#If my characters had a fandom this ship would either be absolutely adored or -

[bungouchronicles]

I was reading through some of my notes for my current writing project and realised i've accidentally created one of the most tragic ships i've ever written

[viivenn]

making an important announcement about some things i’ve noticed in the gwendoline christie fandom that really bug me.

disclaimer: read this at your own convenience and discretion. i am not responsible for any sort of hurt feelings and frankly… i don’t care. if you’re mad about this, you are probably the problem. /lh

to start with id like to begin on a positive note so that i’m not diving into negativity, i don’t want to be completely negative about my experiences because i’ve actually met some of the kindest people in the world through this fan base.

the gwen fandom, the gwandom, the gwendoline christie fandom , the lesbian cesspool, has been an incredible experience that i’m grateful i’ve had the pleasure of being apart of.

i went through a rough patch during november, and if i hadn’t found out about gwen, or met such wonderful people during my time here , i honestly wouldn’t be here right now. i owe my life to these people, gwen included. i will forever adore miss christie and what she stands for alongside the friends i’ve made along the way.

and while i know someday this hyperfix will end, it’s really disheartening to me when a fandom is what makes me grow distant from things i enjoy. it happened before, i feel as though it is happening all over again.

and no, i’m not taking issue with anything like the catrissa stuff or the brienne and larissa ship going around or anything like that. i like that we can all be weird together and enjoy aus like catrissa and crackships like bririssa (not sure the official name that was decided lol). my issue is the amount of content i’ve seen that either focuses on gwen herself, or the strange relationship with minors, or the odd artwork of gwen, and the absolute disgusting behaviour towards giles.

gwen would be absolutely appalled seeing fanfictions of herself that involve nsfw or just her in general, anyone would, it’s disgusting to make works of real people in that setting. it’s like you’re treating them as an original character you can mould and manipulate as you see fit and using someone who is real with thought and feeling and consciousness for smut fics is not okay, or any fic in general. i totally get the hype around her characters, i literally have “brienne’s princess” in my bio and i’ve had “jane murdstone’s bloodbag” (in reference to my vamp au) as a name in a discord server.

but i think the fandom has begun to blur the lines between fictional characters and reality settings when it comes to gwen and the personalities she portrays on the television screen. it’s not fair to her. it’s disgusting. i’ve seen a minor do it, i’ve seen a grown adult do it. it’s something i don’t see shamed and frowned upon often enough and it’s really not okay.

on that note i’d like to quickly mention the photos, we alllll know what photos i’m talking about. the bunny one, the nudes, the ones gwen has expressed regret towards and wishes to not have them spread. was there not a “fan” who brought her a book of her nudes and wanted her to sign it? that person who was blocked on instagram by gwen because they reposted her nudes on their story and tagged her???? how can you refer to yourself as a fan after behaving so abhorrently? absolutely disgusting behaviour. as a collective fandom we need to stop touching those photos (metaphorically speaking) and leave them in the past.

i’ve been told of numerous circumstances in which adults have shown their nsfw works to minors in this fandom and it has to fucking stop. it’s disgusting!! how can you do that knowingly? i constantly ponder terminating my account after a minor got ahold of my nsfw work, and upon realising they WERE a minor it was as simple as blocking and moving on. it’s truly not that hard, folks. and the minors on tiktok who fight with others saying silly things like “that’s my wife” or worse. i’ve seen it all, i feel like, and the more i see it the more sick i become. i cannot stand it.

i have seen and heard of fans who have fat shamed gwen for that one pink dress she wore to the met gala. she looked so happy in that dress, and the audacity one must have to fatshame that poor woman on twitter then turn around and continue to proclaim your ‘love for her’ as if you’d done no wrong? are you fucking serious? are you mental?

and the sexualisation over the porcelain doll look, gods some of you are sick. those were not real breasts, people. considering the fact she wholeheartedly regrets her nude photoshoots , what possesses you to believe she would actually flaunt her chest in that outfit?

the blatant mistreatment of poor giles is not fucking okay either. just because you’re jealous of someone who makes her immensely happy does not give you the right to post something so vile and cruel about him. shame on you. why do you believe this is okay to post:

????????

are you serious? have any of you stopped to consider how HAPPY giles makes her? or is her happiness the last thing you ponder when you look at her? have you even noticed how unhappy she looks lately? have you truly paused to consider how she would feel about seeing this on your page, random twitter user, or the rest of you who think this is okay? bless your hearts.

and some of the absolutely horrific things i’ve seen about her online and the hurtful behaviour towards giles makes me question the difference between a fan and just the general paparazzi. because if you truly loved her and you truly loved giles then i would not be ranting into the fucking void about it for no reason.

i avoid interacting with pages i find problematic on here to keep from stirring the pot but tonight i chose violence and got reeeeeal pissy about how i felt about this place. it’s not okay what i see on here and it’s getting exhausting seeing the same cycle of content on a daily.

that’s everything i have to say, i think. i probably missed a lot that should be discussed in the comments but i’m done for now because i know if i go on i’ll probably cry.

before you post things about real people with real feelings , stop to consider how they will feel those real feelings towards the content you put out. chances are you’ll become less problematic and obnoxious that way. 💘

[golden-earcuffs]

I just want to reflect how much the Loki show ruined Loki as a character for me and how much disheartened I was with it.

I had always wanted a spinoff on him, which explored him more. And the Loki show did anything but that.

Do you guys remember how Loki was in Infinity War for like 5 minutes, yet Tom Hiddleston was at almost every media interaction the cast had? The same thing happened in the show as well. They used him to market the show, then sidelined him in his own show. I think that was unacceptable, because they used Loki as a bait to promote a character that I held no emotions for.

Sylvie.

The argument that one does not like Sylvie because they “hate a strong female character/a character with complex arcs” is so pathetic. I don’t think I would’ve liked Sylvie even if she had the most elaborate arc in the MCU (which she doesn’t) because it just wasn’t meant to be about her.

I wanted to see Loki’s story, his journey, and if you take this moment to interject with the statement that “she’s Loki too, just different”, then I say that I wanted to see our Loki, the one who was broken when he found out that he was the monster parents told their children about at night, the one who had plethora of iconic dialogues while fighting the avengers, who was killed only for us to realize that he wasn’t.

Everytime I said that we needed a Loki spinoff before it was announced was not because I wanted new characters, it was because I wanted to see more of the character that was already there, very much beloved by the fans. I wanted them to explore his character in a deeper sense and maybe dip a little into mythology as well.

I think Loki was one of those characters that neither needed a love interest nor was ready for one. I don’t ship him with either Sylvie or Mobius, because it feels like neither of them genuinely like Loki for who he is.

Loki had far more compelling things they could have explored like his jotun heritage, his trauma from the time with Thanos and his magic that is the only memory he has of Frigga instead of his love life.

The whole show felt like it was written by someone who wasn’t the least bit interested in Loki and barely looked into him before creating his female counterpart.

It feels like a disrespect for the fans who were connected to Loki on an emotional level.

Why am I saying this now, after like 2 years since the show came out?

I don’t know, after hearing the news about season 2 releasing in October, I just feel so upset. Tired. I hate this show much because it made Loki so irrelevant to me. A sidepiece in his own show. He went around in ugly costumes and all the regal vibes I had from him just disappeared.

I still remember a time when Loki was on the top of my favorite characters, and I loved him so much. I still do, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch the 2nd season and my 13 y/o self would hate me for this.

I’ve gotten detached from his character and I hate myself for it because Loki was someone whom I adored more than anything else in the fandom world.

Loki is that one character who is loved by the fanon but absolutely despised by the canon.

[saintsenara]

Hi, I just wanted to tell you that I absolutely love your metas! You’re not only clearly a very talented writer but also blessed with such great insight into these characters that my dopamine levels always jump to absolute heights with every new post. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and being a real gem in this fandom ❤️

Also, because I couldn’t find any post (or did I miss it?) about specifically Harry/Snape (without a third person added to the mix) I would love to read your thoughts on it. Either romantically or gen, after the war, where Snape lives. Thank you so much for indulging me :)

thank you very much for the [exceptionally lovely] ask, anon!

snarry is definitely a popular request...

... so let's get into it!

[and let's also get out of the way that i do not back snamione as a pairing. you can find out why here.]

while they're by no means my otp - and while i'll admit to preferring both snape and harry paired up with lord voldemort - i have long dabbled in a bit of snarry, particularly because it's a ship which attracts astonishingly talented writers. and - in particular - astonishingly talented writers who think really subtly, intelligently, and creatively about life and love and all the questions therein. i'm always really struck by the nuance with which both snape and harry are treated in so many snarry fics, and i much prefer that to the more one-note treatment each character gets elsewhere in the fandom.

and - of course - why snarry works so well as a ship is because it has such a solid justification in both harry and snape's canon characterisation - and because this compatibility is made all the more interesting by the layer of conflict caused by snape and harry's mutually antagonistic relationship. harry adores the half-blood prince - looks up to him so much, in fact, that he genuinely wonders if the man was his father - because they're intellectually compatible, have similar senses of humour, have similarly self-serving aspects to their moral codes, and have a shared reactivity and emotional volatility. the text emphasises this frequently, most explicitly when hermione tells harry in half-blood prince that he doth protest too much:

"He tried to jinx me, in case you didn’t notice!" fumed Harry. "I had enough of that during those Occlumency lessons! Why doesn’t he use another guinea pig for a change? What’s Dumbledore playing at, anyway, letting him teach Defence? Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff - " "Well," said Hermione, "I thought he sounded a bit like you."

harry is also willing to acknowledge these similarities himself, sometimes. he empathises with - and even, occasionally, respects - snape well before the conclusion of deathly hallows, and - crucially - does this on his own terms. him refusing to dismiss his disgust at his father's treatment of snape in snape's worst memory in order not to make sirius or lupin feel awkward is incredibly impressive - and is something i don't think he gets enough credit for.

and since one of the things which makes me a member of both tomarrymort and snapemort nation is harry's instinctive understanding of how voldemort's childhood affected him and voldemort's understanding of how snape's childhood affected him, this is something i think provides a fascinating seam for authors to mine when writing about snape and harry together.

similarly, post-war, i think snarry is one of the best pairings for exploring how both harry and snape come to terms with the realisation that - no matter how well it all worked out in the end - they were both pawns in a larger game. i think that snape is, really, the only person in harry's life who could ever come close to appreciating what it means to have dumbledore send you out to [nearly] die - and i also think, because the man is always at the forefront of my mind, that snape is one of the few people in harry's life who can appreciate the fact that harry, as much as he also hated and feared him, was impressed by, sympathised with, and wanted to help voldemort.

snarry is also an incredibly compelling ship for thinking about power, and how both harry and snape understand it. i wouldn't care about the age difference, or the fact that snape and harry's acquaintance is established while harry is a child and snape is his teacher, even if the dynamic between them could only ever be heavily unbalanced in snape's favour, because these are fictional people. but i'm often struck by how interestingly snarry writers deal with snape being someone who views himself, inherently, as a supplicant - and who therefore ends up offering harry the upper hand in their dynamic [whether this is platonic or otherwise] despite the fact that he is the younger partner. snape's capacity for destructive devotion and self-subordination is one of his most fascinating canon characteristics - and snarry is one of the best vehicles for exploring this.

indeed, the canonical snape clearly regards harry as someone who possesses power over him. his complaints about harry being rich, spoiled, and arrogant make clear that he considers harry to be the second coming of the dynamic he had with james [with it never seeming to occur to him that this is an absurd thing for an adult teacher to think about their pupil], while his complaints about harry's fame are because he views harry as an inherent insider [someone with a pureblood surname and the money to prove it] to the wizarding world while he himself is an outcast. this can cause some exquisite toxicity - especially when snape, who tends to view every interaction he has though a win-lose lens and who becomes incredibly nasty in both victory and defeat, is proven right, having insisted to harry that the wizarding world won't like its golden hero getting railed by a tenuously-acquitted death eater.

but it can also result in something surprisingly beautiful. harry likes to save people, after all, and snape would - deep down - very much to be saved.

and one way he can do this is by offering snape the forgiveness for his role in lily's death which it's clear the canonical snape refuses to accept he might be entitled to. and, in doing this, the pairing draws out a theme which i am obsessed with - that there is a lost generation, whose ghosts haunt the characters alive in the canon timeline. no matter how negative his opinion on james and sirius and so on is, by virtue of knowing them, snape provides harry with a connection to a world he would be a stranger to otherwise, while harry provides snape with a mooring in the present which makes dealing with the weight of the past - and processing the fact that he's virtually the only person he knew as a teenager who's still alive - easier.

i also think that fucking your enemy's nephew is iconic, and snape and petunia meeting again in a scenario in which he's harry's boyfriend is a concept that sustains me.

[jmagnabo92]

@impishtubist

same anon here!

I think that if such an AU is there where Sirius is the one with kid and James is the bachelor one. ANd Sirius is friends with the woman he is divorced to. THen Prongsfoot may happen But it won;t last much if Sirius gets any indication that James in not being good to his child.

I know that Sirius's whole life is about James. THat is canon. He is pitiful like that.

But this is that one of the things in the list that can break the image of James in his brain and the love he has for james.

Sirius who comes from a home where he is either unloved or loved with condition and he is sure that Regulus is loved more. I think that i would begin to hate his character if in such an au, despite knowing that James is not fully accepting of his kid, he goes on to his relationship with James.

I want him to stand up for his kid, the way he wanted some adult to do when he himself was a kid.

I also want him to be really good dad to his own kid. Canonically we see him being really good figure to HArry despite all problems. So, i wold hate to see a Sirius who in his mad devotion towards James is super chumy with Harry but neglects his own kid.

I think SIrius, if he ever became a dad to his own biological kid, would like every kid who is abused as a child at the hands of his parnets, want to do everything for his kid.

But it would be lovely to see him chosing someone other than James. It would lovely to see that in such an au his priority is straight as it should be. As James's priority is Harry.

THis is what I was telling you, James is so selfish, i don't like SIrius's devotion to be left unfound and him having to come to the terms that James is this person. Especially it would be difficult to reconcile that James who has given him home at 16 is being so bad to another kid, Sirius's son.

But anyways, i have starting to resent Prongsfoot beacause of its power imbalance. It is always too skewed in James's favour. Giving more of a Dark Ship vibe rather than the friends to lover thing, soft and sweet, i thought it would be when i entered the fandom..... I think it may be becuse that just like Wolfstar, Prongsfoot is just another reason to enhance whump Sirius.

Didn’t get a chance to answer this yesterday with my other long-ass answer.

Anyway, I disagree that James would EVER treat a child of Sirius’ in a bad way.  James is perfectly capable of sharing Sirius and he’s just not the kind of man.  In fact, I’d think he’d endeavor to be just like Sirius is in canon.  But I do believe that both of them would put the well-being of their child first.  Any good parent would. 

As for Sirius’ ‘whole life’ being James in Canon, we don’t actually know that.  The books are about Harry, so we don’t get Sirius’ POV or much of his past.  What we DO know is that after Hogwarts, he joins the Order and becomes a warrior.  A great one, apparently, if everyone was scared of him.  Also, even if he had nothing else going on in his life (ignoring that he’s in a F-ing war and has plenty of life to live at that point), it’s not pitiful to love your friends and have a close bond with them.  

I don’t think there’s any AUs where Sirius is the dad that James isn’t and James doesn’t absolutely ADORE Sirius’ child.  If that were the case (where he mistreats Sirius’ kid) of course I wouldn’t ship Prongsfoot, but I can’t imagine James ever doing that, as I said above.  I’m not sure why he would need to choose someone other than James?  Like, you’re imagining a scenario that would never come up in PF fics, so why not choose James?  

I strongly disagree that James is selfish.  

James canonically decided that he would risk being maimed or prison for Remus by becoming an illegal animagus.  James gave Sirius a safe place to land by inviting him into his home when he ran away.  James made himself a target in a war that he never had to fight in if he didn’t have good morals.  James gave up his freedom to do fight for what’s right - and that’s selfish? 

Plus, like, I just don’t agree about the lack of devotion or power imbalance.  “Never saw one without the other” - “Ringleaders of their little gang” - the fact that they constantly are referred to as a DUO.  There’s no imbalance here.  Everything is equal and I just… don’t get it where you’re coming from, honestly.

Anyway, Thanks for the ask :)

[stanlunter]

i have an honest question for you. this is not meant to be a gotcha or accuse you of homophobia, just based on observing your post history of wlw vs wlm ships out of curiosity.

are there any wlw ships in cartoons that you actually do like the portrayal of?

Thanks for a question!

And yes, obviously. Actually, I posted a lot about them, so It's strange if you haven't seen it, but yeah. I understand where your answer is coming from since I do critic some wlw media and made a post about a wlw dynamic I don't like. Tbh, It's a problem for me too, bc I don't get enought of my "wlw ships type" in media and that's basically why Im complaining about it, bc every It's either bad-written or is so cliche that's it even boring. Also the problem is that I do love wlm ships as well and a lot of people say that "wlw is always better than wlm" even tho there are many good and bad examples of both of them and I think It's wrong to say smth is better just bc It's queer, even tho I am wlw myself. The "critic" wasn't towards wlw, but towards the most popular dynamic (sun x moon) that I don't like and the way people ignore others dynamics just for this one is sad to me, since bc of it I don't have enought representation of wlw ships I love, bc all of them either don't become a couple, or break up, or one of them dies (or all of these at the same time) and almost all ships that became canon have that dynamic I dislike. And at the same time it was also a joke bc It's actually true that like 80% of all wlw ships are basically the same, so It's funny to hear from their fans that all wlm ships are the same

"Are there any wlw ships in cartoons that you actually like the portray of?"

Do you mean canon or fanon?

As someone who generally in like 90% of the cases prefers fan ships over canon ones, regardless of if it's wlw, wlm or mlm, I obviously have much more fanon or half-canon favourite wlw ships, including those, where one of the characters is dead, there are some I like:

My favourite wlw ship and spop otp of all time is Scorptra. I absolutely adore everything about it and I really think they should have been stayed in Crimson waste. Some years ago I had a huge fixation on it and tbh, if I've discovered Tumbler to myself at that time, my acc would definitely be full of them and I would call myself "stanscorptra", lol. And the fact that they didn't become canon for the sake of the ship I hate - catradora, makes it even worse to me. (Scorpia x Catra from She-ra and the princess of power)

Yumihisu. That's my favourite ship from aot, Im actually glad It's popular in the fandom. I really love everything about them and the way they ended up is actually heart-breaking. In the finale of s2 I actually wanted to start killing people just bc Ymir decided to help Rainer and Berth instead od staying with Historia. And every time I rewatch it, I feel the same, bc they did have a chance to be happy together at least for some years.

It's basically canon and it was confirmed that they both love each other, but since Ymir died, I'm not sure if it is considered as actually canon since they werent actual dating (Ymir x Historia from Attack on titan)

Nanichiru, or whatever name they have, bc the fandom still hasnt decided it.

That was one of my first anime ships, I even thought It's canon and basically when I saw them together, I thought Nana is canon lesbian, which was so clear to me when I compare her with men and her with Michiru. Idk if they supposed to be "just friends", or wlw-coded, but I do consider them as a half canon anyways, bc, let's be real, if one of them was a guy, everyone would know It's canon. I absolutely love their dynamic and the way their relationship affected Nana and made her doubt her goal and actually understand that some of the people with talents are good people. Michiru changed everything for Nana and was her light in the dark, but ofc, how it always is, they didn't develop relationship and one of them died. (Nana x Michiru form Talentless Nana)

Mitsunoa. I am not obsessed with its depth, bc, ngl, they don't have such deep relationship as others, but I do love their dynamic and all of their interactions. Their homoerotic friendship and all the hints make me giggle and if we consider Mikayuu as "basically canon", than I will consider Mitsunoa as basically canon too (especially after the bath scene), bc these girls deserve the best things and they are the best things for each other. (Mitsuba and Shinoa from Seraph of the end)

Togachako. I still haven't finished the manga, so I'm not sure about what heppend with them in the end, I've only seen some spoilers. But I do love their enemies to lovers dynamic, which, unlike some other ships of this trope, isn't a romantization of abuse, but actual enemies to lovers. I doubt it has chances to actually become canon. But I still love the way their relationship was written. Uraraka is the only one who thinks Toga is cute and a pretty girl, not just a crazy monster. I absolutely love the line when she says Toga that she's the cutest girl in the whole world. I love that Toga says her feelings for Uraraka are real and that she made her happy. Toga sees her as basically a comfort person (??), someone who's love and appreciation she wants to get, someone who can save her from the hateness to herself and the world. I just want Toga to be happy with someone who can see her. Also, have you seen how mangaka draws them together?? He's either their biggest shipper, or a queerbaiter, Idk (Toga x Uraraka from My hero academy)

Also Ruby x Penny from Rwby, Webby x Lena from Duck Tales, Perfuma x Huntara from she-ra, Anne and Sasha from Amphibia, Sunset x Sci-Twi from Equestria girls, Sae-Byeok x Ji-Yeong form Squid game and others

As for canon ships, there are fewer ones, but yeah, I do have favourite wlw ships that are canon:

Menokari. Their relationship is really beautiful, It's actually similar to Nanichiru, but is gayer. I found it thanks to Talentless Nana as well, and Im glad I did. It may be seems too cliche for some people, but I think It's adorable, dramatic and well-writen. Definitely my favourite wlw anime (Menou x Akari from The Executor and her way of living)

Ellieriley. Unfortunately there are not enought scenes with them, but those we have is enought for me to love them. Riley was Ellie's first love and probably her lesbian awaking. I love their dynamic so much and I want to see more of them and I wanted them to live a happy life. I do like Ellie x Dina too, but I love her relationship with Riley much more. Riley's death has broken my heart. But at least I'm glad that they did have a kiss scene before it, that's why I do consider it as canon, unlike Yumihisu, since a lot of people for some reason are still arguing over it (Ellie x Riley from The last of us)

Spinetossa. Even tho this ship is far not the main one, I love it much more than the main canon ones. Netossa cares about her wife so much. They know each other for so long and still love each other so much. They're so cute and so sweet, that I was worrying for their relationship during s5 the most. And It's funny how Chaggie fans use "they're together for a long time" to justify the fact that Vivziepop has written them so poorly and that they look more like just friends, just bc of that, since these two exist and they actually do look like a married couple, not like just friends (Spinerella x Netossa from She-ra)

Harlivy

I ship these two in every universe. Even tho the Harley Quinn show has flaws, I still love their dynamic, yeah, even despite it being "one of those I have brought up in that post", I still ship them and think they're cute. I love that Harley has fully recovered from her relationship with Joker and that Ivy has found her true love, someone she can spend the rest of her life with (Harley x Ivy from Harley Quinn show and DC comics/cartoons)

Korrasami

I never was one of those people who say Korrasami was rushed. Yeah, the creators couldnt fully show them in the show, but they did in the comics and I haven't seen anyone who has read them and said they're bad-written. The comics show them so well, It's amazing, healthy and one of the best wlw representations I've seen! (Korra x Asami from The legend of Korra)

Obviously, that's not all of them, but those I love the most. Some of other canon wlw couples I love are: Bubblegum x Marcelin from Adventure time, Apple x Darling from Every after high, Haruka x Michiru from Sailor moon, Utena x Anthy from Revolutionary girl Utena, Kirari x Sayaka from Kakegurui, Ruby x Sapphire form Steven Universe, Vi x Caitlyn from Arcane, Sara x Nyssa from Arrow and Jennifer x Needy form Jennifer's body (I know the last two are not animated, but I still wanna include them)

So, yeah, there are a lot of wlw canon and popular ships I dislike or critic, which isn't because I hate wlw, but bc I love it and want it to be written better and be more various, than just "sun x moon", since there are a lot of so different wlm and mlm dynamics, while for wlw It's almost always either the same, or is just problematic, like Catradora. Tbh, as far as I remember, the only wlw ships I wrote bad things about were Lumity and Catradora, besides that post, so I don't know why exactly you thought it means I dislike all or most of the wlw ships, but I don't anyways

[winters-on-the-wing]

In your latest post about regulus (asking why people like him) someone told you to check the anti regulus tag and you expressed confusion, because you never heard about the tag.

so like...I don't know if you're still confused? Because you have to use "anti (character)" tags when you're posting (character) critical content. People who love (character) can filter the tag out, that way they wouldn't have to see that type of content.

(it's fandom etiquette, also there are anti (ship) tags as well, if you don't like Jegulus or something else)

So when you answered that anon ask about Severus with criticism under only the "Severus Snape" tag without the anti Severus tag, I'm wondering if you realize this was going to come across as attack? Because it's entering Severus fan spaces, bypassing the filter?

Which means Severus fans will respond to you...hence why you're getting attacked?

Did you mean to start the argument? Or was that you not knowing how tags work? It's fine if you didn't know btw, this whole thing is just confusing me.

- 🎀

hey i'm gonna try to be nice here but this is sort of getting on my nerves.

this whole thing is confusing me so much.

i made a post about severus snape. so i tagged severus snape. because severus snape is mentioned in the post. that's how you categorize. if a book talks about cooking, you put it in the cooking section. regardless of favor, that's how you categorize. for example, people write books about thomas jefferson. one book may talk about the good things thomas jefferson did, and another may talk about the bad things thomas jefferson did. regardless of this favor or lack of favor, both books will be categorized by the topic being thomas jefferson. i don't understand why it isn't the same way here?

i love a great many fictional characters, and when i see a critique of them, i read it carefully, and then i either respond to it with my opinion, make my own post discussing my opinion, or i scroll past it. and it's great! i got to see someone else's opinion, and regardless of whether or not i agree with it, i've learned a new perspective on a character i love. why wouldn't people want the same? don't people want to learn everything about their favorite characters? don't people want rich and diverse perspectives on worlds that they adore?

besides, i think the notion that i "asked to be attacked" by posting and tagging snape is simply ridiculous. it's like me saying "i hate bread because it tastes bad and it has a funky texture." and then someone responding with "you are so stupid for hating bread. bread has all of these benefits. you're reductionist and simple for hating bread". like i didn't ask for those insults at all! all i said was that i hated bread! it would be one thing if i said "everyone who likes bread is disgusting and slimy and will never get married". but i didn't say that. i just said that i hated bread.

also if you know me (which you don't, so it is fine), then you know how i feel about censorship. i refuse to engage in censorship of any kind unless it has to do with shielding children from danger. and this is not shielding children from danger. it's having a differing opinion from my fellow man, which is one of the largest stepping stones in the pond of humanity. i refuse to hide my opinion behind an "anti" tag when someone reading it can simply stop reading it. i find the notion of trying to avoid any nuance or anything that pops your ignorant little internet bubble absolutely ridiculous and i refuse to contribute to that culture.

do i like that snape defenders are up my ass and targeting my intelligence and being horrifically rude to me for expressing an opinion? no! i despise it wholeheartedly. but at the same time, it's an engagement, a discourse, a conversation with my fellow man in which i learn more about the world. like for example, i learned that there hasn't been a single snape defender i've talked to about snape who is actually mature and decently kind. and if i had to choose between hiding the post and getting no rude replies or showing the post and getting rude replies but also an interesting perspective on something that can be interpreted in many different ways, then i'll choose the latter every time.

i have thick skin, i can take a bit of internet harassment, though i won't hesitate to complain about it, because again, it is unwarranted!

not to be rude, but i personally don't care what fandom etiquette is. i don't have to do anything. i don't care that everyone else is doing it. i'm going to do things my way, and if people don't like it, they can block me and stay in their bubbles.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Girl Squad: Assemble!

So I was staying with my sister for a week in July, and the entire time I was there, she was trying to cram this book into my hands. I was super leery because I had read ACOWAR, but I finally acquiesced--mostly on the strength of the little bits of Nessian from ACOWAR that I had enjoyed.

Reader...

I was absolutely floored by this book. It was leaps and bounds better than ACOWAR, and I found Nesta a way more interesting protagonist than Feyre. I also appreciated that she and Cassian weren't perfect off the jump; everyone got to make mistakes and everyone got to figure it out. I also adored the girl squad Nesta built for herself. So let's talk A Court of Silver Flames.

Hi, hello, welcome. This is your SPOILER WARNING. Proceed at your own risk.

One kind of cannot exist in book fandom spaces on the internet without knowing that ACOSF is a polarizing book. People love and hate Nesta, and there are legitimate, evidence- and text-based reasons for both sides. If you found Nessian to be Satan's Power Couple, this is not the review for you, because while both Nesta and Cassian are flawed characters, I enjoyed the hell out of them and this is going to be largely positive--although there are a couple of things we need to talk about that are less glowingly positive. But overall, I liked Nesta, and I liked her relationships with Cassian and her girl squad.

In terms of structure and sentence-level writing, this book was surprising. SJM still does that thing where she uses words that don't make either connotative or denotative sense (seriously, if Cassian's fly has stays in it, then something is DEEPLY wrong), but the pacing and structure of the plot and character arcs felt smoother and more intentional than the entirety of ACOWAR did, and there was just straight up more plot per page than ACOTAR or ACOMAF had. There was also more sex--and I know this is somewhat controversial too, but I defend this by noting that part of Nesta's coping ability with her trauma was to go hypersexual, so having her relationship with Cassian be extremely physical made sense in terms of Nesta's character arc. She even had a little monologue about the difference between fucking and lovemaking that I thought was actually really good for Nesta. Being able to identify different needs and contexts--as well as their inherent fluidity--was real growth for her emotionally. In general, I wasn't bored by this book the way I was by ACOTAR and I wasn't going "WTAF is happening" like I was with ACOWAR. Getting away from Rhys and Feyre seems to have really set SJM up to write a story, not her favorite ship, and I think readers can really see the difference.

At this point, I want to shift into character group/ship headings, because that's the easiest way to address the disparate parts of this book.

Nessian

Nessian is my favorite ship in the ACOTAR books, because Nesta and Cassian are interesting characters to watch, and they're allowed to fuck up and fix things. For example, Nesta is kind of godawful at communicating and following directions. She full-on does not stay in the tree, and almost gets herself murdered to death by "kelpies." She does also find the mask, so she gets a bit of leeway, but she gives Cassian more than a few hear attacks because she's prickly but has a soft gooey center that she is often acting out to protect. She would literally cut her own nose off to spite her face before admitting that's what she's doing, but that's very much what is happening for her. And Cassian is smart enough to eventually figure out what Nesta is doing.

My favorite example of THAT is when Cassian puts together than Nesta pissed off Clotho specifically to get his ass in the library long enough to show off his teaching skills and methods to prove that he's a safe person to all the women in the library. He's literally walking out the door afterward when the penny drops and it's adorable. This isn't to say he never screws up, though.

He REALLY fucks up when Nesta spills the baby wings beans. Did we need to push Nesta to the point of literal physical collapse on that hike? No, no we did not. That was fucked up, my dude. But they do talk it out and they work through it. What they don't ever really work through is Cassian being in the worst possible position in the Nesta-Rhys relationship. Cassian is a murder himbo (affectionate). Off the battlefield, he's a cute slab of muscle with a single brain cell and a good heart. He is also deeply tied to Rhys in a way that is perhaps not entirely healthy, so he absolutely goes back and forth between putting Nesta first and putting Rhys first. Which is messy and uncomfortable and gets baby ex machina-ed at the end rather than actually sorted out. Like, the worst, most toxic part of the Nessian ship is Rhysand and the Inner Circle. And that never really gets resolved because Cass will never leave the Inner Circle, and Nesta is never going to be fully accepted in it.

Despite that, however, I do love that Cassian arrives at the point of trusting Nesta to the point where he trusts that she can girlboss HERSELF out of the Blood Rite. We all know that if that had been Feysand, Rhys would have broken every rule ever and hung the consequences. I love that Cassian is actually held to the rules and has to trust Nesta and his relationship with her and their (admittedly rocky) past to get her out of that situation alive. And she ultimately chooses him again and hauls his ass out of the fire too. They just complement each other well, and I enjoyed watching them negotiate the relationship--even if I missed the mate bond snapping into place entirely because what even WAS that writing, SJM???

I know that some fans criticize the pattern of "solve your depression and trauma with hiking and combat training" in the ACOTAR books, but I found that it made more sense for Nesta than it ever did for Feyre. Nesta has a deep desire for control and enough power not to feel helpless. She's also got a genuinely good sense of "the most good for the greatest number of people," and that plus her general boyfriend makes it make sense that she would end up reforming the Valkyries.

Nesta's Girl Squad

Which brings us nicely to Nesta's girl squad. I absolutely ADORE that Nesta goes out and finds friends outside the Inner Circle. Her relationship with the Inner Circle is toxic on a GOOD day, and they quite simply cannot support Nesta in the way she needs to be supported. So Nesta goes out and finds people who can and will.

Gwyn and Emerie are really fun characters, and the best parts of the girl squad for me were not so much the Valkyrie training (although I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that) but the parts where the three reclaim the parts of girlhood and girl friendship that they were denied. They have a SLEEPOVER. They make plot-relevant FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS. They SHARE SMUTTY ROMANCE NOVELS and TALK ABOUT THEM. Literally this is the most wholesome relationship and it's a genuine treat to see Nesta form bonds outside of the fate of Prythian and her sister's complicated in-laws. This was probably the part of the book that I loved best (yeah, possibly even more than Nessian being Nessian), because we finally got away from the toxic sniping from Mor, the sheer evil of Ianthe and Amarantha, and the deeply fucked-up sibling relationship between Nesta and Feyre.

The girl squad just likes and supports each other.

That happens rarely enough in books that where there are strong, positive bonds among female characters, I always love it. Did Emerie and Gwyn get the amount and depth of development I'd have liked? No. Was that justified? Yeah, kind of. It was Nessian's book, it's a romance, and the fact that we even GOT a girl squad in a straight romance is a win as far as I'm concerned. Did it start as a trauma pack bond? Also yes, but like...that's just on-brand for ACOTAR, and at least Nesta's girl squad does the work of dealing with and processing their trauma.

*Side eyes the hundreds of years that Mor, Az, and Cass have been sidestepping around whatever the fuck their little triangle is*

The Feysand Thing and Nesta

Ok. I know why we had to have Feysand in this book. Plot reasons are a valid reason to include characters. That said...the pregnancy subplot was too stupid for words. It turns Rhysand--who I was already not enamored with after ACOWAR--into a patriarchal anti-choice asshole. It's Feyre's body, she gets to have 100% of the information about what it's doing and what her options are. And Rhys, dear, if you're too much of a coward to "take away Feyre's happiness" by telling her that giving birth is almost certain to kill her, make the healer do it. Yell, scream, and beat your chest, if that makes you feel better about it, but FOR FUCKS SAKE, tell her what's going on with the pregnancy. There was an opportunity to have a real conversation about abortion (because apparently C-sections aren't a thing in Velaris), but SJM didn't bother taking it. Instead we were stuck with a STUPIDLY overprotective and stressed Rhys. He is a massive dick to Nesta for this whole book, he's protective to the point of literal murder (which is not a good look), and frankly Nesta having to save his entire family's lives for him to stop literally wanting her dead feels...icky.

Also, I cannot not be on Amren's side over the stupid death pact that Feyre and Rhysand made. That was somehow EVEN STUPIDER than the pregnancy subplot, and uh...were I a citizen of Velaris, I would not be super happy with how the succession of the court is set up OR the fact that my 500-year-old High Lord thought that making a death pact with a 20-something who has a high-risk pregnancy was a good idea. Like...there are no brain cells at work here.

Nesta might not have had the best of intentions when she tells Feyre that Rhys has been lying to her and she's probably going to die, but like...FEYRE HAD A RIGHT TO KNOW. And If Rhys had balls, he'd have been the one to tell her or arrange for the healer to tell her.

Literally Nesta and Rhysand are never going to be friends, and that's FINE. But Nesta should not have to live with his bullshit.

Nesta and the House of Winds

Nesta has a pet magic house. It's amazing, I wouldn't change a thing.

The Stays Thing

There have been multiple posts about this on my blog, but of all the "words mean things" crimes SJM has committed in her books, the one that goes "Cassian's cock strained against the stays and buttons of his pants" is absolutely the worst one. For context, these are stays:

Stays are a boned support garment for the upper body that have historically been worn by people with breasts. I have no idea how you'd even BEGIN to put a pair of stays in the fly of a pair of pants, but if SJM meant that Cassian was straining against his own type of support garment, then the word she wanted was "jockstrap." She could even have gone with "cup" or "athletic supporter." Literally any word that describes a garment that keeps penises from flopping wildly about during physical exercise would have worked here, but nooooooo, we got "stays." I might actually be madder about this than I was about the use if "twist" in ACOWAR, because at least with that one, the word was in the ballpark.

Literally all my friends have heard this rant, but the winning response was from my sister who looked at me and went, "When I read it, I assumed they were the things that made his pants stays [sic] up."

Reader, she got the screech of rage she wanted from me with that response.

Nesta's Death Magic

Ok, I am so deeply conflicted about how Nesta's death magic was handled in the book. This idea had so much potential and some HELLA cool moments, but I can't say that I love that she gave up 99% of it at the end. I get why, and I even get that Nesta was probably more comfortable without the phenomenal cosmic powers, but the execution kind of felt like it was one more thing she had to surrender to not poke holes in Rhysand's fragile-ass ego. IDK, I'm conflicted, and your mileage may vary, but I didnt want to not mention the badass powers and Nesta's sheer force of will in controlling and directing it.

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed Nesta's book, and I would absolutely recommend reading this one. It's an SJM book, so you're getting a fair number of expected flaws with it, but in and around those flaws, there are interesting characters and a compelling story.

[lightwise]

TBB S3 E9 Reaction

- Oh boy. I am not liking that opening shot that makes Pabu look like Tantiss 😭😭

- It’s so cloudy and dark—it must be the fall season going into winter

- Wrecker AND Crosshair making lady friends…I see what you’re doing there Jen

- “Does it matter? We’re not handing her over.” The 👏🏻 character 👏🏻 growth 👏🏻

- “Can’t be prepared if we don’t know what we’re dealing with” Hunter is fully back in sergeant mode

- Also this is the first time we’ve seen Crosshair without his outer pauldrons on!! Now he can’t stab someone’s eye out if he stands next to them 😆

- I love how Omega says Batcher

- Oh yeah Omega go walk into the scary cave that Batcher is afraid to go into. And walk up to a strange ship that you don’t recognize 😅

- I do honestly wish Ventress’ character reveal had been kept a secret and wasn’t in the trailer. This moment would hit so much harder. But it’s very good to see her finally show up.

- Love the subtle nod to how Hunter seems to hear Batcher first, and Crosshair sees her first, showcasing their different skill sets and how well they work in tandem.

- Wow Ventress looks so good!! The hair! The outfit! Her in this animation style!

- Lol of course she already knows everything about them.

- Why does Crosshair keep suspiciously leaving a space between him and Hunter where a certain bespectacled Batch member is supposed to be standing 🥺

- “We never gave her our coordinates” 😬😬😬

- Love how serious but also calm and curious Ventress is. You can already see how much more at peace with herself she is compared to TCW (I have not read Dark Disciple but I am aware of the basics of her arc in it).

- “It’s for a friend…you’re saying I’m a Jedi!?!” Baby girl, don’t you know that Nala Se basically engineered you all to be TERRIBLE liars 🤣🤣😅 absolutely no one ever was going to believe those words coming out of your mouth, not with that adorable face

- Loving the lore drops that Ventress is giving here. Using the word midichlorians, tying force sensitivity and blood count to TPM and Ahsoka and the OT. Acknowledging that training is what makes you a Jedi, not your m-count. That the Force connects all living things. Bringing up the age old fandom question of whether clones could be force sensitive.

- “There’s your intel” turns around to leave

- “No one’s been able to give me answers” and we’re not going to leave this episode with any either 😅

- Omega isn’t usually this impatient, so I wonder if her focus is easier to hold when she’s focused on people and creatures rather than tasks that she can’t connect to what she’s trying to accomplish.

- “You must be a Jedi, right??” Immediately shuts her up with a hand to the mouth 🤣🤣

- Tech mention by Cross 😭😭😭

- How can she hear them? Force usage? Or do Dathomirians have sensitive hearing?

- Poor Omega. I wonder too if she’s a little intimidated by Ventress and that’s also impacting her ability to pull off this test.

- “Well? What happened?” A good teaching method, that she wants Omega to explain why she’s having trouble rather than immediately telling her “oh you failed” and helping her up 😄 TCW Ventress would never

- “The sun’s already started setting” nooo I don’t need that parallel

- They’ve made some really interesting shots with framing through the caves this episode

- Yeah girl work smarter, not harder

- Aaand the name of this boy band is? 💀 (serving c—— everything, that’s what 🫠😅) Hunter my boy that hip pop should be illegal

- Ventress has not lost ANY of her sass though

- THIS FIGHT. THE MUSIC. THE MOVES. THE LIGHT. AGAIN EVERYTHING IS ON THE TABLE AND WE ARE BEING SERVED

- Idk if we’ve ever seen Crosshair@/ agility like this

- Girl is fighting dirty

- I also love her going mostly for all of their weak points and joints that allow her to take them down while barely moving a finger herself

- Ahsoka 🤝 Ventress - some of the strongest force users in the galaxy who can take down an entire group of highly trained combatants with just martial arts moves, flexibility, and sheer nerve. No force usage needed. 🔥

- That knife throw 👀 🥵

- “We’re not big on following orders” THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN AHHHHHHHH

- Literally I could look at this scene all day. (They’ve never been more beautiful) 🔥🔥🔥🔥

- Poor Omega has no idea what she’s about to walk into

- *jaw drop* y’all every time I check I’m pretty much certain that I’m straight but….but…dodging those blaster bolts and just casually pulling out a yellow lightsaber like that? Respect.

- Lmao it’s so much worse than I expected 🤣 Jennifer I didn’t know that TV’s below TV-MA rating ever anticipated Hunter flat on his back with his knees spread like that…I just…I think you broke some rating scales there 🫠🫠🫠🫠 I love to see you fulfilling all of our fantasies in one fell swoop (I think I uh, need to go take care of some things, I’ll uh, I’ll be right back 👀)

- Lol kidding. Anyways….

- “What, stop!!!” You tell ‘em kid

- “Times have changed. Something you clones should be familiar with” yeah Hunter, what have you been up to the last two years??

- “We are not the same”. “No? We were pawns in the same war. And we ALL lost.” SAY IT LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK. girl just literally summed up the entirety of the saga.

- “I’m many things. But I’m not your enemy” character 👏🏻 growth 👏🏻 again 👏🏻

- Hunter, I love you, but your prejudice is showing. Interesting how he’s never had a problem with separatists in general before, and had to convince Echo to help rescue Senator Singh in episode one. Sometimes his distrustful nature really gets the better of him

- “We were just getting warmed up” uhuhhhh sure Wrecker

- “You’re being naive” I never gave up on you, did I?” Crosshair. Honey. Is it really just now hitting you full in the face just how much Omega has believed in you? And look at how far you’ve been able to come. His expressions just pierce my soul 🥺

- I kind of really love the seaport vibes and the neutral lighting here. I can just see Omega as a fisherman’s daughter or running off to be a pirate in another life

- Lol Ventress isn’t used to being around someone as optimistic as Omega

- “You did” lol

- I do find it interesting that almost no force user ever explains what reaching out “feels like” when trying to teach other people about it. You would think they could come up with a better description so that people can grasp it more easily. Unless their goal is that you can’t unless you have perseverance and/or capability

- “This is different than being a soldier” so much to unpack there.

- “Why should I listen to you” years of hardship and trial and experience and loss and growth and change

- Ooooh pretty creatures

- “I’m not the one holding back” 👀

- Ooooh scary (pretty) creature

- “Not intentionally” 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love her vocal inflection here. “No omega I was just trying to teach you a lesson not accidentally kill you” 💀I wonder which one of them actually summoned it

- *furiously screenshotting the Marauder while we still have it*

- So we’re really gonna get everyone with wet hair except Hunter, huh?

- Crosshair 🤝 Ventress rescuing Omega from drowning in the ocean

- Don’t make the angry tentacle crab angrier!

- The animated movement on Omega’s hair is amazing

- Ahsoka 🤝 Ventress reaching out with the force and calming a wild beast

- Welp. This is probably one of the most powerful instances of a force user connecting with a creature to calm it/communicate with it that we’ve ever gotten

- And what it says about Ventress’ inner calm and serenity and confidence and authority that she’s gained since TCW and Dark Disciple—I’m so proud of her 🥹🥹🥹

- What a beautiful creature

- THEY HELD HANDS 2.0

- Crosshair is just becoming the consummate gentleman and I am HERE for it 🥹🥹🥹

- Crosshair 🤝 Ventress - literally 😏

- Okay in all seriousness I’m not truly shipping them but I love seeing everyone have fun with their ship names

- “But I’m…already a target”. Baby girl still needs answers. She sounds so sad and confused

- Look at Wrecker’s emotional intelligence saving the day

- I love how this show uses little nods between people to show understanding. More of that in real life please.

- “You’re lying” “about which part?” The two of them would have a blast sassing each other that’s for sure.

- Interesting that her take is that omega would have to be trained, when decades later Ahsoka’s response to Grogu is that he shouldn’t be trained at all and should let his powers die out due to attachment.

- LEAVE PABU BOYS. She’s not warning, she’s telling. Ya know, not like it’s the title of the episode or anything

- “You’re not worried about the empire coming after you?” Love how even after all that and all his distrust, Hunter is still capable of caring about her well-being

- “I’ve got a few lives left” can’t wait to see when and why Ventress shows up next

[spoocys-glade-of-dreams]

Rayman Ship Posting: Canon Rayman Edition

I thought about releasing a very special edition of Rayman Head Canons for Valentines Day.

Before we begin, a little message: When I first started out on this blog, I was nervous about bringing my shipping ideas public. I have a habit of doing a bit of it whenever I have a new fandom fixation.

"Rayman Ship Posting" is head canons around the cast's view on romance.

Since this blog has been converted into an ask blog, if you want to send ship themed asks or starters. You can.

Most of these posts are general information not directed at a specific ship. Exceptions will be tagged with specific ship tags. It's also featuring the Canonical characters since I had these written out and stored in my drafts before Captain Laserhawk a Blood Dragon Remix launched. I'll do CLH specific Ship posting later.

Let's Begin! This is quite long, so it'll be with a keep reading cut here for easier navigation.

He’s the guy that will love chatting with you. He wants to learn everything he can about you! Your interests, your hobbies, your favorite activities, even your favorite food. He’s going to make this about you, not him. He really doesn’t care for boasting or bragging about himself.

If you are handicapped, Rayman will do his absolute best to make sure your needs are taken care of. Rayman is well versed in sign language, so he can communicate and understand you if his partner is deaf and/or mute.

Rayman is a loving dude that gushes over his partners and adores physical affection like hugs, kisses, and he is a MASSIVE cuddle-bug. He will literally cling to you if you let him hug you. He is full of love and he’s going to share that with you.

One of his favorite ways of bonding is that he’ll rest his head on your chest and just listen to the sound of your heartbeat. He also really likes pampering your hair needs. He will brush it, braid it, help you with adornments.

Rayman is incredibly compassionate and will worry about his friends, family, and his partner frequently. If he knows you are sad he will grab his ukulele, sit with his back pressed against yours, and he’ll start to play a few songs and will sometimes sing along to it if he knows it will make you feel better. He is also always willing to talk if you need to. He will listen. If you need him to do anything for you, he’ll gladly do it if will make you happy or will cheer you up. If it's revealed that he was the cause of your distress, he gets flustered about it. He'll work hard to earn your forgiveness. He’ll do his best to make it up to you somehow.

Rayman is a massive foodie, but his guilty pleasure is milk chocolate. If you get him a box of chocolates, it means the world to him. He will get starry-eyed, gasp and shout “I LOVE YOU!” in delight. If you go about gifting chocolate to Rayman, please keep it simple. Whatever you do, don’t go invest in some kind of expensive chocolate masterpiece. Dude will become conflicted because he wants to eat it but it’s too beautiful to eat. He ends up crying because he can’t do it and that ruins his day.

Rayman really likes flowers and these tend to be the gift of choice he gives you. He will make you flower crowns, he will go and hand pick a bouquet of them for you. Sometimes he has a habit of just picking wildflowers near his person while you lay near him and he’ll just decorate your hair with them absent-mindedly. He also loves when you give HIM flower crowns or stick a flower in his hair.

Rayman loves to dance and will try to include you on them. While he’s more fond of upbeat tunes or even rock and roll, he’s not immune to offering you a slow dance.

Rayman’s not very fond of doing household chores but it doesn’t normally stop him from doing them. If something is going on with you or you simply don’t feel well, he will cover the chores that you would normally handle with no questions asked on top of his own daily chores. He doesn’t enjoy it, but he’ll still do them. He never causes a fuss over it either, he just dramatically collapses on the sofa or bed in an attempt at playful teasing. He has had some times where he will let chores pile up. Give him a reminder to take care of it. Sometimes he just needs a bit of motivation. He may even turn the daily chores into a game so it'll motivate him to get stuff done.

Rayman adores children. He gushes about his little nieces and nephews at the Globox household frequently. Loves to entertain them and loves to play with them. He wants a partner that has that same love for children. He wants to have one or two of his own one day, but he would like to see the day where he doesn’t have to constantly worry about his home being under attack before he decides to settle down and maybe try to start a family of his own. He is on board with adoptions and would prefer this route when it came to having kids. He wants to give kids who had it rough a chance at a better life.

Despite the overall carefree nature, the silliness, sometimes smug or sassy nature he can depict at times, Rayman has had a very traumatic past. He has been through a lot and he needs someone that can support the emotional baggage here so to speak. He tends to keep this to himself, but once you have earned his trust, he will open up to what he's dealt with in the past and how it's effected him.

Rayman sometimes suffers flashbacks to certain traumatic events he faced in his life; the biggest being the events during the robot pirate invasion. These flashbacks do not last long and he’s normally quick to recover from them, though they will leave him rattled and sometimes he will start shaking, sweating, and panting for a short time.

He is prone to suffering night terrors where he will wake up in very visible distress. While he’s not a screamer, he does wake up shaking and sweating. They can get to be so bad he will have to call you up. Sometimes he will ask if either he can come over to spend the night, or ask if you can come instead.

He also gets a bit claustrophobic in tight cramped spaces due the imprisonment he faced during the pirate invasion, as well as the imprisonment he endured from the rabbids.

He really does need the emotional support and cherishes when you try to help him through. If you are able to stick by him and continue to support him, you might just be “the one” in his eyes. He will return the favor with the support tenfold. If you ever need him, at any hour of the day, he will be there. He will come over if you ask him to, and he’s always within reach of a mobile phone. You can call him at any hour of the day if you need his support or comfort.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Ur thoughts on lookism ships/rarepairs? We already know that you like goo x gun, but what's your thoughts on other ships & rarepairs like Eli x crystal, Gun/Goo x Samuel, Samuel x Jake, Sally x Warren, Vasco x Jake, Daniel harem? You can add more if ya want :3

Funny you ask because I first came to the fandom to look for fanfic on canon characters and shipping. I had zero idea x reader was a thing. What shipping you ask? Whatever, gimme.

Ramblings on Lookism (Rare)pairs

Listen, I will ship almost ANYTHING if you can convince me.

Gun x Goo? Because I want to mention them again. YES. Hello? This just makes sense. I hate you, I love you, I'll kill you. If you're going to die then it will be by MY HANDS. Does it get any more romantic than this?

Gun x Daniel? The AO3 warning tags has got me swerving this pairing to be honest. However, I love the idea of these two as a cracky couple. Lots of opportunities for comedy and for Gun to pop up behind a trashcan and be like, "Hi, I was thinking about you."

Gun x Samuel? Lol. Sammy would NOT be able to keep up or hold Gun's attention. Maybe something casual until Sammy spirals and Gun nopes tf out.

Goo x Samuel? I actually think this has more legs than the Samuel x Gun pairing. Goo will be impressed with Samuel's moneymaking initiatives, and they will have a lot of unstable fun together. Secret friends with their secret kisses and activities?? Until Goo realises that Sammy is unhinged in a mentally traumatised way and not in a chaotin gremlin way like he is, then will also nope out.

Samuel x Jake? There's just so much sexual tension there. Please just kiss already (see pic above). Nothing like this pairing to bring out the worst in each other, and that's really saying something for Jakey. Could be end game if Samuel goes to therapy. Actually, Sammy in therapy would just be unstoppable. Period.

Sinu x Jake? Yep. These two green flags would be bringing out the best in each other. Insufferable martyrs though for Big Deal. God, can you just imagine how happy the Big Deal gang would be seeing these two get together?

Vasco x Jake? Huh. Never thought about it but 2 himbos? The funniest shenanigans. I do think the dynamic can get a little boring after a while without one half to anchor the other. Their flirting scenarios, however... Imagine Vasco getting all red faced and flustered with Jake's winks and one liners!

Vasco x Jace? The cutest, most supportive couple. You just know that Jace is going to be affectionately looking on at Vasco doing all his Himbo shit.

Eli x Crystal? Ehh. I need convincing. With Eli's latest character development and what I remember of Crystal, they would clash and not in a fun sexy way. Both seem too headstrong and bullheaded to get on well.

Crystal x Zoe? Like Vasco and Jace, these two would be really adorable together. Would both help each other out with their Lookist tendencies. Zoe's kindess would also help to soften Crystal up.

Zack x Johan? YES. Johan the tsundere with Zack the simp. Have you not seen what Zack has put himself through in the latest arc? Everything he's doing to bring his boy home? If we take Mira out the equation, this might as well be canon.

Vin x Zack? I could not see this at all until the latest arc and actually, these two have the funniest interactions. Vin brings out Zack's bastard side from the first few arcs. I bet they would have the most pissed off sex. Can't imagine it lasting for anything more than a casual fling though.

Vin x Mary? No. Absolutely not. Love their platonic friendship and how they are bffs more than anything. I'll be honest, if it was another writer I probably would not mind. But PTJ has trouble writing a female character with depth so. Nope. Can't be doing that to our queen.

Sally x Warren? Is this even a rarepair. Either way, meh. It's fine. If Sally was shown to have a personality, sure. These 2 can share the 1 braincell.

Daniel x Jay? They are a very cute pair, and I do like how Jay's feelings are canon. This feels very k-drama with the Chaebol falling for you.

Daniel Harem? No. I generally dislike most harem tropes, sorry.

And just throwing in Hobin Harem? Definitely not. As above. Especially because this makes me roll my eyes that it's PTJ living out his fantasies.

Lastly, clarifying that I'm not fetishising male x male pairings. When hardly any of the female characters are developed, it's hard for me to care about most het couples or fem x fem pairings.

In summary

Write anything good, and I'm IN.

[the-everqueen]

002 - Cocoluce

003 - Gault

002 send me a ship - CocoLuce when or if i started shipping it: last year, initially as a knee-jerk reaction to the way fandom kept characterizing Lucienne as either asexual or a frigid lesbian out of lazy misogynoir. (like, i think there COULD be a thoughtful take on Lucienne as ace--just like i think there's a reading where she's nonbinary or agender--but the fanon never provided any context for this headcanon, and it seemed to emerge as an excuse for why Lucienne and Dream couldn't be a major ship [or indeed, to have ever had any intimacy beyond "boss and employee"], or as a reason why Lucienne would only ever appear as a cheerleader for dreamling in fics.) it felt like another instance of (white) fandom's general attitude that Black female characters are somehow inherently undesirable (and not engaged as active, desiring subjects).

but that scene where the Corinthian reappears in the Dreaming and Lucienne is there waiting? Boyd and Viv play that as LOADED with interpersonal tension. like, his mouth is RIGHT THERE, practically brushing the shell of her ear, and she doesn't flinch or react beyond that long, simmering stare. the slow lowering of her eyelashes, the flick of her gaze up? and he turns his back to her! she watches him as he leaves! it's SUCH a vibe of fraught exes, and/or rivals for Dream's attention/affection. it's palpable chemistry.

and that's another thing i find isn't afforded to Black or Brown actresses: everyone talks about how much chemistry Tom Sturridge has with his costars, and no one talks about how his costars are ALSO responding to that in their acting choices (or...they do, when it's Ferdinand Kingsley or Holbrook, aka white dudes). (addendum: there's SOME mention of Melissanthi Mahut, because she's Dream's ex-wife, but uh. no mention of Deborah Oyelade? the lover Dream condemned to Hell? hm, i wonder why...) no one gives these women their due for the work they've put into the craft! instead it's either hypersexualization ("step on me, mommy") or dismissal.

anyways. once i get an idea it then becomes "okay so how does this work." what about the characters and their dynamic would make this happen/prevent this from happening? where are the points of friction?

my thoughts: so it's god's two favorites. it's the dark mirror of humanity and the archivist of all their dreams. the masterpiece and the librarian. OBVIOUSLY they've interacted. presumably Lucienne was already around when the first Corinthian was created. what does THAT look like? god's first and most precious raven, the only one who STAYED. god's finest work, most complex creation, the one who always hungered to leave. did the Corinthian comb through the library, when the dreams weren't enough to sate his taste for humanity? also what is the line between curiosity and hunger?

what makes me happy about them: two not-human (but human appearing) beings who've been around for centuries if not millennia, who absolutely know what makes the other tick and how to cut to the core. who have a certain level of affection for humanity. who are closer to Dream than most others, and afforded privileges due to that closeness. like, i'm not sure they ever loved each other, but they love Dream, and haven't you tried to get at the person you really wanted by getting close to someone they cared about? them finding use in each other - and isn't that a cruel sort of twist, being reduced to a function in one of the most intimate relations you could have?

what makes me sad about them: i mean. it's clearly tragic. it could never be inherently happy, so long as it hinges on the absence of Dream.

...gonna skip the two fanfic questions bc i just haven't seen enough fic with them. but! i do adore quiet in the library by ao3 user starkraving.

my kinks: the eternal cry with all bhol characters: put a leash on that man!

who i'd be comfortable with them ending up with, if not each other: i feel like my platform is "end racism in fandom spaces" and "polyamory." anyways CLEARLY they both actually love Dream.

my happily ever after for them: i do think there's a universe where lucienne/dream/corinthian as a poly V and occasional triad could be Good. maybe it's lucienne/danny/coco2. all that newness and grief. hey, isn't it a thing that people get horny at funerals? deleted Wake scene.

(from this ask list, in case anyone else wants to play)

[whatever-color-of-the-rainbow]

farrah for the character ask game: 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24,and 25

YIPPEE

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I. Love. Her. So. Much.

She’s such an interesting and complex character. She’s so sweet but at the same time so rude. She’s struggling so much but everyone else on the team overlooks it. She seems so carefree but she wants to make friends and connections on the team so badly. She took the first step to getting better about 30 seconds before she died and no one will ever know. She deserves so much better. I love her.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

There’s just so much I could say for this one. But the first one that came to mind is that Preston confirmed that she’s trans. Trans Farrah is everything to me.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Oh this has actually been in my brain for SUCH a long time. Farrah, Kelly from The Mad Ones, and Connor from Dear Evan Hansen, as ghost besties, watching the events of DEH play out while eating popcorn.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

There’s a lot so I’m just gonna list all the ones I can think of.

making the bed (Olivia Rodrigo), Yes I’m a Mess (AJR), this is me trying (Taylor Swift), Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now (The Smiths), girl so confusing (charli xcx), Hole in the Bottom of my Brain (AJR), Anti-Hero (Taylor Swift)

I’m sure there’s more, though.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

I’ve probably mentioned this hc a million times, but it’s my absolute favorite. Songwriter Farrah. Before alcohol, she coped by journaling, which eventually turned into songwriting. And she was really good.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

I think she’d use the middle finger emoji a lot when talking to Annleigh or Clark.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

I don’t have any specific aesthetics in mind, but she seems like she would wear something like this.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

I used to hc her as aroace before I found out that PMA confirmed she was unlabeled, so I don’t really have any ships for her 😅 Not ones that are requited, anyway. I REALLY like the idea of unrequited Kate x Farrah, though.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

REESE. She and Reese could have had such a beautiful friendship if she hadn’t, you know, died.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

I used to write fanfic, but I stopped because I either wrote things that were really good or really bad with no in between. I might get back into it in the future, though. But when I did write, I liked getting into the complexities of her relationships with the other characters.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like?

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read WATT fanfic that featured Farrah. But again, I like stuff that explores her relationships with the others because we don’t get much of that in canon.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Oh that’s so easy.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

There’s no character that actively reminds me of her, but I have a little WATT/Mean Girls AU in my head, and she’s Karen.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

One of my first impressions was “ZOE JENSEN???” She was playing Eliza in Hamilton at the time, and she just so happened to be my favorite. And obviously I absolutely adored Farrah as a character. And I still absolutely adore her (see question 1).

[soup-of-the-daisies]

What are your favorite harry ships??

I am SO glad you asked. Harry is my fandom bicycle and the reason I count myself as a multi-shipper.

In general, I like my Harry-ships to be relatively ‘equal’, if that makes sense. Harry or the other character should be capable of holding their own; big power differences are not my cup of tea (though they can be intriguing and, dare I say it, hot). They can kick each other’s arses, is what I mean by that.

I also don’t mind a male Harry, female Harry, or NB Harry. I like ‘em all, just for clarification.

For the basics: both Drarry and Harmione are near and dear to my heart. Rivals-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers, my beloved. These ships feel comfortable and familiar, and they’re usually my go-to for post-canon fluff or hurt/comfort. (I also like Dramione and Romione btw. I know that’s not what you asked about but I’m just putting it out there.)

I’m also known to have indulged in Ronarry and Sirry (Sirius/Harry) on occasion. And with smaller characters: Harry/Theo Nott, Harry/Blaise Zabini, Harry/Daphne Greengrass, Harry/Viktor Krum, Harry/Cedric Diggory… yeah. Harry/Cho and Hinny are fine, but not ones I’d purposefully seek out. In time travel AUs, I genuinely, really like Harry/Orion Black—possibly because it reminds me of Prongsfoot.

Most importantly: my absolute favourite at the moment is Tomarry/Harrymort. I don’t know why—it just appeals to me. Harry’s my boy, and I actually quite like Voldemort’s character as a fully-rounded villain or annoying, emotionally constipated teenager. Christian Coulson as Tom Riddle had me (like many others) in a chokehold when I was little so Diary!Tom is Voldy-version I absolutely adore, but Silver Fox!Voldemort and Snakeymort I love as well. And again, this is as long as the power dynamics aren’t too fucked up (purely for my personal taste): other aspects can be Morally Wrong or Really Fucked Up and I’ll lick the plate clean lmao. I like it when Voldemort becomes ‘better’, I like it when Harry becomes ‘worse’… cleansing or corruption, both are good.

It’s something something soulmates, I suppose!! Their inherent connection, their similarities. Harry has the potential (!!!) to become an ‘equal’ in power to Voldemort eventually (provided he trains and studies) (the detail that Voldemort canonically has more magical power is why a lot of fix-it fics add that Harry had a ‘binding’ on his ‘magical core’ which limits the power he can put into something; either to prevent the horcrux from holding on too tightly or to make him easier to kill). Harry has, canonically, power over Voldemort in the way that he’s part of Voldemort. Their wand cores match as much as they can possibly match (feathers given by the same phoenix at the same time). Voldemort accidentally damned Harry to have a similar childhood as he did. They both see Hogwarts as their first home; they’re both half-bloods; they both didn’t feel like they truly belonged in both the muggle and magical world, though for varying reasons. Harry can understand Voldemort on a level that lies the latter bare and open, which is not something that Voldemort would ever want or appreciate. And the dichotomy between core parts of their personalities — Harry’s kindness, Voldemort’s cruelty — is delicious.

[dragoneyes618]

4. What fandom’s/ship’s fan fiction do you read the most?

6. What’s the last thing you read that made you laugh?

17. Describe a fic that is still in the ‘ideas’ stage.

19. What’s your favorite character headcanon? (Could you do this for Claudine or either of the Hook siblings, please?)

4. Descendants and Coco, with Warrior Cats and Encanto a close second.

6. This one part in Dracula, when Mina's writing in her diary "I wonder where Jonathan is and if he is thinking of me!" And considering this came just a couple of chapters after Jonathan's journal, where every other page he's mentioning Mina and how he longs to see her again and what she would say and how she gives him hope etc etc....I just found it funny.

17. A fic inspired by Never Again by RubyofRaven. The basic premise of Never Again is that no villain is allowed to have more than one child on the Isle; as soon as a second (or third, or fourth...up to however many children a villain has) child is born, the first child is taken off the Isle and brought to Auradon.

The Isle doesn't know that, though. They have no idea what happens to the children who are taken away.

So, for example, CJ Hook is growing up on the Isle and never met her two older siblings.

But this applies to all kids on the Isle. None of them knew their older siblings. They all know that if they ever have a younger sibling, they will be taken away forever.

But, and this is what my fanfiction will be about....what about Mal and Hadie?

They are siblings. Half siblings? Full siblings? Older? Younger? They don't know, and they don't say, and they don't dare ask, for as soon as anyone finds out they're siblings, one of them will be taken away, never to be seen again.

19. Character headcanon for Claudine: She has pyrophobia, for obvious reasons. But she also absolutely adores small children. I have no idea if this is a fandom-accepted headcanon or just one that only I've thought of. Oh well.

Character headcanon for the Hooks: The thing is, there are very few groups of siblings on the Isle. There are many only children, a few pairs of siblings or cousins, but the Hooks are the only set of three siblings on the Isle aside from the Gaston twins and Gil, and an indeterminate amount of Tremaines.

So why don't they stick together? Why don't they form their own crew, instead of splitting up?

The thing is, each of the Hooks had a deep-rooted fear of abandonment, of betrayal, of being left alone. This is especially, especially prevalent in CJ, but the others have it as well, and to no small extent too.

Maybe it's because their mother left them to be raised by Hook. Maybe it's just a natural insecurity. But, regardless, it is what it is.

The Hooks look around at the Isle, and what do they see? They see no set of siblings being united.

They see Mal and Hadie who refuse to acknowledge that the other is kin to them.

They see the Gaston twins, who despise their younger brother as a weakling.

They see Zevon, who joined CJ in her attempted takeover of Auradon, and Yzla, who joined the Anti-Heroes club.

No set of siblings is united. No set of siblings is together.

If that's what it's like for every set of siblings they know, why should they be any different?

And so they split up. They do not verbalize it; perhaps they are not even conscious of it. But they do not trust themselves and each other to remain together for long.

And this doesn't just apply to each other. The fear of abandonment applies to every friendship, every alliance, they form.

If I'm the captain, and I'm a good captain, and I take care of everybody and I lead them well, than no one would ever want to betray me, right?

If I'm the first mate, and I'm a good first mate, and I do absolutely everything my captain says, then I'll always get to be the first mate, I'll always have my crew, because they won't have any reason not to like me, right?

If I don't have any crew at all, no friends allies or anything, except when I really really really need to, then no one can leave me because I won't be close to anyone in the first place, right?

Right?

Send me some fanfic asks!

[the-marron]

Tagged by @miss-ingno - I was certain I did this twice already, but I cannot for the life of me find these posts for some reason, so I shall reply again 😅 Thanks for the tag!

How many works do you have on AO3? 150

What's your total AO3 word count? 1,284,770

What fandoms do you write for? recently I used to write the most to Guardian and Weilan derivatives (Luolin!~) but I am slowly and surely slowing down on writing altogether

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? skipping that one, I am certain I answered this one around five times and the answer is still the same. I can say that my most kudosed work is at 1,220, because I think this is the only new info I can offer on the topic.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I love writing comments and responding to them, no matter how much time passed! It's great to get a comment on something I posted around 10 years ago and remember what I thought about, how I saw that ship back then, and all that, plus sometimes people simply share their thoughts about the canon work itself in the comments and I love to have discussions with people I would not meet otherwise.

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? eh, idk? My angst-meter is broken, so I cannot discern what is the saddest thing I committed. Probably either Unceasing Path (Luolin) or When I Make an Oath to the Flames (Weilan), but I don't know really.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? well, not sure at all either. But I think the Grindeldore series?

Do you get hate on fics? More like hate on me personally, but not often, thankfully

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I don't. Usually the story I want to tell doesn't need any sex scenes, because the emotions that would come up in those were already explored earlier, in a different way, and I do find them boring, so why force myself.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Oh, I absolutely do and I enjoy them both in reading and in writing. Weilan derivs are crossovers already, so I've written quite a lot of those. I think the craziest crossovers I've written are also the ones I will not publish, so I shall remain silent 😆

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not all of it, just ideas and scenes

Have you ever co-written a fic before? YES! And I love the experience!

What's your all-time favorite ship? No idea, any time I find a new ship I adore it pretty much looks like this:

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I have only one WIP in the works and I am pretty sure I will finish it, as for the rest - I only have ideas and I might end up abandoning them and never doing anything about them, so not exactly WIPs, are they

What are your writing strengths? I guess variety? I like changing genres and styles, to have fun with POVs and different settings?

What are your writing weaknesses? I am rather careless, keep on making typos, changing my idea of a sentence after writing half of it, forgetting which version of the plot I am ultimately going with, so I am a mess that keeps on updating stories years after publishing them because I spotted yet another typo while scrolling through them.

First fandom you wrote for? Inuyasha, an OC that was the main hero's half-sister, trying to fit into the family after realising she has it. It was a gen fic, surprise, surprise, and it ended up in a crossover with another girl running an Inuyasha blog - our respective characters made guest appearances in our stories. It was fun.

Favorite fic you've written? No idea. Really, depends on the mood, I sometimes think I did a good job with something, other times I decide everything I've written is terrible in new, exciting ways

Apologies for the short answers, I am truly out of my writing era 😅

Not tagging anyone because I am certain I did this tag twice so I probably would end up tagging the same people all over again, so if someone is reading this and would like to share, I would be very happy to read the replies (tag me please, so I can see), but no pressure~