#especially when it comes to games which are already underappreciated

[northern-passage]

hey. have you all heard about this. they’re making a squid game reality tv show. like an actual squid games. have you heard about that. did you hear about amazon also planning a disco elysium tv series, and a life is strange tv series? of course we already have rings of power and then over on HBO we have the last of us and then wherever that shit halo show is streaming. and don’t forget all the star wars spin offs whose taglines are “the revolution will be televised” while being streamed by one of the worst media companies of all time who uses their billions of dollars to support bigots in the government and create military propaganda. have you heard about the booktok industry plant? have you heard about that author who gets their agent to spoon-feed them tropes so they can write the most soulless, bland fanfic that they can then repackage as a YA novel (she’s a new york times best-selling author btw) have you heard about all of that?

the creative industry is so discouraging right now. sometimes i really struggle to find any motivation at all when i see the way certain stories are treated - completely bastardized, milked for all their worth (and then beaten like a dead horse just for good measure) or otherwise you have creators that clearly could not care less, nothing but a cash grab with a pretty coat of paint, usually piggybacking off of trends or just using a pre-existing media (because then you already have a pre-existing fanbase. easy money!) and i’m not going to pretend like i understand how all of it works, what the process is from book/game to movie deal to netflix show but i will say i hate that this is the “goal” now, that this seems to be the expectation with so much art these days, whether the creator wants it or not.

it’s all just so... bleak.

#anyways. sorry i saw the squid games thing this morning and snapped i guess #obviously im under no delusion that any of this would ever apply to tnp or anything i write at all #but it's still really discouraging. it's still hard to find the motivation to create in this kind of grim capitalist environment... #especially when it comes to games which are already underappreciated #and i really dislike the games to movies/shows trend #the level design the mechanics the music the art style all of that is just as integral to the story as the dialogue and narrative itself #games are a way to experience a story it's a different way of telling a story. it loses meaning when you strip that away. imo #as someone who 'makes games' i guess. #like with IF the whole POINT is the player interaction #the choices #and there are so many games out there (literally disco elysium and life is strange) where that's a core mechanic #the last of us it's the opposite #the lack of choice and the railroading of the player is a core mechanic #it's not the same when it's just some actor in a costume. the player is part of the narrative. it's important #sigh. anyways support indie creators i guess #personal

[mostly-mundane-atla]

Hi! Your blog is awesome. I don't know if I'm allowed to ask non-atla questions, so I hope this is okay. I'm working on a non-avatar ttrpg campaign that takes place both in a (fictional/fantasy) northern tundra region AND during a magical endless winter. The people in it aren't based on any specific culture but, given that they're successfully living in similar environments & have for countless generations, I want to draw as much inspiration & knowledge from real-life circumpolar cultures & native science as much as possible. Do you have any advice or even just fun, underappreciated ideas for winter tundra survival, things someone who grew up in a desert like me wouldn't think of on my own? If you need/want more direction: I'm particularly looking for clothing, shelters, resource gathering-practices for non-food (esp what kinds of resources would be valuable), as well as like, any fun details that evolve naturally in a culture that formed in the tundra that you'd want to see represented. I hope that makes sense ^^; Thanks so much if you decide to answer, have a good day either way <3

[I am SOOO sorry this took so long! Tumblr kept not saving my progress when i tapped "save draft" so i had to rewrite a few of these passages a few different times]

Don't worry about asking, friend, i get cultural questions all the time and i'm happy to share.

Note: my knowledge is almost entirely based on coastal tundra peoples with access to marine mammals. That's not to say it's impossible for people to live farther inland, just that it's not my area of expertise.

Clothing

Just about everything you wear is going to come off of a dead animal. This doesn't necessarily need to be the case if your fictional culture has a means of raising hardy livestock for fiber and a history of woven textiles, but even then skin clothes are warm and generally quite hard-wearing and are a good fit for living in these circumstances.

This amount of fur means lice are a perpetual problem. If you want to make that an immersive part of the game, you can work in a mechanic for checking scalps and clothing and bedding for lice.

Bird skins can also be used for clothing and waterfowl specifically has the benefit of water resistance. Fish skin can also be used for similar properties. Animal intestines can be made into a waterproof material if sewn with sinew and soaked before finishing.

On that note i'd recommend making a list of available animals and what qualities and textures their skins and furs have. Even if you don't intend on being incredibly descriptive with clothing, it's something better to have and not need than need and not have. And if you do anything else creative in a similar setting you have your nifty little source to consult.

When it comes to the actual construction of the clothes, you want a loose fit. Trapped air ia a great insulator and you want clothes to be easy to move in. Another benefit for loose-fitting upper body garments in cold weather is you can pull your arms in and keep them by your much warmer core. Not only will this option keep you comfortable, it can also prevent muscle injury or getting frostbite

Mittens can be worn on a string yoke. This doesn't have to be exclusive to children either. Wind can pick up out of nowhere and lost mittens means fingers exposed to arctic cold which can mean gangreen and amputations down the line.

Swimming or running to deliver a message may involve stripping nude, even in cold. Clothes soaked in water or sweat are deadly in the cold.

Clothes may be stored in bags outside when not in use. The low temperatures can kill bugs and bacteria. On a similar note, boots and coats are best to be hung to dry as soon as one is indoors for the day. This may mean it's normal for people to be topless indoors.

Boots should never have holes or tears. Frostbite and resulting gangreen is already bad enough but you especially do not want it on your feet

Shelter

You're going to want dwellings to have as few rooms and windows as possible and small doors. The fewer walls you have, the easier it is for heat to circulate throughout the whole dwelling. You'll probably want one room separating the door and where you sleep. Remember: trapped air is a great insulator.

The culture I've reconnected with is semi-nomadic so the permanent houses are not always occupied and a village can seem abandoned when it's just on its "off season". You can take that or leave it depending on what you're going for.

Even if the dwelling is not a tent, you're probably still going to have poles serving as a supporting frame.

Sod houses are common due to the availability of sod (the grass and the dirt its roots are tangled in). Tents made of warm, waterproof skins (like walrus skin) are also an option.

An easy way to insulate such a dwelling is to build a wall of packed snow around and fill the gaps with loose, airy snow. This traps air the same way down feathers do.

Non-Food Resource Gathering

While I imagine you meant obtaining resources outside of hunting, in a tundra or tundra-like setting, a lot of your resources are going to come from dead animals. Your garments and shelters and bedding are likely to be made of animal skins, with hollow and/or fluffy fur for warmth, or smoked intestine or fish skin, sewn with tiny stitches and soaked to keep everything flush, for waterproof boots and overlayers. Antlers and tusks are good carving materials for things like spoons and closures and slabs for armor and handles and also talismans and smoking pipes and beads and art. Baleen is good for art too, as well as boot soles and smaller sleds and beautiful baskets. Sinew and rawhide are good for thread, ties, and rope. Bones have a near infinite amount of uses from tiny wing bones to make sewing needles to huge whale bones used to build houses.

For the purposes of working this into a roleplaying game, i'd second the recommendation of keeping a list of animals in your universe and their properties, as well as the things that can be gathered from or made of them. A sort of crafting recipe guide would allow all kinds of quests and sidequests.

There are, of course, non-animal resources to gather for non-eating purposes. Soapstone is the traditional material for oil lamps. Grasses can be woven into baskets for any number of purposes, including supports to give the uppers of one's boots more structure. Wood, in the form of slices of tree trunks, can be hollowed out into bowls and small tubs and buckets or, as logs or slats, can make up flooring. Sturdy branches can be used for frames in houses, boats, and drums, and tree resin makes both good glue and antibiotic salve for closed wounds. Sod, also called turf, makes a good building material and moss is exellent insulation in boots. You can make a list of these too, if it helps.

If your fictional culture has a strong tradition of metallurgy, then they'd also mine for metal that can be used for knives. If not, slate is another option that requires significantly less fire. You could even have both and make the metal a status symbol.

Fun Details to Represent

There are so many lovely little things that show up in arctic cultures

First, a gift economy. Where a cash economy relies on a fairly individualistic culture where you work for someone else to earn capital and exchange that capital for goods and services, a more collectivist and interdependent culture natural to the harsh conditions of the tundra tends to result in a gift economy. The currency in a gift economy, to perhaps oversimplify, is favors. Someone does you a good turn, you remember that, and when you're in a position to help, you return the favor. Usually this means basic material things like hospitality and food, but the "gifts" exchanged can also be luck! King Islander boys would often wish hunters setting out at dawn good luck, with a slab of driftwood as a token of that luck, and if the hunters were successful, they'd give the boys who wished them luck a share of their catch. I believe it was Frank Ellana who remenised that this was what the world was like before money.

Another thing that would be nice to include is parenting practices considered fairly gentle to a Euro-American perspective. Physical punishments are traditionally treated as abuse and scolding a child is not only seen as wrong but something an adult ought to be ashamed of. Discipline is instead a series of moral lessons, teaching children why what they did was wrong and using stories as examples of the consequences. Given the amount of stories about the dangers of abusing a spouse or child, i'd say a lot of these lessons were proactive and preventative. Knowing someone will be hurt by it is considered enough of a deterrence to stop bad behaviors. Traditional potty training, for example, is also gentler in comparison; starting at a younger age (about six months) with more emphasis on praise and encouragment than routine. The goal here is to teach the baby to signal when they need to go so they can be taken out of mama's atigi and relieve themself in a hygenic manner instead of holding it until they get permission. Even our take on kissing is based on inhaling instead of pecking with the lips. This kind of gentleness is usually overlooked to instead focus on the badass hunter image or overall "cuteness" so it would be nice for it to be referenced.

Oral histories would be pretty neat too. I think the idea of learning to be a historian of oral histories is an interesting one and i think it has a lot of potential plot hooks for an rpg.

That's all i have for now. Sorry for the delayed response time. Happy gaming, and i'm always up for further discussion if you would like ^-^

[tkachuktkaching]

Matthew and Brady on @ The Rink Podcast

Most of what they said bits of it has already come out in previous articles a few weeks back

Brady discussed his summer wedding, his excitement going into the season, the growth of his team and what he learned watching Matthew and the Panthers go on their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

Brady : "Just to see the every-day grind of taking care of himself, making sure he's ready for the game, and just as a leader too, taking care of yourself so you're able to demand from the rest because you're doing it right," he said. "I'm definitely ready and hopefully it'll be me in the playoffs soon.

"Seeing what he did created a lot of motivation for me over the summer."

Matthew discussed the broken sternum he sustained during the Stanley Cup Final and the pain he was in, the help he got from his brother at that time, Brady's bachelor party in Miami, and feeling a different vibe in the South Florida market after last season.

"Very different," Matthew said. "A lot more buzz. There's a lot of buzz around every sports team. It's turning into a sports crazy town and that makes it fun. [Soccer star Lionel] Messi coming in makes that much more buzz. The past few years the Dolphins have been great. What us and the Heat did last year really gave a lot of traction for us as a hockey team. So it's pretty cool." via NHL.COM

Listen to Brady from 16.04 Matthew from 40.30

______________________________________________________________

A few added things from Matthew's interview on the podcast some of which we've already heard & posted previously but included here for anyone that missed it first time round.

His injury allowed him to work on his strength & conditioning.

He wishes there was no social media after all the wedding stuff posted online, his family like to have a good time at weddings and doesn't know where people get this stuff (footage that goes viral).

Things Brady is better at than him: a better shot, video games & being a all round better human being than him (but he'll work on that!), Matthew says he himself is a ball buster, Matthew takes the bragging rights when it comes to Golf though he says his Dad is better at chirping and more witty & more funny than him & thinks his dad's game was underappreciated & underrated at the time he played, people realise from Matthew & Brady's game style how good & valuable he was and his dad gets belated recognition which he appreciates.

Says Brady's bachelor party in Miami took a few years off his life!

His summer consisted of the trip to Nashville for the player Awards, laying around in the hotel doing nothing, Bachelor parties, four weddings, and a trip to Montana in August, though he hasn't really done much of anything over the last month.

The Blood vessels and stuff were the the scary part of his injury at the time and half his body felt like it was out here, he knew something wasn't right, he didn't know what it was at the time, until they did his tests the next day. He was in the most pain after winning game three the overtime win. But now he's all good.

It was doctors who gave him the go ahead to do what he could to play just one last game. Despite the serious nature of his injury he would do it all over again if he had the chance.

He's excited to get going for camp & the new season though mentions the missing guys until around Christmas will be a tough ask (Montour & Ekblad) he feels The Panthers have more depth especially with the D this year.

Calls Alex Lyon The Lyon King & Big praise for his (Lyon) & Bob's heroics. How they had to play with only six D & two Goalies with Knight's absence last year.

The goal is to again make the playoffs, and be in the mix he wants to get of to a good start and how it sucks to have to chase for a spot like they had last year.

The Allstar was a good jump start because the Panthers weren't doing well as a team at that point which created a buzz that carried on leading on the cup run.

#matthew tkachuk #brady tkachuk #nhl #podcast recap #florida panthers #ottawa senators #tkachuks #Spotify

[solacefruit]

would you ever talk about your original writing here? sorry if this is a weird question, it's okay to just ignore this if you don't want to answer!

Hello there! Thank you for writing in. For future reference, there’s no harm in asking, so don’t worry about that! I can always decline if I don’t want to talk about any particular topic. :) 

It’s a pretty interesting question, and one I ask myself a lot. I’m not sure I have an answer yet, to be honest. 

In theory, I really like the idea of sharing my real world (not fanfiction, not anonymised) work on the platforms I have. In part, because I like sharing what I create and I’m proud of it and it’s disappointing to think that there’s people who follow here who like what I do and might miss out if I don’t directly link it. For example, I have a couple of small publications already out and some projects in the future that I’m very excited for, but since all that’s attached to my real life actual full name, I’m tentative to share that info and basically doxx myself to every passing stranger who drifts through this blog. So that’s tricky.

Another part is just good business sense, you know? If you’ve got people who already like what you do and want more of it, it only makes sense to give those people an opportunity to access more of what you make. Those people are often your biggest champions in the early days of a work -- the hipsters, if you will. They knew your work before you were cool (n.b., you may never be cool) and they’re the people most likely to pick up future work, because they trust you as a creator, and also most likely to recommend your work to other people, which is huge. So much publishing (professionally, independently, self-published, zines, any project without a megacorporation marketing budget) gets a massive leg-up from word-of-mouth. Can’t flourish if you can’t be found, and all that.

Ultimately, I think what’s going to happen is if I hit a point where publicity and reaching my audience for my work is more valuable overall than anonymity (+ not being associated in my professional life with cat fanfiction, ha) then I’ll probably start sharing links to my real world stuff here when/if that time comes. I’ve thought an option might be a newsletter or something, especially if I ever feel I’m done with this blog? We’ll see.

As far as talking about what I’m working on/will be working on in the near future, I always have a lot of projects bubbling away in my mind (unbidden). Ideally, my next five years will be dedicated to making:

Novels

adult fantasy court intrigue-style novel duology, feat. a massively underrepresented (underappreciated!) fantasy race & the non-normative relationship + community models I’ve created for them

new adult (? not sure what the boundaries for these genres are anymore) fantasy novel that poses and perhaps answers a question that has always haunted and intrigued me for many, many years -- “what if Jesus Christ Superstar’s messy m/m/f throuple of revolutionaries was happening in a biopunk-solarpunk world and had some really fucked-up dragons?” 

Games (TTRPG + other)

collaborative work with a talented industry friend on a science fantasy fusion ttrpg 

short ttrpg very much still in early development about grief, history, nightmares, loyalty, faith, skeletons, art, immortality, regret, reparations, legacy, and dogs  :)

in my dreams: a functional CMS (construction + management simulation) game about haunted houses; in practice, as I have very few of the skills required for that dream: an illustrated guidebook for the game that does not exist (but feels like it could)

ditto above but this time for a CMS game about mythical + fantastical +folkloric creatures. Imagine Zoo Tycoon. But for animals that don’t really exist. 

Poetry

get to the Australian national level for the slam

In among all this, I still want to be getting smaller poetry and short fiction publications out there as much as I can. I believe in that whole “aim for the moon -- if you miss, you still land among the stars” thing, so that’s what I’m doing. 

Not sure if this is really of interest, but I hope it answers your question! 

#reply #a brief reveal behind the curtain

[moyaca]

September 23rd

So yesterday, I tried prepping to stream for the first time. I have already come to the conclusion that nothing will go right and i just need to start now and fix later. I have had this beefy computer since black friday last year and am finally getting a chance to use it to its full capacity. I organized my desk which was sorely needed for leg room issues, but when it came to just pressing the button, i couldnt. I kept looking at the clock and trying to time manage with things like dinner, or when my wife would get home, and kept psyching myself out that it would not work out. So instead of streaming for hours, I played with no audience for hours instead. It did feel good of course to get lost in another world, but then you look and its 2am and realize you have to be up early for the first time since you lost your job.

Doing things like driving everyday are underappreciated honestly. Everytime I go a week without driving, I have to acclimate to the car and being on the road with people. I make simple mistakes and cause issues for my wife. She always gives me this look that says “i knew i should have drove.” The thing is i need that time to acclimate or it wont get the gears turning again. Its the same with applying for jobs, if you havent done it in a long time, its going to go poorly at the start and really just kill your confidence. Especially when the rejection emails start coming in, those sting pretty bad. I found a game company that recently moved in to SFL and I was shocked! We have no video game production studios anywhere. So I applied for the only position I was qualified for. Immediately I get back a response that I dont have enough experience in the video game industry. Well no shit, you need to work in the video game industry to have experience in the video game industry. I sure as hell wont take an unpaid internship to gain experience. That is ludacris when bills are a thing. So then what the hell can I do? The last 2 jobs I have taken were for gaining experience in the gaming industry, and they amount to absolutely nothing to employers.

I feel like im trapped sometimes. All the jobs I do want are in LA, Seattle, New York, hell even Atlanta. My wife’s job is here in SFL, so what am I supposed to do? Tell her to get a job somewhere else? I cant do that to her. It would not be fair. I could leave for some time to one of those states but then I would miss her and be paying rent on 2 different locations. Not a very practical thing. She says she would follow me where ever I would go, but I know she doesnt want to leave. I have to find a way to win here at home. Alternative ways to make money are possible. I just need to apply myself more and more and I can make it. Hopefully…

Thanks for reading,

Chris.

#daily blog #depressing shit #lifestyle #job loss #confession #tagging just in case #tags are weird #tags are hard #tags are confusing

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss and Este Haim’s Friendship Takes Center Stage on That Thing I Do

On their new podcast, the musician-actors are picking the brains of fellow creatives about the passions that fuel and define them.

Darren Criss and Este Haim may have named their podcast That Thing I Do after the mid-’90s movie close to their hearts—That Thing You Do!, about the rise and fall of a fictional rock band—but there’s another film that seemed to loom just as large when creating their show.

“I think we’re like, slightly obsessed with the Sliding Doors moment,” Haim told Vanity Fair, referencing the 1998 rom-com that follows Gwyneth Paltrow’s character down two divergent timelines. “If you’re so incredibly passionate about multiple things, what is the thing? What is the event? Was there an event that made you kind of pivot and just go left instead of going right at that fork in the road?”

That pivotal crossroads is just one of the topics that Criss and Haim are eager to delve into on their show. Produced by Cadence13, That Thing I Do is a friendship-fueled quest to understand the passions, past and present, that have shaped the careers of other multi-hyphenate artists (Criss is an actor with a background in music, and Haim is a musician with roots in theater). In addition to lengthy, intimate conversations with celebrities including Carly Rae Jepsen, Evan Rachel Wood, and Reggie Watts, That Thing I Do mines Criss and Haim’s insatiable curiosity for all things creative to produce episodes that are as unpredictable as they are delightful.

As hosts, Criss and Haim tear through each episode like tornados: Accents are adopted, sentences are sung, and movie references and inside jokes fly hard and fast. Criss is a verbose, hyperkinetic storyteller, quick with a self-deprecating comment or quippy aside, and Haim is eager and unselfconscious, with a palpable enthusiasm for every guest and every possible subject. It quickly becomes clear that this is one of those friendships where the participants seem to more or less share a brain; where one can riff off the other, seemingly in perpetuity, about any number of topics without ever getting bored. And when a pair of celebrities find themselves so simpatico—especially a duo as funny and game as these two—what are they supposed to do? Not start a podcast?

That was more or less Haim’s thinking, after she and Criss started logging lengthy FaceTime calls during the pandemic that she increasingly felt would be entertaining to a wider audience. Criss, however, was more reluctant to start recording their conversations: “I said no so many times,” he said. “I really felt like I didn’t have time. But Este wore me down.”“I am pretty relentless when I want to do something,” said Haim, grinning. Haim, one-third of the eponymous rock band Haim, experienced her own “Sliding Doors moment” in her late teens, when after years of theater and dance training, she chose to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, for ethnomusicology, instead of pursuing drama programs at Carnegie Mellon or New York University. Over 10 years later, with a slew of Grammy nominations under her belt, music videos directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and a life spent performing alongside sisters Danielle and Alana, there’s no question that Haim loves what she does, and takes it seriously. “I try to work at my craft every single day,” said Haim. “So at least I have that. I definitely try to stay creative every single day. If it’s not me writing lyrics, it’s me, you know, singing ideas into my iPhone.” But she’s still open about a “hunger” for acting and dance that she feels is still important to nourish, however and whenever she can. She reminisces about taking an improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade in 2017, and her love of the Suzuki and Viewpoints methods of acting, both movement-based techniques that draw on an extreme awareness of the body. She claims she still interrogates actor friends about their experiences working in avant-garde theater (she charmingly calls these conversations “offline podcasts”).

Haim’s passion when talking about physical theater surprises even Criss: “We’ve talked a lot about stuff, but we’ve never really talked about [Suzuki],” he said. “I want to talk about that in the podcast, because we get to learn new stuff about each other every week.”

That real-time revelation speaks directly to Criss and Haim’s goal with That Thing I Do—to create a space where artists can speak to all parts of themselves, and bring previously unknown or underappreciated areas of passion and skill to light. “One of the things that I always love finding out about artists who I think are so incredible in one field is that there’s usually a seed somewhere else that is just as potent,” said Criss, citing recent interviews with Thundercat, in which the musician revealed his background in visual art, and Maya Rudolph, who majored in photography at University of California, Santa Cruz, before becoming a Saturday Night Live all-star, as prime examples. “Having an artistic spirit is by its nature very amorphous. It usually comes with a lot of roots that go other places.”

That interconnectivity of talents is something that Criss, an Emmy– and Golden Globe Award–winning actor (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) deeply relates to. As he describes it, each thread of his creative expression is inextricably linked to the other: “When I’m acting, I’m composing music, the way that dialogue is put together has rhythm, cadence, speed, tone, pitch,” he said. “There’s things that are very musical and compositional about the way that you deliver dialogue. So to me, it’s all kind of the same stuff. It’s all one body of water that can take different shapes.”

That’s not to say he hasn’t wondered what his life might have been like had he prioritized one of his skills over another at a certain time, imagining his own Sliding Doors plotline. “I often wonder what would have happened if, when I was 22 and I was getting attention from major labels and acting wasn’t happening, music was happening—would I have been a Shawn Mendestype?” said Criss. “But I don’t mind the expense that I’ve paid in not doing those one things, like, volumetrically. I now have a collection of a lot of things that have lower visibility, but higher passion and gratification.”

To that point, That Thing I Do doesn’t dwell too much on the could-have-beens and what-ifs, as tempting a thought exercise as it may be. He and Haim are more interested in finding the common threads between their own experiences and that of other creatives, and seeking the “why” behind the artistic choices their peers have made. Haim also reveals a less lofty, ulterior motive behind the pod: “This was also our evil plan to make new friends.”

And while both multi-hyphenates may have just added yet another commitment to their already very full plates, both appear energized by their newfound vocation as hosts—and to have a dedicated space to simply shoot the shit with each other. “I think we’re just getting started,” said Criss. “And I think Este would say the same.”

#darren criss #este haim #vanity fair #that thing i do podcast #that thing i do #press #august 2021

[plzignr]

Link’s Bunny form- A brilliant design choice that feels overlooked

I want to talk about Legend of Zelda: Link to the past for a minute and a character design choice that’s feels severely underappreciated for what it is and what it represents.  That is Link’s Bunny form. Upon entering the dark world in Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (LoZLttP from now because I can’t be bothered to be consistent and I don’t wanna copy paste a bunch of times for no reason) Link turns into a humanoid pink bunny rabbit with big floppy ears, and a bunny tail. Not only does this form look absolutely ridiculous, it is also completely useless. As in, you as the player lose all ability to do anything while in this form. The kicker of this is that from the NPCs that are present when you first arrive in the Dark World after getting to the top of Death Mountain, they explain that the Dark World transforms anyone who enters it into a reflection of their true nature.

That’s the kicker to me. In this game Links true form is a pink fluffy anthropomorphic bunny rabbit who cannot do anything let alone attack anyone, which I think is a brilliant statement from the design team. The director apparently said that whenever they though of the Dark World he treated it like a dream world and this conjured images of rabbits to them, but it really fits the theme of link in general and especially in LoZLttP. 

LoZLttP really follows the general heroes journey, it has a call to adventure a mentor that dies (Links Uncle in the opening scene), supernatural aid (the triforce), Mentors and Helpers (the Hyrule ruling class), but one thing it always seemed to be missing was the rejection of the call to adventure. Link watches his Uncle die, gets no more than a shield and some words from his dyeing relative and then it’s just, go save us all from the unspeakable evil that is rising with that, and because Link is a silent protagonist, it’s not like he could outright object to it as a character. So you, as Link, go through all these challenges literally get to the top of a peak of a place named DEATH MOUNTAIN, and it seems like Link has honestly been cool with it the whole time. Which makes sense, since we know at that point he is literally the embodiment of courage as codified by the triforce.

But then-

BUT THEN-

Link (and you by extension) leap into this unknown dimension that’s been described as dangerous and twisted and confusing not knowing what you will be on the other side, and you come out as a  bunny. A PINK BUNNY.

Not exactly the expectation for a character we have already been told is the literal embodiment of courage. After what I’m sure came as a shock to most people (me included), and talking to the NPCs the player becomes quickly aware, that their only option while in this form is to run and hide while traversing the dark world. 

This is the first we as a player get to experience Link as a character in this game. Link, at least in LoZLttP, doesn’t want to fight. In his canonically true to his nature form he is not just unwilling, he is incapable of fighting. It is the first we experience a rejection of a call to adventure from Link. He is not on this quest because he wants to be, he is on this quest because he knows that it must be done, and this is entirely conveyed through the gameplay choice of making it impossible for the player to do anything harmful in the Dark World in Links bunny form. That alone I think is a brilliant gameplay design choice, to make a player feel what it is like to not be able to fight. 

But it gets better from here, the fact that he is a bunny has in my opinion a few implications. Rabbits are generally thought of as very timid creatures predominantly because they are prey animals that are fed on by basically any grassland predator you can think of. However in some cultures this is reversed where the rabbit is seen as courageous, and I think that polarity across cultures is being referenced here by making Link a rabbit.  I think the point is to show to the player, that Link is scared. He doesn’t want to do this. If he were being true to his nature as the Dark World is forcing him to be he would be playing his ocarina on a stump for all the forest critters in the lost woods and that’s it.

And again, Link in this game has already been explicitly denoted as the embodiment of courage in this world at this point. The game through it’s design choices is showing (rather than telling) that the embodiment of courage is scared, because given that he is one person, against demons, monsters, and the literal embodiment of power and evil, what person in their right mind wouldn’t be scared?

It is also saying that being scared doesn’t mean you can’t be courageous. Link is able to still function and accomplish what needs to be done, both in the bunny form and eventually by getting an item that lets him keep his humanoid form in the Dark World. So the game is saying, to be courageous does not mean to not be scared, being courageous is to be able to accomplish what needs to be done even when you are scared.

I think that’s a brilliant message to come out of a game turning an elf-boy into a pink fluffy bunny.

#legend of zelda #link to the past #design #review #analysis

[cheeriecherry]

Ohoh. Loud boi (mic) and Dabi HC?

Hecc yeah! I’m assuming you mean dating HCs but if not,,,,,here’s some dating HCs :D

Headcanons requests are open!

----

Loud Boi|Present Mic|Yamada Hizashi

-He’s not shy about liking you, not even a little bit. He’s busy af so you guys probably meet at a work event, for any of his three jobs (I don’t know how he does it, like when does he sleep). 

-He probably thinks you’re pretty the moment he sees you, but doesn’t chalk it up to being something more. Lots of people are attractive, and he is a man with eyes so....

-That doesn’t stop him from coming over and talking to you, though. He’s pretty good at remaining outwardly calm and making small talk, regardless of the flips his tummy is doing. And he’s a friendly person with a lot of charisma and energy, so other’s are naturally drawn to him.

-You hang out for the remainder of the event, chatting about this and that and the other thing, and it’s a pleasant time. Neither of you really expect to see each other again, even though the connection is there, but somehow he still manages to forget to ask for your number.

-Lucky him though, because the very next function he attends, he sees you. It’s a little fancier this time, some kind of charity ball, and oh boy the moment he lays eyes on you, he is Looking. You look good asf, even though you’re sitting at one of the tables doing literally nothing.

-He makes his way over to you, dodging in between dancing bodies, and finds a seat across from you. Your conversation flows just as easily as last time, and he finds comfort in the fact that you seem interested in him. Throw in a couple flirts here and there, and it’ll solidify his confidence. You guys definitely dance a little before the evening is over (probably badly), and he actually remembers to get your number this time.

-So you text back and forth over the weeks, keeping each other updated on your lives and making promises to hang out again soon. You try your best to make yourself free whenever he has time off, because you know with his chaotic schedule that he doesn’t get much down time.

-Anyways, your hang outs get more and more tense, but not in a bad way. More in a ‘we both know there’s feelings here so what should we do about it’ kind of way. He’ll linger a little longer at your door when he’s saying goodbye, hold you a little longer in a hug. It would be best to just take the leap and kiss him! Not anything big, just a peck on the cheek or the corner of the mouth.

-It results in one red boi. One red boi with a goofy grin. He is not immune to affection from the person he likes, as cool as he tries to play it off. He really wants to kiss you again after that, but he worries that he might not be able to stop if he does. So he smiles warmly and heads off with the promise of a date later in the week.

-Once you guy get into the swing of things and start getting more serious, is when he really lets himself be known. That is, not keeping up his energetic front 24/7. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an extroverted and fun person, but he still gets tired and sad and grumpy sometimes, and once he’s comfortable around you he’s not so worried about letting those parts show.

-Give him hugs and kisses and casual affection all throughout the day, whenever you can! He likes having you nearby, and having your hand on his shoulder or your arms wrapped around him helps him be less all-over-the-place. You ground him, in a way.

-He’ll return the affection tenfold, and is always happy to see you when he comes home. No matter how tired he is, he’ll find you and scoop you up and pepper kisses all over your face. Even if you guys fight about something, he’s always gonna make sure to kiss you before bed and tell you goodnight.

-He can tell when you’re upset about something, and most of the time he’ll let you be and sort it out on your own. But if it’s something that’s persisting, or that he thinks involves him, he’ll want to try and talk it out like adults. Especially if you’re stressed or anxious about something, he’ll want to be there to help you. He’ll respect your need for space if you want it, but he’ll let you know every now and again that he’s there if you need him.

-He likes going out to do things, go on adventures, and such, but his favourite dates with you are where it’s just the two of you. Could be at home, could be on a hike, could be at the movies, as long as it’s you and him. Maybe don’t take him on a hike though, because you know how he is about bugs.

-Speaking of bugs, you will always have to be the one to put the spiders outside. Even if you’re sleeping, he’ll wake you with a shriek and alert you to the problem (he feels bad afterwards when he sees your drowsy expression).

-Probably feels like things are crawling on him afterwards, so calm him down with a couple kisses and cuddles.

-Deadass a cuddlebug. He’s not so into PDA beyond holding hands and linking arms and chaste kisses, but when it’s just the two of you, or you and a couple of his friends, he’s all for it. Stick your legs across his lap, lean against him, fall asleep curled up on the couch together. 

-When it’s just the two of you, cuddles almost always turn into kisses. He doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s addicted to you and can’t get enough. Depending on his mood, the way he kisses you will vary greatly. If he’s calmer, or sad, or upset about something, his kisses will be softer and slower and more comforting. If he’s energetic or excited, so too will his kisses be. Frustrated? Kiss the pout right off his face. The best kisses are when he’s just feeling extra in love with you; they’re deep and sensual, and he cradles your jaw and holds you close against him.

-A v good boyfriend! He’s perceptive and easy to get along with, fun and willing to try new things, and mature enough that he’ll want to sort out any arguments or stressors before they get too big. He can be loud sometimes, and your tolerance varies depending on what your mood is, but he’s pretty good at quieting down when he sees you’re getting a little frazzled. He’s protective of you, but not suffocating, and absolutely wants you to have freedom and your own life that doesn’t revolve around him: he just hopes you’ll let him be part of it. He loves and cares deeply, and shows it wherever he can, and by the time he tells you he loves you, he’s in it for life if you’re agreeable.

Dabi

-OOf. Okay, I love Dabi, I love him a lot, but he’s a tricky guy to peg down. Definitely doesn’t pay you any mind the first couple times he meets you. You either annoy him, or you’re invisible, so you’ll have to do something to stand out in a positive light.

-For him, actions stand out so much more than words, so if you tell him you’re gonna do something then you’d better do it. His respect and trust aren’t easily earned, but they’re easily lost. What you’ll need most if you’re trying to date him is patience. The only way he’ll believe that you’re really interested in him is to prove it to him by sticking around.

-It’ll start out with a flimsy kind of friendship, a ‘work buddies’ kind of thing. You get sent on missions together, get to see each other in action, get to complain about blood on your clothes afterwards. Tell him stuff, even if he doesn’t always talk back he’s almost always listening. Despite his aloof exterior, he pays attention when people talk (if not to know what’s going on, then definitely to tell people when they’re being stupid).

-Once your friendship upgrades from ‘work friends’ to ‘someone i’d actually hang out with on purpose’ it’s over for you. Once he’s good and comfy, and contrary to popular belief, this man does not shut the fuck up. Sarcastic quips and bad jokes wherever he can lay them, small and slightly rough affectionate gestures (a gentle shove here, some hair being ruffled there). Expect to find little gifts outside your door often, tokens from him that he saw and thought you’d like (usually stolen, but not always).

-Surprise him one day when he’s lounging around by looping your arm over his shoulders and planting a kiss on his cheek. It might shock him enough that little flames erupt around him, which is both endearing and worrying, considering the fact that his quirk hurts him. 

-He’s quieter for a few days after that. He’s not ignoring you, he’s just thinking really hard. About feelings. Eventually he’ll tug you outside to walk around the block with him, and he’ll just lay it on you; he likes you, you like him, you’re his now, and he’s yours. 

-He doesn’t fuck around with feelings, doesn’t like any of those games where you dance around each other or try to make each other jealous. If you’re mad about something, tell him. If you’re feeling a little neglected or underappreciated, tell him. He might sigh and pretend to be annoyed about it, but he’ll pull you down onto the nearest couch and hold you tightly until you feel better.

-He doesn’t care about PDA. If he wants to cuddle you and pet your hair when the rest of the league is around, then guess what? He’s doing it. Even if you’re a little embarrassed, he’ll just let you hide your face in his shirt. Screw what other people think, he likes you and he’s not shy about it.

-He is careful about who he shows off your relationship to, though. He’s fine with the league because for the most part he trusts them and considers them companions (or at the very least, people who have the same goal as him), but out in public? He’s already gotta be careful where he goes, being a wanted criminal and all, but he knows a lot of other villains who’d use you to get to him, or who would sell him out and get you hurt in the process.

-He’s pretty low energy, so napping together is a thing. Even if you don’t sleep while he does, please lay beside him for a while and pet his hair. It’s very rare that he gets any kind of positive touch, let alone prolonged positive touch. You’re basically his only source of oxytocin. 

-He’s extra affectionate hen he wakes up from a nap, and less abrasive about it. As soon as he comes to and stretches, he’s looking around for you. If you’re still beside him, he’ll press soft kisses all over your face.

-His kisses tho. You never would have expected this guy to have such gentle kisses, yet here he is. It’s an intimate thing for him, and probably the only way he knows how to comfortably express his love for you. He’s not verbal about his feelings, so he pours them into his kisses and hopes you get the message. The only time he’s ever rougher or desperate about things is when he’s riled up in some way.

-He’s a bad boy, but such a good boy, ya feel? it’ll take time and persistence to get on his good side, let alone get on his feelings radar, but once you do? Treat him with honesty and maturity, and he’s with you for life. Deadass the boyfriend who would kill for you, and will protect you til his dying breath. Some might consider you one of his weaknesses, but you’re actually one of the reasons he fights so hard to change the world. He’s loving in his own way, and would never willingly hurt you or lay a hand on you, even if he’s livid about something. 10/10 would smooch!

#dabi x reader #present mic x reader #yamada hizashi x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #deadlyelixir

[scream-mans-friend]

Please (and maybe obviously) BNHA for the Blorbo ask game??

alrighty!! a lot of these can overlap for me, but i'll try to stick to one character per thingy

my blorbo (character i think the most about) mr present mic himself, the dj disaster, teacher who pretends to be cool but then bullies the children he doesnt like, the bad bitch himself. hes my blorbo

scrunkly (baby, character that gives me cuteness aggression) hm. i think shinsou. hes just a porble man and is trying his best. hes also a smartass which is epic man, overall i just love him, but considering hes 15 and already is on the verge of being a disaster its just perfect. so scrunkly.

scrimblo bimblo (underappreciated fave) midnight my queen. i love her so much, i really need to write about her more. fandom needs to appreciate her more. shes so perfect for comedic relief. sex joke funny did middle/high school teach u nothing

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that appears in background adn i wont shut up about) shirakumo!! everytime i see oboro im just 👁👁 like whats gonna happen man its oboro. i need to come up with 17 theories and aus based off this one moment.

poor little meow meow (problematic/unpopular/controversial/pathetic fave) difficult man thats difficult. i think aizawa tbh. i know hes popular but hes so pathetic and man is he controversial amongst the mic fanbase (what was he DOING for mic while they were grieving man. was he as closed off and pathetic as he is now or was he better? worse? i have quastions)

horse plinko (character i would torment) endeavor. not particularly bc of his crimes altho it does factor in, but i just think hes a bitch and goddamn when i encounter a bitch i match their energy and also bc a bitch. anyways. endeavor the bitch needs to be tormented bc hes a bitch specifically.

eeby deeby (character id send to superhell) mineta. especially bc we got the fuckin mineta x deku confession that was immediately ignored. considering castiel was sent to superhell right after a gay confession i think mineta is the most fitting character to go to eeby deeby

#thank u thank u #i had hardly read the askgame post and i realize now that it was not a send a glup shitto ask on its own but entire fandom type of ask game #very hard to properly do on a single fandom blog but thank u for indulging me #asks #mckittericks

[iturbide]

If you don't mind multiples can I please ask for Brady and Phoenix Wright? And if I recall you have not played much Binding Blade, but if you feel comfortable enough with the character to answer, Idunn please?

Of course I don’t mind multiples also excellent choices

How do I feel about this character? 

BABY BOY.  I love Brady so much with his scary face and intimidating scar as the rough exterior over an incredibly soft heart and boundless compassion.  I love how gentle and kindhearted he is, I love how he talks like an absolute gangster but wants to use the violin to express how he really feels, and I love that he gets teary over the small miracles in the world like flowers growing in difficult places.  He’s a delight and deserves to be popular with the ladies.

Who do I ship this character with romantically? 

Nobody, really!  I don’t have any real romantic ships for the second gen Awakening characters -- usually I joke that I ship them with happiness, because it’s what they deserve after everything they’ve suffered through.  Just so long as he’s in good company with people who appreciate him for who he is, I’m happy for him.

Who is my brOTP for this character? 

OWAIN.  But honestly Owain is my answer for any and all second gen brOTPs because Owain is great.  The fact that he appreciates Brady as he ought is just icing on the cake.  I also really love him and Yarne, especially for him actually helping the scaredy bun to toughen up (and undoubtedly offering healing support so that Yarne doesn’t go extinct).

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character? 

Brady is underappreciated and it’s a crime.  He’s so good but he’s one of those characters that gets passed over for kids like Inigo (who has predatory tendencies and is also a huge jerk in multiple supports) and Severa (who is manipulative bordering on abusive and also a huge jerk in most of her supports).  I legitimately do not understand why people don’t appreciated the soft-hearted gangster so I will instead love him that much more because they won’t (which is why I got him to +10 in Heroes).

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon? 

I really, really wish that he’d gotten a chance to play his violin for his mother in their support chain.  I know that in his chain with his father she tricks him into playing it, but I really think it would have been incredibly poignant if Brady had traded all those attempts at learning Maribelle’s hoity-toity speech and just played from the heart, something so profoundly touching that she came to realize it’s not the words that are important.  Yes, their supports are funny, but...I really would have liked something more heartwarming for them.

How do I feel about this character?

I love Phoenix Wright so much.  I love his snark, I love his improv, I love how he literally rolls with everything no matter how ridiculous even if he does kick himself mentally when he does.  The man interrogated a parrot on the stand, literally what is there not to love about him.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Miles Edgeworth.  That’s honestly it.  I do see him as bi and I do think that he loved Iris while she was pretending to be Dahlia, but that was a long time ago and they’ve both grown as people to the point where they can (and I think should) remain friends, just not romantic partners.  I have a major soft spot for him and Edgeworth though, it’s my hands-down favorite ship in the entire franchise (even though I put them through the wringer in fic).

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Does Maya count?  Because I absolutely see him and Maya being like siblings, with Phoenix as the long-suffering older brother and Maya as the occasionally obnoxious younger sister.  I can’t see their love for each other as anything other than familial, so them as a brOTP just makes sense to me.  Iris, too, if we want to get technical: their romance ended, but I like the idea of them being able to maintain a friendship.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

He’s more of a realist than people give him credit for.  Fandom loves to joke about Phoenix being dumb or unobservant, but while he certainly can (and does) leap before he looks, he’s smart and his incredibly wry internal monologue heavily implies to me that he’s most often rolling with the punches rather than blundering blindly into them and reeling into success through luck alone.  He’s pretty savvy in my view, and it irritates me that fandom likes to play him as the eternal butt of the joke (since they also like to forget Larry exists -- apparently Phoenix is the one they substitute in for him).

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

To be honest...I kind of wish the events leading into AA4 had never happened.  That timeline legitimately breaks my heart because I love Phoenix, and seeing him so broken -- even if it is in part an act to trick the one who set it all in motion -- is more than I can bear.  I really wish we could have just gone forward with Phoenix staying a defense attorney and succeeding, bringing Apollo on as a successor and teaching him in much the same way he learned from Mia, rather than piling yet more trauma onto a man who has never deserved it and who has already lived through too much of it after three games.  

And while it’s true that I haven’t played Binding Blade, I do still love Idunn in Heroes, so:

How do I feel about this character?

This sweet child did not deserve this and I am going to protect her at all costs.  Similar to Grima in how she suffered at the hands of others, only her abuse came from dragonkind first before humans sealed her and Zephiel turned her into a weapon to achieve his own ambitions -- only heartbreakingly they stripped her of her very soul, making her a shell of her true self.  So I love her, I want her to be safe and cherished, and I want to see her recover from all she’s gone through.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

boy I’ve said this a lot tonight but no ships!  Idunn...well, first off she’s still trying to recover her personal autonomy, and second of all she got sealed very young and so has a lot of growing to do mentally once she does.  She’s not really a character I’m comfortable shipping at all until she’s gone through a significant amount of therapy, and since that needs to come first and foremost rather than setting some romance as an end goal (which would be creepy), I’m just not even thinking about it.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

FAE-FAE.  BEST TINY BABY SISTER A DRAGON COULD ASK FOR.  Fae seems like the perfect dragon sibling and I love the idea of them having a sweet sibling bond where "big” sister Fae is taking the lead while "little” sister Idunn follows her lead and learns from her.  Also the Grimas, as both guardian figures and fellow victims of heavy-handed cruelty; having their grounding influence for stability, especially when she slips in her recovery, would be very important, and the more of herself she gets back the more I think she would appreciate that unspoken concern.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

are there any popular opinions about Idunn out there?  I don’t see her too much sadly but I’ll just go out on a limb and say that she enjoys flowers and all things colorful and still struggles with doing things on her own unless someone asks her to directly; deep down, she also really likes being taken care of, told stories, and taught new things like making simple crafts and flower crowns, because none of it is a real responsibility falling to her that she has to see through.  It’s just a quiet kind of relief that comes with such low-stakes activities.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Probably the big thing is I wish canon would have given us more of a resolution for her.  You only have a chance to save her in what amounts to a secret ending in Binding Blade, and her fate remains pretty heavily in question from what I understand?  I wish canon had given us more.  Tell us if she recovered, and what she was like if she did.  Tell us what she ended up doing, whether she stayed with Fae in her village or left it at some point, or if they eventually left to travel the world together when Idunn started doing better.  Basically tell me that my dragon daughter ended up happy.

Give Me a Character

#answered #alerawolf #meme #fire emblem: awakening #fire emblem: binding blade #phoenix wright #idunn #brady #i love brady so much you guys #he's so sweet under that rough and tumble exterior #i do not regret getting him to +10 in heroes the boy deserves it #also i love idunn i wish she wasn't such an afterthought in canon #and i love phoenix wright he's just so great to me #i should really replay those games i kind of miss writing him

[hobbithorsewhat]

Musings below about how Gwendolyn & Gwaihir’s share the magic of the Soul Rider circles

In my heart I’m very passionate about  giving Nimbus (Aideen’s Steed) his dues. Nimbus is arguably seen as the side-kick of the pair (being a horse figure), but in reality he is a divine being as much as Aideen is, and thus has his own magical/god-like abilities (which until we learn otherwise is likely based around the same powers we associate solely with Aideen + flying). This rolls down into my kids as their reincarnations in my canon-divergent sso-verse. 

As a partnership, I like them sharing potential and strength across the different magics of the Soul Rider circles. Both obviously have the ability to use magic from each circle, but it feels natural for them to have tendencies in specific areas. Keep reading to learn more~

Gwendolyn: Moon Circle & Lightning Circle 

🌙 Recently, I realized that I was unaware that I have been developing Gwendolyn into primarily a Moon Circle user this entire time. Since the beginning, she’s dreamed of her past-life as Aideen (“Fantastical dreams of light and color and space would play through her mind as she burrowed ever deeper under her comforter”), I imagined she might have dream walked with Gwaihir before they met, and she’s plagued by nightmares of Garnok calling out to her from the depth of the sea. 

These just seem to be innate expressions of the circle’s magic that Gwendolyn experiences without thought, so I’m excited to see how she can develop with focused, specific training. And we’ve been spending a lot of time with Linda lately quest-wise, and I bet that’s only helping her grow stronger! Her premonitions will also help her prepare for the truth of her being and the future to come.

⚡This was a difficult decision! But I ultimately gave the Lightning Circle to Gwendolyn over Gwaihir for a few key reasons.

1) In the physical sense, Gwaihir is already the powerhouse of the pair. He’s a 1300 pound animal who can kill someone with a well timed kick and run at speeds of 30+ miles per hour. He carries this whole thing literally. I just think her being the strength/offensive powerhouse in the magical sense helps balance it out. 

2) She’s so small and tiny and she needs to be able to defend herself if she’s separated from Gwaihir and the other Soul Riders!!!!

3) I don’t want her to be afraid of it? As we’ve learned about how Alex came to find her magic, it is powerful, offensive circle that requires respect, strength, and discipline to use safely or yourself and others can be hurt. I think Gwendolyn would naturally shy away from this kind of ability, but I want her to find the confidence to harness it excellently. Pfft she’s practically Aang with fire bending when I think about it. 

Gwaihir: Sun Circle & Star Circle 

🌞 This came to me after the Rescue-Anne quests as I imaged Anne and Gwaihir would have worked together to open the portal to the in-between for Gwendolyn and Alex. That would have been his first time using this power!

And it just makes sense as he literally carries them both to wherever they need to be: be it across Jorvik, between time and space, through the skies, or to Pandoria. 

⭐ I mentioned that Gwaihir is the physical powerhouse of the pair and this is true especially in the offensive. Giving him this circle really seems to create balance within himself in that aspect. The magic of the Star Circle seems to have the strength to heal any wound completely with just a focus of magic. When you really think about it, healing is such an exceptional and underappreciated form of magic.

Nature itself seems to feel inherently healing. And, as a horse, Gwaihir is just closer to the natural world than Gwendolyn. On Jorvik, nature is fueled with the light of Aideen, so it just feels so right. Also, I just love the mental image of Gwaihir walking through some corrupted, desolated lands and new life sprouting from his steps even though that’s like end-game levels of magic 

#this is my 6000th post #so it had to be something of substance

[radramblog]

Rating the letters of the alphabet

I feel like part of my style of comedy is just rambling about shit and making loose connections between things as part of an overall bit. I think. I’m no expert on myself, unfortunately.

The inspiration for the following absolute load of shite is trying to search Tiermaker for nothing. Like, no characters in the search bar. Didn’t come up with anything. Did a search for just a space. No dice. What about just a? Surely that’ll bring up everything with an A in the title. But it didn’t, and I was somewhat disappointed.

Then my head started writing bits about letters and that’s how we got here. This is probably really stupid, but maybe it’ll at least be fun. Wordplay is cool, though maybe not my strong suit? Anyway.

A: A is one of the two letters that’s also just a word, as you’ve just seen, giving it a necessary promotion in rank. Not a lot of things get to double up like that, though with the “an” ligature maybe it’s actually a double or nothing. But because of the confusing common connection crossing contexts for the character, it gets somewhat awkward to talk about the letter in conversation. An A, in my opinion, A does not get. 4/5.

B: B is also just a word letter but unlike A when you write it out you have to stick a few extra letters on to make it work, making it not as good. But B’s association with bees isn’t enough, because in the year of our lord, like, 2019 or something, it would become inextrixably linked with shite memes as the B emoji became king. And I just don’t respect that. It’s otherwise a fine letter, dragged down by its company. 2/5.

C: Oh come on now, the word doesn’t even have a C in it anymore! You can sea the see without any of our tertiary letter’s involvement whatsoever. Not to mention how its two main sounds are just copies from other letters wholesale. C must be confusing to non-english speakers, I’d imagine. C as a grade gets what C as a grade typically entails for many a schoolchild. 3/5.

D: It would be remiss of me not to give a sterling grade to the D. Why, none of us would be here without it. While many a youth may find the D to be quite a humourous subject, I assure you I’m taking it with the gravest of sincerity when I say the D has got to be one of the best letters of all.

And by D I mean deity, of course. Wait, what did you think I meant? 5/5.

E: The absolute absurdity that is the E meme elevates E efficiently enough to excel beyond many another vowel. However, it is also the single most common letter in the English language, going so far as to open the damn name. It’s to the point where someone made a point of writing an entire book without using it, and I think Gadsby is cool but mayhaps avoiding fifth uncial was a bit showy. I can’t help but mark it down for the sake of hipster cred. 3/5.

F: F is for Fuck. I like the word Fuck. F is for paying respects. I think the military-industrial complex has poisoned our cultural landscape to the point that a reference to one of its most prized productions’ awkward moments has become one of the most colloquially used meme letters in existence, And That’s Terrible. 3/5, I’m conflicted.

G: Man literally who the fuck cares about G. What is it even good for. Just an absolute waste of a letter, total shithouse. It’s NATO equivalent is Golf, the Worst Sport, too. Who asked for any of this? Just use a J instead, it’s cooler. 1/5.

H: I’ve seen “Hhh” used enough times in written forms of pornography to not consider it a Horny Letter. That and it, being short for Hentai, is often used to denote adult material in Japan. Basically what im saying is, I think this gets worse the less sex-positive you are. 6/9.

I: I think I’ve said enough about letter words already, but I is another high-tier one because like A I is just it’s own thing. It can also, however, be a bit confusing, looking just like an l a lot of the time, and having to constantly capitalise it is a pain in the ass. I also don’t have a particularly high opinion of myself, so a high opinion of I seems disingenuous. 3/5.

J: Clearly the best letter, hands down. I’m definitely not biased. There are so few letters as underappreciated by J- a fact many a person who’s had to do that “assign yourself an alliterative adjective” icebreaker game has had to reckon with. Because it appears to be a lot more popular with names than with words, and that just kind of sucks. 6/5.

K: K has in some circles managed to bump off its partner to become yet another letter word, though in a very informal abbreviated sense. However, when you’re looking into scientific fields, eventually said partner returns, having lost some weight on the trip down to absolute zero. This all makes complete sense in my head, and I’m sure is a lot less funny to anyone who doesn’t live there. 4/5.

L: I’d argue that L doesn’t cop its namesake. It’s a really useful letter, loads of words use it, especially in pairs, and my ADHD-brain thought it was fun to just say LLLLLLLLLLL for a bit while I was thinking about this so I guess that’s staying in now. Put me down as an L Lobbyist. 4/5.

M: Mmmmmm. M&Ms. But also it’s kind of a pain to write. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. 3/5.

N: I’d like to fight whoever decided we should have two letters that sound so similar right bloody next to each other in the alphabet. Actually, who the fuck even decided the alphabet’s order to begin with? Maybe it should go M to N, that’ll bloody show you. 2/5.

O: Our fourth vowel, and perhaps one of the underappreciated ones. O is similarly a letter word, but a much more common one considering its use as an interjection. It’s also one half of a very powerful letter combo, as we’ll see. 4/5.

P: There’s the other half. Many a joke involves OP as a phrase, whether it mean overpowered or original poster, and the letters’ adjacency is a lovely bit of serendipity. Whenever I say P out loud, on its own, I have to resist the urge to do some incredibly shitty beatboxing, which may or may not be a good sign. 4/5.

Q: I was going to write some very harsh words about Q, and its dependency on U, but then I realised that that is probably hate speech against the disabled. It still sucks, though. 0/5.

R: R is the one I am most struggling to think of things to say about. R is another letter that’s just kinda there. I’m sure the Roberts and Rachels of the world would disagree with me, though. It’s also the name of a program that I know has traumatised a lot of young biologist wannabes, slapping us with a whole pile of maths and statistics when we just wanted to look at cool plants and shit. Or in my case, cool cells and shit. 2/5.

S: The most overrated consonant, but also the thing that makes plurals not a pain in the ass. However I’m going to lean towards giving S a positive rating, if only because it’s associated with snakesssss (and serpentine characters who can talk) and I like those. 3/5.

T: I don’t think T gets enough credit as one of the pillars of the English language. A lot of very common words feature it, and yet it feels like it never gets the same level of credit as big shots like S or half of the vowels. T is like the character actor of the alphabet, is basically what I’m saying. 4/5.

U: Ah, the letter Americans hate for some reason. I think this is actually commentary on the history of American politics. Because throughout history, America has been extremely selfish and self-centered, while attempting to present a positive image that people are finally seeing past. They only entered WWI and WWII when it was convenient for them, they started wars and initiated coups in even their allies for petty ideological reasons, and they’ve gone to war with several countries and funded wars with several others seeming just for shits and giggles. Because apparently if you’re not an American, then you’re not one of them, and that means they hate U. 4/5.

V: I actually think V is underrated. It’s a fun sound. That’s it, no joke here. It’s neat, I like it. 4/5.

W: This may come as a shock to you, but double-u over here is actually two Vs! unless you’re writing in cursive, but fuck cursive. The French actually have it right on this one, naming it double-v (pronounced doobleh-vay). Add in the fact that it’s literally just M upside down, and you’ve got a pretty shite letter. 1/5.

X: There’s a reason literally every “A is for Apple” thing you see made for kids uses Xylophone for X, and that’s because there are no commonly used words that start with it. Seriously, it’s all just scientific terms- I’d argue X-Ray is more common than Xylophone in common parlance, but also, who wants to explain imaging to a kid. It doesn’t even get a second page of words on Dictionary.com. X also has implications as a letter word, that I’d rather avoid at the moment. 2/5.

Y: Ah, Ygreck, everyone’s favourite “what the fuck, France?” moment. Between that and being sorta kinda not really a vowel, Y prompts its own question more often than I’d care to admit. 2/5.

Z: As a (technical) member of the generation associated with this letter- on the one hand, I’m sorry, on the other, y’all have it coming. The final letter of the alphabet, one of the other ones worth 10 in scrabble (and yet X isn’t???), and one we probably got pretty sick of in the early 00s when it was everywhere- ironically, when most of the generation was getting born. 2/5.

And that’s the lot of them. I hope this didn’t alienate any non-English speakers too hard. It’s probably fine.

Join me for more bullshit next time I have another stupid idea. I mean, tomorrow.

#ramble #nonce shit tbh #remember when I made good content? yeah me neither

[the-awkward-outlaw]

Arthur denying his feelings for reader be like: plays Hercules (1997) - I Wont Say Im In Love

Anon, this one turned out so cute and fluffy, I’m literally on the verge of death!

Masterlist

Read on AO3

Arthur’s leaning against a tree at the edge of Clemens Point, feeling like a lovestruck idiot. He’s been watching you for longer than he cares to admit. Despite being the newest member of the gang, you’ve continuously surprised him over the past few weeks. It was the obvious stuff at first, the way you wore your hair, the way you talked to people (especially him), how you treated your horse. Now it’s the small things he’s taken notice of. How you brush the hair from your face, how you like to watch the sunrise while drinking your morning coffee. 

He rubs his hand down his face, knowing he shouldn’t get involved with you. He’s a fool for falling for you in the first place. Not that there’s anything wrong with you, he thinks, but no one would want his affections. Besides, he’s had too many bad experiences with romantic relationships that it’s just easier to be alone. He’s still heartbroken about how things ended between him and Mary, and thoughts of Eliza and Isaac still torment him. The last thing he wants is to add you to his list. 

He crosses his arms, still leaning against the tree and watching you walk across the camp to go and feed the chickens. He watches them gather around your feet, pecking at the grass for the food you’re tossing down. He’s almost tempted to join your side, to look for any excuse to talk to you. You’ve become close friends after all, talking comes easy. But he’s decided to try and push you away, he can’t risk falling for you. Or at least falling for you more than he already has. 

“Hey ol’ man, grumpy Morgan!” Sean chuckles, coming towards him. He’s clearly on guard duty, the repeater in his hands. 

“What you want, boy?” Arthur says, clearing his throat and looking towards the lake, trying to look innocent. 

“Nothin’. Just wonderin’ when you’s gonna ask that girl out. Y’know, Karen was tellin’ me the other day how Y/N fancies you. It ain’t a secret you fancy her too. Why not just do everyone a favor, take her out?” 

“You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” Arthur growls. “It ain’t like that between us.” 

“Oh I can see it all over your face, Morgan. You. Love. Her.” 

“You’re the world’s biggest fool, Sean. If you know what’s best for ya, you’ll shut your mouth.” 

“I knew it, I knew it!” Sean laughs. “Yer the most predictable person. Whenever someone says somethin’ about you that’s true, ya get all defensive and angry. Just do yerself a favor, take that girl out on the town. Hey, if ya need an excuse, I overheard her sayin’ she’s been missin’ the ‘forests of West Elizabeth’.” He makes air quotes. 

Before Arthur can snap at him again, he walks away, chuckling lightly. Arthur sighs and leans further against the tree. Sean’s definitely given him something to think about. The forests of West Elizabeth, he repeats silently. What exactly does that mean? He knows you come from out west and that you prefer it out there, much like himself. He’s never heard you talk about forests or anything like that. 

Against his better judgment, Arthur comes up with a plan and decides to bring it to you. Besides, he’d be lying if he didn’t want a reason to take you out somewhere alone. Not to try anything, of course, but he enjoys your company. There’s something about you that he finds addictive. 

He walks slowly up to you, wringing his hands a bit. He’s nervous that you’ll see right through him. When he gets close to you, still feeding the chickens, he notices something’s wrong. It’s your energy, you just seem down. Your shoulders sag, as though a weight presses down on you. He clears his throat, catching your attention. 

“You a’right?” he asks quietly. 

Your head snaps up and you look at him. Instantly, the sadness from your face flickers and is replaced by your soft smile. He can tell you’re faking it though. 

“Oh hi, Mr. Morgan. Yeah, I’m doing just fine. How are you?” 

“Just dandy. Hey listen, I was plannin’ on goin’ out huntin’, figured I could use a partner. You wanna come?” 

You pause for a moment. Arthur wants to take you hunting? Why? Sure, you’re familiar enough with a bow and a gun to use them, though the results aren’t always perfect. Maybe word’s gotten around camp that you were crying last night. You were just overwhelmed by everything and had to let it out. The mood still lingers. Arthur must be inviting you because he feels obligated to cheer you up. It doesn’t help you to feel better. It makes you feel like an even bigger burden since Arthur’s constantly bigger running jobs. Still, you have a hard time finding a reason to say no to him. 

“Sure, I’ll go hunting. I, uh, hope you don’t mind dragging me along.” 

Your choice of words catches him off guard. He’d heard nothing about you breaking down the night before but the dimness of your eyes and your words tells him how bad your state is. 

“Don’t mind at all. Would you wanna go now?” 

You look over at the setting sun. It’s nearly gone by this point. 

“Now?” you ask. “Wouldn’t it be better to go in the morning when it’s light?” 

He huffs a bit. “Well I suppose, if that’s what you want. Course I don’t mind spendin’ a night under the stars. But sure, we’ll leave in the morning.” 

You feel stupid all of a sudden. You’ve spent plenty of nights in the open, away from camp. It’s just harder to hunt at night. “Mr. Morgan, wait. Wait. I… Yes, we can leave now. I don’t know why I was being stupid.” 

He turns back around at your words. He smiles a bit. “Okay. I’ll uh meet ya by the horses. Five minutes?” 

You nod and finish feeding the chickens. You try clearing your head, especially the nasty thoughts swirling around. You don’t want to seem like a self-pitying fool around Arthur. You’ve been low-key flirting with him the past couple of weeks and he’s noticeably pulled away from you since. You didn’t want to give him another reason to run away. 

After gathering your things, you meet him by the horses and mount up. The two of you head out at a brisk trot. Arthur starts leading you north along the borders of Flat Iron Lake. You want to ask him where he’s thinking of hunting, but your current mood forces you to keep quiet. No one would want to hear you talk anyways. You start questioning why he even wanted to bring you out in the first place. The only thing you can come up with is that it’s because he’s a good man and he heard you were in need of a friendly face. It makes you feel like even more of a burden. 

On the northern side of Scarlett Meadows, Arthur pulls to a stop. The sun has set properly now and given way to a nearly full moon. He dismounts and the two of you set up camp. As you sit around the fire, waiting for your meat to finish cooking, he can tell by your eyes that you’re far away. He doubts you’re in a good place. It makes him want to put his arms around you and tell you all the things he feels about you, but he made a promise. He can’t tell you. 

“You uh want the tent tonight?” he asks. “I can sleep out here tonight.” 

“No, Mr. Morgan. It’s your tent, you should sleep in it.” 

He huffs and smiles a bit. “Ya can call me Arthur, miss. Ain’t exactly like we’re strangers.” 

You smile a bit. “Right, sorry.” 

He pulls the meat off the fire and gives you some to eat. When you’re done, he sits next to you. He feels like you just need a friend to help you out, yet he isn’t sure how to do it without admitting he’s got feelings for you. You yawn heavily. 

“You should get some sleep. I’ll stay up a bit, not quite tired yet.” 

Instead of agreeing and getting up to lie in your bedroll, you lean over and put your head on his shoulder. He stiffens up a bit at your touch but it’s such a welcome feeling, he can’t pull away. He realizes now that you, like everyone else in camp, have just been overworked and underappreciated in camp. This will be the best medicine for you, getting you away and just taking a break. He wonders again about the phrase “forests of West Elizabeth”. As he’s pondering, he’s also fighting with himself. Nothing would give him more pleasure than to wrap his arm around you or pull you in his lap and hold you against him and watch you sleep. He won’t do that though. He can’t do it. 

As he’s arguing with himself, he hears the softest snore come from you. He smiles when he realizes you’ve passed out on his shoulder. He gently picks you up and places you into hsi bedroll in the tent. He covers you with his blanket and then he sits back down by the fire. He smiles a little as he thinks about what could be between you if he were dumb enough to take that chance. 

***********************************************

In the morning, he notices you seem a little happier, a little more like yourself. Like you’ve finally been able to relax a bit and get a good sleep for the first time in days. You talk a bit more, yet he can tell you’re choosing your words carefully, which is unlike you. One of the things he admires about you is that you say what you think, even if it’s brutal. He knows he can trust what you say. 

You expect him to take you somewhere like the outskirts of Emerald Ranch where game is plentiful. Instead, he keeps leading you west, across the wide mouth of the Dakota River and into West Elizabeth. Seeing the tall pines and green grasses lifts your spirits greatly and you feel like you can take your first proper breath in weeks. 

Arthur can see the visible change in you, how your eyes begin to light up again. You smile more easily and start talking more. He notices you even make some of your light jokes. He’s always liked your jokes, cheesy as some of them are. You’ve got a natural sense of humor he finds endearing. He thinks to take you to Big Valley, but something tells him it’s not enough. He needs to take a bigger risk with you. 

After arriving at Lake Owanjilla, he pauses. He knows where he wants to take you, but it’s incredibly dangerous. Not because the land but because of where it lies. He just hopes that no one will see the pair of you and if they do, they won’t connect the dots. 

“Come on, we’re almost there,” he says and he kicks his horse into an easy trot. You follow him across the dam, down the trail and over the river. You wonder what he’s up to as you enter Tall Trees. You know the risks of going anywhere this close to Blackwater. Word is bounty hunters and Pinkertons have gathered here like flies to a rotting corpse. You want to tell him it’d be wiser to go back, but something tells you to not question him. That he knows what he’s doing. 

After a while longer, Arthur slows his horse down. You’re in the thick of Tall Trees, the pines growing high above your heads. The world has turned from green to red with speckles of blue and purple. You’ve always loved Tall Trees, the tall red pines and the green ferns growing between them. The smell is indescribable, addictive. Somewhere hidden in the trees, a squirrel begins to bark. 

Arthur looks back at you and grins. You don’t see him as you’re busy gazing at the trees. He can tell that this was exactly what you needed, despite the obvious dangers. He keeps leading you down the trail until the trees break and give way to a small lake nestled in the bowl of the mountains. This is where he finally stops and dismounts. You do as well, though you’re still staring around like a complete moron. You finally turn to him and give him a genuine smile, which makes his knees feel weak. 

“Arthur, this is beautiful. But… what are we doing here?” 

He shrugs his shoulders. “Just seemed like this would be a good place to come and… fish.” 

“Fish?” you giggle. “You came here to fish?” 

“Sure, why not? Hear there’s a real nice bass livin’ in this lake. Figure if anyone’s gonna catch him, might as well be me.” 

“Not if I catch him first!” you shoot and run towards the water. He calls to you and chases after you, the two of you laughing madly. You reach a broken pier first and pull out your rod. “Beat you, Arthur!” 

“Oh trust me, sweetheart, runnin’ ain’t fishin’. We’ll see in the end who’s the real winner.” 

The two of you cast out and slowly pull your lures back. With the sun beating down and the wind carrying the intoxicating smell of the forest, you couldn’t be happier. You can practically feel the black cloud that’s been hovering over you getting drawn out, like venom from a snake. 

Arthur’s line gets tugged hard and he yanks back his pole, setting the hook. “Ooh I got somethin’.” 

“Well pull it in, quick!” 

You watch him fight with the fish and then he pulls out a beautifully colored bass. You laugh and pat his shoulder. 

“He’s a beauty! Good catch, Arthur. Guess you won this round.” 

He chuckles and wraps the fish up before putting it into his satchel. “Yeah, guess I did.” 

For the next hour, the two of you fish a little more, bringing out multiple trout and bass. Then, just when you think the two of you might be able to get away with staying here for a long while, you hear, echoing across the water, voices. It sounds like a small group of men. Your heart drops at the thought of bounty hunters. There’s no doubt in your mind they might be scouring Tall Trees. It’s the perfect place for a gang to hide, after all. 

“Think we’ve outstayed our welcome,” Arthur says and collapses his pole. You do the same and then you both swiftly remount your horses and run off from the lake, avoiding the path. Over the next half hour, you dodge between trees and carefully navigate around the steep drops of the mountain until you hit the trail right above Owanjilla. There, you make your way across the river and into safe lands again. Arthur leads you over to the north end of the lake where he finally dismounts. 

“Well that was a fine outing, Mr. Morgan,” you say, patting your horse’s neck from the ground. 

“Sure. Well, figure we can hunt here the next couple of days. Know there’s plenty of game in Big Valley.” 

You nod and smile at him. “Yeah. But tell me: did you really take me there for a fish?” 

He blushes a bit and hides his head beneath his hat. “Well… well no. I known the fish was there a long time, but I didn’t go for it. I just thought you could use the fresh air.” 

This makes you laugh. “Arthur, I can get fresh air in plenty of places that have fewer risks.” 

He blushes more. “I know. But… well, I won’t lie to ya. I figured the place could do you some good. Heard you were tellin’ Karen you missed it and you seemed down the last couple of days. Just thought I might be able to help.” 

You smile at him, your eyes glittering. “Thank you, Arthur. You’ve no idea how much it helped.” You lean up and place a soft kiss to his cheek. He grins, his cheek burning. You look away and say you’re going to go and hunt. He lies by saying he’s going to try and fish a bit more. 

When you’re out of sight, Arthur sits down on a boulder. “What is the matter with me? Ya think a miserable outlaw like myself would learn. Morgan, you have the world’s best record of bein’ the biggest fool.” 

He sits there for some time, arguing with himself. He can’t love you, but he can’t help being in love. A voice in his head asks what’s the worst that could happen by just letting himself feel what he’s already feeling for you. He argues back by using Mary and Eliza as examples. 

“But she isn’t Eliza or Mary,” the voice says. “She’s Y/N and in completely different circumstances than they were. She knows how to protect herself, she’s been robbed and shot at before and came out alive in all those situations.”

“No no no,” he says. “She’ll come to realize I’m a fool like Mary did. I’ll mess things up and she’ll hate me for it.” 

“She already knows you’re a fool. She’s seen your crazy side, she knows how scary you can get. More than once, in fact, and she’s still around isn’t she? Mary saw that side one time and she ran off running. Y/N’s different. Never once has she asked you to change or to control yourself.” 

“It’s a dumb move!” Arthur says. “I ain’t in love with her nor am I ever gonna be in love with her! She deserves someone better.” 

The voice is a bit quieter this time. “It seems like it’s too late for her. You saw the way she looked at you in Tall Trees. She’s already got it for you.” 

“Well, she’s a bigger fool than I thought for doin’ that.” 

“No doubt. But if you leave her like this, she’s not going to wait around forever. She doesn’t deserve that either.” 

Arthur sighs. He knows you don’t deserve him playing you the way he’s been lately. “Well fine,” he says to the voice in his head. “I love her. I love Y/N, but I ain’t sayin’ it out loud.” 

********************************************

Night has fallen and you and Arthur are sat around the campfire again, nestled in Big Valley. You’re leaning your head against his shoulder once more like you did the night before. Arthur’s arguing with himself again. He knows he loves you but he’s still unsure if he should act on it. To act on it would be to admit it. 

“Arthur?” you say, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

“Hmm?” 

“Thank you again for today. I… can I tell you something?” 

“Of course.” 

“I’ve been real sad lately. Don’t know why, but my brain keeps telling me I’m a burden on everyone, I’m merely tolerated. But going back to that lake helped me feel centered again. Like going home. I know that doesn’t make any sense.” 

He smiles a bit. “No it makes perfect sense. And for the record: you ain’t a burden or tolerated. People in camp like you, darlin’. You should hear Jack tell his mama about your stories. Sounds like you been helpin’ Mary-Beth too. And you were the first person to get Karen to stop drinkin’ the other day. Can’t tell you how long we been tryin’ to help her quit.” 

“Really?” you ask, looking up at him. “And… and what about you? I know you only took me out today because you heard I needed a pick-me-up.” 

“No, no that ain’t the reason,” he says. “I didn’t know you needed help until we were away from camp. Like I said, you ain’t a burden. You work hard, I see that in camp. Work as hard as anyone else and eight times as much as Uncle.” 

You giggle a bit.

“Point is, me and everyone else who counts sees how much you work in camp. We notice. I know we don’t voice our appreciations, especially ol’ Grimshaw, but it doesn’t mean we don’t see it.” 

You surprise him by grabbing the hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly. He knows at this moment he can’t hold back any longer. He withdraws his hand and your heart sinks. You’ve crossed a line. You’re about to pull away from his shoulder until you feel him shifting himself and his hand winds over your hip. He pulls you into his lap and you settle your head on his chest. 

Arthur’s heart pounds hard in your ears. He’s wanted to do this for so long with you, imagined doing this. He’s held women like this to him before so he knows what it feels like, but this is different. You’re different. You fit against him like a puzzle piece, perfectly molded to him. You’re warm and it feels so good the way you wrap your arms around him. He kisses your hairline and settles his chin to your forehead. 

After a few moments, he feels you place a soft kiss to his chest. It makes him smile and he holds you tighter. 

“Arthur?” you say, looking up at him.

“Hmm?”��

“I think I love you,” you say quietly. He swallows heavily. “Well I hope so. Because… I know I love you.” 

#rdr2 fanfic #red dead fanfic #arthur morgan #arthur morgan x female reader #awkward asks

[fatgirlwritesscenarios]

You’re My Home

((A/N: I’m running out of stuff to say in here...I’m very sleepy, but I do this to myself. This one is old! Like OLD! Like before The8 became as cool as he is now kind of old! When he was adorable before he became suave, you know?))

Pairing: The8xReader 

Genre: Fluff 

Word Count: 2,131

Summary: Minghao has been feeling underappreciated, forgotten, even looked-over as if he weren’t important. All it takes is one night with you to be reminded that he is, in fact, loved. More than he thought anyone could love him. 

                                                      *~*~*~*~*~*

It all got to be too much sometimes, especially as of late. The promoting, the performing, the fan signs and TV appearances; the high demands to be better, fancier, more good looking and accommodating to the fans. Every member felt the pressure with each comeback, never wanting to disappoint those that supported them, but at times…Minghao felt it the most out of everyone.

No matter how hard he tried, he was never good enough. He was always overshadowed by the others and their multiple talents they were allowed to showcase. He didn’t doubt his own talents, of course, but…sometimes he wondered if it even mattered if he were there or not. He read on the internet once or twice about how little people saw of him, of how he barely had even one reliable fansite dedicated to him, and how they easily forgot he existed.

It wasn’t their fault. They weren’t trying to be mean. It was just fact! It was true that he was barely the center of attention and that most fans were quick to stan everyone else before him, thus more pictures of them completely overtaking any pictures there may be of him. He accepted those facts a long time ago, but that didn’t mean the reality didn’t hurt every now and then. Sometimes…he felt underappreciated, unloved even and sometimes…he just wanted to run away.

Regardless of that, there was one place that he returned to where the love was endless. There, everything he did was appreciated and the most important pair of eyes was always solely on him at all times. He didn’t have to fight anyone for attention and he was made to feel like the most talented man in the world.

That place was wherever you were. A place he happily called home.

After a particularly bad day where Minghao was getting a little too deep into his feelings, he decided to stay with you at your apartment instead of at the dorms. He hadn’t seen you in too long anyway, it felt like, and he hated when his schedule took him away from you for long periods of time. It made him feel like he was neglecting you. So, after stopping at a street florist and picking up the prettiest, brightest bouquet they had, he trekked to your apartment that evening, ready to enjoy the few days off that he had with you alone.

“Baobei, I’m home!” he called through the apartment as he entered, taking off his shoes and setting his bag down.

There was a smell that hit him immediately and gave him pause, his nose lifting to the air to inhale deeply. He knew that smell, so familiar and welcoming. It made his heart stutter and caused a powerful emotion to roll through him as memories of his childhood flashed before his mind’s eye.

“Y/N!” he called again, moving quickly towards the kitchen where he heard shuffling.

Your head popped around the corner, bright eyes shining and smile as warm as hot tea on a cold evening; “Minghao!” you cried, disappearing for only a second to adjust the fire on the stove before sprinting towards your boyfriend, “You’re home!”

“I am. I’m home,” he agreed, opening his arms wide to embrace you as you threw yourself at him, hugging him as if he just came back from war, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too!” you gushed, cupping his face in your hands and rubbing your nose against his excitedly, “Oh, look at you! I’m so glad to see you. I’ve been so lonely without you here.”

“Me too.” He smiled and accepted the kiss you pressed to his lips, chuckling before taking your hand and twirling you around. He reveled in your giggles before pulling your back against his front and presenting you with the bouquet, “I got these for you.”

His heart leaped with joy when you gasped in delight, “Oh, these are beautiful! Minghao, you’re the best.”

You took the flowers and pressed a kiss to his cheek, his smile practically tearing his face in half. “This bouquet is huge! I don’t even think I have a vase big enough to fit it. Oh! Just kidding! There it is!”

You pulled a large vase from underneath the counter and ran water inside of it, going about clipping the ends of the flowers and placing them inside. While you were busy doing this, Minghao wandered through the kitchen as the smell hit him again, peering into the boiling pots and pans you had going.

“Y/N, babe, what are you making? It smells so good,” he asked, peering back at you, “It smells like home. Like China.”

You looked at him and then hummed in realization, a grin bigger than your face, he could swear it, appearing a second later; “Oh, yeah! So guess what,” you started, running the vase into the living room and placing it on the side table by the balcony doors before scurrying back to the kitchen with Minghao, “I was out walking around town today and took a couple of suspicious left turns because, you know, I suck at directions and got myself lost.”

Minghao chuckled, leaning his back against the counter as he watched you bustle around. “And while I was trying to find my way back to the main road, right there, on the right side and tucked between an insurance place and some random video game store, I think, I don’t even know, was this little grocery store. And when I saw little, I mean little. Like, this place was barely bigger than my apartment, it was crazy. Anyway, I got to talking to the lady that owns it because she was outside sweeping and come to find out…it’s a Chinese grocery store!”

Your eyes grew so comically wide that Minghao just had to laugh, his own surprise at the news melting away, “No way! You’re kidding me!”

“I would never! She took me on a tour of the store, which only took about two minutes that’s how small it was, and it was legit a Chinese grocery store just like the ones back home when you and I went to visit your parents! So I’m looking at this lady like, ‘Where you been all my life? I have a Chinese boyfriend and I need to make him food to remind him of home’. And she’s like, ‘I got you, fam’. Long story short, I’m cooking your favorite dish with all the proper ingredients for once! I also called your mom and had her walk me through it for the first twenty minutes to make sure I don’t mess it up.”

Minghao was moved, that emotional wave from before now cresting as he stood there watching you, that beautiful smile of yours lighting up his entire world and forcing away any dark shadow of doubt from his mind. How could he still feel unloved when you were right there? Cooking his favorite meal and even calling his mom to make sure you were doing it right? How could he feel unwanted when you go through all this trouble and are always so excited to see him whenever he came home? He covered his mouth with a shaky hand, his eyes tearing up.

You were quick to notice it and your brows furrowed in worry. “Oh…Oh, Minghao…Babe…What’s wrong?” you asked, rushing towards him, “What happened? Did something happen? Why are you crying?”

He shook his head, trying to blink away the tears, but your concern only made the emotions stronger until his tears zipped down his cheeks.

“Baby, talk to me. What’s wrong?” you encouraged him, squeaking when he suddenly engulfed you in a bone-crushing hug.

“I just love you so much,” he sniffed, cradling the back of your head with his large hand, “You make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. You went through all that trouble for me just to make my favorite meal, to bring China to me for a little bit.”

You giggled and rubbed his back, “It was no trouble, Minghao. I do things like this for you because I love you, too!” You pulled away and wiped his tears gently with your thumbs while his hands remained on your waist. “I always want to make you happy and see you smile. You work so hard and you put so much effort into everything you do to make everyone else around you proud. I want to give that back to you even if it’s something as small as making you dinner. You deserve at the very least that much.”

“Thank you, Baobei,” he whispered, smiling softly and leaning his forehead against yours, his eyes closing.

“You’re welcome,” you replied, leaning up to give him a chaste kiss, “Now why don’t you go take a shower and get comfortable? Dinner will be ready by the time you’re done.”

He nodded, but was reluctant to leave you; after going as long as he did without seeing you while they were promoting, the last thing he wanted to do was let you out of his sight. You made him go, though, telling him that the sooner he bathed, the sooner you two could be reunited for the rest of the night. That did the trick, Minghao running into the bedroom to grab some pajamas before heading into the bathroom.

It didn’t take him long at all to shower or to get dressed, but true to your word, when he came back, dinner was ready and set out on the table. Not only that, but his dirty clothes that were in the bag he dropped by the door were already running through the washer. You both enjoyed a home-cooked, Chinese meal as you conversed with one another, Minghao talking about all the crazy adventures he and the boys went through while promoting. You tried to keep him talking about everything he did, wanting to hear about it, but he refused to tell you anymore until you told him how you were doing. He felt so removed from your life and wanted to be integrated back in. He was attentive and hung on to every word you said, loving the way you talked and how animated you got.

With dinner over, the dishes washed and the hour growing late, you decided it was time for the both of you to head to bed. Besides, Minghao was having a hard time staying awake for the show you were watching and you figured it was because all his hard work was finally catching up to him. You got ready for bed, brushing your teeth in the bathroom together and making faces at one another. Finally, after turning out the lights, you both lay cuddled up to one another, Minghao’s head tucked underneath your chin as he rested on your chest. Usually, he was the one to hold as you drifted off to sleep, but tonight, you knew he needed you to hold him and you were more than happy to oblige.

He listened to the cute little fluttering of your heart, so warm and welcoming, slowly lulling him to sleep. Your fingers carded through his hair gently, smiling when his arm draped around your waist and tugged you even closer.

“Thank you.”

“For what? Dinner? It was no problem.”

“No, Baobei…for everything.” Minghao lifted himself up to look at you, those big, intelligent eyes of his boring into your soul. They made you blush, making you feel as if he were undressing you, laying you bare before him so that there was nothing you could hide. “Thank you for putting up with me and the crazy schedules that keeps us apart. I know it’s just as hard for you as it is for me to be separated. Thank you for doing all that you do for me, for making my favorite food for me and for reminding me that even when things get hard, I always have someone in my corner, cheering me on and loving me unconditionally. Thank you for being my home.”

“Minghao…” Now it was your turn to get teary, your boyfriend chuckling and kissing the corners of your eyes before laying one on your lips, “I love you. So much.”

“I know, Baobei. I love you, too,” he whispered, laying his head back down on your chest and yawning afterwards, “Good night. Promise you’ll be here when I wake up?”

“I promise,” you giggled.

“Good because as soon as I do wake up, I’m going to spoil you. You deserve at the very least that much.” He took your free hand and kissed your fingers, holding them securely against his heart before drifting off into a peaceful, happy slumber with the sound of gentle heartbeat guiding his journey.

#seventeen #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #the8 #the8 imagines #the8 scenarios

[fencer-x]

Belated end-of-year fic meme

So, it’s already 2020, but I couldn’t technically post this meme until Erised reveals went up, so I’m posting it now! These are just some comments and discussions about the writing that I did this year. High word count, low fic output--that’s pretty normal for me!

GENERAL STATS

List of Fics Posted:

Fandom: Harry Potter Every New Beginning (141k, explicit; Eighth Year fic + time traveling) Pensieve For Your Thoughts (22k, explicit; pinch hit for HD Erised 2010, Eighth Year fic w/a fair bit of dubious consent going on)

Fandom: Promare spend some time with me (i really like your company) (73k, explicit [to be on the safe side]; canon re-write)

Total number: 3 Total word count: 236,239

Ship/character breakdown: Ship breakdown: [Harry Potter] Drarry, Hermione/Ron, Pansy/Parvati, and little tiny hints of other ships; [Promare] GaloLio, background implied Gueira/Meis

Characters that had the main focus: I'm happy to report I wrote from Draco's POV for the first time! My HP fics so far have all been Harry POV, so it was actually fun writing from Draco's POV, though I think most of my fics work better from Harry POV. Promare fic was from Lio's POV mostly because that's what the fic called for, and it was interesting--not sure if I'd go for that POV on the usual (update since I drafted this post: I think, strangely enough, I prefer Lio’s POV, as I’m well into fic #2 from his perspective). Promare fics focused, also, on Mad Burnish, which I really enjoyed writing (I'm much more of a Mad Burnish fan than Burning Rescue, so perhaps that's why XD)

Details

Best/worst title?

Best title: This is gonna be very subjective. I'm actually happy with all three of the titles?? I think Every New Beginning, though; because it's only after you finish the fic that you realize it's a (SPOILER ALERT) spoiler for the entire story. I like that little detail :D

Worst title: maybe spend some time with me (i really like your company)? I actually like the title, but it's a little bit OF a cop-out, just lifitng a line from lyrics, and it's difficult to google XD (update since I drafted this post: YOU FOOL, YOU’RE DOING IT AGAIN FOR YOUR NEW FIC NOW, WHY??? YOU CAN’T TRACK THAT)

Best/worst first line?

Best: I am far less comfortable with opening lines than closing ones. But I guess my favorite of these three is, /Kray Foresight liked to think himself a patient man./ The others are kind of generic, and it was interesting writing this bit from Kray's POV. Not a fun headspace.

Worst: /In retrospect, he should never have trusted a book that came from Pansy./ Not a terrible opener. Not an amazing one. In my defense, I was pressed for time when I wrote it, and I probably would've stewed over it a little longer to pick something with a bit more hook, but it did the job.

Best/worst last line?

Best: I'm satisfied with all of them, but I liked the entire epilogue of ENB, so the final line is probably my favorite: /He devoured his breakfast in record time, then Banished his tray and dishes back to the kitchen before tossing aside the duvet and padding into the bathroom to deliver his complaints about the turkey bacon to the chef in person./

Worst: It was tough finding a place to end the Promare fic that felt satisfying, so probably this one: /The distant whir of chopper blades whistling through the air grew louder and louder, and Lio leaned in to press his lips against Galo’s, lingering as long as he possibly could before whispering, “…Why don’t you start by teaching me how to ride a motorcycle?”/

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

More! Because if I'd gone by my original plan, I'd have completed precisely one (1) fic this year in Every New Beginning. I was well into drafting my next fic after that when I tripped headlong into the Promare fandom, and I was eager to get that fic out before fandom died down, so I poured myself into it. Then the Erised fic was a pinch-hit, so I wasn't expecting to write it at all.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

Well. Promare didn't exist last year, so 8D I also probably wouldn't have predicted I'd write any Pansy/Parvati and find it cute.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

SSTWM, I think! I've had SO much fun with Promare so far, and getting to explore a slight twist on the canon, building out the Burnish society and delving into relationships I wished I'd seen explored further in the canon was really satisfying. I'm glad I wrote it.

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

...And it's also my most popular story this year, too, by pretty much every metric AO3 can give me: hits, kudos, and bookmarks (ENB has more comments, but it's also been out rather a lot longer). The Promare fandom is hot hot hot right now (no pun intended), so I expect that contributed.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Probably my pinch-hit right now, if only because I wasn't able to show it off when it got posted because of the Erised rules. It's also a one-shot, whereas ENB is a multi-chapter monster.

Story that could have been better?

Wish I'd had a bit more time to play with my Erised submission, but them's the breaks with pinch-hitting! I'm satisfied with how it came out, but me being me, I love writing longfic and would've wanted to make something more of it.

Sexiest story?

Pensieve For Your Thoughts, very much so :D

Saddest story?

Every New Beginning, definitely. It's not a sad fic, per se, but it's quite sad in places, and the overall plot is not a happy one. It has a happy ending, but you'll want to read the tags carefully before checking it out.

Most fun?

SSTWM, getting to flesh out the Burnish colony--LOTS of fun. Gueira and Galo's rivalry in particular was a hoot XD

Story with single sweetest moment?

I think this bit from SSTWM:

“But maybe I can do something a little more my style?”

“Your style?” Lio repeated, dubious, and Thymos brought a hand up, resting it just over his heart. Lio tried not to let his eye linger on the spangling of scars covering his bare arm—was he not freezing, nearly naked as he was?

“When I was recovering in the hospital after the fire Kray rescued me from, he used to come and visit me. Sometimes he’d bring food, or toys, or games—but this one time he brought me a book. It was about firefighters—firefighters from all over the globe, way back before the Great World Blaze, even. That’s where I learned about the ones from that Asian country, see. But there was this one chapter about firefighters from this huge city—looked a lot like Promepolis, actually—and it was so huge, there used to be thousands of these firefighters who worked day and night to keep it safe. And when someone wanted to join their ranks, they had to get up in front of all their peers and speak an oath.”

Lio held his breath, though he wasn’t quite sure why, and tuned every nerve in his body to Thymos in that moment.

Thymos closed his eyes, his hand still splayed over his heart. “‘I promise concern for others, and a willingness to help all those in need. I promise courage: Courage to face and conquer my fears. Courage to share and endure the ordeal of those who need me. I promise strength of heart to bear whatever burdens might be placed upon me, and strength of body to deliver to safety all those placed within my care. I promise the wisdom to lead, the compassion to comfort, and the love to serve unselfishly whenever I am called.’” He opened his eyes, fixing Lio in place. “I promise. All of it.”

Lio’s heart was thudding mercilessly in his chest, and he worried that if he opened his mouth to speak, it might just leap right out. He swallowed thickly to keep it in place and then rasped, “...Grand words for a glorified member of a bucket brigade.”

“Was hoping you’d be impressed I remembered it, after all these years.”

“I am,” Lio said, taking great pains to ensure his sincerity came through.

Hardest story to write?

Pensieve For Your Thoughts; I dislike anything resembling noncon, and while I'm satisfied with what I did, if I'd had more time, I would've found a workaround so the consent wasn't nearly as dubious. I think my recipient liked it, though, so all's well! I also find writing porn difficult, and that story was like 70% porn XD Why I did that to myself, we'll never know.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

Every New Beginning, especially all the bits of Harry and Draco getting closer; I love writing their banter, LOVE IT. I wish I could write a story that's nothing but banter. Someone pay me to do that please.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I love Lio, but we don't get too much characterization in the film; it was therefore kind of eye-opening writing from his POV. Of course no fan's characterization is going to be quite the same as what the creators might have imagined, but I still enjoyed what came out of it.

Most overdue story?

Eh, two of them weren't on any sort of deadline whatsoever, and I'm pretty sure I got my Erised piece in before the deadline! So we were good this year :)

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I used NaNoWriMo as a 'goal' for finishing my Promare fic--I not only finished the fic, I also completed 50k of it during November, so I technically beat NaNoWriMo too! I learned that if I really want to hit a goal and feel like I have to, I have the complete and total capacity to do that. It's just a matter of will for me.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

To finish my next Drarry fic, aka the one that was supposed to come after Every New Beginning but got pushed to the back-burner by the sudden insistent arrival of Promare in my life. I also want to write for Erised PROPERLY this year and organize a Promare fanwork event around the one-year anniversary :D

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #memeage

[mychemicalficrecs]

Hi so I've read 2 my chem sports AUs recently (All We Need Is Daylight by Helena_Hathaway and Getting the Gold by frankiesin) and I loved them surprisingly a lot because My Chemical Romance and various sports are not something you'd expect go together. I'm wondering if you know of any other sports AUs?

Hi Nonny!

There's a few Sports AUs I know and if you don't mind High School Sports AUs, there's quite a few of those as well!

Sports AUs

All We Need is Daylight by Helena_Hathaway, Frank/Gerard, 240k [WIP], Explicit. Frank is thrust all too suddenly into a new life, one where he's not warmly welcomed. He's the best goddamn hockey player he knows, though, and he's not going to let anyone take that away from him. Or at least, not until his world comes tumbling down.

Getting the Gold by frankiesin, Mikey/Pete, 9k, General Audiences. It's Mikey's first time as an Olympic coach, and he's navigating the new role pretty well until he meets the men's swim coach. Pete's gorgeous, funny, and entertaining as hell, but Mikey's pretty sure he's already got a boyfriend. Also featuring Mikey and Lindsey being Super Bros, and way too many baby athletes in need of supervision.

you wanna get it for free by akamine_chan, Ray/Mikey, 2k, Explicit. Ray's a wrestler, you see...

Pages In Your Passport by inlovewithnight, Mikey/Pete, 15k, Explicit. Pete pursued soccer instead of music. He has a good long run in the game. Then in 2010, he meets this guy in a band.

The Circuit by stoplightglow, Frank/Gerard, 24k, Teen And Up Audiences. In the world of competitive motorcycle racing, nothing is more prestigious than the Grand Circuit Tour. Americans everywhere gather to watch as the twelve best racers in the nation compete for the title of Circuit Champion and $100,000. Gerard Way is no stranger to the race. When he was a teenager, his name was practically legend - but after disappearing without explanation six years ago, he's become little more than a relic of the past. Now, at age twenty-six, Gerard is back on the Circuit with something to prove. It's Frank Iero's first year on the tour, but he's more than ready. No one has seen a kid blast through the ranks so fast since Gerard Way first appeared on the scene a decade ago. With a cocky attitude and the whole country swooning over him, nothing can slow him down. The stakes have never been so high. Welcome to the Fourteenth Annual Grand Circuit Tour.

Down And Dirty by dear_monday, Frank/Gerard, 3k, Explicit. Gerard's own beloved cherry-red Harley has pedigree in fucking spades, sure, but she's seen better days, and she just doesn't have the power to outrun Iero and that revolting custom paint job. The matching helmet painted to look like a jack-o-lantern is just too much. An AU wherein the boys are dirty bikers, inspired by the recently-released photos from the Japanese Rolling Stone shoot.

shut up and drive by Trojie, uglowian, Patrick/Mikey/Pete, 139k, Teen And Up Audiences. Pete Wentz is the grid girl, Andy Hurley loves him (not like that), and Jared Leto is the bad guy. A.K.A.: the bandom The Fast and the Furious AU that literally no one asked for.

Another Cog In The Murder Machine by ace_writez, Ray/Mikey, 3k [WIP], General Audiences. Mikey's life is set. He's going to get a basketball scholarship for university and then play in the big leagues. All he has to do is get team captain his last year of high school. But he runs into some competition when another good player also tries out. Suddenly he's not so sure he's going to make it. Ray is also trying for a scholarship. As the star quarterback of Belleville High for three years, he's gunning for a fourth. When a situation at home suddenly drags him down, and a certain boy at school catches his eye, he finds himself at a crossroads. Two boys. Two sports. One school, and one story.

Day Seven: Half Dressed - Frerard by LeatherlipsIero, Frank/Gerard, 3k, Mature. Frank reached out his hand for the stranger to shake, "I'm Frank, let me buy you a drink as an apology?" He smiled again when the stranger grabbed his strong and callused hand with his own soft one. "Thank you, but it's my fault, honestly." The strange and pretty man tried to explain but Frank didn't care. "I insist." He said and sent the beautiful stranger a half smirk with half-lidded bedroom eyes, which had the poor boy blushing in seconds. Score.

Olympians by krissykane, Frank/Gerard, 3k, General Audiences. Frank is a shooter who has (somehow) made it to his second Olympic games. There he joins the crowd at a fencing event and sees a certain Team USA fencer for the first time.

Take One For The Team (Excuse Me If I'm Rude) by frenchpirate (Whiskey_n_speed), Mikey/Pete, 25k, Explicit. “So, your coach,” Gabe started, change of subject, thank god. “Yeah, what about him?” Mikey asked and glanced over at Pete who was heading towards the coach locker rooms, dragging a net of footballs after him. “You never told me he was hot. I’m pretty sure that’s withholding indispensable information. I should’ve signed up for the soccer team.” He said halfway jokingly, and William scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What, he’s not-“ “He so is. He’s like totally – small and handy,” He made a smooth explanatory hand-motion. “I want to fit him in my pocket.” * (Or; twenty eight scenes about skipping school, douchebag friends, post-college parties and way too much soccer)

Boxer!Fic by iamdali, Frank/Gerard, 47k, Explicit, General Audiences. After med school, Gerard had this idea of what life would be like. The idea now probably seems more than ridiculous, but still it’s what he clung to in order to drag himself through those gruelling morning hours after an all nighter of studying or writing some preposterously long paper on some disease or medical break through or why whatever part of the human body does whatever it does, and what happens when it doesn’t.

It's Not A Side Effect Of The Triple Axel (I'm Thinking It Must Be Love) by mizubyte (b_dsaint), Mikey/Pete, 10k, Teen And Up Audiences. If not for Alicia, Mikey never would have stepped on to the ice, let alone become a figure skater. Now, over 15 years later, Vancouver is Mikey's last chance for Olympic Gold. If he doesn't get distracted by snowboarder Pete Wentz, that is.

If The Skates Don't Fit by halfeatenmoon, Lindsey/Gerard, 12k, Teen And Up Audiences. Lyn-Z thought her rollerderby team might have a chance of winning some games this year, until she discovered that the new girl she'd recruited to the team was actually a man named Gerard. With a week to go until the first match against their long-time rivals, the Cobras, Lyn-Z and her teammates instead steal one of the Cobras' players - Maja, who has been feeling underappreciated since her side was joined by a new star. Maja's a great player, but it's a challange to learn to skate with a new teammate with only a week to go, especially when she still has some unresolved issues with her old captain.

Split lips hurt by toxic_fox, Frank/Gerard, 769 words, Teen And Up Audiences. Every Thursday, at six o’ clock sharp, frank goes boxing. He loves the adrenaline, the rush he gets from fighting, the blood, the pain. He kind of likes the kind medic as well.

Uppercut by mcrhomo, Frank/Gerard, 3k [WIP], Teen And Up Audiences. Frank is dealing with a lot in his life, including body dysmorphia. When he signs up for a boxing class to lose weight, he meets Gerard, and his whole life is turned several different ways (for better and for worse).

I Believe You're The Enemy (Game On) by imanemostan, Frank/Gerard, 2k, Mature. Constant affairs kept secret by frank and gerard, on different laser tag teams playing against each other. weirdly enough, both their schools have an official laser tag team. How will they ever be able to keep this a secret?

I Just Want You by Bridgetti, Frank/Gerard, 2k, General Audiences. Frank teaches Gerard to skate.

It's All In the Game by happilysurviving (orphan_account), Frank/Gerard, 46k [WIP], Mature. Even jocks have issues. Especially the closeted ones who have friends they have to kick off their football teams. And it gets even worse when they have to kick them off because of a homophobic coach. But of course that's only the beginning as this is Dan Howell and he always has to have larger problems on top of the ones everyone else would believe to be impossible to handle. Having Frank as his best friend certainly doesn't help or the head gossip guru in town as his mother but it could be worse, right? I mean he could be in love with an opposing team's quarterback... Oh wait.

Frerard Football Team AU For Which I Could Not Think of a Title by franks_hands, Frank/Gerard, 5k, Teen And Up Audiences. In the locker room and at practices, Frank was noisy, bordering on obnoxious. He seemed to bounce off the walls sometimes. He didn’t know about personal space.

of cute boys and rollerskates by etselec, Mikey/Pete, 1k, General Audiences. “I’m teaching you how to skate,” Mikey nearly fell as he removed Pete’s arms away from him. He squeezed his hand instead, “so our next date it won’t be as awkward.” “Date?” Pete asked. “Well, we’re holding hands already, aren’t we?” Mikey smiled at him.

Hand in Mine, Into Your Icy Blues by sundrowned, Frank/Gerard, 28k, General Audiences. Gerard is the captain of the hockey team and his overbearing father is the coach. When a new boy named Frank joins the team, Gerard has to decide weather to follow his father's orders to stay away from the boy or choose his own path.

Skating In A Ttutu by runaway_killjoy, Frank/Gerard, 51k, Teens And Up Audiences, Explicit. Frank has to move towns with his mom. He's disheartened to realize that teenagers are judgemental and manipulative no matter where you go. And no one gets judged quite as bad as the ballerina/skater boy who isn't even 5ft. Skater boy AU prompt, Frerard

Powderpuff by Gorgeous Nerd (gorgeousnerd), Frank/Gerard, 2k, Explicit. It isn't like Frank's opposed to powderpuff football. The timing's just kind of bad.

Get Up And Go by inlovewithnight, 6k, Teen And Up Audiences. Mikey Way: Ultramarathon Runner.

#fic rec list #frank/gerard #mikey/pete #ray/mikey #patrick/mikey/pete #lindsey/gerard #alternate universe #sports