#it's gonna be an interesting start to a romance of sorts between them

[azusawrites]

“Shut it,” the redhead spat out. “You weren’t even there so you have no idea that it was this crazy boar woman’s fault that it all happened anyway.”

Boar woman. Kore paused. She’d never heard that one before. Was it meant to be some sort of insult? Some sort of code? Boars were strong and sturdy, she thought, but also rather ugly-looking. Was he trying to call her ugly? Was that it? She grit her teeth as she glared at his side profile. What did her looks even have to do with anything? Sure, she wasn’t what one might call attractive or a looker, but she wouldn’t go as far as to say she was ugly. The more she thought about it, the more realized that a kick to the thigh was too kind of a punishment for him.  

wip: mirror marchen

fandom: twisted wonderland

wc: 7176

next chapter sneak peek

READ THE FIRST CHAPTER HERE

#azusaprogress #twisted wonderland #mirror marchen #thus the appearance of the boar woman nn starts #ace definitely meant it in the pigheaded way #that kore is too stubborn for her own good #but she also definitely took it as a remark about her looks #which she's already sensitive about #so uh #it's gonna be an interesting start to a romance of sorts between them #well mostly ace #but you get the gist

[mossy-rock-in-a-field]

Several weeks ago, my retirement-age mother requested that I play Baldur’s Gate 3 for her because she has trouble with controllers/keyboards and wanted “to see what all the fuss is about with that cute wizard boy.” For context, my mother and I have done this sort of thing in the past with certain RPGs (dragon age, mass effect, etc.), but it’s been a few years since she’s personally requested a game like this. Basically, I control her Tav but let her make all the choices so she can determine how the story plays out without worrying about mechanics. She treats it like a choose-your-own-adventure book.

Anyway, here is a list of some of the things my mother has said and/or chosen to do throughout the course of BG3 in no particular order:

She is (obviously) romancing Gale. She is quite smitten with him and his passion for books and learning; she also thinks he’s polite and qualifies as “relationship material.” She also REALLY likes the things he’s said about his cat so far (my mom is a cat lady), so I know she’s gonna flip shit when we meet Tara in Act III.

She’s playing a normal druid Tav with a generally good alignment. Her favorite spell is Spike Growth because she thinks it’s hilarious whenever enemies walk into the AOE and die. I usually end up having to cast it at least once per battle per her request. Sometimes twice.

Contrary to her alignment, my mother tasks me with robbing every single chest, crate, barrel, and burlap sack we come across; this also includes people and their pockets. The party is always at max carrying capacity. ALWAYS. She doesn’t like selling things because “what if I need them.” The camp stash is in literal shambles. There is no hope of organizing it. She’s got like fifty seven sets of rags and a billion pieces of random silverware.

She MUST talk to every animal and corpse in the game. I think five hours of her total playtime so far (47ish) has been spent speaking to animals as many times as humanly possible. Like, I was thorough in my own playthroughs, but this is on a whole other level.

She did NOT get Volo’s lobotomy, but she did let Auntie Ethel take her eye in hopes of a cure for the tadpole. I did not understand the logic then. I still do not understand it now.

She is far more interested in fashion than equipment stats. Do you have any idea how much gold I’ve had to spend on dyes just to make things match? SO much. Same vibe as that “please someone help me balance my finances my family is starving” tweet but instead of candles it’s thirty thousand fucking bottles of black and furnace red dye.

We broke the prisoners out of Moonrise, but they got on the boat too early and bugged the fight by leaving Astarion and Karlach behind. Wulbren Bongle somehow got stuck in combat mode even after engaging the cutscene on the docks below Last Light; he he kept trying to run ALL THE WAY BACK TO MOONRISE nine fucking meters at a time while I frantically tried to finish the fight with the Warden, otherwise Wulbren would have run straight into the shadow curse. (I would’ve let him go; fuck Wulbren Bongle, all my homies hate Wulbren Bongle. But my mom didn’t know that, and she wanted to keep him safe. So.)

She had me reload a save like eighteen times to save the giant eagles on top of Rosymorn Monastery. Wouldn’t even let me do non-lethal damage just to get past things. I think getting that warhammer for the dawnmaster puzzle took us like an hour and a half alone. (Yes, I know you can use any warhammer, but SHE didn’t.)

She’s started keeping an irl notebook to keep track of her quests between play sessions. She writes down ideas and strategies when she thinks of them during the week, then brings them to her next game session at my house. I think she wrote about three pages on possible approaches to the goblin fortress alone.

She insists that I pet Scratch and the owlbear cub before every single long rest, no exceptions. Sometimes I have to do it multiple times until she is absolutely sure that the animals know exactly how much she loves and cherishes them. She has also commissioned a crocheted owlbear plush from a friend of hers and is very excited.

I’m sure there’s a bunch of stuff I’m forgetting, but those are some fun things I thought of. She’s enjoying the game and is telling all of her retired friends to get it and play it for themselves. She asked me “what is Discord” yesterday and I think my life flashed before my eyes.

anyway shout out to my mom for being neat

Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4 — Part 5

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale #gale of waterdeep #astarion #gale dekarios #laq talks #I talk #she stares at me real hard after she makes a choice too #like squinting to see if my expression gives anything away #if it was a good or bad call #I keep my face blank as shit it’s hilarious #I have not told her I’m writing fanfic for this game #nor will I ever #jesus christ

[neonghostlights]

Fuckboy!werewolf!Eddie Munson x Reader

Warnings: Eddie is/was a Fuckboy, werewolves, supernatural, mates, unrequited love, jealousy, cussing, Eddie loses control for a second but would never hurt reader (18+ only minors DNI)

Wordcount: 2.7k

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

“Your what?”

Gareth's annoyed words repeated in your head over and over again. 

She’s your mate. She’s your mate. She’s your mate. 

Your mate. 

Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate.

You had read enough fantasy romance novels to read between the lines of what he was saying. 

You felt dizzy, unsteady on the side of the road that you were currently stranded on with a pack of men that turned into wolves, with one of them being extra bossy and thinking that he had some connection to you that you had been blissfully unaware of. 

A lot of thoughts and revelations came rushing to you at that moment. The weird reaction the first time he saw you. The time Eddie showed up at your job begging to talk. The wolf in the road. The flowers on your car. Your lawn being mowed. 

Someone let out a low whistle at either the steam coming out of your ears or the death glare you were sending to Eddie. 

“Listen-“ Eddie started. 

“No,” you cut him off, finger pointed in the air. 

He shut his jaw with an audible click of his teeth at your command. 

You found yourself moving closer to him, finger pointed directly at him. The rest of the guys stepped back, unable to save him from your wrath. 

Finger posed at his still bare chest, you gave him a poke. 

“Did you-“ Poke. “mow my-” Poke. “lawn?” Poke.

The small twitch of his lips was the only answer you needed. 

“Well, I’m gonna get started on that tire!” Gareth chirped cheerfully while the rest of the group except Eddie muttered about going to do their tasks, leaving you glaring at Eddie. 

“You can be angry with me.  But now is not the place to do it. We need to get you some water,” Eddie said slowly, carefully. 

Now that you thought about it, the shock of your situation kinda wearing off, you were a little thirsty and tired. 

Really tired. 

“How long was I in there?” You posed the question to Gareth who was currently taking the flat tire off. 

“A few hours,” Eddie answered for him, even though you weren’t asking him. 

“Hours? How? I wasn’t even that far in the woods!” You gasped, thinking of what you could have possibly been doing. 

You heard the trees start to move behind you, probably from an animal but Eddie grabbed you anyways, positioning you between him and the car protectively. 

You wanted to roll your eyes and tell him to shove whatever it was where the sun didn’t shine but you knew when to keep your mouth shut. And whatever was in those woods was a good reason to keep your mouth shut. 

Eddie relaxed a fraction after a second, but still on edge. 

“Just an animal,” he muttered, still staring at the darkness. 

Just about then Jonathan pulled up in an old, rattling red pick up truck. He idled on the side of the road while Eddie ushered you in like some sort of half naked body guard. 

The inside of the cab smelled like wood chips and weed, a very interesting combination. 

Jonathan climbed out and started loading the things you had bought from town earlier in the back of his truck. He got in at the same time as Eddie, smushing you between the two of them awkwardly. 

The back of the truck swayed and groaned as Gareth jumped into the bed. 

“One of us will come back and get your car fixed up tomorrow,” Eddie said, dark eyes trained on you now. 

You scooted away from Eddie pressing most of yourself against Jonathan instead. Jonathan ducked his head shyly, pretending to not notice. 

Eddie started to shake so badly you could hear his teeth chattering, an angry glare sent not towards you but to Jonathan. 

“Cold?” You asked cheekily. You really didn’t care if he was cold, you were still pissed over the mates thing and couldn’t wait to get an explanation from him and not a supernatural romance book. None of those books were ever consistent anyways. 

He just shook his head, jaw clenched. 

Jonathan visibly sighed in relief as the truck hit the pothole at the start of your driveway. The trailer seemed more ominous than it was when you left and suddenly even the woods surrounding your house didn’t feel safe. 

Every shadow and branch made you think you were seeing a person. You couldn’t tell if that was from the paranoia or the lasting effects of whatever was messing with you earlier in the night. 

As soon as the truck stopped Jonathan practically threw himself out of the truck and as far away from you as possible. Instead of letting Eddie help you out of the door, you slid down the seat and out the still open  driver's door. 

Eddie met you at the front of the truck, a bag in hand that he must have gotten from Jonathan and led you to your front door, Gareth and Jonathan trailing behind him. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” You snapped as soon as Eddie tried to follow you inside. 

“Do you really think I’m letting you out of my sight after everything that has happened tonight?” Eddie asked with a chuckle as he tried to step inside. You put a hand up, blocking him from coming any further. 

“And I think if you want to come inside my house you need to ask permission first,” you warned. 

“We’re not vampires and it’s cold!” Gareth called from behind Jonathan. 

“Wait, are vampires real?” You asked Eddie, genuinely curious. 

“Let us in and I’ll tell you,” he said with a raised brow and the hint of a smirk. 

You rolled your eyes and stepped aside, letting them shuffle in. You watched Eddie’s reaction as he looked around, taking in the open floor plan of your double wide trailer. You pointed him towards your bathroom down the hall so he could put on the clothes that were in the bag. 

Gareth went straight for your kitchen. 

“You got any food? I’m starving and a little bit stressed,” he said as he opened your fridge and started rummaging through it. 

“Gareth,” Eddie warned in a low tone as he stepped into the kitchen, now fully clothed. You had to admit you did miss the tattoos a little bit. 

“I think I have some stuff to make sandwiches,” you sighed as you followed him, pulling out the bread and supplies. “Would you like a sandwich, Jonathan?” 

You thought you were seeing things by how fast Eddie moved into the kitchen in front of you. 

“No,” Eddie snapped, prying the sandwich ingredients out of your hands, persistent yet gentle. “Sit down,” he demanded, pointing towards the couch. “They can make their own damn sandwiches.” 

“Did I ask you?” You yanked the bread back out of his hands, smushing it. 

“Yum,” Gareth said sarcastically at the ruined bread in your hands.

You had had enough of this already. 

“Here,” you said, shoving it into Gareth's hands and stomping towards the living room and away from Eddie. You didn’t like the way he took up the room, making it so every corner of your vision was full of him. 

You passed Jonathan who was leaned up against the wall, stiff and awkward with a blush on his cheeks. You wondered what that was about. 

You sat on the edge of your couch stiffly, refusing to relax with Eddie  in your house. 

“Are you gonna tell me what happened tonight?” You immediately asked as Eddie sat across from you, pausing to set a glass of water into your hands that he had gotten from the kitchen. 

“I don’t know,” Eddie said as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his spread knees. 

“You don’t know what led me into the woods?” You asked with a raised brow. 

“It’s…something. We aren’t completely sure what it could be. None of us have ever seen it, only felt it. My uncle has told me stories that he heard when he was a kid about there being something in the woods that went after the people of Hawkins dating years back but we don’t know why it’s back or what it wants.” He seemed disappointed in his lack of answers as much as you were but you couldn’t help the suspicion that he was hiding something. You couldn’t tell if that suspicion was just because you didn’t like him or what. 

“So, whatever it is we don’t know what it wants or if it’ll strike again,” you deflated. 

Eddie nodded grimly. 

“And what about me being your mate?” You asked, bitterness lacing your tone as you narrowed your eyes at him. 

Eddie looked down at his lap like he was trying to figure out what he was going to say next. 

“Because I want no part in that,” you said before he could speak. “I decline, refuse, whatever I have to say to make you go away.”

You could’ve sworn you heard Gareth gasp. 

“Hate to break it to you but you’re stuck with me. You can’t just refuse this. I had no choice in it and neither did you,” Eddie said calmly, like he was expecting this from you but you saw the way his chest deflated slightly and the way he started to fiddle with his fingers. 

He wasn’t used to being turned down. You had a feeling that every girl in this town jumped to do his bidding as soon as he looked at them with those pretty brown eyes. 

You hated to break it to him but he had a lot coming for him if he thought you were just going to fall at his feet and worship him like everyone else. Even his friends listened to his every word in a strange way like what he said was the law. 

You decided to change the subject for now, gather all of the information and then turn him down. 

Again. 

“Let’s start from the beginning,” you said as you clapped your hands together and scooted forward. You tried to ignore the face that you and Eddie’s knees were almost touching. “Can you tell me why you turn into a wolf? I’m sure you can only imagine how many questions I have.” 

Eddie cleared his throat, adjusting in his seat but you could still see the self conscious frown on his face. You turning him down really did hurt his feelings. 

“Before I tell you everything I need you to promise me that this will all be kept a secret. You can not tell a soul what I am about to tell you,” he said sternly. He searched your face even after you nodded aggressively and crossed your heart. 

“Okay, I’m not sure where to start. I’ve never really had this conversation with anyone outside of the pack. So, you know those stories about werewolves or people that turn into these big hairy monsters when the moon is full? They’re mostly true. None of us got bitten. It’s a trait that’s passed down. For me, it came from my dad’s side of the family. We don’t just turn on the full moon, but whenever we want. When the  moon is full we have a harder time resisting the urge to change and go based on wolf instincts instead of our human side but that’s it. It definitely makes for a few awkward mornings when you wake up somewhere naked and you don’t remember anything you did in wolf form. But any other time we know what we’re doing.” 

You nodded for him to keep going. 

“We don’t know why we get mates but it’s something that happens. Not every werewolf gets one. It’s kind of a lucky thing…” He trailed off fiddling with his hands again for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, “I definitely didn’t think I would ever have one. I know you’ve probably heard some things about me-”

“Not a lot but enough to know how you treat women. You’ve slept around with every woman in this town and then throw them away like they mean nothing. I haven’t even lived here that long and I know that,” you snapped, interrupting him. 

He stared at you for a moment, not upset that you had cut him off but just waiting for you to finish before he started again. 

The worst thing wasn’t how understanding he was with you even when you were being cruel, but how he wasn’t denying his ways. 

“Mates are special. You are special. Ever since I first saw you my heart has belonged to you. You are my whole world,” he admitted, voice full of emotion and tender. “I know what people have told you but that’s not the same way I’d be with you.” 

You scoffed and rolled your eyes. 

“That’s what they all say!” You practically yelled. “I don’t want you thinking for one moment that I am interested in you because I’m not. I appreciate you coming to rescue me but as a person you disgust me.” 

He said your name, a broken plea for you to understand but you couldn’t. You didn’t want to be connected to him in this way. You deserved a choice in who you ended up with and if you wanted to be tied to the supernatural life at all. 

“I think I’m done with this conversation,” you announced as you stood up. “I’m going to bed because I am mentally and physically exhausted. I’m sure that all of you can find your way out.” You gestured to the front door dramatically before spinning on your heel to walk down the hallway to your bedroom. 

Eddie was right behind you in a moment. 

“You don’t actually think I’m going to let you stay here by yourself after what happened tonight?” He questioned you, his voice demanding. 

“That’s exactly what I think, Eddie,” you responded in a flat tone. 

You stopped right before your bedroom door, turning to face him. 

He was right there, closer than you thought he would be. Your noses almost brushed. You didn’t back away this time for some strange reason that you didn’t even have the answer to. 

“I’m not leaving you alone tonight,” he whispered, soft but still not leaving any room for argument. 

“Has anyone told you that you’re pushy? And creepy?” You asked with a raised brow. 

“Nope.” 

“Well, I think you are. That’s another reason why I don’t want to be your mate.” You said the word mate like it was some sort of incurable disease. You knew you were being cruel but in your mind he deserved it. 

“Is that really how you feel after everything I’ve told you tonight?” He asked, rubbing the spot on his chest right above his heart. 

“Yes.” 

“I’m still staying. I’m not letting anything happen to you. This is for your own safety. I’ll sleep on the couch and you won't even know I’m here.” 

You were beyond frustrated. It was like an information overload was frying your brain and you just needed to lock yourself in a room and process without the reminder that Eddie was somewhere in your house, making himself at home like he owned the place. 

“Why can’t someone else stay? Like Jonathan?” You knew the second the words came out of your mouth that it was a mistake. You just didn’t know that his reaction was going to be as intense as it was. 

A low warning growl erupted from his chest and your hair stood up on the back of your neck at the sound. 

You backed away from him and the way he shook in the hallway was a tell tale sign that he was about to lose control because you ran your mouth. He saw the fear on your face and his own started to reflect yours.

“Wait!” He called, starting to move towards you. “I would never-“

You yanked your door open, slamming it behind you and fumbling to get it locked in his face mid sentence. 

“-hurt you,” he muttered to the closed door.  

You waited for what felt like hours for any noise to happen outside of the bedroom door but there was only silence until you eventually fell asleep. 

#eddie munson x reader #fuckboy!werewolf!eddie munson x reader #fuckboy!eddie munson #werewolf!eddiemunson #werewolf!eddie #eddie munson au #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x you #eddie munson series #eddie munson angst

[tired-biscuit]

general!kiba deflowering n breeding the king’s virgin daughter who he gave to kiba as a reward..

being all soft and sweet.. teachin’ her how to take cock.. telling her he’s gonna take care of her forever n ever..

18+ fem!reader / cw: virginity loss, forced breeding

series masterlist

i think he'd be rough and mean at the start because it's all he knows.

he's practically tearing the pretty night clothes the servants had dressed you in on the night of your union. is ruining the gentle updo the expensive pins now fail to hold up under the strain of his grip. is not at all listening to your little, choked up whimpers as he pushes you deeper into the mattress and keeps you there by using his weight.

he's needy and awfully forceful. is just interested in getting you naked and sitting on his cock as soon as possible - and with zero respect at that. you're one of the prettiest girls he's ever had the chance of fucking.

so he's pawing at you with his big, scarred hands; making the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention whenever his rough calluses scrape your soft skin that's never even had the chance to experience the world yet, much less another person's touch. your legs are spread wide open because he's in-between them and is refusing to let you squeeze them back together. your mouth is full of his tongue; whenever he kisses you, it makes your teeth clash.

and it's all so overwhelming; his pace and the intensity that accommodates it make you cry even if you know that you shouldn't weep because you have no right to. you're his property now; he's earned you fair and square by winning this war for your father and emerging victorious, but you just can't help it. he's just so... animal-like.

you've been taught about the task of satisfying a man when the time comes for it to some aspect, sure, but you also learned about delicate touches and poetic love confessions murmured into soft skin. slow undressing, candle-lit bedrooms, romance and just, well... plain intimacy. and instead of that, you're stuck with bedding a man who's not even necessarily a man, but a beast.

and that makes you cry even harder. it's nothing what you've imagined when it comes to being deflowered, so you start to sniffle and your breaths turn all sorts of wobbly, making your chest shake by the time he undresses you completely. you know that you've been gifted to him with the sole purpose of pleasuring him and giving him healthy children if he wants them, but you just aren't able to live it through. you're royalty, for fuck's sake, and he's nothing but a warrior with no manners; a mere brute.

so your hand lands on his cheek to stroke it, a small "please" leaving your lips as a last resort to distract him, and surprisingly; it works. your thumb traces the ghastly scar that spoils the entire left side of his face, and he slowly, but surely, puts a halt to the ravaging he was just about to force upon you, and actually takes his time to get a good look at you for the first time ever since he's even entered the room.

and he stares; blatantly. leers at how delicate you are and how big your eyes get when tears well up inside them. how small and fragile you feel underneath him. how your cute little cunt glistens even if he guesses you probably don't even know why it's wet like that.

so he reconsiders.

he slows down a bit. still takes your virginity and praises you crudely as he spills his load inside your womb because it's what he wants, but he also tries his best to make it not hurt as much. you definitely don't cum because it's all pain and the constant, uncomfortable feeling of being way too full, way too stretched out, but it does get better after a while.

especially when a couple of days pass and he finds the idea of bending a princess over and licking her sweet little pussy from behind until she starts crying again from cumming for the first time ever way too intriguing to miss out on.

#i'm so into this new au sighhhhhg #curls up into a ball and cries #he'd get nicer after a while #would actually start spoiling you and stuff after he starts to love you #naruto smut #cw virginity #cw breeding #biscuit drabbles #biscuit's royalty au

[sublimecatgalaxy]

Read It and Weep- Part 2

Pairing: NFL!Player!Rafe Cameron x Journalist!Reader

Summary: After a week of chaos, the Reader goes to interview their team during practice, chatting with them all about their win and their hopes for the next few Playoff games. But when the team sees how Rafe and Y/n interact, they decide to mess around a bit.

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: Violence, swearing, flirting, sexual tension.

Song: 'Bubbly' by Colbie Caillat

A/n: I'm so excited for this part. I love their interaction and I love writing their flirty moments. It's gonna get steamier from here on in so hold on! @tee-swizzle, here's your babydaddy.

I got so many messages following Sunday’s game.

Instagram, snapchat, twitter, my email was even blowing up along with text messages rumbling in from nearly every single person that I know along with people that I had never met before. 

There was this sudden interest in my life. People who really never wanted anything to do with me in high school now want everything to do with me, tickets to games, behind the scenes info, all the things that I would give them if we were actually friends but we’re not. Old family members that I didn’t talk to anymore except for birthdays and holidays were suddenly so interested in my job, wanting to read everything I’ve ever published. 

There were even tweets left by other football players on my most recent tweet that I posted, addressing the loads of questions about my state and about whether I’m okay or not. I just simply stated that I’m okay and don’t need any medical interventions and that Rafe was a gentleman for helping me up. I only made the post in the first place because half of the people that commented or reached out were concerned that Rafe had actually hurt me when he took me down when indeed, it was just my pride. Had I known that by posting that, I’d be getting interaction from every football player out there, I wouldn’t have posted it to begin with, especially with the incessant jokes they’ve left on my page- jokes that have attracted news stations in our area along with NFL commentators.

Rafe Cameron’s new woman?

Was the run in between sports journalist Y/n Y/L/N and Rafe Cameron planned to act as  a sort of ‘hard launch’?

Does Y/L/N have it out for Rafe Cameron’s wide receiver paycheck? 

The jokes started with Rafe’s own team, the team who’s known me as their faithful journalist, all turning against me to make jokes at my expense about how I ‘fell for Cameron’ and even made jokes about making our ‘ship name’ on shirts and hats for the whole team to wear. 

Given their track record, I assumed that they’d do it. 

But it did bother me, to see people all of a sudden equate my worth to one incident with a person that I barely know, chalking up our ten minutes of conversation into this huge love story where I’m the desperate damsel and he’s this loverboy giving me the chance of a lifetime, a chance to ‘be with him’, even though neither him nor I have talked to each other since the whole incident.

I got people asking me for interviews left and right, newscasters begging me to come on their shows and podcasts to speak about my opinion of the Rafe Cameron. I even got a call from my own manager asking if I would write a piece on Rafe and I almost agreed but then I wondered how weird it would be for him to read an article written by the girl that he flirted with during a whole entire conference and also toppled over when winning one of the most important games of the season. 

I came up with the alternative that I would go and interview all of the players as a whole during their at home practice before we all hop on a plane and go to Boston for a playoff game. My boss was on board and claimed it would bring in enough publicity, especially since half the country is looking forward to hearing Rafe and I interact, pining after us like we’re some fictional romance or as if I’m a contestant on a TLC dating show. 

My heels click against the concrete of the tunnel and my stomach only hurts more and more the closer I get to the literal light at the end of the tunnel. I can hear the men yelling and running around and I can already picture the bright smiles on all of their faces, knowing how excited they get for interviews. They’ll do anything for a break. 

I’m going to be honest, the amount of effort that went into my outfit, make up and hair was probably a little bit excessive but there’s a part of me that wants to do what everyone’s been talking about all over social media; knock Rafe off his feet. It was such a confidence boost to see Rafe completely and utterly enthralled in my very presence at the conference and I’d be stupid to ignore the follow request in my instagram right now, from him. 

When I stepped out into the sun, I’m immediately caught off guard by a bunch of whistles sung into the air, my neck craning to look at the bench with a teasing look, watching the huge men lining the bench wave sweetly at me with feigned affection. I give them an awkward wave in return as they all begin to shout individually; 

“Hey Cameron! Your girlfriends here!”

“Rafe, your girl’s here to see you.”

“Your baby mama's here, Rafe!”

“Baby mama- what?” I giggle breathlessly and under my breath, watching Rafe slip his helmet off and he jogs towards me. Before he can reach me, I take a step back, holding a teasing hand up to his chest, feeling his heart pound beneath my fingers. “Don’t want you taking me down again.” He looks shocked for a moment before he laughs sheepishly, eyes rolling at my obvious taunting and he takes a step back with his arms raised in surrender. 

“Jesus, it was one time.” He scoffs, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, a gentle blush sweeping across his cheeks cutely. “I’m never gonna get past that am I?” My head shakes rapidly at him with a huge, proud grin, reaching out to pat his shoulder, feeling sparks beneath my fingers. 

“Never, nope. Not when the whole internet is talking about it.” A look of realization passes across his face and I can see the images of the tweets and articles pass through his eyes and I imagine the same, picturing all of the snapshots that the cameramen managed to take of us and, to be honest, it took everything in me to not save them to my phone and send them to my dad who still refuses to believe that Rafe and I actually talked, even after hearing the post-conference conversation and the actual tackle in the first place. 

“Correction, talking about us.” He grins, swaying gently on his feet while pointing a finger between the two of us and I tilt my head at him with a dumb smile.

“What us?”

“Ouch Cameron, she’s got you wrapped around her little, talented finger.” Greg approaches us quickly and without warning, swooping an arm around Rafe’s shoulder as he gives me a handsome smile and a wink. Rafe’s soft expression drops almost immediately and it doesn’t go without noticing the way his shoulders tense the minute Greg appears, his hungry eyes staring at me like a predator would look at its prey.

“Hi Greg.” I smile politely, ignoring the way that Rafe takes a step closer to me, glazing over at me as I pull my notepad out, prepared to give Greg my typical interview questions but he speaks before I can ask any questions.

“Hey, sweetcheeks. Are you here to interview us? Coach said something about it.” Greg asks, turning to look at Rafe with a shit eating grin and Rafe sighs, shoving his friend away from him and taking another protective step towards me, arm brushing against mine and it sends goosebumps down my spine.

“Yeah, I wanted to chat with some of you during practice, get some lines about the playoffs and winning last week's game.”

“Oh you mean the game where you won a buddy-boy's heart?” Greg winks at Rafe and Rafe clears his throat awkwardly, looking down at his feet with a tired smile. I pick up on the tension that’s between them, as if something’s happened in the last week that I’ve seen them. They’ve been fine all season, all buddy-buddy, a cute bromance, but today I can see the discomfort practically oozing out of Rafe as he stands so closely beside me. 

“Get the fuck out of here, Greg. You’re the fucking quarterback, you need practice more than any of us.” Rafe shoves him away and turns to me, ignoring the questioning look that his friend gives him and I make a mental note to write down the ‘tension’ that appears to be wracking through the team as the playoffs come and go.

“Ouch, baby needs a nap.” Greg sends me a wink and a pervish smile, shoving Rafe towards me as he stumbles and I reach out to steady him, hands gripping his strong shoulders. 

“Sorry about him. He’s a pain.” Rafe mutters, returning to his normal position across from me, still standing closer than before but keeping an honest distance between us, something my mom would call ‘leaving room for Jesus’ and, I’ll be honest, the closeness, the protectiveness, is extremely attractive and refreshing to see, especially from Rafe who’s already so strong and protective as is. And incredibly hot if I might add, not much room for Jesus here.

“Oh really? Couldn’t tell.” I laugh, reaching out to pat his shoulder in an attempt to console him and his shoulders roll in an attempt to loosen up a bit, jaw slacking. He laughs sheepishly at me with a soft smile, hooded eyes sweeping to look down at the ground and I can just make out the blush on his cheeks as he turns to look back at the team that’s still practicing.

“You’re funny. And stunning. You look different than your typical get-up.” His eyes shift to look over me once more, this time ten times more obvious than he did when he first approached me but not nearly as obvious as Greg’s eyes on my boobs.

“You know what my typical getup is?” I ask with an honest tilt of my head, teasing him but at the same time, it makes me wonder if he’s truly been paying attention to me longer than last week. The thought makes me think back to every single outfit I’ve ever worn in front of him, remembering the one time I wore a pretty embarrassing spongebob shirt to practice one day after I had woken up, completely and utterly hungover.

“I pay attention.” He shrugs with a coy smile.

“To a random journalist?”

“To a random beautiful woman? Yes.” His flirting is incessant but I have to give him credit because he is possibly one of the most sweet talking, charming people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. He seems to know just what I want to hear and just what will have my heart racing. “Most distracting thing on the field.” He bumps me with his shoulder and I grin vividly, hands reaching up to rest on my cheeks to conceal the heat coming from them. “Did you get my follow request?”

“We should talk about the game.” I laugh awkwardly, suddenly feeling so comfortably claustrophobic in his shadow and I’m so close to him that I could just lean into him and fit my body into his. I bet his body would fit against mine like Cinderella's slipper. 

Isn’t that what they’re calling us? A match made in heaven?

“Fine, fine. I’ll reel it in a bit.” 

We fall into a comfortable silence, both of us turning to watch the players on the field, tossing the ball back and forth and running drills- but what gets my attention is the noises coming from the bench and I turn my head to see four of the players making faces at Rafe and I and clutching their chests in cute affection.

“Don’t look now but they’re making kissy faces at us.” I whisper to Rafe and he scoffs, giving them a simple look out of the corner of his eyes before he leans down to me, whispering against the shell of my ear and it has me gulping in breaths of air.

“Ignore them. They’re pussy-sober which makes them sad and stupid.” I giggle, shoving him away from me with wide, playful eyes.

“Oh and you’re not?” His lips part in a look of shock but a pleasant shock as his dropped jaw slowly turns into a bright smile, his head once more lulling forward as he avoids looking at me out of pure embarrassment. 

“Ouch, Y/l/n.” He whispers, reaching up to pat his chest with a pout. “You wound me.”

“And you literally wounded me.” Folding my arms across my chest he pouts with furrowed brows, hands reaching out to rest on my shoulders as he gives me another once over, almost as if he’s looking for injuries though I think the real reason is to just have another reason to look at me.

“Fuck, I asked if you were hurt, you said you were fine. Are you okay? Do you need to get checked out, I’ll pay-” He starts but I reach up to place a hand on his chest, cutting his words off and instead he’s now tuned in on the fact that I’m touching him, his heart rate speeding up beneath my touch.

“Rafe, it’s a big bruise on my hip. I’ll live.”  

The coach calls Rafe over almost immediately before Rafe can ask to see the wound on my hip and I’m glad that he did because the last thing I wanted was for him to see how big the bruise is and how big of a baby I actually am. How he was already so ready to take care of me, help me pay for medical care- I’m beginning to wonder if he’s just like this or if he’s just like this with me.

It’s fun to watch him play, watch him sprint across the field and catch the ball effortlessly, nine times out of ten falling dramatically to the ground after catching it and looking back at me with wide, excited eyes, almost asking ‘did you see that?’ It makes me appreciate his roots, the fact that at one time, he was just a little boy playing flag football and winning high school games and now he’s with the big boys, making all of his dreams come true. It’s quite the tearjerker. 

“Hey, Y/n!” Rafe calls out suddenly, startling me from my note taking and I spot him running towards me with a ball. “Wanna learn how to throw?” He asks, tossing me the ball and I grin down at it, feeling the worn leather beneath my hands as Rafe’s pupils dilate a bit watching me, his hands moving to grip at the neckline of his jersey.

“Is this a part of the interview?” I ask teasingly, tossing the ball back in his direction and he rolls his eyes dramatically. “You don’t throw the ball, Rafe-”

 “You can just say ‘I was shown exactly how Rafe and Greg do what they do and look great while doing it.” He winks and I scoff at him, turning my head just to hide the shit eating grin on my lips that seems to be a permanent thing around him. “C’mon.” He reaches out to take my hand gently in his as he begins to walk backwards, taking me further onto the field with every step I take. “Please?” He pleads, thumb brushing against my hand as I ponder for a moment, weighing the pros and cons but when I come up with nothing, I give him a simple shrug, taking the ball from him with a grin. 

“Why not?”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Series Tags: @onedayatatime6 @hysteriahall @littlefirefly08 @hanniebee33 @imsorare @acatwriteshere

#rafe #rafe x reader #rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #outerbanks #outerbanks fic

[madameminor]

WHY I DON'T LIKE TECH x PHEE: An unintentional essay

Alright, yall, I've figured it out on my end. I think. I just need to get some of this out so that I can move past it. I'm not even gonna tag it under tech x phee, cause you know what, I don't want to harsh the mellow over in that space, I'm just voicing what I've discovered.

This is long.

Wanda Sykes: I LOOOOOVE Wanda Sykes, love her - love her so much that I can't see anyone else with her voice. A 60 year old lesbian comedian... and you want to make her a 20 something pirate captain flirting with a male cl- no. No. Capital N. O. Like, I thought she and Rhea Perlman were going to be a fun comedic, older duo playing off of each other. Or that they'd have some sort of sassy relationship. But instead she's a coy, fun adventurer who starts to join in TBB family? Nope. No. Didn't sell it for me. Gimme someone else, might have worked. Try Anika Noni Rose, or if you need that star factor, Halle Barry or Beyonce or, for fucks sake LIZZO (can you imagine her beautiful voice as Phee? OOOO I just shivered. Loved her as the Duchess, but her as Phee! Instantly WAAAAY more excited about that character.) Not Wanda Fucking Sykes (like I said, LOVE her. But no. Choices.)

The Build Up: You guys. We are all literally writers. Where were the beats? Where were the moments? You naturally want there to be a moment the audience goes 'ooooooh yeah ok I see it'. IT HAPPENED WITH HUNTER. The next day I remember quite a few of us going 'OMG YES!!! Yes, totally ship that, saw the chemistry with Phee and Hunter! Into iiiiit.' I resisted that one too, cause of the Wanda Sykes thing, but you know what? IT. WORKED. I went with it cause it worked. Was actually kind of excited. Was looking forward to the fics. Did not happen once with Tech, never saw anyone go 'oh look at that chemistry between pirate and genius'. NOPE BTW SUDDENLY THEY'RE ALL TEASING TECH AND TECH AND PHEE ARE IN A SCENE AND THIS IS ALL ABOUT THESE TWO TAH DAAAAH! No. Nope. Not how it works. Feels like my favorite is getting the shitty end of the romance arc stick. Fuck off, no. We have all written better.

Toxic Matchup: The way Phee (see dude, I almost wrote Wanda. Thats how much I can't not see her in this character) treats Tech. One of my mutuals on here, @shadestepping, put it perfectly - "It’s because instead of understanding who tech is as a person and being respectful of how his mind works, she tries to force him to mask because it’s what she wants/it makes communicating with him easier". The example that keeps popping into my head is when Phee sarcastically says "when two people are talking its called a conversation". My eyebrows shot UP, like, this is one of the FIRST THINGS YOU LEARN about Tech- his face is in his datapad. Treating him like an idiot (which is what it sounds like in Wanda voice) because he is doing what he is always doing is not ok (seriously, WTF, dude?). Another mutual, @dumfanting agreed and shared how that hit them: "As someone whose been forced to mask for her entire life, that is wrong and damaging and perpetuates the idea that we as austitics are only worthy of love if we continue to suppress ourselves." And it really doesn't have to be that way. I can rewrite every scene they are in together, still have her be sassy, have her show interest and respect for who he is, and still move him out of his comfort zone. I will do it, if I need to, just to prove it. If the writers are trying to give her some growth too, cool, then TAKE THE TIME TO DO THAT - instead we only hear how HE's being taken out of his comfort zone. How about HER? You want to be with him? Maybe you have to meet him half way, honey

Ultimately, I could have gotten behind this if it was done another way - but the way they went about it missed so many marks. And for my man, that's unacceptable to me. He deserves the best, not something thrown together.

I have spoken.

(Ok, I think that is out of my system.)

#kind of geek therapy #geek therapy for me #cause expressing thoughts and feelings appropriately are good for me #tbb tech #the bad batch

[lord-squiggletits]

For the Salty Asks (forgive us for the avalanche, if it's too many you can pick your top three): 2, 9, 10, 11, 13 (Optimus), 20, 25 (IDW1), 26

uhhh honestly I feel a bit like a hermit who's out of the loop on what's popular/unpopular so some of these might be completely off the mark but here we go

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Mmmm I think most of my brotp's aren't shipped as OTPs to start with, so I dunno if I have any that fit this question.

Guess the closest example for me would be OPli/ta. I don't actively platonically ship them but I think platonic is way more interesting than romantic. I don't like the fandom's interpretation of romantic O/Plita at all + I feel like as one of the original "token woman" Autobots, I'd like to see Elita unshackled from Optimus as a love interest, esp because any official interpretation of them is probably gonna be written extremely heteronormatively/token romance between an action hero and The Girl. And the fanon version of them that's Strong Independent Girlboss Elita with whipped simp husbnad Optimus is just as boring and gross.

I just don't like the vibes and would rather them have some sort of friendly or regular relationship together.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

IDW1 Slide, who I've gone into detail about my hatred of in several posts, but the TLDR is that she comes off as some kind of mouthpiece character? Not a mouthpiece as in for the author's beliefs, but it literally feels like she only exists to shit on Optimus and call him a piece of shit. Her dialogue is so cheesily written ("literally fascism" is an actual thing she says) and her bitching/lack of cultural comprehension about Cybertronian history is so prevalent, that for a long time during my IDW1 reading I was genuinely confused as to whether she was supposed to be some sort of parody/strawman/mockery of someone IRL (her character comes off almost EXACTLY like an anti-SJW stereotype of a screeching harpy calling everyone she dislikes a fascist, and it's only Barber's very obviously left-leaning writing in other parts of the story that told me that definitely wasn't the intent). So then I was wondering "okay is she gonna like, randomly become evil and turn against the good guys because she's just that petty? I mean she spends all of her time bitching about how Optimus/the Autobots/Cybertronians in general are the worst ever and she also hates humans too so I mean maybe? Half of this story already doesn't make sense so I can see it happening."

Thankfully that didn't happen, but like. Slide is so goddamn annoying and ignorant and gets way too much page time dedicated to her angry monologuing (in Unicron aka the finale of IDW1 there's literally a whole half page panel of her bitching about how Optimus is an evil tyrant while Trypticon is dying behind her and it comes off as a poorly timed, bad taste joke). The narrative treats her like she's some important individual whose feelings are important and valid, but she's fucking annoying. Any sympathy she was meant to garner is canceled out by badly written dialogue and the fact that she's a Literal Nobody of a character who seemingly only exists to bash the decades old, beloved legacy characters. For the sake of, idk, talking about how fucked up Cybertronians are that they just shrug and move on when people die? Bc apparently it's some sort of sin to be numb after 4 million years of war (and war that's literally still ongoing while Slide is bitching) and just soldier on trying to get through it? God forbid that a military hierarchy fighting to keep neo-Decepticons and various other alien threats from colonizing Earth be run like a military in which orders have to be followed, people die, but you still have to keep fighting anyways? Idefk man I just hate Slide so much she's basically the embodiment of all of the bad aspects of Barber's writing personified.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Mutineers arc in MTMTE/LL. I feel like (whether due to early cancellation and/or JRO wasting time on too many side plots to give it its full depth), I dislike how the mutineers were basically boiled down to pure evil morons who are the most disgusting, despicable evil ever and the only reason the mutiny had Good Guys (TM) in it was because they were horribly misled and not because, you know, the mutiny was 100% a valid thing to have happened as retaliation against Rodimus and Megatron's captaincy.

Like, I'm not opposed to the idea of Getaway and his cronies being assholes (I personally thought Getaway was a GREAT slow-burn, puppet master villain/anti-hero), I just dislike how the quality of their writing degraded from MTMTE to LL. Felt like they (Getaway in particular) got passed the Idiot Ball and then the actual reasons behind the mutiny were never addressed, it was kind of just "oh Getaway died horribly so we're all friends now and we forgive each other and Rodimus/Megatron will just go back to being captains now."

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

You mean besides IDW Optimus because anyone who's been on my blog for like 5 seconds knows he's my biggest problematic fave skldfjskd

Uhhh I guess in the spirit of the previous question, Getaway. I feel like the fandom's hatred for him is overblown mainly bc it's a combination of Tailgate/Cyga/te fans going "HE GOT IN THE WAY OF C/YGA/TE AND ALMOST KILLED THAT PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL" and Rodimus or Megatron stans going "Getaway hates my fave?? But my fave is a good captain and deserves the world HE'S EVIL MY FAVORITE IS BEYOND CRITICISM OR REPROACH GETAWAY IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL."

Like to me it seems as if the hate for Getaway isn't normal dislike or even people hating him because he's a well written villain. It feels weirdly like ppl really take Getaway's actions personally and hate him with the kind of passion you normally see reserved for actual real life horrible people. Or they like, see Getaway as an obstacle to [favorite character]'s happiness and not as an individual who, before the quality of his writing tanked, was actually an interesting character who maybe even had good points? It just feels like people mainly hate Getaway because he's the antagonist to more popular characters/ships and so they project their defense of their faves into virulently hating him.

13. Unpopular opinion about (Optimus)?

Honestly 90% or more of the fan content I see for Optimus is really boring/uncompelling to me, or really just comes off as out of character. It's either Optimus being reduced to an accessory to be shipped with someone (usually turned into some sort of moe cutesy uke type) or him being turned into.... idk some permutation of "feral irresponsible gremlin" or "One Of The Good Ones (TM)" or "anxiety-ridden damsel who needs to be rescued by his lover" or, in some circles, "character I project my issues with authority onto and try to frame as evil for things that aren't even evil."

Idk how to specifically describe it, it's just... a vibe? Most of the Optimus content I see doesn't actually feel like him at all. It feels like it's Optimus/Orion in name only, who got so separated from canon and distorted by fanon/flanderization/shipping/porn stereotypes that he now only vaguely resembles the character he's supposed to be.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Ahahaha I don't really go into the realm of pure ships honestly, plus this is the war criminal fandom where pretty much every character has killed people or committed crimes or is just generally scarred by war so uhhh

Idk I think Thundercracker/Melissa is a pretty hinged ship? They get along and cope surprisingly well with all the shit that happens. There's no angst or betrayals or misunderstandings or enemies, they're just very respectfully together. Sdfklsajfksd

25. How would you end (IDW1)/Would you change the ending of (IDW1)?

Honestly, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending of IDW1 on both sides of the story. On Barber's side I would've preferred if every single planet including Cybertron didn't get fucking eaten leaving them all stuck on Earth together, and I would've also kept Trypticon alive while... minimizing Slide's role, to say the least. I don't have a problem with Optimus' ending bc I actually think that Optimus' arc in Unicron is like, one of the few 1000% good things Barber wrote for him it's just. It's pure Optimus in his best form.

On JRO's side I would've cut out the last panel with the alternate Lost Light and left it ambiguous as to whether the quantum jump successfully copied the ship or not. I dislike the vibes of the canon ending that implied that everyone moving on with their lives (almost universally to new and exciting and happier places) was the "sad" ending and going on a permanent road trip is the "true, happy" ending. In the author's notes I think JRO said that he wanted to give the readers an ending that would allow them to imagine their faves continuing to go on adventures, but I think compromising a good ending to a story to appease fans is fucking stupid + fandom has never needed permission or approval from the author to write alternate, happy endings. So why ruin a poignant, melancholy ending about how endings come with new beginnings and sadness/nostalgia can be mixed with hope and happiness by going "sike lol they're all living happily ever after on their space cruise."

Also I wouldn't have randomly killed off Ratchet for no reason because like. What was that even supposed to accomplish. I'm no stranger to writing major character deaths but like. He just fucking died of disease off-screen and that was that??? Why, like what was the narrative/symbolic purpose of that besides just making the ending more sad? Maybe to emphasize how going back to Cybertron was the "bad ending" and the quantum Lost Light is the "good ending" since on the LL Ratchet is still alive? But see the paragraph above for why I don't like that.

26. Most shippable character?

The most shippable character to me is whichever character I think is the sexiest, because if I think they're sexy it makes me want to ship them with everyone. "Guards, fuck that man for me" etc etc. Lmao

#squiggle answers #long post #i put / through ship names not bc i hate them but bc #i want to try and keep them from showing up in the maintags for the ship

[natashasbitxh]

I have to say it. I started my Shayne journey this week and honestly not mad at all. I just u know, love to see sometimes how Shayne will be looking at chance like he's trying to understand something in him, that he doesn't even realize. Always when chance isn't looking obviously, the other part to me is how gentle the interactions are, sometimes I feel like Shayne is afraid of Chance in a good way I think. Then when they laugh at the same joke, it's rare but curious. I sense like they could be really good friends, but there's something that doesn't let them be close in that way. Maybe they're not trying to be friends, maybe they will always see the other as someone dar away even though they actually have a lot of things to relate. The new video with the fanfic really highlights for me that strange aura around them, like a wall they're too afraid to be friendly, Shayne seemed nervous and I don't understand why, nothing bad really happens and he doesn't like the eye contact too much hahahaha. Those two are a funny little duo, like they would be the kind of friendship that act like they have a secret and wouldn't tell anybody and inside jokes. So I'm saying this to you now, thank you for sharing your love for this duo, they deserve more, even if it's only shipping, it works for me, I don't mind. Another thing is, I would love to see more banter between them in the next videos hahahaha. Chance did a great job in the fanfic, he really is a theater kid. I wonder if he sense Shayne nervousness sometimes or not. Please share you thoughts on them too!!! I would totally read just an essay of them, explaining why you like this dynamic if you ever wanted to write it

Well first off, welcome to shaynse nation! Was gonna say that I hope ur enjoying ur journey but it seems u r!

(Putting more under the cut because this got rlly long!)

Adding on, I also find that Chanse does the same with Shayne! Both of them watch eachother and seem to REALLY be listening. I think Shayne wants to impress Chanse, not always but often he'll make a joke and look over to Chanse for his reaction.

And I understand what u mean sm! I could deffo feel some nervousness from Shayne, once again I've seen other ppl say it but it is so introvert x extrovert!

and honestly even without shipping, I think their dynamic and friendship is so fun and entertaining! They really are so funny together!

I honestly tried to go back and see what video made me think of shaynse, but I honestly can't remember at all!

Honestly, I think I like this ship just cause its so interesting and like you said, gentle? There's this sort of softness that I always associate with shaynse, and even any angst I imagine to be the same if that makes sense. I've said it before, but they really do give me the vibes of evermore (by Taylor Swift), Cigarettes After Sex, Lana Del Rey and maybe even Mitski. Also just throwing this in but I've noticed he's started to give Shayne the "Angela..." treatment, "Shayne..." and I think that shows a development in at least friendship. Like taking out any romance, I think you really can notice how they've gotten closer in videos and have great chemistry. I've also noticed in videos recently that they mirror each other a lot or even finish each other's sentences to an extent and I think that's rlly sweet! I've mentioned this before but Chanse often twirls his hair whilst he's listening or talking to Shayne, just an observation! I've noticed he does this kinda thing (not saying it's just limited to Shayne) where he responds to Shayne with this far off look in his eyes as he twirls his hair. Honestly that may very well not be a shaynse moment and is probably Chanse just zoning out, and quite frankly he's so real for that I relate to that so hard. And I'm sorry but my shipping self...the way Chanse looks at Shayne makes me insane sometimes!! Even when neither of them are talking!! And then when Shayne is talking, the eye contact from Chanse is so FIERCE. I've said before that the formula is that Chanse gazes at Shayne and Shayne cries at Chanse's jokes...and honestly now both things apply to both of them! Shayne also very much gives the vibe that he's nervous to compliment Chanse to his face but absolutely gushes abt him to other ppl (this thought coming from Shayne bringing up Chanse AS MUCH AS HE CAN).

Sorry, this became sooo unorganised but I kinda just jotted down all my shaynse feelings/ideas! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, I found it so fun to read and so fun to reply!! Don't be afraid to do it again! (And that goes to everybody!)

Shaynse is a niche ship and I get that not everybody is gonna like it, but I do rlly appreciate shaynse nation and smoshblr in general!

#nat talks #Because I rlly did talk omg #long post #thanks for the ask! #I'd be happy to answer anything else! #shaynse #shipping #rpf #smosh #smoshblr #smosh ships #shayne topp #chanse mccrary #shaynse anon

[wii-brains]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️SPOILERS BELOW ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

This is not a simple review. It will contain specifics and loud opinions.

———-

I just need to start this off by saying that I fucking love Hobie. He is definitely one of the best parts of the movie. I am so happy that the rumor I heard about Hobie liking Gwen and creating a “love triangle” was not true. I very much dislike “love triangles.” I was screaming the entire time Hobie was on screen. He’s an anarchy genius.

Pavitr is the sweetest lil bean. It was such a relief seeing a happy Spider-Man. I really loved seeing Indian culture represented in a simple everyday way.

The Morales family is amazing and I only want the best for them. Mr. and Mrs. Morales are trying hard to be good parents and it shows.

Peter B. Parker what the hell are you thinking bringing a child into a violent fight?? I can sort of forgive the first one but then lying to MJ about it. You were literally carrying MayDay in a bjorn on a bullet train going skyward. I understand that you want Miles to see MayDay and see the good he brought you but a violent environment is not the time or place.

Speaking of bad parenting, Gwen’s father is an immature ass. When Gwen said, “You’re a good cop, Dad.” I wanted her to follow it up with, “but not a good father.” Why can’t superheroes condemn their parents?

Superhero movies don’t allow characters to hold their parents accountable because they’re objectively made for children to enjoy and children aren’t meant to question or judge their parents. When a parent missteps the child is required to meet the parent where they stand by accepting that everything was done out of love. How the child feels and how the slight effected them isn’t discussed. Marvel did this with Howard and Tony as well as Odin, Loki, and Thor. It’s insane that Sony and Marvel deny children seeing their heroes protect themselves and set boundaries with the people who are supposed to care for them above all others.

Miles is truly a King. He’s better than all those other spider-people and right now I don’t think they deserve the good he’s gonna bring them.

I’m not the biggest fan of Gwen’s actions or the romance between her and Miles. I would have preferred to see Tiana Toomes with Miles but Miles does go the furthest with Gwen out of all his girlfriends, opinions can be made as to why that is, so Gwen and Miles makes sense. I feel that their relationship is still in the crush stages and after her betrayal it could be the end of it. Maybe we could see Tiana, Kate, or someone else in the future.

I’m sure Miles is going to forgive Peter and Gwen but I at least want him to make them sweat more or for them to admit in full why they betrayed him. In order for Sony and Marvel to stop showing their audiences that unconditional forgiveness is required characters need to communicate and reach an understanding that isn’t one person deciding to be the bigger person, especially the child.

It’s fascinating to me that spider-people are so willing to rationalize their losses that they will all follow Miguel when he is clearly wrong.

Miguel that world fell apart because you were in it not because a canon event didn’t happen. Canon events, termed by Miguel, are just common themes that have/will lead to similar events because of course they will. Someone not dying in one instance is not the same as someone making roots in a universe that is not their own. The universe is resilient and it will correct itself. If a person’s death is more important than their survival then don’t worry the universe will make sure that they die.

Unlike the spider-heroes who are rationalizing their loss via acceptance, Spot is resorting to anger. He’s just focusing on the brightest string, like the Maximoffs did with Tony.

I found Miguel’s theory of Miles being an anomaly to be interesting. As I previously stated the universe will only go along with things it agrees with, Miguel learned this lesson pretty traumatically, so I believe that 1610 Peter was going to die that night. And if spider-42 hadn’t been brought to universe-1610 then there wouldn’t be a Spider-Man in 1610. So I think that the universe agreed that 1610 Miles is meant to be Spider-Man. I mean as we have seen multiple times in Across alone, Miles is a good force in every universe. I’m wondering if in 42 Prowler Miles is considered an anti-hero instead of a villain. I mean it’s more likely that they will go with the storyline of Miles meeting the evil him to strengthen his own morals, reminiscent of Billy. But I think I’d prefer the first storyline. It fits the narrative of “fuck canon/the box you want me in.” Also does Miguel just not care about universes without Spider-Man because he could have figured out a way to save 42 if he wanted? I’m so excited to see what happens with 42 Prowler and the final fight.

Absolutely loved all the cameos. All the spiders were perfectly done. Someone correct me if I’m wrong (pls pls send me screen grabs) but I didn’t see 199999 Peter in the holograms. Miguel mentions him in a derogatory way but that’s it. I might be reaching since 199999 Peter is my favorite but I think this is because Miguel groups Miles and Peter together. Miguel is okay with not saving everyone which is something Miles and 199999 Peter refuse to do. 199999 Peter’s main motto is “If you have the power to stop the bad things from happening and they happen anyway then they happened because of you.” Honestly, Peter holds himself to this way to tightly but Miguel does the exact opposite. He doesn’t even try to help people and then absolves himself from guilt. Peter literally almost destroyed the multiverse trying to help people and then lost everything fixing it, again Miguel did the opposite.

My final thoughts about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are fuck Miguel, I’m disappointed that so many spider-heroes would want to rationalize their trauma so bad that they would intentionally hurt one of their own, and of course the animation is breathtaking. Can’t wait for Beyond the Spider-Verse!

ps. I saw a tweet where someone said they want RiRi to get the Miles treatment and I totally agree. I would die to see RiRi Williams in 2D animation! She’s phenomenal with a great story, plus we’d get a young Tony Stark in 2D. RDJ would voice him no question. We’d be winning winning.

#marvel #fan thoughts #mcu #sony #spiderverse spoilers #across the spiderverse #into the spider verse #spider punk #miles morales #gwen stacy #movie review #across the spiderverse review #pavitr prabhakar #hobie brown #fuck miguel #miguel o'hara #peter b parker #baby mayday #prowler miles #avengers #spider man no way home #peter parker #riri williams #tony stark #morales family

[yourpintilts]

Only Friends and Genre Theory

Well - I guess I'll start this blog off with post about everyone's (my) favorite series (it literally has not aired yet) of 2023: Only Friends.

Recently, the nominees for the ContentAsia awards were released, and my friends and I were celebrating the nomination of The Eclipse for Best LGBTQ+ Show (yay!) when a really interesting topic arose. Someone pointed out that Jojo Tichakorn's Never Let Me Go was chosen over The Warp Effect, which they felt was his better work in 2022. Regardless of your opinion on that (though, I agree), we wondered if The Warp Effect is even eligible at all. Of course, the category is LGBTQ+ Shows, but every single nominee is a BL.

I've noticed, in my perusing of BL Twitter and Tumblr that most fans seem to differentiate between BL, lakorns/dramas, and the LGBTQ+ genre, but nobody seems to define them. They are designating the genre by, for lack of a better word (although I consider it pretty accurate), the vibes.

I've seen the off-handed "I wonder what genre it will be" or "It seems like Jojo is leaning away from BL with this series" comment more than once about Only Friends. And really, it's hard to say at all when all we have is a trailer and cryptic social media posts from the cast and crew, but, uh, I'm gonna try. Sort of.

So, let's get into it: Is Only Friends going to be a BL, drama, an LGBTQ+ show, or something else entirely?

Alright, before we get into trying to put a label on the series, let's talk about the labels themselves: it's Genre Theory time!

So, what is genre? Well, most of us would consider it to be the category that we put a type of media or art into: country music, romance novels, etc. Genres help us differentiate amongst the huge sea of art, find patterns and create links between work, and, most practically, help us decide if we will likely enjoy something or not.

Normally, it's not much more complicated than that. Sci-fi, drama, noir, biography - each of these gives you a basic idea of what you're getting into, what tropes you might expect, or how you might feel while consuming it. But film theorists will be film theorists, and it's not actually that simple.

Let's take the horror genre as an example. At its face, we define films as horror because they follow certain tropes and patterns: things like jump scares, the final girl, dark and saturated style, slashers and paranormal, etc. But what about movies like Parasite or Get Out? These films rely less on jump scares and physical horror - it's their concepts themselves that are so scary. And so this is where sub-genres come in, in which Parasite and Get Out are labeled as psychological horror to further define them. And then there are films that just... don't seem to be anything at all. Something like (because I recently watched it) In Bruges, which mixes crime, drama, and comedy, but also never fully leans in to any of them. It sort of defies genre altogether.

So, that's the gist of genre theory. Basically, the point is that sometimes you can put a film or other piece of art in a category, and sometimes you can't.

But, let's be honest. We don't care about other movies. Let's talk about sexy, spectacular, groundbreaking masterpiece that will be Only Friends, and how we can apply genre theory in order to try to figure out what label best fits.

There are several different indicators of a BL, and Only Friends does fit some of them:

Most straightforwardly: the primary story in a BL is a relationship between two male characters. Of course, in this case there are six male leads (and who knows how many different pairings... TopSan, NickSan, RayBoston, and more have their advocates, some even seem likely), but the point is that the series is focused on their relationships together. Along with this, two of the three primary couples - ForceBook and FirstKhaotung - featured in the show are official pairings at GMMTV. BLs nearly always feature couples who have worked or will work together in multiple shows.

The series is also being produced by GMMTV, a company well-known for its stake in the BL genre, and it follows the logistical style of a 12-episode limited series.

But in several other ways, the show is in direct opposition to many of the components of BL. Some may not be intentional, or hard and fast "rules," but they occur so often that they are undeniably associated with BL as a genre.

As mentioned above, two of the lead couples are official pairings, but the other isn't. In fact, Neo and Mark both auditioned for their roles in Only Friends, and Director Jojo Tichakorn has spoken about his intention in casting them: to divert the expectation of clear masculine/feminine and top/bottom roles in queer relationships. The "seme" and "uke" trope, designating who gives and receives sexually (and usually indicating personality and relationship dynamics), has been pervasive in BL. It panders to the homophobic notion that queer relationships must still follow heteronormative standards. With NeoMark - and, as I believe, with all of the relationships in the series - Jojo will subvert that standard.

Also, Only Friends has a not insignificant amount of openly queer people writing, directing, etc. for the show. This certainly isn't the first time this has happened, but since BL began as a genre made by women and for women, Only Friends seems determined to be a series by queer people and for queer people.

And, because we've already established genre is not black and white, there are other aspects of Only Friends that blur the lines of its BL status. Only Friends seems to be much darker, grittier, and realistic the typical dramedy BL. We already know we will see smoking, drug use, sex, cheating, and according to Jojo, this is only scratching the surface. But, of course, the BL genre has evolved as of late, giving us shows like KinnPorsche, which also delve into such topics. So, while BL is largely more comedic and lighthearted, a darker series still can fit the genre.

Of course, there are many other characteristics of BL that Only Friends exhibits and opposes - I could be here forever if I wanted to list every single one, but we have less than a week until episode one, and personally, I want to watch the trailer a thousand more times before Saturday. So hopefully these examples gave you enough of an idea that Only Friends sort of straddles the line of BL (but also that BL itself is incredibly difficult to define, especially as it continues to evolve).

What about the LGBTQ+ genre - can Only Friends better be defined by this? Likely, yes, but my answer is so because the LGBTQ+ genre itself is even vaguer than BL.

(Some even argue that it isn't a genre at all. That's a post for another time.)

Shows labeled as LGBTQ+ are often done so because of a few defining characteristics, usually occurring at the same time: the show features LGBTQ+ characters, depicts LGBTQ+ themes (coming-of-age, acceptance, found family, etc), and is broadly accepted as such by the queer community. Only Friends certainly does the first two, but the third might be a bit trickier than it seems. With the divide between the LGBTQ+ and BL genres, some audiences will argue it fits one over the other.

And perhaps there are some important differences: the LGBTQ+ genre exists on an international scale, with media added to the queer canon from all over the world. Comparatively, I'm not sure I can think of a show outside of Asia that has been labeled as a BL. The LGBTQ+ genre does tend to be more diverse in gender and sexuality than the typical gay male leads in BL, too - BL does stand specifically for Boys' Love while LGBTQ+ encompasses any form of queerness.

But if we're focusing on these standards, I think Only Friends checks these boxes as well. The show seems to clearly be a test for a less conservative international market. And it is more diverse than just gay male leads; Namchueam is sapphic, Jojo has indicated that Ray is bisexual, and Yo is played by Jennie, a trans woman. Sure, there can always be more diversity, but this is absolutely a step forward compared to past, and many current, GMMTV series.

After positioning Only Friends next to the BL genre, then the LGBTQ+ genre, I would love to be able to make a judgment and wrap this all up in a neat little bow.

Actually, that's a lie. I don't want to do that - I am the complicated film theorist I was talking about before. So, it's a good thing I can't, isn't it?

Ultimately, Only Friends is a show that is here to break boundaries, to subvert expectations, to give us something we've never seen before in Thai, or maybe even international, entertainment. It would be an injustice to the series to try to put it in a box, to ignore its little nuances out of convenience.

It doesn't matter whether Only Friends is a BL or LGBTQ+ drama. We should be looking at the show holistically, taking it in as it is rather than through the lens of the things we come to expect from a specific genre. Genre can be useful, yes, but we can't get too held up on applying it where it may not be productive.

And yet (plot twist!), it sort of... does matter? It matters, not in the sense of changing what the show is, but changing the way we perceive and discuss it. The implications that come with a BL series are different than those of an LGBTQ+ series, even though both genres are difficult to define and are ever-changing.

The conversations we have about how innovative Only Friends is, its place in Asian versus international culture, whether it can be considered a success or not, if it's "good" representation and who gets to decide that... all of that is a product of the genre we label a series with. And I'm not really here to argue whether that is a good or a bad thing; like I said, genre can be useful, and fun - there's a reason specific genres remain popular! What I hope this post sparks is external and internal conversation about why we label, and how that might do a service and/or disservice to the media we engage with. Think about the way that you, personally, want to interact with Only Friends and shows like it, accept it, and then challenge it.

#thai bl #firstkhao #forcebook #neomark #only friends #only friends series #gmmtv

[bloody-wonder]

Until now, have you found any couple (canon or non canon) from any media (books, tv series, movies, anime/manga, etc) that the dynamics remind you of Neil/Andrew and Damen/Laurent?

if you're looking for dynamics specifically (as opposed to a full romance arc) the lymond chronicles, the queen's thief and empire of the vampire will scratch that damen/laurent itch.

it's common knowledge, at least in my niche circles, that cs pacat is a big fan of dorothy dunnett's work, that laurent is based on lymond and that his relationship with damen (down to specific scenes) was inspired by lymond's numerous boytoys. so reading the lymond chronicles after captive prince is constantly going aha! *leonardo dicaprio pointing meme*. what these books however don't have is a full romance arc with any of those men which is why you could say capri is, in a sense, a slash fic of the lymond chronicles. it's my favorite series of all time and i can't recommend it enough but it's also rather inaccessible in the beginning and has a steep learning curve - quite a commintment of your time and brain energy but so SO worth it!

the queen's thief is another series heavily inspired by the lymond chronicles and it has multiple ships that reminded me of damen/laurent: gen's love interest is very much a cast iron bitch and they do engage in an intense enemies to lovers romance, with some casualties. costis and kamet's story in thick as thieves is basically if the side quests laurent and damen went on were a whole separate book. and while not a canon romance like the previous two, whatever gen and costis have going on in the king of attolia is very reminiscent of the laurent/damen dynamic in book one (minus the slavery). two things to keep in mind if you decide to pick up the queen's thief: it's sort of ya (??) so the brutality and sexiness, while present, will not be on the same level as capri. and book one doesn't feature any of the above ships so, again, you gotta commit to the whole thing :)

now, while these two recs seem like no-brainers to me, i'm very excited to take this opportunity to yell about empire of the vampire from the rooftops AGAIN!! eotv is basically a story about epic quests and valiant deeds told by a jaded captive vampire hunter to his cunty vampire captor (who is blonde bc yes). jean françois is definitely inspired by anne rice's lestat (as the narrative format as a whole is inspired by interview with the vampire) but his dynamic with gabriel is just Peak Laurent/Damen Banter. "i speak your language better than you speak mine, sweetheart" and "hello, lover" galore! in fact, after i found out that pacat and jay kristoff know each other personally i became convinced that he had either read capri and borrowed the vibe OR *starts rambling about her conspiracy theory about how all australian fantasy authors drink secret australian magic juice that makes them write fun depraved sff, gets smacked on the head, passes out* where was i... ah yes, nasty gay vampires. eotv is very fun and very tropey, also very queer and sexy (esp book two) and it had my toxic yaoi needs covered however comma. jean françois/gabriel is basically them sitting in a room in the frame narrative and exchanging homoerotic barbs, while the story itself is about gabriel's past adventures (also very interesting but less homoerotic). it's unlikely that they're gonna have any sort of romance arc - unless someone reads the books and writes a fic of them. please.

alas, i still can't rec anything that comes close to what nora achieved with andreil. to me, the defining characteristics of their dynamic are two feral cats circling and sniffing each other, intricate rituals, overdramatic dialogue, aspec attraction (on neil's part). while one can attempt to find some of these elements in other stories, you cannot find all of them at once (aspec pov on relationships being particularly rare in fiction). there's just no other couple that manages to strike a perfect balance between the anime levels of drama and chaos on the one hand and the serious themes of trauma, acceptance, consent etc on the other hand. sorry, anon, ig we'll have to keep re-reading aftg until one of the aspiring authors i bet this fandom has a lot of writes their own book inspired by andreil🤷‍♀️

#book tag #so there's a dorothy dunnett cabal and an australian/new zealand depraved sff cabal #and pacat is in the overlapping section of these two circles #i connected the dots

[cavegirlpoems]

I'm Kickstarting The Yellow Play TTRPG

I have a kickstarter coming in a week! I figure I should talk about it some. Here's the pitch: Theatre students, metafiction in ttrpgs, the lurking presence of the king in yellow, and reality-warping magical duels over creative visions. It's a weird one.

It started out, as sometimes happen, with me watching anime and wanting a ttrpg of the show I watched. In this case, it was Revue Starlight, and I wanted to recreate the revues as set-piece scenes.

(As an aside, go watch revstar, it's really very good. The character writing is strong, and the action sequences are absolutely gorgeous and tie back to the character conflicts wonderfully. It's full of the sort of symbolism that's fascinating to pick apart).

The metafiction in revstar is present but not centre-stage, but as I worked on the game, two things occurred to me: 1: I needed to change the setting enough that kinema citrus wouldn't sue me. 2: I wanted to focus on the metafiction more.

TTRPGs are an odd medium. Look at how most rulebooks use 'you' interchangably for both the player and their character, for example. A game that actually examined that, and the interactions between players and the fiction they create, had potential.

Then in the back of my head, I'd been considering a King In Yellow project that played with fiction and madness, so it was a natural fit. A bunch of themes I'd been playing with clicked together.

So how does it work? It started out as a PbtA game, with stats and moves you roll for. Quite quickly, that got pared down. There's still moves, but you don't roll for them, they just happen. Hit the right trigger in the fiction, and you can shift connections and conditions about.

That's the connective tissue between set-piece scenes. Then we have the spotlight moments. There are specific scenes that serve to focus the spotlight, and they're handled a little differently. Romance scenes, rehearsals, monologues and duels each get their own mechanics.

These scenes do two things. The players whose characters are in the spotlight get to flex a little and express things about their characters. Then the other players get to probe at things they're interested in, ask things about the characters and the other players.

Sometimes you'll be probing at what's going on in a character's head, or between two characters. Other times you're exploring the play itself, and what this play is about will emerge over time as you rehearse it.

Then you get the duels themselves. Two PCs with a complex web of connections and conditions between them, struggling to see their creative vision for the play emerge. Reality is fluid, everything is possible, nothing is certain. This is the only place you get the dice out. There's a neat little 1-on-1 duelling system there. Three bouts, where you weaponise the social connections you've got, the conditions inflicted on each other, the established thematic truths of the game. In the end, somebody wins, & the ideal they were fighting for wins out too.

The game's GMless, with every player having the opportunity to pick up setting elements - other students, college faculty, supernatural events - as and when needed to push a scene forward.

You start out with a few prompts, and as you play you'll fill in more details, so that plotlines and themes emerge organically, and as you do the game is gonna ask you, the players, what all this means to you.

So yeah. It's an odd little thing, but I'm very proud of it. Watch this space, the kickstarter goes live on the 8th.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #the king in yellow #revue starlight #rpg #metafiction #kickstarter #please give me your money

[grimalkinmessor]

afofa for ask game???

But of course! :D

when I started shipping it if I did: My first go around with BNHA, actually! Before season five was even out. I read ahead in the manga and came to the scene of Yoichi and AFO in the vault with Midoriya watching on, and my brain immediately lit up like "OH SO IT'S LIKE THAT" lmao. I looked for content then, but of course, there was none, so it wasn't until I got back into BNHA a few years ago that I looked for AFOFA content and actually found it! Was more than a little surprised to find more gen content for them than shipping content, but that just gave me a new dessert for them :3 Have my cake and some pie too ✨

my thoughts: It's all just feral incoherence up here babe. Just a loud whirlwind of AJSVSKXBDJFL REDGREEN OBSESSEDVAULT NEVERAPART POWERLESSPOWER LOVEHATE INEVITABLETRAGEDY ITWASALWAYSGOINGTOENDLIKETHIS ILOVEYOUBUTITISNTENOUGH BRUTUSCAESAR ABLECAIN REMUSROMULUS ILLKILLYOUIMYOURS HEARTBORNAPARTFROMTHEBODY in my brain 24/7 365 :D

What makes me happy about them: The sheer amount of dark soulmate vibes we get from them in canon. AFO is literally Cronus coded, Yoichi is his Rhea. Yoichi is his everything—and hasn't all All For One's ever wanted and fought for been everything? 💖

What makes me sad about them: What they could've been 🥹 The fact that they both loved each other so deeply but their respective hearts and ideals are so at odds that it would never work in any universe where they're unequally yolked; and they almost always are. The fact that had they grown up in kinder circumstances the likely wouldn't have fought at all. It would've been just them, together, as they should've been from the start. Without all the blood between them. "It could've been the kindest power in the world."

things done in fanfic that annoys me: When they infantilize Yoichi 😮‍💨 Like he's definitely Babygirl™ but he's also a grown man. Being sickly and weaker than he's brother doesn't make him inherently stupider or less capable than AFO, and it definitely doesn't make him childish. I don't even like it when All For One is the one doing it—he absolutely sees his brother as naive and in need of protection but I don't think he'd ACTUALLY see him as a child, or even WANT him to be one. Idk it just skeeves me out, it's not how I see their relationship dynamic ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

things I look for in fanfic: Yoichi characterization!! :D AFO has always been pretty straightforward, so I do look for unhinged loving obsession and all-encompassing need and desire from him, but fics that dive into Yoichi's psyche are some of the most interesting to me :) I like him to be capable and cunning—it just doesn't matter how smart or strong he is against the overwhelming power of his brother 💕 Shoot his ass and watch him laugh ✨

who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: As you all know, I'm an avid shipper of any form of Ichiniisan, so I like Yoichi with Kudo and Bruce THIRD in any sort of way I can get them. As for All For One....well, he always takes whatever he wants, and I can see him with several people solely in a sexual sense. For romance however, I only see him loving Yoichi—with special Fondness™ priveleges for Yagi and Inko depending on the universe and circumstances.

my happily ever after for them: In my fic Like This You Keep Them Alive, I have them as lingering ghosts of their respective Quirks, and they can freely go back and forth between their holders (Izuku and Tomura) as much as they please. In the afterlife, everything is swept aside. There is no more power imbalance. There is no world to take over or save. They're able to just,,,,exist together, without anything between them anymore. They play games together and talk about things they haven't in ages and are basically all over each other all the time. I think that's gonna be my favorite ending for them :3

who is the big spoon/little spoon: All For One is big spoon. That man is over seven feet tall, Yoichi barely hits six-foot exactly. All For One big spoon 👁️👁️ He likes to cling.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Cuddling. Cuddling and talking, actually. Because I've got AFO's love language down as physical touch followed quickly by words and Yoichi's love language as words of affirmation followed quickly by physical touch, so sitting curled around each other in front of a warm fire like snakes while they whisper things back and forth would be their biggest nonsexual passtime together. Though sometimes Yoichi does like to badger his brother into dancing with him—mostly so Yoichi can stand on his feet and AFO can float them both into the air. It always make him super giddy 🥰 ....At least until they get to the point where AFO's arms begin to feel more like chains than shields.

#asks #anonymous #ask game #afofa #bnha #boku no hero academia #all for one #shigaraki yoichi #first one for all holder

[darkmasterofcupcakes]

What are five pros and five cons you would give to Hazbin Hotel?

Gonna start with the cons, because I like to end on a positive note.

The Pacing. This was something I had a feeling was going to be a weakness of the show from the time I saw the trailer and learned that the first season was going to involve the next Extermination, especially when it was confirmed the season was only going to be eight episodes long. The twist in the first episode that the next Extermination was happening in half the time helped a little, but it still meant we skipped over months between episodes, with it being implied important stuff did happen that we just didn't see.

While I think it's better than Helluva Boss in balancing it's main cast (I love that show, but the uneven attention given between all of the main characters is one of the biggest issues it has), it still has some trouble with making all the characters feel fully like "people"? Niffty probably being the biggest example, since I love her, but right now she feels more like a living punchline than a real character.

The tone can sometimes be just a little...off with how it feels like we're supposed to feel. Best example being Sir Pentious death. The characters react to it like it was a serious event, because for them, it was...but the death itself was treated as kind of a joke? And I understand the show is a sort of dark comedy, so to an extent I expect stuff like that. But I think at that moment, the switch from "joke" to "you're supposed to seriously grieve this character" felt a bit too abrupt?

This is a completely personal thing, but as I've mentioned before, I don't love the whole sideplot of Sir Pentious having a crush on Cherri Bomb? It felt like it came out of nowhere, whereas most of the other relationships that seem to be a thing in the show were at least given hints in the Pilot. And it's just another example of the pacing being break-neck, since they had Cherri not show up until episode 6 of 8, and then Pentious dies in the finale, so they had basically two episodes (and not even full ones, just some scenes) to try and convince me of a romance, and, maybe it's just my arospec self, but....I couldn't really get convinced at all.

It's kinda hard for me to really think of issues I really have with the show, so I gotta kinda cheat a bit with this last one, since I can't help but wonder if they would've left the scene out had they known from the start of production that they'd get more seasons, but I personally don't love the whole stinger that reveals Pentious ended up in Heaven after Adam killed him? Not so much because I don't like the idea that he ended up there - I like that part. But I kind of feel like his death would have had a bit more impact if the audience did genuinely think he was gone for good for longer than like...fifteen minutes.

And now for the things I loved about Hazbin Hotel

The songs are arguably the biggest highlight of the whole series for me. I don't think there's a single one that I wouldn't happily listen to, whether in or out of context. From what I've seen I apparently don't have as high of an opinion of some songs as others, but I legitimately love all of them. I don't think there's anything I could say about any of the songs in this show that could be considered anything close to a real critique.

All of the characters are an absolute blast to watch. Yes, some of them don't have the most depth so far, but that doesn't change the fact that I just love to watch them whenever they're on screen? And it's not just the main cast, either. Obviously I love all of them, but even with fairly limited screen time, I found myself absolutely adoring whenever I got to see characters like Carmilla Carmine, Zestial, Velvette, and Rosie on screen. And all of the characters are so interesting and fun to imagine in different scenarios. And since I'm a writer, that is one of the biggest pros a series can have.

While the show is arguably more of a comedy, it is actually very good, in my opinion, dealing with some pretty serious topics when it wants to. The biggest example is Angel Dust's struggles with what he goes through thanks to Valentino, but you also have things like Vaggie's past and how her hiding that effected her relationship with Charlie when the truth got revealed. Or the whole thing of how it's implied most of Heaven didn't know about the Exterminations and that being revealed to them caused a lot of tensions, particularly between Emily and Sera. Or even just the whole thing of how Carmilla discovered how to kill Angels...but doesn't want it to be known what she did because she doesn't want to cause a war and lose her daughters, when the whole reason she learned that Angels could be killed was because she wanted to save them.

The character designs are some of the best I've seen in a long time. It really feels like the team took full advantage of the fact that it seems like there's no set rule for how demons can look in their version of hell, and so they went absolutely nuts with it, in the best possible way. Pretty much every single character has an incredibly unique design, and they're all just so fun to see. It makes the whole world feel so much more alive....slightly ironically considering it's the main setting is full of people who are technically all dead.

Outside of the one I mentioned above, I really like how basically all of the relationships in the show are handled, from the romantic to the platonic to the familial. They are all extremely varied and obviously some get more real attention than others, but all are given enough focus and attention that you always get the sense that the characters care for each other very deeply, especially by the end. And because you feel those bonds, you are even more effected by what the characters go through, because you feel like you're part of that group of people who care for one another. And I love that it also applies to the villains, with how Lute was clearly devestated by Adam's death, following the show indicating they were close, but usually showing them in what seemed to be a mostly "professional" relationship.

#Hazbin Hotel #Pinch of Salt #Spoonful of Sugar #Long Post

[felassan]

"A couple of things that have been, sort’ve, neglected in romance options, but I think we’re starting to see, or will see pretty soon.

The first is ace romance options. So asexual romance options. So this is some sort of deep relationship that doesn’t involve a sexual component. I know that BioWare has been interested in exploring this space but has had a lot of difficulty getting agreement from the community as to what an ace romance actually looks like. So I don’t know if Dreadwolf will have an ace romance in it or not but I think there’s interest out there to try to tackle this. I don’t know that there’s yet an agreement as to what that would be. So doing it and doing it wrong would probably be worse than not doing it at all.

Romances with trans characters I’m pretty sure we’re gonna see pretty soon. And I think the ability for players to be more open in their expression of gender identity and sexual identity is going to be broadened out. I mean there are some weird complications for the character creation screen but I think that’s going to be tackled. So I do think that we are going to see non-binary, non-binary players, non-binary followers, non-binary romances between non-binary characters, trans characters. I think we’re gonna start to see that burst through the walls pretty soon and enter into mainstream gaming.

And then the last one is poly relationships. There’s nothing really inherently difficult mechanically about poly relationships. The thing that I think that has kept them, I think there are two things that’ve kept them out of games too much. The first is the idea of consent. If you have a player character and two followers that you wanna have a poly relationship, there’s this sort’ve, there’s the consent between the two, necessary between the two NPCs that is something that would have to be thought about. But I honestly think that the second one is simply just a question of resources. Which is to do a poly relationship you have to decide whether or not you’re going to consume two of your romance slots or try to make it so that those romance slots are available both as individual romances and the poly romance. So it could get very complicated very quickly and that concept of resource usage […]"

-- Mark Darrah in his recent Old Game Dev Advice YouTube video "Romance Options in #gamedev (Playersexual versus Fixed Sexuality) [source/watch link]

Check out the whole video for commentary on and insights into the topic of romances in video games from a game dev perspective.

#dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #lgbtq #video games

[averagejoesolomon]

If Full Circle was a published book, I would totally pull an all-nighter and read it cover to cover. This LAST CHAPTER. Come on Sarah. The whole thing was (per usual) amazing, I'll say that till I'm blue in the face. JOE FINALLY knocking some sense into Matt? Joe PROTECTING RACHEL AND ~CATHERINE~ (he is secretly a sweet guy, and we know it). All the unsaid things, these boys. Also starting to feel the whole Circle of Cavan impending doom and it's got me in a choke hold.

PS. Particularly with the age gap Joe and Catherine feel much more like poor tortured souls together and less like lovers, DONT GET ME WRONG who doesn't love Joe, but shipping him with every single -older-gen woman does feel a little forced. So maybe it's not the way you intended it, and we will see that later, but I like the dynamic anyway.

PPS. This isn't exactly Full Circle comment but the dynamics between the two of them feels so cannon. I've officially got no clue how Joe and Rachel get together. like at all. The tension between these two is so cold. How.

Dude, you and me both. Sometimes I think about how this story has to end and I'm like "I can fix him tho" except I can't. I can't fix him. Matt's gonna take himself to his grave. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, yes yes yes, Joe and Catherine is so interesting to me and I'm so jazzed to see how it plays out over these next few chapters, and the next few installments. I don't particularly ship them (although there are plenty who do—and I've certainly written some stuff that implies romance), but I do think there has to be some sort of relationship there, for Zach to make any sense. And it's nice to give Joe some stakes.

And Joe with Rachel is 😍✨ I'm so excited. When these two do finally warm up to one another, it's going to be such a treat. THANK YOU for reading, and thank you for sharing your excitement.

#full circle questions