#the battle will be tough™

[dolyx]

(dick from tgirl sydney will save me)

[musical-chick-13]

The thing is, like...yeah, a lot of times, the Social Exclusion I've experienced has been from people I probably wouldn't have wanted to be friends with anyway. At the very least, if someone is willing to do that, if someone is going to be that judgmental over things that don't actually matter, then any actual friendship with them probably wouldn't last very long.

But...it still hurts. Because regardless of how you actually feel about these people, it's still another instance of somebody telling you that you're too annoying or too much or too emotional or too whatever. It's still one more thing that people don't even give you the choice to have? And if you hear this over and over again, if it happens everywhere you go, then after a certain point it gets difficult to not internalize it at least a little bit.

It's been 30 years of this and it never gets any easier.

[tolkienpinupcalendar]

Sluttiest Tolkien Character: Round 5

Sauron (Silmarillion) vs Finrod

Art by @ylieke ; @magicinavalon

Propaganda below the cut ↓

Sauron (Silm):

multiple flirty court twink phases in different courts….and let’s knot forget his werewolf phase

Annatar isn’t called “stupid sexy sauron” for nothing!!!!

is described literally as having "seduced" two men to do his bidding (ar-pharazon and celebrimbor) and was seduced in turn by morgoth. he's being passed around middle earth.

i mean. come on.

He was seduced by the mightiest vala and, after his sugar daddy ended up in jail, he decided to seduce his way into power. He destroyed and entire civilization and made God™ change the geography of the world just by seducing one guy, who ended up "infatuated by him" (Tolkien's words, not mine). How can anyone compete with that? 

Come on, it’s Mairon. Sexiest Maia on Middle-Earth and described as beautiful and seductive more times then Luthien herself. 

He’s a seducer! He has seduced so many people throughout the series

Finrod:

I MEAN LOOK AT HIM ?? Jewelry ? Music ? Rap Battle against Sauron ? Getting friendly with humans as soon as he meets them

That man is draped in jewellery in almost every art made, you can't tell me he wouldn't enjoy laying around with only that jewelry and nothing else on him, being admired by everyone around.

Hair, style, the way he just took a crown, also he's definitely the sluttiest in his family. Galadriel is the tough one

He has a recorded relationship/engagement in Aman. Then, after that fell apart, we all know that Finrod was really into anthropology and ~maintaining relationships~ with the kindreds of the secondborn and the dwarves. He's known for keeping all these ~close personal~ relationships.

He just goes up to a human campfire and starts singing. Show-off move. More than that, hippie-at-a-music-festival move. You know what hippies do at music festivals? When they're high on love and peace and roughing it through nature to get to the music festival (and whatever other elvish cordials with Magical Special Restorative Effects they've brought)? They fuck. Then he invites Beor back to his home and gives him a ring and promises to care for all his descendents ever after? Finrod not only fucks, his heart is all slutty with affection. He's a slutty kingdom-ruler, too. Nargothrond's supposed to be a secret, but he just can't keep those doors closed. And then there's a substantial amount of of Finrod/Curufin art and fic. Scandalously slutty! Your own cousin-lover cucking your kingdom out from under you! Finally: you know that in several places in Aman and Middle Earth, some young people got their kink awakening seeing vaguely-erotic etchings of Finrod wrestling the werewolf. You know this.

[yarpharp]

hey yeah so me being me and not aware of much about Baldur's Gate 3's other recruitable characters, I just thought Halsin was tossed in as like that one wacky poly hippie tree hugger that also moonlights as a dude who would totally fuck in his Wild Shape.

yeah NOBODY TOLD ME HIS FUCKING BACKSTORY IS FUCKING UPSETTING! Is.... Is everybody sleeping on this older elf dude? Like.... what the fuck. He was a fuckin slave in the Underdark for three years when he was young? A goddamn sex slave? He's so fucking old he was there for the whole battle with the Dark Justicars like 100s of years ago? And he lost everything! A good chunk of his homeland, his parents. He coped with his grief and traumas with sex and excessive drinking and he never really wanted to be in charge of the Grove in the first place but because he's a Good Man™ and the former Archdruid died he took up the mantle?????? I'm sorry, am I getting this correct?

hey yeah I like Astarion and his tragic backstory is A Lot BUT SO IS HALSIN'S????? What's up with the elves, man? Why are they all so traumatized?

(The lovely old elf Jaheira seems okay tho. She has tough grandma vibes)

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Steam "About This Game" section -

"Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics. Now, a pair of corrupt ancient gods have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world. Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight to stop the gods from blighting the world. But you can’t do this alone – the odds are stacked against you. Lead a team of seven companions, each with their own rich story to discover and shape, and together you will become The Veilguard. Rally the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age™: The Veilguard, an immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in."

"UNITE A BATTERED WORLD Enter Thedas, a vibrant world of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities. The world is teetering on a knife’s edge while corrupt gods unleash havoc across the continent. Nations war, and factions splinter. Who will you trust? From the Arlathan Forest to the back alleys of Minrathous, this is a broken world. Your actions will affect the fate of Thedas forever. - Dramatic Single-Player Campaign — When corrupt Elven Gods threaten Thedas, lead the charge to save it. Rook isn’t afraid of a fight, no matter the odds. No matter the cost. - Vibrant & Diverse Environments — Enter a vivid fantasy world, and experience imaginative new locations as well as some you’ve heard of but never seen. - Larger-than-life Foes — Battle darkspawn, demons from beyond the Veil, dragons that rule the skies, and unique enemies as you advance your quest and fight for Thedas’s future."

"RALLY THE VEILGUARD Rally a team of 7 companions, each with rich lives and deep backstories. These are characters to befriend and even fall in love with. Among them, an assassin, a necromancer, a detective, each and all bringing their own expertise and unique abilities to the fight. You are never alone — decide who to take into battle, and together face down demons, dragons, and corrupt gods. - Recruit Distinct Companions — Your team is full of individuals with grim and wondrous histories, their own personal struggles and motivations, and rare skills that’ll help you survive. You’ll fight alongside Harding: The Scout, Neve: The Detective, Emmrich: The Necromancer, Taash: The Dragon Hunter, Davrin: The Warden, Bellara: The Veil Jumper, and Lucanis: The Mage Killer. - Rich Companion Stories — Deepen relationships with each companion and learn more about them on your adventures in Thedas. Your choices in these stories will impact how they develop, and completing them might unlock powerful abilities. Create memories with your team that will deepen your experiences in Thedas and give you more to fight for."

"BECOME THE LEADER OTHERS BELIEVE IN Select from different races and combat classes, customize your appearance, choose your character’s backstory, and begin your journey as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. The choice is yours. On your adventures, you’ll gain new abilities and discover unique, powerful artifacts to enhance your own combat style. Brace yourself: there are tough decisions to be made, allies to inspire, and a fight that needs every sword, staff, and bow you can muster. - Be Who You Want To Be — Craft your personalized Rook with a robust character creator. Choose from a diverse set of appearance options for Human, Qunari, Dwarf, and Elf lineages. - Choose Your Way To Play — Select from 3 classes (Warrior, Mage, and Rogue), each with 2 distinct weapon types and unique abilities you can select between mid-combat. Experience new strategic depth as you combine fast-paced attacks, parries, and dodges with the companion ability wheel to exploit enemy weaknesses and seize victory with devastating combat combos. Customize a combat style that works for you. - Deep RPG Progression — Level up your Rook and companions with their own skill trees. Choose perks and combat abilities as you climb towards more powerful specializations. WARNING: See important flashing images and other health and safety information at www.ea.com/legal." [link]

[source: Steam]

[xelasrecords]

Once again I forgot that September 29 is this blog's anniversary, so I'm celebrating now woo! Thank you guys for sticking with me and being my friends. This year has been tough and I probably would've hit an even rockier bottom without tumblr and the people I've talked to here. No matter how short the interaction was, it helped. (MAJOR shoutout to @brighteststar707 @juminies and Lola)

When I hit a milestone, I like to look back on what has happened, so I decided to write unserious summaries and commentaries on my fics based on my recollection of them.

MYSTIC MESSENGER

As One So Half - Oh my God my loved ones are dead it's time to kill V and make Jumin mourn so I have an outlet to grieve.

Violent Need - Insane MC to match a controlling Jumin. The most passionate smut I've ever written. The passion is violence not lust.

Locus of Pain - She's so bitter and they're borderline toxic but at least Jihyun has his GE persona!! My possessive awakening, as in it turns out I don't hate possessiveness if it works for both sides.

Secrets and Sacrifices - I couldn't breathe so I suffocated everyone.

The Oasis Is Beautiful From Up Close - I easily forget about the fics I've written, so what I remember in this one is Jumin/MC/Jihyun, jokes, sexy scene almost sex but not, thoughtful conversation, then jokes again. Also my first romantic smut.

The Final Night - My life finally got a bit better so I allowed Jumin and MC to have a fleeting happiness before plunging them into a final battle.

All That Is Lost - Alas, Jumin is the target of my grief again. He's the one I'm killing now.

As Daylight Comes - Jumin and MC wish they could fuck in front of Jihyun but they respect their friendship too much to ruin their breakfast time.

The Love We Live For - Jumin, MC, Jihyun are falling for each other. I looked back on this with nostalgia because I don't think I can perceive love with as much altruism anymore.

Tea! Would You Like Some? - Jumin excessively promotes his tea because he forgets he likes wine after reader enters his house.

Haven Burning - Finally got the guts to write about Jihyun and it was about being codependent to hell. The start of my angsty smut as personal comfort.

Thank You for the Food - My most romcom fic ever. Wrote it as a pick-me-up to my younger self when I had to juggle a lot of things when I was sick and fantasising about Jumin taking care of me. Looooved writing the banter. My fics haven't been this happy since.

Wedge the Knife Under My Skin - Pent-up anger needed to go somewhere and the best course was through cheating on an abusive boyfriend with Jumin. This nourished my suppressed need for revenge. I was also interested in exploring the grey areas of cheating.

Greatest Kindness - I had an obsession with breakup stories that time so I had to give Jumin one.

Wedding Scene - My friend got married so my brain dramatised the whole thing. I was also grappling with guilt about something else so I smashed them together and it turned out to be a post-breakup fic set after Greatest Kindness.

In the Dead of Night, You Bring Me Back Alive - Tipsy thoughtful conversations inspired by my two brain cells debating each other. Might as well get them out. Oh, and the reader dazzles because we shouldn't be damsel-in-distress all the time in Jumin's fics!!

Cold Wrath - Jumin and the reader try to fight healthily. I got triggered writing the fight and reached a revelation™.

The Worth of Gifts - I haven't deleted this purely to show myself how much I've improved. A part of me wants to slam on this, but it was also my entry into fic writing so I'm just gonna be grateful that my past self got covid and was so bored that she entertained the idea of writing fanfics.

THE SSUM

The Great Anguish of Our Separation Means Nothing to Me - I was soooo excited when I saw Harry's potential for HUGE angst! Break them up, as I like to say.

Go, Go, Stay - A moment of relief when I finally understood Harry's inner working.

Lovely Walk - Persistent reader with a douchebag guy whom I would never recommend to pursue IRL, but this is all fun and games so it's aight. Beat this man into a pulp—metaphorically.

[gareleia]

THE KNITTING SAGA BUT MAKE IT SAD

update: my co-writer friend FINALLY got a tumblr account, so I can tag them now!!

previously: part 1 part 2

next: part 4 part 5

lets talk about relationships, shall we. i'm gonna focus on Athena & Telemachus this time, but Hermes will have his turn later

let's be real, Athena is a hardass. sure, she cares, but she's so emotionally constipated that it really doesn't show that much. especially before she goes through that character development arc after her break up with Odysseus in My Goodbye

(and what a crisis that is)

(because her masterpiece??? failed her??? but she trusted him??? she made him much as in her image as possible??? he was supposed to be perfect???)

(and if he's not perfect, then she failed,,, and she can't fail, she doesn't fail,,, she's a goddess,,, war strategy is her domain, surely there is no way her plan could be flawed,,,)

(what even is the point of her if she's not perfect)

so yeah, she's a hardass. even on baby Telemachus who'd never held a sword before - especially on baby Telemachus, because he's the son of her favored Champion. he may be waaay younger than any of her previous pupils, but she's expecting him to shine just as bright.

Athena, on the first day: let's get down to business! make your father proud! you won't have a weakness! by the time we're done! you're the saddest pupil that I've had! and you haven't got a clue! but I will make a man outta you! Telemachus, a literal toddler, holding a wooden sword as big as himself: ٩(๑❛��❛๑)۶

and for years to come she trains him relentlessly. she's honestly trying to be nice about it, too. it's just that Athena doesn't do soft or gentle, her default is a neutral face of displeasure, and her idea of encouragement is saying 'you're not as bad as you used to be', or something along these lines.

Telemachus: *succeeds at something* Athena: *raises an eyebrow in a slightly different manner than usually* Telemachus: *le gasp* could it b-be? am I doing a good job??? Athena: it's… acceptable, for your age.

she never once tells him she is proud of him. because surely he already knows. he doesn't need to hear it. his father didn't, after all (ody so fucking did)

and this goes on until Telemachus reaches double digits. then My Goodbye happens, and Athena has Feelings™. she's having an existential crisis, and has to confront the fact that she had done something wrong while training Odysseus, and she can't understand what. which is terrifying, because what if she makes a mistake like that with Telemachus. will he fail her too?

will she have to leave him too, so she doesn't watch him die horribly in a tragedy that could've been prevented if only she had made him see-

so Athena doubles down and starts demanding more and more from Telemachus. the praise goes from sparse to non-existent, and nothing he does seems to be enough anymore. she goes from tough love to borderline verbal abuse, thinking that it's the only way to keep him safe and prepare him for the future.

and Telemachus endures. he has to, because he doesn't want his mother to worry. doesn't want to appear weak. Odysseus had done it, so it's only fair his son should too. and when his dad comes home, he'll be sooo impressed. he can do it!

except…. not really. it's been a losing battle since the beginning, and deep down he knows it. he can't win with Athena, not on his own.

???: if you want to impress her, you'll need the blessing of a certain god! divine intervention! someone who's not afraid to- telemachus: aeolus, what are doing in my closet?!

so anyway, Aeolus and the winions start helping him via winds and stuff, and Telemachus actually starts exceeding everyone's expectations. it's not that he'd been bad before, but he's soft, and not quite strong enough physically to make up for his gentle constitution

everyone is cheering him on. he's the talk of the palace! his mom is so proud! the suitors start sizing him up with consideration instead of dismissing him outright! (and tele, baby, that's not a good thing! ಠ_ಠ). Athena seems pleased for the first time in ages!! but he knows that it's all a lie, and it's killing him.

cause he's a good, honest boye, and he wants to succeed on his own merit, not because of cheating and lying to everyone he loves. that's vile and dishonorable.

que some very important island-wide competition that everyone is expecting him to join and win. maybe it's even his duty as a prince. like, a right of passage from complete boyhood to adolescence.

and there's,,, a lot of pressure on Telemachus to suceed. everyone and their mother are telling him that of course he's got this, he's a prodigy! def his father's son! nobody doubts his incoming victory! he's got this! he definitely won't disappoint them!

random noble: we'll be cheering you on, young prince! truly, we are blessed by the gods to have such a talented successor to the throne! we'll watch with keen eyes as you triumph over your foes and bring even more honor to your family! b(￣▽￣*) telemachus, eye twitching: y-yeah… thank you… (ㆆ _ ㆆ)

so, the night before the competition Telemachus can barely sleep, he's so wrecked by guilt and nerves. he keeps thinking - what would his father do in this situation? all the stories he'd ever heard of Odysseus always painted him as some kind of invincible, righteous, all-capable genius. so the idea of his dad ever grappling with guilt and feelings of inadequacy is just laughable. (oh, if only he knew)

so, he goes to his mom for advice. because Penelope is awesome. but he can't bring himself to admit that's he's cheating - what if she's ashamed of him? he brought dishonor to his father's name, and if anyone knows - will he get exiled?

so yeah, he basically has a panic attack and cries for like, half an hour straight.

telemachus, bawling: if I lose tomorrow, will you hate me? will dad hate me? I can't do anything right and I'm a failure and a horrible person and- just- what do I do, mother? penelope, holding him: oh, love. sometimes you're so similar to your father I wonder if the gods haven't returned him to me in spirit through you.

because no matter what everyone else says, Penelope knows the truth - Odysseus always followed his heart. oh, how he may have tried to forget he had one, to only ever use his head. but a heart he did have - does have, they have to believe that - and it's a bright and gentle one. he may have been hardened by years of pain and struggle in a way that Telemachus hadn't been yet (and Penelope's heart breaks from knowledge that her son will be, one day). but deep down, at ther cores, Odysseus and Telemachus are strikingly similar. and she loves them all the more for it.

and so, with his mother's blessing, the young prince does just as she told him to: follows his heart. he thanks Aeolus for their help, and asks them to stop giving it from now on. either he'll suceed on his own merit, or he'll wear his failure as a badge of honor and an incentive to do better.

and he loses. badly.

and the world,,, doesn't end? sure, the suitors sneer and jeer, but there's a surprising lack of disowning and exile going around. and the nobles tone it down significantly with undeserved adoration, which is definitely a plus, as far as he's concerned.

the only thing is. Athena.

oh boy.

because she's not stupid. Telemachus may have gotten away with cheating so far, but now he'll have to answer to her why he had flunked so badly, and she won't buy his go-to excuse of 'I got nervous!'

athena, expression unreadable: so. care to explain yourself, my stupid pupil? telemachus: w-well, you see… ha-ha… it's, uh… a funny story… athena: you threw away your best advantage! you've had a god perfectly willing to assist you and yet you still somehow managed to lose! telemachus: wait, what-

so yeah, Athena knew all along.

athena, mildly insulted: how stupid do you think I am, boy? telemachus: but! but! but!.. you never said anything! didn't even scold me for cheating! athena, even more insulted: child, I am the goddess of war strategy, where did you get the idea that I ever play fair and straightforward? leave that to ares, the simple-minded fool!

to clarify, she's not upset at him for cheating. she's upset that he stopped doing so. so she throws some choice words at him, implying he lacks both talent and intelligence

and Telemachus defends himself by saying that he'd rather fail on his own merit, than abandon his principles and win by lying and dishonoring his family. in response, she calls him naive.

he tries to implore to her connection to his father by saying that he was just trying to do what's right. he was following his heart, just as Odysseus had always strived to. and he's training to fight for his loved ones, not for glory of being known.

it's a one hit K.O., because it reminds Athena of her recent break-up with Odysseus. of everything they spat at each other during My Goodbye. of anger, of hurt, of disappointment, of betrayal, of I loved you and you failed me, of I loved you and I failed you, of good riddance! and y̶͈̔o̴̘̖͆u̶̻̱͆͒'̸̫̩̌̉r̷̼͝e̴̩̒ ̴͎̻̈́̎ȧ̸̦l̵̗͙͌̐o̸͚͕̚n̷̟̯͠e̵̳̩͠

and is their whole line just cursed? is this their way of punishing her for something? why do they both hurt her so? is it her fault?

telemachus: athena? are… are you okay? (‘-’*) athena, coming off MG flashbacks: well, obviously, boy, why would you even ask that (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Telemachus just hugs her, because she obviously needs it. and she melts into it like never before.

because she wasn't made for empathy or kindness. she's been born to be ruthless and cold. she's not supposed to love and be loved care about anything but winning. it doesn't come natural to Athena, until recently she had truly thought herself unable to, and yet-

yet here, right in front of her, is a boy who loves for the both of them. loves the whole world - sincerely, selflessly. a truly kind and caring soul (the nobles even joke that his true father is Polites).

she can't love.

but maybe… maybe he will teach her.

maybe he already did.

or maybe she always could.

she forgets sometimes, that her fingers know not only the roughness of swords and spears, but also the gentle softness of weaved silk. creation goes hand in hand with destruction, and she can bind countless threads together without breaking them.

and what are humans, if not strings, waiting to be cut by the fates?

also, if Telemachus can teach the goddess of cold cynicism and detached cruelty kindness of all things, then she can teach him swordplay.

yes, it's a threat.

[neonponders]

1 thing the show did (mostly) correctly:

Max is a boy’s sibling. Sisters of brothers are just Different™ than sisters of sisters. Especially when the brother is older (because Nancy and Mike don’t follow this brother-sister dynamic). Obviously a girl can choose tom-boyish styles and activities on her own, but Max’s connection with Billy is so vividly apparent (coming from a femme sibling with brothers):

Billy surfs. Max skateboards. Same thing, different elements (water vs earth).

Hair style. They both wear their hair down, until Billy’s gone, then Max ties it back. In s3, she only ties it back once they’re fully in Mind Flayer battles. She doesn’t even tie it up while skateboarding (except for pulling her bangs/fringe to the side). I’m sure this wasn’t intentional by the hair stylists, another annoying happy accident.

Michael Myers. As someone whose brother chased them around the house in that stupid mask, tell me Max has a brother without telling me Max has a brother. We could discuss the symbolism between Michael/Laurie and Max/Billy, but the show doesn’t give a rip about functional parallels or foils, so never mind.

Attitude. Listen, elder siblings define what’s cool, and how to interact with the world. Billy and Max are mirrors of each other because of their tough exteriors and squishy hearts.

[calliegallieblog]

hello friends i have Returned with more Casey art and information

rejoice

this was the first sketch i made! fun fact: in order to get the colors for them, i literally took a png of a goat, raised the saturation, and used the eyedropper tool lmao

i'm actually kinda proud of this one! usually i'm kinda bad at anatomy this is a nice change of pace

NOW before we get on to the other art stuff

here's some new information:

Their gender is, and I quote: "Gender? I hardly know her!" (Reminder: Pronouns are they/she/xey)

I mentioned in the previous post that they "come off as arrogant", and I thought I should elaborate on that! They aren't a bad person. Like, it's clear that they genuinely care about those around them. HOWEVER. Without revealing TOO much, they are VERY conscious about how others see them. They want to seem "cool" and "tough". That's where the faux-arrogance comes from. Hope that makes sense, because that's all you're getting about that for now!

Please, do not let her near an oven. Do not let xem cook.

Xey're not a big fan of authority! (Well, to an extent. In a way, they are an authority. I think.) To be more specific, if they're told not to do something, they're gonna need a good reason.

She's not formally acquainted with DogDay and the gang. They've heard of them through the universal medium known as Water Cooler Talk™, but that's about it.

OKAY that's enough of that. back to the art!

here's a design for the uh

what's it called? the battle outfit?

The Outfit They Wear When They Kick Ass

there we go

the colors on this one are a bit...cluttered...to say the least. i may have to tweak them later.

lastly we got the casual fit

i kinda got lazy on the colors (i was gonna color it but it's currently midnight and i have school tomorrow i'm SORRY)

as basic as it is i like this sketch too. silli goat

AND THAT will be all for today!

of course, special thanks to @onyxonline for making the space riders au!! if you haven't checked them out yet, do so NOW.

cya later callie crew

[mlmichaelharrison]

HSS Family HCs

Saw someone complain that there weren't great back stories for the characters's family lives, and they are SO RIGHT >:( So here you go!

Warnings, it gets real angsty.

Caleb

Caleb's family is H U G E

Which means giant and exhausting family gatherings and way too many dates to remember.

Auntie Anna and Uncle John's anniversary? No clue. Grandpa T’s birthday? Fuck knows. Ezra's next gig? Shit, should probably memorise that one…

(ADHD does not help)

Losing his grandma was really tough on family dynamics.

His mom hopped on the bandwagon with blaming one of her brothers for not taking care of her as much as he should have, as the legal carer.

The funeral was one of the hardest things Caleb had to go through.

Everyone drifted apart a bit, until Caleb finally convinced his mom finally reached out to invite them over for Christmas, like old times. He knows that's what his grandma would have wanted.

After that, they were reunited, and have been inseparable since.

Which means more dates to remember, but that's okay, because everyone is happy again.

He and Ezra get along extraordinarily, always joking at the table (which his parents don't love), playing pranks on each other, and competing like their lives depend on it on Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Mario Party.

They get together in Ezra's room at least once a month to catch up on gossip (Ezra is very keen to hear Caleb's opinion on the new kid). They throw on a movie and chat over it the entire time (unless there's some really bad acting or visual effects).

Ezra can be a little pushy for personal details during these hangouts, but Caleb has learned to trust his brother, or lie.

He loves his mom and she loves him, so much. They have a very kissy and cuddly relationship (which gets embarrassing when she kisses his forehead goodbye in front of his friends).

He will ALWAYS be a Mama’s Boy™

He gets along with his dad well, too. He has never missed a game, even standing out in torrential rain to watch Caleb play soccer with seven friends when he was six years old, still cheering him on and shaking his umbrella in celebration.

They all come along to his big games, even when he tries to tell them not to, but it always brightens the game up when he looks to the seating and sees his family, beaming at him, holding up ugly hand painted signs they've had since Caleb was ten.

Now we get to the angst >:) GET OUTTA HERE, GOLDEN BOY!!!

Emma

Obviously, Emma's family is split apart. Parents divorced, sister siding with their father, and no family close to the Cove.

The divorce was tough, especially when it came to her parents fighting over the kids and the battle of bribery that ensued.

Since her mom works so often, she has a lot of time to herself.

Sometimes she wonders if she made a mistake, staying with Julia, but she shakes that thought immediately when her father comes to mind.

He's… not the nicest man. Emma used to sit at the top of the stairs to listen to their arguments. The insults and swears she'd learned by the age of ten would concern every teacher.

He had all the money, a very good job, and that's why Robin followed him to the city. Better than this deadbeat town. Emma is sometimes jealous of the lavish life they have together, but when her mom comes home with that tired smile and opens her bag to show lemon meringue pie, Emma's favourite, Emma knows she's made the right decision.

She and her mom try to do things together when Julia has a day off: typical kid’s days out, like the fair, the roller rink, bowling.

As much as Emma appreciates these outings, her favourite part is watching trashy TV on the sofa, and the warm smile of appreciation she gives Emma every time she brings a fresh cup of tea.

When she's lonely, she's grateful you came into her life and built an (unlikely) chosen family with her. She genuinely considers the gang her siblings, and never misses an opportunity to show her appreciation.

Maria

She adores her dads, and they love her to absolute pieces . They had to fight for her, so she means a lot to them. A LOT.

They always reserve time for each other. Every week, shuffled around, they have a board game night, video game night, a collaborative from-scratch cooking night, and theatre night.

They love to dress up for these events, too, just to keep them feeling special.

(Except cooking night. Jose learned that the hard way when he spilled a can of tomatoes down a cream suit jacket.)

However, Maria does get lonely sometimes. Not having siblings or any extended family members (since her dads had to cut themselves off from their families when they got married on the first day it was legal) leaves her feeling quite isolated.

She loves her cats, though.

Aiden

Strict parents, no siblings, he gets even more isolated.

They get him diagnosed with autism when he's young, and since then have mostly kept him from social situations to “protect” him. Their hearts are in the right place, but it takes a toll on his mental health and means he doesn't learn very good social skills.

He resents them a little. Quietly, of course, but if a jab at them ever does slip, they're prompt to punish him by grounding him, isolating him further. Genius.

He sneaks a second phone into his room so he can chat with Myra, who he honestly considers to be his sister and best friend.

She listens to him bitch for a few minutes before she changes the subject, which takes Aiden's mind off of things quickly.

(Especially when it involves a certain someone)

Glen and Bridget's expectations have always been high, and not just for music - he is grounded immediately if a single subject’s grade is below a B.

That does, however, provide its own distraction of studying. No need to do anything against the rules this time. Little wins?

One time, Glen catches him on his phone during grounding. Yelling about disobedience escalates to conversations around mental health (they don't believe that “anxiety” is real) and sexuality, and how he's distracted thinking about the wrong thing. Bridget smacks him when he talks back one time, which left Aiden with a small mark that he brushed off as a bow snapping in his face.

Michael

Michael doesn't get along with his parents.

Or his older sister, for that matter. She stayed at Hearst when Michael moved, and she loves having a reason to be rude to him.

Only his immediate family live in Cedar Cove: the rest live in New York, where Alex was until age fourteen. He misses his cousins a lot, and a couple of aunties and uncles, but he can take or leave the rest.

His grandfather used to put his cigars out in Michael's skin if he ever misbehaved, which has left him with nasty, circular scars running up both arms.

His mom tries her best, but rarely gets it right. She tries so hard to support his mental health, but it's too much for one woman to take, and her check-ins become less frequent as Michael grows up. She has a nasty habit of manipulating him, but he becomes a little less easy to manipulate every year.

He's still not all the way there, though. She still sometimes gets under his skin and in his head, and he agrees to things that he doesn't want to do.

His dad is abusive, and the worst part is that everyone knows it.

It's mostly emotional, but every now and then Michael turns up to school with a couple of bruises. He always brushes it off with a smile.

He had a LOT of pressure put on him, particularly around sports and arts.

His father owns a big camera company, which is why he has so much practise with cameras, and so many wonderful and expensive bits of tech.

He works for his dad by testing out their new products. His dad will always find a way to punish him for not being good enough, but will use Michael's artwork for advertisement anyway.

His parents are why he starts rebelling - firstly with fights (against them and people at school), then with B&Es, joyriding, hacking, then with drugs.

He steals his dad's money, which gives him a few heavy beatings.

Starts with cigarettes and alcohol, then weed, then starts slipping into stuff like cocaine, ketamine, and acid.

He thinks if he can fuck his life up enough, maybe they'll back off.

They do, but he's been left with a criminal record and a couple of dangerous addictions.

(Bonus: Michael + Gay!M!MC)

Michael's dad is massively homophobic.

Never towards Michael, he never suspected a thing, but he would often open political conversations with Michael to make sure he was still his son, his puppet, regurgitating every opinion he has.

It works for a while. Michael is completely brainwashed into believing that homosexuality is wrong, so when MC turns up in all his powerfully gay glory, Michael takes some time to adjust.

He teases MC sometimes, at first, calling him names and telling him to man up. It's a defence mechanism, because in reality, Michael noticed how much he liked him immediately.

MC wasn't even the first boy he liked, or even kissed. But those were such drunken/high/adrenaline fuelled/‘fake’ experiences that he wiped them from his mind as soon as he could, terrified that his dad would be able to read it from his brain when he got home.

It took Michael a lot of time to soften his exterior and apologise to MC. A lot of sleepless nights. A lot of lying to his family if he ever asked what was wrong. A lot of breakdowns.

When Michael and MC finally figure out their relationship, he carries that secret around home with complete and utter fear.

His mom is the first to find out, and tells him they always wanted him to be “perfect” and have a “good” and “acceptable” life.

His dad finds out accidentally and beats Michael for the first time in over a year. Michael runs away to MCs house, still bleeding and crying, and Scott instantly agrees to let him stay for the weekend.

A lot of Michael's story is taken from my OC from a novel I've been writing, so if you read a novel that has an eerily similar plot, hey! Maybe it's me :)

Didn't proof read soz I'm lazy xoxo

[burr-ell]

🤍, 🖤?

🤍: Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

So this is gonna seem contradictory to my reblog of blorb's post; this is not intended to be read as a counter to it, but as a complement: Percy.

If I'm being honest, one of the things that kinda bothers me about C1 group fanart is when I see everyone else in the party at their fully developed state, like with their Vestiges and powerups and everything, and then Percy's out here...with Orthax. Whom he expelled from himself with a natural 20 wisdom save, for the record, in episode 35. He spent more time without Orthax than with him!

It is objectively true that Percy invented the gun knowing what harm it could do but did it anyway. He once permanently maimed an innocent boy because he wasn't giving the answers he wanted. He gave Grog a cursed sword and didn't tell anyone because he didn't want it to be his responsibility and he thought Grog could handle it. It is also objectively true that he expressed doubts about what he was doing even during the Briarwood arc and admitted he was scared of who he was becoming and outright asked the group to stop him if they thought they should. He publicly apologized to Desmond and admitted his wrong and assured him recompense in both money and job security. He participated in a resurrection ritual for a child he didn't know who got caught in the crossfire of a battle. He fought to provide the people of Westruun a safe haven in their city, while still encouraging people to leave if they wished, because he wanted to honor the fact that what they had built there was important to them.

I think Percy is one of those characters that people view as either a silly little Human Disaster™ or as Vox Machina's Token Evil Teammate (the audience who projected onto him as the Facts and Logic guy seems to have dissipated after it became clear that he was. very much not doing that), and neither of those things are true. When Laura remarked that she looked at Percy and said "I can fix him", it was very clearly a joke, but I think people take that seriously and think Vex is the only reason he's not Lawful Evil or something. (Taliesin once said that without Vex's influence Percy could potentially have turned out Lawful Good—Laura's reaction was "eugh".) Percy didn't believe he could EVER be worthy of Vex and never once intended to act on his feelings; the change in him between episodes 35 and 68 was because he personally chose to be better, over and over again—even through several instances of him having Fucked Up Big Time—for its own sake. His forgiveness of Ripley is what inspired Vex, and I don't think people acknowledge that enough.

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

I kind of alluded to this in the ship question but to be clear at the outset, I think Vax is a good person*, but I also think his flaws tend to be overlooked. He gets Soft Boy'd a lot, and while I don't think characters who operate on emotion are bad or stupid by default (my favorite superhero is Starfire), I think fandom tends to assume people who operate on emotion are good by default. Vax does a lot of reckless things that he's repeatedly called out for by everyone in the group, and he generally lets it roll off him because his metric for success is "but did you die". He saw a kid that he thought needed some tough love, and his first response was "bludgeon him over the back of the head and instantly knock him unconscious". He ran into a trap that nearly got Cassandra killed and never once apologized to her. He ran after Raishan and attacked, an action that actually did get Vex and Scanlan killed, and not only did he never apologize to them, he openly said in front of them that he didn't regret doing it (after being rightfully angry with Percy for getting Vex killed and having seen some proof that Scanlan might not be doing great!).

Like, to be clear, again, none of those things make him a bad person; I think overall he's a good person, and I think they're good character choices!* What I'm saying is that he has some genuine rough edges to him, and I think a lot of that gets ignored or sanded down in fanon to make him "the nice twin" or a perfect YA Hero love interest for a Keyleth who is being projected onto, and that simply isn't the character Liam played.

*I wouldn't normally put in that kind of good-person caveat—I don't think the end-all be-all is whether or not a fictional character is a good person—but a) this is a question about morality and b) some folks are weird about Liam.

unpopular opinions asks

[earhartsease]

Rush Sunak telling other Tories

“We are in the fight of our lives. This battle will define us, when the going got tough, when the polls were against us did we dig deep and fight or did we turn in on ourselves?”

so fuck the will of the people you serve, eh?

we hope this monstrosity just dies (we meant the Rwanda bill but also mean the Tories)

in case people outside the UK don't know what this is about, the Tories have been trying to hatch a plot to ship refugees off to some holding pen in Rwanda (presumably because it's cheap and Sends A Message™) and Rwanda has a terrible record for human rights so this is particularly terrifying for any refugees who are marginalised (e.g. lgbtqi+) but just in general a terrible idea

[tsuchinokoroyale]

I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on JJK. Admittedly, I’m not well versed in shonen, so I never even considered that it was trying to subvert the genre.

P.S. Thank you for the consistently thoughtful takes and hot ass 😘

Ooooo boy I hope you’re ready for a whole ass essay 😎😎😎

Shonen as a genre has changed over time as any art form does, but it is still mired in tropes that can be traced back to the classics. The shonen genre is thus named bc its target demographic is boys to young men, for our discussion we’ll say teenage boys. While it obviously has big appeal for other demographics, it is mainly designed to both appeal AND communicate life lessons to that crowd of impressionable kids.

Because of this dual function you get this really odd genre full of super powerful special boys who love their friends but have no qualms about slaughtering their enemies. They typically espouse lessons about the merits of hard work, sticking to your beliefs ((so long as your beliefs are beneficial to society at large)), of goodness and friendship triumphing over evil. Look no further than DBZ and Naruto which can broadly be divided into Battle Arcs and Training Arcs, upping the ante for our special boy main protagonists until we literally have them fighting gods as the logical extreme of continuous escalation.

The Standard™ Shonen formula has a boy main protagonist who’s got some sort of motivation that is so ideologically pure that he’s basically impossible to defeat. Goku loves to fight, Naruto wants to be hokage, Tanjiro wants to cure his sister and slayer all the demons, etc. He forms/joins a band of merry outcasts with their own tragic backstories and sets out to defeat whatever villain appears for that arc. If they win, arc is over move onto training arc, if they lose, they train, fight and win, then train some more. The fun of the genre comes from the colorful side characters, and the little twists that come with each battle system, which brings us to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

At the time JJBA was being published, the big influence on manga was big beefy male led 80s action movies and Fist of the North Star, a manga about a beefy martial artist named Kenshiro going around beating baddies in a post apocalyptic world. Battle systems in Shonen were usually incredibly soft, most tied to physical combat enhanced by some poorly defined life force energy that could be called upon to even out fights and give big climactic finishes, like Ki from dragon ball and their iconic kamehamehas. Even JJBA starts off this way, with our beefy boys learning Hamon/Ripple and duking it out with vampires, til my man Hirohiko Araki was like “mmmm this is kind of limiting. Time to Change Everything~” and he came up with the concept of Stands, incredibly limited psychic/magic abilities that manifest as furries or sexy robots or a Lego version of the White House (?). You can see this idea really grow and expand within the part it’s introduced, going from “fire furry” and “robot knight with sword” to “guy whose stand turns into a ball that immediately erases anything it runs into but he can’t really see what he’s attacking since he has to be inside his stand in order for it to work also his name is Vanilla Ice and he’s a vampire in a thong.”

You can FEEL the impact this had even to this day. Stands became Jutsus in Naruto, quirks in MHA, Nen in HxH, Cursed Techniques in JJK. And part of what made it fun was that it added strategy to the mix! Str8 physical fights are hard to strategize bc it’s basically just a numbers game, right? Like bc his power level is over 9000, it’s going to be a tough time until some plot contrivance and/or training occurs to drive *my* power level over 9000. But now there is an additional layer of *how* these powers interact.

My ability is to blow bubbles and his ability is to turn a single person who comes into contact with bodily fluids into a mindless zombie? Create bubble shields so they can’t splash blood on you. My ability is to fold anything into origami and if you touch the origami you begin to see one object as something else and his ability is an automatic tracking stand that hunts me down by creating face shredding tornados when I breathe? Make a city bus look like my dad ((part 8 is fucking nuts)).

As you can tell, JJBA really burst open the dam on creativity, but as per the examples I’ve given they can often feel very… silly and contrived. The Serious Anime Fan™ will complain and say those fights are full of asspulls, which they are, but that’s very much part of the fun of the series. BUT because diversity is the spice of life, you also get artists who are less interested in adhering to the Rule of Cool and more interested in making things explicitly “logical” which is how we get Hunter x Hunter.

While JJBA dabbles in using stands for characterization, HxH goes HARD into it. Nen abilities are ((usually)) manifestation of their user’s idea of power, creating a direct link between who that person is and what they can do as a result. This is balanced by people having innate Nen types which means the kinds of abilities they can use are limited, though there are rules restrictions and exceptions to this as well. We know all of this bc mangaka Togashi literally gives a college level lecture on Nen in the story, describing how it manifests, how it works, what it can and can’t do, and how individual rules can supersede the basic set of rules and the rules for doing that. I call this style Erudite Shonen, bc bitches be TALKING. In erudite Shonen, powers usually fall on the complex side, even Bungee Gum, which has the properties of both rubber and gum, can be used in insane ways like ricocheting bullets, gluing minors together, and/or cheesing a game of dodgeball and it’s all both shown AND told.

Now where does JJK fall into all this? Listifying the common Shonen tropes we have A Special Boy main protagonist with a pure motive, a crew, goodness triumphing over evil, prioritizing bonds and community over selfish gain, and the winning power of hard work.

Early JJK fits the mold pretty well. Yuji Itadori starts off the series special, with superhuman fitness before he ingests sukuna’s finger at which point he becomes a Naruto analog, where he is strong because he has a powerful spirit trapped inside him. He has the rather off kilter but still acceptable goal of “dying a proper death”. His squad of mentor Gojo, Fushiguro, and Kugisaki is established by episode 3. The villains are cursed spirits who want to eradicate humanity, the good guys are the jujutsu sorcerers who say “no u” to that. Yuji wants to gain power to protect others instead of just becoming powerful himself. And there’s a training arc! Sure, it happens after Yuji gets his heart ripped out, but he’s not even dead that long. Even the powers in early JJK present themselves as pretty simple, Fushiguro does shadow summoning, Kugisaki does hammer and nail resonance, panda, Inumaki does cursed speech.

It wears its darkness on its sleeve however, presenting Junpei as a potential future team member only to shockingly kill him. The whole star plasma vessel incident casts an unflattering light on Jujutsu society. But none of that COMPARES to the shitshow that happens in Shibuya, where JJK finally shows its real hand.

Over the course of the Shibuya arc, we watch our protagonist mount an offense against the villains that have been building themselves up over the course of the show, sacrificing so so much just to ultimately… lose. The Shibuya arc subverts not just idiosyncratic plot beats but story telling traditions as well. “The strongest” loses, multiple fan favorite characters are either taken out of commission or outright killed, the story progression slams the fast forward button as Yuji goes from having ingested 4 out of 20 fingers to 15/20 resulting in mass civilian casualties because his version of the 9 tailed fox is an actual monster, and ((meta-narratively)) worst of all, Yuji doesn’t even get to defeat his arch-rival, Mahito. Instead Mahito is unceremoniously absorbed by other big bad Geto/Kenjaku. It’s supremely unsatisfying and the weight of the tragedy is so immense you wonder how our heroes are gonna come back from this.

And thus begins the “deconstruction” phase of JJK. Cuz they just… don’t. As dark as Shibuya got, a standard Shonen would then go on to give the heroes a big fat W, some sort of come back after all that. But not JJK! Bc JJK is subversive 😏 this means the fact that the story is super unsatisfying is like, the point mannnn. This isn’t the worst thing that can happen. Chainsawman is also a story of major L’s and minor W’s and it’s my #1 favorite modern manga series. The difference is in intent, however. Chainsawman works as well as it does bc at its core, it loves Denji. He REALLY goes through the ringer, but it’s all in service of understanding what life is like for someone trapped on the hedonic treadmill and how one can ((attempt anyways)) to break out of it.

And then there’s JJK. It truly feels like the manga is designed to tear Yuji’s self sacrificial mindset to shreds for the sake of making him suffer and for the reader to feel bad for ever feeling like good has to triumph over evil. The real problem is, it feels as if the series is bending over backwards to make this shit happen.

Part of the change over is what was a previously simple-ish battle system goes full Erudite Shonen. There were hints that cursed energy could get more complicated, what with domain completion competition and guaranteed hits and simple domains and that one guys FPS ability I can’t explain. But we go FULL HxH level afterwards. All of a sudden oxygen delivery to the brain becomes important to cursed technique, there’s domain range and boundary fidelity and incomplete domain properties, disruption of somatic components becomes a factor, and… it honestly feels like utter nonsense at times.

Complexity isn’t bad, like I mentioned I LOVE HxH and could probably explain the chrollo-hisoka fight if you gave me a few hours to study, but I could not tell you all the new rules for cursed energy that seem just kind of invented on the spot in random chapters during this back half of JJK. Bc they involve concepts never really mentioned before, it feels like an asspull, like this was something made up to force the situation at hand. Thing is, more of those situations only benefit the villains. You get shit like a character winning a battle at the end of one chapter and then starting the next one to find they were killed off screen moments later, actually. It’s just like yeah it’s subversive, but the reason stories aren’t told like this is bc this shit sucks lmao. I think out of all the plans the heroes make like only a handful of them are actually successful, and even then they get so unwound by the next step in the plan that they may as well have not happened. It doesn’t help that the abilities are so complicated now you’ll get a chapter dedicated to explaining what one guy can do just to have him wiped off the face of the earth the next one.

So the crew is gone, our special boy is actually the most disempowered guy ever except for the fact that he can’t be killed for some reason, the good guys are NOT doing a great job standing up to evil since like 86% of their plans fail or have bad results, a gag character wins one of the most important fights in the story and it’s unironically the best thing JJK has done in a while, and it’s all just a very confusing slog to read. This is the danger of writing subversion for the sake of subversion with intent for contempt, kids 😮‍💨

Granted we aren’t at the end of the story yet so maybe I’ll be wrong and there’ll be like a reset button that fixes everything (( which would also suck )), but yeah. JJK wants what HxH did in the chimera ant arc but forgot that that story was possible bc it was fundamentally about humanity and love, not just the parts about how people suck and goodness can fail.

If you made it this far congratulations you’re entitled to one big kissy on ur forehead from me and barnaby 😚😚😚

[patternwelded-quill]

Consider this an open invite/tag game. I'll ask the question now and explain my answer! Do you have, or would you get, a tattoo based on something from your writing?

If yes, what and why?

Obvs yes since I'm sharing it, lol.

How is this relevant to my books and why does it look like I can't stop thinking about the Roman Empire? Let me tell you!

When the Red Hand Company was founded, it was by five very close friends who were all veteran military (three of which where also mercenaries post state military.) Five fingers of the same hand.

One of them was a Dryhtnar (race) Wodras (title). Among his people they are *also* governed by five people who make up the Elder Council: Nelade (red hand: external relations, chief of war), Nelbuv (white hand: internal relations/domestic chief), Arahe (chief military leader), Wodras (war speaker: priest, healer, wizard, advisor), and Satlaade (red angel: always a woman who isn't the Arahe, but a seasoned warrior, also heads the council of women's issues.)

Red Hand, you see, was no coincidence of a name. Ade also refers to life, blood, the color red, war, and family (bloodline sense.) So the Nelade Chihk'ni, (red hand brethren/brotherhood/group) or Red Hand Company was born.

You *might* also notice another thing. It's a *left* hand. That's intentional. The left hand holds your shield, which you use to protect your fellow warriors on the line. The left hand is a Teryn (more on this coming) and Dryhtnar symbol of, for lack of a better English word, a brotherhood. The symbol of the military family is put on the left arm, because they are all your shield, as well.

Okay, Myka, sure... but why the gold wreath? You basically have 'the manus' there before you added it anyway? You're right, and I noticed that detail so I leaned into it.

You see, there *was* a Rome in that part of the world in my... world. I'm a writer, I swear I have vocab. Anyway. The Kingdom of Teryn has a lot of Rome in it, and when it imploded that continent ended up with a lot of warring micro states. Thus the prevalence of mercenaries waging wars for rich assholes who lack a population to conscript in such numbers. One of them is Karvan, whom other founder Vledec hails from. Kinda fascist assholes, mandatory military service, state sponsored religion... you can imagine why a young man didn't want to drink the koolaid and fucked off. But the very-Roman legion standard feel of it comes from his background, military commanders wore them after battles so it was an associated symbol of power, victory, the Great Old Kingdom™, etc. Being a group of mercs, and ones that got hired to fill some deficiencies in post-Teryn nation militaries, was a way to thumb their noses at them. But the uninsightful nobility just saw 'Teryn symbol, okay, they're like us.'

Okay, cool, but why tf do *you* have a fictional military tattoo? Well, everyone in the RHC gets one and I made it, so...

Also, Relarial was my character, all the worldbuilding came after her. She got me through a lot of tough times, was my avatar in any game that let me be a one-eyed, knife-eared war cri- adventurer/mercenary, and is a big part of me. Those of you who know the hints and facts, that too.

So there you have it. A symbol that evolved for IRL years from an old mspaint gauntlet on a black shield to a fully worldbuilt heraldic symbol with centuries of meaning. *And* it looks cool!

@illarian-rambling @ladytamris @somethingclevermahogony @thecoolerlucky @roach-pizza @unrepentantcheeseaddict @princesscolumbia and anyone else I forgot at 0200 on a Thursday...

[rayshippouuchiha]

went ransacking through my ao3 bookmarks bcs i live vicariously through these when the going gets tough. some of these might have already been recc'ed alrd but im too lazy to check 🫠

The Menagerie by zegez

Tsuna collects everyone as pets, literally, most if not all of them are animals. it's glorious and very cute

Bad Influence by Emric84

Toji and Tsuna meet, what follows is a catastrophe for everyone else. Toji27 is the most left field ship i had ever encountered but by god was it good while it lasted. ABANDONED but had enough content to it BUT STILL GOD IM SO SAD THIS WAS SO GOOD????

body aches by HeavenlyDusk

In which KHR was originally a very different story.

This one is a little heart breaking but also really hopeful bcs tsuna is learning to be more comfortable w/ being Tsuna™ the protagonist while still maintaining some semblance of himself from a past life. its still ongoing but i have it as one of my comfort fics <3

Overcast universe by Ocearna

a khr rewrite where 1827 meet and bond as kids and tsuna getting that cloud influence. cloudysky!tsuna my beloved.

Beginnings and Middles But No Ends In Sight by Ourliazo

Arcobaleno shenanigans before the curse.

in the hearts of men (there be madness) by Silverfox579

YKNOW WHAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S ALWAYS FASCINATED ME IN CANON AFTER I GOT OVER THE ANIME ENOUGH TO NOTICE IT??? THE HYPER DYING WILL MODE PERSONALITY like after the kyaa badass tsuna lets gooo, you start wondering what the fuck is going on there actually bcs basil is not like this,, what goes on here 👀👀

or!! dark!tsuna au-ish in reborn's pov

Bargaining chip by Mina37

like the one before but in xanxus' pov this time

My Sweet Affinity by Chaotic_Roses

criminal minds au featuring tired w/ a mysterious bg leader tsuna, freshly released from prison hitman reborn, intern gokudera, Hana, and scammer kyoko.

[this could've been] a villain's origin story by petroltogo

Tsuna running into and unknowingly helping villains after helping release xanxus from the ice box should've really been the hill where it all went wrong, surprisingly tho, only shenanigans. featuring!! chikusa and tsuna childhood friendship that i very much adore

whisper in my ear (i'll build your dreams on bones) by Silverfox579

its only a one shot but gOD I WISH THEY EXPAND ON THIS ITS SO COOL I AM IN LOVE W/ THIS FIC I HAVE THIS FIC PLASTERED ALL OVER MY SOCIAL MEDIA, IF I HAVE ANY WAY TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR I WOULD ASK PERMISSION TO PRINT AND BOOK BIND IT FOR PERSONAL USE BCS THIS!! CONCEPT!!!

or!! the five times the stress of war and battle got to tsuna and wakes up the God in his head. (the last two are spoilers for the manga but hnnnggg i NEED to rec this)

a rose by any other name (would taste just as bitter) by heyimflamel

sealing flames has very, very dangerous repercussions. not only are you sealing this person's will to live but sealing someone w/ sky flames whose purpose is to harmonize? you get something dangerous indeed. dark!tsuna corrupting flames one guardian at a time.

High School Montage by HeavenlyDusk

a montage of vongola tenth gen as they navigate through high school through outsider pov. slice of life-ey and very chaotic (the side story w/ the childhood friends oc my beloved 🫶)

The Boy in the Ice by eloquentelegance

UA has to deal w/ these weirdos lurking around their courtyard all thanks to the mysterious ice pillar that just dropped from the sky w/ a boy frozen inside.

rattle this ghost town by blackkat

Mukuro meets Naruto and spirits him away lmao

Set the Skies Ablaze by cywscross

K(anime) and khr crossover that took me by the neck and never let go. it's essentially discontinued now but the 3 chapters it has??? keeps you coming back in hopes that it does, miraculously, update 🫠

To the Beat of My Own Drum by Seito

College AU where reborn is the normal one and tsuna and his friends bring the chaos in his life. the found family that this fic gives and radiates is so 🫶🫶🫶 like i love it so MUCH

that's it for now bcs im sleepy hehehe

!!!!!!!!

[pseudoartistpostsstuff]

I saw that you wanted some requests so could I ask for Yandere Lu!sky x reader when they're giving him forehead kisses and he's falling deeper for them?

Yes I was! Thank you for requesting :]

Notes: Just letting you guys know, unless specified otherwise I'll also make the reader be from our world.

TWs: Yanderism, Stockholm Syndrome.

LU! Sky x Reader

Soft moments with Sky receiving forehead kisses right after almost dying

The boys™ just came back from a particularly tough battle. Blood moon does that to you.

Sky was worried sick for you during the whole battle, that was why he had his shield knocked off for a few, enough time for him to get hit by one of the lizalfos. He got his arm sliced in the process, his white undershirt ripped, blood dripped from the wound onto his arm guard, the one the lizalfo "missed" when attacking him.

He was mainly worried because he couldn't exactly remember where monsters were found the last time the group passed by that place, for all he knew, while he was fighting monsters here you could have also been in danger back where they left you and Warriors. And he sure as hell didn't trust Warriors to keep you safe from more than one lizalfo.

When they finished slaying the monsters all over again and came back to where you guys were everything seemed fine, that still didn't calm Sky's mind, his eyes searched frantically for you, yelling your name as he got closer to where you were supposed to be.

You didn't expect to be that worried about Sky when you saw his wound.

He hugged you, only to be pushed back, feeling you grab his arm gently and inspect it, one look at your expression told him everything. Despite the fact you were trying your best to not show how worried you actually were about him, it showed, it showed on your furrowed eyebrows, on your slightly watery eyes and on your tensed posture. His own expression softened at your worried one, he wasn't expecting you to care about him that much.

Honestly, not even you were expecting to react that way, not to Sky that is. Not ever since you started noticing some toxic behaviors from him of all people. You weren't stupid, even if he was good at hiding it, you could still notice manipulative tendencies, it was easy to remember the amount of videos you saw about it on your tiktok for you page before you got in this world.

Still, it was hard to dislike Sky, maybe it was the Stockholm Syndrome kicking in or something, but it was hard to just ignore a Link like Sky when he was the most adorable one out of all of them. 

No matter how much you tried to make him stop and leave you alone, his sweet actions worked no matter how much you denied them. Him bringing you random flowers and trinkets he found when he wasn't glued to your side? Those affected you more than you would like to admit, and even as you tried to be rude to him to make him stop, saying anything less than "thank you" started to hurt you more than it hurt him at some point.

Where did it go wrong? You were so sure you would be able to handle a situation like this easily back when you read them on the internet!

Making your way back to where Hyrule had left you with his potions and pulling Sky's good arm along, you grumpily realized he had already used one or two that were there on the other's more serious wounds. Potions weren't meant to be wasted on simple wounds, even more when there were already less than 10 left on his pouch.

You pulled Sky to your side, releasing his arm and silently pointing to a reasonable sized rock he could lay his back against. He obliged immediately, staring at you with that same loving gaze you repeatedly told yourself you hated, you kept your eyes on what you were doing, not even glancing at him as you gathered gauze rolls and cotton, a small bottle of rubbing alcohol as well, you were pretty sure you overheard the others mentioning something about the monsters they fought being infected. You didn't want Sky to get his wound infected, no matter how much you told yourself you were only doing so for the sake of Hyrule.

As you gathered everything, you turned back to Sky and tried to do your thing, disinfecting the wound proved to be a hard task, not because Sky was moving around or anything like that, but you could see his face contorting in pain, small hisses passing through his clenched teeth, he was trying his hardest to not cry, clearly. No matter how strong you are or how many monsters you fought, rubbing alcohol on an open wound hurts like a bitch. Everyone knew that.

You knew that too, so as you finished wrapping his upper arm in gauze, you moved back and hesitated a bit. Noticing you weren't touching him anymore, Sky opened his eyes, ready to ask you if you were done and to thank you, only to blush darkly as he felt light kisses being pressed on his forehead. You wanted that to be it, in fact, you didn't even want to do that in the first place, knowing it would only reassure him in chasing you around more, but you figured he deserved it. After that you just wanted to forget this ever happened and go on your way.

Sadly, you were too sensitive at the moment and Sky was too hug shaped.

So when the dark blonde opened his arms to bring you into a hug again, this time a thankful one, you didn't go against your reflex of hugging him back. Only squeezing him, trying to reassure yourself he was there. You allowed your bad feelings towards him to be silenced for a moment, needing it maybe even more than him. How long has it been since you last hugged someone?

As your emotional side took the control over your body away from your rational side, Sky smiled in relief. It had been a while since he received any affection from you, he missed this, he missed the hugs. He only got those from you, considering the others of the group weren't interested in hugging, he was just as touch starved as you were. Being the only two in the group to be mutually prone to hugging and showing affection in general, even if it had been a while since you last did.

Now to your kisses? Those were new, and a whole other level of joy and comfort to him. Those showed you cared about him, as much as he cared about you.

That's why he kept trying despite you not acknowledging his constant efforts. He loved you and he knew you would eventually give in, you would love him back.

Now he felt like he was even more in love with you, if that was possible in the first place. If you had even a sliver of chance to get away before now you just didn't, not anymore.

Now, even if you managed to get back to your world, he would go after you. He would chase you to the ends of the multiverse if necessary, he already left his safe zone once for someone, and he would easily do it over and over again for you.

Sky loves you, and his love is easily bigger than anyone's else. Just give in to him already, will you? You won't be disappointed.