#this was seriously on my mind when i first learned of this ship name

[squeezysreservoirofcookies]

✖️ batplas = typical ship name formula, sounds like a plasma version of batman

✔️ plastic bats = whimsical. fun. cute. almost gives goofy halloween vibes which fits plastic man and batman so well

and thats it, thats my hot take, as someone who's violently falling down a batman-shaped hole

[threeacttragedy]

Entry 13: The One Where the Ashes Blew Towards Us with the Salt Wind from the Sea

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”

Ah, yes, that ominous opening line from Daphne du Maurier’s novel, “Rebecca.” Have you ever read it? It’s an old book – from 1938, in fact! – but it’s truly a remarkable story, especially for its time. It’s not often you find yourself rooting for the murderer.

Lately, I have found myself becoming more and more frustrated with the fandom. And, no, my annoyance is not from the Sincerely Ignorant teetering on and off the boat every time someone takes a dump on the deck of the USS Lukola – I’m pretty fucking used to that shit – and, honestly, many of our dear Sincerely Ignorant seem to be gaining their sea legs. It’s the Conscientiously Stupid that have struck a chord with me – a disturbing, dissonant chord that leaves me questioning the average level of human intelligence.

My issue with the Conscientiously Stupid is that they push narratives that, when taken collectively, make no goddamn sense. Thanks to The-One-That-Lurks-in-a-Play-Misty-For-Me-Heaping-Pile-of-Discordant-Garbage, I have had the [dis]pleasure of learning about Nicola- and Luke-Adjacent theories. Did you know that the small scrap of green blanket Nicola was sitting on in her August 11 “Drink Your Milk” picture proved that the picture was meant for Jake? You know the guy that, at that point in Fandom History, most people had no clue even existed? I mean, that makes a lot more sense than linking the “Drink Your Milk” shirt Nicola was showcasing to the one Luke was seen wearing on June 22. Now, I’m not saying the shirt belonged to Luke, but if we’re comparing apples to apples, which one of these theories seems more plausible to you?

At this point, you have probably started to realize I enjoy weaving in and out of storytelling mode, mixing fact with theory and speculation. Today, I decided to take a classic novel – surely you didn’t think I made that reference to “Rebecca” for nothing – and loosely intertwine it with some Conscientiously Stupid adjacent theories. This is all in good fun and, like usual, mostly for my own dark humor.

I should probably begin by introducing our book characters. Honestly, you can probably guess which of our shipmates I have assigned to each role fairly quickly.

First, we have our Unnamed Narrator. Seriously, her first name is never revealed.

Second, we have Mrs. Danvers, the obsessive, borderline psychotic housekeeper.

Third, we have Maxim de Winter, our Narrator’s husband.

Fourth, we have Jack Favell, the dodgy and unlikeable cousin.

Lastly, we have our titular character, that darling creature Rebecca.

Now, let’s see who is on the playbill.

ANTONIA AS MRS. DANVERS

It pained me just a little to give the role of Mrs. Danvers to Antonia, primarily because Mrs. Danvers is such a complex character and I’ve always found Antonia to be rather simple. And, no, I’m not insinuating Antonia is simple-minded; I am saying it was never difficult to see through her bullshit (i.e., the phrase, “patterns are patterning,” didn’t come out of thin air). It helped that Mrs. Danvers is one of the main antagonists in the book and almost certainly the GOAT at trolling the heroine of “Rebecca.” I mean, the second Mrs. de Winter didn’t stand a chance with Danny lurking in the background.

The general narrative in Lukola Lore is that Antonia is an online troll. I’ve never been sure as to who her primary target was – Nicola or the Lukola fandom. I tend to believe it originated as Nicola and the Lukola fandom was simply collateral damage. I also cannot say for fact that Antonia was trolling anyone, but I can confirm that the general belief within the fandom that Antonia was trolling is well-documented on social media. For today’s story, we are going to assume the narrative that Antonia was trolling both Nicola and the Lukola fandom. We are also going to assume the USS Lutonia (because I have no fucking clue what the Luke-Antonia ship is called!) was real. Don’t get your feathers fluffed over this. This belief does exist – and it’s why Antonia has been able to fuck with the Lukolas as long as she has – but I promise I have every intention of peppering the side of this ship with holes.

Okay, let’s tow the USS Lutonia out to sea. Don’t forget your Dramamine!

We are living under the umbrella that Luke and Antonia were dating during the World Tour. Poor Antonia was forced into hiding by – who the fuck knows but let’s keep rolling with this narrative – and she wasn’t allowed to be openly seen with Luke or post anything on her social media with Luke. And, Luke mirrored this behavior and made an effort to keep Antonia out of the spotlight (in fact, at the New York City premiere, the average viewer wouldn’t have known Antonia was anything more than Luke’s “friend of a friend”). Antonia, annoyed with this lack of engagement (and, almost certainly fed up with, at a minimum, fans shipping Luke with Nicola), started the pattern of posting pictures of herself and tagging her location as places the fandom knew Luke had recently been. Luke, for his part, made no effort to acknowledge his relationship with Antonia. Instead, he continued his flirtatious relationship with Nicola. After the London premiere, the Lukolas put a target smack dab in the middle of Antonia’s back and blamed her for setting up Papsmear for her own benefit. Luke still made no effort to acknowledge his relationship with Antonia or protect her from the abundance of online hate she received. In fact, he posted his “I will not let [Cressida] ruin our night” story to Instagram instead (see my “Entry 1 – The One About That Weird Ass Cressida Post” if you’re confused by this comment). During post-Papsmear events, Luke did not list her as a plus one and he didn’t like any pictures of Antonia that were not on her grid. In fact, the only evidence directly linking Luke to Antonia were leaked and/or since-deleted pictures and videos not released by Luke. Throughout the summer, Antonia continued her efforts to place herself in proximity to Luke via tagged or easily recognizable locations. Oddly, many of Antonia’s posts seemed to occur shortly after Nicola posted or before/after DeuxMoi posted pap pictures, which gave birth to the “Antonia is trolling” subplot. Still, Luke made no effort to acknowledge his relationship with Antonia. On July 30, Luke was papped with Antonia and his friend group in Sorrento (see my “Entry 11 – The One About the Heart of the Ocean” if you want my opinion about that excursion). This was the last time Luke and Antonia were publicly photographed together. Once Luke returned to London on August 2, Antonia continued her campaign of insinuating she was in the same location as Luke, with the most recent being the Italian restaurant in Rome (which the restauranteur debunked, in my opinion). Again, Luke and Antonia have not been photographed together since July 30. To date, Luke has made no effort to acknowledge his relationship with Antonia, and the only visible interaction by Luke are his likes on Antonia’s semi-monthly Instagram grid posts, which seem obligatory at this point. For the month of November, there was no interaction between Luke and Antonia because Antonia did not post to her grid (gasp!).

Now, for all the Lutonia’s out there, explain to me why this kind of relationship is acceptable to you. Seriously, explain it to me.

Convince me that Luke didn’t shutter Antonia from the moment the USS Lukola schematics were presented to the engineers.

Convince me that Antonia is the kind of woman who would happily accept Luke’s blatant dismissal of her existence while he globe-trotted around the world with a woman he was being openly shipped with by fans, the press, and Bridgerton mates.

Convince me that Luke’s behavior towards Antonia doesn’t make him the worst boyfriend on the planet.

Convince me that Antonia’s online behavior towards Nicola and the Lukola fandom during and after the World Tour doesn’t make her a troll.

Convince me that Luke and Antonia are the definition of “true love.” Actually, before you do that, convince me that Luke and Antonia are currently dating.

Or, maybe you’ve realized that any effort to try to convince me would be a waste of your time because you, too, are starting to find this entire narrative unacceptable. It equates Antonia to someone who doesn’t mind being boxed into a corner and forced to claw her way out, and it likens Luke to an overbearing womanizer who doesn’t give two flips about how online hate may be affecting his partner. I mean, we may as well dump these two into an entirely different book called “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

I didn’t assign the role of Mrs. Danvers to Antonia because I thought Antonia was a feeble coward without her own voice. And, no, I didn’t give her the role because Mrs. Danvers is an obsessive psychopath. I gave Antonia the role of Mrs. Danvers because the fandom handed her the power to influence this narrative on a silver platter, just like the Narrator in “Rebecca” allowed herself to be manipulated by Mrs. Danvers. Moving forward, when you see Antonia with a lit match, all you need to do is lean over and blow it out. Poof! And, she’s gone. Seriously, if you see our version of Mrs. Danvers with anything that might light a fire, take it away from her!

Surely someone out there gets my joke…

LUKE AS MAXIM DE WINTER

Of course, Luke is Maxim de Winter, the outwardly charismatic, but recently widowed anti-hero who caught the affection of our Unnamed Narrator. I mean, he’s a good guy, right? Uhh, yeah, sure… Who doesn’t want to be married to a brooding chauvinist who is outwardly obsessed with the titular character? Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound like Luke at all! Oh, no, actually it does – if you believe the USS Lutonia is real!

For Luke, we are going to assume the same narrative as above – that the USS Lutonia is real, that Antonia trolled Nicola and the Lukola fandom, and that Luke refused to acknowledge his relationship with Antonia. Besides the obvious “Luke is the shittiest fucking boyfriend in the universe,” I have a few other gripes with the USS Lutonia.

Initially, I understood the concept of “keeping Antonia in the dark,” after all I try to be logical when I process information. It was always possible Luke and Nicola were rocking some great PR in the beginning of the World Tour, and that was the only thing they were rocking. In fact, that’s what I initially believed Nicola was doing – being cute but also professional in her interactions with Luke during those early press junkets. Luke, on the other hand, always seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. Once they hit Australia, it seemed obvious to me that something had changed (go back and read my “Entry 12 – The One Where We Start Laying the Yellow Brick Road to Italy” for a briefing on this). The more I watched Luke and Nicola interact on the World Tour, the more I became convinced Antonia must have been a thing of the past (or possibly nothing) for Luke – until Antonia showed up at Papsmear. At that point, I fully expected Luke to just own up to her. Like, give up on trying to hide Antonia from public view. But, then he pulled that goddamn “Cressida” post (seriously, if you have not read my first entry to this blog, go back and read it!). When you look at the World Tour and subsequent Hot Boy Summer, and the behaviors that were – and were not – on display during that timeframe, you start to develop a completely different view of the USS Lutonia. I mean, I’m not even sure that ship ever left the planning room!

One of the most glaring cosmetic flaws with the USS Lutonia is why “nice guy” Luke would treat Antonia with such indifference if he loved her. When asked who was most like their Bridgerton character, everyone always answered Luke. That he was the kindest, most genuine person. If that’s true, then why did Luke treat his “girlfriend,” Antonia, like she didn’t exist? Again, convince me that Luke’s Public Display of Apathy towards Antonia made him a great boyfriend. Even if Luke was a private person, one would think that after someone he cared about received as much hate as Antonia did after Papsmear, he would have stepped up and taken control of the narrative. He didn’t hesitate to clear up the “cake eating” picture from his September 7 Instagram post (about Nicola), and that “Cressida” post will live rent-free in my mind forever. The only “logical” explanation I can come up with for “nice guy” Luke to shutter Antonia right from the jump is that Antonia is not, and was not, a significant person in his life. That, or he really is a shithead, and he has a team of people lying about what a great guy he is.

We also need to consider Nicola’s interactions with Antonia. First, Nicola has never followed Antonia and Antonia has never followed Nicola, at least not on her public account. But, Nicola followed – and still follows – Luke’s ex, Jade. Now, typically, I’d just be like, “Meh,” on something like this. But, after Papsmear, Nicola could have very easily played the “Diplomat Barbie” and given Antonia a follow on Instagram. But, she didn’t, which signals to me that Nicola wasn’t touching Antonia with an invisible 10-foot pole. Second, if you watch the back-and-forth between Nicola and Antonia on social media – in black and white, pen on paper – you’ll see Nicola playing the cat-and-mouse game right along with Antonia (Nicola just played it a helluva lot better). It even appears Nicola sicced her – what my father calls JVN – “assassin” on Antonia starting around July 20 or, at the very least, she condoned JVN teasing Antonia. If everything was great between Luke and Antonia – and Luke was genuinely happy with Antonia – why would Luke put up with the back-and-forth on social media between Antonia, Nicola, and JVN? Oh, that’s right, because Luke is the corrupt captain of the USS Lutonia.  Seriously, if all was well between Luke and Antonia at this point in the timeline, then you’d have to surmise that all was not well between Luke and Nicola. We will get to that in a moment. Right now, aboard the USS Lutonia, Luke is just a lousy boyfriend.

Lastly – and what has always left me scratching my head – why would Luke allow Antonia to troll his fandom? Why allow Antonia to make insinuations online that they’re together but never come to her rescue when the fandom starts flinging shit at her? In my opinion, the InStyle copycat pictures (go read my last blog entry…) were just Antonia getting her feet wet. Why continue to put up with Antonia after allegations began flying that she arranged Papsmear and the Italy pap pictures? I suppose the answer most Lutonias would give is, “Because they’re in love.” With everything I have outlined in this entry, do you honestly get the “in love” vibe from those two? Because I don’t.

Now, why did I draw parallels between Luke and the book character, Maxim? It’s not because I believe Luke to be a male chauvinist so wrapped up in his own drama that he ignores those around him. The USS Lutonia will definitely paint that impression, though! It’s because Maxim’s demeanor was superficial. What the Unnamed Narrator believed was true about her husband was not actually true. And, that’s how I view the USS Lutonia – Luke’s behavior and the narrative surrounding this ship does not match the logic.

JAKE AS JACK FAVELL

Sorry, Jake, you get to be the icky Jack Favell. Yeah, that manipulative, blackmailing creep sleeping with his own cousin! But, hey, that subplot isn’t any more disturbing than Jake being shipped with Nicola, is it?

Alright, let’s jump on board the USS Jakola but not before I preface this section with my father’s flabbergasted words: “This ship is on the bottom of the ocean. These people must have oxygen masks. They’re down there with Jules Verne. This just doesn’t make sense.” No, it really doesn’t make sense but, because I’m here to tell a story, I will begrudgingly dive into the USS Jakola narrative. And, by “dive,” I mean plunge to the bottom of the ocean because that’s where this ship rests.

Just like we did with the USS Lutonia, we are going to assume the USS Jakola is real. The Jakolas believe that Nicola has been seeing Jake since, I guess, the Renegade Nell premiere on or about March 26, 2024. Although, the last I checked Eamon Farren was also at that premiere holding an umbrella for Nicola. I am not confirming Nicola was ever dating Eamon; I am simply saying he was present at the event and holding a fucking umbrella for her. You can make up your own mind about Eamon’s role in Nicola’s life. Regardless, it must have been an instant connection between Nicola and Jake because, if the Jakola narrative is to be believed, they began secretly dating after that. The Jakolas will argue that all the songs Nicola posted to her Instagram stories were for Jake. The Claddagh ring has no traditional meaning when Nicola wears it, and Chaos Week was also for Jake (and a “fuck you” to Luke). The Lukola-coded fan fiction was a “fuck you” to the Lukola fandom (see my “Entry 10 – The One About the Audibly Loud Lukola FanFic”). And, Jake and Nicola are in love and have hard launched their relationship because (a) Jake has been seen wearing Nicola’s bucket hat, (b) they have been seen in public together, and (c) they occasionally hold hands.

I’m not going to lie – for the longest time I didn’t pay any attention to the USS Jakola because it was such an incredibly absurd concept to me. A few weeks back, I posted to my Tumblr account a music video that Jake had done in early 2023. The song is called “Mixed Emotions” by You Me at Six, and the article that came out with the video on February 7th, 2023 stated, “With Jake Dunn who played the protagonist in the video who is actually a friend of mine, we actually spoke a lot about toxic masculinity and his experiences within his sexuality and the impacts it has had on his relationship with his dad.” It honestly never occurred to me the USS Jakola actually had passengers on board until October when the Jakholes went bananas over Nicola holding Jake’s hand. In my opinion – and you do not have to agree with me – the music video speaks for itself as does Jake’s social media presence, whether it be on his own pages or on those of his friend group. I’m sure I’ll get some Jakholes in here crying that we shouldn’t speculate on Jake’s sexuality, but the reality is the only people speculating on Jake’s sexuality are the Jakolas trying to discern whether he’s heterosexual. But, why doesn’t he just come out and say it? I get this question all the time. The answer is quite simple – he doesn’t need to. Jake never buried this part of his life; it’s other people burying it for him. Do you need to blast your sexual preferences out into the universe? I didn’t think so.

For shits and giggles – because that’s what I’m here for – let’s keep going with the story that Nicola and Jake are hot and heavy with each other. I’ll play center field and say Jake is a switch hitter. Happy now? If Jakola is real, then why would Nicola lay all those Lukola-coded breadcrumbs? And, NO, I am not explaining every crumb she’s dumped online. This post is already too damn long. But, Dear Jakolas, don’t tell me those coordinated airplane pictures didn’t have you crying into your pillows. Seriously, though, why would Nicola fuck with the Lukola fandom? I’ve mentioned in previous posts that Polin and Lukola have even been blurred by Netflix & Co. at this point. What would be the point of dragging the Lukolas along only to find out it was Nicola just fucking around? That makes about as much sense as “nice guy” Luke being the shittiest boyfriend on the planet. Again, the narrative does not fit the logic – although you’re welcome to try to convince me that Jakola is real.

For starters, convince me as to why Nicola is Jake’s “type” and not Luke’s. I am not being factitious. I seriously want to know why she’s acceptable for Jake but not Luke. And, if you’re going to tell me it’s because Luke likes brunettes, you better bring me some evidence that Jake likes blonde women.

Convince me that the Claddagh ring has no traditional significance to Nicola and that Jake would be okay with Nicola wearing that Claddagh ring – the one she had made in honor of Bridgerton Season 3, the season she shared with the man that fills her Instagram grid and tags and is the other half of Lukola. If you’re stuck on the significance of this ring, go read “Entry 6 – The One Where I Explained the Claddagh Ring to My Dad.”

Convince me that Nicola and Jake are a couple. And, if you’re going to mention handholding, then convince me that Nicola is not in a relationship with Mark, JVN, Jack R., Golda, Hannah D., Dylan L., or Luke. Oh, and is it true Jake is now dating Ellie Bamber? Convince me he’s not…

Any ways, good luck, babe, trying to sway me into believing Jakola is the real deal because I have a feeling your efforts are going to make your face become as flushed as Jack Favell’s when he was caught with his hand in the till.

NICOLA AS REBECCA

Surely you didn’t think Nicola was going to be the heroine of this story! If you believe the USS Lutonia and USS Jakola are smoothly sailing across the ocean blue, then the only role Nicola could reasonably play is that of the story’s villain – Rebecca. Yes, Rebecca was a bad, bad girl. She was manipulative and intentionally cruel; a Bitch with a capital “B.” She haunted poor Maxim and controlled Mrs. Danvers and Jack like a master puppeteer. She also tortured the Unnamed Narrator from her watery grave.

Seriously, though, let’s turn the tables. Let’s pretend Lutonia and Jakola are real. Starting, say, April 29, Nicola started trolling Antonia by dropping Luke-coded material online and really started ramping up those doe-eyed looks in Luke’s direction. Remember all that cute BTS? Perfectly timed to make it look like Antonia was trolling her when in reality Nicola was trolling Antonia! Unbeknownst to Luke, Nicola commissioned that Claddagh ring and started wearing it to make it look like she was in a relationship with Luke. She even organized a side jaunt over to Galway to introduce Luke to – surprise! – her mother! But, after being rejected by Luke – because he really is in love with Antonia (the USS Lutonia is blasting its horn right about now) – Nicola – YES, Nicola! – set up Papsmear to ruin Luke. I mean, if he wasn’t going to be her boyfriend, he sure as shit wasn’t going to be anyone else’s! All summer Nicola waited for Luke, but he’d gone into hiding, scared to surface because Nicola might find him! After growing tired of waiting for Luke, Nicola got her assassin, JVN, to start trolling Antonia online, that way Nicola could put all her efforts into finding and trolling Luke. She set up Chaos Week. She trolled him on the airplane. But, she needed help (after all she had so many other events and awards shows this summer) so she enlisted her unwitting accomplice, Jake! Jake helped her set up that Lukola FanFic to remind Luke of what could have been. But, nothing was working so Nicola upped the ante and volunteered Jake to be her confused boyfriend. “Luke…Luke…” I can still hear her desperate cries being carried like ashes in the wind…

SEE!  I can do it, too – make up total bullshit to fit whatever narrative I please!!!

Yeah, yeah, maybe I went a bit too far (I warned you I had a dark sense of humor) but, honestly, I believe the only way the USS Lutonia and USS Jakola could stay afloat is if Nicola is the villain. She doesn’t even have to be a super villain. She just needs to be disingenuous enough to alienate Luke, terrorize Antonia, manipulate Jake, and mislead an entire fandom. Lucky for her, I don’t believe Nicola to be a real-life Rebecca. If you need an explanation as to why, then you didn't watch the same World Tour as me and you’re clearly on the wrong side of the fandom.

In truth, I believe the real villain to be…

YOU AS THE UNNAMED NARRATOR

Now, now, calm down. I’m not calling you out – at least not individually. I’m calling all of us out.

We as a fandom are the Unnamed Narrators of Lukola, Jakola, and Lutonia. We built these ships, and we control whether they stay afloat.

We took the narrative out of Luke and Nicola’s hands the moment we launched the USS Lutonia. Then we had to go and build the USS Jakola – I guess, because we were bored. No matter how hard Luke and Nicola try to pull the narrative back under their control, we allow side characters to feed us their side of the story! We fill our bellies with their nonsense and then vomit it all over the deck of the USS Lukola.

Seriously, we are the villains in this story. And, collectively, we are one bloody powerful super villain, aren’t we?

We control the narrative. So, if there’s a narrative you don’t agree with – for example, one that doesn’t make sense to you – stop being Conscientiously Stupid and feeding into it.

Remember what I said earlier? If you see Mrs. Danvers with a lit match, blow that fucker out! Otherwise, you’re going to let that bitch burn down the whole goddamn house.

[stariyu]

Sanji Headcanons ❀༉‧₊    ──★ ˙ ̟

⤷ General Relationship Head-canons - 

a/n: So I tweaked this a little bit because I was so so exhausted when I first wrote + posted this at 12am and then I woke up this morning and decided to look at the post and was like why would I post this omg… I went the whole day regretting it so I fixed it a little because I couldn’t stop myself from not doing it, but anyways, once again enjoy!

—-------

⤷ LOTS of endearing pet names, I swear he’ll call you every single pet name there is to exist. His main pet names for you are baby, sweetheart, mon amour, mon ange, mon coeur, my dear, darling, honey -  this list could on for forever honestly - 

⤷ I also feel like he might come up with nicknames on the spot for you depending on the situation - like I could totally see you helping him in the kitchen chopping cabbage (for this specific example) and him gushing calling you chou (cabbage in french if I’m correct). 

⤷ I’ve seen some headcanons calling Sanji disloyal or saying he would cheat on his partner, and let me say this loud and clear, my chivalrous prince charming black leg Sanji? HE. WOULD. NEVER. (it blows my mind people actually believe this) 

⤷ While in a relationship with you Sanji would still be a gentleman to Nami and Robin as to be expected, but he would definitely tone the flirting down now that he has you, his love and joy. 

⤷ He doesn’t want to mess up what you have after the mistreatment he went through during his childhood, you make him feel like he’s on cloud 9 and all of his worries melt when he is with you, losing you is honestly a great fear of his. 

⤷ Trust me when I tell you that you’ll. be. spoiled. rotten. If Sanji is willing to spend millions of berries to buy the Thousand-Year paper for Nami in the Post-Alabasta Arc, just imagine what lengths he would go for you. This man will seriously go into debt just to see your stunning smile and a kiss to his cheek as a thank you. 

⤷ He would smother you in so many fancy gifts. If he was dead broke at the moment, that wouldn’t stop Sanji from still spoiling you - heartfelt letters which he claims his love for you (seriously he puts his soul into them) flowers hand-picked, he would even attempt a handmade gift like a painting or a scrapbook - all for you. 

⤷ His love language(s) are acts of service and quality time. This man would be learning and cooking your favorite meals all the time even if you didn’t request them, Sanji would then get pissed that Luffy had eaten it all before you got to have some (this happens A LOT btw.)

 ⤷ Sanji would also love to do little things for you to make your day easier, he’ll make you breakfast in bed, do your chores for you, carry the stuff you bought on a new island, anything for his darling love.

⤷ For quality time, it could be you just hanging in the kitchen with him while he’s cooking chatting his ear off, having romantic dates, or just simply staring into each other's eyes in silence after a particularly long day - Sanji doesn’t care - as long as he basks in your presence, his day is so much better.

⤷ Dates with Sanji would meticulously be planned out with great love. I honestly feel like he would prefer to cook you homemade meals rather than go out to a restaurant. (ironic i know) Sanji pours his heart and soul into his cooking and he likes to know that your dishes are made with great care. Picnics with him would be the absolute best. I just know it. 

⤷ I also see him planning very intimate dates with you, like going dancing, a candlelit homemade dinner, cuddling in the crows nest on the ship stargazing. 

⤷ Even though he plans his dates with care and wants them to go perfectly, he loves it when you drag him off the ship to see something interesting on the island and it turns into a spontaneous date, it allows him to relax a bit and of course do his favorite thing, spend time with you ;)

[writing-in-sin]

THOUGHTS ON WIND BREAKER

I absolutely LOVE it 😭

I finished the anime more than a week ago and immediately caught up with the manga 2 days after that. I can honestly say that its one of my favourite anime/manga right now

I adore Sakura. I seriously do and I hope he'll continue to allow himself to heal as time goes on. I love the charas. They have their own flaws but they are so genuine that I just love them even if I don't exactly have a fave right now

Sakura is the closest I can say who could be my fave though

As for ships, this is one of the rare times that I don't mind not having a set ship for a series. I know that SuoSaku is the most popular though and I do think they're cute. But honestly, the 1st chara that got me thinking on a potential partner for Sakura was Togame. When he acknowledged Sakura by his name, there was a great weight and lovely significance to it that it made me smile

And then, there's Umemiya. I think him and Tsubaki would be cute and great together. I didn't think on shipping him and Sakura together at first even though I really like Umemiya and his character (partly also because he's voiced by Nakamura Yuichi who I've loved since high school). But when its revealed that Umemiya actually told Sakura about his past as well as how suicidal he once was as a kid and that it wasn't just flashback chapters for us readers as I initially thought it was? My brain went, huh. Okay, looks like I ship them now too

Nowadays, I'm leaning into UmeSaku

But its been a while since I'm more content to not write ships for a series I love and instead want to focus more on the MC's life. I just really wanna write Sakura as he heals and how much he's loved by these amazing charas. Not just by his Bofurin family but also by allies and the people of Makochi

Its especially wonderful to see how much Sakura learns that he loves them all back. That he finally has a family and a home that he can call his own, now and forever

Anyways, I'm thinking on making another twitter side account for all things Wind Breaker soon so this is where I'll stop for now. Thanks for reading this far!

[rynnthefangirl]

Thoughts on Squid Games season 2 (spoilers):

1. That Pentathalon was brutal and one of the hardest games in either season. Seriously if even ONE person chokes you ALL die and it is so easy to choke at games like that under pressure. Should have killed way more people tbh.

Also I have been obsessed with Gonggi since watching that episode. Don’t have the real pieces, but I’ve learned to do level five with dice😎

2. Gi Hun and Player 333 defender, y’all don’t get them like I do🙌

Player 333 ate when he stabbed Thanos, you go pookie🥰

Also Young Mi’s death wasn’t his fault😞

Okay maybe I just think 333 is cute💕🤭

Gi Hun making sacrifices to try to stop the games for good is not and never will be on the same level as the game makers running the games in the first place, wipe that smirk off your face Mr. Frontman😠

Also his plan wasn’t terrible, he just didn’t know 001 was the Frontman. Maybe he should have known they’d try something like that again, but he probably figured they thought they’d beat him when they took out the tracking device. He got so close to the control room and could have won if he wasn’t betrayed!

Gi Hun could have left it all behind but instead he willingly put his life on the line to try to stop the games for good!!! He’s not “playing the hero” he IS a hero!!

I mean I’m not saying he is perfect or makes all right choices, but he has a noble goal.

3. It breaks my heart how different Gi Hun is😢 he was so bright and full of life in S1, now he’s quiet and broken. Powerful character development, but I miss my wife😭

4. Didn’t really think of 457 as a ship while I was watching, but seeing it in the fandom… yeah it’s a good ship. Gotta love a solid hero x villain, and the idea of Jun Ho finally finding the island only to realize his evil brother is psychosexually obsessed with Gi Hun is hilarious😂 457 is a great ship name too.🫰

5. I miss Sae Byeok💔

6. Player 120 and Player 149 carried this season, I’m glad they survived and am excited to see more of them!

7. I feel for Dae Ho, but I don’t think I can 100% defend him purely because he should not have volunteered to go back for the ammo. Like his reaction is totally understandable and looked like a PTSD attack and I don’t blame him in the slightest for getting out of that situation. But let 120 go back for the ammo!!! She already volunteered and she had it!!!

Although in his defense the others really should have seen that he wasn’t in a good state of mind for that mission, so that’s on them as well.

8. Player 390 was the hardest death for me, he was a good dude and Gi Hun has already watched too many friends die😭 to know it was his plan that got him killed is so much worse too.

[f4nd0m-fun]

@puppetmaster13u

It was getting too long so...

Okay this was VERY long but I love it all. So much food, and very much alive when possible. And yeah they're very much venomous.

... oh gods you're making me hungry for food that isn't even safe even if it existed 😂

Also, I feel like Ivy's plants would, ah, sometimes move if they don't like where they're currently planted. If your neighbor is taking better care of your flowers then you might wake up and see them over there, you just learn to deal. 😅

Ooooo I love that. And I feel like, to Aquaman, it would be like speaking in Pig Latin + Esperanto mixed with the heaviest Scottish accent ever. He can tell it's words, but he can't really understand it.

Also, Bruce singing lullabies to the kids, just imagine. Jason or Dick or anyone shows up having a panic attack and Bruce starts calming them down. First in English, then aquatic, and slowly morphing into a lullaby.

Oh definitely, those other heroes will be struggling. Almost feel bad for them.

The medical professionals must be paid well, and Gotham University probably ends up with a very heavy metal degree that most people might assume is for vets not human doctors. 😂

Oh my gods Helena yes. Poor Supes, and I love the JL freaking out. Also, her bottle HAS to be a little pink, because of the blood that's probably in it. Also, I imagine they're born with weak venom, and drinking their parents' blood lets them process and produce stronger toxins.

I bet Dick and the other kids probably have the same weird food habits and their teammates aren't really sure what they're supposed to do. Sometimes Tim will fall asleep in the middle of lunch and whoever is in the same room will get to see his lunch run away. Probably a bit unnerving. 🤣

I like the idea they might do them for 'major holidays'. Not on the holiday, because Calendar Man (on the holidays is Gotham only, they fully expect him to show up, he's practically invited without saying anything outright), and that's the Outsider Galas. Not just one a year, but not like 20 of em either.

And yeah, aside from runaway food, Tim is pretty good with outsiders. He probably wouldn't eat 'normal' (normal for Gotham anyway) around his team if he didn't trust em or something either. This is probably another reason Bruce made him CEO. 😅

Yesss uncanny valley please. Everyone is freaking out internally, and yet at the same time they can tell they're safe... for now. Servers doing their job, and Gothamites not revealing anything, unless someone does something wrong.

Yesss the rogues. Honestly I just want an AU where the rogues are basically family.

||=====||=====||

"Oh yeah that's aunts Harley and Ivy, they can be fun but don't drink the wine."

Then (controversial I know but also heavily depends on the AU)

"That's Uncle J, we're on tense terms with him but he's got the best drinks if you don't mind letting a bit."

Maybe

"There's not-dad Harv-"

"he's Uncle T right now-"

"-that's Uncle T, don't gamble with him or ask about his coin collection unless you want to stay a while."

Or

"Don't mind Uncle Cobbles, he's a little competitive with B about their family histories, but other than that and birds he's pretty calm."

Even

"Yeah don't mind Uncle John, he's probably more nervous than you are, doing spook him and you'll be fine."

||=====||=====||

Yesss so many photos.

Also, there's two wedding photos. One he shows to outsiders, the other is up at the major as a painting and is the same wedding photo but underwater.

... Ras don't bother your son-in-law's friends please, they have enough on their plate. Seriously, stop. 😂😅

Bruce probably confuses everyone even more by knowing the assassins.

Oooo yes. Sharks, aquariums, oh my. I love all the animals you mentioned too.

... so I randomly looked up 'Victorian modern punk' because why not and...

This was the top result.

[ashysmultifandomcatdump]

Rambles about my Lord Wander AU yippee :)

finally Properly drew my lord wander design...he's basically the same but with more sharp edges (inspired by craig mccracken's concept sketches!) and a goofy outfit for when he's Eviling Out with s shooting star motif on it to contrast lord dom's bleeding heart!!! he does have a suit which the shooting star would be more Clear on but i have yet to get around to drawing it...i have been thinking about this AU for over a year now and i think i've finally figured out enough to talk about it so i will under the cut :)

i think for Structural Purposes i will talk about dominator and sylvia first. wander and dom are the only main swaps in this AU (with a smaller swap i think between the hat and dombots because it's Fun) so everyone else stays the same, though due to sylvia's proximity to dom, she has a significant enough change to discuss!!! (i am gonna sneakily reuse art from my last post for this bit hehe)

dee and sylvia travel around together on their own ship! i think the overall tone would be opposite the actual show—while WOY having wander as the main character has it be a goofy, silly show about love and friendship that's interrupted by dominator who's more serious and designed to be more like an anime villain—the tone of the AU with dee at the head would have it be more generally serious and wander's presence brings in something a bit goofier (this is kinda what he does in the show anyway. like everyone takes things seriously and then wander doesn't and people learn from him)! so dee and sylvia are both more keen to use a bit of Violence to get through everything. though that's not to say there's No goofiness, of course there is i mean. when your main opponent is lord hater of course there is!!! dom's also a menace to him like wander is, just in a bit of a different way. they just normally show up and beat them and hater doesn't react well to that of course—his degradation as a villain still ends up happening

dee also builds her little bot friends, for both practical purposes and companionship purposes :) she still names them in numbers though, not out of lack of care she is just absolutely dogshit at naming, forgive her

anyway a reason i brought up the tone thing is that wander isn't necessarily revealed just in the 'season 2' of the AU. there's kind of a looming threat in the background contributing to that. it's gone by lots of different names in lots of different galaxies, but generally is referred to as The End of the Galaxy (or just The End for short!). as suggested by the name, loads of different galaxies have been destroyed in the past. kind of like a force of nature. survivors don't really seem to be sure what exactly it is, only that it's been called by a different name each time, and nobody could stop it before it was too late. and guess who that is!!!!!!!!!!

our silly little friend whom we love the best!!!!!!!

i REALLY REALLY love roleswaps that keep the characters' personalities as intact as possible and that's what i tried to do here!! this guy may be evil as hell, but he's still Wander. he loves friends and having fun and still has that cheery attitude! he almost seems completely harmless at first! and that is part of the Plot in my head is, actually. my first ever thoughts of that spurned the creation this AU were him being a seemingly completely innocuous recurring character throughout the first 'season' of the AU, just showing up at random times, being Wander, you know. all that stuff. with the main gang not really paying him any mind, calling him a 'wandering weirdo' (since he always disappears before they can actually ask what his name is...). and none of them recognize him as The End until he actually reveals himself.

but see, he's actually grown quite attached to them! through all his time following them around, he thinks oh...aren't these folks just lovely!! he truly actually sees him as his friends. and so to honor their wonderful nickname for him, and to pay homage to his dear buddy hater, he decided his name this time around would be Lord Wander! and he'd be a Professional Villain, so they could hang out even more!! isn't he just so nice!!!

and he just doesn't seem to play by the rules at all...while they're trying to fight him, he's giggling and dodging out of the way, hitting them with...pies? just generally bugs bunny-ing out on them? he spends his time messing with them, annoying them, all the same insisting he won't fight because it's Too Violent—you know, the guy who's Killing People. it frustrates them all and he has such fun Playing with them...except dee.

one of my favorite things in the show is how wander just straight up does not like dominator. so i felt it'd be funny to keep that. dee ignores him when he's being all zany like that and he HATES her for it. he won't say it Directly, but it's kinda clear in his attitude how much she annoys him. and with all his Evilness, this would not lead to good things.

another thing about the way He Is is his exemplified traits of the other characters. like how dom was more excitable than wander, tougher than sylvia, more evil than hater and smarter than peepers; lord wander i think would be more chaotic than dom, faster than sylvia, more obsessive than hater, and more strategic than peepers (spinel if you're reading this Thank You for those last two).

anddddd i also must mention his luck because that's Very interesting in this scenario...i do think he has some form of Natural Luck Magic, and he does still have his hat (there's lots i have in mind about the hat. but i won't get into it right now), but a non-insignificant portion of his luck in the show does come from the good karma he receives from helping others. meanwhile lord wander does lots of Bad Things. does he rack up bad karma? does he do good deeds when not Eviling Out in order to cancel it out? i had these same questions a year ago and honestly i am not sure which i want to go with. both are fascinating to me

i do think that unlike dominator he would be in some way redeemable. i don't have his entire methods and motivations mapped out yet, but it's hard to find a way where he just Wouldn't be redeemable. because he's wander. you know? unlike dominator being lonely being why she didn't just kill everyone, wander does genuinely see them as his friends. he's just got a really, REALLY fucked up way of showing it. i've even considered the idea that he doesn't Actually go out of his way to kill people and only destroys the planets, making sure there are survivors but Hmmmmm i don't know about that one. it's a tough balance trying to make sure he's an actual threat. but it is something i consider. him being like a natural disaster in a sense.

this ended up being very disjointed but iiiii needed to get my thoughts Properly out there. here's the twitter thread i made last year of my initial thoughts. i Do have More in my head but i'm not really sure how to get them down in a way that makes sense...i would love to talk more about it though (especially since i have not talked much about the others other than wander. sorry he is my favorite. but i do think about the others A Lot i just didn't know what things to talk about hegshgshhg) so if anyone wants to hear more insane ramblings👍👍👍tell me👍👍👍👍👍👍i'm not normal about it👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[imagining-in-the-margins]

☀️ CM Summer Sunshine Fic Challenge 🏖

The following are prompts including the theme of Summer! Reader, Original Character, Character/Character ships, Gen/Platonic fics are allowed!

This event is over (Masterlist of Fics here), but you are welcome to use any of these prompts. If you would like to be added to the existing Masterlist of entries, please check out the Rules below!

☀️ Generic Prompts ☀️

Everyone looks better in a sundress.

Character doesn't know how to swim.

Characters A and B cuddle in a hammock.

The team has a (MASSIVE) family barbecue.

The BAU has a pool party at Rossi's vacation home.

The sun makes Characters sleepy, so they take a nap.

Characters A and B have a picnic (it goes well/wrong).

Character shows up in swimwear that no one expected.

Character A suffers heatstroke and B takes care of them.

Character A teases B about needing to practice CPR at the pool party.

Character A never loved B more than when they ran through the sprinklers.

The air conditioning broke and Characters try to find creative ways to cool off.

Characters A and B go berry picking together (and enjoy the fruits of their labor).

It's Character's first time camping and they weren't prepared for how cold it gets on summer nights.

Character A lectures B on the importance of sunscreen, yet freezes when they are asked to help apply it.

The BAU is a group of very serious FBI agents. They take their water gun/balloon fights very seriously.

The couple thought their vacation would be a chance to get away from the BAU, but the resort town they're staying in turns out to have an unsub in it.

Character helps their child with their first entrepreneurial venture... a lemonade stand. They weren't expecting half the damn FBI to show up.

Character A’s wide-brimmed hat flew right off their head and into a tree. B helps them get it down.

Anything else you can think of!

☀️ Dialogue Prompts ☀️

"It's like Hotch at the beach."

"Come on in, the water's fine."

"It's so hot but I am so touch starved."

"... How did you even get that tan line?"

“Yes, the sunburn is as bad as it looks.”

"Oh my god, do I hear the ice cream truck?"

"Next Summer, we're doing the Alaskan cruise."

"It's a million degrees outside, why are you in the hot tub?"

(sarcastic) “Feels just like the summer camps of my youth.”

"I am staying hydrated. All of my drinks are iced." "That does not count."

"There is no shame in using a pool floatie." "Yes, there is. I'm shaming you."

“You look hot.” “Thank you!” “No, I mean literally… I think you’re overheating.”

(lying) "My phone doesn't work on the beach. Must be the signal or something..."

☀️ Character Specific Prompts ☀️

Spencer: He learned from the last time a beautiful person pulled him into a pool.

Spencer: He has a degree in engineering. How can he be defeated by a sandcastle?

Spencer: "I don't really like the beach... Sandy food, pink skin, limited and unengaging topography, but mostly drug-resistant bacteria spread by seagull feces.”

Luke: Reader loves to go to the dog beach to look at cute puppies. A dog named Roxy takes special interest in them.

Tara/Emily: “And what did you do with your summer vacation, Emily Prentiss?”

☀️ NSFW Prompts ☀️ 18+ ONLY ☀️

Character gets caught skinny dipping.

Character A can't get out of the water after seeing B.

Sex on the beach is so much worse than everyone said.

Character A can't deal with how much B loves popsicles/ice cream cones.

It's too hot to wear clothes at home, so Character walks around in their underwear.

Character A finally convinces B to go to the beach with them. Turns out it's a nude beach.

Rules

The fic can be a Reader insert, an Original Character, a character/character ship, a platonic ship, or a Gen fic. It can feature any Criminal Minds character.

Tag me in the fic, or send it to me in a Direct Message. It can be already written, or you can write it just for the challenge - I’m collecting both! You can also tag it “#mentioningmargins” which is a tag I track.

The fic can be any genre, but ONLY send me smut if your bio states you are 18+. I DO NOT WANT smut written by minors. Ever. At all. I will check. Platonic ships and pure, fluffy fics are 100% allowed.

Please include Content Warnings and a one-sentence Summary of the fic in your post.

Have fun!

🏖 Happy Writing! 🏖

[mytragedyperson]

Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?

Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "mytragedyperson"?

No story behind the name. I just made a new tumblr because I forgot my login for the other one and I think this was just a random name it gave me but I liked it so I kept it.

As for favourite fics, yes, yes. So for I want people to be able to access fics I mention reasons, I'm not gonna mention focs that are currently on Patreon or deleted fics. Some of these I have discussed before but others are probably gonna be ones I've never discussed.

Warning: Probably spoilers for some, if not all, fics mentioned.

Feral | Tenya Iida by strawhat_pirate on Wattpad

Not a surprise, I don't think. I've spoken about strawhat_pirate and their fics before. Theirs is the only Patreon I've ever subscribed to. They have quite a few OC x BNHA, with both male and female OCs, that I really like. But this was the first fic of theirs I read and my favourite. I've reread what exists of this fic many times. It isn't completed but that's fine. So this is a Tenya Iida x Male OC. The male OC is called Kittrick Suzuko, and he is the quirkless cousin of Bakugou. They meet when Tenya is getting bullied in middle school and Kit stands up for him against two guys who have quirks. He nearly breaks one of the bullies' arm and sets a desk on fire. He's very chaotic and gets into fights a lot, but he adores Tenya and they have a cute friends to lovers progression. They do start dating relatively quickly, but that's really just the start of the story. They are basically opposites attract and just love and adore each other. Kit is a badass, despite, or because of his quirklessness. There's some angst, but considering this is a strawhat_pirate fic, there's not much angst yet, though there are elemants of bullying, abuse, some mentions of suicidal ideation. These are all fairly brief and more focussed on the aftermath but they are there. As I said, Kit is Bakugou's cousin and it's kind of implied Bakugou's bullying of Deku is coming from a fear of quirkless people in general, because of Kit. Also, Kit and Midoriya become friends and Midoriya transfers to Kit and Tenya's middle school and starts training for UA earlier, with Kit and Tenya's help, so is more confident when entering UA. Other than that there's Todoroki family stuff, them working on a newspaper that gets famous, a Nomu they call Denise, them learning information they are not supposed to know and just not mentioning it. Honestly, a great fic, with a very entertaining OC, a cute relationship and a chaotic storyline. Love this one

2. No Heteros Allowed by DeceivingTerror, EnceladusLife on AO3

Another fic I've mentioned before and a BNHA fic. No OC. This is just a chaotic crack chatfic. There are ships but honestly they're overshadowed by all the chaotic stuff that happens. Aizawa seriously needs a raise for this one. So Mineta gets expelled and Shinsou joins their class in his place. There are multiple parties in which they get drunk. A sex shop and a clothes shop that share a name, there might actually be another shop with the same name, selling something completely different. There are shops like Target and Toys'r'us that just seem to randomly pop up. I'm pretty sure the Toys'r'us is actually some sort of liminal space, backrooms type thing. Mothman and other Cryptids exist and Mothman dates Mina. Teletubbies are a real species and one invades UA and takes Todoroki. There's a room inspection chapter where they're all keeping forbidden food makers of various kinds that aren't allowed in the dorms, especially the bedrooms. There are various ghosts and demons. They're extra chaotic in this one. Occassional fourth wall breaks in the form of 'why are we texting when we're all in the same room?' What's the name of the drink mascot who bursts through walls? He's a villain in this one but I forgot his name. Just, in terms of pure chaos and crack, just easy reading, this is one of the better ones

3. Interperspective by SnufflesThePig on AO3

A Merlin fic, specifically a Merlin reaction fic. Merlin, Hunith, Gaius, Arthur, the knights, Morgana and Gwen are sent to watch Merlin's adventures in Camelot. We also get some original scenes of Merlin's past or just things he was doing between saving Camelot form the evil of the week. Merlin/Arthur and Gwen/Morgana. Everyone learns about magic. We see Merlin just having fun with magic and using it on his own, no one around and it's cool. The thing I really like about this one is the descriptions. It's just written in a beautiful way, lots of imagery using shadow and light, lots of descriptions, slight rewrites to canon, nothing super major so far. Just, it's so well written, a rare Merlin reaction fic. There is angst, please do read the tags. Also I like the comments on this one as well. Just... There's not much I can say because talking about it doesn't do it justice, just, great fic. Love this one.

4. The entire Sunflower series by Aralana675, but especially To Build a Mechanic and To Build a Programmer - all on AO3.

Mentioned these during my post about favourite characters and ships but I'll talk about them here as well. A series of Sk8 the Infinity fics. Most are centred around Reki and his relationships with the others, with a particular focus on his relationship with Joe and Cherry, though there is still plenty of him and Langa and him and Miya.

The first fic, To Build a Mechanic, focuses on him and Joe. Joe finds out about Reki's skateboard designs and challenges him to a race at S and gets Reki to make him a skateboard and show him it at S, which leads to him becoming S's mechanic, making and probably fixing skateboards for the people there. The second fic, To Build a Programmer is longer and focuses more on his relationship with Cherry, something I don't see as often, honestly. Cherry teaches him programming in hopes of building up to Reki building his own version of Karla basically. We get some elements of punk Reki, as Cherry mentors him. There's even a chapter where Cherry pierces his lip. Cherry and Joe are together. There are conversations about events in the anime. Cherry finds out Reki never went to the hospital after getting jumped and ran over and immediately takes him to the get checked. They play video games together. Reki becomes Cherry's apprentice. These are Smart Reki fics which I love. But this is the one where we get quite a bit of the group all hanging out together. They celebrate their birthdays at Joe's restaurant. Reki makes Miya a video game for his birthday. Reki and Langa aren't together but are in love. There are other fics in this series but these two are my favourite so they can go here together.

5. Channel JACKAL by Aka_aKa_akA

A Haikyuu social media fic focussing on SakuAtsu and the MSBY Black Jackals. It is a series, the other fics are oneshots of smut that accompany certain chapters. The MSBY Black Jackals start a YouTube channel so their fans can get to know them better. Each chapter, there will be a YouTube video written as a transcript and then fans and other Haikyuu characters respond on social media. Shipping comes into it, especially with Sakusa and Atsumu, and the videos show the process of them getting together. There's some other ships, but this is mostly just a fluffy fic. There's not really angst so much as obliviousness. I like a social media fic or a chatfic and this is one of the better ones I've seen, especially since they do use YouTube so can progress the story and the relationship that way. Also, Atsumu is loved in this fic, like, everyone wants him. We love to see it. Also protective Osamu. They compete over who gets the most service aces. It's just great. Especially how accommodating they are about Kiyoomi's germaphobia. Like, they're always finding ways to let him participate in the games and activities. It's just a nice, cute, fun fic.

6. The Magic Of Friendship by BabyStepsAreStillSteps

Another Merlin fanfic, this time focusing on a friendship between Mordred and Merlin. Good Mordred. Mordred mad a magic vow not to kill Arthur so Merlin lets himself be friends with Mordred, and hijinks ensue. Lots of mind speak. They pull pranks. Lot of badass Merlin and badass Mordred, Merlin appreciation and the others learning just how capable Merlin is, even without him using magic. There's a magic reveal (Merlin and Mordred) in the last chapter. bits of angst. This is the second part of a series but I prefer this part, it's more fun. Also there's a chapter where there's an imposter Mordred and Merlin is the one to figure it out, within minutes of being back in Camelot but no one believes him. I love this. Their friendship is great. I always love Merlin appreciation, especially when it's not just his magic. Also Mordred becomes Merlin's apprentice and tells Arthur and the knights off when they need it. Arthur doesn't mean to, like it's not malicious but he keeps neglecting or not noticing things about Merlin, and Merlin doesn't tell him because he assumes Arthur is aware so it sometimes takes Mordred to knock some sense into him. It's just a cute fic, very good Mordred and Merlin friendship, no romantic ships other than Arthur/Gwen and even that's in the background as it's more focused on Merlin's friendships. Both parts of the series are about his friendships with the knights, Arthur and Mordred. The first part is more obviously angsty but there are still elements of angst here.

7. Truth Shall Set You Free by JaydeRayne

A TCF/LCF reaction fic. (As always you can pry the name TCF from my cold dead hands). So there's quite a few reaction fics for TCF, and I'm sure they're great but this one is my favourite. Everyone is in this one, every named character and some unnamed, two Earths, about 3 groups for TCF/TBOAH world. Starts from the beginning of the story. This fic is largely them pointing out Cale's contradictions and trying to get him to stop thinking badly about himself, to limited results so far but there is some small progress. Different versions of the same characters interacting. Lots of teasing Cale and other characters for the things they did. All the secrets, misunderstandings and contradictions being revealed. It's just got a very loving energy and it's one of my comfort fics. It's not complete but it is still updating and it's just cute. Also there's about 10 prologue parts before the reaction starts and then it starts with TCF's prologue which is really just the icing on the cake. Also I really like this fic's interpretation of Violan and Deruth. They know they didn't do as well as they could've and vow to change and be better parents. They're not shown as these parents who always tried their parents and never made mistakes but they're not treated like irredeemable villains either. Deruth, in particular, is portrayed as someone who made mistakes early on and didn't know how to fix them, so didn't really fix them at all, but realises his approach was wrong. And, since the TBOAH world was brought here, they get another chance to improve things with their Cale, fix their mistakes, make it better, and clear up misunderstandings. It's not treated like they didn't love Cale as much but acknowledges that things did change because of Kim Rok Soo Cale, and accept all Cales and Kim Rok Soos as their sons, and the same for Basen and Lily accepting them as their brothers. They all genuinely try to get along in this world, which is nice to see. As I said, there are other reaction fics, even other reaction fics I like, for TCF but this one is my favourite.

8. What A Soul Can Accomplish by contumaciousarcadia

A Hazbin Hotel fanfiction, not complete but, my God, it's great. Lucifer/Alastor but it's kind of a slowburn. Like, I'm at chapter 65 and they're not together yet but they are in this place somewhere between friendship and romance. But more than that, the plot. The angels have it out for Alastor for some reason. They're trying so hard to kill him. Alastor is somehow surviving. The Hotel gang are trying to figure it out. Like, it starts with Lucifer being suspicious of Alastor and thinking he's plotting something but quickly becomes so much more than that. Also Powerful Alastor. Alastor actually cares about people in this one, especially Charlie and Lucifer, and they care about him. A lot of development of heaven, hell, angels, Lucifer, life before those were things. Kinda biblically accurate angels. Alastor is an empath, like that's a huge part of why he doesn't like physical touch. He's an empath in Hell. The angels threaten Alastor's mom, the hotel, Angel. Jealous and possessive Alastor and Lucifer (not overly so but there are elements of it). They actually work really well together in this fic though. Honestly, recommend for the plot alone, even outside of Radioapple, but Radioapple is the ship. Also make sure to read tags, there are some pretty dark things in this, since it is Hazbin Hotel after all, including references to sexual assault, it's not shown, like there's no explicit sexual assault scene but it is discussed and referred to, and there is a scene where they kind of describe (not in detail) attempted sexual assault of Alastor by Vox. It doesn't happen but, again, it's discussed. Also Alastor is still Asexual in this fic and we kinda get some insight into Lucifer and Lillith's relationship. As I said, check tags before reading, it's not dead dove but it is angsty and there probably are potential triggers.

9. Leafing Through The Pages, I Found You by YunaYamiMouto

A Bungou Stray Dogs fic focusing on Dazai. It's kind of a reaction fic, like they do see and react to things that happen in the show, but they're really just reacting to Dazai's life up to this point (Just after season 3, I think), including his childhood. It is Soukouku but also it's focused on all of Dazai's relationships. It's because of an ability that they see all this. Not really a spoiler because it's like the first thing they see, but basically, Sensei kind of wroote him into existences. He was friends with Dazai's dad and used the book to allow him and his wife (the daughter of the former Mafia leader) to get pregnant and have a child. That child was Dazai, and it just kinda goes from there. Dazai doesn't really get many breaks, anytime his life seems to be improving, something traumatic happens. Also, they find out what happened to Oda. They react to Light novels too, I think they even mention Beast. Go read this, and then go read the other Bungou Stray Dogs fics by YunaYamiMouto because they're all really good. I love how they portray Dazai and, honestly, all the characters. Oh, read the one where the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia swap Dazai and Chuuya, so the ADA gets Chuuya and the PM gets Dazai, then the one where Dazai becomes the mafia boss, then the one where the mafia fangirls (fanboys? The gender neutral equivalent? you know what i mean) over Dazai's skills with a gun, or the My Hero Academia crossover where the hero society just isn't ready for Yokohama. Just, please, read their Bungou Stray Dogs fics. They're just really good. This section is secretly just YunaYamiMouto's Bungou Stray Dogs fics.

10. if only someone would hold me, i could be saved / a todobowl series by A_I_Neptune

A series of My Hero Academia fics featuring Todobowl. Todoroki is very soft in this one. He's dating Midoriya but keeps accidentally making their other classmates lose their minds. Midoriya doesn't seem to mind, he just seems happy to see Todoroki being loved. It all starts when Todoroki realises he really likes Midoriya's soft sweaters and starts wearin them around the dorms. He's just being soft and making his classmates, including Shinsou who is in class 1-A in this fic, adore him. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) for class 1-A, Shinsou is a little shit, so when Todoroki goes to visit his family, class 1-A goes to buy him gifts because they miss him, and Shinsou, with Midoriya's reluctant permission, gets him a catboy ensemble. The second part then deals with the results of this, Todoroki wearing the ensemble and unknowingly making his classmates fall in love with him. They all kinda expect Midoriya to be kinda mad, especially the ones like Sero, who end up in compromising positions with him, but Midoriya just kinda laughs at them. Todoroki remains oblivious and somewhat insecure. The first part is more Todoroki's POV i'd say, while part 2 is kinda everyone else's POV. There are two other parts, but the first two parts are my personal favourites. In the third part they watch Howl's Moving Castle. Todoroki's first movie night (at least without Midoriya). The last part, i don't know if I ever read but it looks like Bakugou will be teaching Todoroki to cook, so there's that.

Thank you for the ask. If anyone sees this, feel free to send asks for headcanons, drabbles, snippets or just questions like this. To see what fandoms i write for, check out my pinned post.

[nanaosaki3940]

Romance Manhwa You All Should Read...

So there are a few Korean manhwa that I have been reading recently. Some are new manhwa which I just picked up to read while the others are old ones that I read before and now I'm re-reading them again. All of them are of modern-setting with the premise of high school or college romance. 🥰🥰🥰

The new ones that I'm reading for the first time -

My First Love Hate

Seasons Of Blossom

Our Secret Alliance

Just Twilight

I Don't Hate Us

Cheese In The Trap

Revelation Of Youth

Operation Name: Pure Love

The Law Of Being Friends With A Male

My Introverted Boy

See You in My 19th Life

The old ones that I've read before and now re-reading them again -

Something About Us

Positively Yours

Marked By King BS

The ones that I haven't read yet but want to get into it -

Romance 101

My Younger Brother's Friends

Rewriting Our Love Story

1 Plus 1

Villain With A Crush

This Must Be Love

Now I wanna talk about some of the Manhwa series that I recently read in the last couple of days...

Our Secret Alliance

Manhwa Status: Completed Troupe: Childhood best friends turned lovers. THE NO. 1 BEST FUCKING "CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TURNED LOVERS" TROUPE MANHWA OUT THERE💘!! PERIOD😤!!!

No, seriously. I really enjoyed reading this series, and OMG !!! Female lead Se-i Yun and male lead Jaeha Kim are so fucking adorable!!! Se-i is a cutie, for sure, and seeing Jaeha as a boyfriend in this story raised my "boyfriend" expectations to an unrealistic height...

Also warning: you'll encounter a soft, bashful male lead here... so beware!!!

Seasons Of Blossom

Manhwa Status: Completed This story has four different parts: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. And damn, the stories are so good, y'all!!

(This is gonna be a LONG rant here btw...)

I really loved the 1st part of the series "Bomi's Flower" which is the season of Spring. The sweet female lead (Bomi Yun), one of the most popular and studious girls in school, has a little crush on the 2nd male lead (Jaemin Lee), another popular kid in school, but later finds out that her best friend/2nd female lead (Seonhui Kang) also has a crush on Jaemin. But the thing is everyone in their school ships Bomi and Jaemin together as a romantic couple. Seonhui also shows her genuine support to Bomi as a good friend if she ever tries to get together with Jaemin, but Bomi knows that deep down inside her heart Seonhui is hurting by the fact that Jaemin likes Bomi and everyone ships them, meaning her love towards Jaemin is unrequited. So to save her friendship with Seonhui and also to save Seonhui from a potential heartbreak, Bomi gets into a fake relationship with the male lead (Jinyeong Choi), so that Seonhui and Jaemin get the chance to be together... But the thing is Jinyeong is the complete opposite of Bomi. Unlike Bomi, Jinyeong is blunt, ruthless with his words, always has a straight bored look on his face, and has an "I don't give a fuck" kinda attitude. He doesn't fuck around and hates those typical high school dramas and bullshit. Even though he's a gaming otaku and only has two male friends, he's quite famous among the students; guys want to be friends with him because of his game recommendations and girls think he's really cute. Also despite the fact that he's shorter than Bomi in height, my man has balls for sure when it comes to speaking up about his mind or taking action for anything.

This story talks about how opposites attract one another, how to discover and learn new yet unexpected things, how to fall in love for the first time in life and that sweet feeling like falling in love in your youth, and how to break out of your own shell and discover a new side of yourself. This 1st part of the series will give you nothing but fluff, sweetness, and butterflies.

And then later comes the 2nd part of the series, the season of Summer aka Hamin's Flower...

Okay, this one was really tough to get through. Not because the story sucked or anything. It's because of how painful, angsty, and heartbreaking it is. In the 1st part (Bomi's Flower aka Spring), we get to know that the 2nd male lead Jaemin Lee had an older brother named Hamin Lee (the golden child of the family) who died 6 years ago by committing suicide. We don't get much info about Hamin Lee in the 1st part (other than the fact that he's Jaemin's brother) until it comes to an end and the 2nd part begins. The 2nd part opens up with Jaemin Lee and the gang bumps into a 24-year-old art college student named Somang Han who happens to be Hamin's girlfriend from high school. Through Somang's narration and flashbacks, we get to know what kind of person Hamin Lee was, how she and Hamin met and fell in love, and how he spiraled into depression which resulted in him ending his own life. And also through Jaemin, we get to know more about Hamin as a son and a brother and how their parents' rough parenting pushed him to darkness and depression. At first, when Hamin was first mentioned in the 1st part, I didn't think much about him and only felt empathy for Jaemin for losing his older brother. But after getting introduced to Hamin in the 2nd part and learning more about him through Somang and Jaemin's POV and narrations, I couldn't help but bawl my eyes out for him in every single chapter. It got even worse for me since I already knew where the story was going and what was going to happen to Hamin in the end (it was more like the Shinichiro Sano effect from Tokyo Revengers like you know who Shinichiro is and what happened to him but that doesn't stop you from falling in love with him despite him being dead throughout the whole series). RIP Hamin Lee; my heart will always go out to you, forever, always.

The 2nd part Hamin's Flower aka Summer talks about some heavy topics/subjects like - dysfunctional families, rough parenting going wrong, dealing with societal burdens and depression, losing your loved ones and dealing with the aftermath, your first tragic love story, handling regrets and dealing with your traumas, how to overcome those traumas, and finally how to let go of your past and move on with life.

Hamin's Flower left me in such a numb and gloomy state that I couldn't read the other two parts (Autumn and Winter), but I'll try to get back and read them sooner or later. Even though I haven't read the complete series yet, I'll still give out a biased statement - I really, really loved Bomi's Flower and Hamin's Flower, and these two parts will always gonna be my favs from this series (doesn't matter to me if Autumn and Winter are better than these two).

Cheese In The Trap

Manhwa Status: Completed The oldest series in this list...

This story... this story... Oh God, where should I begin?!?! I can't believe that I didn't read this until now!! This is a truly mature love story. If you read this wanting a simple light college romance, this is not for you. While there are very cute interactions between the main character and her love interests, it is a very well-thought-out and complex manga - definitely the most realistic I have read thus far. The character development is out of this world and adds a sense of tangibility to the characters that you really don't see in fiction normally. To explain, the important main and side characters in any story are always bound by rules of development to identify them as cogs in a narrative; we have underlying expectations about what the characters might do, or how they might subvert those expectations. But, this webtoon is the study of social relationships and the nature of people. You get to see that there will always be some sort of social hierarchy, that there are meanings and repercussions beyond what you expect to happen in life, and that we all have some degree of victim and perpetrator in us. We all cope and process in different ways, while also continuing and evolving in life the way we know how. Unlike anything I have ever read before.

Also, this story is under the tag of "Psychological Drama" and it's all because of the male lead named Jung Yu. God, I've such a love-hate relationship with him, y'all!! Like I love him but also hate him at the same time. He's mysterious, charming, alluring yet so damn confusing. Also, the fact that he's a sociopath with a bit of a Yandere-ish tendency in him and that he's also obsessed with the female lead (Seol Hong) in a very twisted way??? He's a walking red flag for sure, but then again not... In short, Jung Yu is a complex character and my simple brain just can't comprehend him. I also love the female lead (Seol Hong), the 2nd male lead (Inho Baek), and Seol's two best friends (Bora Jang and Euntaek Kwon). The only important side character I despise is Inho's twin sister Inha Baek (don't ask why; just go and read it for yourself and you'll know why... also I hate those bully characters too btw, just so you know...).

I Don't Hate Us

Manhwa Status: Completed Troupe: Childhood best friends turned lovers.

Another series with "childhood best friends turned lovers" troupe done right!!

The female lead (Wonsu Ha) and the male lead (Jaesu Sang) have been childhood best friends since their middle school days. They had been best friends through high school and college until one day Wonsu got herself a boyfriend. Jaesu has romantic feelings for Wonsu, but she only sees him as a friend and has platonic love for him. Wonsu then breaks up with her boyfriend, not because the guy is a cheater but because they aren't that compatible with each other, so they mutually break up and separate. Wonsu also gets separated from Jaesu because his romantic feelings for her were getting in the way of their friendship at the time, and also her relationship with her ex-boyfriend took a toll on her mentally and emotionally, so she cut off all her connection and simply focused on her studies and graduating from university. Years later, now working in a small yet growing company, Wonsu reconnects with an adult and more mature Jaesu, who now works in a multinational corporation, and that's when sparks and butterflies start to fly left, right, and center. Almost all the characters are likable, the story and the plot are realistic, and overall it was an enjoyable read for me truly.

Also warning: you'll encounter a soft, bashful male lead here... so beware!!! I mean, the fact that despite the bad boy looks and everything, he's so cute like a puppy is fucking adorable, yo!!!

My First Love Hate

Manhwa Status: On-going Troupe: Childhood best friends turned lovers

This one came out this year and so far I'm really enjoying it. Just like the previously mentioned series above, the female lead (Eunha Kang) is relatable, funny, smart, studious, strong-willed, and whatnot. The male lead (Seungmin Ha) is Eunha's childhood best friend since elementary school but they stopped hanging out with one another ever since he became a delinquent back in high school despite the fact that they went to the same school and were in the same classroom. Years later, Eunha got into a prestigious university in Seoul and later learned that Seungmin was also at that university!! Not only that, he also stopped being a delinquent for good and suddenly started dressing up like a nerdy college boy. When Eunha asked what he was trying to do, Seungmin simply replied that he was returning back to his old self again and wanted to reconnect with Eunha... But things got a bit spicy all of a sudden when a tattoo-bodied 2nd male lead named Ryu Seonhoo walked into the scene and Eunha had to tutor him for the GED test on a regular basis...

Also warning: you'll encounter a soft, bashful, puppy-like male lead AND 2nd male lead here... so beware!!!

Just Twilight

Mahwa Status: Ongoing Troupe: Strangers to friends to lovers

I won't say anything about it... JUST FUCKING READ THIS SHIT ALREADY!!!

If you're a fan of another famous manhwa series called "Positively Yours", then you'll also love this series since it's written by the same author. The female lead (Junyoung Yun) is literally my spirit animal and the male lead (Beomjin Kwon) is such a husbando material, y'all... like, just look at him!!!

That's all for now... I'll make more Korean manhwa recommendation posts again very soon!!!

My manhwa recommendation list posts - Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3.

[the-real-rain-world-confessions]

HAH, That Sunstone is problematic ask come straight for me I swear... But no...

No, I think it's problematic for much different reasons. First this is much to interpretation to be fair, but honestly... I think Suns is kind of... not great for any ship.

TrafficLights I'm coming for you to.

Suns has multiple problematic behaviours that make me just go "My enby fool, you need therapy and now! RSD alert." Also why I am leaning more and more to ADHD Suns...

But namely, the way Suns speaks in everything just itches at me the wrong way. With Pebbles there's this kind of "haha, if you were just a bit smarter" vibe to Suns dialogue and I do point to the Bug in the Maze conversation specifically with this...

"It's not said out loud but if you were better at reading between the lines there's nowhere you wouldn't see it."

And I don't really want to bring up Suns super bad apology pearl, but the best I can call these dialogues is patronizing... and then, oh, there's a reason I would argue until I'm blue that TrafficLights is a problematic ship as well and that reason is guilt tripping back hand. I would also argue that Suns is downplaying their role in the situation(until they swap to "all my fault" play), but that's very possibly just a me reading.

It's just NSH is a lot less tolerant of that stuff.

But seriously, Suns is kind of... dismissive, if not in so many words of Moon's situation, entirely focused on Pebbles, and there's this thread of just desperation... but the things that stand out the most to me...

"I learned from the best. At least I used it for something more... practical."

Suns wording here is like, backhanded compliment or like "Well I done it better" in regards to making Spearmaster(who mind, not practical at all... like Suns please) despite copying from NSH... it just strikes me.

And then... later when NSH gets mad and rightfully defensive/frustrated with Suns there's another bit of dialogue that just triggered me to remember a not so great friendship I had...

"I'm noticing you are becoming more defensive. This obviously wasn't the end result I was aiming for, you know. Please respond to my messages. I don't want to leave it like this. I need someone to talk to."

Nothing about NSH's emotions here, this also just feels... guilt trippy. Or maybe it's me again, but it just... rubs the wrong way. The way Suns dialogue is just immediately reading like "no, don't leave me alone, I can't be alone" vibes.

In any case, I think Suns is a bit of a toxic friend. Maybe not in the way some might, but I think Suns issue is simple, they're just so desperate to not be left alone, have RSD and make bad decisions in general. And also as soon as the situation went as south as it did Suns dialogue turned into it all been their fault... did anyone else notice that?

"I feel like I've doomed not one, but two iterators."

RSD, and trying to swing for sympathy...

Anycase, get Suns a therapist not a relationship. All Suns ships are trashcan ships.

.

[starrysnowdrop]

Why Hermes?

So, some of you might have wondered why I decided to ship Hali’s Azem, Urania, with Hermes instead of your usual Emet, Hyth, or even Elidibus. As I have been asked this particular question before, I decided to write out my answer here for all that are curious to know. And what better opportunity to do so while celebrating #AppleSyrcus Week! This was supposed to be the entry for the Free Day, but I’m a bit late for that, so I apologize for the delay.

See below the cut for the full details.

I want to start by saying that it’s been difficult at times for me to talk about Hermes, for multiple reasons, but possibly the biggest reason is that so many in the fandom seem to hate him. I mean he is the one that is easy to point to and say that he caused the final days in the first place and that he’s to blame for literally everything that happened afterwards. I won’t get into a debate here about how much of it was Hermes to blame, or the Ancients’ society at large, but there’s no denying of his role in the Final Days, being the creator of the Meteia and letting Meteion escape after knowing what the Meteia planned to do. So I get it, I really do. But it also means that it makes me really anxious about even talking about him, let alone gpose or write about him. Over time it’s gotten easier, so I’m okay with writing this out now.

Here’s the thing. From the beginning, I was in the “love to hate him” camp about Fandaniel. I was intrigued with his character and wanted to know more, but I wasn’t exactly excited about his total nihilism, especially in the Pre-EW patches when we first got a taste of him. He got a bit more interesting after the Amon reveal right before Tower of Zot. As a fan of Allag stuff, I liked the reveal and all, but I still didn’t know at all what to expect next. When we got to Fandaniel’s death when he became the heart of Zodiark, I felt like he was an interesting villain, but not my favorite in FFXIV, and I thought that was that. I actually didn’t think we’d get anything more about Fandaniel, let alone his Unsundered self.

Then came Elpis, and the more I heard and saw, the more I realized that I was going to fall in love with this character, or should I say the Unsundered Fandaniel anyway. The reveal that his name was Hermes got me so damn giddy already because I have always loved Hermes from Greek Mythology. Then when Hermes first spoke in Elpis, I recognized Jeremy Ang Jones’ voice, as he was clearly Amon/Fandaniel, but he spoke so softly and it just hit me with the feels instantly. I have no idea why, but I find a great voice to be a huge turn on, and Hermes just did it for me. His beautiful green eyes also greatly help in the sexiness department for me.

Seriously though, the more I learned of Hermes, the more I felt for him. His caring nature and compassion for all of the creations that entered his care, his devotion and fatherly love for Meteion, and his kindness towards the WoL, who was just a particularly odd familiar to his knowledge, just made me love him so deeply. And he was so unique amongst the Ancients, with his love for all creatures, not just his fellow people.

Another major reason why I got attached to Hermes was that I saw a lot of myself in him with his depression, as I myself have chronic depression, anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, and I am also neurodivergent. Hermes spoke to me in a way that not many of the other characters had before. Though he was this all powerful Ancient, an immortal being who had the power of creation, and held an important position in his world, he still was not happy, and he was disillusioned with Ancient society. Hermes feels so real to me, and I couldn't shake how much I felt for him.

Even way after I had finished 6.0, I still couldn’t shake him from my mind. Though I had no intention on shipping my Azem with him for the longest time, since it took me nearly 2 years to do so, he had stolen my heart, just as Aymeric, G’raha, Cid, etc. had done before. When I created and developed Hali, I actually got some inspiration to flesh out her Azem, as I didn't do anything with Yume's, but I soon created Urania. And when I was writing out my ideas, my heart knew what the right choice was. I knew that Urania would love Hermes, but it ultimately is a tragic love story since it doesnt work out, as they are broken up before the summonings of Zodiark and Hydaelyn and the Sundering. Unlike how I had written Yume, Hali's Unsundered self would be the kind-hearted, compassionate, and understanding person that would be perfect to see Hermes for who he is and fall in love with him, even though Hermes will ultimately sabotage the relationship and push Urania away over and over again.

Lastly, I wanted to point out that my love is very much for Hermes, and not as much for Fandaniel as the sundered ascian. I very much see Hermes, Amon, and Ascian Fandaniel as all separate characters, even though they all share the same soul whose trauma can be first attributed to the suffering that Hermes experienced. Though I still sympathize with Fandaniel to a point, I certainly do not ship Hali with Fandaniel, nor Hermes even. This is because Hali's heart belongs to Aymeric, and although she recognizes that she has some feelings for Hermes when she meets him in Elpis, Hali ultimately attributes that to Urania's feelings and not her own.

As of right now, I am still figuring out not only a canon timeline, especially with the newest short story coming in and wrecking a few things that I had planned, but I also have a few headcanons for the Modern AU with Urania x Hermes. So for now, I’ll give you a handful of headcanons for the Modern AU.

Hermes is a single father who adopted Meteion when she was a few months old, and she is obviously not a familiar in this modern setting but a little girl who wants her papa to find love. He is in graduate school working towards his master’s and eventually his PhD in Astronomy, but he still doesn’t earn enough to support himself and his daughter, so he is a barista at the local coffee shop. It is at the coffee shop where he meets Urania, who is a regular customer. They then bump into each other at the university and realize that they are in the same Astronomy graduate program. Some other hobbies that Hermes has include cooking, bird watching, and stargazing, along with spending his free time with Meteion as much as he can. I’m still figuring out how I want the romance to develop, but I’m very excited about this AU because it can just be a sweet love story and no big bad stuff happening like the Final Days.

That's about it for why I love Hermes as a character, and ultimately why I decided to ship my Azem with him. Please feel free to send me an ask or a message if you have any further questions or comments.

[shurisu]

Wait, Shurisu is the ship name between Shun and Alice?

I remember when Bakugan was airing and I would look for the episodes in YouTube and I would stumble upon ship amvs of Shun and Alice, even one where they claimed they would kiss later in S1 (obviously fake).

I distinctly remember it being one of the most popular ships in the fandom, but was the series hinting and building a possible relationship or friendship between the two and then dropped it later seasons? Or was it more of a fandom invention?

I wish Alice hadn’t been dropped as a character just to see how Shun came into terms with her being Masquerade. Is that something Shurisu as a ship has explored?

Yes it's the combination of Shun+Arisu (Alice's romanisation in JP) . Shalice was also a common name but I think Shurisu sounds better.

About them kissing I have an idea why. If you know Inesidora, she used to make lots of beautiful Shurisu fanarts. She would use a similar artstyle to bakugan's own for them, so people would share her art as spoilers 😂

Shurisu wasn't one of the most popular ships, it was THE most popular ship.There was literally no competition.Even when s4 was airing people were still waiting Alice to come back.Even right now talking about this like it was ages ago feels so weird to me but I know fandom changed so much since then

Ah little me knew and claimed the ship the moment i saw them 😄I still remember very clearly watching the intro for ep 1 for the first time(where Dan introduces us the brawlers) I looked at Dan and Runo and said "oh mc and his love interest?" and seeing Shun and Alice right after, fireworks went up inside my brain. I was like "and this is the couple that will steal the show" I wasn't completely wrong at least lol

In all seriousness though i think, the creators definitely had the intention to make them a couple but dropped it later.

Shun and Alice are both similar, so they are also very different compared to the rest of the team. I think that was intentional.They are both raised by their grandfathers,Shun was trained to be ninja and Alice was also learning under her scientist grandfather.Both are very smart, act mature for their age but also lonely inside.The difference is Alice was masking it (no pun intended🎭) with her more bubbly front. I think Alice also knew how similar they truly were.She was one of the very few people who could see through him and those who could, had already known him for a very long time unlike her(Shiori, Skyress and Dan)

She could sense his mood or what's going on inside his head despite the tough act he puts on.Also the time he wanted to leave the team and she went back after him,her words got to him because she told what he needed to hear,because she could understand how he was feeling.

Maybe not much important but it also always piqued my interest how we would see them together even on most random shots because apart from that, Shun would be pictured either alone or further back in group shots.

Like this moment before the last battle,they were at the opposite sides of the city,how did they end up together?

I think Shurisu was intended to be the opposite of the main couple in mind. In contrast to Dan and Runo's childishness, they would be the mature ship.Why I think they dropped later is that

1)They didn't know what to do with Alice later on so they wrote her off

2)They also didn't seemed to know how to handle Shun any better so decided to keep him as a loner and made being a "loner" his only character trait.

Which I think is very sad because they both individually and together had a lot of potential(not gonna drag this one i know y'all hear me keep talking about this lmao)

About her being Masquerade,We at least know Shun accepts her like the rest of group but since last arc focused more on the battles there was no focus on relationship or characters.And on NV Alice had limited appearance while Shun was on Vestroia most of the time. Through the whole season only once they seemed to be in the same room together (when they send Shun to vestroia via Michael's teleporter) and I belive that's where this pic came from?

Tl,dr; i think they were definitely made to be canon.But even if the creators were to came up today and claim they had no intention like that at all,it still wouldn't change anything for me.What matters is the characters dynamic.When you compare how they act like with eachother and with others and also look at their characters it becomes more clear. "The kind boy who puts on a tough act because he is troubled" and "The cheerful girl who is also troubled inside" is an old but loved dynamic afterall.So that's what drew a lot people in.

[echo-of-damnation]

Echo's First Bath

A new creature has entered the heart of Konrad and his sons.

Everyone say hello to Echo, my sweet little science experiment.

Tags: oc!Echo, oc!night lord Tavs, oc!night lord Johanas, mentions of oc!night lord Torment, Konrad Curze, little creature Echo, mentions of past body scars, bathing creature, Soft Konrad.

Echo's echo: This is going to be out of order but this it a short about my OC Echo. A small humanoid creature some brothers find on a ship. For physicality context they look like a Nostramo born child but have no clear gender, teeth like Konrad, their arms are inky black bring the elbows down ending in sharp claws, weird bat wing like ears, and animalistic legs and feet. Experimented on to look like a a Warp Talon but in human form and v smol. I had a brain itch about them getting bathed for the first time and here we are. I will write the actual first meeting of them all later but this was too soft and sweet not to do. their name being echo will make sense later but basically they end up repeating Konrads sounds like a little echo even tho they cant speak just yet. Think of a parrot mixed with a thiefing raccoon, mixed with a feral kitten and thats Echo

Tavs didn’t mind being the de facto leader of their little trio. Johanas was the oldest of the three of them and while he was truly knowledgeable in tactics of war, but he was a quiet man outside of their little group. He was an intimidating figure, but when it came time for him to give any sort of order to others, it was like he forgot all the high and low gothic he had learned over the last few hundred years of being alive. Torment was another thing entirely; he was ruthless and hardheaded. He was constantly getting in the faces of those he felt were a challenge to his strength. Not only that, but their other brothers no longer took him seriously when he demanded everyone address him as “Torment” years ago. Tavs even took pride in his leadership every now and then, but right now, his black off duty shirt and sweatpants soaked through with bath water as he wrangled what could only be described as a rabid tyrranid, he loathed his competence over his dimwitted brothers.

  It had been a few hours since they brought the little creature, who Johanas loving named Echo due to it constantly copying their gene father, on board after their failed search of the otherwise dead ship they were sent on. Their gene father took an unsettlingly quick liking to the thing, showing a soft side of himself no one imagined he had. After they had found some raw meat in the little reserves they had and fed the small thing, eating as much as any of the largest Night Lords on the ship, Konrad asked the three of them to sort out bathing it and finding some sort of clothing for it.

                “DAMNIT. ITS JUST WATER,” Tavs was getting fed up of being splashed in the face by the feral Echo. Readjusting his grip on the scruff of its neck with one hand, he wiped away the newest soaking from his face. At this pace he’d be the one getting a bath instead of Echo. Konrad insisted they use a bathtub in his adjoining bathroom and not a shower, saying that the sound of the water and it raining down on Echo would only stress it out and cause it to possibly hurt itself. After another struggle of dipping the little beast back into the lukewarm water, Tavs was starting to thing that maybe locking Echo in a shower would have been the safer route at least for him.

                His arms were covered in thin scratches from the yowling Echo trying to escape the apparently torturous bathwater. Johanas was no help either as he leaned against the wall, his excuse for not helping was due to him being too big to fit beside Tavs, which was utter bullshit. There was enough space next to him to land an emperor class ship. Echo squirmed helplessly again in Tavs’ grip, letting out a pathetic mewling sound.

                “Echo, please, if you want this to be done with please, just work with me here,” he wasn’t above pleading with the thing.

                “Maybe the water is too hot?” Johanas dumbly suggested behind him.

                “If the water was too hot, I wouldn’t be as calm as I am now after being drowned in it for the last 40 minutes trying to wrangle this beast,” Tavs had no patience for his bothers stupid remarks.

                Sighing, he gently pushed the wet warp rat back into the soapy water. Careful not to grip it too hard as to not break any bones. They still don’t know anything about the creature, but he knew that if he were to damage it in some way, Konrad would have his skin. Echo whined as it was once again submerged to it waist in the water. Tavs taking advantage of the calm and rubbing down its arms with a rag they had found. “See, its not so bad. Feels nice huh?” he cooed as he made more progress. With all the fighting they had done, Echo’s small body was almost clean, the dried blood and caked on muck coming off to reveal a scarred little body.

                Tavs almost felt sorry for the thing when the first set of faded scars began to make their appearance. They seemed to cover every inch of skin, some long and clean while others looked to have been done with the dullest blade in the galaxy. It’s abdomen had the worst of it, obviously having been experimented on hundreds of times. He was surprised that the little thing was still alive.

                Rinsing off the soap from it’s body, Tavs tried to come up with a way to wash its matted hair. He would need to use both hands for that mess but if he let go, Echo would be out of the bath and halfway to Terra in a split second. “Jo, go get father. If you aren’t going to help here then be useful some other way.”

                He continued to pour water on Echo to keep them warm as Johanas grumbled under his breath as he left the bathroom. Echo had tired a bit from the fight, but Tavs still had to be alert to the sudden thrashing they would do. A low sad whine constantly coming from the pitiful thing.

                “Why did you call for me,” Konrad was suddenly next to Tavs causing him to startle. After all this time, he still could never hear when his gene father moved.

                Shaking off the embarrassment of jumping, Tavs explained the situation he was facing.

                “I see, and instead of ordering your brothers to help, you summoned me for this petty work,” the tone in Konrad’s voice letting Tavs know that this was a dumb thing to ask of him.

                “I asked for your help father because I know Echo would be calmer in your presence and I didn’t want to hurt the little beast,” It wasn’t entirely a lie. Tavs could feel the slack in Echo’s body the moment Konrad had appeared next to him. The soft repeating of Konrad’s words filling the silence between the men.

                Konrad was quiet for a while and Tavs thought he had just left him without saying anything, but looking over at the place his father would be he could see he was still there. A softness in his eyes as he looked down at the wet Echo. He could see his hands twitch slightly in an effort not to reach out to touch the creature. Glancing over at the wet creature in his hand he could see that Echo was quietly looking back at Konrad, a strange recognition in its wide black eyes. “Very well. I will stay but I will not help,” Konrad said as he kneeled next to Tavs.

                Releasing the breath he didn’t know he was holding, Tavs cautiously began to loosen his grip on Echo until he could move both hands away. After flexing the tired hand that was previously having to death grip the scruff of Echo’s neck, he reached over to the shampoo. Pouring a small dollop in his hand, he began to gently massage it into the matted mess.

                It was a night and day difference with Konrad in the room. Echo calmed to a state where they began to close their eyes at the ministrations of Tavs’ fingers on their scalp. More dried blood came from its hair, turning the bubbles into a deep brown color.

                “The little beast has been through a lot it seems,” Konrad said quietly. A hint of sadness in his words.

                “Yes they have. I don’t know how they are this alive,” Tavs confessed.

                His gene father hummed a response at that, the sound winning them a quiet purr from Echo. “I told you Echo would be better with you here,” Tavs added.

                “It does seem that way.”

                Once Tavs was satisfied that he thoroughly washed Echo’s hair he rinsed its head, careful not to get the soapy water in its eyes or ears. When the water ran clean, he went for the conditioner Konrad had demanded they use but before he could pour some in his hand, Konrad cleared his throat.

                “May I?” He asked, nodding his head toward the bottle.

                Tavs was a surprised that his father just asked for permission for something but quicky recovered. Nodding his read furiously and handing the bottle over to Konrad, Tavs watched as he poured the conditioner in his large hand and began to work it through Echo’s hair.

                He was painfully tender with the creature, carefully working the knots and mats around its head. A strange ache shot through Tavs as he watched his gene father work with delicate dedication. The ache only growing as Konrad began to hum a tune as he worked. Echo’s purring grew louder when it heard Konrad, its tiny shoulders dropping as it relaxed completely under Konrad’s fingers. The three of them stayed in that moment until Konrad had removed every obstacle in Echo’s hair. Their small head beginning to nod forward, obviously fighting sleep.

                Konrad carefully rinsed the last of the conditioners and soaps from the small creature, gently holding its back in one large hand to keep Echo from slumping forward or backward. Tavs rose first, grabbing a towel from the stack by the wall and handed it to Konrad. In a practiced motion, Konrad wrapped the small creature in the towel and cradled them against his chest. His eyes shining as he watched them sleeping in his arms, a slight rise in the corner of his mouth.

                “Tell one of the serfs to bring some of the spare blankets to my room. I think I will keep Echo in there with me for this first night…to keep an eye on them,” Konrad said to Tavs as he turned to leave him in the bathroom. Never taking his eyes off the sleeping creature.

                “Yes, sir. I’ll make sure its done,” Tavs said but it was too late. Konrad was already gone.                

He stood there for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. Trying to figure out what that strange pain was when he watched Konrad care for the little Echo. Dragging a large hand down his face, he signed and decided that that was something to figure out at a later date. Instead busying himself with cleaning up the bathroom before leaving to go find a serf to get those blankets.

[calciumcryptid]

ShinOjiRin Headcanons

This is a ship between Shinsou Hitoshi, Ojiro Mashirao, and Rin Hiryu from Boku No Hero Academia that has lived in my brain for years now and I need to post these headcanons.

Relationship Timeline

Rin had a small crush on Ojiro from the start of his first year, but it didn't cement until Ojiro stepped down from the Sports Festival. He immediately goes to ask Ojiro out who agrees. They date for the entirety of their first year.

Shinsou developed a crush on Ojiro after he stepped down, or at least paused for a moment. He asked Ojiro during the first semester into their second year, and Ojiro rejected him.

Shinsou tried to not like Rin out of principle, but gave up due to the man being too polite.

Despite this, Shinsou and Ojiro kind of get pushed into a close proximity kind of situation when Shinsou needs to catch up on the physical training. Rin tags along, and before they know it they are all dating by the second semester.

Outside Perspective Headcanons

They are so low-key about their relationship, like, ridiculously low-key about their relationship to an absurd degree.

Even the ones who knew about it never knew the full details. Ojiro told Hagakure about Rin asking him out but he never told her about Shinsou. The IzuCrew encouraged Shinsou to ask Ojiro out, only to sympathize when he was rejected despite never learning why. The Common Sense Kings hyped Rin up about asking Ojiro out but did not know about Shinsou. The TokoFlock (minus Hagakure) knew Shinsou and Ojiro were together, but overlooked the Rin variable.

(Except for Shouji, Shouji knows all but minds his business like a regular person.)

It isn't until graduation the rest of their classmates learn about it in its entirety, and they only learn about it because Mina overheard their future plans including moving in together and bothered to ask about it.

Since Rin and Ojiro become public heroes, they are the pair in the public eye. Shinsou insists it doesn't bother him, but it bothers Rin and Ojiro because they have a whole other husband.

(Seriously the amount of times they request for an extra spot is ridiculous. You would think Shinsou's name wasn't on the certificate.)

Aizawa nearly had a heart attack when a fellow teacher told him they caught Shinsou kissing a blonde, and demanded Shinsou bring his boyfriend to dinner. He was so hyper focused on the blonde detail he was caught off-guard when there was a second significant other.

Mutant S/Os Headcanons

Due to his quirk, Rin has a lot of dragon tendencies like hoarding significant others' clothing, and dressing them jewelry despite them not wearing any normally. Luckily, the other two find it endearing.

Since Rin is a Chinese dragon, he'll sit outside in the middle of storms. It never fails to give his significant others' heart attacks. Though his tendency to dance with them in the rain makes up for his otherwise horror film shenanigans.

He will also just sit on his significant others and cuddle with them, and has been affectionately called a 'lap lizard' by Ojiro.

Due to his quirk, Ojiro has mutant tendencies like grooming his significant others or constantly touching them. He will rub heads and purrs too. Shinsou nearly exploded from heart palpation when he first experienced it.

(Asiatic Lion/Black and Gold Howler Monkey hybrid Ojiro Mashirao supremacy!)

Depending on the temperature, Shinsou will cling to one over the other. He will cling to Rin when it is warm and Ojiro when it is cold. Regardless, Rin will have a protective grip on them and Ojiro tucks his tail around them.

They have to accommodate mutant diets, so Shinsou has learned to use his lunches to balance out the immense amount of meat they consume on a daily basis.

Other Headcanons

In terms of pet names, Rin is the only one who uses them as he calls them Bao Bèi (with the 'my treasure' meaning). Ojiro sometimes calls them babe, but mainly joins Shinsou in calling his s/o by their first names.

Somehow, Shinsou is the one with the best sleep schedule despite working at night and otherwise being an insomniac. He often has to drag the other two to bed because they are up training or working on paperwork.

Due to their different schedules, dates are a pain to schedule to the point their colleagues look at them funny when they look forward to a night of takeout and whatever bromance series Rin brought from his last trip to China.

They need to train separately or they will flirt like they are in leads in an action movie. They have one love language and it is throwing hands, and their friends are tired.

They don't have wedding rings, they have wedding gauntlets and their friends are tired. (Hatsume was ecstatic about the commission.)

Seriously, they are the battle triad.

There is nothing funnier than Rin's rich energy colliding with Shinsou's grunge lifestyle. Ojiro often has to serve as a tie breaker.

They are the triad who leave food out for animals, both wild and strays, and Rin may or may not be building a crow army.

They all get equally embarrassed when their friends share pining stage stories. Hagakure especially takes immense joy from dramatically reading her and Ojiro's old text conversations.

[pluckyredhead]

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (2011)

It's been a while since I've read RHATO, so I figured I'd reread it - and if I'm doing that, why not make you all suffer with me? I will probably get tired of this before I finish all the various series, but let's see how far we get.

Roy, that would probably work better if your bow had a string.

The issue begins with Roy in a prison in Qurac for trying to overthrow a dictator. He's rescued by Jason, in disguise as a pastor in a fat suit (sigh). There's so much wrong with these opening pages: the fat suit, the writing off an entire Middle Eastern nation as evil and corrupt, the fact that there's no way even a collapsed bow would fit inside a hollowed-out bible, the lazy way the panel layouts waste space...and yet. And yet.

These pages. THESE FUCKING PAGES. "His name is Roy Harper. He's an idiot. Nice guy, but an idiot." "His name is Jason Todd. A lot of people say he's crazy...Let's just say the Red Hood is my kind of crazy!"

This kind of parallel narration always makes me think of the 2003 Superman/Batman comic, which used it extensively, to extremely (and likely unintentionally?) homoerotic effect. After I read this issue, I told a friend that I got it now: Red Hood and the Outlaws was Superman/Batman for edgelords.

Which is to say, I'm pretty sure I started shipping these assholes just from these first terrible pages.

(But seriously, there are three pages up there and only five panels. Five panels! Plus some pointless maroon boxes that don't do anything! I want my money back.)

This panel is super misleading, because it implies that Roy and Jason know each other well enough for Jason to tease Roy about being a chatterbox, but later issues will show that barely know each other at this point. But then, trying to keep the backstories straight in this or any Lobdell book is like watching sand run out between your fingers.

And again here, it implies that they were already friends, a team, partners...something. But later we'll learn that they only met once, and it was years ago, when they were kids, so...what gives?

(This page is actually interesting, because Jason is constantly saying playfully mean things to Roy and Roy never seems to mind, but here he clearly hurts Roy, and he knows it.)

Siiiiigh.

To add insult to injury, Jason immediately announces that he's fucked Kori. You'll notice I aggressively ignore this in every fic I've ever written. Part of that is because I love Secret Virgin Jason, but also it just doesn't mesh with his and Kori's relationship throughout the rest of the series or his hilarious lack of game in general, and it's also so inextricably part of Amnesiac Sex Doll Kori that I just want nothing to do with it.

HATE. HAAAAAATE. The devious smile on Jason's face in the bottom row and Roy's calculating expression are so deeply disgusting to me. "This woman can't meaningly consent! She's like a cave fish with a vagina! Sweet!" Scott Lobdell is a vile human being and so is everyone who signed off on this piece of shit. (Fun fact: this was a HUGE controversy when the New 52 launched and the outcry was so loud they walked it back in a later issue when Kori tells Roy she...just lied about all of that for no reason? Okay.)

Also, "ask her about the gang you used to hang with." Uh...what gang is that, Jason? Because Donna didn't exist at this point, Wally was 12, Garth was a literal baby, Vic joined the League immediately upon getting his powers, and Gar was a child being tortured in a lab somewhere. So was it just Roy, Dick, and Raven? And they certainly weren't the Titans, because Tim's team was the founders in this continuity...which Lobdell should have known, since he was also writing that book.

The person asking to speak to Jason is Essence, his ex, who tells him something cryptic about murder victims with missing organs.

YOU DON'T KNOW MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE EITHER, ROY!!! "Remember Garth? The baby?" (Literally, he is a baby who shows up for one panel. In Atlantis.) And who the fuck is Dustin?

Anyway, Kori propositions Roy and he's like "Sure, why not." Did the target audience actually think this was hot? It's so depressing.

Essence tells Jason that something called the Untitled has attacked something called the All Caste, and Jason makes a surprised Pikachu face.

Elsewhere, a guy in a basement looks at a picture of Kori online.

I will admit to liking two things about this page: the fact that Jason's helmet is in the nightstand implies that Roy and Kori fucked in Jason's bed, which is either hilariously rude or an invitation that sailed right over Jason's head, and the red hand print on Roy's chest. It's the first glimpse of a recognizable Roy in this book; he did always like getting manhandled by scarily powerful women, pre-Flashpoint.

Jason goes...somewhere, to a temple of sorts with a lot of vague cultural appropriation going on, and kneels over the corpse of an old lady. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, Ducra," he says, before a bunch of people attack him. END OF ISSUE!

And that's Red Hood and the Outlaws #1! It's confusing, misogynistic, lazily drawn, and not very funny, and there's no reason to be invested in whatever the fuck happened at the end because I know nothing about Ducra, Essence, the All Caste, or frankly, this version of Jason. And yet I am absolutely going to read nine more years' worth of this shit. See you in issue #2!