#this isn't smth i can put off too like the goal is to do it as many times as i can

[daz4i]

needs to do a thing -> anxious about doing the thing -> too anxious to do the thing -> anxious about being unable to do the thing -> anxious ab

[isa-ghost]

*places down some money*

Phil headcannons please

*eats the coins whole*

Other qPhil headcanons

He means it 1000% when he says he'd burn the entire island to the ground for the kids. No building would be safe. Not even his own. All bets would be off. And if one of the other parents would do the same for their kid? He'd be right there with them.

He loves every egg, dead and alive alike. He has no clue what any of them think of him, and tbh he'd probably be overly humble or vaguely negative abt it bc he's just so shitty to himself when it comes to image related things, thinking they probably find him weird or smth. But he loves them all, and even if any of the eggs DO have a negative opinion of him, he'd still shed blood sweat and tears for them.

GUYS PLEASE THIS IS CANON BUT he is SO BAD at picking up on certain things if not explicitly told. If you have an issue with bird man you have to TELL HIM. He has a million other things on his mind and he has survival brain on by default which means several other things are taking up brainspace, he doesn't have the means to be looking for subtle signs someone isn't happy with him. FUCKING COMMUNICATE WITH HIM!!

Idk I just think Fit, Pac & Mike should convince him to get high with them. But I can't tell if I want to say he'd actually chill out for once & get a lil goofy or if he'd be the type that gets super anxious & hates every second he's stoned

Has a manga collection. It's not that big series-wise, he's a completionist so his collection is big bc he collects every volume of a series he's interested in. He has all of Bleach ofc, most of Chainsaw Man, probably 1-3 other series. He's preoccupied with other things usually so he hasn't read any of them in ages, but Chayanne has been going WILD reading them when he's not out and about

He gets sluttier when he's drunk. That confidence boost he gets when he's drunk enough goes places. Particularly when he's around Fit (Fit's a bad influence /pos)

Tbh? If his usual civil disobedience and the like don't work, I would not put it past him to follow Cellbit's example and just start killing Feds. I don't know how canon Phil's past is but if this is the man who helped create the Antarctic Empire or the man that leveled an entire country? Quesadilla Island's days are numbered and it will be Specifically to spite Cucurucho and any other Fed that's responsible for whatever Phil has an issue with. All it takes is taking his kids away again or hurting his friends :)

Fr tho if/when he finds out what they did to Jaiden or Baghera or anyone of the other islanders? He WILL be unleashing hell for them.

He's ready at all times to die for someone. The goal is to Not die, but if it comes to it, better him than them. And in classic hypocritical Phil fashion, he vehemently refuses to allow anyone to do the same for him. The survivor's guilt would be too much for him.

Outwardly, he processes grief and stress with humor. Because if he doesn't, he'll shut down emotionally and mentally. But don't think for a second that internally, he's a wreck. He's angry, he's in pain, he's stressed, he's conflicted, he's grieving. He just won't let anyone know he is. He doesn't like admitting it.

That said, GOD do hugs and random acts of kindness during tough/dark times get him. It's a hit straight to the heart. He'll get emotional before he can stop it or mask it. They mean more than anything, and they're the quickest way to make him realize just how much shit he's shouldering and bottling up.

Currently his greatest fear is the Federation finding out about or asking him questions related to Ender King. Normally he'd at least prepare how to answer such questions. In this case he has no clue what to say, which really stresses him out. And he knows fleeing the conversation wouldn't go well.

He doesn't typically do anything special with his hair but goddamn it looks good in a short braid. He only ever does smth with his hair for certain events, like Festa Junina. And that was mostly because Lullah insisted.

If the Federation one day declared every islander needed some kinda career for whatever weird reason, Phil's would be photography.

Don't listen to his complaining. He REALLY likes that there's so many birds around the house. Prefers them outside but he likes them around regardless.

[jovenshires]

You’ve probably been asked this before but what’s like your fanfic writing process?? Like how do you end up writing your fanfictions?

i actually haven't but i'd be happy to talk about it!! i'm actually writing fic right now, so here's what i've done in the past like. hour. im gonna put it under the cut bc its EXTREMELY long but if you ever wanted 'katie's guide to fic writing,' here it is!

i'm pretty easily distracted, so i've gotta make sure i'm in like. The Right Conditions. that means phone face down or away if i can (rn i've got to be on call in case my boss needs smth but you get the gist) bc i WILL just open tiktok or play a mobile game. even just now writing this answer i have picked up my phone and opened pinterest. i cannot be stopped so i try to stay off it and put it down when i catch myself!!

more and more often i cant even listen to music while i write - partly bc i tend to read my work aloud to myself to make sure it sounds right and partly bc my brain will be like "you know this song omg the words are in your brain" or "you should go look at what song this is bc you kinda like it". cannot trust myself even with sound. if i AM listening to music while i write, it's either the specific playlist for that fic, playlists with the right vibes (ex: rivals-to-lovers for iwks), OR anime openings bc. less likely to get distracted when it's not in english tbh.

(huge on all of the senses so i also usually have a candle lit. im super sensitive to smells so if there's an unpleasant smell somewhere around me i will be unable to focus <3)

all that being said about distractions, i think it's important to take breaks - dont just FORCE yourself to write. that's why i'm huge on setting goals for myself - deadlines, word count goals, timed breaks. like "okay im gonna sprint write for 10 minutes and then after that ill watch some of this danny gonzalez video" or "i'll write until 3:30 and then i should go take a break and read a book." im not always faithful to my goals but i try my best!!

as for the actual writing itself, i typically just go for it. i can usually see an image in my mind and i try my best to write that out/describe it as best i can. and then if it sounds wrong i just reword it again and again until i've got it. this is kind of where my reading aloud bit comes in - if it sounds right when you say it out loud, that generally means it sounds right in the text.

sometimes i'll just have a certain scene or just scraps of dialogue and i'll write that out and be like "okay how did they get here." i never embraced writing out of order until recently, but now that i have. no going back tbh i highly recommend it. rwylm and iwks especially had scenes WAY later down the line that i wrote first. just write what comes naturally and go from there.

occasionally i do outlines, but not super often, and when i do they're vague as hell. i think a lot of my iwks outline was just "game" and then "another game but tommy is there this time." i think outlines that go too in-depth kind of take away from the freedom of writing so. if it's for you then slay but its usually not for me

i try not to worry too hard about. the style/grammar/little things as i go. of course im guilty of this and i'll stop and edit my own works along the way sometimes but i've found it's best if you keep writing and then go back later!!

sometimes when i'm writing a new smosh cast member i'll go back and watch videos/compilations of them just to reorient my brain. i've done this a lot with chanse recently!! but i also think. it really isn't that deep too NSDKFNKNK like these are fictionalized versions of fictionalized selves and so on and so forth so don't worry about 'voice' too much im trying to kick that habit myself

EDIT: oh i've talked about this before but. as for ideas/where my fic ideas come from?? i truly try to grab from my every day life. oh i went to the grocery store today? what if smosh member a and smosh member b went to the grocery store. i watched a horror movie and you know who else could do that. otherwise i pull from music/movies/tv shows/other media and be like 'this but for smosh.' i really just be pulling from my life and repackaging it thats all. start small (haircut fic) and work your way up (homoerotic soccer epic)!

and i think that's it?? i'd like to think im pretty chill about the whole thing. (read: i am not chill in any way at all but im trying my best.) anyway, it's something i'm always happy to talk about - thank you for asking!!

[raphaelesbian]

ok, since you asked (and I GET the "I wanted to write, but didn't") ....ummmm..... would Shini try to sneak Raph into a concert?

Also, if it's not too spoiler-y, what are all three boys' currently theories on where Raph got the alcohol?

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Oh I definitely think that would be on-brand for her. One because she definitely is a concert kind of girl and she loves breaking the rules, but also just because, like. Her goal is to stabilize them, basically. She's a little wild, but (mostly) in a "teenage girl" kind of way, while they're very much Losing It. So things like a little makeover montage, or listening to music, or watching silly YouTube videos, and TOTALLY going to a concert, are all things she would think of to try and... "distract them" isn't quite right, but it's close. To break them out of their spiral, kind of.

Anyways fhkdsahglk I think she'd get him all dressed up and probably watch from the rafters or smth a la Bayverse. She'd probably try to convince him to actually go down with the people, because it's dark! no one is paying attention! you'll be fine! but he'd push back on that pretty hard. Poor 12 boys would NOT thrive in a crowd XD Maybe someday in the future she could change his mind though.

Oooh okay that actually is a very helpful question bc I haven't even really thought about it that much 🤔 and I need to!

I think, after Raph stormed off at the end of the last chapter, there was probably some off-screen discussion between them all. For sure they briefly grilled Casey on potentially introducing him to the idea, but he strongly denied the allegations. I think Casey is more of a weed guy anyways lmao. I think, as a group, their mostly likely assumption is just that he's stealing it. He's a ninja, he's never cared much about human society/rules so he wouldn't feel bad about it, and it's the easiest answer. BUT:

Why would he not tell Casey if that was the case? It isn't something Casey would be likely to snitch on; he wouldn't care and would probably join in. So they know there has to be more to it, even if they're correct.

Oof, them turtles are hard to characterize!! This is an excellent question ty for forcing me to contemplate it fhklsdahklg. Donnie is smart, but he's also not the best when it comes to reading people. I think he'd just go down the decision tree of most likely explanations and say "yeah he's stealing it and getting drunk in an alleyway somewhere. god he's annoying (/said with love and frustration)"

mikey is always difficult for me lmao, I love him and I love his relationship with raph, but he's such an erratic character. he's very, like, instinctual (see: monkey brains episode), so I think he disagrees with the consensus, but doesn't have much of an alternative. he doesn't know WHERE raph is getting it, or what he's doing, but he knows that can't be it. which probably makes donnie double down harder on his theory, because mikey has no DATA.

leo has been the one the MOST in the know, even if he's still very much left in the dark. he'd be putting some of those pieces together: that time Raph came back injured and said he was jumped, how tired and withdrawn he's been, the bracelet, perhaps the hint of makeup you can barely see beneath his lopsided mask. he would think that maybe there's someone else, someone he's hanging out with that either is providing alcohol or they're getting it together, but then he hits a wall.

I even think that karai crosses his mind, but between their INCREDIBLY antagonistic relationship during the brainworm incident, and the fact that they just. never liked each other, and raph was always telling LEO to stop trusting her. so he would write that off. but it's there, in the back of his head.

I'm definitely going to continue thinking on this fhdlsdahklg but having to go through that thought process in my head and put it into words was a good exercise I think XD ty so much for asking!!! I hope some of that was interesting lol

[bullsandthebones]

*Walks in* *Cough*

....

More Steven Grant x Top Male Reader please :'D AHSUFJEIDU But seriously please- any prompts- just please-

"Rainy Day"

Steven Grant x Top! Male Reader (18+)

FEM ALIGNED DNI

I'm bored so I'm making the reader an art historian or smth. idfc fight me /lh. not proof read, you should know that by now. anddd now onto the exposition-

You had met Steven while authenticating some ancient Egyptian sculptures at the museum. He was infatuated as soon as he saw you. I mean, you were a smart man who knew a lot about Egypt, of course he was interested. You had noticed him lingering, but before you could approach him, he skittered off somewhere. After you authenticated the piece, you decided to wander around the museum.

"Stevie! Stop loitering and start selling!", you hear a shrill voice half whisper, half yell across the room. You turn around, obviously being nosy, and find that pathetic looking man from before rushing behind a counter while a blonde woman yells at him. The man rubs his eyes and sighs.

Hmm, you need a closer look.

You walk up to the counter, trying to act like you're browsing at the stuffed animals but you're actually looking him up and down. "Hello! Nice to see you", the man waves awkwardly at you. You give him a soft smile. "Hello there, Steven!" you say, reading his name tag. He smiles at this, his smile kinda lopsided.

Are you- are you attracted to this?

"What's uhm, what's your name?" Steven asks. He says it in a way that makes you think he's been wanting to ask you that for a while. "Ah, my name is Y/n!" He repeats your name softly to himself, smiling afterwards.

Oh yeah, yeah you're attracted to this.

You notice the woman from earlier lingering, so you grab a stuffed hippo and put it on the counter. "Oh yes, I'd love to buy this!" you say loudly, gesturing to the hippo. Steven looks alarmed for a moment, before he puts two and two together. "That's just lovely! I'm so glad you're enjoying your time here!" He leans in and says quietly, "You don't have to buy this you know." You nod and smile, "I know." You hand him some notes, which he takes with a goofy smile on his face. "Please, tell me if I'm overstepping here but," you pull out one of your business cards and write your number on the back ", I'd love to go out for a cup of tea with you, or whatever you'd prefer."

Steven's face heats up, adding a little blush to his cheeks. "I- uhm, yes! yes I'd love to!" You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding. "Great! Call me whenever and we can set up a date!" He nods rather enthusiastically. You grab your stuffed hippo, give him a smile, and leave.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

You met him at a small cafe. You drank some tea and talked about your jobs, your hobbies, your life goals, etc. You realized very quickly that Steven was a sweet man, albeit a little odd. Time flew by rather fast, and before you knew it, it was dark out and raining.

"Ah shit, did you bring an umbrella?" you ask him. He shakes his head, pulling his jacket over your head to try and shield you from the rain. "My flat isn't too far from here, we could go there?" You nod in agreement and he leads you to where you hope is his apartment (and not a murderhouse)

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"Uh, don't mind the mess please", Steven says hurriedly as he opens the door to his flat. You shrug and walk in behind him.

It was indeed a mess, but it definitely wasn't your place to judge. "I can give you some spare clothes while I put yours in the dryer" He says as he rummages through his drawers. "Sounds good!" you say, starting to unbutton your top. When Steven turns around with some sweatpants and a sweater in hand, his eyes widen. You raise an eyebrow at him. You know what you're doing, but feigning ignorance seems like the best idea at the moment. "You should get your clothes off, wouldn't want you getting sick now would we?" You say, gesturing to his wet clothes. He stutters and looks down at his clothes. "Uhm, n-no. I'll uh, yeah I'll do that" He reaches for the hem of his sweater, stops for a second, and then takes it off.

Holy shit.

Holy. Shit.

He's fit, like genuinely fit. He starts fumbling with his belt, obviously very nervous. "Need help, love?" You saunter up to him, lightly touching his hands. His eyes are wide and he's breathing heavily. "This, this is more about me not getting sick, right?" he asks, sounding a little hopeful. You grin and nod, "Yeah, yeah it is." He lets out a shaky breath and places his hands on your belt. "I want, uhm, I want to-" he tugs at your belt, trying to convey his message. You cup his cheek in your hand, "Love, I need you to tell me what you want." Steven huffs and looks away. "I want to suck you off", he mumbles. You smile and nod, "Go ahead sweetheart"

Steven makes quick work of your belt, looking rather eager to see what you've got under all your layers. He fumbles with your pants button for a few seconds, getting it undone and pulling your pants and your boxers down in one fell swoop.

He gets on his knees as soon as you step out of your clothes, waiting for instructions. "Come on love," you say, giving yourself a few lazy strokes, "open up" Steven's mouth flies open, tongue sticking out. You chuckle at how eager he is, placing your cock in his mouth and gesturing for him to do the work.

He runs his tongue over your tip, giving it a quick suck which causes you to let out a groan. He takes you in his mouth, bobbing his head as he tries to fit more and more. Your hand finds his hair, grabbing hold of it tight. Steven moans, which quickly turns into a gag when you buck your hips up into his throat. You attempt to pull out, worried, but he grabs your thighs and brings you back, attempting to deep throat you while he's at it.

You let out a long groan, wondering how this man got so good at blowjobs. In no time, you were so close to the edge. "S-Steven, love, I'm close" He hums, and with that you feel yourself snap, spilling cum into his throat. Steven pulls off with a wet pop, swallowing your seed. You watch as he licks the excess off of your cock.

"That was fucking amazing Steven", you breathe out. " He smiles and shifts slightly. "I uhm, I already came so don't worry about me", he says sheepishly. You chuckle, "Let's get cleaned up."

[cognitosclowns]

I have a fun request/ask! What would make each member of the gang fall in love with someone? Like, what personality traits do they look for in a partner? (I know I asked for the gang but if you wanna also do JR and robotus or anyone else you can do them too since I know they're also popular)

OOH,,,,, THIS ASK IS SO GOOD

Sfw!! Cute shit Cute shit.

TW : brief mentions of immortality, death, mortality!!

Brett

HE,,, has trouble figuring out what he likes?

He hasn’t really,, had the chance to actually,, have opinions. He’s a big people pleaser? It’s hard for him to figure out his Likes And Dislikes, especially in people?

Mostly - he never discounts someone from the get-go. He knows even the most abrasive people can have hearts of gold!!

Overall,,, I do feel he has some stuff he keeps in mind :

Not-meanness!! Not specifically kindness - as long as someone,, isn’t going out of their way to make other peoples lives worse? That’s commendable! You’re already making the active choice to not hurt others, that’s a start!!

Attentive. Someone who will listen to him <333

Reagan

Independence. She needs to go her own thing sometimes, and she can’t always stand being Around Someone All The Time.

Someone <333 sure of themself? Clear goals in mind, with a plan to execute them?? <333 wowza

SOMEONE ORGANIZED???? shes,, a little chaotic at times so it makes her heart Flutter seeing smb,, super organized and put together??

Flexibility is,, also kind of a must. She gets caught up in her work,, very easily - its nice to have someone who can cope with how busy she is smndsm.

Glenn

Strong morals. People who aren’t afraid to defend the things they believe in.

in that same vein - passion? he loves ppl who enjoy the things they like,, shamelessly. Doesn’t matter what other people think of you, you’re gonna enjoy your life <3

also,, Softness. Ppl who,, aren’t afraid to show their emotions?? Listen he pretends to be tough but,, he’s secretly a big softy. seeing his s/o be soft,, makes him more comfortable with being soft <333

-

Gigi

On her dating profile, it says ‘I like power’ - might just be a generic line she uses, but tbh i think she admires confidence!!

besides,, knowing you can hold your own bring her peace of mind?? Her line of work can be,, very dangerous for loved ones. it takes a weight off her shoulders if she can tell herself you can keep yourself safe <3

Creativity <3 artists, musicians, writers, dance - she,, finds smth so beautiful about ppl who are vv creative??

Straightforward and open!! She doesn’t want to have to guess what you’re thinking - communication is very very important for her!!

Myc

JOKES! If smb can make him laugh, he’s absolutely hooked. 

He’s been around a looooong fucking time. He’s heard ‘em all. If someone comes at him with new material, and it’s good?? OHO his attention is absolutely caught

In turn, someone who’s lighthearted!! He wants someone who’ll laugh at his jokes too!! Someone who knows not to take his,, Teasing TOO seriously.

Immortality is a bonus, but not a requirement. It,, yknow,, would just be nice :/

-

JR

Honestly in terms of Long term Relationships?? Normalcy.

God fucking damnit he just wants,, someone who isn't,, some sort of superspy, or government agent, or secretly trying to murder him, or a fucking?? Alien??

This man is under,, so much stress all the time. he’s had enough excitement. No more excitement. ever again. the last thing he wants when he comes home from keeping the world from rolling off Atlas’ shoulders is More Excitement.

A supermodel who rock climbs in their free time, working in a government job? Dear god no!

A Fairly Average Person, who is patient enough to deal with him being gone for long bouts of time, loves him, and doesn’t ask too many questions? QUITE LITERALLY his dream.

He was also raised a Little Rich Boy so im adding in Manners and Punctuality

-

Alpha-Beta

Wit. Something about,, having smb who can keep up with him?? Whether that just be matching his snark, or deflecting it into smth else (i.e taking an insult as a compliment? very endearing, and frustrating smdns)

Also,, giving him attention. Not just in a Self Centered way - he,, doesn’t really have a lotta people who talk to him? 

Tbh the ones who do talk to him mostly do it outta obligation to make sure he isnt,, Plotting Something (tm).

Visiting him?? Going out of your way to say hello, asking him about his day?? Taking an interest in his schedule, the things he likes? he,,, goes a little bit gooey <3 

IF YOU SHARE HIS WORLD-DOMINATION AMBITIONS?? <3333

Again, immortality is a bonus but,,,,,, not an obligation. He’ll figure it out.

Andre

Curiosity! willingness to try new things! Enthusiasm!

Mundanity is his worst nightmare. He,, hates being stagnant. Can’t stand it.

THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU GOTTA BE LIKE,, AN OLYMPIC ATHELETE OR SMTH. He likes passion in the way of like,, 

‘Oh I Could Tell You Everything About Stamps. I Get Excited Enough That I Squeal When I See Lilies, Because It Reminds Me Of My Sister, etc.’

THAT??? 

HE LOVES IT HE LOVES IT. EXCITEMENT AND PASSION AND LOVE FOR THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY.

lmk if you had smth else in mind!!! this was <333 cute to write

[attollogame]

Read the demo and I'm hooked! Wonderful story, can't wait to see what will happen next! For now my RO of choice has been Sysba (honk ☹), but I read the one ask about how you can't romance them "the normal" way. Can you elaborate? Also every snippet I read featuring them and mc, the relationship between the two is kinda questionable to put it mildly. I understend they're an eldritch horror from the deep space but still going into the romance route I expect at least some emotional connection. For now, as it appears from snippets, as if Sysba in it to kill time and mc is naive to expect smth more. And even in later stages it's not that strong of connection since Sysba already had had it all. Pardon if I came on strong, it wasn't my intention. Just trying to understand what to expect. I'm big coward and afraid of heartbreak 😔

Hi I've had people express similar anxieties over this situation before and I highly advise reading this post pertaining to the issue.

Basically, they've spent over 6000 years on earth. Before that, they were visiting earth frequently for all the wrong reasons. Their goal first and foremost is to find their way off of earth and back into their domain; they know they're going to outlive any human and so they aren't too keen on making deep emotional connections because, what's the point when 80 years to a human is simply a blink of the eye to them? The one time they did let themselves get connected to a human it ended incredibly badly. They are so, so jaded, and so, so tired of everything—despite how I write them, Sysba is not doing okay overall. The confidence? The allure? It's about as fake as an acrylic nail.

Attollo spans 3 books. Over 3 books, things may change regarding this. They may let MC into their world more, they may confide in MC more, they may let MC see how they actually are as an individual, but they aren't going to be asking for hands in marriage by the end of the books I'm afraid. You might not even get a profession of love in a very obvious manner. Sysba isn't human nor are they "good", so writing a typical romance with touching moments and stolen kisses... well, it would feel like I'm doing an injustice to my own character.

I am sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear. I hope the assurance that you will see change—albeit slow—over the three books helps a bit, but no, I can't write them having an emotional connection to MC within the first two books and have it feel believable. This may explain the snippits and a lot of the other posts with them.

[blushinggray]

Free! The Final Stroke screeching/reaction (spoilers)

AHHHHH I JUST WATCHED THE FINAL STROKE MOVIE TODAY IN THEATERS ON PREMIER DAY AND IT WAS LAKSJDFOAIFJWOEI to summarize it all, it was Very Gay, which was to be expected but they DID NOT have to get so freaking extra with it 😩😩😩

much screaming and many spoilers ahead

FIRST OF ALL, KIRISHIMA NATSUYA: HE WAS SO FUCKING HANDSOME DAFKJOIEFJOSIDJF. SO HANDSOME. SO HANDSOME AND STUPID AND OVERLY FRIENDLY AS WE LOVE HIM TO BE ALKDSJFOAIEW.

he was in the film for a total of maybe 5 minutes altogether, which was kind of a lot bc the film kind of was just putting all the characters back in for the sake of putting them in imo? for the fans, lol. so everyone could see their faves. and in these five minutes that he appeared, our mans:

bragged about his little brother he's so proud of

got laughed at by nao for being natsuya (aka dumb and straightforward) as usual

trained with sousuke (he was hanging out in the same pool with him, nao, and makoto to train and aid in sousuke's rehab training)

got a call from ikuya after the international swimming competition in sydney!!!! in that same cafe he's always at!!!! and he was with nao at the time he got the call. casual and cool as always, being the cool big brother or whatever. he ended the call with a curt, "you got it. see you. don't catch a cold."

HE WAS HANGING OUT AT CAFE MARON WHILE THEY WAITED FOR THE SYDNEY COMPETITORS TO COME BACK TO JAPAN. HE WAS BEHIND THE COUNTER WITH ASAHI (WHO WAS HOLDING BABY TSUKIMI IN A CARRIER ON HIS CHEST!!!!!) AND HE THREW HIS ARM AROUND ASAHI AND WAS GETTING SO CLOSE LIKE ALKSDJFAOIEJAOEI. I have absolutely no clue what he was saying at the time bc i was too busy freaking out and trying to hold in the sounds bc the theater was so quiet. but his GODDAMN FACE. HE WAS SMIRKING. SO HANDSOME 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩

and of fucking course, they were all out together at a restaurant when the sydney competitors came back, and he was like, "wth no one else is drinking alcohol tonight?" and nao was like "ofc not haha" AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

HE FUCKING FALLS ASLEEP AT THE TABLE AFTER DRINKING AND EVERYONE IS SURROUNDING HIM AND PATTING HIM LIKE "dude..." and ikuya is sitting there like, omg can't believe this mess is my brother....

i thought that just might be his last scene in the film but then we show back up to the kirishima household and natsuya is eating some sort of luxury holiday(?) bento and ikuya is like "aren't you gonna save any for me?" and natsuya's like "of course not. this is for me, you gotta wait until next year xD" and then ikuya just fucking SNATCHES up several different foods and stuffs his face with all of them and natsuya starts arguing with him over them laskjdfoawiefjao where was this brotherly affection all this time?????

and then cut to a few seconds later, natsuya's bumming in his room on the floor like in s3 when ikuya comes in and tells him about his new future goals and alskdjfaoei brothers sharing their ambitions together 😩😩 WHAT IS GOING ON. EVERYONE GETS ALONG SO WELL NOW???

NEXT: we'll go back to the beginning i guess lmfao but they're preparing for some sort of university festival

we start off with an easily misunderstandable shoujo-style situation where asahi is talking to ikuya like, "i know it's your first time... you don't have to be nervous. i know you can do it." and ikuya's like "no! i can't 😣" like the tsun he is backed up against the wall. and then it turns out they're trying to make a mille feuille cake.... but everything he's made so far looked like crepes

and for some damn reason, KISUMI comes outta nowhere into the kitchen and is like "ooooh what's this? a mille feuille cake? although they all look kinda like crepes haha ^^" and then ikuya RUNS THE FUCK OUT OF THE KITCHEN, yelling, "i told you i couldn't do it!!!" like the fucking tsun he is... and asahi is yelling at kisumi like "why did you just say that!!!" and starts rubbing his knuckles into kisumi's head and kisumi's just laughing like, "oh did i do that hehe"

and for some reason... seijuurou is working at the booth in his speedo and swim team jacket. i mean i'm not complaining but sir.... PLS TAKE MY MONEY AND GIVE ME YOUR FAT OCTOPUS BALLS. (he literally started a batter mixing competition with hoshikawa inside the booth, like what are they even doing in the same booth???)

then rin and sousuke show up to ikuya, asahi, and hiyori(?)'s booth, and they're offering them the crepes and then they get into a conversation about smth that leads into them showing the embarrassing photos they have of each other?????? like ikuya has a pic of rin in his maid costume for some reason??? (tho it isn't shown) and rin shows an embarrassing pic of ikuya he has in his phone that he got from natsuya???????????? and then ikuya starts chasing after rin yelling at him to delete it lasdkjfoaei

and then haru is off to the side selling ugly ass bird mascots again lmfao. bc ofc he is. love that weirdo

BUT THE REAL KICKER HERE IS KINJOU!!!!!!!!!!!

APPARENTLY, HIS VILLAIN BACKSTORY COMES FROM HIS CHILDHOOD CRUSH (/exaggerated) ON HIYORI ALSKDJFOAIE WHAAAT. apparently he was that annoying kid in the playground who would go up to hiyori and bother him bc he wanted a friend. bb hiyori was literally like "why are you even talking to me so much?" in his sandbox. and bb kinjou is like, "well there's gotta be smth you like, right? what is it?" and hiyori's like "well i feel kinda happy when i'm swimming... :)" as images of ikuya flash into his mind, that gay ass

BUT KINJOU'S GAY ASS EYES START SPARKLING TOO AND THEN HE'S LIKE "I GOTTA LEARN WHAT THE BIG DEAL ABOUT SWIMMING IS" and he runs home, begs his brother to take him to the pool. but next time he brings his swimming stuff with him to the playground, hiyori isn't there anymore and apparently he left for america at that time (or smth). so poor baby basically got ghosted

but hiyori still knows him when they're older!!!! kinjou shows up when they're throwing out the trash after the uni festival and calls out to hiyori to taught him (which is where that bullying preview scene came from i guess) and alkfjeoiaejoaifj omfg it's like that estranged childhood friends (sorta) trope but it'll never go kinjou's way bc hiyori is and will always be in love with ikuya 😔

kinjou would make such a good yandere tho!!!! he has a feral expression on a few times throughout the movie, and during a race he gets super competitive mid-race and... ngl he was kinda sexy 😳 i'm actually kind of surprised by how taken i was with him in this movie. doesn't help that he's unfairly handsome and his hair looks fucking amazing. i MAY OR MAY NOT be exploring this man in the future..................

i also found the ending with haru pretty interesting!!!! it kind of hints at neurodivergence? smth along the lines of disassociation or multiple personalities? (guess 50% off was kinda right on that end lmfao).

he gets obsessed with beating albert wahlander, which is the most fired up i've ever seen him (to the point of almost hurting himself) and then the shadow or whatever effect albert has on haru kind of just overtakes him and pushes haru out of his own body in a way... it doesn't make sense to describe it this way, i know, but haru is literally watching himself say hurtful things to his friends while being overtaken by this... albert obsessed persona?

it's so interesting to see haru being the one obsessing over someone instead of the other way around for once!!! at the end of the movie (after all the credits) haru says the same thing he once said at the beginning of season 1? about how "at age 5, you're a prodigy. at age 15, you're a genius. at age 20(?), you're average." and this is def gonna be explored/concluded in the second part of the final stroke movie so i'm excited for that!!!! april 2022 come at me!!!!

there were SOOOOO many other things going on, plot wise and fanservice wise, and ofc kyoto animation was fucking TOP TIER SHIT. all the water effects... there was a shot where haru was looking at his reflection in the water and they make a drop fall and spread and shake his reflection in the waves and it was lafkjsefoiaeja fucking glorious. the soundtrack was lovely too. there was a RADWIMPS-esque beginning song and a sexy ass electric guitar buildup for kinjou (which may or may not be contributing to my growing obsession with him...)

AHHHH!!!! it was so good and everyone was so cute and handsome and gay and funny. we literally see every single character we've met before in some way, shape, or form lmfao. i might just go back to the theater and watch it again on one of the upcoming holidays this week.... SO GOOD. SO GOOD.

I LOVE ALL THESE GAY SWIMMING BOYS SO MUCH 😩😩😩

[aks3raao1]

Me, to Luja: So tell me about yourself

Luja: No

Me: ...ma'am I need to write the story—

Luja: Good luck <3

[now that I do think of it, ALTERNATIVE's main duo that's established right at the beginning is literally a chiller but edgier Katsuki and way worse sUrViVe Nagito genderbends]

~~~~~~

Luja Sen, she/her

Anyways, Luja and Romila are friends from middle school (the story starts with the beginning of their high school at AoS (Academy of the Specialised) which was essentially founded by Nyx). Luja gains her Specialisation (Ferrokinesis: The Ability to bend metal) at the age of twelve, so she has it for a lesser time period than Romila.

Luja primarily wants to become a scientist. Her family is happy with that, because it's praised and everything, especially in our society.

She has a gifted child superiority complex. Being a gifted child + Specialised means that she hardly had many friends in school. Her family had tried to get her to socialize....which didn't go down too well.

She believes that most people are annoying because they waste too much time on useless things like gossiping and what not, which she never showed much interest in and doesn't like to be dragged into those nonsense.

She is friends with Romila since they do share the same taste in stuff and were the only Specialised ones in their class. And they kinda stuck together for most of middle school and went into high school.

She has a problem when it comes to seeing Romila since she tends to see her bad parts and is like, "It's a phase" considering that it's not necessarily affecting her. Romila doesn't get too cranky with her since she fascinates her, with her passion™ for science. Also because she isn't all self sacrifice UwU.

Luja cares for her own self above others (but tends to put Romila pretty close to that hierarchy, which is why she's one of the only two Romila trusts during the Mansion of Death (the other person is Kratanos)) however she also does want to keep what friends she has and is generally caring towards them.

She has a genuine love for science and loves to discover how things work and why, and her favourite facet is Physics. She does want to invent things and honestly just make stuff easier for the Specialised who face a LOT of issues, especially when it comes to amenities since the government is an ass about accomodations and they gained the Fundamental Rights like ten years or so ago in the ALTERNATIVE timeline. And they gain an additional right ("The body won't be harmed for science") when they graduate from school, after signing a contract that they dedicate themselves to helping the government when called upon. (The whole contract is stupid and basically oppresses them more especially the punishment for not abiding by it).

With her goal of becoming a scientist, she wants to use her talents to make accomodations specifically for them so that she could have done something.

The things she fears the most is failure. Failing as in being unable to accomplish her goals. She is afraid of it because it's an unknown variable that's constantly haunted her and she's working hard for it to never reach her.

I suppose there's a way for her to confront that fear during the Mid terms at AoS where she essentially "loses" in the practicals due to her......teamwork issues.

Everyone thinks of her as stuck up and isn't interested to listen to her much and since she views the others as annoying people with annoying habits, she tends to fail to regulate them, causing Romila to win instead (yes, it's THAT unfortunate of a situation) in their match, which causes her to review a LOT of things and she tries to see what caused her to lose after having a severe breakdown.

She develops an inferiority complex in respect to Romila and then spends a long time wondering where she went wrong.

Rena (who somehow clung to her) tries to cheer her up but gets turned back halfway, but she still stays on and Luja is like, "Wtf" until she sees Romila going entirely off the deep end (she presents an interesting contrast to how Koldin sees Romila as well, she sees Romila's behavior and considers it as a justification for her own self....she uses Romila to justify herself a lot (since if you asked Romila, Luja was more or less fine according to her since she wasn't being a doormat and stood up for herself) while Koldin sees Romila as the reason he should cling onto his own stuff) and realises that she could be on the path to destruction herself and accepts Rena's help and tries to be more open to others which leads to the Mid terms parallels in the Archenemy of Society arc where she "succeeds" instead and manages to get the class together enough to escape the situation.

However it doesn't mean that her fear of failure has entirely vanished into the blue, she just reviews the ways she can fail better now and works around it to avoid it and has more confidence in her own self. But she is still scared of failing and would love to avoid that more than anything. However she's chiller after that.

Her intelligence is more or less on par with both Romila and Kratanos, making them the three main strategists in the final battle against the bigots (which is basically a rerun of the Mansion of Death situation but way way worse and fucked up and has different leads to it).

....

The thing is that, no matter what I do, she winds up feeling like one dimensional/repetitive, which is something I am trying to amend about all the characters (I mean, I had to revamp a lot of characters so it will probably take me a long long time to actually get to writing.........sigh besides she stands up like a cardboard amongst people (I mean, you have Romila and Kratanos with extremely complicated storylines and then you have her. Just there))

So the main question is how to make her more interesting as a character and on par with the rest while still keeping her character flaws and personality?

I think the easiest way to go abt this is to view her as a sassy Bakugo. They have the main points in common. They're salty, don't like to socialise, feel inferior to a certain someone while still having some semblance of confidence and a terrible fear of failure

Now as much as I hate to compare your character to another one, it makes it a lot easier to have them become - as my English teacher would say - more. So I am sorry if this comes off as offensive-

For Bakugo, he became interesting by playing a big part in the mc's main story and we do get a few scenes where his vulnerability is shown. I assume it's the same with your character but...what rlly ties the knot for me when it comes to Katsuki is the fact that his problems...are more than just an inferiority/superiority complex. His whole thing stems from background especially (*cough* abusive mom *cough*) and the fact that he's not the main character (or rather that the story isn't being told in his perspective).

These facts make us over think and want more of him. The mystery draws us in which is why I think Luja's character is so perfect for someone in the background. She doesn't like to reveal things abt herself and is pretty dismissive to most things on top of that (plainly just salty). Her character rlly draws you in and the best way to portray those kinds of characters is through another character. Ofc, you'd have to get to their POV eventually but it's important to note that most of the details should come from someone else's POV (an observer, if you will) instead of info dumping and starting straight with hers. A character that's mysterious with a very simple yet relatable story attracts a LOT more attention and interest when seen from someone else's perspective than when you kickstart it from theirs.

Ofc, if u are planning (or already have) started the story from her POV, that would be a bit problematic in terms of interest. But not a train wreck. This is where my other point comes in. The point of making a character have more than one problem

Different ppl as well as characters have a main problem but also different ones, no matter what way you look at it. It seems that even you are confused with all ur character's ins and outs (dw, we've all been there... I am still there tbh) and a solution to that is backtracking a bit and looking at their life from the very beginning in HEAVY detail (like more than u already did). Think abt what other trauma could have been caused, what doubts and fears could have slowly crept it's way to her heart and head (I am a sucker for long-lasting doubts that develop over time) and anything you can even so much as GRASP on. If you look at it and see it as a possibility, try to fit that into her character and add it subtly in different places (as subtext or a creative pattern, wordplay, doesn't rlly matter as long as it's not openly stated bc, remember, the key thing to these types of characters is mystery).

For example, a fear of failure can stem into anxiety before the character has even lost smth later in their life. They probably get rlly anxious when evaluating smth but don't show it much or at all so no one notices. This adds even MORE to the character bc you can build it up after other events. Like once they have failed, they could probably get even more anxious and then develop a bad relationship with the person who beat them (double the points if it was a friend). You could build all that up and turn it super toxic instead of jumping right to the healing. It makes it more interesting, doesn't it? Plus, reevaluating almost everything including world views after 1 loss is...kind of hard to believe even with anxiety (no offense)

Adding a lot of little problems and thinking abt how Luja's behaviour can impact other characters helps a terrible lot if ur doing most of the story from her POV. Especially since she's probably the most relatable character (from what I've heard anyway). I have a certain saying... it goes like, "It's better to have a relatable and connecting character than one with a problem that is too big for normal people to fathom."

I like characters with heart-wrenching problems that I would never be able to relate to (take maybe Shigaraki as an example ig?) But my favourite are the ones that make me feel as tho I made a real connection

Also, I would like to say...if ur looking to progress her character even further, I would debate on whether it's the complete end to the novel or if there'll be a second part. If it's a second part, keep some of Luja's issues. Make her get better but not completely "YAY, I AM DONE BEING TORMENTED". If it's the end of the novel/series/etc., make it so that she's resolved most of most of her issues. They don't have to be completely gone but they have to be a lot better compared to how they started. And how i would work that out is a mind map but knowing ur a scatterbrain...lets talk it out where everything is all over the place

Luja's main thing is to gain confidence in herself and be finally ok with losing, right? If you ask me, that's a tough one but not impossible. I think to get her from point A to point B is to put up a bunch of events like:

Get her super anxious when doing smth

Lose to *insert person*

Have a breakdown and over think on what she could have done better (on the project or whatever she lost at)

Get even more anxious and totally mess up the next thing

Lose once again (double points if it's the same person as last time)

Overthinking abt how she's not good enough

F i g h t i n g f r i e n d s c o z d r a m a

"YoU'rE nEvEr GoNnA gEt BeTtEr If YoU kEeP tHiNkInG aBoUt YoUrSeLf"

Over think abt no. 8 bc out of options and ideas and ✨a n x i e t y✨

Try listening to others more and become b e t t e r

Win smth (bc creator forbid 3 losses in a row to start depression)

Lose again (there is gonna be a bit of back and forth but is necessary for development)

"I tHoUgHt I wAs FiNaLlY dOiNg SoMeThInG rIgHt AnD nOw LoOk"

"Losing is not th3 3nd of th3 fucking world, you lunatic"

"WELL, IT IS TO ME, BITCH"

*insert psychology somehow idk*

Another loss

"I'm angry...but I'm ok"

Note that idk where bullying would come in and these are only how I would think it to go-

A character like this isn't rlly my strong suit when it comes to them resolving their problems but they are fun to write and think abt-

................................did I just give you advice on how to traumatize? I-

[cruelsister-moved]

Aah, sorry, I don't mean to be annoying but - I never thought too deeply into how they choose to present themselves and !!! Thinking on it, the most extravagant XL ever appeared was the god pleasing costume, right? And that's not even smth he chose, it's just the costume anyone playing the main role wears. As a prince, he always wore pretty and nice clothes but like. He never chose any of those. Mu Qing always dressed him and XL himself never gave af about what he wore, he was too focused on other things - cultivation and fighting, mostly. And then, of course, when he had nothing but that plain robe and he's fine with that, it's just. Not important to him. Meanwhile, HC, as you pointed out, puts a lot of thought into what he wears (clothes, jewelry, accessories etc.) and what form he appears in and so on and so forth. Of course, ppl are free to still put XL in pretty things and depict him as gnc! But thinking on it, it's really odd how fanon gets them switched up a lot 🤔 And a shame, lol.

On that note, next to the gnc HC agenda, I propose that there should be more content with SQX and HC being gnc together, lmao. HC actually tolerates SQX well enough, which is as close as to "like" we can go - SQX and HC gender shenanigans when?

U ARE NOT ANNOYING!! i love to have these discussions<333 that's such an interesting point about his relationship with this stuff though like, for him clothes were really a distraction/irritation and almost symptomatic of the obligations he chafes under. for him, wearing the same clothes all the time is kind of a reclamation of his own body (especially after what we went through physically as the god-pleasing crown prince...). it's not like he was particularly against all that finery but to my memory he never really showed any interest in it or missed it. and in that one extra where he's lost his memory, what he notices is the uncomfortable texture (insert autistic xie lian agenda 🤔) it feels important to note here again that in these examples what he would be performing is masculinity; his extravagant outfits pre-ascension should not be taken as gnc or feminine just because a modern western audience would take long hair and flowing clothes and jewellery as feminine. so people can depict him in these type of clothes without any incongruence, but i think it's also interesting to examine his relationship to them and what that would mean for him as a character rather than just being like yeah this means hes feminine actually:) it's also okay to hypothesise about his relationship to gender obviously ^_^ but i don't think there is all that much in the text that makes him obviously gnc, especially not over hc!! i feel like there is a lot more than gender to his relationship w clothes that i dont have the brainpower to explore rn (like i think he is in some ways aiming to look unassuming, and when people underestimate him it isn't what ppl seem to interpret as 'he seems weak and feminine' but 'look at this clueless weirdo in his poor person clothes'!) but. i just really love the contrast between xie lian being like "gender is a performance and im sleep 😌" and hua cheng being very aware of how he presents himself and his main goals in general being "look hot to xie lian" and "piss off heavenly officials" which his presentation has a lot of power to do. like it's even interesting how he chose to present himself as san lang, like he had every choice to be some 8ft muscle warrior but he wanted to be this unassuming (but very put together) young man and constantly be all ahhh gege protect me i'm so scared ! interesting how he almost went to great lengths to AVOID flexing his power in front of xie lian, but he was fine with flexing the knowledge and the painting which immediately made him suspicious. like. that's so interesting i would love to explore that!! he had hundreds of years to agonise over how he was going to introduce him to xl and he decided on that side ponytail and slutty collar...

also i agree with u so much like i want hua cheng and sqx girl best friends agenda. i want hc challenging xl on his lame attitude to sqx's gender<3 its so interesting how the supposedly gnc xie lian is willing neither to perform gender nor to challenge it, while hc is like just having fun with it. two different relationships to gender which r both #valid but i would love to see them explored rather than xl is small and weak and feminine, hc is big and strong and masculine -_-

[coffeebeannate]

nateee, natteeeeee, your pirate!joe fic has DEVASTATED me with endless possibilities floating around through my lil gremlin brain so i feel it's only fair to subject you to them: first concept: pirate joe, mermaid nicky. do i need to say more??? do i?? second concept: prince/royalty joe and pirate nicky. the forbidden LOVERS of it all. im picturing a scene where nicky perhaps rescues joe (not that joe isn't perfectly capable on his own) and nicky says "i'm a pirate, not a monster" AHHHhhhH???HHH

I need you all to witness the absolute glory that Abby here has been leaving in my inbox. Under a cut because it’s long but trust me folks, this is worth every second. 

Abby, this is a delight and I thank you so much for sharing it with me. My inbox has been a happy place the last couple days!

Behold, All, Abby’s excellent brain tinkerings:

im not done!!! im not done!! theres still Thoughts jumbling around like marbles in a jar in the hands of a very energetic toddler! this is kinda going off the idea of prince/royalty joe and pirate nicky but its set in canonverse and they're undercover and they have to keep up the appearances of who they're supposed to be (and not liking the other) but them having secret rendezvous and finding the whole situation... amusing. also maybe trying to get the other to break character for funsies idk im having perhaps... TOO MANY IDEA? okay okay okay okay runaway prince turned pirate joe. i dont know what nicky's vibe is in this au but one thought is - mermaid? (im perhaps.. too much of a fan of mermaid nicky concept idk) i guess nicky could also be a prince in this situation? or a pirate? idk im just thinking about runaway prince turned pirate joe. like with no one knowing that pirate joe is actually prince yusuf and vice versa. wait wai twai ti wajit i have idea  (runaway prince joe turned pirate) maybe nicky is like... sent to find prince yusuf? and in his journeys he stumbles across pirate joe. maybe there's rumors that Pirate!Joe killed prince yusuf? maybe nicky confronts joe and joe just tilts his head and gives nicky a coy smile saying 'oh, the prince isn't dead... but i can promise you won't find him if you kill me.' okay so just to draw it out a bit of a picture. nicky has his sword at joe's throat at this point, like the sword tip just under joe's chin y'know the whole gay holding ur enemy at swordpoint shebang. but joe is unfazed by this, he speaks the whole 'prince yusuf isn't dead' bit and theres a smirk on his lips and confidence in his eyes. maybe nicky demands that he tell him where the prince is. maybe its at this point that joe says 'i can promise if you kill me you'll never find him' okay hold on let me just: Nicky has Joe at swordpoint, a surprise attack perhaps. Joe: "While this isn't my first encounter with a devilishly handsome man holding me at swordpoint, i must say this is the first time i don't know /why/" Nicky narrows his eyes, "You killed Prince Yusuf. I was sent to seek justice for his death." "Oh... well, while I'm honored, truly, but I'm afraid there is not justice to seek. Prince Yusuf isn't dead." Nicolò (i know i used nicky previously but i like the vibe of nicolò so im using that now) manages to narrow his eyes at Joe even more, of course all logic is telling him not to believe this pirate, but there is this (extremely repressed) part of him that /believes/ Joe. And that's when Joe, maybe sensing or seeing the hesitation in Nicolò's eyes, tilts his head and speaks again, "Kill me if you wish, but I can promise if you do so, you will never find the justice you seek, you will /never/ find your Prince- and it will be /you/ who is as good as his killer." Nicolò stands there silently for a bit, his expression blank, and finally he speaks, his voice quiet, "And if I don't kill you?" And Joe's grin widens almost instantaneously. (thats all i've like thought out exact scene wise but maybe joe says smth like "you'll just have to find out" okay so like i said i dont have exact thoughts but like, basically, joe ends up taking nicolò on a wild goose chase to find the prince. maybe he has a plan, or more likely, he's winging it with his quick wit and charm alone. i know he certainly doesn't /plan/ to reveal to nicolò that /he/ is in fact the prince (as nicolò's new goal/plan has become "rescuing" the prince and returning him to his home) but well... lets just say things dont really follow... Any Plans in the end so they go on a wild goose chase together, and slowly, slowly they fall. and idk what really happens but im just picturing there being situations where joe could... so easily ditch nicolò, but he finds himself stalling in those situations. maybe joe slowly teaches nicolò pirate-y things. maybe nicolò secretly begins hoping they /never/ find the prince. if it means he gets to stay with joe. idk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ idk. Additional Points:

okay okay so one thought i haven't been able to stop thinking about in this prince turned pirate au is andy and quynh. now my frist thought was like mermaid quynh but i think thats just gonna be another au im gonna have to think about but i think the concept i really like for this au is pirate andy & quynh, they are the ones who helped joe get to where he is as a pirate (and perhaps they are the only people who know the truth about joe?) and yeah, co-pirates andy & quynh i'm just really picturing andy and quynh running into joe and nicky when joe is "leading nicky to the prince" and them just,,, raising their eyebrows at joe like "to the Prince? the PRINCE?" and at this point joe and nicky have fallen for each other but refuse to admit it or anything and andy & quynh See RIGHT through joe but joe INSISTS he has everything under control and he Has A Plan so they ultimately leave him alone in the end but they KNOW... they KNOW Some Gems Abby Included: “Hold on I gotta eat” (There was a pause in asks here) “Okay, I’ve put on pirate music LETS GO” (After part 8) “Okay this is the last part.” (Sends two more parts) Abby, from the absolute bottom of my heart thank you for this. I’d be happy to expand it into a thing of some sort (a fic) down the road, and take these incredible notes with me. You made me laugh out loud multiple times and the little notes you put in just made it better. I encourage this entirely and thank you so much. This is absolutely fantastic. I’m honoured to have been the one you’ve shared this with.

[swatato]

One reason why I love blacksun so much is that it doesn't rely on the weakening or destruction of other characters to move forward. Blake and Sun brought the best out of each other and Blake was happiest around her sunshine monkey. This isn't the case for its rival ship. No one can dispute that Sun suddenly being forced into irrelevancy and Adam's pathetic character are catalysts for the ship. Executing a romance off the corpse of someone who Blake once loved and trusted stinks to high heaven.😒

Yeah, I like how Blake and Sun can be their own characters while still being a ship. They’re definitely not perfectly written, but unlike bb, bs don’t need to be glued at the hip and fuse into one being while losing all individuality to be good for each other romantically; They’re allowed to have their own goals and adventures away from each other. They don’t need a third party to comment on how they *clearly* have smth going on and fake development for their relationship, and they don’t need to *parallel* other established couples for their romance to be believable. They actually TALK and COMMUNICATE their issues. The ship stands on its own legs because the screen time they shared with eachother was meaningful.

Thats pretty much why I didn’t like bb at all in volume 6/7. Despite the writers deliberately stationing them side by side throughout the volumes, all the blatant opportunities for blake and yang to share some actually meaningful screentime to show how they’re progressing from a broken friendship to romantic lovers is completely wasted. We only got one scene in the barn (that had WEAK payoff) and a hug at the end of 6 (Blake damaged and sobbing that she wont break promises after getting gaslit by adam for that....how ✨romantic✨) The rest were just fuffy, filler moments that eventually bordered on obnoxious just to bait the fans with. The world around them (rwby rewind, the merch descriptions, the VAs, other RT employees, the DC comics, the fans) has to convince us that these two are in love rather than the merit of the screentime they share with each other. For volumes, they have so little to show that they are distinct from the friendships around them (jnpr/rw) but I’m supposed to believe their eye/aura colours and one line in one song is supposed to mean something (even tho yang has z e r o to do with beauty and the beast). Tbh, its not that there’s NOTHING here, but it seems so very one-sided with yang putting in all the emotions and work, and thats upsetting. To make up for it, Adam has to say things like “WhAt DoEs She EvEn SEe In YoU”, Marrow has to rightfully criticise how its not good for bb to ONLY EVER work with each other (cuz yano?? Its team rwby not team bees??) But he just has to be shown how wrong he is for daring to impose upon bb’s Sacred Air Space when Yang goes red-eyed to Shut Him Up 💅🏽✨, and Nora has to project her own feelings for Ren onto Blake and Yang. The more I think about how and why these two are getting together I’m just left confused. Sure, they rep bisexuals, but that can only carry a ship so far. It still needs to have the juice. Bb could have been great if it was actually planned and fleshed out properly (while not accidentally fleshing out blacksun decently all the while). There is even an arguement that bb kinda has some really toxic tendencies about it. Their “romance” is just too spotty and composed of too much trauma after trauma and negative emotions (THAT THEY DON’T HELP EACH OTHER GET THROUGH........HELLO....) before they pull a thicc 180 and start exchanging bedroom eyes. Its odd stuff, anon.

[emersonfreepress]

how do I forget to do this so frequently—was looking for another post just to realize I never answered the "Can the MC be ace" portion of the ask 🤦🏾‍♂️

The answer is yes! I don't currently plan to have sexuality be a variable/stat but I do think the final draft will have some sort of choice that allows for the disabling of romantic content for aro aces (or anyone just not wanting to play romance!). So instead of the '#I only date women. #I only date men. #etc' question, i'll probably feature the MC seeing a couple on the first day of school or smth and allow players to choose their preferences on romance... then maybe a choice to disable romantic content if someone selects an '#I don't do sex or romance' option. sounds like it could be a lot to code? but using those heart symbols for flirting should make it easy to implement a filter! now, that being said...

I'm familiar(ish, at least) with the lack of nuanced ace spectrum experience for player characters in IF so far. (Choosing asexuality leading to flatter romances than their allosexual counterparts; options to engage in sex scenes and/or all romantic content being shut off completely just cause you chose to identify as asexual.) From the very start of designing this game, I didn't want sexuality to be cut and dry for players (a variable). I think it just unnecessarily puts the PC in a box like... idk, that choice needlessly adds/enforces the restrictions such labels can have on us imo. There's nothing wrong with having it in a story! I'm just personally not a fan of the sexuality label question/variable in recent years so I'm taking a different route. There will be a few opportunities to express that you are gay, ace, bi, etc. in conversation with others but I won't be tracking that as a customization variable for the MC. If anything it would just be tracked so other characters can remember you've identified as X at some point. I am unsure as of now how many options aromantic allosexual MCs will have... I mean Curt's cool being romanced by an MC like that, unsurprisingly, but I don't think anyone else would be...? It's something I'm keeping in mind as I plan the romantic plots! I want to be inclusive of that experience too but I think it might just not work with this game. P sure Book 2 will have a few more options for an aro allo MC, but really the best rep for that won't be until my next big WIP, I don't think 😞

But yeah, players can romance whoever they want and I would like for ppl to feel like their MC (or like they) can experiment without the game making a big deal about them not being straight or gay after all just because of some variable that was set back in Chapter 3 or w/e. and... here I go again talking too much sorry ppl 😅 It's just that my personal experience with discovering my sexuality had almost nothing to do with defying labels and everything to do with leaving my hometown and slowly learning that my attraction to people has nothing to do with gender identity or expression. I had thought I was straight but it never felt like an identity and it wasn't something I was ever tethered to (but nice try mom lol). There was no soul-searching or epiphany or denial—just a gentle (hormone-driven 😂) awakening.

That isn't to say there is a "wrong" way to figure out your sexuality ofc; that just happens the way it happens and then you deal with it one way or another. But since it's a high school setting and finding yourself is a big theme of the story, I wanted a low pressure environment for LGBT+ MCs to be able to do exactly that in romances, if that's what a player chooses. No pressure to play a strictly straight girl or a strictly gay guy or a sex-repulsed ace person; not from me or the narration, at least!

A pretty absurd goal considering it's a Catholic school setting but 😂 trust me, everything's got rhyme and reason in Emerson! Luckily, my brain tends to be good at creating thematic and/or logical connective tissue when I world build so... yeah, just trust me 😚

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anyway the TL;DR version is that I am, as always, guilty of actively pushing the fundamental principles of the satanic LGBTQIAlphabetSoup agenda: don't assume shit and let people date, love, and/or boink whoever they want, or no one at all, without judgment or consequence! 🏳️‍🌈

are any characters ace or on the ace spectrum? also can the mc be aro/ace or just aro or just ace? sorry if this has been answered just wondering !

it was first asked a long time ago, so don't worry!

Rain is asexual and Kile is demisexual. There are at least two ace adult characters too (supporting and tertiary), but there's a lot of roles that have yet to be filled so there could very well be more someday :)