#look maybe i'll make a more detailed post about this eventually but what i'm trying to say is

[margindoodles2407]

This. This is why I will defend Zelda to my death- I understand the frustration surrounding her constantly being a "damsel in distress" but I think we tend to forget that Zelda's Triforce is Wisdom, not Courage. That's not to say that Zelda's not brave or courageous- heck, look at Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Hyrule Warriors, Breath of the Wild, et cetera- but her strength, her true strength, comes from her ability to outsmart Ganon rather than overpower him.

In fact, I would even argue that Zelda's always had more agency in the narrative than we give her credit for, even all the way back in Zelda 1. We can't forget that in Zelda 1, she's canonically 10 years old. There's no way she'd be able to physically fight back against Ganon, who at this point is a senseless monster of chaos and destruction. So what does she do? She splits the Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces. She understands that she don't be able to defend herself against the prince of darkness, but she can defend the Triforce in the only way she knows how, and then send Impa to find someone who can defeat Ganon physically. This is implict and, regretfully, rather hidden in the lore, but it's there if you look. (And, if I'm being honest, for a plan made by a ten-year-old princess, it was a heck of a lot more effective than the plan made by another ten-year-old princess in Ocarina of Time.)

That being said, would I like to see a game where Zelda fights alongside Link ala Wind Waker but it's for the whole game? Yes, I'd love that. But if we think about it, Zelda's really always been fighting alongside Link, only in a different way.

This comment made me shift my perspective on Zelda, no joke. I’ve always been annoyed (and still am) that there isn’t a game where you actually play as Zelda, but this does a nice job of showing WHY she’s always getting attacked first, and why Ganon/Demise are always defeated not long after Link reunites with her: she’s the true source of power to defeat them.

[starcrossedmusings]

Pretty Hands

Pairing: best friend!Yunho x f!reader WC: 3.2k Warnings: eventual smut, reader has a thing for Yunho's hands (who doesn't??), swearing, fingering, choking, a little bit of degradation (he compares her to a whore literally once), PRAISE so much praise, Yunho talks reader through it (you're welcome), pov is kinda all over the place just let it be, Yunho is absolutely WHIPPED for reader teehee, probably some other things that I missed (let me know)

Summary: You and Yunho have been friends for years, and you tell each other everything. He suddenly takes a much more vested interest in your love life when you can't stop mentioning your newest interest.

A/N: This is entirely self indulgent and also I just wanted to get something full posted. The Phantom fic is turning out to be much longer than I originally anticipated (and so did this one once I started writing it). Let me know what you think♡

Stepping into Yunho's apartment had always felt like coming home, and today was no exception. You take your shoes off in the tiled entryway and pad your way through the main living area, calling out to him as you walk.

"Yun? I'm here!"

His muffled response flows down from the end of the hall, "Bedroom!"

You make your way through the back hallway and enter his room, finding him exactly where you thought he would be, focused in on his computer. There's a selection of empty drink cans and snack wrappers scattered around his desk, which tells you that whatever he's currently building on Minecraft has probably occupied the majority of his day so far. He pauses the game and turns his chair to face you.

"Whats up?"

"Got bored at home and my roommate isn't even trying to muffle her pornstar moans for her new boy toy."

Yunho barks out a laugh, "Does she seriously sound--"

"Just like it Yun I can't make this shit up. I'm starting to think maybe they're recording themselves in there."

Yunho wiggles his eyebrows as he stretches his arms up and over his head, leaning back in his chair. "Well, if I ever see your living room on Pornhub I'll be sure to let you know"

You crinkle your nose. "Ew. I do NOT need to know that."

"Whatever, don't act like you haven't been talking to me for weeks about how horny you are. If I have to hear about your vibrator dying one more time I'm gonna buy you a new one myself."

"You try getting unintentionally edged three nights in a row with a full charge, it's some bullshit Yun. Besides, I'm allowed to complain about my dry spell."

Yunho scoffs, tone playful and lighthearted. "Dry spell? It's been what? Two months?"

"It's been three thank you very much." You move to sit on his bed.

"Well some of us haven't had sex in much longer."

"Oh, please, that girl that San was messing around with was all over you at his birthday party last month, don't tell me you didn't take that opportunity."

Yunho raises his eyebrows in shock, leaning forward in his chair. "Wait, really?"

"Oh my GOD Yun you are so oblivious. Yes really. She was all giggly and twirling her hair and shit. That's like...girl flirting basics."

"I am not oblivious, I am actually quite observant. I could tell you things about yourself you don't even know. I just have my sights set on someone and that someone is not her."

You shoot him an incredulous look and snort out a laugh, leaning back to lay down completely on his bed, legs dangling off the edge. "Sure Yun, whatever makes you feel better."

You hear Yunho stand from his chair and feel his weight shift onto the mattress. He appears in your vision, a challenging playful sparkle in his eyes as he peers down at you. "Okay, fine. I can tell that you're trying out a new perfume, you just went shopping because your leggings are a different brand than you usually wear, and I know that you washed your hair last night because you're wearing it all the way down today."

You do your best to ignore the way your stomach summersaults at his attention to detail about you and your routines. You roll onto your side and prop your head up on your elbow, matching his challenging gaze. "Okay Sherlock Holmes. What kind of underwear am I wearing then?"

Yunho pauses to consider before responding "a thong, probably black." You grin triumphantly and lean in just a bit closer.

"Wrong. I'm not wearing any. You lose!" You stick your tongue out playfully at him and he swats your shoulder, falling back onto his mattress.

"You set me up!"

"Face it Yun, I'm just better than you."

"Yeah yeah, whatever" Yunho pouts, voice hightening slightly from surprise. He can feel a slight redness creeping up his ears and prays his hair has grown long enough to cover it. 'I'm not wearing any.' He clears his throat. "So why go commando? You finally planning to seduce your new conquest?"

"He is not a new conquest, he doesn't even know I like him."

"He will once he knows you aren't wearing any underwear for him" Yunho jokes, smiling cheekily. You smack at his chest.

"I didn't want to do laundry last night, asshole. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"You're one to talk" he mutters under his breath.

You sit up fully and reach for one of the pillows at the top of his bed, slamming it down on his face. "Jeong Yunho I swear to god!" On your second swing, he manages to catch the pillow with one hand and pry it from your grasp, but not before giving you an entirely unhelpful image of his long fingers gripping the plush material.

"What?? All I ever hear you talk about lately is how tall and handsome this dude is and how much his hands make you drool."

"You sound jealous."

"I'm not jealous, I'm pissed that I have to hear all about him and don't even get to know what the dude's name is."

"I told you, I'm gatekeeping this time. You run your mouth too much."

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Ugh FINE whatever," Yunho chucks the pillow back towards you and you dodge it, leaving both pillows on one side of the headboard, "You're so agitating."

"You know you love me Yun. But just for the attitude," You adjust both pillows and shuffle your way back until you're leaned against both of them, "no pillow for you for tonights doomscrolling session."

He huffs a laugh and scoots up to meet you, pulling out his phone and settling in against the headboard.

An hour later you get up to go to the bathroom, and when you get back Yunho has stolen both of his pillows. You frown and cross your arms. "Hey, asshole, those were mine!"

"Yeah?" He taunts playfully, "Well they were mine to begin with, and my back is killing me. So deal." You roll your eyes and cross back over to the bed, crawling over the side you've been sitting on and curling yourself into Yunho's side to rest your head against his chest. You feel him tense slightly underneath you before he moves one of his arms around your shoulders to let you lay more comfortably.

"There's no way in hell I'm sitting up against that cold ass metal frame you call a headboard." You mutter as you begin scrolling. Yunho's chuckle rumbles through his chest and tickles your cheek. You both sit in silence for a while, content to scroll on your phones. Eventually, you turn to look up at him from his chest.

"I meant to ask how your new project has been going. Whatever you were building when I came in looked pretty intense." You can see the faint tinge of red trail up his ears and neck--a telltale sign that whatever you caught him building makes him embarrassed. You sit up, propping your weight on your elbow and placing a hand on his chest to shove him slightly. "Ooooo now you have to tell me what it is!"

"It's embarrassing..."

"Tell me tell me tell me tell me--"

"Okay fine, fuck. I'll tell you if you promise not to laugh--"

"I won't I swear!"

"Pinky promise?" He holds his pinky out to you, and you raise a hand from his chest. Before you can lace your pinky in his, he pulls his hand up above his head. "I'm serious, Y/N, if you laugh I'll have no choice but to tickle you to death."

He's definitely not stalling because he has to come up with a reply, because he certainly hasn't been building a treehouse for you in what he hopes will one day be a shared server. Yunho thinks to himself that he would rather die than let you find out.

You scoff, "I won't laugh...and even if I did I'm not ticklish so your threat is a moot point."

Yunho drops his hand down onto the mattress. "Bullshit."

"It's not. I don't have a ticklish bone in my body."

"Liar."

You shake your head, and Yunho takes the opportunity to gently press the pads of his fingers into the sides of your ribs. The sensation hits you almost immediately, and you feel the tight feeling in your chest as he begins tickling you. You squeal and thrash around in his grasp, trying desperately to get away from his assault.

"Yun stop it--"

"Not until you admit you're a liar!" You begin to giggle and manage to roll away from him, but Yunho is quick to follow. He swings a long leg over your hips and pins you beneath him, a single large hand trapping both of your wrists above your head while the other dances across your ribs. "Admit it," He sings out.

"Okay! Okay fine I'm a liar!" You gasp out between laughter. Yunho beams down at you and immediately stops tickling your sides, leaving you panting underneath him--

Oh fuck...you're panting underneath him.

He can almost feel the shift in the air as he stares down at you. He knows he should move, just roll off of you and make up some bullshit lie about what he was building. You like someone else, and he clearly wasn't getting out of the friend zone any time soon. He's just making a fool of himself...and yet he just can't bring himself to stop memorizing the way you look splayed out beneath his hips. Eventually he forces himself to stop staring at the way your chest rises and falls or the sliver of your tummy that's poking out from underneath your shirt that's riding up. He locks eyes with you.

Your voice comes out softer than he's ever heard you speak before. "Hey Yun?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that mystery guy I've been telling you about? The one with the pretty hands?"

A twinge of annoyance flairs in his stomach and he can't help but grumble out his reply. "Yeah?"

"I'll give you a hint. He's got me pinned to the mattress right now."

Yunho feels his heart drop deep into the pit of his stomach.

"Like...like right now he does?"

You laugh lightly. "Yeah, right now, Yun."

Yunho swallows thickly as his head starts spinning. He leans down much slower than he would have liked to, giving you plenty of time to take it back--to laugh at him and tell him you got him good. He feels like his whole body lights ablaze when you close the final gap between your lips, and suddenly he is kissing you.

In almost any circumstance that you had seen Yunho kissing someone, he was always fast-paced--hot and heavy petting in the corner of a darkened bar, dares in drunken party circles--which is why you were floored at the reverence he was kissing you with now. His mouth was steady and intense against yours, his hands roaming slowly across the expanse of your torso like he was memorizing the feel of something priceless. You gently pull your hands from his grasp and tangle them in his hair, pulling him closer and matching his intensity with your fervor. You feel his hands make their way to the lower hem of your shirt, and your skin erupts in goosebumps as you feel his fingers ghost along the sliver of skin there. He breaks the kiss and you feel his breath fan across your face as he pants. His hands gently make their way to rest just under your shirt, not quite pushing the fabric up. He locks eyes with you.

"Is this okay?"

You chuckle gently. "Yes, Yun, you can touch me. I want you to touch me." You watch his eyes darken and his hands start running up your torso, pulling your shirt up with them.

"Where do you want me to touch you, baby?"

You exhale heavily and arch your back into his touch. "Anywhere...everywhere...I don't care."

Yunho smirks and feels his ego inflate. "You don't care? Hmm..." He starts planting kisses along your jaw and down the side of your neck. Slow. Teasing. "If I remember correctly, you seemed pretty keen about having my hands in some specific places baby. Can you refresh my memory?"

The low whine that escapes your throat nearly sends him spiraling. "You know where...don't make me say it."

He does know, but there's nothing he wants to hear more right now than to hear you say it. He brings one hand up to your chest, cupping one of your boobs and squeezing gently as he continues peppering your neck with kisses. "Was it here? Or..." His hand trails back down and grips your hip possessively, "Here, maybe?" He hears you huff and feels your hand wrap around his wrist. You try to tug it up, and he chuckles softly but allows you to move his hand. He nips your earlobe and asks lowly, "Where do you need my hands baby?" He feels his cock twitch in his sweats when you wrap his fingers around your throat, guiding him to squeeze the sides gently. Your hands run down his chest and drop to your sides as he squeezes a little harder. "Fuck, look at you. So pretty with my hand around your neck."

You whine and buck your hips up, desperately looking for friction. Yunho coos as he looks down at you, wanting to have the image burned into his memory. He adjusts his position so he's sat on one side of you and brings his free hand to your thighs, squeezing the flesh there and watching the way you spread your legs for him. "Pretty girl, I need you to use your words. Spreading your legs like a whore isn't gonna get you what you want." He revels in the way you throw your head back onto the mattress and close your eyes, frustration evident already on your face.

"Need your fingers, Yun. Please."

Holy shit, he could combust right then and there. He smiles and traces his hands along the inside of your clothed thighs. "Good girl. So polite for me." He hooks his fingers in the waistband of your leggings and pulls them down and off, leaving you bare from the waist down. "Sit up for me baby. I want you between my legs."

Yunho sits on the edge of the mattress and allows you time to sit up, moving to sit in between his thighs. He hooks your legs over his, leaving you spread and completely at his mercy. A shiver runs down your spine as the pads of his fingers run across your thighs and you gasp as they brush against your core. He presses kisses into your neck and chuckles, "You're already soaking wet, what's got you all bothered hmm? I've barely touched you..." Yunho hums and teases your entrance with this middle finger. He can feel you clenching. "Do you like my hands that much baby? All it takes is a little choking and you're putty for me." He pushes two fingers inside, pumping slowly and curling back to find your sweet spot. He feels pride flare through his chest at the noise you make, a mix between a whine and a moan that eggs him on.

Your toes curl as Yunho almost immediately finds your g-spot. The pace he sets is almost perfect, and when he begins rubbing tight circles on your clit your eyes roll back into your head. The pleasure is a building wave, and it's all you can do to keep yourself remotely still as he continues pumping his thick fingers in and out. "Oh my god, Yun, please don't stop!" You clench helplessly around his fingers and let your head roll back to rest on his shoulder.

"Awe baby I'm not gonna stop. Not until I see how pretty you look cumming all over me. Will you do that for me, sweetheart?" he coos, bringing his other hand back up to your throat and squeezing lightly. "Will you cum all over my fingers? I bet you want to right? Wanna come on my fingers while I squeeze this pretty neck of yours?"

You whine and preen at his words and arch your back. Your legs begin to shake as Yunho's circling on your clit quickens pace just slightly, the thrusts of his fingers audible from the squelching between your thighs. Your breath quickens.

"My pretty girl, you're such a mess for me, aren't you? Can you hear how wet you are? All soaked for me? I bet your hands don't feel as good as mine hmm?"

You shake your head no violently, whining as he continues to talk lowly into your ear. Your orgasm builds quickly, and at this point you have no faith in your ability to speak coherently.

"No, they don't do they? I want you to show me how good my hands feel baby. Let go for me, sweetheart."

Your breath catches in your throat as you tip over the edge, and the feeling of your release washes over you. Your whole body jolts in his grasp as he continues pumping his fingers. You feel him squeeze your throat gently, just enough pressure to remind you that he's got you.

"Atta girl, look at you! Doing so good for me." You whine and buck your hips, orgasm still riding through your body. Yunho nips at your neck lightly and slows his pumping to a stop as you continue to shake. "That's it baby, just grind on them for me." The final aftershock of your orgasm finishes, and you go limp in his arms, leaning all of your weight back into his chest and breathing heavily.

Yunho pulls his fingers out and admires the mess you made on them before popping them into his mouth. He's still rock hard, and the taste of you on his fingers makes him twitch again. He'll definitely need your help with that later. He uses the hand around your neck to brush a stray hair from out of your face. "How are you feeling?"

You huff out a breathless laugh and turn your face to nuzzle into his neck. "How do you think I feel? That was...wow."

He can't help the goofy smile that crosses his face. "Oh really? Tell me more, I'd like a full report." He jokes, pulling the two of you down to snuggle on his bed. He grabs a throw blanket from your side and pulls it over the two of you and nearly melts when you curl closer to him, burying your face into his chest.

"Give me a few minutes to recover and I'll show you exactly how I'm feeling right now." Yunho rubs a hand up and down your back.

"I look forward to that."

"And then afterwards you're going to show me what you've been building."

Yunho chuckles and kisses the top of your head. No way in hell.

[woeswrites]

Yandere Will Graham

Warnings: Yandere themes, Obsessive behaviors, Brief mention of rape/rapist, Dubious consent (mention of sex while under the influence), etc.

Notes: I am trying to be active again (fingers crossed). Little posts like this are a really easy way for me to get the creative juices flowing. Don't be surprised if a few more come out after this one lol.

You were a recent survivor of an attack

No, it wasn't the Chesapeake Ripper

It was just some other wannabe serial killer trying to get his rocks off

He had a dumb, stereotypical name too

The midnight slasher? midnight butcher?

Something like that

The media wasn't very creative with it

Whatever his name was, he'd clearly had a type

Young men

All of a similar stature

With the same hair and eye color

All known to be up at all hours of the day

It was a pretty open and shut case in Will's eyes

He was a plain and simple lust killer

Most likely white and in his 30s-40s

Classic closet case turned homicidal

He hadn't seen why the FBI was so stumped on the whole thing

The only real trouble was the lack of DNA evidence

He'd been real good at cleaning up after himself

Will knew he'd slip up eventually

This wasn't the type of guy to be so well organized for long

Well--

Does being murdered by your most recent victim count as a slip up?

Because that's exactly what happened

He was called to the scene with the rest of the team

The sight of you trembling, covered in blood, and standing over top of that creep was his first impression

You met his eyes and he was unable to pull away

Something about your tear blotched face held him captive

Jack tasked him with asking you questions about the events at hand

Normally this would have annoyed Will

He wasn't the talking type

Let alone someone sensitive enough to make such a traumatized person feel comfortable

But something in him didn't mind so much

Maybe it was the way you looked so vulnerable

Or the fact that no matter how much he pushed the idea away, he saw himself in you

An innocent man turned murderer under the right circumstances

"I'm Will Graham and I'll be asking you some questions."

"God, okay. I'm Y/n. Can't really say it's nice to meet you."

Will tried to start off slow

Ask the basics before moving onto the more pertinent information

You'd answer to the best of your abilities (considering the circumstances)

It took Will a second to jot down your responses

He'd get a little too caught up in your features to notice you'd stop talking

"Sorry, what was that? You got off work at 9?"

There was something admirable about your attempts to infuse your story with a bit of dry humor

Likely a coping mechanism

But Will found himself smiling a bit at your quips

By the time he'd finish up with you he'd felt a little attachment form

Sure the case was over on his end

But it didn't stop him from asking Jack about you

At least a couple times a week

"How's things going with that self defense case? Y/n's...?"

Will showed up the next day with your case fill on his desk

The sticky note stuck to it warned about annoying Jack with too many questions

He'd spend all night re-reading the details

Without noticing he began slipping in and out of re-enactment mode

Imagining you on top of him

Knife in hand

Crazed look in your eyes

He tried to shake the image away

He shouldn't be doing this

It wasn't right

You could've died that night

His guilt ridden thoughts did nothing to lessen the tent that had formed in his pajama pants

He tried to push the idea of you out of his head

Usually he'd have more control over himself than this

His resolve was strong at first

He'd hidden the manila folder away in the depths of his lower drawer

Telling himself he'd drop it

That worked for a couple of days

That was before he started dreaming of you

Events that he hadn't preformed himself took ahold of him

He became your attacker that night

He chased you

He ripped apart your clothes

He was the one who you fought off

He's the one who you thrust that knife into

And he loved every second of it

Wait--

No, he couldn't

This was just his empathy disorder

Yeah!

He was just in character

This definitely wasn't him

He would never want to do any of that stuff

And he'd prove it

He had memorized that file from front to back at this point

It wouldn't be weird that he'd known your address

He was an FBI consultant

It was basically warranted

Will found himself picking out his best clothes that night

His newest jeans, tailored shirt, the works

Not for any particular reason

And his bed was definitely not littered with rejected articles of clothing

This was just going to be a simple checkup, it's not like it really mattered what he looked like

He showed up on your doorstep with the nicest bottle of wine he could find

"Will? Is that you?"

"Uh, yeah it is. Would I be able to come in?"

You welcomed him in, albeit a little confused

"I thought my case was cleared..."

"That's not what I'm here for. I just wanted to check in on you."

You smiled at this

And Will felt his heart ache

You'd invite him to join in on your sorry excuse for a dinner

He'd never accepted anything so fast before in his life

It didn't take long before the two of you got into the wine he'd brought

It was innocent enough at first

Just drinking and talking

You'd mention how life was after the attack

Will shared a little about his experience with GJH

Its the first time he had ever felt so utterly connected with another person before

But then the two of you got a little more than tipsy

And Will found himself leaning in

One kiss turned into another and another

Will felt a sense of static overtake him

Every touch between the two of you sent shivers up his spine

He felt the strong urge to consume

Before either of you knew it your clothes were now in a heap on the kitchen floor

You woke up the next morning with a splitting headache

Oh-- and an FBI agent in your bed

Shock was an understatement

That was when the memories of the previous night flooded back

Will woke up at the loss of warmth

Last night was the best he had slept in years

You wrapped tight in his arms, bodies perfectly intertwined

His heart sank at the look of regret on your face

"We definitely shouldn't have done that. I think you should leave Will..."

He couldn't just leave now

Not knowing what he did

That you two were made for one another

He'd try to calm you down

"Y/n let's talk about this."

You weren't having it

Mentioning how inappropriate this all was

You'd shove his clothes into his arms

Will tried to console you

Not realizing why you were so worked up

You both did just have the best night of your life after all

You'd back away but he'd continue approaching

"C'mon I know you don't really want me to go. Let's just take a second before we make any rash decisions"

"We aren't doing anything. I want you to go. Now."

Something about him coming over while you were still recovering from your distress and it all leading to this...

It just didn't feel right

Will tried to approach once more but you pushed him away

He couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face

"Push me. Go on, make it hurt."

You were absolutely bewildered

He reached out and grabbed ahold of you

His grip was almost crushing

Like he was holding on for dear life

"I won't leave you alone that easily. Fate brought us together for a reason. You feel it too right? We're one in the same. We're each other's destiny."

He looked crazed, sweat slipping from his brow

It felt just like that night all over again

The knife in your hand as your attacker bled out

Only now Will took his place underneath you

[room-surprise]

Hey! Fun question, how do you think an in-canon kabumisu confession would go? People keep portraying mithrun as blunt and straightforward about their relationship, but would he be scared to tell kabru in the chance that he'd say no and leave? Is the desire to just be in a relationship with kabru, or is the desire of not wanting to scare him off greater than that? I'm so starved on the lack of post-canon kabumisu content, they make me go crazy

As usual, I'll try not to go into TOO much detail because then I won't be motivated to write fic about it... and I AM planning to write a post-canon Kabumisu fic anon, so don't worry. I'll get there eventually :3

They make me go crazy too 😔

I think Mithrun's a complicated guy with complicated emotions. Even when he was "empty" in the dungeon he actually showed a lot of feelings - smug satisfaction, annoyance, anger, even a little bit of subtle happiness.

So while I DO think he will still be blunt in general, I also think it's a mistake to assume that means he doesn't feel things and won't have anxieties and insecurities just like any other person.

Mithrun used to be WILDLY insecure, and jealous, and paranoid. He just stopped caring about anything, but if, like the end of the manga suggests, he is going to try to START caring again, he will then start to have feelings, too.

I think Mithrun is intensely aware of his own "undesirability", that's one of the reasons he's BEEN so depressed. Most of his self-worth before the dungeon hinged on being "better" than his brother, and better than other people. Then he looses that (or maybe he was never actually better at all!), so what does he have left? And now his youth is gone too, he's middle-aged and lost his "best years" to depression. He's disabled, he's scarred, he's a bastard that nobody wants.

It's a pretty huge fall from "most eligible bachelor in the empire"!

So I think no, he won't just bluntly tell Kabru that he likes him. It will take Mithrun awhile to realize how he feels, and once he does, he'll be afraid to reach out, so he's going to do what I call "playing silly little elf games". He's going to try and flirt via writing letters and sending gifts, to hint that he likes Kabru.

Luckily for Mithrun, Kabru also knows how to play Silly Little Elf Games (he's an Olympic champion), so he picks up the signals and starts reciprocating, though he's also uncertain and worried that he's misunderstanding. Captain Mithrun couldn't be flirting with him, could he? But... what if he is?

(I will go into Kabru's feelings at a later date anon i promise.)

I think the thing that will ultimately push Mithrun to act is the fear that he'll miss his chance. Mithrun realizes Kabru is a limited time deal that he can only enjoy for the next 60-something years, and he wants every minute of that time for himself, no matter how much it will someday hurt to lose Kabru.

And he also knows that Kabru is very handsome and charming, and he can't expect Kabru to wait for Mithrun to get himself figured out. Someone else will swoop in and snatch that man up, so Mithrun has to hurry.

ALL OF THAT SAID... I think their confession is a lot less of a confession, and much more "we have both been picking up these signals of interest for months/years, and finally one of us pushes it a little bit further than we've ever pushed it before and we acknowledge the unspoken thing that has been growing between us."

Maybe it's a hand resting on someone's leg, or a gentle touch on the arm. Maybe it's leaning in so their shoulders touch. Maybe it's looking into each other's eyes a little bit longer than normal.

Probably it involves both of them admitting "Spending time with you makes me happier than anything else in the world. Whenever we're apart all I think about is when I'm going to see you again. I spend hours composing letters to you in my mind. I want us to spend our days together, no matter what shape that takes."

It's very vulnerable and scary for both of them, and I think they're both DEEPLY relieved after they finally get it out, and they don't get rejected. They know each other so well, and they're so good at reading people - they both thought that the other might feel the same way, but it's so scary to take that leap of faith and hope that they're right.

And just for the record, I think that Kabru worries about if Mithrun will be interested in sex or not, because sex is something that matters to Kabru, but what if Mithrun just doesn't have any desire for it?

And so before they get into a relationship Kabru has a long hard think about it, and decides that even if they never have sex, he wants to be in a romantic relationship with Mithrun anyway, because just being around him makes him feel happy, and understood, and like he isn't alone anymore. There's someone who sees him as he is, all the good and the bad, and says "I love you anyway."

And Kabru decides that he's willing to just jerk off for the rest of his life if that's the price of this relationship that he wants.

Luckily for Kabru, I think Mithrun does want to have sex with him, but I like to think that Kabru thinks through all the possibilities and decides that no matter what they end up doing together, being with Mithrun is worth it.

[flamerunn3r]

Sorry this is unfinished but I need to post these now just bc idfk when i'm gonna actually finish the rest realistically. Idk it will happen eventually. For now heres the great p5u ramblings post detailing my thoughts designs

This is my own personal interpretations but is also somewhat speculative in nature. I'm mostly trying to deal in already established characterizations and epilogue set ups but there might be stuff I've missed or forgotten (i also haven't played dancing yet sorry if there's something in there I hadn't accounted for). This is kind of like if I took the creative reigns on the story where I'd continue for it. Only the investigation team for now (and 2 boss characters I have an idea for) but maybe I'll do the shadow ops at some point. Only 4 characters for now but I'll reblog with additions when I finish the rest or if I edit any of these

Yu Narukami

He's currently attending school as a journalism student in the city or just starting out as one. Enthusiastic about his field but still tries to find the time to keep up with his friends and visit Inaba on his holidays. I felt journalism made alot of sense for him with the themes of persona 4. I liked the sport jacket and turtleneck but wanted soemthing different so the scarf was chosen to keep the same kind of silhouette. I made the collar on the winter coat large and I feel like Narukami's large uniform collar is a key part of his design. and I wanted to call back to that in his casual outfit. The summer outfit I mostly kept close to his summer outfit from p4. I'm kind of unsure on it though I might come back to it. I mostly wanted to keep his outfits smart and simple. For his meta verse outfit I really wanted to go all out with the bancho (kingpin) stuff and other delinquent tropes. I lengthened the uniform coat a little because I wanted it to look like a tokko-fuku. Alot of smaller detail inspiration was taken from Izanagi. The lenses in the mask are supposed to mimic glasses. I'd imagine he'd take off the mask the same way he throws off his glasses in myriad truths.

Teddie

I can't imagine him leaving Inaba and the TV world behind. Still staying in town and working largely the same job. He's got his own place now albeit small (still a step up from the closet though). At some point the IT asked Mitsuru to pull some strings so he actually has a legal personhood now. The animal hoodie is something that came to me spontaneously but I knew I needed to include it. I really that his normal outfit in 4 keeps the white and red of the bear costume in the outfit so I tried to keep the colour scheme here too. Most of his later outfits are less flashy and more casual so I tried to continue that trend. I didn't want to lose the rose from the corsage completely so I included a rose pattern in the second shirt. Alot of his outfits feature light blue so I wanted that in at least one outfit. I considered making the hoodie light blue initially. I don't think he'd have a metaverse outfit he'd just use the bear costume.

Naoto Shirogane

I'm under the assumption Naoto is still presenting masculinely to the general public as of p5 but I may be mistaken in this. If I'm wrong I'd still probably largely keep the outfits similar to this. Naoto's still working as a detective and I don't think that's ever really going to change. One thing that a hypothetical p5u would have to address is what Naoto and the shadow ops would have been doing during the events of persona 5 and I unfortunately do not have any ideas for what that would be at the moment.

I feel alot of the appeal of Naoto's design is the kind of boy detective fashion. I went at this design with the intention of kind of refining that into something a little more adult while still keeping in a similar vein. I did have to ditch the pageboy hat unfortunately as I felt it made them look too young. These outfits were kind of design as pseudo work clothes which is why I tried to make them a bit more formal then the other characters. Something I consider notable about Naoto's design but deliberately avoided here was the rolled up pant legs. It's very obvious in 4 it's done because Naoto is short but I feel like Naoto would start getting that either custom made or tailored to fit. I was initially going to forgo the blazer on the summer outfit but the design felt empty without it. Naoto having a noir detective themed metaverse outfit is an idea I'd had for years but I tried to incorporate design elements that were princely. I alot of the inspiration was from Sam Spade specifically. Deliberately made similarities to Akechi's white crow design. The band around the hat is supposed to invoke the similar one on the old page boy hat.

Yukiko Amagi

Still working at her families in but is taking online courses during the off seasons. She's mostly happy where she is but is keeping her options open. Occasionally makes visits to other ryokans out of town for ideas for her families own inn, as well as an opportunity to for her to sight see.

The headband was included in her design in p4 as a like retro design thing but I find it too important of a marker of her design to remove it. I understand the why they went with the hairstyle they did for her golden epilogue but I feel it just ends up making her look way older then she is. I thought her having her hair up would be a nice change since she does it so rarely and settled on a ponytail. Tried changing the bangs but the ones she already had just felt right. I wanted her clothes to carry this kind of air of sophistication so I tried to keep them relatively simple and sleek. She's wearing pants in the winter outfit but I chose the longer coat to keep a similar skirt silhouette. The choker was largely inspired by the scarf she has in her winter outfit. Despite being a different colour the cardigan was also chosen to tie back somewhat to the sweater she wears with her school uniform.

In some side material it's mentioned that Yukiko has an interest in western fashion and aesthetics (part of what made the castle manifest the way it did) and I wanted to lean on that in some way for her metaverse design. I ended up going with a masquerade ball theme. I tried to keep the dress to something simple and easy to move in. The gloves and boots take inspiration from her persona in terms of design and size. I wanted to incorporate elements from her work kimono as well hence the ribbon around the torso and flower patterning. Probably the most unsure of this one of the metaverse designs so far. Especially the colours (considered making the reds pinks initially). Might revisit this one.

Ok that's all I have for now I'll probably do Rise's next 👍👍👍

[7ndipity]

Stargazing (Serendipity Teaser)

Jimin x Reader

Summary: A glimpse of you and Jimin's relationship as roommates.

Warnings: Implied bi!jimin, not proofread

A/N: I'm very excited to finally be able to share another preview for a series that I've been debating about writing for almost a year that will be starting next month, Serendipity! The main series will center around Namjoon, Jimin and Jungkook, but I hope to eventually expand it to include all the members. I'll be posting more details later this week, I hope you'll like it! 💜

Masterlist Serendipity M.list (tba)

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Jimin dragged himself through the front door with a loud sigh, being met with the sound of mario kart from the living room.

“Hey, how was your date?” You asked, not looking up from your game as he wandered in.

“Dull.” He dropped his coat over the chair arm before coming to flop down next to you on the sofa with a sigh, laying with his head in your lap.

“No good?”

“Eh, I don’t know. She was nice and all, but it was just kinda blah.”

“I’m sorry, Chim.” You patted his hair soothingly. “What happened to that guy from last month? He seemed nice.”

“Ugh, no! All he talked about was his fitness routine, I think he was just trying to sell me a gym membership.” He shuddered, making you laugh.

“See, this is why I don’t date.” You said.

“That and you’re a hermit.” He smirked.

You shoved a pillow over his face, which he responded to by flailing his arms and yelling dramatically, making you laugh.

“Oh, my mom’s coming over for lunch on Sunday, I thought you might wanna join us?” He said after catching his breath.

“You know your mother hates me.” You remarked.

“She doesn’t hate you, she just doesn’t approve of you.” He responded.

“How is that better?!”

“It’s not, I just wanted to clarify.” He said. “So will you?”

“I don’t know…” You said, delberating.

“Pleeease?” He begged, looking up at you with big eyes.

“Fine.” You relented.

“Thank you!” He rolled over, hugging you tightly.

“Wait, what time is it?” You asked suddenly.

“Uh, 10:44, why-?”

“We gotta go to the roof!” You exclaimed, rolling him off your lap and scrambling to your feet.

“Why?”

“There’s a meteor shower in 7 minutes, hurry!” You said as you yanked on your coat over your sweats.

“But I just-”

“Roof now!” You dashed out the door.

Reluctantly, he followed after you, lagging behind on the stairwell up to the roof access door.

By the time he emerged into the cold, you were already perched in your usual place on one of the old folding beach chairs that the neighbors left up there, head back as you scanned the sky intently.

Slowly, he took his seat next to you, his gaze lingering on you rather than the display overhead.

He loved seeing you like this, face illuminated by the moon, literal and metaphorical stars shining in your eyes; you looked positively ethereal.

It was moments like this that he adored, despite the bitter chill, just getting to witness your joy and enthusiasm over the most random things made his heart swell with so much love for you that he wanted nothing more than to kiss you untill he couldn’t breath.

Except he couldn’t do that, because you were just friends.

God, he hated that word, it tasted bitter and metallic on his tongue. He wanted so badly to tell you how he truly felt, but the risk of potentially ruining one of the most important relationships he’d ever had was too big to ignore.

“What is it?” You asked suddenly, catching him staring.

“Nothing.” He said, quickly turning his attention to the sky.

Maybe he would tell you someday, but for now he would content himself with this.

For now.

[libraford]

I *love* the motif deck; the composition, the flexibility, your watercolors are wonderfully done, and while I'm hoping to be able to buy it eventually, I'm desperately poor and can't rn (if I can sell some earrings I maybe can though lol) but every time you post a sample reading it's... also dragging me to filth, and strangely tiding me over, so thank you and also wtf how do you do this

I'll be honest, I don't know how I do anything. I'm just trying to make it to Friday.

The Motif Deck was born from an idea I had a couple years ago, which was an oracle deck with no words attached to the cards so that the reader was encouraged to free-associate. But when I was sketching out the thumbnails I only had four colors in my pen set and I was working on it while at a laundromat so I couldn't get more because someone might steal my laundry. But I ended up really enjoying the simplicity of the color scheme so that got stuck in my head for a bit.

The drive to do an oracle deck with no standard meaning came from doing tarot for like six years (at that point, it's more like 10 now). I've always been a really talented reader and I picked up on the concept right away, but the symbols in tarot seemed a little hard to connect with (which lead me to make @thesweeneytarot ). So I started reading based on vibes. Like... what colors do I see most of in this spread, where are the cards facing, what seems out of place, how do we create a story based on what we have in front of us.

Proved effective! I was doing really well on tarot readings. It felt less like divination this way and more like a puzzle, like a story, like a game.

So what if there was a deck that was made for this style of reading? How do you even start that? What would it look like? Could I make something like that? Where do I start?

Then my friend introduced me to a game called Dixit, and it's sister game Mysterium, which uses untitled surreal art cards to tell a story. And I noticed that sometimes the art cards would have similar objects in them, like red ribbons or gold keys or blue fish. And it was interesting to me how the person in the storytelling position would make different associations than I did and I considered this a feature, not a bug.

I toyed a bit with doing divination with Dixit cards, but I found them a bit too obtuse for my liking and there were too many details to get caught up in.

So I was like... okay, I like this. What do I like about this? Let's do this but make it simpler.

...then covid.

So the idea sat on the backburner for awhile.

Then i got back into doing tarot readings and got the itch to try something new, started thinking about That oracle deck again, but now I'm thinking about those primary colors and how I tried like four different color combinations in my thumbnails and couldn't remember what they were meant to mean between them.

Then thinking about color theory. Like actual color theory but also the meme. And how the red ribbons in Dixit could be the strings of fate or they could be streaks of blood, or the red design on the hospital floor could be 'energetic and positive' or they could be... streaks of blood...

Like... sure, colors might have set meanings... to some people. But they also have meanings in their context. The color of a thing tells a story just like the thing itself.

So this is how I came up with the idea of repeating the images in different colorways.

So now we have my elements: no words, no inherent meaning, simple images, repeating objects interacting with each other, and cards repeating in different colorways.

And then the hard part, which was making it. I do actually have an art degree, so making the paintings wasn't difficult for me, but the logistics was hard. Because I had to decide which objects were common enough to be understood by everyone, and I had to pare the number down to something reasonable because this deck was bound to be massive.

Which took another year.

And now it's done! The slow parts go slow and the fast parts go fast.

I'm the kind of person who like... if I get into my head that I want to make something, I'll find a way to make it. And like... my philosophy for making things has always been that I intend to sell one, and that's to myself. But if I like it, someone else might, so I make it available for other people.

But I'm really glad that other people like it or are even just curious. Like, when you're making a 'product' (which almost feels rude to call something that I did for myself) the hardest part is getting people interested in it. So the fact that so many people think it's cool makes me so happy. (Am I cool now???)

Thank you!! And sorry for the overshare. I just got really excited.

[hamofjustice]

Julinemo Week, Day 3: Study Session

(This could probably be better but this week is an exercise in just posting without being a perfectionist and I wanna go to bed, so)

The late afternoon breeze streaming through Nemona's window kept her room smelling as fresh and alive as a new adventure, as she and her favorite guest did something quite a bit less exciting: reviewing their Battle Studies homework.

Nemona was on her bed, leaving just enough space for her napping Pawmot, while Juliana and her Gardevoir were down on the plush green rug she'd picked out for Nemona the previous week (which Nemona insisted on paying for). The Battle Frontier Channel was on the big TV as familiar background noise, though Gardevoir at least seemed more interested in looking up at that than the open books.

"Uhhh… question nine… 'Which kind of Terrain protects from ailments instead of powering up attacks?'" Juliana read out.

"Oh, um… Misty Terrain! I was just thinking about that one. It might help you remember that one's different 'cause it's not called Fairy Terrain."

"Oh yeah, huh. Good point."

"It's not teeechnically correct to say it's the only one that does that, 'cause, like, Electric Terrain keeps you awake, and Misty Terrain does power up Terrain Pulse and Misty Explosion, but… I think you can safely ignore those since there's no 'none of the above' options… right?"

"Uh… nope, there's not. Wow, Mona… you know more than these books do, huh? Hehehe…"

"Heh. Nah, they're probably just tryin' to keep it simple. I've never used Misty Explosion in my life!"

"Oh. Well, I appreciate trying to keep it simple, 'cause some of these things have so many arbitrary little details to remember…"

"I know, right? I guess it's not like anybody sat down and designed 'em all elegantly like a video game, though." Nemona pointed out, before starting to tap her pencil eraser to her chin and then her temple as she looked up at the ceiling. "I wonder if Misty Explosion might be decent BECAUSE no one expects it…"

"Maybe? Mmm, I dunno…"

"I've actually gotta figure that out soon. When you get into Advanced Battle Studies like me, you'll have to--"

"IF I get into Advan--"

"WHENNN you get in, 'cause you're smart and cool and attr-- attentive, and a Champion like me, and have me helping youuu…" Nemona insisted, briefly pointing her eraser down at Juliana as if it were a threat. Pawmot kept sleeping, fully accustomed to its Trainer's volume. "… You've gotta make theme teams for all these field conditions! It's kinda fun, but… I dunno how good some of these would be. They start ya off easy with Rain, but… hmm…"

"Oh, is that what you're working on up there?"

"Eh, sorta. I've got the Psychic Terrain one for this week figured out ahead of schedule, so I'm getting started on the Misty Terrain one now."

"So you could just… not be doing homework right now, if you wanted?" Juliana prodded.

"I mean… I guess, but then I'd probably just be bored and houndin' you to go out with me. Uh, f-for battles and stuff."

"Mmm. Yeah, probably. Well… thanks for matching my pace, then."

"Always."

"Hehe… "

They both smiled at each other for a bit before getting back to work. Each of them sighed happily and gave their partner Pokemon some petting. But eventually…

"Uh… I'll be right back. Gotta use the bathroom." Juliana quietly announced.

"Mmmkay. Be my guest."

Nemona looked up from the page and gazed off into space as Juliana stepped out, but then…

"Hey, Gardevoir." she whispered.

"Devoira…?" Juliana's companion answered sleepily, turning its head up to Nemona.

"Can you… show me how Juliana feels about me?"

"Garde." the Embrace Pokemon said with a nod. It rolled its neck a bit before scooting a bit closer and reaching out to Nemona with its green hand.

"Ooh, are we gonna do a mind meld? Heh…"

Almost as soon as she took its hand, Nemona's eyes shut and brows shot up like she'd once again misread a teaspoon of Spicy Herba Mystica as a tablespoon. After a few moments, however, she seemed to become accustomed to whatever had been put in front of her mind's eye. Her expression became one of curious awe, then wholesome warmth, then giddy delight as she wiggled her feet happily behind her. She opened her eyes back up as the emotional transmission ended, needing a moment to refocus on reality. "Oh… oh man… th-thanks bud. I, uh… huh…"

"De gara, devoira."

Juliana came back into the room to find Nemona blushing and giggling, and immediately looked down at herself to try and find a reason for it, to no avail.

"Hehehehe… Hey, I think I might be moving down to the floor with you, actually." Nemona decided, picking up her book.

[grokebaby]

Explaining this scene (from here)

Will mention mouth and throat inflicted violence and dissection. Also will get (slightly) more in detail about what's happening between these two

Context: Pesticinger has Siru come to her neck of the woods at night to perform certain rituals. It claims these are for ~Learning Purposes~ (which they are, in a way). This is related to that thing about folks wanting to learn and gain powers from Pesticinger. Siru's motives for being here, well.. I'll get into it later.

This exchange you see depicted, happens after Siru has cut out the tongue and/or vocal chords off of several animals (which includes birds. This is a crucial bit of info). Before this she also had to catch several of them with occasional help from Pesticinger, so she's a little tired, on top of it being quite a uh. Let's say emotionally challenging? Task? Especially seeing as how she also had to eat said body parts raw after cutting them out..

She's a country girl, she'll manage..

Despite the initial ick, Siru performed all this like a champ! At least compared to alot of humans Pesticinger has initiated into similar activities. This is what prompts the above "She's good at games! Bold, very bold she is!", which is genuine compliments given the situation.

So while Siru did All That™, Pesticinger hopped circles around her, chanting songs and urging her on (is it encouragement or pressuring...? I would say it's both.)

Considering the unpleasant tasks she's had to do, while it simply sang and watched, Siru feels it's appropriate to poke at Pesticinger a little. She has a very deadpan delivery and morbid sense of humor, which is why Pesticinger here is depicted as being taken aback and even unsure whether or not Siru is joking at first. These two have quite contrasting presentations and speech mannerisms.

What did Siru say?

She pulled a little "So, I'm guessing it's your turn next, right? I mean I've been building up with these small creatures so the grande finale's next, and that would mean.. You."

(you can see in the drawing, she's lazily pointing at Pesticinger)

I'm paraphrasing, but she essentially implied that to take it to the next level, she should now also cut out Pesticingers tongue and vocal chords, and eat them. Which, Pesticinger was not prepared for. This is supposed to be an initiation progress, and breaking previous limits Pesticingers followers might've had, in order to bring them in deep. In terms of gaining special abilities, this does ofc contribute to that, but lemme just say, Pesticinger losing her vocal components would be a huge blow.

Let me put it into perspective. People ordinarily do not hear Pesticingers speaking voice. When she sings yes, but when speaking normally, it looks like she's just moving her mouth elaborately. If she's not singing, or stealing somebody else's voice, Pesticinger is like watching a silent film irl. She has no voice of her own.

The other Plagues can hear her speech, and so can Pesti's followers, and most people who've heard her special song before. Not everyone, though. It tends to be a special occurrence, bc if someone can hear her speech it tends to mean something is a little wrong.. (ykno, how cursed songs are)

Siru could always hear it's speech, and that's likely due to her carrying some.. (glances at my previous post) supernatural after effects.

Siru eventually broke face and chuckled it away, but Pesticinger, in all honesty, remains a little unsettled by the suggestion. She doesn't let it show of course. Not to Siru, especially.

But, yeah. Maybe a bit of a power move to joke about inflicting it on the scary entity next, who's trying to break your limits by making you do disturbing rituals. As you do

[the-missann]

I don't think I've shared this with anyone besides a friend I don't really talk to anymore; and while I feel extremely nervous sharing them, I'll think I'll ease that by expressing the fact that I'm not an artist. I have been self teaching myself how to draw for years, so if this looks kind of bad, that's why.

Anyways, I obviously like it enough to share, so I am very proud of my work regardless.

That aside, I wanted to detail this story before sharing everything I did for it (I guess this'll be a short series about everything I drew for it).

A Fourth Dimension Reality is a series of books I'm writing about two inter-dimensional kids trying to find out what dimension they're actually apart of. Along the way, they meet other people who are integral to their goal. Each of these characters will be introduced as I go along.

Now, as for the real world logic, I wrote this story after me and that friend were talking about how some shows that are suppose to be comedy/satire lost that along the way.

So, I was determined to make a story where that stays intact even in the finale. Essentially, this is a long shit post that needs to be stopped, but it's still going well into five books with a unfinished total of 100k and seven books officially planned.

Each book ranges from 23k-30k and no book is any longer... yet

So, anyways, here's the actual cover of the first book (I have two more made).

Later on though I ended up drawing something goofy where all the characters find a dimension that does space tours. That was my excuse as to why they don't have shoes (because you don't want to get the dimension dirty do you?)

But this is everyone and presents their personalities pretty well. I'll showcase them separately over the next few days.

For now, this is perfect showcase of this story:

“So this means no one can hear me scream!” Cassie used all of her breath in that howl. Larson groaned and went to hit her, but she moved out of the way and spun slowly in the air. “I can dodge you better out here.” She mocked.

With a growl, Larson said, “this isn’t some kind of joke. We need to do what Jax said.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” She dismissed his comment. “We’ll get there eventually, let’s just have a little fun!”

Larson just stared at Cassie as she continued to spin around happily.

He was brought back to reality when he felt his phone vibrate. “Oh, I forgot,” he answered it swiftly, “you can hear me right?”

Back on Earth, Jax could clearly hear them through the phone. “I’m surprised that it even works! I really didn't think it would.” He said with amazement present in his voice.

“Yeah, doubt me, why don’t you.” Jax laughed at Larson’s remark. “But I’ll try a video call now.”

“Alright.”

Larson was about to press the button when he saw Cassie still spinning around in front of him; he sighed and turned on the video call. Once it came up, he saw a smile grow to Jax’s face.

“So it does work, great.” Jax paused. “Cassie!” He called out.

“Yeah?” She said while turning to look in their direction.

“The video call works.” Jax announced.

“Okay!” She began to slow her spinning down.

Cassie took out her own phone and called Jax once more. She put it on the video call and stuffed the phone inside of her bag. She zipped it closed and turned to Larson.

“Okay, I can see him, so that means we’re good! I’m screen recording so you guys can do whatever you have to.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Larson said.

Cassie huffed. “Stop being so mean. Anyways, we will Jax!” Cassie confirmed.

“Good luck you two!”

With their method of documentation set, they started putting their plan into action. Larson slowly moved over to Cassie.

“Stop acting like a kid and let’s get to work.” He snapped at her.

“You’re so boring. We’re in space dude! We can breathe without astronaut helmets, why not live a little, Lars?”

“Maybe on our next trip.” Larson went ahead and turned back once he was a small distance away from her.

From his jacket pocket, he pulled out the rope he brought. Needing to be as air resistant as possible, he couldn’t carry a bag with him, instead he just already tied the rope around himself and stuffed the other end into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the other end and threw it to Cassie for her to grab. Cassie caught it and was now being pulled by Larson.

Once she was in front of him, Cassie pulled him. Their motions created a way for them to move about in space with the most amount of ease. After a few minutes of their maneuvering, Cassie let out a sigh.

“See, this is all business,” Cassie said with a pout.

“Yeah, yeah. Looking like a bitch doesn’t help you.”

“At least you used the right word, but I wasn’t trying to give you puppy dog eyes.”

They remained pulling each other in a still silence. This was maintained until they could finally see Pluto. Cassie giggled as she stared at it.

“Oh it’s so cute!” She paused. “Do you really think anyone will be there?”

“I don’t know, but if we do find someone it would be better to stick together.”

“I wonder if it’s like a superman thing.” Cassie started to talk about something else. “Like we’re stronger because we were on Earth for so long.”

Larson scoffed. “If anything, being on earth made us weaker.”

“See, I don’t think like that,” Cassie began, “I really feel like we’re stronger because we’ve been exposed to different mindsets and then we’re going to learn this one. So by default, we’ll be smarter!”

“Always on the bright side huh?”

Cassie giggled.

Also, fun fact: I'm so bad at spelling I kept writing Dimension as Dimention and I still don't really know if I'm spelling it right😃

They kept pulling each other until they were caught into the gravitational pull of Pluto and were able to land...

Next post

[sunswathe]

hi hello i am not a stranger things blog BUT i've had this idea kickin' around in my nog for like. months? and today the first part just beamed itself into my brain and i spat out 1000 words for it. i know i'm not the first to write this concept, but here's my take on the "steve sees dead people" au!

i want to write more for this, but i have a terrible track record for finishing fics (i have like. 13 drafts?? for stranger things fics??) so this is tentatively part 1 of an undetermined amount. it is supposed to be steddie, eventually. if i make more, i'll post it to ao3!

anyway, enjoy! <3

------

December 1984

“What the hell are we looking for out here, exactly?”

It’s fucking cold out, and Steve’s fingers are starting to ache where they’re wrapped around the handle of his bat. 

“I don’t know any better than you do, Steve.”

Steve scowls and roughly swings at a low hanging branch. It’s thin and bare and twiggy, and it catches on the pristine nails he drove through the barrel. He uses that hold to bend the branch forward and out of his way. His bat sticks when he walks past and he growls as he yanks it free.

The winter-brittle wood snaps with a loud and distinct crack, and Steve locks up.

When nothing jumps out of the shadows at him, Steve shakes the fresh tension from his limbs and continues his trek. The thin scattering of snow that managed to blanket the dead foliage despite the tight clusters of trees isn’t offering Steve any sort of direction.

No sign of anything. Not of squirrels or deer or fucking wolves or whatever the hell else lives in the woods surrounding Hawkins. Steve doesn’t know and he doesn’t really care.

All that matters is that there’s nothing to show for the thing he’s trying to find.

“The fuck do you mean ‘don’t know any better’ than me?! You,” Steve bites out, jabbing an irritated finger at his unhelpful shadow, “are the only one who’s actually seen it!”

Barb rolls her eyes as she sidesteps Steve’s accusatory point and wanders past. Half of her body has to phase into the thick trunk of a nearby tree for her to successfully maneuver around him, and that just peeves him further.

Steve’s out here getting whipped by and stuck on branches, and she doesn’t even have to worry about the trunks.

The petty jealousy fizzles and dies just as quickly as it came, though. It’s easy for him to forget how serious death really is. How permanent it’s supposed to be, for everyone except him.

Steve sighs and tromps after her.

It’s mid-December, which means the forest is quiet. To an extremely unnerving degree. There aren’t any insects or frogs or midnight birds to fill the hush, only the clack of branches rustling in the light wind.

“You don’t even have, like,” Steve steps over a fallen tree, slick with ice, “the teeniest, tiniest idea of what the— what the thing looks like? No more details?”

Barb scoffs. It’s odd, because she doesn’t make a sound, even as Steve hears her. Her voice doesn’t penetrate the stillness of the night, but Steve knows what she says, what she sounds like, her cadence and tone clear as if spoken aloud.

He doesn’t like thinking too much about the mechanics of it all. It gives him headaches.

“Nope,” Barb snips. “I’ll make sure next time I’m ripped to shreds I get a better look at the thing doing it, yeah?”

Steve watches her from behind, and sees her form flicker. He catches glimpses of bloody, shredded clothing over deep gouges in her back. His stomach turns. He looks at the ground under her feet. There’s no shadow to be cast under the faint moonlight, and the snow is undisturbed.

“Right,” he sighs.

“Maybe I’ll stop and take some notes. I could ask it a few questions before it kills me. Whatever makes this easier for you, Steve.”

“Yeah, okay, I get it!”

What they know about the whole situation isn’t a lot. But it’s more than the police, or Barb’s parents, or anyone else on this goddamn planet.

“So are we looking for like,” Steve ponders for a moment, “a den? Or something?”

They know that Barb isn’t just missing.

“A den?” Barb drawls, brow raised.

They know that whatever took Barb was big, at least. Grey, probably, but it was dark so maybe not. Toothy, with long, claw-tipped fingers. Barb wasn’t able to get the best look at it, before she was dragged away, so most of what she’s able to describe is how the different parts of it felt tearing her open.

“Don’t— come on, cut me some slack, here! I’m not a fucking… professional hunter or whatever. I don’t know what I’m doing!”

They know that Barbara Holland is dead.

“Clearly.”

Which is arguably, the most important piece of information that Steve has.

“Do you think we’ll find like… blood? Dead things?” Steve hates to even think it, let alone say it, but he’s not known for his tact, so. “...you?”

The most important piece of information and Steve can’t even share it, not without either going to prison or a fucking psych ward, neither of which Steve is particularly keen on doing.

Barb doesn’t dignify his question with any kind of response. Not even a twitch.

Steve’s hands aren’t getting any warmer. He looks up, through the branches and to the sliver of moon visible despite the clouds. Changes tracks and barrels forward. “Do we have a plan past ‘find the thing’? Or is that as far as this whole hunt goes, right now?”

Barb stops and offers him a flat look. “We?”

Steve scans the shadows when he stops, too. “Uh, yeah,”  he says, face scrunched in his best duh expression when he finally makes eye contact with her again. “We’re trying to find the thing that killed you, so I’d say it’s a team effort, here.”

He doesn’t appreciate the deeply judgemental look she levels at him. “Steve. I’m dead.” 

Barb’s form flickers again, almost as if she’s proving her point, but Steve knows it’s involuntary. Steve cringes when he sees her battered face. One of her eyes is hidden (or missing— probably missing) in a mangled mess of dark red that Steve can’t stare at or think about for too long before feeling ill. Her jaw and throat are ringed with deep bruises and scraped raw.

She’s back to normal in an instant, looking exactly as she had a month ago. Her glasses intact, clothes and skin pristine and undamaged, not a hair out of place from where it’s pinned.

Steve clears his throat. “Yeah, and I’m an idiot.” Steve lightly swings the bat at his side. “There is not a chance I can figure anything out alone. You know that. You told me that.”

“Yeah, because it’s true.”

“So yes, ‘we.’ This has to be a team effort. You make a plan. You tell me the plan. We find the thing. I hit it with this fucking bat.” Steve swings said bat more forcefully, aiming it at Barb. It swings straight through her. She doesn’t flinch. “Boom. Handled. Done.”

Barb looks physically pained. Or like she sucked on a lemon. “I cannot believe my only hope of getting closure is Steve Harrington,” she says to herself, for what feels like the thousandth time.

Steve flexes his fingers, hoping to bring some feeling back. Tonight is obviously going to be the first of many nights he ventures into the woods behind his house, so he’ll need to pick up some gloves. The ones he has are too bulky, and make using his bat unwieldy.

But cold does the same, so he’ll need to figure something out.

Steve sighs.

“Yeah. I’m your only hope, so it’s shit if I die of hypothermia on our first search.”

Barb doesn’t fight him on it, when he turns around and follows his tracks the hour it takes back to his backyard, even though she looks agitated.

They don’t talk the rest of the night.

The image of Barb, mauled and bloody, sitting on the diving board of his empty pool with her spine hunched and head hanging, glues itself behind Steve’s eyelids.

Steve shuts the sliding glass door behind him.

I cannot believe my only hope of getting closure is Steve Harrington.

“Yeah,” he breathes. “Me either.”

-------

YEAH so it's not an exact au. like. i fucked with the timeline and it's not just canon divergent its like. a monster hunter AND no upside down au? its COMPLICATED

just important that i say that because i made it december 1984 On Purpose. it takes place steve's senior year instead of his junior year.

hope you liked it! lemme know your thoughts if you did!! <333

[cousticks]

hi!! i’m new here but i saw that it’s okay to send asks about your AUs and i have heard you mention your zombie au a couple times now and would like to know more!! who’s it about? what are your fave headcanons abt your universe? what’s any other cool details you’ve figured out?

Hello, hello! Welcome to the party I like to be miserable here.

Ohh gosh okay so everything I've posted about this au so far is under the coffin emoji tag (⚰️) if you want to roll through that for everything I've said about it so far!!

It isn't really about anyone specific, if I'm honest. Its more of an au playground for me to explore different characters and situations in this world. When I eventually have the time and energy to write for it, it will likely be different oneshots of different places & different times in the world! I love au building but am very interested in how I can take an alternate world and still be true to character. For BSD, abilities and their impacts on their users create a large part of who those characters are, and I'm really enjoying finding ways to replicate those certain traumas and traits in a zombie apocalypse no-abilities setting. I want to stay as true to character as possible in this new world!

One of my favorite headcanons for it so far is that adult Dazai has a glass eye. Its for plot/lore reasons, mostly, but also because I think its a trait that fits him kind of well. I can't think of many other specific headcanons for it right now that aren't more event-based, but I'll try to think of some!

I'm not sure how you define cool, but I've got this kind of idea going that in what seems to be the end of the world, certain characters that parted antagonistically but still care about each other to a certain extent start seeking each other out, or at least one of them starts seeking the other. I've got this happening with Chuuya and Shirase (in this universe, they didn't make up as they did in Stormbringer.) I also want it to happen with Ango and Dazai, eventually.

Details about the world itself? The zombie virus began as an attempt at biological warfare that got out of control, but i'm not bothering to set a true point of origin because that isn't what's important to the story. Generally speaking, once you're bitten, you're going to turn into a zombie... with a few very special exceptions (looking at Atsushi, Dazai, and Rimbaud--each in a different way, though!). There are a couple "survivors" of the zombie virus that are technically "cured" but that's a very loose term. As of right now, at least, you cannot actually "cure" it, but certain experiments (hello, Chuuya and Verlaine) suffered through a method of potentially curing. This was generally considered to be a failure, but hey, some made it out (barely. not really.)

I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to post about eventually, thank you so much for having interest in my au!!! If you have any more questions or thoughts please chime in I love to talk about my aus so very much. Someday eventually maybe I'll actually write for the Zombie au!

[self-insert-nightshade]

More OL2 - if your MC is into art

This time, it's if you're into music. This is very broad from singing to playing interests to even writing songs.

Well i posted this before i was done with it so uh ignore it for now its not even tagged

A lot of this is more step 2 featured. So Darren/Ren/Renee isnt featured (I'm still learning about them) and the same goes for Baxter. Some day I'll add them to this post.

<><><>

Tamarack is probably the easiest with music in the sense that there's something about her that puts you in that perfect zone to create something melodious. It starts out as simply humming when you're in her presence and escalates to singing songs on the radio together.

If you play an instrument she wants to learn how to play it too and eventually she wanta to duet you. This goes for singing as well. She's not the best singer and as step 2 comes around she gets shier and more self conscious about it but when its just you two she'll sing and play along to you. She never wants to stop accompanying you however she can but it can be a little hard to find the right harmony to match together. Both of you in the melody are just fine though and if you're more inclined to find the harmony then it's about as good as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (a classic).

Songs and melodies with her in mind tend to be gentle, slow, and mellow, or rich in tone. They all tend to flow into each other in a very legato sense. When composing music that reminds you of her, you're very thoughtful of each note and notation and each word chosen and she appreciates all of the thought that goes into the work. Tamarack appreciates all the little details and would want to analyze and play and experiment with what you compose and show you just how much she treasures what youve given her. She might have her own two pieces to share about the composition but she'll always start out wanting to know your reasoning behind it. And then, maybe, you'll make a song with both of your styles.

<><><>

Now Qiu. Qiu thinks your singing is the prettiest thing he's ever heard. When they first hear you humming they can't help but look up and verify that its you thats the source of the music. They will enthusiastically ask you about what song you were humming, will you sing for them, do you play an instrument, will you play for them, have you ever thought about making music or composing, why not/what do you make songs of/for? Theyre curious and would gladly dance if it was to one of your songs.

If it was a song more difficult to do ballet to or not traditional, they might ask Baxter for some ideas. Qiu can watch and listen to you all day every day. Just the fact that you're sharing this talent of yours with them is enough and they thoroughly enjoy this sort of private time where it's just you and him and music.

Qiu would definitely ask you to sing to him if he was having trouble with something whether its being anxious, keyed up, or can't sleep. Hearing your voice, especially if its couple with laying their head on your lap, will have them relaxing in mere seconds.

Now when it comes to composing a song for Qiu, they won't be able to understand some of the more detailed nuances unless you explain it to them but they can pick up on the emotions from the tempo and melodies or harmonies and just telling them that the song is FOR THEM will have their jaw dropping and eyes wide in astonishment that you would do this FOR THEM.

Qiu, himself, isn't likely to sing or hum along with you. Not that hes bad at it no siree. It's just never been something they were interested in so they dont have much experience with it. But they will hum the song you wrote for them near constantly. And if you want him to sing with you he'll humor you in private and try but he'll often drop off just to listen and watch you.

<><><>

(I dont know what pronouns Darren/Ren/Renee uses throughout other steps so I defaulted to they.)

When it comes to Darren/Ren/Renee you cant help but think of them fondly. They might not have been someone who confided in you about everything but it's a small town, you feel a part of their life regardless and you've watched them figure themselves out honestly? Much quicker than you might have figured yourself out. Maybe they inspired you to do some self reflection as well on your presentation and identity.

All of this to say, they're the reason you change pronouns in songs you sing, they're what makes you bolder and braver with showing your voice and trying different harmonies and melodies and exploring and broadening your ranges. Theyre the one you change lyrics and tailor songs for and they're the first person you wrote a song for. Sorry mom. It's maybe taken you a while to refine and be confident with the song enough to show to other, nevertheless them but when you do their face burns and twists in embarassment with the corner of their lips pulling as they try to hide a smile. They've always been a little shy but youre hoping some day theyll be able to understand your feelings from the song you will gladly sing to them as many times as they want.

<><><>

Oh Baxter. Baxter baxter baxter.

Bax man.

This boy sits quietly with a smirk on his face and listens before he teases you about it. Only in a complimentary way of course, hed never say anything mean. If anything its a little flirtatious and it makes your ears and cheeks redden.

[riwooga]

Hi!! Sorry for disappearing on everyone

I really appreciate all the people who've stayed interactive and also the people who've sent me asks and messages to check upon me!! That was seriously so unexpected thank you 🥺

But I figured making a quick general post was probably a good idea to clear stuff up

So long story short... I am not dead, I am okay, and no I haven't abandoned DOL as an interest nor decided to never draw it again! I promise! I'll try to return eventually just some health issues!

And under the cut I'll go further into details about my health, so if you don't wanna hear about that, that's totally fair! <333

Be rest assured I’m okay! 💕

But.. For the ones who are curious.

I have in general been on sick-leave with stress for 2 years, mostly dealing with mental health struggles, and mild physical symptoms.

However, my physical symptoms in particular worsened slowly due to a lot of stuff that's just too complicated to get into lol,,,, but it basically all culminated here in February where my physical symptoms have stayed bad™ since, and kinda just… keep getting worse because of my own stubbornness.

Much to my own dismay, I ended up having to actually go to the doctor, which I've put off for a long time,,,, I've already been there numerous times and am also waiting on being sent to 4 different special-clinics that can hopefully also help figure it out, on top of waiting to get into therapy again

But yeah uh there's been a lot of testing, with little results.. For now we're looking at it being most likely that I'm some sort of chronically ill. Right now the suspected ones are POTS and ME/CFS.. Maybe fibromyalgia but I don't personally see the connection on that one-- but we don't know yet. (And it'll likely take a good while to figure out sadly)

My symptoms have, as I said, stayed pretty bad, and in turn my energy is hard to put onto drawing as a priority, when even just as much as standing up takes energy.

But I do still really wanna draw and I do intend to come back to it once I hopefully get a bit more stable again!

So I just wanna say please don't worry about me, it's definitely far from deadly, it's just,,, a major inconvenience and it's been a lot of strain on my mental health in turn. While I am still desperately hoping for a cure or a fix... My doctor said quite firmly not to expect either-- but that there's small chances of eventually lessening the symptoms. So that's what we're hoping! 🥲

Once again thank you to the people who’ve been checking up on me, I really do appreciate that so much 🤧💕💕💕💕

[amazing-spiderling]

for the fandom ask game: 5 6 11 16 23 24

something you see in fics a lot and love

I really love seeing Foggy sort of leap-frogging over his panic and anger and confusion in moments of crisis to get right to the part where he works on being helpful. That, "We are going to fight about this later, but right now I need to stop that bleeding" sort of thing. Foggy is absolutely allowed to have emotions and fall apart in a crisis, but he has a good head on his shoulders and certainly after a certain point he's had to learn to compartmentalize just to survive being in Matt's life. I think it's comforting to imagine having a friend or partner like that- I guess it speaks to the idea of there always being an undercurrent of love. No matter what else is going on in the moment, no matter how furious or scared or worried the events taking place right now make them, they do not supplant the love that is at the basis of the relationship. I just think that's neat.

something you see in art a lot and love

When artists really have fun with the clothing, paying attention to details and making things really specific. When someone really pays attention to drawing a certain kind of shoe- I'm just... yeah, that's the good stuff. :)

if you’re a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

Well, I'm a little bit of both- but I guess a fic sprang to mind first so I'll answer for that. (tw for fictional CSA mention btw) So, as I've not-so-casually mentioned, one of my first big/long term fandoms was Metal Gear Solid. And I know that some of the memes from that series have escaped containment, and to the outsiders it might look like "Call of Duty but with the occasional zany moment" but it does have a lot of story (too much, some might say XD) and intricate character relationships and lore and, ugh it's just SUCH fertile ground for art and fic and all the things that make fandom great. But, it *does* also very much appeal to gamer dudes of the usual type. And normally this is fine, the transformative fans and the archival fans largely keep to their own fandom spaces- but sometimes there is crossover that rubs one group or the other the wrong way.

One such case is that there is a character who has an "affair" with his step-mother, but I put that in quotes because when the dust settles, it turns out this happened when the character in question was 16. There is TERRIBLE fallout from the event (family trauma, suicide, estrangement) and the game plays it all straight- this is something that broke the already fragile family to pieces. BUT for a long time, the joke was "haha character banged his stepmom". Which. Ew.

Anyways, I always really wanted to write a story that sort of expanded on those events, not the actual relationship/abuse/fallout, but more the events that precluded it, mostly what made the character an easy target. (Isolation, otherness, a lack of confidence in who they were as an individual). Basically, I wanted to really tell a story that treated the matter with the needed level of seriousness, if only to say, "hey, this isn't a punchline, this is a traumatic experience".

I ended up watching, "The Graduate" a few times as sort of... research? Partially for tone, partially because the themes and characterization in that movie matched the vibe I was trying to go for in my own story. (I can't help but think that Kojima, known for referencing movies in his games- might have had it in mind due to some shared imagery.) This was maybe the first time I did something like that, watching a movie to pick it apart for nuance in tone, as opposed to looking at it for canon events, timelines etc.

So that story ended up being, "Surface Tension", which first appeared in the "Metal Gear Solid: Lost Years" zine, and then eventually got posted to AO3. It's not my best reviewed fic by a long shot (understandably, it's a difficult subject material and not shippy or anything), but it's one that I can say I am proud of.

a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

Wow, this one is tricky for me- I feel like a lot of fans are way more detail oriented than I am when it comes to canon. I'm always the one in awe when people are like, "Oh in episode seven, this one song is playing in a car as it drives by, and that's significant because it came out in 2013 and that was the year that..." and i'm just like "you guys know the names of songs?"

I guess to that end- I always liked the line in, I think it's season 1 where Matt says it's a "90's Top 40" kind of guy. I think it's really funny because people characterize him as having... well, let's just say "better" musical taste, but like, no. That dude would bop his head if you played the Spin Doctors.

the fandom you’re curious about because of a mutual

I have no idea what's going on in the Trolls fandom, and at this point I'm afraid to ask. But they all look like they're having a great time.

how has fandom positively impacted your life?

I've made so many friends, and as someone who doesn't get out as much as I'd like (especially as an immunocompromised person in the middle of a pandemic), my fandom friends are so, so important to me. I love the feeling of having a group of people who love the thing I love and being able to waltz into a space and say, "Hey, who wants to do this crazy thing with me?" and have even a few people say "Yeah, let's fucking GOOOO". ^^

I also think I wouldn't write nearly as much if it wasn't for fandom, and writing has certainly gone a long way towards helping me become better at unraveling the balls of yarn in my brain and making them into sweaters and scarves, as it were. I think a lot of the time when you write, you're practicing empathy- because you're forcing yourself to see the world from someone else's perspective. Maybe the character you're writing about had something in common with you, maybe that's what drew you to them in the first place, but identifying that also helps you understand more about yourself *and* how you relate to others. So I like to think that writing has helped me relate better to other people, even the ones I disagree with, and made me more able to slow down and ask, "well, why does this person feel/think that way?" Storytelling is so important for a lot of reasons, but that's a big one for me.

[hp-shameblog]

Love that you got into the fandom without consuming any of the source material. I'm so curious about how you perceive the story versus those of us who have been involved with it since the days that only the canon material existed.

Very excited to see you around!

thank you so much!

I'm gonna be honest with you, this is not my first rodeo. I got into a good third of my fandoms I'd guess without having consumed any source material first, although in most cases I did eventually consume it after getting into the fandom. that will not be the case here lol. in my experience it works like this: I see posts about a show/movie/book/etc on tumblr, I get curious about it, I read a fic on ao3 that really catches my eye, and if I like it I'll just continue reading fics. I'll sort by the fandom's most popular works and read a dozen before I start getting a hang of the characters, and then as I keep reading I start to understand the story and what happend in canon.

this was the case when I got into Harry Potter: I have never watched the movies or read the books and I was never particularly interested. all the knowledge I had was absorbed through cultural osmosis through the decades, but other than a few character names I knew basically nothing. "Harry is the main character, he's a magic orphan and lives in a cupboard, his friends are Ron and Hermione" "Voldemort is the bad guy and he looks hilarious (snake faced)" "I always get Dumbledore confused with Gandalf" "Snape and McGonagall are teachers" and that was about it. I didn't know pretty much anything about any of the characters beyond their names. I had previously read a few (and by few I do mean like six at most) fussion fics with other fandom's characters going to Hogwarts but I tended to avoid those and crossovers (with HP) tbh.

anyways, I got into HP bc I was in my era of binging time travel fics and I came across one and decided, why not, let's give it a chance. that was fun, so I went and found more fics. on the shorter side to start with, to try and get a feel for the characters, and the world building was quite interesting. so I kept at it and then I came across one fic where the first time Harry goes to Diagon Alley he takes a detour to talk to a lawyer and it really showed me what worldbuilding would look like in this universe and I knew that was it, I was definitely interested now.

I continued my way through reading time travel fics and fix-its and slowly a picture started forming in my mind of the story: the things that were repeated time and time again across multiple fics had to be canon events, although the details varied and not everything was always present in every fic. as I started reading more and more fix it's that would rewrite the entire timeline I started getting a clear picture of what happend year by year, although I was still very fuzzy on the details. I believed Umbridge was a squib for a while, from a fic I read. but like I said, the more I read the more I noticed the patterns repeating and from what was and wasn't said I eventually got a very clear picture of the timeline of canon events. I admit I'm a bit more fuzzy on stuff like the Marauders era; because there's much less canon about them and their era there is a lot more fanon, therefore it makes it harder to pin down actual canon fact versus everything else, (and besides I don't tend to seek out marauders era fic as much,) but I think I've got a pretty accurate picture of at least the Marauders and Lily and Snape. I'm a lot less clear on pretty much all their friends and everyone else from their era (maybe because afaik most of them are only ever mentioned by name and they have like, basically no canon at all?), and I admit I don't know much about post-Voldemort's resurrection Wormtail, but I don't think there is much to know.

and well, after a while, when I had a bit of a clear picture about the more general stuff I came back to tumblr in search of content. mostly fanart and fic recs, as you can probably tell from my blog, but I obviously came across a lot of really interesting meta that expanded my understanding of some canon stuff.

beyond that, if you're interesting in my perspective on stuff I can only say this: I have now probably read accurate and inaccurate portrayals of most characters. I have probably read flattering and very unflattering (critical, unfriendly, straight up hostile) portrayals of most characters too. this exists in every fandom and, where I have consumed the canon material I generally have my own opinion formed but I don't tend to mind, from time to time, reading fic that expresses opinions about characters that are in complete opposition to my own. but u do have very clear preferences. because I have not consumed the canon material here my preferences are not based so much on the characters themselves but rather on how I like to read them. which tends to vary from time to time.

like, say for example (and this may be a controversial opinion? if there's something I'm not at all knowledgeable in is fandom drama lol), the manipulative Dumbledore trope. do I like and agree with all that Dumbledore has done in canon? no. do I think canon Dumbledore was an evil bastard who didn't care about Harry at all and simply wanted a pawn? also no. but it is very fun to read those stories most of the time. but then I can also read stories where he has funky old grampa vibes, or when he's a funny troll with the teachers, or a million more characterizations, and I have fun, I don't care. I'm not attached to one Dumbledore portrayal. I did chose Dumbledore for this example because I thought it'd be less controversial but the same thing can be said of most everyone else: I can read Molly as having adopting Harry as an honourary Weasley and being his mother and loving him so so much, and I can read her as having been in cahoots with Dumbledore and stealing from Harry's vault, and I don't mind either.

the thing I probably enjoy the most is that I'm not burdened by canon, if that makes sense? like, controversial opinion time but I think that Snape is a really cool character. that said, canon Snape is an abusive bastard and if I'd read/watched canon I'd hate him. and sometimes it's great to read him as a villain, but sometimes it's also great to read him acting as a guardian to Harry and taking care of the Slytherin kids, and when I do that I don't have to make myself forget what a bastard he is in canon, does that make sense? because I haven't read the canon so him being an abusive bastard is like. just a thing I know. a fact I know about him, like the fact that his robes bellow behind him. I haven't read that, I haven't seen that, so its just a data point I have in my Snape characterization checklist (not literally), if that makes sense. so when I read some fics I don't think "this is so out of character, canon Snape would never, I'll chose to ignore canon Snape for now" I just think "cool, nice fic".

Snape (and Dumbledore and Molly above) are easy examples of this, but it applies to pretty much everyone. reading dark!Harry fics is so much fun and not once do I think "he wouldn't actually do that" as I bet lots of people do. to be fair, I am very flexible about reading fic in all my fandoms, even canons I have consumed and characterizations I am attached to, I don't mind from time to time reading something completely different and going "they would never do this" but then I just go "cool tho, I love it" because I'm that kind of person.

I have been writing forever but I guess I do like talking about it and my experience getting into fandoms without consuming the source material.

thank you so much for the ask and the warm welcome to the fandom 💖