#i'd still rather not get a canon answer for 'somewhere else'

[randomfae]

so... anyone else thinking about Sergei Ushanka for no reason in particular?

[wannaeatramyeon]

Lookism: "If you die tomorrow, would you have any regrets?"

G/N. Jake, Goo, Gun, DG, Ryuhei, Sammy. Reminder that Gun is canonically a gamer lmao.

Jake looks up at you in surprise, the morbid question catching him off guard.

"Why?" he asks, tilting his head.

"It was just a question I read."

"Hmm," Jake rubs at his chin and gazes off somewhere in the distance, no doubt thinking about all that has happened in his life. "Yeah. Loads."

Oh. You weren't expecting that-

"A lot of things I've made my peace with," Jake shrugs and you know he means Sinu and Samuel and Big Deal.

The mess with Workers, the falling out with Samuel and end of the Golden Era, the arrest of so many of his crew. He knows his mom is disappointed that he is so much like his father, his time in juvie, and Jake thinks if he tried better in school instead of fighting then maybe things would have worked out a lot differently.

"But-" he tugs on your hand, pulling you off-balance and falling straight into his lap.

"I'd regret not spending more time with you. All the time trying to be a good boss rather than a good boyfriend."

You open your mouth to argue that he is a good boyfriend but he continues on-

"I'd regret leaving you on your own. Even though I know you'd find someone easily," And Jake manages a small wistful smile, "I'd regret not being there for you."

.

.

"Me?" Goo blinks, looking up from his manga.

"Yes, you. The only other person here."

"Just checking, Cupcake." Goo thinks briefly for a moment before making up his mind.

"I'll regret not seeing how this manga ends," then he narrows his eyes, stabbing angrily at the page, "And not going to Japan to hunt down this asshole for killing my fave off-screen."

"Goo!" Maybe this is on you for expecting a serious answer.

He gets up and makes his way to you, peppers kisses all over your face as you roll your eyes. "You're not planning on killing me are you, Sweetheart?"

"Yes. Tonight. There's a knife under my pillow."

"Make sure you don't wake me, do it quick," he grins mischievously then-

An unpleasant thought pops up and he pulls a face. "Once I'm dead, you better not fall in love with anyone else. My ghost will haunt you, y'know."

"Fine, I'll just be sad and alone and mourning over you forever."

"Perfect!"

But what would Goo actually regret?

What's the saying? You can't take it with you.

Goo has such fun plans once he retires from all this crew shit. Neither of you have to work another day again, you can just spend the rest of your lives terrorising the general public instead. Travelling the world, swimming in a pool of money together, sleeping on a bed of cash. All that fun stuff.

Goo doesn't regret the time amassing his fortune, his little safety net for the future. But if he was to die tomorrow, he would regret not having that future with you.

.

.

Gun pauses the video game at your question, then turns to you with a brow arched, "Why do you think I'm going to die?"

"It's hypothetical. Like in a fight or something."

An arrogant smile spreads, "And who's strong enough to kill me?"

You click your tongue in annoyance at his response although you hate to admit that damn, you find his attitude sexy as hell. There's just something about him being able to back up his confidence with his skills and talent.

"Just answer my question!"

"No I would not have any regrets," he says, already turning back and resuming his game.

Of course Gun doesn't. As if someone like him would have any regrets.

Eyes still on the screen and fingers clicking on the controller, Gun adds quietly. "But you will be taken care of."

Oh.

If Gun were to die tomorrow, he would regret not being able to take care of you. Being by your side. In his line of work, it is always a possibility no matter how strong he is. The least he could do, and has done, is make sure that at least no harm or hardships befalls you after he is gone.

Money, protection, freedom. If he can't have a future, then he will assure yours.

.

.

DG falters mid-stride, giving it the briefest of thoughts before coming to a conclusion.

"Nope," he says with a cocky smirk.

He has very little to regret. His life as DG is what most people dream of. Fame and fortune, power and influence.

As James Lee he has proven he's the strongest, he's the peak and untouchable.

There's very little left for him to accomplish. Why would he have any regrets?

But, he supposes, as he is later handled by the assistants and the stylists, then plasters on a fake smile for TV appearances before being ushered to some event full of schmoozers and fakers and having to make small talk as DG, the idol and CEO-

Is that maybe if he could do it again, he would choose something with more privacy. More freedom. That he could do what he wants, whenever he wants.

And most importantly-

That he can walk hand in hand with you down the street without rabid fans screaming and the paparazzi photos making headlines.

Without you being on the receiving end of death threats and unhinged letters, and his agent and company telling him that he needs to apologize for his relationship. Backtrack it. Single idols sells better, appeals to the public more.

If DG died tomorrow, he thinks that actually he would regret this. He regrets keeping you in the shadows.

.

.

Ryuhei doesn't hesitate and tells you he wishes you were his first. For everything.

Even hand holding. Even hugs.

You pull a face at that.

"That's... Sweet." You say, lying through your teeth as Ryuhei looks at you with concerned puppy eyes.

"You wish the same, right?"

"Sure," you agree because where's the harm in appeasing this goofball.

In truth, and Ryuhei hates thinking about it, is that he does desperately wish that he met you first. Before Mitsuki, before anyone else.

Nevermind that it's a completely futile, fanciful dream because everything that has happened has led him to you.

But he thinks it would have worked out better. He could have been a better person, a better boyfriend. If he met you before he had a chance to develop his sex pest tendencies and obsessive behaviour that you had to stamp out.

It's pointless though. Not even worth dwelling on. What has happened has happened and he could only try to be better now.

Ryuhei considers the question again with a sigh. If he dies tomorrow, what would he regret?

Oh yeah! He would absolutely regret this!

"I'd regret that we can't bang anymore!"

"Ryuhei!"

.

.

Samuel immediately feels defensive at your question.

He thinks about what he hasn't yet achieved. All his dreams of becoming King, being at the top, and yet he's no closer.

"Why?" he asks, eyes starting to narrow behind his glasses.

You hold up both palms, in a gesture to indicate you didn't mean anything by it and your face tells him to just chill.

"I dunno. I found it and thought it was an interesting question."

"It's not." Samuel says, effectively ending the conversation and eyes dipping back down to his phone.

But it doesn't just end.

Samuel spirals and doesn't talk to you for the rest of the day, his shortcomings haunting him instead.

He drinks and he smokes and he spends even more time at work, trying to dull the ache of his inferiority.

The mornings and nights pass by in a blur, a string of toxic behaviours and self sabotage, until eventually - he comes to.

His failures and faults pushed to the back of his mind, rather than a constant reminder.

Then like a fog clearing, he finds clarity again. He sees your face, the worry, the trepidation... The guilt for asking an innocent question.

And Samuel knows that his biggest regret of all if he dies tomorrow is that you deserved better and he hasn't been able to give that to you.

[syrma-sensei]

→ Somewhere In Your Heart, Ch.1: Tenderly.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Fem!reader.

Rating: Explicit.

Setting: Pre-canon; in the early 1980s.

Warnings/tags: Ben's foul mouth, sexual innuendos, misogyny, racism, antiquated mentality...

Summary: Soldier Boy lives through the ennui of his peak, but everything is about to change when he has a shift in his heart.

Soldier Boy rolls his eyes at Legend, “No, ain't doing another stupid song. Let Noir do that shit, the kid's been so fucking eager to see his star shine.”

“It wasn't that bad, people loved it. Your fans loved it, and they want more from you,” Legend tries to reason, “Plus, can't win a Grammy award for best record of the year if it sucks. Moreover, it's pretty popular among the young folks.”

The supe sneers, taking a gulp from his drink, he relishes in the burning in his throat even if it's momentarily, “The young folks can suck on my balls. Honestly, the fuck went wrong with young men these days, huh?” He clicks his tongue, “Christ, it is true; good times do create weak, sappy men.” His head jerks to the side sardonically, “Bunch of pussies seeking some women's attention with shitty songs and snivelling lyrics. Chicks don't want no men like that.”

“Yeah well,” Legend shakes his head, a sly grin on his face, “The world's changing, Soldier Boy, if you don't keep up with it, you might end up outdated, just saying.”

Soldier Boy raises a conceited eyebrow, “I'm America's son, hero of all heroes, an actual fucking legend; people practically worship the ground I walk on. In what fucked up sense would that seem to you outdated anytime soon?”

“Time is a tricky thing,” Legend answers with a sigh, “But only for us I presume. I mean look at ya, your sixty-fourth birthday was last month and you don't look a day past thirty. Some lucky bastard you are.”

Soldier Boy grins smugly, placing his glass on the coffee table in front of him where they sat in the living room of his personal quarters in Vought America tower.

Legend decides not to take the time topic any further, because he knows better, such discussions with the strongest supe ever lived are futile and meaningless. Furthermore, he doesn't want to poke Soldier Boy's massive ego, the latter isn't infamous for his temper for nothing. Legend is back to ground zero. So, he tries another way.

“You'll be doing it, though. It's your next mission.” The playful tone from Legend's voice vanishes, a more professional, assertive one replaces it, “It's nothing you can't do. Think of the gals who'll cream their panties when they hear your voice singing their favourite hit.”

Soldier Boy’s lips flip pensively, “Tempting. But still no.”

“Can arrange a collab with whoever female singer you want.” Legend tries again.

“Can ya pair me up with Monroe?” Soldier Boy gives his manager a shit-eating smile.

“For fuck's sake, Soldier Boy,” Legend says with a frown. The little shit, greatest superhero or whatever else, can honestly be a huge pain in his ass. “Be serious.”

“Oh, I'm dead serious,” Soldier Boy grumbles, “Can you do it or not?”

“She died thirty years ago for Christ's sake, of course I can't pair you up with her.”

“Then the answer's still no. I'd rather spend time rubbing one out at Pauline from Donkey Kong than contributing to entertaining a pansy dogshit audience.”

Fuck you. Legend really wants to spit it out loud but he carefully curbs himself. He pinches the bridge of his nose, “Can't help but notice that making my work harder everyday is your new favourite sport, isn't it?”

“C'mon, don't be such a wuss,” Soldier Boy drawls, “Where would be the fun of an easy job? I'm doin' ya a favour; making you truly earn each penny you get paid. It's something we used to call 'hard work' back in my days.”

“Hard work can kiss my ass in that case,” Legend says humorously, shaking his head. Soldier Boy shares an amused chuckle with him.

“Seriously though—”

“Noir's cut out for that shit, not me. He'll be thrilled to do it.” Soldier Boy smirks wickedly as he interrupts him. The kid may not be funny. Fuck, he ain't, and that's precisely why he didn't get Axel Foley at Beverly Hills Cop — but it'd be hilarious to watch him fail in singing. Even if he didn't, nobody can beat Soldier Boy's performing talents.

Before Legend can answer he proceeds, “And tell him while you're at it that he has me to thank for giving him a window like that. He may as well make it fucking count. Make sure he does.” Legend shakes his head.

Soldier Boy and Legend continue to discuss business for another half an hour. Among the offers though; Nintendo wants to make a video game about Soldier Boy.

“For fuck's sake, do those Nips have any dignity?” Soldier Boy jeers.

“Well, it's all about business nowadays.” Legend says. “Arcade games have a large foot in the market, y'know. And, we're hiring many Japanese developers into our new entertainment department. So, I friendly remind you to tune down your slurs.”

Soldier Boy scoffs again. “I’ll see about that…”

When the talk is done, Soldier Boy dismisses the Director of Superhero Management of Vought.

“See ya at the wedding.” Legend says before he steps out of Soldier Boy's quarters.

“Hope fucking not.” The supe murmurs, taking the last gulp of his drink.

This evening Soldier Boy is to attend Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum's daughter's wedding as the guest of honour. The bride is a huge fan of his; her father has personally invited him to the wedding. What better honour can one get than having the greatest superhero ever lived as a guest at their wedding?

Soldier Boy heads to his dressing room to choose a formal outfit for the occasion. He's not going to wear his supe gear even though Vogelbaum made it very clear that he should. But Soldier Boy takes no shit from a nobody, and who the fuck Vogelbaum thinks he is to tell him what to do? Plus, that attire is for business, and him going to that wedding is a mere pursuit for pleasure. He isn't on some mission tonight but to find a good fuck for himself. Women, nonetheless, would throw themselves at his feet regardless of what he puts on. However, fancy tailored suits and bowties seem to pull women more effectively into his charm. When he clads in his supe suit, he's more intimidating; a god walking among men. Women would sigh at his sight and eye-fuck him, but beneath the layers of infatuation, he can perceive the lick of fear in their eyes. Like he's an invincible idol that cannot be touched by lesser hands. Not that he doesn't fucking relish in having such an impact, but he still prefers to pluck a catch in such occasions. Some nice chick who's eager to warm his bed in fearless vigour, some girl who can actually handle his raw strength and superhuman stamina. Especially when Countess won't be up his ass sulking like the bitch she is whenever he pays another woman his attention.

His relationship with Countess is nothing but for show. Pure business. Vought thought they looked good together and had an appealing chemistry in the public eye. Power couple and that shit. But in fact, Soldier Boy has no ounce of romantic feelings for her. Sure, they fuck around every now and then, but nothing more to add to it.

When he's fully dressed and spruced up he looks at himself in the full-length mirror and nods in approval. He'll definitely make the ladies' panties drop tonight.

Soldier Boy arranges a few lines of coke for himself on the coffee table. It'll help him  handle all of the cock-sucking kiss asses he's going to interact with tonight.

God fucking damn.

It takes the mightiest of his steel aplomb not to roll his eyes or hiss a curse. The moment he arrives at the wedding in the swanky hotel, he has everyone's attention all to himself. Guests swarming around him with hearts in their eyes, already forgetting about the wedding. Happy shrieks emit from the gals, and full admiration in the eyes of pals.

Ben puts on an expertly-feigned and charming smirk as he nods his head and shakes hands.

“Oh my Gosh, it's really him!”

A pretty woman in a dashing white dress wobbles down in his direction. The fucking bride. Soldier Boy's grin couldn't get any wider. The girl practically left her fucking husband standing with his groomsmen and came marching to him. Something huge and satisfying sprouts in the depths of his chest when he sees the young man briefly stink-eye in his way.

“If it ain't the queen of the show,” He drawls with a stentorian voice and a conceited raise of his brow. The bride holds a breath, her companion bimbos of bridesmaids sighing dreamily, “Well, congrats on tying the knot, darlin',” Large hand taking the bride's gloved one as he leans down to press a light kiss on her knuckles, and the girls squeal.

“Thank you, sir,” The corner of Soldier Boy's lips curls up into a half grin as he hears the groom's curbed voice, “A huge pleasure for us having the greatest man alive honouring our wedding,”

The man extends his hand out for a shake and Soldier Boy doesn't disappoint. “What can I say, Sonia is one of my best girls,” He sends a playful wink to the bride, and her groom's face rises in colour. However, she giggles timidly with blushing cheeks, and covers her mouth slightly.

“Thank you again, sir, for coming,” Sonia chirps, “Means a lot to us… to me, right, darling?”

Her new husband answers with tight lips, “Yeah, of course, please enjoy your time here, sir.”

Sure hell I'll do.

After signing some autographs, which mostly came from the bridesmaids on this special occasion, Soldier Boy lets out an elongated sigh before plucking a flûte of champagne from a server wandering around with a full tray of pleasantries. With the first sip invading his strong taste buds, he regrets it instantly. That shit is extra fruity with enhanced floral notes, it made his face controt in disgust.

“You're late,” The Doc's voice comes curt when he appears next to him, eyeing him disapprovingly. His unpleasing presence made the twitch of his face worse. The little shit. He should be kissing his ass and thanking him for wasting his time on this crap. Soldier Boy should hand it to him, though, he's got some balls. He scoffs. Ever since Vogelbaum gained Stan Edgar's infinite corroboration and support, he's become insufferable. And perhaps sometimes looming dangerously close to make Soldier Boy's hackles rise.

Ben grins indifferently at him, “Had a tight schedule,” Be glad I'm here you ungrateful old fuck.

Vogelbaum stretches his lips and nods, “You have my thanks anywho,” He grumbles, “Though I strictly told you to honour us with your presence in your suit.”

“Yeah, you did,” Soldier Boy replies with a shit-eating grin, “But wasn't in me to steal the light away from your breathtaking helluva daughter,” He patted the doctor's shoulder, “Cheer the hell up, Doc, it's your daughter's wedding and you have the greatest man ever lived as your guest!”

Ben can't endure another second of this man's company. He hands him the flûte and threads his way to the bar to order a drink. A real fucking drink. He sights a vacant stool next to a pretty woman who seems to be without company. He grins to himself when he catches a better angle of her. She is a beauty. Maybe she's the lucky one tonight. He smoothes his suit jacket and adjusts his bowtie before sliding nimbly on the stool.

He orders a strong liquor from the bartender and the beauty next to him cooes, “Make it two, please.”

He turns his head to her with an arched eyebrow, because fuck does he appreciate a woman who's not a lightweight, “Tough night?”

Her painted mouth curls up into an inveigling smile, “Should I ask you the same question?”

Brave. Tempting. He loves brave. Whereas most women are intimidated by him, this one here though, she looks unfazed. He likes it. He wonders what she's gonna sound when he's balls deep inside of her. Timid, brave, strong, weak, they all sound the same in his bed when he touches the magic button. One thing he was certain of was she'd sound pretty in her throes of pleasure.

He gives her figure a quick scan; she isn't one of bridesmaids that's for sure. She's wearing a forest green dress. Her skin is glowing beneath the velvet, and a pleasant fragrance emitting from her body. Her neck and ears are adorned with gold and rubies. She looks hazily beautiful.

“Groom's or bride's?” He asks when their drinks are served.

She flashes him a grin with those tempting lips, “Why wouldn't you hazard a guess like when you do on a minefield?” She winks, taking a gulp of her drink.

Interesting, he raises an amused brow. At least she ain't playing easy. He has to give her that; she's making his night way more entertaining. He likes to play prey and predator let alone when she's practically inviting him to do so.

A playful grin graces his lips, replying, “Can't risk bursting a pretty lady like you tho, can I?”

She lets out a small laugh, “God forbid, what kinda superhero would you be then?” His eyebrows knit together slightly as he watches her grabbing her purse and preparing herself to leave.

“It was nice running into you, sir,” She remarks, “But you'll have to excuse me…”

“Sure, sweet cheeks…”

She nods as she moves away with such grace and swiftness. Ben doesn't realise he was holding his breath until it clicks within him. Fuck, he forgot to ask her her name. But nothing to worry about, he catches her entering the powder room. In moments, he'll go after her and take this rather interesting conversation somewhere else.

He waits though. For more than fifteen minutes. Vogelbaum makes his way on the stage to raise a toast to his daughter and her groom, and he doesn't forget to give Ben a word of gratitude for being here. People cheer and applaud when the lights shine upon him, and he smiles and nods at them. On another occasion, he'd enjoy this to the fullest. His mind, however, is occupied by finding a pretty seductress. Can it be that she left? No, he doesn't think so. Fuck, if only he could distinguish her voice out of the many nattering and yapping voices despite his superhuman hearing. He considers asking Vogelbaum about her later. Maybe the man would be useful to him for once. But he will not have to, though.

The lights of the hall ebb away, save for the ones above the music stage.

A wide grin slips into his lips when he sees her behind the microphone, and their eyes lock for a moment. She gives him a teasing wink.

The little minx, he thinks.

Tender music emanates from the piano and she starts to sing with a silky voice.

The evening breeze caressed the trees tenderly

Damn, he likes that song. And her voice couldn't be more on brand for it!

The trembling trees embraced the breeze tenderly

He feels the said breeze of her cooes and it makes him shiver.

Then you and I came wandering by

And lost in a sigh were we

Ben conjures a vivid image of her sighs of pleasure.

The shore was kissed by sea and mist tenderly

She's the shore, and his mouth is the sea.

I can’t forget how two hearts met breathlessly

Your arms opened wide

And closed me inside

You took my lips

You took my love

So tenderly

A loud applause erupted from the guests when she finished, and Ben found himself amongst the riveted clappers.

God fucking damn.

Ben knows a lot of singers, hell, he works with them sometimes. But never has he ever heard such a mellifluous voice like this one! How come he hasn't known of her before? A new face, he guesses. He wonders if Legend knows her.

Ben stops clapping as his conversation with Legend that afternoon flashes through his mind. That's it.

Shortly after the wedding, Ben heads back to his quarters in Vought's tower, impatiently dialling Legend's number.

“That sappy song you wanted me to do—” He says right away.

“Well, good evening to you too,” Legend drawls from the other end, “As happy as I am to hear that, Ben, but I'm kinda fucking tired to talk business right now. Despite my marvellous traits, I'm still a human.”

“I'll do it.”

Soldier Boy could hear Legend switching the handset of the telephone to the other hand. And before the latter says anything he proceeds.

“Only on one condition...”

🦅 Next Chapter: A New Window.

🦅 Somewhere In Your Heart Masterlist.

🦅 Soldier Boy Masterlist.

Taglist: @thebiggerbear, @zepskies, @deanbrainrotwritings, @deansbbyx, @deans-spinster-witch

@venus-haze, @kaleldobrev, @k-slla, @ketchupjasmin...

[kings-highway]

since the haikyuu magazine is coming out soon, is there anything specific about any character you’re excited to learn more about? (e.g. specific family backgrounds, possible future spouses)

on the other end, is there anything you’d rather not see? (e.g. a character you wouldn’t want to see married, two characters you might not want to see be cousins)

Haha, I'm actually not sure.... I think I'm personally really gunning to confirm that Tsukishima retires from volleyball to be a practicing historian and academic, I think that would be really cool... I was already really excited by the news that we're getting "interviews" with Iwa, Tendou and Akaashi because it basically confirms that none of the iconic best friends have drifted apart. Still using Iwa as Oikawa's satellite despite different countries over a decade now is awesome. I'm especially excited to learn about whatever the hell Tendou has to say because as per usual thinking about Ushiten being besties still a decade and some change later makes me sick I'm so happy for them.

I'd also love to see if they switch up what Noya's doing. How long does he spend travelling? Has he settled down with a job somewhere now? Where does he live?

I expect to find out characters are getting married. Personally, obviously, I don't really want that because I love that they're all too stupid and focused on volleyball to get married. HOWEVER, if they do marry anyone, if they decide to canonize it and go that route, I want it to be canon characters we've already met. I'd be really annoyed if it was just "Kageyama got married to a girl he met in Italy and now has a son" with no further elaboration. Or like, a name and a headshot and nothing else. I wouldn't mind Hinata or Yamaguchi being confirmed married if it's to Yachi, even though I don't ship them. I wouldn't mind Daichi and Yui being confirmed married, I wouldn't even mind if they do Terushima/Hana or Kanoka + anyone. Or even just pulling one of the random Karasuno girls' team members for Asahi or Suga. I just really don't want them to invent anyone new. The ONLY mystery wife/mother I accept is whoever the fuck gave Leon a child. I would love to find out who that is tho so I can start using her name in fics lmao.

I know it's highly likely that they'll all marry miscellaneous women and we probably will see that, because it's more realistic and Furudate really loves his painfully realistic life stories, but I can hope.

(I actually do expect them to canonize Daichi and Michimiya eventually but I'm not sure how/when that would be)

I also expect, with the ages they'll be, we're approaching retirement era so that would be fun to start seeing what people go into.

I'm curious as to what everyone else is thinking! I'd prefer realistic answers only, we know they ain't canonizing any of the gay shit lmao. But what's your wildest speculation? Or the thing you dread is on the horizon?

[subway-boss-jericho]

Hello me again! For the Reflection au have you had any thoughts about what happens when either reunite with an Ingo?

Ingo (2) comes back from Hisui bc Arceus dropped him home and he didn't get his memory back immediately, sure but. He only had one brother/man in white. Why are there two now?

Ingo (1) coming back to an empty subway... oh no

This ask is from January I am so sorry. It has been six months 😨 My curse of answering asks in mostly chronological order is going to ruin me

OKAY!! HI!! Thank you for the ask!!! :DDD It makes me extremely happy when anyone sends me asks, so I am sorry for taking so long to get back to this. The final semester of college had hands The reunions!!!! I do have thoughts! Mainly because I've been stewing on this ask for a while. Establishing this before I get into it: For the duration of this ask, the current universe will be referred to as "Home" Emmet, and the crossing-over universe will be referred to as "Away" Emmet. Like ball game

So, the main interesting thing is that I think Away Emmet actually has a large hand in either of them getting their brothers home. The whole reason that Away is here is because his attempts to track and find his brother led him to this specific universe. Ingo is here, just not at the right time. The Warden Ingo currently in this universe is Away's Ingo. They actually swapped, I think. I haven't decided if Home's Ingo is somewhere else, but I think I'd rather keep this AU relatively self contained.

So, if for some reason Ingo returned on his own, it would be interesting. Away Emmet is expecting to need to fix this on his own, so Ingo making his way home by himself was not on his radar. It would be interesting for sure.

It is, bittersweet at first. When Away gets Ingo back. Obviously they still have to deal with the canon memory issues, but- Home Emmet feels. A little lost. A little uncertain. Will they go home now? Is it over? They bonded, but he can't be fully sure.

But of course, Away Emmet is not going to ditch him like that. Home Emmet gave him a shot, even when he had no reason to keep being patient and kind. They've formed a weird you're-me-but-not-me-and-you're-my-brother-now-too relationship. And Away is going to help him get his own Ingo back, even if it's a huge pain in the ass.

In the meantime. Ingo has two hands. He is lost and confused and has no idea what is going on, but there is friendship and family and time travel and space travel, so surely this can only mean good things. He has two men in white to meet, which is unexpected, but not unwelcome.

I haven't thought super far ahead in their story to know what comes next, as the premise of the two Emmets has had most of my attention, but I think only good things can happen

Thank you for the ask!! <3

Reflection AU Masterpost

[heckthis-heckallofthis]

Do you think that Mio Izumi, artist for CaWF, very subtlety ships 2145/squad leader? I mean, they’re together on the majority of CaWF covers despite wbc having around the same importance as other cells in the manga.

ok, now here’s my infodump on gay cells. I’m too shy to have this as an actual post on my blog, and I want to bother other CaWF fans with these guys.

so, first up, there was a canonical rumour that they were going out early in the plot. So, it was 100% believable to other cells that those two were in an intimate relationship.

Squad leader imaging wbc in a swimsuit picking up girls at the beach……yes, I know, enc are popular and Killy would be used to male anatomy in his line of work, but still.

the whole volleyball thing. the close up on WBC’s expression??

Also, wbc was the first cell that squad leader asked out, and they spent the former’s “last moments”(going to the spleen) together.

They’re both immune cells, but they aren’t colleagues, but rather in groups that constantly quarrel despite voluntarily going to restaurants(eating out) together when wbc usually just eats on the streets and squad leader is a bodybuilder who can cook for himself. I’m not saying I don’t ship 3033 and bangs, but you don’t see them doing that. Squad leader and 2145 have a quite tame relationship outside work. Yes, he punches wbc, but he does that to everyone. I don’t think it implies abuse in any shape, way or form.

they could just be friends, but I haven’t seen them do this with any other(m or f) cell.

usually I say that I hate fujoshi, and the constant “mlm, BL manga forced ships” in fictional media and all that, but uh, umm… queer subtext,, something or the other.

so what do you think of my points? And how do you interpret 2145 and squad leader’s relationship? Please I need to interact with CaWF fans…….

SORRY FOR ANSWERING LATE TUMBLR NEVER GAVE ME THE NOTIFICATION 💔💔💔 ILY CAWF FANS NEVER STOP BOTHERING ME EVER

No because you're so right, Mio Izumi's other work is about a self proclaimed fujoshi girl who draws yaoi, so that might be a self report ?! ALSO all those chapter covers (40, 47, ect) that just feature SL and 2145 being the gayest ever ????? Mio Izumi totally thinks they're a couple.

The queer subtext on SL (squad leader) and 2145 has never and will never be lost on me. SL staring up and down at 2145 in the first fucking chapter and getting sooo so so worried when he heard he was going to the spleen. Honestly, I'd argue that SL doesn't know he's a little in love w 2145, but 2145 on the other hand fully 100% knows he wants this KT cell. 2145 dropped everything to sprint towards the spleen when he heard SL had some trouble there, he talks about him all the time to his long time best friend RBC IM1235, he actively talks to him even though he's usually kinda aloof and silent. He trusts that SL will keep his promises despite everyone else assuming otherwise. 2145 is fully obsessed with this big idiot loser and SL has no god damn idea because he's an idiot.

SL punching 2145 happened like, twice in the whole 48 chapter series, and that's because he's so socially awkward and full of unknown emotions (jealousy) that he needs to let it out somewhere, and he knows 2145 can take a hit, so that's his only bet I guess. Honestly kinda funny how despite being smacked in the face twice by this guy 2145 is still happily hanging out w him. Even after the first time getting punched, he was okay with going to a party for him, so clearly he's already somewhat attached to him by that point.

Even in the last chapter, we see 2145 asking local Naive T cell where his squad leader is. If he wasn't obsessed with squad leader, he'd be asking something more like "where's the rest of your squad?" listen to me when I say this 2145 thinks they've been dating for months already.

Love the way you call that boy "Bangs" like yeah, valid name for his dumb ass. But yeah, the rivalry between KT and Neutrophils (even though it's mostly been 3033 and Cross couples quarreling) makes 2145 and SL treating each other nicely even funnier. 2145 isn't the "leader" of the neutrophils, but he is the ace, they're like the immune system's power couple at this point.

The way 2145 was the first to call SL in the final chapter right after the battle, he wants him to hang out so bad but SL always thinks no one wants him around. SL has so much self esteem issues because if he wasn't such an overthinker he'd see how obsessed Cross and 2145 is with him. Cross glazes this man like it's his life's purpose while 2145 is literally just in love w him. What is he doing to miss all of these signs for 3 years straight?

[swearyshera]

And now for some Shadow Weaver's Dead asks, which I'll answer all as one

@capndragn94 @floorgoblin @baronbrian I'm glad you all enjoyed that scene, so here's a little about my thoughts on it.

I wanted to make her final words similar to canon in their effect, especially with the ambiguity. And I'll point out particularly her lines about regrets ("I thought it'd be black and white - I'd regret these things and I wouldn't regret those things. But now it's looking very gray."). I specifically didn't want her to say 'I'm sorry' or 'I regret how I treated you', because that's too clear, too final, and I wanted to leave both Catra and the audience not knowing whether she did regret how she treated them or not. At the same time, this admission that she might be regretting some of the things she did gives a little bit of hope that will never be confirmed - which is probably going to hurt more than never having that hope!

Looking at the "You win" part, that one came fairly late in development. Initially, I was just going to echo her "It's pronounced thank you, dickhead" or whatever it was I'd written back in S5E2, just as the show did. But that line never seemed to feel like it fit there, and I started rethinking. I also toyed with the idea of something along the lines of "Isn't this what you wanted?" - and that's really the meaning of "You win."

Catra and Shadow Weaver both know that Catra holds no love for her, and has actively hoped for Shadow Weaver to die multiple times (even saying so to her face). But it's one of those situations where it was more from anger rather than an actual desire to see her killed. Indeed, their whole relationship over the years has been more of a struggle or a fight than anything else. They both know it has. So for Shadow Weaver to say "You win" is an acknowledgement that this fight that's been going on for years is over - that Catra is free of it.

But it's not a wholly positive thing. There's a far more traumatising side to those two words, and it is that idea that Catra's getting exactly what she wished for. She's won, but nothing in that moment feels like a victory. As much as Catra despises Shadow Weaver, there's still some weird, fucked-up kind of familial love somewhere deep inside that she hates and that doesn't want her to 'win'. It doesn't want Shadow Weaver to die.

Then you've got a third layer (fuck, that line is like an onion!). She's blaming Catra. Shadow Weaver is looking Catra in the eye and saying "You did this." Remember that she's only at the Heart because Catra made her teleport there. She's only fighting the monster because Catra got caught by it. That "You win" is Shadow Weaver looking at every bit of fighting they've done over the years as one long battle and saying "You finally found a way to kill me. Well done". And it comes at a time when Catra is desperately trying to put that aspect of herself in the past.

There's so much in those two words, and I think it may well be one of my favourite lines on this whole thing.

[the-24-7-lawlu-library]

Poll Vote A/B/O

Hi lovely readers,

Here the 4th voted Poll of February. Enjoy your weekend <3

Until we drown Series by Chenziee (M,M,T)

An omegaverse story set in the One Piece canon exploring the relationship between one omega Trafalgar "I'd rather jump in the sea and drown than have sex" Law and alpha Monkey D. "Sex is an interesting concept and all but have you heard about literally anything else" Luffy. AKA, the asexual omegaverse LuLaw that you didn't know you needed :)

Torao by ElAlmaDelMar (M)

"Luffy!" It came out in a roar, and the source of that mark woke up in a snorting instant, rolling off the bunk and tumbling to the cabin floor with a loud oof! "Torao, wh-" Law stormed back over to him and pointed at the mark. "You fucking bit me." A/B/O/tober Day 11: Accidental mate marking

lychee by Lolistar92 (E)

“What he means, Luffy-san, is that omegas produce a sweet nectar when aroused. It’s highly addicting to alphas.” Luffy turns to Law with a look on his face that catches Law off guard. “Is that true?” And Law, heart pounding, opens his mouth and damns himself with the words, “Yeah, that’s true.”

My precious little Omega by Sakuya_Serenity_Kira (E)

Law is an Omega, but always hides away. Till he falls for Luffy and after Punk Hazard one evening he takes a heart... But Luffy already knows. Because the strawhat knows even more than you thought...

Luffy's Treat by Fawnsheart (E)

Luffy is the type of omega who enjoys life’s simple pleasures. Like going to the store, or making good food for himself on a shitty day, or meeting a hot alpha by accident.

“I’d Still Love You, Even if You were a Chicken” by quackquackcey (E)

Law pines for Luffy, but knows it’s hopeless—they’re both alphas, after all.~ Or are they?

Mission failed successfully by Gleda_33 (E)

Today's mission: try not to get bored to death during that business meeting. Spoiler, things don't always go according to plan, or do they? -Law has to take part in a business meeting but gets distracted, the cause? An omega in heat

Honey Chocolate by Methoxyethane (E)

If you had asked Trafalgar Law how he thought he would meet the love of his life at literally any point before today, he would have answered, “probably in the doctor’s office.” Instead he finds his mate when Law watched him get hit by a car.

cough it out, loverboy by frogsterz (G)

It's true, if you'd believe it. Somehow, their captain has come back from Punk Hazard, what is supposed to be an abandoned island, with a mating bite on his neck. Somewhere, somehow, a poor, hapless alpha out there has actually chosen their big, lanky, creepy grump of an omega as their mate! (Law has a mystery alpha. The Heart Pirates make it their mission to find out who.)

Seabreeze and Brine by GrislyJellyfish (E)

Just when he was starting to gain control again and re-focus on his surroundings, a door opened, his eyes snapping wide open and head turning so fast it made his vision spin. "Torao?" The universe really had it out for him, didn't it?

-Mod Raiya

[indolamine]

hey y'all 🤍 here's a link for INFO on jiyeon, but i'll include some bullet points here with all you need to know. in case anything here sparks ideas for your muse and you'd like to work on a plot, hmu. i do prefer dscrd, so don't hesitate to ask. oh and i'd appreciate it if you could shoot me a dm first so my account doesn't get banned trying to touch base with the likes (say literally anything, hit me with a send it to me rachel if you'd be so kind). still, if you'd rather just hit like it's fine, i'll reach out once tumblr allows me!

jiyeon is what you'd call an Interesting Girl. someone you don't call or arrange schedules with, just happen upon. someone who never calls you but can be your best friend between 11pm and 3am. a fun girl, you just don't look too long.

both her parents are dead for all intents and purposes, which's proven to be a very character defining event in her life. one of her fathers passed away before she was even code, and the other chose to virtually die to work as a doctor for terrascape when she turned 18.

as single beneficiary to both her fathers, jiyeon found herself young, alone and newly rich. she's not particularly self destructive, but choices were made. luckily? for the most part, she was too stunned by grief and anger to blow away her fortune, which now affords her a cushy life she doesn't dwell too hard on.

she's emotionally stunted, still reliving the loss of her parents somewhere in her mind at every moment. she knows a lot of people, calls them friends but struggles to connect with them, blinking in and out of their lives. death is a constant thought, not quite a morbid fascination but more of a haunting. she knows, poor little rich girl.

she writes -- tries to, anyway. she's got some essays published, wrote for a column for a hot minute, it's her definitive trade of choice. but, and not to get too meta, the thing about writing is that you do have to write. that's the tricky part. merits were a good incentive, though once they're no longer an issue, she finds herself ignoring deadlines and putting off work on the novel she's been writing for the past 4 years. she instead "gathers experiences". she has many talents that she has no interest in seriously exploring, so she entertains herself while the high lasts.

between her writing and her party girl fame, at some point along the way she amassed a following on social media that she hesitates to cut loose. they make her more interesting than she, merely human, could ever hope to be, and she doesn't know how to kill the part of her that answers to their call. it's a lie when she says she doesn't look at what they say.

adult life for her breezes by in parties with half-friends and long bouts of reclusion. she wants to be a little of everything. she enjoys reading, skiing, playing silly little meta indie games about living in hyper realities. she doesn't commit to romantic relationships, yet enjoys the hunt anyway. she takes her time, and it never seems to align with anyone else's.

& here's a rolling list of canons that could also serve as potential connections for anyone interested, will add more as they come to me:

she once got involved with a couple for some brief months and it didn't end well

one of the few things she gets competitive about is skiing

she's fucked someone's significant other purely out of spite

she has a writing group whose meetings she misses often but she isn't the only one so she feels like it's a safe space

the person she plays a random weird rpg with incognito is maybe the most consistent relationship in her life, their chats can get very personal and strange and they can go weeks on no contact but go right back to where they left off

the events surrounding gyuok pique her interest because it's the first time terra residents could potentially be hearing from a virtually deceased and because he's essentially a virtual ghost which she thinks is neat

one of her published essays focuses on a celebrity she knows personally and doesn't portray them in the best light, which soured their relationship

[muninnhuginn]

hello! for the wip ask game: 🌀🌧️☔

hi! sorry for taking ridiculously long to answer this, but thanks for asking ^^

🌀Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

Went for the placeholder summary of the angsty CXS-QL siblingisms fic I've been stalled on for months:

It's not that Cheng Xiaoshi wouldn't like Qiao Ling as a sister. It's just that she has her family; he has his. That's all there is to it. That's all there will ever be.

🌧️Share something angsty from your WIP.

This is from the siblingisms fic. Hopefully makes sense without much context, but tldr Cheng Xiaoshi and Xiao Li are at the store having accidental emotional (un)honesty hours:

Cheng Xiaoshi muttered, “I’m not going to make the mistake of pushing myself into somewhere I’m not wanted.” That hadn’t been what he’d meant to say. “Not that I think– Maybe when we were younger, it was one thing, but Qiao Ling has her own stuff on, nowadays.” Better. Xiao Li's expression was unreadable at that, so Cheng Xiaoshi cleared his throat and continued, “You do get that, right?” It came out more pleading than he was comfortable with. He clearly hadn't convinced Xiao Li, whose eyes narrowed. For a second, Cheng Xiaoshi thought he might leave it be, but then he moved closer. Cheng Xiaoshi resisted the urge to shy back, well aware there was a shelf directly behind him. “Look,” Xiao Li said, resting a hand on Cheng Xiaoshi’s shoulder. “You’re young. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Now is the time for you to make mistakes, alright?” The grip on his shoulder tightened until it verged on painful. “Make your mistakes now so you don’t make them later.” Xiao Li looked away then, allowing the harsh lights of the store to catch his wrinkles. He seemed old, all of a sudden. “Don’t presume you know what’s going on in someone’s else’s mind.”

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

I've got two here. One Link Click (donghua version), one White Cat Legend (cdrama version specifically).

The Link Click concept is something I may attempt one day, but eh, for now it's just in my head. So, the hospital-boat loop in season two. I subscribe to the idea that Lu Guang never meant for Cheng Xiaoshi to loop back in his place at the hospital. And I'd love to explore the implications of that if you actually follow them through. Lu Guang may not have even *realised* that Cheng Xiaoshi went back at first, so in this concept, when he realises what happened (due to CXS casually referencing the phone passcode of trauma LG did not know he knew), he freaks. Thinks CXS could have seen something when was possessing him (s2 finale spoilers obviously :V). And in trying to dig to figure out *what* Cheng Xiaoshi knows from his possession that time (which is... basically nothing) Lu Guang would basically give the game away to some extent. Hadn't decided if to make it full reveal or not, but that was the gist (still not written a proper reveal in general, but at some point I should at least try rather than dancing around it).

The other concept. So, honestly, I *know* there are probably fic with this as the basis but none of it is in English so I'm stuck pawing sadly at the sidelines. White Cat Legend (cdrama not donghua) time travel fix-it with qiubing. Where they both go back and don't realise the other has also gone back and so spend the whole time suspicious of each other. I hadn't gone any further than that because I know time travel fix-it deals tend to be longer than a short one-shot which is all I trust myself to write, but their whole canon loyalty/distrust dynamic is so compelling. They're both falling on swords for each other whilst refusing to clear any of the misunderstandings up. So turbo charging that dynamic with time travel and giving them the chance to fix everything if they'd just talk *properly* to each other is like catnip to me.

[thebettermccoy]

😂Funniest thing that’s ever happened to your muse? 

📑 Favorite part of your muse’s backstory? 

📝 Favorite headcanon for your muse? 

😒 Is there anything canon about your muse that you ignore? 

🔮 What do you see in your muse’s future? 

🔥 Unpopular opinion about your muse? 

😩 Hardest thing about writing the muse? 

⌨ What’s a situation you’ve always wanted to RP with the muse? 

😂Funniest thing that’s ever happened to your muse? 

Just being in the five-issue Dark X-Men storyline. Dark X-Men #1 starts off strong when Osborn sends them on their first mission to interview the "I'm an X-Man" victims in the hospital.

That scene reads as one adult (Mystique) trying to wrangle three children on a road trip. You've got Omega (the youngest kid who won't shut up and begins to wreck shit up), Mimic (the sad middle child who is coerced into also wrecking shit), and Henry (eldest child, chaos instigator but also just wants to go home.) For those who haven't read it, please do. For those who have, reread it with this mindset, the storyline will be exponentially more entertaining.

📑 Favorite part of your muse’s backstory?

It's hard to say that I like/ have a favorite backstory for Henry when he little grew up in a terrible world where Apocalypse ruled. The first time we see him, he is already an adult known for his twisted experiments.

Perhaps the thing that I like is that we don't know what his experience was before Earth-295 went to shit. So it leaves us to wonder exactly at what point Henry McCoy lost a few screws. Even Scott and Alex (who supposedly at least shared some similarities in upbringing as Henry in Apocolype's world) think he's "a creepshow".

It leaves us to ponder what fucked Henry McCoy so terribly compared to the others on the evil side of this storyline. I could write an entire paper on this (and I did once, then deleted it out of embarrassment back in college). I wish I had fucking kept it. It would have been useful in this context.

📝 Favorite headcanon for your muse?

Unlike his counterpart, McCoy hates Twinkies. He did not grow up with them, so when he posed as Hank during the Onslaught storyline, he tried one for the first time from Hank's stash and spat it out because it tasted like spongey sweetness wrapped in chemicals. He cannot fathom why Hank likes them.

😒 Is there anything canon about your muse that you ignore?

He's not a head in a jar during Krakoa. He fucked off somewhere. (I'm still bitter that Sinister and Apocalypse, and his now-evil counterpart get to have positions of power on Krakoa, and McCoy is just a floating head doing absolutely nothing. Sooo much-missed opportunity. I'd rather he just be dead.)

I also kind of ignore the Generation X (1994) #-1 issue with Dark Beat meeting Emma Frost when she was 16. Not only because it's weird, but it also makes little sense in Emma's timeline anyway. It only became kinda relevant once (during X-Men (1991) #74 X-Men (1991) #79, and X-Man (1995) #44) anyway. Let's just say I'm not upset that it hasn't been brought up again.

Sidenote: Remember when I answered the ask about my favorite creepiest/derpiest image of McCoy, well I just found this one and it is 100x better. WTF Luke Ross? I'm dying. )

🔮 What do you see in your muse’s future?

Some writer at Marvel misses him and he'll be back. I have a feeling it might be soon, too, since he has been "dead" since 2019.

🔥 Unpopular opinion about your muse? 

I am of the opinion that Henry is on the asexual spectrum (either through nurture or chemical changes that he enacted upon himself, as we know that Hank is not asexual.) Sex, like everything else, is just another tool for him to get what he wants and even then it is not a tool that he usually resorts to. Sure, it can be fun, but I think he views sexual urges as more of a distraction from more important things, and he doesn't particularly like to be distracted from his work.

😩 Hardest thing about writing the muse? 

I am as dumb as a sack of bricks, so writing an evil genius requires various levels of Googling to make sure I at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.

⌨ What’s a situation you’ve always wanted to RP with the muse? 

A humorous romp. Maybe something where he is part of a mismatched duo forced to work together with someone under bizarre circumstances. I want to really lean into the true trashy gremlin side of McCoy. It's hard to balance humor with someone that is so disgustingly evil, but I love it when it's done well and I would love to give it a try.

[master-of-the-railway]

This is probably stupid, but I've got a couple questions and one of them is AEG related;

1: Do you think AEG! Edward and Henry would ever actually speak to the younger engines? Or do you think they seem more mute?

2; How do you think the Model era engines would react to the CGI versions of themselves?

First of all HIII! I've seen you around and I love your monster stuff! You've got wonderful art and lore my friend, it's inspired a lot behind my own monster engine au actually :)

(Now onto the actual answers lol)

Making the assumption we're talking canon, I'd say they do, we're just never shown it. With how little we see Henry and Edward compared to Gordon, James, and Emily, I've come to the hypothesis that this universe banks off the idea that Henry no longer lives at Tidmouth and Edward mainly sticks to his own little corner. I'm sure they've talked to the kids in passing, but perhaps have never really had enough time to hold meaningful conversations. They don't show most characters in the show until certain points but the kids act like they've known them forever, so maybe they're actually closer to Henry and Edward than we think, and we just don't get to see it!

As for the second one, going with the model series being the time before the cgi, I suppose it'd be a lot like looking at your past self for the cgi crew. Gordon would remember that he used to be far more harsh, Henry would be reminded of how upset he used to be, Thomas would reflect on how he used to cause a lot more trouble than he does now. James has hardly changed (I say this lightheartedly he has had some growth over the years lol) so tbh I think he'd just have a nice chat with his past self.

And for the model crew it would be like looking into the future. Gordon would be surprised that he's softer now, still rather closed off and prideful but softer in a way. I think Henry would be a little bewildered at the idea of living somewhere else. Model Thomas would be so excited for all of the future adventures he's going to have, traveling across the world sounds incredible to him!

[zenmai--jikake--no--komoriuta]

7 and 10 for the KH asks! :)

I actually just had an anon ask about #7, so my answer is over here!

#10: Would you change canon (past or future) if you could?

YES and I would change most of KH3 tbh haha.............. it wasn't inherently a "bad" story but it just did not at all deliver on what I was hoping for for years and years... so spitballing a few changes without too much deeper thought:

My biggest change to canon would just be rewriting the events leading up to and including the ending so they don't pan out as forced and jankily as it did! From the WoD rescue onwards it bugged me how rushed and overconvoluted it became, like there were very few complicated story developments throughout the game because they were all crammed right into the final segment, instead of giving the narrative more highs and lows evenly throughout like KH2... I just think it needed better balance here, although I WOULD actually keep the end result the same! Sora is my #1 favourite character and it was so crushing to watch him fade away after everything, but I think the direction they're taking (in punting him to another plane of existence... my boy is too powerful) is really interesting so I'd just want to mess with the way the story gets there rather than the actual outcome!

More scenes of interaction between the various characters and trios and the world now that they've all been reunited/brought back! What about a scene where Aqua gets proper concluding introspection on finally getting to drop her guard and sleep in safety in the realm of light? HOW can you have Ven and Roxas in the same room for the first time ever and they just look at eachother and shrug?! (I completely understand compartmentalising because they were right in front of the final boss but like, please give them a quick scene somewhere where they address that, or hell, even a shot during the credits if nowhere else)…….. every single one of these guys would have SO much to hash out with one another and with themselves and about their respective situations and it's damning that almost no-one was thrown a bone in this regard

The preparations leading up to the final confrontation fell incredibly flat, it was just "ooook I think we have (almost) everyone now, let's sleep on it and go tomorrow".......... completely anticlimactic and I would definitely take a pen to that segment, adding in more scenes (and more depth to the existing ones) where you get a better look into each character's psyche and motivations and resolutions given the situation at hand-- KH's strong point has always been its characters and it's so weird to me that it totally dropped the ball here! We were given a crumb where we really should have gotten at least a whole slice of bread ya know? Especially after building up to this moment for so long :>

I would also make it so that the "Sora and Kairi sharing the paopu fruit" scene had a clear definitive answer for whether it was going romantic or staying platonic, because imo it was so subtle it can go either way and that made for a really disappointing conclusion to one of the arcs that got me so invested in the first place lol...... to me, a pairing becoming canon doesn't automatically invalidate my non-canon ships (like... I'm still going to keep shipping it regardless of the canon outcome, so it really affects nothing) so I'd personally prefer a much more concrete resolution here, though I know some would disagree with me! Just felt like over a decade of hinting and pining and for what really :')

Also my dumbest little beef-- I'm retconning the "new princesses of heart" shtick, just add the new ones into the original roster and can we stop affixing "new" onto everything unnecessarily?? "New org XIII" and "new princessess of heart" was just... I don't really have the words right now but it was overdoing it to the point of parody almost lol

Thanks for coming to my TED talk

[kordifm]

Ooh, this looks like a fun one!

1. How many works on AO3? 4

2. Total AO3 word count? 17,868

3. Top fics by kudos:

nine

Wonderstruck

New Year, New Reality

Spilling Champagne

4. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly LEGO Ninjago! I have a handful of unreleased fics that I've either put aside or am still working on, but the majority of my WIPs are about my favorite fruit-colored children. I have two published shorts for Persona 5 Royal, but I don't really plan on writing any more unless I come across a really good idea for another one.

5. Do you respond to comments? I try my best to at least thank everyone for commenting! But of course, I'm also always down to read/explain any of the symbols/references I sneak into my fics.

6. Fic with the angstiest ending: Definitely Spilling Champagne. It's the only fic I've written that has absolutely zero closure as far as the mainline story goes.

7. Fic with the happiest ending: Wonderstruck! I've always loved exploring the emotions of excitement and hope surrounding potential new relationships.

8. Do you get hate? Tbh, I don't think I'm a popular enough writer to garner that sort of negative attention.

9. Do you write smut? *horrified gasp* I could never! At the most, I'd write a very non-descriptive fade-to-black scene; but even then, I would need a very good character development sort of reason to even consider writing anything close to suggestive.

10. Do you write crossovers? I have started on once. In Junior High. It was rather bizarre, and I refuse to release any details.

11. Ever had a fic stolen? That's a thing?!? Thankfully, no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Sadly, no. Sounds cool though! That'd be an honor!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? I haven't! I'm not opposed to the idea, but knowing myself, I'm not sure how I'd feel about writing alongside someone else, unless it was a multiple POV story or something like that.

14. All-time favorite ship? This is actually a really difficult question for me to answer. I'm generally not a huge shipper? I really love Cole/Vania from Ninjago (the fandom perspective), but also Neil/Eva from the To the Moon series (canonically).

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Wonderstruck was once 1/13 of a short story collection, but I doubt most of its companion chapters will ever see the light of day.

16. Writing strengths? I've been told I write really convincing childhood characters, especially via dialogue? I'd also like to think that I can handle symbolism fairly well in my stories. And I can churn out a little bit of poetry under very specific circumstances.

17. Writing weaknesses? I couldn't write a riveting action scene even if I tried, mostly because I get a little too bogged down by details. I also tend to bite off more than I can chew as far as multi-chaptered fics. Sometimes, I spend so much time in the planning stage, that I kind of burn out the idea before I get to the actual writing part.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue? I wouldn't mind giving it a try once! I struggle with learning languages personally, so I think I'm mostly worried that I would do it incorrectly.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I think it was a four-chaptered fic about the Scarlet Witch that took place between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. It's actually still sitting on my laptop somewhere. That's really a throwback though.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written? I think I will always believe that nine is the best thing I've ever written. It was such a wonderful challenge for me to get back into writing after several years of not doing so, especially with the imagery and emotions that I wanted to capture with each installment. I'm just really proud of it.

A longer one, @wingdingbat!

I have been tagged by @batrogers!!

1. How many works on AO3? 241

2. Total AO3 word count? 1.25mil. Almost to my 3rd AO3 anniversary :D (that's around 1,170 words every day for three years, not counting nonpublished words! Proud of that rate, even if it's slowing.)

3. Top 5 fics by kudos:

Status? about Four. I think this one hits the sweet spot for a lot of people: not too long, a bit angsty, but sweet.

so i admit that the mud didn't do much for me, about Hyrule. Actually the first fic I ever posted on this account, it's silly and I'm surprised to see it so high

incandescently happy, a post-LU happy ending. Posted little chapters every day for like a month which kept it in people's feeds so I think that's why it's so high

what is a stump supposed to do, a random Hyrule & Four one, honestly baffled why it's up here

Rise and Shine and Fall, my successful (by that I mean actually wrote and posted every day on schedule) Whumptober 2022 extravaganza compilation. I posted it all in one work, so it's higher than most other whump fics of mine, but there's a lot in it!

4. What fandoms do you write for? Zelda. In the past I wrote a tiny bit of Danny Phantom and a fair amount of FE3H!

5. Do you respond to comments? Always!! I admit to being SO VERY BEHIND right now, a couple months' worth. I'm trying to keep up on new ones, but I've had some beautiful wonderful readers going through my catalog and I can't always keep up!! XD

6. Fic with the angstiest ending: I don't write a lot of negative endings, so I think this badge goes to Counterbalance, my LU Darks AU. I'm actually fully in love with this fic, it's probably the best mix of silly and angsty I've ever written. It's full of what are essentially OCs but they're all my babies and I love them.

7. Fic with the happiest ending: incandescently happy, post-LU. The whole fic is essentially a fix-it ending, though LU doesn't have an ending yet. XD

8. Do you get hate? A couple silly comments trying to tell me I'm doing things wrong, but not really no! Oh, also can't forget the ask I got that was "Remember that Jesus is your first reader." I think that was meant to be passive aggressive but there's a chance it was meant like, genuinely? Not sure.

9. Do you write smut? Nah. And I don't plan to. Not my thing! Closest I get are vampire bites XD

10. Do you write crossovers? I swear I've done more but the only ones on my AO3 are a Vidow fic done in an original world (Nothing New Under the Sun (crystals, dumplings, jewelry)), and Blood-Sucker's Guide to High School, a Vidow retelling of a very fun vampire novel.

11. Ever had a fic stolen? Nope, but I did have one of my Vidow fake fic book covers stolen for someone's fake fiverr listing. Got it taken down with a DMCA but I was like, why

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic? Oh plenty. @enrolio and I spent most of 2020-21 lockdowns and beyond cowriting, mostly original stories (1.7mil) but a lot of fic, too (nothing published, but almost 400k worth.) We're currently in the process of working on a big epic original fantasy series, though that's a long-term project. @batrogers and I have done a few alt-POV-type projects too, which have been super duper fun!! Hope to do more.

In that vein too, I feel like the Bad End Links kind of qualify here—so much of the characters and their stories were brainstormed collaboratively and so many friends have contributed details and fics and art, it feels like a fun group project! I've really enjoyed working on it. :D (the encouragement and hype for it also helps a lot!! I'm really hoping to finish this big project out!)

14. All-time favorite ship? Ahhhh a harder question than you'd think, tbh, even if you're limiting it to fic. I've written the most for Vidow, and they're definitely up there (same with Fourdow though I've done less with them.) I do have to admit that Linhardt/Byleth might take the cake, though. They were the first ship I was ever actually obsessed with, and the first romantic pairing I wrote in fic.

I just really adore Linny in general, and I love how the pairing continues and closes off some of the themes in the Crimson Flower route of FE3H. That's the only route where Byleth doesn't become archbishop-slash-dictator, and I think choosing to live life in a small cottage, not particularly contributing too much to the government, builds nicely upon the themes of becoming human and choosing your own destiny, themes that are really missing from the other routes.

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My old AO3 account (a couple FE3H fics and not much else) has a series where I wrote the beginning of a fic and then had several different endings planned, each a different ship with Linhardt, but I only ever wrote one. I'd love to read the rest but I have too many other fics calling my name!

16. Writing strengths? Um... Volume and speed? Also AUs. I think I can call myself good at fitting characters into new settings. Also fight scenes are fun and I think I do them well.

17. Writing weaknesses? I feel somewhat weak in the plotting and style realms.

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue? You can't count on a reader to know not-tagged languages, so that has to be accounted for in the text.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Danny Phantom, in high school or maybe just after. That's late for a lot of fic writers but... there are reasons for that, and a different discussion!!

20. Favorite fic you've ever written? This is an extremely rude question, because I love so many for different reasons. I write things I want to read!! Counterbalance (for the tone) and Blood-Sucker's Guide (for the finished novel plot) are up there but I linked them above, so I'll take the chance to call out a different few—Marvelous Misadventures is way up there, a Wind-focused modern with magic AU. I promise I'm still working on that last chapter (and the epilogue), I just gotta throw everything else aside one month and buckle down. Maybe June, I don't have any fic events planned and 06/23 was the last update. I think some earlier chapters need a refresh as well, once I have the ending written.

I'll also toss White Walls (medwhump, "non consensual body modification: the fic") into this category for how long it is and how proud I am to have finished even a collection this long, and a long walk, a Linked Nexus fic where I did so much math and had so much fun with it. :D

Tagging: @silvrash-797 @toyouhellohowareyou @nopenototdaysatan @skyward-floored :)

[ponett]

some more SLARPG-related questions and answers taken from my retrospring:

Hi, I wanted to start by saying I loved your game and it meant a lot to me. Instead of gushing sappily though, I wanted to ask about the cross iconography in Melody's staff and Provence's armor; what cultural or religious significance does this symbol have in the world of Reverie? (If it doesn't mean anything to them but does to us that's cool too!)

the + shape (typically in green) is the symbol for healing magic, rather than a religious symbol

hi! in an answer on here just now you referred to "the beast kingdom", is that a canon thing and there is a monarchical governed body called The Beast Kingdom, or was that just something you threw out there because you didn't have a name for it, or some exciting third answer?

the country slarpg is set in is The Beast Kingdom. i can't remember if that's actually stated in the game. i think it is? maybe it was cut from the intro so as to not overwhelm the player with Fantasy Proper Nouns up front and i forgot to put it somewhere else? idk. the sapphire islands are some distance off the coast, and brightport is on the mainland

i saw some speculation about this based on the name, and yes, it's intended to be a modern constitutional monarchy

(after answering this i doubled checked, and yes, the name is mentioned in the game)

Is there any kind of animal species beast folks strictly CANNOT be? (besides RandomFurryUser726's custom closed species obviously)

off the top of my head i can't think of anything they COULDN'T be, no. mammals, birds, reptiles, sea creatures, bugs. i guess when you get to some of the more oddball invertebrates it becomes trickier, but i also wouldn't completely write off the possibility of coming up with a jellyfish character or whatever. it's just less likely that i'd go for something like that compared to, you know. furries

since holly floated the idea in her own stream: Did Jodie forge her own grill?

you know what? sure. this is canon now

How did Claire come to choosing her name? Was is just a name she liked the sound of or is there more significance for her?

undecided due to how much that part of claire's life is still unexplored

just curious, but is zinnia's hair color intended to be more 'older woman gray hair' or 'magical girl white hair'?

her hair is naturally a very light blue, like how melody and jodie just have naturally white hair

i pictured the scrap cannon skill working by magnetizing a bunch of scrap metal around one's arm to make an arm cannon and firing off a big ball of more scrap metal from that. is this a valid interpretation?

this isn't how i picture it but it's cooler than how i picture it and also adds yet another mega man allusion to the desert, so

Given that it's the day of the Big Game: How do each of the Novas (+ Faith/Beverly) feel about sports?

jodie likes sports and follows the brightport teams actively, but she's also too good of a sport to really hate their rival teams

allison's always liked the act of playing sports way more than watching them (although she was never good enough at following orders to play on a team as a kid). she'll watch the big games with jodie, though

beverly is a casual fan who will at least root for local teams but doesn't really pay that close attention

melody and faith don't follow sports but can be convinced to show up for a super bowl party type get together

claire can only get invested in a sport or team if there's a jon bois type documentary that gets deep into the nerd shit

Were there ever any other names other than SLARPG in the running? Or was it always gonna be slarpg all the way.

i always considered changing the name. i have a list of 75 different names i considered over the years in my notes, ranging from more generic fantasy titles to sillier ones to more unique ones. early on most involved melody's name. many later ones include "Reverie." i may share the full list someday (possibly good fodder for a patreon post), but the "serious" title i've mentioned considering before was Power Couple (or Power Couples). i still like that one

i debated over the title a lot for many reasons. mainly, people are weird about the title, either treating the whole game as a joke or assuming it's porn or whatever. some also assume that you just cannot play the game if you aren't a lesbian, a thing that people don't do with other fantasy things that happen to feature sapphic relationships without putting it in the title

the problem, of course, is that changing your title is often a death sentence. half the struggle with marketing a game is even getting people to remember it in the first place in an era where a million things are constantly fighting for your attention. people need to have seen it a few times before they create that mental connection of "oh, THAT game, i've heard of that." so changing your title massively undercuts that

in that regard, Super Lesbian Animal RPG is just way more unique and memorable of a title than the alternatives i was considering. it's direct and unambiguous about the content of the game, and it grabs your attention in a way that something like "Guardians of Reverie," for instance, doesn't. (that's not a title i was considering too seriously, just an example.) also it abbreviates to a unique hashtag, which i find convenient. also i can say that rock paper shotgun once referred to it as "brilliantly named," so like, of course i can't change it now

several of the names i considered are now in the running for an overall franchise name, though, since i have zero intention of naming a game Super Lesbian Animal Platformer or Super Lesbian Animal Visual Novel or whatever

I wish you could kiss Holly this life is so unfair

fear not my friend, large women exist in our world as well

are all cars on Reverie weird fantasy vehicles like the one in the Celestial Wasteland? or was it just the fact of Greenridge being a tiny town with dirt roads that made cars irrelevant to mention or see in the story?

fantasy vehicles such as flying cars and airships are very common on reverie, but regular wheeled vehicles still exist too. (there is a conversation about motorcycles in the game.) i'd imagine regular, non-flying vehicles are just the cheaper option, but they're also not particularly necessary in greenridge, a small, old town built for foot travel that doesn't exactly have a highway connecting it to the mainland

from the sounds of it, would it be safe to assume that the exact level of involvement you had in the characters Anthony/Scarlet designed varies from character to character? Like for some characters you'd have a solid-ish idea of gender/species/age/role, other times you just have the role ("I need an NPC to fill this nice"), and other times they just sprung a design on you without any prompting from you?

yeah, it varied a lot. for example, faith was a character i conceived and had a pretty clear idea of, but i was struggling to come up with her design, so anthony offered to give it a shot. other times i might request something from him, and he'll give me a black and white concept sketch that i color and then turn into a sprite. but then you've got, like, the paladin brigade, who are characters anthony just pitched to me thinking that they'd be a good addition to the cast. he came up with their names, designs, color schemes, personalities, team dynamic, everything. i just filled in details where necessary. the boys are also anthony's babies - they would not have been included in the game at all if he hadn't pushed for it

meanwhile, scarlet's characters (which included a good number of more general NPCs that didn't make it in due to time constraints) mostly consisted of me giving her broad directions like "we need some adventurers to hang around noel's sanctuary," and she'd come up with her own ideas from there

what's the hardest part of making a cohesive and/or compelling narrative to you?

for me at least, it's the logical glue that holds a story together that's the hardest. that's just the type of writer i am, and as far as i know it's pretty common to feel that way

i'll know specific scenes i wanna hit, emotional beats, the general mood and tone, images i want to use, those sorts of things, but the logical shuffling around of pieces on the chess board to connect those disparate moments is harder to nail down for me. why is this character doing this? why are they here instead of there? why can't the protagonists just do this other thing to solve their problem? what in the narrative is going to steer them towards this next moment? what is this supporting character's motivation that informs their participation in this event? why did this character know or not know this key fact? etc. and in a video game - especially an rpg like this - there's that added layer of needing to give the player clear objectives, having reasons for them to go from point A to point B, excuses for gameplay elements to space out the story beats, and whatnot. it can be a lot to juggle

with slarpg in particular i knew most of the big emotional beats and major setpiece moments i wanted to hit early on, but the logic of the plot took a LOT of reworking. lots of late night pondering and scattered notes trying to piece together the villains' plans and things of that nature

[marley-manson]

For the fandom meme!

17, 22, 25 (tried to balance out the negative with some opportunities for positivity but also … curious about 25 lol)

Thank you!

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

Fic with unhappy or ambiguous at best endings. I was thinking about the most memorable fics I've read the other day, the ones that really stuck with me, and a lot of them have dark endings. And I kinda miss how common angst fic without a happy ending used to be, I feel like it's gotten a lot rarer across the board. Like while reading old Mash fic pre 2015 or so, I'd say the majority of what I saw was miserable in tone, and usually had a downer ending even if it was funny. And I have fond memories of a lot of lj era fandoms where, even if it wasn't a majority, a lot of fic was fans exploring dark/angsty scenarios with no happy ending in sight.

And especially when it's of the 'character makes bad decisions that are perfectly in character and understandable' type. Gimme an agent of one's own demise, I absolutely love it. Like, my favourite type of escapism is reading something and going 'lol glad I'm not this guy,' so yeah, I hope the fandom atmosphere shifts again eventually to encourage more dark and tragic stories alongside the happy escapism. Or I get into a dark fandom with lots of this type of content again lol, if it's out there in abundance somewhere and I'm just missing it.

Also aside from dark endings, characters making each other miserable for a long time before it gets better slowly and with difficulty. Though tbf these types of fics aren't easy to write lol and idk if they were ever super common. But still, I'd love to see more of them.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

HMMMM this is hard actually lol. Idk if I have an answer for Mash, I don't feel like there's a universally neglected aspect of canon that I like.

lmao ykw I'm gonna resurrect one of my oldschool petty fandom complaints for this: am I seriously one of the only people whose Labyrinth-related teenage sexual awakening was dominant rather than subby? It's not completely ignored, but boy was femdom a minority dynamic in a sea of femsub in that fandom considering the climax of the movie was "I would be your slave" and "You have no power over me."

25. common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing

Not specific to a fandom: why must everything be gay???? because it's more fun, next.

(also it isn't, ao3 was created in large part as a haven for gay fic that often got purged from other archives, go to literally any other fanfic site and het will reign supreme as it always does.)