#the children (me) yearn for the western au

[nathanfrazers]

you know, when nova and i dove into the cancerverse as the fault was closing around us -- we really did think we were butch cassidy and the sundance kid.

riderquill as the bcsk poster because of this line that made me crazy

[ships-n-bats]

I used to view Shadow and Maria's relationship as strictly familial and would get grossed out whenever I came across fanworks romantically pairing them together. I even recall absolutely hating the hedgehog!Maria reincarnation AU, because people would only use it as a means to ship them. I just couldn't understand why or how people viewed their dynamic as anything other than brother & sister... only to just recently learn that they were, in fact, not canonically siblings. The whole ARK Siblings thing was just a popular western interpretation that overshadowed their romantic coding.

I don't know what it is with western fanbases, but they are obsessed with turning any positive dynamic between non-related characters into sibling or other familial-type bonds. And once the notion sticks and becomes popular, they'll shame and harass anyone for daring to ship them romantically. They'll accuse the shippers of supporting something "problematic" and "inc*sty" and it's just so childish and disrespectful.

The part where you discuss "sibling coding" especially hit the nail on the head regarding this. It's not unheard of for children to not grasp romantic feelings to those they're close to and just assume the feelings must be familial or platonic, only to later realize they're actually romantic once they're older and are able to articulate and understand themselves better. It reminds me of the scene from The Lion King when Nala and Simba show disgust at the thought of marrying each other. "I can't marry her; she's my friend." & "Yeah, it'd be so weird." Only for them to fall in love in adulthood, all traces of "just being friends" vanished with the presence of maturity and age.

The way I see it, SEGA has left it up to fan interpretation what their dynamic is, whether it be platonic, familial, or romantic. All are valid and anyone that says otherwise needs to get a grip and stop looking at media as some sort of moral litmus test. I see their dynamic as being something that borders on platonic and romantic. Maria passed before anything could be fully realized, so anything is possible. Personally, I see the soulmatism and star-crossed-lovers angle and enjoy the yearning of Shadow towards Maria after the events of everything. To me, the romantic coding is apparent.

Shadow and Maria's Complex Relationship

FOR DISCLOSURE: this thread is going to be discussing the complexities of Shadow and Maria’s relationship based on many different factors. Though I will be including the romantic interpretation (NOT a sexual one – I do not support nor condone sexualizing these two, nor most of the characters in Sonic, as they are almost all minors) as a potential, I will not be arguing to assign a definite label to their relationship – I will, in fact, be doing exactly the opposite (I am also not interested in engaging in shipping discourse over Sonic the Hedgehog characters). I would simply like to disclose that that will be discussed in case the topic upsets you and you would prefer to stop reading now. I accept this post may not be received well by some.

SPOILERS FOR SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS

So I've had to break out my Tumblr for this - my usual haunt is Twitter/Bluesky, but those don't really allow for longform posts. This is also a major departure from my usual FFXIV posting, so apologies to anyone who follows me for that.

Sonic x Shadow Generations recently dropped, alongside the short animations “Dark Beginnings” as well as the (non-canonical) manga “The Jet Black Hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog.” With it, discourse surrounding Shadow and Maria’s relationship has kicked up again, largely in two parties – that Shadow and Maria held a sibling relationship, or that Shadow and Maria held romantic feelings for one another (some people have also argued that Shadow is her uncle, or Maria is his mother, but I won’t be discussing those views). There are arguments for both drawn from a variety of sources – I will do my best to present both (if there are others I've missed, please feel free to comment and I will add them).

For siblings:

This Twitter post of artwork for Dark Beginnings has the following alt text: “Shadow and Maria reach out for one another in an infinite abyss (as long-lost siblings would) with the Moon and the Space Colony ARK in the background."

The manual for Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) describes Maria as “like a sister to Shadow.” I have also seen another screenshot of a different manual that states that Shadow as "like a brother to Maria," but I've been unable to find which manual it is. (EDIT: It’s a Prima Games manual, not written by Sega)

Gerald refers to Shadow as “son” during the climax of SxSG.

For romantic:

Maria saying “I love you” in the Japanese version of SxSG uses the kanji “ai shiteru,” whilst her “I love you” in the Japanese version of the manga uses “daisuki.” Whilst it can be used for familial relations, it is apparently very uncommon for both of these to be used outside of romantic intent.

Shiro Maekawa – the original creator of Shadow and Maria – based them (or at least parts of them) off of a romance manga known as “Please Save My Earth” (with Maria sharing the Japanese voice actress for the female lead from the anime), and has frequently supported them together, often retweeting romantic art and posts of Shadow and Maria.

In a recent interview from Sega, Maria touching Shadow’s face in Dark Beginnings was equated to Beauty and the Beast.

For Tanabata – a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, and the separation of them as lovers – Sonic Channel posted artwork of Shadow and Maria reading the story beneath the stars. Sonic Channel has also published fanart for Valentine’s Day relating to Shadow and Maria (although they publish a lot of fanart).

Before I go any further, when the topic of Shadow and Maria in a romantic lens comes up, many of the same criticisms arise that I do not believe are fairly levied – namely accusations regarding their age, species, and familial ties. I would like to address – and debunk – these three before we go any further. Keep in mind while you read these – this is not meant to convince you that their relationship was one thing over another, but only to provide validity to a subjective point of view I feel is unfairly stigmatized.

“It’s incest because Shadow is Maria’s brother/uncle(?).”

While there were notions of family stated by both Maria and Gerald, Shadow was grown in a tube with alien DNA and has zero blood relation to the Robotnik family. Whilst there are abstract labels of “like a sister” or “sibling coding” that are only ever applied in a meta sense, neither of them define their relationship in such a way within the lens of the universe. And it is not as if the topic never arises - in Shadow Generations, Maria herself likens young Abraham Tower as akin to her little brother, but she makes no such distinction with Shadow.

“Sibling coding” is ultimately a nothing statement, and unless a proper adoption is made, it does not magically turn romantic feelings towards the two involved into incest. Frames of reference are often informed by what young people are familiar with, and they sometimes lack the proper tools to acknowledge that their feelings towards each other are more complex than they first believe - to say that this is something that potentially occurred with Shadow and Maria is not outlandish, and not a concept unique to Sonic as a series.

Similar examples to this include Clive and Jill from Final Fantasy XVI (Jill is accepted into the Rosfield household and raised alongside Clive and his brother, only to later enter a romantic relationship with him as an adult), Nero and Kyrie from Devil May Cry (Nero is fostered by Kyrie's family and considers Kyrie a sister initially, only for her to become his love interest as adults) and Sidon and Yona from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Sidon grows up perceiving Yona as a sister, only to realize his feelings for her are more complex later on). None of these are incestuous relationships, nor is Shadow and Maria’s were it to be romantic.

“It’s bestiality because Shadow is an animal.”

Bestiality is applicable to regular animals that do not hold human sentience of thought, as they are unable to consent to a relationship, like a dog or cat. Shadow is not this, nor are any of the anthropomorphic characters within the Sonic games - were you to change the anthropomorphic animals in Sonic into humans, basically nothing about the series' content would change. All of them are completely sound-minded beings that are essentially just people who look different. Shadow is not Maria’s pet, he is her fully sentient friend that holds the same degree of thought as she does – given that Shadow’s entire arc is about finding his purpose in life, degrading him to simply a lab animal rather than acknowledging he is a person defeats that entire arc (something the manga also touches upon).

A lot of people also cite Sonic and Elise from Sonic ‘06 (namely the scene where Elise kisses the deceased Sonic) as a reason why Shadow and Maria should not be done - while I think it’s valid if you didn’t like watching a human girl kissing Sonic the Hedgehog, I maintain that a good chunk of that disdain stemmed from two major reasons:

Elise was very poorly characterized in her game. She existed to constantly get kidnapped and be saved by Sonic, and so both the relationship and the kiss came off more like pandering than something earned.

Sonic '06 had a bizarrely realistic artstyle for the human characters, whilst all of the animal characters retained their cartoonish appearances. This clash of artstyles looked its worst when Elise kissed Sonic at the game's climax.

Maria, however, does not fall into these pitfalls. She does not exist to be purely a love interest for Shadow - she’s certainly not someone for him to save, as the entire inciting event of Shadow's character is his inability to save her when she saves him.

For a frame of reference, Shadow is more akin to an alien from Star Wars – a setting where humans also exist. It is not bestiality for a Human to hold a relationship with a Twi’lek, as both races are fully anthropomorphic and sentient. On a similar note, Beauty and the Beast is not considered bestiality either, even though the Beast bears obvious animalistic traits. Some people have also entertained the notion of Rouge and Topaz from Sonic X, even though the latter is human. This is all the same principle, and none of it is bestiality.

“It’s creepy because Maria is young.”

Shadow – while said to be ageless – is not an adult, and to imply that he is one is a fundamental misunderstanding of Shadow’s character – whilst there are many instances where he demonstrates maturity on some levels, he has shown much immaturity since his inception in Sonic Adventure 2 (his desire to destroy the world out of revenge for Maria), and his most recent storyline in Generations involves his naïve desire to change Maria and Gerald’s fates (or rather, an initial indifference to what it will bring). Not only that, but his time on the ARK was mired in confusion over the point of his existence – Maria was the one that helped him field through his confusion, and was arguably the more mature one between the two of them. We can safely say that Shadow is not an adult character, nor is he ever presented as one in the lens of the game.

As the closest thing Sonic likely has to an equal in both body and mind (Sonic holds his own immaturities similar to Shadow), he can likely be placed mentally close to his age of fifteen. This is reinforced by the leaked transcript of Sonic ‘06 that refers to Shadow as 15 (the red squared text in this image).

Maria has no canon age established in game material, but Sonic X lists her as 12. 15 and 12 is the same age gap as Sonic and Amy respectively.

In addition to that, many people have claimed that Shadow is over 50 years old, but this is only true of his chronological existence, not the time he has been conscious and aging. He spent 50 years stuck in cryosleep, and awoke exactly how he was when he was placed in there.

A similar example would be Aang and Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender - Aang was frozen at the age of 12, and awoke 100 years later. Nobody, however, tried to claim that he was 112 years too old to kiss the 14 year old Katara, as Aang was physically and mentally still a 12 year old upon awakening - most people who watched the show were also actively rooting for these two characters to kiss, which they did at the show's finale. It's the same principle regarding Shadow - he is 50 chronologically, not 50 in mind or body.

If we’d like to really get into it, I would point out that nearly every character in the lens of Sonic is in and around Maria’s age range (according to the Sonic Channel). As stated previously, Sonic is 15. Amy is 12, Knuckles is 16, Rouge is 18, Blaze and Silver are 14, etc. Nobody bats an eye at notions of romance between any of these people (not that I’m saying they should inherently).

Romantic intent between minors is not inherently viewed as a bad thing - see the examples of Aang and Katara or Clive and Jill above, or for an in house example, consider the canonical (to Sonic X at least) relationship between the 8 year old Tails and Cosmo - yet for some reason when it comes to Shadow and Maria, a relationship is stigmatized.

To reiterate in the wake of the last point, my discussions of romantic intent ARE NOT SEXUAL IN NATURE. As I acknowledge these are minors, any notions of that are completely off the table, and I do not agree with anyone who would imply their relationship was a sexual one. I want to make that unmistakably clear.

My major takeaway from observing both the Sonic fanbase and those on Sonic Team seems to be that in western circles, Shadow and Maria as siblings is the popular perception, whilst in eastern circles, they are more commonly perceived romantically. But ultimately, Shadow and Maria’s relationship seems to have many contradictory signals that makes it hard to pinpoint a concrete definition, especially in the most recent releases – and I believe that this is fully intentional.

Shiro Maekawa has stated in DMs has stated this regarding their relationship when asked if he saw them as siblings or love interests (translated from Japanese):

“I think they have a special bond that is unique to them that doesn’t fall into either of those categories. Just my personal opinion.”

From the way that the two are written post-Sonic Adventure 2, this appears to be a sentiment that is fully carried forward – their relationship is more nuanced than a canonical label would make it. Maria was the only person who made Shadow feel loved, and Maria unquestionably loved him back. What kind of love that was is up to the viewer, especially given that Maria died when they were both young, before they even had a chance to expand upon their relationship, if that was ever on the table – not that they needed to, given that their bond seems to have transcended both labels. Maria was the only one who acknowledged Shadow as more than an experiment or a weapon, and Shadow was her rock in an environment where she was isolated away from her family and home. Maria was Shadow's person, and still remains that in death.

To disclose for me personally (in case it was not obvious), I have always interpreted their relationship as romantic - or at least having romantic implications - ever since playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Shadow the Hedgehog when I was a kid. I have both a fiancé and a sibling, and the way they treat each other is far more evocative of how I treat the former than the latter (especially in Dark Beginnings – I do not imagine my sibling through a shoujo filter while I wistfully think about cuddling them in a field of flowers). I do not take the awkwardly placed alt text verbiage from the Sonic Twitter account, used to fake-argue with the Wendy’s Twitter account, as gospel for anything, and I think that treating it as a damning disproval is silly. Had she lived, I believed the complex feelings they held would have been identified as romantic down the line. The relationship always just read as too intimately charged for me to perceive as siblings (it still does especially in the wake of seeing how she touches and speaks to him), even before I had a serious relationship. I think that arguing the nitty gritty over Twitter alt text and translations is silly, as all it took for me to takeaway that the relationship was still romantic was to play the game, watch the animations, and read the manga for Shadow Generations - but that's just me.

That said, I will concur that if you are weirded out by romantic notions between the two of them, that is completely understandable, and I would never argue that you should not feel what you feel for yourself. The sibling viewpoint is also wholly valid an interpretation, with or without word from a meta source. Though she had her grandfather and later Abe, she was largely alone on the ARK away from a family that she clearly loved and missed, and it’s not unusual to presume that Shadow filled in the role of a brother for her. I will also acknowledge that many things I have not mentioned - such as Shadow blushing at Maria calling him cool, or her saying "I love you" in general - are not inherently indicative of romantic intent, and can be read as fully platonic interpretations, and I find those that try to state that the romantic interpretation is the objective one just as irritating as those that state the sibling interpretation is the objective.

My intent is only to dispute the idea that romantic interpretations, and the people who hold them, deserve to be scrutinized. The pairing is completely innocent, and the treatment people have received for believing them to be romantic is obscene. Sweeping blanket statements have been made to insult all who do (some going as far as to wish death and harm upon them), all just based on subjective viewpoints held by people who see them platonically. The fact that there is so much discourse surrounding this topic, and that there is evidence enough on both ends to make an argument, means that Sega has intentionally left the relationship up to interpretation - including the romantic take.

Everyone unclutch your pearls.

But with all that said, I will reiterate that this post was not meant to convince anyone of one thing or another, but rather that both interpretations of their relationship are valid, as it is essentially a secret third thing that transcends both labels and is special only to them. Strictly defining their relationship as “siblings” or “love interests” (even as someone who perceives them romantically, I would never want that to be definitively confirmed for this reason) is deconstructing what is perhaps the most nuanced part of a series that does not always tend to be terribly nuanced, and a definition matters far less than acknowledging what Maria means to Shadow in the present – he is who he is because of her, and because of that, he is now living a life for himself. Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) ended in a way that had Shadow let Maria go, and Shadow Generations ends with him carrying her forward with him after accepting her loss. She was, and will always be, the person who loved Shadow - however you define that love is up to you.

Nothing has ever been hard confirmed by Sega, no matter how much either side wants to pretend it has been.

In summary, both points of view regarding Shadow and Maria’s relationship are simultaneously true and not true – it is a matter of interpretation according to the viewer what their feelings towards each other were, yet their relationship in the lens of what it is now after the tragedy of their existence (even before Maria died) is purposefully indefinable, and it should remain that way. Nobody should ever try to say that Shadow and Maria are definitively something - that goes for both points of view. I doubt it will, but I hope this goes towards removing the stigmas towards one of the more nuanced parts of this series, as nuance in Sonic the Hedgehog - frankly - does not come along very often, and it would be nice if that were encouraged rather than smothered.

Thank you for reading.

[wastelandwitch77]

SO I absolutely love historical dress, and I saw The Bad Batch western AU by @hellothere-generalangsty , so I had to do this. (I’m also going to tag @mintywriteswritings because I first found the AU through her and she writes beautiful fics for it) Our view of the wild west is very 1950′s Hollywood, which is fine, but I just wanted to design some historically accurate costumes. (I made one for myself too because I wanted to design another dress) I’ve been working on this for at least a month? I think? So here’s the (mostly) historically accurate Bad Batch. If you want to read more about my decisions or research, you want to learn more about historical accuracy for your fics, or just think historical fashion is fun, please keep reading under the cut. 

Our time period here is the late 1860′s.

I want to emphasize that this is DAY WEAR. This is what you’d be wearing around town or at work or at home. Evening wear is an entirely different beast altogether.

 I guess I’ll start with Tech. Tech is the most fashionable. He’s a city boy and a doctor, and has access to more expensive fabrics, as well as knowing more about what’s trending. Everyone else is a year or two behind the fashion because it takes a while for the fashion to move out west. 

His frock coat is very in fashion.

Working class people tried to stay on the fashions just as much as wealthier people, they just used what they had, typically adapting garments they already had to suit the new styles.

Lower class and working class people typically had maybe 4? outfits total. Two to switch out day to day, a “Sunday Best” to wear to church, and then something to wear to fancy occasions like dances and weddings (evening wear). Tech, being a bit wealthier, may have a few more than that. 

Undergarments were changed everyday and washed more frequently than the outer clothing. Typically the outer clothing isn’t touching your skin much so that it didn’t get sweaty and didn’t have to be washed often. (washing=more wear and tear on the clothes) Aprons were worn during work to also keep the clothing from getting soiled. 

The dropped shoulder seam and bishop sleeve was the go-to for both men and women.

Men would not go any where with at least a vest over their shirt if there were to be any women present (except their wife). Just the button up shirt is essentially like being in your underwear. 

Likewise, women would never, EVER, have their hair down around men (except their husband.) 

Woman’s hair was always parted in the middle (side part was only for men) and pulled into an up-do low on the head. 

I had to cut Hunter’s hair, because long hair for men was only found on Confederates during this time and I just could not stand for that. 

The modern cowboy hat didn’t exist yet. The hat here is “The Boss of the Plains.” It had only recently been created but was an instant hit. If the time period was any earlier than the 1860′s your cowboys would’ve been wearing a bowler hat. 

If you are a woman, YOU ARE WEARING A DRESS. If you wore menswear at this time, you would get laughed out of town. No trousers. Not until at least the 1910′s did it become somewhat acceptable for women to wear pants at all. Yes, even while riding a horse, which means...

WOMEN ALWAYS RODE SIDE SADDLE. No exceptions. Not in the 1860′s. 

WOMEN ARE WEARING CORSETS. YES, EVEN WORKING IN THE FIELDS. Corsets have been given a bad name by modern media, don’t fall for it. I could go on about corsets for hours if you let me. They did not restrict your movement or breathing. They weren’t laced tightly. They just provided structure and essentially functioned as the precursor to the bra. If it is before 1920, you are wearing a corset.

This is a mistake that’s made a lot, but you wore a chemise under your corset. Your corset does not touch your bare skin.

Women wore crinolines (kind of like a hoop skirt) that were slightly fuller at the back (getting ready for the bustle that was popular in the 1870′s). This is likely the only undergarment that MIGHT have been shed during hard labor.

Working women still wore full length dresses, only hemmed maybe an inch shorter for ease of movement.

Clothes for children were just smaller versions of adult clothes, really. 

Young boys (like under the age of 6?) wore dresses until they were older.

Women and girls would’ve worn bonnets, but I think bonnets are fugly so I didn’t draw any. 

There were just so, SO many amputations performed during the Civil War that the entire culture around disability changed. There was better accessibility and technology for disabled people than ever before. 

I don’t think Tech would let Echo look shabby so he always makes sure that Echo is dressed appropriately. 

I gave Echo a frock coat like Tech’s to mimic his kama, but then I put him in a wheelchair so you can’t even see it. 

For shirts, dresses, and vests, they didn’t really do solid fabrics during this period. The more elaborate the pattern the better.

A shaved head on both men and women indicated that they were either ill or were recently ill (consumption, anyone?)

I based Hunter’s birthmark on my irl uncle Doug, who was a real cowboy.

I allowed hair-dye and bleach to exist because it helps keep the characters recognizable and also because I can. 

The funnest part of this project was probably designing the patterns on the clothes. 

My favorite design is probably Tech.

Menswear is kind of boring. It doesn’t change much after the Regency period. It was very tedious reading about the varying width of lapels in the 1800′s. 

Overall, this period of fashion is not my favorite. This project made me yearn for the vastly superior 1890′s-1910′s era. But I still had a lot of fun. 

If you still have questions feel free to ask. I don’t have a degree in historical fashion or anything, but I did hella research for this and if I know the answer to your question I’m happy to help. 

[chaneajoyyy]

Hey girl! How are you. Would you please be able to provide a list of M’Baku fics? Or maybe link to one you’ve already done? Thank you so much!

M’BAKU FICS (UPDATED)

- all fics and headcanons- @plussizeappreciationfics (search m’baku x reader)

- just for tonight series, crown royal on ice, two left feet-  @ghostfacekill-monger

- warm colors series- @mermaidchansons (search m’baku x reader)

- just the way you are series (included), making changes, they don’t know (you’re one in a million) series-  @iliketowrite1996

- crop series, boxer!baku series, long live the chief series, bluff, in full bloom series, into the grey series, snow day, blood in the snow series, cities on the horizon series (continuation of blood in the snow), all things better with time series, peaches in a plastic cup series, echos and wind series, the arriva series, the smoke series, it just reminded me of you that’s all, defending her honor, i need your shirt for reasons, i love you you know?, math was never my strongsuit, love in the time of neo-soul, come away with me, at the end of the day, heart eyes under pictures, ember, sweet georgia brown, under a starlit sky, reflection, jabari engagement, ships in the night, pickles and peanut butter, just like honey, fear of falling, what i wanted for christmas, careless whisper, rope, snow day, countdown, thigh ride, house hunters: jabari edition, drunk m/baku, halloween, jicho and the glasses, the three hundred, poem series-  @muse-of-mbaku

-healing gardens series, it’s complicated series, extra credit series, just business series, coming home series (with what’s for dessert?), warrior spirit, diplomatic affairs, fading away, gemini rising: birthday edition,  @jellybean531

- untitled series, close to heaven (starbound) series, love is a losing game, loving you is poison, this house we live in series (with yours and yours alone), it’s cold- @katasstrophey

- baby stay, beautiful form series, are you cold?- @avenging-fics

- some weeks are better than others series, play though? series, moronic jealousy, risky dreams, world’s best baba, santa cant bring me what i need (included), wakanda got yall (included), fictober 24 series (you know this, you this to be true), people like you have no imagination, but i will never forget, try harder next time, i know how you love to play games, you know this you know this to be true-, i’ve waited so long for this-  @eerythingisshaka

- fever series, work for me series, m’baku smitten by your presence-  @mbakusthrone 

- shopping series- @mbakusprincess

- where i belong series-  @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan

- all fics- @supersizemeplz

- black panther trinity parent drabbles (included), her first steps, m’baku’s reaction to sick!reader being clingy, m’baku headcanons, hc: m’baku falling for a girl who is almost too busy with books to really notice his flirting attempts, tiny warrior, how do you think m’baku would feel towards his s/o visiting other countries, to provide, m’baku wants another child, how m’bkau and his s/o would roast each other, hc: giving birth to multiple sets of boys (is twins, triplets, quadruplets) for m’baku, m’baku’s reaction to being called thick daddy in front of him, hc: having a baby girl with m’baku, shea butter, m’baku x tall chubby reader, hc: what it’s like to be married to m’baku- @black-mcu-imagines (scroll for m’baku x reader)

- bali, indonesia; not gon cry series, yearning for m’baku, metting m’baku, bruised and breathless, baby it’s yours, teasing m’baku- @babygirlofwakanda / @brwnsugababe

-big chop, still in love- @theficplug (still in love) - (scroll down for m’baku)/ @maleficentcheekbones

- her mountain of bliss series-  @aloevverified

- brown skin, oh angel, forever mine, best baba ever, the heat of trinidad series- @artisticestheticreads

- blood demon-@hearteyes-for-killmonger

- give it to me, mr. stamina, tradition series, truth or dare series, the garden, princess, 2 hours, would you rather?, i’m right here- @sonofnjobu

- all imagines- @mcusocialimagines

- he spills (included)- @captainsaveasmut

- all moodboards- @babybluepeaches

- no, you can’t take a break; scraped m’baku headcanon, m’baku titty worship headcanon, the prince series, wakandan boys foot fetish (included), is this love? series (included), v.i.p., you owe her an apology-  @madamslayyy

-crawl into your sleep series (m’baku x muse), angel in disguise series (included), umdlalo series- @terrablaze514

- all fics, drabbles and hc’s- @laketaj24

-  ikiumkani wam, river goddess, young god, ngelosi, sugar & spice series, chokola- @pocmarvelworks

- prove it series (included-stupid cupid)- @wawakanda-btch

- best mistake, hennessey series, m’baku’s wife: countdown, m’baku’s wife: flowers in the hallway, m’baku’s father daughter dance-hc, m’baku’s wife’s big chop, m’baku: best mistake, m’baku’s wife: gold- @imagine-mbaku

- m’baku nsfw headcanons, make you feel my love, daddy m’baku & your daughter vs you, m’baku gets to know you- @loganzhowletts (search m’baku x reader)

-to be lost- @marvellovegalore

- turtleneck, a punishing tease series- @hidden-treasures21

-all fics, blurbs, headcanons @brownsugarcocoabutterwildflowers (scrooll for m’baku x reader)

- first time, birthday request, thank you next, truth or dare (included), karaoke night series, party time, issa fake plant, i missed you- @iwannalearnhowtoship

- pancakes, heart of ice, visiting hours (included), pancakes-  @bakarilennox

-chanllenge day: the aftermath- @taterjoseph (scroll for blackpantherimagine)

- missed you, lucky i love you, clumsy series, when you listen- @i-jus-wanna-writehappy

- gaining favor- @littlemessyjessi

- made in sunshine series, t’challa brings m’baku on a diplomatic whatever, caramels- @lesqui

-snowfall series, the chosen one series, a new way, the beginning, say yes series, a seat on the throne- @devnicolee

- welcome to the jabari series, the chose bride series, polygamy series- @snowbaku

- hair day- @sisterwifeudaku

- bookworm imagines (included), you are beautiful series (included), hair folicles series (included), beads of temptation series (included), for the good of the jabari people series, without your approval series, the weight of series, wakandan boys as a kpop group (included), wakandan supernatural aus/imagines (inlcuded), wakanda as warewolves imagines (included), your best nightmare series (inlcuded), moodboards (wakanda as 80′s movie the lost boys, wakanda as 90′s movie the crow (included), willing heart- @youreallyshouldtalkmore (check masterlist)

- imagine being nakia’s sister and catching m’baku’s interest series-  @thekrazykeke

- 4 series- @tgigoldie

- cabin in the snow series, fated instinct series, price, whipped cream a la m’baku- @greennightspider

-ife wa gbona- @blackmarvelfics

- the princess and i series- @thirst4fictionalmen

- jabari illness- @thatonefanficalien

- newcomer in te tribe, please stop making me fall in love with you!- @thepaperpanda

- all m’baku fics- @wakandanblogger (scroll for black panther x reader, m’baku x reader, black panther series, black pantherm’baku, black panther one shot, masterlist)

- our love in color series and its one shot no interruptions, what would you have me do? series, another heir, forget his name, full body, satisfied, a well deserved rest, have it your way series-  @wakandan-flowerz

- having children with m’baku, m’baku in a relationship- @haechvn (search black panther x reader)

- hot springs series (with stay and family)- @brvcebanter (on masterlist and search m’baku x reader for family)

- formalities, m’baku as your husband headcanons- @gaytonystark 

- m’baku drabble/imagine #1- @lady-olive-oil (under winston duke baelist)

- imagine: m’baku, your new boyfriend, promising t’challa, you best friend, that he’l treat you right; imagine: m’baku trying to be casual about inviting you to stay with his people for a while, imagine: being an ambassador between the royals and the jabari tribe and everyone knows you and m’baku have a thing for each other, with bets on how long it will take for one of you to say something; dating m’baku would include- @obscure-imagines (search m’baku imagine or scroll for obscure-imagines and hit m’baku imagine for more mbaku imagines)

- dating m’baku headcanons- @starryeyedmillennial (hit the first m’baku tag in search bar)

- being an outsider and falling for m’baku would include- @black-panther-imagines (scroll for m’baku)

- persuasion- @angelofmusic36

- the line- @im5ftbutmythroat66

- untitled m’baku drabble-  @itsjustyazz (scroll for black panther fanfiction)

- hennessey homies (included), soft series- @hoopshoney (scroll for black panther fanfiction)

- still beautiful- @blackreaderstation (scroll for my writing)

- again- @persephones24

- golden series- @the-stories-in-my-head-95

- pretty brown eyes, american!reader meeting m’baku would be like… series (with american!reader meeting m’baku would be like… part2 and date night)- @icycheri (click on mbaku x reader)

- moodboard imagines: m’baku marries a western woman, m’baku’s wife is from the river tribe; m’baku and your daughter, the princess- @wakandascrystal

- m’baku teasing you on how shy and clumsy you actually are inlcude, m’baku and t’challa fighting over you would include, having a child with m’baku would include, losing your virginity to m’baku would include, m’baku finding out about your size king would inlcude- @underratedcharactersimagines (search mbaku)

- the argument- @pantherxrogers

- to tame the wild, black panther greek life (included) @sweettea-and-honeybutter (scroll for masterlist)

-never enough)- @hogwarts–imagines

- beneath your beautiful- @ashanti-notthesinger

- sweet thang series-, the best part, bow to me- @wakandamama

- even as a shadow (even as a dream)- @sugardaddytonystark

- thick reader losing her virgininty to m’baku, a beautiful family- @wonderthor

- just my imagination- @kittenwritesstuff (search mbaku x reader)

- m’baku fluff alphabet- @ourhappylies

- the gorilla and his children- @non-stop-imagines

-show me who you are series- @fanficsj​ (scroll for m’baku x reader)

- those left behind- @thepokyone

- the dark, the night, the dawn’s light, the deep fall,and the cold-  @master-sass-blast

- m’baku x reader, i like the original- @master-of-junk

- punishment series- @ljb-novels

- will you stay- @justsomewritingsandshit

- my ocean and your mountains series- @mo-anz

- proud- @akamaiden​

- protector of her heart series- @fictioninmyblood​

- laughter series (with: joy)- @imagines-plus​

- a cause for celebration- @melonshino-writes​

- and i you, my love; hands, his girl, untitled, you are mine- @marvelmaree

***IF I FORGOT ANYONE/YOU WANT ME TO ADD YOU, HIT ME UP!!!***

[tommyplum]

hello there, lovely tag.

we are john & maggie, and this is our tom hardy appreciation blog!

what we do:

answer asks about tom hardy characters

write ficlets about tom hardy characters

make fashion posts for tom hardy characters

post pictures and gifs of tom hardy, also his characters

shriek incoherently about tom hardy, as well as his characters

various other content, largely peaky blinders, the terror, and boyd holbrook

we do not do:

imagines

tom hardy character x reader

real person fic (no moral judgement there, we just don’t)

welcome and please ask away!

about us: john is english and subsists almost entirely on tom hardy and fashion, two great tastes that unfortunately do not converge very often. maggie is canadian and was inculcated into tom hardy adoration entirely due to john; can also be found on her personal, bossymarmalade.

masterlist

visuals

sky mobile gifs prince’s trust, 2013 gifs cbeebies gifs (1), (2) the take, 2009 gifs interview for the revenant, 2015 gifs (1) taboo, 2017- gifs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) peaky blinders gifs (1) rocknrolla (1)

venom: deleted taxi scene

. . . fashion: eames running errands with yusuf in mombasa eddie on a date with symbiote and anne fight night, modern!alfie solomons style eames on a night out with saito for .... modern alfie feeling sexy

. . . art comparison: pain and galliori, tommy hands and flameng, alfie divinity and marin, alfie portraiture and singer sargent, alfie pandora and jules joseph, ada

. . . graphics: lithomancy and aeration, tolfie the serpent was subtil, tolfie both good with mint, tolfie strong bone box, alfie the duel/the company, tolfie lethe, tolfie the only halo there is, tommy you cannot kill me, alfie

. . . miscellaney: birthday art for maggie from her sister glockgal  how will you spend christmas vacation? affirmation plate (tommy)

written

. . . [ peaky blinders ]

arbiter of many things, daylight among them  |  AO3 -  the morning routine in camden town

pbeebies: book one, lollypop syrup  |  AO3 -  mr. solomons reads the children a story

sugar feeds yeast  |  AO3 -  tommy and alfie negotiate starch and come away sweet (tolfie)

the king’s shilling  |  AO3 -  tatiana has things to teach tommy, if he’ll learn

crumb coat  |  AO3 -  sometimes a sweet tooth just won’t be denied (modern tolfie)

the midlands  |  AO3 -  no sense letting a perfectly good hotel room go to waste. (tolfie)

i am but dust and ashes (the world was created for me)  |  AO3 -  taboo au, where tommy is alfie’s half-sibling (tolfie)

mind the upholstery  |  AO3 - tommy can be very particular. not overly perceptive, though (tolfie)

**meme writing the devil never eats salt - amateur occultists au stop before i begin - dystopian bonded-for-life au tied my lead and pulled my chain - western/deadwood au 

**for the eradication of seemingly incurable sadness’ series aka the liquorverse (modern tolfie) - the liquorverse memes and scenes - tommy’s mixtape

tis the saison  |  AO3 -  holiday office parties are a necessary chore eggplant peach question mark  |  AO3 -  some days require sexting or your best approximation thereof margarita’s no good without salt  |  AO3 - alfie and tommy skive off work early to get down to business

transcripts: the gospel of alfie solomons & the ballad of tommy shelby

these fucking rhyming couplets made flesh (musings) we at tommyplum are not team grace / addendum  (grace shelby meta) . . . [ inception ] mine i’ll leave to chance | AO3 - yusuf/eames in mombasa  the time before that and the other time after  |  AO3 - yusuf/eames but what do you remember

. . . [ venom ] you’re burning yearning | AO3 - eddie brock/symbiote/anne weying symbiotic conversations (symbrock chat posts)

non-tom hardy content

. . . boyd holbrook: on ‘camp confessions with shannon coffey’ in the shadow of the moon interview on ‘the gate’ gifs el pais fashion shoot gifs two/one gifs (1)

. . . our rp characters-related ephemera: hardy & holbrook, fanart, b&w, hatfields & bondurants

. . . music: ten songs for ... (ten-song themed playlists)

fanwork recommendations

14 november 2019 29 november 2019 14 december 2019 29 december 2019 14 january 2020 23 february 2020

. . .

[fiinalgiirls-aa]

@fiinalgiirls, vasiliy & rhiannon. — rebecca au, 1932.

irene burlakov is dead. it’s a simple fact, the truth of the world. vasiliy’s first wife died, albeit under somewhat mysterious circumstances, but the grieving widower has to move on with their life. a man of his age, under thirty, can’t grieve forever, and really, a year and a half later, he’s sure irene would want him to find love again.

love comes in ahna nankova.

the red hair in ringlets caught vasiliy’s attention the moment he saw her in the hotel restaurant. that split second and he decided he was ready to be married again. it wasn’t a difficult seduction, nor courtship; ahna seemed just as charmed as vasiliy did, if not more. two weeks on the baltic sea, the girl vacationing with her family, himself on a business trip—though of course his original trip didn’t last all that long, he extended it for her—and vasiliy proposed like a lover that had been waiting for her since forever. maybe he had. ahna accepted like a girl deeply in love, even with the rumors and murmurs of irene still haunting his every movement.

they were wedded shortly thereafter, as if they could escape the controversy if they moved quickly. ahna nankova, the new mrs. burlakov. his redhaired wife, beautiful and kind, a proper society girl. vasiliy does not possess the self-awareness to realize he’s married someone much like his first wife, but the dissimilarities were enough that even the gossipers wouldn’t catch on for quite some time. they have much in common, mrs. burlakov first and second, but they have a very large difference that is vital: ahna does not hate him as much as irene had come to. no, his ahna is much too sweet, much too placid to work herself up into a rage like her predecessor had. ahna is now his wife, and he is the better for it.

the car stops in front of his estate, a long drive from the station; vasiliy’s legs are screaming to get out of the damn thing. “stop here.” he barks to the driver, though they’re still a few hundred feet away from the front door and he’ll rue it once he has to make the walk to it—the servants will deal with their luggage, he pays no mind to it. inhaling the fresh air, vasiliy has almost a cheery demeanor as the servants spill out through the door to greet him. “mrs. danvers,” he calls to his housekeeper, ushering her over with a becoming wave of his long arm, “come meet my new girl.”

ahna was beyond delighted when agatha bardot invited her on holiday with her. the plan was to travel western europe as her companion and then to meet up with her family in bulgaria. traveling with a sophisticated and wealthy benefactor had not been unpleasant, but ahna had tired of the crone’s company. the stories the aristocrat shared had not, as she’d imagined, been great tales of romance and adventure as she had been led to believe, but rather idle gossip between aged widows, their children, and grandchildren. by the time she reached bulgaria, she was eager for any fresh company and, even more than ever, to fall in love.

that love had found its way to her--a maiden who’d left a crone to become a bride. there was something so romantic about a widower finding love again after such a terrible tragedy. it seemed it had been so terrible, he could not yet speak of it and so she did not press the issue. though her parents had been skeptical of the whirlwind romance--ivan nankov especially, as pamela had always been a romantic, their own courtship a short one in its own right. the wedding happens quickly, its memory the sweet blur of a dessert eaten too quickly. she can hardly recall which guests she greeted or what she ate, but she remembers the flecks of gold in vasiliy’s lovely brown hair.

the romance had continued on their journey to the sprawling manse known as manderly, and ahna is certain that this is every bit the story she’d hoped to hear from mrs. bardot. in the light of present circumstances, the woman’s failure to deliver made her laugh. she’d come to europe in the hopes of great stories and, instead, found herself the very subject of the love story she’d yearned for. a girl raised on love, ahna had never had the misfortune of being misliked. her smile was contagious and she was well-mannered and sincere--traits which naturally endeared to her even the coldest of hearts. it doesn’t even occur to her that her new husband’s staff might not love her as easily as they surely had loved the first mrs. burlakov.

as mrs. danvers approaches, ahna puts on her best smile, rolling her shoulders back and smoothing her skirt so that she looks like the very picture of the perfect newlywed. the staff would grow to love her for her kindness, she was sure of it. “mrs. danvers, i cannot tell you how pleased i am to meet you.” her smile grew with every word coated in saccharine sincerity. brows softening sadly, her tone matching their regret. “i’m so sorry for your loss. i could never hope to replace the first mrs. burlakov, but i can only hope that we can find our own connection if you’ll have me.”

[laughingpinecone]

Chocobox 2022 letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general likes, fandom-specific prompts, past letters, and/or follow your heart!

All requests are for fic or art. For art, I love... scenes. Just show me the characters doing something, perhaps in a way that conveys the applicable kind of bond, perhaps having fun, perhaps being sad about it, anything goes, even the simplest things like sharing a cup of tea. Like missing moments. I love fanart that shows me characters doing stuff that didn't happen in canon.

Likes:

any tense, any POV, any rating, any format (5+1, journal/epistolary/documents, IF etc)

worldbuilding, slice of life, future fic, missing moments, h/c, ridiculous concepts played straight, outsider POV, non-mundane AUs (eg all flavors of fantasy and sci-fi, western)

friendship, bonding, emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, trust, yearning, UST, surrealism, magical realism, absurdism, established relationships, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, rare displays of vulnerability, bittersweet moods, cuddling, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind, sensory details, small hopes in bleak worlds, solemnity, details of any kind! Interesting noses, body types...

places outside canon's borders, details canon only hinted at, tangential lore

road trips, maps, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, unexplained mysteries, dreams and memories and identities, symbols, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, electricity, distant stars, masks, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, community building, socio-environmental themes when applicable

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, pregnancies, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings

Fandoms in alphabetical order except for Disco Elysium at the end so my friend doesn't get spoiled <3

Ghost Trick

I am very interested in various characters finding about the erased timeline, but not getting their memories back, and having to live with being told about what they did but never remembering it. Exploring the ghost lore is great. All what-ifs welcome (what if they managed an acceptable happy ending but didn’t reset the timeline, what if a different party went back to the past and kept their memories, what if Alma’s ghost stuck around…) Also open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings.

For the non-canon sides of Jowd/Alma/Cabanela, please no infidelity? I’d be good with either setting the fic during the game timeline or some what-if thereof when the other spouse is dead or unavailable, or simply keeping them offscreen and not mentioning them (eg Alma/Cabanela beach day, Jowd/Cabanela precinct shenanigans)

For Jowd in general, I do love my big boy and enjoy milking that size difference for all it’s worth. In gen contexts too, it’s neat. him big.

For Cabanela in general, dress him up in fancy ways or silly ways or odd ways that still somehow look great on him? And what I love about him is his loyalty, and how unshakeable it is (...to a fault?).

Yuletide also showed me that undercover Cabanela (or any combination of characters) is indeed the best thing since sliced bread so more of that is always welcome!

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: beach day? snowed in? Romantic occasion, for applicable values of romance given that Jowd is there? Or what is his way of showing his loves that he adores them?

Alma/Cabanela: fashion! and legs! Clothes swap? Some time on their own?

Cabanela/Jowd: earliest observable crush? For either of them? Or as always, in-game missing moments?

Alma/Jowd: please give me the weirdest dynamic you can think of where they're both so very smitten with each other!

Cabanela & Pigeon Man: was there a time when Cabs' protectiveness was aimed at his adopted mad scientist?

Cabanela/Jowd & Pigeon Man: how does PM's brand of love advice work for the other two?

Heaven's Vault

Worldbuilding, worldbuilding as far as the eye can see... moons and rivers, rivers and moons. Cycles and entropy. Obvious worldbuilding prompts - another moon, some sighting across the rivers (river sirens like the tale of Amblayaran?), something more about childless Maersi (and pigs thereof). Mostly, I am fascinated by the symbolic AND practical qualities of this story's robots. The weight of tradition/the ruling class that can keep society subjugated even as an abstract recording. The vague horror of robotic consciousness (for those who knew who they were, and perhaps they were someone who really really hated robots, and for Six who doesn't remember). THOSE DAMN FEET on Elboreth. Again, the symbolic AND actual value of the Loop, how the dominant religion was introduced by robots and yet, and yet... Mazwai, Aliya Mazwai, the chronicles of Elasra. Huang seeing Aliya on the page. Aliya facing Mazwai's words and? A society where materials do not degrade and a society where people are not interested in history. I would be interested in reading in depth about how the Loop beliefs can shape someone's life, how one thinks within a framework of "the past is the future". Those "phone calls" that let you interact with the snapshot of a person!

Aliya Elasra & Enkei: so much anger, shared goals, ALIYA THAT'S A PRIMARY SOURCE GRILL HER SHE LITERALLY CAN'T BITE YOU

Aliya Elasra & Huang/Mina: is it ever possible for Aliya to stop feeling weird about the whole rollercoaster of a thing with Huang ("he likes me, I like him but not that way, so things are awkward, oh no he fell for someone else, suddenly I feel left out I'm gonna sulk forevermore")? Can hanging out with two chill nerds be... nice for a stray cat like Aliya? Like there's the warmth of a relationship without having to be in one herself?

Aliya Elasra & Six & Talliin: ...or, since people are no good, let her be with her robots, literally and symbolically. How do Talliin and Six differ from each other? (would prefer a more game-canon take with Six and Enkei being aspects of each other instead of discrete entities, but anything goes)

Out 1 (1971)

intense "just give me more about this please". Spitballing: more of an innate need for secrets, of order concealing secrets? Of searching, searching, for what? Of groups coming together and falling apart and coming together again, of the connections that keep us going? Of- Sarah was the HELL was that with the unnatural speech twice over. Is there more weirdness to be found? Kaleidoscopes, reflections, nesting doll structures?

Colin & Frédérique: With the initial setup being two groups + two lone weirdos, I think it'd be neat if the lone weirdos met?

Honeymoon & Marie & Renaud: I mourned Frédérique and thought it was too sad that there was no-one left to remember her, desperately alone as she was, but: there was someone! Honeymoon remembers her! And Renaud has SOME things to answer for and while we're at this, let's throw in poor Marie too who's still there waiting and searching at the end...

Quentin & Sarah: no, seriously, WHAT are those strange moments in ep7&8 where speech goes weird around Sarah. What would it look like with eg good ol' Quentin, and do they even know each other, and if they don't, how could they meet?

Emilie | Pauline & Sarah: I'm fascinated by their connection, they're so intense and have some history. Those scenes weren't enough!

Béatrice & Colin: she's the anthropologist with an interest in initiations and off he goes to talk to everyone else in Paris instead... tsk tsk...

Colin & Emilie | Pauline: and so in the end they did not meet again. But, hear me out: what if they did, by accident, later on?

Béatrice & Sarah: I'd like to know what they have to say to each other when Thomas is not hogging the attention and/or trying to set up the cringest threesome in the history of cinema...

Paradise Killer

So, Perfect 25, amiright? Nobody has learned their nice and tidy moral lesson, but on the other hand, I like to think that the millennia of exile + effectively defending Henry + all that Shinji chitchat left a mark on LD, that she's starting to see how absurd it all is. Can she see that it's doomed to fail again, and then what, without an architect, without a witness to the end, possibly without a ferrywoman and everyone else? What's Island 25 like, this final island that could end up being final for different reasons, what are the limits of perfection, what's the inside of an empty pyramid like, what is Earth like outside the island sequence bubble, could a god try to contact LD or one of the others (again, in Crimson's case)?

Lady Love Dies & Shinji: any handwavy way of getting our man Shinji onto the next Island, or how else could they meet again, in some even weirder supernatural way? Or, of course, some LD&Shinji missing moment in-game. Anything chill and fun and dissonant, you know how they are...

Crimson Acid/Doom Jazz/Lady Love Dies: I like the choice of canon romances, they're so chill about stuff. What would this even look like? Against the backdrop of Island 25, even?

Doom Jazz & Lady Love Dies: look, they're old friends, they've known each other for aeons, they have fun with each other. Something lighthearted, as much as possible? But also weird?

Pyre

I feel deeply for all of Pyre’s main themes - literacy, degrees of freedom, the fragile time that is the end of a historical cycle, nobodies rising up to the occasion, the revolutionary spirit that goes toward building a better society, and of course found family, “distance cannot separate our spirits” and all that jazz. Thoughts about finding oneself at the end of an age, as everything crumbles down to form something new. I love all the themes, the solemnity, the heart of this game. My main interest usually lies in post-canon exploration when applicable, but I’m also into various adventures during canon. Pick a location or a place outside the map and see what happens? As for the ending variables, I’d ask for a peaceful revolution and Oralech alive, but no preferences for who’s up and who’s down, pick whatever works best for any given plot bunny.

Fikani/Hedwyn & Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood: DOUBLE DATE. My idea nominating them was that we know that Volfred picked Hedwyn as Oralech 2.0, and they do share a bunch of traits. So what about Fikani and Volfred? Are they similar too in some ways, or not at all?

Ignarius & Oralech: Ignarius has this huge admiration for full demons, you know. I need them to meet...

Oralech/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel/Volfred Sandalwood: they don't make one regular dude between the three of them, what does domesticity look like? Topside with all the political inconveniences or even in a Downside ending

Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood: waking up and remembering that the mourning that’s set deep in your roots is for someone who never died, waking up and remembering that the bitterness that consumed you had made up a betrayal that never was, finding each other through these crumbling walls... ...and/or Oralech being the government’s checks and balances aka the guy who knows Volfred and knows when to say Volfred no

Tariq | The Lone Minstrel/Volfred Sandalwood: Reading the moon... or the moon Reads you... mutual adoration and being able to take it slow, very slow...

Udmildhe & Volfred Sandalwood: she's single-minded, hollowed out by her obsession and dangerous. He's... not, but he's an orator, when he's not too busy making terrible first impressions. What could have them at odds? Stranger still, what could they understand of each other?

Big Bertrude & Sir Deluge: so I'm actually and regretfully sort of fond of Deluge? The way he gets a good life, even become a scholar, if he can just get out of the military? He IS also quite insufferable though, so there can be a delicious range of possible interactions with Bertrude and her also unfortunate fondness for wyrms...

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood: ride-or-die friends please. That old friendship, forged through decades... I want them to be loyal to each other...

Signs of the Sojourner

Still firmly stuck in "want more. gimme anything" territory. It'd be cool to explore the daily life of the caravan? A detour, a small adventure? How are things in Anka, Rimina, Old Marae, how's it going with androids? Love all the cast, feel free to bring in anyone.

I’m neutral on ships here - good with Rhea&Elias, good with background Rhea/Elias but I wouldn’t like a romantic focus.

Nadine & Rhea: I really like Nadine, with her duties and her blind spots. What's their relationships after the game, or some missing moment during the in-game travels?

Elias & Rhea: does Elias come along once? What happens in Bartow, or in another town in their future in a different ending?

Twin Peaks

Case fic but they  don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there,  it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge  spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. Transcendence. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. Twin  Peaks is all about the mystery to me, the awe of mystery and  unknowability and the human drive to look beyond and the risks of  getting a peek, and about shared consciousness and trauma taking  physical form in an uncaring  world. Go wild with the ethereal whooshing!  But I also love the human warmth at the heart of it all, and sometimes it’s enough to anchor these characters and let them have a nice day. A fic entirely focused on some instance of coziness against the cold chaotic background of canon would be great too.

Good with background Albert/Coop/Harry and sides thereof, Laura/Donna, Tammy/Cynthia, Andy/Lucy, Margaret/Sam, Phil/Gordon.

Canon-specific DNWs:  any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy)  being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent  presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s house by the sea being the White Lodge, anything that 4 hours Twin Perfect video says is the explanation of Twin Peaks

Albert Rosenfield & Chet Desmond: they're the rowdy side of Blue Rose except one's a pacifist... I'm intrigued by what their work relationship or even friendship could have looked like.

Albert Rosenfield & Diane Evans: please just don't make it too sad... a reunion or post-reunion maybe, but any time during their decades-long friendship really, when they could be there for each other or just be ridiculous together

Albert Rosenfield & Tamara "Tammy" Preston: any strange case they may have collaborated on, or a shared hobby, or reminiscing... Tammy looks like a brighter future for their cursed task force but it's all so fragile...

Albert Rosenfield & Phillip Jeffries: and what was THEIR work relationship like, I wonder. Apocalypse superstar special agent Phil just wants to chuck himself into the void (as per TSHOTP) and Albert tends to latch onto that sort of person. Does Phil appreciate the grounding force or nah?

James Hurley & Wally Brando: look, I don't know, just... their shared biker attitude, but Wally is so much weirder than James ever imagined one could be but also better adjusted...

Laura Palmer & Tamara "Tammy" Preston: I just think Tammy deserves little a supernatural experience, as a treat. Or maybe she meets Carrie somewhere. Or some other Laura! All Lauras are great Lauras.

Harry Truman & Margaret "The Log Lady" Lanterman: they love the woods! A meeting in the woods? It feels like he doesn't really get her, but?

Disco Elysium

I just... love... the whole thing... so much. The political outlook, the human warmth that can get so funny, chaotic, messy and so real at once, those poetic moments emerging from the silliest setups known to man, the Eastern European roots, the wild wild weirdness of the worldbuilding, the "be vigilant. I love you" of it all.

Regular prose, game pastiche or anywhere in between work just as well for me. If applicable, I would prefer a Communist or non-aligned Harry who's trying to get clean, with or without relapses. Very open to cop-critical takes and a sympathetic view of Kim's flaws. Background Harry/Kim always welcome.

Harry Du Bois & Ruby: I'm fascinated by Ruby being the first step of the narrative climax, especially (but not necessarily) if her accusations were true (additional thoughts on this). If she lives... if they meet again, by accident or otherwise... can they share a moment?

Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi & Lena/Morell: double date!! Cryptids double date!! On the evening after the ending, with the beaten-up detectives getting coddled a bit, or later on... maybe a dinner, maybe Harry gets invited to a cryptids conference...

Kim Kitsuragi & Klaasje Amandou: they both have a beautiful line about loving Revachol, and they're part of the underground, and would Kim be manipulated, and if so, through what means? If you arrest her there's room for a charged missing moment as he drives her away, or on a lighter note, their rooms are next to each other at the Whirling, they can run into each other, Kim can even ask to use her shower since his shared bathroom with room 1 is a dumpster?

Kim Kitsuragi & Smoker on the Balcony: talks at the Whirling? I just want to see them interacting, and I'm particularly charmed by the Smoker's talk that gives you the Homo-Sexual Underground thought... it doesn't seem like Kim's kind of take but who knows?

Kim Kitsuragi & Soona Luukanen-Kilde: different brand of nerds... what IS a computer, anyway. Why doesn't it go wroom wroooom. Or if you can come up with any scenario in which she gets to DM Wirrâl and he's there too...

[weizhentian]

This song makes me think of a She-ra AU that’s a cross between the 80s cartoon and the DC comics MOTU universe where Adora grows up as Despara, the evil goth She-ra.

In the world hinted at by this song Hordak was a bastard child, Horde Prime’s half brother who broke up his parents’ marriage. Therefore he was “doing evil even from a baby carriage”.

Adora doesn’t grow up to be the virtuous person she was in the 80s, but someone filled with doubt, who feels like she can’t bond properly with others.

The lyrics discuss abuse, sexual and not:

In a dream I was a werewolf My soul was filled with crystal light Lavender ribbons of rain sang Ridding my heart of mortal fright Of mortal fright

Broken sundown, fatherless showdown Gun hip swollen lip bottle sip yeah I suck dick Loose grip on gravity falls, sky blinding crumbling walls River sweep away my memories of Children's things, a young mother's love Before the yearning song of flesh on flesh Young hearts burst open wounds bleed fresh A young brother skinny and tall my older walks Ocean ward and somber, slumber sleeping Flowers in the water, but I'm just his daughter Walking down an icy grave, leading to my Schizophrenic father Weeping willow won't you wallow louder Searching for my father's power

I'm a shake you off though Get up on that horse and Ride into the sunset Look back with no remorse

He's a black magic wielder, some say, a witch Wielded darkness when he was wilin' on his mom's Unborn child and he was the bastard that broke Up the marriage evil doer doing evil from a baby carriage And he was born with the same blue eyes Crystal ships dripping with ice, diamonds coruscate In the night fireworks electric bright And now he's got his own two sons Tries to hide his tears in a world of fun But loveless bedrooms filled with doom Bring silent heartache July to June Swoon over new young hot flame Mourn the memories later Laugh now, alligator

In a dream, my father came to me And made me swear that I'd keep What's sacred to me And if I get the choice to live in his name I'll pray my way through the rain Singing "oh happy day"

I don't mean to close the door But for the record, my heart is sore You blew through me like bullet holes Left stains on my sheets and stains on my soul You left me broke down begging for change Had to catch a ride with a man who's deranged He had your hands and my father's face Another western vampire Different time, same place I has dreams that brings me sadness Rain much deeper than a river Sorrow flow through me Tiny waves of shivers Corny movies make me reminisce They break me down easy on this generic love shit First kiss frog and princess

I'm a shake you off though Get up on that horse and Ride into the sunset Look back with no remorse