#unironically this motivated me to actually start

[itz-pandora]

Huh. If my life was a quote, it'd be "one of those sad ones with a deceptively happy tune"

[ladyseidr]

on another note i'm tempted to redo my entire aesthetic in the new year because i lowkey ( highkey ) don't like my icons / banners / etc anymore. but also like who has the timeeeee

[iz-star]

Zayne: Hidden Motive - The hidden meaning behind these two images and other thoughts about this card.

Warnings: NSFW talk, personal interpretation about this card, some analysis (probably overanalyzing lol).

I've already mentioned this quickly over twitter, tho I have to admit that I hate to write down my thoughts over there cause it's already difficult for me to put my ideas in order, let alone writing them in threads (and not even in my native language, my brain can't do so much). So I'm going to try to explain this here better, especially cause I've seen a lot of people not so sure of what happened in this card, if what Zayne and MC did was straight up dry humping or if it was all just the movement of the chair without actually touching each other.

Of course, this card was wild just for the already suggestive (let alone, stimulating?) work of the camera when MC is on top of Zayne, but this game is not even rated +18 so they have to be careful about what they show. Sex isn't anything new to this game, however it all depends on the way it is portrayed and showcased. Most of the times, sex is always implied; there are spicy moments but it has never been anything overly explicit, most cases the sexy scenes are more like foreplay, what leads to actual intercourse/sex, the last part being left to the imagination. If they were going to be wild with this card, they had to be soft at portraying it, unironically. In order to do that, they had to resort to certain storytelling resources, in this case: the rocking chair, the leaf and the fabric over the couch.

The rocking chair's purpose I think it's quite obvious and it was to not to blatantly show MC and Zayne rocking against each other, it was like the perfect excuse to put them on such a situation without the characters doing it willingly, or so so cause it's already too much to know that MC is sitting on top of Zayne, however this is not new to the game, right? MC sitting on top of Zayne's lap is actually quite normal, she's done it several times; here they just had to give them an excuse to move and when Zayne pulled MC towars him, everything started. I seriously praise the masterminds behind this scene cause they literally gave us Zayne and MC starting to dry hump in front of our very eyes in a very subtle way.

Again, the camera direction is the most risky thing they had done to showcase a sexual act so far, and I'm not mentioning this to downplay any other sexy scenes from Zayne or the other LIs, it's simply bc the bouncing movement it's too explicit and induces quite strong sexual ideas related to it, to go further seemed to be impossible at this point, however it also looked like they wanted us to be sure of what was happening here somehow, that it wasn't only the rocking chair making us seeing things, so in order to confirm what our minds were thinking and it wasn't only the sound of Zayne's kisses filling the room, they resorted to metaphors: the leaf and the fabric over the couch.

Maybe this is my dirty mind speaking, but is so suggestive the way this image was showed right after Zayne asked MC "Do I look like I can work right now?" with all the movement of the camera going wild and he resuming to kiss/suck MC's neck. It literally started to rain in this very moment, and the drop running down the leaf seems to be a metaphor of MC's arousal. Yes, she was getting wet down there. For this one, I think that the reference is quite easy to understand and there's no need to explain more, except to say that I actually loved the subtle yet beautiful/elegant way to refer to her arousal.

But what about the fabric over the couch?

If the image of the leaf was a reference to MC, then this one is a reference of Zayne's own arousal. What this image has is a disheveled fabric that's hanging from the edge of the couch, so there's two things:

The couch → Zayne's thighs/legs (isn't it a common joke within the fandom that Zayne is MC's favorite chair due to all the times she sits on his lap, anyway?)

The fabric → Zayne's robe.

Did you notice that among the four LIs, it was Zayne's robe the only one with the loosest tie and both sides of his robe do not even cross? like this thing it's barely keeping together somehow.

Which is genuinely surprising coming from Zayne, the Zayne whose towel outfit has the safest tie, the Zayne whose workout outfit covers his body from head to toe, the same Zayne who has dressed five (or was it six?) layers of clothes in the past (Master of Fate), the same Zayne who is always wearing long coats and suits and literally the one who makes us feel like victorian man seeing a woman's ankles for the first time lol.

I definitely think they did this on purpose. Give him easier access? Hell yeah. What this image is intending to say is that he was already opening his robe down there, making the contact with MC's wetness closer? Maybe that's why after this, she told him not to be too intense? Hmm...

Now, this probably is my overanalysis, it's up to you if you choose to believe this or not. For some people, media is about what is explicitly told, but narrative resources say a lot most part of the time, it helps the writers to give the readers hints about certain foreshadowing or, in this case, to reference to certain things that are impossible to address due to censorship.

Personally, I loved this card so much, but at the same time, it leaves me with a sense of dread. Did you notice how emotional, bittersweet or even sad/nostalgic was Zayne's bgm during his kindle? I saw some people uploaded the recording of his kindle without the bgm just to appreciate the naughty sounds (no blame here cause I did too ngl ahaha), but it made me want to listen to the music alone and good lord, the music made me so emotional. After watching the kindle with the music on again, I realized of how emotional this moment becomes when the bgm is playing. It gives vibes of something so intense yet so fragile. Go listen and appreciate it alone, you'll see what I'm talking about:

I noticed that they used two new songs for these cards, one was this one and the other was used in Rafayel's kindle, for Xavier and Sylus' kindles, they used bgm that was previously used in other memories. It's also interesting that the art direction of Zayne and Rafayel's kindles has a bit of a somber mood to them, like even their scenarios make sure to use cold colors and emotional backgrounds, while Xavier and Sylus' use more warm and romantic colors, (tho at least Xaviers bgm music was also intense even if the song is not new).

I feel like the bgm wanted to give a sensual yet emotional feeling to most scenes (except Sylus' since this one was the most chill, which is normal considering that he's new), however, we can't deny that Zayne's song feels like something is about to break somehow, idk how to explain. Someone in the comments section of the video said that it was angsty and beautiful just like Zayne is...

I've been feeling like Zayne's latest cards have been really emotional an intense. In Snowy Serenity is Zayne the one who is in danger, in Hidden Motive, it's MC the one in danger and both cards showcase how far are they willing to get in order to secure each other's safety (and also how much they lie to each other about their own safety lol).

In Snowy Serenity, Zayne and MC get emotionally closer, in Hidden Motive they get physically closer and yet both cards have a bit of both themes too, emotional and physical intimacy on another level.

In Snowy Serenity, Zayne knew that he might not be back so he asked MC to see him off the airport and gave her a hug, even if he never said goodbye, and in Hidden Motive, he tells her that she's not allowed to leave him without saying goodbye. Then he tells her he'll like her as long as she's alive and well. We also have the Adventure above the clouds chapters where they talk about ther lifes in 50 years in the future and how they'll be together still relying on each other. In Dawnbreaker's anecdotes, MC gets to celebrate Zayne's birthday with him and tells him that from now on, she'll always celebrate his birthday with him.

It feels like they're starting to look into the future a little too much, like making promises too soon, it feels too perfect... as if something bad is about to happen and rob us from that bright future, you know?

Do you know who made promises before a tragedy?

I've been thinking about this since I finished Hidden Motive cause... my first thought was... Now what can top this? A lot of us got really surprised by Zayne's card cause the spice was unexpected and I think it's needless to say this, but even the kindle felt a bit different from what we are used to see normally, even some ppl said the kindle was a bit longer than normal. Why would they feed us so much good/emotional/intense content of Zayne lately? And how are they going to keep it up? My brain tells me that something sexual being released too soon after this might feel repetitive so in order to create a bigger impact after this they'll resort to angst. I don't think they'll make Zayne's bday event sad, however, they also announced that more main story branches are going to be added from September to December and Zayne's probably gonna be the first to return, since he was the first one to disappear from the main story.

I just can't help thinking about this, I have this bad feeling that I hope is just my stupid brain overthinking and that we will have happy sweet memories with Zayne from now on even tho the story seems to keep hinting that something bad is going to happen, ugh.

Anyway, sorry for my rant, I actually have a lot of thoughts about this card that I don't know if I'll get to write cause I've been really busy with work lately, however I wanted to at least get this out of my chest.

[trianglesimpfordpines]

you see the thing about ford is that he doesn't necessarily believe he is better than everyone. he believes he has to be better than everyone. and the fact that he holds himself to such a ridiculously high standard is arrogant in the sense that obviously he wouldn't be holding himself to a higher standard if he didn't see himself as more capable, but it gets realized more often as self-loathing than self-aggrandizing.

notice how when ford pushes people away, his reasoning is almost always doubt that they genuinely want him around. he starts with "there's no way this person is actually just being nice and enjoying my company, they must want something, they must have ulterior motives," and then moves on to "they'll just drag me down anyway, i don't need them, i don't need anyone."

and how he makes excuses to spend time with his family. the cycloptopus. fixing the light. the apprenticeship. bill's funeral. clearing up the aftermath of weirdmageddon. if ford isolates himself because he thinks other people aren't worth his time, why does his behavior suggest it's the other way around? shouldn't he be prancing around like the other pineses should be grateful for his presence? why would someone who isolates himself out of a (real) belief in his own superiority feel the need to overcompensate like that?

it's like that post where it's like....he would fucking say that but he would say it as part of a façade that he obviously doesn't actually believe and you guys are interpreting it way too unironic and genuine. ford thinks the only options are that he's isolated either because he's above society Or he's isolated because he's unworthy to be included in society so of course he'd rather tell himself it's the first one.

[fatedroses]

So I’m a new follower and I’ve been going through your adventurer zenos tag because I’m loving the idea a lot! But I don’t really know the history behind it. I’d love to know how you started thinking about it and would love to know how Xenia’s relationships with the WOL and the scions developed if you don’t mind me asking? Again im loving your art a lot!!!

First of all thank you for the follow and the ask, anon, and I'm always so happy to hear people are enjoying my art, and my goofy bits of theorycrafting, headcanoning and/or story writing- how ever people want to see it as. BUT- this has also unironically been stuck in my brain since the end of EW:6.0 (I was stuck with the zenos brainrot the moment I saw him at the end of heavensward v-v), and also because among my friend group Zenos is adored, so we end up chatting about this kind of stuff a lot. So, it is time for me to now yap here, beware some spoilers for both Endwalker and DT, and a very long post:

To be honest, the reason I ever even started thinking about it was just seeing Zenos' capacity to change as a character and him unintentionally helping people by just existing in some cases (the scene with Alisaie in Garlemald and the fact that he went to Krile for help so he could help us- reason aside- comes to mind mainly in regards to him changing, even if there are tidbits a bit earlier as well). And, that him imposing his help upon the WoL and the Scions is what I personally consider the most likely course (and I simply sit here and cope lmao I also just really want a minion of him eventually) if he was to return from the Ultimatum. 6.2-6.5 also added to it with both the mentions of him from Zero, the flashback of him over the handshake, and that I personally also saw Durante and Golbez's relationship as an analogy to Zenos and WoL (not helped by the fact that in EN Durante/the knight in black speaks in Zenos' cadence and uses the same armored talking animations but that's more on the meta side of it). I spent a lot of the time I put aside for character research being fascinated by his psychology and how he could grow, even if I will admit by now that what I have as his baseline is a bit of a house of cards, especially in things like his interests, or later potential interests. I base a lot of them off of the concept that he takes after Solus/Emet-Selch far more than is actually narratively stated or even implied, or from filling in the gaps of information with the possibility that implied information was not intentional/meant to be used in the way I use it. For example Varis exiling the theater ship was to get rid of something Emet cherished and for the sake of his own narrative, but something Zenos may have showed interest in too, only based off of how similar the theatrics Emet and Zenos use.

-

Now, as for his relationships, especially with the WoL (Meteor, default man in my case, its mainly because I ADORE the challenge and the experience of what we have as WoL's baseline due to, you know, the constraint of this being a linear narrative mmo lmao, as well as trying my best to stay canon compliant as possible when it comes to the scions' interactions) I write as starting off being exceptionally one sided. It comes from the idea that Zenos either gets himself out of the bubble (because it seems to be implied that this man cant actually return to the lifestream, and therefore can't perma-die, ironic to his character motivations) or with DT, shit goes so far south that we have to use the interdimensional chalice for his help, and that either way they're just kind of stuck with him thereafter. But I'll break it down because it's something that I've worked on writing, but haven't had the chance to draw out quite yet for some of what I'll talk about.

Meteor: It is no surprise that after the Telopheroi towers and Garlemald, on top of what happens during In From the Cold and the moon- that WoL goes from their more neutral, rivalry-leaning stance on Zenos, to pure anger and/or hatred. And this lets me write the dynamic between the two that is Meteor trying to move forward, trying to accept this change seeing Zenos try to help, and Zenos trying to pull away knowing at his core that he boned himself over ruining whatever unspoken trust they had, and given his position, not knowing if something like that could ever be mended, (and not quite knowing how to cope with even the idea that the man he cares so deeply about and kinda looks up to, might detest him just like how Varis did.) Overall it also just comes from the idea that these two overcoming any of their hurdles with each other suddenly makes them into the most terrifying duo, especially since I write Adventurer Zenos as a tank that will just eat all the damage so Meteor can be a stupid little shit with all the sharp objects he has at his disposal.

The Scions: So, imagine this giant super soldier is suddenly alive and in front of you again, offering to help/to learn to adventure for the plan of trying to see joy in this world. And you, knowing that he is right now the world's enemy, the one pinned with everything that happened during the final days, understand that it is highly unlikely that you or the others could reasonably kill him or imprison him for any meaningful amount of time. BUT, you can try to guide him on a better path. Begrudgingly, so that all that shit never happens again. That is what I have the scions stuck with, starting with the twins, then estinien and the students, and finally the wine trio. He doesn't apologize for anything, but he does also do whatever you ask, and overtime he starts (oh no) taking the same liking to the others that started with Meteor. The Scions are who I primarily use to explore the facets we've seen of his character, his protectiveness and the "rivalry" I write between him and Thancred, his curiosity and working alongside the Students and Urianger and Y'shtola, exploration and trying to understand the world better with Estinien, and him learning to connect with others through the twins, especially Alisaie who I imagine him kind of latching on to after she "helped" him, in his eyes.

All and all, adventurer zenos at its core is just what I personally see as his natural character progression going forward, spawned purely from my own curiosity of seeing his archetype of character in the position of having one last chance, and based off very extensive character research that started, honest to god, from me trying to just figure out the scenarios I wanted to draw him in that spiraled very very out of control lmao.

[zylian]

—— Many quotes from devotion talk

“Who’s there”

“We had good intentions, they do not care- that’s kab, she’s helping, come here”

“Okay”

——

“So basically, right, they’re just gonna keep blowing up spawn until they get they’re silly little 1v10, right, that’s their idea”

“Yeah so fuck them, we’re never gonna give it to them”

“EXACTLY! I have a skematic of spawn- *laughing* the entire thing from before it got blown up”

*laughs*

——

“If they make an obi farm to like try medusa-ing it, we just kill them, we just stop them, we just get them while they’re afk-ing or blow up every end portal or something- it doesn’t matter”

“It’s so easy to counter them, none of them have the drive or motivation that we do- I feel like together we could totally kick their asses”

“Yeaaaaah, I’m not gonna lie, wemmbu kinda pissed me off-“

“I KNOW RIGHT!”

——

“…Spawn repairing, fighting them back with literally no violence- I mean, you can fight them if you want, I lowkey don’t care but don’t show up to flames stupid 1v10 yknow”

——

“So zam, your not gonna fight flame ever, no matter what he does”

“No, nah”

——

“What’s up with the eyeball, I don’t remember that”

“He beat the shit out of me, it was not good, not pretty”

“aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

——

“They’re never gonna get me below 7, so I don’t care”

“You- you died 3 times?”

“Yeah”

“That sucks, he basically scammed your ass”

“Yeah I don’t care bro, he said ‘3 more if the volcano ever gets touched’ like okay buddy okay”

*laughs*

——

“At least they didn’t touch my castle”

“OH he says it’s his castle now by the way”

“Does he really”

“Fuck him, yeah I’m not letting that happen, I put too much time into that, that’s not his”

——

“I was talking so much shit in chat bro”

“Really?”

“Like the worst I’ve ever have, maybe-“

“Damnnn”

“Maybe the worst I’ve ever had”

——

“We just have to make him sit down, but than again, I don’t wanna do anything violent, I can’t”

“Yeah you do, yeah you do”

“Nahhhh”

“Well”

“It’s better if I don’t

“Yeah but”

“…It’ll send the message better”

——

“Do you have a full inventory? Do you need stuff?”

“I’ve a full inventory of dirt bro, if he comes here and kills me, he comes here and kills me, I don’t care”

“No stop giving him hearts”

“I’ll keep respawning till I’m at 7, so it doesn’t matter”

“Use the fu- No, he fuels his ego every time he kills you, so you gotta start making escape tunnels and getting out casually, that’s what pisses him off the most”

“That’s okay, he’ll realize that it means nothing, cause spawn will keep getting repaired-”

“No he won’t bro”

“If he wants to farm hearts… he’ll farm hearts off me, ugh your right, okay”

“Have you met this dude, no he won’t bro, he will not- he will get the exact same ego boost he gets every single time”

“Really?! I don’t even fight back???”

——

“Next time they chase you, splash turtle on both of them and keep running with speed”

*laughs* “that’s lowkey a strat”

“Yeah it gets you out for free, yeah I’m not even playing, used that shit in mane pear”

——

“They were yelling the entire time, ‘no more honour bro, none of this dumb shi’, they sounded exactly like us last season exactly the same

“That’s funny”

——

“And the fact he tried to take my fucking castle like I wasn’t the number one advocator for that fight”

“Exactlyyy I was an advocator for that fight too”

“Like he just lost a supporter bruh”

——

“He’s dumb as fuck why did he blow up all your shit”

“I don’t know”

“You were about to break your morals for him”

“Exactly! Exactly!!! I have done nothing but be there for him…”

——

“It’s dumb”

“It’s okay, none of this matters to me”

——

“Let me know if you want me and spoke to constantly harass him, we can beat him in a 2v1”

“Oh please do, actually please do, unironically”

——

“..like I kinda realized that wait I lowkey could get everyone’s support, like if your on board with this like I can get anyone”

“Yeah ata a certain point you realize sucking up to flame frags is pointless and lame”

“It’s so pointless yeah cause he has no value for loyalty whatsoever which is like damn”

——

“He was saying some crazy shit, like ‘everyone’s gonna start calling me immortal demon again’ while blowing up all of spawn, thats crazy bro

“Are you serious?!”

“Yeah”

“Damnnnnn Leo killed his ass”

“We broke him bro… the tier list was his lowest point”

——

“I’m just gonna say it, I think we should lay our lives down to the flame frags allegiance”

*laughs a lot*

“I’m just gonna say it! Guys! Guys- he could burn down trees like I don’t know…”

“He could burn down trees while no one’s around except prince zam, sb 737 and terrain��

——

“I survived all 64 golden apples, went through most my turtles um my xp ran out though so that was it”

“Nice, did you chorus?”

“Yeah I was chorusing, I was wind charging bro, I was the runner bro”

“Yeah ngl you need to start making pre-made shit, make a couple of escape routes”

—— bonus w/ woogie

“I am sorry about your tree zam, if there’s anything I can do to help”

“Ehh don’t worry about it, it’s fine……..It’s fine”

“ok”

“I don’t think it’s fine”

“It’s fine- no it is, seriously”

“Bros lying about it”

——

“He’s giving me 2 hearts for 10 god apples”

“You should not supply him I think”

“2 hearts is crazy, supply him”

“Yeah whatever”

“Big fucking deal, I’ll smack the god apples out of his mouth”

“Good work”

[g0lightly]

*me tuning into HOTD back in 2023 bc of that negroni spagliatto vid*: "god imagine caring enough about this show to have a favorite dragon" *me in my notes unironically in 2024*: see above

based dreamfyre's only bodycount is from trying to escape the dragonpit (the only one to break free from her chains thats my bbygirl 🙂‍↕️) which 1) was self-defense 2) in freeing herself to break the dragonpit dome dreamfyre also effectively sacrificed herself to do more for the in-universe equivalent of nuclear disarmament than... anyone else?!

it's simply impossible for me not to stan dreamfyre and her dragonriders! rhaena rode her around the realm to bond with her girlfriends and to search for her missing daughter! probably the only time helaena ever felt remotely free in her life was on dreamfyre! the fact that the dragon that arguably embodies some of the most important themes of the series (other than balerion though i feel this also enhances her as a foil to him) is basically absent from the show is a damned tragedy in my opinion.

theory under the cut, TW discussion of a character's suicide.

i have a theory that helaena's suicide -- described as mysterious by the maesters -- may have had more to it. it's easy and frankly, reasonable to understand it in the text as a tragic and all too common example of the way women's mental health has been historically neglected. however, as we're seeing in the HOTD adaptation, halaena is a dragon dreamer. GRRM has even said that show helaena is "a richer and more fascinating character than the one I created in FIRE & BLOOD," specifically citing her gift of prophecy as a major component of that compliment. as he explains in the post, helaena in the books is has few personality traits and her close bond with dreamfyre is one of them.

what if helaena lived a second life in dreamfyre after her death? even in the book where she is not intended to be a dragon dreamer, her motivation to do this could be to regain the freedom she enjoyed while riding dreamfyre or to simply use her power to end the violence. or perhaps it just happened because their bond was so strong. in the show, i wonder if helaena will do this because she sees in a dragon dream that it is the only way to end the most brutal ravages of the war? especially given the way that helaena spoke of the way lowborn women must lose their children more often than highborn women, i imagine that the grief of the mothers around helaena is weighing on her in addition to her own grief.

what if helaena intentionally sacrificed herself and dreamfyre to prevent more death? in the text, i think it's significant that dreamfyre was noted to be blinded in one eye before she broke the dome. this mirrors the loss of aemond targaryen's eye, arguably the event that set the war into motion. thematically, dreamfyre's sacrifice in death seems to represent the end of the cycle started by this eye for an eye mentality that led to so much death and destruction.

if you'd like some extra tin foil hat with your theory, i also wonder if dreamfyre actually didn't get crushed and managed to escape but the maesters said she died with the other dragons when the dome fell because it would look really bad if she didn't. she's one of many dragons whose remains are unconfirmed however she is the only dragon that broke free from her chains in the dragonpit.

even if dreamfyre did physically die, did she psychically die? she previously lived at harrenhal with rhaena targaryen; could dreamfyre be the dragon that alys rivers was reported to hold at harrenhal? rhaena appears to have been the first to be called a "witch queen" at harrenhal; could this have been her plan for dreamfyre all along, a plan dreamfyre understood due to the depth of their bond? i love helaena and rhaena the fuck DOWN on their own so obviously this idea of them having a psychic suffering witch queen bond through the ages via dreamfyre makes me rhaegar levels of emo tbh

[catacamacat]

Yay, a new materpost

I love it here

(This is just a place- holder btw, there will be more interesting stuff sometime)

TMNT - ACCOUNT (Also my only account)

I‘ll just post my art here, along with some other stuff

Edit, a.k.a the actual reason why I created this post:

I am literally, unironically and totally seriously BEGGING y‘all for TMNT art suggestions, no matter if rise, 2012, mm, etc, just ANYTHING, pls I need to practice and I need content

Thx 💜

Tc3st DNI, GTFO and never come back, thank you

Okay so… I was gone for a (far too) long time, with my TMNT hyperfixation also left my motivation/ ability to draw. Now that both have returned, I can happily continue my life again, happy chuckle

I started working on my TMNT Au again, I’ve said that many times already but… anyway, I’m working on it :Ь

After a year of thinking about it I can say that I am closer to opening comissions since a few people seem to have wanted that, but I don‘t promise anything yet <3 Still thx to everyone who was interested in it, it made me extremely happy

(If anyone of you steps over my old Masterpost you can just ignore it, it‘s hiding from me and I can‘t delete it lmao)

[castlebyersafterdark]

for me it’s because so much of mike’s arc and character development is tied to will. as in, i’m not saying “mike isn’t his own person without will” but, so much of his character development in the show is so intrinsically linked to will, that i have a hard time understanding “how does mike end up here without him having feelings for will?” i have a harder time wrapping my brain around mike without will, than i do with will without mike.

now i also have trouble reading will x other characters. but that’s more because i’m scarred by the era of (are they still doing this?) people only shipping will with other male characters to “free up” mike, so they could have mileven. so (at one point at least) most of the will x other character fics were either “will gets over his feelings and he’s happy, no need for mike to reject him! and mileven live happily ever after!” or “mike rejects will, but that’s okay, because will finds another guy!” or especially if it was will POV, some of them felt like they were written by people thinking “will doesn’t deserve mike, will is so much better than mike, he’s gonna get a better boyfriend cause mike sucks.” and yet even in those scenarios it still always ended with mileven 😭😭😭 i unironically think i’d have an easier time with a “mike sucks, will deserves better” fic if mike was still gay, didn’t end up with eleven, and he just sucked. but again so much of will’s character development revolved around his love for mike, romantic or platonic. so even in that hypothetical fic, i still can’t imagine will hating mike

that’s also why i’m obsessed with byclair in theory, but i can’t bring myself to actually read it on ao3. i’m looking at byclair on ao3 and my head starts overheating like an old computer with too many tabs open, fan spinning full speed, my thoughts slow down like if mike’s in it… why no gay??? why no crush on will??? if mike… where’s will??? if mike’s not in it… gay… gay mike? will byers gay??? mike and will?? mike gay??? homosexual???? gay??? please???

i wish i had the strength to be a multishipper but unfortunately i just can’t do it

Agree with the Mike characterization thing - and it's also not that I don't see him as his own man, his own character!! But so much of him is so very tied up in Will. It kind of defines him in the show. Will being his entire motivation we are introduced to right from the beginning. And not that Will isn't entwined with Mike - he totally is, but I think because of the possession and disappearance and the way he's been portrayed, you can make the argument that you can explore elements of Will's character independent of another character. Tough to explain. But I get it.

I think my thing if I do indulge and read Will x Other - the Mike factor has to be either completely ignored or there's a reason that takes him away from the plot. Because I do not like the fic in-universe excuse then to put him with a women/El. No. Doesn't work. Maybe Mike's family moved away. Maybe it's in some span of time before Will officially gets with Mike. Maybe they parted ways for some reason - idk. Mike's still gotta be a possibility based on sexuality for me, he can't be shoved to the side, straight or ending up with El. No. Ew. Hahahaha.

Like in my SteveWill ideas from that post. The one where they meet up in another town years later - Mike isn't a factor in it at all, he probably moved away in high school. The one where Steve and Will drive around Hawkins and hook up - the implication here is that it's during the time jump era or around that time and the understanding is that it's temporary. Will is going to eventually end up with Mike, Steve is a distraction. Steve teaching Will to kiss idea? Again, Steve is a distraction. And then all the HenWiII stuff? That's more a spicy salacious angsty character exploration and even if there's dark stuff and the element of sex - the implication is that eventually that ends and Will ends up with Mike. Or I don't address Mike at all, again, it'll just be an indulgence.

Byler is that pairing for me!! I'm too attached. Have my fun though. I just have to make sure that Mike is handled if I'm indulging anything. Even in my fave fic - the SteveWill with the pool and swimsuits and hooking up in the summer - the implication is one of horny convenience, whilst both parties are holding out for others. Will is still in love with Mike, he just wants to temporarily indulge and get off. I like that dynamic. It's all very fun!! Yes! I do indulge. But Byler has really really really sharp claws in my heart and it's difficult to truly diverge.

Not truly a multishipper. But I like a little variety, a little extracurricular indulgence.

[aliteralsemicolon]

I have more than 3 questions if you are comfortable answering them. I really love your writing style so I would be really greatful if you share your secrets ❤️

What is your writing process like?

How long does one story take to write?

How do you come up with your ideas?

Do you ever run out of ideas?

What is your thought process when writing Spencer? I feel like you capture his energy so well.

Who do you imagine as Reader? I feel like I relate a lot to the Reader in we can't be friends story.

Do you ever get anxious when posting a story?

Sorry if these are too many questions. It may sound strange but I am really fond of how you write and I am an aspiring writer myself, I would appreciate your advice. I am unsure of how to describe, but it feels like you put a lot of love in your characters interacting with each other, if that makes sense? You capture the 'feeling' of love really well. Also English is not my first language I apologise for any mistakes 😅

oh so I can't even begin to describe how incredibly sweet this ask is and how it's left me speechless. truly I was taken aback because I literally never though I'd ever get asked something this touching, and I'm so flattered that you took the time to ask this. also don't worry about your english, you're basically better than I am tbh 😭 anyways essay incoming

my writing process is actually pretty simple. once I have an idea I write it down in my brainstorm doc for later. when I'm ready to write it I make a new doc for that specific fic. then I make a list writing how the story is going to unfold (what the plot will be or what's gonna happen in a scene etc). basically I write anything and everything that comes to mind (scene, dialog, quote, etc). even if it's messy bc I can always sort it out later. once I have that initial planning done I kinda just start writing according to the list. I write as much or as little as my brain feels like, then circle back when more motivation strikes. I also don't always stick 100% to the original list/script because things change and I get new ideas that work better for the story as I write. eventually it all just comes together. once it's done, it's beta read either by me or a kind friend and I just post it with my normal layout.

the amount of time it takes to write a fic depends on a couple of factors. obviously, the length of the actual fic is a big one. I never really know how long or how short a fic is going to be, I kinda just keep writing until I'm happy with how it's unfolded. often times my fics end up being way longer than intended because I'm really bad at writing short form content. also, I can lose interest in a fic pretty fast if I don't emotionally vibe with it. so there's no set answer, it really just depends on circumstance. I've learned to just stop trying to force my pace and let everything flow in its own time.

MUSIC!!! I lovvveeee music (from a listening stand point, I could not produce any part of it to save my life). anything and everything I do creatively sparks from music and how that music associates with an emotion/memory/desire. like for example: we can't be friends. I love that song. I associate the song with feelings of extreme heartbreak masked by delusion. the lyrics are touchy, but the song is upbeat. yet the beat is missing something to me. like it's hollow and what ever it's missing is just within my grasp but I can't reach it (does this even make sense?) and that's how part 1 of wcbf formed. Or malicious compliance is inspired by (TMI!!!) TiO by Zayn because I associate it with a specific memory and so that fic happened. imagining (delusion) is also just one of my strong suits.

no, I've yet to run out of ideas, luckily. I just know that when it does happen it's going to hit me in the fucking ass at my lowest.

absolutely no thought process 💙 I just write him how I want to perceive him and it seems to work out in my favour. Spencer unironically is my type to a fucking T and I know what I want in a partner. what I want magically compliments what Spencer's personality already is. then again, parts of his personality also depend on what season Spencer I'm imagining.

obviously, there are certain aspects of Reader that are parts of me. that can't be helped, as a writer you always project bits and pieces of yourself in there. but Reader is also just as much mixed as whatever type of personality works best to the story, but never in an extreme way. Reader is open to your personal interpretation, there is no one person I imagine to be Reader.

yes ALL THE FUCKING TIME because what if you guys don't fuck with todays tom foolery? what then? thanks for reading my stuff guys <3

and good luck reading this monstrosity. as always ignore all my grammatical errors because I do not proofread my rambles 🙏

also thank you again, anon for your sweet message. I hope I was able to give the answers you were looking for. best of luck for your writing journey :D

[confessanronpa]

Gonna preface by saying that Nekomaru is not in my top sdr2 characters, however he is the one that has been unintentionally making my life better? Like I'll be too tired to cook and then he'll be in my brain whispering "eat well, shit well" and I'll begrudgingly get up and make something simple. I've started stretching more regularly and it's starting to bleed into my roommate's routines too. We have morning stretching and breakfasts before work now. Unironically, Nekomaru is making me healthier

-🦷anon, who will probably be back with other sfw tidbits and is very excited to see the development of this blog :>

waittt that actually happened to me too for a while

too tired? nekomaru. he is the bestest motivator, no wonder hes the ultimate team manager :3

[justatalkingface]

Himiko’s “thing” for Ochako always felt like it came out of nowhere to me. Like, we’re given reasons and justifications for her love for Izuku, but the Ochako thing felt like it just randomly happened, just because Horikoshi needed something for the two of them to do in the final battle, especially since it seems to have completely overshadowed her original thing for Izuku anyway

Hmm. I hate to disagree but, on Himiko's end at least, the fact it came out of nowhere made perfect sense because, well, it's Himiko. Part of her characterization is 'falling in love' with people more or less at random, and then using that 'love' as justification to hunt them down. (it's pretty clear to me that, among other things, her Quirk makes her look at people and, at some unconscious level, see them as 'food' as much as they are 'people'. No seriously, so much of Himiko is coded as a predator: stalking, mimicking, ambushing; these are all things that a predator will do to successfully hunt their prey. In all honesty, reading her as, like, a half-vampire or something, one that is badly raised and so doesn't properly understand her own motivations, makes so much of her actions make sense, because Himiko is mixing 'hunting' behaviors and desires with 'romantic' ones. Then, between the mechanics of her own Quirk, how feeding, which gave her positive feedback in both being full for once and doing something that is natural to her, turned her into someone else, and just how little understanding she has of herself and her own desires, all these various conflicting impulses eventually evolved into her 'love' and her obsession with being her 'loved one'.) So, Himiko 'loving' Ochako makes sense because she doesn't understand what love actually is, and the way she uses the word is basically a sort of personal slang for a combination of obsession, lust, and hunger. It's not someone genuinely falling in love, it's her predatory behavior locking onto another target, often for shallow reasons about her finding them attractive, so I'm sure as soon as she sees Izuku again, she'll refocus right back onto her other desired food source, and that much makes sense.

(Really though, when you look at her and what drives her seriously there's a fascinating story here, but Hori clearly can't be assed to actually do that in the slightest. Put her in a story that'd spend time on her motivations, like Tokyo Ghoul, and she'd fit a lot better.)

The problem is the narrative, because it keeps placing them together, and dramatically panning in on them, as if there are real feelings there. Not only that, it makes it seem like those feelings of Himiko's are, to an extent, returned when Ochako's interactions are dead ass, 'Hey, what if you stop murdering people alright?'

Until recently, there's been basiclly no justification for there being any sort of feelings between them, because one is channeling her usual stalker serial killer behavior, and the other is literally trying to arrest her, but it's just the narrative is just... shipping them so damn hard. At this point I'd swear it's going to start playing romantic music in background while it zooms in on their faces or something.

Worst part, though, is just as Himiko has her 'big moment of villainy' (which is terrible on so many levels), it feels like Ochako is.... giving into the narrative's peer pressure, at least in part, and trying to approach Himiko as more than just the hero trying to stop her, between being concerned about her tears and apparently unironically wanting to talk about love with her, when before I thought it was her frantically trying to distract Himiko while she was on Twice Time. And that? That has no real support anywhere in story, beyond in the most meta of senses the story itself, and feels just a few steps below the author physically pushing their heads together and saying, 'Now kiss'.

[wellcheerz]

i saw your tag on the Dantes confession i submitted and YEP I WAS ABSOLUTELY THINKING ABOUT YOU! i'm saying this with the upmost respect, that truly was Iconic of you to do, i had been wanting to do something similar for the longest time but i just.. never did? seeing another person adore him to the point of buying themselves engagement rings was inspirational to me, and i mean that unironically.

so yeah, thanks for the motivation! this might be me overstepping, you have every right to tell me to fuck off, but if you don't mind could you post a pic of the ring you bought? i'm mainly asking out of pure curiosity, i have no intention to copy you or do anything disrespectful like that.

thank you so much for this. Ask on because as much as I am jealous person about him, I’ve literally could not be upset with you this is the cutest thing I’ve ever read.

I work with young people so a lot of the time I find myself preaching things like self-love and acceptance. when I started college, I kind of went through a phase where I took the ring off and decided that I was going to be “normal” until I realized that in my field, doing something as simple as shamelessly wearing a ring for your favourite fictional character can be super super powerful and show others that it’s OK to behave in ways that other don’t.

I went through two rings with Edo, but they share a few key components that I think are important in defining my relationship with him. They’re always silver in colour, but actually made of stainless steel. Stainless steel doesn’t tarnish and I think that’s sort of a symbol of even after the better part of a decade I still feel the same way about him. both of the rings are fidget rings, the type that spins when you flick them, mostly because I’m autistic but also because both he and the fidget or things that calm me down when I’m feeling upset. The current ring has arguably my favourite symbol of our relationship, the sun and moon. I’ve always thought that Edmond would call me something like “sunshine” despite the type of person that I am not being very sunshiny at all. (i am smiling to big and cheesy at you when i say this) It also reminds me that even if he’s in a different world than I am, I can look up and see the same sky that he would be seeing. (weird thought, but comfortable)

I’ll see if I can figure out how to attach a picture but honestly, I’m terrible at Tumblr. Please feel free to reach out off anon if you ever want to have a chat about him! thanks for the ask.

[magicalgirlagency]

Someone PLEASE ask me about Barbie trivia; I am SO normal about her and her brand, I promise.

EDIT: The beast has been unleashed.

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. Meanwhile in real life, the doll was named after Ruth Handler's daughter, Barbara (while Ken was named after Kenneth);

Ruth was Mattel's co-founder, alongside her husband Elliot and their friend Harold "Matt" Matson (the company's name is a junction of the names Matt and Elliot). Of course, the Barbie brand is the most profitable one;

The doll was based on another doll, Bild Lilli, from Germany. It was originally intended for adults, but it became mostly popular with children. When Mattel acquired Lili's rights after a legal fight, the german doll's productions ceased in favor of Barbie;

According to Mattel, Barbie has had over 200 careers, recently including more STEM fields. Each career is created to give the child an option to explore new things and motivate them in pursuing a future passion;

There were several controversies about Barbie's body. Not because of her impossibly curvy silhouette, but also because of her mature looks. Many parents would be unhappy about the fact that the doll had breasts and such;

Other controversy would be the Teen Talk Barbie doll, a toy that would say superficial and vapid "dumb-blonde" phrases such as "Math class is tough!". The Simpsons had an episode referencing this fiasco (Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, in 1994);

As an addendum, there was a group known as the Barbie Liberation Organization, which its members have secretly modified Barbie dolls' voice boxes into G.I. Joe dolls;

Barbie debuted in 1959, while her boyfriend Ken debuted in 1961. As much as we love to riff on him being Barbie's Trophy Husband/Himbo, he's also got the extensive list of careers, ranging from Olympic Athlete to Doctor;

Barbie has a cousin named Francie, who was marketed as "her modern cousin". She had a "colored" variant, which would later prompt the creation of Christie, the first black doll ever created to not be a derivate of a white doll. Francie also had other two friends, named Casey and Becky;

Speaking of black dolls, there is another one named Brooklyn. Actually, that's her nickname, as her real name is Barbie. She's nicknamed after her birthplace, Brooklyn, NY, to make things less confusing;

Midge was introduced in 1963, and had less makeup than Barbie, after the doll was considered "sexually intimidating", and would be often be discontinued and brought back constantly. Her Happy Family series was the most controversial, as it was the target of many accusations of promoting teen pregnancy;

Midge's boyfriend/husband, Allan, was initially marketed as Ken's best friend in the 60's, but he was also discontinued after rumors of two of them being boyfriends began to spread;

MyScene (unironically, my favourite Barbie doll line) was created to compete with MGA's Bratz, and had many controversies surrounding it that have led into another legal fight, which have caused the Bratz line to be temporarily discontinued;

There was an attempt in a virtual world à la Club Penguin called BarbieGirls.com, and while it was ambitious for its time period (it had a customizable MP3 player!), it has suffered several issues such as a lack of diversity and discrepancies and inaccessibilities per country;

Another addendum to this story, is that there is an actual group of people working on ressurrecting BarbieGirls (known as BarbieGirls Rewritten), making it more diverse and with less microtransactions;

The BCU (Barbie Cinematic Universe) so far has 42 movies, starting with Barbie in The Nutcracker in 2001. Fairytopia was the first movie to not be based on an existent storyline, and spawned its own trilogy (Fairytopia ➡️ Mermadia ➡️ Magic of the Rainbow);

[mushewhosta]

five comfort characters, five tags :)

thank you for tagging me, @cheer-me-up-scotty! Here I am, a month later.

I am unsure whether I understand the notion of a comfort character well. Still, I’ve picked a few fictional guys whose fictional existence satisfies me deeply and inexplicably.

Chu Wanning from The Husky and His White Cat Shizun Have you ever projected onto a character so much you felt like throwing up? His loneliness, yearning, and lack of understanding of what love is supposed to be, yet feeling so much of it, compels me. He’s so kind and self-loathing; I can’t stand him the way I can’t stand myself. Truly & unironically comforting

Vash the Stampede from Trigun, Trigun Stampede I was raised very catholic. Now I have a thing for such characters: the messiah deemed dangerous by the Church, the actual Jesus figure, overbrimming with goodness, yet persecuted, sometimes even killed by the system, in the name of Christ. There are more of those, but I can’t love Father Flote (Red Noses) as much as I love Vash; there’s a bit more to his appeal. It’s the biblically accurate gun, I suppose

Shen Qingqiu from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System There’s a brutal honesty in his unreliability. There’s something impossibly human about this narrative device of a man. He satisfies the cognitive scientist in me - I want to fMRI the fuck out of him. And oh, I love the kindness in him that he dismisses so easily. I love him; I love him the way I’d love a friend

Gu Yun from Stars of Chaos Ah, this is just a pure comfort character. Strong and witty, his eyesight is shit (same), and despite being young, his back is like that of an ancient man (HE JUST LIKE ME FR)

Can’t think of a number 5. Can’t think of any female character either, I have to go contemplate my gender for a minute.

EDIT

So today Seven Seas posted the Guardian cover and I almost started crying when I saw it. It occurred to me that yes, obviously,

5. Shen Wei form Guardian

He’s as much a comfort character as they get. Literal comfort. I have a photo of zyl as Shen Wei in a little frame that I used to keep on my desk to motivate me to study. He’s the academia god I pray to when in academic despair, which is often. The glasses I wear every single day are identical to the pair Shen Wei had in the drama. Some of my academic work I did with him in mind, as a tribute of sorts. He’s the promoter I turn to when the real life ones fail me 💜

Tagging:

@everythiiingoes @apprenticedmagician @taralkariel @scrhtt @fandom-queen-aka-trash

[melodraca]

your oc tag intrigues me

can I have some fun facts about kade I see that name a lot and kade seems great

sorry am awkward

Don't worry, you don't seem awkward at all! ^_^ But oh my gosh, I'm going to apologize in advance, because seeing an ask about any of my ocs makes me really happy and I may or may not start rambling a bit. Bear with me here...

Fun facts about Kade:

He's a character from a roleplay between me and my friend

We actually both agreed that he's our favorite character

He's bi

Kade started out in 2015 as a slightly humorous antagonist who was supposed to show up for one plot arc and then disappear forever

We liked him too much, so we brought him back as a side character with a redemption arc

We then liked him SO much that he became a main character

(He was a diamond amongst the trash of our terrible old writing)

He was kinda toxic, kinda manipulative, but also so cringe and sexy, he captivated us

He's like 6'5"+. A beanpole

He's one of our most intelligent characters

I wouldn't say he's got low wisdom necessarily, but his sense of humor is really dumb

He laughs at his own jokes

The first thing he did after being introduced was unsuccessfully attempt to make the lives of everyone around him worse (he didn't have a clear motivation for this)

He loves his cool, scary wife so so much

He started out as a part of a gang, which was initially supposed to add to his ~villainous intimidation factor~ but he was so universally disliked by this gang that it was just kind of sad

He attempted to leave and somehow ended up in an infinitely worse situation (mafia-esque crime organization)

The first thing he did in this organization was form a codepedant relationship with the boss's equally touch-starved and closeted son (Nic)

Their relationship is healthier now, but for a while they both sucked so much. They enabled each others issues, and Kade loved to make Nic mad on purpose

He's polyam, and he's been collecting partners like pokemon cards

His partners have a groupchat that they didn't let him join

He was crushing on his cool, scary wife (Mian) for almost a decade, but she was his bestie and he didn't want to ruin that in case she didn't feel the same way (she did, but the whole time she thought that she just REALLY liked him as a friend)

Still unironically says "epic" (me too)

He had so many vices and issues <3 he still has so many issues

I'm pretty sure he questioned his gender at one point, and he came to the conclusion that he was still cis, but in an Ascended kind of way

He's in his 40s by this point

He has kids, he's genuinely really sweet with them (also collects them like pokemon cards; most of them are adopted. He's not the step dad, he's the dad that stepped up)

Deals with gut-wrenching trauma :(

He almost caused a divorce because a bromance with one of his best friends (Tsubasa) got a little bit too gay

"He has a very punchable face," - a comment I once got on a drawing of him vaping

He has his stupid spiked collar insured

Ate a cigarette more than once

I think we canonized him being autistic shortly after I realized I was autistic, because too many things made a LOT of sense retrospectively

During his wedding vows, he asked the audience to give him a "hell yeah."

I imagine that he smells very subtly like weed and drugstore cologne

He went through a lot of personal growth. Had some issues with toxic masculinity, now he respects women soooo much

He has a special interest in horror films/shows/books/etc. He also just likes film in general

His other thing is math, and all of his partners hate it

I just think he's really neat :)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head rn 💀 but thank you again so much for asking!

Art by swagamicchi on twitter, me (old art, but I haven't drawn a lot recently. rip.), and frozenspoots on twitter