#「 ██ *◞ YOU HAVE BEEN JUDGED ━ ask *

[vero-niche]

can i just say how much i adore how Nao-chan's gender is treated so casually in skip to loafer

like, as a white cis woman who is also quite tall and havent read the manga i didnt even realize she was trans until this scene in ep2:

and i didnt even have the time to get nervous how they would handle this as they already moved on, ignoring the comments (just like queer people learn to do so) except for Mitsumi's comforting touch (implying she also heard the comments):

and there were no sad words or anything about this either, it was just handled so.... normally. which should not be something worth highlighting, but, well, you know. also on that note, special shoutout to P.A. Works for casting a woman as her voice actor as well.

she's shown being the supportive and lively aunt and like seconds later in this scene she's back to being her usual self again:

in conclusion

[captain-astors]

The Crown Prince

[lokh]

what do you think toshiro's version of laios would've been like if he was still with the group during the shapeshifter shenanigans

there have been a few speculations in the tag and among the fans and they are all very good SO i am going to take this opportunity to insert a bit of my shipping bias as i like in my interpretation LMAO agdsfgdfgv

i noted that in actuality shuro seems to have a very good grasp on laios' character??? this is most obvious in the manga later on but even seeing how he criticises laios in their fight... iirc nothing he says is actually untrue or wildly exaggerated, and while he does express frustration over something he feels like laios Should have control over (noticing his cues), he is also aware that laios isnt being malicious and that hes Just Like That. what i mean to say is that while i think his version of laios may seem more pushy and in-your-face, i dont think it will be overwhelmingly so. if its post-fight, i think the idea of laios (and marcille) being willing to do anything to get falin back made a big impression on him, as well as the idea that they need to eat and rest in order to succeed in their goals, so those aspects would be prominent in his version. he seems pretty observant, so i think for the most part the physical traits would line up, but i think there would be specific things that stand out to him that would appear strangely striking on his version of laios (like. idk something about his eye colour or the subtle contrast of his armour and chainmail. he seems to have a weird sense of aesthetics if extras are anything to go by lmao). if hed actually been paying attention all those times laios had gone on about what the hell ever, then it might be even MORE hard to tell apart his version since he would also have a good grasp on what laios should know. so either his version of laios is pretty difficult to pick out, OR despite the character being accurate his appearance is too. stylised lmao (exaggerated features or something) OR!! they just get him to pull out his monster gourmet guide thing and are able to tell from there. iirc everyone was surprised at its appearance so its possible toshiro had also never seen it before

IN MY IMAGINARY SHIPPING SCENARIO............ lets say that his laios isnt able to be picked out immediately and that the monster guide thing also doesnt immediately occur to anyone. what the real laios Specifically notices is how close this other laios keeps getting to shuro. and hes like. ??? why is he getting so close to him, theres no way i get that close to him??? but no one else seems to be picking up on it as weird, so hes having a small crisis like do i REALLY get that close to him???? and now that hes on the outside he notices shuro subtly leaning away and he feels both a wave of shame and..... protectiveness??? (JEALOUSY??????) and he immediately steps in and grabs him like Hey!!! cant you see hes uncomfortable???? weve been through this already!!! and like. ok i cant believe im doing this again but i need to separate this into different endings

a) the whump route: i dont think shuro ever envisioned Actually Telling laios about his frustrations outside of being basically cornered into it. has he ever spoken up against what was expected of him?? has he ever been confrontational???? i think part of what held him back from expressing his frustrations, along with the cultural norms, could be fear of what the reaction would be. if he had done the same in any other aspect of his life (his family, his inheritance), i think he would expect disappointment, disapproval, more proof that he doesnt add up to expectation. to be honest i dont think he Truly believes that laios is the type of person to react like this. but it was strong enough to prevent him from acting and i think would be projected onto his image of laios. maybe fake!laios says something dismissive like Well if it really bothered him hed say something right? what, he cant even stand up for himself? cmon, shuro, prove that you cant handle it just like everything else. and thats pretty much the fastest giveaway that it isnt really laios. of course this would be a HUGE tonal departure from what the actual episode/chapter was, so:

b) the dumbass route: both laioses break into fisticuffs, and, yes.... barking. and so they speedrun the entire encounter as the shapeshifters true form appears and, after laios points out that thinking too hard about others versions of you can tear apart groups and peace of mind, they pointedly do not speak of it again. they think about it though. a LOT

c) the normal route: both laioses argue normal like and the group ends up being able to tell them apart because the fake laios goes on a little too long about how theyre all here for falin and everyones like ok its not like he DOESNT love his sister but.......... the rest of the scenario probably goes like canon, though then i would want to see what everyone Else thought of shuro

[aroaceleovaldez]

Mark Oshiro confuses me a little bit not going to lie. In the press tour for the first book all they ever talked about was how Nico is their son and Will is fine I guess. Then they said like 2 weeks before TSATS came out that they didn't understand Will's character at all and it's one of the main reasons why Will has so little POV.

Possibly unpopular opinion but I don't think it's a good, encouraging sign when the writer admits to not really caring about the deuteragonist or not even having a sense of how to write them...

Yeah, no. If you have no interest in 1/2 of the POV characters of your book, you REALLY shouldn't be writing it (or at least, not have that be a main character). Especially when the main way TSATS could have been improved is if it was primarily Will-centric instead of Nico-centric. Will basically had next to no established character prior to TSATS! He was practically a blank slate! But all the new stuff we got for Will in TSATS was so clearly disinterested and had no regard for his previously established traits (or the established timeline/canon). Which is annoying because fleshing out Will would have been the PERFECT opportunity to actually incorporate a lot of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in as a sensitivity reader, which was the ENTIRE REASON THEY WERE BROUGHT ON AS A CO-AUTHOR!!!!

As TSATS stands, there is no reason for Mark Oshiro specifically to have been the co-author instead of someone else. It's so clearly just a PR move from RR following the huge backlash Rick received due to his response to criticism on how he wrote Piper and Samirah (and Reyna and etc etc). This was immediately following Rick saying he wasn't going to write what would become TSATS because "it [wasn't his] place to." Most of the topics that Mark Oshiro specializes in either weren't relevant at all to TSATS or written very poorly (to downright offensively) in TSATS, so either Mark Oshiro wasn't doing their job or was not able to do their job for some reason, but either way it basically makes the theoretical justification for Mark Oshiro being the co-author/sensitivity reader irrelevant.

With Will, it was HUGE fanon back in the day for him to be trans. Trans!Will and photokinesis!Will were basically the two biggest headcanons for him (both largely popularized by Cherryandsisters). We know Rick is aware of this old fanon because he canonized photokinesis!Will. If we had gotten trans!Will, that would have been great! And then made sense why we specifically got a trans co-author! (Instead, if anything, TSATS canonized Will being cis.) If we had gotten Will being latino, that would have been amazing!!!! And also then made sense as to why they chose Mark Oshiro for the job as a latinx author/sensitivity-reader, versus potentially choosing an Italian co-author since Nico being Italian/Venetian was emphasized so much in the book (and done poorly! Yknow what they could have done to fix that? GOTTEN A SENSITIVITY READER FOR IT)! Based on the themes and focuses actually present in the book, it would have been most logical to get a queer, neurodivergent, Italian co-author or sensitivity reader who specializes in those three topics at least. But we didn't! So why was Mark Oshiro chosen instead when they only specialize in one of those topics? PR reasons. It's blatantly entirely PR reasons and no actual thought or care was put into this book (or, likely, TSATS 2 either).

It doesn't help that we're also actively being told that the published version of TSATS was a rough draft. Or that their editor blatantly isn't doing her job. Or that "The Sun And The Star" was the working title that they just kept cause they didn't bother to make an actual title. And that the final version is full of explicitly last-minute scenes that weren't checked over at all (the final Bianca scene, for one). Or the ACTIVELY ADMITTING TO SOURCING IDEAS AND INFORMATION FROM FANS! That last one is kind of important because at this level of publishing that is a HUGE no-no for legal reasons. You can get into a lot of trouble for that and there is a reason why it is Ye Olde Fandom Law to never try to pitch your ideas or headcanons to the source creator(s) and keep fandom separate from the creators. There is a REASON why Rick Riordan is so distant from the community these days and it's for PROTECTION AGAINST LEGAL REPERCUSSION. Mark Oshiro being the exact opposite while also ACTIVELY ACKNOWLEDGING sourcing concepts from fans does not bode well! It has to do with copyright stuff.

It's just. So. Sighhhhhhhh >->o <- me lying on the floor about all of this. It's sad being able to see the glimmer of what could have been at the very least a decent book underneath all this. If anyone involved in the process had actually cared just the tiniest amount.

[halflifebutawesome]

you used to be such a baby.

[ganondoodle]

okay, bc i have seen this argument alot now (and it also seems to be the view point of aonuma himself..) is that "zelda cant do everything link does bc whats the point then"

and i take personal offense on that bc its a stupid argument (in. my. very. personal. opinion.- not judging people for liking it. its a ME thing)

whats the point? its that its her. its still a different character, different in story, background, personality, but i WANT to play zelda and she can do everything link does, why does she have to be so restricted and be bend over backwards to find some new way to make her 'useful' when link gets to do basically everything no questions asked (the only thing thats hers is like .. sealing power and sacrificial maiden, which i find a little underwhelming to say the least), if theres no point to it why are there always modders that model swap link with someone else, and in that case it has even less impact bc its an artificial model swap with no changes to the story (which can and should still be different when its the vanilla game with a different protagonist... its still a different character), clearly theres joy in just the model being a different one- and that isnt even to mention the story possibilities, since, again, its stil a different character

if we ever (never ... i know who we are talking about here) get to play as ganondorf i want to him to be just as versatile and active as link is, if we got a point and click adventure game for him instead bc 'whats the point' id be disappointed too- you can find any sort of excuse/explanation for zelda to be singled out but the fact remains it tracks with how female characters are often treated, and that hits a very sore spot for me

i guess i am unfortunately one of those annoying people that want to see female characters be treated exactly the same as male characters, possibly bc i am myself afab but identify as agender and have a deeply personal dislike for anything 'traditional' feminine bc i cannot and never will be able to truly live as myself in real life, it influences all of my work, my work is as just as much as my opinion on this, very personal

and in line with my point about modding, i see theres joy in just beign able to play as her even if its like this, i get that, i also get it for the creative aspect (though that mechanic worries me even more for the future bc it really seems to be the path now that -freedom = good, linear anything = bad-) it is a different idea and its not like i cant see that value- im not trying be "right" either, just bc i have that opinion doesnt mean i need everyone to agree, its a very personal thing, if you like it good for you! not for me though, and i think both of that is equally valid

i just personally wish she was allowed to be just like link, fight just like him but be different bc its still her and not him in the end- to be physically/playstyle like jsut like him, but you know ... as her, i dont think shed stop being zelda if she could wield a sword just like him

i dont really know how to get my point/feelings across, i dont want to step too much into personal stuff nor spam people with something that ultimately doesnt interest me alot, im just saddened by it really

(EDIT: bc i forgot to add this on here again; this isnt as much of a problem as it might sound like here, just the main topic i wanted to talk about; why im so uninterested in it is MAINLY bc i dont trust them to write anything interesting/care about lore anymore after totk, im always on the more pessimistic side that thinks its most likely worse than id hope and i know even the past games arent perfect or super interestingly written, but now its much more just a general distrust, together with everything like the price ... im just much less hopeful and cant get excited until i see more of it, like im waiting for the game to get out and reveal that its just as much of a mess and money i regret spending- kind of fear)

[kirkwallguy]

if some parts in veilguard feels like "as a game i'm trying to explain you like you're 6 years old" it may be because devs and writers are real people who uses social media, and likely witness all the dead media literacy, nuance grasping, and fandomification of things (every single thing described in whatever adjective and tropes). Putting effort onto writing something be it a story or character and seeing it getting slandered again and again despite context and meaning being there so they just went like "aight that's it"

well i think "people are too stupid to understand our writing" is a terrible mindset to write from lol. where would we be if any good art came from the mindset that your audience were idiots?

dead media literacy has always existed, i think it's probably more common now due to how shit mainstream media is but it's also just more noticeable because of how algorithms work - ten years ago if a teenager said they only read books for romance and skip paragraphs to get to the good bits it would've been confined to their tumblr blog and only reach their likeminded followers, now they'll reach anyone who the algorithm thinks will get pissed off enough to feed engagement across multiple social media platforms. if a writer gives up on writing smart and complex narratives / dialogue just because they were disheartened by the viral ragebait tiktok teen, maybe they were the one with poor media literacy all along ngl

[lookinghalfacorpse]

oc'ifying some dsmp characters to draw them without shame or harassment and i decided to make c!sam a hot old man and got so horny i had to lie down

AHAHAHFHAHFAHHA BRO

csam has a sort of Old Man Burdened With Duty sort of vibe to him i totally see how this could work

[wonder-worker]

During [the spring and summer of 1141], a number of contemporary narrative sources agreed that Matilda’s sudden and unexpected success went straight to her head. Matilda’s most renowned modern biographer has suggested that “conduct acceptable in a powerful king . . . was not acceptable in a ‘Lady of the English’. This line of reasoning can be taken quite a bit further. It is clear that contemporaries expected Matilda to emulate the behavior of those women who had previously held the rank of regina, and act like a queen consort while performing the office of king. Most queens consort, however, did not have to consolidate recognition of their position as Matilda was constrained to do. Nearly all the chroniclers who had marveled at her assumption of power turned on her immediately. Not surprisingly, the Gesta Stephani took the greatest exception:

She at once put on an extremely arrogant demeanor instead of the modest gait and bearing proper to the gentle sex, began to walk and speak and do all things more stiffly and more haughtily than she had been wont.

But other more sympathetic chroniclers also joined this chorus of disapproval: Henry of Huntington described her as “elated with insufferable pride” while the Worcester chronicler noted her “hard heart” as she strove to consolidate her position. Had she been a man, Matilda’s decidedly authoritarian style might have passed for a regal show of strength. Indeed, Matilda probably felt that if she was to hold on to her newly acquired status, she needed to behave like a king. Thus, Matilda’s forward movement from recognition of her status to the execution of her office was fraught with gendered difficulties concerning how a woman ought to conduct herself.

...As she anticipated her crowning, Matilda strove to consolidate her dynastic claims and establish her authority. It seems reasonable to suppose that Matilda looked to her father and her first husband for examples of successful kingship as she did for representational purposes. Both Emperor Henry V and King Henry I were suspicious, uncompromising, relentless, and ruthless in the pursuit of their aims. Probably both would have advised Matilda to follow their example. This was exactly what St. Bernard told Queen Melisende of Jerusalem following the death of her husband: “show the man in the woman; order all things . . . so that those who see you will judge your works to be those of a king rather than a queen.” Much of Matilda’s behavior during the spring and summer of 1141 can be explained as the emulation of male gendered kingship. But kings had the built-in advantage of female consorts to soften the more hardboiled aspects of their rule; Matilda had played that very role herself for her first husband. Nevertheless, in 1141, Matilda eschewed the feminine aspects of queenship completely, in effect negating what could have been useful symbolism to bolster the construction of her authority. But for Matilda to be perceived as a soft, forgiving, and gentle woman at the one moment she needed to consolidate her position at the top of a male dominant political society would not have been practical.

But by constructing herself as a female feudal lord, and emulating male gendered kingship, Matilda annoyed contemporary observers. The chroniclers’ hostility may have been due to the fact that Matilda was claiming kingly sovereignty for herself alone, and not in association with either her husband or her eldest son. The Gesta Stephani described Matilda as not only arrogant, but also spurning the advice of her chief advisors, the earl of Gloucester, her uncle King David of Scotland, and the “kingmaker” himself, the Bishop of Winchester. The Gesta implied that if Matilda had behaved as a deferential woman, and heeded the counsel of her male advisors, she could have devised a means to permanently depose Stephen, and be crowned and anointed in his place. The Gesta placed Matilda’s ultimate failure at her own door, blaming it on her arrogant reliance on her inferior, womanly intellect and emotions.

Matilda’s hard-line stance, acceptable in a male king, bothered the authors of the Worcester chronicle and the Gesta, suggesting that contemporaries were confused by what they wanted the “Lady of the English” to do, indicating that, as a woman and a domina, she should behave gently like a queen rather than forcefully like a king. Combined, all the chroniclers, with the exception of Malmesbury, suggested that Matilda should have used the intercessory powers of queenship to set Stephen free, moderated the harsher aspects of her father’s rule, and excused the Londoners from financial support. Although a more diplomatic approach might have helped, freeing Stephen at that moment in time would have realistically served no practical purpose in establishing Matilda’s authority. And, in denying Eustace his inheritance, Matilda was only imitating the efforts of her father, Henry I, who also dealt harshly with challengers to his throne. Henry I kept his elder brother Robert Curthose in prison until he died, and prevented his nephew, William Clito, Curthose’s heir, from gaining any aspect of the Anglo-Norman inheritance. Matilda wished to convince her contemporaries that she was quite capable of being a king, but their reactions betrayed hostility toward her as a woman presuming to establish kingly authority.

-Charles Beem, "Empress Matilda and Female Lordship", The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History"

[marclef]

okay so uhhh. definitely wasn't expecting this any time soon. or ever. but unless my tumblr has been lying to me for 3 days straight then i guess it happened.

uhhhhh. thanks for 700 followers bros 👁👁💧

like. i didn't even see my tumblr get to 400. unless i've been hallucinating that it's been at 300 for the last month. am i going insane? maybe. but uhhh. that's a lot of people looking at me. kinda freaking me out a little. but thanks regardless i guys, it does mean a lot to me ✨❤❤❤✨

anyways. i die. nervous. some various rambling under the cut and in the tags but here's an artistic rendition of how i feel right now. enjoy.

so yeah. i don't know how the hell my follower count has doubled in like, two months. maybe it's the Fake Peppino Hugs? a lot of people have been wanting hugs after all. it uhhhh kinda makes me feel weird knowing there's this many of you. but i'll try to manage.

speaking of hugs, yes i've seen the new asks and requests in my inbox i promise!! i will get to them when i can, but for now i'm gonna try to focus on getting a couple other big important things done. mainly, a large Fake Peppino headcanon-related post i've been planning, and getting a few more characters up on Artfight before July.

and also.... i might be getting commissions up soon too?? i don't know how soon, but it'd be a way for me to get income right now since i don't have a job. or, if you don't wanna commission me but still wanna show support, i have a link to me Ko-Fi on my intro post as well! really any support is welcome, but i'm trying to figure out how to do commissions and pricing and stuff since it'll be the first time i *officially* do them. i hope you'll think about it though!!

but yeah, i've got a good few things i've gotta get done with, i'm trying to take things a liiiiittle slow right now though so i don't burn myself out fully. i will try to get stuff done soon though! expect that big Fakey post in maybe a week or so, and i'll update you all on other things that happen as well!

thanks for reading if you have, love ya's ❤❤💗💗💗❤❤

[brittlebutch]

actually it's kind of funny how people will say Alex's fatal flaw is that he 'doesn't ask for help' and that it's his determination to handle things on his own that leads to his deterioration and eventual death when his whole introduction to the present-day timeline was a very literal cry for help that simply went ignored

[eskawrites]

4 (for the drabble asks)

4. "I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was."

Hopper's cabin makes a surprisingly secure prison. Nancy walks the perimeter just for something to do, just to put off going inside. The windows are boarded up. Trip wires cover every path. She can't even tell where the cameras are hidden, even though she knows vaguely where they are.

It's nothing compared to the inside, where Hopper and Murray and Jonathan and El have been taking watch in turns. Where El's old bedroom has been reinforced and stripped bare save for a chair and zip ties and a set of handcuffs.

"They're hurting her," Steve had said on that first day, when Robin's pained cry had echoed through the house as Hopper bound her to the chair and started demanding answers.

"She hurt us," was all Nancy had said.

It's been a week. The routine set in painfully fast. Joyce makes a plate for Robin with every meal, but only Hopper is in there when she eats with one unbound hand. Two bathroom breaks a day. Robin barely drinks the water they give her anyway.

They've all tried asking questions. Hopper with his gruff anger and paper thin patience. Joyce with her soft touch, her pleas, her gentle reminders about how much they've all cared for Robin over the past year. Steve with his quiet words, his silent language only he and Robin know.

Dustin with his relentless, tearful optimism. Erica and Max with their betrayal, their bitter hurt. Even El, probing into her mind until both she and Robin have nosebleeds. But the only thing they've learned is what they already knew. What Hopper told them the second he was back in Hawkins, returned from the dead.

"The girl," he'd said the second he pulled away from El's tearful hug. "Buckley. She's working for them."

And just like that, eight months of Nancy's life had come crumbling down around her. All those movie nights where Robin would save a spot on the couch for her, all those nightmares she woke up from only to find herself in Robin's arms. All the quiet moments, the soft, lingering looks, the gentle touches. The time Nancy had been brave enough to push up on her toes and press her lips to Robin's, and all the times she's been able to do it again and again since then. All of it meant nothing. A lie. An act. A means to an end. As fake and empty as the Robin Buckley she knew and loved.

"Wheeler," comes Hopper's heavy voice from behind her. Nancy closes her eyes, but she turns around. "We need you."

Everyone has tried asking questions. Everyone but her.

"What do you expect me to do?" It's harsh and defensive from the start. "I fell for her lies for a year. You think I can get the truth from her now?"

He sighs. His eyes are surprisingly gentle as he turns and gestures toward the front of the house.

"Just try."

She doesn't want to try. She doesn't want to go in there. She doesn't want to see Robin like this. She doesn't want to see Robin ever again.

But though Hopper's gaze is understanding, it's still stern. Nancy sets her jaw and starts trudging toward the door, Hopper falling into step beside her.

She starts to doubt herself again once they're inside. She ignores everyone's eyes as she passes through the living room. She keeps her head up as she and Hopper head down the hall. But once she's outside the door, she falters. She just stands there, staring at it. Robin has been so quiet since that first day. If Nancy didn't know any better, she'd think she wasn't even in there anymore.

"She's been asking for you," Hopper says beside her. Nancy sucks in a breath, reeling from the words.

"Why?"

He doesn't say anything, just pats her shoulder and pushes her slightly toward the door.

Nancy takes a breath and steps inside.

The room is cold. Bare. Not as harsh and sterile as Steve has described the Russian bunker to be, but as close as they can get in a little cabin in the woods.

But the worst part is Robin sitting in the center. Her head is tilted back, hanging off the back of the chair, but she pulls herself up as she hears the door close behind Nancy.

Her eyes widen. She mouths Nancy's name, but she doesn't actually say anything.

There's a bruise on her jaw. Her hair is messy, but it isn't dirty. Nancy wonders vaguely if Joyce has been washing it.

Nancy leans back against the door. She watches Robin swallow.

"You came," she whispers. Her voice is soft, barely even there, the same beautiful, rough sound Nancy has reveled in for months.

Nancy glares just so she doesn't cry. "What do you want?"

"Nothing." Robin tries to shrug, but she can't really move her shoulders. It's a clumsy, silly move. Nancy hates it.

"Bullshit. Hopper said you asked for me. Why?"

"I wanted to see you. That's all."

"Why?"

She frowns. "Because I miss you."

"Please," Nancy spits. "What do you actually want?"

"I'm telling the truth, Nance."

"When have you ever told the truth?"

Robin winces. She drops her gaze. "I'm sorry."

"Don't bother. I don't care."

"I do, though." Robin looks up at her again, a plea in her eyes, and Nancy hates that, too. "I care. I never wanted to--but I couldn't--Nance--"

"Don't fucking call me that."

"I'm sorry," Robin says again. "I'm sorry I lied. I'm sorry I hurt you. I--I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was."

Nancy closes her eyes, unable to see her earnest gaze. She wants to cover her ears, too, to shut out Robin's awful, honest voice.

Because that's just the problem. She is who Nancy thought she was. She can see it in the regret in Robin's eyes, hear it in the love hanging heavy in her voice, even now.

"Why?" she whispers.

"Because I just am. I never wanted to hurt you, not for anything."

"No," says Nancy. "Why did you do it?"

Robin looks away. "Because they told me to."

"That's it?"

"It's all I've ever known," she says, her voice sharper now. But her eyes are soft when she meets Nancy's gaze again. "But I never thought--I didn't know--it all changed, Nancy. I didn't want to keep helping them."

"But you did."

"I had no choice." She leans forward, straining toward Nancy, her voice rough and desperate. "They would've hurt me--and then they would've hurt you, all of you, because they'd know I care about you."

"Stop lying!" Nancy surges forward. She can't push Robin far, not without tipping the whole chair, but she hits her shoulders anyway, shoving her back in her chair.

"I'm not," Robin breathes. She's still beneath her, pliant and waiting for whatever Nancy will do to her. "I promise I'm not."

"You lied. You let us all believe you were someone else. You made Steve think you were his best friend. You made the kids trust you. You--you made me believe you loved me--"

"You made me love you," Robin whispers. "I tried not to. I told myself it was too dangerous. But I couldn't help it."

"I hate you."

"You should."

"Stop. Just stop. I fucking hate you."

"I know."

"I hate that I still love you."

Robin just watches her helplessly, tears in her eyes. Nancy wishes she could hate her. She takes a breath and turns away, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

After a moment, she says, "Who hit you?"

She looks over her shoulder in time to see Robin working her jaw.

"Hopper. But in his defense, I was putting up a fight."

"Why?"

"I thought if I could get away, you wouldn't have to deal with this."

"You should've thought of that sooner."

"I did. Every day. But I could never bring myself to run."

"Coward."

"Selfish," Robin corrects her. "For not letting you go. Any of you."

Nancy grits her teeth. "So what now?"

"I think that's up to you, Nance."

She shakes her head. It can't be up to her. She can't do this. She looks at Robin again, but she turns away quickly before she can really see her. She opens her mouth to say something, but anything she can think of is far too dangerous.

So she turns on her heel and walks toward the door instead. She knocks on it, and a moment later Hopper opens it. He looks at her questioningly, but Nancy brushes past him and just keeps walking.

[thegreatyin]

How would the Scoundrel react to Miss Emilia Stone, do you think? To give you an idea of who she is, the Threadbare Outrider is one of the alternate identities of Barnabus Moss, and possibly the closest to who he actually is - he's only still an egg because he's too busy with his job to give too much of a shit about being trans right now.

She is functionally the Hyde identity; open revolutionary, Parabolan wanderer, purveyor of extreme and generally unnecessary violence. I also considered naming her the Extremely Unlicensed Silverer - she has never actually fulfilled the requirements to become a proper silverer (she thinks the sunglasses look kind of dumb) but she offers equivalent services for cut-rate prices to people who can't afford a "real professional."

In terms of her actual personality, she is... frighteningly happy. To steal a phrase, she wields her joy like a hammer; judiciously and with great violence. Moss is basically drunk on life whenever he's her, and it very much shows. She is a release valve on all of his life's worries - whenever he gets too pissed off at his life as Moss or Haversham or the spy, he can just duck into Parabola and gut a few chessmen with a meathook to unwind.

Correspondingly, he gets really irritated under the hood when she has to act consistent with the persona rather than how he actually feels - for example, Emilia is the kind of person who doesn't really dislike anyone, so when someone pisses him off she can't really show it without breaking the cheer, and it is thoroughly upsetting to him.

I think original flavour Moss would probably be fascinated by the Scoundrel, from a professional standpoint - he has a degree in the Correspondence and the whole bat thing is very interesting - whilst simultaneously being deeply, deeply exhausted by the man's life choices. Meanwhile I think Emilia would enjoy doing this to him.

Thoughts?

first of all, love the OC dissertation, chewing ur little guy like a gummy bear as we speak

second of all, the scoundrel would probably react the same as they always do- with overwhelmingly smug manners and more than a little bit of "i'm better than you and i'm being generous and indulging you by existing in your presence"... at least at first.

depending on how their interactions go from there, the scoundrel would either be delightfully open to infodumping about the bat thing to the point of tedium, or needlessly spiteful for Literally No Reason aside from a vague sense of pettiness and jealousy. how dare she get to be so damnably happy all the time, how dare she act so damnably carefree about it, etcetera etcetera. whether or not they'd like to admit it, i could see them holding a grudge against emilia purely on the principle of (supposedly) having everything they've ever wanted.

which is to say, they absolutely get scrunched like a cat, and they are biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + biting her + b

[benevolenterrancy]

hi! I recently came across your tgcf fics, and I wanted to say you’re a phenomenal creator. the recovery series fic and the gloves fic and just all of them. thank you for your content and great attention to detail.

do you have any thoughts/hcs on FXMQ and Xie Lian you’d be willing to share? within the original story or the universes of your fics!

Thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying them! (ﾉ*^▽^*)ﾉ.｡:*☆

hmm, random thoughts about the FXMQ... a silly headcanon: Feng Xin has very much been hoisted by his own petard by heckling Mu Qing! That is to say, he'll harass Mu Qing relentlessly about something stupid only to be confronted with a similar situation and realise that there's absolutely NO way he can act in anyway similar to Mu Qing or he'll never hear the end of it.

(For example, he has tolerated some truly atrocious divine statues in the past because he's heckled Mu Qing so much about how picky he is with his divine statues that there's no WAY he can say ANYTHING without seeing that smug bastard's face in his head so he just has to bite his tongue and tolerate some unspeakably ugly statues.)

Mu Qing doesn't generally suffer from similar overthinking (he'll just prepare to kick FX's ass if he dares to say anything about it) except for things more directly related to himself. I think he genuinely finds sewing/embroidery/etc rather relaxing work but he'd rather die than have anyone ever see him do it because he's made such a big deal about not doing that sort of "servant" work anymore.

(He actually really enjoyed stitching Ruoye back together because it gave him the perfect excuse -- he's returning a favour!! and Xie Lian is hopeless!! of course he had to!! -- and he secretly considered using white thread to embroider some invisible little designs just because he doesn't quite want to stop... only he knew he'd get caught if he messed with Xie Lian's spiritual device like that and gave up the idea)

[godsfavoritescientist]

Billford isnt canon in a literal Sincere Authorial Intent sense, y'all 😭😭😭 please get better standards for how much creators need to include in order for something to be considered officially canon. I've jokingly said "I cant believe billford is canon" too, but I thought we were saying that lightheartedly. I thought we all recognized that it was "canonized" in a wink-wink nudge-nudge way where they fully leave room for people to interpret it as "haha isn't it so funny and clever that they're framing being betrayed by a demon as if it's a romantic breakup!" Please. I'm begging you, do you understand what I'm saying here

[lesbianfakir]

hi! I started reading your fanfic a couple days ago and I just wanted to let you know how amazing it is <33 I finished princess tutu less than a week ago and I'm so glad to find such high quality content ! Do you have any specific headcanons about rue and mythos relationship?

Aaaaa tysm Im so so happy you like it!! Man. Man finishing tutu for the first time literally a transcendent experience, it rewired my brain chemistry forever.

I will preface this with saying I think rue and mytho are really cute. I like how it’s her strength that draws him to her. When he sees how much she’s suffered under years of abuse he realizes he WANTS to love her which is monumental considering mytho spends most of the show unaware or confused about what he wants.

THAT SAID… ohohohoho Ruetho you have so many problems. I hope it’s coming through in my fic but I write them as walking on eggshells around each other. Rue is frightened that one day he’ll “wake up” from his love and she’ll be left directionless in life. Rue has put all her eggs in one basket for her entire life. We, the audience, know she would be okay without mytho. Not only does she have Duck but she has so many admirable qualities that we KNOW she’ll be okay standing on her own. Rue doesn’t see it that way. Mytho has, in her eyes, been the only person who could love her for so many years of COURSE she conceptualizes her whole identity around him. If she loses mytho she loses her sense of self. So she tries to be what her idea of a perfect princess who was never touched by the raven would be. She only wears light colors, she tries to never show negative emotions, and she works hard to make everyone in mytho’s kingdom love her. The problem is she believes she’s one tiny slip up away from losing everything

Mytho on the other hand loves Rue truly, but he has yet to process his trauma by her hands. If you look for it, in my fic I write little details like him flinching when rue raises her voice or snapping to attention when she gets angry. But he hates these responses in himself and he tries to steam roller over them. I imagine mytho as someone who’s so wrapped around the idea of being the perfect honorable prince, and princes love their princesses unconditionally. They aren’t angry or hurt or afraid of them. And Rue is rue right? Kraehe was a trick of the raven. So he tells himself he’s okay and he tells himself he’s moved on from their past but all the while the cracks in their relationship grow bigger. Deep down he’s hurt and he’s angry but those are ugly emotions he’s been without for so long he doesn’t know how to process them

I think a core detail in how I conceptualize them is they both perceive themselves as being the lesser one in a a power imbalance. Rue is a plain, human girl unworthy of a prince and one day he will realize his mistake and leave her. Mytho is afraid of Kraehe, no matter how much he reassures himself he has forgiven rue, and as such he’s very careful with what he says and does around her

Anyways I like to think in the 3 years between the end of the show and the start of the fic they have never gotten into a real argument. They both won’t let themselves show their real emotions so we have these two people wearing beautiful, flawless porcelain masks to hide the absolute maelstrom of emotions they are feeling. Their love comes from a real foundation and they do express it, it’s everything else that is wrong. Tldr; she’s trying to be a perfect barbie and he’s trying to be a perfect ken. They are both miserable