#sorry it took me a bit to reply!!

[significant-narratives]

thank u for ur nice words on william gfx post!!!! wanted to drop by and say ur tags made me want to chew the drywall and also to say it's like u plucked something from my brain bc i have a half finished mtkachuk snow and dirty rain post in my drafts..... i WILL finish it 🫡

hello!! you're so very welcome omg... i was simply Overcome with Emotion. sometimes a hockey player is something that can truly be so personal!! and your edit was honestly just incredible showstopping awe inspiring!! what kind of witchcraft.

mtkachuk snow and dirty rain edit... an Inspired choice. i am sending so much motivation and creative energy your way ✨. you will not be defeated 🫡

[hotjaneaustenmenpoll]

Hullo! No “Death Comes to Pemberley”? Matthew Rhys is my all-time favorite Darcy.

As Death Comes to Pemberley was set after the book I didn't put those men in (I was very tempted as I love Matthew Goode as Wickham) but here is another mini-poll

[i-may-be-an-emu]

saw your "luke playing dogs" post, and may i add: the small blond dog from "Too Big To Be A Jockey" ?

(signed a silly tumblr lurker)

you’re so right!! 😂

(3rd picture from a live show, not mine. Luke was a dog.)

[meownotgood]

uhm mags.. d-do you have.. uh- like a folder or album of some sort of- uh.. aki nsfw fanart? maybe share? 👉🏻👈🏻

i save em in my files for- uhm.. research. I kinda need more? thanks 🫶🏻

I'll bless u anon cos I'm nice. be blessed by aki filth

one (also here's the source) (this one's my favorite huehue)

two, three, four, five (this artist has so many great works)

six

seven and eight (it's aki + himeno so ignore if you don't like)

nine and ten

eleven (this is a video with audio so TURN YOUR SOUND OFF) (also I don't really like the audio in general tbh... so I recommend watching without lol)

twelve (also akimeno) (but the way this artist draws aki..... so cute and hot)

[melverie]

on a scale of 1 to satan how bbg is mephisto

Satan has had far more time to establish his place as the ultimate babygirl (to me at least), so I can't give Mephisto the honor of being anywhere near his level but man the devs are making sure that he's at least getting close

I mean he

is the local horsegirl

apparently has a massive sweet tooth

stakes his entire self-worth on being useful to the future ruler of the land

seems to be great with kids

is super diligent. Just look at how much effort he is putting into journalism despite absolutely having no interest in pursuing that field in the future

is an honorary member of the Anti-Lucifer League, yet refuses to spread any false information about him in the school newspaper and mostly ends up singing his praises instead

runs said newspaper (and as someone who did the same for a year, I respect that a lot)

isn't really all that interested in MC, which is a nice change of pace

and finally, seems to dye his hair purple which makes him look like an eggplant <3

Also when he saved MC from falling on the ground and then brushed it off afterwards because he "only did what anyone would have done" back in season 4? That part was so good

ALSO Solmare could easily give him the perfect blushing face. Just look at him

[iodotsys]

I'm sorry please but one more question,, (⸝⸝⸝╸▵╺⸝⸝⸝) I love your Dib the most of Dibs AU, He is nasty but loveable, I wish he had story of him and your AU, will you write ? Have a good day 🌹

Your wish is my command. I have decided to start writing for my horrible sad Dib and you all get to read it.

I'm well into chapter 1. Have some ambiguous art from it.

[lastlymatt]

I think it's a couple things. Firstly, Yassen has a blind spot when it comes to Alex. He has Alex here and now, and he doesn't want to lose that. So he won't think about the reality that Alex isn't cut out for Scorpia and won't stay at his side forever. He pushes Alex to try and get him to be on the same page, so he can try to pretend Alex is going to stay.

Secondly, Yassen knows Alex won't kill. He stopped the training session when Alex wouldn't hurt anyone, and never replied to Nile when he told Yassen how weak Alex is. He may not acknowledge it, but he knows. And similarly, we see that Yassen doesn't like to kill either. He says it's a weakness when you love killing. Yassen works for Scorpia just because he's good at killing and it's a job, but he doesn't relish in it. So I think he sees himself as different from Nile and the others who enjoy killing, and therefore sees Alex as an outsider as well, and they have another strange connection that way.

Also, pretty sure Yassen thinks Alex can't leave without being killed by Scorpia anyway. No one leaves, as Julia said. So to him, there isn't a world where Alex leaves him. He either stays with Yassen or he dies.

Referring to this post

All of those are excellent points!

I am a big fan of Yassen having a Rider-shaped hole in his defences. And if the show uses any RR canon, then the outsider who doesn't want to kill connection can even be interpreted as Yassen seeing himself in Alex and wanting to take on the role of John in the relationship (with all the misinterpreted lessons included)

And yeah, it makes complete sense for him to have that mentality of "he stays or he dies", and it makes him very protective, and I love that.

In any case, thank you so much for your thoughts! ❤️

[kooki914]

I know this may sound like a silly question, but specifically for the undertale version of Asgore: what coud a partner do to help him become more assertive? Asking because I'm planning to ship him with an OC and I still despise how basically in the ending Toriel gets to verbally tear intro him and he doesn't bother to defend himself (specially with the "just get one soul and leave to kill 6 more ppl to break the barrier" wich she coud have done herself but refused to while living inside her own little bubble ignoring the suffering of her fellos monsters, I undestand she was grieving but I feel it coud have been done without making her seem on the right and nobody speaking agaist her). I also know that by doing this he may appear out of character or that "he changed just for his partner", but knowing that a partner can help you to change for the better while highliting you best personality traits, and I was wondering wich coud be the most coherent way (my plan is for them to spend at least 5 years together, and that Asgore also helps his parter change for the better since they arrive having strong biases agaist monsters).

I don't think this is a silly question at all! It's something I've tackled somewhat in my Spadesgore fics, the idea that someone's habits rub off on Asgore and what can seem like a negative change to outsiders (him being more closed off and assertive) is actually a positive one in the long run because he actually, y'know, gets a spine and stops putting other people's needs above his own.

With Undertale specifically it's a VERY complicated question because I feel like step 1 of any Asgore development in Undertale is that he needs to fully face the brunt of his actions. I'm actually somewhat of the opposite opinion to you about the "confrontation" between him and Toriel, I think the narrative very clearly spells out that his "violence when you're faced with violence" response was the INCORRECT one (while Toriel choosing pacifism in the face of a bloodthirsty nation was, arguably, the least morally dubious choice any character could've made), but Asgore never... confronted the root of that problem? He essentially got a slap on the wrist for the murder of 6 children, and while that WAS narratively satisfying for a game about forgiveness and letting go of the past, I think a bit of self-discipline is in order for Asgore, post the events of the game. Him confronting HIMSELF rather than relying on someone else to do it for him is kind of pivotal to that, in my opinion, because this isn't something a relationship can mend FOR him. Let me elaborate.

WARNING - since this post is analyzing Asgore, there's implications of suicidal ideation, but it's not discussed at length. And, fair warning, this post is less "proper character analysis" and more "wayward speculation based on narrative beats for the sake of shipping" <3

While Asgore is the type of person to feel borderline incomplete when not in a relationship with someone (see: all of his behavior in Deltarune; and in Undertale the way he just Stops Speaking once it's clear Toriel wants nothing to do with him, it's like he's just entirely shut himself out of the conversation as if he has nothing to offer anymore, only ever speaking in vague platitudes until the final boss is defeated and he's osmosed into the friend group), contrary to what he thinks a relationship Won't Fix Him NOR his issues around self-worth. It's something he has to tackle on his own because, if he enters another relationship without doing so, he's gonna end up in the same cycle of trying to impress his partner, exhausting himself, and putting his partner between a rock and a hard place because he's both extremely emotionally needy while NEVER communicating his needs properly, closing himself off while desperate for intimacy.

It's borderline masochistic, his tendencies to just passively wait for outsiders to judge, reward, punish, and practically command his every action. It's why he's kind of a bad leader? He's community oriented, but in that way where he wants to please everyone instead of enacting lasting change, because (I think) he can't really envision a greater good because he's got anxiety up the ass. He's REactive rather than ACTIVE, and while that's typically not THAT big of a deal (again, his Deltarune self as an example of how you can have a normal-ish life even with that weird mentality), when you're put in the position of a leader and then refuse to make conscious choices out of a fear of hurting someone, you're inevitably going to hurt Everyone, which is exactly what happened in Undertale. I guess an easy way to make Asgore a little more self-assured is, paradoxically, give him less power. This may seem antithetical, but if he's allowed to, like, sit and breathe for a minute without everything resting on his shoulders, and small, inconsequential decisions are up to him without the title of "King" looming over him, it might make him feel more confident in THOSE choices, specifically. This doesn't fix the core issue, though, more just gives him a safety net where he can hide from his royal problems with someone who sees him as more than just his title and duty, which is valid (and honestly really cozy and cute), but I'm here to break people and put them back together, so strap in.

You mentioned your OC is a human who has a lot of bias against monsters initially, so allow me to run (a mile) with that for a minute. You probably already have a meetcute in mind for them, but it's honestly a really good setup, I can't help but throw my two (or three) cents into it. It forces our POV character (the OC) to go through considerable change throughout the events of the narrative (whether you fic this or not you've already implemented character development into your romance plot and I Adore that), and in turn a changing perspective on Asgore himself. Try to think of things a human might hold him accountable for, justly or otherwise, someone who heard of mythical monsters and a terrible king who slays children. Your OC might start off somewhat siding with Toriel at first (as she was the only monster who attempted to SAVE humans rather than kill them), but gradually grow to sympathise with Asgore once they get to know him, not just because he's a walking pity party but because that human and Asgore might have more in common than they first thought. (This is where I run out of info on your OC and can't really fill in the blanks LMAO go wild with this part. It can be something as simple as gardening or something as deep rooted and psychological as "the need to please other people in order to feel like you're worth anyone's time". Bonus points if it's both and the gardening is symbolic of the psychological issues.)

From Asgore's perspective, though, this would be utterly baffling. To this day, I don't doubt he somewhat idolises Toriel, he clearly still longs to be close with her, so to see someone (a HUMAN no less) stop empathising with her feelings and instead side with his own? He'd think they're nuts! ... But also, it'd be deeply validating in that guilty-pleasure kind of way (guilty because he doesn't think he deserves redemption). It actually starts turning gears in his head, though... If someone in a position like that, someone belonging to a nation he's hurt so badly, can see the GOOD in him and try to nurture a bond with him despite it all... doesn't it mean he's genuinely worth something? Even if he himself can't see it yet?

(This is, you may note, similar to what happens with Frisk in most fan-plots, but also highlights where I think Asgore's "redemption" in Undertale falls a bit short on the character level. Frisk never really gets to spend time with Asgore, since it's narratively irrelevant whether they like the guy or not, because the point of their conflict is that Frisk refuses to kill him, and refuses to be killed BY him. It's a conflict that re-states the core moral of the game, while also partly dismissing a genuine bond between the characters because it's necessary for it to stay vague for them to properly represent the narrative forces that they do (humanity and monster-kind). The popular fanon is that Asgore adopts Frisk similarly to the way Toriel does, but, in the game there's literally nothing to support that. The equally valid interpretation is that Frisk sees Asgore as just Some Guy they're lukewarm with for the sake of not kickstarting another monster-human war, even if they genuinely don't like him on a personal level, just like Toriel doesn't anymore. Because, again, there's nothing in the game to support Frisk being besties with literally EVERYONE, they just hang out with monsters sometimes and Don't Kill Them, it's not a high bar.)

IF you don't want to take the angle of your OC siding with Toriel (if the monster bias is THAT bad in the beginning), I'd instead propose really hammering home the monster hatred. Just by existing, by being someone hostile to Asgore over something he DIDN'T expect to get hostility over (the fact that he's a monster, and not the fact that he's a murderer) would maybe make him question why he WANTED to be told he was irredeemable, and why it's so strange to receive that input for the wrong reasons. Maybe he tries convincing the human that, actually, monsters are good and HE'S the one who's to blame for everything bad, and when he's brushed off with "no all monsters suck" it just baffles him more. Bonus points if later on it hits him like a truck that your OC developing feelings for HIM specifically made them get over their monster hatred. He thinks it's a case of "if you learn to love the worst of something you'll love the best too" but then has to come face to face with the idea that he ISN'T the worst of monster kind! That they actually prefer HIS company over other monsters! And not even for superficial reasons! And maybe there's still prejudices to overcome with the human, but they're trying FOR him, not in spite of him, and it's yet another little sign from the heavens to Asgore that maybe, just maybe, he's not as irredeemable as he thought.

Another potential avenue, that's less directly correlated with shipping, is to give him a kid that is his responsibility alone to take care of. Whether that be a literal adopted child, or a kid he has to impromptu take care of for a while, I feel like having someone (anyone, really) other than himself to provide for sort of nudges his priorities back in place (even if it doesn't really dismantle the core of his issues). (My reasoning for this being a potential avenue is how much Asgore's let himself go in Deltarune when no-one lives with him, juxtaposed to his well-maintained house in Undertale where he's constantly taking visitors and patiently waiting for his wife to come back.) Something small and defenseless that depends on him for support and protection is something that could really make him realise how much his well-being actually means in the grand scheme of things, that even if it isn't pleasant he has to stand his ground if only for the sake of this child that depends on him for literally everything (which was, incidentally, also his motivation for starting the war in the first place - avenging the children he failed to protect with a fiery vengeance as the only concrete decision he made in his time as king (that we know of)).

Maybe the point of contact/conflict between your OC and Asgore in this scenario is someone who doesn't believe he should be allowed to take care of a child (what with the 6 dead in his basement), and while the feud may start as mild, it might get more and more out of hand and forces Asgore to actually put his foot down and Demand custody rather than ask politely, maybe because the kid in question trusts him and nobody else for backstory reasons, or because they're literally His Kid (Chara slots in really well into this role IMO but you don't have to go with that route if you don't want to tackle revival shenaniganery). This is, imo, much harder to execute in literary form? (If you're not gonna fic this, ignore this part) It bumps up the conflict from slowburn to full on enemies-to-lovers, even if it speedruns the process of Asgore getting a spine, and if you can pull that off hats off to you but I always struggle with proper enemies to lovers with no intermediary of "friends" in between.

IN ANY CASE, past the "will they - won't they" phase, once they're actually together, I'd suggest your OC lightly nudge Asgore into that self-assuredness he's desperately missing, and moreover I suggest it not be on purpose. While it's probably the healthier option to talk to your partner if they're having self-esteem issues, this is fiction and I love drama, if you expected anything else you came to the wrong person, and ALSO this is Asgore we're talking about. He's the king of "never talk about my emotions, ever" so even if something is brought to the forefront he'd probably just apologise and privately cry about it without fixing literally anything. It would be more impactful (imo) if Asgore chose to adopt some of the habits of his partner without him being prodded over it, or pushed into it. At first, small things, like actually asking for the pickles in his order himself (/ref, meme), but slowly it might evolve into him realising just how much he's been neglecting himself. Scenario example of what I mean - his partner has actual self-preservation instincts and can help themself when in a tough spot, and Asgore is caught off guard when that same kindness is offered to him (as the king of monsters, his subjects revered him so heavily they kind of forgot he can actually get hurt or might need help with otherwise ordinary things, and Asgore stopped helping himself along the way because of it).

A different scenario might be something benign, like an insult or backhanded compliment Asgore brushes off, but his partner doesn't. Asgore might hold the (correct) position that, as a political figure, there's literally no point in trying to stave off every insult or mean opinion, and (incorrectly) asserts it doesn't have an effect on him overall. Because, in reality, it DOES stick. He has a hard time shaking off disapproval and hatred when he's carrying around so much guilt (juxtaposed to how genuinely confident he seems in Gerson's stories of Asgore before his children fell down and before Toriel left, when Asgore could ACTUALLY roll with the punches and not mind public embarrassment because the opinion of the masses didn't matter to him as much as it does now), and maybe his partner can point out to him that he seems weirdly more fixated on the actual Contents of the insult than they do. Where they just didn't like someone's tone or intent, Asgore's actually focusing on What they said, and it's a clear indication of the way he compartmentalises and somewhat takes in every criticism he's ever received. Because depression and low self esteem just does that to a motherfucker sometimes.

Overall there's also a sort of... tricky line to tread when trying to write around/through one of the character's defining flaws. Asgore was always described as a pushover, so what are you really left with when trying to override that fatal flaw that makes him what he is? This sort of trope, "your strongest attribute is your biggest weakness", stems all the way back from ancient Greece because its a GOLDEN trope, and when making fan content I think there's an interesting line that can be drawn. Asgore's best quality is his friendliness and approachable-ness, so how do we NOT diminish that while actually diminishing the FLAW part of that core character trait? Maybe Asgore's more confident and self-assured now that he has a partner that supports him basically unconditionally, but ALSO he still cracks under pressure easily and gives into demands if pressed enough. Maybe he stands his ground more and can actually tell people off without being a total pushover, but ALSO he ends up feeling a lot of guilt over doing so and maybe regresses back into old habits soon after.

Because, again, a relationship won't fix him, and to me that's part of the appeal. Instead of finding someone to "make him whole", it's more about finding someone that's gonna be there for him during the good and the bad days, someone who maybe fills in for some of the traits he lacks, but never overrides what makes him who he is. Because, let's be honest, him being a pushover is probably what allows him to properly consider a relationship with someone who started off so heavily biased against him. Having little self esteem paved the way for him to not dismiss this person outright, opening his arms to someone who started off with genuine hatred towards him, and it's not a good habit(!!), but it's woven into his vary nature as a character, and I always find it interesting to see that push and pull between progress and loving even the bad parts of someone's personality. Again, especially because it's fiction, there's a lot to explore when it comes to that line of thinking, "do I want to make you better or am I trying to change a fundamental part of you"? I don't think Asgore would be abandoning his nature by having a spine and not taking shit from literally everyone, BUT it might be a line of thinking HE falls back on, because he's had literally hundreds of years of this habit built up, it's gonna be hard to make any progress without immediately taking two steps back again. Especially because it's Asgore, he's basically a smiling boulder that refuses to move or change (and I say that affectionately).

TL;DR:

I think finding a way to instill a sense of Inherent Worth in Asgore is a good way to shake him into being a little more assertive. It's what I did in my own fics (and a lot of this post was me re-treading the same ideas with different characters to pair Asgore with), and the premise of someone who dislikes him from the get-go but learns to love him in time is (in my opinion) the best vessel to do that through. Because, if this person, who means a lot to him, can get over their biases and love him, (like ACTUALLY love him, not the way his subjects love their king, but the way a person loves another person) doesn't that mean there's worth to him being himself, and not just what people expect of him? Is the fact that he's beloved by someone he loves not reason enough to try and survive another day, and thrive in the long run?

It's difficult to instill worth in a character that's had hundreds of years of literal and figurative dehumanization on his hands, but it has to start with small things. Him being more than just a king. Then, him being more than just a friend, more than just a person you're eventually going to grow tired of or disgusted with, and eventually someone who doesn't need constant approval to feel like he's allowed to breathe. Small kindnesses go a long way, and if he starts to see himself in someone he wants to protect, or ends up in a position where he's being provided for by someone he loves, it can build up those ideas of worth and (ironically) independence, because it's less about pleasing a crowd and more about Not Dying because he's actually not that bad to have around in the first place.

[languajix]

While everyone is saying goodbye to each other, The Wrong Side of the Portal Mikey and Michelangelo from cabin 10 approach you!

They... don't seem upset like everyone else.

"Want some stickers?" Michelangelo asks, holding out a bunch of stickers for you to choose from. "We have enough."

"They glow in the dark!" Mikey cheerfully added, bouncing on his heels. "Like our magic! To remember us."

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

"Stickers! Shell yeah. I love stickers," Mike said, gently rifling through them.

El ended up picking for him when those tiny, clumsy fingers wrapped around a series of red sparkly squiggle stickers, and Mike helped him carefully extricate it from the stack before looking back up at these two Michelangelos that he'd come to be friends with during his time at camp.

He was sad. He didn't let it show in his face or body language, but that was because he was used to pretending that things were okay when they were really, really not. He'd miss these guys.

…they'd see each other soon enough?

It seemed impossible, given how hard Donnie had struggled for so long to break the dimensional barrier. He hesitated to think that anybody could do it if his own Donnie, the smartest person he knew, couldn't.

He'd like to hope, though.

Hope was hard, and it hurt when it crashed, but Mike was good at fanning the smallest flame of it, when he wanted. And maybe, maybe he really did. Want to hope, that was.

Either way, "I'm so glad I got to know you during this whole," Mike motioned to the camp around them. "I swear, you guys have been the most welcoming, all-around coolest dudes."

El waved his new sticker set at Mikey and Michelangelo with a grin, as though showing it off.

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

[mxgalodon]

Hi friend! I know it's super last minute, but I was caught up with the party last night! Do you have a little corner I can tuck myself into for the Chapter change? ❤️💙 It's okay if not!

(Evie is at your doorstep with a little suitcase. She seems a little nervous, and she's holding up a plate of chocolate chip cookies. You get the impression that she's used to trying to do this alone.)

@long-live-evie

[Dressed down to little more than his undersuit, mask, and a pair of shark-covered pajama bottoms, Megalo Don answered the front door to his personal living quarters looking half-dead and struggling not to nod off right then and there.]

I- you need someplace to stay? I can- yeah, that's fine, let me just think...

[Megalo Don braced a hand against his forehead, rumbling as he thought it over.]

Sorry, you caught me at a bad time...

Go to level 1, the level just below main deck. Room A7 should be available, I will message someone to meet you and help get you situated. Is there any special accommodations you may need, Miss Evie?

[lazybakerart]

1/2 dude, listened to silver springs by fleetwood mac and feel like i've been gutted like a FISH cos it's such a harringrove song. tell me these lines don't make you wanna fall to your knees and WEEP: "Don't say that she's pretty/ And did you say that she loved you? Baby, I don't want to know" // & "Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me I know I could have loved you But you would not let me"?? imagining a school reunion au where steve & billy meet again after like 10 years & realise

2/2 they're still eachother's longest relationship cos they never stopped loving the other. it just feels like the song could be from either of their perspectives & that makes me feel insane. old insecurities arose which made billy believe steve was still in love with nancy&steve not being able to handle being shut out all the time when he has so much love to give but billy not allowing him to love him?! anyway! happy endings only &they get back together &bang over a desk in an empty classroom

i'm here for every single reunion au. billy leaves town after prom night and 20 years later is coincidentally back in town for the reunion when neil dies and billy has to deal with his Shit. steve hearing billy is back and not expecting to see him at the reunion but there he is! steve is pissed at him and billy is on a tight-wire of emotions like he's seventeen again and they both get smashed and end up angrily fucking in the empty locker room after billy picks the lock. emotions are everywhere. steve's a divorcé. billy's a wreck. 20 years of pent up Feelings explode.

[uygfiug]

Look whom we have heeere:

Oedemera flavipes

I thiiink

!!! lovely little guy you have there :)

yknow that bug that reminded me of you? this one is very closely related to that one! the males also have big legs, so thats how you can tell that this is a female :)

they eat pollen & nectar, so youll often find them on flowers :) theyre also pollinators :)) here are some pictures of various oedemera species on flowers, bc i feel like i need to add pictures :)

larvae usually grow up inside the stems of herbs :)

just like blister beetles, most oedemera species contain cantharidin, which can cause blisters. it also works as an aphrodisiac, although the dose you need for any effects is very close to the one that will kill you, so maybe dont

they wont secrete it unless you hurt them though, they might coat their eggs with it, but an individual bug cant ever give you a dangerous amount of this stuff

[beththeb01]

Do you ever think about the cognitive dissonance of thhis conversation?

Solas: What is the old Dalish curse? "May the Dread Wolf take you"?

Aka: Solas using his title as a curse. The Dalish tales about him being a trickster, a liar, betrayer, have been finally fulfilled after centuries. He lied to her. He betrayed her.

Inky: And so he did.

Aka: All the Dalish stories about Dread Wolf tricking you, misleading you, turned out to be true in her situation, and she didn't see it coming.

Solas: I did not. I would not lay with under false pretenses.

Aka: I lied to you only by omission about my identity, not about my feelings. And I would never stoop so low as to trick you into having sex with a man you didn't truly know.

Inky: But you lied to me. I loved you. Did you really think I wouldn't have understood?

Aka: Intimacy is not the topic of the conversation here, you lied to me, you led me astray, you could have told me the truth and you chose not to.

Like there is 4 different conversations going on and they are not even aware of it xD

There's an irony that this time he isn't even trying for double speak. Or misdirection.

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

Sorry I tried leaving this as comments on your reply to my ask but there was just too much waffle and it was all jumbled so I’m putting it here😂😂

Sorry it took me a MARATHON of time to reply to, I can’t explain how pleased it makes me that this comment made your day bc honestly every time you update it always seems to be during a v tough week and it’s just this ultimate stress relief and enjoyment that I so so love🥹

Just to quickly waffle about what you said, I’m so appreciative of how you fret over the characters sounding real bc it pays off SO MUCH and though I’m still of the mind that you’ve been given this unique ability to read their minds, I can recognise it must take so much studying of their characters and the words you choose and to have such a phenomenal skill <3333

And honestly I LOVE watching him have all these realisations through Suzy bc it’s so real and so satisfying and I’m so excited (but also terrified bc poor woman how do you compete with soul mates) to see how everything unfolds between them all.

And the LITTLE DETAILS that you should honestly trademark bc you do them so well 😭 but I literally have this growing list in my mind that I need to write down cause they make my heart flutter they’re so intimate and careful :’) I could literally waffle about them all day.

You’re so right, they have SUCH a special dynamic, and often I find it frustrating with real life ships bc it’s not like with films where though characters can be deep they have a specific kind of basis to them which fits a role. Real people are so complex and so it’s not 24/7 that someone gets them so right that you feel like you’re watching a segment of their lives (milex writers in general do tend to have an uncanny ability to write them brilliantly) but with you it feels like everything you write can just be added on to their actual interactions and it’s perfection.

I’m so so pleased that my ramblings had an impact on getting your confidence back to heights it should be at because I rlly can’t explain how brilliant you and your writing are so thank you thank you for all the work you put into it. I’m SO EXCITED for the next chapter 🥰🥰🥰🥰 and one day I’m gonna go into the absolute insane perfection that is the sex scene in chapter 8 bc the realism, build up, and EMOTIONS as well as pure sexyism (almost put sexism there which wasn’t quite right 😂) is just one of the best and sauciest things I’ve ever read.

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Also trying to add a cute lil milex hug gif to this is impossible bc they’re all far too sexually charged or emotionally unstable 😂

hiii lovely!! 💝 oh my goddddddd i swear your asks just leave me a blushing, giddy mess every single time 😭😭

i'm so glad to hear that my updates always seem to manage to coincide with a time where they're able to provide you with a little bit of comfort and escapism 🥺

honestly i've always just found other people fascinating, and have found myself imagining what the world might be like through their eyes for as long as i can remember! it's been so much fun to get to really delve deep into that in this fic, so i really love that you notice and appreciate that side of it 🥰🥰 aghhhhhh. it truly just means so much to hear that you feel i capture something real about alex and miles and their dynamic in this fic, thank you 🥺

also STOP your flailing about the smut scene is too sweet 😭 i am SO glad you felt all the build up and emotions worked, and honestly any time you feel like going into it, please don't hold back - i am more than happy to hear your thoughts! it was hands down one of my favourite bits of the whole fic to write, actually 🥰

once again your utterly lovely words have lifted my spirits so much, thank you for your kindness and generosity in taking the time to share your experience of reading four walls with me 💖 you're an absolute gem and i cannot WAIT for your to read chapter nine! (which will be posted tomorrow... 😉)

(god you were not wrong about the milex hug gifs, were you?! aghhh they're both so ridiculous 😭😭 anyway here, have them being their silly, playful selves having the best time together! sending you all the best vibes for your weekend 💜🌟)

[fightingthetides]

Continued from: [x] @unladielike

Mizumachi was an early riser, or a ‘morning person’ as many people would term it. He was always so full of energy, no doubt from the way he was an athlete who played high-energy sports. He needed something to burn off that excess energy that he had!

Always a social butterfly, he enjoyed being around people, especially those that he regarded as a friend (the bar isn’t that high for a guy like him), so he was excited to recognize Vivian in the morning. He gave her a big hug, much to her surprise. She didn’t get mad at him, and she didn’t push him away, so that’s a plus! This only means she’ll accept hugs in the future as well! That’s great!

“Hah? Can you sleep while standing?”

Horses can do that, but Vivian is no horse. He thinks about it for a moment, and a lightbulb goes off. With a grin, he crouches slightly, hooks an arm behind her knees and SCOOPS her up!

“Bet it’d be easier to sleep if you were carried. Mhaa~ Now you’re really at risk, haha!”

He’s being a silly jock, feel free to smack him. He might learn his lesson then. No promises.

[blindmagdalena]

Hiiii it's me again!

I just wrapped up a full-on binge of your series with Homelander and Layla, and honestly, I've got to get a few things off my chest about these two. I'll try to keep this short, but there's a lot to unpack, and if you're not up for the essay I'm about to write here, feel free to skip it. Starting with Layla's profession — genius. It just clicks, right? With a job like hers, it's totally believable that she'd cross paths with a guy like Homelander. That guy's desperate for any scrap of affection he can get, doesn't really matter if it's genuine or not. And in your story, it feels like we get a dash of both. It's refreshing because usually, OCs just snap their fingers and suddenly, Homelander's all about them, which feels a tad forced.

But Layla? She's different. Their first serious meet-up perfectly demonstrates her patience. And her smarts? She's ten steps ahead, seeing right through Homelander's act — you know the one where he pretends he's too cool for the room. Her ability to play him like a fiddle from the get-go, just by stroking his ego, is just so spot on. It's not just her cunning that stands out, though. Layla knows exactly when to use emotional leverage, she's insightful about Homelander's neediness, hence the booked meeting. She's not your typical 'strong woman' character — thank goodness we're not talking about those overdone, one-dimensional types that come off as watered-down male heroes. Love that she's profoundly intelligent, perceptive, and strategic in her emotional connections. She's an exemplary character not wedged into the role of being “strong” but one who utilizes her understanding and empathy as powerful tools.

I'm sold on her character (if you can't tell.) And I'm really going all out here because as I revisit the first chapters to talk about this, I keep finding new reasons to appreciate her more. I want to dive deeper into my thoughts, but I'm probably just rambling now, so I'll cut myself off. You've single handedly got me working on my personal oc again lmfao. Just a last note, it's cool to see an original character who isn't some superpowered being for a change. It adds layers to the world you've built that I'm just here for. I'm gonna read a few other fics you have linked about your ocs — I came for the x reader fics and stayed for the ocs LOL.

— 💌

you genuinely took my breath away with this! my heart is so full and warm, i could cry. i can't tell you how many times i reread this this morning! i'm very tender-hearted when it comes to my original characters, and i was quite nervous starting an oc fic, but this makes me SO happy that i did!

please don't ever apologize for writing essays like this, i honestly want to print this out and hang it on my wall. thank you SO MUCH for not only reading my fic but taking the time to send me such an incredibly thoughtful message about my girl Layla. it really does mean the world to me!!! and i really can't wait to get back to writing Eat Your Ego.

i'm really happy that she's coming across so well! i knew that i would have to be careful in how i wrote her for the fact that she IS human, and there's a very delicate balance to be had in interacting with Homelander. there's a tension there that yeah, one wrong move and she really and truly has no defense against him aside from her wits, so i needed her empathy and intellect to be sort of a super power of their own.

i was worried she would come across as omniscient or meta, so i tried to lean into the fact that Homelander's ego and power trips really do just have him behaving like the type of men she would regularly encounter in her line of work.

aaahhh, gosh, even responding to this i reread it a whole bunch. thank you so much, darling. i'm going to treasure this message! 🖤