#not a crossover per se

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

Here’s a sort of…. Prompt? Headcanon? Idea?? For Danny Phantom.

Let’s go with the,, semi-fanon idea of cores. We see the Far Frozen with ice powers, with their whole little civilization. They are ALSO the only ghosts we see that have any medical knowledge.

So what if ghosts with ice cores had healing powers? Danny is very durable, but he also (probably) has advanced healing.

Idk, it’d be a fun possibility to explore Danny ‘plays as a tank in irl superheroics 4 times out of 5’ Phantom finding out he can heal people while doing a school-mandated cpr class.

[necrotic-nephilim]

-debby ryans at you- how are you feeling about that thunderbolts* trailer, snookums. your old blog is trying to crawl from its grave.

you are an unhinged rat for sending me this ask i hope you know <3 you already knew that but i'm telling you anyway bc you're a rat bc now i have to explain myself-

this is from @eebuckley my partner <3 i've alluded to it in the tags of this blog but i used to be a semi-popular MCU blogger from like 2018 to 2020. (semi-popular for the ship i wrote, anyway) and since like, probably Infinity War/Endgame i have been slowly more and more disillusioned by the MCU ranging from only passively being interested in projects to outright despising them if i saw them. which sort of sucks, given how much i loved the MCU at it's height. i was like. aggressively into it. like a "i had asthma attacks watching trailers bc i got so excited" level of into it. maybe cringey in hindsight, honestly but yk. whatever brings you joy, ig.

and anyway- my partner witnessed my very real and normal reaction to the Thunderbolts* trailer and now i'm *mad* bc i'm actually excited about it. it made me feel about the MCU a way i haven't felt in years, especially after a lot of announcements that rlly pissed me off.

cannot believe it looks like we might actually get a comics-accurate Yelena and a comics-accurate Bucky. i'm such a sucker for Bucky Barnes, he's one of the only Marvel characters i actually read Marve comics for and i'm forever bitter how badly he got screwed over. if that movie is good i'm going to end up writing fanfiction. probably crossover fanfiction bc over my dead body will i write just plain MCU fanfic. and i'm a Jason Todd/Bucky shipper anyway so i could make it work, i think-

anyway TLDR is i'm excited and i'm mad about it and how dare yo expose me for being an MCU fan on THIS blog. you coulda send this ask to my MCU blog that still exists and i have occasionally used. but instead you *exposed* my ass on my refined DC blog as a filthy Marvel fan. i will be divorcing you again. ty gn ily

[thelastspeecher]

I read the latest Percy Jackson books and THEN I reread the Heroes of Olympus series and THEN I read the Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson crossover short stories

and I have one conclusion

which is that Percy and Annabeth are SO CUTE TOGETHER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[pbaintthetb]

Since you're currently rewatching House... "I wish you would write a fic where" the MDZS crew are in a modern day AU and NHS drags NMJ to House because of his strange qi deviation symptoms :) Bonus points if Wen Qing is one of House's interns!

oooh very interesting idea. So, I took a stab and have about 2.5k of random segments (not chronological sorry) I did find the voices kind of hard to get

s1-3 era i guess if only because it's the original duckinglins + wen qing. It's also slightly unclear whether cultivation exists in this and if so whether people know about it or not but eh

If i do more segments, becuase i had some in mind I will reblog this and add on to it but I make zero promises. Not sure how many of the things you wanted I hit but I had fun spitballing, even if the House and WQ voice is hard

***

“I didn’t realise they let war criminals work in hospitals these days,” Mingjue comments, it’s meant to sound idle, but to Huaisang it sounds icey. He expects it sounds pretty damn icey to Wen Qing too.

“Good thing I’m not a war criminal then,” Wen Qing refutes with a tight smile, moving her stethoscope to Da-ge’s back. Mingjue humphs, Huaisang digs into his thigh with his key through his trouser pocket and wishes he didn’t have to be so responsible.

Not because he wants Xichen or A-Yao to be doing this (not necessarily at least) just… Huaisang had moved heaven and earth to be here and frankly he’d rather not. They haven’t met Dr House either yet… though from what Nie Huaisang had read that might actually be a good thing.

He looks at his brother and Wen Qing again, her face is in deep concentration, and Mingjue’s is furrowed in an expression that means discomfort of some kind. What kind, Huaisang doesn’t know. For all he prides himself as a brother, he’s no expert in reading the microexpressions. 

And a lot has happened recently, a lot of things that could be causing discomfort in all kinds of ways.

Or maybe it’s even guilt for how he’s been acting. Huaisang wouldn’t know. His brother has been a growing stranger to him these past few months. And then last night…

Nie Huaisang looks at his brother in Wen Qing’s hands and thinks about maybe getting some air, maybe even going on a walk to the coma ward. But he can’t bear to leave his brother, and as he looks at Wen Qing, he feels- somewhat despondently- that she’s a lot stronger than he is.

But Nie Huaisang doesn’t want to be strong, Da-ge’s strong, Huaisang is persistent and weak. Which is why he’s dragged his brother here, despite all the complaining. He knows he’s only being humoured, and he knows why he’s being humoured.

But Huaisang will take a hundred burnt fans if it means a healthy Da-ge. Besides, a hundred burnt fans would still leave the nice one Jiang Cheng got him after they left that Gusu Summer camp a while back.

“How long have you been having these symptoms?” Wen Qing asks clinically, bringing Huaisang’s focus back into the room. He chides himself, what is the point of being here if he doesn’t pay the utmost attention?

***

“Don’t you wonder how your intern and Guangyao know each other?” the big guy demands. The way the big guy spits the name suggests some kind of history there. House is kind of interested, except he expects it’ll be pretty banal so, maybe not.

“I don’t know,” House drawls, twirling his cane, “She’s a renowned doctor, he’s an innovative music therapist, both working at hospitals in New Jersey- of course!” he gasps sarcastically, “Did they meet in a sex dungeon?” He tuts, shaking his head, “Naughty, naughty Qing. First Chase, now her- do you reckon she uses those needles for extra-curricular purposes?”

Just for good measure House throws in a leer. If he’s reading this guy right, wound up and uptight as he is, he’s about to lunge. Which means House can get him restrained. Which means House has a better chance of doing the tests he wants with the consent of the obviously confused, and obviously devoted little brother.

There’s a story there too… but House has no time for sob stories.

The big guy stares at him flatly.

“There’s no shame  in sex, that would be a stupid reason for me to be angry at them.”

Interesting.

“Whoa! Who said anything about being angry?” House asks all mock confused,  “I thought we were just discussing how they met?”

The patient gives him another side eye.

“You’re not half as slick as you think you are.” With that the guy settles back down in bed.

Which is just hurtful really. Also interesting. House doesn’t exactly think he’s trying to be slick, so it’s interesting that the patient thinks he is.

***

“Cuddy’s been hunting House all day to get him to do his clinic hours,” the blond doctor explains, probably to his colleagues, because they adopt matching expressions of complete comprehension.

“Oh really,” Da-ge hums, expression unimpressed, and he’s looking right at Huaisang. Huaisang gulps. “Sounds lik-”

Whatever it was that Da-ge was going to say shirking work sounded like (and Huaisang has really no idea!) is cut off by the sudden spew of blood from his mouth.

Sadly- and it really is, at this point Huaisang is kind of used to it so he’s not even-

He’s not even surprised.

He still screams and flinches though, crying and begging the doctors to do something.

And they do, running around, saying words just short of a yell that all sound very serious and complicated. So Nie Huaisang stops yelling,  because nobody needs his words too.

***

Mingjue doesn’t like Dr. House because the man is a dick. It does not mean, however, that he doesn’t respect him. Dr House is honest, at least. Unlike some people. Dr House is honest about having no real regard for Mingjue, no respect for order or regulations, a purely academic understanding of morality and being a curmudgeony arse.

Nie Mingjue isn’t overly fond of Wen Qing either, though that’s less to do with her skills and her honour. Mingjue has faith in those because he’s experienced them first hand. He just doesn’t like her.

Plenty of people have done things they didn’t really like very much in circumstances they’d infinitely prefer to not be in. But there’s always a choice but Wen Qing had made hers, and Mingjue- well. What happened happened in the way it did.

House, Dr House is staring at him rather intently. Mingjue lets him, he’s used to being stared at. He hit six-foot when he was fourteen, and he’s six-four now with the breadth to match. And he’s used to being stared at because ever since their father died all the questions have been directed at him. And he’d certainly been stared at under Men- Jin Guangyao’s dark stare in that room wit-

Mingjue cuts off that train of thought, feeling his head pound. The Doctor is still staring at him, leaning forward.

“Your brother thinks you’re crazy, you know? Cuckoo, loo-loo, the whole works.”

Mingjue doesn’t say anything, his hands fist in the sheets. He knows. He knows Xichen thinks so too and that’s why nobody ever listens to anything he says. They look at him and see his father twenty years too soon.

But Huaisang didn’t drag him here to have his head looked at. Huaisang’s happy to defer to Xichen and the rat about that. Mingjue knows that, he knows that. He’s here because Huaisang sees their father twenty-years too soon and there’s been a countdown going off in his didi’s head since the first time he found the bloody tissues Mingjue had stuffed in the bin in an ill-thought out plan of hiding them.

Honestly though, how was he to suspect Huaisang would be looking in the rubbish, the little brat never did any tidying and now Mingjue is here when it’s all-

“Huh,” Dr House says thoughtfully, “You do know. Maybe you’re not crazy then, crazy’s not usually so self-aware.”

Mingjue’s not so sure. Their father had been self-aware enough between all the moments where he wasn’t to be horrified. Not that that horror had done much, locked into an endless battle with their father’s pride. He’s not sure how to word all of this to Dr House, and he’s not even sure if he wants to. So he doesn’t.

Mingjue’s here because Huaisang wants him to be here and Mingjue wants Huaisang to be safe. Mingjue’s proud, but not so proud as their father. If he lashes out here there’s a syringe of haldol waiting for him and orderlies to hold Huaisang back.

Mingjue would prefer not to be here, but if Huaisang won’t let him alone (and Mingjue knows his didi can’t) then this is the best place to be.

“Ignoring me won’t make me go away, you know,” the irritating doctor singsongs. It tempts Mingjue to try, even though he’s had years of a little brother and is very well acquainted with this fact.

***

“San-ge and Er-ge would never hurt Da-ge,” Huaisang objects, voice going high with his wail. They swore a brotherhood! Sure, things aren’t so good right now, but things aren’t always so good with Huaisang and Mingjue and neither would hurt the other.

The stupid Dr House just cocks his head. Wen Qing is standing a little behind him, face carefully blank.

“Very convincing. You convinced enough to stake your brother’s life on that?”

“I-” Huaisang starts, stops. Heart trembles. It feels like a betrayal. Saying no. Saying yes.

He looks at Wen Qing and thinks about the coma ward, three floors down, 2 corridors across.

“I wouldn’t stake my brother’s life on anything,” he refutes. Concession, admission, permission, whatever.

***

“I don’t know,” Foreman responds, “My brother and I? We were never like that.”

Chase is sprawled out in a chair, Cameron is the same but she’s doing a much better job of making it look elegant. Foreman is leaning forward with his elbows on the table, hands clasped.

And Wen Qing is standing there, like it’s her first day again, an outsider.

It’s this case, she knows the patient and she doesn’t know him and she- Well she doesn’t know much about Huaisang. But A-Ning had said enough things before that she’s just…

But as much as she doesn’t really know either of the brothers, she does know this.

“Both their mothers died in childbirth, and their father’s been dead for over a decade,” Wen Qing interjects, walking over to the coffee pot so she doesn’t have to look at them. She thought she’d buried this when she’d moved here. Except for A-Ning; she could never bury him, Wen Qing refuses. 

“They’ve only got each other.” The pot’s empty and she scowls in disgust. “Siblings like that- they either can’t stand each other or they’d do anything for each other.” Maybe both. She doesn’t think of a certain little brother of her own, because she’s on the job right now and even as she’s always thinking of him she can’t.

“They’re half brothers?” Cameron asks, and Wen Qing won’t take this accusation.

“Yeah it’s in their history, I-”

“No- no,” Cameron waves her off, “It’s just- Huaisang seems so convinced as much as it’s like their father’s illness, it’s different- and Huaisang seems utterly unaffected. What if it’s something Mingjue got from his mother?”

“What, like a completely different condition that just mimics the one his father had?” Foreman snorts, kicking out his legs, “That’s likely.”

“Or maybe…” Chase starts like he’s had a thought, “It’s some kind of [interaction]. He got his father’s illness, and he’s got something from his mother that’s making it act like this.”

They all consider that for a moment.

“We need to tell House.” Wen Qing’s already walking out of the room.

***

“The mental symptoms!” House yells, “The guy’s got fucking PTSD- and nobody noticed, not even his supposedly so devoted brother.”

“But-”

“Oh jeez, if only there was a reason that the mental symptoms were so much more aggressive and and in flux than what they reported of his father- if only there were a doctor on my team who knew the patient, but-”

Wen Qing burns, she burns so hard she can’t even hear the insult to her character House is no doubt lumping out. She can’t talk about this, she can’t.

Meng Yao’s, or whatever he’s calling himself these days, has good fucking lawyers, and enough skills to have kept himself alive under her Uncle’s watchful eye for a year. Wen Qing had signed, and signed, and A-Ning’s upstairs and Meng Yao’s somewhere else and-

Mingjue is worth nothing compared to A-Ning, do no harm be damned. And not even Huaisang’s fury is enough of a motivation. She understand that fury, she understands it well, it burns inside her everyday her brother doesn’t wake up.

“I said,” Wen Qing hisses, aware of the stares of her fellow interns on her, and the genuine angry glare of House, “That I suspected he’d been through trauma recently- as did his brother!”

House does not look calmed in the slightest, he takes a step toward her.

“Well maybe next time use the word ‘torture’. It’s got a certain buzz that really makes it shine out as an alarm bell.”

Her ears ring, and ring. She can’t say anything, and if anyone else is speaking, she can’t hear it.

***

Wilson doesn’t know how he always ends up in House’s conference room dragged into a case that clearly isn’t cancer and therefore doesn’t need an Oncologist to consult. But, well, House is House (demanding bastard) and Wilson is Wilson (needy bitch) so maybe he does know.

The children as House would term them are all throwing out theories and Wilson is following along well enough to understand, but nothing’s sounding like cancer and House never hired Wilson so he’s not really giving out any theories.

That’s when the man walks in. Anybody unknown walking into Houses’ office can go a few ways, so Wilson preemptively prepares for something to be thrown. Except the guy’s just looking at Wilson.

“You have another doctor in your team?” the man asks House uncertainly, but he’s still looking obsessively at Wilson. It’s kind of weird.

“No, no, I’m just here as a consult,” Wilson explains politely, “Dr James Wilson.” He extends a hand.

The man- who’s kind of more of a kid takes it nervously, still staring at him.

“You’re an oncologist,” the unknown guy, who is probably related to House’s current patient in some way, states. Brother? 

“Yeah I am,” Wilson chuckles awkwardly, mentally kicking himself. “How did you know that?” Because if he knew the patient knew he was an oncologist, he wouldn’t have said. Nobody likes hearing you’re an oncologist, unless you’re saying you’ll never see them again. And even then, sometimes they don’t like it.

“It’s on your door,” the brother of the patient says, still sounding uncertain. “Does this mean you think my brother has… uh- I mean, whatever it is that oncologists treat?” his voice has gone up at the end.

Mentally, Wilson is raising a brow, externally he is not. He is a professional and actually knows what the term ‘bedside manner’ means, unlike some people in this room.

House doesn’t raise a brow either, but that’s because House doesn’t believe in restricting yourself to non-verbal symbols of rude disbelief when words can be twice as insulting.

“Whatever oncologists treat,” House drawls mock sympathetic, the patient’s brother twitches with what could be embarrassment. “No, we don’t. Dr Wilson is just here to stare at Cameron’s ass. Or maybe Chase’s- who can tell them apart from behind?!” 

Wilson looks to the ceiling for salvation while House guffaws and Chase and Cameron scowl.

The guy is still looking at Wilson, and taking pity, Wilson divulges.

“No, we don’t think he has cancer.”

The guy nods, not as if this is good news, but rather as if this is news he’s always known.

***

“Brother shops around for the best diagnostician he can find, but doesn’t even know what an oncologist is?” House shakes his head and helps himself to some of Wilson’s fries. Wilson offers a put-upon expression in return, but he hasn’t touched his drink so he’s probably not actually put upon. Besides, Wilson knows House is going to eat his food, if he wants it to stop happening he should stop buying it.

“So?” Wilson asks, playing his role of audience participation in their private one-man show as always. “I didn’t realise that your webpage had the definition of oncology on it- right underneath your name I suppose?.”

House shoots him a look for the snark. And the blatant missing of the obvious point.

“The first thing anybody does, when they google symptoms is find cancer,” House explains, Wilson nods, so maybe he gets it too now. Gets how weird it is- and House doesn’t like things that don’t make sense.

“Ok,” Wilson is still nodding and House takes some more fries while he’s distracted, “But isn’t he here because he thinks his brother has what their dad had? Which wasn’t cancer? So he doesn’t think it’s cancer, so doesn’t need an oncologist. He’s deadset on it being this one thing so he’s not looking at anything else.”

House shakes his head, he doesn’t know what it is or why it’s bothering him but it is.

“He’s here because he thinks it’s not operating like what their dad had, which is when worried younger siblings start running down the cancer route and looking for the best Oncologist they can find-” he shoots Wilson a significant look “-but he skips that altogether and brings his brother here- his sick brother who’s been sick for a while but only just agreed to come.”

It’s interesting, it’s a puzzle. House likes puzzles and he’d rather puzzle out what’s affecting the older brother right now, but a man can always multitask.

[ace-the-fox]

I made a post on here saying I could make a fandaughter for Patty B (I still have not watched nor read it)...

Her name is Samantha (Sam or Sammie for short). She's kinda a bitch, but we love her though.

Also, ofc, the crossover I kinda designed her just to do.

They would hate eachother, but I also wholeheartedly believe they should make out (if Momo wasn't in the picture ofc). At least once.

(If anything's unreadable, the alt text has all the text transcriptions too!! 👍)

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

Phantom Krueger

It is finally done! Phantom Kruger is done! Without the lighting and shadows, I swear that the sketches gave me so much Phillip/Belos vibes XD

Trigger warning for blood and burns!!

Now, everyone will go "Phantom, if Freddy is the Phantom of the Opera, where is his mask?"

And my response is that you, lovely jellybeans, are seeing it. I am not sure if the sketch allows seeing it, but there are some stitches to his face. So, yes, the Phantom's mask is his face...or well...made out of flesh.

This is actually what I mentioned in the Christine! Nancy post about the sketches and how I got the idea:

So, yeah that is actually something that POTO 1989 does with their Erik. I thought it was gory and well fitting to this crossover so I kept it. My major difference is that Phantom Krueger uses it to hide his burns, but just as the Original version he is bald too, so the hair you see in the sketches is just a pretty tight (maybe glued) wig on his head.

I decided to add the stitches to convey he well...stitched them to his face as it is really hard to draw the amazing makeup effect the OG POTO 1989 has

There is some sense of discomfort, or that something is of when you see Erik's face, which adds to the later scene (which is on YouTube) where well he removes his mask as the backstory of his character play.

The hair color was not chosen by me, it is actually from the 1989 Erik as well as an inspired costume he has, which is basically the Red Death costume from the POTO, which was referenced in the mask Freddy's holding as a cute easter egg.

If you guys are wondering what POTO characters do Glenn, Tina, and Rod would be dressed as ?Here they are

Glenn, of course, would be the "Raoul" (or Richard which the POTO decided to name Raoul like) as he is cannonically Nancy's boyfriend in the first film, so I thought it would be fitting.

Tina would certainly be heavily inspired by Meg from both 1989 ver and some small inspo from the musical (just slightly.) as POTO 1989 Meg is still Christine's best friend, so I would be drawing a lot of inspo from there

Rod is a bit hard due to not much of a male character outside Raoul (or Richard...) in the POTO 1989 so far has been, but I'll probably based him around Piangi as he was an actor in the POTO which also ironically died a similar way to Rod-

I'll probably get Glen and the others costumes designs and maybe in a later post explain Nancy's dress.

And just for another reminder. This crossover will not have the Phantom be in love or attracted to Christine because his motivations are based around Freddy Krueger's + its a big no for me

[sysig]

It’s that quarterly time of year again where I complain about tumblr’s inability to handle 50+ images in one text post

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

Ok! Btw he is less Norse and more Germanic/Scandinavian. This guy was written abt in (what is now) England, but was local to Denmark, while Hiccup’s home is, afaik, roughly based on an archeological site in Sweden.

Anyway here he is! Descended from the biblical Cain, related to elves and jotunar, described first in Old English, by the peoples who the HISTORICAL King Arthur would have been fighting. He’s large and magical asf and deeply indistinct of species. Might be human. We don’t know.

If you like this guy, consider researching his hot mom. Because yes, he comes with a Knife MILF, and for some reason she appears to be a type of mer-creature. Or possibly just a magical woman who lives in a lake.

…have I mentioned how AGGRESSIVELY AMBIGUOUS these guys are

Also there is a TON of interesting lore abt them if you can speak/read Old English (I can, a bit) so hmu if you want to know more about them

EDIT: I noticed you like OSP. They have a great video covering Beowulf (the text these creatures are from), however they do draw Grendel as hairless. As an OE scholar, this is a pet peeve of mine, Grendel is described in one passage with long hair at LEAST on his head, so, while OSP’s video is overall good, I implore you to not contribute to a widespread artistic inaccuracy, please do not shave the Grendel. He has been through enough.

@thesaltofcarthage nice name! Get Grendel’d

I don’t mean to shove my Confusing Niche Folklore Hyperfixation That Is Also An AU Of A Popular Tumblr Fandom, but…..

Would you be interested in creatures (Monsters? Humans? Spirits? Gods? Hard to say) that actually, in irl folkloric canon, bridged the gap between Christianity/specifically Genesis, and the Old English paganism that Merlin is based in…. While also being adjacent to/part of the Norse/Nordic cultures that inspired HTTY? Also aggressively Fae- and Mermaid-adjacent.

(Absolutely could not CONTAIN my delight upon seeing that the GO x Merlin, “Magic Doesn’t Mix With Miracles” comic author likes HTTYD. I hope it isn’t awkward to say that your multiverse/fandoms perfectly fit my favorite folkloric creature)

I'm always down to learn new mythology, it's so interesting!!!

(And this ask comes with funny timing cause I've been trying (emphasis on trying) to do research on Norse mythology for another top secret potential Hijack fic concept that has been all I can think about for the past week)

[swampjawn]

Like the goofy horror crossover that inspired it (Sadako vs Kayako) Dandadan's identity is all about smashing together the identities of its many eclectic inspirations. (most notably of course, ghostststs vs aliens)

So how does its opening embody that identity? Well of course the song itself is swarming with references to everything from a couple Japanese creepypastas from 2chan to Demon Slayer and other popular shounen hits, to M. Night Shyamalan — but not to be left out, the formal elements of the animation combine not only the bold and sharply contrasting color schemes that are characteristic of the show, but also three completely different animation styles into one strangely cohesive piece.

Directed by "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off" director and one of Science Saru's original creative voices, Abel Góngora, the opening sets the stage with the contrast between these close-ups of the syllable "dan" shown mostly on various digital screens, and these character shots that give the impression of analog film with soft edges between highlight and shadow, and overlaid grain, scratches, and imperfections.

These cuts are not exactly realistic per se, but they reflect a version of the world of the show that's very grounded in live-action cinematic techniques, like I discussed in my previous video. Many of them mimic a wide-angle perspective and give the impression of a real camera filming the characters.

Soon though, we jump into these highly stylized cuts in which bold, textured silhouettes stand out against saturated painted backgrounds.

This style in particular feels very characteristic of Góngora, who has worked on many of Science Saru's opening sequences, and seems to love these stark, stylized, and textured silhouettes:

Many of these shots are direct references to the 1967 Ultraman TV opening,

but they also generally draw inspiration from 60s and 70s pop art and cut-out animation. Slight imperfections in the credit text and slight camera wobble even give the impression of hand-cut paper being filmed with an old 60s camera rig!

Turbo Granny gets up in the mix with a third totally different style: these loose, chaotic, and gestural scribbles where clean line-work gives way to pure organic energy with very little consistency between frames.

These cuts are mostly done by Kyouhei Ebata (江端 恭平) (who you might recognize from his crazy painted frames on Dungeon Meshi) and Genta Ishimori (石守 源太) who has relatively few official credits so far, but has done some extremely impressive (if quite disturbing) independent work on his youtube channel, and whose own personal style seems to have primarily created the vision for how Turbo Granny would be portrayed in the show!

And finally, the three art styles and two major opposing colors all come together in this climactic cut as this slick, detailed illustration goes from clean, detailed blue, to bold, chaotic red in an instant as Okarun smashes through it, and is interspersed with these three demonic frames that find a middle ground between the bold textured silhouettes and the loose scratchy turbo granny scribbles.

This is all just a sampling from this video, where I go more in depth on all these elements, and lay out way more of the direct references, so go watch it! (If you're not too scared… Maybe you can't handle it…)

[all-lee24]

who do u think would be friends in a conceptual crossover between asoiaf and elden ring?

Not exactly friends per se but I did make a list of characters I would put in a room together for my own entertainment

[crystallizsch]

HI okay so about that multifandom post — these are the ones that comes to mind i might post about in the future (with a lot of them having oc x canon stuff as well)

(the headers are my fan ocs btw 💕)

obey me!

i’ll very likely do this tbh

potential crossovers??? seven sins/brothers vs the seven overblotters???

i’ve been thinking about this for a long time actually (for example: obm mc and twst mc switching places)

and if you must know my faves are simeon and mammon >:]

stardew valley

maybe i’ll post about it???

i barely have time to play this game 😭 and when i do, i play it for like a week straight and dont touch it for several months (which is something i do with a lot of the games i play anyway 😔)

maybe potential twst x sdv au

as for the characters i’m into: it’s the alcoholic and the emo boy, if you know you know

IF THEY CAN’T LET ME HAVE ROBIN IM COURTING HER LOSER SON I GUESS

our life: beginning & always

a niche(?) visual novel with a customizable mc

augh i’ll definitely post about it bc i have SUCH a soft spot for it

it’s cheesy to admit but the game got me through some rough times before i landed on twst lmao (and it's literally the ONLY game i did somewhat of a self-insert hgdkfj)

if you’re into slice of life visual novels, PLEASE check this out, it’s free on steam (it has paid dlcs (that i all paid for bc i love the game so much) but the game is still VERY enjoyable without it)

it has so much 2000s-2010s nostalgic vibes, and it doesnt force you to a romance if you don’t want to (at least from what i remember but im pretty confident that’s the case)

and the main “love interest” is the CUTEST OUGH

it’s not really “exciting” per se since it’s a slice of life, BUT BUT—

ONCE I START POSTING ABOUT THIS I WILL CONVERT YOU GUYS MARK MY WORDS

pokemon

HUGE MAYBE THAT I’LL DO STUFF ABOUT POKEMON bc i struggle with animal art ;;;

so probably i’ll just do occasional crossovers/aus with twst

or sharing some trainer/gijinka ocs

misc games/anime/etc.

the arcana (nix hydra): another niche(?) visual novel free on the app store about a magician mc and tarot cards (grossly summarizing it), i’d recommend if you like fantasy/dark themes 🫶 i have a soft spot for it too bc it was one of my first oc x canon i started posting when i was younger <3 (i’d like to consider the art style of this dating sim “unconventionally pretty” like it’s not your usual anime otome game art style. it’s definitely not for everyone but i personally like it)

cult of the lamb: i have a one-off lamb oc but if i do post about this, it’s probably going to be more about gameplay than oc-posting tbh

honkai star rail: i have no ocs in this game but i LOVE playing for the characters/story so it’ll prob be just me reacting to story stuff and agonizing over gacha pulls

+ probably other franchises (like other anime or video games and stuff) i might make fanart of or just talk about

AGAIN TO CLARIFY: i'll still be twst-posting first and foremost because i know it’ll be my main fandom for a LONG while, i really don’t see myself dropping it any time soon!! these other fandoms are just side interests

and considering my track record of ONLY focusing on certain twst characters/ocs, i don't think the fandoms i mentioned here will show very often anyway 😭

[maskerat]

Project Lobotomy Knight

I promised and I've delivered; the crossover of my 2 current Biggest Spinterests.

more about the "project" under the cut ->

Basically I applied some core mechanics of Lob Corp into the HK universe, although nothing is fleshed out yet - just in the process of concepting atm.

I'm even considering learning 2D rigging so I can actually makes models of the characters and maybe even make into a Passion Game (no monetization as I have no rights for that, literally just for fun per se) combining HK's metroidvania mechanics and Lob Corp's inevitable loop and abnormality designs into a rogue-like-esque adventure perhaps.

An idea for Hornet's design would be to either make her a Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary or still go with the E. G. O. path and have the said abnormalities be The Higher Beings. I don't know, nothing is definite yet.

[motherloads]

After the Storm

Just finished watching OPLA, and I have been inspired. Watching it whilst doing my readings for class got me hyped. Now, I'm watching The Little Mermaid and a little something piqued my interest.

I'm a sucker for crossovers that people never create, but do be warned all of my fics are literally the same. I realized this while typing this out. Oops lol.

Couldn't decide between Sanji and Zoro, both very lovely beings. I eventually did figure out who but I love tough decision-making.

Summary: Reader silently grieves her loss of her family. Fortunately, she focuses on her new found feelings for a certain Pirate Hunter. Not one to return feelings, she feels herself begin to spiral over his ignorance.

A jump that creates worry and a short confession ensues.

-> Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Reader

-> One Piece/Percy Jackson Crossover

-> Warnings: None!

⋆｡°✩

So if you need a hero Just look in the mirror No one’s gonna save you now So you better save yourself

"I like you," She broadly proclaims to the green-haired man in front of her. Tapping her foot patiently, she awaits his answer. His look gave no indication that he felt anything about her broad claim. Still, she smiles up at him, waiting.

"I know," He answers instead, "You tell me every week since we met. My answer won't change." She pouts at his answer, shaking her head in denial.

"People's hearts always change, Zoro! You may never know when you will fall in love with me," She teases, poking his arm in a teasing manner. Instead of waiting for his response, she hums a goodbye, skipping away from the man who made no move to leave the spot he was rooted to.

Once she was gone, he felt his shoulders sag, feeling the stress of her new proclamation take a toll on him. It wasn't as if he didn't have any interest in her because he absolutely did.

But, in order to become the greatest Swordsman, he couldn't afford any distractions. Whether it would make him feel things he silently longed for.

"Luffy," She speaks up, finding the captain in the kitchen and eating the leftovers of Sanji's meal. The boy perks up at his name, smiling at the woman with a mouth filled with food, "I need to speak with you."

Taking a big gulp of his milk, Luffy pats the seat next to him, "What do you need? How has your stay been since you joined the crew!" When she sits, he slings an arm around her, "Had any luck with that goal of yours?"

Luffy, ever so oblivious of her onslaught to Zoro had assumed she had another goal in motion. He was not wrong per se, but she had put off that goal when she realized it may not be feasible.

"Don't think it's worth pursuing anymore," She fiddles with her thumbs, ignoring the pain she felt from the memories resurfacing of her family. "It'll never happen anyways. It's an impossible goal that I don't think anyone could ever get."

She missed them.

"Why not? No pirate should ever have to give up their dream!" He stands up abruptly, slamming his hands on the table, "You can't give up! I believe in you, whatever your goal may be!"

She laughs at Luffy's free spirit, the way he held himself as if there were no current problems in this world. As if the bounty now over his head wasn't a looming future of what his life would be like as a pirate.

"You are really like him," She muses, pushing Luffy's shoulder playfully, "Every time I speak to you, it feels like I'm speaking to an old friend."

"Boyfriend, perhaps?" Sanji speaks up, entering the kitchen to prepare for the dinner, "What a shame, thought I could have you all to myself!"

Luffy snickers at his comment as she rolls her eyes at his words, "Just an old friend. Someone I miss dearly." She stands up, waving at the two who waved back, "I'm going to take a quick nap. Tell me when the food is ready." She leaves after hearing both the men confirm.

Her shoes hit the floor as she leisurely walks towards the place where she can rest with the rest of the crew. She sees the men's quarters open ajar. Looking inside, she sees Zoro sound asleep. His singular katana is beside him, resting.

She provided minimal information to the crew about who she was. She had a preference for swords, but she neglected to inform them that she had the capability to wield any weapons. She enjoyed swimming, but she avoided informing them that she could enter the depths of the ocean and be able to breathe. That the moment she stepped out, she could be as dry as the desert.

If her emotions grew haywire, she had the capability to do unimaginable things that a simple human cannot do.

It was just the perks of being Posideon's daughter, she mused in her head.

She sits on the floor near Zoro's head, analyzing his relaxed facial structures quietly. A whisper of her fingers outlined his nose structure. To his lips, she lets her hand slip away back into her lap.

Her first meeting with Zoro sticks to her mind.

The amount of alcohol she had consumed today had caused her to be slightly tipsy, but she ignored how her eyes fluttered. For once, she felt free from her thoughts.

She quickly follows behind Zoro who stops in his path. He turns his head to her figure as she pauses in her own path. "Do you need something?" He questions her, already bored by their interaction.

"I think you're really cool," She announces, taking out her hand as she introduces herself. Zoro has turned his full attention to her, crossing his arms, refusing to shake her hand. She shakes her own hand in response.

"I don't know you." He feels his lip twitch at her friendly personality peaking through with her manners. The way she played with the hem of her sweater that was already falling apart. Then, with the way her eyes glowed brightly--he felt almost entranced with how she stared at him, unafraid. He noticed that she was shoeless but somehow, her socks stayed perfectly white.

"We can get to know each other!" She smiles, stepping closer, "I'm really interested in traveling with others. I've heard several stories of Monkey D. Luffy and he is your captain, right?"

"What's it to you?" Zoro steps closer to her as well, narrowing his eyes at how her smile didn't waver.

"I'd like to join the crew! If he'd let me, of course. I have many talents, so I think I could be beneficial to you all."

"And why would I let that happen?"

She pokes his arm, a sly grin replacing her smile, "I'm too trusting and serve for the people who help me in return. You and your captain help me with my travels, and I'll help you all as well."

Zoro stays silent for a moment until he tilts his head and beckons her to follow. Following quickly, she began to walk side by side with Zoro who avoided looking at the woman who continued to eye him. He started to grow nervous with her stare until he found where he knew Luffy was.

Hopefully.

He opens the door, letting the woman step inside as she looks around the empty kitchen. Apart from the boy in the straw hat who hummed while scavenging for food. Zoro clears his throat as Luffy turns around, a grin replacing his humming.

"Zoro! Hey!" Luffy exclaims, taking his hands out from the jar of cookies as he goes to hug Zoro. Zoro ignores the look he receives from the woman as Luffy brings him in with excitement.

"I have someone who wants to speak with you." Zoro tilts his head towards the woman who smiles at Luffy. Luffy smiles back as she takes out her hand. He lets go of Zoro and shakes her hand frantically. They both opted to ignore the crumb-filled hands he gave her.

She introduces herself, as Luffy does as well. Zoro watches the interaction silently, leaning on the counter.

"It'd be an honor to join your crew. Like I told Zoro, I think I'd be beneficial to you all." Luffy, as the boy he is, immediately agreed.

Zoro shouldn't have been taken aback, but somehow he still was.

"Luffy, I understand how easygoing you were when Usopp joined, but seriously, you didn't think twice." Zoro shakes his head as the duo turns to look at him.

"I trust her! Plus, it'd be nice for Nami to have a girl friend in the crew!" Luffy exclaims, not understanding the gravity of his actions. "It'll be fine! She wouldn't betray us!"

She grins at Zoro, nudging his side with her elbow, "It'd be nice. We already have so much in common." Zoro immediately disagrees, not seeing anything that he has in common with the woman.

"I don't think--" He gets cut off, lost for words as in a blink of an eye, two swords appeared in her hands. She easily moved the weapons with ease, preventing the two men from being nicked. In a light manner, she pointed the tip of her swords at each of the men's throats.

'WOAH!" Luffy shouts, "Where did they come from?! That's sooo cool!"

Zoro is lost for words at her weapons, staring at how the swords glint because of the lights, "The material...what is it?"

"Something a friend of mine created. He's outstanding with making weapons that work on mor--that works for me." She tilts her wrist, watching the swords disappear from sight.

"How did they just disappear! That's amazing! Do you think you can teach me that?!" Luffy shakes her, his laughter makes her laugh with him.

"Unfortunately I can't. That's my little secret." She winks at Zoro. He stares at her quietly with nothing to tell her. To say that she has already made an impression on him, he felt...good.

Unknowingly to her, His heart skipped a beat at this realization.

⋆｡°✩

Without thinking, she begins to speak, "I don't think I've ever met anyone like you. You're unique, in your own way and it's cute, the way you won't give up." She paused, looking back at his singular sword, "The amount of times Usopp retold the story of your defeat is uncanny, and I applaud your effort." She traces her finger along the dents on the floor.

"Luffy and Usopp remind me of Leo. He's energetic, and he loves building otherworldly things. Not only was he a big goof, he was a fireball, literally." She smiles at the memory, "Nami is like Annabeth. They're both intelligent and do not need anyone to get out of tough situations."

"Sanji protects his friends no matter what. I heard what he did for that Chef who took him in...he really is like my brother. Although Percy doesn't flirt with every woman, they both would do anything for their loved ones."

She runs her hands softly through Zoro's hair. He didn't move an inch, "I don't belong here. I'm an outcast compared to the rest of the crew. I already have my own." She stands up, looking down at Zoro sadly, he made no indication that he was listening.

"This is my goodbye Zoro, Maybe I'll see you around?" She leaves the room, leaving the man alone.

Awake the whole time, he opens his eyes and stares at the open door. She couldn't possibly leave, she had no way to leave. They were in the middle of the ocean with no land anywhere near their vicinity. Where is she going?

Standing up, he leaves the room, looking for the woman who had taken his breath away when he fought with her. When she easily maneuvered out of his traps and created her own. At some points, he felt like she was going easy on him as if he wasn't doing the same.

He bumps into Sanji, who informs him that dinner is ready. He ignored the blonde man who took great offense to it. Sanji follows behind him when he realizes that Zoro is off.

They find Nami, who looks at them in confusion, and why Sanji gestured for her to follow. With no hesitance, she followed.

Luffy, who had begun eating and talking animatedly with Usopp paid no mind to the trio. He continued to slurp his food until he felt Nami pulling his ear and taking him with him. He grabs onto Usopp, who is dragged away to whatever they are following.

She steps on top of the head of the ship, looking down at the raging water awaiting her. The familiar hum of the ocean lulls her closer. She steps closer to the edge, taking a look behind her. There was nobody there. Now was her chance.

She already removed her shoes, finding it better to swim with only her socks. She knew her shoes wouldn't get wet if she did not allow it, but her mind screamed to leave them behind.

She spreads her arms wide, letting her body lean forward into the water. The splash she had created felt soothing against her body, as she felt her body sink lower and lower into the ocean. She feels another presence in the water. When she opens her eyes, she is face to face with Zoro.

His wound hadn't quite healed, and he struggled to swim closer to the woman who looked shocked at his appearance. His shoes were still on, he didn't stop to take them off. None of that mattered. He needed to save her.

He reaches out for her, holding her body close to his. He was slowly losing his ability to hold his breath as he kicked upwards to hit the surface of the water. When the water began to grow restless, he felt himself lose grip of the woman who made no effort to swim up with him.

In a split second, Zoro was able to breathe again. He greedily took breaths of the air he was lacking as he coughed out the water choking him. He hears a soothing voice urge him to breathe. When he sees water begin to float out of his mouth and into nothing, he allows himself to breathe.

He finds himself in a bubble in the water they were traveling in. In front of him was her. She was safe. And somehow, she was dry. That was when he realized he was dry too. Zoro pinches himself, making sure that he wasn't dreaming.

The sea creatures swim around the bubble, creating their own smaller bubbles of excitement from seeing the woman. To see the Princess back in the waters in which she belonged.

She pushes Zoro's bangs to the side, holding his face in between the palms of her hands as a soft smile blooms from her lips.

"I wasn't doing anything bad if you thought I needed saving," She whispers, "I had to go for my own good. I couldn't do this anymore."

“What—“ Zoro’s breathing finally begin to stabilize, “What is this?” He pokes at the barrier keeping them from the rest of the ocean, keeping them from sinking and losing sight of the ship. If he squinted, he could see the blurred body of the crew.

“A bubble I created.” Was her only response. She wasn’t planning on revealing anything to him. She was still convinced she was going to leave. It’s not like they could swim fast enough to catch her.

Zoro notices how the conversation about the bubble had immediately ended. Deciding to figure that answer out in later time, he answers back to the beginning of the conversation.

"I know." He tells her, "I heard everything. You have another crew. But..." He hesitates, trying to find his words, "We're friends too, right? Please, stay. "

"I don't see you as a friend, Zoro."

"I-" Zoro pauses, "I don't either."

"You don't have to tell me just because Zoro. I've asked you countless times."

"I didn't want to admit it to myself." He reveals, holding her hands in place on his face to stop her from removing herself from him, "I have to focus on my goal. I can't be distracted. Next time I see Mihawk, I need to defeat him."

'Stop being prideful, Zoro. Ignoring how you feel and assuming such things are not it."

"What about you? Leaving us because you think you're an outcast." He glares, "We need you. I need you. You can't go. We're a crew, whether you already have one or not."

“They aren’t a crew to me. They’re my family,” She reveals, looking behind Zoro as a sea creature swims past them, “I don’t think I can go back anyways. It’s not a possibility I foresee.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“I’m tired, Zoro.”

“We can be tired together.”

“A tired duo?” She laughs pathetically, “You’re really good at convincing me to stay.”

“I’d do anything to have you stay.” He informs her, bringing her hands towards his chest. She feels his heartbeat for a moment as she gazes at the previous wound he received from Mihawk. For a long moment she stared, brushing her fingers on the gauze that began to bleed through. In a careful motion, she untangled the gauze. It stuck for a moment before falling in Zoro’s lap.

She traces the outline of the harsh lines, feeling the difference in skin compared to the rest of his body. It was another minute before she collected the water surrounding them and directed it towards the wound.

The blood mixed in with the water for a moment and Zoro expected the wound begin to sting because of the salty water. Instead, he felt a soothing sensation from the wound that began to scar over. As if it had been healed for a long time.

“What are you?” He sets his eyes on her face. She avoids looking at him, staring intently at the scar on his chest, “Anything you tell me, It’ll stay with me.”

“The others—“ She looks up at the blurry figures who still looked over the edge, “I’ve told Nami snippets of who I am. I think she’s keeping them from jumping overboard.”

“Tell me.” He urges, leaning in closer to the woman, “Please.”

“Only if you don’t reject me again.”

“You’re persistent,” He replies instead, “Okay.”

She leans in response, gazing at his eyes for any more confirmation. That he would change his mind and pop the bubble and escape from her reach. She waits for the moment he calls her a monster. He was a hunter after all. When he made no other sound, she leans her forehead against his. Closing her eyes, she felt his calloused hands rest on her neck. Feeling the ghost of his lips on the corner of her own made her shiver.

She does the same to him, following a path closer to his ear. She is near his earlobe as he feels her soft breath against his ear. He shivers in return, closing his eyes and relishing the moment.

She kisses him there when she finally whispers.

“I’m the daughter of Poseidon. God of the Sea. A demigod.”

[machiroads]

Fic Writer Interview

Thank u @plusultraetc for the tag wheeeeee

How many works do you have on AO3?

8️⃣

What's your total AO3 word count?

251,850, 150k of which is one fic lmao

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nine Lives, by an order of magnitude over 2nd place

Naruhata Noir

A Tumultuous Sea, You and Me (the mer-pirates fic)

Being No One, Going Nowhere (the 2 broken arms fic)

waiting on the seasons to change, waiting for the curtain to fall (the fortuneteller fic)

I am surprised to see the 2 broken arms fic in the top 5 tbh!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I like to get responses to my own comments, so I try to reply to everyone's comments :]

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Uhhhhh PROBABLY 9L since it ends with everyone going off to war haha oopsie

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Uhhhhhh probably merpirates? It's really gross and sappy. Dive into the ocean and kiss a mermaid in front of your entire crew. The 2 broken arms fic also got a pretty happy ending (Aizawa goes to bed and also maybe jerks it a little)

Do you write crossovers?

Not crossovers per se but I do enjoy a deep in the weeds AU

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don't think so? The worst I get is people saying "wow almost no typos" which is very tame lmao

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not yet! Kintsugi (the epilogue to 9L) will have some mild spice but I'm at a point in my life where I just couldn't be jazzed to write folks doing it sloppy style

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so except for that website that's scraped like a ton of fics a few months back

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had one person request to translate 9L into Ukranian, though I never saw if they ended up doing it. Recently I've also had a couple people leave comments in Spanish so I assume they translated the story into Spanish somehow!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The unpublished FFXII AU is partially co-written by Robbirdthe8th, but it's been parked for like a year and a half. Also I would be remiss to omit @kyurilin who might as well get bonus credits for the Nutstang

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I have been in fandom spaces for over a decade YOU CAN'T JUST MAKE ME CHOOSE A SINGLE ALL-TIME FAVORITE IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. Perhaps a low-commitment list of OTPs from across the years:

Erasermic (obviously)

Edwin (FMA)

Netteflix (FE3H)

Asanoya (HQ!!)

Kanej (6 of Crows)

Yuchi (FB)

Asucaga (MSGS)

Soukana (FMP)

Maiko (ATLA)

Hanvi (DB)

Nejiten (Naruto)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Probably any of the Fire Emblem or Fruits Basket fics I started drafting in 2020/2021 before I figured out how to write fic lol

What are your writing strengths?

People tell me I am good at characterization! I think I'm also good at describing a setting, a skill that I exercise often in my technical writing.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Exposition, my nemesis. A necessary evil, but it's like pulling teeth, every time.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Short answer: I just. Don't.

Longer answer: I think there's a time and place for it, and I've seen both well-executed and clunky ways of doing it. I've never seen a need for it yet in anything I've written.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

BNHA was the first fandom I published anything for, though honourable mention goes to Fruits Basket and FE3H for convincing me that I can tell my own stories (and then get stuck trying to figure out how to write fiction woops).

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

Idk man I'm just vibing in my lane of erasermic et al right now

What's your favorite fic you've written?

Listen it's gotta be 9L. This fic is the reason I have made so many friends in this community. People have drawn fanart for it (one of which now lives permanently on my desk in the form of a mousepad, thank u Dragon). It is the story that got me into writing fic because it was a story that nobody else was telling, so I wrote the story that I wanted to read.

People still get to the endnotes on 9L and are like THIS IS YOUR FIRST FIC???? and yeah. I started writing fanfiction at the tender age of 28 and the first thing I decided was worth sharing is still my magnum opus. Anyone can write fic! Find a writer whose style you like, emulate it, and write the story you want to read. It's that simple.

[bobbimorses]

do you have any tips/ comics to read to help characterise hawkeye? I wanna try and encompass all of his personality rather than the popular fanon one and im not as well versed on hawkeye pre-fraction. thank you 🙌

so i would definitely recommend clint's appearances in thunderbolts v1 (#9-10, 20-75) for some more "recent" but not "recent recent" clint, in that it's him post-accomplished avenger, in a team leader role where he's not facing the pressures of being a new leader (like in west coast avengers), but still in his classic duds and pre-disassembled era.

hawkeye v1 (1983) also works as his first solo if you want a classic sort of "parallel" to fraction hawkeye to ease you in first. i only say parallel in that it's clint off his game, so that might be easier for you to worm your way in (and obvs there was a lot of gruenwald inspiration that went into it). also, he meets bobbi! who can say no to bobbi?

if my initial rec of thunderbolts was daunting bc i said hey read 50+ issues, you can instead try solo avengers v1 (1987), #1-11 to start with. clint's stories are only in the first half of the issues, so it's 11 pages of "ah, so that's clint." it's bronze age comics so it's goofy, and who is goofy? is it the carny with the arrows shooting into tornadoes with southern accents, bottom half wearing a breechcloth, top half shirtless? of course it is.

and hey, i feel like "taking on an elder of the universe, getting worked up over baseball" also encompasses personality? perhaps? so try west coast avengers annual #2 & avengers annual #16. "but tumblr user bobbimorses, there's like 15 characters in that and it's a crossover." fret not, it's the 80s so it's not like modern event comics. your eyes can glaze over in a good way, but glazing is not necessary. love and light.

captain america v3 #4 he is annoying cap. he loves (annoying) cap. the people ignore him. he wants attention. he is kicked in the face by batroc. he denigrates the french. this is clint barton.

daredevil #99: this isn't actually important per se but clint is annoying and carrying a torch for natasha and beats up daredevil and a beautiful bay window and complains about how his teammates, the literal avengers, showing up is like his getting tattled on to his big brothers to drag him home so this is a microcosm of his attitude in the era of the late 60s to 70s.

i didn't rec anything post-fraction per the structure of your ask but you could read hawkeye: freefall if you're only versed with fraction? anyways that's just a tiny smattering of tastes that i hoped could cover different stages.

realized i didn't rec anything from the kooky quartet era which is also important to get a sense of him (though thunderbolts v1 #9 has a whole issue flashback), so you could just pick a random issue from avengers v1 #16-29, or just watch this video for a sample. ignore the startlingly deep voice, that's pretty much the whole gist

i think i actually lost track of the whole "tips" intent of your question while doing this but if you really wanna go crazy, you can just skim through my "full" clint chronology guide for some issue ideas. i also have a neglected recs tag for some different specific recs

[bvckbiter]

some thoughts on characterization of the seven in hoo, VERY long post ahead:

for each of the five books in the series, i read them right as they came out and endured the year-long wait til the next release. like many readers, i was thrown off by the introduction of the new trio in the lost hero. but that was offset by 1) the seemingly more mature vibe/themes that riordan wanted to explore, 2) the monumental tension that was being built around the greek-roman separation, and 3) percy's comeback in son of neptune, even as an amnesiac.

mark of athena, released october 2012, was extremely anticipated because it was set to be the long-awaited percabeth reunion as well as the true crossover for the greek and roman spheres. there were a lot of theories being made at the time. would piper be able to mediate between eons-long enemies in a genuinely diplomatic way, or was she going to brainwash charmspeak them into compliance? how is reyna going to take jason suddenly having another girl and a new set of friends and another life after abruptly disappearing? will we get to learn more about jason's relationships within camp jupiter? would nico be dealing with any fallout from essentially boating along two riverbanks (translated directly from a tagalog idiom, so if the wording seems clunky thats why)? it didn't help that the first avengers movie came out in 2012, so the idea of a huge crossover event was all the hype then.

the published work, in my opinion... fell considerably short of expectations.

to be fair, we got some very good character moments. i did not find the judo flip scene cute, just kinda weird in the sense that i felt the author didn't know how to handle such a huge emotional turning point, but percabeth for the most part of moa was enjoyable, really giving you the high of this teenage couple finally being able to resume the honeymoon period they were probably in after four years of pining and a war lol. everything the fans wanted! unfortunately, we didn't get the same with other characters.

while i wouldn't say that percabeth was the reason, the difference in spotlight is nonetheless very staggering. the roman-greek reunification goes bad, sure, but it begins due to outside interference more rather than any actual intrinsic differences between the two camps; so the built-up tension from the previous books kinda falls flat. we get none of jason's backstory, so next to percy, he barely leaves an impression on the reader. hazel, frank, and leo get shafted into this weird love triangle where their enemy is leo's long-dead ancestor who ultimately makes no impact on the plot other than to have hazel and leo intersect somehow, contributing to leo's man-angst of being the seventh wheel. frank, who arguably has the most interesting set of powers and lineage, is basically relegated to being the muscle and hazel's (understandably) jealous boyfriend. piper... good lord. thats probably a whole other post, so i'll just say: cornucopia.

and yet, despite the disparity in characterization... you don't really feel that percabeth has a character arc or development per se. it's an odd contrast, with percy and annabeth getting a lot of time but pretty much remaining stagnant characters, as opposed to the other five who are written pretty blandly, but have valid, explicit inner struggles and questions they must face. for jason, it's being greek or roman. for hazel and leo, they want to parse their connection, even at the expense of frank, who is still struggling with his self-esteem. piper comes into her own power.

so despite being a book full of twists and turns, especially for percabeth, this is where you really feel the stakes begin to slump. decisions are being made to move the plot from point a to point b pretty straightforwardly, but there's not a ton of effort to make you invested in these characters other than what we know about them from previous books and the fact that they have a role to play in this apocalyptic second great prophecy.

but there's still two books left! the yearlong wait demands patience and creativity. surely percabeth falling into tartarus is going to make for some interesting development and impact. it was a brilliant plot twist, after all. with the darker turn that hoo was seemingly taking, there could have been so many consequences. percabeth could shut the doors of death from their side and come back alive, but come back wrong—unearthing old traumas, questioning and ultimately foreswearing their loyalty to the gods, threatening the reunification of the greek and roman aspects, etc.

and once again, house of hades... only semi-delivered? the tartarus chapters were certainly harrowing: percy choking akhlys is still a Scene of All Time to me because it felt earned, after all that percy has been through and what the series has been building up to! annabeth also having to face all the times she's been abandoned in her life, while less focused on, was also a very poignant moment for her character. they were events that seemed to push for development.

back on the argo ii, there's a continuing case of kind of low-effort writing on the other characters. frank and his mars blessing, for one; you kind of understand what rick was getting at, but... what! piper... girl idk what she was doing other than seeing visions in her dagger. leo... ue ue ue. jason commits to chb, but ofc he does because neither he nor we know/remember much about cj, so we don't really feel the loss! but there is one exception for his part, and that is of course the (in)famous cupid scene with nico, but i'll talk about nico much later.

hazel is an interesting case, so here's another paragraph for her. she gets to come into (more of) her powers just like piper did in the previous books, but from my viewpoint, it was considerably less engaged with who she was as a character compared to piper. in mark of athena, piper still struggles with being a daughter of aphrodite and how she can be "useful" as we know she struggles with internalized misogyny. on the other hand, hazel gets in touch with her mother's background... kinda? idk if controlling the mist can be considered equivalent to marie's voodoo; i dont think so. she certainly gains more understanding of her pluto heritage, too, and has this nice back-and-forth with hecate about creating her own path, but you don't really get the sense that doing so has consequences, or that she concretely shirked other paths to get where she was at.

where mark of athena fell flat with character stakes, house of hades to its credit does manage to up the ante—but only truly for percabeth. with all the resolutions to the character arcs in this book, you don't feel that the characters have anymore stakes or reasons to fight gaea other than the fact that she's still coming for them and they are in turn prophesied to defeat her. the one big thing that could be personal to them, which are the camps, ultimately fall under the purview of coach hedge, nico, and reyna, who are side characters, upgraded to main characters in the last book of a series already overbloated by shifting povs and favoritism.

ultimately, this is why blood of olympus falls apart. the best characterization work done, which is on percabeth and their time in tartarus, is in the end of no consequence and is barely mentioned. it's as if nothing has happened. all the build-up and investment fizzles out because in boo and beyond, even though they went through literal hell, they just shook it off (because accdg to rick demigods are extra resilient and don't get traumatized lmfao). the climactic face-off against gaea is headed by jason, piper, and leo, and it has no pay off. the books haven't dwelled on them as a trio after tlh because leo was too busy angsting about his love triangle, and jason's and piper's arcs, both individual and romantic, are shoddy, to say the least. to add insult to injury, leo's sacrifice is a fake-out! so he can finally shed the fucking seventh wheel arc that came about not because of a genuine exploration of how he has been outcasted all his life, but because the argo ii mysteriously became demigod tinder and also because rick thought "haha how funny that the latino is the outrageous flirt!" frank and hazel... just get shafted im so sorry babygirls T_T

what saves boo is not the cast of the seven that we have spent the five books journeying with. no, what saves boo is the three side characters suddenly made main characters because. well, fan favoritism and pandering. nico, reyna, and coach hedge comprised the only arc that wasn't an absolute slog to read through—high stakes, chemistry, and well-rounded character arcs that complemented each other. no hoo scene is honestly more heartwarming than reyna embracing nico. it makes you question if hoo's length and frankly shocking quantity of main ensemble members even constricted the narrative that could've been told, as opposed to the original intention of expanding the world of percy jackson through more povs. five books with at least 700-800+ pages each for five years. what a tremendous amount of time and energy to be wasted.

and there is, of course, the question of "should percabeth have been in hoo." until house of hades, my answer was yes. the fact that their tartarus arc fizzled into nothingness changed my answer to no. taking the whole series into perspective, if their treatment in boo was all that the hype and tension would amount to, it would've been better if they'd been relegated to side characters with mentor/helper roles as opposed to taking the spotlight away from the rest of the seven. their succeeding cameos in the other series + the new college reco trilogy makes the blunder all the more grievous.

heroes of olympus did give us a new cast of characters to love. along with all its racist stereotypes and pitfalls, it also diversified the percy jackson world. if not for the mid-2010s fandom who took up the slack of unexplored storylines and potential, these characters would be very much not impressioned on us. and as a successor to a series that was so deeply driven by family, friendship, love, and belonging, that it couldn't consistently humanize its main cast was the biggest sin.