#the most underestimated and misunderstood AU

[moonlightblueandicegrey]

My thoughts about b!Jay and Jay in general

I know that all the bizarro ninja are dangerous villains. But what about B!Jay specifically?

Let me explain why i think that he could be the most dangerous one:

Humans:

In my au and in my opinion, Jay himself is a little bit misunderstood and kinda underestimated by the people in Ninjago.

From my experience, i noticed that humans have this weird habit to be impressed by muscles and physical strength although it is known that someone can be dangerous and "strong" without the physical strength.

In my Ninjago headcanons:

My headcanons for Jay is that he looks "weaker" than he is. Jay is a skinny boy, without many visible muscles, and he is the cutest and shortest out of his team. Sadly, people see that as a weakness although none of those things means that Jay is weak. Jay is not weak. Okay, we must admit that Jay's "greatest ability" isn't physical strength, (as it is for Cole for example), but Jay has some other abilities that might become even more dangerous than physical strength under certain circumstances. An example is speed. My headcanon is that Jay is the fastest out of the ninja. But even now, speed isn't the main reason why i think of Jay (and in the next step: B!Jay) as the most dangerous.

Their way of thinking:

In my opinion, Jay's mind is what makes him as dangerous as i think he is. Because the other three ninja act like this:

Kai: He is strong and brave. But he is so brave and prideful that he becomes reckless. Yes, he'll go straight into battle and he'd rather die fighting than surrender. He'll fight to his last breath to protect the people he loves but this can be a mistake sometimes. Kai protects by becoming a "sword". He protects by attacking his enemy. Face to face battle even if you know you'll lose isn't the best choice. Sometimes you'll have to surrender in a battle if you want to win a war. (Yes, Gryffindor vibes if you are also a harry potter fan).

Cole: He isn't as reckless as Kai but his physical strength is messing with his mind sometimes. It gives him the feeling of winning but sometimes it's incorrect. Cole will surrender though but only if it's absolutely needed and if there is no other choice. He will fight to protect his loved ones but he will protect by becoming a "shield". He won't attack. He'll just fight back/dodge.

Zane: He has the potential to follow Jay's steps. But there's one problem. Zane is fair and honest. Although he won't start a battle that he can't win, his fairness and honesty will keep him a few steps back. Zane fights in the right place and in the right moment, when he is ready to do it and goes for a straight win (except if he has no choice but to fight earlier). He is not reckless and he plans his moves before going to battle. The problem is his ethic. He wants to win fair and with honesty, following the rules of a "τίμια μάχη" ("fair/honest/honourable battle").

Jay's way of thinking:

And here comes Jay: He is brave but he isn't reckless. He seems scared all the time but he isn't a coward. He'll fight when the time comes, but he just wants to save his skin. Jay will fight to protect if it's needed but he'll mostly fight for revenge (after the bad thing is done. Examples: Skybound, Prime Empire and Seabound). He doesn't give a fuck about such things like "fair battles" and "honour", "honesty" blah, blah. He just does whatever it takes to win or take what he wants no matter if his sneaky ways are unethical. Jay isn't the one who will throw himself into battle. He isn't the predictable one that you'll see coming to attack you from miles away. He is the type of guy that you won't even notice how he stabbed your back. And that my friend is much more dangerous than physical strength.

How's b!Jay related to that?

The question is, why does Jay use this thing only in specific occasions (like in skybound)? Because Jay is a hero. Jay has a good heart. He avoids using his unethical, sneaky ways to win and he just follows the rest of the team and the plans that the others make. Our kid tries hard, give him some credit for it.

Does b!Jay have this kind of problem though? No. Of course not. He'll just do it. Because he can. Because he doesn't care about being good. So imagine how powerful he could be if he only had a second chance in Ninjago... He could be a nightmare.

And i haven't seen dragon rising yet but i wish they could use Jay's potential now that he is villain. He could be great!

What do you think?

[dilfsonic]

Okay so, unpopular take that applies specifically to my Service Animal AU: Shadow and Maria are not siblings/“sibling coded.”

If you’ve read the notes on the original lore post describing them, you probably already know what I mean. While they can and will have moments of inspired ‘sibling’ like love for each other, that’s simply too disingenuous a way to describe them. They’re so much more. They’re each other’s only friend, they’re charge and ward, they can mimic the attitudes of siblings but never fully understand them, they have no romantic interests (until sonic shows up) and so mimic certain attitudes in that way with each other as well. But all of these are mere approximations and mimicry without fully encompassing any of those relationships. Shadow’s “affections” can be easily misconstrued for holding more weight than they actually are intended, as gestures such as hand holding/cuddling/purring are all utilitarian expressions meant to ease Maria’s physical discomfort or anxiety in accordance to his job as her service animal. Nothing more, nothing less. Maria knows this, but others can and do easily make their own assumptions.

I’ve been a little nervous to express this interpretation as I feel it can be really easily misunderstood, and I don’t want to give people the idea that even the immensely “”romantic”” or affectionate gestures or affiliations applied to them are actually meant to be shippy. Their love is an all encompassing one, and to call it sibling-like or romantic are both incorrect, as they’re neither. Ultimately applying any real world label to this au will be incorrect and a little too extreme in either direction; the closest possible relationship that may most accurately describe them is that between a service dog and their owner, if such a service dog was as intellectually capable of their human.

They’re what you get when you’re the only two people in your whole world. They’re what you get when you pair together someone who’s indebted to the other for their existence, which goes both ways. And by normal relationship standards, I would disagree to consider it a ‘healthy’ dynamic, but it also cannot be judged by the milestones of what a normal and healthy dynamic even looks like.

Shadow is nothing without her (in his own mind), and this lends itself to an inability to conceptualize a ‘self’ to even express. Maria hates how Shadow views himself — a tool, a trained dog, a guard, a companion of necessity — but she also can’t avoid using him accordingly. That means having no choice but to treat him not as a person, but as her crutch. Shadow is little aware of her internal struggle with the dehumanization of him because they communicate this almost never. Nor does he mind being dehumanized, he has never been a ‘person’ since the day he was created anyway.

Maria would love nothing more than to call Shadow a little brother, her best friend, someone who she could’ve had take her to prom because nobody at her school wanted to indulge the sickly child, nor did anyone even know her well enough considering she spent most of her time out of school than in it. She’d love to call Shadow these normal things, but she can’t. Not yet at least. Sonic will slowly change them and the way they can view friendship and the world and what it means to belong to each other, but it’s hard work on Shadow and Maria’s part.

They are something that can’t be easily defined, because it’s complex, and messy, and while there are bright moments of wonder and joy, is also overwhelmingly dark in its implications, and they can feel utterly alone even when standing right next to each other. Shadow owes Maria everything, and Maria owes Shadow everything, but each underestimates the full gravity of how their own existence touches and expands the other. They consider themselves worthless compared to the other, and that’s what gets in the way of them truly being able to open their hearts to each other. The way Sonic later teaches them HOW to open their hearts.

So yeah. I hope this concept of blurring the lines doesn’t scare too many folks, but this is based on my personal interpretation of how I feel a continued existence between them in canon or a canon adjacent world might have been like. I know it’s easy and delightful to see em like wholesome siblings — which is also an interpretation I wholeheartedly endorse and adore, particularly the way my bud @ratrrriot draws them (please go follow them if you don’t already, their shadow and maria artwork is to die for!) — but this is just a slightly different and admittedly darker take on them that I hope won’t ruffle too many feathers. Sibling coded relationships between characters are so wonderful, but in this case doesn’t feel satisfying or like it can possibly cover the scope of them for this particular au. I dislike labeling them or comparing them to another dynamic, like Sonic and Tails who are very explicitly brotherly with one another.

I may make a separate post on Sonic’s impact in this world and how he touches the lives of Shadow and Maria, Helen (when she comes along), and this world’s version of Robotnik (Julian) if people are interested in that. I take a lot of inspiration from his characterization in the Adventure games and Sonic X for this AU, as he’s most closely canon-aligned compared to Shadow and Maria who are a little different; though I’m gonna try my best to fit their “canon” personalities into a completely different scenario. Such as, Shadow lacks the innate hatred he has for mankind as he never loses Maria, but he will retain the “my body is a tool” mentality and the general uncaring of others opinions of him, etc.

[theanoninyourinbox]

NO THOUGHTS MORE SKYRIM WARRIORS AU - RACES

AS DIRECTED BY THE POLL The Races/Breeds of Skyrim! And Vamps and Werewolves (well, werecats)! Thanks to @jus-a-lil-mouse for letting me bounce off of them and giving me the Somali idea, and also @mothmans-w00ds you get a Serana!

These are the Races of Tamriel, with the most common Breeds being featured. The rest are as follows., with the note that ALL Races can produce Standard Issue Cats.

Argonians are near always Hairless, but some have sparse feathery fur on their head or down the spine. Their webbed feet make them excellent swimmers.

Khajiit always look like The Ancestors, the mighty Lions, Tigers, and more. They are Bengals, Savannah Cats, Toygers, and more.

Orcs are the flat-faced Breeds - Persians for the most part. They usually have magnificent long pelts, but many trim theirs to be more versatile in battle.

High Elves are Devon Rexes, Cornish Rexes, and rarely Selkirk Rexes. They claim that their magic and short fur makes them superior, but behind their backs, many point to the Argonians that many High Elves dislike.

Nords are enormous cats, usually with thick long fur. Norwegian Forest cats and Maine coons, almost always muscled and fierce.

Wood Elves are the smallest of the Tamriel Races, no matter the circumstances. Scottish Folds and Munchkins dominate their families, and their Standard Issue family are still very small.

Dark Elves are graceful and misunderstood by many. Orientals and long limbed, all Dark Elves have pointed fur patterns.

Imperials are British Breeds - Longhair or Shorthair, they are all welcome. The Imperials have the most diversity, with many intermarriages leading to many recessed genetics popping up.

Bretons are the most affable Breeds - Ragdolls are the majority. Their fur is either long or plush, and they are often underestimated.

Redguards are Somali, Mau, and desert Breeds. They are also the most likely to have tailless cats in their family trees, though they aren't always seen as a good omen.

Vampires can come from any Breed, and ALWAYS have visible fangs. Not all cats with visible fangs are well-fed vampires, however, and this has lead to innocents being accused. Hungry vampires are much more noticeable, with faded colors and bloody eyes.

Werecats are an interesting case. Some claim that they are infused with the spirit of the noble Wolf, and others call it a disease. The truth is that the Daedra Hircine has laid his Blessing upon cats, giving them aspects of His Own Face.

Aaaaand that's it for now! I'm thinking about Daedra next, but I'll be working on my [REDACTED] project first!

[stargazeraldroth]

You can’t hear it but I let out the most disgusted sound at the thought of… Eugh. MATH. Just the thought leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Anyways, nothing wrong with laziness! It’s good to take some time to yourself to relax and decompress, if you need to- And hell, sometimes the executive dysfunction just gets to you. I know it gets to me.

Error sees Ink having a good time and decides that it can’t fucking stand while he’s around to Cause Problems and Wreck Shit. It’s definitely angst central for Ink either way, though- Never even got to confess, the poor guy. And hey, don’t we all need a little bit of therapy?

As you should have! Gin is a soft boy and a good guy, and I, for one, think even his visual chemistry alone with Ink is incredible… I love the two of them a lot, haha.

Mutually supportive Cross and Ink is my everything… I imagine that it really hit them that they’re healing from everything once Ink lends Cross his scarf (which is deeply important to him, what with all the things he’s written on it), or maybe even Broomie, and Cross let’s him wear his coat or his scarf and bundles him up like a lil burrito. Just. Soft Oreo bros owns my heeeaaart-

Oh, he definitely won’t be the best- Glitchy boy is awkward at best and wildly unqualified to provide comfort in this scenario at worst- But I’d like to think he gets an A for effort or something, you know? Even if he. Uh. Accidentally upsets Ink with Blue and Dream puppets.

Corrupted or Fallen Stars can be great… In theory. But sooo often they’re just flipped with the Bad Sans, and! That can be a fun idea in and off itself, if it’s in the concept of something that it blatantly a roleswap AU! But it normally isn’t, and it just ends up grating on me- Hell, off the top of my head, I can tell you semi-passable reasons for Secretly Evil Stars would be leaning so hard into positivity it becomes addiction and delusion (Dream), being tired of having his emotions invalidated and giving people the “real him” they apparently want (Ink), and being tired of being underestimated and desperate to stay with some of the only people who seem to take him seriously (Blue). That! Is literally just, I came up with it in five seconds! People don’t even give them the dignity of that, though, it’s just “They’re evil and my poor misunderstood murder babies are angels.” But like you said! How are they secretly misunderstood angels! If you’re going with “oh, they don’t WANT to hurt people,” why are they doing it- They aren’t necessary for the Balance, like you said. Is Nightmare forcing them so he can cause negativity? Is Error? Is something else going on??. And that’s not even getting into how all of that would wildly unbalance another set of Guardians- Reaper and Life. The excess death is their problem, now, the Bad Sans certainly ain’t sticking around to deal with the aftermath! Am I too passionate about this? Mayhaps. Shall I stop? Absolutely not.

And yeah, you’re definitely right about that- Outside pressure isn’t guaranteed to justify mass murder to the people you’ve affected with it. People have still lost their homes, and their loved ones, and so many other things- Why, exactly, does the alleged agony of being “forced” to do awful things negate the pain of the victims of those things? It doesn’t make sense at best, and it feels callous at worst. It feels… Really, really shoehorned in, for lack of a better term, just to make the “misunderstood favs” loved and adored by the masses, if that makes sense.

No issue with the ranting here! I quite agree with you, after all. And as for Ink… Well, it just makes sense! Like you said, he adores the Multiverse, so him writing off or ignoring something so, so vital for its survival just… Doesn’t make sense? Like, if you really don’t want him to know, it should be for angsty purposes- Fate, shielding his eyes and ears from it, completely cutting off anyone trying to tell him. Can you imagine how horrible to would feel, once someone was finally able to tell him? That would be a much better story arc, in my opinion- Someone prevents the Protector from doing what he’s dedicated his existence to, and the realization and healing that stems from that as they all work together to heal the Balance… Oh, and also- I see so many people calling him “Fate’s Favorite,” which, like. People. People know being the favorite of an abuser isn’t really a good thing, right? Even if there isn’t physical abuse, being the favorite can lead to some horrific things… Ahem. Moving on from my own rant- Yeah, Error definitely seems the most likely to not know or ignore the Balance, I think. Like you said, ignoring it even benefits him!

Hhh if you’re sure I’ll send a separate ask!!! Might take a bit, since I’ll have to write it all out… I should probably come up with a name, too. Just call me… Rainy Anon! Or Rain, heh.

Let’s be real, saving the brush is what Ink would want. And besides, if we save the brush, maybe we can use it to save Ink! Provided he hasn’t. You know. Gone insane from isolation and emotional overload. God only knows what having the emotional consequences of his entire existence hitting him at once would feel like. Quite frankly, I’m… Not sure he’d be able to process it. And would he even be Ink, once he got out? Would he start thinking it was all a dream he made up to comfort himself in an unfinished world???

I mean, to be fair, it could be seen as a response to everything in the AU. Ink is running, and the other Stars don’t know why!

He gives some much needed snark and sarcasm to some rather bleak situations. Also, he’d definitely be the sort to sarcastically narrate his brother’s fuckups.

🌧️ Rainy Anon 🌧️

AM HERE!

I believe I based his character off the mask I've seen him with, but I also kinda did it from memory?? Anyway, I made him "Kitsune Udon". He and Ink do have a connection, uh- they were like best friends until Ink got kidnapped/abducted LMFAO

If you wanna take the full Oreo bros into consideration, then we need to bring Reaper into the mix. I'm honestly kinda surprised no one talks about him in an Underverse setting. Being the God of Death means nothing to people these days smh. From X-Tale's destruction to Error committing a massacre against the AUs, Reaper's probably working overtime. He's definitely pissed about the situation. I think he would be interested in investigating the situation, which can then lead to him finding out about everything.

Error's trying! If anyone says anything about it, he gets defensive and says that they should be grateful he's doing anything for Ink in the first place! How ungrateful of them!

I remember once reading about how if we were to be realistic with the characters, Dream most likely wouldn't be as optimistic and friendly as he canonically is. But you're right, it's hardly ever as simple as being a roleswap AU; if anything, a personality swap AU might be more fitting of a description. I really don't mean to nitpick people's writing and stuff like this, I try to more encouraging when I can be, but these are things we need to consider when we want to make a story like this. Yes, characters who are evil and don't have the reason revealed CAN be interesting... but this isn't one of those cases, I don't think. I think I especially hate how they always make Ink the primarily evil one, the "root of it all", and the reason for it? He's soulless. Like... is that really the best you can do? You can use many reasons to make Ink the villain of the story if you really want to, and you target a condition he has? A condition he has no control over? Erm... kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I vaguely remember seeing some posts that discussed this exact thing, and how using his soullessness as a source of evil for his character has tones of ableism. I only vaguely remember because I glossed over the posts, didn't feel like reading at the time, so I could be getting that wrong. If anyone has read posts like that and wants to give their opinion, feel free to do so.

And you're right about that- I NEVER, EVER see any of these stories address Life and Reaper's roles in the Balance. They're easily getting the most screwed over in this situation because the Gang's causing unnecessary death with their murder sprees, which is tipping the Balance... which is what they're against the Stars for??? They only focus on Error and/or Nightmare for some reason... stop leaving my Circle of Life babies out of stuff-

It's because even though they preach about how negativity is essential to the Multiverse and "Dream needs to understand that", they don't actually WANT negativity there. For example, they always question why Ink allows negative AUs or AUs with tragic stories to exist, such as Horrortale. Aside from the fact that Ink has zero control over what AUs are made, those AUs are basically counters to positivity-oriented AUs such as Haventale. They preach about how negativity has just as much of a right to exist freely... and then condemn its existence in ways they don't like. The thing is, Horrortale and Dusttale happened as a consequence of events; the CORE shutting down led to the disastrous conditions in the Underground, the constant RESETs and Genocides led Sans to become Dust, etc. These are all examples of NATURAL negativity and how life works; it isn't meant to be pretty. And if you think about it, isn't this exactly how they make Dream think in these stories? Negative AUs shouldn't exist. BUT WAIT! Dream's in the wrong, don't forget that! Just ignore the fact that the Gang antagonizes Ink for the existence of these AUs! Dream's the bad guy, the Gang has no faults! And you wanna know the most fucked up part about expecting everyone to forgive Error and the Gang? The ones who don't are frowned upon and treated as unreasonable, in my experience. Which makes zero sense??? It's like being asked to forgive someone who murdered your best friend, family, and/or pet because they were forced to... like that doesn't change anything??? Like maybe you'll get some pity, but you sure as hell aren't getting forgiveness anytime soon!

Ngl I keep forgetting Fate and Destiny are in these AUs because I don't use them. I don't really like the concept of them, I just stick with the Creators... they pretty much have the same role. But that one's just a personal preference, it doesn't really change much about the contents of the story. And you are absolutely right, being an abuser's "favorite" isn't a good thing. That mindset is concerning. That's like saying it's a good thing to be a groomer's "favorite", like... no it isn't. Oh, but by their logic, it's okay because it's Ink! Any possible negatives of being Fate's favorite are ignored because Ink just can't be a sympathic, dimensional character! Nope, nope, nope! He's evil, through and through, and anyone who tries to look deeper than the surface is blind and being manipulated by him! Like... did the Gang hire y'all to spew this propaganda? This feels like propaganda. This reminds me of something I saw where someone listed what Sans AUs are green flags, and they put Error there. Like... do y'all know anything about Error's character? This is the genuine question.

I'm so sorry if I sound kinda bitchy in this rant, but I just can't find the logic. I try not to nitpick at individual writing styles, but literally everything I have read that deals with FGOD and this roleswap dynamic has been one-dimensional and lacked depth. Again, that probably sounds ignorant, and I don't mean for it to, but the sheer amount of "Gang good, Stars bad" and nothing more has essentially ruined the entire concept for me. This is probably why I prefer FGOC, because the characters at least have some depth beneath the surface. Dream is like one of the nicest and most compassionate characters in canon, why you gotta vandalize him like this?

Alright! You shall be the Rainy Anon!

Long live Broomie! The worst part about Ink's situation is that he's surrounded by people who are... blank. Just like when he doesn't have his vials. And he hates when he gets like that. He's probably overthinking and everything. Love that for him, you know?

Nightmare's absolutely RELISHING in the negativity! It's just so, so good! And it's even better because Dream- goody-two-shoes, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly Dream- is the one who caused it. I can picture Nightmare laughing evilly and kicking his feet while stuff goes down.

[zu-is-here]

Happy 5th anniversary ♡

a redraw of the comic scene

Underlust by @nsfwshamecave

[curiosity-killed]

What do you think is the occupations of your fav MDZS and TGCF characters in modern AU? Sorry for the random ask....

haha pls don't apologize, i am always down for random asks

i'm really bad at modern AUs in part because I have a lot of feelings about how their occupations/lives need to both be symbolically equivalent to their lifestyles in canon and personally fitting but. i will attempt lol

MDZS

Wei Wuxian: not to be cliche, but I do feel like a niche engineering field is a good fit for wwx. am i biased bc of having many engineers in my life? Yes. BUT I feel like bioengineering is a good mix of the 'traditionally successful and skilled' and 'on the edge of potential madness/HIGHLY inclined to be misunderstood by the public and manipulated for publicity' no this is not an opportunity to rant abt disinformation around gmos but lIKE

Lan Wangj: for story's sake, I would then put lwj as an acoustics engineer. how would this align with getting wwx back on the righteous path? idfk man. maybe he starts out working with sonar?? and then shifts to working with like architectural acoustics?? or smth??

Jiang Cheng: this man is the most mechanical engineer i have ever seen in my life. the chip on his shoulder abt being looked down upon for not ~*specializing*~? the Doing What He's Supposed To? this man graduated magna cum laude with a mech e major and business minor but still managed to get a lower GPA than wwx and has never forgotten

Wen Qing: i mean. u know she's a doctor. but i do particularly like her as a trauma surgeon. it seems appropriately stressful

Jiang Yanli: i am partial to yanli being a behind the scenes support type role. so imma just be lazy and say she's a communications manager for the family firm. a good combination of being underestimated/undervalued + getting shit done while not being noticed

TGCF

Hua Cheng: hmm I mean, my ideal job for Hua Cheng is as a reclusive, uncannily successful artist which is unrealistic but. so it goes.

Xie Lian: I think he probably started out in ~business but ultimately winds up working at a local crisis center in a small town, probably mostly doing things like managing the food pantry and pick ups/drop offs of donations, but he's a favorite among the regular volunteers when he appears from the back rooms

Yushi Huang: organic farmer but like. the legit non-corporate kind. She runs a co-op that hires people convicted of felonies and provides fresh veggies to local schools for the school lunch program

Feng Xin: I can't not think of him as some kind of private security, sorry y'all. after the xianle business crashes, he winds up working for Jun Wu's...charitable foundation lol and then gets sort of laterally promoted to a place where he's somehow also HR but he doesn't understand why or how to do it and really just wants to go back to making sure Xie Lian doesn't get killed

Mu Qing: I think he started as Xie Lian's personal assistant and then consistently graduated upwards from executive assistant to become like senior director of operations or smth at the same org as Feng Xin. they def get in beefs over hiring decisions, naturally

[foxilayde]

Screams! Congrats on your shit ton of followers you marvellous being. You deserve a million billion.

I would love a ship please, but don’t worry if you get a ton of requests and can’t get around to this (and also you did already suggest which Oscar character I should date from my own fics recently in my ask game - which I haven’t replied to yet, d’oh - so don’t feel obligated 🙈)

Obvs I’m nervous what you’re gonna say here since this is BINDING and could affect me for the rest of my LIFE, but I’m gonna take the risk because I trust you 😆

I’m Luna! IRL, the descriptors most often tossed my way are “quiet”, “calm”, “adorable” 🙄. Can mean I’m underestimated; but I’m determined, independent, capable etc. (also with a tangle of anxiety, over-thinking, and social awkwardness, but watevs). Introverted, definitely, and sometimes misunderstood for being a bit on the quiet or aloof side (but perfectly friendly/nice, I like to think, if people give me a chance!). Honest. Open-minded, love to learn things and try new stuff / visit new places. Likes: writing / creating; rainy days; quiet places; theatre; movies / pop culture; doing MMA, getting strong. Kinks: hoo boy. Um, daddy kink is good, living that bratty sub life, but not averse to pegging so prolly a bit switchy too. Lots of other stuff, don’t look at me (you’ve read enough of my fics - you know what’s up.) Physically I’m petite, pale white skin, blonde hair. Read as femme constantly but in my head I’m far more masc than that.

IS THAT ENOUGH INFO TO DECIPHER A FOREVER BINDING MATCH, DANNY?

I thank you for doing this nice fun thing for people. 🧡

Oh no, now I feel exposed 😆🙈

Luna Luna Luna

Fret not.

Because a miraculous thing has occurred. An AU where POE FREAKING DAMERON owns a boxing gym.

HEAR ME OUT.

You're just going to blow off some steam. You want to be tough. Prove to all of those people in your life that you're not just some tiny thing that needs to be looked after. You can hold your own in a dark alley.... well, not YET. But you WILL be able to! Once you get some lessons...

You accompany your friend who tells you she's joining because she "needs to hit stuff". You go for your friend, but you stay for the instructor. God. He's so NICE. And so caring. And holds the punching bag while instructing you how to hold your fists for contact. And JESUS, when he wraps your hands up with the tape you feel like you're about to explode.

He teaches you on one hand, "over the thumb twice, and then between the middle and ring, and then back to....." you're not even paying ATTENTION, you dummy!! And he KNOWS this is the case, because when he asks you to wrap your left hand yourself and alll he gets is a,

"huh?' from you.

He smiles so big and takes the tape back from your right hand and teaches you allllll over again. And you STILL don't absorb it. You're that far gone. You'll have to look up fist-wrapping videos tonight online if you want to save face for the next session.

Even when your girlfriend is done with the lessons entirely, you continue to go. You get your own membership with him, and you're there at least 6 times a week.

One evening it's just the two of you in the intermediate boxing class. He's got on the sparring gloves and he's teaching you how to throw a hook and a jab, wanting to get each hand as proficient as the other.

"Good! Good job, Luna. You're amazing! You've picked up on everything so quick!" He high fives you with your boxing gloves and his sparring ones.

You blush and shrug and shyly admit that he's a good teacher.

"No, I- I mean it." He says, shucking off the sparring gloves into the cubby. "you've gotten really great. I'm proud of you."

For some reason, hearing this man saying he's proud of you, wells up something inside your spirit.

"Thanks, coach" you pat his shoulder with your gloved fist.

"Poe. You can call me Poe." He stares at you with purpose and your silly grin falls flat into something serious as he peels off your gloves.

Your breath catches in your throat while he carefully unwinds the tape from your fingers.

"You've been practicing," He smiles, slowly stripping your fingers from their protective coverings.

You're shaking now and he brings up your bare left fist for a kiss to your knuckles.

"This okay?"

"Yeah... yeah." You breathe out. It's okay. More than.

[randomshipperhere]

Welcome to the 3rd installment of the No More series!

I just finished reading it since Otoya's event just ended and man, was not disappointed in the event story and the ship feed.

First things first, I'm still unsure wether Otoya and Tokiya in this series are actual bros or like bros in brotherhood of arms. In any case, Tokiya seems to be a minor in the series as said by Camillo and Otoya seems to be young as well as said by Ray. It does seem like Otoya is the older person between the two.

While the story focuses on of course, the event UR and SR peeps, QN had a lot of scenes the event.

I don't know Tokiya, Marco and Camillo might like each other more than you thought.

RanCam! RanCam! RanCam!

I'm so happy Ray and Michael hang out even outside the casino during the day. Look at their smiles! In-movie universe you can't tell me there ain't anything going on. Y'all Reiji calling Ai darling sounds absolutely wonderful in my head.

ReiAi! ReiAi! ReiAi!

To think later that night Ray would be super serious in protecting his boss. Oh the contrast~ How happy he is with Michael and then so protective of his boss when he's faced in danger. Go get 'em you beautiful mafia bastard.

I also found it really cute when Tokiya was pouting at how good of a dealer Michael is. Don't underestimate this singer boy.

Michael is afraid of guns. Noooooo. Must protect baby. Even RanAi's beautiful older bro-younger bro sibling dynamic followed in the series. This is so sweet you guys. Best older brother Marco.

Out of all the movies/series shoots in shining live, not one can compare to how much I love this.

Hero Lightwing, the superhero series, I only like Camus, Ranmaru, and Ren there. The villain, the misunderstood villain, and the 3rd party person.

High School AU. Honestly no one outside of the Renegades in Unison pair made an impact on me (RanRei. Let's go coffee shop au). Actually that's lowkey a lie, I'm very interested in MasaRen in that series but that's it.

But this, Not only is it a mafia AU with really cute brotherly bonds, I found each dynamic interesting, even the newly introduced characters of Otoya and Tokiya. The stark contrast in each pairs outfits, their relationships with each other and their banter is amazing but I mean, that's what you get when there's character x character tension and QN together. QN knows tension within groups real well.

I swear, next time there's a voting poll for what event stories to voice next, I won't hesitate to vote for the No More series.

*cries in most event stories that won last time were commercial shoots instead of movies or series*

for Ai it's Desert Sea for me rn tho

[howlingmoonrise]

Dear Yuletide Author

hello and thank you for signing up for yuletide, i hope you have fun during the challenge!

i ramble a lot so my letter is under a readmore (i put everything in one post so you don’t have to juggle links around). obviously you don’t have to follow any of the things i put in here, but hopefully this will help you out!

general things i like

PINING. I’M SUCH A SLUT FOR PINING ALL THE PINING ULTRA PINING SUPER PINING. i have SO MUCH FUN reading about idiots in love who aren’t together yet and i far prefer it to fics with already established relationships. this is also applicable to when they know the other is in love with them but they can’t act on it for some reason.

i’m down for either gen or romantic!! what really does it for me is the developing relationship, platonic or otherwise, and the character dynamics and interactions and all the little moments in between. stuff like developing trust and finding kinship and growing respect for the other and subconsciously learning to lean on the other over anyone else is far more important for me than any kissing will ever be (though kissing is also nice if you wanna go down that route lmao)

i love love LOVE enemies/rivals-?to-friends?-to-lovers and bickering pairs in general, as you can probably tell by my choice in character! it’s so much fun and it gives us so many opportunities for character and relationship developments :D

continuing from the above points, nothing kills me as much as characters that bicker all the time but in the end they rely on the other and go to each other before they go to anyone else, whether they realize it or not

i REALLY like the canon and characters for all the fandoms i picked, so sticking at least to their characterizations and the overall “tone” of canon is a huge plus!! “missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent, as are continuations from where canon left us! that being said, i also enjoy more conceptual AUs and i’ve put more details about those a little further below. rule of thumb is that i enjoy AUs where the focus remains more on the relationship itself and how it works on such a setting than on the worldbuilding for it.

fun tropes i enjoy (sorry, these are a bit romance-leaning but if you’re not into that they can probably be adapted somehow): fake dating, accidentally got roped into x and shenanigans of all sorts keep happening, misunderstood confessions, groundhog day au, one or both the characters having stupid levels of denial while technically in a relationship and just not realizing it like What Do You Mean We’re Dating??, that sorta thing.

TROPE SUBVERSION ALL THE WAY!

general things i dislike

kidfics. babyfics. next gen fics. pregnancy fics, or even pregnancy discussed in the fic is a major squick of mine. the one exception i make for kidfics is for petshop of horrors when it comes to chris and the pets, as they already belong in canon, but no babies or children otherwise please.

future fics in general, actually. what i enjoy is the relationship development, so huge time skips make me feel like we missed way too much. one exception to this is post-canon petshop of horrors, for obvious reasons.

i usually don’t like most angst stuff since it feels a bit gratuitous to me when it comes to most fandoms and characters. the one exception for this is psoh (see below if you’re picking this fandom - and wow psoh seems to be the exception to everything huh) or when it’s a more introspective sort of fic. as a result of this, i’d pass on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, the like, though of course there are always exceptions to the rule and you’re free to write as you wish!

hard AUs are a bit ugh to me. by this i mean AUs that rely heavily on setting, such as high school AUs, harry potter AUs, that sort of thing. i DO however enjoy stuff like siren AUs and soulmate AUs, depending on the concept and on the fandom. more details in their own sections if you enjoy writing those!

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, sickfics, and genderbending of any kind is a bit ehhhh for me, as are concepts such as ABO. hard pass on stuff like dysphoria and deep diving into most mental illnesses, too (with a possible exception for depression when it comes to psoh). 

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

if you’re going for nsfw

kinks

moderate sadomasochism, uncommon forms of bondage (plants, stuck with strange substance or in awkward position, the shadows from p&tf as restraints, etc), choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles/alien genitals (shadowplay in p&tf, non-human genitals for the staryk lord, etc), moderate degradation, edging/desperation play, ladies topping and calling the shots, bloodplay/knifeplay, long hair/hair pulling (staryk lord, leon orcot), sharp nails/claws (staryk lord, charlotte la bouff, count d; miryem mandelstam having them is actually preferable to the staryk lord now that i think of it), lowkey cannibalism imagery (count d re:leon orcot)

squicks

scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, gore, abuse, abo, anything involving pregnancy at all

--

PETSHOP OF HORRORS

i’m usually not very partial to angst but GODS does psoh throw that out of the window, so feel more than free to run with it if you wanna go down that route.  psoh is RIPE for angst. we got two people with abandonment and inadequacy issues: leon who decided to leave his whole life behind to chase someone who gave him life and then left and initially didn’t even bother to do it with any sort of goodbyes, and d who is supremely fucked up by his upbringing and had to push leon off the ark to continue his family’s mission and let drop one (1) single tear that he was not supposed to cry over a human. those fuckers. those idiots. i love them so much.

THAT BEING SAID, i also!!!! love slice of life shit for them!!!!!!!! GODS i love how much they bicker but then they turn around and the other is the person they rely on the most and who they trust implicitly above all others and how they keep roping each other into ridiculous shenanigans. neither of them are particularly communicative with a few rare exceptions, so there’s also a lot of room there for introspection and unspoken affection on both sides, which i LOVE. my son leon in particular is also super underestimated when it comes to his intelligence and tolerance for gay shit both in canon and fandom, and he performs ridiculous leaps of logic and instinct that somehow turn out to be right but that are super ???? for everyone else involved, and that’s always fun to see. hell, just another missing scene where leon brings d some cake and they banter fondly over tea is A++++ to me!!

nsfw???? bring it!!! this is the one fandom where you’re more than free to go super dark and kinky if you wanna, or if you wanna write tender loving reunion sex where d cries a little while leon is loving and disbelieving and so very careful that’s also excellent! i don’t have a particular preference on who tops either, it’s fun either way, but i tend to see leon more as a sub/masochist >u> i can also see it going a bit dark with those two, especially considering d and his kind (implied to eat human flesh and being predators more than once) so bloodplay and cannibalistic thoughts could be fun. re: d’s genitals (as are hotly debated in the fandom), i usually prefer either a dick or triple threat d, though some fun plant-man shenanigans also have their place here.

all in all, psoh is the most excellent genre triangle where i’d be super happy to receive anything on the slice-of-life/angst/smut corners! (also, slash is 3249823% acceptable if you couldn’t tell by my ranting, as is a hint of crack)

if you’re thinking going AU on this one, my suggestions are of slight universe alterations instead of major world AUs. examples could be soulmate AUs (trope subversion would be GREAT here, aka foreign script they didn’t initially recognize, or only Ds having soulmates while humans do not, or the same scenario as the last but leon DOES have it on his skin and just keeps it hidden because Normal Humans Don’t Have Birth Tattoos, or d never expected to have one because his kind is dead and yet when he pushes leon from the ark the soulmate bond is forged, etc), a different first meeting, or even missed connections when they did not know each other yet; something like papa being alive and brady bunch-ing it up with them and chris would also be both excellent and hilarious. epistolary form for those two is also fun! if you wanna go full universe AU, something like a vampire hunter leon could be very interesting >u>

--

SPINNING SILVER

WHERE DO I EVEN START. miryem and the staryk lord were my favourite part of the book; if the book was only their story i would have already been more than satisfied. the rest of the book is also excellent, but those two???? that story was far too great. enemies to allies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes, and this is one of the examples that just keeps proving me right. the slowly growing respect, the wariness when they both know what the other is capable of, the staryk lord getting hit with the hots for his wife when she manages the impossible and then miryem being unable to just let it go when he’s imprisoned and defeated. ACTUALLY lemme just grab that line of thought and bring up that moment when he was sorrowful and resigned when miryem didn’t argue further for the three rooms full of gold and he thought she would not succeed and that she would have to die for it. that, right there? those moments of renewed respect, those moments sudden longing for something they did not know they wanted? those are the things that kill me.

tonally, i love the sort of writing in canon too much to ask for anything different, though you’re by no means obliged to keep to it or to 1st person pov (i have a love-hate relationship with 1st person pov, ngl). missing moments from the novel or moments from the period of time they spent either courting or apart would be GREAT. for those two i actually don’t mind it too much if they’re already established, if it’s early on in the relationship when they’re still learning how to step around one another. the staryk lord flabbergasted or in awe of miryem is always Excellent(TM). bits of worldbuilding and staryk culture would be fun as applied to their relationship (such as the names thing, or courting habits, etc) as are AUs such as soulmates or alternate meetings and the like. if you’re wanting to go full universe AU, keeping some fairytale elements would be great!

if you’re going for nsfw? the name kink, holy shit that would be so goooood. the staryk lord being a bit of a masochist under miryem’s hands would also be great, and inhuman staryk genitals and erogenous zones/acts would be great to play with such as human body heat affecting them in different ways from normal, etc. bringing in his long hair would be a major plus. the build-up for the actual act is the best, so miryem and the staryk lord being super hot for each other while either denying it internally pre-relationship or being unable to go through with it post-relationship due to several factors (busy dealing with their people, no privacy, etc) would be EXCELLENT. so much fun can be had here!

--

PRINCESS AND THE FROG

i am 100% aware this is a weird-ass pairing but gods, the possibilities. it has so much potential. there are few things i like quite as much as a villain and a good person developing a strange sort of kinship with each other. this doesn’t have to mean in a romantic way, obviously! as i said, for me it’s the building understanding and reluctant respect that i really love, far more than the actual romance. 

ideas, ideas, ideas. i’m aware this is a rare relationship to either portray or ask for, so i’m gonna try to give some more concrete-ish ones for you to build up on if you have no clue as to how to approach this. we could have canonverse with charlotte dealing with the shadowman in some other matter while the main plot is occurring, making him feel somewhat guilty about the whole marriage plot with laurence-turned-naveen; cue introspection or an entirely different outcome. or a post-canon sort of hades&persephone plot, with charlotte curious despite herself and tempted to listen to a shadow/dead/whatever!dr facilier when she’s the only one that can hear him, or her being dragged Beneath as well in a freak accident and then charming him into helping her back to the surface/living world (very, veeeeery reluctantly on his part, at least at the start, he might have even be thinking of tricking her but then change his mind when the time comes to do it). i think dr facilier wouldn’t be sure how to deal with charlotte’s particular brand of personality and good humour, and it’d throw him off his rhythm a lot - that sort of thing is always super fun to write. 

soulmate au in canon would work pretty well, but with this pairing? FULL WORLD AU IS YOURS FOR THE TAKING. keeping to the shadowman sort of thing to her normal bougie self would be a major plus; it’s one of her charms. also, charlotte thinking that she wants one thing (her prince, for example) while keeping getting drawn to him time and time again could work on pretty much any era or setting. vice-versa for him, thinking he wants to be rid of her but coming to realize he’d actually miss her if she were to be gone. OR, charlotte deciding she wants this sullen manipulative bastard and manipulating HIM into taking her out and hanging out with her would be hilarious.

if you wanna do nsfw, i have only one major request: charlotte calling the shots/topping. i think this arrangement would be entirely in character for both of them (dr facilier would prob also enjoy having someone else do all the work lol) considering her go-getter attitude, but keeping in mind his manipulative personality i’d be more comfortable if she had some control over what was happening. ASIDE FROM THAT, dyou know what would be fun? a little darkness, and by that i mean consider dr facilier’s shadow joining in on the fun. shadows would also be an interesting sort of constraint. also i know i said charlotte calling the shots, but she can be constrained by the shadows while being amused by it or being used for it to happen (the latter case implying it’s not the first time that they’ve used it in bed play), or charlotte could team up with Shadow to do it to facilier instead. charlotte using her nails and facilier being a bit of a sub/masochist would also be pretty good!

(actually in general it’d be really fun if there was some complicity between charlotte and facilier’s shadow in general, regardless of nsfw or not. the shadow being wrapped around her little finger is an excellent concept, especially if facilier isn’t too fond of her just yet lmfao.) 

thank you for reading all my rambling, and i hope you have fun!

[ktlsyrtis]

20 + 26 for the trope mash-up!

teacher AU + massage fic

“Ow.”

Bernie looks up from the paper she’s marking, frowning when she sees Serena limping over to her desk in their shared office.

“You all right?”

She lowers herself into her chair gingerly, unable to hide a wince. “I was down helping the library organize all those book donations and underestimated how heavy a box was.” Serena twists slightly in her chair, stretching her torso and arching her back. Bernie looks down, suddenly extremely interested in her student’s illegible scribblings. “Did my back in, I’m afraid.”

“I could cover your class this afternoon, if you wanted to sneak out to your osteo.” Not the most convenient timing, this close to the end of term, but Bernie often finds herself making these sorts of offers, can’t help but do anything she can to makes Serena’s life that much easier. The smile she gets in return is more than worth it, bright and genuine enough even through the pain that it makes Bernie’s heart flutter.

“That’s very sweet, but they’re doing final presentations today. I can’t miss it.” Serena bends forward with a groan, rolling up into some semblance of cat pose and Bernie has to avert her eyes to avoid a frankly stunning display of cleavage.

“I could give you a massage, if you like.” The words are out before Bernie’s brain has caught up. She feels her cheeks heating at the idea, but can’t see how to backpedal the offer now. “I mean, we, ah, we can’t have you like this in class all afternoon. And, um, I’ve been told that I’m rather good at that sort of thing by…people.” Her stammering trails off lamely, embarrassed setting in. Serena has the oddest look on her face, her fingers toying with her pendant, and for a moment Bernie think’s Serena’s as embarrassed as she is, though for the life of her she can’t imagine why.

“Really? That, uh, that would be nice,” Serena says hesitantly, but still levers herself out of her seat with a groan. Bernie jumps up a moment later, pulling out of the the low-backed chairs kept along the walls for student meetings for Serena to sit in.

Bernie rubs her hands together as she circles around behind Serena, ostensibly to warm them up, when in fact she’s just trying to wipe away the sudden sweat from her palms, a condition which only worsens when Serena slips off her loose blouse. Taking a fortifying breath, she steps closer, resting her hands just lightly along Serena’s shoulder blades. She can feel the warmth of her skin through the thin silk of her vest, the tension in her muscles.

“Just tell me if I’m hurting you,” Bernie murmurs, thumbs pressing in along either side of Serena’s spine.

Her head falls forward with a groan of mixed pain and pleasure, and Bernie realizes two crucial things. Number one, this is the first time she’s purposefully touched Serena since the night of the staff holiday party. And number two, this was a spectacularly bad idea.

Because at the first touch of her hands to Serena’s back, all of the memories she’s been ruthlessly avoiding for the last 15 weeks come flooding to the forefront. Intense, vivid memories of Serena, all sparkling eyes and dark red lips in a dress that took Bernie’s breath away. The two of them getting progressively drunker as the night went on, giggling together like school girls, even taking a turn on the dance floor. Huddling in the cold waiting for a taxi, their breath clouding the air before them, snowflakes clinging to Serena’s lashes.

Of the taste of Serena’s lips - shiraz and lipstick and her - so soft and sweet against her own, so pliant as they opened to Bernie’s questing tongue.

Her hands tighten a bit of their own accord and she has to force herself to relax as she thinks of the weekend that followed; flitting nervously around her flat, checking her phone endlessly as she went back and forth on whether she should get in touch with Serena. Torn between elation and fear that she had misunderstood, had pushed too far, terrified that she’d damaged the most important friendship in her life beyond repair.

By Monday morning she had reached a place of calm, decided that she would lay it all out for Serena and finally tell her the truth. Tell her that she’d been wanting to kiss her since the day they’d met over Serena’s broken down car in the school car park, that she’d been hopelessly in love with her for almost as long. She practiced the words on her way in to work, repeated them as she bought them both a coffee at the little cafe across the road.

Words that abandoned her at the nauseating realization that Serena had no memory of their kiss.

All of her brave intentions had shrivelled up inside her beside her cowardly heart and she decided then and there to never tell Serena what had happened, how she felt. She’s come to peace with it as much as she can over the course of the term, forces herself to act like she is still only Serena’s best friend and not head over heels in love with her. It’s for the best, she reminds herself sternly everytime Serena smiles especially bright in her direction, or takes Bernie’s arm in her own as they walk to the pub.

Bernie realizes suddenly that her hands have slowed of their own accord, resting lightly on Serena’s shoulders, her thumbs rubbing circles against her soft skin. It’s far more of a caress than a massage, but Serena hasn’t pulled away, is instead sitting perfectly still beneath Bernie’s touch.

Something shifts in the atmosphere between them, delicate and crystalline, like a spider’s web on a foggy morning. Bernie finds herself slowing her breathing to match Serena’s, tracing the smattering of freckles on her pale shoulders with the pads of her thumbs, memorizing the the feel of her skin. Without thinking she slides a hand to rest against the curve where Serena’s neck meets her shoulder, thumb tracing lightly against the slight bumps of her spine, her fingertips resting against the dip of her collarbone. She feels Serena take a slow breath that shudders through her, vibrates against Bernie’s skin.

The bell rings, shattering the charged aura, the hallways filling with the shouts of students a moment later as they make they way back from lunch. Bernie pulls her hands away as if burned, sees Serena jerk forward just as quickly.

She rises from the chair, eyes not meeting Bernie’s as she fumbles to pull her blouse back on. Distance yawns between them, reopening the yawning pit in Bernie’s stomach, the one she’s papered over with false reassurances and meaningless platitudes.

“Thank you. That, uh, that’s much better.” Serena’s voice is tight, eyes focused over Bernie’s shoulder as she offers a bare ghost of a smile. “I should get to class.”

Grabbing a stack of papers, she hurries out into the hall, leaves Bernie standing in the middle of an empty room wondering just what she’s done.

[FIC TROPE MASH-UP]

[leonsi]

it was a tmnt crossover btw and i got too tired to draw it out bc its like 5 am here BUT here r the basics bc i am Vibrating:

mikey is Po. duh. there is no better person for Po, don't lie to yourself. they're both incredibly skilled underdogs who want to see the good in everyone, and dont underestimate people just from how they look. Mikey is extremely discouraged when he comes to the Jade Palace, but with his relentless optimism (and a little help from Shen), he puts in twice the effort to catch up with the others and it pays off fivefold. raised in a noodle shop, picked to become the Dragon Warrior, does a badass job at it. next.

Shen is Oogway. this makes sense in my mind. however i have been awake all night so maybe i will change this later, we'll see. instead of being a warrior, she's more of the mystical lady of the jade palace. still just as respected as Oogway though, still the highest in terms of power.

Master Splinter is Shifu. you knew this was coming.

Tigress is Raphael. not leonardo. i am right with this also, hear me out. Tigress' fatal flaw was always her anger and her strength, which she weaponized to protect herself from people seeing her as a monster. raphael is constantly seen as 'the bad guy,' (or believes he is) because of his temper and strength. they're both brave fighters who focus more on physicality and strength than anything else. while Tigress is more prone to focus on form in the movies, in this AU Raph is still himself, who focuses more on results than form. he's still seen as the best fighter for the every-day villains they have to face, such as bandits in the village, and as such is still respected just as much as Tigress was. However, just like Tigress, despite being skilled in his own regard, Splinter still holds some contempt for his aggression when fighting. He is the most bitter he wasn't chosen as the Dragon Warrior, believing Splinter sabotaged him because of his dislike of Raph's temper up until Mikey proves himself.

Leo is Viper. Like Viper having to compensate for being born without venom, Leo has to compensate for the damage in his right leg he obtained during an 'accident' (im still deciding whether to stick with a chronic injury or a porsthetic, seeing as how early the movies are set in China. im not sure there would be any prosthetics at the time that could accommodate fighting without some mystic intervention. ill do research). He struggled to keep up with the others until Shen helped him adapt his own fighting style. Leo focuses far more on agility, speed, and skill than any of the others do, and as such is often practicing longer, reframing tried and true methods to accommodate for his disability. this leads to some self-wirth issues, especially so when he has to break from training or seek cover in a fight to rest his leg, and this is the only reason he's not jealous he's not the dragon warrior. despite all of them being underdogs and misunderstood at one point in their lives, he is the only one who's not actively hostile to Mikey. he's not welcoming, either. At most, he helps him get familiar with where everything is in the palace, and then leaves him to fend for himself lmao

Donnie is Crane. this is also obvious. Donnie had a long history of being underestimated from his 'svelte,' form, despite the fact that his fighting style well makes up for his strength, and this caused him to develop some performance anxiety. he spent much of his life too stuck in his head to fight, and even with Splinter and Shen's help, he sometimes finds himself getting lost there again. however, he is still an excellent fighter that can easily keep up with Leo and Raph, while also setting traps for their enemies. Though he is the smartest of them all, he isn't too jealous about not being the Dragon Warrior, because the responsibility and lime light that come with such a title isn't something he wants. However, he does bitch about Mikey a little because he's angry some kid from a noodle shop stumbled into the palace when he had to shed blood, sweat, and tears to get there, and he makes sure Mikey knows it.

Master Splinter accidentally adopted all three of them, at some point through their lives. This ends up alienating Mikey even more at first, as he's not only excluded from the team, but the family. However, somewhere along the line, Splinter does somewhat adopt Mikey, too, becoming his third father. the others are all jealous because they have Zero fathers aside from splinter LMAO

i have more backstories for each of them already, but this is all im gonna say now bc its 5:30 am and my hands hurt !! and im still deciding if i should add Karai, April, and Casey to the furious five or not, so i dont want to expound too much on the turtles before getting to them. abyway.

i just wanted to watch the kung fu panda movies again how did i end up making a whole au

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

Gotta Ramble About Daemons Forgive Me

...listen i love every Golden Compass voltron au i’ve ever read but i still have opinions about their daemons and no one has done them quite like i want them to

like, for instance: shiro.  shiro is almost always a dog or a wolf in fics (or a large cat, i think i saw that once), and while i DO appreciate the large canine part of it i also think that his daemon should be less majestic/intimidating?  definitely no less dangerous, but shiro is not a predator himself (tho wikipedia tells me a wolf is a scavenger which i did NOT know, thanks mainstream media for skewing my view of wolves so badly, ultimate predator my ass).  he’s a scrappy fighter who is almost always an underdog, unforgiving in his motions when he’s up against an enemy, but sincere and respectful.  he’s a scavenger.  personal favorite for his daemon?  coyote/jackal.  though i think a hyena would be delightful, tbh.

keith is another one who is almost always written with a predator.  or maybe not ‘predator’, but one of the animals who is commonly assumed to be a predator.  i see a lot of keith daemons that are large cats, and i’ve seen one or two that are birds (i saw a hawk once, i think... might have been an eagle? a falcon?  eh one of those).  i’d really like to see keith with a raven or a crow as a daemon.  he’s sharp, quick, and often misunderstood.  like a raven, he often has a sense of playfulness or humor that is overlooked in favor of something less personable, ie people don’t see keith’s softer, more emotional side because of his laser focus/logical approach.  not to be confused with someone who isn’t also, dangerous, however.  he’s good at planning but sometimes just dives right in beak-first.  also BONUS ravens/crows often follow after coyotes!!

lance i’ve seen with a bird, an otter, and something else i can’t remember right now.  lance is the contradictory one, he’s steady but versatile.  often overlooked, and it took him a while to grow into his talents, but not for lack of effort.  he’s just good at making his effort seem effortless, brushing it off using confidence.  also, he’s loud when he wants to be, sometimes i think he just enjoys making noise.  surprisingly territorial at times (literally how many times has he demanded to know what or who allura is getting involved with lmfao).  pretty face but a little goofy--his daemon is a goose.  lmfao i’m serious.  geese have conquered water, land, and air alike.  often underestimated but are actually quite deadly lmfao.  honk a lot.  but also are effective at what they do, and are marvelous at catching fish (did you know that they know how to herd fish into clear water to catch them?).  also geese are deceptively lanky??  they look like noodles with their long necks and weird ass legs but they are powerful swimmers/fliers.

hunk has had everything from a bumblebee to a bird to, like, a bear??  the boy is v varied, mostly because i don’t think we have as much of a fandom-wide understanding of his character.  so here’s what i see: hunk is very set in his ways.  he doesn’t particularly like to be put on the spot, he’s got a lot of anxiety, and he’s very grounded in the sense that he knows what’s up and he knows what is risky and what isn’t.  he can be SUPER stubborn, and also a lil nosy.  he’s always looking for a hug.  daemon?  snake.  CONSIDER IT.  snakes tend to have a habitat that they’re very comfy in, where they keep mostly to the shadows.  snakes will often let you know that they’re unhappy, but are usually benign because they’re just doing their thing.  they’ll curl up and hang out in warm places, but they can move fast and strike fast if they need to--or, alternatively, some of them don’t move fast at all, some of them are slow but deadly and use constriction to kill their pray!  that’s exactly hunk’s wavelength.  also just consider his snake daemon curled up around his head when he gets panicky??  or slowly sneaking into people’s bags looking for food lol.

pidge is more difficult because often her daemon just hasn’t settled yet?  i think i saw one where she had a bird (there was one fic where nearly everyone had a bird okay i actually don’t remember any other details because they were all just birds).  she’s agile, relies on maneuverability to keep ahead of combatants, and is hella smart.  she ALSO doesn’t go out of her comfort zone often, except to protect her family.  she’s miserable every time they go out into nature lmfao.  i think her daemon would settle to be a bat.  bats are small, agile, but depending on the bat can leave a HELL of a bite.  they navigate in ways most of the animal kingdom can’t even comprehend (echolocation).  nocturnal, they only go into the world when they’re ready to, and honestly?  bats are like, all or nothing.  either a bat is hiding or it’s flapping around with everything it’s got.  and they can have very strong social bonds.

TL;DR:  Shiro=Coyote, Keith=Raven, Lance=Goose, Hunk=Snake, Pidge=Bat

[leio13]

I was Tagged!!! Thrice!!! (Holy Cow...)

I’m back with 33 more questions to answer! I was gonna make a joke last time about it being the ultimate get-to-know-me post, but I guess not. Good thing I held off on that joke, huh.

1. Post the rules

2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger

3. Write 11 questions of your own

4. And tag 11 people

First, I was tagged by the lovely @missmizpah! Thanks, Emily!

1. Opinion on nuts?

Nuts are alright. Honey nut roasted peanuts though are more than alright. They are some good stuff.

2. Favorite book genre?

Hmm... I don’t really have a favorite genre. I’m really picky about books and a lot of other things honestly but my pickiness applies to all genres. I just like books with complex characters really.

3. Worst injury/illness?

I don’t actually get seriously injured that often; however, there was this one time I dropped my metal water bottle on my thumb. It hurt like hell and there was some blood under the nail. No big deal, right? That’s what I thought too. And I don’t really remember the transition that well, but in a few days, the area under my thumb nail was a navy blue and swelling out under the nail. a lot. It was probably one of the grossest things I’ve seen. good thing my mom took before and after pictures before they drained it. Don’t worry though. I won���t be posting those here.

4. What attracts you to someone platonically?

Er... kindness, loyalty, respect, AKA the really cliche stuff, and uh, chivalry, I guess. Treat me like a princess (for some reason) and you’re halfway there!

5. What was the last dream you had?

I had an interesting dream about Ouma from NDRv3. I went to his house which was more of a shack since his single parent family was super poor. His dad said that Ouma was actually a good boy (I have doubts). Ouma owned a crap ton of rainbow shark plushies (he really liked sharks apparently), and some bad dudes who were pissed at Ouma chased us back to the school (which was apparently a safe place that we wanted to be at). I skipped some details, but that was basically it. Also, keep in mind that I’ve only seen up to the death of chapter 2 (haven’t even started the investigation yet), so I kind of just made these details up in my dream and don’t spoil me. Orz.

6. Are you someone who eats cough drops like candy?

I haven’t had cough drops since I was in eighth grade and thought was I was having an asthma attack and my inhaler wasn’t working. In hindsight, it was a panic attack, but I recall the cough drop working a bit strangely enough. Anyway, I don’t really eat cough drops, no.

7. Native language?

English.

8. What size shoes do you wear?

Size 8 apparently. I think some of my shoes are a 7 1/2 though.

9. What is your current hair length?

Around my shoulders.

10. One habit you’re sure is specific to you?

I don’t know if I have any habits that are specific to me. um... I don’t really like the part of the utensil which you stick in your mouth touching anything besides me, my plate, or a napkin, so I tend to hold utensils in my mouth (knives excluded, duh because they don’t go in your mouth). It’s kind of a habit now, I guess. Does that count?

11. How far would you swim out into the ocean?

Negative feet. I’m not going in the ocean. There are things in there that I want nothing to do with such as seaweed, angry crabs that I could accidentally step on, sharp rocks or shells, sharks, jellyfish, etc.

Next, @excitable-nugget‘s questions! Thanks a bunch, Gnugs!

1. If you could have one sense enhanced, what would it be?

Definitely not taste. Tastes are wonderful (or some of them at least), but I’m already picky as it is, so I don’t really want more tastes to discriminate against. Touch probably wouldn’t be such a good idea either since I get startled easily and tongue (one picky dude, I tell you) is actually pretty sensitive to food textures too. Smell wouldn’t be bad except sometimes when I’m sick, everything smells like vomit, so I don’t really want to risk that being enhanced. Overall, I’m gonna go with sight (yes, I did skip hearing. I didn’t have much to say about it). Better vision in the dark could be pretty lit. Might also help ease some of my night paranoia. 2. Can you link your hands behind your back with one over the shoulder and one under? (like this)

One way. I can do it with my right hand reaching over. Kind of freaked me out though. I wasn’t ready for my hands to meet like that even if it was the goal. 3. Favourite colour to wear, or your favourite colour in general?

Favorite color to wear? Black. I just own a lot of black. Favorite color in general? Orange. 4. What was your internet pseudonym when you were 12-14?

It was Leio13. I’ve been Leio13 for as long as I’ve been on the internet. 5. What’s your favourite meat-based dish? If you don’t eat meat, what’s your favourite dish in general?

My favorite meat dish is steak. It’s just sooooo good. 6. Would you rather be known as wise or strong?

Probably wise. I used to think I was super smart as a kid, but now I feel pretty average and/or stupid/incompetent, so it would be nice for that feeling to come back. 7. What’s your favourite physical feature about yourself?

Probably my hair even if it knots excessively when no one wants it to. 8. Would you rather explore the ocean depths or space?

The ocean is such a vibrant, beautiful place! I love underwater images and would love to see it in person, but it would have to be in a submarine or something because I’m not going out there with only a wet suit protecting my flesh. 9. What’s your favourite snack food?

This is hard... I eat so many snacks. Hmm... I’m feeling ritz bitz. 10. If you could make one thing from fiction (e.g. a character, a place, a food, a machine) real, what would it be?

I don’t really have any deep answers here, but I think Odasaku (as he is in Bungou Stray Dogs) and his orphans being real would be really sweet. They’d be such a cute family. #familygoals 11. Is Australia real or just a conspiracy?

Australia? don’t know her.

Finally, I was tagged by the wonderful @chom-raaa! Thanks, Chomra!

1. Heroes gone bad or villains becoming good?

How could I choose???? They’re both so fantastic!! Wonderful character development opportunities abound with both!! ...that being said, while I appreciate the psychology of both of them, I tend to side with the good guys, so if all you wonderful villains could join the side I support, I guess that would be better.

2. Did you ever get in trouble in school? When was the last time and what was it about?

er... I don’t think so. No wait. One time, we were playing a game in class but my friend and I got out, so we were chatting on the sidelines even though we were supposed to be paying attention to those still playing (this was an ice breaker game). Anyway, the teacher said something about being quiet, and my dense self took it as “you can continue talking but quietly,” so I did. The teacher had to yell again for it to click with me. This was in like 5th grade, but I’m still disappointed in that me. I wasn’t that dense normally in fifth grade.

3. Hot drinks or cold drinks?

cold drinks. 

4. Any siblings? Older/younger? Would you have it any other way?

I’ve got two amazing siblings, both older than me! I don’t really think I would want it any other way. I’m content with what I have now.

5. You most prized possession?

My technology and anime merch maybe? 

6. What’s a fandom trope that makes you uncomfortable?

hoo boy. Where to begin??? I hate slave AUs (can’t really understand why you would like them). As you probably already know, I dislike smut, so the appeal of A/B/O universes is beyond me entirely. er... sexualizing characters? calling out the soukoku fandom: Chuuya always seems to be the more sexy one who other dudes and Dazai are always eyeing and lusting after. Like, can we appreciate the guy for more than his looks and impeccable fashion taste?? uh... also, Fyodor being depicted as some dude who is dead set on destroying soukoku (usually by the means of torturing Chuuya in some way to hurt Dazai which by the way is just... no.). I’m pretty sure Fyodor has better things to do??? Like kill all ability users?? Er, sorry. Not sure if you wanted specific fandom tropes or not, but uh, yeah.

7. What do find attractive in a fictional character?

BLAZERS!!

If you meant personality wise, I like passionate, kind characters, and also the mysterious, probably misunderstood type.

8. If could bring a character back to life but sacrifice another character in return (major-ish characters for those fandoms with a big cast), who would you choose?

Bringing back Odasaku, sending Fyodor to hell where he belongs. Of course, I wouldn’t actually because as much as I cry over the events of the dark era, I know that these things needed to happen for Dazai to end up where he is currently.

You know what? Better idea: still bringing back Odasaku but killing Lovecraft. The dude should’ve died after Chuuya destroyed him. I’m still bitter about his survival even if his parting scene was hilarious.

9. Long fics or short fics? In terms of both reading and writing?

I’m typically hesitant to read long fics because I have difficulty keeping up or finishing things. I bet there are a plethora of interesting long fics out there that I haven’t clicked on because I fear my motivation might die before I finish them. Likewise, it takes me centuries to write long fics, but I do really admire the art! Creating a complex story that spans over chapters is an epic feat that should not be underestimated. That being said, I do love short fics too! Short fics that still fill me with intense emotions are an equally epic thing. Like, how do you get so many feels in so little words???

10. Are you content with who you are?

haha nah. There are a lot of things about me that I wish were better. For one, i wish my motivation actually existed. I’m so unmotivated to do anything, even the littlest of things. Even things that I know would be fun. I just can’t convince myself to do them... Orz. Er... There are more things, but I don’t want to make this super sad. You came here for memes, not angst! Maybe not, but anyway...

11. What is holding you back from getting what you want?

I don’t know what this thing I want is referring to, but I’d bet 5000 imaginary monies that its my motivation or anxiety that’s interfering. 

Thanks for the wonderful questions, y’all! <3

Now, it’s my turn!

er... actually, I’m not feeling any creative question vibes, so if I tag you, please refer to the questions of the last time did this meme (psst! over here!). Without further ado, I’m tagging @haruki-00, @dusttodawnn, @melrw22, @bandaged-chessmaster, @ai-san-arts, @4nimenut, @96percentdone, @monokumamastermind, @sadtiredbaby, @wymoup-nox, and @yesterdayohhowimissit! As usual, only do it if you want, and do it if you want but you weren’t tagged.

[howlingmoonrise]

Dear Yuletide Author

thank you for signing up for yuletide, i hope you have fun!

i’ve put all my letters in one place so you don’t have to juggle links around, feel free to send me an anon (is that allowed?) if you’re in doubt as to whether i’d like a certain trope or not! (and so sorry about all the ranting oops)

things i like in general:

pining. TONS of pining. ALL the pining! i have a lot more fun reading about idiots in love that aren’t together yet than if they’re already in an established relationship

i’m good with either gen or romance if you’re not comfortable with shippy stuff! what really works for me is the relationship itself, platonic or not, the development of it, and the interactions/feelings regarding the other. when it comes to the characters i’ve picked, for me it makes sense for them to develop trust and fondness/affection for the other before they get into any sort of relationship so gen is all good!

i’m veeeeeery fond of enemies/rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, and bickering pairs overall (as you can see by all my choices in characters lmfao) since they’re so much fun and provide such an opportunity for character and relationship development :D

continuing from above, nothing kills me as much as characters that bicker all the time but in the end they rely on the other and go to each other before they go to anyone else

conceptual AUs are fine! by this i mean stuff like soulmate AUs, AUs where they met differently from canon, i’m-your-next-door-neighbour-and-i-had-to-break-into-your-flat-to-get-my-cat-back AUs, canon divergence, that kind of thing - AUs like that are super fun!

fun tropes (sorry, these are a bit romance-heavy): fake dating, “accidentally got roped into x thing and shenanigans are happening”, What Do You Mean We’re Not Dating?, “oh no there’s only one bed”, misunderstood confessions, trope subversion in general is also GREAT

i REALLY like the canon and characters for all the fandoms i picked, so sticking at least to their characterisations and the overall “tone” of canon are a huge plus!! “missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent but like i said, i also like conceptual AUs so don’t be afraid to mix up the scenario a bit if you enjoy it, because i do too!

things i don’t like a lot in general:

kidfics. unless it’s petshop of horrors - where Chris and the pets are an exception - next gen and stuff are a pass for me

far into the future fics in general, actually - what really does it for me is the development, so if we skip ahead to much later on i feel like we end up missing it all

i usually don’t like most angst stuff since it feels a bit gratuitous to me when it comes to most fandoms and characters. the one exception for this is psoh (see below if you’re picking this fandom) or when it’s introspection fic. as a result of this, i’d pass on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, the like, though of course there are always exceptions to the rule and you’re free to write as you wish! 

hard AUs are a bit ehhh to me - by this i mean world-heavy stuff like harry potter AUs, where the focus ends up more on the setting than the characters more often than not. i’d also pass on high school AUs (gsnk being the obvious exception) and ABO. 

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, and genderbending is a bit ehhhh for me

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

if you’re going for nsfw:

kinks: moderate sadism/masochism, bondage, choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles (which only make sense here for like... 1.5 fandoms lmfao), moderate degradation, edging

squicks: scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, gore

--

PETSHOP OF HORRORS

i’m usually not partial to angst AT ALL but psoh is the one fandom where i don’t mind it if you wanna go ahead - psoh is RIPE for angst. we got two people with abandonment and inadequacy issues: leon who decided to leave his whole life behind to chase someone who gave him life and left him after thinking that he didn’t care for him at all, and d who is supremely fucked up by his upbringing and had to push leon off the ark to continue his family’s mission and let drop one (1) single tear that he was not supposed to cry over a human.

THAT BEING SAID, i also!!!! love slice of life shit for them!!!!!!!! GODS i love how much they bicker but then they turn around and the other is the person they rely on the most and who they trust above all others and how they keep roping each other into ridiculous shenanigans. neither of them are particularly communicative with a few rare exceptions, so there’s also a lot of room for introspection there on both sides, which i LOVE. my son leon in particular is also super underestimated when it comes to his intelligence and tolerance for gay shit both in canon and fandom, and he performs ridiculous leaps of logic and instinct that somehow turn out to be right but that are super ???? for everyone else involved, and that’s always fun to see. hell, just another missing scene where leon brings d some cake and they banter fondly over tea is A++++ to me!!

nsfw???? bring it!!! this is the fandom amongst these three where you’re free to go super dark and kinky if you wanna, or if you wanna write tender loving reunion sex where d cries a little while leon cherishes every bit of him that’s also excellent! 

psoh is the most excellent genre triangle where i’d be super happy to receive anything on the slice-of-life/angst/smut corners! (also, slash is 3249823% acceptable if you couldn’t tell by my ranting)

--

GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN

yuzuki seo is my absolute favourite character on the series and i love her and how ridiculous she is! waka is also gr9, and i really love that little sadist streak he has going like when he kept teasing seo with his “confessions”, that was probably one of my favourite chapters! 

for gnsk either canon-verse or a conceptual AU would be excellent - if you’re going AU, i’m very fond of those where seo is a siren/mermaid and possibly man-eating (because those are the best kind amirite??) canon-wise i LOVE their interactions and how waka keeps accidentally getting taken on lowkey dates while resolutely defending they’re not even friends and even more accidentally retributing those with thoughtful gifts and the like haha

another thing i love is when waka is capable of looking past appearances to see seo, like in the chapter where they gave her the “lorelei” makeover and no one recognized her but him. i also love how stupidly happy seo is whenever she sees waka, it’s so cute!!

--

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE

the thing i like the most in hmc are the characters’ flaws! i love the ghibli movie, don’t get me wrong, but they took away the bits i liked the most - sophie’s stubbornness and nosiness and temper and howl’s cowardice and vanity and his silver-tongue whenever he tries to slither around sophie, and all their banter and arguing. 

there’s nothing quite like their stupid arguments where sophie pretends she didn’t mess around with things she shouldn’t and howl is torn between being amused and exasperated at her expense - even better if he’s trying to do something good sneakily behind her back so he won’t be accused of being a good person before he finds another excuse to justify it. 

for this fandom i’d really prefer it if it were from anywhere from the beginning of the first book to before their marriage (i haven’t read the sequels and prefer non-established relationship anyway), but a conceptual AU would also be pretty nice! hmc in particular is very good for trope subverting, which i’m extremely fond of! for example, take a soulmate AU with the first words written on the skin thing: we could mess it up a bit since calcifer was in possession of howl’s heart and as such his first words would be on sophie instead of howl’s - cue shenanigans while sophie wonders how someone can have a soulmate bond with a sentient fire with no words of his own, howl panics internally about sophie not returning his mark, and so on! 

another thing i love about the book is the writing style and that incredible sense of humour in the writing, so something lighthearted and in the spirit of canon would be great!