#I like hearing the fandoms thoughts as well

[the-fab-fox]

ALL OF THIS SO FREAKING MUCH.

Y'all. We have been saying this. Pleading with y'all.

My number one question to my bestie Jen any time comment numbers in used to get I'm no longer getting on newer fics:

Has my writing gotten worse or something?

And I fucking GUARANTEE I'm not the only one who has this thought and has to be talked around by friends.

Think about this. When a book is popular... When it's popular because it's good... Do you know why it's popular...

Not because it's good. I mean, that's the reason it got there but it's not how it got there.

The how is by people talking about it... Reading it... Telling their friends... Making posts about it... Tagging the author in social media to tell them and your followers how it made you feel...

THIS IS HOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR FAVORITE FANFIC WRITERS.

Share with friends in the same fandom you know that will love it. Talk with them about it. Make posts on your blog about it linking it. And for the love of Apollo, Dionysus, Inari Okami, Tyche, Loki, Athena, Hades, Persephone, Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia, and Agni (my patron gods)—COMMENT AND TELL THE WRITER WHAT YOU THOUGHT AND FELT.

We are not being unreasonable. Especially since it is still an issue that you readers have the power to solve if you would just take maybe two minutes max (unless your comment is long—which yes you can absolutely leave long comments, ones I've gotten are some of my most cherished ones) and all the suggestions of what you could do up there in TOTAL - maybe an hour or two max, depending on how many people you have to share it with.

But really. Stop. Stop. Stop. STOP TRYING TO GUILT TRIP OR GASLIGHT (yeah. Some of y'all really do be doing that) INTO THINKING THAT WE DON'T DESERVE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED WITH COMMENTS. THAT JUST READERS READING SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR US. THAT WE SHOULD WRITE FOR OURSELVES AND NOT COMMENTS.

Like I'm sorry. Yes we write for ourselves first but that does not mean we can't and shouldn't expect readers to do their job on their end.

I'm not going to sugar coat this lesson or cut it into mini bite sized pieces any longer.

FANFIC READERS. you may not want to hear this but listen up.

Your job as readers is to comment and kudos the fic you like. If you love it, you should absolutely be doing that and taking the time to share it with others who would enjoy it as well. If you are rereading it so much, comment periodically to tell the writer this and what it means to you and share.

The numbers look like they do on AO3 because you all failed to do your job.

But you can fix it. You just have to start. Doing. Your. Job. As. Fanfiction. Readers.

Full stop.

I really don't understand how "without getting kudos or comments a fanfiction author is going to assume that people who clicked their fic didn't like it" became a controversial take.

I don't know why some people think an author should imagine, or guess that people who click their fic enjoyed it it when nobody is telling them that.

If you're re-reading a fic constantly, or leaving it up in your tab so that it re-loads every day for a hundred days the author is not going to know that unless you tell them. They'd love to hear it. It would make their day.

And if you don't tell them you liked their fic, there's no reason for them to assume you did.

[eclipseberrycake]

Raceway (P!MBC x Reader)

An: This is based on the Racer! Dandy's world AU on Tiktok by miss.vianne!

This doesn't follow theirs exactly, but I've previously written some racer! hc for a different fandom and really enjoyed them! So I thought let's bring it all full circle.

Warnings: This AU will have more mature themes, so if that's not your cup of tea, that's okay!

☁ Ladies, gentlemen and all those parties in between, start your engines.

☁ So, the lineup. The mains are all racers. Good racers. They're in the main circuit. They play by the rules. They are well known with merch and sponsorships. People cheer when they hear all about Astro Novalite, the sneaky drifter, or Sprout Seedly, the pitstop pusher, or Shelly Fossilian, the clutch expert, or Vee Version I, the light challenger.

☁ The four of them are good friends off the track, don't get them wrong, but on the track, they are at each other's throats. They are competitive and ruthless, pushing the limits of their teams and the announcers with every by the book race.

☁ They all have their own pit crews too! It's a mix of the other toons, split into each group, acting as buffers between the racers and a devastating loss. Sprout in particular pisses Cosmo, the crew chief for the Seedly team, off and thinks it's hilarious. Cosmo does not. He bitches about it every single time the other toons get together.

☁ Like the racers, the pit crews are all good friends too! Especially the Crew chiefs. Brightney is the head of Vee's crew, with Gigi the head of Shelly's. And while Cosmo gets along with them well, his true partner in crime is the head of Novalite's team. You.

☁ Astro had always been a top competitor, since you've taken the reigns however he's become a true threat. The amount of times he's taken a win right out from under Vee or Sprout is frankly hilarious, especially since Cosmo knows it's because of your intervention. Astro has always been a huge drifter in racing, but his previous mechanic couldn't keep up with the pressure on his steering and throttle. You could though. Every race, you'd get in nose deep to the beyond hot engine and tinker with it while the others worked on the rest of the vehicle.

☁ After every race, you did overtime to refresh the suspension, under the vehicle until Cosmo came and dragged you by the ankle. He'd admit he was sweet on you just a bit, but he couldn't help it. Beyond the professional race track, you were his partner in crime elsewhere too.

☁ When the sun went down and the excitement from the streamline races settled, a whole new environment opened itself to the streets of the city, hidden in the shadows away from peering eyes. Roars of unregulated engines and too-loud exhausts weren't uncommon, along with the drunken cheers and boos of the night life alighting with the stars.

☁ This was where the rest of the toons shine. Unregulated street racing was a thrill like no other, and one that you and Cosmo ran like an iron fist. You were a dangerous duo, and one of you was always racing, even if your standings were in a duo. It was a risky move, putting your name alongside Cosmo's knowing that if one of you took a loss, it would reflect on the other poorly, but neither of you truly thought of it that way. You both simply enjoyed racing with each other.

☁ Taking a break from being the person giving the care to being the one in the vehicle was like a shot of ecstasy, especially when you knew the other was waiting at the finish line. The lack of rules, the refusal of etiquette, the thrill of tickling your own mortality was a whole new rush, so unlike the one in monitored tracks.

☁ It was probably an addiction at point. Not that it would stop you. You mused to yourself, shifting gears as Gigi's vehicle came into view in your rearview. She was an infamous cheater, playing dirty with sly tricks and illegal moves up her sleeve. Well...Illegal in the clean tracks.

☁ "Don't get cocky now, doll." Cosmo's voice rings in your ears, waiting for you at the finish line. " If you die who else will warm my bed?"

☁ You scoff at this, jerking your gear shift and slamming the brakes, whipping your wheel to one side just as Gigi attempts a pit maneuver. Her vehicle skids upon not meeting her target and instead crashes into Shrimpo's, taking both of your closest tails out in one one move. You easily commit to the turn, continuing to move your gearshift before punching the gas, crossing the finish line as the reigning champion.

☁ You cut the engine to your ride, taking your keys as you step out to where Cosmo is already waiting. His arms are crossed as he scans your form up and down, a predatory smirk spreading on his features. You return the look, walking up to him with a small preen in your features. "Cocky enough for you?"

☁ He snickers at this, wrapping an arm around your lower back as the other cars skid to a stop, several cries about your win echoing out. "You're awful. You know that? What would Mr. Novalite say if he say?" that dodgy drift?" He teases, his other hand coming up to shake your chin lightly.

☁ "Oh, no, whatever shall I do." You spit back sarcastically. "Please, those racers have the rule books shoved so far up their ass they don't notice much else." You waved your hand before swatting at Cosmo's. "They'd probably faint at the sight of the Milky Way."

☁ The Milky Way was the name of the endless routes, trails and roads that made up what was essentially the city turned raceway. It had numerous shortcuts, every changing obstacles and required your instincts and reaction times to be sharp and pointed.

☁ It was your favorite track you've ever raced.

☁ Cosmo cackled at you before shaking his head, swooping in to press a heated kiss to your lips in his own congratulations as the rest of the crews who weren't racing trotted up. Praises were sung your way as Cosmo pulled away, even if his arm stayed anchored to your waist.

☁ And that was simply the start of the night. You all raced and partied to your heart's content, breaking up the night hours before the break of dawn as Cosmo drove you to his place. You weren't sure exactly what you would call the relationship you had with the cake roll, but you knew you liked it, and you were sure he liked it too.

☁ While it was mostly sharp quips and heated kisses on the raceway, it was also the softer, quieter moments in the sunrise's light, basked in golden rays as you watched him move around his kitchen effortlessly, perched on the counter with your morning drink of choice.

☁ It was serene and soft, and a good break from the constant rise of stress you put yourself under.

☁ You had fallen into a rhythm actually with Cosmo, where he'd do breakfast and you'd drive you both to work. He was testing the waters of moving in together with you, which made your heart flutter in all sorts of ways, but would stay put until he outright asked.

☁ "I'm just saying, imagine how much easier our routine would be." Cosmo shrugged behind you, pushing the door open so you could walk through.

☁ "I'm just saying, that's not asking." You throw back, readjusting your Novalite jacket. "You suck at asking questions."

☁ Astro is already waiting by his car when you and Cosmo walk up, leaning on his car before noticing you. He perks up right away, smiling at your approaching form- even if it wavers when he spots Cosmo. "Seedly crew Chief, you look a little lost." The celestial teases, even if it's tight like a stretched rubber band.

☁ Cosmo grimaces as the hand he's kept on your hip tightens it's hold momentarily. "Astro. Always a pleasure to see you." You give them both a look at the tense atmosphere, scrunching your nose as you roll your eyes.

☁ "I'll see you later today, Cos-"

☁ "Milky way CHAMPION!" Is cried out behind you, making you jolt as yourself, Cosmo and Astro whip around to face Finn and Boxten, who are beaming at you. "Gigi came in pissed today! How'd the race go?!"

☁ Finn, bless his heart, is either blissfully ignorant or being the biggest asshole as he doesn't acknowledge your desperate attempts to cut the attention. "We missed out last night, but heard you out maneuvered her and sent her into Shrimpo!"

☁ You bury your face in your hands, groaning as Astro takes in the new information. He hadn't known you were a racer. He would've loved to go against you. By the sounds of it, you were good. He knew you knew what you were talking about, has seen it in person and thanks the stars he was able to get you on his team before the others even heard about you.

☁ But to hear you raced last night? The only race yesterday was his where he and Sprout had spent the majority of the time trying to take out the other's tires before Shelly snuck in and took the win. And he'd never even heard of the Milky Way outside of space. Was it a track?

☁ "Finn." Cosmo cuts in, making a swift motion across his neck and making the fishbowl clamp his mouth shut, eyes finally spotting Astro. He looked like he swallowed a lemon at the sight. "Hey! Mr. Novalite- funny....Funny jokes we say here!"

☁ Astro had to hide a snicker behind his hand at the pure fury written on your features. It was a good laugh in all honesty, watching Finn try to repair the damage he'd done before Boxten was pulling him off to return to Shelly's team to get her own vehicle prepped.

☁ "Champion, huh?" Astro had to tease, watching you drag your hands down your face. Cosmo was still there, his sharp eyes locked onto Astro as if daring him to say something more.

☁ "It's nothing." You cut off any more talk of the topic, moving to your toolbox and pulling open one of the draws. "You said your brakes were acting up?"

☁ With a glance to Cosmo, Astro stubbornly keeps his mouth shut until the cake roll scoffs. "Seriously? I'm not gonna go run and tattle on you. If your brakes are fucked, get 'em fixed."

☁ Nothing. Cosmo grunts at this, throwing his hands up with a "Why do I bother-" before he turns on his heel and makes his way to the Seedly garage. You watch him with a small upturn in your lips, committing the image to memory, before turning back to your tool box. "So, brakes?"

☁ "They shook. I didn't like it. What were they talking about?" Astro watches you pull out your little board with wheels, laying back on it as the car is raised enough you can get under it.

☁ You look at him for a long, heavy moment before moving under the vehicle. "The Milky way is a...less then regulated track. Some of the guys and I go out and race it."

☁ "...And you win." It's not a question, it's a statement that sits in your mind and burns the edges that touch it. "I won last night."

☁There's the shake of a hand grabbing the end of your board and pulling, nearly blinding you with the light if not for Astro's fat head. He stares at you, eyes deep and set as you raise a brow at him. He was a nice enough guy and you enjoyed spending time with him. At times, his laugh was enough to make butterflies light up your stomach.

☁ "I want to see." He says plainly. making you raise a brow. "You want to see a bunch of amateurs play go-kart?" It was a far cry from that, but you'd be damned before telling him that.

☁ "I want to watch you have fun." He remedies, making your mouth run dry. You stare at him long and hard, much in the same manner he's staring at you before groaning.

☁ "If you call the cops, I'm hitting you with my car. Cosmo and I are scheduled for Thursday night. Be there or don't, I don't care. I'll text you the address." You acquiesce at last, returning to your job. Astro waits until you're cursing at something you find before punching the air, absolutely ecstatic at the invitation. When the text comes in with the time and a little "See you there <3~" he nearly faints.

☁ Sprout ends up catching him when he tries to leave training early to get ready and pries the plan out of him, immediately deciding he needs to come too.

☁ To be fair, Sprout had been watching Astro carefully since Cosmo came into the garage cursing about "The stupid fucking Moon" and he had known something was happening. What better way to get to the bottom of it then prying it out of Cosmo?

☁ Is what he would've done if he hated himself. One look at the furious face the cake roll wore and not even Sprout was brave enough to poke that bear. Astro was his next best bet. And as he's standing in the light of the city, in crowds of people who didn't look his way twice, he relished in the feeling.

☁ "So, we here to stalk your cute little Crew chief?" Sprout teased, nudging Astro who's cheeks lit up a bright blue. He mumbled some form of refusal, but Sprout knew. He saw how Astro looked at you, watching you, how you worked and how you lived. He lost count of how many times they were almost late to training because Astro saw they restocked your favorite drink in the vending machine and just had to get you one while you worked on the car. Or he was spotted hanging around you while you were under the car.

☁ Astro just needed to be around you, whenever he possibly could, which was quite amusing in regards to Cosmo's own attachment to you. Honestly, for all Sprout fawned over them, he was starting to feel left out. You and him had met a handful of times and honestly, he's surprised Astro could keep up with your sharp tongue and quick remarks. Sprout himself found himself scrambling to keep up before you were turning on your heel with a flip of your jacket.

☁ You were a spitefire little thing full of venom and vinegar. He always looked forward to conversations with you, and to find out you raced as well? He was willing to fight Cosmo and Astro. Or better yet, fight neither.

☁ He could take all three of you.

☁ "I could take them." He mutters, nodding to himself resolutely even if Astro gives him a look. "Please tell me you're not talking about fighting someone."

☁ "Not in a fight." Sprout adds and Astro has to look away, probably considering calling someone.

☁ They made their way through the crowds though, finding the finish line easily. You were there, past a barrier with your arms cross and smirk on your features as you watched the television broadcast the vehicle in the lead. It was a sleek, dark cherry chrome thing that purred like a kitten and held a steady lead with quite the gap between first and second.

☁ In bolded racing letters, a name popped up under the car. "Cosmo/Y/N Team".

☁ "No way is that Cosmo!" Sprout shouted, leaning on the barrier with his eyes wide. He didn't think his crew chief had it in him. The call caught your attention, making you turn to face them with the smirk deepening as your practically prowled towards them. "Wow, you actually showed up. Didn't think you would." You tease, making Astro's cheeks stain a much further dark blue.

☁ "I-Uhm-" Astro stutters before Spout is slamming a hand on his shoulder and leaning into your face. "Is this what you guys do in your free time?!"

☁ You nod, looking side to side before nodding your head. "Jump the barrier, you can stand with me. My personal guests." You grin, watching as Sprout immediately does as asked. Astro takes a minute further, but eventually does, landing beside you while Sprout gapes at the maneuvers Cosmo is pulling off.

☁"I didn't think you had it in you, shortcake!" Sprout cackles as you explain the race, what's on the line and how you and Cosmo are on a team, hence the name. You shrug at it, continuing to grin. "Just because you need a number of rules to race doesn't mean all of us do, Seedly."

☁ He guffaws for a second, his own cheeks heating up as you laugh. Astro only stares at you, feeling his own chest tighten before the first car is screeching to a halt. It's the same dark cherry one, with the engine cutting and door swinging open. Cosmo steps out, clad in a leather jacket and jeans that fit much too good on his frame to be fair.

☁ You immediately run up to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull him down to a level to press your lips to his. His hands immediately find your hips, but neither Sprout nor Astro can find it in them to pull away.

☁ Watching you and Cosmo, in your element, unbeatable and a unit. Dominating in every way. It made their hearts flutter as they stare at you too, all sharp smirks and quipped words, looking like the main characters in every action movie they've ever seen.

☁ "I could take them." Sprout mutters, hands suddenly much more clammy then he thought they should've been.

☁ "Agreed." Is all Astro says, and that's all that needed to be said.

[vortexbloom]

Hello, I hope I didn't bother you. If you haven't, Can you make a Mydei x Fem! Reader? Reader is injured or harassed by someone, but when Mydei sees this, he decides to take matters into his own hands. I had an incident similar to this, so I asked, if you are uncomfortable, please don't do it. English is not my first language, but I hope I was able to write it correctly<3

Hello dear anon 😙

Don’t worry, I‘m comfortable with writing this.

I‘m sorry to hear that something like this happened to you in real life, I hope you’re doing better now <3

Also, your English is good, I understood everything 😌

A Devine Reckoning (OneShot)

Pairing: Mydei x Female Reader

Fandom: HSR (Honkai Star Rail)

Warnings: Reader gets harassed, there isn’t much plot tbh

☆ ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆── ☆ ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆── ☆

Masterlist - Honkai Star Rail

Masterlist - Genshin Impact

Moodboards - Genshin Impact

Masterlist - Marvel

Boycott List

☆ ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆── ☆ ────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆── ☆

English isn’t my first/native language, so there might be misspellings etc.

I do NOT own any Characters !

Have fun reading this :D

Art by: @crycry84488 on X (Twitter)

The shadows danced between the marble columns and the air was thick, danger often lurked in unexpected corners. The city’s intricate alleyways, though beautiful, could become treacherous labyrinths for the unprepared.

As you navigated these winding paths, the distant hum of the city’s life provided a comforting backdrop. However, the serenity was abruptly shattered when a figure emerged from the shadows, his intentions evident in his predatory gaze.

"Well, what do we have here?" he sneered, advancing toward you with a menacing grin.

Before you could react, he seized your arm, his grip like iron. Panic surged through you, but before you could cry out, a commanding voice resonated through the alley.

"Release her. Now."

Both you and your assailant turned to see Mydei, the crown prince of Kremnos and the warrior of Okhema.

"This is none of your concern," the man spat, acting like the person he’s talking too isn’t Mydeimos.

Mydei stepped forward, the air around him shimmering with latent energy. "Here, all matters of justice are my concern."

The assailant released you, attempting to flee, but with a swift motion, Mydei ran after him, managing to catch the guy.

"You dare defile the sanctity of Amphoreus with your actions?" Mydei’s voice was cold, each word measured. "Such transgressions cannot go unpunished."

With a subtle gesture, Mydei threw the man away, making him land harshly on the ground. The man cried out before collapsing, unconscious but alive.

Turning to you, Mydei’s demeanor softened just a little bit, though he was still pissed at that guy. "Are you harmed?"

You nodded, still shaken. "Just a bruise. Thank you."

He extended a hand, helping you to your feet. "These streets are meant to be safe for all. I regret that this was not your experience tonight."

As he spoke, you couldn’t shake of the fact that your heart was beating so fast. After all, you’re standing before Mydei. It doesn’t help that he looks so handsome either. Though, you managed to get out of your thoughts after hearing Mydei’s voice again.

"Rest assured," he continued, his voice firm yet comforting, "such acts will not be tolerated. Should anyone threaten you again, they will face the full extent of Amphoreus’s justice."

In that moment, you felt a profound sense of safety, knowing that Mydei was there.

Tbh, I‘m not really proud of this OneShot, but it is what it is 😔

I just feel like I could’ve done better.

Have a good day/night/evening/morning/afternoon ☼꥟☽

[angelltheninth]

How would star wars character relax their S/O?

A Star Wars request, lets go! Miss writing for this fandom.

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Ben "Kylo Ren" Solo, Rey, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Din Djarin, Sabine Wren, Shin Hati x Reader

Tags: fluff, established relationship, relaxation, cuddles, kissing, literal sleeping together

Ko-Fi | Rules | Fandoms and Characters | Commissions

A/N: Feel particularly sleepy today. The weather sucks. I need cuddles from my favorite characters.

ANAKIN

Pulls you into bed with him and doesn't let you do anything work related for the rest of the day. Don't even think about anything work related when you're spending time with him, he is your beacon for a stress-free zone. He kisses your forehead while you cuddle, his hands pressing into your tense muscles. Considers it a great achievement when you fall asleep in his arms like that.

LUKE

Invites you to a meditation session with him. Might sounds silly but it really helps relax both the mind and the body, clear your thoughts, let go off all the stressful things of the day. His hands reach for yours, constantly rubbing his thumbs over the back of your hands to help you relax further. If you can't relax he will talk you through it, giving you his words of affection to focus on.

BEN

Oh he is not the best at relaxing, in fact he might be one of the worst people in the galaxy for that. But if there's anything he can be proud of is that he really does try to help you de-stress. It's a little aggressive still, he wants to be close to you, give you a few little kisses but passion soon takes over. And while that can help you relax in certain ways you'd much prefer a simple cuddle session.

REY

You tell her she should take care of herself as much as she's taking care of you. This confuses how her. How will this help you relax? Well, if she isn't freaking out about you all the time and how much she has to work to give you the things you want then you would both be able to relax together, which would also mean more quality time spent together.

LEIA

Tells you to get as comfortable as you can be because she's gonna give you the best massage you've ever had in your life. She hadn't given many but she did get a lot of massages growing up. It's the perks of being royalty and she's confident she can help you relax the same way. She goes a little too hard on the knots in your shoulders but eventually she does hear you sigh in relief.

HAN

Will take your mind off anything stressful by telling about the latest heist offer he got. Yeah, the job is pretty reckless, but it sounds fun. He won't really go on this specific heist mind you, the pay is too low for someone of his caliber, but he's telling you how it could go, making you laugh by doing so. Making you laugh is all the reward he needs at the end of the day.

OBI-WAN

Has a whole relaxing evening planned out perfectly by the time you get home, no detail will escape him. It's almost too perfectly planned, so much so that he puts all that pressure on himself but hopes his charming smile is enough to distract from that. Won't put that pressure on you, he only wants you to relax and let him do things for you for a change. You deserve to relax after a long day of work.

DIN

The man is a great listener and cuddler and he will use both of those skill sets to help you unwind. Whatever you need to say to get things off your chest you can say it to him, and he will do his best to take care of the problem. Not necessary by going in and taking care of the problem personally, but just offering advice. But if his personal intervention is necessary he will go in and clean up the mess.

SABINE

Latches onto you whenever she can. She acts like she's a sponge that will absorb all of your stress, she will soak it up and help it melt away. Every time she notices you're feeling stressed, or pent up or sad there's a hug waiting for you, big or small it hardly matters to her how long you want her to hug you. It's important that you know she's there for you whenever you need her.

SHIN

Isn't good at giving advice or dealing with stress. She's not someone who considers herself a stressed person so the feeling is unfamiliar to her, she doesn't know how to help you. That being said she will at least listen, really listen to what you have to say and the reasons why you're stressed. At the end all she can offer you is her closeness, her presence there, but even that is enough.

[mysticasrandomhorde]

Message to fellow Submas fans and Drayden lovers. (Hi, this part of the fandom has decided to take up space in my brain)

I offer a thought. (Be kind, I never played the games)

While I appreciate and love all of the Au fics of the Subway twins being either the human form/ reencarnations of Reshiram and Zekrom,

I think we can up this Au concept just A BIT better.

Hear me out.

What about the third dragon? The remainder of the original dragon?

Kyurem?

What if that pokemon had reencarnated as well?

As instead of fusing back to its original form, but as a guide to the newfound dragons under him?

Weakened from from the split, but holds a strong bond to the dragons of truth and ideals?

Defending its home from those who wish to misuse its power once again??

What if..?

What if that was Drayden?

I MEAN-

Let's see, the man has relations to dragons, yeah? He's the 8th gym before the Elite Four, in which SPECIALIZE with Dragon types.

His family's lore ties to the dragons , with him telling the story behind Kyurem too.

ill be honest , he kinda looks like it, with white features and yellow eyes. Mans be a bit intimdating.

Plus, ppl headcanon a lot that Ingo and Emmet are Drayden's sons /nephews, so the connection wouldn't be that far off.

...Also that would mean Iris would be adopted by a family of Dragons , which I love that for her.

Lemme know if Im missing a few things that could make this work, or just thoughts on the concept, I would love to hear feedback.

[revvethasmythh]

sorry, i'm new to the fandom but i instantly fell in love with widobrave….. is the ship really that unpopular?

well first, hello, and welcome to the fandom!! (both cr and widobrave!)

second, i think it's actually difficult for me to track how popular/unpopular widobrave is right now in the fandom, and i only started shipping it in 2020 so I can't give a full historical perspective on what the shipping scene looked like at the beginning besides what i've heard (people thought nott was a child at the very beginning of the show, then it turned into "nott is caleb's mom!" after that, and i'll exempt some further details in case you don't want any potential spoilers since you're new and I don't know how much you know, but those two things did a lot to make the ship....undesirable to the masses, shall we say). from my own perspective, I remember going into the ship and feeling like it was fairly fringe back in 2020 (and it was). small group of people, usually exclusively nott stans, were like the only people you'd see shipping it and a lot of people reacted negatively to the idea of the ship. there was an undercurrent that it was bad because some found it "incestuous" due to feeling like nott was caleb's mother (a thing that it not true in either the literal or metaphorical capacity!) and this has been the most persistent pushback against the ship that i am aware of. generally, back in the day, there was a sense that nott couldn't seriously be shipped with anyone, but especially not someone she thought of as "her kid," much as that's simply a popularly proliferated misunderstanding of ONE scene in the entire show.

the current state of widobrave affairs? i honestly don't know. it's certainly still a very small ship, but there's been a LOT of lightening up about it in the years since the campaign ended. i've seen a lot more neutral-positive opinions toward it, whereas in years past...i mean, i've been blocked just for shipping it. i've seen more than one "do NOT tag this as widobrave" statement on art pieces, like...it was considered FRINGE once upon a time. but i feel like it's stopped being fringe and is now just...small? again, it's usually exclusively nott stans that ship it, so already not a big pool of people just based on that. it's certainly not mainsteam or anything, but i certainly feel more comfortable maintagging my widobrave posts these days than i used to. i think a lot of people just don't want to look at the relationship in a romantic light, despite the fact that in most circumstances their initial setup would have been a HUGE jumping off point for shipping (just look at the immediacy of imogen/laudna shipping, who share practically the same backstory/relationship setup), and generally prefer the other, bigger ships in the fandom. it would probably take a dissertation's worth of explanation to dig into all the reasons why that is, but that is generally where the ship sits in the fandom.

if anyone has more insight on the history of the ship's fandom reception/current reception, i'd love to hear it since it missed out on those founding years! and again, a hearty to welcome to the fandom! it's always nice to see an new widobraver around

[coraniaid]

I'm doing a Buffy rewatch and it's made me realize that Giles has so many sweet moments with Buffy and Willow, but he never really warms up to Xander. Thoughts on why that is? Love your blog, btw! Your analyses are so insightful and interesting. Hence the question. :)

Thank you!

So ... the most obvious issue, I guess, is that Xander is the comic relief while Giles is responsible for keeping Buffy focused on her mission and aware of the dangers and risks involved. I mean that both in a narrative sense -- these are literally the roles the characters exist to fill -- and also in terms of how they both think of themselves as people. (I don't think you have to be too sympathetic to Xander to realize his humor is a coping mechanism: that he consciously works to be 'the funny one' because he doesn't think he can be as smart as Willow or as stereotypically masculine as he's been brought up to think he should be). And naturally that's going to put them in tension a lot of the time: see, for example, Giles snapping at Xander in What's My Line? when he doesn't take the Order of Taraka sufficiently seriously ("now isn't the time for jokes").

But beyond that, I think there are two or three different factors at play, which we can sum up as "Xander reminds Giles of himself when he was a teenager", or more generally "Xander is a teenage boy, a class of people Giles doesn't have much respect for", or -- taking that word 'class' a little more literally -- "Giles can be a bit of a snob".

Xander reminds Giles of himself when he was a teenager

Of course, on the surface Xander isn't much like Giles at all -- not the adult, educated, respectable Giles we see on the show or the more rebellious 'Ripper' we only hear about until Band Candy. But I think they are more alike than it might appear at first.

People sometimes talk about Giles's Ripper persona as if that's who Giles really is. Ethan Rayne does, in universe, and a lot of the fandom seems to agree with him. It's not really true though, I don't think. 'Ripper' is a mask, a construct that young Giles adopts precisely because it's not the sort of person he's spent most of his childhood being. And what was Giles like for most of his childhood?

Well, we know that he was forced to be more studious than he was naturally inclined to be (he admits in The Dark Age to having "hated [...] the tedious grind of study"). We know from Never Kill A Boy On The First Date that as a boy he wanted to be "a fighter pilot" (compare with Xander's fantasy about being a solider) or "possibly a grocer" (compare with Xander's actual eventual work). We even know, from A New Man, that he could be a bit of a class clown at times (in that episode he starts telling an anecdote about a time he played "a little bit of a prank with the [school's] dart board").

Who does that remind us of? Or what about other similarities: compare, for example, Xander rehearsing asking Buffy out (in Prophecy Girl) with Giles rehearsing asking Jenny out a few episodes later (in Some Assembly Required). Or in Season 6, compare Giles leaving Buffy -- for what Once More With Feeling tells us he believes is her own good -- with Xander refusing to fulfil his earlier promise to marry Anya, also ostensibly for her own good.

There are also big similarities in how both Xander and Giles relate to Buffy. Crucially, both of them describe her as something they're not: a hero. Xander first, in Season 4's The Freshman ("When it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, 'What would Buffy do?' You're my hero.") and then in a more negative light Giles in Season 5's The Gift (he preemptively justifies his murder of Ben by telling him that Buffy "couldn't take a human life" because "she's a hero, you see ... she's not like us". He's talking to Ben here, but he could be talking to Xander too.)

So that's one factor: Xander reminds Giles of (what he thinks are) his own worse impulses. (I don't think that's a particularly fair assessment on Giles' part, of course. Xander is noticeably more open with his feelings than Giles can be, for one thing. But I think this is how Giles sees Xander.)

Xander is a teenage boy, a class of people Giles doesn't have much respect for

If Xander doesn't remind Giles of his own younger self, he surely reminds him of people he knew growing up. We know (from Season 4's A New Man) that Giles went to public school (i.e. a private, fee-paying school, probably a boarding school). Many public schools in England, even today, are segregated by gender, and (although I don't have the figures to hand) I'd expect the majority were when Giles was of school age, so probably everyone Giles went to school with was a boy.

And what does Giles think about teenage boys? Well, nothing very good. In Season 1's The Pack, he fails to see at first that Xander's been possessed, assuming all his new negative traits are just typical for a teenager:

"Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate? And there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor? And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles? It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy."

Later in that same scene he announces that "testosterone ... turns all men into morons". Later still, in Season 3's The Prom, he is surprised by Buffy's classmates recognition of her work protecting them because he "had no idea that children en masse could be so gracious".

We don't really see much of Oz and Giles interacting (beyond Oz appreciating Giles's record collection in Season 4, which is arguably a bit of a retcon since a previous episode suggested Giles is still a fan of the Bay City Rollers), and Buffy doesn't really have any other friends who are teenage boys, so it's hard to be sure how much of Giles's attitude towards Xander is Xander-specific and how much is just Xander being a teenage boy (and thus automatically being suspect in Giles' eyes).

Giles can be a bit of a snob

One way in which Xander and Giles are noticeably not similar at all is their social background. Giles went to public school and Oxford (and it's strongly implied that his parents and grandparents did the same, since going to Oxford seems to be part of his training as a Watcher). Giles had a job (maybe) working for the British Library. Giles speaks several languages, including Latin and Greek. Giles never seems to worry about money at all: he owns a large house and buys new cars, even when he's supposedly unemployed, he's able to give Buffy a gift of a very large check without experiencing any obvious hardship.

Xander ... didn't and can't do those things. I'm not sure the show ever quite makes this explicit, but I get the strong sense that he doesn't go to college not by choice but both because he doesn't have the grades and his parents wouldn't (want to, or be able to) pay the fees. Xander's home life sounds terrible for a number of reasons, but one element is that his parents just don't seem to have the same level of wealth as Willow's or Cordelia's or even Buffy's.

Willow's parents are academics and Buffy's mom owns an art gallery (and her dad does ... something in an office that involves "quarterly projections"), but Xander? In Season 1 we learn he has an uncle (possibly the famous Uncle Rory?) who used to work in a computer research lab, albeit "in a floor sweeping capacity". In Bad Girls Cordelia tells him that she's different from him because "my father has a job". In Out of Mind Out of Sight he admits his mother never cooks and Willow wonders out loud if his parents even own a stove.

Xander is working class coded in a way that really none of the other characters on the show are. None of the other characters until Faith arrives in Season 3, anyway. And crucially Giles also doesn't seem to care for Faith: he treats her much more like Xander than he treats either Buffy or Willow (or even Kendra, who he seems to warm to quickly in her limited time on the show).

I don't know how intentional this is on the writers' part -- I suspect it isn't very intentional, honestly -- but it seems noticeable that Buffy and Willow are both (at least initially) well-behaved, rules-respecting children from stable homes whose parents have money and who encourage their children to take education seriously, and that they are all also fairly obviously Giles's favorites. Especially when you factor in Giles general air of mild (and sometimes not so mild) cultural superiority ("She's quite a good poet, for an American" in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, say; or his complaint about a demon after money in Enemies being evidence that "no one has any standards anymore"; or his suggestion that Xander taunting the fear demon in Fear Itself is "tacky"; or his arguments with Jenny -- in which she repeatedly calls him snobby -- about the relative merits of rare, curated books as opposed to more accessible forms of knowledge; or his attitude towards Buffy's taste in fashion or music more generally).

And ... well, this is consistent with who the show tells us Giles is, right? Somebody with his background would be encouraged in all sorts of small ways from a very early age to look down on somebody like Xander. Somebody who doesn't go to the right sort of school or talk in the right sort of way or know the right things or have the right sort of parents. So perhaps it's no surprise that he does exactly that.

[honeyhotteoks]

hi,

i recently saw a tiktok about like fanfic. i’m not sure if you have seen the trend where it goes like “when x does something” vs. “when y does something” where x is okay and y is not.

basically it was about how reading fanfiction about characters is okay but when it is about like real people it is weird. and everyone in the comments was like “that’s so weird” and other comments that weren’t so nice. like some were dissing x reader inserts as well and i was baffled likeee…

i’ve read fanfiction for years and i have never seen so much discourse about it being wrong until kpop and i never understood it. i wanted to hear your thoughts on it as a fanfiction writer. (although i am one too, you’ve been writing for a lot longer than i have)

— 🪻 anon

oh great question and i’d absolutely love to answer it.

so for context i have been involved in fandom spaces since i was a kid, i was reading fanfiction probably as young as eight or nine (not necessarily smutty fic, ofc, but like my little fandom brain needed to know what fanficition.net had to say about spyro the dragon even before i understood what fandom or fan works were). for many, many years i read and wrote only fanfic based on already fictional works, and i genuinely thought rpf (real person fiction) was weird. i use to be one of those people that would have been in those comments saying it was weird like i had some kind of moral superiority about it.

i say all that so that everyone understands where i’m coming from when i answer this question, but just as a note up top…… this conversation has been around for YEARS. i think it’s gotten worse in recent years because we’re having a very strange moral backslide globally and conversations about sex and sexuality have gotten even more conservative and laden with shame. it’s no surprise to me we’re seeing it heavily in the kpop space that has a lot of young fans, passionate fans, and parasocially committed fans. but the tension between rpf and non-rpf has been around for a while for sure.

kpop fanfiction changed my mind about writing rpf, but that being said i still have some personal boundaries about rpf as a genre in general. kpop is an interesting fandom to be involved in for so many reasons, but one of the reasons that i think i started to break down some of those internalized reservations about rpf is because of how clearly manufactured the parasocial elements of kpop are. there’s no other fandom experience in the world (that i am aware of) where famous celebrities do not have romantic partners intentionally, actively treat fans like romantic partners, have apps to text those fans with a y/n feature, and do literal relationship fan service. the culture of kpop in general fosters this level of parasocial connection that as a writer, i perceive as almost a stage play. basically what i mean by that is that the nature of the industry pushes a romantic real-person storyline for fans to either self insert into or ship members, and not only do i think the industry is aware of fanfiction, i think it benefits from it.

when i write RPF about kpop boys….. i’m writing about their characters that we’re allowed to see. i know we speculate and we have fun etc., but at this point I consider ateez and yunho for me in particular more like writing muses to play around with romance novel scenarios. I could easily sub out yunho’s name in across stardust and swap it out of second person and have a totally agnostic novel about a girl and a celebrity.

that being said, rpf still sometimes makes me uncomfortable in other scenarios. i’m not saying that i’m right or wrong in this, but i just don’t feel as comfortable reading rpf of like…… idk tom holland and zendaya let’s say, where they are a cute public couple but the industries and the fan relationships are completely different. again, that’s purely a personal preference, but just an example of what feels good and doesn’t feel as good to me as a writer and reader. that is not at all to say those readers and writers and doing anything wrong, i don’t think they are and would defend them, but it’s where my personal preferences with rpf lie.

the other thing i’ll say is this….. a lot of people have a problem with rpf for a few big reasons, and i just want to dig into those below -

the real person didn’t consent to this - I understand that, but I think this is a bit of a flawed argument when it comes to fanfiction. While I do believe RPF should never, ever be shared with the person being written about because that to me crosses boundary lines, I think the consent conversation is faulty logic. Firstly, if a famous person (or any person) needed to consent to be fantasized about romantically, platonically, sexually, etc. we’re very quickly running into weird thought-crime territory and I have a distinct problem with this. People have fantasized about people forever, that’s how romance and sexuality works, and there’s truly nothing wrong with that. I mean that truly in all senses of the word too, I don’t care of people dream about marrying someone or getting railed by someone, it’s their internal thoughts and that’s not my business. The line cross comes when those fantasies get pushed into the famous person’s real life. I am not at all okay with sexually explicit signs at concerts, sending fanfic to idols, or pushing them to do more ‘shipping’ content. THAT is where the parasocial lines blur and to me that tells me the person engaging in that content is not mature enough to understand fiction vs. reality. Muddling that with the argument that famous people need to ‘consent’ to being sexualized or written about is an oversimplification and frankly, pretty puritanical. People crossing those lines, to me anyways, are proving that they do not see the idols as people, they see them as objects. Whereas a lot of writers and artists, myself included, see them as people presenting a character and I am happy to keep my delulu fun with those characters fully separate and divorced from any interactions i may ever have with them as a real people.

shipping is wrong! you can’t assume their sexuality! - I know I write m/f rpf mostly, but you’ve seen m/m pairings in my work and i also love to read a quality m/m fic from time to time. I don’t write shipping fic because it’s not really in my arsenal to do that, I prefer writing female POVs, but I have absolutely no problem with that as a genre. People do though, and often it’s coming from a deep place of internalized homophobia. What I would say to this is…. one, why are you assuming someone’s sexuality is straight as the default? Two, while some rpf shippers are “truthers” who take it a bit too far and think that idols are actually coupled up….. most of the time these are people just writing a gay relationship. In the same way that my fic could be swapped out into a romcom, so could theirs if you changed the names. It’s truly not that serious. If you’re the type of person who can’t separate the characters of woosan or matz from the actual people, I would argue again that this is a maturity problem, if not a more insidious morality problem rooted in homophobia.

shipping yourself with a famous person is gross and weird! you must be a crazy fan/sad loser! - Yeah, no. Once again, if you’re able to separate person and character, then all you’re doing is writing imaginary scenarios with a character. Self insert as a genre is more just the flexibility to write second person present tense to me rather than coming up with an entire rich character with a name every time - it lends itself to quick scenarios, flexible readership, and feels better than writing “I” all the time. While yeah, some fans take things too far as they always do, this is the exception and not the rule. As far as if that means we’re ‘crazy fans’ or ‘sad losers’…….. I think you’ll find the crazy fans are the ones acting without boundaries at barricade or at fansigns, not the quiet writers playing in lovely little scenarios. I’ve never once had a fancall with Yunho, and I’m not sure if I would even be comfortable doing so after writing him as a character after all this time. Comparing that to the rabid serial fancall problem where I see fans saying things like “you don’t understand, he knows me” ….. I think I’ll stick on the side of rpf fiction versus that line cross every time.

The last thing I’ll say is this……….. look around in fandoms, particularly those creating works in fandom spaces like art, fiction, etc. and you will find a sea of neurodivergent people. Anecdotally, you’ll also find so many people dealing with things like depression, anxiety, traumatic events or childhoods, etc. Of course that’s not a rule by any means, and this is entirely based on my personal experience in fandoms over the years, but what I think is important to emphasize here is that a lot of people who fall into those buckets explore their internal selves through character and through creative expression. I think it’s important as people to stop labeling people as “weird” when they are doing something different to you, and start leading with empathy and curiosity.

I could talk for hours about unpacking trauma through the romance genre, or exploring sexuality in safe spaces through shipping, or even just learning how to write using characters in existing spaces……. but that’s probably best for another post if people are interested. At the end of the day, my take on RPF is that it’s no different to other forms of fanfiction, especially within a space as parasocial and crafted as kpop. People are free to disagree with me, just as they are free to scroll and not engage with my content, but to me there’s nothing inherently ‘wrong’ or shameful about it. And in my experience, people who need to shame others for their preferences in fandom often have a lot of internal shame they’ve yet to unpack.

[necrocrafter]

MCD rewrites are so FUN because the only limitations are MYSELF. I could make any matter of nonsense canon. For instance, I could make Zanvis canon in MCD. No, dont scroll away! HEAR ME OUT!

'Holy' Priest of O'Khasis Zane, who is seen as a holy man across Ru'aun (to those that don't know better). He is seen as the most devote priest of THEE Lady Irene. Only to leave death, rot, and destruction in his wake everywhere he sinks his claws into. A powerful, well-known but sinful man hiding behind his faith of the holy goddess of their realm. Only to fall and be turned into a creature servant to Irene's inverse. He goes through YEARS of torture and abuse at the hands of Shadowknights and escapes the Nether. But he's so messed up from it that he can barely function. He's HARDLY the great threat he was before, even WITH all his new power.

Here comes Travis, aka "he was a quiet man, with blessings on his hands." Travis who grew up alone and scorned by his people. Who kept his father and his imp servants in check. Travis, who is a being of mixed blood, who doesn't fit in anywhere as far as regular humans are concerned. Travis, who spends YEARS up in the mountains alone AGAIN after everything. Who watches the Phoenix Capital from the highest points but never ventures down or into town. Travis, who is lonely. Travis who becomes free of the Demon Warlock and has no idea what he SHOULD do. Travis who is yearning to explore his options and not settle for the responsibility of taking on a relic when he has been fighting for so LONG. Travis who goes off and wanders and eventually finding FAR from Brightport Zane.

The two getting in a fight, but Travis coming out victorious, surprising Zane. Zane who is at another's mercy and is spiteful to keep living. Travis who had never PERSONALLY met or been HURT by Zane but knows the stories from his friends. Travis who takes Zanes hissed comments like water of his back because he's USED to hateful comments being thrown his way. That's BEEN his life. He's used to it. Why fight it? Travis who isn't impressed by Zanes mask and acts. Travis, who while trying to drag Zane back to Brightport, ends up on crazy misadventures. Travis, who through all of this, slowly unveils Zane Ro'meave. Travis who Zane slowly becomes to be close with and begin to bond over unexpected experiences.

Two losers in the world who unexpectedly become each other's safe space. A former high priest of the most holy goddess in Ru'aun turned demon from the Nether and a half human half demon who happens to be a warlock. What an interesting pair those two would make.

Honestly, I LOVE how downright EVIL and DESPICABLE Zane is in MCD. I wouldn't change it for the world. But I also want him to be fucked up from his transformation/torture in the Nether. I want him to be so horrifically traumatized from it that it nearly consumes him. [I'm also petty cause you can NOT just have Laurance be fucked up from his time in the Nether and then have ZANE be FINE. Remember, 1 day in the overworld = 2 weeks in the Nether. Zane was in there for 3 Y E A R S. Whilst also being tortured from all those he previously killed that ALSO became Shadowknights.] He will NOT repent and become good. I don't want that for him, at least in my rewrite. I want him to still be sly and slick. But I also want someone(s) to genuinely be in his corner as a friend, confidant, or lover. I think it'd be fun and cool for it to be Travis. Also because I used to be a Zanvis shipper when I was younger, and I want to bring in interesting dynamics to the fandom/rewrite.

PLUS, Priest X Demon, so...

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay you know what actually yeah. I was tired but I had a point.

Why. On earth. In zelda fics. Do people not shut up about everything being hylia's fault forever and ever.

Like, the one deity out of a dozen odd who got cursed into this right alongside Link. All the focus on one great all being power who then gets blamed or blessed for everything that ever happens. It's just... I don't know, it just seems like a culturally Christian thing. Not even that - American catholic.

Especially Legend omg when people write him he never shuts up about how everything bad that's ever happened to him is all hylia's fault and she's doing it on purpose with no thought to her poor beleagured hero. He sounds like someone who grew up in an American conservative household who turned out to be queer and never bothered to unpack any of it and acts like he's now atheist.

But even then you could do something interesting with that!! The common headcanon that Legend is hylian royalty - of course that family would put immense worth and worship on hylia as her descendants, she who founded their kingdom. And maybe legend could feel bitter about not inheriting the magic, or the throne, or whatever meant he grew up away from the castle. Give him some unexamined religious trauma! Heck, he could bond with Flora over disappointing your family's expectations or something! They could work on unpacking it together! If you must make it part of his character at least think about why!

Because that belief is wrong, because hylia is literally the one deity we can pretty safely understand is not all seeing, all knowing, all being.

Every time she has a voice, a role, we see her make mistakes or be tricked and have regrets.

Skyward sword, she's literally zelda. She's a young protective warrior goddess (she used a sword and lead armies to battle against demise) who was created by the Three to guard the triforce and keep watch over hyrules lands. By the time ss starts she's already made several tough calls, not limited to yoinking hylians into the sky. When she was zelda she hated every second of leading Link around and even then!! It all hinged on him being completely willing! He was never forced to do anything, she didn't even have her memories with the plan until after she'd fallen to the surface! Their relationship was entirely genuine and she very nearly overestimated her own willingness to go through with the plan! And even then she still managed to get kidnapped lmao. That's not what happens when you're in charge of fate.

And in botw and totk - she's in her full divine form, her full divine powers, she's ancient and magic and worshipped in every corner of the kingdom. And (spoilers!) she loses contact with one of her own mf statues. Not just any ten apples high chibi statue you see in the towns, no, it's The Big One. She's got no idea what happened to it, but she's (rightfully) worried, and asks Link to check it out. And in an entirely separate instance, her OTHER big statue in the ToT gets overridden!! By a triangle head! And ol creep in the deep is the one who releases the statue! It's been what 20k years of power and worship - if she's not all powerful then she never will be.

Hyrule - every hyrule - is very, very polytheistic. She's not even a goddess of time to be in charge of stuff like that! There's multiple of them: Naryu, Cia (and Lana), Farosh to an extent, and many artifacts that can cause time travel, like the harp of ages, the ocarina, the big portal in ss, those time shift stones in the same game, the statue in wind waker. Please stop treating her like the magic elf equivalent of Monotheistic American Christianity God.

She was introduced in skyward sword. The game that came out before botw. She did not exist in any of the games that came before that. There was a lake hylia! In the kingdom hyrule! That's it! Her name or even existence wasn't even hinted at before that. It's actually canonically pretty unlikely any of the chain (cough cough legend) have even heard of her! And her assigned job is protector of the triforce. That's it. And she can't even use the thing. She can very explicitly as a main driving force of the ss plot not use the triforce she protects. And the triforce, shockingly, is not even in every game.

Cases that hylia often gets the most flack for (links awakening and all the trauma from that, Link failing in botw, the events of totk) hylia has absolutely zero part in. Hilariously. And she has zero power over wishes made to the triforce or who makes those wishes or what the triforce does about it.

She even gets all the blame for the cycle of the hero, the reincarnation! Which? We know exactly how that happened. Blaming her for a curse she herself is a victim to?? Demise, in skyward sword, explicitly, on screen, doing it ON PURPOSE, cursing the spirit of the hero and the blood of the goddess.

Hylia, I don't know if you've noticed, also has her own blood. Whether or not she lost that blood upon return to her divine form, she still couldn't break the curse. Link, spirit now tied to whatever demise had cooking up, is basically to reincarnate in time for whenever the Interesting Times happen. And it's demise's fault, who, again, did it on screen, on purpose, explicitly, pointing at the camera with text bolded and everything.

So why do people even blame her? I think it comes down to this:

Her name matches the kingdom. Whatever her connection to the people with the same name, I don't know, but she did found the surface kingdom as a mortal. Being named zelda at the time I wonder who chose the name XD!

Her worship in botk as a high ranking deity. Again, not monotheistic, there's temples to the Three and there's Malanya and Satori and the great fairies and the yiga worship ganon, but hylia is the most widespread for all she's basically a side character working for the new heart piece situation. Again, this is only the case in ss/botk, she doesn't appear in even aoc.

A misguided belief spread in fanfiction that in linked universe, hylia is the one opening and controlling the portals. To my knowledge, lu canon is that the portals are opened by dark link, or at least that's the working theory. I think it's assumed that hylia is the one who gathered the heroes together to combat it? If that's true? Congratulations! We have one (very plot necessary) act of hers in a fan comic. That is not canon to The Legend Of Zelda series.

An american Christian (I hesitate to say evangelican?) cultural understanding of religion. The differences between polytheism and monotheism. How one might feel if the divine was proven real on earth. Zelda is a Japanese property, it is not a Christian country. Though it draws aesthetic inspiration from western medieval fantasy it is not and never will be culturally western. The majority of ao3/tumblr users are American or at least English speaking, and that will always affect interpretation. It's giving 'be thankful to God no matter what for he always has a plan. Trust in him and your suffering will be rewarded' which is not a universal religious belief.

Something I've noticed to be surprisingly common in fandom, is where a mentor or figure of authority who is anything less than perfect or all forgiving can very quickly have their reputation ripped to shreds by the fandom. And then newer authors come, read those works, internalise that about the characters and produce new works that assume that character's cruelty to be par for the course. I will not be listing those characters or fandoms for a variety of reasons lol. But it is amazingly common and very hard to untangle, especially in larger fandoms. It's character bashing in a way near identical to cancelling people irl. It's not 'giving them depth' or 'making it more realistic' (grittier equalling realism is an ice cold take proliferated by dudebro comic authors and wrong besides.) Have some critical thinking.

Lately, I've also been running into a great many fics (not so much comics) that make hylia do some fairly heinous stuff... And then unironically blame her for it. They do remember they're the ones deciding what the characters do, right? She's not an abusive master playing with her puppets until they break, she's quite the opposite! Use the right tags (dark hylia/ooc characters/character bashing/author made them do it, idk) or dial it back. This is a growing percentage of fics and I'll never restrict content but yanno, if you're going to make hylia evil or manipulative at least understand it's a canon deviation (and do something interesting with it, I once read an amazing botw fic with evil hylia and fierce deity!).

TLDR, To summarise, hylia is canonically incapable both emotionally and physically of doing the majority of things characters in fics blame her for. Stop using her as a scapegoat especially when demise is right there. Please give your whumpees deeper characterisation than hating on hylia. Please give legend deeper characterisation than hating on hylia every time he or someone else is sad. Please remember wild can talk to hylia if he wants. Please double check anything you're not sure about :D!

[iceclew]

Don't mind me slide in some polyship (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ___♡♡♡ *sliiiides* *whispers* I might have fell for them now as well, whoops.

Sorry, the texts are a bit off, i didn't do them properly this time..

Also the non text version down below.

This sorta started as practice reference poses and I found the progress kinda interesting, so here's also the intial concept sketch as well. And the Refs 1 2 3 4

[seventh-district]

Sam: "Look at me. Hey- look at me a second. I know. I know you're tough. I know how strong you are. You have every right to be proud of that. But being able to handle somethin' doesn't mean you should have to. Least of all when I'm right here trying to help. Please let me help. If not for you then for me, because I don't like knowin' you're hurtin', especially when there's somethin' I can do about it."

Me, shaking my head, fighting back literal tears: "B-but it's gonna give you another headache!"

[theshadowrealmitself]

Current hero oc’s who have control of my brain:

Hero 1: Started out as a completely Human child superhero, works in the shadows, no one had any idea this was a child, or that they were just. a regular Human. or any idea of gender or any other defining characteristics.

At some point, they got into some supernatural business, and now they have supernatural abilities, but at a great cost to themselves. it’s essentially like. if they had that crown from cotl. The hero uses the “crown” (I haven’t actually settled on what physical item it is, I think an actual crown would be conspicuous for a civilian identity) to make sure its powers don’t fall into the wrong hands, if they don’t use the power ever then it’s no longer “bound” to them and anyone can grab it for themself, but again, using this dark and evil power just. sucks. In order to not fully succumb to it, they have to be the closest thing to a saint that they can be

They wear a long cloak that looks like shadows are pouring out of it, and they rarely speak, everyone thinks it’s because they’re just quiet, but they actually got a horrible injury to the throat at the start of their career and the rare times they do speak they have to use their power for it and it’s very draining for them, but they don’t want to tell anyone because then it’ll just be easier to connect the hero to the civilian with a large throat scar who speaks using asl. so yeah. they just gotta play up the “can totally speak just doesn’t want to” angle

Anyways, they’ve been on the scene forever since they started as a kid, but everyone just assumes they’re a well established adult who’s always been supernatural

Hero 2: Joined the scene as an adult, is a completely Human hero, no superpowers in sight, who uses tech to fight with, loves to make comparisons between her tech and the other hero’s “magic”, tries to mimic the other hero’s abilities which gives them a mini heart attack because if she does, will she also suffer from the horrible side affects?? Is actually a year or 2 older than the other hero, but no one, not even she, knows that

Wish I had more for her, but the prev hero is an established oc with various versions and she was barely brought into existence an hour or so ago

[demigirlravenqueen]

share all of your sexuality and gender identity hcs for ever after high pleaseeeeee

Thanks for asking!

I will say that I don’t really have many sexuality headcanons other than “this whole school in so queer coded”, mostly because I can’t even be bothered to put a label on myself lol. That being said hears the few I do have.

Raven: demigirl (as stated in the user name), bi, aspec. I actually made this post a while back her gender and Maddie if you're interested.

Maddie: I like to think that in wonderland they don't really put much of a label on gender or sexuality it just kinda is what it is. I've always thought of them as nonbinary though. (any pronouns)

Darling is the ultimate sword lesbian, Apple I also think is a lesbian.

What else ummm... I also really like trans man Alister. Giles Grim has extreme gay uncle energy. I think Briar is bi, I think Faybel would call herself queer. Oh! aspec Dexter and Circe. I also kind of like the aromantic Sparrow head canon but I also like the idia of him and Duchess as gay man and lesbian friendship.

And that’s all I can think of for now.

[dayurno]

are you going to read tsc when it comes out? and, if not: would you like your acolytes to give you the important kevin day updates or would you rather not?

oh my acolytes huh! well i don’t know :) it’s so nice of you to ask and i’m very touched actually…. nice to me 🥹…. i guess any (good) kevin updates would be nice and probably sway the balance on whether i read it or not, but at first glance i probably won’t read it unless it sparks my curiosity once it’s out and the story starts making its rounds around my circles :) i’m plenty interested in the period where jean stays with the foxes but i don’t much care for the trojans nor the proposed storyline*, though even a picky reader like yours truly can be convinced into buying a story if kevin day’s in it

*by this i don’t mean that i Dislike the process of jean healing but it’s just overall not my favorite theme and, to be frank, i don’t have much interest in reading about a normal well-adjusted team either. from my view tsc is aftg without my favorite parts (namely kevin day as a main character, the foxes’ messy dynamic, problematic and controversial side characters, neil’s narration, The Mafia, andrew in general) and while i am always and forever a ride or die for jean moreau, and i am glad he’s going to get better and be happy, a lot of my feelings for him don’t really stem from the idea that there is a softness underneath all the grit but actually and sincerely the fact that he is crazy. i Love jean because he’s horrible and scared and cruel and i don’t know if i’ll care much for him once he’s out of that state :) i meant it when i said a few months ago that i would’ve been more onboard with a story about the ravens (no matter how gruesome) or even a glimpse of jean’s pov in the nest, though of course nora sakavic should probably choose to be happy every once in a while so i wouldn’t ask her to write that

so tl;dr: you can send me good and relevant kevin updates if you want to and if they’re interesting enough i might read tsc in the future

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

the amount of DISDAIN I get from some ppl saying that blue flag is written for the straights.

girl I did not stay up til 6am reading this manga, tearing up and crying bc of how much I saw myself in characters like touma and masumi and how painfully relatable their pain/struggles were just for you to say that blue flag is for the straights

be so fr rn