch woman Booth AU that @miz-chase has been talking about lately, I’m tempted to write some of that but we’ll see. Then I have the AU where everything’s the same but Booth/Brennan/Hannah are a polycule, which I love, and I want to write Booth and Hannah both taking care of Brennan when she has a rough day in that AU.

Outside of Bones, I’ve been thinking a lot about a Rizzoli & Isles My Fair Lady AU, inspired by miz-chase’s post about Rizzles Anastasia AUs. I just think it would be really fun to have Jane as the Eliza Doolittle and Maura as the Henry Higgins (though less of an asshole than Higgins is, of course). There would be a lot of unpacking the classism of giving Jane her high society makeover, and Jane being butch and hating forcing herself into the high-class hyperfeminine persona, and Maura realizing she doesn’t actually want to change Jane, she loves her as she is. I just love the idea of a Rizzles “I Could Have Danced All Night” moment- “I only know when she began to smile at me, I could’ve danced, danced, danced all night!” I’m working on an outline for this AU, I don’t know if it will become a full fic, but I’m having fun with it either way.

Then there’s my Hacks fic where Ava has ulcerative colitis, which I guess is an AU in that the ulcerative colitis isn’t canon and in that it’ll be in a version of the end of season 3 where Ava and Deborah aren’t in as bad of a place in their relationship as in canon, because a lot of the fic will be hurt/comfort and Deb taking care of Ava through her first colonoscopy and the diagnostic process. This one is very self-indulgent and I’ll understand if some people don’t want to read the bathroom-heavy details of having UC. But I have to live it, so I think I’m allowed to write about it. I won’t go that graphic but I will be honest about it.

I also have a Stranger Things fic I’m working on for a friend, in her Ronance riot grrl AU verse. And I’ve always wanted to do a Nothing Much to Do Beadick mermaid AU as well, maybe eventually it’ll become more than a concept. Oh, and you’re probably not familiar with this fandom, but I have a Graceland (TV) fic on the go where Mike has a dream of Charlie’s sauce night story with himself and Charlie in the romantic lead roles in Inquisition Italy, but I don’t know if that counts as an AU because it’s the regular universe character just having a dream.

Anyway, yeah, I have GOBS of fic ideas on the go and so little time to work on them all, alas. How about you? I know about your canon divergence Bones fic, but any other AUs you want to talk about? I’d love to hear!

[mollypollykinz]

Hello! I’ve been binge reading Throw Away Your Mask and now that I’m caught up, I’d love to know more about your thought process on how you set up Akechi’s social links if you’re cool with discussing it! Specifically I’m kind of curious about how you chose which characters to have him bond with / how you determined which arcana to use (especially for characters with a different arcana compared to their bond with the protagonist of their respective game).

Ooooo good question! So I did some planning before I actually started writing the fic. There were some characters I Knew right away I wanted Goro to have social links with (like Ken, Shinjiro, and Kanji). Some social links were fill-ins for arcana I was still missing. I also really wanted to write an original character (in the same vein as marigolds), especially since I did want a child classmate character who really displayed childishness in a way that Goro and Ken were never gonna bring to the table. I wrote a list of the major arcana in my notes and then matched the names up like this (i copied and pasted this straight from my notes):

Arcana Social Links for pic -Priestess - Kurusu Akira -Tower - Shido Masayoshi -Fool - “Kurusu Tsuyoshi” Nyarlathotep -Judgement - Velvet Room Attendants -Sun - Dojima Nanako -Fortune - Naoto -Emperor - Kanji -Aeon - Teddie -Magician - Hanamura Yosuke -Star - Narukami Yu -Hierophant - Kanji’s mom -Temperance - Junpei -Hanged man - Kirijo Takeharu -Lovers - Ryoji -Chariot - Dojima Ryataro -Empress - Kirijo Mitsuru -Moon - Aragaki Shinjiro -Justice - Amada Ken -Hermit - Takaya -Jester- Adachi Tohru -Strength - Yamamoto Emiko -Death - Minato -Devil - Ikutski Shuji

I decided who was matched with which arcana based off of the arcana definitions in the persona wiki. The arcana pages in the persona wiki also gives common themes between social links within that arcana, so that impacted my decision too. Sometimes, i looked up the definition of an arcana outside of the wiki tho. My sister also came up with some of the matches when I had some blank spots (like Shido being Tower and Dojima being Chariot). I didn't want all of the characters to have the same arcana as they do in canon because I thought that was less fun than mixing it up. Obviously some arcana were too good to not keep, such as Ken being Justice. Another issue that came up is that I would use the canon arcana for one character (Ken), but then I obviously couldn't use it on Nanako too. When choosing arcana I also didn't really care about the 'gender roles' of each arcana. I honestly had a lot of fun giving Akira priestess (because the arcana meaning really fit the way I was characterizing him in this fic) and Ryoji Lovers (because Lovers always goes to a girl but it represents crossroads and Ryoji is a pretty big crossroads).

For a lot of the social links (not all lol), I also planned out each rank up. I tended to change certain details while writing, so this is what it kinda looked like:

Rank 3: Wednesday 13 May: After Akechi joins SEES, he meets up with Shinji. He asks why Shinji isn’t in SEES and Shinji says nothing. akechi is frustrated by this but drops it. RANK UP Rank 4: Wednesday September 2: Shinji joins SEES and Akechi’s like dude finally and Shinji says something about his past beginning to catch up with him and Akechi’s like what the hell bro. Rank 5: Sunday September 6: Shinji offers to teach Akechi how to cook. Akechi can always appreciate good life skills and accepts his offer. They make a tradition out of it.

Finally, I decided which characters to give social links just based off of who I think would have the most interesting character dynamics with Akechi/who would bring something new to the table. Also some characters' plots would make Akechi feel bigger feelings than others. But like part of the reason Shinji gets a social link and Akihiko doesn't is because Akihiko is kinda attached to Shinjiro's social link with Goro (think sorta daisuke and kou in persona 4). Naoto got a social link because *Detective Prince* TM, that sort of thing. Obviously other characters who didn't get social links also had a lot of potential, but I was already stretching my limit by including aeon and jester (jester was originally not going to be used but then takaya became a social link by hijacking the plot so i had to give up adachi's hermit status to takaya, which worked much better anyway).

So yeah. I put a lot of thought into it.