#and he overcorrected by saying nothing

[matttheratking]

Okay, I'm gonna say it cause it's 11 pm and I'm a lil tipsy:

If they hadn't pulled all of Trent's teeth out season 3 he would have had more to fucking say about Ted thinking he's not important to the Richmond Story

[eddiegettingshot]

okay actually i need to reiterate like. did we actually watch the breakup scene and listen. there was nothing biphobic. tommy was not telling buck to experiment. he wasn’t telling buck he “needed” to date or fuck other people to explore his sexuality. he broke up with buck because he was projecting his feelings of newness and excitement and pride about himself onto tommy instead of wanting tommy for being the right person for him. this happened after buck outright said tommy is like abby to him, after saying that being with abby was the most transformative relationship of his life. tommy was literally fine about buck being inexperienced until this point! but buck’s reaction to the abby situation and his overcorrection was what made it evident that he had some shit to figure out. PLEASE 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[rei-ismyname]

The deification of Jean Grey

When a 16 year old Jean Grey was bought to the present by Hank McIrresponsible, she was immediately confronted with the post-death canonisation the X-Men greater social circle had saddled her with. Big feelings and bigger expectations.

The worst of it was from people who'd never even met her, but those closest to her was no less fraught. Adult Scott was certainly affected by her presence, but he behaved the most normal about it (cough, Logan.)

This is a really cute conversation, clearly something Jean needs. Not sure I agree that Jean never had a chance. She made her choices as a hero but there's plenty that *could* have gone differently. Besides, she's already come back to life at least once and travelled through time a bunch. You can't keep Jean Grey down for long. I'd expect Scott to say something like that, though he seems especially pensive at this point. I guess it's understandable, as time travel is a headfuck. It's cute that he's jealous of his younger self and that he admits it.

Scott's empathy for Hank here is really sweet, especially considering the lengths Hank went through to hurt him (intentionally or not.) The very presence of Jean should be reminding people of the culpability of a Phoenix host. Jean is safely dead and can be put on a pedestal, whereas Scott receives nothing but venom. I'm sure Chuck's death is a big factor, but the man tried very hard to die by Dark Phoenix Jean, too. It's easy to overlook the flaws of the dead, and in many ways Jean and Xavier both get canonised as mutant saints. Neither deserve it, for different reasons.

Oh boy, Jean's actions here are difficult to discuss appropriately. She's lonely and scared, she's just woken up from a nightmare, and the person she's closest to is there for her - all grown up. I doubt this is intended to be sexual, my read on it is Jean reaching for platonic intimacy. It's definitely rooted in the love Scott and Jean have for each other, something their awkward 16 year old selves haven't managed to navigate. 'The man I hoped you'd be' is loaded as hell, but it is very human. None of us have ever met our time-displaced selves or loves, and it's very understandable to view them as the same person, except not/better.

I'm not going to credit Scott for not learning into Jean's confusion and need for comfort (because it's just the right thing to do) but I do think he understands and he definitely handled it appropriately. Setting firm boundaries and pivoting the focus to the kind of support Jean needs is considerate and responsible.

Kitty's stance and pseudo-threat here is difficult to parse. She says he handled it well, luckily for him, implying that she was listening the whole time but was also wary of him not handling it well? It's hard to see this as anything other than Kitty thinking they might fuck. I'm not sure they do understand each other, because Kitty didn't listen to him, she just banned him from being in her room alone. Not an unreasonable policy to have, but it doesn't give Scott a lot of credit. As they both leave, Jean cries which seems like a failure of duty of care. Feels like there's more going on here. 'But if the genders were reversed' whataboutery is usually bad faith nonsense, but there is an actual example here. If Kitty heard young Bobby crying alone or screaming in the middle of the night I'm pretty sure she'd check in on him. That she's dated his adult counterpart changes nothing. Adult! Scott and Teen! Jean could communicate telepathically any time they wished, so idk. Maybe just the writers covering their bases and overcorrecting.

Then there's Emma and the Cuckoos. While Emma is the best person to train and teach Teen Jean, she does it in a very messed up way. Jean is so obviously right when she identifies that Emma has issues. I'm not fond of this plot point, or at least how it's written - the whole 'girls are bitchy and jealous' regressive idea put centre stage. This psychic duel fails the Bechdel Test and makes all the adults look super irresponsible for allowing it to happen.

Keep in mind Emma is bombarding a 16 year old with sexual images. Jean IS a saint for putting up with this shit and not melting her brain. Telepathy isn't real, but intrusive thoughts are - and I don't think it's a stretch to say targeted sexualised intrusive thoughts is deliberately traumatizing a teenager. I definitely think this could have been written better. Emma having unresolved Jean Grey issues is to be expected, but dealing with it like this and everyone being okay with it is difficult to believe.

Then again, it seems nobody is immune to the deification of Jean Grey, not even the writers. They all know her as the most powerful telepath so obviously teenage Jean can deal with whatever you throw at her. Kitty and Scott should know better, and Emma has plenty of other ways to train Jean. Yes, she's the great Jean Grey, but she's also a 16 year old who's not coping all that well. I'm glad that Teen Jean and Emma became friends not long after this, but it says a lot that the dude writing it couldn't figure out a way to explain it on the page. There was an opportunity here to show women building a friendship off their commonalities, but instead it's something Jean has to overcome with psychic power not emotional strength - and the adults looking after her don't look very responsible.

[denizenhardwick]

detailed analysis of trk ch 11, pt 2. here is pt 1.

tw rape, child sexual abuse, self-harm

the audiobook narrator's delivery in this scene is phenomenal btw. i have the way he says "oh, oh, that's unpleasant, i am not a fan of this at all" burned into my brain forever now. that's the line that had the biggest impact on me, and i just had to turn off the audiobook and stare ahead for a good couple minutes.

his reaction - or, specifically, lack thereof - is very telling. some of it can be attributed to his medication, but not all of it. this is an awful situation and it's going to change his relationship with everyone here forever, and he might be overcorrecting in an effort to seem unbreakable and apathetic. but he does care. he's trembling.

he has also experienced so much sexual abuse in his life that this isn't nearly as shocking for him as it is for everyone else here.

and then there's this.

"andrew, who'd barely acknowledged aaron's existence in the entire time neil had known them, immediately looked to his brother."

that's such a powerful line. and then he gestures aaron over but tries to get away when he comes too close because he needs to make sure aaron's okay but can't stand to be touched.

he incessantly shuts down all of aaron's attempts to focus on him to repeatedly ask if aaron's okay. to make sure nothing happened to aaron. he's even willing to hurt him a little to get an answer, because making sure he's okay is the most important thing to andrew.

it's a microcosm of their relationship.

we are also not getting any of neil's thoughts at this point. he has shut down, he's just holding up the blanket and describing what's happening, presumably while just staring at andrew in horror.

the contrast between andrew's actions and the obvious pain he's in, and his dialogue being essentially no different than how he usually speaks, is really something.

not to spoil the point i'm building towards, but he is struggling so goddamn hard to keep being the protector through what has to be one of the worst moments of his life. he obviously never wanted anyone to know about this. he doesn't want them to know, he doesn't want them to think about it or ask him about it or talk about it, but they can't help reacting because they care about him and what they witnessed isn't something they can gloss over and move on from, especially not this quickly.

kevin comes back with everyone else, and neil's hypervigilance snaps him back to attention, we start getting his thoughts again.

nicky ignores neil's warning and moves to touch andrew, which he again tries to avoid. and these moments are such phenomenal pieces of relationship building, they say so much about andrew's relationships on a broader scale.

aaron is extremely important to andrew, and he does want him close, but on his own terms. if aaron tries to reach out, he'll move out of the way.

nicky cares about andrew but can't read the room and is bad with boundaries, especially physical ones. he's way too hands-on for andrew to be comfortable.

kevin isn't trying to get close at all, he's running to get help and staying by the door.

meanwhile, for almost this entire scene, neil has been extremely close to andrew, almost touching him. sometimes actually just touching him. andrew has not acknowledged it in any way, but neil is sitting on the bed next to him holding the sheet up to his shoulders. and andrew is completely fine with it. this is an absolutely mind-blowing degree of trust that he's displaying here and it just isn't mentioned at all.

then andrew sees luther and he puts on a show for him. he acts surprised to see him and then delighted, but he still has a death grip on aaron's hair and neil sees that as a tell.

then it all clicks into place.

i got so mad when i read this. blood-boilingly, blindingly angry. because this is just so grounded in reality, this is how abuse is ignored and allowed to perpetuate in the foster system, and "you're just misunderstanding normal brotherly affection" is a common sentiment told to children when they try to tell an adult about the sexual abuse they're experiencing but don't have the vocabulary to explain what's happening.

maybe it's just me, but andrew's story has such a big impact because it takes a book series about mafia kids playing sports and grinds it to a screeching halt in a way that forces you think about child abuse happening to real kids in the real world. it's jarring and it's mundane, and it's the hardest-hitting part of the entire series because of it.

this also reframes andrew's entire character as we realize what he's trying to do, what he's always been trying to do.

andrew is not an aggressor. he's a protector. and he cares so, so much.

he has been failed over and over again. he did what he was "supposed" to do in that situation, he told an adult. and the adult didn't believe him, but he tried to make sure cass wouldn't take in any more kids after him so drake wouldn't have the opportunity to abuse them the way he abused andrew.

cass took in six more kids. luther didn't do anything, and then he brought drake back into andrew's life and put aaron and nicky in danger, too.

is it any wonder andrew thinks violence is the only way to protect the people he cares about? it's the only thing that's worked.

and then andrew takes off his armbands for the first time and reveals cutting scars, which is a gut punch in and of itself. again: mundanity, vulnerability, a redefining of what violence means in andrew's character.

when he says, "pigs don't like it when people like me carry weapons," it means something totally different than it would have at the beginning of the chapter. you get it now, and so does neil, which is why he hides them so carefully.

andrew will not use those knives to defend himself. we know that now, we've seen it; he fought back, but he didn't take his knives out. he uses those knives to scare people out of hurting others. having those knives makes him powerful because it makes people scared of him, and he leverages that to protect people. and because he's also seen as violent and erratic, he's able to do it without tipping his hand, revealing his weaknesses, showing how much he cares.

and he cares so, so goddamn much.

and that's all she wrote.

i think i have sufficiently justified why this chapter is fucking incredible and how goddamn effective the writing is on a technical and thematic level. it rocks your shit, it turns a lot of the series on its head, and entirely recontextualizes andrew so meaningfully and efficiently. his character has so much to say, and it did need a book and a half of incorrect foundation to say it effectively. he doesn't work if you're allowed to see him as a full, complex person from the start, you need to absorb the weight of how others think of him before you can deconstruct it, and the next book and a half works through that deconstruction. it's really cool and it's brilliant character writing.

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

Right, so, I've been seeing some persistent misconceptions in fanfiction where a character has ADHD. I'm a man of color with ADHD and I want to clear some things up. This is specifically about how people tend to write Ed Teach, but it can apply to other characters you're writing with ADHD. And I'd love if other people with ADHD, especially other people of color with ADHD, have any additions to tack on!

These things are NOT what ADHD is.

ADHD does not make you "stupid." This whole thing was inspired because I just read a fic where Ed cites his ADHD as evidence he's "dumber" than the other characters (and this was supported by the writing in the story). There is no correlation between ADHD and intelligence, and we know that Ed is a genius!

ADHD does not automatically mean that someone can't finish school or can't succeed in demanding academic fields. I'm working on my PhD. It just means your character needs coping skills.

ADHD does not mean that someone will "hyperfixate" on or suddenly lose interest in relationships, whether romantic or platonic.

ADHD doesn't mean your character struggles with personal hygeine or keeping their home clean. Please stop making me read fics that characterize a man of color as dirty or incapable of keeping his home clean and excusing it because "he has ADHD!"

ADHD doesn't mean that your character will need someone to look after or supervise everything they do. Ed does not need a White man to take care of him or make sure his work gets done.

ADHD doesn't mean a character will be unable to sit still, focus, stay on-task, or sit in silence 100% of the time. We all have different tolerance levels and those can change depending on current circumstances.

Here are some more realistic, interesting ways ADHD can impact successful, smart characters of color, like Ed.

He might feel the need to be hypercompetent, all the time.

He might get frustrated with himself. ADHD can be frustrating! You can be on top of things 99% of the time at work and school, and have people look up to you, and then you'll realize that you've been forgetting to book that doctor's appointment for six months straight now and you'll feel like a failure.

He might overcorrect symptoms. For example, he might have trouble keeping a neat, organized space and know that messes stress him out, so he overcorrects by being a bit of a neat freak and avoiding mess wherever possible so his space never becomes unmanageable.

He might struggle with The Evil Boredom. That's when you feel super understimulated and nothing is enough to help.

He might have trouble sitting still or saying quiet when he's nervous, feeling strong emotions, or in a boring environment or trying to do a boring task (the scene where Ed struggled with being still and quiet while fishing, while also feeling strong emotions of guilt, was super relatable).

I like to write AuDHD characters (with both autism and ADHD), and it can add a fun new dimension! I personally headcanon Ed as AuDHD. When you have both, symptoms can be frustrating because they can feel contradictory (for example, my autism demands I keep a neat, tidy space and I like routines, but my ADHD means I have trouble keeping things tidy to my standards and routines are super boring).

And finally but crucially: it's obviously okay to headcanon a character as ADHD or with any other neurodivergence when you're White. However, it's important to remember that the experience of neurodivergence looks different for people of color. Boys of color with ADHD, for example, are often overdiagnosed with ODD and labelled as "defiant" or "uncooperative." I often avoid telling White friends and coworkers that I'm AuDHD because it tends to make them infantalize me, as if I haven't already proven to them I'm a capable adult. People of color often have to go undiagnosed or without appropriate medications (if needed) and/or are misdiagnosed. If you're writing about a chracter of color with ADHD, I really recommend finding a sensitivity reader.

[qqueenofhades]

Hi just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to thoughtfully respond to these anon messages. I work in dc w a fairly wonky set and i cant overstate how haunted the DC Professional Thought Havers are by the spectre of the "low propensity voter." I think these ppl (myself included LOL) thought we had everything figured out ahead of the 2016 elections and then never recovered from the way it ended up going......i feel like in all the years that followed.....the liberal bubbles.....the coastal elites.......the hillbilly elegies......the real america....the ohio diners....the pennsylvania diners.......the polls......the 2020 horserace....while part of an earnest attempt to understand What Happened, were primarily self-indulgent, self-flagellation for being "out of touch" bc of a self-diagnosed "elite" status that then turned into ANOTHER myopic view of the world, just opposite, where the "libs" are hapless and everyone else remotely to the left are primarily victims to the unstoppable supernatural forces of the Right. Then in 2020 the narrative flipped AGAIN and once again, instead of taking the opportunity to expand a worldview and having the bravery to confront their own shortcomings, the opinion havers and wonks and beltway pressers have decided to groupthink their way into writing off democracy altogether. Its BEYOND frustrating to see! Like damn volunteer at a soup kitchen or smthn instead of being obsessed w the fact that i vote lol

Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First, despite all the factors that contributed to Trump's shock win in 2016 (anti-Clintonism, white backlash to Obama, general low voter enthusiasm, Russian disinformation, etc) we should never forget that until James Comey decided to announce 10 days before the election that he was reopening the EEEEEEEMAILS case, even though we all knew there was nothing there, she was leading fairly comfortably in the polls. And while we will never know how the 2016 election would have gone without that, which imho was one of the most unforgivable acts of blatant sabotage by a public official in American history, it's also true that we saw her poll averages start sliding almost in real time, as people who hadn't really been keen on voting for her anyway decided firmly not to and Trump was able to scrape out 16,000 votes across PA, MI, and WI to take the Electoral College. Which... we all remember how we felt that night, right? (Or in my case, early morning, since I was overseas?) We don't, we really, really don't want to feel that way again. Just saying.

As such, the media (which had already beat up Clinton nonstop during the BUT HER EEEEEMAILS saga) drastically overcorrected and as you say, began writing endless angsty handwringing pieces about Trump Voters in Rural Ohio Diners and giving endless sympathetic airtime to how "economically left behind" they felt, regardless of the fact that open racism, especially Obama backlash, was and remains the principal animating feature of Republican politics (since their only economic platform is that which makes very rich people even richer and Democratic economic policies are the only ones actually targeted at helping ordinary people). The hangover was so strong that even when Democrats had a massive 2018 midterm result and flipped the House blue for the first time since the post-ACA backlash lost it in 2010, the Conventional Wisdom was now beyond any doubt that Democrats were doomed for a generation or something, and not that Trump had squeaked out a fluky win (while losing the popular vote) due to endless Russian/Comey/third party-etc interference and wasn't actually that powerful. Even in 2020 when Biden was leading fairly steadily and things were going to hell with Covid, etc. etc. TRUMP IS UNSTOPPABLE, TRUMP IS GOING TO WIN.

(And now. Like. I know Trump thinks Trump won in 2020, as do a large majority of his cultists, but that doesn't mean he did.)

Even after that, when Roe went down in 2022, that made no difference to the RED WAVE COMING!!! narrative, and the amount of smug white male pundits insisting that abortion just wasn't very important and people weren't going to base their entire vote on it reached truly disgusting levels. We're now seeing the same thing with the constant "people won't vote for democracy and/or abortion rights" blast, when as you say, this narrative has just been completely made the fuck up by a lot of groupthinking DC media who are determined that this time, Trump really is going to win and then they get to be principled chroniclers in opposition or something. Not to mention, the basic principle of "democracy and abortion rights are good" do in fact win by thumping margins every time they're on the ballot, including in deep red states. But there is literally not a single piece of empirical evidence despite the massive amounts of it supporting the truth (i.e. that Democrats are doing historically well in competitive elections since 2018 and there's not really a major reason to think this will change in 2024) that will get the media to change the "Democrats in disarray and Biden Iz Doomed" horserace BS they so love. They don't like Biden because he's boring and competent and just does the job without being insane, because it's totally a great idea to treat American government like a reality show! (Recall the infamous comment by the CBS CEO who literally said that Trump was bad for America but great for CBS, because he pulled in high ratings and therefore lots of money and visibility for CBS. We live in the worst timeline.)

As such, the mainstream media has a vendetta against Biden, is determined that this time Trump is super definitely going to win and everyone will see how genius they are, and not-so-secretly wants Trump back because a) he's good for money and ratings, and b) because the media conglomerations are owned by oligarchs who have a vested interest in making sure that Democrats and their policies never get too popular. Notice how the once self-proclaimed centrist independent Elon Musk has turned into a rabidly alt-right fanboy ever since the Democrats really got serious about taxing billionaires as a key part of their platform. Likewise, insisting that Biden Iz Doomed makes Democrats nervous (and thus more likely to tune in) and Republicans gleeful (and thus more likely to tune in), so there's literally no incentive for the media to even try to report things accurately. You could create a very different narrative of the 2024 election if you just remotely bothered to write about things that have actually happened as they have actually taken place, rather than bending over backward to insist that Biden being four years older than Trump is a worse crime than 91 felony indictments, 2 impeachments, 1 insurrection, 450 million dollars and counting in punitive jury verdicts, more major criminal trials coming down the pipe, and just demonstrably being the worst human being alive in so many ways. I mean. Wow.

The good news, as I said in my other post, is that when people actually vote, these utter bullshit narratives get routinely blown out of the water, and that's a good thing. Because it turns out that unlike Super Smart Beltway Pundits' Super Smart Predictions, the average American does actually like democracy and freedom for women to make their own personal healthcare decisions, and they vote accordingly. So while yes, it's being made harrowingly much harder than it needs to be because of how much the media simply refuses to report that basic fact, and there is no amount of evidence that will convince them otherwise, at least we're trending in the right direction and, if we all pull our weight, can do it one more time. I realized the other day that I hadn't heard a fucking peep about Ron DeSantis in the last two months, and oh, how glorious it was. I yearn beyond words for the day (God willing, soon) when the same is true of Trump as well.

[rekindlevn]

I can’t wait for the next chapter I’m really excited just thinking about it, I have been checking for updates from time to time but I have some questions. 1.How come the other didn’t wish MC happy birthday? Markus to me personally seem to be the only one that cared or remembered. 2.Also why does MC feel like they messed up so badly? With Markus to a certain extent, I can kind of understand they did sorta like when Markus got jealous if I’m correct from what I can remember but Nico allowed his friends to in someway shape or form kind of disrespect his girlfriend, and just kind of shrugged it off. Jules seem to focus more on his work, even though he may have truly believe that he was doing it for him and his significant other as well as his family, but also pushing the MC away each time he got a promotion. And he also saw MC on their birthday as well. 3.Why hasn’t Nico reached out to MC? I feel like if they had stayed in a relationship he would’ve pulled the card that he did after they broke up and it probably would’ve been worse because it most likely would’ve been over the phone since he went so far away to model. I hope this didn’t come across rude I apologize if it did.😭

Wahhhh!! we are so glad you have enjoyed the game thus far!!

Just a quick note for you - we wont be releasing the game in chapters but more ALL at once! We are little impatient beings and would rather give it all out at once rather than drop crumbs and make you wait :3

As for your questions! Love love them - please do not think you were rude, these are all valid things to ask!!

We will try and answer as best we can but it is important to note that there is a lot that is intertwined with the story of the routes and we don't wanna give away too many spoilers, so hopefully you will understand why we might be a bit cagey ahaha

OKAY SO QUESTION 1!

How come the other didn’t wish MC happy birthday? Markus to me personally seem to be the only one that cared or remembered.

So in the demo, keep in mind time has passed for all three boys, some more than others. For Niko, it's been over 10 years since the last possible conversation with MC so reaching out with a birthday wish now would be something of an anomaly. And we only see him in passing as a poster - no physical contact there.

Jules was stuck in shock. It's been several years since he last spoke with MC, and even seeing them, he didn't even know how to approach it. Remember - he got stuck staring at MC from his car. The litany of emotions and thoughts caught up to him and unfortunately the opportunity passed for him to reach out.

QUESTION 2!

Also why does MC feel like they messed up so badly? With Markus to a certain extent, I can kind of understand they did sorta like when Markus got jealous if I’m correct from what I can remember but Nico allowed his friends to in someway shape or form kind of disrespect his girlfriend, and just kind of shrugged it off. Jules seem to focus more on his work, even though he may have truly believe that he was doing it for him and his significant other as well as his family, but also pushing the MC away each time he got a promotion. And he also saw MC on their birthday as well.

This is the vague answer!! What we can say is that MC has had confidence issues since childhood, and with each passing relationship, this would have only deepened, with them overcorrecting behavior from one relationship to the next only for it to fail anyway.

The reality is that this is how some people do perceive themselves in relationships, regardless of whether that is the truth or not.

And FINALLY QUESTION 3!!

Why hasn’t Niko reached out to MC? I feel like if they had stayed in a relationship he would’ve pulled the card that he did after they broke up and it probably would’ve been worse because it most likely would’ve been over the phone since he went so far away to model.

WOMP! Sorry player you get nothing!

You'll need to wait out for the game to release - or if you are lucky we might drop hints leading up to the release 😛

Really it was so nice to be able to answer these questions!!! Again, sorry that we cant give more info, but hopefully this just gives you enough to think about and hopefully make the anticipation for the release a bit more exciting!

[moonshynecybin]

lonely Marc vs constantly surrounded by friends Vale in the context of the FCO AU means that way more often than the other way around, Marc is the one who has to hang out with Valentino’s friends (are some of them mad at him for making Vale lose the 2015 title? are some of them happy to see Marc because they had befriended him in their pre-Sepang outings and they think Marc is cool?) + the image (inspired by the one on the right of that post) where Valentino comes up behind a seating Marc while Marc is busy listening to Valentino’s friends and Valentino squeezes Marc’s shoulders before bending down to ask him if he’s okay (also asks him if he needs anything, if Vale needs to be a pretend boyfriend he’ll be a pretend perfect boyfriend) and then he starts participating in the conversation with his friends and doesn’t notice that he’s still standing behind Marc, massaging his shoulders now

forced coming out au lfg. the post in question here… this got long sowwy

it is like. okay they spend SO much time tooling around in the paddock right? and yes they are very busy doing their very demanding jobs for most of that time, but they are ALSO basically all stuck together living in an extremely gossipy little travelling TOWN/COMMUNITY that lives together in the space of like a square mile and knocks elbows with each other for a lot of the year. i mean their behavior is highly observable!! cameras reporters and riders everywhere...

so all this to say, if marc and vale want to pull this off (not only to the public, but also to the paddock) theyre going to need to spend a truly stupid amount of time together. especially after a clash like sepang where people KNOW their relationship isnt teflon, theyre going to need to overcompensate pretty hard to overcorrect that bad boy. constantly checking in. like if vale has lunch in a different part of the paddock than marc, headlines are running that are like LOVERS ON THE ROCKS?? they are a HUGE international news item it has transcended motogp at this point. so they are GLUED together inside of work (insane 4 them), and then it also overlaps OUTSIDE of work where they are also supposed to hang out in order to be photographed together. so theyre going on little dates all the time (INSANE 4 THEMMM. they want to fuck so bad but THEYRE STILL EXES and they havent since the pictures but theyre soso horny so they are like. white knuckling it through every date where theyre alone it is. truly insane in their brains. the bathroom is RIGHT there and it LOCKS and if it where a year ago vale would be INSIDE HIM by nowwwww. but instead they are making small talk about tire regulations over seafood. dire. the sex dreams are crazy they are being haunted by dick.) but i digress.

SO i actually think they avoid group hang-outs pretty vigilantly for a while bc it is literally the only scrap of privacy they can get in almost any context of their lives. like even when they have to spend time together, if its just the two of them there is less overall performance involved. they just have to hang out! they used to be very good at that! yeah it hurts like open heart surgery but #nopainnogain! so they do that for a few months until vale gets VERY publicly invited out by one of his buddies who is like hey bring marquez we havent met him yet... and vale is like. haha okay ! :) (internally hes like. what if i die.) tells marc and MARC is internally like. do they hate me. will this be the worst night of my life. walls up to the fucking SKY.

and they get to this bar/restaurant/thingy and marc is doin fine. again hes nice and hes very pr trained so hes friendly and its pretty even keel for the most part. no one's being a dick. BUT i DO think vale comes back from the bar or something and catches the tail end of someone referencing the pictures or sepang or their time apart... just casual, just a joke. meaning nothing by it bc they think its in the past! but vale has spent a STUPID amount of time with marc at this point, and he's keyed in to all of his terrible tragic little microexpressions (side note. if he rewatched the sepang presscon at this point and watched marc's face i think he would genuinely vomit) so he can see RIGHT through how uneasy he still is and he just. he has to touch him. let marc know that hes on his side here, like he cant say anything but he CAN do this. he HAS to do this bc all of this is his fault! so he pulls marc in under his arm, leans in to kiss him slow and sweet in front of everybody just because he can, and then smoothly changes the subject at the table... keeps his hand on marc's thigh and avoids the way marc stares at him for the rest of the night, the way he relaxes into him slightly. goes home and has the most INSANE wet dream perhaps of all time

[funnycreatortimetravel]

It has to be said.

Discussing Chara's character on Twitter/Reddit is so fucking draining. A lot of people on there are so obsessed with them to the point where they'll get UPSET when people have different headcanons, which is weird because Chara's character and personality are meant to be purposefully vague (not necessarily for self insertion, but yes, Chara is supposed to be somewhat aligned with the player.)

Any discussion about Chara on Twitter automatically goes either 1 of 2 ways, Chara HAS to be portrayed as a reflection of the player without any nuance, or fuck that, here are some things about Chara's character that spawned into existence that have to be there because Chara is an innocent angel who did no wrong.

It's literally along the lines of:

Person on Twitter: "I hate how (insert fan creation of Undertale media) portrayed Chara!"

Other Person: "Really? Why do you say that?"

Og Person: "Because Chara was being mean to Asriel and that was never shown explicitly! Just because Asriel said they weren't the best person doesn't mean that Chara was ever mean or anything!"

Like...you realize there's this thing called nuance? It's literally gone from "I dislike that Chara is being portrayed as the one responsible for genocide when canonically the game calls out the player for what they did directly," to, "Ah man, you got this interpretation of a character who's supposed to be very vague wrong even though it's implied that it was the case in game."

I'm not saying that Chara was straight-up abusive toward Asriel or anything, I know for a fact that they loved him, but it's implied that Chara hurt him in a multitude of ways that affected him even after his death and his descent into madness. Their hatred of others rubbed off on Asriel indirectly, regardless of their true intentions.

It's almost concerning the level of just...defensiveness of Chara's character that people will be willing to go to, and I completely get loving a character to the point of obsession, but there's a difference between loving a character and wanting to talk about them to completely shutting down any conversation of said character because you believe it to "not be accurate," when all it was was just differing headcanons and nothing was too seriously different from the lore.

And I know this is because of the dreaded Undertale Reconciliation/Overcorrection that happened as of late where people got tired of everyone portraying Chara as this evil demon who killed everyone (and I did too), but holy shit, the pendulum swung to the other side entirely.

No, Chara is not solely responsible for the genocide route, no, Chara isn't an evil demon who deserves hell, no, Chara isn't to blame for the player's actions, yes Chara is a young child, and yes, it's implied they were mistreated/abused by humans, which also may be connected to Chara's inexplicit sui*ide attempt and yes, Chara did what they did because they believed it to be the right thing (or at least for revenge/justice), not because they're inherently evil.

However, Chara still got themselves and Asriel killed and Chara still wanted to kill the humans of the village while knowing that Asriel did not want to, which goes beyond being able to avoid accountability. Yes, Chara was aggressive toward Asriel and caused him indirect harm by instilling a negative viewpoint of the world due to their hurt. Chara has had hatred already embedded into them that was then acted upon by the player in the genocide route, and Chara knows this. Hurt people hurt people, and that's the case here.

"Kill or be killed," is the mentality that Chara instilled into Asriel before they both died. Chara could've walked away from the human village at any time and saved before themselves and Asriel, but because Chara wanted to hurt the villagers, it cost both of them their lives. Chara had no qualms about dying for the sake of their goal, but their biggest mistake was looping Asriel into it even when he was struggling against them.

Undertale's lesson, of course, is not Kill or be killed, it's way more nuanced and morally grey than that. The entire point of the game was to go against the mentality that Flowey believed, that Chara indirectly stood for. No matter how you spin it, Chara trying to use their full power against villagers was morally wrong and Asriel had to suffer due to his hesitation to hurt all of those people. If Frisk/Player is morally wrong for the genocide route, then Chara was morally wrong at that moment for trying to kill those villagers, regardless of their intentions to free the monsters. Of course, it is Asgore's fault for putting so much stress on such a young child as the singular hope for the monsters, and I know the humans were wrong for killing Asriel/Chara, but Chara was fully prepared to take seven lives once they reached the surface, therefore making the humans' reactions fully justified.

Asgore killed humans who ended up in his land and there's an argument for that, but then the same can be said for the villagers killing the Asriel/Chara alamgatation that undeniably was going to harm them. If anything, the humans were MORE justified in their reaction than Asgore killing those six children.

Chara's hatred for humanity was always stressed even more than their desire for monsters to be free. Whether or not Chara wants to "punish the player for what they've done to monsters" has always seemed very disingenuous to me because Chara (not the player) finishes off the remainder of the world at the end of the genocide routes. Yes, Chara is meant to be a sort of retribution for the player for their heinous actions, but specifically because they care about Monsterkind? Eh, I never really bought that.

Chara is heavily implied to be the narrator sure, but that alone doesn't make or break other people's headcanons. The game, while it is caused by Chara's actions for better or worse, doesn't have to be all about them. No, you can't blame Chara for the genocide route, but you also, by the same logic, have to give the player credit for the Pacifist route.

Screaming, "No, no, it's the PLAYER'S FAULT," for the 100th time shuts down any room to talk about Chara's moral greyness. Yes, we know it was the player, but that's...kind of the point. The player isn't an inherently evil entity, it depends entirely on the route and your actions. Almost like...Chara? (You picking up what I'm trying to put down?)

So here's everything we know about Chara in the most unbiased way I can put it. Chara was a child who was implied to have been abused or otherwise alienated from their village and for reasons that may be related to that, caused their hatred for humanity and their heavily implied suicide attempt. Instead of dying like they probably expected, they were founded by the Prince of the Monsters Asriel Dreemurr, and taken into the Dreemurr family where they became a part of the family at the beginning of 201x.

As depicted in Temmie Chang's concept art, Chara enjoyed their time with the family as evidenced by their depiction.

Chara is stated to have the ability to make a "creepy face," and is heavily implied to be a bit of a prankster toward Asriel. Chara and Asriel continued to bond and it's heavily noted that Asriel likes seeing Chara smile, and they smile quite easily around Asriel. Chara filled the Underground with a sense of hope during their stay, and it's stated that Asgore applied that expectation to them for better or worse. After Chara and Asriel tried making a pie using buttercup flowers not knowing it was poisonous, they unknowingly made Asgore incredibly sick to which Chara laughed it off. Whether or not it was a sadist laugh or a nervous laugh is up for debate, however, it's clear the buttercups making Asgore sick was a sort of revelation for Chara.

Chara developed a plan to obtain human souls, and it's implied they pressured Asriel into said plan. They had the sense enough to know that they didn't want the details of the plan on VHS as evident when they tell Asriel to stop recording. They purposely ingested buttercups knowing it would kill them, alluding again to their more suicidal/sacrificial nature, and then had Asriel absorb their soul. It's stated they wished to see the flowers of their village once again, but whether or not it was a ploy to make it seem as though Asriel killed them is, again, up for debate.

Chara wanted to attack the villagers and use their full power to obtain the souls. Whether or not they actually wanted to free the monsters or not, or it was moreso for revenge of how the village treated them isn't entirely clear, but regardless, their hatred of humanity has been heavily stressed up to this point. Asriel, of course, didn't want to kill the villagers which caused both of them to be killed, instilling the "kill or be killed," mentality that Flowey lives by.

It's clear that Flowey regrets his decision to not attack the humans as whenever Frisk aborts a genocide route, Flowey admonishes them by saying they "almost had it," clearly paralleled to the fact that he feels as though he aborted the original plan for massacre onto that village.

Flowey blames himself for what happened to him and Chara and it's clear his being soulless has ruined or at least changed his perception of morality as he no longer cares about what was right, but his sole survival. He also acknowledges that Chara was the reason behind his philosophical change even after death. After the Pacifist route in which Chara, if them being the narrator during all routes is true, has gone through philosophical changes themselves following the events of the game in which the "kill or be killed," mentality is uprooted by Frisk, the player and their friends.

After the pacifist route, Asriel acknowleges the fact that Chara wasn't the greatest person and says that Frisk is the type of friend he wished he had back then, showcasing that a lot his positive and negative feelings toward Chara were self projected. He also acknowledges that a lot of Chara's behavior came from a place of hatred and unhappiness before they fell, hinting at mistreatment. Chara's actions were what kick started a large portion of the story and in their wake, they left a lot of unresolved threads and hurt feelings and miscommunication. But they also left a large sense of hope that the monsters clearly still feel.

It's clear that Asriel did not want to kill anyone regardless of his desire to free the monsters. Chara is fine with, or at the very least, isn't all too conflicted about killing others for the "sake of the greater good," but whether or not they were doing it solely to free monsters is purposely left vague. Chara has no qualms about killing themselves for the sake of a plan, killing others while using their brother's body, or going against what their brother wants for the sake of their goal. Chara likely knew that Asriel was hesitant, but because they were too caught up, was willing to overlook it or was hoping that Asriel would do what he needed to once the time arose.

Chara and Asriel are both children. One had to go through indescribable pain and the other wanted to ease that pain, even if it meant they would have to take the lives of people when they didn't want to. Chara, more than their love for monsters, felt a burning hatred for humans and was willing to take said hatred out on an entire village rather than just killing the seven people and living. Asriel's hesitation to commit a massacre is understandable, especially given that he is a child and hasn't experienced the same mistreatment as Chara.

Following that, Asriel and them both die to which Asriel takes an interesting stance and blames himself rather than blaming Chara for trying to destroy the village when their original plan was just to get seven souls, even as Flowey. He almost has a kinship with Chara, calling themselves monsters of sorts, but in reality, he's just self-projecting his negative feelings.

During the events of the Pacifist route, Frisk and the Player essentially have to undo the mistakes of Chara and Asriel to save Asriel from the unfortunate circumstance that he was put into, both figuratively and literally saving his soul and putting Chara to rest.

However, during the genocide route, we instead reinforce the idea that killing is morally right to Chara. I know a lot of people say that Chara was only influenced by the player in the genocide route, but I believe that all the player did was simply reinforce the belief that was already instilled into Chara. Chara never had any qualms about killing even without the player influencing them, and now, without their soul, all the player has done is feed the fire of Chara's hatred and animosity for not only humanity but life itself. The hatred and leaning toward killing has always existed within Chara, it's just up to the player whether or not we want to follow and reinforce those beliefs or show the traumatized children that there's a different way.

[tjodity]

Loose Transfem C!Tommy thoughts:

@maigetheplatypus57

transcript below cut:

I think Tommy would be fine still going by Tommy and it's easier to remember but she would get so so much gender euphoria from being called Clementine I think when she's younger she doesn't feel any attachment to being a guy and really really wants to look like the girls she hangs out with but doesn't have any context for those feelings and just assumes it's kinda normal and tries to make a joke out of it. Hence "Manly man ulimate man tommyinnit" and "I love women" being running bits. She really idolizes Schlatt just from commercials and interviews and stuff she sees as this guy who seems to just. nail being a man so flawlessly. When Tubbo transitions she's like wow that's so cool I wish I could do that. Anyways. but that's kind of the first even incling that she'd like to be a girl but she doesn't think about it again for a while. Then everything with Manberg happens and she gets to see Schlatt and realizes 'oh this guy is so fucked up. oh this guy was an insecure wreck who ended up destroying everything around him and himself while pretending so hard that he was fine. huh' and the feeling that something is wrong with how she's going about things gets a bit stronger. But she keeps putting it off because of everything happening. BUT THEN WE GOT EXILE. nothing can force you to think about your own identity like being kicked out by your best friend and completely isolated on an island for a few weeks and grappling with suicidal ideation. At this point she's kinda like fuck I don't wanna be me but is having a hard time sorting out what's gender and what's depression and what's escapism. I think her habit of trying to ignore it and overcorrect flares up really badly when she's living with Techno. Cuts her hair short and tries to put on this very cold, violent exterior-

because she's just very scared and feels completely betrayed and alone and deeply uncomfortable in her own skin. Post Disc Finale she spends a lot of time trying to grapple with herself. She finds some of Niki's old clothes that she abandoned somewhere and tries them on in private and gets really freaked out by the fact that she likes wearing them and puts them away. She's not really on speaking terms with Eret and Tubbo at this point she's friends with but he's not always very approachable. Ironically I think the first time he voices any of her thoughts about gender is when she's trapped in prison because Dream won't tell anyone and she doesn't really care about what he thinks of her. And cDream is. a very bad person. But he's also not transphobic, and he also cares about Tommy in his own horrible fucked up way, and he can kind of relate just based on wanting to be someone else and weeks spent in different performances and disliking parts of how he looks. He comes across as dismissive but also tells Tommy that she can just be a girl if she wants, and that she's stupid for stressing out over something like gender. Then a few days later he beats her to death but yknow. I think the first person she'd properly like. come out to would be Sam Nook. Basically saying like hey could you act like i was a girl for a little while pleaseplease please and Sam Nook's just like Okay ^_^ I think she might come out to like. Ranboo next. She doesn't know him suuper well but she just finds them easy to talk to and it ends up slipping out

It would take her a whiiiile to tell Tubbo because she has a hard time talking to him and doesn't want to mess with anything that could upset their friendship but after they start making an effort to hang out more and Tommy starts living in Snowchester she would try to mention it very very casually just when they're doing chores one day. Then Tubbo is hit with like several years of memories of Tommy being arguably very clockable as an egg and him just. not realizing and he has a crisis about not noticing something like that. But when he calms down he becomes #1 Tommy girl supporter. He calls her pretty and cute and Miss and Ma'am and drags her out to go shopping so that they can get dresses and makeup and things for her. Tubbo vaguely remembers how to do makeup and Ranboo wants to learn with Tommy so they have a fun time with that. I think Tommy would love love love wearing dresses and doing her makeup and stuff but would not give any fucks about being traditionally pretty or presentable. She'd run around with very cute dresses wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts below it with very assymetrical makeup having the time of her life

also she'd grow her hair out and loooove braiding it. Her transition also comes with a lot of relief because for a loong time she's enjoyed things that are traditionally feminine (sewing, domestic chores and upkeep, etc) but wasn't letting herself enjoy them and just letting go is so nice.

I also think with cTubbo #1 Tommy being a girl supporter and also Tommy living in Snowchester with him and Ranboo and them being so close Tubbo would absolutely accidentally call Tommy his wife at some point in conversation. And then there's a beat and then he's like ohmygod im so sorry i didnt mean to say that and Tommy's just like no I'm that from now on. Husband<3 and Tubbo's just completely dumbfounded

[tobythewise]

Welcome to DADWC!!!! Can I get “Maybe I meant that more than we both realized.” for Fenders off of the drunken mistakes trope list? :>

Thank you so much for this prompt!! <3 I hope you enjoy :D

Written for @dadrunkwriting Warnings for: Drunk Anders, Discussions of past death (Karl), Drunk confessions, Getting Together

It’s not often that Justice allows Anders to drink. Usually there’s a pestering happening at the back of his mind, reminding him of how important it is to be completely in control of his body and mind. There’s danger around every corner and in a place like Kirkwall, it’s important to keep himself from falling into trouble. 

And that’s without Justice bringing up the time he got so drunk at the Keep that he ended up naked at the base of that statue of Andraste. In Anders’ defense, that statue was quite the looker. 

Now that Anders thinks about it, he’s not actually sure how he’s gotten this drunk. Between hosting a Fade spirit inside of himself and the taint, it usually takes a large amount of alcohol to get him drunk, but here he is, swaying from side to side as he walks. His head is blissfully light and spacy. He feels like he could do anything, be anyone. Everything feels far off. For once, Anders actually feels relatively good. The smile on his lips doesn’t feel like a mask, it just feels like him again. 

Anders walks a familiar path but it takes him far longer than it should to realize he’s not at his clinic. Standing in front of Fenris’ door, he wonders if being drunk has left him with a death wish. Or maybe he’s just finally ready to act one these feelings he’s been harboring for years. 

Either way, Anders finds himself knocking. 

Leaning against the wall beside the door, Anders waits, wondering if this was a mistake. There’s a chance Fenris isn’t even home. Maybe he’s off with Hawke. Maybe he’s over at Hawke’s estate. Fuck, he hadn’t even thought of that. 

Anders’ stomach sours. He’s moments away from turning around and heading back down to his clinic when the door opens. 

Anders pushes his hair out of his face, wondering what happened to his hair tie. Did it break? Did he lose it? Oh, right! He gave it to a stray cat. And by gave it, he means he tried to use it to play with the cat and the cat grabbed it and ran away. Anders was far too drunk to chase after him. 

A voice clearing makes him startle, pushing off the wall and almost overcorrecting and tumbling in the opposite direction. His eyes meet familiar green ones and his stomach flips so violently it almost makes him sick. 

“Hi,” he finally says, raising his hand in a wave. 

“Mage. What are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Anders tilts his head to the side and immediately regrets it as the world around him spins. Thankfully, strong hands grip him before he can make a complete fool of himself and fall on his face in front of Fenris. 

“Nothing with you is obvious.”

“Hmm?” Anders leans against Fenris as he carefully guides him into the house. Fenris smells nice. 

“Uhh?”

Shit. He said that out loud. Oh well! So much for not embarrassing himself!

“Why am I here?” Anders muses out loud, looking around the entrance of Fenris’ mansion. There’s still so many boxes and random shit all over. Fenris could really use with hiring a cleaner. Or actually cleaning the place himself. Or asking Varric to take care of it. That dwarf has so many contacts he can do pretty much anything in this cursed town. 

“I asked you the same thing, mage. You still have no come up with an answer.”

“Answer to what?”

Fenris grunts but Anders can tell it’s a noise of amusement rather than distaste. At least, he’s fairly certain he’s gotten to the point of interpretation Fenris’ random grunts and growls. 

Fenris pulls Anders up the stairs, leading up to his bedroom. It’s cozy up here, the only room without any dead bodies or random boxes laid half open. There’s a fire going, leaving the room flickering with a welcoming orange glow. 

Anders is shoved down into a chair in front of the fire. He stares at the flames, watching as they dance. Fenris carefully takes his staff, leaning it against the wall by the door. Moments later, or maybe hours, Anders can’t really tell, Fenris is kneeling at his feet. 

“You don’t have to do that.”

Fenris ignores him, carefully taking his boots off. Next he helps him out of his coat, laying it against a nearby chair. Anders can do nothing but stare at Fenris carefully undoes the wrap he keeps around his wrist and then the one around his bad knee. 

Anders is nearly brought to tears at the gesture. He’s been alone for so long it’s hard to remember that other people are capable of showing him kindness. He’s forgotten what it’s like to be deserving of kindness. 

Fenris finally looks up at him, his eyes taking in every inch of Anders’ face. He can’t help but wonder what the elf sees when he stares at him. 

“Now,” Fenris whispers, achingly soft, “why are you here, Anders.”

The alcohol he’s drank makes his head swim but he’s present. The look Fenris is directing his way is sobering. “I’m drunk.”

“I never would have guessed,” Fenris deadpans, raising a brow. 

“I’m drunk and I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Why not go to Hawke?”

Anders looks away, his heart beating against his ribs almost painfully. He knows the answer to that but shouldn’t say it. He’s going to come up with a random lie but the alcohol is fucking with his tongue. “I think I wanted to pick a fight. Feeling angry with you is easier than thinking about why I’m so sad.”

Fuck. 

He shouldn’t have said that. He shouldn’t put this on Fenris. Why the fuck did he even come here?

“Sorry,” he somehow manages to muster out of his mouth. He puts his hands on the arms of the chair, starting to stand up. 

A strong hand lands at the center of his chest, pushing him down. His eyes widen as he looks down at Fenris who’s stood from his place in front of him without him even realizing it. 

“What is going on? Tell me straight, Anders.”

It’s the fact that Fenris just called him by his name that has Anders talking. Does this man have any idea the amount of power he holds over Anders? Does he know he could break him so easily? 

A lifetime ago, Anders would have joked and flirted and tried to wiggle his way into Fenris’ pants. He would have fucked him and then ran because that’s what he used to do; run. Now he’s stuck here with a righteous mission that he doesn’t regret, but it does complicate a lot of the things he used to enjoy. 

Fuck, why does his life have to be such a mess?

“Today is the anniversary of Karl’s death,” Anders finally says, letting out a long sigh. “I know you didn’t care for him. You didn’t even know him but still had to flaunt it in my face that you think he deserved what happened to him. It’s whatever, Fenris,” he adds onto the end. He came here for a fight but realizes he doesn’t have a fight left in him. Not tonight. 

“That is,” Fenris starts to say before stopping. His eyes flit away for a moment before resting back on him. “I regret saying such a hurtful thing right after it happened. I wanted to hurt you.”

“It worked,” Anders breathes out. 

“Come. You should rest. We can talk about this tomorrow or we can pretend it never happened.”

“The second. Please, let it be the second.”

Fenris helps him crawl out of the chair and into his bed. He tucks Anders under the blankets. This is nice. Much nicer than his cot at the clinic. Of course there’s a noise at the back of his head telling him he doesn’t deserve this, but he’s drunk enough to ignore it. 

“You will not remember this is the morning,” Fenris says, running a hand through Anders’ hair, pulling it away from his face. “But I admire your fight even if I don’t fully agree with everything you preach. You deserve things for yourself. Hawke once told me that making a life is what you do when you are finally free but I don’t see you doing that. You fight and fight and fight for everyone around you but for yourself.”

“Varric is right,” Anders says, shaking his head. “Handsome apostate renegades with a chip on their shoulders don’t get happy endings. I’ve come to terms with that as long as it means freedom for other people.”

Fenris’ fingers pinch his chin, forcing his eyes up to meet Fenris’. The lyrium in his skin makes Anders’ mind buzz pleasantly. “I will help you if it means you will not sacrifice yourself to this.”

“Wait. Really? You would fight beside me? Truly?”

“As long as you keep your promise, I shall keep mine.”

Anders finds himself grinning up at Fenris. “Deal.”

Fenris stares for a long moment before his hand falls away. Anders immediately misses the touch. “Like I said, tomorrow you won’t remember this, but I will.” 

Before Anders can respond, he finds himself fighting a yawn and losing. Fenris leans down, kisses his forehead, before stepping away and curling himself into the armchair. Anders wants to fight against sleep, to keep talking. But not for the first time, he realizes he’s not up for a fight and falls asleep. 

In the morning, Anders blinks his eyes open and immediately regrets it. Everything hurts, his mouth tastes like ass, and his head is throbbing. Justice is back after having the night off. There’s something comforting about having him back at the back of his mind. 

Thankfully, for once, Justice uses a little bit of tact and doesn’t comment about how stupid it was to drink so much last night which Anders is grateful for. 

He sits up, looking around, only to freeze when his eyes catch with Fenris’. 

“Oh fuck.”

Fenris snorts, running his fingers through his white hair. “Eloquent.”

Anders groans in response. He holds up his hand, pointing at his head. “Do you mind?” When Fenris nods, Anders casts a spell, doing his best to heal his hangover. Now that he can think without feeling like his brain might become liquid and spew from his ears, he starts to stand up. 

“Thank you,” he says, feeling his cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Also sorry that you had to put up with me last night.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“If you say so.”

They fall into an awkward silence. Anders keeps glancing over at Fenris who’s looking at him strangely. Fuck, what did he do last night? Hopefully he didn’t do something stupid, like try to kiss him or something.

Fuck, did he try to kiss him?

Anders starts to panic but Justice reassures him that he didn’t kiss Fenris. Instead, he sees Fenris kissing his forehead. The conversation they had comes back to him all at once and his head is left spinning. 

Holy shit. 

He looks back at Fenris, his eyes narrowing. “How much was truth? How much of that did you mean?”

“All of it.” Fenris stands up and Anders is jealous at how smoothly he can unfold himself from the chair, not unlike a cat. Fenris steps over to him, standing between his legs. He’s so close that Anders could reach out and touch him. His hands curl into fists as he holds himself back. “Maybe I meant that more than we both realized.”

Anders stares into Fenris’ green eyes, trying to gauge if he’s being honest, trying to read between the lines. He doesn’t get good things. He doesn’t get to have this. 

But what if you can?

“If you truly mean it, then I mean what I’ve said as well. I won’t,” he pauses, swallowing around the lump in his throat. He’s tried to do everything peacefully and nothing is working. He’s running out of options. Can he really promise that he won’t sacrifice himself for the greater good? Why should he live while others suffer?

“It is unfair for me to ask that of you,” Fenris says, resting his hands on Anders’ shoulder. His body floods with warmth. “I only ask that you talk to me before you make any decisions. I want to let you in,” he whispers and Anders knows how hard this must be for him. “I care for you,” he says, the words sound like they’re being pulled from him without his permission. “Anders.”

Anders feels like he’s in shock. How is this real? How is this actually happening? Maybe he’s still dreaming.

You are not dreaming. Say something back.

Anders swallows around the lump in his throat. “I care for you too. I have for a long time but never dreamed of those feelings being returned.”

“I never dreamed of returning them,” Fenris says, the tiniest smile playing at his lips. “The two of us shouldn’t work, but somehow we do.”

There’s truth to that. They fight side by side. They used to fight and pick at each other, but those debates have changed over time. If Anders was a bold man, he’d even say they’ve found a layer of softness together. 

“It’ll take work,” Anders says, raising his brow at Fenris only to have the elf roll his eyes. 

“We never do anything easy. Why start now?”

Anders can’t argue with that, instead chuckling softly. His chest feels near bursting with affection for the man in front of him. He stops holding himself back, instead wrapping his fingers in the front Fenris’ tunic, yanking him forward. The moment their lips press gently together, he is lost. 

He has no idea what the future will hold for them but he thinks just maybe they’ll be able to face it, now that they’ve promised to face it together.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷

Yeah! 129 for Eddie and Chris:

---

Of course. He was there during June. 

Eddie nods. “Your mom and grandmother got into a fight about it once.”

Christopher’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Eddie smiles a little, remembering. “Before… Uh, not long after I got back from Afghanistan. Adriana wanted to go to support her friend. Your grandma was pretty against it. But Shannon? Boy, did she have something to say about that.”

Chris smiles. “So, she was cool?”

“She was really cool, buddy.”

Christopher thinks about this for a moment.

“So… She would have been really happy for you, then.”

That just about does Eddie in. 

His throat tightens. His eyes sting. He can barely hold it together. He steps forward to hug Chris again. Less to comfort him than to be comforted by the existence of him.

“I really hope so,” he mumbles. “Thank you, Chris.”

🦷🦷🦷🦷

Chris is quiet for a while after their conversation near the ice cream freezer. He doesn’t say much more until they’re about halfway through the drive home. And what he does say… Well, he sort of has Eddie’s number. 

“So, is this why you and Buck are always so weird all the time?” 

And honestly? Eddie doesn’t quite know what he means. But the answer is probably yes.

“Weird?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah, like, how you act like an old married couple and touch each other all the time and like each other better than any of your girlfriends you’ve ever had,” Chris explains. Like it’s right there. Simple.

“Oh,” Eddie replies. “I mean… Yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?” Christopher repeats.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Does that mean you love him?” Chris asks.

“Chris…”

“Well, come on! Tell me!”

Damn it.

“Uh… Well, listen… You just got home.”

Christopher offers him a dubious look. “What does me being home have to do with it?”

Well, nothing… But also, everything? Sort of?

“I don’t want to shake anything else up in your life right now,” Eddie says. “Right now, it’s just about you and I working through things, right?”

“I still don’t get what that has to do with whether or not you love Buck,” Chris says. “It’s a yes or no question.”

God, he’s really like Shannon sometimes.

“Yes,” Eddie answers. “Fine. Yes. If you must know. I’m in love with Buck.”

Christopher smirks. 

Oh… That doesn’t seem like an expression Eddie should trust. 

“Does Buck love you?” Chris asks.

“Uh, I don’t know.  I haven’t asked.”

Chris rolls his eyes. 

“You know.”

“Okay, I mean… I think so. I’m pretty sure.”

“That’s good,” Chris replies. “I think so, too.”

Eddie chuckles. “Do you now?”

“Yep,” Chris replies. “In fact, I’d bet money on it.”

“What? Chris, you don’t gamble.”

“I can play poker now. Texas Hold’em. Tia Adriana taught me.”

“Did she?” Eddie asks tightly. “How thoughtful of her.”

“That’s what Grandma said.”

Fuck. Eddie hates that. He never ever wants to be accused of saying the same thing as his mother ever again. 

“We can get you into poker,” Eddie overcorrects. “Responsibly.”

“Dad,” Chris scolds. “That’s not what we’re talking about.”

“What are we talking about?”

“You telling Buck you love him.” Chris says, like that was meant to be obvious. Was it obvious?

“Oh…” Eddie replies pathetically. “No…”

Though, he’s not sure why.

“Yes,” Chris answers. “You should.”

“Christopher, it’s not a great time and…”

“And what?”

And Eddie doesn’t want to fuck it up. Like everything else. 

“And I don’t know if it’s the right choice, buddy.” Eddie says. “I want to focus on us.”

Christopher groans. “Dad, please don’t make it about me. I don’t… That makes me feel bad.”

Eddie blinks, caught off guard. 

“I… I’m sorry, Chris.”

[qoldenskies]

I think your canary continuity works so brilliantly because at his core Donnie has chronic "I'm better than everyone else but also there is something so so wrong with me" disease--for lack of a better term because I'm also autistic and I see so much of myself in him, there's a part of him that's like. Yeah, autism isn't the ONLY part of my personality and it's not like it's really a thing to HATE about myself and there are parts of it that I get STOKED about, but it's REALLY fucking inconvenient sometimes and what if I'm genuinely nothing beyond that and what if I'm just a huge burden to everyone around me by FORCING them to change their ways of doing things for me.

And something that would prey on that niggling feeling that he has deep down, the constant fear of not being good enough, the kind of looking over your shoulder and wondering when the big thing that makes people finally get SICK of you is going to happen--I relate to that so much as an autistic person, so holy hell, canary continuity hit hard AND extremely close to home for me.

Love when Donnie whump uses autistic experiences to make it more authentic [gnaws on drywall] I'm so normal about it you guys [rips out my own hair] I'm normal I'm normal

thank you!!! <333

to my knowledge i personally am not autistic, but i have adhd that disabled me pretty severely due to being comorbid with some other issues + i was not treated until i had to drop out of school due to having panic attacks every time i walked into the building (they were legit uncontrollable it was so nasty), so i was definitely trying to really capture that neurodivergent experience, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, feeling like it's always a matter of time before they get fed up, wondering when they're going to get tired of telling you you're not a burden.... yeagh

^^^ extremely relatable to me as someone he grew up with high emotional needs and overcorrected and closed myself off LMFAO

seeing people say CC hit so close to home/was so effective with them and their experiences is super important to me, and it makes me so glad i wrote it. like i wasnt ever expecting to hit this close emotionally with other people, but it's been kind of amazing :) i hope you can find my work cathartic!!

[fullmetalfears]

Hoenheim is one of my favorite characters in the OG FMA manga and Brotherhood. He made me love the sad immortal that hates themself trope, and in general I find the combination of failed father figure, gentle kind person, and the violence he accidently did to his people make for a dynamic character.

But I do 100% think FMA made the other characters far too quick to forgive Hoenheim for leaving the boys.

In the manga, it was directly said that Hoenheim wrote back home but in the anime you get NOTHING. Either way, the man left for a decade, during the most important period of his children's lives as children... because he felt like a monster. Not because he was actually doing things to his kids, but HE wanted to live like a human.

It's shitty. It's awful. One of the people that Ed and Al were supposed to rely on most left because he couldn't get over his own misery. Instead of waiting even a few years to make sure they could even take care of themselves better before leaving, he left before they could even really remember him at all.

I say this not because I don't think it was a good character decision. In fact I think it's tragic in a way that the series needs. The lack of clear lines between monsters and people, where one of Hoenheim's worst decisions is leaving his wife and kids, something that any person can do.

Hoenheim's real flaw when it comes to his family is not valuing that people want him to be there.

Which makes his final offer to Ed to sacrifice himself take on a different light.

In canon, the manga/anime make it clear that Ed calling Hoenheim a shitty father was meant to be as much Ed chastising Hoenheim for not understanding they won't use philosopher stones as it is an acknowledge that Ed accepts him as his father.

But to me, it shows that Hoenheim still hasn't learned why leaving was such an awful blow to the family. Yes, Trisha died because he wasn't there but even if he came back ten years later, did he still expect it to be from a loving family? Did Hoenheim expect the world to stand still while he left?

Hoenheim is still sacrificing himself after all this damn time. He still doesn't see that being there for his kids could invaluable. Maybe they grew up without him, and hell, maybe he doesn't deserve a second chance after so long, but for the boys, making sure you live to the next day is their entire philosophy. And Hoenheim, is willing to give that next day up.

In context, he's giving himself up for his boys after all this time of putting his own feelings first, but he would still be gone. What's worse, in Ed's perspective it's an impossible choice. If Ed couldn't have thought of another way to get Al back, Hoenheim basically offered Ed a chance to kill him in exchange for his brother.

You know. Killing. The one thing that Ed will not fucking do.

Hoenheim doesn't understand Ed. He also even after all this time doesn't get that living for them and to move forward would be the best thing he could do.

So yeah. I adore Hoenheim but the manga/anime kinda does a clumsy job with him. It does such a good job of setting Hoenheim up as looming negative premise in the beginning and then the story overcorrects in trying to make you like him that it forgets that, yeah, leaving your wife and kids for a decade is kinda bad actually!!!

It doesn't help that no one else is angry at Hoenheim. Izumi knew the boys as small children, presumably orphans and yet greets Hoenheim warmly. In the manga the people of Risembol are baffled on his arrival but otherwise move on. Pinako WHO BASICALLY HELPED RAISED THEM is just sorta neutral towards him. Even Al isn't angry. He just wants his dad back which is fine, but it leaves Ed's anger as an outlier, like it's childish of him not to understand.

By the time of his death, Hoenheim doesn't really learn anything. He's forgiven because he really was a good dude and he felt really bad about leaving for a decade so he can totally be forgiven by everyone right?

Right.

So yeah. Hoenheim? Great character, but awful dad which is part of why he's a good character but the story really pulls its punches about him.

~Luna

[gnomeniche]

actually now that it’s the next day and i’ve had time to think on it. i’m not sorry and i stand by what i said. so i’m gonna repost it. with more detail because i need to make things very clear so nobody gets mad at me

first of all this is not about anything in SPECIFIC. it’s about how i’ve seen a trend recently and. ok. guys. i know we are trying to make up for the early tv show fandom duck hate and weird red guy over-love but i think we really do not need to overcorrect from “duck is a tory and ableist and should be ignored!!!” into “red guy is privileged and entitled and should just suck it up!!!” like. to me it’s just the same worst faith possible reading of a character in the opposite direction.

idk guys it was funny at first but as someone who has great love for all three guys. i feel genuinely upset whenever people purposely try to exclude one of them and say they are uniquely oppressive to the others and has nothing to be upset about and should fuck off forever. maybe i’m too emotionally attached but these three all deserve better than that! they’re complicated n they all have their own reasons to be unhappy and act out the way they do. like do you guys know the reason i became such a duck advocate? it was BECAUSE people were doing that to HIM and trying to read him in the worst faith possible!

like we might as well complete the set and start saying yellow guy is a little brat who isn’t even grateful for how much his friends love and protect him or how much of a favorite he is. like the teachers all pay the most attention to him and lesley said he’s her favorite. how dare he demand some respect people already care so much about him. he should go away and let rg and duck be happy together without having to worry abt someone who doesn’t even appreciate what they do or see how they’re struggling. and OBVIOUSLY I DO NOT BELIEVE ALL THAT STUFF ^^^ but you see what i mean right?

and this is not coming from the pov of some simp who refuses to see flaws in their fave or anything. i’m not denying red guy has flaws. they all have flaws. i just think you guys are getting very close to doing the thing where fandom readings of the canon get farther out there the longer they stay around and you should be careful

maybe i’m spending time and words and clout on stuff that literally does not matter but it matters to me. anyway i hope everyone is doing well and i want to be clear that this post is not coming from a place of malice or hatred just like. mild annoyance and concern.

tl;dr i think we can appreciate each of the three of them and each of the dynamics between them without having to demonize one to uplift the other two. it’s fine.

[acewitch-writes]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't see Sirius Black as a big eyed uwu fem

I don't even know how this happened?? He wasn't even feminine in ATYD. Are people so desperate that they self-insert through Sirius??

Also you're so right to not read anymore fics. A thing I do is set the date for fics published before 2020 ( when atyd got popular)

That's the confusing part! Sirius wasn't overly feminized in ATYD, he was actually pretty misogynistic and struggled with internalized homophobia throughout MOST of the fic. Like he almost called Remus a poof right to his face, he made comments about the girls' bodies, and even declared quite proudly that he only respected Mary because she had "the best tits in their year." He was mean to all of his girlfriends and had a nasty temper and was overall nothing like how he is portrayed in fics today.

...HOWEVER!! and this is just my theory

I still think this new damaged porcelain doll characterization for Sirius started with atyd. Because it brought a ton of new fans into the fandom, and many of them use ATYD as their canon source as a "HA, GOTCHA!" in a well-intentioned but flawed attempt to oppose JKR and her disgusting views.

These new fans loved the way Remus was portrayed, but were understandably put off by Sirius. He was hard to like at times, I get it. So the new fans and fanfic authors that were brought here by ATYD took it upon themselves to alter him to make him more palatable, and it would appear that they MASSIVELY overcorrected and now he bears very little resemblance to his canon counterpart right alongside Remus.

At the risk of sounding super redundant, I think it all comes down to internalized misogyny and heteronormativity, and fanfic writers normalizing their lived experiences by projecting them onto their favorite mlm ships (which is typical, honestly, in pretty much every fandom).

Fem Sirius is not BAD, that is absolutely not what we are saying. This whole "tall Sirius" debate isn't just some of us stamping our feet going "SIRIUS MUST BE TALL, GRR >:("

But for the love of Merlin, people, please examine your own internal biases next time you read a post like this and your first instinct is to get defensive or lash out. Why does Sirius have to be small, dainty, dramatic, emotional, always bottom, always submissive, and anything outside of that realm is unacceptable? Why do you attach "femininity" to these traits?