#listen okay I’m not Actually expecting any pairings to be made canon tbh

[any-sk8-s2-news-yet]

okay but what if season 2 comes and we get queerbaited and cherry and joe never date and reki and langa end up being "best friends"

Now why would you say that.

Repent. Go sit in the corner and think about what you did.

[hopefulobjectmiracle]

A quick analysis of the puppy scene in 3x15, because my OTP is perfect.

This is honestly just a whole lot of gushing and flailing, tbh. Because Kurt and Blaine and their relationship are wonderful and I love them so, so much. So much so that I can write paragraphs on a scene that is barely one minute long. 

This somehow ended up being much longer than I intended, oops. Hope you enjoy it :)

We start off this scene with Blaine alone at his locker, presumably putting away his belongings from his last class, and you can still see Kurt’s ‘Gay-diddy-gay-gay-gay’ class council election poster on the inside of Blaine’s locker, even months after Kurt lost the election. But Blaine still keeps it up, because he loves Kurt, and if he had it his way, Kurt would win everything. Awww. He appears to be deep in thought, and when Kurt hides behind Blaine’s locker, speaking in the world’s most adorably terrible British accent, it startles Blaine for a second.

And man, does that make me sad. This is a kid that has been bullied, undoubtedly shoved into lockers and pushed here and there just like Kurt was. He hears an unfamiliar voice and immediately flinches back in fear, expecting the worst. 

But it isn’t the worst - it’s the best. Because it’s Kurt, the person Blaine loves more than anything, hiding behind the locker, and it’s Kurt speaking in that cute-ass accent holding a stuffed puppy in front of his face. 

(Side note - I once read that Chris Colfer improvised the dialogue and accent of this scene, as well as coming up with the name for the puppy, which totally checks out since Chris is a huge Anglophile.)

And as soon as Blaine recognizes his boyfriend, his face breaks out into the sunniest smile, and he does his signature “Kurt-made-me-laugh” move, the blushy head-duck (see here for reference). 

Kurt also looks similarly delighted to see Blaine, because Blaine is lovely and Kurt loves him so, so much, and because he’s also excited to show Blaine the gift he got him and help Blaine out with his problems. Kurt really loves Blaine, y’all. He looks so damn proud of the stuffed animal he got for him and equally proud of his own ability to make Blaine laugh with his clever puns. 

Kurt goes on to explain that Finn won the stuffed puppy while out at the amusement park for Senior Skip Day, along with thirteen others for Rachel, and as soon as he says this, Blaine nods along as if to say - oh, of course, that Rachel - because Blaine is considerate as hell and knows his friends very well. And in honest-to-god Kurt fashion, bb stole the puppy from his brother, because Kurt is the definition of Be Gay, Do Crime, and he also recognizes that Rachel does not need 14 different stuffed animals. 

He pouts a little right then, telling Blaine that he wanted to give it to him so that Blaine would have something, since Kurt wasn’t able to convince Blaine to go with them on the field trip. I wonder how that conversation went. 

Also, pouty Kurt is fucking adorable. Protect him at all costs.

Blaine is melancholy again, telling Kurt that he would have just brought the mood down for the group. And when Blaine says this? Kurt stops beating around the bush and gets straight to the point. 

Sweetly stroking the stuffed puppy, Kurt tells Blaine that he understands him. That he gets that family problems are hard, because they’re hard for him too. He uses himself as an example to try and get his point across to Blaine more effectively, and mentions that he and Finn disagree on nearly everything, but at the end of the day, they love one another and are always there for one another despite their differences. 

I’m also getting so many brotherly Furt feelings from Kurt referring to Finn as “the big lug” and talking about how much he loves him. Ugh. I also cry at the line where Kurt tells Blaine that he only has one brother and shouldn’t give up on that, given what happens to Finn. I wish we’d gotten more of that relationship in canon before Cory’s untimely passing, because they clearly had so much love for one another, both on-screen and off.

Anyway, Kurt sees the love he has with his brother and wants Blaine to be able to experience the same thing, because he loves Blaine so, so much and he thinks that Blaine deserves everything great in this world. He also brings back the cute-ass accent, and upon seeing Blaine look upset, bumps Margaret Thatcher Dog against Blaine’s cheek to get him to smile again - which Blaine absolutely does; his face is bright and sunny again because of Kurt’s silliness. Awww. 

Kurt tells Blaine never to give up, and Blaine indignantly responds that Cooper is the one who is leaving for a big audition. Kurt pauses, and tells Blaine that Cooper hasn’t actually left him yet. He says that Cooper is waiting in the auditorium, hoping that Blaine will come and talk to him and make things right. This line very strongly implies that Kurt and Cooper coordinated this, and that Kurt made an effort of talking to Cooper to try and arrange a meeting with Blaine - because in a matter of mere days, Kurt was able to glean how important their relationship was to Blaine and wanted to do everything he could to fix it. Give him all the boyfriend awards, folks.

I’m kidding. Please don’t start the Better Boyfriend Olympics again, lol.

Blaine huffs out that talking doesn’t actually work with Cooper, and that he’s tried it to no avail. And Kurt just nods knowingly, as if he was aware that Blaine would say that. And though it isn’t explicitly mentioned, I bet he did know. He then goes on to say that perhaps talking isn’t the best answer for Blaine. Maybe there’s something else, a better method of communicating his feelings that would work more for Blaine. 

Okay. You know what this reminds me of? Flash back a year, to Silly Love Songs. This is (perhaps unintentionally) a direct callback to 2x12. Back when Blaine was still crushing on someone who is not Kurt, he said this to the Warblers about his idea to serenade Jeremiah. 

Blaine (2011): I'm not really good at talking about my feelings. I'm much better at singing them.

And here are Kurt’s words, from more than a year later. 

Kurt (2012): Maybe talking is not the answer. Maybe you need to show him how you really feel in the best, most honest way you know how. 

Can I just stop right here and squeal a little bit? Because Kurt knows his boyfriend so, so well. He remembers the things that Blaine tells him, even things from over a year ago. He holds onto this key piece of information about Blaine, because Blaine is important to him and the things he tells Kurt are worth remembering. And here, in this scene, he puts his memory to good use to try and remind Blaine of his most effective and heartfelt form of communication so that he can help Blaine mend fences with his brother. 

GIVE HIM THE BOYFRIEND AWARDS, FOLKS!

Kurt is so, supportive of Blaine and just wants the best for him, and it just boggles my mind when people claim that Kurt didn’t love Blaine as much as Blaine loved him, because from even short simple scenes like this one, anyone can tell that it isn’t true. 

After listening to Kurt, Blaine stops, and for the first time, genuinely considers it. Prior to this, all of Cooper’s attempts at talking couldn’t get through to him. Blaine still felt the jealousy and resentment from all those years growing up. But after hearing Kurt’s advice, he puts that aside and realizes that some things, like family, are more important, and so he makes that decision to go see his brother and try and express his feelings in a different way. 

Blaine turns to go meet Cooper, and Kurt watches him go, looking so damn proud of his boyfriend and so, so hopeful...

Y’all know what happens next. Blaine and Cooper, a pair of brothers, sing a breakup song. Yet somehow, it works. Singing manages to communicate all of those emotions that were suppressed before, and opens the doors for real conversation between the two of them. They do successfully patch things up, with Cooper finally recognizing Blaine’s talent and Blaine trying to support Cooper in future endeavors. They are on a path to a close relationship, which is all both of them had ever really wanted in the first place. 

And if not for Kurt’s advice, this may not have happened. Y’all heard that right - Kurt Hummel helped Blaine patch things up with a member of his family because he knew how important it was to Blaine, and he knew how badly Blaine wanted this even if Blaine didn’t let it show. From all the bits and pieces of information we’ve gathered over the years about Blaine’s family, they don’t appear to be all that close, which is why it’s even more important for Blaine that he is able to reconcile with his brother.

(For more of my thoughts on Blaine’s family, feel free to check out this analysis of mine. Yeah, this is a shameless self promo. Deal with it.)

So...what was the point of this analysis? I’m not quite sure. I suppose I just had a lot of feelings about Blaine, Klaine, family, and the way that Kurt shows love. Like I’ve said millions of times, just because Kurt is more subtle in the way that he shows love to Blaine, doesn’t mean that it’s any less powerful. Scenes like this, in which he handpicks Blaine’s own words and uses them to push Blaine towards something he was too afraid to admit he really wanted? Kurt helping reconcile Blaine with his family? This is Klaine at its best, and scenes like this are why I will always, always ship this couple. 

Kurt and Blaine are incredible, y’all. 

Peace. 

[wellhalesbells]

as i no longer sleep (apparently), let’s do this awesome thing @yodas-yo-yo tagged me on!!  thank you!!

Rules: Tag 9 people who you want to know better/catch up with and then answer these questions.

3 SHIPS

i’m going with not necessarily my all-time favorite ships but the ones i’ve been reading like crazy lately

stiles and derek, as i’m sure we’re all well aware.  those’re my boys.  the dynamic they have just cannot be beat; it’s all shades of gray and built rather than plopped down without foundation.  derek, who has been betrayed and abandoned and is neglected at every turn by every other character in this universe, and stiles, who - importantly - doesn’t have pity for him but pragmatism: ‘you’re a useful dude, and so i am going to use you regardless of how everyone else would just like to write you off.’  it’s not an immediate, ‘ah, you’re perfect for each other,’ moment, it’s kind of a, ‘shit, dude, that is not a guy you should use because he’s suffered that too many times already and this is bad.’  but only through that does it become less about using derek and more about relying on each other, trusting each other’s judgments, and being the first call rather than the last.  i’m so emotionally tied to it because it’s freaking earned and no one is... pure.  stiles’ motives aren’t pure, derek’s actions aren’t pure, no one is a one-dimensional hero who can abide by a concept as infantile as good vs evil, they’re more real because of it and i’m more attached to them because of it.

okay, weirdly, lately..... clark and lex (and after i was just talking about one-dimensional good vs evil characters, lol), preferably with the smallville backstory of once being besties.  it’s just like the best of the best when it comes to tropes that do it for me.  they’re baked in and, unless it’s an au, unavoidable.  epic pining, best friends turned enemies turned lovers (or some variation thereof), a betrayed character (love when that’s lex and it’s post-belle reve), a morally gray manipulative genius who if they are depicted as not having ulterior motives is considered WILDLY out of character, a fucking canonical son made from both their dna, parallel universes in canon, not to mention there’s sex pollen in canon as well with red kryptonite in the mix.  (there’s nothing better than fics where clark is dosed so he’ll finally kill lex luthor only to fuck him practically down to his soul instead.)  i never even finished smallville and while i was always a fan of the ship, it was sort of more of a ‘ships in the night’ kind of ship, like: oh yeah, i know you *waves as you cross my dash* and nothing more.  then i read (and read and re-read and read some more) reconcilable differences and.... there is not enough fic for them out there, friends.  there just isn’t, and i’m sad.

merlin and arthur from bbc merlin.  again, i really like what’s often baked into this pairing: a scenario that comes up with some regularity is a betrayed or banished!merlin and arthur realizing too late what merlin means to him and having to go after him and prove himself.  i live for that shit, okay?  i live for the character who seemingly has everything realizing they have nothing without this other person (especially if said person is often mistreated or sidelined in canon - thank you, fix-it fanon!!!!).  i never was big into merlin fanfic UNTIL ao3 came up with the ‘exclude’ part of the search function.  i don’t want modern merlin pretty much ever and somehow that fandom is about 50% modern aus????  so i never read fic for it because it was so hard to find what i was looking for.  literally the day i saw the exclude option, i started reading merthur fanfic.  i wish there were more percival/merlin fics (i am SO FUCKING INTO size difference lately and i do noooot have a pair that i LOVE that has that, some that i casually read like jaskier/geralt but none that i can’t live without yet and i NEED IT), especially ones featuring a jealous arthur that endgames into merthur but that’s, er, a bit specific?  haha, and i have less than zero desire to write for either this fandom or the one above it sadly.

LAST SONG I LISTENED TO

clairo - sofia, i love how hard my radio station is fangirling over clairo, she has such a nostalgia-inducing sound for me.

CURRENTLY WATCHING

okay, well, i actually just finished the shows i was watching: prodigal son, which was like a less avant garde, less horny, less gay, less people-eating version of hannibal.  instead of a guy who was too unstable to qualify to be an actual fbi agent and who has a loose relationship with reality and mental health, and maybe also a darker side, and a cannibal who definitely does, both of whom badly want to bang each other, it’s a serial killer father who has a darker side and a guy who was fired from the fbi for being too unstable, who maybe has one of his own, in addition to a loose relationship with reality and mental health.  i mostly enjoyed it.  i really liked the actors, the morbid and understated humor was hilarious (seriously, some of those one liners, both the delivery by the actors and the offhandedness inherent to them were just perfection), but.... they fridged the love interest (very VERY predictably) and they’re clearly shoving together the only unattached (”normal”) vagina and penis on the show because HETERONORMATIVITY!!!!!  (i expect more of you, greg berlanti, tsk.)  i’m hoping for more edrisa in the future because she is a fucking GEM (and it’s just SO NICE to see lane on my screen again!!!!), more jessica who might have the best sense of self and humor in the whole dang show, more michael sheen (because i just love the man in anything and everything), and about that finale (even though i saw it coming WELL in advance) i’ll just say: AINSLEY, MY GIRLLLLLLLL!!!!

the other i finished was the crown, season four.  this show never really wows me tbh.  i watch it mostly for a) the performances and b) my mom and dad, who love it immensely and love to talk about it with me.  if not for them i could easily zone out for an entire episode without even realizing it, with all the quietness and sweeping landscape shots, there’s just nothing grabby in there for me.  it’s very uppercrust british, y’know?  haha.  where a comment about your lilac drapes is really a dig about how you’re bringing down the entire commonwealth, which i love to read but watching?  it doesn’t really pull me in.  the high point of this season for me was gillian anderson’s portrayal of margaret thatcher, just the way she would contort her face was amazing to me, and the episode with fagan because hey, i totally knew about that already (which never happens, lol) and i love that actor from preacher and it was just really well-written and acted.  but, overall, pretty much i spent the whole season wanting a violent and bloody and embarrassing death to befall charles, that entitled and cruel little piss-ant, while knowing it wasn’t going to happen.  it’s one of those shows i watch where i’m glad i watched it, but i won’t remember any details about it in a week’s time.

and as for what i soon will be currently watching: i’m starting the great tomorrow!

okay, tagging: @livthelion, @ohlookagaydraco, @grimmypuff, @clotpolesonly, @midnightisquiet, @urban-barbarian, @callunavulgari, @hrast-ika and @i-sveikata!!

[paintedrecs]

Helloo i saw a tweet you made saying you recently watched a bunch of gay animes and i was wondering if you could perhaps make a list and post them on twitter? I'm always looking for anime to watch and i know your tastes align with mine. If it isn't too much of a bother perhaps? I hope you have loveky days!!!❤❤❤❤

Hey friend! I put off answering this, sorry, because my answers tend to be unnecessarily long and I was v tired when I got the original message. But if you’re still interested, here’s a lil rundown of some of what I’ve been watching/reading. In reference to this tweet, where I was watching a show that definitely isn’t gay but is kinda gay if you just squint the tiniest bit, which I’ve gotten used to doing.

If you follow me on twitter, most of these proooobably won’t be new? But I talk about/RT things on a scattered basis, so maybe there are some you haven’t checked out yet. 

So, the canonical gay! I’m only going to list the ones I liked and/or remember most - my Quest For Gay Anime started two years ago, and I watched pretty much everything I could get my hands on, but at that point, there were only a few I loved enough to rewatch/buy/recommend. The list has gotten a little longer since then, unfortunately for my attention span and wallet.

(I’ll be honest, a lot of the really popular/older BL have too many consent issues for my tastes - I understand the context and all that, and no hate on anyone who loves stories that didn’t particularly appeal to me. But I’m including this note cause (a) if I don’t put a really well-known BL anime on this list that’s probably why (b) I’m gonna drop in a few that toe that line but I’ll try to include warnings where relevant.)

ANIME FAVES

DOUKYUSEI (Classmates)

This is kinda where it all started. I saw a tweet going around with a trailer for a very soft, lovely movie about two boys falling in love, and I thought whaaaaat an actual gay story? Where they kiss? And I don’t have to just imagine it??

Still one of my top faves. It’s beautifully animated - like filming watercolors? It always makes me feel languid and happy. The story and characters are realistic, in a very kind, hopeful way, as these two navigate starting a relationship that neither of them expected. It’s available on Amazon video - I own a digital copy there, hah, as well as the physical blu-ray, because I watch it often enough to want both.

I also recommend the manga, although I’ve only recently discovered that apparently the story did not end after the first three volumes, so I can only recommend that far. (I’ve heard it, unfortunately, gets angstier, and it’s still incomplete? The first three volumes feel complete to me, so I’m happy to leave it there if so.) 

The movie pretty much covers the first manga volume - it’s a very accurate page-to-screen translation - and there’s some really wonderful relationship building and exploration of family dynamics in the next two volumes.

HITORIJIME MY HERO (My Very Own Hero)

Another huge favorite that I have literally watched like 30 times at this point. Two gay couples, double the fun, although this pairing is by far my favorite.

I’ll direct you to my very long post on this topic for more information, but the short version is:

Warning: there is an age gap and student/teacher relationship, but it’s treated very thoughtfully and is directly addressed as part of the story. They have to navigate through how to make their relationship work (issues with friends, coworkers, society). And they didn’t meet as student/teacher - it’s a lot more complicated, with some fantastic family dynamics. There’s a lot of angst to Setagawa’s backstory that makes you really appreciate the happiness and love he finds with Kousuke & his whole family. (Many more details in my watch-this-anime post.)

The series is 12 episodes long, with a WONDERFUL (happy) ending that makes me cry LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE TIME. Gosh I love this show a lot. It packs some serious feels - I cry, I laugh, I cry again, but for happy reasons.

It’s from a manga, but I do not recommend the manga. The manga falls into a lot of the tropes that I personally don’t like; I think the anime does a much better job of tackling the complexity of their story and treating these two with the thoughtful nuance they deserve.

Can be found on Amazon; I bought the blu-ray, and it’s one of the exceedingly rare cases where I love both the sub and the dub. There are slight differences in translation that really makes it worth watching both.

GIVEN

Wow, this one. Available on Crunchyroll, 11 episodes with a movie coming soon.

It’s newer to my list, and it’s really, really good. I’ve only read the first two volumes of the manga so far (with two more on preorder), because tbh I have trouble reading scanlations online and find it a lot more enjoyable to just wait for the official translations in paperback form.

So far the anime lines up pretty closely with the manga, so I do recommend both, although at this point I enjoy the anime more - partly because of some of the choices they make in rearranging/expanding scenes, and partly because it’s a story about a band, so it makes a huge difference to be able to actually hear the music.

And Mafuyu’s song is worth it. Wow. I listened to it on repeat for like two weeks after the episode first aired.

Uenoyama (the dark-haired stern-looking heart-of-gold character, I have a type), is my favorite. He is a MASSIVE disaster gay, and a lot of his scenes are absolutely hilarious. The dynamics between the characters aren’t what you’d expect - it’s amazing to watch the seemingly quiet Mafuyu come out of his shell and display his true personality - and there’s some really gritty, emotional material, too.

What’s fascinating about this one is that there are parallel stories going on about past loves and heartbreak, and how truly loving (and losing) someone doesn’t mean you can’t find happiness again.

(Warning and a spoiler: there is a suicide that happens before this story starts - Mafuyu’s ex-boyfriend - and while nothing about it is graphic, that event is central to Mafuyu’s story, so there are some weighty episodes. It ultimately leads to him meeting Uenoyama and joining the band. And finding himself again.) 

The movie’s gonna focus more on the secondary couple, but I’m still excited to see more of them! And...more angst, I imagine, but hopefully a lot more happiness as well.

SARAZANMAI

Okay, fair warning: this show is weird.

I think if you’re familiar with Japanese folklore, particularly kappas, you might have a much better intro than I did, but considering the creator laughed about how much they got away with by hiding the weirder parts of the story during the initial pitch, I...am not sure about that.

It’s weird but I liked it a lot. I’m not even going to attempt to explain it in the space available here, but the wiki page has a decent summary if you’re curious before diving in.

The very, very condensed version is that the main characters are three middle school boys who get turned into kappas by the kappa prince, who sends them on missions to retrieve “dishes of hope” every episode. In the process, they learn more about themselves and each other, since each time they complete one of these missions, it results in one of their big secrets being spilled to the others.

I like the main trio (and there’s a gay subplot there, too, where one of the boys is in love with his best friend but doesn’t know how to tell him), but I started watching the show because of the “villains,” Reo and Mabu. They have a deeply angsty backstory that you don’t get to until the last couple episodes. Up until then, they have a transformation sequence every episode that ... yes, gets repetitive, Miraculous Ladybug-style, but I still sat and watched, entranced, every time.

One of the things I like about this anime is that while it is very, very gay, it’s not about being gay. It’s a fantasy story where several characters just happen to be gay. As much as I love romance (which the rest of these recs definitely have been), I like being able to see gay people (or kappas...) in different genres, just existing.

And if you can’t get into the show (11 episodes, available on Crunchyroll), there’s a spinoff manga about Reo and Mabu being disaster dads to a baby girl they find on a dish in the middle of the street. I think it’s a human AU (kinda?), but it’s super sweet and funny and I liked it a lot.

THE BETRAYAL KNOWS MY NAME

Okay, so this was an early favorite, and I rewatched it recently and laughed a lot about how massively dramatic it is, but I don’t care, I’m still into it.

We’re skirting the edge of “canon gay�� here, because you never get an on-screen kiss, and it’s technically a shoujo manga. But...it was at the top of a lot of BL lists when I was first hunting for good stuff to watch, and the relationship between Yuki and Luka is deeply romantic (and achingly piningly good) and central to the story.

The title’s linked to one of Luka’s frequent lines: “I will never betray you,” which he earnestly tells Yuki at every opportunity he gets. Luka is an extremely powerful demon, and Yuki is part of an immortal (via reincarnation) clan that hunts demons. But in Yuki’s past life, they fell in love.

Yuki was, at that point and in previous lives, a woman, but something changed this time around: he was reborn as a man, and without any of his memories.

Luka, who waited for Yuki to be reincarnated so they could be together again, still remembers and still loves him. But he keeps his devotion on Yuki’s terms, refusing to force the memory of a relationship that Yuki might have wanted to forget.

There’s one particularly great scene where the leader of Yuki’s clan asks Luka if anything has changed - if they can still rely on Luka to stay by Yuki’s side and be his protector. “They have the same soul,” Luka says. Gender doesn’t matter. He loves Yuki. He’ll always love Yuki. 

And Yuki, though he doesn’t remember loving Luka, begins to slowly, inevitably, fall in love again.

The anime is 24 episodes - while it doesn’t fully close out the story, it does have some closure, or at least a solid sense of an upcoming happy ending. (I own the DVD; I don’t think the show is currently available to watch online.)

There’s also a manga, which is beautifully illustrated, wow, the sheer level of detail in this blows me away. Which, unfortunately, was way too much work to maintain at that level and ultimately destroyed the author’s health, so the last few volumes get shorter and shorter and the story trickles to an unsatisfying conclusion.

I still love it a lot, though, and it’s another example of establishing a great relationship within the context of a much larger story - a sweeping, complicated fantasy epic.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Those are my primary favorites, unless I’m forgetting anything (and for the purposes of this post, I’m leaving out things like Tiger & Bunny and Promare, which are very gay and embraced as such by the creators but also not something I’m comfortable including in a Definitely Canonically Gay, You Won’t Ever Be Disappointed By Future Reveals list). If I have the energy, I might make another post like this for those kinds of stories.

But there are a few others that I enjoyed, if not enough to buy copies of or collect merch for. These include:

No. 6

Dystopian, so definitely very dark and kind of visually disturbing in places (for instance, people rotting from mystery infections). There’s a central m/m romance and one kiss, but the ending is kind of an open one without a super happy conclusion. It doesn’t have high rewatch value for me - I’ve only ever watched it once and don’t really feel inclined to go back - but it's got good storytelling and is worth viewing. 

Kizuna Koi No Kara Sawagi (Much Ado About Nothing OVA)

That last bit of the title is important to get you to the correct OVA, since there are different variations of this story. It’s been a long time since I tried the main anime, but I did not like it - I had major issues with its story, particularly with the sexual assault plotline. I did, however, love the OVA and have recommended it to people as something that can be watched independently.

There's still a little dodgy content in it (as with a lot of things in the BL genre), but it's mostly a lovely established relationship story with a lot of bittersweet feels, with flashbacks to how the couple got together. 

It’s necessarily a "happy" story either, though, because they're in a loving, committed relationship in a society where they can't be open about that, and it takes a toll. They're doing their best to work through the difficulties together.

Ai no Kusabi 

SERIOUS WARNINGS FOR THIS ONE.

It's about a society with "Blondies" as the elite ruling class and dark-haired "Mongrels" from the slums. There's slavery, plus some serious sexual consent issues...which I found extra prevalent in the newer version (prettier animation but much more cringey on the content).

The 90s version has rougher animation but a more interesting story. The relationship is still not necessarily healthy, but it reads as a lot more of a forbidden love BDSM relationship.

Even so, the ending is SUPER unhappy. I cannot emphasize that enough. I was watching all these things on my own without any warnings, so this one hit me really hard, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days after. I’m not sure if I'd watch it again, but I've had interesting conversations with others who did.

I guess what I liked about it is that it’s a very different kind of story - and like I said earlier, it’s nice to have variety in genres. As long as every story isn’t dark and tragic, it’s worthwhile to sometimes experience ones that are told well. And weirdly (since this is not something I would watch with my family) it reminded me to some extent of the movies I grew up with - the 80s and early 90s had a lot of dark sci-fi, and my family really loved watching them, so there’s something...nostalgic about how disturbing it is? Thanks parents. At least this one’s gay.

Gakuen Heaven

To pull us back from the darker content, here’s one that I guess was adapted from a dating computer game. As far as I can remember, it was pretty free of cw; fun but not as emotionally engaging as some of the others. It’s pretty much just a fluffy story about a boys’ school on an island with a mystery plot and a romance.

MANGA RECS

I sprinkled some manga recs alongside the relevant anime, but here are a few others that I’ve only experienced in book form. (I’ve got one on my nightstand right now that I need to read, but if it’s good I’ll just update this post I guess, I’ve put this reply off for long enough.)

OUR DINING TABLE

Unlike a lot of the other manga I’ve read, this is a single volume, which means it has a nice, solid conclusion that wraps everything up wonderfully and doesn’t leave you any room to worry that the author will insert unnecessary drama down the line. (That’s an issue, ok? It happens a lot.)

A very soft, sweet romance that’s actually a lot more about building family - which is something that hugely appeals to me. Highly recommend. Loved it, bought it, will definitely reread it. I’d love to see it eventually made into a movie, like Doukyusei.

MY BROTHER’S HUSBAND

This is a hefty book - I ordered it after seeing a joke-tweet about the live action adaptation (which I haven’t been able to find to watch online). I was surprised by the size of the book but even more (pleasantly!) surprised by its contents. I’m not familiar with the author’s other works, although I’ve heard this is the uh....softest and sweetest of his writing. It’s honestly way more uplifting and healing than I was expecting.

Again, it’s largely about family: a quiet, very private Japanese dad dealing with a visit from his deceased (estranged) twin’s extroverted and cheery Canadian husband. This could go down some very dark paths, but it really doesn’t...there are some smatterings of homophobia mixed in, since that’s sort of the point, but there’s a lot of wonderful self-discovery and building new family bonds.

OUR DREAMS AT DUSK

Oh man. This series. Irene Koh (Legend of Korra comics illustrator) recommended it on twitter, and I picked up the first volume from my library and then could not stop. All four volumes are now out in official translations, and they’re so, so good.

These are definitely on the more realistic side - less of an idealized, prejudice-free view of the world, with more of an accurate picture of what it’s like to be not-straight in Japan.

And I phrase it that way because there’s a lot of variety in the characters in these books. The main character is gay - just coming to terms with the fact that he is, because life would be so much easier if he didn’t have a crush on the hot guy at school.

Content warning: it gets so bad at school, in fact, that he starts out the book planning to commit suicide. It’s dark. But it gets much better, and by the final volume he’s grown so much in his confidence and sense of self-worth - because he becomes a part of a community of other people who teach him that it’s okay to be himself.

And all the other storylines are wonderful. Some of the other characters you get to know include a trans guy, an ace woman, two girls who (spoilers!) get married in the fourth volume, and a much older gay guy who’s been with his partner for several decades.

It’s not a fluffy story - there’s some really tough material throughout, and people aren’t always nice, even the ones you really, really want to be - but they also learn and work hard at communicating with each other. I think these are pretty extraordinary books. Beautiful and heartbreaking but also deeply affirming.

[no-te-lo-voy-a-dar]

Sibling Jealousy - Chapter 3

Fic’s Summary: Reader has known the Winchesters for a long time, almost two years before Cas entered their lives. After that, since Reader was the only one actually teaching the angel about humanity customs and stuff like that, properly, they developed a closer relationship, on the parent-kid way. But it was never verbally acknowledged. Now, with Lucifer’s child on the way, life stabs some sense and realizations onto Reader, but there’s no time for feelings in this house.

Author’s Note: This is mainly a fic with the purpose of developing a family relationship with the characters, of mutual support, and I don’t plan on adding romance for Reader, because that’s not my final goal.

Pairings(?): Castiel/Reader (Parental like), Jack Kline/Reader (Platonic/Sibling like), Dean and Sam Winchester/Reader (Platonic/Friends)

Warnings: Usual canon violence and conflicts, as well as injuries and blood mentions, emotional struggles such as feeling unloved, like an outcast, low self-esteem issues and if you think something else should be mentioned let me know.

<<Last Chapter — Next Chapter>>

Chapter’s Author’s Note: Guys, you have no idea how happy seeing the notes go up make me. This is getting more attention than I expected tbh, and I can’t thank you enough. Not even 24hrs had gone by and the second chapter already had 30 something notes! That was almost three times faster than the first chapter! So, just because this was done already, I’m giving you the next part!

Chapter Three: He’s just a kid!

Word Count: 1,868

Turns out Castiel wasn’t coming back. And neither were Mary nor Crowley. The good thing is that Lucifer was successfully trapped on the other universe…if that counted as a win.

But you haven’t had time to let it really sink.

After Sam was a little in the room with you, Dean came rushing too, and was quick to point a gun to Jack, and even with you trying to tell him not to shoot him he did and Jack, out of fear you were sure, did some…nephilim magic shit and sent all three of you floating and then crashing against the walls, knocking you out.

The time on the Impala was awful, Dean was angry out of sadness, Sam was worried and trying to reason with him and you were on autopilot. Finding Jack was the priority, you could mourn Cas later.

Sam went inside the fast food place you found on the road, you stayed outside, doing guard as usual, and after some time, Dean got up and went to the back of the store. At first you thought he went there to check too, but when he came back, his knuckles were bloody. He let out some frustration and anger at…whatever is going on.

You also needed to let out some steam or you were going to cry soon, but punching walls wasn’t your thing. A box costal maybe, but not a wall. No, right now for you, punching something and slaying heads might be the best.

…okay, maybe you needed help, but there wasn’t such a thing as a hunters counselors.

Sam got info and found out Jack was on the police station, so you all jumped on the car again after telling hang over girl to let you pass.

—

Not even an hour later you found yourself on a cell with Sam and Jack, who now had some clothes on, and Dean was talking to the local sheriff.

Sam started talking to Jack, and kind of apologized for hurting him (as well as apologizing for Dean’s bullet, even when you were sure the other man wasn’t sorry). You learned angel radio made his head hurt and whatever he was listening to scared him, making his powers coming out in a weird (dangerous) and self-preserving way.

“They are just being the feathered jerks they usually are.” You were salty about them ditching humanity, leaving Castiel and then taking him back just to torture him or make him feel less and then you were just mad at the universe.

“(Y/N)!” Sam was probably reprimanding you for your language, probably.

“What? Most of them are anyway. There are, or, well, were exceptions obviously, like Castiel, Anna for a while, the sporadic neutral angel and even Gabriel.” When most of the ordeal with Gabriel took place you were at Bobby’s, but you came across him in a solo hunt you once took. A salt and burn that happened to take place at the town he was hiding at the moment.

Anyway, Jack seemed to be sure that Castiel was his father, because that’s what Kelly told him, and following the logic on how he called you his sibling as well, he was the proof of how babies did know of the stuff going out outside while they were on the womb. Or maybe that just happened to him because he’s a Nephilim.

Dean entered the cell room, saying how you were allowed to leave, when angels took over the place.

Dean was fighting hang over girl on the main office, and Sam and you were stuck with two others. You put Jack behind both of you and thanks to you being thrown over Sam your hit wasn’t as severe, which allowed you to stand up fast and kill one of the angels.

When you were finally thrown to the wall, Sam took care of the other by using a sigil, which just seemed to hurt Jack a little yet not banish him, and just as you were getting outside the cell, ready to flee, hangover girl appeared. After a few words, she was quick to stab Jack on the chest.

You killed the angel and noticed how Jack pulled the angel blade out of his chest and how quickly he was healing, the weapon doing nothing to him.

You chuckled a little and let out a “Dude, that’s some sick Wolverine healing factor the one you’ve got there.” which just earned you a frown from Dean and a chuckle from Sam. Jack was just utterly confused.

But, the slight light mood was soon over because you went back to the lake house, to burn the bodies of both Kelly and Cas…

You helped with the wood, because you couldn’t look at Cas’ corpse laying, lifeless, graceless, just…dead. He was…gone.

Chopping wood and setting it right kept your mind focused. You left Dean to cover the angel’s body and Sam and Jack took care of Kelly.

Sam tried to explain to Jack what you’re supposed to say at moments like this, and Dean made a sharp comment, making the mood awkward, at least for a while, because not even on your head you could muster a simple thought for Castiel.

You started somewhere and your mind took multiple lines on remembering him, or wanting to say something about certain issues, but you ended on some kind of mental crash because nothing left and you didn’t realize how much you’ve been standing there until Sam tugged at your jacket to get on the Impala, the wood and fire already consumed, along with the bodies over and inside them.

There was no risk at the fire spreading, nor their bodies being used or they becoming ghosts.

—

At some point, you and Jack fell asleep on the back of the Impala, Jack resting his head on your shoulder and you had an arm over him. You only found out because Sam told you, and when you asked for the picture (because it was a thing to have something to blackmail each other) he said he didn’t take one because it slipped his mind while convincing Dean to find a motel to stay in and get some rest.

While eating you and Sam noticed how Jack was imitating Dean while they talked, and weren’t sure what to say when Jack took from a beer bottle, because even if he looked like a teenager, he was, what did he said? 3 days, something hour and…little more than 3 days old.

It was when they came back on the middle of the night and Dean complaining that you found out they tried to give Jack an anti-possession tattoo, but after it was done, his body healed itself, leaving his skin as clean as when he was running naked on the forest.

Donatello caught up with you and helped you find Jack when he went missing due Asmodeus taking him trying to open a gate to Hell.

Luckily you were finally at The Bunker, and went straight to take a shower with warm enough water that left you feeling like you were really clean.

When you came out looking for any of the brothers or Jack, you saw Dean leaving with a bloody knife one of the rooms.

You went to the room Dean left, to find Jack with his shirt shredded and with blood spots around what seemed to be stab marks. But his skin was fine, just like it was after the angel blade and the tattoos try.

So why…

“Jack? Are you alright? Why is…why is your shirt like that?” Did Dean tried to kill you? Was a question you didn’t want to ask but was, hopefully, implied.

“I’m…healed.”

“Okay, wrong question. Did Dean do this to you?” Not so lucky after all.

“No, I, I tried to see if I really couldn’t die. I don’t want more people to get hurt.” After burrowing his eyebrows, Jack added “But Dean did say he would kill me if I, if I went evil.”

Of course he did, the sonofabitch.

You sighed, and went to sit on the bed on the room, patting the place besides you so Jack could sit. He hesitated before joining you, but eventually sat besides you, actually looking you at the eyes. That’s a good sign, maybe.

“Ok, first of all, you shouldn’t go around trying to see what actually hurts you, because some day, you could come across something that does hurt you and if you were stabbing yourself on the chest, that’s not gonna be a good thing.” You took a pause, trying to see a way of phrasing the next thing.

“If we want to protect you, we might need to know what harms you and your healing factor doesn’t fix as quick as everything we’ve seen so far. Just so we can keep you away from those. But stabbing yourself on the chest is a big no, okay?” It was like knowing what harmed Castiel to actually have that in mind while hunting.

“But they don’t want to protect me. Dean said-” oh no, you weren’t allowing that.

“What Dean says right now, is not that much of importance. He still doesn’t know you, so he’s talking out of fear…mainly. And he did say if you go evil. Which you won’t. I hope. I’ll do my best to avoid it.” Great, mumbling and hesitation might not be the best you can offer him right now.

But his face seemed to light up at that idea.

“You mean, if I’m a good person, Dean might, like me?” Oh Chuck, he was really just a kid and so much has been thrown at him already.

“That’s the idea. He’s still kind of an explosive character, but you can warm up to him.” You patted his shoulder as he nodded and were ready to leave, when you heard him talking to you again.

“(Y/N), what do you mean by ‘warm up’ to Dean?” He asked with that head tilt.

You used all of your strength not to sight because that tilt reminded you so much of Cas and you haven’t even cried for him yet, and the fight against angels just let you leave some stress out.

Instead, you turned around from the doorway you were already at, and tried your best at explaining the concept.

He used fancier words when he repeated what you told him or phrased it to what he seemed to understand, which you attributed to the angel side.

“That’s right, and please, don’t think too much about it, just, stay safe. I’m going to my room to sleep, but if you need anything you are welcome to knock on my door…maybe I should show you which one is mine. Come on.” The light brunette boy stood up and went to walk besides you until you signaled him to walk alongside you.

You took him to and from your room, to give him more time to memorize the way. Afterwards, you finally went to sleep, to rest.

You were so tired your mind and body didn’t even focus too much on the fact Castiel wasn’t alive anymore. He was gone.

You were left…alone.

.

.

Sibling’s Tag List: 

@carryon-doctor-lock

(If you wanna be added, please say so in the comment’s section of THIS post)

[gabbyzvolt25]

Again I might give it a try if I get the okay, and I’m reading people’s thoughts on the epilogue just to see like. The general consensus on how bad it is and tbh I have a whole lotta cents. More than just 2 cents even. I wanna say now this is much less about my thoughts on the epilogue itself, because well. Yeah. It’s a lot more my reactions to other people’s commentary. Wow, guess this is technically meta, huh? Commentary about other ppl’s commentary. Anyway, I’ll put it below the cut bcuz I didn’t have an established tag for this kinda bullshit and it’s long and I want to spare my followers who don’t care, are upset also, or want to just not scroll for 5 years of having to deal with it all.

So, people who are going “the point is to make fun of bad fanon” or “people can change and things can be dark or gritty” kinda. I feel like there’s the deal with. Just because things are meta or parodies doesn’t mean they are inherently good. You can do those things very poorly.

Also I’ve seen people go “people just wanted a happy ending where everything is perfect” actually I expected John, Rose, Dave, and Jade to all get ‘killed’ or something in the fight with Caliborn as shown in Caliborn’s masterpiece. I expected there to be something sad, actually. Like you’d get people really depressed at that as an ending, really. Hell. Terezi coming back empty handed without Vriska. Ways to make a sad ending that, reasonably, would probably be the most ‘realistic’ ending from what we see in canon. An ending that might give some sort of closure, in the simplest way. I wasn’t expecting something seemingly large and convoluted. Yeah character’s change but also when it seems to go “what characters can I antagonize in an ooc fashion today” it’s much different.

And you know. I don’t know if my fear is completely warranted, but know that even hearing about Lanque’s freindsim route being oof for people- and I must mention I was relatively okay with it- I’ve NEVER actually been SCARED to read/watch/etc something related to Homestuck. This is the first I’ve heard that made me go “maybe I shouldn’t read this.” And that’s pretty telling. Now I know I’m generally pretty sensitive and shit and yeah it’s like that, but from what I hear it seems to make things dark and gritty for the sake of it. And as someone who is perfectly capable of making content and AUs where I consider fucked up shit happening, paired with my tendency to like characters that fall under ‘murderboy’ tropes, I’d say I can bear with dark shit when it’s presented well or at least within a level that doesn’t seem to just be fueling a fire. Even using dark shit to make a point- even a very important and valid one (looking at all the gritty pessimistic novels High School gave me) can be too much for enjoyment. Also I feel like this is something to note, since I just got thinking about it making this post, but I hear people saying “it’s as bad as Homestuck is” and well. Okay. I’d believe you if it weren’t for DIEHARD FANS who know how Homestuck is, and have seen the content in Homestuck that’s been upsetting, expressing their utter disappointment with the epilogue and how it handles topics. I’m not even looking at the people who don’t like Homestuck and have been searching for a reason all along to decimate any fans of it. I’m talking people who would tell you just days ago that they love Homestuck in its entirety and even with its flaws they can find enjoyment in it and other related content being appalled at the epilogues.

All in all, I haven’t read it and won’t unless I know I’m actually safe to read it, so I’m not the most suited to give accurate commentary on how subjects were handled within them, but I know some of the discussion within the fandom currently can be a source of concern for me. I usually avoid posting lots about fandom stuff, not necessarily because cringe or whatever, but generally nothing gets me super worried or concerned to the point of feeling the need to. I do know some of the people who liked it going “people should appreciate things” or “things are dark sometimes!” should maybe evaluate why so many of the fanbase seems upset with it. Maybe you like bad endings or gritty content and I’m not going to use this post to judge, but know that Homestuck, while still occasionally dark, was relatively lighthearted. I know a dude who legit just read Homestuck because it was funny. Liked it at it’s best when it was early on and making fun of point and click games and mechanics. Perhaps you liked it, but for a story so full of grief of loss people expected that hardship to work towards something good. So many works of fiction are so very pessimistic, and to get at least one story with at least a bittersweet ending- maybe not completely happy, but something bittersweet- is great. And when Collide and Act 7 sorta came around and were kinda decent, and even to some extent the snaps weren’t terribly bad, people could accept that the kids found a light at the end of the tunnel. A lot of people use fiction and stories as an escape, and lots of times much like they’d wish for themselves in reality people want characters to EARN something from their suffering. Even if the point is to be “too angsty” or “too ‘happy’” (I hear that isn’t even “happy” either, really. But I guess it’d be the “happiest” possible by whatever twisted standards the writers thought of) that doesn’t necessarily make it a good point. Even if the point is to not be satisfactory that doesn’t make it a good point. Or rather. Even if these points end up being alright points to make, they aren’t necessarily good executions.

I want to say one last time, because I’ve rambled a lot and typed this mess out in a very scattered way and lost track of what all I put in here:

If you liked the epilogues. Good on you I suppose, but don’t judge those who find them out of place; especially listen when people put thought into why. Hell, even consider why those who can’t even find the courage to read them are afraid when surely they’ve read the rest of Homestuck and potentially parts of Hiveswap and Friendsim that are upsetting.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

Thanks for turning me on to the Penelope/Schneider ship. Something about Schneider really breaks my heart. He's just so utterly genuine, and really selfless underneath the rich dude jokes...he's almost got a childlike quality (not to be confused with childish), where love is earnest and simple and without reservation once he cares. It's almost like he's still that kid waiting for someone to actually love him back.

Okay this is take #2 cuz tumblr ate the first one. You sent this days ago, anon, and I’ve just been hanging on to it bc I really love Schneider and I knew it would become an essay.

And you’re so welcome for me pulling you into my new fave ship!! The funny thing about them as a pairing is that once I started thinking about WHY I love them, I realized how much they have in common with my more serious OTPs…yet they’re best friends on a sitcom, and it shouldn’t make sense but it does and it’s beautiful. 

Honestly, one of my favorite things about Schneider is that S1 sets him up as the comic relief, not much more important than Penelope’s coworkers. His sobriety and privilege and weird hobbies are all turned into punchlines, and they could have left him there. But in S2 they gave him so much more depth without changing his character at all, really–when you rewatch S1 he’s still the same guy, but now you can see where some of his jokes aren’t really that funny, they’re a coping mechanism. And by the S2 finale, when he claims them as family you get it. He’s earned it. It’s not funny at all anymore.

More Schneider ramblings below the cut. :)

So the more I study him (and yes, I have studied him, I’m turning canon into a detailed guide about everything we’ve learned re: his backstory so far cuz I have a problem) the more I feel like he’s really relatable. Which is not something I ever expected to say about a rich white dude. 

But Schneider is the epitome of someone whose emotionally neglectful childhood turned him into an adult who is desperate to be loved. Who expects people to leave him or not like him very much…who is himself full of love and gives it away to people who deserve it AND people who don’t. He’s unconditionally devoted to his best friend and her entire family, he’ll be their mentor or support or punching bag when they need it without hesitation, which is so pure it hurts my heart.

Ir hurts my heart even more that he doesn’t demand anything back, though. He focuses on them and their needs completely, and while it’s easy to list off moments that demonstrate why Schneider is Penelope’s best friend, times he has helped and supported and openly loved her, the reverse is harder. I think those moments are there, but much like Lydia visiting Schneider in rehab prior to S1…we haven’t gotten to see them.

And Schneider trying to do romance…wow is he lowkey out to break your heart. Thanks to what he witnessed growing up, he thinks a good relationship can be two people who don’t even like each other, that love probably isn’t real, and he jumps at the chance to be married, like he just needs a person to belong to–anyone who’ll have him.

He’s used to nobody taking him seriously, he even leans into it. After all, he’s completely fucked up his life, right? Five years of sobriety don’t change his addictive personality, he was too wasted to retain an education, and since he has money very little is expected of him. So why bother?

So instead of demanding respect and appreciation, he just goes around quietly earning it. Is he great with tools? Tbh, who knows. Penelope praises him in the pilot but we mostly see him talk about paying someone else to do the work until he trains Elena…yet do any of the tenants complain? No. They trust him to babysit and ply him with friendly beverages and appreciate his companionship because he cares. 

He’s obviously great with kids but claims he’s never thought about wanting them. Is that because he’s in no hurry, or because he thinks he doesn’t deserve kids, given his issues or the family he comes from?

And speaking of that, why do we know zero details about his mom, except that she’s alive? Where was she all those years? Did he get all his terrible ideas about relationships from his serial-remarrying father, or was she a part of that too? I have so many questions, the more I feel like I’ve figured him out.

This is a whole separate essay but deserves at least a mention: Schneider has got to be one of the most privileged characters on TV who not only tries to be aware of his privilege but tries to always listen to the people in his life whose experiences are different from his own and accept their pronouncements as fact rather than arguing because the reality makes him uncomfortable. He learns Spanish just because his favorite people speak it, he joins their cultural celebrations without patronizing them. He’s the outsider in their world and he is always aware of it. More importantly, he doesn’t try to use his money or his status as a way to negate that.

When it comes to Penelope, there’s no question that he loves her. It’s in the way he treats her and looks at her and everything about their friendship-she’s not just his pal, she’s his family. And canon gives us so much room to play with the possibility that he’s already IN love with her too, but he thinks she’s amazing–she’s the best mom and friend and person he knows. Of COURSE he would never have a chance with her. It’s not even a question. So he keeps it to himself.

It’s also clear that she has put him very firmly in a box inside her head labeled ‘lovable goofball who accidentally became her best friend.’ So when he does things that contradict that narrative or surprise her, like getting cleaned up for the quinces, she’s very confused by what she expects to think of him versus how she actually feels.

They’re each other’s found family. They’re ready-made friends-to-lovers. There’s massive potential for pining. He would do anything for her, and when Penelope is at her worst, it’s Schneider she seeks out.

What’s not to love?

[franeridart]

Every time I see your art of a rare pair I somehow become a huge fan of that rare pair. I have too many otps...,

...is it okay for me to be happy I’m dragging you down with me on all of my weird ships because tbh I am for a lot of them there’s just a handful of people shipping them I’m happy you’re joining us hahaha

Anon said:because of your tags on that kamisero post i now love the hc that kirishima just uses loving bakugou as an excuse to get out of conversations that make him uncomfortable, even if it makes no sense. Like 'any advice on how to confess?' 'I'm dating bakugou, you probably should ask someone else.' or 'how do you think snow works?' 'Dude I'm dating bakugou, i don't know.'

I’m in love with this ask because this has been my most ridiculous headcanon for an age I’m glad I could subtely make you share it, anon - Kirishima being perfectly aware of the fact that aside from the face there is no objective reason why he should be that smitten with Bakugou? That’s my jam, he’s as surprised as anyone else so when people ask him anything love related he’s like “do I look like a reliable source man DO I I think it’s hot when Bakugou yells there’s obviously something wrong with me you don’t want my advices”

But also for however aware of it he might be he’s still in love with the dude so people pointing it out to him gets old really fast, like, “it’s one thing if I say it myself and another it’s you talking shit about my boyfriend stop that”, which is why he just starts using “what do I know I like Bakugou” as an answer to anything - it starts with him being a smartass and it becomes just habit by the end of it, sometimes he uses it when Bakugou is around or with Bakugou himself and Bakugou doesn’t understand, doesn’t want to understand, has pondered the option of getting angry/offended/demanding an explaination and has deemed it not worth his time because the answer is most probably just gonna be that his boyfriend is an idiot anyway

(also he might or might not like how Kirishima’s pretty much just going around telling people he likes him over and over again, tbh)

Anon said:Any tips on how to be creative with ship week prompts? I'm wanting to participate in klance week but I'm worried my pics will come out really basic and yours are always so unique!

Thank you for the compliment!!!! And actually this is an hard question, cause as I already mentioned once what I draw is the first thing with a beginning and an ending I can come up with, so I can’t say I put too much focus on making it unique? But there are two things I can tell you! 

The first, is that whatever idea your prompt ends up giving you, for however boring and basic it might seem to you, I assure you 100% that it won’t be to whomever ends up consuming your content - that’s because even a “boring” trope will be completely new as long as it comes from the hands of someone new who’s giving it their own interpretation of it (take for example the nightmares prompt for the latest krbk week, a lot of people - myself included - took it literally and wrote about them having and talking about nightmares, but I enjoyed every and each of the fills a lot because even if the starting point was the same they were all very very different stories) and also any idea you get easily will seem boring to you by default, because you didn’t think about it hard enough, right? It must be the obvious thing to think about when you read that prompt, right? Everyone else must have thought the same, right? Only it isn’t right, because every brain works differently and creativity sparks from the most ridiculous things, so your idea might seem very obvious and boring to you, but completely new to someone else! You don’t know how many of my own fills felt incredibly trite as I drew them, and yet here you are telling me you don’t feel the same at all haha

The second thing is that generally I found that creativity is... how do I put it, it’s kind of like a muscle. The more you exercise it the easier it will come to you using it, or at least that’s how it works for me - being creative isn’t really something you can force on the spot, but it’s definitely something you can learn and get used to, in my opinion. There are a few ways to exercise it, but the easier one for me is playing around with prompts - how many different ideas can I get from this same set of words? what kind of story can I pull out of this song/picture? Those are the most basic ones, but there’s also reading/watching a story and trying to adapt it to your own chosen characters, fit together more than one universe to try and pull out something sensible, seeing something in the middle of the road and thinking “that’s a prompt, I can use that as a prompt”. After a while, everything becomes a potential prompt, and your brain automatically goes through a short “can I use that to create something else?” check every time you experience something new, and stores it somewhere to use in the future if it seems potentially worth keeping, if you’re used to doing so. And the more little prompts and informations and facts you have stored around in your brain, the more you can subconsciously pick them up to add to new ones to make something creative

That second part is definitely a bit useless as a short term advice, considering your week is starting soon and exercising your creativity does take a while, but I hope you’ll give the week a go anyway! Both because I’m sure you’re already way more creative than you’re assuming you are, and because making creative stuff is the fastest way to becoming more creative, really!

Anon said:I LOVE UR DRAWING OF KIRIBAKU U MAKE ME FEEL ALIVE. THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR BEING PART OF THIS FANDOM, WE ARE SO LUCKY! I ALSO LOVE HOW U HUMOUR AND MAKE IT SO SWEET AND CUTE ANNDD SOFFFTT T_T

BOI thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *O* I’m glad you like my stuff??? There are so many super talented artists in this fandom, sitting with them sometimes can get intimidating haha so this really means a lot!! Thank you!!!

Anon said:Wow can u believe......ur my fave artist......ur Kiris are my fave ily

F ave !!!!!!! holy h e c k !!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!! Do I deserve such praise I’m really not sure am I gonna keep it anyway yes, yes I am, I’ll keep on thinking about this ask forever oh my go d

Anon said:Who usually tops in Bakushima?•//////•

Ohhh man, a question I can’t answer - both because I don’t dwell much into sexy headcanons territory AND because I’m honestly not a fan of that dicotomy at all? I never settle on anything in that sense for any of my ships, but Baku and Kiri especially make no sense settled in that kind of roles, for me, they probably just go at it however they feel like it’d be best atm haha

Anon said:I never expected to ship bakushimanari and yet here i am, three hours after scrolling through your tag for the third time, crying over every single interaction between the three of them in the manga. (I think my favourite thing about them is that both Kaminari and Bakugou can be little shits but then there's kirishima, who's an unrepentant sunshine, and it's just like. What a terrifying trio. I pity any villains they face).

I know right they’re such a good ot3 !!!!!! though let’s not take anything from Kiri, when he’s with the squad he can be a shit too, it’s magnificent - I do love the fact that we know from the canon that both Kaminari and Bakugou don’t sympathize with the enemy at all and don’t hold back on fighting verbally either, while Kirishima is all “stop running away and let me give you a life lesson” though ??? And the fact that Bakugou and Kaminari can’t coexist without talking shit about each other at least a little makes it all even more entertaining to me, considering how on the other hand even though Kirishima doesn’t hold back from pointing out when Bakugou’s being ridiculous he’s still always all about support and trying to better the others??? It’s like, when you read it like this they seem like a mess, and they are but they’re a balanced mess it’s incredible I love them I need more of them all together

Anon said:Saw Tokoyami, fell, and now I can't get up ))':

Anon said: Hello I just wanted to express my thanks to you for the bakugou and tokoyami interactions you drew. I love them as friends and it's pretty rarely portrayed so THANKS~

Anon said: Listen as much as i love the ot3 i am so happy you drew my bird son (and tape son! tho i think youve drawn sero more often than tokoyami)

!!!!!!!!! you all sure love the bird child a lot, don’t you!!! That’s great because I do too, he’s one of my most faves tbh and I officially made him part of the squad so you can expect more to come - I had drawn him already before, though! With Tsu and Kiri mostly, never with Baku... Sero on the other hand is in a whole damn lot of my squad/kiribaku/bakushimanari drawings so yeah, I’ve definitely drawn him more often haha what can I do man I love him too much he’s a Good™

[the-outquisitor]

everything but multiples of four who am i?? Ull never know

What a ~mystery~! I don’t know ANYONE who doesn’t like the number 4!

1. Templars or Mages? Srsly??? Mages

2. Mage, warrior, or rogue?I have one of each! Buuuuut rogue, tbh, it’s in my soul

3. Describe your favorite Inquisitor’s personality and backgroundAurora Trevelyan is the youngest child of Bann Trevelyan of Ostwick who, despite the expectations of her pious family to join the chantry, trained as a warrior. She is kind and forgiving, but firm and strong in her convictions and her faith. While she is gentle, she is reserved until she learns to trust you, and has a sad air about her.

5. Favorite romance in Dragon Age: Inquisition?Cullen ♡♡♡

6. Favorite romance in Dragon Age 2?Anders ♡♡♡

7. Favorite romance in Dragon Age: Origins?Alistair ♡♡♡ (I, uh…have a Type™)

9. Least favorite Dragon Age character and why?Loghain! Because he planned everything all along, including the enslavement of the elves in Denerim, the poisoning of Arl Eamon, abandoning King Cailan, destroying the Wardens, and allowing Howe to get away with the massacre of the Couslands. In fact, they say that ALL of the King’s advisors are mysteriously out of commission during the Battle of Ostagar, and I’m not convinced that he didn’t have to do with the Arl of Denerim’s death either. AND he gets a free pass. So fuck that and fuck him. :^)

10. Who do you think should become Divine? Leliana please, down with Circles

11. Should Cole become more human or more spirit like? I always make him human because he’s really really suffering when he sees that templar, and ultimately I think Varric is right about helping him through changing himself. Not that I think he couldn’t be happy being a spirit, it’s just that the whole “forgive someone killing you” thing is something I struggle with personally.

13. What was the fate of your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor?Warden: Queen with Alistair and a daughterHawke: Back in Kirkwall with Anders and a daughterInquisitor: Running templar sanctuary with Cullen with a son

14. Qunari, humans, elves, or dwarves?All of the above! Everyone’s great

(Started answering on my laptop at this point, so had to change the spacing)

15. Favorite location in Inquisition?

Wholesome answer? The Frostback Basin. Self indulgent answer? ...The Winter Palace

17. Which characters do you ship and why?

Josephine and Isabela because Isabela would TOTALLY go for seducing a prim and proper lady with a secret penchant for adventure and Josephine would TOTALLY go for making her work for it when Isabela can usually get what she wants pretty easily cause Josephine knows how to play the game. IMAGINE THE BATTLE OF WILLS. And then they can get married and go gay sailing forever.

Sera and Dagna because not only are they canon, but the MAYHEM. ALL OF THE BEES. And they’re cuties

Sigrun and Velanna cause I enjoy ships where one is grumpy and the other is a ball of sunshine and also because both of them deserve love and happiness. 

Maryden-centric polyamorous relationship between her, Cole, and Krem because I enjoy compromise.

And one that I just made up which is Carver and Nathaniel because they both have similar experiences with family and reputation and also because I don’t believe Carver is actually as broody as he’s made out to be and I feel like Nathaniel would appreciate his sarcastic sense of humor. (And also because Nathaniel and Anders def had a fling and how awkward would that make family reunions??? In other words, I live.)

18. Which pairings do you dislike and why?

Varric and Cassandra because WHY???? LIKE OKAY they were both able to move past their fight and their distrust of one another from the beginning, but I don’t see that blossoming into a relationship. I feel like they could be friends, but they do not solve problems or generally go about things the same way, and I can see that becoming an issue. Like Cass is way more strict with her morals and Varric couldn’t give a single fuck, and I feel like when your value systems are that different, there’s gonna be problems. I dunno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

19. In your playthrough, who became the ruler of Ferelden?

Alistair, the right one

21. Which game, in your opinion, is the strongest entry to the series?

AaaaaAAAAHHH THEY’RE ALL GOOD FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. I play Inquisition the most because I’ve played Origins SO MANY TIMES and 2 isn’t as flexible with Hawke’s characterization. But I feel like Origins is the strongest because it establishes a consistent lore and has a good story structure. Also, absolutely nothing is in it or any of its DLCs that doesn’t add to the story, the lore, or the characters in some way.

22. Bethany or Carver?

I have...never played as a non-mage in 2...so I’ve never had Bethany :’(

23. Favorite DLC?

NooOOOO DON’T ASK ME THIS DAMMIT!!! Because Awakening is where I finally developed my Warden, Trespasser is, well, Trespasser, and The Descent is SO GOOD AAAAAHHHHH

I’m, uh...gonna answer this with that, so :P

25. Do you like the Warden, Hawke, or the Inquisitor the most?

26. Did your Inquisitor forgive Solas?

LOL for which fucked up thing? Cause depending on the universe, the answer varies VASTLY. For giving the orb to Corypheus which fucked everything up? Sure, we all make mistakes. For keeping that, his identity, and the nature of the Anchor a secret from her the whole time so she could believe whatever she wanted and not know what was actually going to happen? Probs not. For breaking up with @ravenstag‘s Inquisitor? NEVER.

27. Least favorite quest in the series?

THE ONE WITH THE FADE IN THE BROKEN CIRCLE QUEST IN ORIGINS FUCK ME SIDEWAYS AND BURY ME ALIVE I HATE THAT QUEST SO FUCKING MUCH

29. Describe the appearance and personality of your Warden character.

(All taken from her Charahub page cause I’m lazy)

Shoulder-length brown hair, usually kept in a high ponytail, Dark brown eyes, 5'7" with a slender build

She is mild-mannered and gentle, preferring to take the diplomatic route in a situation if possible. She is good at helping feuding parties find common ground and using logical arguments. She is also very detail-oriented and perceptive, taking in small but important pieces of information almost constantly.Although she knows how to hide her emotions behind a polite smile or a calm demeanor, when she is around her loved ones, she is happy-go-lucky and unrestrained in sharing her affections or making witty jokes. She is also very individualistic and tries to find the value in everyone's personal identity. As a result, she tends to be a good listener and/or a shoulder to cry on. She is very intuitive, sometimes asserting that she just knows what the right choice is. This can lead to her making reckless decisions which have gotten her into dangerous situations. Her penchant for recklessness also comes from a general thirst for excitement, a yearning for more than what was expected of her, and an intensified need to feel alive after experiencing trauma.Because she was taught that duty and loyalty always come first, she detests betrayal in all of its forms and if you betray her trust, which can be given in haste, she will not forgive you and will seek vengeance to one degree or another.

30. Did you side with Briala, Gaspard, or with Empress Celene?

I...may have reconciled Celene and Briala...because I didn’t know better...and because I have no reason to think Aurora would know any better...I kept it that way... Oops...

[toudaimoto-kun1-blog]

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Mun-Directed Questions About Roleplaying! 

Yay! Thank you for sending so many!

5. What’s something about your character that you’d like if you had to spend time with them?

I think if I had to pick just one thing, it would be how calm and kind Kurashi is. He can make almost any atmosphere calm and relaxed, and is always there with a smile on his face. I think I’d really love that single quality about him.

10. What’s the hardest thing for you to write?

That really depends. There are times when I can’t write fluff, or nsfw, or angst; I just can’t find the mood for it in myself. I also have to have a mood for answering asks, since they’re so different to me from just replaying to a thread. It really depends on the day. 

15. Do you like or dislike OC/Canon character interactions in principle?

I don’t really differentiate between Canon characters and OCs too much, since Kurashi himself is pretty much an OC. Though I tend to maybe have a bit too high expectations when rping with OCs; mainly I’m sensitive for people to turn their OCs into Mary Sues, or imply they know characters from canon verse without consulting or implying that in the rules. I also don’t really like OCs with only vague, or none backgrounds and stories, since if we’re supposed to plot together, I need to know more about your muse than how they look and that they are “incredibly intelligent” or “a tomboy”.

20. How much time do you spend roleplaying on average a week?

Haha, definitely too much! I rp more or less every day, in-between other activities. It can mean that I’ll be on the whole day, or just few hours in the evening, but I think on average, I’m spending some good 25-30 hours weekly rping (while doing other things too, so please don’t judge me too hard XD)

25. What’s your least favorite AU?

I don’t think there is one, tbh! Maybe if I had to choose, the main one actually; I’ve been rping Kurashi as he is for almost two years, so it gets boring at times :P

30. What do you like about roleplaying fluff?

Pft, everything! It makes me warm and giggly, and I love seeing my bby happy and cuddly. Especially when I myself am in need of hugs or tired after a long day, fluff is a great way to unwind and start smiling again :)

35. Do you ever read other people’s NSFW rp threads? (be honest!)

Sometimes I do! I have two people here who I know have the most amazing NSFW threads, and I would sometimes take a peak under readmore, especially if it’s a pairing I like.

40. Do you like to plot or improv?

A combination of both. I like to start with some vague idea of where do we want to go with it; for example, idk, this and that happened and now this and this character feels this and this way, so how about your character makes them better/worse/does something specific - and after this kind of preliminary plotting, I like to improvise, for the story to flow its own way. If I know I have to make Kurashi act one way, I usually end up disliking the thread, since it tends to feel artificial - which is if you plot with me in a detailed way, I might message you up in the middle of the thread and go “OKAY BUT UM NOW I THINK KURASHI WON’T ACT LIKE THAT, HE’LL ACT MORE LIKE THIS IS THAT STILL OKAY”. @silxntrabiddog has been the victim of this lately XD

45. What’s your least favorite thing about rping a chat/short style thread?

I quite like this way of rp, but it doesn’t really work out when the rp is serious or basically anytime when I need to show Kurashi’s way of thinking. While rping chat/short style, there’s a lot more misunderstandings between muses, since the mun on the other side can’t know what made my character react like that, and I think that it isn’t good; a lot can be conveyed by an expression, a gesture, body language, and that all just can’t be conveyed by words alone.

50. What’s something you like about FCs/Play-Bys?

They set the mood; when I read a reply with a particular icon, I tend to set the mood for it according to the FC’s expression, and it really helps get through some things.

55. What do you like to do as you reply to threads? Listen to music? Have TV on? Complete silence? Dark room? etc.

I like it to be more or less silent, without distractions. If I talk with someone or listen to music or if there is TV on in the room, it takes me twice as much time to write a reply, since I get distracted easily.

60. Who’s a roleplayer (or writer) you think you have learned a lot from?

I think the first place on that list goes to @godlikeschemer, who’s just... so amazing, and taught me so much about rping and other stuff connected to it. Kurashi evolved a lot thanks to @knightinyellow as well, if just because of how damn many threads we used to have :P And I learnt a lot from @silxntrabiddog​ and their muses, and from @silverweretiger​ as well, even though we don’t know each other that long. These are honorable mentions, but I think everyone I rp with helps Kurashi grow as a character, and myself as a rper; there isn’t a roleplay that just doesn’t leave its mark.