#and i wanna speculate with someone and don't have anyone to do that with

[daredevils-advocate]

On one hand: I'm glad all my irl friends have managed to avoid the boy's identities. They still have the magic and mystery that comes with the anonymity and no desire to find out who's behind the masks, which I respect wholeheartedly.

On the other hand: I had their identities spoiled, which means I have access to other projects and info, which means I have things to Yap About™ and no one irl I can talk to without potentially spoiling their experience and I'm going to explode

[supercantaloupe]

my roommate made a joke tonight about my sex life when i mentioned that i needed to go to the pharmacy to pick up my birth control tomorrow and like. it wasn't offensive but it was kind of fucking weird

[dilfosaur]

well i haven't spilled my guts on tumblr since i was in college but it's the platform that's felt The Most Mine thru the years, so

let's talk!

i've had a huge chip on my shoulder that i wanted off before the year ends. very bad professional experience to follow

so firstly to get ahead of the speculating, i'm not naming names or anything. some of you will puzzle out who i'm talking about, but please don't bother anyone especially not on my behalf. i've worked hard to distance myself from them the past few months. shit happens, especially when you're a dumb bitch (that's me!)

but also this person was someone i considered a close friend and it makes me uneasy to possibly direct backlash at them. "then why post about it" bc i did intermittent work for them for over a year. this is just about that. so hear me out

basically it started off fine. i initially did some commission work for good pay, then was invited to become more involved with their team. unfortunately as i became more involved with their operation it became more disorganized over time. projects started then forgotten, constantly shifting schedules, lapsing communication between roles, confusing financials, and often inconsistent if not late payments. during mid 2023 i was doing colorist work, sometimes on a one day turnaround (all while also preparing drawfee's summer merch launch). the payroll wasn't set up correctly so i wasn't paid for that work for over a year (more on that later), tho to be fair that was largely my own fault at first as i just didnt realize the payments didn't go thru lol

i always consider myself decently capable of separating friendship and coworker-ship; i run a company with 4 wonderful friends, going strong for almost 5 years. that didn't really work out in this case. by early this year our friendship was on the rocks; work issues fed into personal issues and vice versa. so as the rest of this shit plays out, we had just had our first "big fight" which i felt very bad about and added to all the upcoming tension

a huge point of friction was the fact that i really wanted to work with them to make a music video for one of their songs. i've always wanted a chance to make a music video, was confident in a concept i came up with, and even did some concept art for the idea. everyone insisted they loved the concept and that we should do it, but we kept pushing it back for various reasons. it ended up becoming a huge sticking point for my frustrations, which i tried to express productively. TLDR, we eventually got around to discussing it seriously around april.

i planned to ask for $4000 with negotiable add-on for the whole project, which was my Friend Discount price. i was offered a contract for $1000 flat rate, as they insisted that was the only budget they had for it.

don't ask me why i signed it lol. i didn't even counter offer

there was some girlmath to it: i wanted an extra 1k for a student scholarship i provide every spring and well, there it was. but if i had to guess, i saw it as something i just couldn't back down from any more. i caused these folks- my friends- a lot of problems bc i dug my heels in so deep to chase this project, so fuck it we ball

i had about 4 months to solo a 3 minute music video. they wanted it done in august so they could release it before summer ended, bc "it was a summer song". to be fair i was asked if i needed them to pay for anything extra like assistants (which i would have to find and manage) but i was so immediately overwhelmed that i didn't wanna slow down to wait on that process lol. there was very minimal communication other than brief progress check-ins every few weeks. i did everything for that project myself: the original concept, character designs, storyboards, layouts, backgrounds. i even did the editing/compositing for the final cut of the MV. the only favor i did myself was limiting the amount of it that was actually animated to simple loops and motions. hardly my best work but it was work still done

i did it all in between my full time job. i ended up having to take nearly a month away from most of my drawfee duties (with the support of the others) to make the august deadline. i only ever asked for a 3 day extension (notice given about a week in advance, around the same time i was given the final song file lol). i finished the music video at 6am on the final deadline and recorded drawfee the next day on 2 hours of sleep

but it was done, coolies. the team was very happy with the final product. honestly, without getting into it, those were a very emotionally taxing 4 months. on the professional side, i regretted agreeing to the project and especially for the dogshit rate they offered. i felt like a hypocrite- as someone who always wanted to advocate for younger artists demanding their worth in a world that's getting increasingly hostile toward creatives, i failed myself

so when i met with the manager to discuss the release plan, i told them to do whatever worked best for them as i only had one request: i wanted my credit removed from the project

tbh... like... lmao this dramatic bitch right!! but really, i decided that bad practices only breed worse business. friends or not, it was unprofessional of me to accept such a low paying job so i just didn't want my name used in association. everything felt so muddled to me and i was just really tired at this point

the manager was very understanding and then offered that i could be paid more. they said that their team "was surprised" i accepted their low rate and they would be happy to up the amount. this confused me as the initial budget seemed pretty set and at no point between april and august was i offered a better rate. i knew these guys weren't made of money. so, i declined. i didn't want to put anyone out of their means over work that was already done and agreed upon. but more importantly, i was over the whole thing and didn't want to prolong the project with a contract renegotiation. i just insisted my name be removed

they decided to use a pseudonym (which i was fine with) so they could create a story about a character who made the MV (this sounds really convoluted but i don't know how better to put it without getting specific, sorry). that way if people asked about the credit, they could speak comfortably about it without signaling that something went wrong behind the scenes. ok, kind of a silly narrative imo but whatevs. and maybe this is where i finally went truly wrong but. yolo i guess

i gave the name "D. Smithee", D as in dilfosaur and Smithee as in Alan Smithee. look it up for fun film trivia ig! was it passive aggressive of me to reference that in this context? yeah, honestly. but i thought it was kinda funny and really not that deep. if it was a problem, i have other real, non-cheeky pseudonyms i regularly use. the manager accepted it and all i had to do was wait for them to post the video and i could leave the whole experience behind me

a week later i received a message from the manager that my pseudonym had been denied by the rest of the team bc one of them got the reference. fair enough lol. however, they decided that rather than ask for a different name, the were going to make one up for me that they liked and would "fit the [story]", without asking me

and that! is when i finally snapped!

i was so tired of giving them concessions at this point and having a credit made up for me without any input from me felt genuinely violating and unethical. i started to Panic bc of how stressed i was, and asked for my overdue payments (aka the $500 still owed on the MV, and the colorist rate from a year prior that was never paid even tho i reported it in january) to be scheduled ASAP as i was leaving the work discord immediately

i finally told them off for exploiting me throughout the months while i kept trying to just be nice and finish my contact cleanly. in return i was told that it was unfair to say that as i agreed to everything- i accepted their cheap rate and denied further payment so that was all settled, and it was ok to change my credit without my consent bc i "said they could do whatever with the release". i called bullshit, ended the convo as kindly as i could, and cried lol. they agreed to ditch the pseudonym and just give no credit. that night was the last i heard from anyone on that team

and the real kicker?

august came and went. then september, october... and they never released the music video

and i don't know why, because i was never contacted about it. i've been removed from the picture entirely i guess. 4 months and boatloads of stress. just. up in smoke. i don't know what i expected honestly

it's hard to not take everything that happened personally and as done in bad faith. i really do, honestly. i've had plenty of shitty deals in my almost 10 year art career, but it hits different from people you saw as friends. but to the point of "why not keep it private", i have never felt so disrespected as a professional as i did this past year. i can toy with money and credits and other formalities all i want, but my work- my ideas, my labor, my effort- is still so important to me. i felt like the biggest idiot for doing so much work, pouring so much of myself into a piece for someone's use, for what has amounted to nothing

but more importantly i hated myself for undervaluing my work, even if initially i thought this person was a trusted friend. money is not really an issue for me- drawfee is my main job and i am fine and comfortable. it's so important to pay artists appropriately but i often undersell my own work bc i value the collaboration and passion between creatives more than the reward. i think a lot of artists tend to feel the same, and it often makes us easy to take advantage of. it's so difficult to find the balance between passion and making a fair living, and i think there's some shame within ourselves when artists choose to prioritize that passion

i wanted to finally get all this off my chest bc i was ashamed of every choice i made. things like this happen all the time i'm sure and hiding these mistakes only make it easier for it to happen to other people

tldr always value your work and protect your passion from people who just see it as a product. and don't give cheeky pseudonyms i guess lol

(and again pls don't bother anyone involved about this. a lot of chaos has left my life as i moved past all this, and this is me closing a door without opening new ones hopefully lol)

this shit was truly

so ass.

but i'm moving past it now

but on a nicer note. outside of all of this nonsense, i made lots of good memories this year. i'm truly so grateful to the many wonderful people in my life who keep me going even when i fuck up big time!

and thank you to all of you strangers who, despite everything, give me the time of day. especially if you read this whole thing. you're a real one :')

happy new year!

[angelicdanvers]

BREATHE DEEPER | five.

a charlie bushnell x fem!reader social media fic.

levizmiller

liked by y/n, dior.n.goodjohn, leahsavajeffries, and others

levizmiller — she won at pool. again.

tagged | y/n

y/n hey at least we got drinks ↳ levizmiller true ↳ walker.scobell YOU CAN DRINK??? ↳ y/n technically yes BUT i settle for virgins

dior.n.goodjohn best duo loading?! ↳ levizmiller YES

user i lowk shipp ↳ user2 nah they prob friends ↳ user3 ay no need to speculate 😭

y/n

liked by levizmiller, dior.n.goodjohn, walker.scobell, and others

y/n — prep for the jumpscare at the end

tagged | levizmiller

levizmiller 😭

walker.scobell i wanna be your age ↳ y/n in like five years buddy

walker.scobell also levizmiller your physique is ELITE ↳ levizmiller thank you walker :)

leahsavajeffries YOU GUYS ARE SO COOL ↳ y/n that’s our goal >:)

iamcharliebushnell hope ur having fun! ↳ y/n thanks!

dior.n.goodjohn YOURE SO HOT ↳ y/n BABES YOU ALL YOU

user2 not charlie becoming less and less consistent ↳ user4 fr man this is sad

GALILEO’S GALS

forbidden child added cutie patootie

↳ HI ARYAN OKAY SO UH I NEED YALLS HELP i think you guys were right

cutie patootie aw what’s wrong?

chanel’s enemy uh oh

↳ yeaaah so is charlie mad at me??? for hanging out with levi?

lee lee he shouldn’t be, he doesn’t have a reason to because even tho all of us are close it’s still your life yk

chanel’s enemy i second that, and if he does that also means SOMETHING if yk what i mean

dr dre im not even gonna sugarcoat, his comment seems so passive 😭

↳ welp i’ve screwed up big time 😃

cutie patootie i mean he’s okay around walker and i. he did keep talking about you at one point last night when we were watching moon knight literally made us pause the ep and just spoke of you

chanel’s enemy BRO UR GONNA HAVE TO SAY MORE ELSE WE’LL JUST ASSUME HE’S GOT A CRUSH ON HER

cutie patootie idk bro it just seemed to me that he missed her a lot. he kept saying how he wanted to take her to egypt esp a restaurant by the pyramids considering y/n still hasn’t been and other places

chanel’s enemy ong he deffo should if he likes her, he should actually ask her out before anyone else does take her to a nice lil restaurant, get her flowers, whatnot

cutie patootie yeah fr

↳ yall pls tell me youre not speculating he likes me

dr dre omfg Y/N ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ANY OF THESE DETAILS

↳ yes but im choosing to ignore them for the sake of my sanity

lee lee GIRL HE PROBABLY LIKES YOU IF IT ISNT THAT, THEN ITS BECAUSE WALKER SAID LEVI’S PHYSIQUE WAS GREAT AND HE ONLY EVER USED TO SAY THAT TO CHARLIE

↳ YEAH BUT CHARLIE’S MATURE

dr dre is he tho guys do dumb shit when they like a girl

↳ he doesnt like me 😭

cutie patootie ANYWAYS i'd keep my eyes and ears open if i were you, y/n, you definitely didn’t screw up but if you're worried abt charlie maybe just be a tad bit more careful?

↳ gotcha, no more levi posts then?

chanel’s enemy i mean ofc you can post him, it shouldn't be anyone's business as to who you're posting, but idk it's so hard to explain like don't get me wrong i think you should post whomever you wish but hopefully it won't hurt anyone. i mean you're not with anyone controversial so it shouldn't be a big deal anyways, plus if someone cough charlie cough can't fess up their feelings it's on THEM not YOU

↳ i definitely get that, thank you for the insight you guys :) it’s just tough because i really don’t know how i feel either

chanel’s enemy WAIT WHAT i did NOT expect that response

↳ i can't help it idk my emotions are all over the place right now

chanel’s enemy GIRL YOURE NOT A BOP STOP ACTING LIKE ONE

↳ RIGHT SORRY 💀 K PLEASE HELP THO

cutie patootie okok miss y/n do you, or do you not, have a crush on levi?

↳ i do not

chanel’s enemy okok MISS y/n l/n would you rather be MRS. y/n bushnell?

↳ DIOR WTF MAN

dr dre well THAT got a reaction out of her

↳ ugh but he's cute and he’s so sweet and he’s so charming too he texts me every morning no matter what timezone i’m in and he gave my mom flowers when he first met her too he’s so smart, both emotionally and intellectually like doing math with him is just >>>>

lee lee girl. GIRL.

chanel’s enemy LMFAOOO MATH 💀 she down bad BAD

dr dre you see there’s a river in egypt…

cutie patootie AND YOU STILL THINK THIS IS PLATONIC??

↳ OKAY OKAY fuck i like charlie don’t i

chanel’s enemy OH YOU DO YOU DEFINITELY DO

cutie patootie YOU LITERALLY WORRY ABOUT HOW HE FEELS ABOUT YOU ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU HANG OUT WITH YOU'RE DOWN BAD N/N

↳ aw shit man WHAT DO I DO

chanel's enemy MAKE A SUBTLE MOVE ASAP

lee lee HANG OUT WITH HIM SOON

dr dre MAKE A SHORT FILM

cutie patootie YES THATS PERFECT

↳ guys this is too hard i dont like this

chanel's enemy STFU YOU WILL DO THIS WE ARE HERE BAE 💪

↳ OKOK LOVE YOU GUYS LEMME TRY THIS OUT

— taglist.

@shokocoded @istillremeberthefirstfallofsnow @surftrips @svtsimp22 @thames-fig @captainshischier @reggieslifeboat @multifandom-loser @wheelerslover @mermaid-mqtel @randomnpc456 @kaithoughs @isab3lita @mariposa555 @sunshinessky @myr-cheri @thedeadlynights @ella33 @c1nn4mng1rl @poppysrin @breadbrobin @lucy-the-ant @jules-loves-lukecastellan @taloulalila @tom-pls-fuck-me @mia-luvs @iknowyoureabigfan @rinisfruity14 @chasebeth @auttumnsayshi @prettygirlformula @alwayswndr @balletfilmss @kestisvrse @1forthemoney2forthekish @eissaaaa @emelia07 @toffytaste @soulaires @bearwon @happy-mushrooms @simrah1012 @blimp-blimp @obxstiles @yuminako @hopexcroc @mackycat11 @knowugetdejavu @0puddleofgender0 @callsignwidow @i-heart-emos @eddiesdrummergf @suckerforblondies @homebyeleven @bookworm-center @kawliflo @https-evan2 @ihrtzku @strawberryapplesauce13 @captainshischier @vbbaby-girl @honeysmoonn @itssmandiee @kinderwh0r3 @willsdills @americanbluebirdrb @bokutos-biddys @ln4author @lqclercs @czennieszn @laveens-pearl @inlovewithcarsthatrunreallyfast @aerangi @taygrls @ilamara @hanjiiberry

hi my loves! i am so so sorry for disappearing for a bit, school was getting horrible during the second semester and i found very little motivation. i rested all of july and i am hoping to update this series, along with posting a luke one i've written for the past few months, throughout this month! i think i've mostly tagged all the people that requested to be a part of the taglist, forgive me if i missed you or tagged you twice.

how are you guys doing?

please stay safe and drink water, i'm proud of you <333

[prettyinpwn]

I know I'm gonna sound like a crazy old broken record... but hear me out. Lots of speculation as to the true purpose of the thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com thing beneath the cut.

So... does anyone else feel like the ARG website is... odd? Like it's leading to something more coming? And before anyone screams, "Well, ackshully, Hirsch said he doesn't want to do a Season 3-"

YES. I KNOW. He said no Season 3 a million times. I was there when he told us Season 2 was it for the first time. But what he didn't say, however, was, "No more Gravity Falls anything... EVER.". Hence why we've gotten Journal 3, Lost Legends, and now The Book of Bill. Hirsch is veeerrrrry comfortable making more GF stuff.

And as someone that studied programming in college, I can tell you, this website does not seem like it was easy or cheap to make. It's effectively a single screen point and click game in a browser. Looking at the code, it seems they did use a framework called Bridgetown, lacing in looped animated MP4 files with clickable assets on top that make up the interactive elements (e.g the computer), with a lot of content made for the website itself from image files and text for each prompt a user might type. Sure, it's not the most difficult thing to program, but it's a lot more complex than, say, the searchfortheblindeye site back in the day.

That, and as someone who has worked in the corporate world, I'm sorry, but you don't pour this much effort/money into something that is just "lol cool things after product for funsies". If this was just for The Book of Bill, the smart marketing decision would have been to make the lofi album and the website, tease fans with both of them, and let them lead to an announcement of the book itself to tempt them into buying it, not the other way around. Like... Disney ain't gonna do that just out of love for fans. It's Disney, come on. They do things for money.

It's possible that Hirsch paid for it himself just for the fans, but I doubt it. Wanna know why? Because of the website's security certificate and ownership. Let's take a gander at this:

There are two odd things here. One, the range of the expiration. Most security certs last 1-2 years, at least they did at one of my previous places of employment (and we had like 50+ of them). This one expires November 7th, 2024. Odd, but maybe they only want the website up for a few months? Anyways, as an aside, everyone keep an eye out for November 7th, 2024. Could be nothing, could be something.

The other weird thing is the domain holder. Looking it up on ICANN, it gives this address:

Look that up on Google Maps, and it takes you to a company called Dun and Bradstreet. Long story short, the company does a bazillion things, but the main thing we're talking about here is:

Oh gee, Sales and Marketing. And their Sales and Marketing tools? Basically, they use data to tell companies who their audience is, so that they can market to them. Now, why would Disney care about this for a fandom for a show that's been done for almost a decade, just for a book that was released before said website (so we know they're not gathering marketing data for the book)?

Well, if I were to guess... long story short, all this stuff is a tactic to gauge who the Gravity Falls audience is now. Release the book, make some dough and fans happy, tie in a secret marketing data collection gimmick (AKA the website) using D&B as a vendor to hook the data into your CRM, send fans to a website to collect marketing data, and shabam. Now you know who the target market is all this time after.

And why in the hell would a company care about that? You tell me. Why care about who a target market is if you're not planning on marketing something to them later?

It could be that Disney is planning something similar to Gravity Falls and wants to gauge if there'd still be a market for that kind of show. Or... it could mean that Disney is planning on something more substantial related to Gravity Falls or Hirsch pitched it, and they were like, "Well, wait, let's collect data on this, first, so we'd know if it'd be a good business decision.". Not sure.

I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but doesn't this seem fishy to anyone else? If anyone else has any hypotheses as to why Hirsch and Disney have a Gravity Falls website owned by D&B, let me know, but to me... this smells... very... marketing oriented. And Hirsch doesn't seem like the guy to pour his own money into hiring an outside company to gather marketing data, that seems more up Disney's alley.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Good evening (or morning, afternoon, wherever u r) to you, Miss Raven, *tips hat* How do you do?

First of all, I was reading through the your canon Malleus romance analysis and i’ve just gotta say I love how you give a realistic approach to these characters and their world! 🙌🏻

But that also got me thinking, how would Leona prioritize his romantic vs royal life?

As second born prince, I wanna say Leona actually has more breathing room to pick whoever he wants as a partner (if the royal family doesn’t arrange a marriage before he gets that chance), plus, the Sunset Savanna’s next heir apparent is already born, so really there’s nothing worry about succession unless something happens to Cheka and or Falena. But at the same time Leona is still ridiculed by his people, so will that have any affect on who he wants to be with if he happens to choose someone other than another beast(wo)man or someone in a class lower than a noble?

And even tho he isn’t first in line for the throne, Leona is still royalty. I think he could pick a partner who is more private and less sociable with their life, but I also think they still might need to be prepared for the royal life, lack of privacy, speaking with the public, and other royal duties (even if Leona himself won’t do them).

TL;DR Do you think Leona’s status as second prince actually gives him a benefit for who he can pick as a romantic partner and how would the people’s view on him affect this, and what do you think would expected of Leona’s partner in the royal life even tho he’s not first in line for the throne?

What’s your take on this?

Related posts: Malleus / Kalim

Greetings 🎵 Life’s been a bit stressful lately, but I’m getting by! Busy planning something big for the blog too, so excited for that.

I think you must be talking about that post where I discussed what the expectations would probably be for Malleus’s future spouse? Thank you for the praise though! While anyone can ship themselves or their OC with Malleus in the latter, there’s certain in-universe logic that must be followed in the former. It feels very different to be a character in that world versus an outsider looking in. Being able to switch and see from those perspectives is important, I feel.

My thoughts on this topic aren't as concrete as what I laid out for my Malleus post, mostly because we don't know as much about Sunset Savanna's politics and since Leona isn't burdened by the same expectations as the crown prince or first in line to the throne. I feel like this post will be a lot of speculation, so just be cognizant of that.

As Leona is right now, I don't think he has much of an interest or an obligation to find someone. His focus seems to be on tending to himself and his own goals to help those around him, be it his juniors (Epel, Jack, Ruggie, etc.) or his country (due to his internship at a energy and mining lab). I definitely feel like that's where his priorities lie, and anyone he might take on as a life partner would also have to have a passion and dedication for this kind of service, whether they also engage in it or they at least support Leona's endeavors.

I also think that Leona would personally want an intelligent partner that's able to hold their own in a discussion, but only to a certain extent. Like, they have to be able to coherently express their own thoughts but I don't think he wants to deal with someone so stubborn that they constantly put up a fight with him if they happen to disagree. Leona has demonstrated multiple times that he finds it a hassle when people don't listen to him, so he tries to put himself in situations where he doesn't have to face that in the first place. For example, Leona states that he dislikes Silver and Rook, as they constantly act on their own and seem to disregard anything that others around them say. Additionally, he lacks a vice dorm leader because he made the conscious decision to not pick one, as he doesn't want someone challenging his decisions. Leona also strategically caves to his sister-in-law's demands to avoid wasting time and energy in an argument, since he knows that beastwomen tend to be strong-willed. His partner would have to know when to step back and give him space or when is not a good time to keep pressing a point. That means there'd be a certain element of emotional intelligence involved too, not just general wisdom or knowledge.

In these circumstances, I don't think there would be as much of an importance placed on the social status of Leona's spouse since he's like... what? Fourth in line to rule? His father is still alive, Falena/Farena is still fine, and Cheka's there too. The chances of Leona actually having to step up to that plate are low. There's no pressing need for Leona to find a partner or to produce an heir of his own. I don't recall there being lore about his older brother and sister-in-law having an arranged marriage or what social class his sister-in-law is from, so... there's not a lot to go off of there. I think, at the very least, we can assume there's not as much pressure for Leona to be in an arranged marriage since he isn't the crown prince. I don't get the sense that Sunset Savanna is as conservative with its social expectations as Briar Valley is, so it's doubtful whether or not the public would care about a royal marrying a commoner or a beastman marrying a non-beastman. To my latter point, there doesn't seem to be as strong of a racial divide between beastmen and humans (unlike fae and humans), so I don't think this would pose a major concern. But hey, maybe they do care a lot about status since Leona's flashback keeps harping on the importance of birth order--but that ultimately has no baring on the commoner versus royal thing. Maybe this is me being too much of an idealist, but I do think it would be possible for Leona's partner to come in and prove themselves, since their reputation (unlike Leona's) isn't already marred by being second in line to the throne and having a golden child to be compared to. If anything, I feel like the people would fear for the safety of Leona's spouse rather than what their "marrying outside of the norm" means for the country. Since there's a negative public view of Leona, I feel that this would translate into worry for the spouse rather than assuming they are "just as bad" as Leona. They're an outsider with a completely separate background from Leona's, and that I doubt that most people have the magic to rival his strength. Where would their fear of the spouse be reasonably coming from? I think the more likely situation would be the public feeling sympathy for the spouse (like, what if Leona's magic harms them) and wondering what they must see in the second-born prince. There might be a lot of gossip or concerns swirling around their courtship, little judgmental whispers and passing glances that are hard to avoid, maybe some hissed warnings to be careful around Leona, etc. The spouse should be careful how they react to public opinion though, as lashing out could make them be perceived as ill-tempered and crude, a poor reflection of both their own attitude as well as confirming preconceived notions of Leona. They should be equipped to handle socially complicated situations with grace and tact. When it comes to Leona, they should also be ready to provide him with some emotional support—not as a therapist he trauma dumps to or anything like that, but as a trusted and nonjudgmental confidant.

I think the spouse would receive the harshest scrutiny should they step into a more public-facing role… like if they started to enact or push for policies that go against the country’s reverence for nature and living in harmony with it. They would most certainly get pushback for it, maybe earn ire for not being “attuned” with its people. Leona’s spouse would, at the bare minimum, be expected to represent the values of Sunset Savanna and to engage in its ceremonies and traditions. For example, Leona—the second prince—is meant to train the winners of the Bead Brawl. Whatever royal duties are set for the spouses of the royal family… well, they should be prepared to fulfill them.

On the subject of privacy and sociability, it might actually be a drawback if Leona’s spouse were private and not sociable. Not being seen or interacting in public very often means people are left to their own devices and assumptions—and if Leona is the first person they associate with his spouse, it could lead to the public forming negative thoughts. "Oh, they're withdrawn because they don't care about us. Oh, they must be moody and hard to get along with." There’s a lot of earning trust that has to be done, especially if Leona intends to enact social reform, so I think it would make for better optics if his spouse really put themselves out there and was proactive in the community. Instead of framing themselves as a shut-away or some rando that married into the royal family, they have to be willing to step outside of their comfort zone and act like a leader if push comes to shove, show how outgoing and determined they can be.

Last thought I have on this matter I guess is related to how Leona’s loved ones would react. I don’t think the named characters would care about the details all too much?? Farena appears to respect his brother and treats him warmly, even when Leona brushes him off. He’d want Leona to be happy and at his best mentally and emotionally when and if he decides to help govern the country. And Cheka, well… maybe he’s a little too young to fully understand what’s going on, but I think he’d want his uncle to be happy too. I’d say even Kifaji would be on board with it, though perhaps not as openly as Farena or Cheka. He’s a stern older man, so I can absolutely see him scolding Leona and nagging him about his choice of partner—but in the way that a concerned grandparent would, you know? Not in an outright malicious way like the Briar Valley senators might. Unlike them, Kifaji can see the good in his prince and wants the best for him, even if he comes off as too overbearing at times. Kifaji doesn't unnecessarily act vitriolic or belittling to Leona, he states truths (that Leona acts improperly at times) and earnestly expresses his wish that Leona recognizes his own potential. He'll probably pull up to interrogate the spouse (because he cares that Leona marries someone who loves and values him), but ultimately give his blessings along with a plea for them to take good care of his second prince.

[halemerry]

hii first of all, i absolutely love your metas on GO s2! your breakdown of the last few minutes of ep6 was really insightful and i love you for your meta about aziraphale and his role as a protector - it is a very astute look into his character and motivations which not a lot of people acknowledge in their theories/speculation after s2.

more to the point of this ask: this is something i've been mulling over and is the only thing that still doesn't make sense to me in ep6. why is crowley so nonchalant, or at least not noticeably worried, about the metatron showing up to the bookshop (a space he is very protective of) and taking aziraphala away for a talk after aziraphale has already been threatened by micheal? throughout the whole season crowley has been extremely protective over aziraphale and is very much aware of the real danger he is in (re: the book of life). this is also right after crowley has returned from heaven and has learned what the metatron was willing to do to gabriel to ensure 'institutional integrity' and that much bigger plans were afoot. i find it hard to wrap my head around his calm demeanor when the metatron enters the scene and takes aziraphale away, even if it's supposedly for a harmless talk. i wonder if you have any thoughts/speculation about this?

(opps this got too long and rambling). i would love to hear your thought but ofc please don't feel pressured to answer :) love your posts about the season and i look forward to reading more from you. have a lovely day!

Hi!! Thank you so much! This ask has had me by the throat basically since you sent it. It sort of touches on some things I already wanted to write about so forgive me if this spirals a bit.

So in a lot of ways I think this is a question that can have a one word answer. But since I do wanna talk about the way the show gives us this answer I actually want to start with Nina. Specifically I want to start with the thing she tells Crowley as Aziraphale’s off with the Metatron.

“You’re the hard bitten one that can’t trust anyone ever again and Mr. Wherever He Is is the soft one that still believes in magic people being basically good and all that."

I’ve talked a little bit about this line before in my meta about the build up to the Confession here because I think it’s important to view from the perspective of how it preps Crowley for the following conversation he’s about to have. But, aside from that, I think it's really important because it's wrong. Nina is describing herself here, not Crowley. She’s projecting her own issues onto him and Aziraphale in the way that she perceives herself relating to them. Crowley himself is actually the one that calls out her trust issues for what they are explicitly. 

Nina doesn’t trust and she sees herself in Crowley far more than Aziraphale both in demeanor and aesthetic so she assumes he doesn’t trust either. But she has it backwards. Because Crowley isn’t hard bitten as much as someone who tries very hard to be perceived as such. And, most importantly in this specific context, Crowley actually trusts quite a bit.

And he nearly always has. Even as far as back as the Starmaker.

Just look at the way that the Starmaker and Aziraphale both talk about interacting with God. Aziraphale is nervous, anxious and pretty much immediately clocks that what the angel that would become Crowley is saying is going to get him into trouble. But the Starmaker? Even upset about the information he’s been given, he remains confident in the fact that it can’t hurt to ask a few questions. He trusts there to be no consequence for expressing an objection. He trusts that his opinion is valued. Even if he ends up wrong here there’s no inclination at all that he thinks his words will be taken inappropriately. And even the Fall itself doesn’t burn this out of him.

We see him trust Aziraphale, the cherub who was supposed to be guarding Eden from things like him, not to smite him on sight. And trusts him enough to not only have a conversation but express his own worries about his own actions. He then approaches Aziraphale like a friend at the Flood and makes no attempt to censor his horror at what is happening there.

Job is the first time we see Crowley act in a way that implies mistrust between them. This is the first time they’ve met since the Flood which I suspect is contributing to his reluctance to be honest with Aziraphale here. They fall into their roles and then very rapidly fall out of them. The fact Azriaphale reaches out to Crowley here is important. As is the moment where Crowley asks Aziraphale if he’s sure. After Aziraphale more or less agrees to be all in something changes. Crowley is surprisingly honest about his view on the world, mostly trusting Aziraphale not to use it against him. He places himself in front of a host of angels, trusting that Aziraphale would not expose him. And then later he’s even more honest, admitting to Aziraphale he’s lonely in an attempt to show solidarity.

The entire Arrangement could not exist without them trusting each other. Crowley’s pushing at Aziraphale’s boundaries is a constant exercise in trusting that Aziraphale will come around eventually - or that he at the very least isn’t about to weaponize the treacherous things Crowley is saying against him. As early as 1601 we see Aziraphale voicing active concern for Crowley's well being. We then see Crowley actively trust Aziraphale with both their safeties in 1941 - whether it’s trusting Azriaphale to save them from the bomb about to drop on them or trusting Aziraphale’s trust in him to not accidentally discorporate him during the bullet catch. They even explicitly talk about their mutual trust in this year during their shades of gray conversation.

During Armageddon Crowley shows up trusting that Aziraphale will help him fix this and once Aziraphale agrees never once seems to consider the idea that Aziraphale would hide anything from him (even when Aziraphale is actively doing so).

He also critically knows that Aziraphale tried to reach God and got himself discorporated as a consequence. And likely specifically knows that Aziraphale talked to the Metatron and came away from that conversation realizing that Heaven would not help him. It's worth noting whether Crowley knows this bit or not that in this conversation Aziraphale not only explicitly questions the Metatron's authority but also uses the conversation to extract information from the Metatron.

Aziraphale leaves this conversation with an active lie to the Metatron and attempts to call Crowley to tell him everything he knew. He then continually chooses Crowley over Heaven. They pick their own side and help stop the world from ending.

And then, all season, Aziraphale keeps proving that the trust Crowley has always had in him is well earned. Aziraphale, even more than Crowley himself, brings up ideas of 'us' and 'our side' and 'our car'.

Aziraphale openly talks negatively of Heaven. Not only does he agree with Crowley's disbelief that Heaven managed to stay in charge sending people like Muriel down, but he even goes a step further, implying that they perhaps never had control over earth in that way.

He also, most critically, immediately and without hesitation, tries to turn down the Metatron's offer to even have a conversation. Aziraphale, who has also just brought a group of archangels to order, reaffirms his lack of interest in Heaven right then and there in front of Crowley. Right when the Metatron has reaffirmed the threat of the Book of Life is out of play.

Crowley trusts Aziraphale. He always has. And more than ever lately Aziraphale has given him proof that he doesn't have to worry about where he allegiances lay.

But. It's also worth noting. I don't think Crowley is as chill as he maybe seems like he is. Yes, he's sprawled out and speaking casually here, but to some degree this is a bit of posturing. He's playing it cool and also not encroaching on the control Aziraphale has managed to wrangle on this situation. But he also doesn't just let them wander off either. As soon as they hit the door, Crowley is out of the chair and walking to the front of the shop to watch them leave through the window. He's keeping tabs as they walk away.

He then banishes Muriel and promptly starts to clean. Now I'm always a little wary to mix Book and Show canon, but I do think his cleaning of the bookshop (as well as him carrying around stacks of books while babysitting Jim) are manifestations of Book!Crowley's tendency to want to stress clean. He's keeping himself busy and gets done too quickly then promptly glances at his watch before throwing himself into the chair with a frustrated noise. He's anxious and stressed the entire time Aziraphale is out of his line of sight.

In other words, Crowley's not actually as calm as he's presenting himself to be. He's trying to take that nervous energy out in a way that doesn't conflict with giving Aziraphale agency. Because he trusts his angel. And that in part is why it hits him so hard when it all blows up in his face.

[txttletale]

I'm only saying that because when people made jokes and badgered me about being trans, it made me not wanna even come out :/ like people speculating if I was a girl or not

Hey I'm newly Transfem and have a lot to learn so I wanted to follow up on the previous ask about Aaron and his gender identity. Is it disrespectful to speculate on his gender because it could be misgendering? I don't think transfem is insulting, but I fear that a projection of transfemininity on aaron could be misgendering and disrespecting the identity he chose in death for whatever reasons he chose. Thank you for your thoughts and words.

i mean, i'm sympathetic to your personal account and i've heard many like it! but on the other hand i've equally heard people telling stories about how they felt unable to broach the subject but kept hoping one of their trans friends would say something or give them a push they felt they couldn't take themselves. i've gone back and forth on this kind of thing and i do think ultimately it is something where you cannot make a single proclamation that covers every circumstance. every person is unique and has a unique social circumstance--the only real answer when it comes to asking or joking about someone's gender is that 'it depends on the person and who you are to them and their stated comforts and discomforts and how well you know them and a thousand other things'

however that is all to do with interpersonal interactions -- i don't think any of this applies to bushnell, who is not going to be discouraged from coming out because he martyred himself for palestine and who is not here to read posts and be affected by them because he martyred himself for palestine. i don't think it's "misgendering" -- i don't think you can meaningfully 'misgender' cis people, because what misgendering is when done to a trans person is an implicit threat of transphobic/transmisogynistic violence, an implicit denial of the social reality of trans people's own self-understanding and an implicit voicing of support for the politics of depriving and subjugating trans people into the grave or the closet.

i think that is all aside from the question of whether it's wrong to speculate about bushnell's gender. obviously i don't think anyone should be making super bold definitive claims about his identity, or digging into his private life for information, or talking about his identity in exclusion to talking about the cause at hand. but i haven't seen anyone do that, is the thing. i've just seen a handful of trans women have what i think is a natural and obvious reaction to hearing that someone with the name aaron had a twitch account called lillyanarkitty and then being treated like they're spitting on his grave for doing so, which leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

[asktheritochampion]

Honey, I gotta ask babe, are you, like, absolutely sure you're not, like, gay or whatnot? Cause sugah I think you might, like, be in a lot of love, like, homosexual not rival, like, love with, like, Link babe. Its, like, completely fine if you're, like, gay and stuff babey. Believe me, cause, like, I'm also gay hun. Do you ever, like, want to have some actual, like, fun with Link? Maybe, like, maybe sugah, you actually, like, want to hang out with Link and, like, just don't wanna, like, tell anyone? Maybe, hun, you wanna, like, I dunno, like, maybe kiss him? Like, its understandable if, like, you don't wanna. I know you and him are, like, rivals and what not honey. Just lemmie know babe.

(i hated typing this there are twenty 'likes' in this you better effn answer or I'll turn you in to platos definition of a man revali lmao jk love you bye baby)

Can somebody translate this for me? I don't have the time to read gibberish and I think I near had an aneurism trying to on this occasion.

For your information, I'm bisexual, as stated previously. It would be cruel of me to keep myself from an entire half of the population. Any gender of individual deserves the chance to attempt to woo someone as incredible and desirable as I.

As for your speculations about myself and my most hated rival, keep them to yourselves - as it is utterly none of your buisiness.

[unma]

Fuck it. I have to do shit myself. Okay. Post time. It's midnight but sleep can wait.

HEY, HAS ANYONE NOTICED THAT HONG LU IS BEING SET UP AS THE SECONDARY FOCUS OF THIS CANTO OR IS IT JUST FUCKING ME?

Okay. That one was incredibly obvious, but let me go into detail.

Yeah sure, we're suddenly getting lore for him again and all, but I wanna draw attention to two things. Firstly, Hong Lu's shinning left eye is compared to the stars in Don's eyes. Secondly, said blue eye is said to have been fading, apparently, which is a "Hey, Dante, what the FUCK did you mean by that? What do you mean it's fading?"

So this is the part where I pore through line after line forming my thesis, but it's midnight and I don't have the time. So I'm just going to talk about my idea of Hong Lu and Don, and those of you more unwell about these characters can jump in the notes of this post ad correct me, capiche? Thank you, let's begin.

Hey. Hey. Do you think Hong Lu's ever-bright personality is going to fade? No, this is a serious question, as he's being confronted by apparently the most amicable of his siblings, who clearly fucking hates him, and Don, who is being directly compared to him and is the only one who has managed to keep a similarly joyful demeanour the entire game, is very clearly about to go through some shit. Like, she's already had to give a lot of way to reality in her delusions, but she's refusing to budge now and the world is refusing to let her be. She is going to have to confront the truth of the matter and open her eyes to see the world for the way it really is, a la the battle with the Mirrors from the source material, and given Hong Lu's blue eye, something that definitely seems to at least support the ever so happy image Hong Lu has going on, is said to have been fading, it is likely Hong Lu will have to go through something similar.

Alas, my not reading the source material here is very clearly biting my ass, because I have no idea what is going to happen to Hong Lu. He's definitely going to be taking a major role here but idk what. Assuming it'll be similar to Heath in Canto V feels much to hasty to me, it might perhaps be like the Intervallo where the two sinners of focus go through separate arcs at the same time, though perhaps much more intertwined. I think Hong Lu's definitely going to be a point of reference for Dante when dealing with Don, or at maybe someone who will be relied on to help with what's about to go down. This is all just speculation on my part, but I cannot help but focus on that comparison. The two are similar, of course, but I need to know how this Canto is going to use that. It's driving me insane that I need to wait until the 17th to see what comes next.

[chaos0pikachu]

Man, I hope the emoji guy in the posters of the sitcom Bible is gonna play in IS Jes, because I think Bible is gonna be a cringe fail nerd who tries to be cool: one poster has him a pilot* costume, the other him in glasses with a handheld game console looking excited... with his zipper undone, and I need them to play another cringefail couple, 4 Minutes can NOT be the end of them together.

* As someone who works in an airport and so encounters pilots frequently, they are pretty ordinary and kinda boring. Cabin CREWS on the other hand... I never encountered a flight attendant I didn't wanna kiss, tbh

I've heard - but this isn't confirmed just like something I read on twitter so huge grain of salt - that BOC hadn't officially cast anyone for that sitcom role so the guy was just a stand-in.

I COULD speculate that the guy is/was Jes b/c this was - I think? - before he was officially announced as part of BOC/cast in 4Mins.

But don't quote me on that I'd have to check the dates lol

Idk if I'll watch b/c honestly comedy isn't my thing but I do love that BOC continues to try a wide variety of series, so I love the idea of a sitcom/comedy show for the studio (especially with their new actresses KT is so crush worthy man have y'all seen her kickboxing videos? whew) plus it'll be cool to see Bible further stretch his acting muscles. Comedy will be totally new for him which makes me really excited for him as an actor.

I would love to see Jes and Bible work together again, I know they were asked about it in an interview if they could do another series together what they'd like to do:

In the same interview they elaborate; Bible said he think Jes would play a great villainous char so he'd want to see that, while Jes said something with race cars b/c Bible loves F1.

Idk if Jes is ~officially~ apart of BOC on his Insta he does have BOC listed as his work contact so there's that. But I know he's still working with One31.

Personally I like the idea of the BOC actors doing both but I also dislike studio systems along with this idea that BL series are "lesser than" lakorns (this attitude is prevalent in western fandom too stop it please).

Either way I'd love to see them in a new series together, they're both strong actors and acting against Jes made Bible better.

My dream series from BOC would be a fantasy series, since they're the only Thai studio I could see investing money in such a project - Idol Factory came close with The Sign and I adore The Sign but it was half fantasy still great tho!

That or an assassins show cause I can already tell The Heart Killers is more squeecore/romcom than true blue assassins/hired killers and I have no interest in that.

Also for folks who may have missed it/need a reminder here's the announcement about said sitcom:

sidenote as someone who travels a lot for work that tidbit about pilots/flight crew is AMAZING thank you for that

[a-moth-called-mof]

To the C! Wilbur fans or even former Lovejoy fans. I just wanna say. You're not a bad person for having enjoyed or resonated with something he made. You're not stupid for getting attached. You couldn't have known what he was like. I've seen people share old videos to highlight "signs" he was abusive and I've seen a lot of people saying things like "how couldn't I have noticed". You're not stupid for having "fallen for it." Not all abusers are noticeable and obvious. Someone can be abusive to someone and still be nice to someone else. Abusers aren't always obvious. Sure maybe some things in hindsight can be seen as signs, but I don't think you're a bad person for idk not having speculated on a CC's personal life or not assuming the worst of a strangers personal life based on a clip. Like not doing that seems pretty normal to me. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you're not a bad person for "not having seen it"

You are not a bad person for having ever supported him in the first place. Also to any fellow autistic people or just anyone who's fixated on his character and is attached, you're not a bad person for liking something he made. He's a shit person and please don't support him financially(or block me) but idk. He's not his character. His character will always belong to the fans. Whether you redesign him or keep him similar, his character belongs to us. Sending support to everyone. None of us could've known

[thestargayzingetherian]

She-Ra In He-Man Revelations/Revolution

So it's been a few days and I wanted to put this post out there to basically publicly give my thoughts on some... recent developments concerning He-Man Revolution. Before I go into this, MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING FOR THE SHOW!

And also, and this is probably MORE important than the spoiler warning. Do not, and I repeat, do not take whatever speculation I put in this post as gospel or something that is GOING to happen. I may be a bit more knowledgeable than a lot of people about this stuff, but I don't wanna consider myself an expert. This is just me speculating and giving my thoughts and I don't want to get anyone's hopes up because there's a good chance, that what I'm saying turns out to be completely wrong and I don't wanna be responsible for that, so please, take all of this with the smallest grain of salt possible.

With that out of the way...

So the new season of He-Man ends with the reveal of this lady, Despara. For those who don't know... she is Adora. As in She-Ra Adora. In the DC He-man comics, Despara was the name Adora was known as when she was raised as Hordak's daughter. Her name is often used by Catradora fan artists and fic writers who really wanna just make Adora a hot evil lesbian, usually with a hot butch hairdo. It is likely that if/when another season of this show comes, Despara will be the main focus.

Now this raises the obvious question... how are they going to handle the She-Ra stuff. As I have made posts about before, the She-Ra rights and He-Man rights have been separate for a very long time and apparently, the last thing I heard, Mattel themselves can't use any of the She-Ra characters in animated form due to Dreamworks owning them now.

So naturally, you might be thinking that Despara here is just a placeholder because they can't use She-Ra. Except... there are a LOT of She-Ra references in this season that are way too numerous to be just references.

For example:

They recreate the exact scene from the 80s She-Ra movie where Adora is taken as a baby by Hordak in a flashback scene. They also mention Horde Prime existing as well and they EVEN imply that Shadow Weaver exists in this universe as well and Hordak's new robot second-in-command, Motherboard is a replacement for her.

So yeah, all signs SEEMINGLY point to some sort of She-Ra-inspired adaption being the next part of this show. Now, considering the very complex rights issues... I can see this going one of two ways.

Mattel and Dreamworks did a deal like the one Sony and Marvel did with Spiderman to temporarily get the She-Ra rights back for JUST this next season. Despara is revealed to be Adora and her arc will be her learning her true family AND eventually becoming She-Ra to fight Horde Prime with her brother and possibly all the other She-Ra cast are there too. This I feel like it would be the ideal solution to all of this.

2. Despara is revealed to be someone else OTHER than Adora under her helmet because her face is obviously not seen in her brief scene when she takes her helmet off. Technically, Mattel would own Despara outright and not Dreamworks and they could easily make Despara her own character. This was also how they planned to include her in the second season of CGI He-Man. HOWEVER, considering all the foreshadowing and knowing how many people working on these shows loved SPOP... I feel like it'd be really unsatisfying if it wasn't Adora under the mask, both as a fan and from a creative standpoint.

As for my personal theory of what Despara's whole deal is, I think she's ruling Etheria on the other side of the galaxy with Catra and serving personally under Horde Prime. Basically SPOP but a bad ending. The plot will be He-Man and his friends finding out about Etheria and going there to free the planet and Despara will redeem herself and she and Catra and whoever will join team good guy.

But that's just my personal theory. I really don't know what the hell is going to happen here or even IF more episodes will even be coming and I don't want to get people's hopes up. There's a reason I myself have been working on my own She-Ra and He-Man crossover extended universe stuff for the last while so, at the very least, there'd be a fanfic that would satisfy my hopes. I am prepared to be very wrong here.

But even if none of this speculation pans out, I still highly recommend this show to She-Ra fans. The second season definitely fixed the few issues I had with the first one and I hope more comes out of this version of He-Man... then again, it wouldn't be the first time a He-Man series was cancelled.

Hope you find this post informative!

[bamfkeeper]

SFW Alphabet: Azazel

a/n: weee surprise character I wanna write a little bit too. I am working on more Nightcrawler stuff don't worry ;; With the new Deadpool & Wolverine coming out in two days, I am so excited to see Azazel, hopefully he is in it for more than a few minutes or just for a cameo. He was a fav of mine in the comics and in First Class, I'm thirsty for more content. Anyway. I like toxic characters don't make fun of meee <3

Also wanna note this might be revised depending on the vibes I get from the film. But in general, this is how I see this character ^^ This is a bit of a test run too, I'll either write more or not depending on the feedback. He's a little brutal, but I made him a little more flexible just because this is fanwork. I hope you enjoy <3

Not edited, got impatient.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?):

Azazel is very precise with what he does with someone he would be with. I don't think he'd ever say he's with someone as a partner, he'd look at it as something that benefits him better than being with anyone else.

He is manipulative, he knows just what to do to keep you happy and content, I don't see him as being a very affectionate dude. But that being said, he knows what touches to give and how to give them to make it seem like he is with you.

The happier you are, the better he can get you to bend to his desires. He is an opportunist, he will do what he can to benefit himself in the 'relationship' he has with you.

He will do simple things for the most part. Simple touches or pats, sometimes his touch or embraces can feel condescending, but you'd never know. He disguises himself very well in that sense.

I can also see him as being someone who would be pretty possessive if someone else was sniffing around. He staked his claim already, and his ego wouldn't allow anyone else to come around you. Possessive grabs at your hip or wrist, he'd tug you closer to him and make sure the other person knew you were not available.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?):

Friendship with him would probably be beneficial and transactional. Azazel takes whatever he can to get ahead, and if you could provide him with things he wanted or liked, whatever it may be, then sure, he'd be a fairly good comrade. A bit sadistic, but good.

Having him as an ally would be incredibly good for you too, he is skilled in fighting and knows how to somehow always get his way. The film showed him following Shaw, however in the comics he presents as someone who likes to be in charge. Either way, both positions would be good to have at your side.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?):

Azazel has the capability to cuddle, but I don't think it is his favorite thing. Catch him in a good mood and maybe he'd grab you for a cuddle.

He wouldn't be the one to initiate cuddling 90% of the time. He wouldn't reject you, but he won't be the one to reach for you. A silent invitation of him raising his arm might be the only gesture you ever get.

I feel that he might be more demanding if other men are around. He will get in a possessive fit, and want you next to him. He likes making others want what he has, and having you snuggled next to him fulfills his desires to sense the envy from others.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?):

Highly doubt it.

In a comic run, he mated many women just for the reason to produce offspring and he left every single one of them after conception, as his only desire was to sire mutant children. There was speculation that he did actually love Mystique (though I will have to fact check this later), so I think love can be a possibility with him, however fully settling down might never happen.

Because he was depicted as Russian in First Class, I always headcannoned that he had Russian habits. So Russian foods and such would be something he enjoys. In general I think he likes red meat dishes.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?):

He'd disappear. If he decided he didn't want to be with you anymore, he'd just vanish out of your life. He's not one to sit you down and explain, if he were to be the one to cut it off, he'd disappear.

If you broke up with him, I can see him asking you a lot of questions because he never thought you'd be the one to break things off. He'd be confused and a bit insulted, he might even stalk you a little bit after just to keep an eye on you and what you're doing, though he'd never let you know or interact with you.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?):

Ah, already hinted at this one, but committing would be something difficult. I have not read a series or seen any depiction of him where he commits to a single person that way so from what I have consumed of him, I don't think he would.

But I do think he would want his partner to be completely committed to him. If he had someone who satisfied him and was loyal in every aspect, I don't think he'd actively look for any other potentials. Azazel is a man who is driven by his own goals, so if you fulfilled his needs like that, he would be satisfied.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?):

Azazel likes feeling in control, and as a naturally manipulative and pretty much evil character, he would know how to do that. He can be extremely gentle when he wants to be. Fingers grazing your skin, gentle head scratches, back rubs, everything. He is fully capable of it, he just picks and chooses when the right time is to provide those things.

Emotionally he is much more harsh. He is blunt, stern, sadistic, and merciless in his ideals. He can speak in a manner that threatens most around him but also knows how to sweet talk you. He is a womanizer, (dude was able to sleep with dozens of women so), he knows how to charm you when he needs to. He can make himself emotionally available if need be, but he only does it to keep you happy, not because he really wants to.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?):

Like cuddling, he probably won't initiate these. He would let you hug him if you wanted, most of the time he just pats your back or lazily lets his tail come around you if his hands are busy.

If he does fully embrace you back, he is very warm and his hugs are firm. I always imagined him smelling like a campfire, smoke, and obviously a bit of sulfur from his teleporting. However I lean more towards burning flesh when I think of Azazel because he is more hellish than our beloved blue teleporter.

I would imagine a cologne he wears would be something like bourbon, cinnamon, or mint scented.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?):

He'd never say 'I love you', but he'd be another character where his actions or behavior would show how he feels. I feel that he might write it on a little piece of paper if you have been together for a long time and he left you a small gift of some kind, but if you confront him about it he won't make another gesture like that again. The whole emotionally vulnerable thing isn't something he wants associated with himself.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?):

Azazel is more possessive than jealous. He sees his partner as something to own, and why would any rival contender try to take his things?

He would be a little toxic if he spotted you talking to someone who was flirting or liked you, he'd be mad at you and probably be a bit short tempered verbally but after calming down he'd grumble a lot and do something small to make up for anything bad he said to you. He can't spoil his fun with you so he needs to keep you happy and content.

If he's feeling particularly possessive, that tail of his would wrap around your arm or waist as he stands next to you. He coils it around your body and the spade of it points towards the person you're speaking to, which is threatening enough considering that he could shoot his tail straight through someone's neck effortlessly.

Sometimes he will drag the sharp tip of it under your jaw just to show how easy he can move you around and how you react to his possessive playful gesture.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?):

His kisses would be teasing, not the typical grabbing you and slamming his lips into you like I have seen. I think he'd caress you, tease you a little with his words and make you squirm slightly, he knows how he makes you feel and he plays into it a lot.

He gets you trying to lean in but he pulls back, just to get you to whine a little bit. Then he lets his lips graze over yours, barely touching, before he places a solid kiss.

Sometimes he won't kiss at all and he pulls back fully, leaving you a wanting puddle until he hears you beg enough for a kiss. He finds it amusing when you're needy.

He likes to place kisses in teasing spots too, your neck, right below the back of your ear, your inner wrist or palm, and the corners of your mouth.

He lets you kiss him wherever you want, he likes to feel basked in your affection because he feels powerful.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?):

I think his involvement with children is very limited...he wouldn't want to be around them.

The bamfs are close enough to children and he has his hands full with them.

If you were to ever bare a child with him, his involvement with the care of the baby would be little. He'd probably do less than the bare minimum, I think he figures he popped it in there, and his role as a father would be to simply provide things you needed.

But this also depends on what scenario you want to imagine. I think this topic can be twisted and flexed a lot.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?):

I have no idea why, but in my head Azazel is not a morning guy. He is a Neyaphem, so their environment is more dark and gritty. The Brimstone Dimension has been depicted several different ways, but going along with the whole 'demonic aesthetic' thing that so many runs have done, just imagine it being dark like a mock Hell.

Naturally this would persuade Azazel to lean more towards nighttime.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?):

He likes nights better, its darker and he can hide a lot if he decides to roam around. He has a mischievous side and I can see him going and scaring people on purpose just for the fun of it.

Some nights he will stay in, keeping you entertained for the fun of it. He likes to watch you get excited when he tells you he's staying, knowing you rely on him.

His army of red bamfs are always around, wild gremlins that are pretty destructive. It makes your nights a lot more entertaining. Sometimes Azazel gets annoyed when they listen to you over him.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?):

Azazel would be open about some things, but a lot of things he'd keep to himself. He wouldn't want to reveal everything, he likes keeping some things secret.

You'd have to be with him for a long time before he began to reveal more secret things about him, but he would have to really trust that you were loyal to him before he'd reveal the deeper things he kept away from you.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?):

Azazel can be controlled, but he can be easy to piss off too. He wouldn't like a lot of headbutting back when he says something or tells you to do something. He would expect his partner to just do what he asked. He wouldn't want to be with anyone too headstrong, he wants to be in charge and he wouldn't like anyone who spoke back or didn't listen to him.

At the same time, he has enough sense not to completely snap at you. He might say something in the moment, but he would come back around after he has cooled off and figure out a way to smooth things over.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?):

Surprisingly, he has an excellent memory and he remembers a lot of things about you. He notices little things and silently takes note of them, your favorite flavors, flowers, colors. He also remembers things you like for when you are lounging or in need of comfort.

He will remember touches you like the best, how you like to be held, what foods you enjoy. Simple things he can do that he doesn't see as damaging to his reputation.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?):

I don't see him as the type to think back on points like this, but if there were a moment he remembers, I would imagine maybe a time where you got tired of his bossiness and finally snapped back at him.

The stern scolding towards him shut his devilish bamfs up and he just stares at you, since you've never been so stern with him before. While he typically doesn't like this...the first time you did it, it came as such a surprise he will always remember it.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?):

Since he would view you as a possession, he would be rather protective, borderline controlling. He likes to know where you're going, and always has one of his bamfs with you or following you.

He would take something towards you that isn't very threatening, such as a handshake from another person, and escalate it to attempted murder.

The way he would teleport the person away to get rid of them, leaving you confused.

He'd be hovering over you anytime he could, his yellow eyes scanning everyone around you. His tail always finds a way to wrap around your wrist to keep you near him.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?):

He is absolutely capable of being romantic, after all he has to have some charm to sleep around so much. He is a smooth talker, and he absolutely has the skills to be romantic and put effort in.

However he doesn't do it very often. I see it as being a maybe birthday or anniversary thing when he really goes out and tries.

In general, if he tries to do something nice, I see the gesture as something indirect. Such as having a bath set up for you, your favorite foods or desserts ready to eat, etc.

Speaking of desserts, he'd make sure to get the best, even if it was chocolate from across the world, since travel isn't a problem for him.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?):

Well, overlooking the mass sex to produce children for his cause, serial murder, torture, general evil deeds...he's manipulative, power hungry, and devious.

He knows how to get what he wants, and his manipulative tactics will be used against you if you take up with him, that's just how he is and it is unavoidable. Though, he is more cunning about it and often will sweet talk you to get things he wants.

Realistically, I do think he would have a habit of being verbally abusive at first, because he isn't used to being with someone for longer than a night or a fling, but he learns how to control it and learns how to get his frustrations across without speaking so ill towards you.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?):

Azazel has an ego a mile wide, he thinks that he's a handsome, irresistible devil. He loves when you call him Satan or The Devil. It boosts his ego even more.

He grooms his goatee and his hair every day and keeps up with his hygiene, he makes sure to always look presentable when possible.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?):

He thinks no. But if you have been with him for a long time and suddenly something happens where you are no longer in his life, he might feel like something is off for a while, but I don't see him as reminiscing in the past.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.):

He has a high tolerance for alcohol. He can drink a lot of it at one time and not feel much from it. He likes heavy alcohol over more subtle ones. He's never been super hungover, and only ever experienced a mild headache the following day after heavily consuming drinks.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?):

Anyone who challenges his authority would piss him off. He likes to be in charge, he is the 'big bad' who orders others around, being challenged or being told what to do would be a no go for him.

Criticizing also would put a bad taste in his mouth and he wouldn't appreciate it. It doesn't matter what it would be about. Appearance, methods, the way he bosses people around, any kind of criticism would annoy him.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?):

He is a pretty heavy sleeper, he has to be having all those red bamfs around. Before you, the bamfs didn't sleep in bed with him, they weren't allowed to. But you always 'babied' them, in Azazel's words, and they began to sleep cuddled with you.

Now the bed is full of red bamfs and Azazel grumbles about it. You always sleep happily and peacefully, he has a hard time falling asleep but once he does, he will sleep heavily.

Thanks for reading.

*BAMF*

dividers by @/adornedwithlight

Cover image from Amazing X-Men #3 (2014)

[blackphanto]

Chucky predictions

SPOILER WARNING FOR CHUCKY S3E5!

I wanna make Chucky theories so bad, but I can't think of any! This show is so crazy that I can't even predict or speculate on what could happen next. There are some people teasing on twitter though and all they've been doing is making me even more hyped for how this season is going to end. So here are some of my predictions based on everything that's been teased so far.

Jake will enter the spirit realm:

I don't think he's necessarily going to die, but he's so fixated on ending Chucky for good to the point where he refused to run away from it all like Devon suggested. And we've heard the doctor, the only way you get to the spirit realm is by dying, but what if you didn't need to die? I believe that thanks to all the supernatural shit occurring there, the White House will become some sort of passage between the two realms. Jake will cross it to try and destroy Charles' soul, but if he will fail or succeed is still debatable...

Caroline helps Chucky get young again:

If Jake fails in permanently killing Chucky, Caroline will come to the rescue. We know she'll be back, but what role will she play in this mess? When she'll return, all hell already would've broken loose and she'll just make it worse. Her sudden entrance at the White House will cause quite the emotional reunion for Lexi and her. Yet, Caroline didn't come alone. Armed with the Voodoo for Dummies book, sure, but she brought another friend, who's none other than the Good Guy Doll creator played by John Waters. He came with a new doll, a new vessel for Charles and with Caroline's newfound knowledge of Voodooism, she'll get Damaballa's blessings and give Chucky a new body, a new chance to not disappoint the almighty Iowa and if he plays his cards right, he might even become forever young.

Grant will survive:

I don't have any evidence to back this up, I just like him and think it's unfair that Lexy always has to say goodbye to someone she loves each season and I just don't want it to happen again. From a psychology standpoint it just desensitized her and would lead to her not getting attached to anyone else besides Jake & Devon next season, in fear of someone else always having to die because of her. And from a writing perspective it just gets repetitive, predictable and boring. So please Don Mancini don't kill him, also I love Jackson Kelly.

The past will haunt everyone:

Charles Lee Ray isn't the only ghost the Terror Trio will have to deal with in the newly supernatural possessed White House. We've seen the past of the Collins family haunt them time and time again, we've seen Henry talk about ghosts and fearing what they told him almost every single episode. Why would that stop at Joseph or Charles? Wouldn't it be horrible for our trio to be faced with the lives they lost thanks to a doll they couldn't stop? How would Jake react upon seeing his father again, disappointed at him for being gay. And Lexy, the poor girl, facing Junior, the boy she watched die, trying to save her... Not making at least one ghost of the past come back would be a wasted opportunity.

Tiffany will survive, but Jennifer's body might not:

Tiffany's possible death has been brought up in every interview Jennifer Tilly made following the comeback of Chucky season 3. At this point it even became a ‘will they, won't they’ situation. Does Mancini really have the guts to kill off a cult favorite character and actress he loves so much? Or will we just say goodbye to seeing Tilly on screen and welcome only her voice? I mean the trailer kinda made it clear for me that this isn't the end of Tiffany's story, but maybe that of Jennifer's body.

[sunnydayjackass]

How do you think young Joseph handled being a loner and a delinquent in high school? Than some how became a teacher himself in an 80's kids show? I wonder what his reaction was like when he find out he was playing a role as a teacher when he was a trouble maker that dropped out of high school?

We don't know a lot about Joseph (or at least I don't from falling off for two years lol) so this is just my opinion/speculation.

It feels a lot like Joseph didn't come from the greatest home, life, upbringing. Being a loner could've been out of self preservation and just the belief that, well...if he isn't wanted at home, why would he be wanted at all? By anyone? In highschool, it's a pretty important time for anyone trying to figure themselves out, their lot in the world, and whathaveyou. So that heavy shit can absolutely take a heavy toll.

Maybe people don't want to be around him but he deep down wants to be around people, wants someone to care about him, who wouldn't? Everyone wants to be accepted and understood but perhaps he feels that's too much to ask of someone, at least where he's at in his youth. Maybe that's what leads him to believe that picking up and pursuing a dream that puts him in a spotlight, where people are adored, will give him a better life and a fresh start. Maybe then he'll be known. Loved. Understood.

Leading into being a delinquent - it's also not uncommon to act out for attention. Negative, positive, it doesn't really matter to most and I think that can be applied to Joseph too. Attention is attention, to be seen or heard, is acknowledgment of existence. I think it was a means to cope, and to feel something. Drinking gets you drunk, smoking quells stress, getting into a fight - win or lose, ya feel it on you. It's something. And tapping back to being a loner, getting into those things can lead to being some social.

Maybe being a delinquent was how he found some friends or if not good friends, people he was content enough to spend his time with versus being entirely alone. Is it good? No. But it's something and it's certainly better than nothing.

And Joseph is a handsome guy, I'd be remiss to say if that didn't play a part in the latter either. And if you wanna be an actor, a star, you gotta look good. And an edge often makes people gravitate towards you too.

But when he's cast as Sunny Day Jack, an optimistic lead to teach kids important lessons and such on a large scale such as a prime time tv show- maybe at first Joseph believes it's a good starting gig. Gets his face out there, opens doors for him, and it makes money. Even if it's just framed to start out as a PBS style program, it's a lead role and that's nothing to sniff at in getting what he wants to be his dream, his career, off the ground.

In my opinion, based on Jack (from my memory anyway)- this is a chance at giving some kids perhaps what he never had. Maybe it's redemption, maybe it's more coping, but I believe he really leans into it. He can be the friend to some kid that he never had, be the teacher to some that he never had, maybe even keep some from going through the shit he went through. That an education is important, that having good friends and treating them well is important.

Ultimately Joseph views it as a good thing all around, for himself and others. Maybe he leans all the way into it and the Jack persona becomes who and what he wants to be that then escalates somehow into the Jack we meet. Eager to forget anything and everything he's done to just be good and be loved but not above doing what he has to in order to keep it. We don't know what happens in between to get him/them to where we are in the game, just that it isn't good.

So until what happens, inevitably happens...that's my opinion on it lol.