#WELL things don't make much sense when you take out all the context :'D

[alice-angel12x]

Wait.. you're telling me Epel and Death have history together?! (Well more like his ancestors-) BUT STILL

Is that why instead of being afraid when he first saw them he was impressed with their fighting abilities??

Now I need more interactions with them OR even better! Epel inviting Death to Harveston because come on! And maybe there is a legend of Death there? As the kind person who helped the small town grow and become what it is today!

Also sorry about all of this, Epel is my favourite character and your writing brings me so much joy so I'm very happy right now! :D

"You're inviting me? To what I may ask?" Y/n asked.

" I only got the news this morning too, granny is so unreasonable," Epel sighed. "There’s an annual festival in the Harveston this weekend."

"Let me take a guess. A festival in Harveston, at this time of Year... Moln Mountain’s Kelkkarotu I believe it's called," Y/n said with a slight uncertainty.

"Y-yeah how did you know?" Epel asked in surprise.

"I have been around for a very long time," Y/n answered simply.

Epel ended up inviting a few other some with great interest others, not so much. Sebek, Jade, and even Idia came along to the trip.

As soon as the cool air of Harveston hit Y/n's cold skin, a wave of memories and nostalgia washed over them. The once small town had become a thriving community.

As Epel explained the geography of the land and it's lands, and apple specialty, he noticed Y/n seemed to be off somewhere in their mind. Y/n looked on with a sense of familiarity.

Jade would question this, but Idia would reason that maybe Y/n would have come across the town before. Maybe a few times.

When Epel offered Y/n an apple fresh from harvest. They learned that Y/n Death does not Eat... Furthermore lacked organs to digest so there is no point in eating.

So Down the road to Epel's house they went. It was a beautiful cabin, fit to stand the cold weather of Harveston. Y/n hurried them don't, to get warm clothes on. Wouldn't want them to catch their death out here. Speaking of which.

"Inside the shed? Are you actually an indoor type?" Idia asked.

"No, I played outside almost every day. Even in harsh rain, I couldn’t stand still. So in those days, I’d prefer to play in the shed which it’s wider and has fewer things than in my room.  I played with the farming tools, and even made treasures and a secret base there," Epel reminisced. "  But there’s one time when I was in the shed and the snow falls down really bad… And the door of the shed was blocked by the piled snow and it couldn’t open."

" You, as a child, alone in that shed? You lack caution as a mere human," Sebek gasped.

"And even if I shouted or banged my hand on the door, nobody noticed. It kept getting colder, and I was getting hungry… it was so bad that time," Epel reminisced.

"Then how did you manage to get out of the shed?" Jade asked. Epel thought for a moment and smiled.

"Well need a bit more context for that story. Which we will find in the center of town," Epel said mysteriously.

"Oh, alright. Hold on to your mystery for now," Jade chuckled

So Epel leads the group to the center of town. to get to the hall and to meet his grandmother Malya.

When Epel and his grandma chatted, the others were completely lost on what they were saying. As the two talk in their native dialect. But Y/n was happy to translate for them.

As the boys choose the fabrics that would be used to make their plushie sled pullers. Grim being Grim got hungry again and wanted more sweet apples.

As he scanned for unattended food and saw a treasure trove of some. At the base of some state were the biggest, ripest, ruby-colored apples he had ever seen. He's never seen such perfect apples.

As Grim made a mad dash towards them, he suddenly slammed face-first into a shovel. Grim hissed and looked up to see an old man glaring down at him.

The old man began to scold the fire cat, catching the attention of the NRC boys, and Epel's grandmother. Y/n apologized on Grim's behalf.

The NRC boys were wondering why he was so angry. So Epel explained the significance of the statue.

"This is the state of Harveston's Founder. When our ancestors were in a hard place, the founder came across them and lead them here. Were they would teach and raise the orphans to survive here," Epel said.

The boys looked up at the Statue. It was of a familiar figure, in one hand they held a lantern above their head. Lighting the path in front of them, while in the other held a baby close to their chest. Behind the founder were three children huddled up close to them. One was looking behind in fear, the middle one simply hugged close, and the last one looked up at the found in awe.

What they noticed was that hand holding the lantern, looked like it was broken long ago.

"Oh, Epel. What happened to the statue's hand?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, did the hand used to hold the lantern? Cause the drilled-in hook looks strange," Idia added.

"Oh, that's was the founder's doing," grandma Malya laughed.

"The founder's...doing?" Sebek asked skeptically.

"Yes, even all these the founder's spirit has always been watching over us. We've noticed their spirit loves taking their lantern and putting it in places to signify their presence," The old man spoke. "And even before that the people of this town pick their best apple from their harvest. And place it at the base to pay respects."

"What a kind spirit," Y/n commented.

"Indeed, you could ask any local here and they would have a story to tell about their encounters. Even Epel, when was trapped in the shed when he was younger," Grandma Malya chuckled.

"Oh yeah, that story. Epel you never finished that story," Grim said.

"Oh yeah. When I was freezing, I suddenly felt this warmth. Not in the hypothermia kind of way, but like there was a small fire nearby. And I remember hearing someone," Epel explained.

"Heard someone?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, they were whispering encouragements and telling me I just needed one more push to open the door. And I did, with one of the tools I managed to free myself," Epel smiled.

"Ah yes, and when we finally found Epel. My son, Epel's father, saw something in the shed," Grandma Malya smiled. "It was the founder's lantern, once again in a place where it wasn't meant to be."

Soon Malya had to go make the sled Plushies, and Y/n opted to help her. While the boys looked up at the statue.

"hey, you know. This founder statute looks a lot like Y/n" the fire cat commented.

Epel's went wide and he looked at the statue to Y/n and repeated 2 more times.

"No...No... It... They can't be right?" Epel gasped.

___________________________________________________________

Part 2? Maybe. well, see.

#Falling Pegasus answers #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst yuu #death!reader #death au #origin au #epel felmier #epel x reader

[9800sblog]

Pick a card tarot reading - which TV show and movie are you and your friends in?

can be your next friendgroup too!

-> let's talk about your dynamics with others and the contexts you and your friends are inserted; do you have a potential lover in your friendgroup? can you identify who is your closest friend there? what are the possible next events? which TV show and movie would you love to watch right now?

-> this is exclusively my interpretation of what tarot cards showed me through energy reading, I could be wrong, take only what you think makes sense to you and message me if you have any questions! ^^

let's get into it!!!!

pick your pile

from up to down: Pile 1 (The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You - My Chemical Romance), Pile 2 (Flashing Lights - Kanye West, Dwele), Pile 3 (Would've, Could've, Should've - Taylor Swift)

Pile 1

South Park and Harry Potter

the existence of your group in itself is odd, you're all totally different, but share something in common that bonds you. your group follows some sort of structure, likely meeting at school everyday and/or living nearby each other and have been/will be together during your formative years (childhood and teen years). you will always see these people as your home, even if just through nostalgia, you go through unimaginable adversities together. you resolve problems with unkindness and you always get away with stuff. overall, lots of people don't like y'all because you're all self absorbed, but someone in the group specifically, probably the "leader", thinks they're somehow special and that drives outsiders crazy. your group is the outcasts who think they are popular and are given special treatment from people in power. you guys dare to be different and act the way your intuition says to act, you're not worried about acting the way you're expected or "supposed" to act because you think people like that are dumb, you have childlike souls. your intentions are pure and you're just trying to live your life with fun and without worry, if anyone gets in the way of that, a fight is sure to happen. this group is totally platonic.

Pile 2

The Good Place and The Craft

this is my spiritual friend group! you hang out to practice things, you're a team, this might be a literal sports team working on their team spirit. the leader of this group is a liar! I wouldn't trust them. this group doesn't or hasn't worked well together because people are/were acting selfishly; secrets, gossips and arguments, the minute you guys identify and end the manipulations, this team will be stronger than ever! happy individuals and an unbreakable bond. of course it won't be easy! there is so much hard work required, many discussions and ugly endings, but teamwork is the dream work. this might require you to kick someone out. you guys have a spiritual connection, work on being better people for your own selves and you'll have a revolutionary relationship, life-changing stuff that will help many others.

Pile 3

The Office and Clueless

brought together by the most soul crushing responsibilities, you guys work so well together because you respect each other's individuality. you make everyday life fun by exploring different outcomes of boring events, you don't wanna be stuck where you are so you try to push each other to go out of their comfort zones and y'all pretty imature when you're together! your work may be mediocre but who cares? it doesn't matter! you follow your passions in other ways anyways, these are just annoying obligations. your connections are fulfilling and make you happy, you find comfort in them, you're so similar, yet so different, with different backgrounds and stories. you may find that romance you've been dreaming of in your friend group!! best friends to lovers :D (please don't date your "ex" step brother)

#tarot #free tarot #tarot game #pick a card #pac tarot #tarot online #tarot community #pick a pile #pick a deck #pick a picture #pick a photo #personality test #south park #harry potter #the craft #the office #clueless #the good place

[fbj723]

certified delulu post about nocti

a.n. this'll be a compilation of thoughts from my initial reactions to sands of wrath to his voicelines to literally everything about him. THIS WILL HEAVILY BE A NOCTI X SKK!READER KIND OF THING because i'm all in for a lil self insert to feed my delulu visions. also as a heads up i did read the story using google translate so if i quote anything it's basically what google translate told me but i edited it to make some grammatical sense. and yes there will be spoilers

a lot of context will be left out so if you don't wanna be confused by names check out this lore doc that gives a summary of er-5 or pgr lore in general, this post just talks about er-5 lol

EXHIBIT A: TRIGUN AU

have you seen trigun (ESPECIALLY trimax) cause if you have this makes so much more sense

noctis is vash and nigel is knives

both are brothers and have almost opposite ideologies

i did think of wolfwood and livio as another option but nigel does fit a bit closer to resembling knives

VASHWOOD (where nocti is vash and skk is ww (or the other way round, honestly either still works)

nocti: but you must promise me that you won’t die before i come back! no…. you’re not allowed to die even after i come back! i will definitely find a way to save you!

skk: of course, partner…..

this had me in TEARS I WAS NOT READY

nocti fist bumping you just made me think of this scene with vash and meryl

HE ALSO CALLS YOU PARTNER AS HE FIST BUMPS YOU the way i had this realization so late into writing all this

sands of wrath setting literally looks like a place you’d find in no man’s land

nocti’s voiceline telling you to smile more, similar to ww telling vash to smile more (and i mean their genuine smile, not the fake one they use in front of people)

EXHIBIT B: NOCTI AND SKK ARE MARRIED

they are married and own a bar together hear me out—

you two enter a town in which neither of you are welcome because you’re both from babylonia, the mayor decides to put you two in a hotel room till the harvest festival is over

you two are in separate beds, but neither of you can sleep, so you two do what any pair of roommates would do—

—have a 6 hr "light conversation" :D

first actual convo with nocti, you both take turns to ask questions about why they’re here, what’s going on, etc

nocti asks why you trust him so easily, you respond with “it’s intuition” which is a response nocti seemed to like

you also state how you hope he returns to cerberus and fall asleep. nocti in a way states he also wishes to go back to cerberus and sleeps as well

at some point nocti leaves the hotel room to find demont, who is the reason you two ended up working together in the first place, but there was an attack by hetero creatures and nocti swiftly got rid of them

after talking to the mayor, max, about wanting to be just a resident in town, he takes you to a bar, in which that’s where you find nocti

ya know he could’ve talked about ANYTHING and his drunk ass decided to talk about HOW HE PROTECTED YOU??? COINCIDENCE??? I THINK NOT

you find nocti and he offers his hand out to you to dance with him, you reluctantly agreed and you two end up break dancing together

this was him proposing to you i’m just sayin—

the night passes and you two begin living your lives as residents of new oakley

when he first calls you partner, it was originally solely because temporarily they’re no longer considered members of babylonia, and so to fit in with the whole wild west type style, nocti refers to you as “partner” and you agree to do the same to him

first time it’s used outside your interaction with him was when nocti has small talk with vann

vann: you’ll only obey orders from that commandant, right? these are the rules of the sky garden

nocti: i don’t listen to anyone’s orders, but if it’s a request from my partner, that’s a different matter

NOCTI WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT LIKE WE’RE ROMANTICALLY PARTNERS?????

this isn’t the first time he does something like that he’s very consistent about it

truly a devoted man

also “MY partner” ????? he also pretty much refers to you as his partner throughout the whole story i got whiplashed when we were back to being called skk in his affection story

after you and nocti find demont there’s a small good cop bad cop scene (which i found hilarious), but at the end demont couldn’t reveal much vital information due to dying from poison

nocti realizes this poison is something only nigel can control, and stormed out into the center of town in a fit of rage trying to find nigel

calming him down and telling him to retreat to not make a big scene was practically impossible, that is till you shout “trust me— partner!!” and nocti finally calms down and retreats

HELLO??? CALLING HIS NAME HE DIDN'T BAT AN EYE BUT BEING CALLED PARTNER MADE HIM ACTUALLY LISTEN??

i'm absolutely speechless

you two cook up a plan to find out what’s really going on +bonus hand holding at the end

your part was to just do your job as a bartender while nocti handles the investigating, and eventually nigel shows up

nigel asks what’s the difference between a human and a construct, you respond in a way a bartender would explain it, but nigel wants an answer from you as a commandant rather than a bartender

he ends up poisoning you and leaves, nocti arrives a little while later after discovering what the plan is for this town in the next few days

i remembered that before we split up i told him not to be reckless, but in the end i was the one that was careless and ended up in this miserable condition. i no longer had the strength to stand, so i could only slide down to the edge of the bar. at the beginning, i said big words that would make nocti return to cerberus in an honored manner… i didn’t expect to be the one to make him sad for his companions

skk: i'm sorry…. nocti….

nocti: HEY! don’t say such depressing things to me so quickly

nocti then enters a panicked state of not knowing what to do cause skk is poisoned and there's no known cure for it

nocti gritted his teeth. he didn't even know how to give first aid. he regretted not learning more about first aid from vera before

GOT ME SOBBING, EMOTIONALLY DAMAGED, SHATTERED INTO PIECES

you tell nocti to go help the mayor cause if the mayor dies the town will fall

nocti is in pure disbelief that at a time like this you're more worried about someone else and he refused to leave you here

after some reassuring nocti goes ahead and takes care of what's going on in town and immediately after checks if you’re still ok

he hears a painful scream in his communication device and he SPRINTS back to where you are and finds both vera and 21 there attempting to take care of you

21 comments on how nocti is a lot more powerful ITS BECAUSE HIS LOVER IS DYING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE WANTS TO SAVE THEM BUT DOESN'T KNOW HOW

there’s an encounter with the purifying force, wanting nocti dead since they believe he’s the cause of their aircraft crashing

you tell them that it isn’t his fault and after essentially a stare down between the purifying force and cerberus, the purifying force leaves you all alone since they trust you (thank the overlords for you working with them before and gaining a good work relationship)

you, cerberus, max, and vann think of a plan on what to do next now that you all know where nigel might be located

nocti will go and fight nigel alone since it’s the reason he even came here in the first place while the rest defend the town

you establish a m.i.n.d. connection with nocti, which in turn gives him the poison as well since you’re basically almost a walking corpse at this point

the fact that nocti, with NO hesitation, established a connection with you makes it LOUD AND CLEAR that he will stick with you no matter what even if it leads to his death

cue another hand holding scene, and nocti leaves

vera and 21 get very VERY concerned over your health, yet you’re still adamant about keeping the connection with nocti

21: they want to keep a deep m.i.n.d connection w nocti

vera: DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! if you're deeply connected, your consciousness will be completely bound to him…. if he dies, you also die

skk: he… needs….. me…..

this is LITERALLY a moment where one cares more about their partner THAN THEIR OWN WELL-BEING ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

transitioning over to nocti’s side, he finally confronts nigel

nigel mentions that in order to cure the commandant he needs to be killed, but just HEARING that name come out of his mouth made nocti more full of rage than he’s ever had

this part alone SCREAMED nocti being like "you do NOT have the right to say my partner's name after what you did to them, i am no longer doing this for myself, i'm doing this FOR THEM"

so anyways nocti gets his ass beat 💀💀, nigel lecturing him that he’s still confused and is only driven by anger

the cutscene if you wanna watch it

"commandant… you must be disappointed with me…. damn it… are you mad at me? haha.. me too…. leave everything to me from now on. let’s make that bastard taste our true wrath, partner..."

“i can’t die here yet…. my partner is still waiting for me to come back.”

similar to 21's comment earlier, nigel notices how nocti's steps aren't noisy and chaotic anymore, but steady, firm, and powerful now BECAUSE HIS PARTNER IS ROOTING FOR HIM TO WIN AND HE NEEDED THAT BOOST OF ENCOURAGEMENT... THAT'S WHY YOU WERE SO ADAMANT WITH KEEPING A M.I.N.D. CONNECTION WITH NOCTI

this whole fight scene had me SCREAMING

“my partner and i will use all our strength… to beat you to pieces”

if you still haven’t gotten it DO YOU SEE IT NOW??? HIS MAN IS FULLY DRIVEN TO HIS FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO.. NO... NEEDS TO COME BACK TO YOU

nocti wins and nigel essentially retreats but with a new found respect for his brother

but before he retreats he asks nocti the same question he asked you: what’s the difference between humans and constructs

he gives his own answer and guesses yours (since he was rather confident enough with knowing a lot on how you think) and it boils down to them having the same answer but different font

the place nocti and nigel were fighting in collapses, forcing nocti to leave and never see nigel again

you and nocti are back in the hotel room recovering, and a few locals come in to beg nocti to stay and not go back to babylonia

“but i made a promise with my partner, i want to return to cerberus in a dignified manner…”

after more silly banter everyone leaves you and nocti alone to rest, but neither of you can sleep

nocti brings up the question nigel asked him, and you gave him your actual answer, which is pretty close to what he guessed

nocti: haha… just as i thought, i know you better

skk: but maybe i know you better. for example, what you look like when you’re drunk

nocti: WHAT?! DID I DO ANYTHING WEIRD WHEN I WAS DRUNK???

skk: forget it, stop talking, i’m sleepy

nocti: HEY!! TELL ME NOW!!!!

he’s a literal blushing mess after you told him you saw him drunk

your honor this is literally a newly wed couple

gotta of course mention his affection story so read here for a summary of that as well

the way he ONLY uses the best quality and probably most expensive ingredients to make your food

nocti giving a damn about this whole pancake thing only because YOU care

LIKE HE'S PUTTING HIS PREFERENCES ASIDE TO MAKE YOU HAPPY

MORE HAND HOLDINGGG this time in the form of you helping him mold the pancake shape +bonus nocti blushing

both literally wanting to do the whole working at a bar thing together again in the future that is like PEAK ENDGAME for their marriage

+bonus boss being supportive and naming the new drink and dish that was made after you and nocti

the whole affection story just very clearly and vividly plays out nocti and skk working together flawlessly at the bar like their chemistry was SO GOOD !!!!

very sorry for any grammar errors i'm very hyperfixated on him rn and i needed to scream about it somewhere

anyways thank you for coming to my ted talk i will now think of nocti in a wedding dress /hj

#fbj rambles #punishing gray raven #pgr noctis #pgr commandant #pgr noctis x reader #i was NOT expecting to write this much omg #im very sane abt him can you tell #this was like 2k words wtf #most sane nocti simp LOL

[soleilnomoon]

Bonjouuur mon amour! (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡

(sorry in advance for any grammatical mistakes lol I'm really french lmao and I'm trying my hardest to write in a decent English ;-;)

I would like to make a request if you don't mind 💚

I had this idea of scenario (context->) where s/o (female) is a celestial dragon but she run away, cuz she want to help people and so her family disowned her for this "weakness" and called her a failure, and after that she meets Luffy and immediately (ofc lmao) asks her to join him as his second doctor in the ship.

The thing is that Sanji relates to her story a lot and kind of takes her as his lil sister 🥺

So like he's as whipped with her as with the other women but like platonically if it makes sense?? He just can't see her THAT way.

And here's the other thing, she's very VERY good at her job having the blood blood devil fruit so there's a certain Surgeon of Death that was JUST interested in her devil fruit, as he proclaimed, and NOT her! But ofc not and they fell for each other (in their own weird 'awkward from a side and joyful from the the other' way lol I mean what do you expect from a grumpy man and a strawhat)

And obviously Sanji DOES NOT approve of this, "He's too old for you"

"Where are his GENTLEMAN MANNERS? HUH??"

"He's a damn captain from another crew that we may be enemy with at ANY given moment"

"I don't see what's special about him"

"You're too nice and wonderful for him y/n-chan.."

and ESPECIALLY after knowing about the D. thing.

So the scenario is they have a big party at the end of wano, and Sanji just wants to have a friendly little conversation with Law, as he told s/o, but somehow after TOO MUCH time left alone they notice the ground shaking..

(Here's for inspiration maybe (?)

"So let's get straight to it.. How do plan on killing s/o you psychopath!? I know very well how people from north blue think.."

*smirks* "I don't plan on killing her."

"then.. WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT HUH?? DON'T EVEN DARE TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING MORE WITH HER!! DON'T YOU KNOW SHE USED TO BE A PRINCESS??"

*shrugs*)

Ok so lmao you can make it funnier and change it as you want and feel comfortable with 💚

I hope it's not too much! 😭

Thank you so much if you accept it! Stay healthy and hydrated!! 💚💚💚💚

hihi 💛 thank you for being patient, also don't worry as a fellow multilingual i completely understand lol i kept rewriting this bc i am a fool, but i like how it turned out so i guess it worked out in the end

1.9k words, fem reader, sfw (mildly suggestive, alcohol & smoking, blood mention), 18+ mdni; angst and maybe fluff (idk use ur imagination), reader is a former celestial dragon (she gets disowned), sanji is a little mean & v. overprotective, but that's his job as an older brother ok; law does his best at keeping it together

blood, they tell you, it’s all in the blood.

with twinkling eyes and a head full of absurdities and curiously odd things, you try your best to understand; but it doesn’t make sense. 

what’s in the blood, you ask — a timid, young thing, you hardly know better, but this is a learning experience; one of many.

everything! 

their frustration at your incompetence grabs you, sinks its nasty claws into your skin, makes you sob loudly. you reconsider ever asking anyone in your family for clarification again. a record stuck on repeat, destined to ruin your chance of independent thought, only word is parroted at you.

everything, everything, everything.

it’s the last time your parents explain this to you, and it takes a few more years until you get it. and when you finally do, it hurts. 

it’s your fourth night keeping watch on the sunny — usopp promises to make it up to you one of these days — you don’t mind, though, it’s nice to have the time to yourself while the rest of your crew mates sleep peacefully. the night is quiet, sea tamer than normal, affable — even as a cool breeze passes near you. the thick blanket is enough to keep you warm, but not thick enough to keep the nightmares at bay. 

you dream of them frequently these days; your parents, siblings — the life you were forced to leave behind — it’s been so long, but you remember that moment so clearly: the unfortunate afternoon that changed everything. 

no matter how many ways you look at it, there was no alternative. you had to leave; there were things happening that went over your head, but even as a small child your curiosity got the best of you, and you bore witness to an event so gruesome that you cried yourself to sleep for weeks.

no amount of harsh words or directives from your parents could sway your opinions to align with theirs. you — whose ancestors attempted to conquer the heavens — have empathy for those who are beneath your station; it’s absolutely vile, their blatant disregard for the lives of others, so much that it pushes you to voice your opinions over and over. being stripped of your family name, wealth, and social status should be enough to shake you — but it doesn’t. if anything, your resolve becomes much stronger.

a family that discards their child in favor of committing atrocities is not a family worth staying in.

it’s what you keep telling yourself as the years go on, it helps you sleep a little better at night knowing that you’re clearly not like them; but it’s not enough. and when you bite into a brightly colored, nausea inducing fruit, introducing you to the treacherous path of the world’s devils, you actualize your purpose in life.

another stronger breeze coasts by and your nose twitches at the brisk temperature; before you can sneeze, movement off to your side makes you jump back. you’re not skittish by nature, but for some reason, he always takes you by surprise.

trafalgar law fixes you with an inquisitive stare, one that makes you feel as if he’s picking you apart in order to investigate you properly. moonlight glides along his dark hair, illuminating the strands, casting shadows across his face — haunting, yet startlingly handsome. 

you roll your eyes and stare right back, hoping your false bravado will help with the way your heart beats much too fast whenever he’s around.

“it’s impolite to stare at people,” you say quickly, tugging the blanket around you securely and leaning against the railing.

he hadn’t meant to stare, but you looked so intense that he couldn’t help it. or, that’s what he’s telling himself, anyway.

“relax,” he casts a glance over to the ocean, takes note of the way small waves knock softly against the side of the ship, “i called your name several times, you just didn’t hear me.” he’d only called it out once, but, again you weren’t really paying attention — and he was well aware of that.

you blink slowly and press your lips together, quietly contemplating his words. you do have a tendency to stay in your head, preferring to keep certain thoughts and opinions to yourself — a troubling habit you picked up over the years out of necessity — although, with him you’re much more willingly to share. law commands that sort of honesty, and you give it freely; much to the chagrin of a particular member of your crew. one who insists on inserting himself in your life whenever possible.

a question floats around his mouth, one that he’s been toying with for a few days now; it slides down his tongue, heavy with implication. he knows that if he asks it now, you might not be able to look at him the same way, so he’s careful with which words he handpicks, and as he readies himself, a hand grips his shoulder from behind.

really, law should blame you for distracting him, for dulling his senses — for always making him feel more relaxed than he normally feels — but he knows that this time it’s his fault. since he intentionally sought you out tonight, when he knew — or, he thought he knew, anyway — that everyone else would be asleep.

leave it to sanji to always defy his expectations.

the sigh he lets out is one built out of frustration and equal parts annoyance. “what is it now?” a clipped response from the captain of the heart pirates, one that sanji does not appreciate one bit.

“excuse you, but what are you doing with y/n this late at night?”

you pinch the space above the bridge of your nose, close your eyes, and count to ten slowly. maybe this is all a terrible, terrible dream. but, as their voices elevate, as sanji keeps insisting that law is somehow trying to corrupt you — for the umpteenth time since the sunny left punk hazard — your tolerance diminishes. law barely hears a word sanji says, even though the latter gets in his face and restarts the same argument they were having before dinner.

“sanji,” you call out sternly, your voice carrying his name forcefully in the air, prompting the curly-browed cook to look over at you. his eyes widen a bit at the severity in your tone.

“i’m only looking out for you.” it’s the dejected look that seals the deal for you. it’s possible you’re much too soft-hearted to be a pirate, but you tug on sanji’s arm and half-drag him away from law. sanji is sputtering nonsense about how law is actually more devious than you realize, how there’s something off about the way he always manages to get you alone — and you listen, or you try to, but you can’t help but feel that sanji’s overprotectiveness is misguided in this instance.

and, no matter how many times you try to convince him otherwise, sanji won’t budge on his position.

it’s not like law can stop the cook from acting that way towards you; from what he’s gathered, you’re a runaway that found a home with the straw hats. your devil fruit power is fascinating, as are your medical skills — and as a surgeon, he’s impressed with your ingenuity — but he’d be lying if he admitted to those being the only reasons why he’s interested in you.

just like you, he has a tendency to keep things to himself; this, he tells himself later on, is an absolute necessity. one that he needs in order to safely navigate the mysteries surrounding your existence.

what initially starts as awkward, tense moments, quickly morphs into relaxed conversations, prolonged glances, and inside jokes. it’s a surprise, really; law isn’t the sort to easily let his walls down without putting up a fight, but you make it easy. it would be suspicious if he was being smarter about things; but he’s not, unfortunately.

during this time, his relationship with sanji takes a turn for the worse; to the point that the other members of your crew take notice and try to break them up whenever possible. it’s always the same argument, one that you’ve memorized and spit back at sanji in retaliation.

“you’re not listening, he’s a despicable man, y/n, really!” sanji’s concern does come off as genuine, even as he pulls out another cigarette to smoke, his agitation eating up any residual tranquility lingering in his body.

“uh huh,” you say, flipping through a dense textbook, the font small but legible. “you’ve yet to give me a reason, big brother.” you smile to yourself when sanji huffs and focuses on smoking for a moment. he loves pulling the surrogate, self-proclaimed older brother card at his leisure, but when you do it, it’s a problem.

not that he means anything by it; sanji is quite fond of you, in a way that he isn’t with the others. when you first join the straw hats, he recognized the grief that you carried on your shoulders — it mirrored his, in a way. so he sort of adopted you; it’s a sweet gesture that you’ve always appreciated. after leaving home, you miss having a family — and he cherishes you in a way your parents never did. 

that warmth will never leave you, no matter how much time passes.

after his third drink, sanji points a finger at law accusingly. “you’re ill-bred,” he declares, cheeks flushed as he narrows his eyes at the pirate in question. he promised earlier to not start any trouble, but that all went out the window when he saw the two of you together — laughing, smiling, fingers touching more than necessary.

all he can think about is how he can’t fathom the idea that you might actually like law — and that the feelings might also be reciprocated.

law, having foreseen this conversation, but not doing a damned thing to prevent it from occurring, simply asks, “don’t you get tired of saying that?” because he certainly is. it’s not unusual for someone to be overprotective of their younger sibling, however you are also a functioning adult that is more than capable of making decisions for herself. no matter the consequence.

“i’ll say it as many damn times as i need to.”

the argument is a circular one, but because law’s in a good mood, he entertains it. “you’re being ridiculous.” the amount of energy the blond pirate puts into defending your honor is absurd, and has law pouring himself another drink.

“i’m warning you,” sanji jabs a finger against law’s chest, “i’ll kill you before you hurt her.”

at that, law snaps. “what the hell is your problem? i’m not trying to kill her.” if anything, law would reason that you’re the one killing him. he’s never been this enamored with someone before, so the uncomfortable, awkward feelings that swarm through him routinely are enough to scramble his thoughts. which only makes him more susceptible to sanji’s bullshit.

with narrowed eyes, sanji frowns deeply. “i don’t believe you,” he pauses when he catches you watching them from across the room, so he lowers his voice, “and one day y/n will see right through you, too.” he’d make sure of it. 

while sanji busies himself with plotting against the allied pirate captain, you busy yourself with prying answers out of law. it’s not that he wants to keep things from you, but he doesn’t think confronting sanji will solve a thing. still, it’d be unfair if he kept you completely in the dark, so he feeds you bits of the conversation, enough that you get the picture. it’s not your fault, you know that, but you apologize to law anyway, and decide to talk to sanji again in the morning. maybe after the festivities are over, he’ll regain some of his common sense.

#fic request #a-shanksed-law #trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law x y/n #one piece imagine #one piece x reader #one piece x y/n #one piece angst #law x reader #law x y/n #vinsmoke sanji #law angst

[esther-dot]

Fans are stating that Jaime killed the Mad King. So how he could go back to another Mad Queen. Like as if Cersei wasn't his twin sister, lover and mother of his children for years. Also Jaime killing Night King was way different than what he is in books now. Plus he killed Aerys to protect his father Tywin who sacked KL and killed Elia and her children. Also why was there rage when he going to kill another Mad Queen. Do they forget that Dany wanted to kill Jaime for killing her father?

Men killing their lovers is gross and I keep saying no one wants to read /watch that, but it isn't true for this fandom, is it? They were very enthusiastic about it and wanted it, just for some women, not others. They wanted Jaime to strangle his sister/lover/mother of his children, declared it character assassination when he didn’t, but then said it was sexist that Jon killed Dany to stop her from carrying out her stated intention of attacking other cities/castles. 🤦🏻‍♀️

As for Jaime's morality regarding "mad kings" and "mad queens," I do think the books and show made it pretty clear that Jaime wasn’t exactly a picture of virtue. I mean, he was fucking his sister, he was down for a little kid killing (sorry, Bran), even though his big dishonorable act is revealed to have actually been a good thing, it doesn't change his characterization over-all. I don't remember anything specific that made me believe it, other than a general, "born together, die together" idea, but I always thought he would die with Cersei. When that happened on the show and fans had a major meltdown, I argued he was a better man for trying to save his lover than if he hadn’t. And, I appreciated it too, because, as riddled with nonsense as s8 was, what made the show (more so, ASOIAF), compelling was that the characters weren't standins for us. They surprised me because what they did wasn't what I wanted, but what they wanted. Jaime's feelings for Cersei were real, the lust, betrayal, anger, obsession...it made for an immersive experience because I couldn't project or predict. I treasure that. I admire that aspect of Martin's writing so much.

Let's think of it this way, what is the point of a POV story unless we accept that every character has a personal history and limited perspective which will impact the choices they make? It made total sense to me that people in Westeros would reject Dany, she's invading! So, Jaime deciding to try to take her out makes sense not only because he must keep up his tradition of Targ killing, but also, who would welcome someone who shows up with monsters who can just...burn an army alive? Destroy a city in a few minutes? Why would you think that person has good intentions? Why would anyone think, "I don't know, maybe they'll be nice." Add on the fact that her dad was intending to burn women and children, it isn't plausible that Jaime would think well of Dany, not when he just witnessed her burning countless men alive. Attempting to kill her makes an awful lot of sense for him.

And, I should add, I don't take issue with Dany wanting to have him executed either! The fascinating part of having a huge cast, having people with histories that have them on opposing sides is to allow them to interact in that context, not to dismiss it as soon as it will make things interesting. I can't defend how D&D wrote any of this, we've all criticized it endlessly, but tbh, a good portion of the fandom had worse ideas. Worse interpretations of the characters, far more cliché ideas of everyone getting along, far, far more insulting dream endings.

But, I suppose that was largely a result of how D&D were playing games. They didn't understand that emotionally manipulating your audience into siding with (or against) characters by undercutting or rewriting characters at whim would result in absolute confusion about the moral framework of the story.  You can't have a satisfying ending if that ending supports ideals you've deleted from the story and condemns the ones you've been celebrating all along.

#dot chat #< for filtering

[csolarstorm]

Thoughts on Rick and Morty, Season 7, Episode 4: "That's Amorte". Why did the metaphor about capitalism have to be this?

Content warning for mention of s**cide.

Okay, so I hated this episode early on, because...why? Why tell this story?

Well, the episode says something pretty important about how we normalize the exploitation of people in a capitalist system by making them virtually anonymous so we can keep getting our popular consumer products.

It's like the dilemma in the show. There's actually a valuable lesson in this episode, it just comes from a scenario so uncomfortable it came with a suicide hotline bump twice.

They were clearly testing Adult Swim to find most uncomfortable, awful plotline they could get away with. I don't even think Deadpool tried to get away with this much.

I hated seeing the planet turn itself into a miserable dystopia to push more people to commit suicide, only to market canned intestine spaghetti. Who came up with the details of this plot? Are YOU okay?

It's ALMOST as bad as that last episode of The Boondocks, Season 4, where it tried to speak out against apology tours and ended up basically making fun of disabled people.

Except...this episode has a point. A necessary one. It's actually a good allegory for the way we try to forget the exploitation involved in consumer goods. There's no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism, after all. So as the metaphor goes, anything Rick brings to the dinner table for the Smiths to literally consume is going to come from something horrific.

The key word here is "consume". The suicide spaghetti is an unethical consumer product that the characters literally unethically consume.

The difference is that it's people's intestines. Yeah, there's an easily solid difference, and I was just making a rhetorical argument to illustrate what the episode is trying to say. People normalize awful stuff all the time with irony and a lack of a context.

And because of this, it's unfortunately easy to figure out Rick's thought process. Since we eat exploitative food all the time, what's the difference between the Smiths eating that, or "sugar chicken" at Panda Express? Meatpacking is a savage, disease-spreading industry that exploits farmers.

The plot was really dumb early on, honestly. The president of this planet actually pays attention to what Morty says at some random funeral, then actually believes him, then doesn't get defensive, then somehow starts an company over it when presidents don't really start companies...?

And then NOBODY THINKS TO JUST GIVE THEM ACTUAL SPAGHETTI.

It wasn't until the scene where they broadcast the man's life that I finally made some sense of the episode. Specifically Morty's quote:

"So it wasn't about dying, it was about the complexity of human life."

You see, unfortunately, a million lives is a statistic. We can imagine people suffering as they mine for lithium, and it won't stop us from using our phones. We can go about our lives understanding that some of our most sentimental possessions were made with blood and abuse, and, it's just part of life for us.

We can go about our day, going to restaurants, seeing movies, without thinking about the millions of lives we forfeited to COVID.

But all of that depends on the invisibility of the people exploited for these services. And moreso, it depends on the fact that these people are not personally connected to us. If we could somehow intimately watch the life of a sweatshop worker the same way Rick broadcasts the life of the last spaghetti-d guy, well...

...to be honest, we're more callous than that. If nothing else, COVID drove that home. It took out a generation of nurses just because people couldn't stay home.

So it would take a lot more connection than just watching their life. Because we already have documentaries showing these things. But if we could consistently remove the anonymity that this exploitation depends on, we might arrive at a scenario similar to the aliens giving up the spaghetti.

The aliens giving up the spaghetti. *facepalm* Gotta give it to the writers for making THIS be the episode.

Technically this episode does match up with Loki! A lot of people got spaghetti-fied...just...not in the same way...

#Rick and Morty #rick and morty season 7 #Rick Sanchez #Adult Swim #tw: suicide #cw: suicide

[irritablepoe]

How do I approach reading poetry?

hiii, omg, i'm glad you're asking hehe :3

first of all, there's no "correct way" of reading poetry ofc, and i'm also no literature student, so i don't have the correct words for everything, so just keep that in mind :)

at first you have to figure out what poems you want or have to read, depending what you're reading it for (like for fun or education yk). i personally think that to feel the poem you have to read it to yourself multiple times and assigning your own meaning to it (if you find it in the poem ofc, some poems are just not for everyone and that's okay :3). to understand the poem you might want to add some historical and periodic context, and maybe also some basic personal context of the poet themselves (though, this is probably only relevant when they are classic poets). my tip is to find out the leitmotif of a specific period which probably makes the poem make a lot more sense.

just for an example: romanticism was mainly a movement as a reaction to the rationalization of nature (meaning science and the industrial revolution) in which emotions were being conveyed through the metaphor of nature and the desire to experience it (kind of like a rebellion against rationalism? there's a lot more to it with patriotism/nationalism and stuff but that's like the main thing). so in the literature in this period, nature and wanderlust were a big leitmotif here. i mostly know german poets so the best example of this would probably be eichendorff and brentano here, though idk how good the translations are but it's just an example anyways here.

i'll link a website here (all poems) and here (all poets), it's the poetry foundation and you can find and explore a lot there, there are also articles and stuff, it's really cool!

i don't read as much poetry as i'd like to but i'm just gonna try and explain how i personally do it:

i read it a first time, which gives me a general idea of what it's about and i'm probably going to get a few ideas on which period it is from (only specific ones though, as i said, i'm not an expert by any means). also i really really focus on it. i think poems can't really be read like a book, it's more like you taking a bite out of it and savour it with each verse yk? i know it sounds a little pretentious but you gotta go along with it a little bit, it's poetry after all...

i reread it and maybe take note of verses that i really connect with. although i'm fascinated by how history can influence texts, i'm a big fan of making my own interpretation as well. if i really like and connect to a poem i google the poet and look at their life (if i haven't done it before that is). oftentimes similar poets or poets of that time appear on the wiki page and i've realized that you're kind of "jumping" from one author to the next and check them out (not only with poetry but with all sorts of things). example would also be that if you look at goethe's life you're bound to cross schiller as well and then you're probably going to check his works out as well, you know what i mean?

the last thing i do is look at the structure, yes yes, i know, my german teacher would kill me for this and yes yes the poem can carry a lot of meaning behind what is said however, if i don't notice it the first few times i read it, it doesn't seem as meaningful to me, i'm just saying...

sometimes i like listening to poems too, i highly recommend rachel oates on youtube, she has some great poetry herself and i want to buy her book so badly! she reads some of her favorite poems in some of her videos and the way she reads them is just *chefs kiss*

yeah, uhm, that's pretty long and idk if that helped. i googled the question too just now and it focuses more on the structure and the reading aloud of the poem itself so idk if that helps more

thank you again for the ask! this was quite fun :D

#-johnny's asks

[defeateddetectives]

Pick and choose from the following :>

3 for k, 4, 6 for k, 6 for not k, 7, 12, 17, 19, 23, 25

gonna answer the unspecified ones for k as well bc i'm overjoyed about an excuse to choose violence about this (un)dead horse of a fandom over a decade later so thank u :D skipped 4, 19, & 25 bc nothing came to mind or i couldn't remember. rest under cut bc it got long rip

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr i do not have screenshots of any takes like 11 yrs later but i think everyone who had to put up with me circa 2k12 and the years onwards probably knew it was the whole ~mikoto only cared about one (1) person/thing and everything else was meaningless~ shtick -- the antithesis of which i apparently then made the hill i was gonna die on :)

honourable mention to that one arcade fire lyric being directly attributed to him as a quote as well though. like. what was that

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

look i am older and wiser than 11 years ago! i will let humans have complexities!!! i am friends with people who ship things i don't ship!!! all ships have rights i suppose!!! it's mktts*

*for legal reasons this is now a joke :')

for non-k...hmmm i remember v*ltron fandom reaching new heights of toxicity i'd never thought possible but i've fortunately eternal sunshined most of that from my memory now!

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

hmm i dont think hate is the right word. i think if anything, fandom 'flattened' how i saw some characters and i had to like sit with my interpretations in more or less a vacuum to figure them out when writing them. misaki and totsuka come to mind for obvious reasons bc they were so often only considered in the context of a ship and i've had to flesh them out in a way that make sense to me for a while. on the flipside, i couldn't stand the vast majority of the fanon takes on fushimi but he is SUCH a fun playground of a character in canon!

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

not unpopular as in disliked but more like overlooked - but i think more people should get obsessed with hidaka like me and then write me super niche hisaru fic!!!!! <3

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

it would be Really Nice if chiaki and i weren't pretty much carrying the mikoizu fandom on our backs :'))) but my running joke has always been that my relationship with that ship is their relationship with each other ie. IT'S ROTTEN WORK / NOT TO ME NOT IF IT'S THEM 😭

also obvs perpetually manifesting the great izumotatara takeover of 2kforever!!! lbr though i'd be delighted about new k content tailored to any of my biases in the year 2k24 (hint hint to anyone reading!)

23. ship you’ve unwillingly come around to

i wouldn't say 'unwillingly' (lol i feel like i'm answering all these questions Wrong) but once i had sufficient time and space, i do think i have much more appreciation for mktts and s*rumi dynamics and their emotional weight without the background noise of all no good very bad fandom takes in the fandom's heyday!

#*ing things so they dont show up in tags 💀 #sigh the meme required me to choose violence so here we are!!! #replies #memetime #project k problems #now thats a throwback tag!

[utilitycaster]

you mentioned that liam and marisha's styles tend not to really hit for you; i'm curious as to why? i tend not to vibe with them myself, but i've gotten tired of the "marisha's metagaming/liam's a spotlight hog and a misogynist" fanwank; obviously it's not your job to articulate my feelings for me, but i've never been able to put my own finger on it and i'm wondering what your thoughts are.

Sure! And I fully agree re: said nonsense about Marisha metagaming or Liam hogging the spotlight or being misogynist. (I actually find the idea that Liam is a misogynist baffling, like, while I disagree with Marisha being a metagamer or Liam being a spotlight hog I at least see why someone who isn't very medium-aware or, well, smart, might reach those conclusions. The misogyny accusations are actually baffling. Liam is a bigger fan of the women of the cast than most of the fandom.)

I should also note that when I say "doesn't hit" it means "I tend to prefer other cast members' styles, but I still think both of them are very good performers and like their characters a lot...I just find myself at odds with a lot of very common fandom ideas about them." I happen to, for example, think Marisha does a particularly great job with portraying the true complexity and mess of interpersonal relationships, and her descriptions in combat are consistently some of the best; and that Liam's explorations of grief across campaigns in very different contexts are a highlight of the series. In the end I want to stress this is all personal preference. Also this is below a cut just because it's very long.

For Marisha, I think a huge part of it is that she just doesn't explore the themes I am most interested in (this is true of Sam too - I think they're making valid choices that are meaningful for them and just aren't necessarily what excites me the most). My personal favorite characters have pretty much always tended towards people who were fighting pretty significant internal demons, and who barely won out over their darker impulses. I also tend to be more interested in characters who are putting on a facade or are reluctant to show vulnerability but for very valid reasons (often, said internal demons). And I like explorations of arrogance and hubris. That's just not what Marisha usually does. She can, for what it's worth! I loved how she played Patia, and the things I like about Keyleth, Beau, and Laudna (and I do like all these characters) deal with these themes at least in passing: Keyleth's struggles with anger and bitterness, Beau's refusal to show vulnerability, and Laudna's reluctance to express darker emotions. It's just not as central nor as thoroughly explored as what Travis, Laura, and Taliesin have consistently done every single campaign. I also feel that particularly with Laudna - whom I like, and will discuss below - she kind of leaned into the aesthetic first, and the backstory feels patchy and incomplete, and I wish she'd spent some more time thinking the character through. She doesn't always fill out the backstory quite as thoroughly as I prefer, essentially.

Meanwhile, Liam's style in particular reminds me of one person I played with who was like, a fairly old-school D&D player. I don't think Liam is a spotlight hog - I think he is actually notable for how much he tries to start scenes with other people and bring them in and support the other players- but he does sometimes start moments that feel a bit disruptive to the flow, if that makes sense? Like, it's not that he's taking up too much space, but sometimes he takes up space when I wish he'd waited a little for a more natural break, and it happens enough for me to have noticed it. He also is at times particularly theatrical, and to be clear, I think watching Liam as an actor, on stage, in a theater, would be an amazing experience! But it doesn't always work for me in a filmed medium where I would rather have something more subtle and naturalistic. I loved Caleb because I think his more subdued and introverted nature in RP, combined with the theatrics when it came to his spells really worked, but it translates less well for me with Vax and Orym, who are Just Some Guys. I also have to say that while three of the Core 4 classes are among my favorite classes, and I would be excited if CR does a fourth campaign and Liam plays a cleric, I also feel like he's holding himself back from some interesting explorations. I love a battlemaster fighter but Orym genuinely would make more sense as a ranger. It's again kind of like Marisha and themes - I think he's doing what's right for him, and I support that, but yeah, I'm going to be more invested then in people who make choices that happen to appeal more to me.

I will say their choice to go back to Tal'Dorei for their campaign 3 characters also did not help. I actually really like the aspects of their personalities for Campaign 3: I like that Laudna is a cheerful weird girl who sort of never did anything about the evil patron who murdered her for 30 years and is slowly blossoming as Bells Hells shows that they will stand by their weird dangerous friends, and that Orym is several years out of a loss and tentatively exploring relationships again and has a deep sense of obligation and justice, but I think this would have been better achieved by making these characters from Marquet. I have very mixed feelings about the Whitestone Nostalgia Tour even as someone who does very much love Percy and Vex, because I would much prefer to see new places and new characters and engage with the setting. I particularly don't love that they're not just from Tal'Dorei but very deeply tied into Vox Machina and the hometowns of two VM characters. At least, if you must, have someone who like, was a child during the Seige of Emon.

Finally, I debated including this in here for obvious reasons but it is, in fact, a factor for me: I am deeply uncomfortable with the particularly rabid and obsessive portions of both Liam and Marisha's fans that no other cast members seem to have - and to be clear I don't think this is at all a commentary on Liam and Marisha (I doubt they know these people exist), but as someone who is skeptical and contrary by nature the nonstop fawning by those people for Liam and Marisha even when they are doing completely run-of-the-mill things, or the belief that the campaign should center their character at all times or the insistence that (for example) Orym MUST have an inner darkness because...because LIAM, is a turn off. It's something I'm working on ignoring, but well, it's a process.

(For what it's worth: I've joked about the Vex-to-Fjord pipeline and the Keyleth-to-Caleb pipeline and the thing is: while I'm obviously a Vex and Fjord person, I have nothing but profound respect with people who prefer Keyleth and Caleb, because exploring the effect of high expectations on someone in adulthood is a very good theme, and the people who followed that path are, as a rule, engaging with the characters in an insightful way that sees them as full complicated characters and not Unproblematic Angel or Sadboy.)

#answered #burr-ell #cr tag #long post

[nemo-of-house-hamartia]

Hi Nemo!! For your ask: 2, 12, 19, and 24❤️❤️❤️❤️

HELLO HELLO TK!

welcome welcome, and thank you for your ask! <3

So, lemme answer you right away! :D

2) A character whose POV you’re currently exploring

Well, considering the giga hyperfocus for Baldur's Gate 3 that has taken me recently, I am currently trying to explore the POVs of Aranea and Azriel. I don't truly plan on writing anything substantial with them (ah, last famous words lol), but writing down in their POV is helping me shape them and also hear their "voices", so that writing dialogues can become as easy as transcribing my own dictation! :)

12) A trope you’re really into right now

Uhm, I would say that recently I have been having my own fun with the whole trope of "Magic always Comes with a Price". One thing I always ALWAYS love to explore with my OCs and their loved ones is the fact that, whenever they do something to obtain what they want/need, there is always a price to pay for it, and that price would DEFINITELY put them in a pickle.

19) The most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

One of the most interesting topic I researched for a fic would definitely be anything connected to Demonology. It all started when I was in middle school, and we were studying Dante's Divina Commedia (to this day, one of my favourite books). From there, I jumped into "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Found" by John Milton and then "The Lesser Key of Solomon", while also expanding and researching the whole concept of Demons in various other religions. It was truly interesting. It's also very good material for all my Supernatural AUs, and it's coming particularly in hand now that I am working with both Azriel and Aranea (See, this is what happens when you send your children to Catholic School with nuns! 😂😂😂). Another topic that I ABSOLUTELY adored studying for a fic was about the Silk Roads and the Ancient Trade Routes that basically connected the entire old Eurasian Continent and how they contributed to the import and export of SO MANY THINGS. (and for this, I need to thank my time in Saudi Arabia and the chance I had to visit museums about the Golden Age of Islam. It helped me understand better how interconnected we all are as a civilization :) )

24) how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

Well, it depends. If I don't feel particularly inspired in the Writing field, then I try to still put my brain to good use and work on the designs of my characters, either researching more for them or drawing.

If I feel that I need to recharge from both drawing AND writing, then I still try to keep my brain focused on whatever I am hyperfocusing on by reading and researching what might be useful to expand on my characters' backgrounds; or, like in the case of my recent BG3 fixation, try and keep up with the lore, so that my characters make sense within the context of the game (which is also a reason as to why I haven't shared much about them yet. I want to have something well done and at least partially refined, before getting it all out :) And since I am working on 4 new characters - Aranea, Azriel, Nerynnes and Ophelia- alongside others, it's taking a bit of my time loll).

Thank you so much for your questions, TK! <3

it felt refreshing and I had so much fun answering them <3

--Nemo

#Nemo babbles #Ask game #Friends #Please do not hesitate to send others #it helps declutter the whole mess that my brain is

[ahoge-fish]

Hello! I love your art and the way you draw Jotaro 👌 I was actually wondering if you could offer some tips on developing a JJBA OC? I'm working on creating one but am getting a bit hung up on writing her in a way that makes sense within the context of the Jojo universe, not to mention I'm trying to work out the mechanics of her stand. Are there any resources or things that helped you develop your OC? Thanks so much! Have a great day/night! :)

HIIIII!! Omg thank you so much for the complimeents I APPRECIATE THEM SO MUCH GNGNGNGBGNF💖💖💖💖💖💖

And of course! I can try >:3 because I express like shit HAHAHA

IMPORTANT! Everyone r e a d 🔫

There are gonna be some spoilers from part 3 to 6, but since Stone Ocean just came out and I'm pretty sure that people here already saw/read from part 3 to 5, I'll put a very visible warning just for Stone Ocean spoiler that may come. And I'll even use this type of font because peripherical vision can be a bitch sometimes HAHAHAHA But in case I warned you guys even for part 3 to 4 spoilers, then the risk to take is yours 👀👀👀👀

Also I'd like to make it clear that the things you guys are gonna read are based on my opinions, my likings, so you totally can also not agree with them and so you don't have to f o r c e f u l l y do what I've said :>

And NOW you can read the answer HAHAHA

Welp, it's not that I've actually adapted her in the canon universe, because since I want it to be a happy world, a happy place for myself to have fun in I've changed some things in order to not make some characters die because I love them too much and it breaks my heart everytime realizing some characters are dead ;v; That's the thing I've changed and ofc I added my OCs so more things changed, but not in a way to change the original story line (I hope I've explained myself well HAHAHA)

OC strenght and fights

Aaaaaand a thing I would do (/do in my universe), is not making an OC too OP, because yes they are a protagonist for you, but the story told in the anime/manga is the canon protagonist's one so I kind of like wouldn't want to steal their spot light. (In fact when in DIU Josuke wasn't the one to kill Kira but was a FRICKING AMBULANCE TO DO THAT- and even Jotaro that gave him a final blow- I was like "nuuuu but Josuke- noooo", I mean he had his very cool figh with Kira but I still wanted to see him defeat the hand fetish man once and for all. But it was still a very cool ending don't get me wrong :3)

STONE OCEAN SPOILER: START

And since I want the protagonist to kill the main enemy AAND a happy ending for Stone Ocean, I made it happen in a way that was Jolyne that gave Pucci a final punch in order to kill him FUCK YOU BITCH

STONE OCEAN SPOILER: END

Your OC can of course help, but I wouldn't make them do important kills like killing DIO for example, or important kills for a character in general.

For example: your OC could defeat Blue Moon but I would avoid them defeating The Hanged Man since all what happened with Sherry, while Blue Moon just took Jotaro as his enemy and didn't serve for a character development. Yes, Jotaro unlocked Star Finger, but he still could do that and then your OC can give Blue Moon the final blow. What I want to say with that is that your OC can defeat a non important secondary villain, but always with the help of who was originally supposed to defeat them. So to not take their spot light. But then if an event that you decided to make happen don't let you do that then it's okay! I'd still make it in a way to make them fight together, it's just my personal opinion and I think a way to make your OC fit better in the JJBA universe :3

But then of course you want your OC to have THEIR fight alone (or with another character, but always that you OC is now the protagonist of this fight) so in this case I'd create an enemy stand just for them to defeat ;)

Having always in mind the "not making your OC too OP", in making the stand you can go WILD. You could use some facts about anything that you know and like to create it! I used the ones I know to create my OC Alexandra's stand Kubary Fighter! But you can also creating it depending on the role you want to give your OC in the group, thing I've did with my other OC Yanyu's stand Precious Memories :3

I don't have much to say on about creating a stand, because you can literally do anything HAHAHAHAHA But ye knowing little facts by being curious in life can be handy when doing those things :3 You can also search for them and getting informed about things of course

Also have in mind that a stand is the extension of one's soul, so you can start from thinking how your OC's mental state is to give their stand the right amount of power and durability, because then I think that the other stats depends on the ability you wanna give the stand :3

OC design

For the designs, you can go CCCCCCCRAAAAZY with them as you can see from Araki's characters, *and they're very recognizable because he has his own way to make unique designs (we'll get to this later).

Each character has a very recognizable design, that isn't especially bizzare, but that has that one feature that makes their silouette recognizable (even without posing). Let's take our favourite french man Polnareff as an example: his clothes aren't as bizzare as Giorno's for example, they're pretty simple (not basic, just simple for one of Araki's design). And so what makes his silouette recognizable? H I S H A I R!

Look at this

You can 100% tell who is Polnareff from these two silouettes, and I'm sure you can even guess who is the other silouette even tho it is far more simple from Polnareff's. The thing is that it is still recognizable! So if you said Okuyasu then WOHOOOO he has a recognizable silouette!

You don't have to forcefully follow this rule, but it is a great help for character design because it makes people recognize and remember your OC a lot better!

Now, taking this *point, let's talk about how Araki's design are recognizable. It depends from character to character, but most of them don't necessarily have lots of accessories, but they sure have LOTS of details, and overall bizzare clothing. Take Jolyne's number one simp Anasui for example: his shirt (if we can call it that) doesn't make fucking sense HAHAHAHA His design is very cool tho, but what I want to say is that you don't see anywhere Anasui's shirt, it's unique and bizzare. I wouldn't count the foot prints on his shirt as accessories, because they're technically pockets, but they still serve as details for Anasui's design.

It's the details and shape of the clothes that you have to keep in mind, not the accessories. Of course you can add them to your OC's design, but I think you shouldn't give them as much priority as the shape of the clothes. I say that it would be better to do it that way, because this is the way the manority of JJBA character's design are. But then we have other characters that have lots of accessories, but the shape of their clothes is very simple.

Now we'll take our fave ocean man Jotaro as an example: his clothes are very simple, but the accessories he has give them its own personality and character. Because even the accessories are bizzare! I mean- look at his big ass golden chain, where else do you find a chain THAT big? No wonder his neck is so damn big, the boy has to walk straight in order to not fuck up his posture (even tho it is a little fucked up in the healthy way, but I love it so much because DAT PELVIS- MMMM), and the same goes for all of his pins in the other parts designs.

Now, I want you to take a look at these clothes

Love them, beautiful, gorgeous, so edgy with lots if accessories, bbbbbut they personally don't give that JJBA vibe. Why? Because the clothes have a normal shape and the accessories (even tho they're a lot and basically what makes the outfit pop) are not bizzare.

And now, I want you to look at THESE clothes

The shape of them are very unusual, a thing that you would only see at fashion shows, but that you would see in the streets in the JJBA universe.

Now, look at THESE accessories

THAT WOMAN IS WEARING A FREAKING STREET CONE ON HER HEAD!! Isn't that... b i z z a r r e?

I hope I made the difference clear, because I don't hate on the ones that make their JJBA OC wear that edgy outfit with lots of chains, I just personally don't think they give that JJBA vibe.

And with colors too, go crazy with them BUT!! Keep in mind color theory

My personal favourite are the complementary and split complementary theory, but you of course can use the one you like the most!

Also this could help too with the skin color 👀

I followed it for my OC Yanyu, but I didn't for my OC Alexandra, because as some of you know her main colors are turquoise and orange, but her skin tone is more of a pinkish one and as you can see on the turquoise and orange skin colors, they are more of a yellowish one. As I said, you don't have to forcefully follow these things! They are tips not rules, so you can do what you think for you is the best, because afterall the OC is yours :3

All of this design talk obv goes for the stand too :3 That can be literally anything, like- even a talking shopping cart made out of noodles with donuts that replace the wheels *w h e e z e*

Also I'd have in mind the part you want your OC to be in, because part 3 designs are more simple than for example part 5 designs, so that you can avoid making your OC feel like out of place (This goes for the stand users and not for the stands).

Aaaand that's all I think! I really hope that I've managed to explain things in an understandable way and that the things I've said can help you create your OC :3 I wish you a great day/night too! 💖💖💖💖💖💖

#•🐠 answers• #jjba #jjba oc

[colderdrafts]

Trying to think out my character a lil more, template from here. Just for fun, sfw alphabet for my grumpy snake man Amren below the cut.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Pretty simple. He does not.

Well, at least not in a traditional way.

If you actually manage to get under Amren's skin he'll just kinda. Be in your proximity a lot. He might not even realize he's doing it himself, but if he likes you you're gonna spot him hanging around close by pretty often. It's some roundabout way for him to make sure you're safe. He doesn't know how to show affection so he's gonna need you to take the lead here he needs a hug jesus christ

Also, you're gonna smell like him. Don't ask how he does it. Sorry.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

It is extremely difficult to make friends with Amren, he actively tries to prevent it lmao. BUT if you manage somehow, he's the scary dog privilege friend. Honestly, most of the time you wont be able to tell if he wants to be there or not. He's still going to be a snarky bastard but at some point he's gonna figure out he actually likes your laugh - and experiment to find what brings it out. Is also the friend that will throw hands if you're in trouble no questions asked. He's subconsciously trying his best to make sure you feel safe with him around.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

If you actually somehow manage to get that close to him, congratulations. I hope you don't have plans because you're not going anywhere for a good while. Dw he's surprisingly comfortable when he coils around you.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Amren doesn't really think much about ''settling''. He's grown used to solitude, has made peace with that and he hasn't done anything to change plans. He's lonely though, so if he ever got over himself and succumbed to the horrendous ordeal of being known maybe he'd start thinking about it again.

He's a decent chef (when he actually bothers cooking) and keeps his place very clean.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Depends on context. If you've been shit to him he's gonna drop you without mercy (unlikely you'll even be in a relationship with him at all then, though. He's got a sense for this sorta thing). If it's just a general growing apart thing or something akin to it, pretty quickly it's gonna be a structured conversation face to face. If it ain't working, it ain't working. No point drawing things out. He's an expert band-aid ripper. Most likely still gonna want you in his life as a friend though.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

So uh. He takes this VERY seriously. It takes a long time for him to figure out what he wants from another person (he doesn't know what to do lmao save him), and understand what they want from him. He isn't exactly scared of commitment itself, he values the other person's trust a lot and is extremely loyal - he's just scared they're gonna get hurt. He doesn't care about rings or ceremonies, to him they're just superficial arrangements that don't mean anything. He cares about words and actions.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Emotionally? You know when you go to open a locked door, right? And it doesn't budge, of course. Imagine Amren's the door. Now imagine that door that doesn't budge suddenly slams open outwards and knocks you back on the pavement the second you try the handle.

If he likes you, he'll go easy on you though. Might even try to be supportive. It's not gonna be very effective.

Physically? He knows he's a pretty big guy with some unique abilities. He usually stays far away from others because of that. Does that count as 'gentle'?

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Go ahead. Hug him. I dare you.

Either extremely awkward or you'll feel like you're being crushed.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Amren has never said nor heard those words in his life. Ever.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

He's never really had anyone to get jealous over, but if he finds someone he actually likes pursues someone else he might get a liil green eyed. Just a smidge. And it's gonna piss him off tremendously when he figures out that that's what's happening to him.

The other person will be none the wiser, though. He will keep it under very tight wraps.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Again, he has no idea how to do the whole 'affection-thing', but once he's over that he'll try. A lil clumsy, he thinks too much. Get him to relax, and it's very soft bordering on careful, mindful of his teeth and forked tongue unless you like them :). He likes forehead kisses most, both giving and receiving them.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He doesn't hate kids, but mostly tries to avoid them (not a fan of loud things) but if he has to deal with them he's firm, but gentle.

He does not want any of his own he's scared they're gonna be like him.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Depends how the night ended. Long night working security? Out hunting? He wont see the morning, and you wont see him unless you join him for a nap. Day off? Not a morning person. Slow, a grumpy kind of tired, taking his time enjoying things like coffee etc. Secretly a fan of the mundane soft things so expect him to just hover quietly a lot while you're just chilling making breakfast.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

If he trusts you, and you've shown you're comfortable with being close to him, he will take advantage of your body heat. He will wrap around you and you wont be able to stop him. He naturally runs cold, so bring a ton of blankets. You're gonna be stuck there.

If you haven't and you're staying the night, he's just gonna cover your basic needs and head to bed. You can take care of yourself, surely.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Remember the door? Yeah, that. It generally takes a loooong time for that door to open even a smidge. But once it does, he's gonna pull you inside and close it behind you.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Zero patience. Amren has no time for bullshit and he's gonna make damn sure you know. Don't test him. He needs to keep himself in check.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He's the kind of person who analyzes a lot, and he will remember pretty much everything you tell him - from your fav color to a funny story you wanted to share. He pays the most attention to your actions, though. He firmly believes they speak louder than words, and his opinion of you is mostly shaped by them.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

You made him genuinely laugh. That's not easy to do.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

This snake is on guard duty almost 24/7, and it multiplies whenever someone he cares about is around. He's very quiet about it though, so it's little difficult to pick up on.

Unless there's a active threat. It wont be there for long. He has no qualms getting his hands dirty if he can't get the perpetrator to back off with words alone.

Uncomfortable being the one who's being protected, though. It's a mix of hating feeling vulnerable and hating being the reason you're in harms way. He's a hypocrite like that.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

For the datey-stuff, sorry fam, you're gonna need to tell him if you like these things and want them to happen. Even then, he will just straight up ask you want you want and do his best to provide it. He's in no way a romantic or very creative when it comes to these things. He does very well in remembering important dates however, and makes sure to remember and complete everyday tasks.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He retreats a lot and keeps up walls - even if you've gotten close to him and he trusts you. If he's in a mood about something he will not let you coax him out of it. If you try, he will pull away from you. In truth he doesn't really feel like he deserves the care, but he doesn't know how to express that. He knows he's troublesome and it's partially an 'I can fix him'-situation and he hates it. He doesn't want to put that on anyone.

Also his never ending habit of being a rude bastard carries over at the worst of times - your family might not like him much at first.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He keeps up hygiene and does exercise because of his job, but that's mostly for health reasons. He's practical, wears stuff for temperature management more than style. Doesn't really care about 'looking good', and doesn't really get why others care. He knows how to be 'presentable' at work, but it's moreso to avoid attention lmao. You could walk around in the nude and he wouldn't bat an eye.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Yep. And it frustrates him to no end that you have that effect on him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

He will drop prey immediately if he sees/smells it has young offspring.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Breaking promises, either to him or if he sees you do it to someone else.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

Torso tucked within the coils of his tail in a completely silent, warm and dark room. Sometimes mumbles in his sleep.

#The great assembly #naga #monster x reader #sfw alphabet #this was pretty fun #tried to keep it non-spoilery a lot about him will be revealed later on but this was a good way for me to sorta get him clear in my mind #and have revised this so many times already and I get the sense I'll do it again but alas

[filmmakerdreamst]

Thoughts on Life with Luca? I was excited until I found out that they've made Derek a successful musician, for some reason?? (I remember him playing guitar in the series, but he couldn't really sing, that was part of the reason he needed Casey to front D-Rock) + they both have 14-year-olds now, meaning we're expected to believe they had a kid at what? 19? Believable for Derek, maybe, but completely out of character for Casey, IMO.

I preferred the original pitch, which implied Casey & Derek's kids would be younger and that they would be two single parents, kind of co-parenting their kids together in one household. Though I guess the latter half of that could still happen, if this movie spawns a series and Casey gets a divorce lol

Ooof I honestly don't know how I feel about it. I've long made peace with the fact that Derek and Casey are possibly not going to be together - even though its a natural progression for their characters whether you ship them or not, so putting it off, is just delaying the inevitable in my opinion BUT I digress.

Yeah, their kids being 14 is a way of copying the original premise plus reliability because its easier to have older kids as the leads you know. Derek having a kid early makes sense for him. Casey's a bit of a stretch. All I'm saying is they better not have the Unresolved Sexual Tension that Derek and Casey have because that would be all kinds of weird. It wouldn't work as well. So I'm hoping for more of a sibling vibe.

Save the Sexual Tension for their parents aka THE PROS.

Derek being a musician makes sense to me simply because alot of emphasis was put on that in the original show. The filmmaking job possibly makes a little more sense in context, but I think the music thing is what Derek was really interested in because the show always treated the 'filmmaking' thing as a hobby for him.

I always imagined Casey being married and Derek being single. I made that prediction a while ago and I kid you not, I did a double take when I read the synopsis because it CAME TRUE. Realistically, I don't think it would of been possible for Derek and Casey to end up together. I have this mindset that they had a physical relationship in college but because of their families, they decided to end it and haven't really talked about it since.

Whether Casey's marriage lasts, it all depends really. (I hope it doesn't) But naturally it will pale in comparison when Derek walks back into her life, as do all the previous love interests in the Original show - at least to the audience.

They're never going to NOT love each other, because as much as Derek and Casey fought constantly, the two of them found a connection so deep when they were young that even though their lives went on different paths, different directions, they had that together. You can never lose that.

How their relationship will play out I don't know. Maybe Casey's husband works away, and Derek moves in to help look after the kids. Maybe it falls apart who knows.

Basically I'm expecting to like 70% of the show, as much as I like all spin-offs. The whole show could be shite, but as long as they get Derek and Casey's relationship right - I'm good.

#its whatever #i love asks! #send me more! #(its gonna happen regardless so might as well accept it and move on - yay for HD DASEY though) #dasey #derek x casey #life with derek #life with luca #tv show #asks #question #answer #micheal seater #ashley leggat

[misspennycandy]

hi! My name is Mel and I'm a pretty big Muppet nerd :D

My favorite Muppet of all is Dr Teeth, keyboardist and front man of the rock band, Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem 💚💚💚 In my ocxcanon-verse, the groovy lady who's captured the good doc's heart is a writer named Marisol~

She is a tv writer who works on scripts for the talk show Up Late With Miss Piggy and Teeth is part of the house band for the show; they probably met at work, though Marisol has been a fan of the band's music for years. (fun fact: one of Teeth's bandmates, Zoot, is her cousin!)

Unlike the flashy, loud, and charismatic Teeth, Marisol's a little more reserved, shy, and tends to overthink things. She's also a very sweet, fun person in her own right once you get to know her, and she and Teeth hit it off pretty well, being fellow creatives, fans of rock music, and lovers of good food/desserts. On occasion, Teeth finds himself turning to Mari to help him out when he has writer's block (and vice versa), and they make beautiful music together, in all senses~ ^^

Fun facts about Mari:

IMPORTANT: she is pretty tall! I don't have a "set height" for her, but she is noticeably taller than Teeth, and it's at least a lil visible when they're sitting next to each other. Love a cute height difference x)

has a fondness/superstition for good luck charms (her 'usual' outfit includes a clover necklace and lady bug skirt pattern)

has a little black kitten named Bea as a pet (she doesnt believe black cats are bad luck, quite the opposite in fact)

her favorite dessert are macarons

best friend is Yolanda the rat (she works on the Miss Piggy show, too, as one of Kermit's personal assistants. she's chatty and nosey, but has a heart of gold, always encouraging Marisol to get out of her comfort zone, and ask out that musician she's been crushin on for months!!)

she bakes pretty great desserts!

ahh I hope that's enough info to give context ^^;

if you'd like more refs/drawings that showcase their 'vibe':

💚💙Mariteeth Instagram page (for more drawings of my muppet gorl and otp draws, by myself and others)

IDEAS:

In terms of prompts, I'm pretty open to any cute poses/ideas you might have, dear gifter. If you wanna draw them in their 'classic' outfits, or switch it up to fits you see on their insta page, or even make up your own outfit entirely, I'm open to anything~ If you find drawing characters in "couple costumes" fun, three different ideas I have: Mary Poppins & Bert, Western Barbie & Ken, Robin Hood & Maid Marian. You can also do somethin' like "Santa and Mrs Claus~" to fit the holiday theme ^^

In general, anything holiday related is cute to me. mistletoe, gift exchanging, (comfy matching?) sweaters, hot drinks~

If you want to do somethin unrelated to holidays, just them hanging out together, Dr Teeth playing Mari a romantic piece on piano, sharing a milkshake on a date, cuddling during a drive-in movie, dancing, holding hands, kissing, Mari wearing Teeth's hat, riding a tandem bike (a la Muppets Take Manhattan)… I'm really not picky! lol

Thank you so much for reading all of this! I'm so excited to see what idea you might settle on ^^ Hope you have fun with it and happy holidays!! --Mel

[bleachbleachbleach]

Sorry if you've already been asked these for A03 meme: 3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? and 29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

AO3 Wrapped Meme

3. What work are you most proud of

I am lucky to feel proud of all the Bleach fics I wrote this year (which cannot be said of the two non-Bleach fics I wrote this year LOL). But I'm probably most proud of D O N K I because I spent the most time with it and it took the most work. I love the opening with Orihime's weird little neighbor way more than is necessary; I felt like I was writing the first chapter of an entire novel about that guy. I love the Worm TV. I love Orihime and Hitsugaya's shopping trip. I'm proud of being able to make connections between Hitsugaya and Orihime even as they're living incredibly separate lives at that moment. Hitsugaya isn't even mentally present for half the fic because he's thinking about Hinamori, a person he explicitly does not explain to Orihime; and Orihime herself is very much focused on her impending trip to Soul Society to train with Rukia--a plan she also doesn’t disclose to Hitsugaya until the very end--but they still manage to be the person each needs that night.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I tried to think back and be like, okay, what piece do I really, really remember at the level of the line, or language? One that comes to mind is this one, from From Afar:

"This Aizen guy," Toushirou says, taking another sip of his tea. "He inspires you?"

Hinamori nods. She stares at the leaf fragments at the bottom of her cup. There are futures written in them, somewhere.

"Because he has good handwriting." Toushirou peers up at her wittingly, and oh, she could smack him.

"Because Aizen-taichou taught us all how to do the same," Hinamori specifies.

Toushirou looks thoughtful for a moment, then nods.

They don't speak for a long time. With the sun beginning to set, the puppets aren't telling stories anymore. They've begun to wander, moved by drunkenness or independent spirit, soliciting kan from anyone who seems wont to give it. By dusk, the stories are well past having broken apart. There will be more come morning.

It’s just a piece of casual conversation--not a culmination of anything or a scene that’s intended as a big moment. Hitsugaya and Hinamori are just drinking tea at the tail-end of a weird puppet festival. But I really like it, because from a backstage perspective it was really, really fun to put together.

Because I got to think about what is possibly my favorite dang scene to think about in this entire manga, LOL, Hitsugaya and Hinamori’s first conversation where Hitsugaya, among other things, cautions Hinamori about 3rd Division and Aizen going out for walks alone:

[Bleach 101]

Because Hitsugaya refers to him as “Aizen no yatsu.” This ensorcels me because it feels either way more familiar than we have any reason to believe Hitsugaya and Aizen are--they aren’t bros?!?--or, failing that, unnecessarily rude, because Aizen is his well-regarded milquetoast colleague.

The “Aizen no yatsu” feeds my reading of the scene that Hitsugaya is specifically trying to let Hinamori know that he’s telling these things to her as a friend, not as 10th captain. And I felt like it would make all the sense in the world if this is a way he’s referred to Aizen since long before he ever met him, was ever 10th captain, was ever planning to meet him. Where Aizen is just some guy Hinamori talks about an awful lot about.

So here’s bb Hitsugaya at some rando puppet festival in Junrinan, asking after “Aizen no yatsu” and referencing the AIZEN CALLIGRAPHY CLASS that Hinamori loves so much (read: that I love so much), so that 35 years later, when he tells Hinamori to be cautious when Aizen goes out walking alone, it is that type of moment and that relationship he means to evoke as context. 

Are these the connections the reader is expected to make in this scene in the fic? I would not expect that, no, LOL. I mean, first of all, Hitsugaya doesn’t even call him “Aizen no yatsu,” because the fic is written in English, and the translation “this Aizen guy” is less specific. This was for me. This was very much 100% for me and my obsession with this panel. XDDDD 

If this scene has an intended takeaway outside of Hitsugaya and Hinamori getting to spend time together, it’s that Hinamori tells us a little bit about why she loves Aizen as much as she does. It’s not just that he’s super powerful, or even that he’s nice. It’s that he is so willing to teach, to share that knowledge. And Hinamori wants to learn.

#thank you for playing!! #asks #hitsugaya toushirou #hinamori momo #every day we rewatch bleach i'm like 'wow i have no memory of this' 'wow who is this ENTIRE GUY i don't remember him' #is it because all of your braincells have gone to reading the same 5 panels of this manga over and over again b3 yes yes it is #no brain just bleach

[weaksspot]

I have been enjoying your live blogs immensely even though i myself don't have enough context for late late seasons. Since you've been going through it recently, I am curious to know how you view early s13 episodes that get called "widower arc" by d/c shippers. They really bring it as the proof that Dean CANNOT live without Cas, while he can move on from Sam but now that I'm reaching there, I'm a bit confused 'cause Dean lost more than just Cas at end of s12? I would love to know your thoughts on this part of the show because I still get a bit of anxiety about watching any further...

hello beloved anon omg i'm so pleased someone is getting something out of my liveblogging <3 haha. sorry it took me a little while to get to this - it feels like actually forever since i watched 12/13 and i'll admit right now that i was not watching them with my full focus. so take that into consideration haha

but okay i would not worry about watching further. the show does not suddenly become a destiel fest in late late seasons - if anything i feel like it's this strange combination of "ah shit we should do something with castiel" and "we can't actually think of anything to do with castiel" so he's THERE, but like, irregularly. and while NOW, in 15 (maybe also late 14? they blur) there is starting to be some "ok they're setting up for cass to have confirmed romantic feelings for dean" it's very much... uh... in the background. genuinely doing my best to be objective and use neither my wincestie goggles OR my destiel-hater goggles but silly domestic brothers are definitely still at the forefront and i assume that will remain the same up to the finale.

as for a widower arc... um, well, again my memories of early s13 are not super crystal clear. i actually had to go back and rewatch a little to remind myself what was going on because i forgot cass even died then lol. you know where my focus is. but like you said anon dean lost so much at the end of 12 and like, in general that whole season was kind of a headwreck. i think he was already in a bad place and then lost yet another person that had been in his life long-term. we KNOW dean doesn't do well losing anything that's been in his life for a while which makes complete sense given, you know, his life. lol. he's cut up about cass because he has lost yet another friend. nothing about it suggests "widower" to me - ESPECIALLY not compared to how he "coped" whenever he lost sam. again, trying my best to be objective but i don't see it, lol. i think it's a fanon interpretation that suits the ship, which is fine if you're into it but if you're not - like, i wouldn't be watching it going "god damn, i wasn't a destiel believer before, but dean is clearly grieving him like a widower! the scales have fallen from my eyes! deancas forever" lmao

also, like, when they ARE reunited the response is kind of tragically one-sided dkfjgh. dean is happy to have him back clearly but their relationship settles down again very fast and dean goes back to like. uh. what i personally can't read as anything other than viewing cass as one or two shades more important than like, the family dog. SORRY i know that's harsh and they are friends. but their interactions are so sparse and dean is so unbothered lately lmao which you cannot convince me is down to repression. he just has other priorities!!!! (sammy)

okay i hope this wasn't too incoherent. don't worry about watching further!! there are tangents like there have been for the last like, 10 seasons but all in all. it's brothers front and centre forever. and there are enough sweet moments imo to keep you going even when the show is not so good (been saying this to myself since like, s7. if i can do it anyone can do it). just think of the 14x12 hug. all things are possible through the power of the 14x12 hug

#asks #thank you love you<33