#aka screaming into the void

[afrsconp]

I'm pretty new to this fandom but I've seen a few posts here and there about Nigel being a bad guy. And I'm not saying he's perfect (he'd be boring if he was!) but I do think some of those posts aren't really considering why, within canon, he'd (re)act the way does.

A few arguments against Nigel I've seen:

Nigel pressured Isaac to move faster than what Isaac was comfortable with, and gaslit him to manipulate him into doing what he wanted.

I can understand the argument for this, but I just don't agree with it. Both of them contributed to the way things ended up, mostly due to lack of communication, which in turn was probably just one symptom of tons of other issues: their old-timey-ness, Isaac still processing being openly gay, both of them probably unused to being in a serious relationship (with a man or otherwise) where they genuinely loved/were attracted to the other party, the prospect of literal eternity together, the sheer length of time they'd pined over each other, the fact that Isaac was the cause of Nigel's death, etc etc etc.

So when people claim things like Nigel getting mad about the daybed = Nigel manipulating Isaac into proposing, it feels a little short sighted.

More than once, we see Nigel actively try to slow things down when he sees that Isaac is uncomfortable, only for Isaac to rush forward instead (to overcompensate for his own worries):

After the truth is revealed about Jenkins lying to both of them to keep them apart, and Isaac still tries to pretend there's no romantic feelings between them, Nigel is visibly upset but doesn't push the issue. He doesn't even try to get Isaac to admit what they both know (what everyone knows!) is the truth - he just hurries away and tries to hide how much Isaac's denial has hurt him.

After offering to let Isaac sleep in the shed when the mansion ghosts have to bunk up, Nigel starts avoiding Isaac. It's not a stretch to think that Nigel was embarrassed/upset at being rejected and decided to leave Isaac alone for a while, giving them both some space, and he only confronts Isaac again when he thinks the real reason he was rejected was that Isaac had been having an affair with Thor.

When they're under the mistletoe, Nigel quickly assures Isaac that they don't have to follow tradition and can just say goodnight - only for Isaac to insist that they kiss. So it's pretty understandable that Nigel gets upset when Isaac facepalms him instead. And not only that, Nigel tries again to back off - he sees that Isaac isn't ready and reluctantly ends the relationship. And again, it's Isaac who pushes things forward by going to find him later and kissing him for real. But kissing him without any explanation about why he was so hesitant to do it before, which only compounds their issues.

When Nigel is like, "we're really baby stepping this thing, aren't we?" after Isaac invites him to move into the mansion, he clearly wants to move into Isaac's room but readily accepts moving into the library instead. He doesn't argue or make a fuss about it.

When Nigel gets upset about the daybed and Isaac tells him that he isn't ready for cohabitation, Nigel again just accepts it. He's obviously disappointed, but he doesn't make any demands. It's Isaac who suddenly jumps straight to marriage, which is something that Nigel pretty clearly did not expect him to do at all.

Just the fact that Nigel waited for Isaac to make the first move, despite it being obvious to everyone that Isaac has had feelings for him for centuries. Nigel didn't force things and knew that Isaac had to accept it for himself before anything could happen between the two of them. And so he waited. FOR OVER 200 YEARS.

2. The liaison with Jenkins during The Respite

Look, this was 100% on Nigel and he shouldn't have done it (even if they were on a respite). But given what had just happened, I can understand why he did it. The love of his life had just shown him that he still wasn't ready, even after 250 years of waiting, so Nigel was upset and frustrated and Jenkins was right there and willing. So he did something stupid, which he later describes as "meaningless" anyway.

3. The lapdance from Jenkins at the stag do

First off, the lapdance wasn't his idea. It was Trevor's, and then Jenkins just ran with it. And yeah, it's clear that Nigel enjoyed it, but it's also clear that it meant nothing to him. It didn't make him have sudden feelings for Jenkins, or made him horny for Jenkins, or anything at all that affected his feelings for Isaac. In fact, he insisted that Isaac get a lapdance too, to prove that they were just "innocent fun". So when he later realized that Isaac's lapdance wasn't as meaningless for Isaac as his own was for him, he gets upset. And, once again, it's Isaac who pushes things further, by insisting that they should still get married despite both of them starting to have doubts.

In case it isn't clear, I'm not saying Isaac is the bad guy here. They're both a product of the time period they grew up in and talking things out isn't something either of them is used to doing.

4. Nigel blackmailing Hetty and Trevor

This one just ignores the fact that Nigel only blackmails them after Hetty sabotaged Nigel's tea party. And yes, inviting Hetty last was 100% an intentional slight, but it was a slight that would've stayed private. No one else would've been aware of it - not even Hetty, had Nancy not happened to mention that Nigel invited her first. That's a very different thing to Hetty publicly embarrassing Nigel by ensuring that his tea party failed.

In any case, Hetty won that little war (as she should have; she's the Lady of the House and I love her outmanoeuvring everyone to stay on top). And after she won, they both backed off. We see them being quite civil to each other after that, like during their double date and the wedding planning (up until the pre-nup thing, but more on that below).

5. Nigel getting upset about the pre-nup

This argument is just weird to me. Plenty of people in the modern day get upset about this kind of thing all the time, so Nigel getting upset about it seems perfectly understandable. It also wouldn't be surprising if Nigel was subconsciously worried that Hetty was still trying to break them up.

In general, I think that Nigel might just be really insecure. He might've been afraid that Isaac was only with him because it was convenient? And was kind of desperate for a solid indication that Isaac's feelings were as strong as his own. And when Isaac repeatedly backed off, those doubts just kept resurfacing, to the point where I don't think Nigel even thought about possible alternative reasons for Isaac's behavior. He just went straight to "he doesn't really want me, maybe he never wanted me". But he doesn't actually say any of this to Isaac, and Isaac never actually tells him about Beatrice or why he's getting cold feet (assuming that Isaac is even aware of the reasons himself!) - until they're already at the altar, in front of everyone, and about to exchange vows. Which is just about the worst possible timing there is.

[senje-glory]

illu still has the blockwars skin on lmao

[shady-kittys]

Okay but like the whole blending herself together with the Winter King just makes so much sense, she's only the madness of the crown.

She doesn't feel whole because it's only madness without its maker. The only thing she is missing is the wearer, the supposed to be bearer of the curse.

Like if I were the madness that laid within the crown I would also go to any measure to be reunited with my wearer. If dating and marriage is refused I too would just decide to blend myself with my user. I wouldn't be whole, I'm just the curse without the body I'm meant to be in. Blended we are right, apart we are just wrong.

[chaoticly-shy-dragon]

Whoever wrote that percy jackson au of the dead boy detectives, you live under my skin and I love you. So much so that my brain tried to think of a way to make it even more canon-accurate without making them dead. or reborn Hazel Levesque style.

What I have so far is playing on the whole West civilization bit and how it moved to the.. well west - but also that World War 2 was a big three kid conflict? So. I have sort of a time-table and I'm throwing it out of the window.

Edwin is a child of Athena - that much stays the same - who is very bookish and very studious but not in the way the rest of his siblings are. They are handy and crafty, strategic and interested in architecture or design. He.. is not. (I need a reason why his siblings didn't come to help him when the "death scene" happens.)

The whole boarding school is one of many spread across the London countryside - Chiron moves a lot. They teach both ancient and modern warfare because magic or not you can't escape the bloodshed forever - you either get drafted or you run and get blacklisted somewhere or another.

(St Hilarion was actually a son of Apollo that got really popular during the Crusades - Zeus didn't smite the school when it was established because times are different and Hera would be angry if there was another big fire with no explanation that put their soldiers'- eh-hem- kids' lives at risk.)

They still teach Latin alongside Greek because it was what all normal boarding schools did and that's what they were. Maths, English, and Sciences - were all taught to the boys. The girls went to another school - where they were taught the bare minimum to survive. Because sexism was rampant and if the Romans were on the wrong side of the civil war, that means no matter how progressive the gods could have been in certain areas, they aren't now/then–

Artemis really, really hated that time period. Zoë or this version of Zoë got a kick out of shooting so many assholes in the face. Or in their dicks. They also got way more recruits than in later years. Silver lining.

Anyways: Simon - son of Hecate - and the bunch of boys, one of which was a son of Hades, do the whole let's sacrifice Edwin. Only the book is a Christian book on witchcraft that Simon truly didn't think would work. He and the rest - Hades boy included - did the whole preparation of the sacrifice as it was absolutely terrifying for Edwin to experience on top of everything else. They didn't know it was a real thing - but is the only reason why Edwin stays alive.

It's essentially a stasis charm that lets the ritual run for as long as needed without the poor victim dying beforehand. It requires bloodletting and "runes" and such. The thing is scary, traumatizing stuff so it seemed like a fun thing for Simon and his buddies to do. So they did it.

They skimmed the reading. Blood with power is spilled, ritual that is very real gets haphazardly done and so monsters get involved.

Fun fact, that I'm really hoping is actually true - sometimes monsters with names similar to other religions' occult beings pick up the summoning calls. If the ritual is shoddy enough for them to hear, the participants all die either way, it's only important who gets there first.

So. The bullies get killed and a fury-type thing drags Edwin's whole being to the fields of punishment so it can feast on its offering. He gets dusted Sally Jackson style.

We enter his hell era. ( Part 2, Part 3, TBC )

[urfavcvntx]

🩰🎀💗

Oh my God. He's so hot. He's literally so fucking hot I literally have trouble breathing. Help me he is so hot. Lord I swear if that man would give me a chance I'd suck his dick until the skin falls off and my organs collapse yes indeedly.

🩰🎀💗

[raintides]

i started watching vrains

[icedtoastt]

Kuroaka papercrafts for the soul

Simply an edit I made of of a Kasane teto papercraft :> they’re so fun to make..

[w4tonsoup]

[sun-spark]

Writer mood - reading your own fics and thinking "Damn. I wish this author would update and post the next part already." Cause, ya know, you wanna know what happens next too.

[hatterladz]

Gonna ramble about my IM x Castle in the Sky AU again

So again I'm a huge fan of the idea that Cup is a mama's boy, but that wasn't always the case

Mugs and Cup were still pulled away from home for awhile and Cup still ended up expiremented on by Hat [although not bc he sold his soul the demon was just greedy and curious]

Cup and Mugs end up staying there for 3-4 years until the dishes found them again and took them back home. And while Mugs is happy to be home, 17 year old Cup is angry with BOTH of his parents

It isn't until Demi risks herself to keep Cup and Mugs safe that Cup actually starts to bond with his mom again. And it's still a slow process. One thing they fight on about a lot is Cup being respectful to Canni. Cup still loves his dad don't get me wrong but he hasn't earned the same respect that his mom did yet.

Demi is frustrated with both Cup and Canni because Cannikin just tells her to "be patient" and "he'll come around on his own". This doesn't stop Canni from doing nice things for Cup like making him hot chocolate on one of Cup's rough mental health days.

Also Cup found it easier to forgive Demi because it wasn't Demi's idea to leave it was Canni's [or that's what he's telling himself]

So ya Cup is a mama's boy because I got a HINT of it in canon when he was still a toddler and I took it and RAN.

Bonus mother-son fluff;

-Sometimes Demi has to plan or navigate late at night, and when Cup doesn't sleep he just sits down and watches her work, she'll make room for him to sit, neither of them say anything and eventually Cup will fall back asleep

-She ends up keeping a few dandehogs on the ship that Cup is really attached to so long as he takes care of them and doesn't make Canni do it and that "it's his fault if they get blown off since it's windy"

-Cup is a full stop supporter of his mom's mission to Be A Nuisance To Black Hat, since now he's confident that she can hold herself in a fight with Hat and he also hates Hat

-Demi teases Cup about having no girlfriend a bit after Cala comes onto the ship, it's one of the few times that Cup looks to Canni for help [except Canni isn't going to tell his wife to stop so Cup's really on his own here]

-When they were first reunited there was a lot of back and forth of Demi trying to get Cup to do things that would be better for him, after Cup figured out she'll force him to do it anyway is when he began his days of malicious compliance. Even after they get along more, Cup still does this over smaller things, but it's more out of wanting to mess with her. Demi isn't sure if she's proud or annoyed when she says "bring me something to write on" and he brings her a clipboard instead of a paper and pen

[shummthechumm]

yellowfang genuinely believing that because brokenstar was "cursed" and that her (being manipulated into) giving him up...her loosing her daughters at birth...and that this meant she was incapable of birthing and raising a cat like firestar....ooooo...

then later projecting herself onto leafpool having the three...which, as old as their prophecy is, i would imagine causing some unrest in starclan....her children having a "pre-determined" destiny, being born against the same rules that brokenstar was...

both leaf and yellow and their similar powers...its all too much really

[regardstosoulandromance]

everyone always talks about “healing your inner child and teen”, but what about healing your relationship with that tv show the fandom ruined for you for a while

[wandercr]

eliana loves women. end post

[distant-screaming]

soundwin fake dating au has so much angst potential because Sound would try so hard to keep a distance while still being around Win whereas Win would like. Try to get closer and figure out his own feelings and Sound's - but because of their very different approaches, Sound thinks it's not possible for Win to actually like him because 'it's just a game to him' vs Win thinks 'he keeps pulling away maybe he doesn't like hanging out with me at all', and that's just. Yeah

[roamingbadger]

I am driving myself mad this week writing the same chapter over and over and over again from fifteen different angles and I've written thousands of words and deleted them all and I'm seriously one scene away from a yellow wallpaper esque breakdown!!!!!! in case anyone was wondering!

[wrathofnature]

Time flies when mental health is garbo! Despite of recent events, my progression of drawing Ice themed Khun once every single year has brought me great joy.

Khun Aguero Agnis is still my favorite character of all time and I greatly enjoy his character. Someday, I will draw the fire Bam I promised myself to do ;w;

Now if only Tower of God: Great Journey can give my boy an ice themed alternate version of himself... I will pay an arm and leg (and soul) just to get that version...

Actually no that is a complete lie, I'm already selling majority of my soul and time investment to get all the Khun A. A. Units alongside many other units.

I haven't yet spend actual money though and I hope it stays that way lol

Unfortunately though, this is my last completed artwork for procreate because my apple pencil perished after years of multiple use. I tried very method under the sun but it doesn't respond anymore to my ipad soooo... Time to prepare a funeral lol