#thanks for sending!! ^^ this was fun to consider!

[afreakingdork]

Hi-a Miss Dork! I just wanna say I absolutely adore your writing (and you’re one of my biggest inspirations on this site)! Anywizzle! I noticed your little requests thing, and figured I’d conquer my social anxiety to send this. 

In light of my recent adventures last weekend where I tried to fist fight one of my friends twice my size, would you be interested in a little drabble with our beloved purple boy and a s/o who’s had a little too much to drink, like world is spinning and all types of filters are gone as they speak the first thoughts on their mind kind of drunk. And he’s kind of amused, kind of worried as they stumble around talking nonsense and try to make themselves another drink they clearly shouldn’t have. 

Hope you have a great day/night! 

*In batman voice* “Justice.”

Writing Request: Drunk Reader x Donnie 🍺

Thank you so much! It sounds like you had a great weekend and I ope you enjoy this as well!

From now until the poll closes, if you can prove to me that you voted Hassan/Mikey in this poll then I will write any short 100-400 word request like below or draw you a doodle of your choosing!

ᴰᶦˢᶜˡᵃᶦᵐᵉʳ: ᴵ ᵃᵐ ⁿᵒᵗ ᶦⁿ ᵃⁿʸʷᵃʸ ᵃˢˢᵒᶜᶦᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵒʳ ᵉⁿᵈᵒʳˢᵉᵈ ᵇʸ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵖᵉᵗᶦᵗᶦᵒⁿ ᵒʳ ᶦᵗˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉˢᵗᵃⁿᵗˢ.

Teen rated drunken mischief below!

You were gone.

Donnie had just located you and you were gone.

You had to be somewhere.

You couldn't just vanish.

Unless you had one of Leo's emergency portals which, without question, Donnie needed to get away from you in these circumstances.

The fact that he even considered removing your emergency exit talked to what a blight this night was.

You had gone out with friends. It was not an uncommon occurrence. You had been dating far long enough for him to become more than secure. He enjoyed that you were happy and liked to go out with your buddies. You always came home a tipsy snuggle bug which made it more than worth his while; these were all average events.

What wasn't was your drunk texts.

They came in delirious spurts that were basically unreadable.

He thought of them as hieroglyphics written by your gorgeous ass.

He dismissed them as a silly mistake and then received a call.

"DOOONNIIIEEEEE!!!!" You screeched through the receiver at a volume that made him pull the phone away.

"Yes, my sweet inebriated beloved...?" He was wary in bringing the phone back.

"I like you." You giggled like a school kid telling their crush and he almost bed you were about to run away in the form of hanging up.

"Is that so?" He leaned back from the blueprints he was drawing.

"Yeah..." You seemed to ponder.

The bar rumbled static behind your pause. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, totally! They have this deal! Oh, you wouldn't believe! You get this tower. It's like a storm or something and then they serve it and you go like-!" You whooped into a gesture and someone else clearly yelled.

A deep voice responded telling you to watch yourself.

"Listen here, pal!" You shouted.

Donnie was growing pale as he didn't hear the heated response past 'pipsqueak.'

"Oh, it's on!" There was a harsh clatter before the line cut off.

The terminated call screen blinked with a choice to redial.

Donnie hit the button with a quaking thumb.

An automated voice told him the number he reached-

He was at the bar before his blood pressure lowered enough that he could see where he was going. He stormed straight through the packed club and dropped his goggles with a flick of his head. It drowned out the unnecessary noise and kicked up mapping.

There'd be a trail.

There'd be every indication where you had gone.

He had your metrics down to a science.

Heat signatures.

Scent markers.

He could track you no matter where you-

You were dancing on a bar.

He stared on, unblinking, as he brought his goggles up.

You swiveled and dropped your hips to the cheering of your friends and you looked completely uninjured.

He almost didn't even care what happened.

You were safe.

You looked to be having fun.

He sighed at the anxiety he suffered, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He bet you wouldn't mind his company and headed toward you.

Where you promptly fell from your spot because you backstepped in beat.

You disappeared behind the counter and Donnie ran.

In two leaps he was there and the moment he looked behind the bar, you weren't.

How was that possible?

He hadn't blinked.

You'd gotten into something mystic that had to be it.

His goggles were malfunctioning for not picking it up.

He heard your sweet laughter.

He rose up to see a bartender glowering down at him where he was invading the space.

Donnie shoved right by the man because a sliver of you was sitting on the counter. "Hey!!"

You looked and lit up. "Donnie!!"

You fell straight at him and he had to catch you.

"Again? That's it. Off! Off!" The bartender shooed you.

Donnie carried you as a giggling package away.

"Boop." You tried to poke the tip of his snout and pissed.

You reeked.

Even with all the assaulting scents of the bar, you in particular were exuding a dangerous amount of alcohol. He got you off to a wall before he set you down. Taking a moment to make a mental map with you safely caged by his body, he formed a breathalyzer with his ninpo and offered it to you. "Blow."

"Oh! Demanding tonight." You tittered. "Not even your birthday..."

He waited.

"Unless..." You swayed as you looked over his person. "Did you split the days again?"

"Darling, I implore you, for a moment, could you simply blow into the device."

"What device?"

He held up the glowing object more obviously.

"Why didn't you say so!?" You giggled and grabbed it.

You tongue it more than putting your mouth around it which made him shudder despite having no senses connected to the construction and he reminded you two more times to blow before you finally did with a hefty huff.

The screen ticked and Donnie thought you might have to try again before it decided 0.23% was a good score.

He blinked at it.

He looked at you where you were sliding down out of his hold.

He watched almost mesmerized as you slunk straight to your butt and very ungracefully tried and failed to get on your feet.

"What did you have?!" He squawked.

"Storm!! Whoosh!" You swung your arms.

"That doesn't mean anything! Where are your friends?"

"Where...?" You tried to move again and almost toppled over.

He hoisted you up like a toddler.

This was his night now.

Babysitting.

You were supposed to come back so cute.

Snuggle into his bed.

Instead you were fighting him like a cat that didn't want to be held. "I'll look!"

"No. I will!" Donnie glanced out for an abysmal moment.

He switched to his goggles a second later and saw scans of their paltry analytics going out and getting a cab."

"They ditched you!?"

"No! Who!?" You held his same tone.

"What happened to your phone!?" He turned on you.

You clucked. "Your forehead gets all wrinkly when you yell."

"Phone!"

"Washboard." You sang off-key notes of a bluegrass tune as you tried to play his forehead.

"No!"

He caught your hand.

"No!"

He reinforced his point by sticking his finger in your face.

Your gaze swam and you tried to bit him.

He yanked his hand away.

"Nope! No more! I'm done! I'm calling it! Bar's closed! You're going home! Those friends of yours better not have left the tab!"

"Nooo!!" You drew out your whine. "I want another drink!"

"Absolutely not! Do you want to chance alcohol poisoning?!"

You almost answered, but he hefted you up under his arm.

"Don't answer that as you aren't in the right mind to respond adequately."

You giggled and swung your dangling arms as he brought you to the bar.

it was a struggle as you kept moving, but he eventually got you there after only knocking over a total of two people.

The moment he set you on the counter to keep you out of trouble, the bartender turned on him.

"Not you again! I said no! Get that one off!"

"Fine! After I pay! Give me the stupid tab!" Donnie snapped right back.

The man rolled his eyes and moved to pull the receipt.

Donnie sighed to one side before he rolled his head back to you. "Let's get you some water-WHERE'D YOU GET THAT!!??"

You had a shot glass to your lips

He smacked it clean out of your hand on reflex.

You stared with wide eyes and hands held up to your lips where you were holding the itty bitty cup that had now shattered on the floor.

"You're paying for that!!" The bartender seethed.

"Yeah! Well!" Donnie hated his foolish response, but he couldn't take his attention away from you again.

In this form, you were far more dangerous than any foe he had ever faced.

"You are shaving years off my lifespan." He told you.

The bartender shoved him a receipt and waited with folded arms.

You were kicking your feet to a song that clearly wasn't play.

Donnie looked at the damaged and his nostrils flared at the price.

"What is this!? How much was that tiny glass!? I can gaffer you another!"

"Three spinning hurricanes, two rounds of shots, two beers, a margarita, and that tiny glass along with pain and suffering and my tip." The bartender leaned forward to illustrate he wouldn't be moved.

Donnie wrapped an arm around you to keep you in place as he got out the bills and not so silently muttered the injustice as he paid.

"Thank you, now get the fuck out." The bartender flicked his head toward the door.

"Check your reviews tomorrow and we'll see who's laughing!" Donnie sneered and hefted you like a bag over his shoulder and on the way out.

You kicked two people in the head and he had no idea how to get you home. You were far too wily to fly with in this condition. He needed to sober you up at least a little so you'd be still. That meant locating the closest food truck, which wasn't far off for the district. He paid another exuberant price for a bottle of water and a set of tacos. He chased you down twice as you tried to escape both times and eventually ninpo'd up a leash to keep you tethered to him.

You sulked straight into the offered platter of food where you immediately abandoned all sorrow for elation.

You ate while spilling filling all over your self and the ground, but Donnie couldn't help but love you.

You were the dork to match his.

You had probably dealt with far stranger after the potion fiasco that had split up his personality.

You drank heartily from your bottle and came away with a satisfied puff.

"Good?" Donnie from where you'd eventually sat own on the dirty sidewalk to eat.

"Good..." You nodded and the motion seemed to come at least a little easier to you. "Where... What happened to my friends?"

"I have no idea." He responded.

You looked up and seemed to sort of register your location. "Ugh. Did... Did i fight a guy?"

He shook his head with the same unknown.

"Must have won." You told yourself with confidence.

"Clearly." He chuffed.

"Buzzing..." Your head tipped.

You weren't moving all that much and seemed to be in a bit of a stupor. "Let's go."

"Kay." You set your trash down to leave, but he scooped it up to toss.

You didn't run away while he did so. You actually slung your arms around his neck when he went to pick you up. He held you close and flew evenly back to the closest entrance to the lair. He counted that as a win as he descended to land.

Dreams of showers and extra steamed cuddling were close at hand.

"Gonna be sick..." You burped over his shoulder.

In an instant shattering, Donnie turned his night over to patting your back while you vomited in an alley and tending to you until you recovered enough in the morning to kiss him gratitude for his care.

He supposed that was just as good.

[aycias]

alycia: kinda crazy how we have so much in common, because italy is also my favorite vacation destination. i always said that if i was able to i would buy a home there so i could visit anytime that i wanted. maybe you can show me around the motherland personally one of these days. it's always more authentic when you are the one to do it. i know he doesn't. he has always been more than supportive of me. i just know it's been difficult spending time with each other when we're both off doing our own thing. he's been such a busy little bee himself with his band actually gaining some popularity, but maybe sometime after the holidays we can find some time to run off to byron bay for a week long stay-cation. of course i get a new onesie every year. this year i have this rudolf one, and when you pull the hood on it's actually rudolf's head with a big red nose. it is sooooo adorable. alycia: if this is your way of buttering me up then consider it a success. i just hope you still feel the same way a few months from now. that sounds badass, but also terrifying to watch. i'd be such a mess watching you play. not sure i'd be a happy camper if you got hurt. i'm just being honest. at least they took it easy on you and you were able to carry on. it clearly worked out in your favor, and you are doing pretty damn good for yourself now. i can send you her instagram page. not to sound biased but she's pretty talented. she taught me how to draw and how to paint, so it's sort of become a family affair. i want to find the time again. music was always such an outlet for me, and i want to find that part of myself again. alycia: [ typing.... ] alycia: also....thanks for the impromptu trip to las vegas. i can't remember the last time i had that much fun in a 48 hour period. it was nice to just let my hair down and go a little crazy for a little while. plus your company made it ten times better, even if we both had a little too much to drink and almost turned into a carrie underwood song. 😂 not that being mrs. mescal would have been a terrible thing. you just deserve more than a weird aussie drunken bride.

paul: italy is a gorgeous place. forever my number one vacation destination. i'll keep my fingers crossed that you can visit ireland soon. even if you feel that way, i'm sure he doesn't. you're off chasing your dreams and that's something to be proud of. maybe you two can sneak off to some tropical island one day soon, get that reunion going. that's how i make it up to my siblings when the weeks turn into months and i start missing 'em. cheesy board games and dancing sound like my idea of a good time. do ya get a new onesie every year? paul: shh, it's not boring. it's my favorite job so far and i'm saying that as someone that has had many, many jobs before. lots of differences! i'd say gaelic football is more so a crossover of regular football and rugby. no protective gear, different rules, etc. if i ever find myself paying again then consider this your invite to watch. you're always so sweet to me. bless. ha, no. they saw right through my lie but were nice enough not to call me out on it. think they took a bit of pity since i was walking in with a couple broken bones. i'm glad she found another outlet for her art. i'll have to check out some of her stuff. i hope you're successful in finding time. it's nice to have an outlet outside of work things.

[batbabydamian]

What’s ur idea of how Damian and Tim bond as siblings?

i like to think after the whole Gotham War fiasco, Damian would randomly hang out at Tim's boat - besides silent parallel play lol, they could bond over their vehicles! like, tinker on Tim's Robin Cycle and go over old Redbird blueprints. if Tim's visiting the brownstone, same thing with Damian's Robin Mobile!

otherwise, based on DC Pride 2023, the most i can see them bond would be during vigilante activities haha

they'd try to make the cleanup process less tedious through silly competitions 😆

[captaindamianos]

I would love a new rec list if you’re offering! 👀🙏🏿😊

Hello!! I'm so incredibly sorry it took me more than a month instead of the day or ten I joked about in my tags. I wasn't feeling too great and I also lost my motivation to participate in the fandom in any way. So it was hard for me to focus on this task.

But I really want to thank you so much for encouraging me! This turned out to be a good way to appreciate other people participating in the fandom and thank them for the work they shared with us.

In the spirit of things though I'm going to make this the most self-indulgent list I can come up with, so this will probably include a few wips, but I'm going to mention that because I know people don't like wips (can't relate haha I've met cool people that way and I love when authors get chatty in the comments).

It's in no particular order! Just whatever came to mind or what I found in the depths of my bookmarks. Let's get started 💪

Canis Major by Lapin

Point of Opposition by forthelongesttime

lovesick by forthelongesttime

Favourite by RockingRobing

Sexual Intercourse by antivillain

The Stand-in Wedding Planner and the Obstinate Baker by penstrikesmidnight

even in another time by phlegmatic

white wine in the sun by phlegmatic (WIP)

Lord, You Keep Me Crawling by princessofpatras (WIP)

come uncover me series by sweetricebuns

i got the t-top cherry blue (now i'm looking at you) by sweetricebuns

too hot to handle series by sweetricebuns

Wildflowers by Shigure_Natsu

A (Precious) Moment In Time by CoffeeDragon87

Lemongrass & Peony by starsxabove

The Garden by DisraeliGears

we kiss and then by residue (please check out all of the authors works as well👌)

Feasts From Heaven by ahdriking

Brute by ahdriking

From Your Mouth by Holly_Golightly I hope there's something in there for everyone, always heed the warnings and ratings. I deliberately left out a lot of fanfics that are already popular, because chances are people have already read them. But I had to add some, because they're very dear to me personally like EIAT and Brute. And I featured a few I've read in the past few months to a year or two. Maybe you missed them, maybe you recently joined and filtered for kudos or hits. But definitely give them a chance, there's so many gems out there. It's once again just a really really small list and definitely doesn't include everything I liked or would recommend, but I have to stop somewhere. If there's specific tropes or things you're looking for, let me know, I can try to make themed lists as well, if it's something I read myself. Hopefully in a shorter time frame next time.

[awakenthebeing]

With how big they are, I wonder how strong Piepoe is, comparatively speaking to say Peppino. Much love <3

Much love back to you, anon! To answer both of your questions...!! If I were ever able to, I wanted to replace Peppino sprites and things with Piepoe! Playable...

with this in mind, I can safely say that Piepoe was intended(and does indeed) have pretty similar, if not the exact same capabilities and power of Peppino himself :3!! They'd probably just be a bit different in animations and things because Piepoe is her own creacher and such ^^

[triglycercule]

I need to ask the mtt expert, do you think any of the murder trio would be religious?

ooooof this is a hard question to answer because personally i dont practice any religions specifically so i cant exactly offer the best answer to this DXXXX but i'll TRY. take everything i say with the fattest grain of salt. imagine the grain of salt is a salt lamp because i genuinely dont know that much about religion and belief

so i guess the first thing to consider is sans undertale since he's the one that all the mtt originate from. i dont think sans canonically is religious like at all. so if i wanted to take the easy route i COULD just says sans doesn't worship anything so its unlikely that any of the mtt would. but i wont because i have honor. i doubt that any of our surfaceworld religions wouldve made it into the underground since theyve been seperated from humanity for a long ass time. and i think undertale has its own belief based on the delta rune anyways so im gonna stick to that since it seems more plausible than just saying that dust is a hardcore buddist or something

for horror my answer like hell no. he mightve prayed for the angel described in the delta rune to save horrortale or something but i think those are just like desperate times call for shitty tries for ANYTHING to work. he literally describes horrortale as "living in a place like this is like living through an eternal hell" and i think that being in a place like horrortale would kill anyone's hope for some sort of angel to save them. plus i think he's too aware of the issues going on in horrortale to try and put his faith into something that doesn't exist AND also he wouldn't use religion as a moral guide. considering that he literally said in the horrortale flash game that he's "given up on figuring out what's right and what's wrong" (my king with an absolutely terrible moral compass LET'S GOOOOOO) (i love the horrortale flash game. i even have the quote saved because its such a good and important line for horror)

as for dust i think there's more of a possibility of him being religious (undertale delta rune based religion not any of the real world ones). the delta rune says that an angel who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom OR a harbinger of destruction as the angel of death, waiting to free monsterkind from this mortal realm. mostly gerson's words i stole this from the wiki because i cant be bothered to play undertale more than once. when translating dust's canon fics SPECIFICALLY the one called "a true hero appears" the topic of dust "liberating" the monsters of the underground and "granting their wish" to be free (even though he himself doesn't believe in the underground ever being free especially while hes in the middle of his "mad time") comes up. i dont think dust views himself as an angel at ALL like described in the prophecy but he could view himself as a "savior" type of person. it could be a really coincidental coincidence or it could be dust deciding to take up the role of the angel except a really really shitty one out of a desperate try for something to help like i mentioned with horror earlier. if we're going this route then him taking up the role of the angel could provide a sense of comfort that religion does and also shape his moral compass (i keep bringing these 2 things up because idrk why people worship. so i researched why so i can better support my arguments!!) with all the salvation liberation bullshit. personally i dont think that dust would exactly believe in himself as THE delta rune angel but more of just some sort of rouge savior but the possibility of going in a more delta rune religious way IS there

killer is in a completely different situation than dust and horror here (i'm not like the rest of yall ahh. get back in the original fishbowl you goldfish fuck) because he's AWARE of what arguably could be considered god in an utmv context. and obviously that's US the creators (players in his eyes. smh dont you know i havent played undertale in forever. i needa go back and do a true pacifist run. i did neutral because im shit at dodging attacks. but call me a CREATOR you second dimensional FUCK. you are a lower concept than me call me by a name i DESERVE) because for some reason and i completely forgot why he's aware of the creators. i think this could go in maybe two different ways where since killer is very much so aware that there are millions of gods(/creators. every one of us that creates something for utmv is a god in their multiverse LMAOOO) out there that he could completely just avoid religion itself since the usual reasons of comfort and moral alignment are completely debunked and pointless once you know that the gods that you could believe in just view you as code or characters to play around with. no comfort or morals to align with there. OR it could go in another direction where since killer is aware of the creators that he actually does end up worshiping SOME sort of us-based religion??? (what would that be called. do you think that theres a religion for all the self aware utmv characters who believe in creators. creatism. creationism. idk but would ink be the leader of that??? prophet type ass guy for creatism. this would be a cool concept someone else steal this from me and make a cooler story with it.) anyways i got side tracked. doesn't killer already believe that he has to do things that the creators want or something??? which COULD provide the moral compass part of religion. its definitely not a good moral compass but whatever killer believes his god wants of him he'll do. and also it might provide some sort of nihilistic depressive comfort knowing that everything is out of his hands and predetermined by a higher being. he already has that whole "lowly servant who'll do whats ordered of him" type shit going on. not unlikely that that could apply to the creators (or chara possibly. that relationship would be interesting if killer viewed them as a god and worshipped them as such. HM.)

anyways those are my thoughts on if i think the murder time trio would be religious. this was actually way longer than i expected but maybe thats just because i ramble a lot and have a lot of side thoughts. PERSONALLY i dont think any of them would worship a god just because i dont practice any religion and it makes it easier for me to characterize them without the religious barrier there. but also i do think there are possiblities of the trio all believing in a god (with horror maybe hopelessly believing the in the delta rune, dust becoming a delta rune esque figure, and killer's entire schtick with knowing about creators) but everyone has their own fanon interpretations on these characters!!! so if you wanna make them believe in religion or something then go then ahead and do that. maybe those possible points i brought up where they could worship a god will inspire someone or something idk. triglycercule OUT (off to reread horrortale for the 20th time today)

[inkykeiji]

Would Touya-nii ever feel guilty for giving the reader a punishment only to find out later she didn’t actually do anything

OOOOOH ANON!!!! i am so in love with this ask!!!!! this hurts!!! the answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY! honestly, if touya were to dish out this extreme, sadistic punishment to reader only to discover that she was actually innocent this entire time, he’d probably cry. he’d feel fucking awful. this would be one of those rare, seldom moments were he’d genuinely feel bad + remorseful for his actions. touya will often punish her for bullshit reasons purely to exert power n control over her (tho to him, he can almost always ‘justify’ these, and we see this clearly exhibited throughout the series), but if he had seriously and sincerely mistaken her for committing some sort of severe offence, he would spend a very, very long time making it up to her, and it’s definitely a mistake he’d be absolutely certain to never make again (aka he’d meticulously check to ensure she truly had committed an offence before ever punishing her again).

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I always think about how in multiple episodes it's basically canon that Blanche is bi but considers dating women to be more hassle (which is a whole rabbit hole to go down - does she struggle with societal homophobia when she's with women? Has she only been with fellow high maintenance femmes when shes really after a Dorothy type? Has she internalized the idea that her attraction to women isn't 'real'? Her reaction to Clayton adds to these questions). Not to mention how this goes together with her relationships with the girls; making to kiss Rose that one time (and Rose multiple times seeming very aware of Blanche's proclivities), begging Dorothy for 'relief' and being convinced she's attracted to women too.

Yes, anon! It’s really interesting to delve into Blanche’s psyche about all this stuff!

I started writing down my thoughts and ended up with a long ramble -- allow me to place it all under a cut, so I don't clog up anyone's dash, haha.

Personally, I think she has some strong mental blocks when it comes to her sexuality because of the way she was brought up. I mean, she grew up in Atlanta approx in the 1930s/1940s — I’m sure I don’t have to detail the kind of casual bigotry she must have seen around her during her formative years! Just look at the story she recounts in S1E13 A Little Romance:

“Now, you have to understand that in those days in the South a lot of things were still taboo. Certain people were not to mix. So Benjamin and I had to meet in secret. Oh, we knew if any of the bigots in town found out about us, there’d be a terrible scandal.”

And all of this because Benjamin was a yankee… can you imagine what ‘the bigots in town’ thought about homosexuality? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Blanche learned to suppress that part of herself very early on. We know she turns to denial when she’s faced with uncomfortable truths and emotions she can’t deal with, so I think she likely just refuses to acknowledge that part of herself most of the time, and it only comes out (pun intended!) when she’s not paying much attention to things, or when there’s something more important going on. See the two examples you point out: when she tries to kiss Rose she’s concerned with not being kissed at midnight, and when she propositions Dorothy she’s, well… she’s desperate to get some, if we can be frank.

When she’s in a more rational state, her reactions tend to be more measured… but not by much. She does advise Rose not to date women (S3E10 The Audit):

“Oh, no, honey, don’t do that! No job is worth having to date women!”

But she’s also really flattered at receiving lots and lots of phone calls from women, after her appearance as a ‘lesbian’ on TV (S7E15 Goodbye, Mr Gordon):

“By the way, Dorothy, if I were a lesbian, I sure would be a popular one. Look at this, 20 calls.”

And of course we can’t forget her reaction to finding out that Jean has a crush on Rose in S2E5 Isn’t It Romantic?:

“Jean has the hots for Rose? I don’t believe it, I do not believe it! […] To think Jean would prefer Rose over me? That’s ridiculous! […] Now you tell me the truth: if you had to pick between Rose and me, who would you pick? Who?”

All of these are (likely) intended to be jokes about her vanity and her libertine nature (in the same way as Rose’s observations are), but considering a lot of the writers of this show were queer themselves, it wouldn’t seem strange to me if they were intentionally peppered in to suggest that Blanche might be a bisexual in denial. It certainly fits her character!

I haven’t spoken about her reaction to Clayton’s coming out yet, but that’s immensely interesting too, of course. I think Blanche has the same attitude towards homosexuality that I see in a lot of (mostly older) people in my Country nowadays: it’s fine as a general concept, but when it comes to her family (or, God forbid, herself) then the problems come out. See for example what she says about Jean:

“Well, I’ll never understand what Jean doesn’t see in the opposite sex, but if that makes her happy, that’s fine by me!”

Which isn’t a homophobic attitude at all! If anything, if you take her upbringing into account, it’s pretty accepting. But then, when Clayton comes out to her (S4E9 Scared Straight) and tells her he wants to get married (S6E14 Sister Of The Bride), this is what she says:

“Oh, Clayton, please be serious. You're just saying that so I won't set you up with any more women. […] Well, then you're saying it 'cause you're trying to get back at me for something. Clay, I know you too well for this. After all, I know it can't be true. You're my brother. […] Clayton Hollingsworth. You look me in the face and tell me you really are… what you just said you are.”

“I'm having a little trouble putting this all together. Clayton, I just feel like I don't know you anymore.”

“[…] Dorothy, that's different. We're talking about going out in public. Oh, what are people gonna say?”

“Will you tell me why you want to put yourself and Doug through this? You know how people can be.”

“Oh, look, I can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger so the whole world will know?”

Quite the difference from her attitude towards Jean, wouldn’t you say? I think there’s three elements at play here.

1) When Clayton comes out to Blanche, she feels disoriented because this is life-changing information Clayton has never shared with her before. While her reaction as a whole isn’t ideal, personally I think it’s understandable. Clayton is her baby brother; she’s known him as straight all his life, he’s been married to a woman for years before his divorce, and she recounts an episode from their adolescence when he was on a date with a woman and very clearly implicated having a physical encounter with her. He's done everything in his power to pass as straight until this point in time -- I don't find it strange that Blanche would be shocked at his coming out, especially given her upbringing (and the fact that this is set in the 80s! We can't expect modern sensibilities from the characters!). Once again, her reaction isn't the best (she can't even bring herself to say the word 'gay' at first...), but the shock per se isn't that surprising, imho.

2) Blanche is scared because of societal implications above all. She doesn't necessarily see being queer as something wrong, but she's been taught it's not socially acceptable and acts accordingly. Notice how she's worried about what people are going to say, and she struggles to accept that Clayton wants the whole world to know about his relationship with Doug.

Societal expectations in general are a big theme for Blanche's character, and often drive her development; another big example of this is her attitude towards Rebecca's decision to get artificially inseminated, but it's a bit of a baseline issue for her, I feel. She has this whole thing about her beauty and her (supposed) youth and her attractiveness that has some inherent elements, but it's mostly an issue of how other people perceive her, I think, and her response to her brother's coming out is easy to relate to this theme. I mean, she even says it to Rose in S7E15:

"Well, I don't mind being labeled a lesbian, honey, but since I'm not, you just ruined my social life."

So yeah. I think it's safe to say her main concern is societal disapproval of queerness: she wants to be accepted and celebrated by the people around her, and she thinks that being openly queer will destroy her place in her social circle (and she's worried about the same happening to Clayton too, of course).

3) This is sort of related to point 2, but it felt distinct enough to treat it separately. I think she might have reacted so badly to Clayton's coming out (and especially to his showing up with a partner) because he's open about his sexuality, and she's not ready to face what that means for her. My lovely mutual @\hecatesbroom recently published her latest amazing work the odd one(s) out, on the relationship between Dorothy and her brother Phil and how Phil's open queerness might have impacted Dorothy; I think a similar situation might have occurred between Blanche and Clayton after his coming out.

Blanche has a sort of advantage on Dorothy because of her bisexuality, in the sense that she has 'passing privilege' (I really dislike this concept, but allow me to use it to make a point): it's painfully clear that she loved her late husband with all her heart, and she's obviously attracted to men as well, so she can pretend not to like women without too much of a hassle (whereas, if you believe Dorothy to be a repressed lesbian, her situation is much more complicated).

The issue with this is that this 'advantage' is a double-edged sword: she might have the comfort of being socially acceptable, but she's had to suffocate a big part of herself to obtain that comfort. And so, what happens when Clayton -- her baby brother Clayton, the one who's always been just like her, who's grown up with her same environment and influences -- begins openly living as a gay man? I'm sure the situation must have had a strong impact on her, even if just on a subconscious level; I've always found it curious that she seems to have a harder time accepting Clayton in S6E14 than she does in S4E9 (she even calls his sexuality a phase), and while a part of it may be attributed to the higher social exposure Clayton's commitment to Doug brings, I think this may be a result of her inner conflict, provoked by watching her brother live openly while she's been suppressing a part of herself all her life.

Here I'm assuming she's never acted upon her attraction to women before, but there's some space to believe she has done so and has decided it's too much of a hassle, as you say -- likely because she'd for sure do it in secret, given her fear of societal condemnation. If she has been with women before, and decided to give up on it, I still think she'd be greatly impacted by Clayton's coming out: it means her baby brother is a) braver than she is, and b) going to openly face (and likely suffer because of) the same social issues she's run away from. In this lens, I find it interesting that she cautions him about how people can be, almost as if they've both experienced it.

Whew. Wow, this was a lot more than I'd originally meant to write, haha! Seems you sparked a big train of thought, anon! I think all of the Girls (with the possible exception of Sophia) are really fascinating to analyze with a queer lens, and Blanche is always interesting to me, of course. As a final note, I'd like to point out that she does come around to Clayton's sexuality and his relationship, in the end: as often happens, she just needs the Girls' help to put things back in perspective, understand she's hurting someone she loves, and correct her actions. I'd like to think living with the Girls might lead to her becoming more accepting of herself, too.

[mandy4ever69420]

you've said before about how Frank's addiction is not a moral failure but that doesn't excuse Frank cause being an addict isn't his only trait. in that same line, I would love to read your opinion on Monica, considering that other than being an addict she's bipolar and has never been properly medicated before as said in the show. maybe a character analysis too as the one you did to Sheila?

i have no idea if i can repeat the style of what i had to say about sheila, it took me by surprise that i had all that in me. but i can tell you my opinions on monica. also i don't know all that much about bipolar, just that it's intense and difficult. disclaimer.

i found her really charming. like i definitely wouldn't want to hang out with her at all ever, but she made episodes good invariably

maybe i want to start by saying here that monica doing so poorly by her children isn't necessarily just because of her illness (though, i mean, it didn't help. i don't think there's a way to be that sick around kids that won't screw with their heads) it's to me because she couldn't allow herself to look past her insecurities to take care of them first. i also want to give monica credit for the possibly the saddest and most evocative line in the entire show: "i don't wanna be me anymore"

i guess part of my belief about her is that her approximately level-headed, clear-minded impulse is to leave. sure, she leaves a lot when she's manic and not thinking clearly. but it's more painful to see her leave after escaping a hospital where she was seeking treatment. so it's her belief that she's inherently harmful that causes the harm. this is also something that ian winds up repeating. horribly enough, the insecurities that he's running from are usually to do with being like her.

crucially, also, she wants to be nice! she wants to think she's nice, but she just wants things to be easy more. this is sort of where the fanciful idea comes from that gets people's hopes up when she's around - that if she's feeling good, maybe she can come heap some love on her kids, and everything wrong will just go away. i remember also after she died, seeing all of her little "i love you!" notes and being struck with how much of a kid-like thing that was to do.

so monica's behavior towards her kids was exacerbated by but not due solely to her bipolar. i mean of course, being sick can't MAKE you treat people badly. it can make it easier though

there's a bit of a personal stance of my own in here: though it's an obligation to try to minimize how much you hurt others, it's never an obligation to get sober or seek treatment. part of my stance on bodily autonomy is that people even have the right to do things that are potentially harmful to themselves. if monica had the resources or motivation to manage her symptoms the hard way and minimize how much she hurt others in the process, she'd have as much right to staying unmedicated as bianca did to not trying to treat her cancer.

it does, however, seem she was at some point following some sort of semi-regular treatment in the past. probably never long enough to get past the hurdle of finding a balance that doesn't make you feel god awful (i have spoken to people about how lithium feels if it's not right for you. fucking brutal, apparently) but when frank complains that she's a zombie or ian expresses resistance to taking meds for the rest of his life i think this indicates she was just, occasionally medicated.

monica is also one of the most static characters in the show - in part because she doesn't have that much screen time compared to how much she influences the plot, and in part just because the instability she brings BECOMES its own form of monotony.

WRT: her wanting things to be easy, i think this is something she shares with frank. it's a slightly different form of selfishness but yields similar results. they really are suited to each other and can understand each other in a handful of ways, even if it mostly manifests in a handful of really painful honeymoon phases.

i remember fiona complained that lip was her "favorite" in season one, and maybe (maybe) it was true pre-series, i think it's more likely that this complaint says more about fiona than monica. that fiona might not see that monica has such favoritism for ian, because to me it seems like fiona shares the same soft spot for ian. it's perfectly well possible that monica's fondness for ian became MUCH stronger when she learned he was gay - because she could pretend he was just like her, so she could sort of play around with the idea of a new version of herself

i also think complaining that lip was monica's favorite was, more than anything, an early parallel between frank and lip. so monica's "favorite" is really none of her kids, no matter how much she loves them, but in fact just her frank, or herself again, when she realizes she can project onto ian.

there are a lot of these, and again, this isn't just about lip's alcoholism. lip has a lot of school-style smarts and is the only one of their children to go to college - we learn later that frank was in and dropped out of college. lip also gets more credit than debbie or liam for being academically successful, because he's a white boy with those traits, like frank. also, lip and frank's chase scenes fit together well. one of the bigger differences between lip and ian is that ian is much more likely to stand his ground for a fight than lip is. there's a vague argument to be made for this being a monica trait (having something in common with a shitty parent doesn't have to be a bad thing!) - she does insist frank apologizes, or she does kick him out of the car when he really pisses her off. also, though, it could just be an ian thing.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

fiona sees a lot of monica and frank throwing aside the well being of their kids to play in their fantasy perfect romance before things fall apart. instead of concluding that peoples kids should be their first priorities, she just concluded that when she was someone's girlfriend she was going to be their first priority. this is kind of what i think bit her in the ass with sean. i understand why she was upset at the wedding but taking offense at sean putting his kid first isn't fair.

jimmysteve, btw, is probably the only love interest who was enough of an asshole in the right way to work with fiona. also! the only kids he prioritized over fiona were her younger siblings. this pissed her off but it was in a context she could appreciate. i'll never get over how stupid of a choice it was to retcon his death. so unsatisfying.

i've seen a lot of really weird debate online about frank and monica's whole deal - like because monica, when she's upset with frank, loves to throw in his face that "he almost destroyed her", and then oddly there's the occasional claim that "monica ruined frank". IMO they're very evenly matched. they have a lot of really similar impulses, and are both some of the most wildly unreliable narrators out there. you can't get the full story, because it doesn't exist objectively.

like monica, also, the most difficult to watch parts of frank's character are the parts where he's kind. you can see so clearly that things didn't have to be this way! he's perfectly capable of extending kindness to people while he's drunk, in the same way monica is capable of care while unmedicated. it's a handful of choices, not an illness or innate state of being that make them act the ways they do.

1 thing shameless does really well is giving me things that make me extremely uncomfortable in parallels that i later decide i adore. the frank/monica to mickey/ian comparison might be at the very top of that list. i just love comparing how well suited both these couples are to one another, how desperate ian is not to be like that because he is so intimately familiar with the pain caused by the fallout of something that intense, the ways that ian and mickey manage to sidestep the things that really made frank/monica so bad for each other.

best comparison here is probably, sorry if this has been said before/better, just watching frank break monica out of the hospital whether she wants it or not VS watching mickey try to get himself locked up just so ian wouldn't be alone in there. monica drives away at the end and she's still alone, ian comes home after his hospitalization and doesn't have to be. this is also just one of those parallels that is so much better viewing the show as a whole and not serialized. my deepest condolences to anyone watching seasons 5-8 live

anyway, all my love to shameless for their horrible complicated fucked up mothers whose children are fully permitted horrible complicated fucked up feelings about. hate her if you want, she's in you, and that's a good thing.

[kohakhearts]

sorry to the other trick or treaters i missed - i will hopefully get to them tomorrow!!

[first-blight]

tagged by @shadowcursedballs 🫶🏻 thank you!!!!

OCs as obscure associations: Rhidian (they/them)

Animal: rabbit

Colours: leafy green, golden

Month: april

Songs: (only a handful of way too many)

something wicked - starset [and it gnawed / rose to the top again / back like a long-lost friend / a wretch that i can't defend]

in my head - derivakat [keep your distance / they say i'm a traitor but i can't remember]

me, myself & hyde - ice nine kills [i'm waging war on myself, a captive casualty]

altar - machineheart [i've got a heart full of sorrow, chest that feels hollow / and i know i need someone to save me]

Number: 999 - angel number meaning to let go of or to complete something, so something new can begin

Plants: lavender, thistles, stinging nettle

Smells: grass, campfire, cedars, iron

Gemstone: emerald

Time of Day: the first moments of dawn

Season: early spring. the chill of winter is slowly fading, new flowers start to bloom

Weather: cloudy and foggy, a stillness in the air; also thunderstorms

Sky: dark blue-grey, speckled with the last starts of the night, before the sun drowns them out

Places: lakesides; transitory spaces, town squares and roads

Food: stew from the campfire

Drinks: herbal teas for sleep (lavender, valerian, chamomile, etc.); a simple glass of water

Seasonings: sage, chives (if herbs count...)

Element: not sure if it counts but i'm going with lightning... chemical element would simply be iridium

Astrological Signs: capricorn, taurus (based on shallow google searches)

Magical Power: lay on hands, minor healing spells; shocking grasp, call lightning

Weapons: spellcasting staff, shadow dagger

Social Media: not applicable. pigeon carriers. the local town board.

Makeup Product: green eyeshadow

Candy: cough drops

Method of long distance travel: horse, probably

Art Style: impressionism

Fear: touch, abandonment

Mythological Creature: phoenix, ouroboros

Piece of Stationery: inkpot

Three Emojis: 🌱🌩️🌅

Celestial Body: neutron star (the collapsed core of a massive star; aftermath of a supernova, compressed past the density of a white dwarf [x])

if you feel like doing it (and if you haven't already done it, or need an excuse to do it for another oc etc.), i'm tagging @reapersynth, @strixhaven, @vanoefucks, @spiderslyre & @meowstarion 🫶🏻

[mad-hunts]

✧

send me a ✧ and i’ll bold all that apply to your muse! (with italics as a 'sometimes' option because i'm a rule-breaker and things may depend on the situation).

i would kill you. ✧ i would physically hurt you. ✧ i would attack you unprovoked. ✧ i would manipulate you. ✧ i dislike you. ✧ you annoy me. ✧ you scare me. ✧ you intimidate me. ✧ i hope i intimidate you. ✧ i pity you. ✧ you disgust me. ✧ i hate you. ✧ i’m indifferent toward you. ✧ i’d like to get to know you better. ✧   i’d like to spend more time with you. ✧ i’d like to be friends with you. ✧  i’m unsure what to think of you. ✧ i’m unsure how I feel about you. ✧ you are my friend. ✧ you are my best friend. ✧ you are my mentor. ✧ i look up to you. ✧ i respect you. ✧ you are my hero. ✧ you inspire me. ✧ you are my enemy. ✧ you make me happy. ✧ i want to protect you. ✧ i would fight by your side. ✧ i consider you an equal. ✧ i think you are beneath me. ✧ i think you are above me. ✧ i would lie for you. ✧ i would lie to you. ✧ i would sleep with you. ✧ i would sleep by your side. ✧ i would hug you. ✧ i would kiss you. ✧ you are family to me. ✧ i would die for you. ✧ i would kill for you. ✧ i would trust you with my life. ✧ i would trust you with my most precious belonging. ✧ i would trust you with a secret. ✧ i would trust you with my biggest / darkest secret. ✧ i love you (platonically). ✧ i love you (romantically).

[babygirlhaljordan]

Do you have any hsr ocs? :3

yes! i talked about poe in this ask (as i was asked before) but i wanted to talk about my other oc. or more accurately: persona

meet key. researcher (npc lol) at herta’s space station!

i mentioned her before to you, but to those that don’t know.. the reason she stands out is because she actually indirectly helped dan heng develop the archive!

starting middle school, she posted “fun facts” (secondhand information) about different kinds of planets, making resources and master lists of different pieces of information collected over the years, interested about other planets cultures and history (since she’s sick of hearing her own)

she seldom had a source, much less a refutable one. but through her high school years, she got better. she kept on piling more and more information to the public. and with a lot of information about planets being inaccessible to those who don’t travel intergalactically (or hell, DO at times) it helped to have a place where people can reliably find public info about most planets anywhere.

and seeing how the internet is a tool for people to connect.. it helps that she has a primary hand account from people of these planets

it’s also why she’s interested in culture; it lets her understand people more. and as an autistic person herself… she’s going to need all the help she can get

[otwdfanfic]

For the httyd questions!! 1, 6 and 9 maybe?

1: The first movie is what got me, but I didn't actually watch it until almost a year after release! I collected the mcdonalds toys (and pretended to be Toothless in my backyard?) but my parents would not splurge for me to see it in theaters so I had to wait and watch a copy online haha. To this day I will never forget the feeling I had watching Hiccup fall into the fire with Toothless diving after him for the first time. It was such an 'oh shit' moment of recognizing that I had never seen something that powerful? meaningful? important? in a movie before. I was very impressed that the studio had told a story catering to my interests and feelings. I guess that was the exact moment that started it all haha

6: So aside from my #1 hiccstrid which is probably the most common ship, of the canonish options I really loved when Ruffnut was pining after Eret in the second movie and I think they really compliment each other, since he's so level headed compared to her zaniness but also is a pretty loud boastful guy! And it would be funny if he got not only accidentally adopted into a new tribe but also accidentally adopted as a fiance at the same time haha. He'd be so confused but end up falling for her despite himself.

I can't see Ruff with the other boys, who had plenty of chances to woo her in RTTE and the second movie but were never right for her. Plus then they're free for fishlout <3 which is the real standout ship from RTTE for me. It does so much for both of their character development even with the canon crumbs we get. And if rufflegs has to be canon, then Snotlout should absolutely end up with Eret! His one-sided rivalry in THW screams "crush I don't know how to deal with"

A very unlikely ship of mine is Eret and Heather. I feel like they could go sooo well together, I've even considered going that route in my modern au but I think I'll probably stick to my rufferet roots? I guess I just keep shipping everyone with Eret, huh? I once had a dream that I was dating Kit Harington, maybe that's got something to do with it

9: Hiccup, always. I'm always aspiring to be Astrid, but really I'm not very much like her at all. As a kid I really related to him in the first movie due to his rocky relationship with a parent and his whole not fitting in thing. Now I really, really relate to him as an adult in the second and third movie. I don't want to get too deep, but like him the loss of that same parent was my cue to step up into new adult responsibilities, and I haven't really managed it. So I feel like I'm letting down my family if I continue to flounder, but also letting myself down if I settle into the role they want rather than running away on my own to find my own life. It feels very similar to his struggle between the tribe and the dragons. Fortunately I'm not really the chief of my family, so fingers crossed I'm able to get back on my feet soon and head out the door 🤞 I want the dragon life

Thanks for asking! I did sort of yap haha but when do I not

[faaun]

hi! this is unrelated to the situationship but i’ve been going through a crisis about whether i’m bi or a lesbian for like six months now lmao and iirc i think you went through something similar once, so i was just wondering if you had any tips or advice about how you figured it out? tysm!

hiii i did ! i went thru this crisis like 3 times b4 i figured out i was bi, it can genuinely rly be difficult to figure it out it :)

i'd say keep in mind that it's not important to have a label rn - just keep urself open to exploring new feelings ! but also if u want to figure it out faster, spending more time w both men and women - esp those u think you might find more attractive - might help ! for me it was having guy friends, going to clubs, dating, etc, but it can truly be anything :) since starting a hinge profile i've been seeing quite a few men that i found super pretty which confirmed things even further for me (if you go down this route remember that dating app algorithms take a while to adjust)

also remember that ur standards for men may be different, and you may have an intense preference for women which wouldn't make you any less bi ! similarly, if you genuinely cannot imagine a future or conceive of any romantic/sexual attraction between u and a man, then you may be a lesbian ! the point is that u can date ppl and find out !! ♡ also labels can change as u learn abt urself over time so it's all good if you can't land on one definitive label rn forever, it takes time and life reveals new things to us all the time 🩷

while i like knowing that men are like...within my dating pool now, since realising i'm bi basically nothing has changed for me bc i still find women so so much more attractive, so it's good to remember there truly is no rush ! take ur time experiment have fun x

[everythingsinred]

Hey considering Natsume danced with a lot of girls just because Mikan said she was never going to dance with him.

Do you think that in a hypothetical scenario Natsume would have been able to kiss another girl just because Mikan kissed someone? Like for jealousy? just kiss, not be boyfriend and girlfriend or fall in love. I want to know what you think.

Hiii!

IDK if you are the same person who asked about Natsume's jealousy and petty reactions with the dancing before or not, but if not I find it interesting that this aspect of their relationship sticks out to people. Not that it doesn't stick out to me, but it's something I've been asked about a couple of times before and that seems interesting to me.

I've talked about this event in these answers (one & two) and in this part of Natsume's essay.

ANYWAY.... to answer your question briefly.... No. I don't think he would.

Long answer is under the cut.

Natsume danced with those girls in Chapter 26 because Mikan announced loudly she'd never dance with Natsume, and he took that personally. BUT I must also state that we see him dancing with only one girl to spite Mikan. Mikan assumes she's the only person he won't dance with, and I personally believe he was busying himself and spiting her by dancing with others, but there's no real proof that he did beside the one girl.

He clearly got bored pretty fast and ran away to hide in the woods away from other human beings so he wouldn't have to dance anymore.

This contrasts with his behavior at the Christmas Ball, where he clearly intends to hide in the tree for the whole event, stopping by for a slice of cake real quick. He only gets himself involved in the events when Ruka forces him to dance with Mikan. If it weren't for that, I think he would have stayed in the tree the whole time and wouldn't have danced with anybody else.

Natsume dances with other girls in Chapter 26 because Mikan says she wouldn't dance with him. It's one of the rare things he does out of spite. Mikan flat out tells Natsume she doesn't see why anybody would want to kiss him and his response to spite her is to kiss her.

Also I must stress that Natsume believes she has been kissed by someone else!

He thinks Ruka kissed her earlier that evening and has thought so all evening since Ruka kissed her on the cheek (she has been acting strangely and blushing and generally freaking out. He doesn't necessarily see this, but one of her concerns is that Ruka not get the wrong idea about her accidental "tooth kiss" with Natsume).

He thinks she has been kissed before, and his response is not to kiss somebody else. Natsume doesn't really want to hurt Mikan, firstly. Secondly, the whole "spite" thing only works if he thinks Mikan wants to kiss him, or could possibly be bothered by the idea of kissing someone else, and his self-hatred prevents that.

Mikan danced with almost everybody in Chapter 26, except for Natsume. To get back at her, he dances with everyone but her. There's not really any outwardly romantic insinuation about dancing since they both do it so liberally that night.

Kissing is different. Kissing is not something that Mikan would do with just anyone, and in Chapter 50, Natsume is convinced she's kissed Ruka and that the two like each other. If Mikan likes Ruka, then she probably won't care if Natsume kisses somebody else, right?

Besides, Mikan has convinced herself that Natsume has kissing experience too, and he doesn't really correct that. We could take that as his spiteful act, since he's giving the same thing Mikan is: not communicating clearly.

I genuinely think Natsume's behavior in Chapter 26 is out of the ordinary. He has a new interest in a girl, something he's not used to. His jealousy usually punishes the person he's jealous of (think Tsubasa or Tono, who can hug Mikan freely when he can't), or Mikan by just insulting her if he can't punish the person he's jealous of (he never punishes Ruka).

But his way of hurting Mikan is really specific after this: he generally tells her Ruka is too good for her, or he calls her names. It's not about how Natsume thinks he deserves better than her. At no point in the manga does he hint to Mikan that he's interested in any girl other than her (he dances with one girl that we see in Chapter 26, but since she's supposedly one of many, that means she's not special, AND Luna in the Sports Fest, against his will, so not done to make Mikan jealous).

This is actually why I don't care much for playboy! Natsume in fics; emotions or not, he's just flat out uninterested in them. He's so laser-focused on Mikan that he gives up really easily. He doesn't think making Mikan jealous is possible, also, so he doesn't try. He has a really low self esteem and that's part of the reason it takes so long for them to actually communicate their feelings.

That's the reason Natsume tells her to tell him she loves him with her own voice in the Rapunzel Arc: he's still not sure of it. He continuously doubts Mikan's feelings and considers his stronger than hers, which leads ultimately to his death. His whole arc is about sacrifice, and a big part of that is feeling that his role in people's life is protecting them, rather than any innate value he has for them.

It's also the reason why people use Luna to make Mikan jealous in fics!

I know this might bother people, but Luna is often used in fics, typically AUs, to make Mikan jealous. As we know, Luna is actually significantly older than the kids and is not at all interested in Natsume because she 1. treats him like shit and 2. is actually in love with the ESP. However, jealousy is such a huge part of most fics, and considering that jealousy of Luna is what made Mikan realize her feelings for Natsume, it feels like an important facet to the NM relationship, even in an AU.

I agree with this! I have even written a lil post about how hard it is to do a jealous!Mikan arc for a fic without using Luna. So, actually, despite it technically being OOC for Luna to be genuinely interested in Natsume, I don't care. I think Luna can and should be used in whichever way people want, since her role in canon cannot be easily transferred to an AU where Gulliver candy doesn't exist. (I do it too. Luna's is too flexible a role in the manga to not be toyed with in fics... be mad if you want but that's your problem.)

(To elaborate, Luna's role in the manga is to irritate Mikan but specifically by making her jealous and endangering Mikan's relationship with Natsume. Because of Luna, Mikan has to face the fact that at first she dislikes a girl just because it seems Natsume "likes" her, and then further, to assess why she's jealous when Luna reveals herself more. If one were to stick with Luna being the same age as Yuka in AUs, that's fine, but considering that Luna does play a vital role in making Mikan jealous in the manga, I don't think it's that weird to run with that in AUs. Hope that makes sense.)

Someone in the replies to the above mentioned post references using misunderstandings, and yes that's possible, but it would be momentary, like it is in the manga. Misunderstandings are difficult to stretch out or make enjoyable in fics. In fact, Mikan's misunderstanding that Natsume has kissed other girls in Chapter 50 is actually cleared up by Natsume himself right after he kisses her!

To sum it up, Natsume's clearly not all that interested in making Mikan jealous for a prolonged period of time anyway. He clears up misunderstandings quick and his one spite-motivated jealousy tactic is not all that romantic considering how much they dance with other people. I also don't think Natsume would want to have kissed someone other than Mikan, tbh. He gets bored of dancing with other girls in Chapter 26 so going out of his way to kiss another girl? That's just not interesting to him and would be punishing himself more than her.

I don't know if I communicated all my points in the best way, but long story short: no, I don't think he'd kiss another girl to spite Mikan or make her jealous.