#then get made when black fans call you out or create or own

[bohemian-nights]

It’s odd when people go out of their way in fanfiction to make Daemon have a (white) daughter that he dotes and openly loves and has a good relationship with, but then turn around and either erase Baela and Rhaena or never have Daemon or their OC acknowledge their (black/blackish) siblings/daughters. Especially when you take into consideration that he’s a sh!t father to said (black/blackish) daughters in the show which is what most of them base their fanfiction off of 🤷🏾‍♀️

I really have no words for their behavior. The fact that they’ll go out of their way to create so many white OCs that way Daemon has a daughter “that’s like him” all while pretending Baela who’s his carbon copy in female form (and Rhaena) doesn’t matter is really astounding to me.

The fact that they don’t see themselves or don’t care or say they aren’t racist(and will use the excuse that Baela and Rhaena are white in canon yet they hardly have any more content than they did prior to the show which definitely shouldn’t be the case) will never not be funny.

We should have a ton of heart-to-heart daddy-daughter scenes. We shouldn’t want another character only put in to serve as someone’s surrogate daughter when he already has two very much real and alive daughters.

Even outside of Daemon these girls should be talked about, praised, used in romantic pairings, etc. We should see way more than what we are seeing for them. It’s all so weird, but alas that’s fandom life in this crazy fandom(and in most fandoms cause unfortunately anti-Blackness always seeps in).

[sykoangels]

movie star

paring: Rodrick Heffley x hyperfemme!reader

warnings: oral sex (f! Receiving) , sex tapeunprotected sex

author note: im literally in love with rodrick!!! sooo enjoy this is gonna be feeding my delusions unfortunately

Rodrick Heffley is a character to say the least he could be a bit bitchy, but he was crazy talented. He’s the frontman of the band Loaded Diper a band he created with his friends. Back in freshman year, he was holding auditions for a new guitarist due to the one he had moving overseas. You went to the audition and got in with flying colors. Rodrick wanted something different from the band and you had to look and the talent. Your aesthetic was very different from the rest of the band, but still leaned into the emo aesthetic as well, but not too far off that they would get called posers. You loved wearing fishnets and baby tees, especially ones with crazy sayings on them like “I heart men whimpering” or “#1 gaslighter.” The band was doing well, especially throughout high school but now you're a sophomore in college doing the band on the side for extra money well also studying music technology because you want to become a music producer.

But you were keeping a secret at least from the rest of your bandmates. You and Rodrick have been in a friends-with-benefits relationship for about six months. This came about after the winter tour had concluded. One minute you guys were talking at a Christmas party and the next minute you were bent over a dingy bathroom sink and some random college frat house. You didn’t mind this since you always thought Rodrick was very attractive. If you were honest with yourself, he fit every piece of criteria when it came to your romantic partner. Handsome, tall, musically inclined, and a bit pathetic looking he checked all the boxes. He wasn’t even bad at sex either. Maybe the rumor you heard about rockstars are right they’re really decent in bed. It was getting difficult to hide the friends with benefits relationship since now they are preparing for our summer tour, which means we’re constantly around our band mates each other 24/7 no breaks.

The air was thick with the scent of stale beer and sweat as the last chords of their set reverberated through the dimly lit club. The crowd roared, their voices a mix of excitement and exhaustion after a night of headbanging to Rodrick Heffley's band. You, the lead guitarist, felt the adrenaline still coursing through your veins, your fingers tingling from the rapid-fire strumming. As you stepped off the stage, Rodrick caught your eye from across the room. His smirk was mischievous, a silent acknowledgment of the secret that only the two of you shared. You made your way through the throng of fans and backstage hangers-on, your black micro mini skirt swishing against your thighs, fishnet stockings adding a touch of rebellion to your hyperfeminine style.

"Great set tonight," he said, his voice low as he pulled you into a corner, away from prying ears. "Always," you replied, smiling coyly. "But you know what would make it even better?"Rodrick leaned closer, his eyes dark with intrigue. "What's that?""A little after-party of our own," you whispered, your breath warm against his neck. His hand found yours, fingertips grazing softly. "I like the sound of that."

With a nod, you both knew the plan. You slipped out the back door, the cool night air a stark contrast to the heat inside. He quickly made it to the van loading up the instruments before sending a quick text to the under bandmates saying that you didn’t feel good and that you were going back to his place to rest. You guys called a taxi and made it back to Rodrick’s place. The drive to his place was short, the city lights blurring past as you both lost yourselves in the moment.

Inside, the apartment was quiet, the usual clutter of instruments and band posters giving way to an intimate setting. Rodrick pressed you against the wall as soon as the door closed, his lips finding yours in a hungry kiss. Your hands roamed over his chest, feeling the soft fabric of his band tee beneath your fingers.

"Wait," you murmured against his lips, pulling back slightly. "I need to remember this moment forever.”

Rodrick nodded, understanding flashing in his eyes. You walked over to the camera set up on its tripod, a sly grin playing on your lips. Flicking it on, you adjusted the angle to capture the both of you perfectly. "Are you ready baby” he asked, his voice husky with desire. You turned to face him, your outfit a stark contrast against the darkness of the room. "More than ready," you breathed, your heart pounding in your chest. Rodrick closed the distance between you, his hands gentle as they cupped your face. His lips met yours again, this time with a tenderness that spoke of deeper emotions hidden beneath the surface. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer, feeling the hardness of his body against yours. "You look so fucking pretty babe," he murmured, his gaze tracing every inch of your exposed skin.

"thank you baby" you whispered back, your fingers trailing down his chest to the button of his jeans. With a deft flick, you undid it, sliding the zipper down slowly, deliberately. Rodrick groaned, his hands gripping your hips tightly. "Fuck, I need you so bad," he muttered, his voice thick with lust. You smiled, a thrill running through you at his words. "Show me," you challenged, your eyes daring him to go further.

He didn’t need to be told twice. Rodrick lifted you effortlessly, your legs wrapping around his waist as he carried you to the couch. The camera captured every moment, the lens focusing on your intertwined bodies with an unflinching gaze. Settling you down, Rodrick knelt between your legs, his eyes never leaving yours. His hands were reverent as they explored your body, peeling away layers of clothing with careful precision. You gasped as his fingers found the edge of your panties, slipping beneath the delicate fabric to tease you.

"Rodrick," you whimpered, your head falling back as pleasure surged through you. "that’s it good girl" he hushed, his lips brushing against your inner thigh. "Let me hear you." You obeyed, biting your lip to stifle the sounds that threatened to escape. Rodrick’s mouth replaced his fingers, his tongue darting out to taste you, sending waves of sensation crashing over you. You gripped the cushions beneath you, your body arching towards him, seeking more.

"Fuck yes” you moaned, your voice breaking the silence. "Oh fuck yes " Rodrick chuckled, the sound vibrating against your sensitive flesh. "You like that, huh?" “ I love it oh fuck” you admitted, your eyes fluttering shut as he continued his ministrations. The camera watched silently, capturing your expressions of pleasure, the way your body writhed under Rodrick’s skillful touch. You could feel the heat building within you, the tension coiling tighter and tighter until you thought you might explode.

"Rodrick," you cried out, your voice raw with need. "Please, I need—" He didn’t let you finish. Rising to his feet, Rodrick positioned himself above you, his eyes burning with desire. You reached for him, guiding him inside you, the sensation overwhelming in its intensity. You both shuddered, a symphony of sighs and moans filling the room as you moved together, each thrust pushing you closer to the edge."Look at you," Rodrick panted, his forehead resting against yours. "So thirsty for my fucking cock like some groupie whore”

You nodded, tears pricking at the corners of your eyes. "yes your groupie whore," you agreed, your voice barely above a whisper. As the climax approached, the tension coiled tighter and tighter within you, until finally, it snapped. You cried out his name as waves of ecstasy crashed over you, your body convulsing with the force of your release. Rodrick followed soon after, his own cry mingling with yours as he spilled himself inside you, his body shuddering with the intensity of his orgasm. As the afterglow of their passionate encounter began to fade, you and Rodrick lay entangled on the couch, the camera still recording your every breath. The room was filled with a mixture of scents—the musky aroma of sweat mingled with the faint hint of your perfume, creating an intoxicating blend that seemed to encapsulate the intensity of the moment

[vigilskeep]

various and sundry artbook tidbits i found interesting (SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE VEILGUARD ARTBOOK. obviously)

faction & location stuff:

a sketch page from the very early days exploring shape languages for factions like elves, dwarves, wardens, the necropolis, tevinter, and rivain, also includes concepts for the mages’ college and the ben-hassrath

early rivain concept arts have npcs with a similar armour patterning to duncan’s, suggesting it’s a mark of his rivaini heritage like i always thought!

the depiction of the ““creation story”” suggests elves were mimicking the bodies of dwarves when they formed their own, not humans like i think mythal says in game flashbacks, which would make more sense timeline wise

there’s concept art of the city of ventus, which i believe is of particular relevance to mercar players? it’s right on the border of arlathan forest, and surrounded by magical statues holding out raised hands forming a ward along the tree line to keep it from encroaching

the home base was going to be a lovable fixer-upper of a ship given to us by isabela, named the dumat. this didn’t fit the spy theme they were originally going for, so they tried really really hard to make it a submarine without feeling anachronistic by making it sort of sea monster shaped. there are a lot of cutaways and schematics. they were going to give it a mystery engine that you would get light fetch quests to feed random objects: “ten dried lavender flowers, five quail’s eggs, three brass belt buckles, etc.....” the submarine then turned into an undersea mansion on the back of some giant shambling sea creature you would never get a good look at

later on there were some funny takes on the lighthouse specifically, like bringing back the sea creature theme to put it on the back of an interdimensional veil whale, or having it be the true location of the black emporium with a collection of eluvians that xenon the antiquarian lets you use

there’s a tiny concept art for a “high-speed aravel chase” in a canyon like a western

tevinter gladiators are mentioned a couple times. we WEREEE going to get to see the minrathous proving grounds :( there’s also a dwarven embassy concept art somebody take me out back and shoot me

there are a lot of ghilan’nain creature designs that didn’t make it into the game which is a shame but i can see why they would have been resource heavy

the antiva concept arts are so gorgeous. a lot of it got through! and definitely the overall Vibe made it. at some point it seems to have been antiva city itself; they don’t call it treviso and they mention the circle of magi as a major landmark

“The entrance to the Necropolis is like an inverted Tower of Babel. They seek knowledge in the grave instead of heaven.” <- this just rules as a line

for arlathan: “To differentiate it from previous forest and jungle locations in Dragon Age, we went with an autumnal colour palette. It has the benefit to feeling ominously like the end.”

the veil jumpers have a “skull halla” symbol that “implies their willingness to risk death”. did that end up in the game?

“With each faction, we explored a range of aspirational fantasies. For the Wardens, this ranged from knights in shining armour to butal tanks to a Nietzche quote: ‘Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.’”

there’s this concept among the warden armours for an insane orlesian noblewoman look with the winter palace morrigan corset and a piled high wig, but the skirts torn knee length and a serrated fan in hand. i’m kind of obsessed

“To bring more life to the world, we thought about what industries would keep the Anderfels afloat. We took the prominent Warden blue colour and envisioned an industry harvesting flowers, creating dye, and then weaving copious amounts of blue fabric.” this is probably where the flower quests in the hossberg wetlands started off conceptually? v cute

character stuff:

in completely different early versions of the game, solas had a “bad cop” right hand woman called reva

imshael the desire demon/choice spirit from the masked empire and inquisition was going to be a two-handed weapon warrior companion, and also sexualised now while in largely feminine form, which would have been a Choice. there is one art of him in masculine form, also sexy but still not showing as much skin as the feminine one

as i said, neve was going to be calpernia

taash was a rogue. (they’re still a light-armoured dual wielder so that checks out.) it seems like davrin was briefly a mage. at some points harding seems to have inherited bianca

saarbrak, another qunari companion, seems to have lastest the longest of the abandoned concepts. he’s the only non-canon one who got as far as having a place for him sketched into designs of the lighthouse: “saarbrak’s planning room”. mentions and sightings of what might be him are sporadic and i think you only see his name on that sketch, but i’m connecting it to the description “a potential qunari companion evolved from saarebas to dapper qunari spy, offering a deeper look into qunari culture”

the embroidery on harding’s clothes is how she passes the time while “waiting for days in a sniper perch” on missions. i just thought that was cute

[mcfuckity]

You know what? Im breaking my silence. Im TIRED of people missing Jess’ character on purpose. Like, everyone can use context clues and fill in the blanks for every other character but somehow Jess is the only one taken at face value? Jess is being seen as a cold, detached, mean bitch by fans but I cannot determine whether we even watched the same movie.

Let’s address the elephant in the room, because she is a black woman who is NOT a mammy character, people criticize her harsher. Jess was MORE than Miguel’s “lackey”. She had her own thoughts and opinions. She definitely had her own personality and feelings about the entire situation. She lowkey stalled time to give Gwen chances to fix her mistakes.

If Jess was as cold as Miguel and such a “bitch”, she would’ve left Gwen the first time. Let’s not forget that Miguel was fully about to leave Gwen with her own father holding her at gunpoint, JESS vouched to bring Gwen under her name. Jess put her OWN position at risk to help Gwen and it required that she do her job accordingly. Jess made the boundary VERY clear, she is NOT Gwen’s mother. She is NOT her friend. I seen people argue that “Jess’ maternal instincts” should’ve kicked in to protect Gwen” but fully ignoring that Jess HAS A FAMILY! Jess is PREGNANT with her OWN child. Her instincts DID kick in and she chose her dimension with her family in it!

Jess was stuck in a rock and a hard place. She obviously wanted to help Gwen (considering she brought her in at the cost of her own position) but UNFORTUNATELY, GWEN messed up. Gwen saw Miles and that ultimately led to Spot escaping. You can love these characters and acknowledge that every character had their OWN thoughts and motivations that led to fuck ups. It’s not right to try to make Jess sound worse than the man who fuckin replaced his dead self out of grief, was about to leave a teen at gunpoint, and had an entire society of people chase a teenager who wanted to save his dad.

Don’t get me started on the “she’s fighting crime while pregnant argument” because we can accept superpowered people but NOT the possibility that their bodies are more resilient. NOT TO MENTION THAT PETER B HAS A WHOLE BABY ON MISSIONS???? Like, no one is calling him a bad father so what’s different with Jess? Miguel was mean as fuck to Miles upon meeting but Jess doing her JOB is considered being “mean”.

Then the “I didn’t see her enough to connect with her” is fair until everyone can somehow create entire {TERRIBLE} mischaracterizations of Hobie, Pav, and Peni who (arguably) had just about the same amount of screentime. She also shares traits with every other spider person with being snarky and quick-witted while being completely grounded. She’s literally one of the spider people that Miguel fully trusts but somehow the fandom erases her and goes “He loves Peter B and Lego Spidey🤪🤪”

Like, it’s crazy how people find it so easy to erase Jess and Margo (Spiderbyte) in fanworks for things they easily dismiss from other characters and it’s feelin like misogynoir. Like, Margo and Hobie served the same purpose with deciding to go against Miguel for Miles, yet only Hobie and Gwen gets that credit.

AND THEN THE MANY EXCUSES WHEN IT COMES TO SHIPPING! People keep hating on Jess/Miguel because she’s “obviously pregnant and married” but go right around and ship Miguel with Peter B. Same with Margo/Miles because it’s a bunch of “Miles and Gwen are obviously endgame” ANDDDD???? Since when did every ship HAVE TO be canon in order to be a ship? It’s especially crazy because I BARELY EVER see those comments on Miles/(Peni, Pav, or Hobie) or have no problem with having all the boys huddled around Gwen. The double standard is glaringly obvious.

In conclusion, some of you mfs dont deserve ATSV.

[so-idialed-9]

The things Liam carried

Liam carried a pleading to not be misunderstood, to be perceived in the right way, the way he intended. He carried the crushing responsibility of the band acting like a REAL band, being on time and groomed and generally on talking points and practicing hard, and the harm of parentification among those who should have been his peers. He carried deep love for all the boys and a soul bond with Zayn, always.

He carried a deep, terrified drive not to be told he is too young or not quite good enough ever, ever again. That tide was out and that could not be allowed to come again. But the sea returned, every time, relentlessly and without regard.

He carried a well of mischief and joy it took "his boys" 1D to tap into.

He carried PowerAde bottles to have a moment of pure bliss and joyful chaos on stage with his best friend, Louis. And he carried that memory home and framed it in a photo and looked at it every day in his bedroom and smile and talk about his best friend, even if Louis didn't call as much anymore. Liam was still waiting.

He carried a tendency to punish himself when he was in the darkness instead of finding a light. Not just drinking, but surrounding himself with the worst people - managers who beat him, labels who sent him on crap venues for tour, labels who pulled his album that he'd cried over to make, dudebro promoters and podcasters who wanted to spend him like cheap currency....and Simon Cowell. And a fame whore "ex" who, no matter which version you believe, still comes out as a person who lied for social media clout, heard him say he would likely die and laughed at him, who faked her own engagement buying an engagement ring for her social media, giving absolute record level of cringe, and used Liam's name to sell her stalled books.

Did he know know who he deserved? Did he not know how to get that? Did he just believe, "Well, they can't be THAT awful"?

He was a beam of sunshine overlaying a secret Batman, ripping out his own heart to feed fires. His light illuminates all around him, he was always feeding fans and caring, always sharing his art and therapy and sobriety and precious stories from 1D he could have hoarded and made a book about but instead gave them away with love to create even more love.

If this were the TV show Lucifer, he'd obviously be Lucifer, an angel of light, a favorite son, who is cast out of heaven by what he thought loved him, and trying to find a new way of being after losing so much, who has to go on a journey to find his purpose.

He was a man who almost had it figured out - from black and white - getting to film that TV show where he was helping put together and mentor boy bands was going to be so healing for him. The confidence he never got to pick up!

I believe 1D were starting to reunite - Harry's incessant touristy behavior then disappearing like he said he would, Louis' saying he needs time off to "let life in," Niall abruptly disappearing saying "you won't see me anymore for a long time." It could have given back Liam his friends, his network, his brothers, if only he could have survived long enough.

There is always something better around the corner. I would give anything for Liam James Payne to have the chance, just once more, to believe that.

[goldenshrikecomic]

FAQ

Please read these before sending asks! It's also good to check the tags listed on the pinned post to see if it's already answered. Where can I read GS? On Comicfury or DeviantArt. Two pages ahead on both Patreon and Ko-fi.

Who works on this comic? Only me, ratt/doeprince. You can call me either, I usually refer to myself as doeprince when it's more official, otherwise ratt or some secret third thing. I'm an amateur artist and I draw these comics for fun without much ambition to gain greatness. I want to make enough money to be able to keep working on more comics, and buy trinkets.

How can I support what you do? Why thank you for asking! All my income comes from making comics, so the support on either Patreon or Ko-fi is literally making my comic endeavours possible.

Do you have other projects? I work on some secondary comics. Jet and Harley and Honey are currently updating, Corpse is finished. You can find my other art on doe-prince.

How long will Golden Shrike be? I don't know how many pages. I hope it's less than 1000.

What programs do you use? SAI for lineart, CSP for coloring and bubbles, PS for text and backgrounds. Hoooow do you draw the antlers from different perspectives? I've made 3D models for each recurring antlered character.

Is GS going to have physical merch? Will it be printed? Consider this a no, but I won't say never.

Does GS have a map, official wiki or dub or something like that? No. There's a fan wiki out there full of inaccurate information so take everything in there with tons of grains of salt. There's no map. The dub on YT is separate from me, I've had no hand in it.

Can I make a fan character? Can they interact with yours? You can absolutely make a fan character! I just ask you not to make them interact with mine, at least not in any kind of heavy way. It's a slippery slope and I've seen people treat my characters very rudely to make them suit their needs.

Can I make fanart/writing? Yes! All sfw and well-meaning works are welcome. Just tag me so I can see them! Why are the borders black and sometimes white? White borders means it's a flashback.

Deer don't do that!!!!! Or birds!! Or plants! The moon shouldn't be that shape right now. Everything in GS is fictional for this very reason. I shall not be shackled by the chains of realism when there's entire new worlds in my fingertips. I aim to make things believeable in its context, not realistic. Are other animals sentient, can they talk? Sure they are and can, but not outside their own species. A frog can't hold a conversation with a deer, but a deer and antelope could possibly make it work. There's exceptions though.

How old are main characters? They're fawns right? No they are not, they'd all be in their early 20s if they were humans.

What does sire mean? It keeps popping up in different contexts. You can liken this term to 'father', as in your dad but also something like a priest. The priest isn't your dad but "father forgive me for I've sinned". So sire is a) respected stag, b) very formal way to address your father. Dame is the female counterpart. Why are the does so small compared to stags.... are you a freak... do you just hate women..... Listen when I started GS I had been dwelling in a place where monster deer characters had insane size differences and it became some kind of norm to me and of course it found its way into my comic. Now I just have to keep drawing those tiny women to keep up the consistency. I've created bigger ladies nowadays because I too think it's a little silly now.

Please please will this character ever get a mate? Will this pairing be canon? Will you please make this pairing canon? I won't spoil any pairings, I think it'd be the most boring thing to do to my own work! I'll only confirm the ones already established in the comic.

Is this a speck of ember? Is it snow? What is that floating thing, is it relevant to the plot? IT'S JUST MY DUST BRUSH LEAVE ME ALONE.

[nqueso-emergency]

it's gonna be long but i'm so tired of this lame shit.

stop doing this "both sides are bad" bullshit. both sides have bad apples but hell should not put bad bucktommys in the same "bad" category as people who is:

1. an owner of a big news acount inciting bully and harrassment to a queer black teenager because they got accused of creating a new news account when it's actually a buddie who made that account, and guess what, never appologized!

2. a person who infiltrate a discord space and getting informations like age and sexuality from people out of that discord to X/twitter and let the cult bullying and calling the discord's people "hags"

3. made a tumblr blog dedicated just for wishing harm and death on a fictional character

4. orchestrated on creating some horrible fanfictions with the wrong tags about a fictional character being a child abuser and child killer, and sent the links of those fanfictions to the fans of said fictional character through inboxes

5. changing a fluff ficlet of a ship created by a fan to a horrible abuse story and sending it to so many fans of the ship through inboxes

6. harassing artists by reuploading art on other social media just for your cult to shit on the art

7. creating a fanart and draw a fictional character as a monster and using the term "lizard people" (but hey they got rewarded!)

8. harassing multishippers for creating fanarts and fanfictions for the newer ship

9. sending phising links and reporting as spam to a positivity project

10. you can check on Lou Ferrigno Jr's latest post on X/Twitter about him swallowing an apple sticker and see how many wishes of harms and deaths you can find on the quotes and the replies

11. throwing tantrums and sending threats to THE showrunner over a scene that didn't included on the final cut (the scene not even significant enough to the whole episode arc:((()

12. recorded an X/Twitter space when the black fans there expressing their disappointment about people (actors included)'s treatment toward a certain actor with racism history during blm, putting the recording out so the cult could harrass the fans who's talking in the said space

there are bad apples on bucktommys side. even sometimes i think maybe i am one of the bad apples. but i love how bucktommys never holding back for calling out someone's bad behavior even it's from their own side. so i'm always grateful that i'm on bucktommys side. oh, for all of those points of bad behavior above, we have receipts, bcs we would never speak without receipts.

P. S. certain group of shipper could made a team to investigate who nqueso-emergency actually is but not one of them move to investigate who are these people orchestrating csa fics and made their community look bad? shocker!!!

P. S. S. points of bad behaviors above is mostly about their treatment toward other fans and real life person. i'm not getting deep into their treatment toward fictional characters on the show, especially their treatment toward a certain gay character because when we tried to call them out, they just twist it to "hAtinG on a rAciSt aNd mYsOgIniSt chArActEr iS hoMOpHoBic noW?". well, honey, that character is already change to a better person now and he stated that he's not a good person back then. you know who's homophobic, now? yes! YOU ARE!

thank you for your your service, nqueso, have a great day. and i love you, bucktommys! we'll get through this🫶🏽

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Sawyer/Slaughter Family Nicknames for their S/O! (Nancy + Drayton are platonic)

I’m back for October, people!

@morguemistress you requested this a while ago 🖤🖤🖤

Johnny “Hunter” Slaughter calls you possessive nicknames, things he knows have an underlying tone of owning, that play off that sweet power dynamic you both have going on. He likes thinking of you like his little prize- his dearest possession. He always brings in a little southern drawl when he calls you these things- always brings in a tone that’s just slightly softer, almost… caring. But he can’t truly care, can he? “Bunny”, “Sweetheart”, and “Darlin” are his favorites…

Nubbins “The Hitchhiker” Sawyer has a habit of worshipping you from the ground up- he prefers calling you names that reflect that. He also likes calling you names that are sillier- he names you after things he observes that remind him of you- you’ve ended up with some batshit crazy nicknames with even longer stories. But above all, you’re special to him, and he wants names that reflect that. “Lolipop”, “Cheeky”, “My Favorite”, and “Beautiful/Handsome”, are his personal favorites.

Sissy “Sunshine” Slaughter is a sweet partner- as long as don’t mind the aftertaste of her poison. She loves naming you after her environment- that’s what made her, well, her; after all. You remind her of all that is glory in life- her freedom, the fall leaves crunching beneath her naked feet, bear to the natural world. You ground her, heighten her five senses- she wants to reflect that in her pet names. Her favorite names to call you are: “Sugar”, “Sunshine”, and “Pumpkin Pie”.

Nancy “Black” Slaughter thinks you’re like her second child- she names you as such. She wants so call you things that bring you comfort- in an antique way, like the dusty smell of an old house, overrun with kittens. Maybe you don’t like that comparison- she doesn’t care. You’ll always like whatever she calls you in her eyes. She refers to you as: “Sweet Pea”, “Honey Bun”, “My Dear”, and “Darling Y/N”.

Drayton “The Cook” Sawyer doesn’t hate you- which says something. In fact, he likes you. As his favorite person, you get special treatment. He likes calling you names that aren’t anything too fancy or special, but makes it clear whom he is always the first to serve food to at the table. Basically, anything that straight up tells everyone that you’re his #1. He is a fan of calling you: “The Good Kid”, “My Best Assistant”, or “The-One-damn-sane-one-in-this-family”.

Bubba “Leatherface” Sawyer can’t verbalize his pure love for you, and out of all the family, he has the purest kind of love- like how a male dog looks up at you, with those precious, pleasing eyes. That’s how he looks at you. And while he can’t tell you his names, you already know what your dearest thinks of you as: His Wife/Husband/Partner, His Emotional Support Human, His Everything. He doesn’t need words to tell you how much you mean to him, you can tell it by his gaze.

Chop Top “Hippie” Sawyer likes teasing you- messing with you, that’s almost your whole relationship. His names for you aren’t the most romantic and elegant, or the most serious, but have his playful personality embedded into them, creating terms of affection that send the message across just fine- This is my person, with the goddamn fine ass. Chop Tops nicknames for his s/o consist of: “Sexy”, “Hot Stuff”, “Pickle Tickler”, or “My peice of ass”.

Hands “The Heavy” Slaughter is another non verbal- he cannot express his feelings for you in words, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean it isn’t obvious. Like with Johnny- you’re his. And he does a damn fine job of making sure people know it. The family knows exactly what you are to him: His Woman/Man, His Pet, His Person. You are his. You might not be able to tell from the way he looks at you, but you sure can tell from the way he grabs your waist.

[alotofpockets]

The best | Mary Earps

Pairing: Mary Earps x Reader

Request: Where Mary gets her fifa best award

Woso masterlist | Words: 1K

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Today was a big day for your girlfriend, you were attending the FIFA Best Awards, where she was nominated for not one but two categories. Though before the award show started there she had a busy schedule, one you and her team followed along closely. 

This wasn’t your world at all, but you loved supporting Mary in everything she did. While you were admiring your girlfriend in her element, you were filming bits and pieces of behind the scenes footage. Mary loved creating TikTok’s out of events like this to show the world what it was like from her perspective, and you loved helping her film.

Currently you were at a photoshoot. Mary was repping her own brand, a white tee with her quote ‘Be unapologetically yourself.’ paired with a black suede tracksuit. The whole day the group of you moved around the large building, besides the event it was also a big media day. Interviews, games, photoshoots, anything you could imagine, it was a part of today.

In each interview, Mary spoke with so much passion. Her passion was one of the things you loved most about her. She had many interests, and stood for a lot of things. The way she used her platform for the better, speaking out about mental health, and inspiring people was always incredible to watch. 

After the final interviews were done, you all made it back to the hotel room where the stylist, and the hair and makeup crew were all waiting to glam both Mary and you up. You were getting dressed in the bathroom, while the team was working on getting Mary ready. 

Once you were in your outfit, you came back into the main room and were met with Mary. She was dressed in a beautiful dress that fit her body perfectly. You hadn’t realised you were staring with your mouth open until you heard Mary's smug voice saying, “Like what you see?” Her comment makes you snap out of it and chuckle. “Yes I do. You look stunning, baby.” You walk closer to admire the dress she was showing off. “You look pretty incredible yourself.” The stylist had picked your outfit to have a slight match with Mary’s dress, so red touches all throughout the fit. 

You took some pictures together before you headed to the final destination of the night, the award show. There were a lot of familiar faces in the audience, both players you had met through Mary, and ones you’ve idolised as a football fan yourself. The atmosphere was great, and everyone was incredibly supportive of the winners. 

When the Women’s World XI section of the night started, you were sitting on the edge of your seat. Mary reached for your hand and held it tight, as the announcement started, and she squeezed it even tighter when her name was called as the goalkeeper. She stood up with tears in her eyes, and hugged you first before making her way to the stage, as the rest of the winners were being named. 

The stage filled with the winning players, you watched proudly as your girlfriend admired the trophy in her hands. You knew how much this meant for her, and were so incredibly happy for her talent to be recognised by her fellow footballers.

Winning the goalkeeper position in the World XI made Mary think that she would not win the Best Women’s Goalkeeper award as well, because that would be too much. So, when her name was announced she was shocked. “You did it baby! I am so proud of you. Go, get up on that stage and accept the award.” She placed her hands on your cheeks and pressed a kiss onto your lips, before she made her way to the stage.

You watched your girlfriend accept her second award of the evening with a big smile on your face. In your eyes there was no one more deserving than her, of course you were biassed, but she has been playing incredibly well and deserved to be recognized for her hard work. 

Mary walked up the the microphone for her speech, and you already knew you weren’t going to be able to hear it without shedding a tear,

“I think I talk about a lot obviously that it’s not been the easiest journey to get here, so I would say that I definitely took the scenic route.” Mary chuckled to the crowd at her own joke. “I had to wait a long time for this kind of success, but I think looking back now, it all makes total sense. Everything that I went through, I mean, we’re all humans, we all have struggles, right?” She was met with hundreds of nodding faces in the crowd. “But it just made me feel so much more prepared for the challenges we face today. And to be able to enjoy these moments so much more and realise how pretty unbelievable they are and to never take a single day for granted. So, if you’re struggling and you’re going through hell, keep going. And it’s never too late to be exactly who you are.” 

Mary’s words, and the feelings behind them did indeed make you tear up. Your girlfriend’s journey hadn’t been easy, but she was paving the way for young girls aspiring to be just like her, as well as advocate for mental health. You couldn’t be more proud of her, to once again use her platform to talk about the tough moments, to let the world know it isn’t all just rose coloured.

After a long, and busy day you found yourself in the back of the car on the way back home. A sleeping Mary’s head laying on your shoulder, with two trophy cases laying in the trunk.  

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[zepp-l1n]

The Same

Pairing: Daniel Matthews x Fem!reader

summary: Daniel meets someone in the same boat as him at a "Jigsaw victim therapy group" session. fic type - hurt/comfort, post Saw 2, fluff?? warning - 2000s emo x 2000s emo, canon level Saw violence, both reader and Daniel have PTSD, mentions of past drug use, mentions of body scarring from the traps, self harm (??) word count - 1,779 a/n: hiiii! sorry my posting has been kinda off and on for the past few months, but I'm hoping now that school and my personal schedule is a little more chill, I'll be able to write and post more often. <3 (also, what's up with the lack of Daniel fics?)

Group therapy wasn't Daniel's idea. He knew he needed to talk about the things he had gone through and seen, which is why he had originally gone to one-on-one therapy, but when his therapist had suggested joining Bobby Dagen's group he had been very apprehensive. At first, Daniel had been very against the idea. He found Bobby very pretentious and overzealous, and the entire "Jigsaw victim therapy group" to be a scam for Bobby's fan's entertainment. For months his therapist and his mother brought up the group again and again, leading to Daniel finally deciding to go in the hopes of getting them to shut up about it.

Now, Daniel found himself in the room Bobby would rent out for each session. They were all sitting side by side in the formation of a circle, letting each person have a clear view of everyone else. Not one person in the room, other than bobby, looked elated to be there.

Daniel sat in his folded out seat, arms crossed and head turned downward. So far, the entire experience had been uncomfortable. Bobby had gone on one of his regularly scheduled "We should be grateful!" spiels, and multiple people had shared their sob-stories. For 30 minuets Daniel had to endure the same arguments and conversations over and over. He sat in silence, never once making himself known - choosing to sit and pick at his black, long-sleeved undershirt the entire time.

Daniel had been so focused on his own thoughts that when he finally glanced back up, he noticed all the eyes on him. "Daniel?" Bobby called out.

"Hmm?" his reply was short and uninterested.

"I asked if you would like to share your story with the others. Would you?" Bobby asked. The smile he gave Daniel as he spoke made him divert his eyes. Daniel shrugged, not knowing if he truly wanted to. "If you'd like to wait that's okay. Whenever you're ready, Daniel."

The other's diverted their attention to Luba afterwards, taking in her story. Daniel silently listened, just waiting for the session to be over. They continued this way, story after story, until the door swung open, creating a loud noise. In it's opening was a girl, presumably around Daniel's age from what he could see.

"Ah, (Y/N), nice of you to finally join us." Bobby sarcastically spoke.

The teen stepped into the room, waving at a man in the corner that Daniel hadn't noticed before, and continued towards the circle. The silver chain hanging from her belt loops lightly rattled against her black cargo-jeans as she walked his way. "Oh shut up, Bobby. Some of us have lives outside the whole Jigsaw shit." she scoffed, her eyeliner covered eyes glaring at the older man. The girl, (Y/N) as Daniel her Bobby call her, took a open seat a few chairs down from Daniel, giving him a tight-lipped smile and a wave of her ringed hand before turning towards the others.

"Now, now, (Y/N). There's no need for hostility here - we're all the same." Bobby cheerfully stated, causing the girl to roll her eyes. "Here, since you missed when everyone else did it, why don't you introduce yourself to out newest member. This is Daniel." his arm directed (Y/N)'s eyes to her fellow teen.

(Y/N)'s dark-red lips turned up into a forced smile before she spoke. "Hi, I'm (Y/N). I'm the girl who was found a week after a trap that wasn't even hers, half dead and tied to the mutilated corpse of her sister. Nice to meet you!" The smile dropped immediately after she finished her sentence.

"Sorry Daniel. Just ignore her. She's still a little apprehensive to be doing this." Daniel awkwardly nodded at Bobby's explanation. "Good, now why don't we continue..." Daniel couldn't focus on Bobby as he spoke - his attention was solely caught on (Y/N)'s appearance. On top of the jeans and chain, she also had a shirt similar to what he would usually wear. It was red and white, and he could tell it was showing some kind of band-logo, but he couldn't get a clear enough look to tell what band. Glancing down at his own white t-shirt, he caught similarities between the two, finally realizing who it was. "Wrath of the Gods." he whispered.

(Y/N)'s head lightly turned her head, seemingly asking him to repeat himself.

"Your shirt. It's 'Wrath of the Gods' - like mine." he lightly smiled. "You like them?"

She glances down, taking in her own shirt and then his. "Huh... Yeah, my sister, she uh, introduced me to their music a few years ago. This was her shirt actually; she gave me it when she got a new one before the trap."

"Sounds like she was pretty cool." Daniel muttered. By this point, (Y/N) had moved over a seat so they could talk without bothering any of the others.

She smiled before whispering back, "She was."

Now that she was closer, Daniel could see the scarring on her face, neck, arms, and hands. He couldn't help but wonder what she fully went through if that was the result of her trap. It also made him wonder if the same scarring would cascade down her legs and torso too. Did the scarring all look the same; how many were there; were some more gory than others? Hundreds of questions flew through his mind as he looked at her.

"How'd you get them?" Daniel didn't even register the fact that he had spoken.

"Huh?" (Y/N) whispered.

"Sorry, uh, your scars. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get them? I mean, you don't have to tell me. Y'know, I don't want to cross any boundar-" Daniel's rant was cut off by (Y/N).

"It's fine, Daniel." she sighed, giving him a sad smile. "I got these during my sister's 'game'"

"Your sister's game?" Daniel asked, hoping she would clarify.

(Y/N) looked over at the others, making sure no one was bothered by their conversation, before continuing. "Yeah. My sister was the one being tested. It was my fault, but she was the one who got the consequences." she paused, taking a moment to fully think about how to explain her experience. "My parents died when I was little, and my sister had turned 18 a few weeks before they did. After that, she took me in; became my legal guardian, y'know. She was a nurse too, so a lot of the time I was either by myself or out with friends. When my friend Amy finally got her learners, we went out one evening and ended up in an accident. That led to me being on a shit-ton of pain meds, and eventually I got hooked. It was really bad. Jane, my sister, had access to a lot of pain medication, and I used that against her. I begged for weeks for her to steal me them. She, uh... She eventually couldn't take seeing me so bad, so she broke a lot of rules and brought me some. I guess Jigsaw found out, and he thought I was pulling her down. When he took us, his whole argument in the tape was that I was bad for her, and if she got rid of her baggage - me - then she'd be free and would go places in life. If she didn't get rid of me, she'd die." Once again, (Y/N) paused, collecting herself. "He had us tied together to this weird chair set up. It was on these rails, and in front of either of us were these things I could only describe as 'the open-faced turkey sandwich version of a woodchipper'. She was supposed to kill me - push me into mine. I begged and pleaded for her to just do it, cause, I mean, he was right. I was the only bad thing in her life. She would've been better off without me."

"If she died, and didn't want to hurt you, then how did you end up with all the scars?" Daniel quietly asked.

"I did it to myself." Daniel's eyes widened at how casually she said it. "She wouldn't push back and put me into the woodchipper, so I did it myself. I put my feet on the edges of the rails and pushed myself forwards into it. I got close enough to cut myself up a bit. I thought I was gonna save her." (Y/N)'s eyes began to water, and she quickly wiped it away. "Jane was always stronger than me, though. She pulled back and kept us at the midpoint. We were there when the timer went off. I guess it was motorized, cause when the timer went off, we moved backwards. Jane went straight into it. There was nothing I could do but sit there and listen to her screams. Jigsaw and his little groupies never came for me. I was supposed to die, so they left me there. For about a week I was strapped to the trap and what was left of my sister, out of it from blood loss, hunger, and dehydration. Some homeless guy eventually found everything and called the police."

"Wow..." Daniel muttered.

"Yeah, I know." (Y/N) hesitantly chuckled. "Since then I've been doing two sessions of regular therapy a week, this, and rehab."

As she finished her sentence, Bobby loudly spoke up. "Alright guys, today was great! It is time we wrap up though. I hope to see everyone again next week, and I hope you have a great rest of your week." The two teens watched as he walked back to the doorway of the room, stopping next to his wife, lawyer, bestfriend, and publicist.

"Well, I guess that's enough trauma dumping for today." (Y/N) glanced back over at Daniel. "Listen, uh, y'know, 'Wrath of the Gods' has a show this weekend. You should come, so we could hang out some more. To be honest, I need more friends who listen to music I like." she laughed.

Daniel grinned, "Yeah, why not?"

"Good, good." (Y/N) mumbled. "Listen, I gotta go, my foster dad picks me up from these things, but I'll see you this weekend."

"Yeah, yeah, see you later." he smiled. Daniel contently watched as she got up, and headed for the door.

As she got closer to the door, (Y/N) turned back around and waved at him. "Bye, Danny."

(Y/N) turned back around and exited, leaving Daniel to sit in the room alone, thinking over what had just happened. "Holy shit." he dramatically exhaled. Maybe coming to the "Jigsaw victim therapy group" wasn't that bad of an idea.

[siflshonen]

The Greatest Robot on Earth: Astro Boy and Pluto Part I

So you’ve just watched Pluto on Netflix, but you didn’t know that it is the best Astro Boy fanfiction ever made. Great! Or maybe, hypothetically, you’ve read classic Astro Boy but don’t know about Pluto, or, as it was called for the Viz release, Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka. Well, awesome, because I’m about to give you all the details behind their creators and creation and give you a side-by-side of the classic Astro Boy and this new(ish)-fangled Pluto.

C'mon. Look under the read more line. You know you want to.

If you want to skip to the manga side-by-sides, check out part II and part III. Or, you can read the whole thing in one go on Ao3.

Context and Background

Tezuka, Urasawa, and the Showa Era

So, let me start with the basics: What is Astro Boy? What ain’t Astro Boy?

Tetsuwan Atom, known in the west as Astro Boy, is the most well-known manga created by the “Godfather of Manga/God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s, but it metastasized into multiple anime series, games, merch, spin offs of various types, and that one CGI movie in 2009. The series follows the adventures of robot hero Atom (called Astro in the west) as he fights for the benefit of humans and robots to create a harmonious future for both.

Here’s a timeline of Astro Boy- and Pluto-related events to help you visualize what came out when and why there were multiple runs of the Astro Boy manga. For our purposes, the most important thing to understand is that, even though Astro Boy was a kids’ series, its attitude and themes, as written by Tezuka, reflected the incredible shifts in Japan after World War II and the ever-present shadow of it still left in the minds of its citizens.

But before we get into all that, let’s talk about Osamu Tezuka himself.

Osamu Tezuka's Legacy and His Monster

If you, sweet reader, are a self-appointed weeb and you don’t know the name Osamu Tezuka, I’m personally scandalized. Still, here’s the short version: he was a workaholic mangaka that many hail as the creator of modern shonen manga (historians get heated about when, how, and if Japanese comics made the jump to modern manga, so do your own research, but Astro Boy is definitely the most famous worldwide contender for this title instead of, say, Tezuka’s first work Shin Takarajima/New Treasure Island), and he’s the guy who created the world’s first serialized made-for-TV anime with a sequential plot and sold it as a loss leader to get it on the air.

Arguably, the precedent he set in order to get the anime-ified Astro Boy to screens everywhere is a major reason that the anime industry is so unsustainable, but we’re not here to talk about that.

Tezuka-sensei was a prolific, passionate, and deeply beloved artist from Osaka who tackled damn near every manga genre and arguably created some of them before he died of stomach cancer (and overwork, if we’re being honest here.) I’ve only shown a few of the 400-plus titles he created to give a brief overview of the scope of his work. Since I’m talking to you as a fan, not a historian, I specifically chose titles I own or have read most closely.

Message to Adolf, which was also published as Adolf, is about Nazis. Okay, that’s only part of what it’s about, but we’ll revisit this one in more detail later.

Black Jack is probably Tezuka’s second most famous work, and yeah, it’s broadly categorized as a shonen. It follows the adventures of underground doctor and genius surgeon Kuroo Hazama who dresses like a vampire, acts like a black-hearted and preachy douchebag, and endears himself to everyone who interacts with him.

Dororo is a historical fantasy thriller about a guy regaining parts of his sacrificed-upon-his-birth body by slaying demons and uncovering the mysterious past of his companion, the child thief Dororo.

On the flipside, Princess Knight is a shojo for younger kids about a princess with the heart of a boy and the heart of a girl who uses her two hearts to genderbend as needed to maintain her claim over her kingdom and keep it out of the hands of the wicked.

Meanwhile, Ode to Kirihito is an extremely mature medical fantasy drama that questions when and how a person still maintains their humanity and when they become a beast in their own eyes and the eyes of others. As I’m sure you can tell, such themes exploring what humanity means are almost as common to Tezuka’s works as a medical professional featuring as a main character. He needed to use his degree for something, I suppose.

In fact, the common conflict between Tezuka’s bright, young, optimistic, passionate, independently-minded, and opinionated doctor main characters and the corrupt, constricting, slow-moving, old-fashioned medical institution probably offers the most insight as to why Tezuka chose to pursue manga over medicine. I don’t think this was the only reason, but from reading his manga, I feel founded in asserting that the stifling status quo of established medicine was a contributing factor.

Tezuka never made any bones about putting himself and his feelings directly in his work. He spoke what was on his mind throughout his manga, and his introductions to various Astro Boy stories are no exception. He was also transparent about his struggle to make sure his works maintained popularity even when he resented any changes others suggested he make  in pursuit of this goal. In general, Tezuka-sensei didn’t take kindly to the idea of others influencing the direction of his creative visions basically ever, if the story of the Jungle Emperor: Onward, Leo! anime is any indication. (He’s just like me for real.)

If Tezuka-sensei wanted to write about war, he did. If he wanted to write about rape or trauma or abortion or racism, he did. He jumped on the chance to write about sex ed and, well, several of those other topics in Apollo’s Song.

If that scares you, don’t worry. Most of the time, Astro Boy was usually about the nature of war, human rights, the nature of humanity, and robots. It was also written for grade school kids.

Tezuka’s penchant for frank honesty wasn’t limited to commentary made within his manga, but also about his manga, and his statements on Astro Boy are some of his more standout claims on that front. That he called Atom a “monster” and said he created him “for the exposure and the money” doesn’t paint a flattering picture of his attitude towards his most famous work.

But, in truth, his distaste for compromising the truth of his characters at others’ suggestions probably betrays his real feelings about Atom. As much as he may be Tezuka’s monster, he is also his pure-hearted hero of justice and beloved creation. And, by his own admission, his feelings towards his work during the creation of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, the Astro Boy story on which Pluto is based, were distinctly positive (even if at one point the background characters remark that Atom is a monster!)

The readership’s opinions on “The Greatest Robot on Earth” were likewise pretty positive. Among those readers was Naoki Urasawa, who credits the story with inspiring his deep love of manga. (His recounting of the impression the story left on him in this interview with Netflix Anime is incredibly sweet.)

Naoki Urasawa and His Monster

Who is Naoki Urasawa, besides the guy who co-wrote and illustrated the 2003 Pluto manga? Well, Urasawa-sensei is my favorite mangaka, so jot that down, and he’s known for his suspense thrillers, layered narratives, melodramatic showstopper moments, and also stories about cute girls doing sports. He is also a musician and guest professor alongside his editor and Pluto co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki.

20th Century Boys, named in part for a T.Rex song, is arguably his most famous work and it is heavy on the 1960s-1970s nostalgia, but in a good way! The inherent optimism, kindness, hope, and passion (and sometimes outright cheese) of every Urasawa character and title never feels insincere. The series is a seinen with the heart and whimsy of a shonen (and personally, I feel like such a description holds true for even Uraswa’s darker works.) 

If you don’t want to read 20th Century Boys or its sequel, 21st Century Boys, you can watch the live-action movie adaptations.

Meanwhile, Monster is my favorite manga and anime. Herr Doktor Tenma (yeah, like Astro Boy’s Tenma), a Japanese brain surgeon practicing in 1980s Germany, saves the life of a little boy only to learn years later that the kid is a mass murderer, his murdering ways continue into his adulthood, and he will likely never be caught. Only Tenma knows the truth, so he embarks on a quest to stop the “monster” he revived. 

I have less familiarity with Yawara! and Happy!, but the first is a sports comedy about a girl struggling to balance an athletic career and a normal life, and the second is a sports drama about a girl pursuing tennis to avoid becoming a prostitute. 

Pineapple Army is about an ex-merc’s adventures working as a self-defense instructor. Urasawa illustrated this one, but did not write it. I suppose I could have included Billy Bat as a representative work instead, but I honestly didn’t want to start unpacking that—though I will say that Billy Bat is probably the closest answer Urasawa has to Tezuka’s Message to Adolf since they both spin around the concept of a rumor or idea causing the world to lose its collective mind.

So what motivated Urasawa to add Pluto to his body of work? Mostly his editor/producer and co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki, probably. Er, that’s not very flattering. Let me try again.

Japanese media loves to emphasize passing its passions and convictions to the new generations (source: have you ever read or watched a mainstream action shonen in your life? If you’ve been paying attention to anything I’ve written about My Hero Academia or read the manga itself, I’m sure you think as much as I do that pointing out such a thing feels like beating a dead horse), and Urasawa’s (and later, the M2 team’s) motivation in creating Pluto is no exception. As Urasawa put it in his Netflix interview, “It’s like we received the baton from Tezuka-sensei, and would pass it on to the new generation."

And Osamu Tezuka-sensei’s son, Macoto Tezka (who probably spells his name that way so people don’t get him mixed up with his dad) let Urasawa and Nagasaki do it so long as they made sure the new retelling was something new, exciting, and unique when compared to the original! And while the pressure to succeed in this endeavor probably damn well near killed Urasawa-sensei, I think Tezka made the right call!

But if the goal was to pass on this Astro Boy story, which was written by a REALLY old dude, beloved by kinda-old dudes to the new generation, and practically unheard-of by today’s anklebiters, what kind of direction was the damn thing meant to take?! And why was the answer “fantasy Gulf War Astro Boy fanfiction”?!

Astro Boy in the Eyes of the New Breed

Astro Boy may be a series meant for younger kids, but it didn’t exist in a vacuum separate from the climate of the world from which it came. Tezuka would probably roll over in his grave if it did. The work, its messages, and its sensibilities were grade-A, postwar Showa stuff—particularly its reflections on pacifism, war, and power. 

Nagasaki’s summation from the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 8 sums up Tezuka and his generation’s outlook pretty handily, but I think it’s helpful to show exemplify this outlook and contrast it with the outlook of Nagasaki and Urasawa’s generation through manga!

Please observe this key moral-of-the-story panel from “The Greatest Robot on Earth” published in 1964 alongside this panel from late-1980s Dragonball featuring Muten Roshi stating the core idea of his series. I’ve chosen Dragonball as a point of comparison not just because of its notoriety as a big shonen title created for a similar audience as the original Astro Boy, but because creator Akira Toriyama was born in 1955 and, much like his contemporary Urasawa, who was born in 1960, “The Greatest Robot on Earth” left a deep impression on him. (Despite what the caption implies, the photographed page in this tweet actually features Toriyama’s admiration of Tezuka, though I don’t doubt the article from which it is pulled also includes Tezuka’s feelings about Toriyama. I ran it through Google Translate a few times and then laughed when I realized Toriyama made a self-deprecating joke about his poor reading skills, since he points out that he was in third grade when he read “The Greatest Robot on Earth” in the magazine Second Grader.)

To Astro Boy’s Ochanomizu, strength ain’t all that great, and strength for strength’s sake is foolish and vain. In fact, Professor Ochanomizu, who is the moral compass for most Astro Boy adventures, doesn’t value the pursuit of strength the way modern shonen, and several other characters within his own series, do. Hell, he doesn’t give Uran any superpowers even though Atom, the robot boy with nuclear power fueling his 100,000 horsepower (later 1,000,000 horsepower) and seven special powers is her brother! 

At the time of Ochanomizu’s creation, real-life Japan still freshly remembered World War II and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; no the fuck Ochanomizu (and Tezuka, through him) wasn’t about to endorse or create robots that doubled as weapons. That nonsense was for other, “more violent” robot manga, or the slew of other misguided and corrupt roboticists within the Astro Boy canon. Well, except there was that one time Ochanomizu helped create the artificial sun, but he didn’t ever intend for it to become a weapon.

Meanwhile, while Roshi also does not believe in strength for strength’s sake, he absolutely pursues it and encourages his pupils to do the same while fostering their awareness of the hardship, dangers, and fun of their path. Even with his warning, the Dragonball cast’s pursuit of strength is portrayed as alluring despite the double-edge, much like promoting national pride (and power) increases a nation’s convictions in its unity and identity but also draws the negative attention of other, possibly more powerful nations. Andy Yee succinctly frames this still-impending crossroads about how Japan might use its nationalism—its “pursuit of strength” in Dragonball lingo—in his 2013 article “The Twin Faces of Japanese Nationalism”. In it, he quotes this 2012 Project Syndicate article by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. pointing out that nationalism could be a force for positivity if tempered with reform and control, but could also cause the country to start conflict with its neighbors and shit the bed if left to run wild. (The conversation surrounding the topic of Japanese nationalism continues beyond 1980s manga or the 2013 socio-political scene, of course.)

Unlike Atom or Ochanomizu, Dragonball’s Goku finds such attention alluring: his heart’s desire is to fight strong opponents. It is his ikigai (“reason to live”) and at the end of the Cell Games, it becomes his, uh, shinigai (“reason to die”), if you will.

Did I lose you? I just asserted that the messages in these shonen about acquiring strength = messages about acquiring national pride and power. At its best, the Dragonball-esque attitude towards increasing national pride (and combat strength) is empowering, inspirational, and bolsters the good-hearted. At its worst, it could feed into a cycle of toxicity, unproductive self-importance and, ultimately, flat-out Japanese nationalism and war (and at its stupidest, it just becomes Let’s Fighting Love. Protect my balls.) Since classic Dragonball is a gag manga, I doubt Toriyama was ever thinking this hard about the messages of his work in regards to world history, but that’s sort of the point: Toriyama and his generation likely weren’t thinking this hard about it. Dragonball’s authorship lacks the crushing, firsthand memory of the consequences of unbalanced and misused power that the authorship of Astro Boy has.

In other words, Astro Boy’s cast pursued scientific advancement while lamenting the inevitable folly and destruction mankind brought forth with it so that Son Goku could fish naked, kick ass, get his ass kicked, meet god, kick ass, ghost god, ghost his family and friends, come back, kick more ass, repeat this cycle like twice, and get everyone to thank him for it. Dragonball’s more optimistic, power-fantasy-ish outlook broadly categorizes the outlook generation of New Breeds (shinjinrui) born around the 1960s like Toriyama, Urasawa, and Nagasaki before the reality introduced in their emerging adulthood hit them like a fucking truck.

The New Breed generation earned its name because their outlook and values, which were developed during a time of economic plenty and peace, seemed totally divorced from the values of the generations that lived during or immediately after World War II.

“They might as well be a different species,” snarked their elders, probably, though not necessarily out of bland hatred—Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam series portrays his Newtypes, who are meant to be at least somewhat analogous to the real-life shinjinrui, in a generally more sympathetic light and occasionally a positive one (if they aren’t being used by someone else, that is.)

Tomino, who was born in 1941, also worked on Astro Boy at Mushi Pro.

Baggage between generations is not unique to any one country, obviously. But in this case, it seems Urasawa and Nagasaki decided to tap into it and incorporate the core beliefs, hopes, and grief of their generation and those of the generations before them into Pluto. 

Taking this approach was also the perfect excuse for Urasawa to distill everything he knew and loved about Tezuka’s works into one transformative manga. And don’t just trust Tomohiko Murakami on that—trust me as a fan of both Tezuka and Urasawa. It’s very noticeable that Urasawa and Nagasaki pulled from all things Tezuka to create Pluto even as it incorporated new ideas, including criticism of the Gulf War.

…So it’s probably a good thing I took the time to explain all this stuff to you so that you can now start to see it too! You can thank me later. Let’s see how the classic “The Greatest Robot on Earth” compares to Pluto.

[mochiroreo]

There’s a bite to it

Modern!Eddie Munson x Vampire!reader

TW: MDNI 18+, Blood (not too graphic), blood loss, P in V, fingering, squirting, cream pie, soft smut.

Author’s note: (this is fic NOT beta’d 🥹) Well hello there and welcome! I know, I know its been a while. A lot has been happening these days but thank you for staying! Now starts the drop of my halloween specials, sorry it took this long! As always, Minors go awayyy. This is the first time I’m attempting to write this type of tropes 💀 thank you for reading!💖

“Oh fuck off Gareth! What? You think I’m too “scared” for this dare?” Eddie stomped on the cigarette butt, his black boot squeaked at the pressure.

“No, but I’m just saying you can back out. We’re not gonna tease you for it.” Gareth looked at Jeff, silently asking for help to stop Eddie and just back out. “I mean yeah—“ Jeff started, scratching his nape while he thinks how to persuade Eddie to back out. “Look dude, you heard about the rumours. Some did not come back from entering that creepy mansion for the same reasons, a dare. It was just all for fun.”

Eddie scoffed at Jeff’s reasoning. Yeah, he is a ‘bit’ afraid, but his pride really won’t let him back down from a dare, let alone his friends’ dare. What started as a usual night for hellfire ended up with drinks and other games, resulting to Eddie losing continuously in a rock-paper-scissors game.

He sucked at the game so badly that he was practically the one that dug his own grave to protect his ego, asking for another round before the group decided to give him a dare for losing so much, which is to enter an abandoned mansion in Hawkins that is famous for all the kinds of rumours and urban legends surrounding it. From poltergeists to disappearances to murder. Making Eddie’s friends regret that they have mentioned it to him as a dare.

“I’m fucking getting out of that mansion alive. Jesus, what could happen in just one night?”

“Exactly! There is a LOT that could happen!” Gareth reasoned out, frustratedly gripping his hair. Eddie had the audacity to cackle and grab the bag that he packed for his dare, looking at his friends one last time before flicking his middle finger up to them. “You’re overthinking this. I have my phone with me so I’ll just call you or message if something happens y’know.” Turning around quickly to walk towards the eerie mansion, Eddie gulped. His prideful facade falling off when he faced the mansion. He is now feeling the cold autumn air, the crunching of the leaves as he walk towards the gate without looking back his friends.

If Eddie can hide how scared he is earlier, his sweaty palms and goosebumps can’t hide it now. He knew about the rumours and all the possible occult rituals that apparently happened inside the said mansion, he was such a big fan. But now that he’s in a dare he really don’t want to be in, he can’t help but curse the place for being at Hawkins.

He felt his jeans pockets if he brought his phone and power brick with him, making him sigh in relief when he got both. He really cannot afford to leave something, knowing how scared he already is. The old metal gate creaked, the wind blowing a tad bit harsher when he pushed himself in which made his skin pricked with goosebumps. He immediately walked inside, not having a single moment with the broken angel statues near the huge fountain at the garden (he watched too much Doctor who, thats for sure.)

Eddie let out a sigh, before looking around the place. He expected the mansion to be run downed, broken glasses,debris or blood everywhere. Maybe even cigarette butts and empty caps of syringe. But no, the place is immaculate and in pristine condition. The drapes where carefully folded, the sofa looking as if its new. Everything was black though, and he is liking how this mansion is styled.

He looked around before deciding to explore the second floor. He carefully walked upstairs as if someone can hear him, his boots creating a dull thud sound in every step on the carpeted floor. Eddie was met with a long hallway and dozens of doors scattered throughout yet he was intimidated with the one at the end, the biggest one that seems to be calling him. His eyes landed on a series of painting adorning the hall, a portrait of a woman that slowly loses her smile as he kept on walking towards the biggest door. It was as if every portrait was a different woman. A different nose, lips, eyes— as if all the artists that is trying to paint whoever the woman is does not know how to draw.

Eddie grabbed the brass knobs of the massive double doors, opening it slowly. His eyes twinkled when he finds out its a well-kept bedroom. The fact flying over his head, not thinking that someone must be living here for this to be this clean. Sighing, he took his leather jacket off and draped it on the chair, putting his bag down as well. He removed his shoes excitedly before plopping down at the soft mattress. “Holy shit. Why are people afraid of this house, this is such an awesome place to live in.” Eddie took a deep breath before sighing in relief. He yawned, not noticing the pair of red eyes that seemed to be watching him ever since he stepped inside.

“Well, it is indeed an awesome place to live in. I try to keep it clean. Have I done a good job?”

“Oh yeah you’ve done a won—“ if his eyes were closed earlier, now its as wide as saucers as he look around to find where the voice came from, before landing on the chair near the vanity mirror. Eddie gasped, his mind turning into a mush and his heart beating so fast that he knows its trying to jump out of his rib cage. “U-uhm— I just got dared—“ he tried to explain, sitting himself up on your bed. You looked at his nervous expression and find his stuttering adorable which made you laugh loudly. Eddie stopped explaining himself when he heard you, finally taking the time to look at you more closely.

It took him no time to notice that you are the woman in all of those portraits, yet they did not do you justice. You are ethereal, he thinks. Maybe that’s why the artists kept on changing things cause they cannot fully grasp your existence and just how beautiful you are?

You’ve noticed that he had gone quiet, making you tilt your head. Its been a while since you’ve had a human in your house. Have you already taken it too far? You leaned in a tad bit, moving the chair closer towards the bed. “Are you alright? Perhaps I’ve taken it too far?” You asked him, eyes tracing every inch of his face and oh. Oh. He looks downright delectable and delicious. Also adorable with how he is openly ogling your whole body. Dressed in a white dress that hugs your curves in a sinful way, not too thin yet not enough to hide all the things Eddie wanted to see.

You leaned forward, resting your head on your palms. The scent of Eddie wafted throughout the room, your eyes gleaming in delight. He smiles like smoked sandalwood and citrus which was an odd combination but made you more attracted towards him. It has been a while indeed since you had a taste of something that seemed so.. fresh. Eddie noticed the way your eyes raked over him, snapping him out of his desires. “I’m good I’m just trying to explain my situation cause I would really love not to get a lawsuit for breaking in someone’s house— I really thought this was abandoned.” He sat comfortably on your bed, eyes noticing the slightly longer than normal canines when you had given him a toothed smile before looking around your room.

“Well.. that’s what you, humans, say all the time whenever you enter this room and gets caught.” At this time, you have already stood up in front of the corner of the bed where Eddie is. “Said they they are just lost, curious, got dared..” you positioned yourself in between his dangling legs at the edge of the bed, loving how his breath hitched when your body is so close to his crotch, jaw tightening as if he is fighting himself to hold you. “But have you noticed something..” you drawled out the end of your sentence, cocking an eyebrow for him to say his name. “Eddie.. wait what do you mean us humans—?” he whispered. You did not pay any attention to his question, continuing your teasing. “Eddie, what a fitting name for your adorableness. But yes, Eddie, have you noticed something?”

Eddie just continued to stare at you, brown eyes locking in with your red ones, which he just noticed, his face filled with confusion. “If my eyes can’t give it away then- Look at that small vanity mirror, tell me if there is something wrong.” He quickly looked behind you to stare at the said mirror, immediately noticing that you don’t have a reflection. Sirens rang inside his head, yet he cannot move his body to run away from you. He watched enough horror movies to know what type of creature are those that live without a reflection. “V-vampire..?” He muttered, his face slightly paler when you nodded. You used your powers to turn the vanity mirror away, shutting the curtains, making Eddie jolt in shock with how quick the darkness engulfed the room.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden lighting, it wasn’t too dark that he cannot see you, but definitely not bright enough to make him think clearly and think of a plan to escape. Denying inside his head that he is attracted to you. Your cold touch on his cheek made him jump, his hands landing on your hips which made you moan at the warmth. The sound definitely woke Eddie’s cock, and when he tried to remove his hands, you stopped him. “Its okay.. its okay. I’m not gonna hurt you.” You whispered softly, one hand cradling his cheek to make you look at him upwards while the other plays with his soft,curly hair. You usually don’t promise this to most of the humans that wanders on your house as they always end up being eaten anyway but to him,its different. “God, it’s been a while since I’ve smelled something as good as you. What a bonus that you are also a cure for sore eyes.” You chuckled in delight while Eddie gulped. Your eyes are definitely redder now, yet all Eddie felt was you putting more pressure to his crotch with your thighs while you move closer.

You duck your head, grabbing his nape to expose his neck for your soft,pink lips to latch on which had taken him aback. “Fuck” he muttered under his breath, hands tightening on your hips which made you inhale his scent deeply while sucking his pale skin harshly. “Please.. will you let me have a taste?” You whispered on his skin, trailing wet kisses all over while Eddie is slowly losing control on himself.

God, what did he walked into? Poltergeists, ghost, and cults, they said. Turns out, a fucking vampire lives in the mansion. He is not sure what scared him more, the fact that a vampire might suck him dry and die or the fact that even though he might get suck dry, he does not mind dying in such a way. Not trusting his voice, he gave you a small moan, craning his neck further. You pushed him onto the bed, red eyes now gleaming in delight. Eddie watched you with curiosity, definitely getting harder on his jeans when he watched your fangs grew longer. You leaned down to his neck once again, straddling him with ease.

Your plush thighs trapped him underneath you, hands holding his arms which made him feel trapped and wanted. “It might hurt a little but you’ll enjoy it, I promise you. Thank you for the meal.” Sucking in a breath, Eddie prepared himself before feeling your fangs prick his skin. He held your waist that you are pretty sure will give you bruises, not that you mind. In such a short time, you were completely smitten with how he smells divine and how he looks like he is meant to be with you. And with the taste of his blood, you weren’t sure how to let him go.

His taste was more than what you have expected, smooth and addicting. You sucked harder, blood filling your mouth. The hunger that was asleep for centuries re-igniting inside of you. No one has tasted this good. No one has made you feel intoxicated this way for ages. You almost lost yourself if not for the way Eddie caresses your hips and thighs after his bruising grip, lips forming into a lazy smile as if he is high. He is indeed high. Never had he expected for it to feel this.. good. If he’s going to die this way, might as well go all out, right?

The thought gave Eddie the confidence to moan loudly when he felt you suck harder again. One of his hand move to your back, tracing gentle circles while the other held your nape. “Yes. Take it, take what you think is yours. Does it taste good? I’m happy to give you more.” His words made you swoon, voice low and husky as he urge you to take more of him. Your hips now rutting on his clothed cock which made his eyes roll at the back of his skull. It’s too much for him, he just wants you to continue to use him. You continued to hump him, eager for a different type of release. Unlatching your mouth from his neck and licking it clean to close the wound. Eddie watched you sigh in bliss. His blood smeared at the side of your lips, which you licked, making sure you’re not wasting a drop of blood.

“Fuck, sweetheart—“ he choked out in pleasure, guiding his hands to your breasts and giving it a tentative squeeze. and giving it a squeeze. You gave him a toothy grin, retracting your fangs. You traced his bottom lip with your thumb, only for him to suck with while maintaining eye contact. The action made something snapped inside you, precautions flying out of the room. You slowly unraveled yourself, taking off your dress, your body now bare for Eddie. He looked at you in awe as if time froze before pulling you down for a searing kiss.

The kiss was hot,sticky, and messy from his blood. You cannot help the soft sighs that escaped your mouth when his lips found yours, his teeth tugging on your bottom lip before giving it a soft suck. Your knees buckled, weak with Eddie’s ministrations. He continued to kiss you deeply, playing with your nipples that made you pull away and bury your face on his neck. “Oh sweetheart, you’re so fucking beautiful.” He growled on your ear, before flipping your positions. He was now on top, straddling you as he look down. Taking off his shirt, it was your turn to run your hands on his lithe body. He isn’t bulky but holy fuck was he well defined on all the right places. And by the looks of it, his cock probably won’t disappoint as well.

Your mouth watered at the thought of his cock inside of you, taking you. You do not mind giving him the power over you, as long as he let you taste all of him. Eddie took of his clothes one by one, standing up quickly to remove his pants and boxers before going back to straddling you. Your eyes widened at his size. Not massively long but the girth of him makes you gulp. Your mouth watered but you cannot help but ask him one thing. “Well fuck me but— would that fit?!” The slight crack of your expression made him laugh, lightly stroking his length as he bury his face at the side of your neck to press wet kisses. “Oh it will fit. We will make it fit, don’t we?” His mouth slowly goes down to your breasts, sucking your pebbled nipples in delight. He continues to do so when you felt his hands cupping your bare pussy.

The action made you release a breath cause finally his hand is where you want it to be. The feeling of his warm palms and his cold rings just made you want more, bucking your hips slightly to ask him for more. He moved away to look into your eyes, rubbing your pussy gently and feeling how wet you are. “You’re soaking wet, jesus.” He mumbled, your eyebrows furrowed with just how his touch is making you lose yourself. “Other than it has been a while, you are the first human that made me feel this insatiable hunger again.”

Your statement made Eddie smirk, before inserting his finger deep to your cunt. The intrusion made you gasp loudly, his finger going in and out to slowly loosen you. Eddie felt you try to grind on his fingers, urging him to add one more. And another, his thumb rubbing your clit as three of his fingers slide in and out of you with ease with how wet you are for him.

He felt the rough patch inside of you, aiming and hitting your sweet-spot over and over again. Eddie can feel that your getting closer with how your breath quickens and how you kept on squeezing his fingers. “Ahh, I-I’m close— please Eddie, please.” This prompted him to go faster. You asked him politely, how can he say no? He watched the way your eyebrows scrunch, mouth open with a silent scream as you let go. You saw stars dancing underneath your eyelids, Eddie still thrusting his fingers and rubbing your clit making you extremely sensitive.

“Eddie— Eddie stop—“ you looked on his face that is holding a wide grin while you try to hold his wrist and stop him. “Ah ah, let go sweetheart, come on. You can give me another one, can ya?” Your hips cannot stay still as he continue to abuse your cunt. He quickly took notice of your tears that are bound to fall soon “I’m— I’m—“ stuttering as you try to warn him, a loud moan erupted from your chest as you get hit with your climax harder. Eddie continued only to slowly stop when he felt you squirt. “Well aren’t you a generous house host?” He teased, licking his fingers clean, letting your juices coat his mouth. His comment made you giggle before positioning his length, nudging his tip on your puffy cunt. “Why yes, I am. Though I am pretty sure I can give you more.” You cockily said, pulling him closer.

His lips found yours once again while he slowly pushes inside you. He swallowed your moans, before he moved away to groan. You might be a vampire but fuck, your cunt was so warm and tight for him that it made his eyes roll at the back of his skull. His thickness made your back arch, nails dragging down his back as he slowly build his speed. He watched you with hungry eyes, bare chests pressed while he try not to crush you with his weight. Your connection with him felt like a dream, in all the centuries you have lived, you have forgotten what it feels like to feel this desired, this wanted.

He fits you perfectly. His cock hitting the right places as his thrusts grew faster and harsher. You were a moaning mess underneath him, drool slightly building up at the side of your lips while your tears threaten to fall. Eddie’s fringe is matted to his forehead as he slam himself in and out of you like a wolf in rut. “S-so good. Ah,ah,ah” you mewled over and over, pulling him closer and wrapping your arms and legs on him to be as close to him as possible. His rhythm never stuttered, bringing you pleasure more and more.

Feeling your teeth scrape the side of his neck, he knew you were on the verge of cumming the same as him. Yet he knows you wanted more, needed more. “Do you want another taste? Come on, you can feed on me.” Tears were now flowing down your cheeks as you chant over and over while your fangs grew longer “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.” You were squeezing him, talking to himself inside his head not to cum yet but when your teeth sank on his skin, his hips stuttered.

The moment his blood hits your tongue and flooded your taste buds, you gave in. Your body convulsed as if you were hit by such a strong wave, while Eddie lets out a loud growl, filling you. Your senses were blank, pleasure taking over as you take and take. He had never felt so high and filled with pleasure. Is he seeing spots now that you kept on sucking his blood while he just cummed? Yes. Is it the best climax that he ever had in his life and was it worth it? Yes. He smiled drunkenly to himself as he feel his strength slipping away, softly combing your hair with his fingers. You felt his breathing slowly get softer before snapping out of the trance from his blood, his whole body crushing you when he passed out.

“Oh fuck—“

Eddie woke up with a headache, feeling lightheaded. The curtains were drawn and the moon shining down through the huge window, illuminating the room alongside the lamps. You quietly sat down beside him, shyly handing him an apple and orange juice box. He took the juices with a lazy smile before bursting into laughter when you covered your face in embarrassment. “I am so sorry.” You mumbled, taking a peek on his reaction. This made him laugh even harder, clutching his stomach. He finally stops and removed your hands covering your face. “Hey, its okay, you literally took my breath away. You should be proud of that.” He teased, making you scoff at him which made him chuckle.

“You know.. its been centuries since I felt this type of connection towards someone.. Will you visit me again?” Holding his hand tenderly, you press it close to your chest while looking at him with pleading eyes and a pout. Eddie could not say no with how adorable you look at him compared to when you just met him. He was planning to tease you but the swelling of his heart made him do otherwise. “Of course! As long as you let me paint you AND hang it on your hall of fame.” “Hall of fame?” You asked him while chuckling, only to be met with a firm nod. “Fine fine.” you took his hand that was on your chest and kissed his palm with tender eyes that were looking at him with affection, the action making him blush. And making his cock hard.

“Sweetheart, you really need to stop making me horny at this point. I almost died the last time.” He joked, both of you laughing at his silliness.

If someone told Eddie that he would meet and sleep with a vampire, he would have probably laughed and punch the person who is clearly out of his mind. But now, doing both, he does not mind doing it again. Meeting a vampire AND having the best sex of his life? Deal.

And for some reason, as you watch Eddie drink both of the juices you gave him, you cannot help but stare intently at his face. Everything seemed to be so oddly familiar that your heart feels like you know him for the longest time which made your eyes slightly water.

Because, maybe you do.

After all, he looks exactly like the only lover that you had and loved two-centuries ago.

[proshipper-plaza]

I’ve finally gathered my thoughts together.

This is my experience with antis.

For starters, I’ve been a huge Pokemon fan ever since I was a child and my first game was Pokemon Blue. I remembered watching the anime back when it was good imo

As the years passed, I completely dropped the anime entirely because the same duo of Ash and Pikachu annoyed me to no end, and I wanted a new protagonist. But the games I loved and played every one up to the ninth generation.

Anyway, when Pokemon Legends Arceus came out, I was enthralled— even though the game’s story has its faults, I still greatly enjoyed the experience over all.

One of the characters that stood out to me was Volo. I love him so much and decided to create my own AU for him as well as roleplay as him.

Now, I have a tendency to ship the MC with a popular character if they’re interesting enough to me, so obviously I was going to ship Akari ( who’s canonically fifteen) with him. I didn’t mind the age gap, because I enjoy the taboo nature of it.

(My first ever mlm ship was Pitch Black/Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. Overall, I do in fact ship adult/adult, so I’m not totally obsessed with adult x minor pairings, but I have no issue with them.)

Getting back on track, I decided to friend on Volo once I created the account on the roleplay site and there was this RPer who roleplayed as Koko, a character from one of the Pokemon movies, who’s thirteen years old. They have a habit of portraying young characters in an unsavory light. ( oh noes, the horror, antis amirite.) this was told to me by someone who was formerly from a toxic group. Let’s call her R.

So the breaking point was when it was made public and they were openly discussing dildos and whatnot in character with my version of Volo, so naturally it set off a huge stink bomb.

Koko made a couple friends uncomfortable and it just snowballed from there. At the time, R got fed up and admittedly ripped Koko a new asshole for even trying to integrate that kind of topic on their clearly underaged character. And since Koko said my name...I was ultimately assumed to have been engaging in something nefarious.

I have to put my foot down at someone who’s a writer/Rper being attacked for writing about underaged characters engaging in activities clearly unsuited for that age group. People act as if they have feelings and are alive, for goodness sake. They’re fictional, and it’s really no one’s business what anyone RPs/writes about.

Anyway, Koko got harassed off the site, and I was upset, but of course I didn’t want to say anything because people would look at me funny if I came to their defense.

So then, an Akari RPer shows up and I’m happy because hey, I can ship Volokari now. Our more, ahem, lewd roleplays were in private messages, but we kissed IC publicly and were affectionate with each other. Now this site’s layout is set up where whatever you post can be viewed by everyone, and I made the popular role players in the Pokémon verse uncomfortable, apparently. But I didn’t think anything of it, even when the Akari RPer was scared off.

One day I’m feeling good, and decide to friend a Dialga RP account, and then log off to go watch a movie online. When I return, and I wish I had the screenshots, but my original Discord got hacked, the writer had sent me a nasty message in which she called me a pedophile and all this other stuff as well as a rat.

I remember being stunned, then crying a lot because I didn’t know what I could do.

I tried so hard to defend myself, but my words didn’t have the effect I wanted. I felt hurt and confused and angry.

So after being harassed more by another user who masqueraded as someone normal, only to say they’d “hunt down every account I made in every verse and expose me for the pedo I am”, as well as a reply to my OOC post where I said, “I’m mentally drained”, and this other user said, “Good. Pedos don’t deserve rest.”

I was told I must be a freak in day to day life because I “portrayed an adult x minor ship in a healthy light.”

After removing all the pictures I uploaded and making my profile blank with a long message as to why I was inactive, I left. Couldn’t take it. Second time I tried to come back? I was friended by a Mewtwo who proceeded to greet me with, “I thought we established pedophiles weren’t allowed in this verse.” And I replied with, “I thought we established I wasn’t one?”

They responded that in characters interactions are a sign that I what I desire in roleplay, is what I desire in reality.

I replied with something along the lines of, in character interactions will always be baseless accusations.

Oooh, they didn’t like that at all. They called me a piece of shit for even saying that and how dare I make light of their trauma they went through when they were younger ( news flash, it’s not about YOUR TRAUMA, it’s about the ship dynamics. )

They ended up calling me a disease to humanity and that their opinion of me would never change. They blocked me.

So once again, I deleted, and my third and final attempt to come back unsurprisingly ended in failure.

This clique was warning people new to the verse to block/report me.

I’m not confused.

I’m not mentally ill.

I don’t need professional help.

I’m so sorry you all were lied to, and you believe their words at face value without asking for concrete evidence.

Why should I have to be treated with hostility and disdain simply over what I ship/how I chose to portray a character when there are actual predators who need to be exposed?

In closing

What I do is in fiction is no one’s business and I get it, the overwhelming majority is uncomfortable by underage ships, but the mature things to do are either ignore it, block, and move on.

It’s not reasonable to harass someone over fictional content and it’s very unreasonable to slander and water down the term pedophilia to something that it’s not, to the benefit of actual predators.

Don’t like me? Don’t like what I am? Then move on with your lives and never interact with my content.

So go ahead, waste your time on your little moral holier than art thou moral high grounds, I guess.

Nowadays, I’m in other verses and am keeping to myself just like what I did before. All in all this entire situation sucks and I strongly wish it never occurred in the first place. I wish people would mind their own business and leave me alone.

Thank you for reading. If you want my discord so we can talk more, ask.

[teecupangel]

Yknow what, fuckin crossover time. Desmond crossover with Tangled The Series (or whichever name you wanna use). He’s a bartender so he’d get in great with Varian and his alchemy. The moonstone and black rocks are some Isu fuckery and it reacts to Des cause…sun? Zahn Tiri gets bitch slapped cause this jackass got nothing on Juno. Just…I think it’d be fun and I really want Varian to have more friends. #justiceforvarian

Does it have any other title? I only know it as Tangled the Series XD

I kinda like the idea of him owning the bar in the movie but, since we’re focusing on the series here, let’s say he owns the tavern in the castletown.

He’s been… ‘unintentionally’ adopting street urchins by letting them do errands for him while providing them with food and a room on the second floor of his tavern.

(It was meant to be for guests but his tavern’s customers are mostly local. The most use those rooms had were too drunk patrons he let sleep there instead of trying to walk out of the tavern.

His best sellers are cocktail drinks he invented himself (remembered from his old world) and that made him earn the name ‘Concoction Meister’.

… from a very drunk regular who got the entire tavern shouting it.

It kinda stuck later on.

It’s because of this that Varian checked the tavern out because he mistook the name as something connected to alchemy.

It wasn’t but Desmond let him have a mocktail (“No alcohol for you, kid”) and he became a regular there who liked to talk to Desmond about his ideas because Desmond can keep up (thanks to his Bleeds, most of the time) and even has ideas of his own at times.

Then Rapunzel was found and things happened…

Desmond wasn’t really planning on getting in the middle of any of these.

For one, he was find just chilling as a tavern owner.

The kingdom was peaceful and he was cool thinking of this kinda like his retirement.

Then…

He started to see Varian change…

And something inside him just keeps sending alarms all over.

Like something big was going to happen.

And he didn’t know what yet.

.

Unorganized Notes:

So in this one, Desmond is a sorta morality pet of Varian (a morally ambigious morality pet XD). He might even become one for Cass if you want but the main point is that he and Varian are close enough that, when shit hits the fan, Varian would confide on Desmond because he believed Desmond would understand him. That’s where Varian’s arc would change.

Desmond doesn’t make a Brotherhood in this one but he does have an information network that lets him know things a commoner should not know.

That information network (which includes kids Desmond sorta adopted) are gonna be Varian’s support group because they see Varian as part of their family of misfits. The kids even call him ‘big bro’ at times and think of him as one of them.

(Not that Varian and Desmond think that any adopting was happening).

So you wanted the moonstone to be an Isu related bs. This does mean that the Sundrop flower will also become an Isu related bs XD

And, no, we are not making Desmond be influenced by the Sundrop flower.

But he does react to it and the moonstone.

Because he was brought back from the dead using the same ‘mechanics’ that created the sundrop flower back in his world.

His darkened arm with golden circuitry that he hides is actually evidence. Because the light of his arm?

It’s the same golden glow that Rapunzel’s hair had when she still had the power of the sundrop flower.

And it was by punching Zahn Tiri with said arm that he kinda… skipped a few ‘episodes’ and just finished the big boss fight XD

[swampshi]

Parental love

little illustration I did forgive me for my laziness but I'm NOT finishing this

I am by no means a writer and English isn't my native language, so yeah, approach at your own caution as always, may be radioactive

The colors on her canvas all turned crimson, black. There were no bright rays of light, no glow of the Elven empire. There was no empire at all – everything that came out from under her brush turned into blood-red chaos. The brush hit the floor, painting the stone with oil paint, the wooden handle broke from the force of the blow. Sylaise wanted to throw off the easel and tear the canvas apart, but instead she simply fell to the floor, bursting into muffled sobs.

Her cities, her statues, desecrated, destroyed, infested with living trash, pointless beings only made to serve, all by the hand of rebels. If she had her way, if she had known all those years ago, she would have squeezed the traitor's neck until her knuckles turned white, until the last drop of lies fell from his poisoned lips, until his lungs closed with his last breath. Solas. She hoped he would burn.

Behind her she heard a solemn, many-legged stomping that would have pleased her at any other time. Loneliness was eating her up and leaving no trace, despite her constant search for solitude. Only one entered the chamber, endless servants left behind. She did not bother to turn around. Hot hands gripped her shoulders, pulled her up, forced Sylaise to her feet. Gods do not cry, huddled on the cold floor.

– Your work will be avenged. – Uncompromising statement, meant for comfort.

None of the Evanuris knew parental love. They were created from the flesh and blood of the Titans, each molding their own bodies from plasma. But Elgar'nan was the one who called to her, when she was but a spirit. Called to grace the earth with her beauty, to build his empire with care, to make it glorious. She found comfort in the rays of the Sun.

– Give me your soldiers and the rebels will have to fall back. They are outmatched as it is, with worthless thralls fighting for their cause. – He ran a hand through her brown hair. Soft like silk, left unbraided.

– But what about my cities? My temple?

– If you don't give me your forces, they will take them and more. Rabid dogs, that's what they are, and I need to put them down.

Silence lingered, as she was left to consider. To think.

– They will ravage, will destroy. – His words only fueled the desire to step onto the battlefield herself. To set ablaze each and one of them. – I will bring their heads to your feet if you so wish.

– I'll send the order to my forces to retreat through the eluvians. – Sylaise tilted her head up to meet the satisfied gaze of golden eyes. – June gathered lyrium knights for my personal guard. I can send them.

With a soft click, the sun-shaped brooch released the other side of his heavy cloak, the head embroidered with gold thread and rubies. Elgar'nan threw the heavy cloak over her fragile, but already straight shoulders, led her to the soft taffeta, strewn with pillows. Sylaise did not protest and sunk down. Endless fabrics of her dress and his coat weighed her down, suffocated.

– I won't leave you vulnerable. You're the greatest treasure, Sylaise, and the one I vowed to protect from those, who seek to wrong us.

Cold air rushed into the room, billowing the organza curtains, fanning them out. All-father wrapped her tighter in his cloak, not knowing where to place his hands, how to make her smile. He can bring the head of Solas himself, but knew it wasn't enough. Andruil is still nowhere to be found and no one can fill the void for Sylaise other than her sister. Parental love was unfamiliar to them?

– Don't go, please. Please, stay. – She felt her throat tightening, her nose starting to feel raw. Her eyes threatened to burst into tears.

Gods do not cry, burying their red faces in someone else's shoulder. They probably do not cry at all, do not love, do not get lonely, they only rule. But now, in secret, they became just elves. Sun-Tamer found himself just a man, and what is a greater weakness for a man, than a daughter?

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 23 - Up and Coming

Summary: Eddie wasn't used to success.

Word Count: 752

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Angst? But then happiness? Eddie Munson sad-sackery turned into perseverance and joy.

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! Even if you didn’t start on Day 1, you can still join!

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

Eddie wasn't used to success.

The Munson name meant being unpopular, being picked last. It happened to him for his entire life.

Maybe when his mom was still alive things had been a little different. But he'd been young, and Kindergarteners didn't care what your name was as long as you wanted to play pretend or race cars or hopscotch with them.

He had to grow up once she was gone. But once you were grown there was nothing to protect you from the harsh realities of the world. Of the unfairness of others.

People told him he sucked, that his clothes sucked, his taste in music. The more hits he took, the tougher his skin became, and before long those words didn't hurt him so much. Instead of digging into him and carving out a piece of his happiness though, they dug into the ground below him and created a canyon between him and the others.

But it was hard to build a bridge on your own; so he found others like him--other freaks--to help get across the social void until they could try to find a piece of the world they could make their own.

Or build it themselves if they had to.

And they did.

They built a club for themselves, an identity. Embraced the word freak to mean someone different, someone looking for a place to call their own. They started their band with a plan to get out. To find a place of belonging, to find a future, to find something more.

To find success.

It was elusive. The closer they got to it, the further away it seemed to get. But it's what drove them to keep going. Drove Eddie to keep going. He encouraged them to work harder, to push themselves further, and to never give up.

They moved to Indianapolis. Then to Chicago. They played fests and clubs and opened for bigger bands.

They just. Kept. Going.

But a handful of fans that could sincerely be called friends at this point, and gigs that still didn't fully pay the bills, and t-shirts that they simply could never sell enough...that wasn't success.

Right?

So when someone woke him up early one morning, pounding on his door, he certainly didn't expect it to hit him like a freight train.

Dave flung the newspaper at his head and then grabbed fistfuls of his t-shirt and shook him. All the while screaming "we did it! We did it! We made it Ed!"

Three Up-and-Coming Bands to Keep on Your Radar By Alex McCall

The headline was big.

Front of the entertainment section of the Tribune with a grainy black-and-white picture of him and the guys on stage at some venue. He couldn't quite tell which one, but they'd been booking gigs pretty regularly now so it could have been any of them.

Eddie rubbed the sleep from his eyes and scanned over the page, over the paragraphs about the other bands that he'd vaguely heard of in passing, until he reached the two paragraphs about Corroded Coffin.

This McCall guy sung their praises. About their stage presence and their unique sound. About the small group of fans and praises from local critics Eddie had never heard of. About the four of them and their synchronicity on-stage.

This, that, and the kitchen sink.

It was a see it to believe it moment and Eddie simply could not believe it.

The article even ended with a quote from Eddie himself, one he couldn't remember giving.

"Guitarist Eddie Munson says the band is 'destined for a bigger stage' as he sips a can of Dr. Pepper and I have agree wholeheartedly. Keep Corroded Coffin at the front of your mind because these guys are going places and you don't want to miss your chance to get in on the ground floor.'

It was wild.

It was unbelievable.

"Davey I'm gonna need you to pinch me or something..." he muttered softly.

It was everything he could to not to feel like he was about to die, as his whole life flashed before his eyes. Every time he felt like a failure, every struggle he thought they'd never overcome.

Pain erupted in his arm and he was brought back to reality to find his friend grinning wickedly at him.

"OW!" he screeched "What the fuck! Not that hard!"

Eddie looked down at the newspaper once again, reread the article, and touched the picture reverently.

And that's when he realized...they found their place.

They found their future.

They were on their way.