#my brain was rotting so hard because of this ship at some point

[selenadem]

Sethrika stuff I've drawn this year

[bluarlequinno]

I'm going mad actually

Born from twitter discourse, here’s my analysis on the fandom’s interpretation of Heathmael, one because it's all over my feed which ... Ugh, but secondly, the fact that none of the sides state all things clearly and it just ends up being a bunch of misconception regarding the ship.

Let it be said that, in all honesty, I find this drama really annoying because I genuinely do dislike the ship overall in retrospect, buuuut to contextualize, this was all born from the post "ship so ass you have to mischaracterize the characters for it to work" and somebody mentioned Heathmael. And obviously a lot of people found that baffling, but is it true?

I feel it's a big... depends, because when they are shipped the overwhelming majority of people who ship them mischaracterize them to the point where it's very obvious that they don't ship them because they find their narrative foil appealing or that they comprehend why their relationship (narratively speaking) works or why are they written the way they are. Or if they value Ishmael as a character more than they value eye candy and a male character they can insert onto.

Rather you will normally find the typical characterization of “haters to lovers” that pushes this tsundere agenda in Ishmael which forcefully feminizes her and characterizes Heathcliff as some type of bad boy which lmao wtf.

This ship is extremely debated, compared to other straight ships in the fandom, and even though it's objectively a decent straight ship narratively speaking, most of the people who ship it are well... I hope it comes through which specific people I'm talking about.

People who frame it as Ishmael finally puts down that "bitch" attitude to warm up to Heathcliff which is just... Not only extremely stupid, but is clearly ooc for both Ishmael and Heathcliff, and Heathcliff can finally find an alternative of Catherine framing Ishmael as something Heathcliff gets.

They project their own desires on Heathcliff and treat Ishmael like the woman in the straight relationship that just ends up with this ass dynamic that enforces all that is wrong with traditional straight relationships which is a big disservice to what is actually going on with their relationship in canon.

Not only because it misses the point entirely and makes the environment around the ship extremely dislikeable and impossible for people to even like because of it, but also because it hurts to watch these two characters who individually are so much more and so deep and interesting be reduced to this dynamic that butchers them.

But in essence, their dynamic, if interpreted correctly and without any of the brain rot bullshit they are normally shipped on behalf of, is actually really really compelling, does it mean it's shippy? I feel that it just really... depends. I feel that I could only ship it if it's this very specific version I've analyzed in my head and that is not a traditional view on shipping, and is in a very thin line between platonic and leaning on angsty that overall is more a character analysis than actual shipping, but all in all not necessarily with them falling in love.

Which makes it really hard for me to enjoy it and I would need for them to be tackled with extreme sensibility and consideration of both of them to be able to work, but all in all I feel is both valid why people dislike it and even ones who say it is kinda bad, after all it is mostly filled with fics and fanart that clearly put in evidence just what kind of people who engage in their ship actually are which well makes some people who appreciate their characters not like it. If you ship them and aren't like this well (if the shoe doesn't fit… don't put that shoe on then).

But, I suppose it's also valid to ship them. I mean as much as I hate to admit it, it's not like there isn't anything between them in the game.

But I also feel however that even if you dislike it, it isn't really a bad ship, nor is it inconceivable, after all they are narrative foils and they end up a little better after because of each other.

However I wanna discuss that, it is important to note that a lot of the reasons I dislike the ship, is because of this inexistent triangle they do between Heathcliff, Catherine and Ishmael which is just... So petty and stupid.

To make Ishmael's and Heathcliff's relationship look better they frame Catherine and therefore her own relationship with Heathcliff in such a negative “she was toxic and abusive to Heathcliff” kinda light that just is stupid, because not only does it overly villainize Catherine while sanctifying Heathcliff when is clear both were the problem (in their relationship, not regarding the abuse Heathcliff's went through), but it also disregards Heathcliff's feelings and makes it seem as though Catherine didn't love Heathcliff which is objectively not true, both of them loved each other so much that they had no idea how to resolve it because of their upbringings, not to mention they were both literal teenagers living on a toxic household isolated and with clear ideologies that influenced them, but also Catherine lived with the guilt of Heathcliff's pain, the reason she even does what she does in Heathcliff's canto is because she feels that she cannot do anything else to make up for Heathcliff's suffering than to erase herself. Heathcliff and Catherine's souls are made from the same after all. Heathcliff loved Catherine and still as of now up to date on the story, is still in love with Catherine, his whole arc is that he now has the self confidence, self esteem and maturity to confront his feelings and his needs with Catherine without putting himself down. He is still looking for her to be able to "who guessed it" TALK. He is learning to express and find his own feelings as valid and as worth it as any other person, leaving behind his inferiority complex. Like how he admits out loud that he sees the sinners as family.

Heathcliff is more emotionally mature than people give him credit for, and he never hated Ishmael. Heathcliff hated himself and hated to see someone he saw himself reflected on sink down harder because he expected Ishmael to be better than him, and if Ishmael can't be, then what does that mean for himself?

He helps Ishmael because he is an emotionally empathic person who understands that Ishmael needed someone who would just listen, and it worked. He didn't save Ishmael nor did he become the reason Ishmael outgrew her own trauma.

If there's anything I learned from Revolutionary girl utena is that you cannot save anybody all you can do is lend a hand.

Heathcliff is a man who wears his heart and his intentions on his sleeve, now that his relationship with Ishmael is of a mutual understanding and appreciation he wouldn't be in denial if there were deeper feelings, but there aren't, he helps Ishmael just how he realizes when other of the sinners are having a bad time, or when he accommodates for others because he realizes what they are going through.

Look how in the new Canto Heathcliff is constantly speaking up on behalf of Don Quixote because he understands her and empathizes with her enough to be one to speak up when another sinner says something negative about her.

But back to the point , does this mean that I'm saying it can't mean it could be interpreted as shipping? I feel that is just whatever, obviously it can. I'm no authority, I just feel that it's not intrinsically romantic and is not fair for it to be pushed to be so.

But I feel it was really important for me to clarify because if there's anything that I dislike is putting two female characters against each other for a man especially Ishmael who I mean... Would definitely not fight for a man in the romantic sense. Let alone with another woman 🙄. She fights for things she thinks are worth her time, don't diss my girl like that, don't make this something it's not. Ishmael is not that type of girl.

But I think it is really important to acknowledge this because Heathcliff doesn't nor did he project Catherine on Ishmael, the narrative never parallels them and in Heathcliff's canto Ishmael never is framed to be in any way similar to Catherine, because it isn't there, because Heathcliff doesn't see Catherine in Ishmael because people often don't realize that Heathcliff wasn't like Ishmael, who as smart as she was, was an emotional wreck, Heathcliff was pretty aware of what he wanted to do arriving at Wuthering Heights, so for Heathcliff it's more a thing of, I don't want you if you aren't Catherine why you dare compare to her, nobody could be for me what she was. Heathcliff saw himself in Ishmael, which is very different.

And it is really important to acknowledge that because after his Canto Heathcliff still doesn't show nor say nor do anything to showcase that now his relationship with Ishmael is more meaningful that his with Catherine. Because those two relationships are different.

With this I'm not saying you can't ship them, just that you can't ignore Heathcliff's and Catherine's relationship and how It is actually framed as.

Because it isn't fair for Ishmael to be treated as the second option, it isn't fair that she's framed as what Heathcliff settles for because his relationship with Catherine didn't work and people really do frame it like that, but if you don't frame it like that than you have to acknowledge that Heathcliff wouldn't choose Ishmael over Catherine. At least not now, and Ishmael will not just jump into a relationship regardless, she spent years with Queequeg and it is something that for Ishmael just isn't easy.

But Ishmael isn't Heathcliff's anything, Ishmael canonly doesn't have any feelings for Heathcliff and if you are gonna ship them I think is important to at least acknowledge all of this so you don't end up doing that stupid thing of putting Ishmael as the other option of Heathcliff and therefore treating Ishmael as Heathcliff's instead of an individual character brought closer to another individual character.

I also believe that a reason why, at least for me personally, Heathmael conflicts me so much is because, since Heathcliff and Ishmael are hostile in the begging, and Ishmael is a female character, shipping her with Heathcliff is almost basically an indicator of people treating Ishmael pretty misogynistically and just kinda really UHM.. it's hard for me to explain it on fully, but it's just this vision of that stereotypical men and women bicker so it means they most like each other and that Ishmael should learn to like Heathcliff because she's just so uptight and hysterical which not even Heathcliff feels at all about Ishmael so it annoys me that a lot of male shippers project that on Heathcliff to build this very specific idea of Ishmael that is so far from the truth and pains me to see given how much I love Ishmael. It's pretty ironic given how literally her whole anger in part is that nobody takes her anger seriously and her worries seriously because she's too paranoid and yeah...

Does this make sense? I hope so

Now I do wanna tackle the elephant in the room, because I feel it is also a bias I have and I think talking about it could open to more fans discussing it, but... I feel like the simple fact that it is a straight ship does make people hate it, I wouldn't say I hate Heathmael, but I do admit that the fact it's straight does kinda not make me like it as much as I would if it was sapphic, but in my defense I feel at least personally that it's more to do with my relationship with Ishmael's character than the fact it's straight in general, because as far as straight ships go, Rodion x Gregor is absolutely adorable, Meursault x Donqui can be cute and I do admit that Faust x Yi Sang has its charm, but I feel that Ishmael reads as a lesbian to a lot of the fans and tbh I feel like the lenses and proofs on the game aren't like invisible and that her relationship with Queequeg and what it means for Ishmael is too important as well.

I know bisexuality is also a thing obviously, but I feel with Ishmael specifically there is something about her and being a lesbian that there isn't in any other of the females sinners, I'm being genuine I think Ishmael is probably the only sinner I fully see as a lesbian (well maybe Outis too) and it is something that resonates with my reading of her character too much to fully be able to enjoy Heathmael, at least in the "they actually fall in love kind of way".

Honestly I feel this might sprout some controversy, but I feel like I wanted to say something about them, specifically because Ishmael and Heathcliff individually to me are extremely good characters and the discourse is annoying, but also because I feel things are never fully stated ever and it leaves me feelings unsatisfied. I have been pondering about it for a long while.

Also I feel I should also talk more about Ishmael's side in this story, but ironically speaking Heathmael is harder for me to read because of Heathcliff and his misinterpretation, both of him and his relationship with Catherine overall.

Ishmael also to a certain extent, I feel people don't understand her a lot, or they purposefully ignore canon portrayal because she's a female character and is more exposed to THAT kind of treatment by fandom (at least that very specific side of people). But I think for Ishmael I'd just make a whole separate analysis post.

[katyspersonal]

I had a fun dream regarding the Elden Ring DLC!!! In fact, it was a DLC for the DLC. Apparently it was my brain's spin on "how it could have gone differently", centered around at least 3 different endings (?) that I got to try! It was hard to say whether I was playing or actually being the main character and experiencing all this (best type of videogame-based dreams!)

The focal point was Divine Gate being destroyed and Miquella being spat back out, in his accursed child body again and the "plot" started when we returned some things/feelings to him to make him active. The amount of dialogue he'd provide depended on the amount of Crosses we visited, and before returning them he was completely limp. In either case he was labeled on the map as 'Heartbroken Miquella' or something. There was one 'default', ending that needed passivity sort of. There were plenty of quests and things to do still that were required for the plot, but provided you didn't do anything "special" it ended up in Miquella basically building a Noah Arc very quickly. Yes, because some unknown force triggered the great flooding that was coming. It would basically destroy the world Greater Will and Fingers created so far, and yet let it be made anew. The good side of it was, that since Death is connected with water in Elden Ring world (souls of those that didn't die properly assume Jellyfish form, Godwyn became a sea creature, Tibia Mariners) a LOT of people were coming back with the water but in pure form. Children of the Stars without their rotten flesh and all. This ending felt bittersweet though; having done so much to 'uproot' the fundamentally wrong things Two Fingers melded into this world, he still could not find the courage to let his friends die yet there was no time to separate their bodies from flesh like Ranni and victims of Astrologers' experiments... Effectively, preserving """filth""" into new world and saving what he could save.

The second ending somehow stopped the flood by effect, granting it protection of his gentle pale yellow light (not to be confused with the oppressive gold of the Erdtree!). Protection from any Outer God and from corruption and rotting from within. That however would result in people like Malenia, Godwyn (Prince of Death), Romina etc getting sealed into yellow crystals for the 'next 1000 years' so they could not corrupt the world but alas they could not be healed still. This ending was centered on Miquella comprehending that no, Radahn wasn't "corrupted by sinful world" into becoming a warmonger compared to younger self but war WAS his nature. And for many people, alas their nature was 'necessary evil' without which the world would be a hollow place. So he accepted he could not "save" some people because that'd not be them anymore. However, he could still let the world rest in Heaven by putting it in preservation for a long time. Not cleaning, just preserving from evil, external or internal. And how this secret ending was achieved? ......by marrying Miquella, which included a large variety of activities in order to distract Leda, avoid Leda, lead him away before Leda appears, sending more friends to talk to Leda, having Dane and Leda shipped (lol okay??) etc hfhygxjjh Because if you messed up this part, she'd not let you close enough to Miquella and you'd be set back to flood ending XD

Third ending had to do with the darkness!! It was a secret one, where you would seek rifts Messmer left along the way where he used Base Serpent powers too much. The rifts were patched out by the earth itself, but you had to reopen them like wounds. Reverse Crosses collecting! Because.. if they all were opened, you could access the Lightless Abyss that Base Serpent came from and force it into the world! It would extinguish any and all light of this world leaving only blue star-affiliated one. A bit like Ranni's ending but EVIL!! Creatures of golden light would get striped from it though (Queelign copes and seethes lol). It ensured a lot of horrors being unleashed though and consuming every "weak" person. Tarnished, Albinaurics and other lightness were remotely safe, but those born of gold and under Ring and relying on it were FUCKED. Especially Marika's family. They'd remain defenseless and be the first to get swallowed, so from now on they'd need protection. And whereas blue stars remained the age would be darkness swallowing all of them until only one remained. I as a "player" knew it'd explode to bring the light again.. but other characters didn't.

.....yet when I wanted to try this unleashed Abyss ending, Miquella himself stopped me by stabbing me with Bewitching Branch (not swinging it, specifically stabbing) and I woke up from very intense feeling of love and yearning for him lol fgfggh The last thing I remember how scared he was that he barely stopped... all that. But I just suddenly found him the most appealing person in the world, as if I never loved anyone else. I can't even describe how it felt. It was like.. every cell of my body suffering and only his touch could cure this torment. I had to lay down about 20 minutes to finally calm down gjfggd I am actually embarrassed by it, especially since intrusive thoughts followed, but also I guess it wasn't my fault? Very weird type of alarm clock though 💔

[mysteryanimator]

ANIMATION BREAKDOWN PROCESS OF THIS LETS GO (Sorry for any grammatical errors!)

SCRIPT/STORYBOARD: (you can watch here)

Now THIS. The script was very weak because I wanted to board immediately, so it started strong then fell off at the end (also generally I'm not a stronger writer, which haha fics my beloved). Now I know this, spending more time simmering with the script will genuinely only 1) stronger compositions for storyboards 2) it will be so much faster to board. Like I can board fast, but I can board fast AND well if I sit with the idea a bit longer. This will be a massive running theme how I like my shots earlier rather than further in.

side note I LIKE PANEL 11 A LOT, I just feeI didn't translate it well enough into animation which sucks because its a pretty panel and you get a softer moment from Olrox which I found was important to get across.

Also at some point, the 180 rule (which keeps characters on like one line behind the camera... not sure if I worded that right) gets broken and it bugged me for AGES but decided I had to just move on LOL.

These are my thumbnails b4 I go to animatic/cleaned storyboards which are SO MESSY (I'm a lot better at annotating my thumbs now LOL). The original prompt was top service blood bag x powerbottom vampire and i don't think i portrayed that well enough throughout BUT i think the intro did a good establishment. Which fun fact, this was scrapped but there was actually 20 seconds of Mizrak eyeing Olrox "What is it like? Blood?" Then Olrox leans down and commences the thigh glide.

These backgrounds are a mix of texture-bashing (walls/floors) along with some good ol' painting materials from scratch. Also, these are olddd and I can do a lot better yay, but was a good test to see how to make a consistent-ish scene.

ANIMATION: (You can watch the rough anim here)

I'll be super upfront how I don't like most of it AHHA. From starting this in July to posting this in September, I've improved a lot since then.

Since this was a bit ago, I don't remember too much but I remember going ham onto learning material from Dong Chang and animation servers. However in all honesty I think this was only really applied to the earlier shots. I got super frustrated with my "slow speed" so I tried to jump ship and do cleans super early on, which like lets be honest- pumping out two rough anims a day with uni on top is not slow idk what I was on about. This ended up giving me MORE work during the line/colour stage PFFT because I would end up correcting my mistakes in my roughs. Like Myst stop, this is for fun and you're learning, please take it easy LOLOL.

COMPOSITING:

Working on compositing this time around was slightly different, and I'll also admit it is not my favorite composite I've done (and again, I like my earlier shots then my later shots). My after-effects layers looked insane keeping track of the highlight glows on their clothes BUT it definitely paid off. Skin tones however were SO DIFFICULT (mostly in part to the fact I decided to experiment with how I approached it, so it definitely skewed how I worked with this)

I also definitely struggled between the dreamy look and keeping it clean and crisp, and while the dreamy blurred aesthetic does work in some cases, I opted out for the sake of clarity.

Beloved edge light my friend. It's making me learn SUPER late into it how I probably should have planned out a third shadow pass since edge light at the point is a crutch and I think planning it out ahead would get nicer more precise shadows LOL.

Because I brain rotted so hard for this animation I actually commissioned two people to help me work on this! I'll briefly talk about their stuff but please check out their work!

MUSIC: Astralbardkeep

Due the fact I don't have voiceactors, and I had a very specific vision in mind, I decided to go "you know what, let me be super self-indulgent". I had a lot of notes and inspirations for the music, BUT i wanted to have Olrox's theme from the original games peek through, which you will notice happens at the bite AND at the end.

TITLE CARD: Hataui0

This might've seemed overkill, but this friend of mine is very talented at making graphics/typography to suit the requirements of each individual project. (Also a secret ploy to make him make nocturne fanart /lh). So that entire end bit, he illustrated it along with that title, in which the themes I bestowed him were Mucha and Gothic art.

Thank you for reading if you got this far! Suffice to say this was supposed to be a compare and contrast between the animation I did in February, and while I may not quite find this body of work up to my normal standards, it substantial amount of improvement, which is the most important thing here! With the ten billion other things in my life going on, I can only be happy with the progress thus far :D

February on the left/September on the right

[cruyuu]

Hi!

My thoughts about what I'm about to point out aren't coherent yet but you're the first person I thought of when it came to me

So Yuuji's still missing his left pinky finger after Sukuna changed vessel and RCT can't fix that because that's a piece of Yuuji's soul that was ripped off

And now I'm following the theory that the finger in the last panel is the one that was imbued in Yuuji from birth that he removed himself through his ring finger

And in my brain it's like 'there's some skit bs going on here' and idk if I'm making sense because I'm not sure of where this is going 😅 but with the left ring finger being associated with engagements and weddings getting rind of the last piece of the other's soul through that finger could be akin to throwing away your wedding ring (the divorce era is real) but maybe they've rotten my brain a bit too much

In any case I'm looking forward to any thoughts you have on this chapter (and thank you for reading my ramblings) <3

Hi there anon!

I love your thought process and the fact that you remembered that! It would be extremely fitting (even if far-fetched for those who are not as insane as we are) because they just big sigh. They just have to act like that and be that way lol. I wouldn't put it past our dear author who delivered a lot on sukuita week no less (that is still some crazy coincidence) to again make something about them both. If not the finger, then the soul connection, if not that then something else. Like Gege definitely didn't need to write Yuuji chasing after his inner demon and spending time with him (hell, saying he was frantic and wanting Sukuna to indulge him), especially not when that same demon is someone who continually kept ruining his life and took the very person Yuuji confessed he feels lonely without, but here we are.

I'm waiting for the official chapter to drop so I can really get the whole picture since leaks are just a tiny piece. Shipping aside, I don't know what to make of that panel with Sukuna's finger. jjk is pretty close to ending now and hence, I am skeptical. I really wish for there to be another arc after Shinjuku because it feels very off to me to end everything in like two more chapters. I'm hoping for more because it still feels like there's more left. Maybe I'm just insane and will be missing this manga a lot which is why I'm sensing that, idk.

Divorce arc has never been realer now and it's lowkey slightly painful to me since Yuuji wanted a compromise. What's very fucking funny still is that Yuuji reached out to him, first and foremost, realized he can't affect him (that sad look in his eyes) and then switched back to his usual response. Meanwhile Sukuna's still pretending he doesn't care even though he indulged Yuuji and spent nearly an entire day with him before he finally snapped when he realized Yuuji was sad about him lol. Still, the vehement anger Sukuna feels is keeping me rather well fed because Sukuna has no business being so against Yuuji saving Megumi. Like why?? He had no trouble being patient and even explaining his viewpoint when Yuuji DE-ed them away and talked about himself, but then the second Yuuji mentioned saving Fushiguro, he's shaking with rage and promising to kill everyone Yuuji loves.

Chapter 265 is literally:

yuuji: spend some time with me

sukuna: ok

yuuji: so here's what i realized

sukuna: why are you telling this to me oh my god i don't care like i understand your point but i don't feel anyth—

yuuji: i want to save fushiguro

sukuna: 😡🤬😡🤬😠😠🤬😡🤬😡😠🤬 (that wasn't meant for me?!?!?!?!)

I am also brain rotting hard about everything. 266 fueled my brain and filled it with one-sided sukuita fic ideas which are just peak angst and I live for angst so yeah. I'll have to get to writing soon because I have a lot of ideas for these two (the writers block is keeping me away from that, as is my slightly limited english vocabulary and real life unfortunately).

Thank you for sending this ask, anon, and also thank you for listening to me ramble about these two as well! <3 I'm more than happy to discuss these two for eternity because they just make me insane.

[mothiir]

little rabbit, part II

because apparently this is how i am spending my Thursday evening.

Cw: dubcon, abuse of authority, general ickiness. Less sex than originally intended.

The xenos are giving Roboute more trouble than first thought, but he’s a strong lad; he can handle them. There’s really no need for the Emperor to remain any longer — the thought of staying to say goodbye to his son does not even occur to him — so he packs up his retinue and heads off to the next battle that demands his attention. After all, in the far reaches of this uncaring universe there is only war, and hungering, terrible gods, and the bleak possibility of extinction: a fate only he is able to steer his people away from. 

He takes the girl with him. He doesn’t ask Roboute for permission. Why would he? Human serfs practically overrun this ship, and he’s sure that the Primarch could have his pick of them. This one he can spare. 

—

“Come here girl,” he says, a few hours later, as he reclines in the bath — indulging in one rare indulgence while contemplating another. The indulgence in question looks at him with fretful eyes, her knees pulled to her chest. She hesitates for a moment, her jaw tightening with pain and effort. Disobeying the Emperor of Mankind is not a pleasant experience for your average human — they are all drawn to him, instinct demanding bent-knee and awe. He’s impressed with how long she holds out; then, all at once, she starts to her feet, picking her way over to him, bare feet on wet marble. The baths aboard the Bucephalus are magnificent and vast, all extravagant gold decoration and shining white marble. The heated pool the Emperor sits in now is deep enough that the water shades to navy at the centre. 

“Yes my lord,” she says, eyes awkwardly flitting from his face to his chest. “I uh — what would you have me do?”

He has some ideas, but before he can speak she grabs at a bar of perfumed soap. 

“Roboute — uh, the Lord Primarch —likes it when I wash his hair. Can I do that?”

Fascinating. He can see the muscles in her legs twitching as her lizard brain howls at her to drop down in supplication, and yet she holds herself upright — hunched, shaking, and standing. 

“You may,” he allows, and turns around. She sinks to her knees behind him, shuffling forwards on her shins, so she can reach him. She spends a very long time lathering the soap between her hands, delaying, and he settles back, the top of his head resting in her lap. 

The Emperor is a firm believer in the old adage: hard times make hard men. It is a good thing to suffer and to grow strong; too much softness leads to rot, and the hungry eyes of those things that lay in the depths of the warp. However, as the girl’s fingers work against his scalp, combing through his long hair — well, he finds himself reassessing. Just a little. A tiny bit. Some indulgence is important. Keeps things in perspective. Stops one from valorising asceticism to the point of theology. 

Something like that.

She rinses his hair, and slicks oil through it, and works her hands along to his shoulders, absently pushing her thumbs against the knots she finds there. He barely feels the pressure, but he enjoys the gesture. 

“Now,” he says, as he stretches out, his hair cleaner than it has been in months. “I think it is time we —“

”I can tell you a story! Can I?”

Her voice lilts into pain; interrupting him violates that deep-buried instinct to obey, and blood drips out of her nose. He runs his thumb along her upper lip to mop it up; at his touch her whole body starts to quake; but she does not look away from his face. Even when her right eye begins to twitch with the effort of it. 

“Yes,” he says. “But take this off.”

He tugs at her dress. It’s soaked through with water, and he’s almost certain he ordered she remove it before they entered the bath — or did he? No, he realises. He didn’t. He just assumed she would do. And she didn’t. Tiny little acts of defiance. Adorable.

She shucks her dress off, revealing soft flesh, all blushed and distressingly unmarked. He leans forwards and closes his teeth on her shoulder, just because he can, feeling the bird-sharpness of her bone against his tongue. 

“I uh — wait, can we wait until the story is finished?”

”It depends on the story, little one.”

Still, he pulls back. Once more, blood is dripping from her nose — she’s staring him directly in the face. 

“Right. Once there was a trickster named Crow…”

She is not so foolish to talk to him of gods — instead she tells him about Crow’s adventures throughout an ancient world; how Crow, being small and feathered and female, was at a great disadvantage in most of her conflicts; and yet how Crow’s intelligence almost always prevailed. And, when her intelligence failed her, she could always fly away. There is something about the story, about the way she speaks, about the unyielding focus of her gaze — despite the blood that continues to ooze from her nose, eventually joined by blood from the corner of her twitching right eye — that makes him feel rather nostalgic. For a moment — for less than a breath — he can imagine that he is once more a young man, sitting in the red soil of his birth, listening to the women of his tribe exchange tales around the cooking fire. 

She talks until her voice runs out. It has been hours, and he has matters to attend to. He catches her face in his hands and kisses her, her tongue dry from storytelling, her lips chapped and sore. She tastes of blood. 

“The Custodes will escort you to my chambers. Be ready for me.”

”Yes, lord. I — I —“

She stammers a little, like she’s trying to form a question — but in the end, her words fail her. She nods, mutely obedient. 

He wouldn’t expect anything different.

—

When he has her, later that night — insofar as any timespan in space can be called night — she tries very, very hard not to cry. It’s sweet how long she lasts before the tears overwhelm her, narrow shoulders trembling as he bounces her in his lap, nipping at her throat in little love bites —

She screams, and he immediately slackens his jaw, lapping over the bloody imprint his teeth have left; the bruise is already purple, and will probably turn black over the next few days, like a thunderhead.

Like a brand. 

[musicalmoritz]

I saw your post about giving tbhk characters songs and I noticed a bunch of them were musical theater and they fit so fucking well??

Like waving through a window for Sousuke and dead mom for Kou?? Unlikely lovers?? Music of the night??? Your mind omg.

I was wondering if you had more musical theater to tbhk characters stuff because id definitely like to hear them lol. It's totally fine if you don't have more, in case not, you could give more non musical stuff.

I’ve been behind on my asks so I’m trying to get caught up and this seems like the best one to start with, musicals have been rotting my brain since the eighth grade. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t remember every song I listed in the original post so I apologize if some of these are repeats!!

TW: Brief mention of suicide ideation for one of the songs/characters

• Idk how much you’d count this one as a musical song but Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty makes me think of Mitsukou/Soukou (especially in the context of the new timeline)

• I have to apply Dentist! from Little Shop Of Horrors to every sadist character so it’s going to Teru, maybe he can do that if he ever smartens up and quits exorcism (I would give it to Kou but Teru is like. wayyyy more upfront abt his sadism lol)

• Tango: Maureen from Rent except every character in TBHK besides Mitsuba and Mei is lowkey bisexual so there are so many ways it could go. Hanako and Aoi about Nene. Teru and Aoi about Akane. Mitsuba and Nene about Kou. The possibilities are endless

• Popular from Wicked with Aoi and Nene…because yk we always see Aoi giving Nene popular girl advice. I am aware her character goes deeper than that I’m just being silly

• Love Me For What I Am from In Trousers with Nene but just for the “I met a man in a can” line. She did, in fact, meet her boyfriend in a bathroom

• Helpless from Hamilton with AoiAoi and then Satisfied with Terukane. I think I’ve seen an animatic for this but there are a lot of Hamilton animatics for different fandoms so I could be mistaken

• Alyssa Greene from The Prom with Aoi

• And on that note, The Lady’s Improving with Yako or Sumire (Sumire bcuz you can add in Hakubo for the romantic context). Quite honestly I love The Prom sm, it’s very overhated imo bcuz the songs are all bangers

• Portrait Of A Girl from Bare: A Pop Opera with Aoi and Akane before their development

• More with Bare because I love queer musicals, Role Of A Lifetime with Mitsuba in the context of Mitsukou. They can’t be together forever and Mitsuba knows that so he’s confused on what Kou wants…see the vision

• Seventeen from Heathers with HanaNene but bonus points if it’s Picture Perfect Amanene when they tried to run away together

• There’s A Fine, Fine Line from Avenue Q with Nene…possibly after Nakahara rejected her

• I feel like the concept of She Used To Be Mine from Waitress could be applicable to so many female characters because context aside, it has major theme of going from girlhood to womanhood + overcoming a lot of trauma, so it’s hard for me to nail down just one. Perhaps yorishiro Sumire? Could also apply to Nene

• You Gotta Die Sometime from Falsettos with Mei (my sister and I quote the opening line to each other every time one of us is sick…but also oof this song hurts me)

• This one is a bit nonsensical but I like to imagine The Worst Pies In London with Teru and Akane since yk Teru is terrible at cooking. Or with Ghost Hotel Kou and Nene (not in a ship way tho)

• The Ballad Of Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone loosely makes me think of Katakuri bcuz of the whole deal with the kannagi losing their memories

• In the Same Boat from the Lightning Thief demo with any of the trios tbh, mainly the Broadcasting Crew because Sakuhiko fit the Percabeth dynamic so well and Tsukasa as Grover is just yes (in the context of this song specifically lol). For the others tho it would be Terukane as Percabeth and Aoi as Grover, then HanaKou as Percabeth and Nene as Grover…or HanaNene as Percabeth and Kou as Grover. Another one with lots of options

• Red And Black from Les Misérables with Teru and Akane bcuz of the whole Enjolras caring abt war and Marius being all head-in-the-clouds about Cosette…very Akane coded in general

• Meet the Plastics from Mean Girls with Teru as Regina, Akane as Gretchen, and Aoi as Karen

• On that same note, WORLD BURN WITH TERU. HEAR ME OUT.

• I want to bring up Spring Awakening just to bring up Spring Awakening tbh so Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind with Aoi and Akane (?) or Teru maybe. Tbh I’m struggling on who could do Ilse’s part but Aoi fits Moritz (my boyyyyy) very well with how she wants to “go somewhere far away” aka take her own life due to the pressure she’s under. Could also be with Mitsuba or Amane as Moritz but NOT Kou because we all know Kou isn’t actively suicidal right?? We’re all on the same page abt that?? Good

• I could also picture Those You’ve Known with Kou and his dead ghost friends at the end of the manga. Specifically Hanako as Moritz and Nene as Wendla but you could substitute either of them for Mitsuba if you want

• I feel like Wait For It from Hamilton could fit Tsuchigomori

• No Me Diga from In the Heights makes me think of Aoi and Nene and their rumors. Bonus points if Akane is the one Nene teases Aoi about with the “just wanted to see what you’d say” part

• Mister Cellophane from Chicago with Mitsuba

• Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from Phantom Of The Opera with Teru mourning his mom…we don’t really get to see him talk abt her in canon so it’s a cool concept

• More with Teru, I’m Not That Girl from Wicked. I’m thinking within the context of TeruAoi but feel free to apply it to Terukane

• When He Sees Me from Waitress with AoiAoi or Mitsukou…Aoi and Mitsuba singing ofc

• I’m Breaking Down with Aoi during the Confession Tree chapter when Akane started dating Lemon

Okay I’m capping myself off there, hope you liked this!! And thank you for the ask :)

[ultfreakme]

idk of it's just me but i don't understand, the atla fandom, from all ships existing would just slander zukka out of nowhere. like mf i just want to see my boys being silly and in love in fanwork, why they need to be so mean lmao

I think it's because for close to 20 years, Kataang and Zutara were reining supreme in ship wars and fandom space. Jetko was the main mlm ship before but it didn't have nearly the same popularity. No other ship could even touch those two and those two continued arguing about what's best for canon.

Now though? Zukka's the second most popular ship on ao3- all of those fics and content showed up in 3 years. And suddenly the Netflix actors are pushing for Zukka practically every interview while actively dissuading Zutara(and hinting strongly at Kataang- thanks Gordon & Kiawentiio going "he/she's my.....family, yeah let's say family *wink* *wink*"). They're getting extremely popular and now fucking Netflix, Entertainment Weekly and Deadline are tagging #zukka in the year of our lord 2024(thank you for your service Dallas Liu, braver than the marines). Popular ships unfortunately get hate, especially queer ships, like just as a baseline regardless of if it's a canonically supported or unsupported ship, if it's "morally correct or incorrect".

This 'crackship' that no one took seriously suddenly feels...like a threat to these people??? Like we can joke about hahaha zukka gayyyy but we all know that's just silly gobbledygook right? (Not saying Zukka should or could be canon, but just the fact that people are seriously considering it as a ship option in fandom makes people act weird)

A lot of the the points made for "why Zukka is bad actually" are so funny though, that my initial irritation is fading and I'm just laughing at it. Some highlights that made me actually lose it:

Zukka is misogynist to Katara because, and I shit you not, they think that we think Katara is homophobic sdjfhbbgvh. I was shook when I discovered this was a thing.

Zukka bad because Klance bad (war flashbacks to Voltron)

"Everyone just wants a gay ship smh the chronically ONLINE FANDOM BRAIN HAS ROTTED THE SANCTITY OF HETEROSEXUAL-[EXPLODES]"

Zuko is a colonizer who's oppressing Sokka by dating him (i have no stats but this sounds like a white person trying very hard to sound like they're super inclusive and understand the plights of the colonized and oppressed. and the best way to do it is shit on a fake ship about lines on a page)

Zukka bad because it makes no canon sense

I think people who are Big Mad don't get that we're genuinely just chilling and making silly stuff without thinking too much about what SHOULD happen in canon. Everyone in ATLA fandom takes the show and the fandom far too seriously, like losing a fan discussion is somehow a slight upon their personal morals.

We coasted along without much hate for a good while but the increasing popularity means Zukka as a ship is going to get bashed ;_; I think the best we can do is block and ignore instead of engaging(very hypocritcal of me rn tbh, I'll try to stop).

I don't think you expected this....giant wall of text but thanks for sending me the ask and I totally get your frustration" Just let us enjoy our silly hcs and content!!!

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

TBB S3 Ep 12 Thoughts!!

Gotta remember to look up what the title means

But starting off with rainy Tantiss and dark music

Setting the tone and I’m here for it!!

Ah yes

There he is

hemcock

I guess this joke is getting old but at this point I refuse to spell his name correctly

Yanno bitch really showed up with an undercut and an eyebrow slit right from the get go, like some well payed criminal

I never noticed that tbh

Ey yo Tech don’t shove your sister like that

The eye contact between omega and Emerie right of the bat got me like 👀

Girls are cooking

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re save.”

Right.

Damn occupied pabu hurts my heart

But hey batcher and hunter are okay

Crosshairs hand tremor acting up in a stressful convo with his bros

🥺🥺🥺🥺

my heart

Crosshair having potential info on Tantiss and not sharing it is… complicated. On the one hand he had the option to save his brothers and actively chose not to. On the other hand it is very clear that Crosshair suffers from PTSD as a result of the trauma he sustained there. Trauma is rarely something that allows you to act based on logic or even your own morals. It puts you in survival mode, not because you’re not strong enough to withstand it, but because it’s necessary. That’s why it’s called survival mode. Very likely every instinct within him told him not to return there and that can be hard to overcome. But he’s willing to take that step for Omega. Severe and unyielding, indeed.

Also, Omega not having that issue, not being scared to return to Tantiss isn’t a show of her strength or Crosshair’s weakness. They had different experiences and have different brains, therefore they process and deal differently. Crosshair is not the weaker link because he was unable to muster up the courage to return before now. He’s simply in a different place than she is.

PHEE AND AZI!!!

“Tech told me all about your sparkeling personality.”

PARDONNE MOI???

I BEG YOUR BIGGEST PARDON

JUST TECH???

NOT “YOUR BROTHERS TOLD ME ALL ABOUT…”???

NO JUST TECH HUH??

SPENT SOME ALONE TIME WITH HIM DID YA PHEE???

Also Phee and Cross bickering hihihehe

They have good sibling energy already (sister in law vibes huh)

Why did Hunter sound like Rex during the briefing?

Like he just put his “man in charge” hat on for the first time

Phee just straight up turning the ship off to get in undetected is such a Tech thing tbh

Obsessed

Gotta watch that again

Beautiful

Oh wait fuck RAMPART is WORKING THERE???

Serves him right

I love seeing this trio work together tbh

Hunter, Cross and Wrecker bring such a different vibe without Echo, Tech and/or Omega there and idk why or how to describe it but I am here for it

“Anything?”

“Yup.” *clocks him* “Clear.”

Baby <3

“You remembered. How touching.”

Queen💅😪✨

“Are you here to kill me?”

“Tempting. But, no.”

FUCK ME.

KING SHIT 👑

Rampart is still a whore then, huh?

“Oh, please. You’re not going to kill me.”

“Not yet.”

GO OFF

“We’re in this together.”

Yo buddy saying shit like that seems like a nice way to loose some teeth

“This is your new home.”

The fact that they left us on THAT line

OW

Fr most of my thoughts on this are Crosshair brain rot and if I wasn’t so busy today you’d get to read it. (No u probably PROBABLY won’t get it another time bc I am adhd and I either forget or don’t have the motivation later so… lots of good thoughts get lost in the void unfortunately)

[fuddlewuddle]

How do you manage to write so much, like, without running out of steam (or seemingly running out of steam) - it seems like your creativity is constantly flowing, it's wonderful! Do you have any tips for writing and keeping motivation going? It's clear you're so passionate about everything you write. It's really inspiring. I'm really happy the top gun fandom introduced me to your fics. xxx

Hi Nonnie!

First of all thank you for the lovely message, I’m so happy you enjoy my fics. 🥰🥰

Now, in answer to your question, I feel like I need to caveat it and say that I realised pretty early on, that I don’t seem to have a brain like everyone else when it comes to writing. As in, no one else I know, writes as much as me 🙈 (to put into context, I’ve been writing fanfic since March 2021 and I’ve written over 3.4 million words, so yeah, the brain rot runs deep 😅).

But for tips on writing and how to stay motivated, I would say

Write characters you love. You’ll be spending a lot of time either in their head or writing about characters falling in love/ interacting with them. If you don’t like the character you’re writing it will generally show. You’ll have probably noticed that my favourite character is Maverick, and one of my favourite things is writing other characters fall in love with him. Describing Tom Cruise and how beautiful he is (whether as Mav or any of the other characters I’ve written of his), makes me happier than anything else. But I also love writing Mav’s POV, because he’s such a complex character. I’m currently on 322 fics with Mav in, and I love him more than ever. Him as a character and all the possibilities for stories involving him, keeps me motivated.

Be open to writing different things. I know everyone has hard limits on things they won’t write, so I don’t mean them, but more in the sense of scenarios or kinks you might not have considered, and not letting preconceived notions of the idea stop you from trying to write it. I’ve written so many kinks and stuff, mainly for RoosMav, that I never would have written before, but to me it was a way of exploring their dynamic and relationship in multiple ways, which stops me becoming bored with them as a ship. You don’t have to do this, but I just feel that if you spend too much time doing the same kind of writing (whether that’s writing style or scenarios or kinks) then inevitably you’ll get bored and move on, and you might not actually want to leave your blorbos behind.

Write for yourself first. Generally I don’t write an idea I wouldn’t want to read. If I put effort into writing a story it’s because at some point in the future I want to come back and read it. Other people read in my stories and enjoying them is always a wonderful bonus, but I never forget I write for me first. If you do this, then it doesn’t matter what you write, it’ll always be a success regardless of the number of kudos or comments.

If you think no one else will read your fic, think again. I’ve written so many random ships (SO many 🙈) and there’s always someone who will find them. The world is better with your creativity out in the world than hidden away. At least, that’s what I like to think every time I post a crossover fic about a pairing no one else has every considered anyway 😆

If you open to writing multiple pairings, then I find it’s a great way of getting over writers block or ennui about a pairing. Keeps it fresh, as some ideas don’t work with some pairings, but it does with others, and it means you don’t get sick of a character.

Don’t force yourself to write when your body/ mind isn’t up to it. If your body needs rest, make sure you rest. The ideas and words will no doubt come when you least suspect. Or at least mind do. Usually when I’m trying to sleep 🙄🤣

And finally, I would say, don’t be made to feel ashamed of what you write. You can write whatever you want forever. No one else is going to write a story the way you would. So, if want to write it, then do. I can guarantee someone will read it.

Anyway, hopefully some of this is useful. As I said though, I’m honestly not sure how I manage to write so much comparative to other people. I probably need help tbh 🤣

Thanks for the ask, Nonnie! 💜

[olderthannetfic]

I wasn't an anti but I logged back into tumblr after a few years of not using it (2018-19 exodus), and that's when I first heard about the anti vs proship deal. When I was a teen I often read incest/underage/gore/abuse/rpf whatever category of things that are supposed to be brain rotting for you and I never thought twice about it. I never felt guilty, I didn't think it was wrong, and it never crossed my mind to think "this royed fic is depraved and the author a sicko". But when I logged back in, I started reading arguments from both sides.

While going through my blog, to my horror I discovered I had long ago reblogged some rick and morty ship fanart, the grandpa/son messed up relationship version. I thought what if someone finds this blog and connects it to me irl? How would I explain this? Why do I even like this? I thought they would think I was a pedophile. I quickly deleted all of it that I could find.

I also came across a bunch of kylux fanart. I had recently been seeing posts about how that was racist because of course some background white dude with two lines is in a more popular ship then the leads of color, right? Racism. I deleted those, too.

And now I feel so stupid for getting caught up in it. I never outwardly expressed any of this but it was an internal I have to be careful about what I reblog, what art I appreciate, and what I write. I chalk it up to being a year into covid and being isolated, wishing I could be physically in my uni classes, and being incredibly burnt out. I thought what people filled their heads with was really important- because so many people were not wearing masks and covid was overloading hospitals. I was incredibly worried about killing my immunocompromised coworker by giving them covid and resented everyone who wasn't following distancing guidelines (which was a lot of fellow students, my roommate, the public). And I thought if people considered more about what information they shared, and realised their capacity to harm, then this wouldn't be happening.

Plucking the potentially "harmful" things from my life felt like I was helping something. Though I'm not acting like I was operating selflessly. A lot of it was fear of how others would judge me.

After reading what you specifically had to say about kylux I realized how stupid I was being. Because the whole appeal of them is hot kylo ren and the BDSM villains fucking each other in leather. There is no other ship combo in the prequels that delivers that as naturally. It really is super lamentable that m/m juggernaut pairs trend white but it really is 1. lack of nonwhite main characters in popular media in the first place, and 2. lack of nonwhite woobies and characters that fit into that shippable mold. And these things being controlled by the profit margins of hollywood. I thank you for pointing these things out, and snapping me out of being an idiot.

A lot of people my age seem to believe you can change the world by sharing an infographic on instagram. Or here. I don't want to be too harsh on people for clinging so hard to the power of the internet for positive change!! during the most isolated moments of this pandemic, but I really recommend 1. killing the cop in your head and 2. seeing what sort connection you can make with the people in your area. I love logging off and being around people, and I love logging on to read my favs banging with tags that would make a priest infarct.

--

That feeling of impotence during a time of ongoing stress is exactly what gets people reaching for the fake activism. They've got to do something, and all the actually productive things are out of reach so...

Emotionally, it's just how we're built, I'm afraid.

[withering-sunflower-dust]

You know, I'm thinking abt an empires au more specifically an actor au. I've seen a lot of different actor/behind the scenes aus which has very much dragged me into a rabbit hole for esmp/alsmp actor/behind the scene au

Sooo I'mma post something for it instead of letting it rot my brain!

Random interviewer; How do you take shots with your uhh, evil counter part?

Sausage's actor; oh Supreme?

Random interviewer; that's what you guys call him on set set? over here we call him Bratwurst

Sausage's actor; yea that's understandable, But to answer the question he's not actually green screened in

Random interviewer; really now?

Sausage actor; yea, I think the writers thought the plot would be perfect because I have a twin brother *points off screen*

Bratwurst's actor; sup!

Sausage actor; his voice is a lot different, he normally uses a voice changer on set

Random interviewer; I see!

_____

Interviewer; how did the writers come up with the ending for season 1?

Gem's actor; that's actually a really funny story!

Interviewer; how come?

Gem's actor; season 1 with an actually supposed to end like that we had an ending plant out for like months, but then one day I guess somebody broke havoc and then the sets kind of burnt down.. not entirely there were a lot of sets that were still okay to use like mythlands, The cod empire, and like some others but yeah that's kind of how we ended up with that ending for season 1

Interviewer; so we could've had a different ending?

Gem's actor; yes actually! Our original ending was actually..uhm.. how do I say this..okay I think our show would have actually been rated R if we had the original ending we planned

Interviewer; woah now!

Gem's actor; it's true! Even with the blood and things we have now on the show it's still only PG-13, but I think with that ending it would have definitely been rated R, {*Scott's actor*} was actually supposed to drop an f-bomb at the very end

_____

Interviewer;what are your opinions on the ships?

Scott's actor; uh, I love the ships the people drawing these pieces of art are so talented honestly

Interviewer; if I were to ask what's your favorite ship, what would it be personally for you?

Scott's actor; uuuh, oh that's a hard one, I would say the Jimmy and Scott ones. But, the sausage and Scott ones have a very special place in my heart

Interviewer; and why is that?

Scott's actor; I'm actually married to {*sausages actor name*} so like when I see these fan arts of these two characters that basically resemble us, it makes us feel so appreciated cuz we never thought the day would come where people would be drawing us in a physical relationship

Interviewer; wait, YOU'RE MARRIED?!

_____

Interviewer; if I can ask where did the concept of your season 2 skulk corruption come from?

Shelby's actor; uuh, personally I think it was inspired by sausages season 1 corruption I think it was supposed to be a continuation of that and with a closing space for it since this is our final season so we wanted to close off any kind of potholes and I think this was the perfect way to do it by getting my character corrupted and having {*sausages actor*} help my character out with this whole thing cuz that was like a whole friendship arc I never thought I would see but honestly watching it back I loved how it came out

Interviewer; I see! Well what do you think of the ships?

Shelby's actor; uh, season 2 nature's wife was actually {*sausages actor*} idea but we like went along with it, mind you this was before it was announced to the crew me and {*Katherine's actor*} was actually dating

Interviewer; that is truly amazing!

Shelby's actor; it is! Sometimes on set we joke about how {*sausage's actor*} actually has psychic abilities outside of his character

_____

Interviewer; who do you think were the most chaotic people while filming together was?

Joey's actor; uh, for season 1 I think {*fwhip's actor*} has explicitly answered this question in his YouTube Q&A on his channel, while just on set even if behind the scenes one of the most fun and chaotic people to be with is me and {*sausages actor*} we rock havoc on set

Interviewer; yea that makes sense

_____

Interviewer; a quick question before we continue with everything, who was playing Hermes?

Joel's actor; oh that's actually something I've wanted someone to ask

Interviewer; why is that?

Joel's actor; The Kid that was playing Hermes is actually {*sausage's actor*} Son well more like adopted son but same thing, the kid that played Hermes is actually {*Scott's actor*} and {*sausage's actor} son, so yeah that's actually really funny to think about, cuz both in cannon and real life Hermes is actually {*sausage's actor*} son in both realities

[ironwitchau]

So, hello. I'm alive. Before I get started, this is a minor project I've been working on because the brain rot has been... intense. I'll probably also post this to ao3 at some point with some more edits, so if you see it here first and then on ao3 it might be worth a re-read. Idk. Anyway, here's a one shot of an AU that immediately took over my brain and refused to let go. If you see any typos, no you didn't.

The Beast in the Woods:

It was the closest thing to a normal morning as one could get on the TARDIS. Mostly because things like ‘normal’ and ‘morning’ weren't relevant on the TARDIS. But things were calm in the alien ship, and Rose Tyler had just finished a human’s average sleep cycle and stepped into the control room where the Doctor fiddled with the panel, readying the TARDIS to leave the vortex.

They went about their usual banter for the day, if not a little more strained than in days past. The Doctor couldn't really blame the human though. She had been more… restrained after their visit to 1987 London. But anyone would be if they had just watched a member of their family die, even though they tried so hard to save them. So he tried not to think too much about Rose being quieter than he was used to. There was a moment of silence between them as the Doctor debated on where to take them. He was pondering taking her to the universe’s largest library when Rose gave a suggestion.

“We should go on vacation.” She said, leaning against the railing.

“Vacation?” He repeated. Because, was she not already on vacation? A break from her mundane little life in the estates?

“Yeah,” she smiled that one smile, the one where her tongue stuck out just a little, “take a break from all the danger.”

The Doctor hummed. He quite liked the danger. Danger made life interesting, danger meant he could help others. Danger meant he could fix his broken promise. But humans were different, he had reminded himself. No matter what, humans couldn't run forever the same way he could, couldn't keep going head first into the life threatening situations with the same ease he did.

“There’s this great spa planet in the 31st century.” He told her, already moving around the console. “I’ll set course for a few years before it gets popular, avoid the crowd-”

“No. I don't want any aliens.” He tried not to take offense at that. “No distant futures either.”

“What do you want, then?” The Doctor huffed.

Rose moved closer to him. “Someplace where nothing happens. No alien threats, no experiencing a historical moment. Just a place to relax.”

“Sounds boring.”

“Exactly.”

Fine, if Rose wanted boring, he’ll give her boring. Although, as he thought over the given criteria, she never said anything about the place having history. A grin found its way onto his face as the Doctor danced around the control panel.

---

Luz Noceda decided that she hated Gravesfield, Connecticut. For one, it was a small town and incredibly boring. Even worse, it was a small town where everyone knew everyone and everything. People stared at the Nocedas, whenever the family went anywhere, like they were about to commit a crime or something.

Then, there was how Grandpa couldn't move with them. Back home, Grandpa would come over for family dinners every Friday night, where he would put Luz to bed and tell her stories about when he was young. Now, he lived 3 hours away and, even though her parents promised they would still visit, Luz hadn't seen Grandpa at all in the month since they moved there.

Although, Gravesfield’s biggest offense against her was it took her Papi from her. Sure, he was busy back home as an ambulance driver, but he still had time for her and Mami. He would spend his weekends with them, doing whatever they wanted. Now, days he weren't working were spent at the big fancy hospital that was nearby. Luz really did try not to be bitter about it, the hospital was supposed to help Papi get better, but she missed how her family was before they moved.

Luz was contemplating calling Grandpa as she walked down the empty streets. It was still summer, maybe she could convince him to come pick her up and take her home. Mami would probably be mad but Grandpa said it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Besides, Mami and Papi had talked about having her live with Grandpa before the move. They didn't know Luz was listening in on them at the time and they ultimately decided not to, but maybe it was still an option.

She took out her phone, a flip phone because Mami and Papi said she wasn't ready for a phone phone, and had gotten to her contacts when she heard it. The sound was hard to describe, a mix between a ‘whoosh’ing sound and a ‘vroom’ was the best she could think of. The curiosity she felt was overwhelming, so she really couldn't be blamed.

She ran up the street, just barely putting her phone away safely, to find the sound’s source. It had ended when she rounded the corner and all she found was a blue box, a few feet away. Luz was about to keep moving, when two people stepped out of the box.

The first person was a man with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He had large ears that seemed to stand out more thanks to his buzz cut. He wore a battered black leather jacket, a dark colored V-neck, dark pants, and boots.

The second was a blonde woman, who seemed much younger than the man, with brown eyes. She wore a plain white shirt, a pink jacket with a hood, faded jeans and sneakers. Luz wasn't sure how the two could be wearing jackets, considering it was on the warmer side today. She pushed those thoughts aside as the two began talking.

“Gravesfield, Connecticut, 2015.” The man said, stressing the year the same way Mami did when Luz got the date wrong. Then there was his accent, while similar to some she had heard, it didn't sound quite American to her. British, maybe?

“And what happens?” The woman asked with a similar accent.

“Absolutely nothin’.” He told her. “Gravesfield’s ‘bout as borin’ as it gets.”

“Fantastic!’

Luz frowned. She didn't understand why someone would want boring. Boring was the worst. It was just so… boring! No, Luz would much rather adventure.

She was going to listen in more, maybe even go up and ask them questions (like who on Earth would want boring), when her phone rang. She took out her phone to find ‘Mami Calling’ in bold blocky words staring up at her. She slid back around the corner and answered.

“Mija, where are you?” Mami asked as soon as the call connected. “It’s almost dinner time.”

Shoot. She hadn't realized it was that late. Although, in her defense, it was hard to see the phone’s clock with the numbers so small. “Sorry, Mami, I got distracted.”

She heard Mami’s exasperated sigh. “Just hurry back, ok?”

“Ok!”

With the blue box and strange people forgotten, Luz made her way back to the house.

---

In the dead of night, a loud roar echoed through the quiet town of Gravesfield. Most people ignored it, slept right through the disturbance, but three people tensed. One was a little human girl that had woken up to get water. The other two were time travelers, an alien and his human companion, who were on their way back to their spaceship.

“Maybe it's a bear?” The girl from 2005 suggested.

The Time Lord shook his head. “That was no bear.”

---

Luz stood just outside the forest near the house. The sound from last night sounded like it came from here and it terrified her. Because what the heck could make that noise? No animal that Luz knew of, and Grandpa made sure to teach Luz about all kinds of wild animals while Mami did the same for pets.

She could still run, get back to the house and pretend nothing was wrong. What could she do anyways? She was just a little kid.

“Sometimes you've got to do the scary things, because it means protecting your family.” Grandpa’s words echoed in her head.

If she left this alone, whatever it was, there was the chance it could leave the forest and enter the town. What would it do to the people? Would it leave them alone or attack? Would Mami and Papi be in danger?

That thought alone spurred Luz to grab the largest stick she could find, giving it a swing. She wouldn't let anything hurt her family. She would be like Grandpa and protect them. She marched into the woods. Thunder rumbled over head as storm clouds seemed to swirl and a cold breeze tried to make her shiver.

Luz came to a stop as she came across an old house. It was a, clearly abandoned, two story house with white walls and a brown roof that had a large hole in it. The door was in the middle of two broken windows to either side of it. There were four pillars at the front of the porch, acting as support. The stairs up to the porch were worn from years exposed to the elements.

Luz had never seen this place before. Then again, Luz hadn't gone this deep into the woods before. She turned to keep moving, when she saw it. The creature.

It was big, maybe the size of a bear or car, and had an animal body with a horrifyingly human face. It had completely black eyes, grayish yellow sharp teeth and long orange fur protruding from equally long, pointed ears. Its body was covered in burnt orange fur, or maybe those were feathers, and it had two dark brown wings and black feet that resembled a bird of prey’s.

Luz yelped and stumbled back, to put more space between the two of them, as she raised her stick. Ok, so maybe this wasn't her best idea.

---

The Doctor was a bit too confused to really listen to whatever Rose was going on about. He just didn't understand why something was happening now and here. The only truly eventful thing that was supposed to happen in Gravesfield should have already happened in the decades following the town’s founding. The town takes part in the witch trials and two brothers go missing, that was it.

But now, they had some strange creature making a ruckus, which led the two time travelers to the edge of a forest.

“There’s a residential area nearby.” Rose pointed out.

“The Wittebane cabin should be in there.” The Doctor said in response.

“Why are we checking a cabin?” She asked.

“‘Cause it’s thought to be a hot spot of weird things.” There and the old graveyard but that place was flooded so it was easier to check the cabin first. Honestly, he was doing Rose a favor.

“Do we really need to do this? Might not be anythin’ at all.”

As if to prove her wrong, a shriek emanated from the forest. It sounded young, and that was all the Doctor needed to know to start running. He didn't even bother to look if Rose was following him, he just ran.

The shriek led them to, what the Doctor was sure was, the Wittebane cabin. A large creature had cornered a child on the cabin steps. The child held a jagged stick in one hand and looked terrified.

“Rose!” The Doctor turned to his companion to see her bent down and picking up a rock.

“On it!” she told him.

The Doctor was on the move again. He was about halfway there when the rock flew by him and hit the creature. Rose must have a good arm because there was an audible thud and the creature reared back. The Doctor took his chance to scoop up the child and kept running. Rose would catch up to him, he was sure. He held the child to his chest, their chin resting on his shoulder.

He didn't know how long they ran for, only that he stopped when he came across another clearing near a small stream of water.

“Are you ok?” He asked as he put the kid down.

“Mhm.” The kid looked up at him in awe before seeming to analyze him. He took a chance to do the same to them.

He didn't trust his knowledge of human ages enough to guess but they were definitely young. They were tan-skinned with brown eyes and dark brown hair that went down to her shoulders. They wore a pink short-sleeved collared shirt with a blue overall skirt on top and a pair of muddy yellow rain boots. The child seemed fine with the exception of a small scrape on their right knee.

“Good. That’s good.” He sighed. The scrape might not have anything to do with the creature, could just be a consequence of them being young. The child stared into his eyes intensely.

“You looked like my Grandpa.” They said suddenly.

They said it so suddenly all the Doctor could do was let out a meek, “What?”

Because what? What did they mean he looked like their grandpa? That shouldn't have been possible, he hadn't even been thinking about the earth or a person when he regenerated into this face. No, he had been thinking of war, regrets, and how badly he never wanted another travesty on par with the Time War.

Sure, there was always that small possibility that there was a human out there that looked like any of his faces but running into their family was less likely. And the possibility percentage just kept lowering as he narrowed it down in time.

There was only one person out there who could recognize him as a grandfather, someone who’s mere mention of a thought of them could cheer him up, no matter how grumpy his face was. Susan, his actual granddaughter. Susan, who always seemed to recognize him.

But the Doctor wasn't even sure if Susan was still out there. Much like himself, Susan got called back to Gallifrey at the start of the Time War, and, even though he had tried his best to keep them away from her, she answered them. The last time he had seen her, in his 8th face, where she had been running from Daleks and he dropped her off on Kasterborous, was still during the war, before The Moment. He didn't know if she was still on Gallifrey, fighting in the front lines like himself, when he ended it all. By the end of the war, he was too scared to go look for her. If she had, could this young child be her? It wouldn't be surprising if she regenerated. They all did, eventually. But would she really have regenerated so young?

“Yeah,” the child continued as if she wasn't causing him an internal crisis, “you have the same look in your eyes that Grandpa has.”

“Oh.” The Doctor wasn't sure if he should be excited or disappointed. On one hand, they weren't Susan but on the other, they weren't Susan.

“I’m Luz.”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. Such a response never got old.

“Doctor!” Rose ran up to them and had to take a moment to catch her breath. “We need to get out of here, that thing wasn't too far behind me.”

The Doctor and Luz looked in the direction Rose came from and, sure enough, there was the creature. It stood at the edge of the clearing, glaring at them, but not moving.

“Why isn't it attacking?” He thought out loud.

“What?” Rose turned to look at the creature. “It's just standing there.”

“But why?” There was no reason as to why it wouldn't attack. The three were just standing there.

“Could we maybe figure that out somewhere away from the giant thing that wants to kill us?” Rose tried.

“I suppose.” No matter how much the Doctor wanted answers, there was a child with them. He couldn't put them at risk like that. He turned to Luz. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“But what about the monster?” Their voice wavered enough that he knew they were scared.

“Me ‘n’ Rose’ll take care of it. No need to worry.” The Doctor picked Luz up and help them to his hip.

“Yeah,” Rose chimed in, “we do this kind of stuff all the time.”

“Really?” Luz looked at them with child-like wonder.

“Yup! So you can go home, watch some telly and leave this to us!”

It was rather easy to get Luz back home after that.

---

It was when they had made it to her house that the thought occurred to Luz.

“What if it was protecting its home?” She asked, her keys left in the lock.

“What?” The blonde, Rose, looked confused.

“Yeah! Mami says that some animals react poorly to people in their home.” Luz snapped her fingers together. “She said they were terri- terr- terre-”

“Territorial?” The Doctor suggested as she struggled with the word.

She pointed at him. “Yeah, that!”

“That is a possibility.” The Doctor agreed.

“But then, what is it?” Rose crossed her arms.

“It definitely doesn't originate from Earth.” The Doctor said instead of answering.

“Like an alien?” Papi would be so jealous if it was and she saw it before him. He loved anything to do with space.

“Most likely.”

“Pretty mindless for an alien.” Rose quickly added, “Compared to the ones we’ve seen.”

“You've met aliens?!” Now she was a little jealous. Meeting aliens sounded so cool.

The Doctor chuckled at Luz and patted her head. “And you have too.”

“Oh, yeah.” She guessed if the creature was an alien, she technically had met an alien.

“As for the creature, it's likely around the same level as Earth’s wildlife.” The Doctor told Rose.

“Does that mean those animal cop people can take care of it?” Of course Luz didn't know if Gravesfield had those but they should, right?

“Ya mean Animal Control?” The Doctor asked and Luz nodded. “I doubt it. They dunno what it is.”

“Do you, Doctor?” Rose repeated.

He shook his head. “I've never seen a species like that.”

“Wouldn't be the first time.” The blonde sighed. “Can you figure out where its from? Like with the Slitheen?”

“Slitheen? Is that a kind of alien?”

“Maybe if we went over what we knew.” The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets.

“If you're gonna do that now,” Luz turned the keys in the lock and opened the door, “would you like some chips?”

“God, I would love chips.” Rose gave a toothy smile.

---

Turned out Rose did not love chips, Luz found out as she dumped a few of the small chip bags Mami sometimes gave her for snacks.

“What are these?” Rose asked, sounding a little offended.

“Chips.” Luz took one of the bags for herself. She halfheartedly hoped that Mami wouldn't notice the two extra missing chip bags. She, also, really wasn't supposed to have people over without a family member there.

“These aren't chips.” She said, taking a bag and holding it out, as if Luz didn't know what was in her own house. “These are crisps.”

“What are crisps?” Luz asked genuinely.

"These!"

"But those are chips."

Rose was about to say something when the Doctor raised a hand.

“Rose, remember, this is America. Crisps are chips here and chips are fries.” He took a bag as a light bulb turned on in Luz’s mind.

“Oh! You wanted fries? I’m pretty sure there’s some in the freezer I could make.” She then added after a moment. “But someone will have to turn on the oven. And put them in. and take them out. And turn the-”

“It's fine, Luz.” The Doctor patted her head. “The crisps work. Right, Rose?”

“Yeah, was just a bit confused.” The blonde gave an apologetic smile.

“Ok!” Luz opened her bag.

“So,” The Doctor put his bag back down, “what do we know?”

“It walks on all fours?” Luz tentatively offered, a chip in hand.

“Right, that narrows it down some.” The Doctor nodded. “What else?”

“It’s big.” Rose said. “Maybe the size of a bear?”

“Narrows it down. What else?”

“It's that terri-thingie.”

“Territorial.” The Doctor corrected. “Narrows it down. What else?”

“It's got wings.”

“Narrows it down.”

Luz looked into her chip bag. Only crumbs were left. She shrugged, lifted the bag to her mouth, and shook it.

“The face looks human.” Rose added.

“Narrows it down.”

“It’s light sensitive.” Luz flattened her now empty bag.

“What?” The Doctor straightened.

“How do you know that?” Rose asked.

“It’s eyes.” Luz grabbed some stray papers and a pencil that were used to make grocery lists. She made a quick drawing of the creature’s face the best she could. She filled in the eyes completely. “They're all black. Grandpa told me that animals with these kind of eyes are sensitive to lights, so they only come out at night or on really cloudy days.”

“Why does your grandpa know that?” Rose asked.

Luz shrugged. Neither Papi or Grandpa really ever explained how Grandpa came to know such things. Luz asked once about it and then didn't ever again when Grandpa got a far away look in his eyes.

“That’s really helpful, Luz.” The Doctor told her. “Maybe this way, we can deal with the creature without causing too much injury.”

They kept talking, trying to figure out where the creature came from, with varying success. They didn't have too much to work on, which according to the Doctor made it hard to really figure out where the creature came from. That being said, the Doctor was confident he had enough information to try and deal with the creature.

“So, what are we going to do now?” Luz dusted her hands after throwing away three empty chip bags.

“Me ‘n’ Rose are gonna deal with the creature and you stay here to watch some telly until your mum and dad come home.” The Doctor said firmly.

“But I can help!” Luz argued.

Rose bent down, so that she was eye level with Luz, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, Luz, what we do can get dangerous. And the Doctor just doesn't want you to get hurt.”

Luz huffed and crossed her arms. “I found it! I should be able to help you.”

“And you have!” Rose looked to the Doctor.

“If not for you, we wouldn't know about the eyes.” He told her. “And that alone is a massive detail that changed things.”

She pouted at them but stayed quiet.  Rose pulled her into a hug, which Luz returned despite her annoyance. It was nice. The blonde pulled away and gave her a smile. “Everything’ll be ok.”

“I know.” Luz tried to hide her resentment at that phrase. She had heard it a little too much recently.

The Doctor gave her shoulder a squeeze and then the two left. Luz watched as they made their way back into the woods and wished she could join them on their adventures. It would be a nice break from dull, boring Gravesfield. Then Luz remembered the blue box that was too small to comfortably hold two grown people. She barely waited before running out the door to act out her impulsive thoughts.

---

Luz made it to the box and took it in. It was a dark blue wooden box with dirty yellow windows. Near the top of the box was a black sign with ‘Police Public Call Box’ in white. The worn white sign on the left door with a bunch of stuff Luz really didn't care about. The most important thing was the ‘Pull to Open’ at the bottom of the sign.

She pulled the door open and had to blink. Luz stepped into the box and stopped about where the box would have ended. Unsure, she took another step, expecting to run into a wall or something. That didn't happen. Nothing stopped her.

“Magic box!” Luz gasped and ran around the room.

The best way Luz could describe the inside was, having a coral theme, with coral support beams. The walls were colored gold and had small hexagonal impressions. There was a raised platform in the room’s center with some kind of six-sided console filled with so many random devices Luz wasn't sure what to mess with first.

Luz had to smack her cheeks to bring herself back into focus. She came here because she wanted the Doctor and Rose to take her on an adventure, like what they denied her. She was sure the box belonged to them and so she’d use it to ambush them into taking her. To do that, she needed to hide.

Too bad Rose and the Doctor took longer than Luz originally thought. By the time they got back, Luz had fallen asleep in her hiding spot.

[emsuemsu]

Tag game

Thank you for the tag @mycupofrum 💕💕 it's always a beautiful day to talk about oneself and also as the curious girlie I am to read about other people!!!

Fave colour: black baby

Last song: according to my spotify history my last played song was on Thursday and it was Stars Are Blind by Paris Hilton. That is the only song I listened to that day. It is a banger

Last film: we went to see First Omen a few weeks ago with my friend, absolutely shooketh from it, it was only us and a couple in the last row and they shushed us at one point. Never in my life have I felt more like a teenager in my LIFE. It was mortifying. I’m so embarrassed. We weren’t that loud though, just scared of the movie??? It was a good movie, enjoyed it, next Tuesday we’re going to see Immaculate, this spring is giving antichrist apparently

Currently reading: I have a few fics I’m in the middle of reading (one of them is A Violet Kind of Spin by @cassiaratheslytherpuff which I’m DYING to get back to!!!! jfc it’s so good!!!!! I feel so bad for taking such a long break from it but not a day goes by that I don’t think about it 🥹) and one book (Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski) but my reading vibes have been off for a good few months now!! I’ve read some shorter fics and listened to some podfics but reading in general feels super hard right now. I can’t wait for my summer vacation, maybe I’ll have some peace of mind and will be able to slam some words down. My tbr list is diabolical.

Currently watching: I’m going to be boring and say that I’m still on my Grey’s Anatomy grind. I’m on season 9 episode 10, 10 seasons to go. I’ve been watching s20 as it’s airing right now but it’s just not… it. This show should be taken off life support already 💔

Currently craving: a cigarette, uv index of 7, the beach and a crispy coke zero 😩

Coffee or tea: coffee, I never drink tea

Three ships: Drarry, first and foremost 🙂‍↕️ drarry has caused my brain to rot for almost two decades now and god knows when it’ll stop. I’ve been on and off the fandom, mostly off, but drarry is just a part of my goddamn DNA at this point it’s ridiculous. Next idk man. I have to say it’s a duel between prongsfoot and jegulus, your honor I love them both. Jegulus is a new acquaintance and like I don’t even know if it makes any sense at all (like where did this ship came from???) but jfc I am sat, I am folded I am silenced. But prongsfoot is the love of my life out of these two, I know for a fact that one of the first fics I ever read at the ripe age of 10 or 11-ish was Sirius/James and ever since that they’ve been in my heart, in my soul and in my mind non-stop. Prongsfoot is such a niche ship and I can’t believe it’s not more popular!!! Like they’re soulmates honestly. Funny enough I haven’t read that much of prongsfoot fics, always up for recs 👀👀 I know that was three ships already but I have to mention Kingsley/Charlie and it’s all because of @squintclover and their recent little microfics that just SLAP so hard I’m bruised black. I’m beyond obsessed.

First ship: I mean it was drarry. The one and only.

Currently working on: getting my goddamn ass off the couch and start to clean and do laundry 🥹 I have a few school deadlines as well but that does not spark joy so whatever

Thank you for coming to my ted talk once again!!! I’m tagging @valoale @cassiaratheslytherpuff @lemonlimelea @soliblomst @kk1smet @lucifergraced no pressure spill the tea if feeling like it!! 😌

[monstersinthecosmos]

HI <3 Sheith VC anon here back with a very humble request. So I've read TVL and am currently reading QoTD, just finished the Devil's Minion chapter (oH mY gOD my HEART). I'm going through the books a bit slowly bc life stuff, but I have sooooo many thoughts and feelings and feel like I need to read lots of fic to work through it LOL. I would love it if you could rec me some (or tons of!) fics that wouldn't give me (m)any spoilers re: stuff that happens after this point in the series. I realize this might be a kind of hard/maybe impossible request because a lot of those spoilers would be referring to things that chronologically would have taken place prior to DM for instance, but I'm so starved I thought I might ask just in case! I'm not suuuper partial to any specific ships (Lestat/Louis is a bit boring IMO 😭 but I love them so I'll take it) and I don't have any NOTPs, so I'm down to read pretty much anything (esp if it's spicy and/or hurts my heart and/or features Armand lmao). Totally fine if this is too much trouble or if it turns out to be an impossible ask indeed; thank you in advance anyway! AND THANK YOU AGAIN for introducing me to these brain-rotting books lol I spend like half my waking hours thinking about Armand now.

SHGKJALDS I SPEND HALF MY WAKING HOURS THINKING ABOUT ARMAND TOO SINCE LIKE THE YEAR 2000 LMFAO im so glad you see!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GET IT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So babe tbh the reason I started writing Armand/Daniel fic at all is because there really ... isn't that much? And I was like GUESS I GOTTA FUCKIN COOK FOR MYSELF. So tbh I haven't actually read a ton of VC fic at all. The otp:true filter for them on AO3 (excluding TVverse fics) only has 237 fics hdkjgalds but you can start here LOL. I think for the most part you'll be able to tell in the tags if it's post-QOTD because people usually will tag like "post canon" or "Prince Lestat Era"; for QOTD fics check for a Devil's Minion/Devil's Minion Era tag. I don't always remember to tag my own fics but my only post-canon D/A fic is called "In the Trials of the Heart" and all my others are Devil's Minion era and shouldn't spoil anything ! Be aware that the TV fandom and book fandom sometimes overlap so there might be stray TV fics in the book tag; it won't spoil anything bc the TV canon is a completely different story, but it might not make sense if you jump in to read it. So without actual fic recs I'll share some authors that I really trust!! Have a look through their VC fics!!!!!!!

apoptoses (pervert extraordinaire 10/10, all the D/A fics are Devil's Minion era except for Blood Sanation so go nuts!) covenofthearticulate (this is Ash, she actually writes Loustat & Louis/Armand mostly but she's so smart and I trust her so much!!!!) Diabolus_Invictus HekateInHell (writes a lot of Lestat/Armand and also has a human AU called Our House that I'm obsessed with!) ImhereImQuire Nothing_But_Paisley rainandcoffee (if you're sick of all of our doom&gloom you can find fluff and lightness here!) whisperbird (just one VC fic but I think about it every day of my life I love it)

Whenever I remember I try to post VC fics that I do read, kinda like how Sheith fandom does Wednesday Fics, I try to tag #VCFicFriday so try there too!

Anyway if anyone wants to add to this post and share recs PLEASE DO I actually am not a great fic reader bc my attention span sucks and I'm picky about canon compliant porn LOL! But help our new friend out if you want to share any!!!!!!!!!!!!

[starpunchsteria]

Hoy Quarlow/Super Macho Man (MachoQuarlow) Headcanons 1/?

Citing this as part one in the title because I don’t trust myself not to talk about them more. Anyway this is just my insane scribblings about these old men since this ship has been rotting in my brain for months and I need to share them with the world

Anyway. Let’s begin with some background:

Hoy Quarlow is the age he’s said to be in the game: 78 years old

Super Macho Man is lying about his age. He’s not 27 but is instead approaching his early 60’s. He lies about it because, like a lot of typical big stars, he doesn’t want to be seen as older in fear of being discarded and out of the industry’s spotlight.

Hoy Quarlow and Super Macho Man joined the WVBA (Side Note: in my au it’s called the World Video Boxing Association because it was the first association to both broadcast the fights live, but also to package and sell recordings of the fights to consumers) around the same time. Although they weren’t there at the very-very beginning of the WVBA’s formation (since my au takes place in the current year and the timeline would be messed up), they’re both older so they were there before any of the other current boxers.

Hoy came from another boxing league but joined the WVBA once he realized his old league was very stingy on his paychecks. Because of the money the WVBA produced from both the recording sales and how much money they raked in for allowing the boxers to be as theatric as they wanted.

Although his hard work and determination led him to rising in the ranks, his sales were low. So, he studied what made boxers among him so popular: their personas. So, Hoy decided to also stretch his creative muscles too. He upped the ante and straight up brought a stick into the ring. It became a Hoy Quarlow staple. That, and the fact that he started to ditch the shorts and shirtless look to take on something with more personality.

Super Macho Man came in with that name all while being a scrawny kid. Believe it or not, but for a good while, SMM was considered a Glass Joe figure when he first started. When he got in the groove though and started upping his gains, he quickly rose in the ranks and grew into the name he gave himself.

He originally joined the WVBA because he wanted to be a movie star, anticipating that the sales of the WVBA recordings will get more eyes on him and he’d be recruited on for actual movies and not just fights. However, as he started to fight more, he became happier with the spectacle of being a WVBA boxer and the fame he gained, deciding to make his main goal staying at the top and not so much appearing in movies (although he’ll absolutely take a movie deal when offered).

Hoy and Macho were sorta aggressive to each other at first. Hoy, still riding high from his placement in his past league, looked down on a lot of other boxers. This is a character flaw that, of course, got resolved later in life (we can see this with how he acts with Birdie in the SNES Super Punch-Out!!), but it was definitely a flaw he had in life at one point. He saw Macho as full of himself and not yet having the skill to back it up. He correctly guessed that Macho was doing this for fame and judged him accordingly, seeing it as an unfit reason for joining the WVBA.

Macho saw Hoy as full of himself as well. He thought Hoy needed to get over himself and stop being so “needlessly mean.” Macho knew his pursuit wasn’t noble, but to him, it didn’t matter. He was so full of himself to pre-set his persona with actually being this, well…. a super macho man. He believed he’d grow into the name (which he did). He found it stupid how Hoy was only about a decade older and he was judging Macho this hard. Macho would often tell him straight up that one day, Hoy would be eating his words and watching Macho rise while Hoy himself sank down the ranks. This is only… uh… half true.

Right now, Macho and Hoy and right next to each other in the Special Circuit. Macho is Rank #1, right before Mr. Sandman (The WVBA Champion). Hoy is Rank #2 in the Special Circuit, right before Super Macho Man.

As they both aged, Macho and Hoy started to get along. With Hoy becoming sillier and way more relaxed, he was able to connect with Macho more. With Macho getting more full of himself, Hoy sorta saw himself in him and although he has fun with him, is trying to guide him away from the lonely life that being that high in ranks can bring. There’s all these camera flashes and people will be all over you and asking for deals, but they don’t love you.

OKAY… now that that’s over, I’ll be putting more headcanons under the cut. It’ll be more shippy, but it’ll still work as a “background section” if that makes sense that outlines their life together. I think this post should be in general about their background. Okay… cool.

I think Macho was kinda mixed up about his feelings for Hoy. Their relationship was definitely simmering for years, real rivals to fun friendly rivalry to friends to lovers. Macho never expected to fall for Hoy at all, and when he did, he didn’t know how to feel. He wondered what it’d be like to date another league member. Could he do that? What would the press do? Would the gossip magazines make Hoy look like a cougar… 🤨? Either way, he was nervous.

What also adds to it is that Macho is a pretty famous playboy. If he starts actually dating long-term (which he… actually kinda wants to explore with Hoy), how would that affect his reputation? With all these worries involving insecurities from outsiders, he was definitely indecisive with what he wanted to do. Hoy on the other hand… had different problems.

I fully subscribe to the “Hoy is Dragon Chan’s grandparent” headcanon. Hoy’s wife (aka Dragon Chan’s grandma, was married. They had a daughter who, just like her son, was a very determined kickboxer. She fell in love with Dragon’s father and they soon had a son, Dragon Chan. However, one fateful day, when Dragon was about 10 or so, his parents died in a fatal car accident (or at least that’s what my explanation is right now). Years later, Hoy’s wife died as well. She had a heart attack, although many say it was onset by a broken heart.

Dragon Chan, after getting kicked out of his kickboxing league while trying to live up to his mother’s legacy, joined the WVBA and gave him a place there. Dragon became popular quickly, and his ego became bigger (this is supported by his overconfidence in the ring and in pre fight rounds alongside his “chicken dance taunt” when he KO’s/TKO’s you). Dragon’s behavior only slightly reminds Hoy of his own ego at that age, and Hoy, although still giving advice to his grandson, knows that Dragon needs to discover his own path to humbleness.

Okay back to the tragedy of Hoy’s wife, daughter, and son-in-law. These tragedies caused Hoy to feel as if death followed him and anyone he loves. He blamed himself for all of their deaths, even if he had nothing to do with them. He was afraid to love again and to make another family, although this attitude is usually hidden by his now lighthearted personality.

Of course, this caused Hoy’s love life to become… confused I guess? Hoy was deathly worried of his family hurting even more. He was also worried for Dragon Chan, believing that there’s a chance he’d be mad that Hoy is trying to “replace” his grandma and pretend she never existed. Of course, Dragon doesn’t really care for that. His problem arises with Hoy’s dating choices when he realizes that it’s Super Macho Man of all people that Hoy is dating like huh that jerk grandpa? That loser? Cmon

I’ll probably elaborate on this in another post but the beef between Dragon Chan and Super Macho Man is so special to me. It’s like a family movie where the kid doesn’t like their new step-dad except the kid is a 22 year old grandchild who can actually kick Macho’s ass if he wanted to (and he does)

I think the first person to actually make a move was Super Macho Man. Macho was able to catch Hoy in the locker room after a fight and he asked Hoy if he would like to “hang out” sometime together, outside of WVBA mixers or some other thing, of course.

Hoy found it cute. He sorta laughed softly at it at first before he saw Macho’s dejected face. He realized it was genuinely series and he kinda flushed. Definitely went kinda quiet with an “O…Oh,” before trying to think of what to say next.

He agrees by the way. Though I think in another post I’ll elaborate

Annddddd that’s all I have for now! Thank you for reading and I’m sorry it was so long! These guys have been in my head for a bit now woah