#underrated character event

[thereaderinsertlady]

It's that time of the year again! If you'd like to participate in the underrated character event and create content for it, go to this link :3

[tvccreator]

Underrated Character Event 2023: A Game of Bat and Mouse - A Not-Necessarily-Romantic Vlad III (Apocrypha)/Reader fic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48983449

You miiight have made a mistake challenging the Berserk Lancer to a game.

An entry/submission/what-have-you to the Underrated Character Event hosted by @thereaderinsertlady! Hope you guys enjoy!

[tehcherrya]

For those of you who never knew as it's a detail one can easily miss (especially depending on which aspect ratio you're viewing in) but a lovely detail at that: Pippin was in the hobbit band in the background!

He's the one playing the banjolele!

These shots I have of the scenes where he is most visible are from the Fullscreen edition (A DvD I own and often watch for the different viewing experience). I believe in the Widescreen edition their heads are cut off by the aspect ratio-- so it's easy to miss!

And for those of you who haven't put it together already, yes! That is our beloved Merry standing next to him as they both watch Frodo dance.

Mind you, Merry is not in the band. A few scenes prior he was actually along the precession line of bringing in Bilbo's Birthday cake. He probably came up to the platform to talk to Pippin, give him a mug of something to drink and inevitably snatch him away for some mischief. Because after this brief scene, Pippin is then absent from the stage-- he and Merry are going to go swipe some fireworks!

[rockpaperscissuhs]

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH + BAND OF BROTHERS:

JOSEPH "JOE" RAMIREZ

Born October 5th, 1921, in Nebraska

Died April 8th, 1988 (age 66), in Martinez, California

Joe Ramirez enlisted in September 1942 (age 20) in San Francisco, CA, and he trained with Easy Company at Toccoa. Holding the rank of Private, he served in Normandy, Holland, and Bastogne. He was hospitalized in January 1945, and discharged in July 1945. After the war, he was married for many years, and had children and grandchildren. When he passed away he was buried with his wife, who had passed away 11 years earlier. Further information about him is scarce, but the brief character profile in the Band of Brothers series bible describes him as Mexican-American, and his personality as "sensitive and nervous."

Appears in Episodes 1, 3-8, and 10; portrayed by actor Rene L. Moreno

Sources below

A million thanks to @bleedingcoffee42 for tracking down this info for me!

[zoey-000]

HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT MY WIFE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

SHE'S SO CUTE OMG 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I LOVE YOU KOHANE 😭😭😭😭

AN YOU'RE SO LUCKY OMG LOOK AT HER

SHE'S SO HAPPY

UEE😭🥺💧EU💧💧E E 😭😭E EUE🥺🥺😭UUUUE😭🥺💧🥺😭ue💧ee😭🥺💧ue🥺e e e😭. e 💧🥺😭Uueuuue. 💧💧ue😭🥺ee e🥺🥺😭eYEEE💧🥺💧EEE💧💧🥺U E🥺😭EE G💧🥺😭E EYU💧🥺😭UUEHH🥺💧😭EUEH💧🥺😭💧💧ue e😭😭eeeeee💧💧💧uu🥺😭hh😭🥺uUEEE🥺😭💧

[cnl0400]

Something that bothers me Is that everytime one of the "trio" Is given spotlight, the same old discourse happens of "do you want them to be dateable?" And Some people answer that No, because "they will take Time of the other cast" I'm sorry but having more or less characters isn't part of the problem. Look at season 1 of OG, and any event before the side characters became dateable. The problem Is the devs playing favorites, even If w still had 7 characters, the same problem would still be there.

Giving Thirteen a kiss scene will not rob of Beelzebub of an spotlight or giving Mephisto a hug of Asmodeus having screentime. The problem Is Mammon having 3 spotlights this year when we still have characters that haven't had one. The problem Is the devs pushing Lucifer as the center of the universe in the Main Story of NB. Why do you blame the characters that barely appear of robbing you of something that they aren't giving you anyways?

[non-fantasy]

Hello!! I saw your post about the game you're making - it sounded fascinating, and out of curiousity about a genre I don't know much about I got into a visual novel/dating sim related rabbit hole.

If you don't mind my asking, do you have any recommendations? VN or datesims or both! or any adjacents too.

(thank you, and good luck with the game!!)

YIPPEE!!!

i'm a huge fan of it gets so lonely here because it does a lot of cool things with the narration and multiple playthroughs. her tears were my light does similar things with the multiple playthrough thing and it was the first visual novel to really open my eyes to what the genre could be like! and because apparently today is horror yuri day i will add liar liar and liar liar 2. the artstyle is very cute! and there's blood!

for less horror yuri and more dating sim, i am currently completely obsessed with tokimeki memorial girls side 1-3, the dating sim/visual novel/stat-raising hybrid that inspired a lot of otome games—— and for good reason, too, because it's JUST THAT GOOD. i almost exploded something trying to play the fourth game but i will not let that stop me

in pure visual novel, i have to recommend heartbaked, it was one of those games i played in my free visual novel frenzy when i was younger and it really stuck with me! i still think about the radley ending.

i adore adore adore pacthesis games and i would love to direct you to my number one favourite and inspiration, number days sim date, because the intertwining of plot and romance and friendship was wonderful. xolga and mr toko is more point and click but check those out too

i love you was REALLY GOOD and i adored it. if you want proactive women and blushing boys this is the game for you! kill them with blushing right now

senpai please look at me was good!!! i love it! absolutely worth sticking around for all the bonuses! very short and sweet and you will love it

sweetest valentine is a game. in a genre called :). if you don't know what :) means don't worry about it!

play yuki 4p for lesbians and its sequel, scheme, for even more dumb lesbians. i am absolutely begging you to click those links because the names are too long for me to type out and i don't know if googling lesbians scheme will bring you to the masterpiece properly

hermes and gry is REALLY FUNNY but also one of those games that opened my mind to how complex the ren'py system could be. you made a map, a constantly-updated journal, an inventory, and the best damn ending ever? i was screaming when all my evil schemes came together. absolutely 10/10 worth it if the creator wants my liver i'd hand it over

hot coffee is SO SO SO good that i ended up reaching out to the creator just to praise it so much please play it please i'm on my knees please

speaking of games i am begging you to play

absolutely play i want to pursue the mean side character and my sweet zombie!!!! tsun is a great artist and the stories are good and you have to have to have to have to play okay!!! tsun is also making i just want to be single which is so so so cool the game of the year every year and it hasn't been released yet and you need to become. a fan okay because aro pride is right now

[np5enkidu]

i need fgo to acknowledge servants horses more

[snicketverse-fic-finder]

💛Underrated fic rec of the week:

[Word Count: 4, 679] [Status: Completed✅]

🗣️Main character: Klaus Baudelaire

💘Main ships:

Klaus Baudelaire / Duncan Quagmire

Klaus Baudelaire/ Fiona Widdershins

Klaus Baudelaire / Carmelo Squalor (Trans man!Carmelita Spats)

Set: Post Canon ⌛️

Fic Type: Oneshot 📕

Comedy 😂, Romance ���, Polyamory 💞💞, LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Description:

[‘When the Daily Punctilio declares Klaus Baudelaire the City's Most Eligible Bachelor, despite his having two committed partners, he thinks he's the most annoyed a person could be.

Turns out that prize goes to Carmelo Squalor, who, as the adorable son of the City's fifth most important financial advisor, believes the title should have gone to him.

How throwing a gigantic party and aggressively inviting Klaus to attend will solve this problem, he doesn't know. But he knows it will.

***

Or: bi, poly Klaus Baudelaire does an enemies to lovers speedrun with gay transmasc Carmelo Squalor, formerly known as Carmelita Spats.’]

{My opinion: This is a hilarious fic in which the characters feel real and there is more lgbt+ rep than I could have hoped for! I mean, there’s bi Klaus, trans Carmelo, they/them Sunny…and that’s far from all. Anyway, really funny fic, go and do yourself a favour by reading it+letting the author know what you think!💛}

[If there is a fic you think is underrated then please lmk in one way or another and I’ll include it in next week’s ‘underrated fic’ rec! Also it’s 100% fine to ask for your own fic to be recommended!]

[seaweedstarshine]

literally black king Emma was so fucking good. we were robbed. Like on the one hand they should have let Matt Rosenberg cook but on the other hand. the really brutal Ruth death and rahne trans panic murder were a lot 💀

Oh you’re so so right — the mutant metaphor suffers from cis white writers, but I remember people calling it trauma porn like there’s no narrative purpose for there being a massive death count overall, and I'm like… mmmmmMmm.

Personal preference rambles as a found family heavy angst enjoyer (this is not a defense of Rosenburg X-Men), but in a general sense I really like when — so they might not get along, but they got each other, because as life keeps gloating it's hell to fight supremacy when you're fighting each other (not that causes of divisions amongst marginalized people are unimportant, but if you don't have your people, no one else will, this is how I feel; also not that anyone is obligated to loyalty towards a specific individual that harms them) — Hope shooting Scott in the head isn't fine, but what binds them is more important than grudges. Logan finally leaving his MCU-esque Post Credits Scene Era to be with Scott! The way Black King Emma (!!!) will stoop to any low as she manipulates Scott into doing what she wants, but she is trying to protect him, she worries when he's shot, and when the perceived advantage of their separation ends, she just welcomes them all into the Hellfire Club?? It's just cathartic for me.

There are some very significant caveats in this run that I only hope I remember well enough to speak on… The Morlocks deserved better, eons before anti-mutant hate got to that level, and between Jono and Dani's roles — the X-Men having overlooked the way it's always godawful for the most marginalized among them before it was quite this godawful for all of them, the hypocrisy, it could've been explored better here with less focus on Scott and Logan. Like in Sabretooth and the Exiles, sort of, but not entirely…

(I think sometimes this works better with side books. The Simonson New Mutants run is debatably my fav and overhated in my opinion.)

Yeah, Rosenburg X-Men is very flawed, and it's extremely valid not to be into it when you hold the same energy for Krakoa's flaws, but overall (for me) it really nailed the tension and the stakes and the angst and I was extremely hooked, especially with Age of X-Men meanwhile making choices in the other books.

(I might be misremembering a bunch, too, I literally just reread my college essay from almost exactly 5 years ago to try and remind me! I was low-key exaggerating in those tags where I called it a paper, it was a 3-page one-week essay with two sources which were Rosenburg UXM and the textbook. I also re-skimmed the Ruth death issue…)

…okay one more thing also I can't lie I was heavy into David/Ruth at the time and I read that issue like three times that week it dropped, I'm not about to say it she wasn't fridged for the purpose of setting up how bad it's about to get, nor that the interesting shit it did with her powers didn't literally just mirror the excuse to write out Destiny in a very concerning pattern, but at least the story was about Ruth's pain rather than that of those left behind (which is very different from, say, the focus being on Peter Parker's pain when Ms Marvel last died; and also very different from Rahne's death, which is the worst of the run)— anyway in 2019 I was just so happy to see Ruth again after that wildly OOC Legion series that didn't mention her while David was also being a plot device in Age of X-Men (which I didn't love). I had pretty much lost hope that my X-Men Legacy babies would ever be relevant again, so it was a win for me. Not as big as Way of X, but the bar was on the floor. That said a content warning was so needed to be at the beginning instead of a fucking suicide hotline at the end.

But the Rahne trans panic murder, god. Masterclass in taking the mutant metaphor to depict the most brutal things to happen to real marginalized people (without bothering to represent them?) and it goes grossly exploitative so quick. The way X-Men's lack of sensitivity readers shows…

ANYWAYS I haven't read it in years please take my opinions with a grain of salt.

[drc00l4tt4]

Btwbtwbtw egg. eggy. egger. @thereaderinsertlady yeah.

for the,, for r the underrated character evetns thing

Expect the Unexpected - DR_C00L4TT4 - The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (Cartoon) [Archive of Our Own]

I put this here

[thereaderinsertlady]

ssso ik that reg. requests are closed buuut i also seens that you like rainbow friends and was wondering if you could write hcs for.. any of them? im so desperate for content lol, any amount of hcs would have me satified for the rest of my life tbh. also while im here in your inboc, id like to say that i love your works :D

You are. Very much correct that I enjoy RF 😔 and that there's little reading content of thems. I shooouldn't be doing requests rn but since you asked so nicely and the underrated character event is going on (aug 1st-3rd) aaand since I'm obsessed with them I figured I should go ahead and write hcs for them. I did a mix of general hcs and x reader hcs for all of the friends, sooo I hope you enjoooy! Also, I wasn’t sure what order to write them in so I got @tvccreator and @cottoncanderino to give me some colors lmao. Under the cut bc it's long!

ㅤ

Purple x Reader - General Headcanons

Almost all of the Rainbow Friends either speak in growls, hisses, snarls, or something else animalistic, having their own unique language. Purple has a raspy voice, mainly using hisses and low tones to speak. Purple knows how to speak a little English, but the Friends' vocal cords aren't well equipped to speak a human language so it ends up sounding off. Each of them have their own style of speaking, but it didn't take too terribly long to figure out what they were all saying.

Purple goes by they/he pronouns, but tends to like nonbinary terms better. Though, they absolutely adore pet names, such as sweet pea, cupcake, honey bun– the list goes on. It makes them melt a little to hear you use such endearing terms with them.

They typically stay in the vents since it makes them feel safe and warm– not a whole lot of people can squeeze themselves into the small nooks and crannies of the metal pathways. But when you came around, they slowly got used to being out in the open, sticking close to you.

Purple likes cuddling with a warm body– you, but it took them a while to get used to at first. With how they were shaped, it was a struggle to figure out a comfortable position for you and them. They used to cuddle with Green during a bad night, but eventually stopped, figuring that he didn't like cuddling with them... which couldn't be further from the truth, but they didn't figure that out until much later.

While cuddling with you, Purple likes to trace shapes along your back, ranging from geometric symbols to letters. They did it lightly so it was hard to tell what shape they were doing sometimes, but you've caught them tracing 'I love you' on a handful of occasions.

Purple will eat dog food like the rest of the Friends do, and most of the Friends don't really mind the taste of it, but Purple'll sometimes will sneak 'real food' out of Red's pantry or steal a few bites from whatever you're eating.

ㅤ

Green x Reader - General Headcanons

Since Green is very much blind and can't see anything, he often lets you lead him through the building. He has a pretty firm grasp on where he is most of the time, but furniture and objects move around on occasion and ends up getting him confused. Before you came along, he'd use his hands to feel things out, but it's much faster to let you lead him through the halls.

Green absolutely HATES bath time... well, it's more like shower time since they don't really have bath tubs, but he just dislikes the process in general. Blood tends to get grimey and sticks to his skin, and it's a pain to wash it off after handling an intruder. There has been many-a time where Red would have to chase and corner him before dragging his ass to the stables where the larger showers were, chaining him until he was squeaky clean, but he'll be less hesitant when you offer to help him rinse off.

Unlike most of the Friends, he communicates through... party horn noises. And sometimes squeaks. He doesn't quite use their shared language, so it takes a while to piece together context clues and body cues on what he's saying from time to time. He'll get frustrated when someone doesn't understand him after a minute or two, and on occasion, he'll just give up on trying to finish what he was trying to say.

Despite having difficulty in communicating, Green enjoys being around people, either listening to them talk or simply laying near them. It's hard to tell when he falls asleep– his googly eyes aren't real, so he ends up startling people when he 'speaks' up. It certainly startled you, but you've... somewhat grown used to it.

On a few occasions, his hand will drift to people's chest while they're talking. He doesn't do it in a sexual or romantic way, though– he just likes feeling the vibrations of when someone talks. It comforts him in a way, being able to feel the buzz of another person's voice.

Usually he's able to tell if someone is an intruder or not, and rarely he mistakes the Friends and you as an enemy. Of course, when his arm snakes towards someone in a menacing manner, they're quick to warn him who they were and he realizes pretty quickly before anyone gets hurt. He... feels incredibly guilty about it afterwards. This happens to you and Red more than anyone else, since the both of you sound human-esque while walking.

ㅤ

Yellow x Reader - General Headcanons

Yellow, in typical '''bird''' fashion, likes to create nests. He has his own nest in the amusement park dedicated to him, sure, but he also likes to make nests in the facility too, gathering up all the blankets and compiling them into one dark corner. He likes to drag you to his nest– albeit nervously– and simply snuggle with you.

Since he doesn't really have... feathers, his skin will get dry and crackily when the atmosphere is dry or when it gets extremely hot. The facility stays a fairly chilly temperature, but he doesn't like to stay indoors for too long. Although he can't quite fly on his own or without support, he likes being outside. He goes through a bottle of lotion a week during the hottest month, and a bottle every two weeks for the coldest month. Otherwise, he manages to be skimpy with the lotion. There's some spots that are difficult to get to, so he'll either get you, Red, or Orange to help. Despite having conflicting personalities, with him being shy and nervous and Orange being, well, Orange, they're pretty good friends. He's also very good friends with Cyan too, but she... doesn't really have the arms to help him out.

Yellow will use his beak to open things... even things that aren't supposed to be open that way, such as pickle jars and jars of spaghetti sauce. Like Purple, he also raids Red’s pantry, but tends to get caught more often than not.

He often has nightmares and night terrors, and it'll take him a while to calm down from it. Calm and kind words usually will bring him down, but it still takes a considerable amount of time.

Yellow sleeps longer and better when it's cold, curling up in his nest and not waking up unless it gets warmer or until a certain amount of time has passed– which usually is somewhere around a day or two.

He isn't too big on physical affection other than snuggling, but he certainly won't say no to a kiss... although, he'll be extremely embarrassed, stuttering and fumbling over his words a lot more than usual.

ㅤ

Orange x Reader - General Headcanons

Orange likes to stick to his cave, only going out when there isn't food in his bowl. The automatic feeder in his cave needs to be filled every other day, and Red'll forget from time to time. When that happens, though, you typically go get him some food... uuunless you forget too. When that happens only does he seek out food outside of his cave. He would go through Red's pantry like half of the other Friends do, buuut he's too short to open it.

He doesn't really mind that he's the shortest Friend... most of the time. He HATES asking for help to reach something, or when he gets teased about how tall he is.

Although he can't speak a human language, he has an almost southern Cajun accent, talking loudly and cutting off certain words. He also will talk a lot, telling you short stories or anecdotes about things that may or may not be true. "An' they said tha' I couldn't read th' darn thing! And... I mean, I can't read, but still!"

Orange isn't the best cuddle partner. He wiggles and worms around in his sleep, and will sometimes kick or bite! Though, he does like to sleep with a blanket over him and lay near people. Since it's difficult to get up on the ledge he sleeps on, you'll invite him to come lay down with you atop a thin but large mattress you found in storage.

Whenever Orange gets excited or happy, his tail will wag... And, when he gets sad, feels guilty, or upset, his tail will lower or go between his legs.

Orange will eat things that he's not supposed to. Sometimes it'll be edible things like bugs or coffee that Red tends to leave in places and forgets about it. Other times he'll gnaw on rocks or bones and accidentally swallow them. He'll be fine for the most part, but feels awful for a few days and ends up laying near you until he feels better.

ㅤ

Blue x Reader - General Headcanons

To communicate, Blue uses a variety of grunts and rumbling noises, but he tends to use wrong tenses and omits certain words entirely. Despite this, it's still fairly easy to understand him. "Why use many words? Is pointless. Fewer words better." When he does speak, his deep voice will send vibrations down anyone near him, giving off a mildly calming sensation.

While sleeping, injured, or very happy, Blue will purr. It's an incredibly easy sound to fall asleep to, and he purrs the most when cuddling with another person. He also gives off an incredible amount of warmth, making him the best cuddle partner out of everyone.

His button 'eye' can come loose if enough force is put on it, usually sending him to tears. It really doesn't feel good! When it comes loose, he either goes to Red or you to fix it since he... can't really fix it himself. His little nubs aren't able to do much when it comes to small things... and things that require thumbs.

Blue tends to sleep more often than not, taking several hour-long naps during the day and sleeping through the entire night. Though, food tends to wake him up... or tickling, but he doesn't like being tickled all that much. Something about unwillingly laughing weirds him out.

Sometimes, Blue will just... do some things without thinking of the consequences. Saving you from being bitten by Orange? Okay. He'll punch Orange. You have a bag of popcorn? Okay. He'll eat the popcorn AND the bag. There's an intruder? Okay. He'll go find them, make a mess of their corpse, then go back to sleep. Your legs are tired and cramping? Hmm... that's a tough one, but he'll pick you up despite any protests and let you sit atop his shoulder. It was either that, or force you to rest for a while... with him, of course.

For the most part, Blue doesn't wear any clothes... However, on the rare occasion, he'll wear a shirt or two that you've bought for him. Since he's so big, you have to get the largest size, but it only ends up... mildly snug on him. He's worried about accidentally ripping it and would like to wear clothes more since it can be comforting to him, so he ends up not wearing most of the things you get him, even after reassuring him that it was okay if something ripped.

ㅤ

Cyan x Reader - General Headcanons

Cyan is, most certainly, not a morning person... dino... creature. Regardless of what she is, she'll get grumpy if woken up too early, even if you are the one to typically wake her up.

Her tail flicks or sways when especially irritated, though it does wag if she is happy or excited, just like Orange's tail. There are a variety of things that she enjoys, such as playing around with you or one of the Friends, smelling new things, or head pats.

Cyan can't see all that well. For her, everything seems extremely blurry, and she sometimes mistakes the Friends as intruders just like Green does. It helps if the thing is moving, but she still struggles to distinguish certain objects.

She absolutely despises the dog food she gets fed, but still eats it anyway. She would raid Red's pantry... if she could see where it was and could open it. She got close just from smelling the unique foods, but hasn't quite discovered it yet. You end up giving her your food more often than not– except for chocolate, since she's allergic.

She isn't as big on physical affection as Blue or Purple are, but she still likes to sleep near other people, especially you. Sometimes, you'll catch her staring blankly at you, and she had to explain that she was trying to mentally print all the details of your face in her little brain just in case her vision becomes worse... which definitely didn't make you cry. Definitely not!

It took her a while, but she eventually has become very protective over you. She'll get worried if you're away for too long, and will sometimes sleep on top of you like a mother hen would to her eggs. If she hears that there's an intruder, she'll spend most of her time protecting you instead of going out to find whoever broke in.

ㅤ

Red x Reader - General Headcanons

Red... takes a significant amount of time to warm up to people. He's usually cold and mean, and it doesn't help that he doesn't interact with humans all too often. He once was a human, but his humanity and morals have slowly slipped away from him... at least, it seemed that way for the longest time. Turns out, he still has plenty of personality and cares a lot– he just has a LOT of issues and doesn't know how to show that he cares.

He typically wears a black suit, button-up shirt, tie, black slacks, and his lab coat, even while sleeping... however, he absolutely adores the shirts with a single phrase on them, such as 'I simply can't right meow!' with a cat image on the front, or 'I like the sound you make when you shut up,' or even the badly translated shirts– he has one that says 'make horny so round' with an octopus on the front... Though, he gets really embarrassed when other people see him wearing one of those shirts, so he hardly wears them. In combination with those shirts, he likes to wear boxers with cute little objects printed across it, such as lemons or polar bears. He'll wear the shirts and boxers around you, but only on extremely rare occasions.

Due to his obsession with checking cameras and making sure nothing has burned down as well as working himself to death, Red barely gets any sleep. At most, he'll take a few two hour naps and get back to what he was doing beforehand. You've worked with him a bit on that to where he sleeps longer, but he still stays awake until he can't anymore. Though, if he stays up for too long, you'll sometimes drag his ass to bed and make him go to sleep.

Red has many scars, which is the main reason why he'll usually wear clothes with long sleeves and pants... even during the summer. Most of his scars come from mechanical related incidents where he screws up and gets hurt. Although he is good with things relating to science, he isn't the best with mechanics. He has one large scar along his back from when he was human and in college; he... got run over by the campus bus. Free tuition, but at the cost of agonizing pain that can only be cured via hard pain killers.

When he has free time– which ends up being the days where he's in debilitating back pain, he'll watch Korean romance dramas on his phone with you in bed. Most of the time they're not dubbed in English, so he has to hold the phone up close so you and him can read the subtitles. He dislikes blankets– they make him feel itchy, so he ends up half-cuddling with you for warmth.

He is incredibly stubborn. Even if you ask him to do something for his own benefit like... going to sleep for once, he just won't do it. He'll do what he wants, whenever he wants... which irritates you to no end. After a certain point you've started to force him to do things, such as wearing comfortable clothes, eating regularly and not skipping meals, as well as making sure he takes a shower... all the things he SHOULD be doing but doesn't do since he's 'busy' or 'doesn't have time to do.'

He had a past relationship ship with his 'business' partner, but he doesn't like talking about it... which makes you think that it ended sourly. All he would say about it was that his partner thought he was going too far, and... that's it. You guessed that his partner left him, but aren't entirely sure. He seemed to have loved his ex, but was left bitter about how things ended. You've seen one old photo of his ex, and he seemed... fairly cute. You sometimes wished Red would talk more about him, but regardless of what happened, you don't push on the topic.

Although Red acts like a tired, annoyed father more than half the time, he doesn't want any actual kids. He thinks all of them are little snot-nosed brats, even after you tried to convince him otherwise. Though, if you do ever have a kid with him, either via test tube baby, adoption, or something else, he'll probably grow into it and care for them irregardless. Would he be good at it? Probably not. Would he at least try to be a decent father? There's a sliiim possibility.

Though he won't ever admit it, Red is incredibly touch-starved. He'll hardly initiate anything, but he'll lean into hugs and cuddle with you. He can't really kiss you back, so nuzzling his face to your lips is the next best option.

It has taken a lot of work to finally be close to him and be considered as his romantic partner– to the point where you believe he was scared to get into another relationship. It seems like he has mild abandonment issues. However, you don't blame him for anything, letting him go at his own pace most of the time.

[villain-in-love]

*kicks Ao3* No fics about Liang?! Are you fucking kidding me??

There's, like, only five pages of fics where he appears at all, and out of them he only plays the major role when it's a Rock x Liang ship fanfic. I wouldn't say that they are my notp, but I still don't want to read that...

When I just entered this already tiny fandom I didn't think that Liang would have so little content. I genuinely thought he would be more popular...

It's disappointing. He's an entertaining character, and also really pretty. What's not to love? It's true that he needs to find himself a new fucking hobby and stop making everything about combat, but he's got interesting personality and a backstory that could have been further explored in a fan content.

[aethon-recs]

40 Tomarrymort Recs for 2024 — Longfic Edition (Part 3)

Part 3 of 2024 recs! See below for a round-up of some of the most engaging multi-chaptered works/longfics that I came across in this ship in 2024 🤍

As with last year, I found each of these fics, in their depiction of the ship, to be a fresh or surprising take on our familiar beloved characters of Harry and Tom|Voldemort, with an emphasis on underrated fics and/or fics that made me think about the ship in some new way. It's amazing to me that even after 20+ years of writing in this ship, there are still so many new themes and tropes and angles to explore. 

Criteria for this list: multi-chaptered, Tomarrymort-centric, with at least 1 update published in 2024. 

Overall, for 2024, I've split up my year-end recs into 3 parts: (1) Completed Multi-Chapter Fics, (2) One-Shots, (3) WIPs. Here’s the link back to Part 1: Completed Multi-Chapter Fics with 30 fics and Part 2: One-Shots with 30 fics. And with these 40 fics, this wraps up 100 recs for Tomarrymort for 2024!

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a cool drink of water by @zolpidem105 (E, 10k, WIP)

Harry Potter, an apprentice at Police Scotland, wakes up to find he’s not in his bed.  "Awake? Excellent. We should get going," Tim?—Tom—says from the side, sounding far, far too alert for what Harry feels is catastrophically early in the morning.

A Simple Request by @shyinsunlight (E, 70k, WIP)

Harry can't sleep because of his neighbours' constant fighting, and he ends up falling asleep at work. Tom Riddle, CEO, is not particularly happy.

Accidents happen by @themothatyourdoor (T, 51k, WIP)

Harry must have been London's first accidental sugar daddy.

And the Living Will Envy the Dead by @k-s-morgan (M, 114k, WIP)

When Tom looks at Harry, he feels nothing. Until he does, and then Harry’s world starts drowning in blood.

Anytime, Anywhere, Always by @moontearpensfic (E, 30k, WIP)

Tom expects to feel victorious at his greatest enemy's confession. Instead, he develops a crush on him.

Auror Potter by @albondiguilla007 (E, 21k, WIP)

Harry Potter is done. He's been in the past for months now, working undercover. Enter Tom Riddle. Impulse control has never been a strong suit of Harry’s, and this mission is proving to be the most difficult one yet.

By Any Means by @corpium (E, 101k, WIP)

Harry Potter will do anything to protect his little brother, whether that means facing the Dursleys' wrath, dogging his brother's footsteps, or taking down the Dark Lord himself. Absolutely anything.

Crush by @chiocchi (T, 4 chapters, WIP)

Tom Riddle doesn't know what it's like to have a crush. So when his heart starts beating fast every time he sees Harry Potter, it can only mean one thing: His instincts are telling him that Harry Potter is a threat that must be eliminated.

Do It Over by @marrythemonstersao3 (T, 57k, WIP)

Harry wakes up on the morning of his eleventh birthday, ready to do things differently this time. He has no grand plans, just the instinct to be close to the man whose soul he shares.

draw me after you (let us run) by @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (E, 287k, WIP)

“Harry Potter,” comes the soft, sibilant hiss of a voice he has heard in his dreams, in his nightmares, in his waking hours for years. “It seems I have finally caught you.” 

Echoes by @dracomort (M, 4k, WIP)

Across a thousand worlds, Harry and Tom find each other.

Embryo by @cannibalinc (NR, 112k, WIP)

This is Tom’s destiny, a King among men. No—a god. He need only rise to that which is his for the taking… if only one strange boy weren’t so determined to get in his way.

Hole in the Wall by @elddrmot (E, 77k, WIP)

Voldemort survives the final battle and is imprisoned in Azkaban. After a series of unfortunate events, Harry Potter ends up in the cell next to him.

Ills of Murder by @shadow-of-the-eclipse (M, 90k, WIP)

Harry Potter is a time-travelling, furious mess, and he is going to kill the Dark Lord. Like most of his plans, things do not work out. Tom should not be so obsessed with his would-be murderer.

Liquida Tenebris (Remastered) by @dymis (E, 595k, WIP)

When Harry Potter cast his first Cruciatus Curse, he was successful. In doing so, he awoke the darkness in his head. It whispers, and it's never wrong. The darkness is hungry, and won’t be denied.

Moon Rite by @isalisewrites (E, 15k, WIP)

Voldemort learned the truth: Harry was his horcrux. With a sudden offer of a ceasefire, the decades long war could be over - lives saved and protected - if Harry swore to one agreement: a magically binding marriage contract with Voldemort himself.

No Glory by @obsidianpen (E, 313k, WIP)

The Dark Lord divines what Harry Potter is in the Forbidden Forest, and revelations lead to incomprehensible consequences. Lord Voldemort has won... and the dystopia is damning.

Of Kings, of Pawns, and of Men by @ambivalens999 (E, 166k, WIP)

When Harry succumbs to dementors in Little Whinging, the last thing he expects is to wake and find Tom Riddle’s face staring back at him in the mirror. It only goes downhill from there.

of various storms and saints by MaidenMotherCrone (E, 36k, WIP)

“I am the last Lector. I am my people’s very last hope,” Harry bites out through the teeth of his fury. He is done throwing curses and spells. He is reduced to this, divine rage.  And then, Voldemort is there, looming and dark and great and terrible. “And I will stamp it out.”

One Year In Every Ten by @saintsenara (E, 207k, WIP)

A decade after the final battle, just when the wizarding world thinks itself safe, a serial killer emerges, leaving a trail of dead women in his wake. Each of the bodies bears a gruesome message for the Aurors. A message which claims the Dark Lord has risen again.

Reckless Cartography by @meles-merrivale (M, 39k, WIP)

Featuring Harry and Tom attending Hogwarts together and slowly ruining each other’s lives.

Revolution of Configured Stars by @tollingreminiscentbells (E, 162k, WIP)

In another world, Harry Potter was spared. Raised in Lord Voldemort's Britain, he enters his seventh year wanting to keep his head down. But after a chance encounter with ‘Marvolo Gaunt’, it looks like it may not be so simple.

Saint Harry by @alenablack @chaos-bear (E, 70k, WIP)

The moment Harry is struck by the killing curse, it’s not death that awaits him, but ascension. A story of faith, obsession, and the burden of divinity.

Seaforth by @kippipies (M, 10k, WIP)

For as long as he can remember, Harry's had a normal life, looking after a precocious child named Tom on an isolated island. But everything in his normal life is shattered when he finds out a terrible truth: that a powerful leader called Voldemort is after him.

Seeing Sand by @valkyrie-chemist (T, 95k, WIP)

Anticipation bubbled in Tom’s stomach as he imagined fear and shock Harry’s green eyes. Eyes that snapped open the instant Tom's hand touched the frame of the hospital bed. Eyes that burned gold.

some like it hot by @duplicitywrites (E, 12k, WIP)

When Tom Riddle applies for an internship at the Ministry of Magic, he is assigned to the Department of Magical Fire Control and Containment, a department that boasts a very impressive headcount of one: Harry Potter.

Strings of Fate by @solelyseeking (E, 58k, WIP)

“When I touch you,” Tom says, bitterness clinging to every syllable, “I feel whole.” Harry might just be the first interesting thing that Tom has ever encountered.

Stygian by @crowcrowcrowthing (E, 71k, WIP)

There's a book in Voldemort's private library that can explain this kind of magic. The cover is black and shiny and looks like it's breathing. Harry really wants to take a look at chapter three, no matter what it takes.

Tender Reigns Our Night by noumena (M, 103k, WIP)

Sent on a Ministry mission to fight for magic's survival, Harry goes back in time with two simple objectives: find and destroy any existing Horcruxes, and stop Tom Riddle ever evolving into Voldemort. Harry thus finds himself working alongside Riddle at Borgin and Burke's.

The Longing by @aglassroseneverfades (M, 41k, WIP)

What is possibly most damning of all is that Harry is not thinking of his parents right now as he trudges alongside his companions up to Voldemort’s eerie castle. He is thinking instead, as he often does, of a name that burns too brightly on his wrist in the pre-dawn light.

The Runemaster by @kazisstillawake (E, 43k, WIP)

Harry trips on a rock and leaps through time. 1940s Hogwarts is very different from the home he is familiar with. To make matters worse, he is dumped into Slytherin – Riddle’s territory. But it’s hard to be invisible when you’re a novelty, a new student that knows too much for your own good.

the stars, my destination by @milkandmoon-ao3 (E, 47k, WIP)

Harry is sent through time to the relative safety of 1963 and adopted into the Potter family. Now he’s entering his sixth year at Hogwarts in 1976, with a war brewing just outside the school walls. The last thing he needs is to catch the attention of the rising Dark Lord.

The Unintentional Consequences of Prison Reform by @badluck (E, 28k, WIP)

Harry Potter, newly licensed Mind Healer, puts personal history aside to take on his hardest job yet. “Talk to me, please. Give me a chance to make you better.” Lord Voldemort looks downright murderous.

The Word of Your Body by @ictyn (E, 7k, WIP)

“Have you heard from him?” Albus asks. He only means one person when he asks Harry this question. He’s asked it five times in twenty years, and the answer is always the same. The only thing he knows about Tom is that he’s not dead. Harry would know if that happened. He’d feel it beating inside his heart, inside of his very soul.

Timeless by @perhaps-sunlight (E, 3k, WIP)

In which Master of Death Harry Potter time travels to the 1940s, only fixing Tom Riddle isn’t quite what he had in mind.

To the Hilt by @izharmilgram (E, 28k, WIP)

Voldemort had trusted him with the task of bringing Prince Gryffindor under his control, thus securing the future of Gryffindor within their hands. Tom would do so easily—the prince was a mere omega, docile and sweet, easily swayed—and then Gryffindor Kingdom would be folded into the Slytherin Dynasty. He would prove himself undoubtedly useful, and Voldemort would finally let him rule at his side.

Venom or Valor by @lightningant (M, 52k, WIP)

20 years old and unemployed, Harry decides to use a time turner to travel to 1946. But what he finds isn’t the proud, charismatic Dark-Lord-To-Be, but a neurotic 19-year-old Tom Riddle living quietly in the tiny flat that his retail job barely pays for, isolated and addled by chronic illness.

we made universes out of bitten lips and broken hands by @boyneptunee (M, 68k, WIP)

Seer Harry who tries to write his own future, fuck prophesies and mastermind darklords and evil teachers. He will live his life, and he will enjoy it, dammit. Oh, and there's also Tom Riddle.

What In Me Is Dark, Illumine by @telelli-writes (M, 80k, WIP)

There was a new transfer student, Tom observed at the Start-of-Term Feast as he idly twisted the Gaunt ring around his finger. Featuring a schoolboy on the precipice of becoming a monster, a powerful and mysterious newcomer to Hogwarts, and an initial spark of interest that becomes an obsession.

With a resolute heart by Act_Naturally (M, 243k, WIP)

Triwizard Tournament, but Hunger Games: Tom Riddle needs to win to fulfill his plans. Cedric Diggory wants to make his family proud. Hermione wants her friends to survive. Harry wants a lot of things, including Tom Riddle. 

you speak of the devil (like he's not your friend) by @amuria (M, 64k, WIP)

When Harry wakes a seventeen-year-old Tom Riddle from the Gaunt's Ring, it is to a world where his future self has achieved none of their goals except one. Harry is proof that he's a great wizard after all.

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[henley-reeves]

"The Runaway Bride" is such an iconic episode, really. It was just Donna in her wedding dress appearing in the TARDIS while the Doctor was in the middle of a heartbreak, and she immediately changed his life, and hers in the process, from the second she started yelling at him to TAKE HER TO THE CHURCH.

This woman came up with a whole variety of pet names for the Doctor in a span of a few hours, some of which (SPACEMAN) would become legendary and character defining and would be remembered fondly by the Doctor.

This episode is full of iconic scenes, like Donna getting kidnapped by a robot Santa and the Doctor trying to save her by encouraging her to jump out of a moving car on a motorway, and while Donna is refusing to jump arguing that she is in her wedding dress, the Doctor's best response is to compliment her look like "girl, you look perfect for a jump out of a moving car on a motorway."

And the next scene on a rooftop solidifies the silly tone of this relationship by the Doctor putting a biodamper ring on Donna's finger cracking a wedding joke, which Donna immediately joins in on.

This scene right there was the start of their friendship and that bond that would last for the rest of their lives. It all started with a robot Santa, a wedding ring and a silly joke which hilariously continued into the next scene with the Doctor and Donna standing under the "Just Married" banner. Comedy gold.

A very underrated moment of the Doctor continuing the affectionate insults tradition between them by calling Donna a 4H pencil, trying to explain to her how she got transported into the TARDIS.

There were these small moments throughout the episode that showed exactly how this friendship of a lifetime started. Like the Doctor taking Donna to see the creation of Earth right after the moment her fiance betrays her and admits he hates and wants to kill her. The Doctor sees all that and tries to distract her by showing her something so extraordinary and beautiful that no other human saw before her. And it works. This woman who has been so unimpressed with him calling him SPACEMAN (derogatory), was now cracking jokes and laughing with the Doctor and very much enjoying his company.

The Doctor and Donna who spent the good portion of the episode trying to get rid of each other, were now ride-or-die besties.

The Spaceman and Earthgirl are now imprinted on each other so much that this little Christmas adventure will become a life changing event and a start of a relationship so meaningful and deep that it will end up changing the Doctor's and Donna's lives fundamentally and save this world and a multitude of others.

The Doctor started the episode with "I don't want you here anyway" and ended it trying to make Donna laugh and making it snow when he heard she didn't like Christmas, and openly telling her he would be lucky to see her again and inviting Donna to come with him.

And Donna who starts the episode yelling at the Doctor and being so unimpressed with him, ends up understanding him on such a deep level and leaving him with the words that he would carry for regenerations to come. And failure to remember these words would lead to the death of this incarnation.

Donna is asking the Doctor to find someone, and she doesn't yet realise that he already found that someone he needs, a platonic soulmate, a friend, a partner, and that someone is her.

"The Runaway Bride" was a start of a many years (for Donna) and many centuries (for the Doctor) road from that rooftop to the garden where they will sit together with a bright shared future ahead. Best mates having the best of times for the rest of their lives. TOGETHER.

[jadeacereigen]

I think an underrated aspect of Separation Arc and why it works so well is that once Mob finally stands up for himself and stops going to work, we think we can expect the following to happen:

Reigen quickly flounders at work but stubbornly denies he's incapable without Mob's help

Reigen eventually runs into a client who truly needs the help of psychic powers (e.g. the client is haunted by an evil spirit who cannot be exorcised with salt)

Reigen realizes that he truly needs Mob to not be seen as a fraud and that he shouldn't have taken him for granted

Reigen seeks out Mob and apologizes, Mob accepts his apology and agrees to work for him again

Except... that's not what happens. Reigen does get upset and lonely without Mob, but his business runs fine—in fact, Reigen's own ambition and smart thinking actually allow him to find greater success as a psychic. The only reason Reigen's public downfall even happens is because he was maliciously tricked by Jodo, he'd figured out on his own that the kid wasn't possessed! This and the fact that Jodo is seeking petty revenge for Reigen "humiliating" him (when Reigen actually saved his life no less) really makes us feel like Reigen's public mockery is unfair and unjustified... even though we've always known from the beginning that Reigen is a fraud.

Isn't that a strange turn of events?

Then we get to the press conference. It's possible that even if Mob hadn't helped him at the end, Reigen could've still managed to salvage some of his public image. He was calmly answering people's questions and answering truthfully, pointing out that they had no evidence he was a fraud and that no one had ever had an issue with his work before the show. But all of that stops mattering to Reigen when he realizes that despite all his efforts from childhood, he's still just a lonely, lonely man who has never had any idea what he wants to do in life. The only reason he kept running his psychic business in the first place was because Mob showed up in his dull life and brightened it up with his vivid color.

It is finally here, after all this time we've been spending with Reigen, that we both figure out the truth: Reigen needs Mob not because of his powers, but because Mob is his friend and inspires him to be better. And this full understanding of Reigen's complex character and deep connection with Mob is what hits all of us so hard in this episode, it's so painfully human and real and we would not have gotten all of this had the story just played out as expected.

Thus culminates the genius subversions of Separation Arc: despite having the world's attention all focused on him, Reigen only makes one honest apology to one boy. This boy might not even watching this at all—if he is, he's probably watching this with spiteful bitterness—but it's still important that this boy knows...

You've grown up so much. You know that?