#I think I share more info and background on it than I do my other works...

[nicoleshifting]

my walking dead alexandria dr

here's a little introduction to this dr, which is currently my main focus when shifting! I have partially shifted to this dr countless times.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

about me:

name: nicole blackwell

age: 24

s/o's: rick grimes and daryl dixon

my closest friends (other than rick and daryl) are rosita, sasha, maggie, and carol, but I pretty much get along with everyone in our group.

in general I have become quite an expert on array of weapons but my strong suit in this dr is being a sharp shooter.

some songs I associate with this dr:

✩champagne coast- blood orange

✩no. 1 party anthem- the arctic monkeys

✩kiss it better- rihanna

✩anything- adrianne leaker

✩BODYGUARD- beyoncé

(tw for suicide mentions)

background info:

prior to the apocalypse, I was in college majoring in creative writing and minoring in theater. during my senior year of college, my mental health took a major plummet and I found myself in the worst mental state I had ever been, struggling with the thought of what to do after graduation, trying to work a low-paying job, and already crippled by student loan debt.

when the apocalypse broke out, I was in an inpatient facility recovering from an attempt on my own life. (my mental health is something I have struggled with for a good portion of my life in both this dr and in my cr, and this was not something I had scripted into this dr, but something I found out about this reality via channeling. this is not something I take lightly/would script in randomly. this is something that is very relevant to my experience in my cr so that's all I will really say about that)

my survival instinct has kicked into overdrive in this new landscape I have found myself in, and though this world presents its own unique challenges as opposed to life before, it is a world I find myself thriving in more than ever before.

I started off with my family at the beginning of everything breaking out, but don't know what ended up happening to them. (this was something I learned via channeling) I then drifted between random groups of people and often found myself on my own for a while. I end up making my way to the prison that rick and the group had made a home in and am nearly at the end of the road myself as I find myself exhausted, injured, and struggling to even stand. daryl finds me in the woods outside the prison and ends up bringing me in, advocating for the group to aid me.

with reluctance, they do- under the pretense that I'll be hitting the road as soon as I'm better (spoiler alert- I'm not going anywhere).

some small canon divergences if anyone is curious: rick has no kids in this reality, tyrese is still alive and so is hershel (and he never lost a leg). in general, walkers are not very strong and relatively easy to overpower and have no strong smell (otherwise I think I would be blacking out from the stench). also negan/the saviors are nonexistent.

upon first shifting to this reality, it's the first day we have arrived in alexandria and are still adjusting to the community.

I feel like that's all the pertinent information for now. as I receive more information via downloads/channeling that I have an interest in sharing/feel comfortable sharing I will update this! (also as I continue to shift to this reality this may be updated as well lol).

[kirkwallsbane]

that one post the other day asked about Lavellan's family members and reminded me that I had concepts of rewriting the 'Protect Clan Lavellan' war table missions as an actual playable quest, especially one in my world where my companion OC Enasel'an Lavellan is involved

Anyway i've since written 6 pages of notes on how the quest would work and how Enasel'an specifically as a companion ties into it

[mcalhenwrites]

I told @latte-cosmico that I've decided from now on to start collecting screenshots when people take digs at my writing. Names blurred, but... I tend to block, bottle up, and not talk about all the shit that happens. Latt suggested, "maybe also screenshot the good stuff? That doc with negative comments might get at you at days" Which is sound advice. ...That's actually something I've done. I hope I don't put anyone on the spot (I rarely blurred out names or anything, since they're kind comments, although some of these are anon anyway), I'm going to post some screenshots I have already taken of comments on AO3 or asks from the past that have really touched me. I think I have a few things on my phone, but you'll have to settle for what's tucked away on this computer.

And this last one is @yume-x-hanabi translating a comment left in French for me, since I only understood parts of it. I wanted a proper translation from a living person (I even offered to pay her to translate it for me but she declined lol)

These aren't the only comments I took screenshots of, but I'll admit I haven't done much of that lately. I should probably get back into it... Thank you. If you see yourself here, you don't know how much you've worked to lift me up against the tide of negativity. It means a lot to me. I don't know if I'll survive enough to keep writing, honestly, but... I do wish that for myself. I do wish I could have more time to work on my stories and share some for free, publish some others, and survive financially. As it is, I've got to fight disabilities and chronic pain to work weekends, then spend a day or two a week just recovering physically from that. ;A; That's why I wanted to publish, why I keep pushing my Patreon. I happily share things for free, but I need money to live to the next day. It's tough and scary, and I think being in constant pain makes that even worse.

[lucrezianoin]

So one of my mutual on twitter was saying that it seems like in Western animated shows (a part from a general lack of queer romances) FF romances have higher numbers than MM. Because I wanted to check, I made a list so I thought it would be nice to share both FF and MM romances in Western animation, so people know where to find them!! (mm ships here)

These are all canon and I only added romances between main or very present secondary characters. I avoided stuff like background couples or "they gave her a girlfriend in the last episode" kind of stuff. Tho, I did not watch all these shows, so keep in my that for some of them I am using online info.

There will be SPOILERS (especially for: Did they kiss? Did they end up together?)

In order (top to bottom, left to right):

Miriam and Hira (Dragon Age Absolution): Ex-girlfriends who reconnect. Miriam is the protagonist and Hira one of the protagonists. Do they kiss? Yes. But at the end they break up but not because they are not in love with each other's, they still are very much in love (I still really enjoyed it, for the longing and the angst). Uncertain if there will be a season two that will continue their story.

Vi and Cait (Arcane): Complete show (two season). Vi and Cait are both protagonists and their relationship is the main romance of the show. They meet in season 1 and the romance progress pretty quickly. There is a break up in the middle, but it only makes the heart grow fonder! Do they kiss? Yes, they do much more. They do it all! They also have a happy ending!

Amaya and Janai (The Dragon Prince): Final season coming out soon. Amaya is one of the main characters since S1, Janai is introduced in S3 and then becomes one of the main cast. S3 is also when their romance start and when they meet. Enemies to lovers, enemies who flirt!! And then lovers! Do they kiss? Yes. They marry, in fact. Their story continues through the rest of the whole show, and all the adventures are never "Amaya vs Janai" but them working together as a couple and facing adversity. They are the second main romance of the show.

Korra and Asami (Legend of Korra): I mean, this is a classic. The romance was fought for by the creators, and the series ended with a "vague romance ending" as a form of censorship. Do they kiss? not in the show, but comics continue their story. Still, you can see their relationship progress in the show (from their first meeting to their romance ending), and I thank the comicbooks every single day or people would insist they are just friends.

Charlie and Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel): One season is out, another in the making. Charlie and Vaggie start as already in a relationship and are girlfriends since episode one. They are the main relationship in the show, and their romance is mainly about them facing adversities together (and romance troubles at one point). Do they kiss? Yes. And they sing love songs about and to each other's too.

Marceline and Bubblegum (Adventure Time): another wlw romance that was fought for and I think almost got censored! They are both part of the recurring secondary cast. I need a rewatch of this show (completed show btw) because there are so many hints when you get through the episodes knowing that Marceline and Bubblegum are having this rivals-animosity-girlfriend-flirting-breakup(they are supposedly exes!)-reconciliation romance in and off screen. Do they kiss? Yes, at the end! They do have an explicit happy ending and end up together! They are also shown happily together in the completed special sequel Adventure Time: Distant Lands.

Harley and Poison Ivy (Harley Quinn): Ongoing DC series, Harley is the protagonist and Ivy a main character. They start as friends and begin dating at the end of season 2. I have not watched the show, but I know that they are still together and they do kiss multiple times!

Adora and Catra (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power): Complete series that ends up with an explicit canon romance (and kiss!) and a happy ending! I have yet to watch it (I NEED TO), but I know that the series introduce them as childhood friends turned enemies and then has an enemies to lovers arc! Also Adora is the protagonist and Catra a main character.

Amity and Luz (The Owl House): I have not watched this, sorry! There might be other queer main ships in this show that I am not aware of. I just know that Luz is the protagonist and Amity a main character. The show is complete and they do have a happy ending. Do they kiss? Yes!

Bean and Mora (Disenchantment): Bean is the protagonist and Mora a secondary character, their relationship develops in S3 and S4 (the show is complete). I did not finish this yet, so I have yet to encounter Mora. Do they kiss? Yes. And they are also endgame!

Ruby and Sapphire (Stephen Universe): I am sorry, I know nothing about this show! I just know that are among the main characters cast, they do have a happy ending, they marry and they kiss!

Zarya and Kitty (Mysticons): Sadly, I think this ship fell to censorship. I have not watched the show, but from what I gather they were supposed to kiss (there is a cut scene with a kiss), but the show only aired a more vague ending for them. They seem to be only hinted through S1 and S2, and even if they explicitly say "I love you", most of the wiki I found calls them "childhood friends" only.

Luna and Sam (The Loud House): another show I am not familiar with, all I know is that they are canon! And Luna is a main character. I am unsure how much the show focuses on their relationship, but I know they explicitly date and then become girlfriends!

Batwoman and Renee (Batman Bad Blood): This is an animated movie with Kate (Batwoman) as the protagonist. Her and Renee do not end up together but they are on a date (explicitly a date!) at the start. Sadly I am not familiar with DC, but from what I gathered they did/do have a relationship in some comics too.

Beckett and Jennifer (Star Trek: Lower Decks): Sadly they do not have an endgame status or happy ending, and they break up in the show (but remain friends). Still, they do date (and kiss!) in at least two season.

Kelsey and Stacks (Craig of the Creek): Kelsey is a main character and Stacks seems to be a secondary character. They are both very young (9 or 10 years old!) and confirmed girlfriend, but I do not know more.

Red Action and Enid (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes): Another show I am not familiar with! What I know is that Enid is a main character and Red Action part of the main cast too. They are confirmed as girlfriend in S3, they do kiss and they are still together at the end!

Catwoman and Batwoman (Catwoman Hunted): I am cheating a bit because this is technically an anime (Japanese animation) but based on DC, so I decided to add them anyway. This is a movie. Catwoman is the protagonist and Batwoman a main character. They do seem to have a flirting relationship, there is an almost kiss, but technically only for distracting Batwoman.

MM SHIPS HERE

[mecachrome]

landoscar ao3 stats — 2023 overview

notes

retrieved ~sometime in march 2024

methodology: scraped metadata for every fic in the landoscar tag and...... that's it. however one important constraint is that all temporal data is date updated (not posted), so the above timeline isn't exactly a true representation of fic growth but rather how many fics were last-updated at that time. of course this is still its own reflection of fandom health in a way since dead fandoms don't update old fic but well... it's just not quite the same!

this is just info about general trends, fic content, tags etc... so nothing about kudos/comments or any authors specifically

i decided to focus solely on fics last-updated in 2023 (unless otherwise mentioned) because i wanted a tidy set that i can maybe compare & contrast in a year's time, because i expect a lot of details to look different then (tho as stated above this set isn't exactly static... 🤷‍♀️)

ngl i had to re-scrape a bunch of times because i forgot about it for like 3 weeks and then there were 100 new fics 😭 so if there are some minor discrepancies across the post it's because of that halfskh.

also i wanted to include more global comparisons (aka how 814 stack up against the f1 rpf tag in general), but this is also considerably difficult in some contexts since i can't exactly scrape 31,000+ fics can i... or i didn't even want to entertain the thought of trying to do so!!!

why did i do this? who knows.

anyway here's some viz T__T

ship growth

as evidenced in the opening graph, landoscar have been a very fast-growing ship over the past year — although interestingly enough they didn't really start growing substantially until july / the ~better half~ of the 2023 season. here are two views showing their "growth" (by date updated) alongside two other ships on the fringes of the f1 rpf top 10 (sebchal & galex):

landoscar are very much on-track to surpass them and officially enter the top 10 soon, likely before mid-april ❗️ :o

ship characteristics

onto the ship content — another thing i was mildly curious about was how landoscar differs in certain areas from other f1 ships, or the f1 rpf "global" average you could say. for example, here's a breakdown of rating popularity in their ao3 tag:

seeing as explicit is their most common rating, and that i don't necessarily expect this to be true for all ships/fandoms, i compared these percentages with the general f1 rpf tag to see whether some ratings are more commonly represented in 814 fic than average, which produced interesting results:

do lando ships simply skew more HornyTM in general? is it oscar? a secret third thing??? who knows... actually i think it would be fun to do more analysis in this direction but that can wait for another time!!!

similarly i also wanted to see which ships are the most "public" on ao3, as in have the highest share of fic that isn't user-locked... i will refrain from peppering in my feelings about the 4th wall too heavy-handedly but i was curious to see whether some sort of perhaps... er, generational gap (?) of sorts between ships that are more public vs. not could be identified. however i don't pretend to have any takeaways from this LOL i conclude absolutely nothing. (for ref landoscar is currently 72% public, vs. a global avg of 63%)

note that this graph is current stats, not filtered for 2023

looking at relationship tags, i also wanted to know whether landoscar suffer noticeably from Second-Ship Syndrome, so i tallied the first-tagged ship of every fic to find out. i know this doesn't necessarily mean that it's always the "main" ship but it's a good enough approximation. the results were quite positive!

filtered to top ships with count of >1 only

i then also calculated the number of ships tagged for each fic to discern the profile of multi-shipping in 814 ficdom; i did have to do a little bit of string standardization (all instances of implied / background / hinted collapsed to hinted for simplicity's sake + removal of other redundancies), but otherwise i left everything mostly untouched.

as you can see, landoscar also have a fairly promising amount of OTP: TRUE fic:

by the time you get to the fics with 10+ ships tagged, landoscar are less likely to be the primary ship, which makes sense just on a basic statistical level... this is also a very small sample size though

i also lazily tallied the 10 most common ships that weren't NOR/PIA or NOR & PIA to diff their shares of the 814 tag vs. of the general f1 rpf tag, to see which other pairings are more represented in the 814 tag than on average (because lestappen are the most popular by pure count but this is also true of fandom in general, so it would be a misrepresentation to say that their popularity is out of the ordinary):

maxiel's gap isn't really that surprising since i think that, generationally, in terms of when both pairings were teammates there is quite a gap; with carlando—actually let me tally this again but including all instances of "implied" and "past" as being part of the same ship, since that's how ao3 tag-wrangles as well:

Aha ! obviously as a direct ship there is competition between 814 and other lando or oscar ships, but this difference is somewhat less pronounced once we include all formats. tbh none of this really means anything but i thought i'd add it anyway... (it's also very possible that there are several errors in this, in which case my b 😔)

before we move on to additional tags, there are a few more basic characteristics of 814 fic we can calculate. i realize i never offered an overview of Super Basic Stats, so here are a few:

plus, looking at word counts, here is a distribution of those in 2023-updated fic, which shows that a majority of 814 fics were under the 5k mark:

85% of landoscar fics were under 10k & nearly 97% under 25k

i don't really have any reason to believe that landoscar's wc stats differ significantly from average ? so this is kind of just Data To Have Data, and it most likely reflects normal ao3 trends in general... but i thought i'd include it anyway because i already made it lol. similarly, here are word count distributions but stratified by rating:

& same info but heat map view:

i feel like this is also probably something you'd find across fandom in general — that gen fic is likely to have a higher share of under 1k works, since Building Up to sexual content often takes... Literal & Metaphorical Foreplay ! and the longer a fic is the more opportunities an author has to include a sex scene or other explicit content (ofc, not necessarily just porn but also graphic violence & so on). but i thought this was fun to visualize haha

additional tags & aus?

back in my old f1 rpf stats post, i made a table comparing fluff/angst "ratios" (not exactly a direct ratio because of how tag wrangling works, but an approximation) of the most popular f1 ships, and now that landoscar are somewhat popular i thought i'd first do an update:

also current data, not 2023 to make things easier

just like before, simi are one of the most fluffy ships and brocedes are by far the most angsty, but it's interesting to see 814 also extremely high up on the charts, with far and away the lowest % of angst. will be exciting 2 see how that holds or changes as the seasons progress !

finally, i also wanted to do a bit of au/additional tag analysis because you can kind of see this when you use additional filters on ao3 but the previews are limited and get bogged down by the prevalence of *checks notes* Fluff, Angst, PWP, Anal Sex and what have you. which are nice stats to have and all but what of the rest !

disclaimer that the set for these tables is a biiiit outdated because by the time i'd wrangled everything i was like I Am Not Changing It Again. unfortunately i clean my data with shoddy queries and regex functions in googsheetz...

there were 48 tags with at least 10 instances from 2023 fics, shown below, with ones that are (some ~vaguely) nsfw in red just to kind of get a rough sense of which tags get commonly used in M/E fic:

getting a bit too much into small sample size / specific fic territory so if you're an author i sincerely apologize for that... do not mean 2 put u on blast... TT__TT but i also tried to tally the most popular aus people write for 814, which is a bit dubious because people tag in really different ways and i had to accommodate for a lot of string formats but ... it's close enough ! (?)

i feel like this is very little interesting info but idk what else to add so i will stop here for now... well!!! if you made it to the end i hope u learned something or even vaguely enjoyed reading T__T and most of all thank you :')

[rainbowsky]

Hey RBS.. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead. Do you think Globalfever fansite is being managed directly by someone from GG/DD’s team. Many a times I wonder how that site able to get tickets to all of our boys events and capture such close up candid shots of GGDD unless she is part of their inner circle?

Example today - https://weibo.com/7320958826/OydEkDN0w

not sure if it’s original or edited.. from that video it looks like XZ acknowledged her words of Jiayou and bye bye

Hi Natashayishan, thanks! I hope you're well, and that you have a wonderful week too! 😊

Here's the video for those who don't have access to Weibo.

To answer this question I'm going to start by explaining a bit of background about fansites and how they function (I'm by no means an expert, but here's my understanding of how it all works).

Part 1 - Fansites in General

There has been a lot of talk about fansites over the years, and some have faced accusations, criticisms, confusion, suspicions, theories both positive and negative for a very long time. I think they're largely misunderstood by a lot of fans.

For example, it's not uncommon for people to believe fansites are stalkers, or that they shamelessly profit from the unauthorized use of a star's image or footage, or that they're organizations that exist for the purpose of exploiting stars.

This isn't really how it works at all. In general, a fansite is just one fan who follows a star's career and enjoys sharing photos and videos they take of that star. Plain and simple. Some fansites involve more than one person, but most are just made up of individuals.

Yes, they sometimes make money selling photo books and other merch, but that money tends to go back into supporting the star -buying endorsement products, arranging events and giveaways, buying or upgrading equipment needed to create fansite content (cameras, computer equipment, software), paying for tickets (many of which are overpriced reseller tickets) and travel/accommodations to attend events, etc.

It might seem glamorous - and there's undeniably a glamorous aspect to it - but to me it looks very stressful, like a huge headache. These fans generally have their own lives and careers outside of fandom, so coordinating everything, waiting in lines, standing in the rain outside appearances and events, not to mention the pressure to attend events and post regular updates, and all the haters and antis they are constantly dealing with, the amount of stress and frustration they deal with must be immense.

It's a lot of work, and for this reason, fansites don't always stay fansites. Some retire as their real life interests and obligations shift. One of my favorite GGDD fansites - Midnight Dream - retired a few years ago. 😢

Fansites are an important part of any celebrity's support system. While no - they aren't part of a celebrity's team or on their payroll, they do play a huge part in helping to bring attention to a star and build buzz around them, their projects, their appearances, events and other activities.

If you want an analogy that might help it make more sense to you, just look at some of the sports fans across the globe who will follow all the matches, follow team developments, team picks, managers and training, and share all that info on blogs, podcasts or dedicated sports fan sites.

This is very similar. They're just really dedicated fans who build a following by being where we can't be, and sharing their experiences so that we can feel like we were there, too.

And they provide the fans and the stars an immense, immeasurable service IMHO, despite what we might agree or disagree with about the way fandom culture works. The content they capture and share is almost always far more intimate (generally without being invasive), and of a far higher quality than that of the professionals hired to cover these events on behalf of media agencies and management.

Fansites do get some official support from time to time. For example, there are events where fansites can get approval - almost like a press pass or a security pass - to attend and be in certain locations within or near facilities to take photographs, video, etc., but they are not hired or compensated by the star or their team.

A lot of it is also largely unknown/unknowable, so it's hard to be sure of the details. There are always going to be rumors and claims. For example, there have been claims that during SDOC Yibo was allowed to invite 4 fansites to come to the finale, and of the 4, he chose 3 BXG fansites and only one solo site. I haven't seen proof of that, but the claim was making the rounds a lot at the time.

One thing we do know - he chose a fansite photo to give to Yangkai when he was courting him to join his team in season 4. (Of course, solos made a huge stink and Youku ended up editing the footage to remove the photo, but we saw what we saw).

There are other examples of GG and DD interacting with or showing acceptance of their BXG fansites. I started looking for some references and then realized it was not something I have time for or interest in. I'm not here to give a comprehensive analysis anyway, I'm just here to give a simple-ish answer to your question. If others want to discuss that in the notes, that's fine.

So, hopefully some of that background info will have answered parts of your question, and gives you more tools to evaluate things on your own moving forward.

Part 2 - Global Fever

As for Global Fever specifically, well... Global Fever is one of the most treasured BXG in the entire fandom. This dedicated fan has been following GG and DD BOTH, since they debuted. She is more than just a CP fan, she's been a supporter of their individual careers since day 1.

Yes, since back when Yibo was still the White Peony.

She became a CP fan in the natural way - by seeing her faves work together on The Untamed, by watching them interact and by following them and their careers. No, she doesn't work for their teams (they both have dedicated teams of their own, and they don't need to pay fansites who - after all - will do this stuff for free). It's just that she's recognizable to GG and DD because she's been a fixture in their lives for so many years.

And this is something solos need to get their heads around: BXG are fans too. I think there's this conceit among solos that THEY'RE GG and DD's fans and BXG are something else, but in reality (and, no doubt, in the eyes of GG and DD) BXG are their fans too.

Never could that be more apparent than when a dedicated fan like Global Fever jiejie is calling 'Zhanzhan, jiayou!' and 'byebye!' as he's boarding an elevator on the way to the stage. Of course GG recognized her and smiled at her. Of course.

[kaorucup]

speculating about the season 3 peepers villain arc

lately I've been thinking about season 3 again and I wanna cope with the fact it won't happen soon, so I want to talk about one of its concepts

(IT'S GONNA HAPPEN MAN, JUST WAIT UNTIL NEW PPG PROJECT AND THE NEW FOSTER'S HOME ARE ACTUALLY DONE)

something that's always piqued my interest was the mention of "peepers being tempted by the darker side" in official season 3 posts. (you know which, we've seen them all). it's not the only one there that interested me, but some concepts like the three new villains due for season 3 were actually deconfirmed by Craig himself in a Twitter q&a, and instead said it would be an existing character.

(I think. I'm not sure about that one)

see, things like that always change when everything is actually in production. I actually wanna make an entirely different post dedicated to the main antagonist and/or conflict because there's a lot of stuff to discuss there. but something that I truly think WILL make it into season 3 will be peepers' villain arc. I think there's a chance they could build off what's already in the show to lead up to this arc.

a quick recap of his attitude towards hater

in season 1, it's clear peepers tended to stay on hater's good side, since he still (somewhat) respected hater's actions in a way since he's been with him for so long + he only followed hater's goal of destroying wander and sylvia since they were their ONLY obstacle in their goal to rule the galaxy

I used this frame specifically because it's one of the only times he scolds hater in season 1 (maybe the only time, I forgot), and even then he's still scared to do so since hater even threatens him after this

and as we all know, by the end of season 1 and season 2 in general, he scolds hater A LOT more often because dominator's arrival spelled doom for the entire galaxy, even the villains. even before that, it was clear hater's obsession with wander was damaging the reputation of the empire, and hell other villains were even beating him on the leaderboard. by the greater hater, he's reduced to the 29th greatest. and now if you add hater's failure to initially properly focus on restoring his control over planets to putting his obsessions (wander in the beginning, dominator by the end) at priority equals one very pissed peepers.

in this particular frame, we all know this is a big moment in which peepers loses it and truly gets mad at hater for losing complete focus.

so when he finally locks in during the season finale it shocks peepers so much it moves him to literal tears. this man has been disappointed so much this season that this final move has made him truly happy. from my fair hatey to this episode, hater's ultimate goal is to save the galaxy to be able to conquer it again. so when that goal is accomplished he finally goes back to doing evil and attempts to conquer the secret final planet, peepers is literally so happy he has a heart eye. (not even close to being straight)

of course he's disappointed once more when hater begins to chase wander again.

"nothing ever changes."

2. peepers has greater plans for himself

"the universe will be mine!"

"if you ask me, I should be the one in charge."

I'm pretty sure I'm missing more moments where he shows an interest in becoming a great villain on his own. in general, it's made very clear that peepers is much more competent than hater. hell even evil sandwich has described him as a "smart guy who actually knows what evil is all about."

3. I FINALLY SPECULATE ABOUT THE VILLAIN ARC

So with all that background information out of the way, we reach the actual speculation.

these Tumblr posts by Frank Angones about season 3 are what got me to write this post. with this info in mind, I have a little scenario to share here

at the beginning of season 3, Hater would become a hero to the galaxy (following up from the ending to the end of the galaxy), and even though he tried conquering planets, he wound up either not conquering them or doing good deeds instead, to his own—and peepers'—dismay. again, taking the end of the galaxy's ending in mind, he clearly intended to conquer the new galaxy. however, it's clear he's definitely not as willing to do so and admits to peepers at one point that he tends to think about not being a bad guy. this of course breaks peepers' heart (yeah in that way too), and in a fit of rage leaves the empire.

he escapes to somewhere (idk where) and from there the antagonist(s) of season 3 either pick him up or kidnap him. from there they show peepers their ways and begin tempting him to join them.

from there more new scenarios can be made, depending on their motivation. Frank Angones has also stated that "there are worse fates than galactic destruction". in a future post about the season 3 antagonist(s), I'll explain more about what this could mean. since the post only says he could be tempted, we don't know if he would actually temporarily switch to their side.

if peepers joins an antagonist: he likely takes in their ideologies and hater (?) may have to remind him of his evil ways or something

if peepers declines: he realizes who he is to the hater empire and makes a move against the antagonist

secret options: the darker side is actually an actual villain (the antagonist(s) aren't "villains" like hater and dominator)

the scenarios are similar but I'll share them

if peepers joins them: he uses his knowledge and evil traits to the max to begin committing atrocities and stuff like that. hater and/or wander has to do something about it

if peepers declines: he realizes the villain is insane and goes back to hater (very, very, very small chance for a redemption, but maybe it will because wander can help him or something)

(I'm iffy on this one)

4. one final piece of speculation related to his backstory

when writing this post, I made two and two and found out something.

I don't tend to trust fandom wikis that much, but since the information seems to be accurate and aligns with what Frank is saying, I think all this implies the watchdogs mock peepers a LOT for being the shortest watchdog. what's also slightly implied is that his napoleon complex (in which he happens to be insecure about his height, which has been shown quite a bit in the series itself. "you are tall" being part of his motivational tapes, wander raises his soles to give him a sense of growth, the platform boots as a gift).

so if this is a big part of his origin story, I assume that way before he joined the hater empire with the other watchdogs, peepers was mocked for being the shortest. so when he and the watchdogs pledge allegiance to the empire, he "feels like he has something to prove", and begins from the bottom like most of the watchdogs until he's done so many evil things that hater notices him and promotes him to commander.

so now with that in mind, it makes sense why peepers would lose his mind over hater potentially giving up evil after pretty much devoting himself to evil for so long

once again, I yapped what I needed to yap and I'm satisfied

oh my god I spent like almost 3 hours researching and writing for this dear GROP

Edit: now that I think about it the way he said the line about the watchdogs feeling special and important in their interviews was actually kind of spiteful, which makes sense (poor guy wants to feel like that more often.....)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I callout a 'friend' for racefaking as me?

Background time: I have considered Em one of my closest friends of almost ten years. She is 100% white. I am very much not (SEA), but grew up in a town that was almost all white kids. She was not outwardly racist so I clung to her pretty much right away. She was pretty much my one friend through all of secondary school and even encouraged me to talk about my culture, which I almost never got to do (mother and cousins were very assimilationist, rarely got to see other relatives). I feel like I vented to her more than I should have, but it wasn't the only thing we did. We hung out frequently.

One day, she suddenly stopped talking to me out of nowhere. We no longer went to school at this point, and I cannot drive (I had since moved). I knew her blog so I decided to check that, and found she had a new "advice" blog linked.

There I found her claiming the exact stories I shared to her down to the smallest detail (only leaving out actual names), and even putting on a fake name. She is using it to lure in people who earnestly think she shares their experience and to give them shoddy advice.

I obviously was infuriated by this and tried contacting her a dozen times, and she completely ignored them all. She seems to have gained a medium number of followers, and I have chat logs of me recanting some these exact memories I've shared with her. I know it's wrong, but there is no excuse for what she's doing and it makes me sick to think about. There is no audience for her new blog except ones she is taking vulnerable advantage of. I think the only reason she thinks she can get away with it is because she was the only friend I had as a child and thus as an adult I wouldn't trust anyone with my life stories? Even though I have people outside of her now.

WIBTA?

[robo-milky]

[MORE INFO]

[Loosely references Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]

Nicknames:

Crema/クッレマ (Cloche) | Big Henchman (Grim) | Vet/Medic (Ace) | Tiger Prawn (Floyd) | Monsieur Fumé (Rook)

Bio:

A proud and confident man, loves nothing more than himself. He’ll act diplomatic when needed, but that exterior will crack fit if something doesn’t go his way. Mors is bad at compromising, and can be very stubborn. May act passive aggressive in retaliation. Ever the megalomaniac, he will stop at nothing to reach the top. He is a man above pretensions, like morality and ethics. Though he can be boisterous, Mors is well spoken, hurling obscure insults at those who earn his ire. No matter what, he is always in the right.

Core Values -> Accomplishment + Knowledge

Elm is the opposite of Mors, a humble and kind man. He’ll do good for the sake of it, not asking for anything in return. Can be a bit of a pushover.

Core values -> Inspiring + Empathy

Background:

From the hit series, “Loyalty Lock”, Mors is an antagonist. Was an aspiring doctor of noble birth, that got drafted by mistake. His military career consisted of being a foot soldier, medic, to army officer (through bribery and corruption). Along with him being a controversial political figure in Vostege, Mors has many enemies. This resulted in him buying hiring a special vessel from “Goldbelle’s Facility of Maids”.

Mors had no one else but himself to blame, having taken the life of his one and only ally. If he was still under her protection, would he be a free man? Arms bound by rope, wood digging into his neck, he might as well think of his last words instead of what-ifs.

Elm stepped into the dark carriage and Mors came out the of coffin.

Notable Thoughts: Mors’

“I can’t possibly imagine being buttered up so easily, like the Headmaster of this school. Hm? Why are you staring at me like that for?”

“Eugh… Not only does Miss Jin have to resemble Cloche, but they share the same name. It leaves a foul taste in my mouth.”

“Grim is a curious specimen, indeed! I’m no veterinarian, by any means, but I would love to take a closer look at him when he is still.”

“Mr. Trappola? The boy’s clever, alright. He always knows just the right things to say.”

“I suppose Mr. Spade is quite cute, is he not? Always so eager to please.”

“Mr. Howl is alright for a beastman… He is at least well disciplined. ”

“Mr. Pergameno is surprisingly knowledgeable of protective eyewear. I may ask him for recommendations, sometime.”

“Lucius seems to hiss at me whenever I stop by and chat with Professor Trein. I wonder why, hohoh…”

“Professor Crewel would make a fine drill sergeant. The crack of his whip brings me back to my days of youth.”

“Coach Vargas’ physique is extraordinary. I’d like to someday study his veins, if given the opportunity to.”

“The Mystery Shop always somehow has everything I need. I wouldn’t ask Mr. Sam any questions he wouldn’t ask me.”

Notable Thoughts: Others’

“Mr. Clematis? Such a nice and helpful man! Taking on the task of monitoring the library by himself, on top of his studies.” - Crowley

“It could have been anyone else from ‘Loyalty Lock’ to get isekai’d here, but it just had to be him.” - Cloche

“Eek! Hide me! Do not make that freak come near me, please!” - Grim

“Can you patch me up instead? I don’t wanna get another scolding from the Vet!” - Ace

“Yeah, of course I respect Mors! He’s been taking the time to help me with studying and some reading.” - Deuce

“Mors’ insistence of live specimens, for dissections, stresses me out a little, but that’s how he did it back in his time… haha…” - Trey

“If I had to choose between dealing with Rook and dealing with Mors, I’m taking Mors all the way. At least he can leave me alone.” - Ruggie

“That geezer has some magic within him, but it’s unlike any I’ve seen before. It smells off.” - Leona

“I’ve got to return the handkerchief Mors gave me someday!” - Leikata

“Ah, Mors! Talking with him gives me nostalgia. It’s not bad looking back into the past.” - Lilia

Extras/Trivia:

- Harbours a strong dislike of all beastmen, and a preference for humans

- Pops in and out of any classes if it interests him

- His glasses are pinched on the bridge of his nose

- May go off on a tangent about all the “incompetent people” of his world when drunk

- Always faintly smells of smoke. Cigar? Gun powder? …Something else?

- Addresses most of the cast as adults, since they would have “reached maturity” where he is

- Oddly flattered that there is a “series based on his life events and greatness”

- Greys early because of stress in his youth

Gallery:

[pub-lius]

hiiii :3

i just read your response to an ask about your reason for disliking ron chernow’s alexander hamilton book, and i wanted to ask if i can still use it as source for some info. i’ve done my fair share of research on various topics and my opinions/what i’ve read differentiated strongly sometimes from what he wrote, but some things are just hard to come by (as somebody not from the US who doesn’t have local resources and has to rely on stuff i can find online). what do you suggest i do if i want more accurate info? i know the founders archive but other than that i haven’t found a lot of trustworthy sources concerning the amrev that aren’t $300 textbooks?

idk- sorry this is really long :,) i’m not sure in im making any sense haha

Girl have you seen the length of my posts? This is not long at all, and you make perfect sense.

And if you have seen my posts, you may notice that Chernow is my most frequent citation because of how valuable his biographies are as sources. He does intensely thorough research and his index and bibliography are so extensive, I can’t even make a joke about getting them as a tramp stamp.

Chernow is a great source and I do recommend any starting Hamilton scholar to get a copy, if you have the means and patience. The downfalls of it are its a hard read and his personal interpretations are heavily skewed and biased in various directions, which is only different from other historians because he doesn’t give proper evidence and substantiation to these claims. All you need to have in order to recognize this is basic critical thinking skills. Tl;dr: Chernow is a great source, he’s just fucking annoying and I hate him.

One very good thing about Chernow is that his book is so (painfully) extensive, that it can serve as a source for more than just Hamilton, so there’s no shame in using him as a source for *checks notes* how the island of St. Kitts and Nevis was formed from a volcano, if you’re into that.

I see your inability to access US propaganda and I raise you youtube documentaries. That may sound crazy, but you can put it on in the background and cross reference between them (usually repeated details are closest to the truth). They can also be entertaining, especially if they’re from the 80s (i love the 80s). Additionally, if you’re looking for archives, @maip--macrothorax can tell you all the benefits of Internet Archive (if they aren’t too busy borrowing all of the books on there /lh). You can also find a lot of things on the Library of Congress’s website, and also my favorite governmental department:

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE!!

Go to the national park service, it includes all the battlefields, important buildings, where important buildings used to be, the houses of historical figures, and really pretty parks (also like mount gaymore (rushmore) and shit but wtvr). They have tons of information and great archivists and librarians and i long for their jobs. Also, American Battlefield Trust, Mount Vernon, The Museum of the American Revolution, etc. also have great sources and tons of information- along with wonderful reenactments that they have on youtube!!

I also do my best to make these sources as accessible as possible, so if you do some perusing you might be able to find some of this stuff here, but I am always happy to answer asks with links or research though I am very slow (sorry). And of course, my dms are open and I probably wouldn’t be totally infuriated if you found me at my local library and asked for directions to the non-fiction section. I am the personal librarian of tumblr.com, so ask away and I’ll be there!!

[storyofmychoices]

Love Springs Eternal

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 1 + Beyond] [Mal’s Orphanage]

[Mal Volari x Daenarya Blades 2 + 3 AU]

Characters: Mal Volari, Bakshi, Daenarya, Ittar (mentioned), Iliana (mentioned)

Pairings: Mal Volari x Daenarya (F!OC), Bakshi x Ittar

Book: Blades of Light & Shadow III, Chapter 8

Word Count: <1,300

Rating/Warnings: General, no warnings that I can think of, somewhat angsty

Synopsis: Mal tries to decide if he can trust Bakshi, while discovering more than he expected. (This takes place in my Blades 2 + 3 AU)

Background Info: In my Blades 2 AU, Daenarya was pregnant at the end of book 1. She is pregnant when Valax takes her (though no one knows it at the time). While Daenarya is taken, Mal prays to Bakshi and Ittar when he has nothing left (Shadows of Hope) which is referenced here. Daenarya gave birth to Iliana before "dying" in book three. Iliana is the Realm Walker, not Daenarya.

Did he trust zir?

No.

How could he?

Ze possessed her.

Did it matter that ze had been trying to help?

No.

Should it?

Eh— trust really wasn't his thing.

Not before her, at least.

Mal shook his head, kicking a stone in front of him only partially listening to the group as they rested, waiting for Tyril and Daenarya to finish training.

He had never believed in the old gods. Not the new ones either, for that matter.

All of it was just a way to control people. Make them believe in something. Fear something. So they wouldn't realize what their so-called churches and temples were really doing.

His hands balled into fists, his lips pressing tightly together.

Solerne.

And he was only one. Probably not even the worst of them. How many others were there that used the people they pretended to serve and protect?

He could never put his faith in any of it.

No temple.

No gods.

No light or shadow.

No elements.

No prayer for a better life.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had tried it once and only once. It had proved fruitless as he had expected.

There was just today. And what you made of it.

Bakshi's glance caught his, zir eyes seeming to peer into him as if ze could see what he had been thinking. Mal was caught off guard. Could ze read minds? Could ze know what he thought? Mal searched the old god's face for any recognition of what he was thinking but ze had already turned away.

He exhaled a sigh of relief, though he wasn't sure why he even cared.

He didn't believe in zir.

Mal gazed down the path waiting for them—the path that would bring them closer to Elhalas...

Elhalas... and most certain doom.

Just another day.

A smile pulled at his lips as his gaze swept over his traveling party. His life had changed so much since meeting them all. It was hard to remember what it was like before them. This group of strangers became his closest friends. His family. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have any of them. He wouldn't have a reason to fight what was ahead. She gave him something to live for, something to hope for, someone to put his faith in when he had never believed in anyone or anything before.

"Love is a thread that binds those together, your love—a cord that holds the realms together."

The old god's words caught him by surprise. His gaze narrowed on zir. "I'm not a child. I don't believe in fairytales, which is all you are."

"You're a stubborn creature," Bakshi stated, his lips pulling up in amusement as he studied the small man beside him. "You've seen more than most of your kind, and yet, still refuse to believe."

"I believe in her."

The god's eyes glowed in reverence. "The day you and she met—" ze paused a moment, remembering. "Ittar and I felt a pull, a call, a promise—something we hadn't in a long time. It was just a whisper of what could be, but as your path's met again and a connection grew between you, the louder the song grew."

"Don't pretend to know anything about us."

Bakshi continued ignoring the human's words. "The love you shared became a melody of healing. It brought hope of a depth of love we feared lost. Hope made it easier to resist Nifara."

"Sure," Mal scoffed, unable to accept this truth. "Ittar looked filled with hope. I guess our love made them want to turn us over, huh?"

The god's face fell at a truth ze hated to admit. Ittar was lost...for now. Ze had to have hope. Ze saw glimmers of their true self in some moments. Ze would free them from the hold Nifara had on them.

"It's more complicated for Ittar. When life has been cruel to you and stripped away a hope you once had—belief is that much harder to attain."

"They tried to kill us! How would that help our love," Mal protested, pushing his shirt aside to reveal the gash across his chest left by Ittar's paintbrush.

A heavy sigh left zir lips. "Love is complex. It is not always calm and peaceful. It can be a tempest, perilous and roaring. When one leads with their heart and lets emotions grow unchecked, those same emotions that bring joy, hope, and love become unstable and unpredictable, it can drive one to act out of emotion rather than thought. A notion I trust you to understand."

"So what? I'm just supposed to believe everything you say? Follow you? Trust you?" Mal questioned defensively. Trust really wasn't his thing.

"No."

The god's response caught him off guard.

"You must only believe in her. You two are set apart. I dare not change either of you, not even in what you believe."

Mal considered zir words. His gaze fell on Daenarya training in the field with Tyril and his heart swelled. Believing in her was the easiest thing. She had showed him how to have hope.

"Why didn't you save her?"

The question weighed on Bakshi.

"I asked you to bring her back.

I — I prayed to you.

Begged you.

Pleaded with you.

When I had nothing left.

You didn't come.

How can we... How can I trust you now?"  

The god let the mortal share his pain, he had felt it all too closely. "What we can do here is limited. Crossing realms was not possible."

"How convenient for you."

"We—I—I protected what I could. What mattered most."

"Stop with the riddles! Can you ever just say what you mean?"

"A child of a love like no ot—like few others." Bakshi smiled sadly. No others wasn't quite true. Zir thoughts were filled with Ittar. Being parted from them was the hardest thing ze had to endure.

"Iliana?"

"In the shadows, it was all I could manage." Bakshi nodded, zir eyes glimmering with hope once more. "The child is special. I trust you've only begun to discover as much."

This left Mal with more questions, but for now, he had none to ask. His heart was heavy. He wanted to believe in their victory, but the hardest part was hoping that when this was all over that they'd return to their daughter. They had such little time with her before they were taken.

"Hey!" Daenarya ran over, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. "Did you see that? I made it snow!"

"I did," he said softly, brushing her hair from her face.

"Wanna see it again?" When he didn't answer right away, she pulled back, noticing the pain in his face. "What's wrong?"

"Do you think we'll see Iliana again?"

Her eyes fell shut and she rested her forehead against his. Her thumb brushed tenderly over his cheek as she cradled his jaw. "I have to believe we will."

"How can you always be so strong?"

Daenarya stifled a chuckle. "I'm not. I just have hope. I believe in us. You. Me. All of our friends. I have to believe this isn't the end. We've overcome so much. We can do this too. I'll keep fighting to change what's happened because I have something to run toward. A future filled with love and laughter waiting for us—" Her lips brushed over his, kissing him softly. "We will see her again. I know it."

He nodded, leaning into the hope she had, hoping it could carry them both. "I love you."

"And I love you, Mal the Magnificent, my love, my heart."

A/N: While the polls were pretty much evenly split, it doesn't seem realistic for Daenarya to be 8-9 months pregnant in book 3, also the angst of her being left behind is so good, so Daenarya official gives birth to Iliana before book 3. She might be engaged to Mal at this point to, but I'm still working on that.

A/N #2: I didn't edit or revise this so please forgive any mistakes. I hope I got all of the pronouns right for Bakshi and Ittar, if you notice a mistake in pronouns, please let me know so I can correct it.

A/N #3: I hope my faith in Bakshi is not wrong 😭 I have loved zir and Ittar's story since learning of them in book 1.

A/N #4: Thank you for reading 💛💛💛

[redstrawbluestraw]

since you drew the ladies mind sharing with us what their roles will be (without spoilers ofc :o)

Also any reason why fanny (litellary my wife, who looks suprisingly gentler than usually) and minnie are grayscale while ms chalice and sheba are colored? Is that just their pick of wear? a little nod to them being made before colored cartoons? Orrrrrr is there a world building reason for it -♡-?

AAAAAAA I'M SO HAPPY THIS IS MY FIRST INBOX MESSAGE!!!!! I LOVE YOUR HC'S AND CONTENT SM THIS GENUINELY MADE MY DAY THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU <33333333333333 As for the questions, strap on in this ones gonna be a long one!!

Here are the roles for each of the ladies! Please keep in mind that when I say "when joining the team", that involves the ladies staying at Mickey & Minnie's house, which is kinda like their "home base" I do favor Fanny a little more I fear, but that's neither here nor there. So if she has a lot of info that's why

Sheba: Sheba is Felix's lifelong best friend who tends to do a lot of traveling, hence why she's not consistently involved in Felix's life. But she always makes an effort to come back to him and catch up on each other's lives, regardless of where he may be! Prior to being part of the group, I like to think that her role consists of street performing, essentially an 'on the road' musician. She'll never stay in one place, and often collaborates with other performers to make music. When joining the team, her role either consists of helping Felix create his maps by offering her own insights on towns/cities he may have not visited, or assisting with Fanny. Speaking of which- Fanny Cottontail: Fanny is a former actress, most known for her femme fatale role in Oswald's earlier episodes. Ironically enough, her role in the show would be her first and final gig, as directors cut her from the show due to finding another "suitable" partner for Oswald (there's also other reasons why she can't get a role, but that'll be explored later in the comic). Due to a series of events that I can't elaborate on yet, Fanny goes on to then discover she actually has a passion for crafting. More specifically in creating weapons, primarily guns! Her role prior to the group was whatever anybody needed her to be- when joining the team, her role serves as the gunsmith of the group, eagerly teaching everybody gun handling, as well as how to defend themselves. (I drew her gentler bc I like to think she's so much happier once she's doing things for herself and surrounded by ppl who love her!!) Some members of the group assist with helping her make guns, such as Sheba, Minnie (from time to time), and Cuphead & Mugman. Minnie: Minnie is one of the few characters who remains consistent with her career. Prior to the group, she performed alongside with Mickey, where they soon fell in love off set. Unlike with Fanny, she remained as the love interest before taking a quick break from acting to pursue her other dream of teaching. From there she became a preschool teacher, with a passion and love for teaching her students. With the state of the ink illness in the city, however, Minnie's school in particular was one of the many that was left to close. Forcing her to either teach home to home, or stay alongside Mickey- ultimately choosing the latter out of fear of catching/spreading the illness. Once she joins the team, her role is that of the caretaker- this consists of making food for the other members, making sure each member has clean clothes, and overall cleaning. She convinces herself that she's happy with this new role, but later on we'll see that that's not the case. Chalice: Chalice has a bit of a shorter summary, as I'm still working out the smaller details for her, so bare with me! But for the most part I want to keep her very similar to the core characteristic that she's a wanderer as well, doing so prior to the group. I can't discuss much of her prior background because it ties more with the Cup brothers and the devil, but she's essentially looking for something (Somebody) very near and dear to her. It's her entire mission prior, but once joining the team I would say she's still remains as the "distraction"- she's a performer at heart, and can capture anybody's with just a wink of an eye. The team assigns Chalice to play the role of the manipulator, which she is more than happy to play! (Might actually update her bio in the future once I get more details settled in).

As for why Fanny and Minnie are grayscale, it is due to the fact that they're older toons! I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this in the final product of the comic tho, that piece was mostly just a wip, so I'm still deciding if there should be colored/gray toons, or just all color or all gray. I'm leaning more towards the comic being in grayscale entirely, since I feel like it fits better with the time period. I've also just been thinking about recoloring that wip of the ladies where they're all in grayscale, and another ver where they're all in color, since I was worried it might cause confusion! But for now no, there's no world building reason for it (I WISH THO WTF NOW I MIGHT REWRITE SOME STUFF ARRGGHH)

Anyways, thank you so much again for the ask, I hope this covered enough! Or if it didn't lmk, I would love to elaborate and discuss more! I'm so appreciative that anybody is even remotely interested in my au, so it truly does warm my heart :) <33

[magz]

whole thread from post calling for "any POC interested in Japanese translation". so understand full context.

DM @/lhkuroda on twitter if interested, for real.

Twitter thread:

(Link: thread 1) (Link: thread 2) (Link: quote retweet) (Link: 2023 Upcoming Japanese Fiction Releases article)

@/lhkuroda on twitter (April 10, 2023):

"Cannot believe how much Japanese fiction is coming out in English this year. Almost unreal.

this list also reveals that more than 90% of Japanese literature translators are still white men. we desperately need more translators who are not that. please.

i'm literally begging.

Japanese in particular seems to be worse than almost any other translated language i can think of. ask yourself why that is.

i count 32 books of translated japanese fiction coming out this year. out of those books, 8 are translated by women [of any racial background]. 6 are translated by people of color [of any gender].

if you are a person of color and you are even remotely interested in becoming a japanese literary translator (all caps): Please D.M. me. I will Help you. This is an S.O.S. (end of all caps)

and if you are a white man and you feel that translating japanese literature is your calling i am begging you to do anything else."

two years ago Kenji Liu and I got funding from @/poetswritersinc to run a free, online workshop for people of color interested in learning about japanese literary translation. more than 30 people attended.

would anyone like to fund me to run another one? idk it feels urgent.

i can share tips for getting started, basic industry info around pitching, plus some 101's of translating literary fiction in general

every year more and more white men become japanese literary translators, and more and more women and people of color are discouraged and bullied and manipulated out of projects they deserve to work on bc these assholes are powerhungry and there are a lot of them.

a very prominent white male translator of japanese bullied me into quitting a project this year because he insisted there was something wrong with every single sentence of my story, and refused to let me publish until i accepted every one of his edits. i almost quit translating.

then i remembered that he can go fuck himself. so anyway if you are anyone that's not a white man and want advice about starting out in translating japanese literature i'm more than happy to help or offer advice."

@/kalauapuwailani on twitter:

"same offer stands here!"

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Among the two parents, who is responsible for giving…The Talk™️?

Def Angel, Prototype doesn't remember even for how many months a person is usually pregnant anymore. They give the Talk(tm) the moment Delight goes to them and non-chalantly says "Angel dear, did you know that during pregnancy [medically accurate description of real life body horror]?", and Bunzo in the background stares at her in pure horror and accuses Delight of lying.

Angel has to sit everyone down because 5 seconds later half the house is watching in pure horror as Delight INSISTS that what she is saying are facts (they are) and Bunzo refuses to believe her. The sole human in the house has to explain to everyone that yes this all sounds scary and sometimes it is, but it's normal for people who want to have children to go through that process, its okay. Then Bunzo asks how do pregnant people put an entire factory inside their bellies in order to make a child. You know. Like how cars are made.

Angel tries explaining things the best way they can. "Human bodies are like that, dont worry", "two people can try having fun on their own like that and its normal", "yes Bunzo, some adults prefer doing that over watching a car race", "yes, there's nothing to worry about it as long as the people involved trust each other and go to a doctor if something weird happens", "see? Its not scare at all, just weird and a bit gross if you think too much about it", "yes Bunzo, there's doctors just for babies and people having them", "I dont go to a doctor like that because I cant have babies, and I dont want a baby. I have you guys as my babies now".

Overall the Talk is more amusing than anything because Bunzo has no idea how normal people work, and meanwhile we have toys like Dogday who are all "OH, this makes sense, yeah" because they too forgot how kids are normally born.

I think the only ones who knew about the birds and the bees were Bubba, Delight and Catnap (bc Delight told him). Angel feels relieved after the Talk because it went way smoother than what they expected it to be, and no one was too horrified or weirded out. Angel found out about that kind of stuff by accident and was just glad the toys got their info on an actual adult and not a random kid sharing cursed knowledge with their friends(tm)

[miss-ali-lawliet]

Anya's background!

Hello! I am so excited to talk about my latest oc, my beloved Anya! She is paired with Laios, and a part of me is interested in possibly writing about what it would be like with her in the party! For this post I’ll tell y'all about some background info on her, I'll have a separate post most likely about her relationship with the party and specifically Laios. The first picture is an art commission I got made by Jaijiggles on Instagram! Check them out! The end of the post sketch is made by myself!

Some basic things before delving in deeper

Her full name is Anastasia, but she prefers being called Anya. She's not even fully sure why, but it makes her happy.

Her parents are both elves, meaning she is an elf, but they also became poly when she was an adult! So she has a second mom, a human woman who fell in love with her mother mainly but also loves her father very much as well. Very healthy relationship.

Her Nana is a dwarf that isn’t blood related who lived with her and helped teach her everything she knows as well as her parents.

Anya was raised in the north, not the west, and with her influences, she grew up having general respect and admiration for all races and not just her own.

She is autistic! Her main special interest is nature and animals, having such a general love and respect for all living creatures, including monsters. 

Her special interest and because of her influences in her life, she would learn what she could to become a druid mage! She also handles healing, much like her Nana, but she offers a bit more offense with her magic mainly. Including being able to transform into animals. 

Despite being brief childhood friends, it was that friendship that pushed her to bask in her passions despite what outsiders may say or think.

Because as pretty as she may look, she would be classified as weird(yet she’s literally just autistic lol) that she grew to learn how to mask when around strangers a bit more, before she was reunited with her previous childhood friends when they arrived at the same island she had moved to not too long ago.

With them, she felt like she could freely be herself without judgment, and they could honestly say the same towards her.

She could be best comparable to a rabbit, which is also one of her many favorite animals.

She really loves fruits and veggies, and honestly she really isn’t a picky eater at all. 

She also really wasn’t opposed to eating monsters either, sure it’s odd, but if dungeons have their own sustaining ecosystems.. It had to be alright to benefit from something like that? And Laios was right! She supported him full-heartedly, trying to appease the other’s about their skepticism. Especially Marcille. 

It’s hard for her to pick a favorite monster, she absolutely loves Senshi’s cooking, but one of her favorite treats was the ghost sorbet, and dragon meat really is one of her favorites as well.

Background

Anastasia is an elf, yet she grew up raised in the north rather than the west. 

Before I move onto anything else, I’ll talk about her parents! Her mother is a powerful mage, even used to work with the royalty of the elves. Her father mainly focused on combat, his favorite weapon being his trusty bow and arrow. Both elves that lived in the West for a long time, but they felt themselves growing disdain with the treatment of other races from the elves point of view. Her mother always liked tallmen/women, and thought the races were just as brilliant in their own shared ways (she is neurodivergent, which did pass down to her daughter) and her father found himself sympathizing with her views.

So what did they do? They decided to leave, heading to the North where they would join an adventurer’s party together to make more of a living. The party had become a bit of a found family in a way, and her mother was particularly close with a dwarven female named Mirja. 

They had a good life together that way for a while until it was discovered that she was pregnant. It was a bit of a wake up call for the couple, that perhaps after the adventures they shared, the biggest one they’d have to tackle was parenthood, and they wanted to do it away from the dangers of the life they lived for a while now. 

So they would leave the party, but they wouldn’t leave empty handed. Mirja would insist on coming with them, that they would need all the help they could get. Dungeons and fighting monsters were one thing, but parenthood? She knew they needed the extra hands. With that, they would travel more north to try to find a home.

There they found a place to live, and they had their daughter, Anastasia!

They would raise her there for a long time, but when she got older they would eventually have to leave her childhood home due to unfortunate circumstances, which had an ex party member suggest a certain village to live near temporarily with some of that party member’s family there. 

Anya’s family found themselves staying near the same village that Laios and Falin Lived in. From the elf girl’s wandering around until coming across the siblings. Despite being there for a short time, she had spent so much of her time with them both, being each other’s real first friends. Their friendships were something that Anya held close to her heart and cherished deeply, they had such a deep impact on her that she held onto into her adulthood.

She had so many good memories with them, that it really was devastating for the three of them when she had to leave. She wished that she could see them again one day, and she vowed to herself that she would come back to the village in the future if necessary. 

Her family found their new proper home on a farm, and from there the young elf would continue to learn from her family. She was essentially home-schooled, learning from her mother and her mage work as well as from Mirja who was a druid-cleric.

For years, she was so dedicated to her work that once she left home she would move to start with taking on jobs to help her get experience.

They weren’t crazy jobs, but it was enough for her to try to ‘learn’ to be normal and get better with her magic. Years passed like this, her moving between groups and people, until she would finally move to the Island. It’s on that island, when staying in inns that she would come across two newcomers to the island one day. It was Laios and Falin! 

After being reunited with them, they would of course decide to all move in together so they could be able to afford someplace decent while also starting to take on work together!

They eventually would join their first party together with Shuro, Namari, Chilchuck, and Marcille, leading to the events we all know. 

I think I'll end this right here before it gets too long! I hope you all are having a great rest of your day/night!

[pippin-katz]

New here. Just discovering and exploring #RWRB fandom on Tumblr and, random thoughts about the film (haven't had time to read the book yet) keep popping up in my head.

In the museum scene and at the airport afterward, has Henry borrowed the blue hoodie that Alex wears several times earlier in the movie (beginning when Alex talks to Nora about Henry kissing him)? Or do they both happen to own the same blue hoodie?

Why do you think Henry decides to bring Alex to the V&A? Did Henry just want to show Alex the gilded cage he feels trapped in as part of letting Alex go? Or is Henry deliberately moving another step closer by revealing a little more about himself? I've been struck that at the airport, Henry asks Alex to "be patient," but he doesn't say "I love you" back to Alex and walks away with a pained expression on his face.

Loving your blog, and the others I've discovered here...

Welcome! Sorry for the late response, I'm a senior in college with ADHD and autism so sometimes asks get put in the background of my mind for a while lol

1) At first, a lot of people thought they were sharing the blue hoodie you're referring to, but when you look closer, it's two different hoodies. They're practically the same shade of blue (most GIFs are edited with different color effects & filters), but you can tell because of the pull strings! Alex's pull strings have folded tips whereas Henry's has aglets, or plastic, at the ends.

2) In the books, Henry takes Alex to the museum the day after their fight, after they've agreed that they're both committed to their relationship. It's just a piece of Henry's life that he's enthusiastic about and wants to share with him before he goes home.

In the movie, there's lots of explanations and theories as to why Henry takes him during their fight. I can share you my thought process, but you can definitely find other interpretations! I think it's a sort of combination of the things you said!

In the museum, Henry can be himself without the influence of the outside world. It allows him to make a decision with a clear head, as "Henry Fox" rather than "Prince Henry of Wales". He also intends to say goodbye, but he wants Alex to know that it has nothing to do with whether or not he loves him.

The museum is his safe space, his sanctuary, and a sacred memory of his father. He loves Alex more than anything, and proves it by showing how much he trusts him by sharing the V&A with him. He says that he has dreamed of bringing someone he loved there, indirectly telling him that he is that someone he loves.

However, he follows that up by calling it a "daft pubescent fantasy". Henry does not believe that a future with Alex is possible, and he is preparing himself to let him go, but then Alex surprises him.

Henry essentially says that he cannot have love, and he was foolish to even imagine it. Alex says that he can, and that there is nothing foolish about him to wanting it.

It's because of this that Henry changes his mind, but it doesn't automatically make everything easy. They still can't be public. That's why Henry doesn't say he loves Alex back, or allow him to kiss him. He wants to, but it's risky to kiss in the open, even on a private airstrip, and Alex is about to leave, so it hurts too much. Henry does not want Alex to go, especially after such an emotionally exhausting night.

At least, that's how I interpret the scene! I hope that gives you some answers or info to think about!

Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed this essay & would like to support me, you can give me a tip on my Ko-Fi! ☺️