#and some non-canon funsies i just want to write

[chrimsone]

guess what my homies after well over half a year i come back with a massive, 6k word chapter.

this was a bitch and a half to make. i mean last bit was posted pre-holiday, holidays came and wrecked my shit cause yknow, retail. then Lightfall launches but i get into a disgusting depressive episode that carries me thru april. all in all i did not spend most of the time writing.

ive got tons of ideas floating around, per use', and i've been working on them a lil bit all at once -- kinda like an adhd ridden squirrel as i described it. i mean, i did post that one fic about a new character i came up with, unrelated to these homies. i do that a lot. this brain just dont stop coming up with new things sometimes.

since this takes place in Dawn, and that was over three years ago, memory is spotty at best. Had to look up a video of a Sundial run to get the detes of the mission. and by that i mean excruciating detail. i wouldn't have it any other way tbh. i like my shit to be slow, giving you time to digest what you're reading. i hope it comes across right.

the lil post bit at the end was hard to come up with. imitating social media in fiction is tricker than expected! no wonder so many folk get it wrong. Honestly i wanted to include comments, show case the weird names i've come across while playing destiny, but in order for me to confidently do that I wanted to use a post as reference. unfortunately reddit, the site i was using as a basis since it's easiest to mimic in plaintext, doesn't want you to really look at older posts in a nice way. thats just how social media is now though, aint it. everythings all about the algo.

I was gonna setup a scene where the obelisks were setup in the beginning, but i scrapped it one way or the other. since that choice was made last year, i dont remember if i just didnt know how to do it, or couldnt find a good enough article to reference the questline cause its that too far back in my memory. I do remember needing to make sure pointe linked the tangled shore, while rin linked mars. Otherwise i would've given her steelfeather.

I've been playing the game since Shadowkeep when it went free to play, but somehow steelfeather repeater is still my most used weapon in pve content. 13k kills. my second highest would be gnawing hunger at a nice 9500, but thats still wild! I only was able to use the weapon for a few months before it got sunset, and i still havent used another gun as much as that. maybe i just dont play destiny as much compared to Shadowkeep..

Anyways, enough ranting. hopefully i'll get the next chapter out before next october lmao

[pedal-writes]

Lloyd garmadon hcs (romantic & reg hcs)

A/N: This is first post on here 😭 I’m super into ninjago right now so I might as well write abt it. And Lloyd is super pookie bear 🫶

Romantic:

-When you guys first start dating, Lloyd is a bit awkward since A. He’s never been in a legitimate relationship before and B. He has insane trauma from Harumi.

-But over time, he’ll start to warm up to you! You just gotta be patient with him.

-Loves to read comics with you, it’s such a guilty pleasure (and he’s a big nerd.)

-When he’s with you, he’s always holding your hand or resting his hand on your lower back. He’s protective in a casual way rather than a possessive way, yk?

-Very prone to venting to you.

-Every once in awhile, he takes you out in ninjago city for a date on a rooftop of a building. It’s not the best place for a date but he’s not much of a romantic. But he does try for you!

-Always takes care of you when you’re sick. He makes soup and tea for you, and sits by your side, holding your hand while talking about whatever.

-He’s such a cuddle bug!! He loves laying on your chest while you tangle your fingers in his hair. And vice versa.

-Loves to kiss you on your face, esp your cheek and your nose. Seeing your face get all blushy after he surprises you with a kiss really makes him happy.

-Feels a little self conscious around you about certain things, like his dad, his oni form, or the idea of being a master since those things bother him deeply. But a little reassurance and kind words from you will help his self esteem a ton.

-He likes it when you braid his hair or play with it in any way.

-If you’re up to it, lloyd loves training with you. He’ll go easy on you considering he doesn’t want to hurt you, but if he does he feels so bad 😭

-When you two are together, Kai will do EVERYTHING in his willpower to embarrass Lloyd for funsies.

-One time, he totally showed you a picture of when Lloyd was little and he had that atrocious bowl cut. Let’s just say Kai was locked out of the monastery for a good 3 days 😁

-Doesn’t use many nicknames but does like to use a shortened ver of your name, to keep it simple. But he doesn’t mind calling you “gorgeous” or “beautiful” once in awhile, since to him you definitely are.

-Misako and Wu would definitely love you immediately after Lloyd introduces you (more so misako), no questions asked.

-Garmadon though? It depends. If you get to know him a bit better, then he’ll probably warm up to you. He’s just a bit weary because of his trust issues.

-Kinda same with the Ninja honestly, but they’ll warm up to you super quick when they see how you treat lloyd and how happy you make him. They just want the best for him is all.

General:

-Lloyd really values his hair, like a ton. He takes super good care of it. And I really like to think after the events of crystalized, he started to actually grow his hair out.

-And by the time of dragons rising, his hair is all the way down to his lower back (he puts it in a low ponytail most of the time for combat reasons.)

-He’s both Japanese and Chinese!

-Demiromantic/sexual and omnisexual!!

-Looked up to Nya as a mother figure when he was little, and still does. He loves misako so very much, but resents her deep down.

-Has a little stubble in DR, kinda canon but whatevs.

-Has a pretty good singing voice, but only really does it in private.

-Outside of his Gi, the clothes he usually wears is just a jacket, a t-shirt and jeans 😭 he has like 15 jackets in his closet (he’s just like me fr)

-Has scars like all over his body, and some on his face from like the millions of battles he’s been in.

-He’s a little chubby, but has pretty muscular arms (🤭)

-Lloyd has like small non-human features that nod to the fact that he’s half oni and dragon.

-Like pointy ears, sharp teeth, and slitted pupils.

-Still has an adoration for candy.

-Every once in awhile, he still heads to Ninjago Doomsday Comix to buy a new issue of a comic he likes.

-He would probably enjoy music like Radiohead or some other sad stereotypical man music.

A/N: I can’t think of much else but I hope you guys enjoyed these!! I’ll write at my own pace for a little bit and then I’ll open requests. I gotta make a carrd sometime soon lmfao 😭

( @weirdotaku1000 these are the hcs I was working on!!)

[quinn-pop]

About metadede headcanons (it's not much of a headcanon more like how their relationship evolved and my headcanon timeline about the Kirby games)

•They were friends since childhood.

•They stayed as friends until Dedede declared himself the king of dreamland, they were traveling through stars until that and meta didn't wanted to stay in one star for the rest of his life and wanted to go adventuring through space.

•They still give each other calls and hangout, but as the time passed (and dedede started to change aka get cropted by power) those calls and visits became fewer and fewer until they didn't talk to each other.

•After that the first time Meta heard about dedede was due news that said king of dreamland stole all the food. Meta realized the power went to his head back when they were still hanging out, but he didn't think he would stood that low.

•Because of that meta knight figured out the best thing to do was to dethrone dedede, he wasn't planing to give dedede any massive punishment at worst he would send him to dangeon for a few months until he learned his lesson, but when he got out he wouldn't get his throne back.

•Meta knights revenge happens and after that Kirby informs dedede about the events and he says he will think about it.

•When it's time for Kirby's adventure, king dedede against his better judgment gives one of the star rod pieces to meta because he trusts him.

•Due to that Meta and Dedede starts hanging out and Meta realizes that Dedede has changed for the better (in my headcanon dark matter trilogy happens between superstar and adventure).

•After that they become friends again and fighters 2 happens.

Now for some non-timeline related headcanons:

•Meta likes to sit on top of dedede's head to feel tall.

•Dedede can pick meta in his hands.

•Dedede doesn't want anyone to know that his possessions has left an affect on him so he doesn't talk to anyone about it, luckly ,even tho meta is terrible at picking up on social ques, noticed something was wrong and talked to him about those things and made dedede feel better.

•When they were children Meta once gave Dedede a rock that he thought was pretty cool, and Dedede said "Yes, I will marry you" since he was told rejecting an offer from a friend was rude.

•In things where meta needs to have normal sized arms compared to dedede (like hugging dancing etc.) he uses his wings.

Sorry if it is too long.

not too long at all! thanks for writing all that!

it’s really interesting to me just how popular the childhood friends headcanon is, considering there’s not much canon basis for it (not that that matters.) it’s a really cute hc though and i’m always happy to see it

definitely always love the star rod thing. it’s interesting that even back then mk and dedede were kind of cast in the same light, y’know? that being a point they connect over makes a lot of sense—your timeline is a lot different than mine here, being placed after romk, but it’s pretty cool that dedede would trust him with that even after that. adds a layer to it.

anyway i drew a couple of those headcanons just for funsies

i do think meta likes to be held, just probably not in full armor and where everyone can see him lol. it’s definitely a little awkward given their sizes though. holds like burger…

i’m not really a childhood friends metadede believer but imagining their dynamic is pretty fun? especially if we’re adding the Spanish speaking mk hc into this. i guess for some reason i imagined dedede as a little more shy here? just not quite broken out of his shell yet…no pun intended. they can have shenanigans together or something

and dedede only accepting meta’s “proposal” out of courtesy is so funny lol. i can imagine him going home after this and being a little upset because now he feels like he has to marry him. i’m sure the conversation that followed that was very fun /sarcasm

poor meta must’ve been very confused ^^” ah but the irony…

it’s just a very endearing concept to me. cute :>

[your-local-hoemie]

ꕥgenshin impactꕥ boyfriend head-canons. Number 2 Liyue boogaloo~

The first one I did got so much attention like thank you so much, I’d die for you all ^^

No I didn’t put xiao first because I was too excited to write him and no I didn’t get carried away with his scenario. Shut up.

I’m still super busy, I kid you fucking not I’ve been trying to get fired but it isn’t working for some god damn reason and I’ve had like four hours sleep in total since my last request so I apologise if this is completely incoherent, I am rapidly becoming very unhinged <33

This was just for funsies and to keep me sane so I still apologise for not get to any requests at the moment :(

Summary: Just the Liyue boys as your S/O uwu

Warnings: fluff, swearing, established relationship, gn!reader, a little suggestive (childe), not proof-read.

Characters: Xiao, Zhongli, Childe (I know he’s from that Russian place I can’t spell for the life of me but shush).

I really wanted to do baizhu but I just pulled him and I wanna go through his story so I can really get his character traits, I’ll be doing my fruity baby in the future~

Xiao~

Oh my sweet baby

My boy

The man, the myth :(, the legend~

He’s the reason my standards are too high

Curse his pretty face

Absolutely oblivious before confessing

Everyone around him could tell how different he was around you

But no matter how much they mentioned it he’d just be like

“Adepti have no need for such feelings, you mortals have such foolish ideas and no respect”

Meanwhile he’s trying his best to stomach the cake you made him just because you made it for him

At first he genuinely thought you were kinda annoying lmao

Always being so nice to him and wouldn’t leave him alone

Only when you went away to Inazuma did he realise how much he grew accustomed to your strange daily rituals of bringing him qingxings that you picked yourself just to follow him around like a puppy

I actually don’t think he’d appreciate being given too much almond tofu

Even though he likes it better than any other food can you imagine being fed the same thing everyday non stop :/

Proceeded to ask his dad Zhongli for advice

He doesn’t understand why he feels all weird and tingly

Genuinely thinks it’s his karmic debt

Zhongli proceeds to be a shit and tell’s him to “find out on his own” for some kind of moral lesson or something idfk

When he accidentally brings it up with Goldet, things get fun

Well not really for him but for everyone else’s entertainment, yes

Even with exTREME reluctance he somehow gets roped into “how to express emotions 101” lessons

Has to practice having a full conversation with a scarecrow that Goldet ever so kindly dragged in for him :)

Embarrassed, Humiliated, overwhelmed

And yet still he persists for reasons unbeknownst to him

It isn’t until he overhears some rumours about a show down between the electro archon and a mortal that he realises he might like like you

That and the constant teasing and encouragement from Zhongli and Goldet

Boys distraught

First of all he can’t have feelings for someone

He’s just going to hurt you!

He has a duty to uphold!

Only after brooding to himself for a few days does he accept it

Take it slow with him please, he may be a demon killing yaksha but he’s so scared and paranoid

Red flags? Nah we colour blind here

When you get back from Inazuma it’s very clear that your patience is thin and energy being nonexistent

Fuck you tsurimi island I hope you burn

So seeing when returning to Wangsheng Inn to find the one person you’d be holding out to see after so long, not there and a letter left to you telling you to head to the top of gingyun peak

You were not happy to say the least

Thought it was another commission and almost didn’t go

Curiosity got the better tho and that’s where he awkwardly gave you his own qingxing flowers and a amusingly bad attempt at making your favourite food

Tries to hide how red he is

Seeing you cloaked in the moonlight, leaves and fireflies framing your pretty face~

Boys a mess~

He doesn’t even have to say anything, you just pull him in for a hug and after the initial shock of it he decides then and there that you’re now bound together <3

Rarely openly admits he loves you

Too scary

At least for the moment

He is a bird

So you know what that means?

Bird behaviour goobery activated~

Brings you flowers, pebbles, crystals and anything “pretty” he comes across during his day

Pda is a no unless you want him teleporting away and pouting for a good 48 hours because he got flustered

When you’re alone though he’s more open

Hand holding, forehead kisses, sometimes even cuddling if the planets align and his karma isn’t bothering him as much that day!

He’s so touch starved he just needs to get used to affection ;-;

Stalks you romantically

He just wants to keep you safe, he’s lost so much and gone through unimaginable pain

It took some time for him to be ok with you being so close to him since he’s scared of his karmic debt hurting you

Gets super red when talking about you~

“Hm? Y/N? Well they’re..um..very important to me I suppose”

Poof. he’s suddenly “needed” somewhere else

Even if it doesn’t seem like he cares too much I can assure you that he treasures you

You’ve given his life filled with pain and loss so much meaning and even though he’s bad with expressing his emotions he’ll always find some way to make sure you know how special you are to him <3

I don’t think he’d use much pet names

Either calls you by your first name/Qingxing/sweetheart/love.

Zhongli~

Mmm fancy gentleman

British but if British people weren’t a mistake

Sighs in being British

He’s such a gentle dude ;-;

Always pulling chairs out for you or kissing your hand while holding a door open

Don’t be mistaken though

He’s an absolute smug little shit

He just hides it very well

Teases you in the most unholy of ways only to look at you with confused innocent eyes

Impossible to be mad at istg

Sliced fruit dad™️

Teaches you how to traditionally make tea after he noticed you using tea bags

Genuinely mortified him

Likes to take you on walks around Liyue and tells you stories from his life as a archon

Speaking of which I’m 100% sure he was completely unhinged when he was younger

When he first realised he was falling for you he was the sweetest person

He’d take time to somehow “accidentally” cross paths with you and just so happened to be there if you needed help

Brings you the prettiest bouquets of flowers all personally arranged by him

He has experience to a certain degree

We all know the back story and if you don’t I’m not spoiling uwu

When he decided he had dragged it on for long enough he decided to finally confess

Surprisingly nervous

Man had to keep adjusting his collar and tie and absolutely wasn’t sweating just a little

Made casual conversation while walking with you to that big crystal tree where he kept his traumatised dog

Held both of your hands right as the sun spilled golden sunlight across the mountains and probably end up cupping your cheek with the softest smile ;-;

“I have witnessed many beauties in my time but the warmth of your smile truly is the most awe inspiring sight I ever have and ever will lay eyes upon”

Xiao gets so tired of hearing him brag about you

Even Hu Tao is wearing thin 💀

Doesn’t get jealous

He knows he has nothing to worry about between his trust for you and his not very subtle ego

Tries to be better at earning and holding money just because he wants to treat you!

Doesn’t want to give Childe the luxury of knowing his money is the cause of your happiness

Not that it necessarily is anyway

It’s just the experience of seeing how your face lights up when you try that really expensive food you always wanted or find that adorable plush you’d been eyeing up, on your bed

But of course that being said it’s truly the small things you both enjoy the most

The walks and stories

Teaching him how to be more accustomed to mortal life

He loves to hold your hands or pet your head!

Also loved it when you randomly peck his cheek or nose when he’s being adorably oblivious

Good luck to anyone who tries to hurt you btw

Man will summon his pillar so far up their ass they’d legally be a lollipop

That’s a threat I swear

If you come home hurt he’ll immediately roll his sleeve up and grab the first aid

Probably scolding you for not being careful enough but he really can’t keep the act up for long

He’s just worried ;-;

He’s lived for so long

You don’t even begin to understand how much he adores and admires you for bringing excitement and warmth back to his life~

Pet names are darling/dear/love/sweetheart/jewel.

Childe~

Someone slap him please

I love him but good god

Clingy™️

I know deep down he’s a really nice boy and very soft very caring yes very nice 10/10 boyfriend

But you need to housetrain him

Dead ass would sit on the couch covered in blood and put his feet on the coffee table and get so confused to why you were mad 💀

Do not flirt back

Don’t even attempt it

Not unless you want to encourage him and make it 20x worse

You will nEVER live it down

Is actually very sweet though, if not a little dumb sometimes

Immediately knew he liked you the second you met

How did he go about showing he liked you?

Pestering you constantly

Buys you lots of things too

Have to literally threaten him to stop

Which ofc turns him on hardly works

There’s really no winning with him

That is until you realise you can bring the mighty Tartaglia, 11th of the Fatui Harbingers to his knees by just kissing his cheek or holding his hand

He’s so immune to his own teasing that he forgot to consider that affection is a pretty good way to get people to warm up to you

Jealous boy

Well sort of

He trusts you but he gets easily insecure under his cronchy ego front

Casually talks about the most fucked up shit and then laugh it off

Indirectly asked Zhongli for help confessing

Reluctantly Zhongli finds out your favourite food/hobbies/Ect.

Yeah help him but not Xiao, betrayer

I’m not getting salty at my own headcanons shut up

When he invited you to dinner, you already knew why

He’s not subtle

Quiet is the last thing he can do well without cracking up every now and then

Either that or it was the candlelit table surrounded by roses that had been set up for you near the harbour and a very nervous ginger waiting for you with the biggest, goofiest grin imaginable

He’d be on his very best behaviour ;)

Stares at you in the candlelight before you ask him what’s up in hopes to make the tension a little less overwhelming

“I have won countless battles but none have meant quite as much to me as winning your heart does”

Congrats on become Liyues new power couple

He’d be lying if he didn’t feel at least a little smug seeing people gawk at you both

You’re so pretty together, how can they not?

Some dude tried to hit on you one time while he was drunk

Somehow Dottore magically ended up with a new play thing

When he introduced you to his family he was so happy!!

Tonia, Teucer, and Anthon all adore you!!

He does get a little jealous though when you play house with Teucer and you tease him by purposefully refusing to be his spouse

Good job keeping that act up for too long

Has absolutely sent piles of letters to his family telling them all about you!

His parents probably know pretty much everything there is by now

Though if you have boundaries he’ll respect them :)

He loves to show his affection to you no matter where you are!

Teasing kisses, hand holding, hugging

He’ll often barge into your room and plop his head down on your lap just so you can play with his hair while he talks~

If you fall asleep then he’ll wrap you all up and cuddle you uwu

Had to decide if he should tell you about his occupation

He was so scared that you’d leave him or become scared ;-;

Sure, you and the fatui aren’t exactly on close terms but it’s different with him

When you asked to have some time to think he was terrified

Please give him hugs and reassure him when you return

He’s even seemed to calm down a little since you got together

Of course he’s still a battle crazed maniac that gets hard just off the thought of being challenged

But he’s devoting more of his time to cherishing you and spending time together <3

Gets so excited when you ask to spar him

Does the whole thing where he’ll stand behind you while he shows you how to hold his bow

All steamy and shit

Elbow him

You also have to admit his status has its plus points

You never have to worry about being in danger while on commissions or having enough mora to survive

Romantic idiots 3.0

Though you’re probably a little less unhinged

Probably not by much if you’re dating him tho~

When you’re tired or don’t have the time to deal with his neediness he’ll go full pout mode

All whiny and touchy

Give him a head pat and a kiss that lasts maybe a little longer than it should and he’ll satisfied

Expect for the times he carries you back home to enjoy your attention a little more~

Honestly a 50/50

He always makes sure to tell you how much he loves you and how much happier you’ve made his life~

If you look close enough you might even see a slight sparkle in his deep blue eyes that never used to be there <3

Pet names areeee: cutie/babe/baby/honey/droplet/spark/love

I know xiaos was long enough to be it’s own post but let me have my silly little obsession with my silly little traumatised men!

[mochamoth]

Some silly hcs for my silly little rarepair from a random AOSTH episode!! (Scratch x Henrietta hcs!)

(.. I wanted to write a fic but didn't know what to write about exactly plot wise 🥲 anyways this is probably gonna be cringey so you have been warned! And long! Probably long!!)

So these would all take place after they met up again. Scratch wouldn't be with Robotnik probably by this point and is probably recovering from y'know, actual abuse.

The two sorta meet up and Scratch apologizes for the whole amnesia thing (finally giving him a chance to explain) and Henrietta forgives him. So it goes from there (can ya tell idk what to make the story exactly, aa 😭).

Also I do hc Scratch as a trans lesbian. So um y ea. I use he/she for him usually.

Anyways, the two preen eachother like.. Well birds!

Scratch attempts to help Henrietta out on her farm, but he kinda sucks at a lot of the tasks. He's good with the chickens, though.

Also obviously motorcycle/bike rides! I like to think Henrietta has multiple, cuz I find the fact she's both a motorcyclist and a farm girl charming. She likes to speed through random fields near the farm for funsies.

The two probably move out on their own. Not far from Henrietta's parents (obviously) but like, to their own cottage (haha cottagecore).

Scratch is very awkward when it comes to showing affection. Henrietta will be all OVER her, and she won't know what to do because she's simply not used to it. Scratch does try though! She gives random kisses here and there and occasionally cuddles up with Henrietta first. It's not that Scratch doesn't like affection, she adores it. Scratch just doesn't know what to do cuz she's used to abuse and isolation. (Ofc except Grounder, yay siblings!)

The two do eachothers makeup because cute!

Self indulgent as HELL but both are autistic.

And share special interests.

And will rant about them to eachother for hours and hours.

Scratch and Henrietta both wake up at sunrise. As much as Scratch finds it funny to annoy poor Grounder by crowing at the night owl (or uh.. Mole) to wake up, it's a nice change of pace to live with a fellow morning bird. He still crows though!

Scratch will fight anyone who tries to harm Henrietta. Henrietta insists unless one of them is in immediate danger that the fighting isn't necessary, but Scratch sometimes forgets about that.

Pet namess I mean this is already canon. Henrietta has her cute little pet names for Scratch like dear, darling, sweetie, and ect. Scratch isn't very good at coming up with pet names, but she started to mimic her's which Henrietta finds cute.

They share a nest bed. Because I find Scratch's nest bed in the show downright amazing and incredible.

Henrietta gains comfort weight and is chubby, CRY ABOUT IT!!

Henrietta kinda helps Scratch learn about the world from a non-villain perspective. Scratch is still a little "evil" ofc, I'm bias I adore silly little evil guys (team Skull my beloveds). But not legit taking over the world, endangering lives, and abusive evil! Anyways, Henrietta kinda helps Scratch acclimate into a more peaceful life.

Scratch is secretly a bit insecure about how she looks, but Henrietta helps him love herself a little more.

Henrietta helps put Scratch together if he ever breaks. She's no robotics engineer, but she does know how to fix vehicles. So she has a bit of knowledge plus guides and studies on robots.

I'll probably come up with more later, but that's all for now! Sorry if there's any bad grammar or typos, I am so so tired cuz been busy on remodeling my entire room 😭!

[inkquillery]

For the Fanfic Ask game:

23 and 40

hey, thanks for the ask, friend!! 🤗

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

whoooo boy, you broke a dam asking this! im so excited to answer :D

a deaf!lin beifong au for avatar: the last airbender/legend of korra is at the very top of my list, it’s been rotting my brain for the past month. i am so in love with the beifong family, but lin and toph in particular are my favourites. it would just be so interesting to see how they navigate communication since they can’t exactly use sign language or writing. and i mean, the amount of flangst! (also i personally have such a fascination and interest in sign language for like, no reason at all lol, i even started self-learning recently for funsies (it’s ridiculously hard to find free online resources for auslan compared to asl)) <- this might also apply to question 17 but oh well :3

and and and an au for agents of shield where an alternate variant of skye (known as daisy) escapes into the canon universe sometime after the events of afterlife due to kang the conqueror destroying her own. she trains skye in her powers, we have some lovely maydaisy angst for both universes, and some character death :3

also ghost!lucy for fairy tail where lucy sacrificed herself in the final battle and became lumen histoire, but sticks around as a sort of spirit to help her friends move on bc i’m all about that angst <33

another one is for demon slayer, where a young tanjirō keeps inexplicably skipping through time, non-linearly and uncontrollably, but he always ends up near giyū (and through a series of confusing events and time-wimey misunderstandings, all the hashira believe tanjirō is giyū’s secret little brother ;))

and i could go on all day but no one has time for that so i’mma stop there lol—

(but feel free to ask more about these aus if you want!!)

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

oof, it really depends on the fic. i do tend to re-read oneshots, and occasionally longfics if i have the time/when the premise suddenly returns to me and i have this primal urge to reread the whole thing lol. or sometimes i just remember a moment that really stuck out to me and i ctrl + f for it lol.

tldr: yes i do tend to reread fics

thanks for playing! i had a lot of fun ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[calsvoid]

I'm tempted to shoot Sebastian back at you, but instead I'll say Quinn. (and then you can also answer for Seb if you like)

send me a character and i’ll break their ass down

ooh yay two characters

quinn fabray

how i feel about this character

i love quinn so much she’s such a bitch but also she’s so real for so many of the things she does and says, she’s a character i would love to write about someday when i branch out from my tiny seblaine bubble

all the people i ship romantically with this character

my main ship for quinn is rachel i just really like their dynamic and history and i really wish the creators made them canon. i do enjoy some quinntana and fabrevans just for funsies as well. other than that i don’t really have any romantic ships for quinn. i think her canon relationships with finn and puck served their purposes in her life but i prefer them as friends with some awkward history

my non-romantic otp for this character

quinncedes my beloved, their friendship is so sweet to me and i find them so endearing. i also love the unholy trinity’s friendship they’re very awful to each other but very fun

my unpopular opinion about this character

i don’t know if this is unpopular per se but i think quinn was in the right for trying to get her baby away from shelby. she obviously had ulterior motives but shelby was real fucked up and her relationship with puck was terrible and shouldn’t have happen ever even remotely in the first place

one thing i wish would happened/had happened with this character in canon

obviously for faberry to happen but more specifically i wish we got to see more of her friendship with rachel after graduation; i feel like the writers always ignored a lot of the supposed closeness the nds had in favor of drama (or yknow just rachel’s life or whatever) but the bonds between all of them would’ve been nice to see

sebastian smythe

how i feel about this character

my SON my favorite specialest character ever he’s a bastard he’s a slut he’s the lover boy who never got a chance he’s everything to me i make it known to everyone and he will always be cherished by me

all the people i ship romantically with this character

blaine obvs my otp in the most genuine way literally what got me back into writing, but also i do like the idea of kurtbastian i just need to get myself more used to it before i really dive into them. jeffbastian is a little cute to me especially because of how bright we burn but never gonna be a super serious ship of mine. other than that, no one really or at least no one canon. many nameless faces have been in his past and future of course

my non-romantic otp for this character

my sweet match made in hell sebtana, i think about my stepcousins au so much i’ve forgotten they’re not actually canon and have talked like twice but they’re still my favs. they’re team rocket in another life

my unpopular opinion about this character

that he’s not heartless skank trash and actually a person who’s yeah pretty shitty at times but everyone in this show is pretty shitty at times and that doesn’t make them evil. it’s really easy to villainize sebastian and i get it, honestly i’ve villainized the shit out of some of the other characters before in my head, but at the end of the day he’s some petty competitive guy who wanted to fuck his crush and had the bigotry of most teenage boys at any point of the history of society. he’s neither a perfect angel of a character nor the devil and he’s got potential to grow like any of us. i don’t really fault anyone for being pissed it just kinda makes me sad because he’s my fav, but whatever yknow

one thing i wish would happened/had happened with this character in canon

pretty obvious that i wish seblaine got together but beyond that i wish they became friends again at any point in the show. i know because of the timing between flash and later seasons of the show + the overwhelming love of klaine, seblaine both platonically and/or romantically didn’t really stand a chance but i feel like they could’ve at least hinted at a reunion between the two.

[prentissluvr]

https://www.tumblr.com/opheliasam/753275331919675392/losing-followers-by-the-minute-thank-you-and-good?source=share

Thoughts?

i agree! once i saw someone say this for the first time i was like ahhh yeah that makes a lot of sense. but i also haven't taken much time to go through and watch and fully understand this and my own thoughts because to be so honest that feels draining. i don't have the energy to be thinking in depth about all of the sad and horrible things that happen in this show, i'm just watching it cuz i like it and it's fun. but i agree that dean is one of sam's many abusers and especially if you're really concerned with, as op put it, canonical readings of sam and dean, it's very important to consider and recognize imo. their relationship is clearly an uneven power dynamic and if you can't recognize at least that, big rip ig. i adore sam, that doesn't mean i don't think he's never done anything wrong lol. i do think dean has done worse things tho HAHA.

i will say though, to be completely honest i think some people take this show too seriously or at least some people take this show way more seriously than i do, which is fine but! i'm here for funsies and shits and giggles that's that. i enjoy reading in depth thoughts about this show, and i have my opinions, but in general, i like to keep my blog geared towards lighthearted content, mostly for my own sake of not having to talk about depressing shit unless i want to LOL especially because i'm scared of being misinterpreted and the likes heh, which means i'll spend a long time formulating a post or response to make sure i'm not saying something i don't actually mean or anything like that. and that can also feel sort of draining to me.

it's weird bc i didn't want to ignore this ask because again, i agree and think it's important and don't really want anyone to think i don't agree, but there's the other part of me that was like 😭 and now i have to explain that while i think that, i also prefer to keep my blog geared to the "i'm here just to have lighthearted fun and enjoy myself, this show, and the fandom as much as i can" so i tend to ignore canon LOL. and also like! i'm not a dean hater, at least not all the time (i definitely am some of the time). i hold love for his character, especially my non canonical version of him heh and i think that that's fine! because i think that we don't have to take a tv show that's completely fake 100% seriously (though we should still recognize abuse because i think it's invalidating to those who experience it irl to ignore completely). and like. i still write for dean, but yeah i am not going to be going for completely canonical representations of him, or really any character tbh.

anywayssss sorry this is very long but like i said i tend to get worried about being misinterpreted or saying something inaccurate to how i really think, but i also still wanted to be honest about things! and if anyone hugely disagrees with me about anything i said, that's so allowed as long as you're not mean to me about it <33 folks are more than welcome to block me or to ask kind, considerate, polite clarifying questions! though i may not respond if i feel like it'll take too much energy because like i said! here for shits and giggles and i have sam fanfiction to write <3

[azure-steel]

feel the urge to ask: is there a character you'd love to interact with, shipping OR platonic? are there stories or plots you'd like to work on? I'm not asking for any particular reason, just saw Cloud icon and went 'hm, yes, that's The Boy, wonder what he does for funsies.'

Anon asks - ALWAYS ACCEPTING

Oh man, this is just a real broad set of questions that I don't think I can answer effectively xD

In short I want to interact with everyone, and like I know that's not entirely possible, but it is a fact. I want Cloud to make connections with people that he wouldn't normally, become friends with those that he would usually hate in canon, that kind of thing.

In terms of ships... as much as I complain about it (and I should probably stop doing that... duly noted, Saphie... werp) I like them to be developed over time, and/or discussed and plotted at length for the chemistry to unfold, you know?

My issue with shipping is that I need to have a good relationship with my RP partner, because if I don't, and I feel like I can't communicate with them it all tends to fall apart for me and I lose interest. Not only that, but there's a LOT of Cloud's out there, and I guess there's always that fear of becoming another number to add to someone else's collection, like a button I suppose.

This kind of thing has happened to me before and I guess it's always something that makes me feel a bit insecure, which is dumb and immature and it shouldn't be a thing. Everyone is entitled to RP with whoever they want and I'm not about to get in the way of that, not at all. BUT, that makes me feel a certain way and I try to avoid putting myself in those situations. Hence why I'm a bit of a weeny about sending in shipping memes unless there's already one established, etc.

My main ship though, is with @ghostofnibelheim, but it should also be noted that not only is he one of the best Sephiroth's around (imo obviously but still... I love him) but he is also my best friend, both here and IRL so this is non-negotiable at any point. Yes... I like me some nitty gritty in my RP's it has to be said~ But that certainly isn't to say that I'm not open to shipping with other muses, I just like to know that I can come to you to talk about it and iron stuff out, is all.

But, in short, I just want to RP with everyone, and if I follow you then I CERTAINLY want to write with you. It's the reason I followed, you know?

Sorry for rambling <3

[ghostshadow-k-r]

Well,I've been enjoying my real life this whole month and of course,I was writing lore sheet for my MLP AU all this time.

Please don't be too serious with my lore since it was mostly for funsies. Also,if you didn't mind with such long essay, let's start with it!

If anyone would like to discuss,welcome then!

MLP AU Lore Sheet — Country

Currently there's two county in my canon AU,one of them is the Harmony Union meanwhile the other is Solnaria

Solnaria -> Solnarian (Persona)

The Harmony Union -> Harmonian (Dangan)

Name origins : Since we all know that the Persona series was taken place in Japan. The kanji of Japan is 日本. 日 have the meaning of day/sun so I thought solar will be a good word for it.

At the same time,I wanted the country's name got some 'persona' element in it. So,I added 'n' into the word 'solar'. (But to explain from the story,you could say that they used the word 'solar' as the base of their country name and Philemon somehow affected their choice in naming)

On the other hand,the Harmony Union was a little bit difficult to explain. Since my DR MLP AU tends to stick with the OG MLP lore more.

Let's just say Equestria was a part of the DR land,there still exist a lots of tribe/kingdom other than it. After the tragedy,they decided to form an union which means that every kingdom/tribe still have their own powers in their own areas.

And they take the 'harmony' word from the 'elements of harmony',as a symbol of them hoping that their land would remain peace.

-------------------------------------------------------

Culture : Even though these two games take place in Japan in their OG games,Solnaria was more alike to the real life Japan culture. Meanwhile Harmony Union culture was more alike to the OG MLP lore,full with rainbows and love and peace! And I'll explain more in those species lore sheet later~

-------------------------------------------------------

Politic : In Solnaria,their government works exactly like how real life Japan government works. And non-pony creatures helds nearly no power in their law and there's no magic related content in it expect the punishment for those who misuse it for crime.

In Harmony Union,the magic related rule was under the Royals (King/queen/princess),and I maybe will dig more in the future ? Meanwhile,the other things will be controlled by the government,AKA Future Foundation. Their prime minister would be elected by the public every 10 years. And the prime minister would become the head of the Future Foundation

-------------------------------------------------------

Education : In Solnaria,they only provide normal academic exactly like how real life Japan does. Magic and mental related content are really poor at there. Most of the Solnarian didn't even consider those as important.

On the other hand,Harmony Union not only got more free basic educations,their mental and magic related classes are also mandatory and stellar in their country. Even for places that didn't pay much attention to it like the Dragon Islands.

-------------------------------------------------------

And that's all for today,stay tuned for future lore sheets~

[detectiveichijouji]

[pinned] welcome~

OH HEY, ANOTHER BLOG TO BE DELUSIONAL ABOUT SOMETHING HUH... Okay so... This one is probably something i wanted to do a long time ago (to be more exact, since 2011) which evolved from “Ichijouji Ken investigating stuff at a young age” to “Ken and his friends start solving digi-cases around Tokyo, and have a rival phantom thief involved in their own adventures.. And a few suspects on who Arsenemon might be.”

Yeah, headcanons!! And uh, art and drabbles. Not sure if this blog will have a full story with a plot… Still thinking about it. But might say I’m totally in the mood to work on something like this ;v;

(the current stuff i’m running/writing are still in progress!! Just… taking a break from them for a while~ Also 02TB is boosting my mood for writing/doodling things with the 02 group more than before, lol)

This blog is canon compliant. This is not an AU thingy. Yes, the main ship here is Ken/Miyako so please don’t follow/reblog my stuff to spite on the ship or canon.

“Will you allow us to send asks?” Well maybe? For now I’ll just gather stuff for the blog. Asking stuff is available and the askbox is open! Read the read more in this post for guidelines ↓

💙💚❤️💛🧡🩷 Use the tags in this post to navigate!

[strawpage's faux BBS for funsies]

[Rules for asking and Interacting with this blog below ↓]

→ NO BASHING/DUNKING ON ANY SERIES, OR CHARACTERS. Also I won't tolerate hateful comments.

→ NO SHIP WARS. Yes, this blog is canon compliant so please, avoid asking about non-canon or if possible asking shipping at all. (That said, Étoile is not-shippable with anyone.)

→ I don't ship human/digimon and I might block if you ship it.

→ Please don't send me requests to draw stuff. Some replies might have art! But if you just drop me something like "can you draw [insert here some prompt/idea]" i will immediately reply with my comm. price chart :) And no, I won't draw fetish art.

→ Unlike my other sideblogs, this one has an ongoing story. I don't expect peeps asking me about it, but I'd like to focus on it in the first place.

→ Ah, I have so little to zero knowledge of the American dub of any digi-series. I will only work with the Japanese version or Brazilian dub. No dub or OG version dunking is allowed in this space by the way.

→ I don't like passive-aggressiveness. If you have something to correct in my posts, please do it politely.

→ Usual common etiquette -- No hatred towards people's religions, sexual/romantic orientation, gender (or lack of), PoC, ethnicities, etc. I won't hesitate to block if needed.

→ Do not edit my art or repost it. If you wanna use it as an icon/sidebar, ask first. And no, you cannot use my art on A/I & N/F/T for ANYTHING. If you do that, I will block you immediately.

[calware]

i'm not a writer or a hal expert means so take this with many grains of salt but here are some tips i have based on hal fics i've read where i didn't like how he was characterized

he's not timid or nervous when talking over pesterchum

i saw a fic where he kept saying filler words like "um" and "uh" when that's not something he does. why would he do that? he has no reason to do it purposefully because that's not his style of speaking and he wouldn't do it unintentionally because he's an AI who doesn't need to rely on filler words

he's not a doormat

he tends to do what he wants despite the comfort or desires of others, especially if he thinks its for their own good. if you're going to have him follow someone's orders that he disagrees with, you need to have a good reason for why he's doing so

he is not intentionally cruel to others to a high extent

while he is frequently mean to dirk and jake, he isn't sadistic and wouldn't revel in severely hurting others. that doesn't mean he doesn't severely hurt people unintentionally (oh my god, unite synchronization had to be traumatizing), and he does his fair share of bullying and antagonizing, but it isn't "repeatedly stab jake and laugh as he slowly dies" levels of cruel. that said, there's nothing wrong with making characters evil for funsies <3 just realize that you're leaning into a very different characterization than the way he is in canon

he is a clone of dirk

i know this may seem obvious and if you are doing a fanfic that is within the same general premise of canon where dirk creates hal from a copy of his brain (there are ways to do this without involving AI), you'll be fine. if you want to do an AU where hal originates in some other way, like if he's a twin, or a non-clone AI, or what have you, he is going to be wildly different than he is in canon. you basically have an entirely new character! try figuring out how these differences would manifest and run with it! but at the same time realize that you might not really be writing about hal anymore. there are so many fics where dirk makes a robot and names it hal or there's a robot unrelated to dirk named after hal (I WILL NOT SAY THE NAME OF THE FIC BECAUSE I HATE IT BUT SOME OF YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT...) where the only actual similarity to hal in canon is the names, the fact that they're AIs, and maybe they're red too. girl you made a new character. that's an OC. that's called you made an OC. that's your robot OC that happens to be named hal. (again, not saying you shouldn't do this, just keep in mind that this is what you're doing and that it might have an effect on how you should characterize and/or treat him)

the flirting between him and roxy was the two of them essentially using each other for their own benefits

i don't know if this is just me but i think people sometimes overestimate the healthiness of hal and roxy's relationship. i'm not saying they secretly hate each other but i wish more people took the flaws of their relationship into account if this aspect of their relationship is part of the context of the thing you're writing (if you're writing an AU where they never flirted, then the context will be different ofc)

i also want to add that i think it's best to think of it not as "hal isn't [x trait] so i shouldn't write him that way" rather, if you really want to write him that way, ask yourself "what circumstances can i put him in that would justifiably make him act that way?" so for example, even though hal isn't a doormat in canon, maybe you can find a situation or circumstance to put him in that would change his behavior

i don't know if any of this makes sense, i hope i explained it clearly enough

What do I need to keep in mind when writing Hal?

the love you have for yourself and the world around you ❤️

[rnelodyy]

c!Dream and the rules

(/dsmp /rp, all names refer to characters, not content creators)

I think one of the most striking parts of Exile is something that I rarely see talked about, and it’s Dream’s rules. Or rather, how his rules were made to be used as justification to hurt Tommy.

The thing about exile is that, outside of the initial rule of “Don’t go back to L’Manburg”, Dream never told Tommy the rules, yet constantly operated under the assumption that Tommy already knew them, and had accepted them. The rules also changed constantly, without Tommy ever being notified until he was already in trouble.

The second time Dream told Tommy to put his armor in the hole, he didn’t tell Tommy to do that right away. Instead, the conversation went like this (slightly edited to remove stammering and unrelated dialogue).

Dream: Do you have, uh… something you wanna put on the floor here? Tommy: Yes. (drops two pieces of red concrete as Dream digs a hole) Dre-eam! You’re evil. You’re evil. Dream: Anything else, Tommy? Tommy: Nope! Dream: Oh c’mon, I know there’s something else you wanna drop down here. Tommy: (panicking slightly) No, there… (messages BBH “take this and run”, throws him the disc BBH had gifted him earlier) Um… I don’t reckon there is! (pause) Dream: Okay, are you suuuure? Tommy: YES. Dream: Alright… How ‘bout your armor, Tommy? Tommy: Well, no, this is- I actually earned this myself. Dream: I know you did! Tommy: Leave me alone. Dream: Just drop it in the hole, Tommy. Tommy: Wh- no, NO, you can’t just come and demand things from me! I’ve been exiled, I’ve done your shit, what do you mean?! Dream: (sing-song) Tommy… Tommy: What? (Dream hits Tommy with his axe, taking over half his health) Tommy: (screams, drops his armor) OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY OKAY!

The only rule Tommy was aware of at this time was that he wasn’t allowed to go back to L’Manburg. Dream had taken his armor the night before, but there was no indication that he expected Tommy to do this constantly. Taking his armor upon initially arriving at Logstedshire made some kind of sense, allowing Tommy to keep it would run the risk of him trying to fight his way back into L’Manburg. Taking his new, very shitty armor (seriously it was an iron chestplate and a pair of golden leggings he got from a ruined portal chest) made no sense at all, so the fact that Tommy was confused and refused to cooperate at first isn’t unexpected in the slightest.

And the thing is… Dream was aware of this fact. Throughout the conversation, he never really sounded annoyed, and was actively teasing Tommy at times. This isn’t a good thing btw, it’s a sign that he was fully aware that Tommy didn’t know what he wanted from him, and that that would create a situation where Dream could “put him in his place” as it were.

If you’re a parent, and your kid does something that’s not allowed, without knowing it’s not allowed, you don’t start off with a beating. You sit them down, calmly explain the rules to them and explain why those rules are there, then send them on their way with the knowledge that they shouldn't do it again.

This interaction wasn’t an instance of Tommy acting out and Dream correcting him. This interaction was a trap. Dream set Tommy up to fail by not telling him the rules beforehand, and when Tommy offered even the slightest bit of resistance and asked why he needed to drop his armor, Dream jumped straight to beating him. It’s a powerplay, plain and simple.

This is demonstrated again with the destruction of Logstedshire. Dream got pissed that Tommy disobeyed him by having hidden chests with gear under his house, and retaliated by destroying everything Tommy had built, destroying every item he’d collected, killing his pet and only foodsource, barring him from the Nether, banning everyone except himself from visiting, and telling him to start over from scratch after a whole lecture about how Tommy betrayed him.

Again, I wanna point out some specific lines from this lecture that illustrate my point very well.

Dream: You were lying to me! You were lying to me. Tommy: No- Why was I lying?! Dream: What do you mean, why were you lying?! Tommy: I wasn’t hi- I wasn’t- Dream: You hid things in a chest knowing they were things I wouldn’t want you to have! And you hid it in a way that way I would never find it!

Except Tommy didn’t know that. The contents of the stash were all items that Tommy had obtained previously without any issue (diamonds, emeralds, iron, ender pearls, some pickaxes, and some purely sentimental items like flowers, a jukebox, and pictures of Tubbo and L’Manburg). In fact, the vast majority of them came from Tommy’s aboveground storage, which Dream had full access to, and had looked through before!

Dream also never said Tommy wasn’t allowed to hide stuff, and there was nothing to suggest he didn’t want Tommy to keep secrets from him.

There’s been a theory floating around for a while that Dream knew about Tommy’s item stash beforehand, since it was a very strange place to dig a hole (like, right in front of the house in the center of Logstedshire itself, instead of out in the plains where the TNT wouldn’t damage any structures), and Tommy had previously forgotten to cover up the entrance ladder. While Dream hadn’t looked inside the house, he would’ve definitely heard Tommy place the block back.

If this theory is correct, then this was yet another trap. Dream knew Tommy had a hidden room, and instead of just saying “hey, I don’t want you to have a hidden stash, go put this back and fill in the room” (which would’ve still been bullshit btw), he went COMPLETELY ballistic, destroyed EVERYTHING Tommy had, and while doing it, kept admonishing Tommy for betraying him, said shit like “I thought we were friends”, and even accused him of preparing to attack Dream. Again, a powerplay.

Hell, even the exile conflict itself is this! Tommy was exiled for griefing the king’s property while being a high-ranking official in L’Manburg. Except Fundy, the then-president’s son, CONSTANTLY griefed Eret’s shit after the L’Manburg war, ranging from ripping down one of their towers to “shrink” it, filling another tower with water, and multiple elaborate plots to steal the throne from under their nose. But apparently, between all of that shit and the exile-conflict, the rules were silently changed, meaning Dream could exile Tommy for breaking a couple blocks and placing some rude signs in George’s house. Even the punishment itself was changed without warning, as Tommy went from being exiled from L’Manburg to exiled from “everywhere that’s ever been touched.”

...I was originally gonna make a different point here. I may put it in the reblogs, because I still think it’s very interesting. But, in the middle of writing this essay I had to stop because it was late, then I spent the entire next day packing up because I’m in the middle of a move. It's now the next evening, I'm sat in my new room, on my camping bed, I opened this doc because I pretty much forgot what I typed, I reread it, and then I realized… This isn’t an isolated series of events. This is a pattern for Dream.

Before Tommy first joined the server, there were only three set rules: no stealing, no griefing, and no killing people. Except by that point, those rules weren’t enforced at all. In fact, Dream broke all three at once at one point, by killing George and burning his diamond armor because he didn’t feel it was fair that George got to run around in full diamond when everyone else still had iron.

Tommy joined the server, and broke the rules like everyone else. He stole shit, broke shit, killed George for funsies… and he got exiled for it. Seriously, they dumped him in an empty snowfield for breaking rules that nobody had enforced for weeks. So technically, the Exile-arc isn’t even the first time something like this has happened to him!

During the events that would eventually spark the Disc War, Sapnap stole a bunch of Tommy’s items (including the only Netherite chestplate on the server at the time), and told him he’d only give the stuff back if Tommy helped him with a conflict he had with Ponk. Long story short, Dream tried to intervene and was killed by Tommy and Sapnap, and Dream stole Tommy’s discs to force him to apologize. He then kept the discs, and the Disc War followed. Sapnap, despite being the aggressor and arguably forcing Tommy to participate in the conflict, was never punished.

This proves not only that the rules can change whenever Dream feels like it, but that they’re arbitrarily enforced. Dream refuses to punish his friends for the same crimes he endlessly fucks over Tommy for.

L’Manburg was created in part because of the fact that the rules were unevenly enforced. Tommy, Wilbur, and later Tubbo were repeatedly killed, stolen from, imprisoned, and even held hostage for very minor crimes, while the people killing, imprisoning, kidnapping and stealing from them were able to do so without impunity.

This was also the point where Dream just started making up new rules; there was no rule against having governments on the server, or making a separate area where Dream’s rules wouldn’t apply, so Dream banned governments, and used this new rule as an excuse to kill them, take their items, and tear their land to shreds.

And that’s another thing: the punishments for breaking Dream’s rules are INCREDIBLY harsh.

Kill him non-canonically one time? Your most prized possessions will now be dangled over your head and used to hurt you for the next few months.

Make a country with different laws that doesn’t infringe on anyone’s territory, has no desire to expand, is explicitly pacifistic and open to trade negotiations? You’ll be forced to fight a war you’re in no way equipped to fight, you’ll be betrayed and murdered and have your land destroyed in front of your very eyes until you literally have no choice but to surrender.

Mildly vandalize the king’s house, which nobody else has ever been punished for? You’ll be dragged into court, exiled from your home, and subjected to weeks of abuse until you believe that all of your friends hate you and you actively want to kill yourself.

Hide some stuff in a secret chest? Your only shelter will be exploded, your pet/only food source will be killed, all your items will be destroyed, you’ll be banned from the Nether, and none of your friends will be allowed to come see you.

This is all such disproportionate retribution it’s ridiculous. It’s like punishing someone for speeding by blowing up their car with a ballistic missile.

So to sum up: Dream’s rules are arbitrarily enforced, and he can just straight up make them up on the spot if he feels like it. Sometimes, he won’t tell you a rule exists until you’ve already broken it, and you’re treated as if you broke it out of malice instead of genuine ignorance. And if you do break a rule, and he decides you have to be punished, it will always be a punishment so harsh it doesn’t even ATTEMPT to fit the crime.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty fucking corrupt and tyrannical to me.

When people say Tommy deserved exile, or made Dream spiral into villainy, or abused Dream somehow (seriously I’ve seen this take multiple times and every time it makes my brain melt) by breaking the rules, I would invite them to take a step back and ask themselves, why did that rule exist? Did Tommy know it existed? Was it enforced for everyone other than him as well? Does the punishment fit the crime?

Dream has a bad habit of making up rules, or enforcing old ones that were never enforced before, to punish those who threaten his power. None of the Dream Team were ever punished for anything, despite committing the same crimes as the L’Manburgians. That is, until they founded Mexican L’Manburg (i.e. went against Dream’s rule), at which point they were attacked by Dream and George was dethroned for “not being neutral enough.”

Tommy should’ve faced consequences for what he did. But those consequences should’ve come naturally, and been carried out by the people he hurt. Like, if Dream hadn’t intervened, griefing George’s house would’ve resulted in George griefing Tommy back in revenge. In fact, he DID do that, by turning Tommy’s entire house into granite and putting the Jump In The Cadillac picture on his front lawn.

These are natural, proportionate consequences. Exile was none of that. The Disc War was none of that. Everything that happened to L’Manburg was none of that.

Dream’s rules and how he enforces them are inherently corrupt and tyrannical. To pretend it’s anything but is disingenuous at best.

[tuiyla]

Out of curiosity, then, how would you rank pezberry duets by queerness?

I'm so glad you asked! And so glad about your post about WSS the other day because it already gave me motivation to finally write down what I've been thinking about since November but this ask was that extra push. Answering took a couple of days because I really have been thinking about this for so long haha. Pezberry peeps? This one’s for you 😘

So as a bit of a preamble, I did originally want to take a more serious queer musicology look but writing ~proper~ things takes even more time than anticipated so this actual end result should only be taken with 48 to 56% seriousness. We’re just having fun pointing out how gay literally everything Pezberry do is. But that said, we’re still brining some queer theory into it for the funsies, which for the purposes of this post just means that we’re reading into the context and presentation of these duets to make a case for The Gays. Since Santana is canonically a lesbian, it won’t even be that much of a stretch. (Okay, but more seriously queer theory encompasses a lot, including the rejecting of binary gender and sexuality norms, fluid identities and all that good stuff. Media is a lot of fun when looked at in this way.)

Another disclaimer we get into it is a few words on diegesis because I need us to be on the same page. So Things, in this case music that exists within the actual story and is heard by characters is diegetic, whereas soundtrack that exists outside of the story’s internal narrative is non-diegetic. In or out of universe to put it simply. In Glee we have examples of both, the majority of the music, by nature of the show, being diegetic. The New Directions singing Don’t Stop Believin’ at Regionals is diegetic: they really are singing, everyone can hear them, and it’s even a plot point in this particular case. Now, this could actually be disputed because this isn’t strictly what non-diegetic means, but for simplicity’s sake in this already overcomplicated silly Pezberry duet ranking we’re gonna call fantasy sequences and songs not actually performed non-diegetic ones. So for example, Mercedes singing Bust Your Windows and vibing with the Cheerios in her imagination would be considered non-diegetic, because though it is happening on-screen and in her head, it’s not an actual performance within the show’s universe. The line between diegetic and non-diegetic gets murkier as Glee goes on but today we only care about eight songs anyway. I’ll get into why this matters to us with relevant songs.

Speaking of! Let’s finally get into it. Ranking Pezberry duets by how capital g Gay as in queer they are. To be clear, I think all can be read as at least a lil’ fruity so keep that in mind as we start at the bottom of our list. Listen, they’re all queer one way or another.

8. I Kissed a Girl

But OP! Really, the one literally about kissing a girl being so low? Well, yes. And no, it’s not my undying, pure hatred for the eponymous episode or that “it should have been a Brittana song” (Yikes) or anything. It’s that I Kissed a Girl is low-hanging fruit; so low, in fact, that it tips the scale into being “not all that gay”. The most obvious reason for this lies with the, to put it diplomatically, messy nature of the episode itself and the scene it’s in, as the whole thing is an incredibly half-assed #girlpower moment covered in the stink of the male gaze. How Glee fails miserably in this scene that was supposed to empower Santana and the girls’ support of her is a conversation for another day, but the context of the episode is not the only reason IKAG (the duet) ranks so low.

Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl has a... complicated history and it occupies a rather unique position within the queer community and queer readings. It’s been claimed, rejected and reclaimed time and time again and I actually encourage people to find whatever power they can in queer readings of media (queer theory hellooo) but it’s still a messy song presented in a messy context. Melina Pendulum has an interesting video on the topic that explores many aspects of the song, including the Pezberry Glee cover so I recommend checking that out.

After having rewatched bits of it I’m more inclined to cut IKAG the Pezberry cover some slack. After all, purely in-universe it is curious Rachel of all people would be the one to sing with Santana. Out of universe, we understand that they couldn’t be bothered to give her any role in The Outing, as an outspoken queer ally who probably should have decked her boyfriend had she been part of the story, so this will do. It fulfills the mandatory Lea Michele song requirement anyway so two birds one stone, zero narrative consequence or resonance - welcome to Glee season 3!

But round two of trying to put my anti-IKAG the episode bias aside, there is still a queer reading of the duet. And male gaze notwithstanding, it is Pezberry singing about at least some form of Sapphic interest and like I said I think there is space for claiming I Kissed a Girl as an actual queer song instead of the bait it is. That’s all the slack I can cut it today, though, so even do Santana and Rachel sound great and I love their cover out of context, it’s gonna have to contend with eighth place.

7. Be Okay

On a lot of days this is my favourite Pezberry duet, top 3 at least so it’s hard to put it so low. But the thing is, as fun and wonderful as it is as a performance I do think it lacks the kind of spark that makes Pezberry duets and indeed their whole dynamic so interesting to me. Looked at within the context of the story, that’s not a problem at all because Be Okay marks the end of their feud and the foundation of a new dynamic, one less explosive and perhaps more stable. It just so happens that the explosive nature of Pezberry is what makes them sexually charged in my eyes.

Still, Be Okay is not devoid of potential queerness. It is Pezberry making up after their feud, which read a lot like an actual bad breakup between bitches who never even dated. Be Okay makes their relationship less intense but it’s not only in their intensity where their fruitiness lies. The good vibes of the song and the contentedness with where they are and, given their complicated history, even the conveyed willingness to look to the future does give the idea that it’s Pezberry 2.0 (perhaps 3.0) that we’re seeing. It’s a celebration of what they have, so while not very radical or rich for convention-breaking interpretations, it is a song about them being willing to put the effort into their relationship, whatever the nature of that might be. It’s also them choosing the song and then performing it in front of all their friends, making it a public declaration of positive feelings. The lyrics aren’t too deep in terms of potential queerness or anything but they are fairly straightforward in what they’re saying: Pezberry are gonna be okay.

Overall I think the most convincing argument for Be Okay is that it does feel like making up after a bad breakup, but imo the “breakup” itself makes for a more compelling queer reading and this performance feels pretty mild by Pezberry standards. Then again, if we read it as them maturing past their differences and as a potential for a future relationship, it is pretty queer. And queer readings aren’t just about whether the characters are gay and in a relationship, because Pezberry canonically aren’t, plus Santana is a lesbian so we don’t need to make a case for her in that sense. But looking at performances through these lens is about seeing that transgressional and queer, and one (moi) could argue that there is something convention-breaking about Pezberry being even “just” friends in the first place. Anyway, moving on.

6. A Hard Day’s Night

Adorable hug aside, here’s where diegesis starts becoming relevant and the reason it’s in the bottom half. You see, this number is so low because it feels very jukebox-y. Not just in that, diegetically, the music literally is coming from a jukebox in the scene but the performance is contrived in that way. Pezberry are singing a Beatles song because the New Directions are having a Beatles week. They’re also singing waitresses now and Rachel wants to show off in front of the Funny Girl producers. Diegesis here also means that, because of these justifications in the story and them singing in-universe, it’s easier to dismiss the potential romantic/sexual and therefore queer undertones of the song.

What I mean by that is why I spent half the introduction explaining diegesis. If Santana and Rachel actually picked the song or, heaven forbid, just imagined singing it instead, we could read more into the lyrics as it would come across as more of a conscious - or subconscious! - choice. The way it is, with the jukebox nature of tribute episodes especially we just chalk all it up to the way Glee is. They’re singing this song because they’re singing this song, simple as that. And sure, the same could be said about all songs and even the one I’ll end up putting in first place, but like I said it’s that extra jukebox feel that gives me less queer vibes from A Hard Day’s Night.

Still, let’s not dismiss it entirely. Yes, Rachel is singing for unrelated reasons and Santana is singing because she’s also working there and a main character, but there’s still a queer reading to appreciate. A Hard Day’s Night as a song can be read quite suggestively and since Pezberry are actual roommates at this point in the story, lyrics like

When I'm home, everything seems to be right When I'm home feeling you holding me tight Tight, yeah!

and

But when I get home to you I find the things that you do Will make me feel alright

sure can be interpreted a certain way. The performance is capped off with the hug as seen above as well and generally marks the beginning of Pezberry’s season 5A closeness so the Vibes are there. Fun and kinda fruity and the whole “oh my god they were roommates” aspect of it can be elaborated on, but the jukebox nature does get points off from me. It feels less like Pezberry actively choosing to sing this song in particular and more like they’re just having fun, which is still valid and ground for gay vibes but it only takes A Hard’s Day Night so far.

5. We Found Love

These mid-range ones are quite interchangeable and coming to realize the ranking itself doesn’t matter as much as the reasonings, methinks, but anyway. We Found Love is curious in that I think this is the most random one to be a Pezberry duet. My counterargument for A Hard Day’s Night was that it’s a jukebox number performed by the two because they were the ones there, but the opposite is true for this one. The whole Glee Club was available and in the swimming pool to provide the soundtrack for Wemma’s engagement so, even though this wasn’t their first duet, it feel random to have Rachel and Santana sing it.

Normally when we think of ND group numbers that are actually just duets, it tends to be Finchel ones. Think the Pilot Don’t Stop Believin’ or Keep Holding On, among others. Rachel and Santana were part of the “help Will find a proposal song” project, yes, but only part of it. I suppose ignoring Tina and Mercedes is nothing new but there were other characters like Artie actively involved too and it’s not like Kevin McHale wouldn’t have also sounded great on the track. I mean, we can make it make sense from Doylist lens of course: Lea was just getting her usual singing feature fill and Naya was at this point on her way to becoming the second most prominent female voice of the season, and both characters were part of the storyline as previously mentioned so really just why not. I feel like that was the reasoning behind a lot of GCVs.

But pondering about the reasons aside, we do reach the diegesis point again where, if Rachel and Santana weren’t just singing this so their teacher could propose we could make more of a queer reading point. If they chose to sing a song with a repetitive lyrics that mostly just goes “we found love in a hopeless place” as a ~proper~ duet in, say season 5, or heck in place of Be Okay, we’d be having a different conversation. The way it is, We Found Love falls into the bottom half for that easy to dismiss quality. It primarily reads as a Wemma song rather than a Pezberry one. Rachel and Santana barely even appear in the same shot for the performance.

But you know, it’s still fifth because there’s a case to be made that Pezberry chose it themselves, or at least were chosen in-universe by Will/ND to sing it. The lyrics, taken out of the Wemma context do fit a romantic Pezberry AU and imo We Found Love overall has a stronger argument for being significant to them as characters than A Hard Day’s Night. But honestly I might change my mind about that by the time we get to end of this, like I said the ranking itself isn’t set in stone.

4. A Boy Like That/I Have a Love

When I clicked the answer button I didn’t realize this was going to be so high, as I believe I actually said it was mid-tier in reply to your post. Coming to think of it now, yeah it’s more like solid top half. What immediately strikes me about A Boy Like That is all the layers: the acting layer of Santana and Rachel playing Anita and Maria, the context of the many versions of West Side Story and how we could borrow from any number of these to make a case for a queer reading. So in my four months of thinking about this I wanted to but didn’t end up researching whether queer takes on the original text (and in this case, be that the musical or either of the movies) of West Side Story exist. I’m just going to assume there’s at least one queer theorist out there who looked at Maria and Anita’s dynamic through these lens.

Within Glee, we don’t see them to the entirety of West Side Story but crucially we do get this duet. And it’s a narratively important one, too, though not for Pezberry reasons. In the episode the performance is divided into two and first intercut in a signature Glee subtlety way with Sebastian’s introduction. A boy like that, be careful with a boy like that, get it? Good job Glee, good job. The Riverdale guy wrote this episode in case you were wondering. And then the second half is again intercut but with Tina counterarguing against the rest of the girls who are trying to convince Rachel not to sleep with Finn. I have more thoughts on the scene itself and Santana’s role but for the purposes of this already long ask, we’ll just consider Rachel’s dilemma a parallel to Maria’s undying love for Tony.

So we could easily use the “they’re acting” argument to dismiss this, just as we can dismiss A Hard Day’s Night as a jukebox performance and We Found Love as a Wemma set piece. But there are reasons why I’m ranking it relatively high, and I’ll be honest, one of them is just how Naya plays Santana playing Anita. There’s a genuine feeling of Santana/Anita not wanting Rachel/Maria to get with her guy, and because of that combination with the Glee girls scene there is a case to be made here, like in your post rachelberyy, that Santana doesn’t want Rachel to be with Finn. Yes, okay, again the characters are acting in a musical but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a reflection of how they actually feel - hello intercutting A Boy Like That with Sebastian’s intro what’s up. And this is very much a reading into things post and I’ve barely gone off the rails yet so I think it’s time. Santana was begging Rachel not to be with Finn 2k22.

No but really, it’s that West Side Story layer that simultaneously makes a case for a queer reading here but also makes it harder to argue for it, since they are just rehearsing for the school musical. I think this could have been more meaningful had Glee made Santana’s role as Anita a bigger part of the WSS episodes but other casting choices had drama and there was no question about Anita so I guess it makes sense they wouldn’t focus on it much. Without that deeper compare and contrast of the Glee characters with the WSS ones the queer case for A Boy Like That becomes weaker but by no means impossible. And again the layers of it make it more intriguing for me than previous ones where there’s less to play around with.

3. So Emotional

Went back and forth on the ranking of this but, despite being diegetic which we’ll get to, there’s tension here. The beginning of that juicy Pezberry spark that makes them so interesting to people in the first place. So Emotional is one with arguments and counterarguments. First, looking at diegesis and points that could be deducted, it is a song performed by the two of them for Glee Club. It’s also a tribute episode song like A Hard Day’s Night but I actually think this one stands on more solid grounds because Pezberry are still students themselves doing an assignment, instead of oh so randomly choosing the Beatles the same week ND are covering them.

Because of the context of an assignment and of Rachel and Santana clearly singing to their respective partners during the song, the relationship vibes are weakened but not entirely. In-universe, they still presumably decided on the song together and could have easily gone with any other Whitney Houston song, so choosing one that’s so charged is certainly, well, a Choice. Looking outside of the performance itself for this one as well, So Emotional also canonically marks the true beginning of a Pezberry friendship and is referred to as such. Although it’s chronologically their fourth duet, in many ways it’s threated as their first because it’s the first time Rachel and Santana sing together because they want to sing together. Not because of a musical, or a group number, or whatever IKAG really was in-universe, but because there’s a tribute week and they chose to do a song together.

In light of that, though we can acknowledge they direct the sexual/romantic feelings of the song towards their partners and perform as part of the club we can still use that information. Once again, it’s a Choice to go with So Emotional and there are lyrics in there that we could easily apply to their later dynamic; very charged, very emotional one could say. Far be it from me to say it was thinking ahead on the creators’ part and that wouldn’t matter, anyway, because authorial intent, as I’ll get to very soon, doesn’t matter to us when assessing just how gay Pezberry are during their duets. And So Emotional is just one of those where yes, we can recognize they’re not canoncially singing about each other but it still has the Vibes and still exists within the context of them growing closer.

If I want to be honest I should put it lower if we really were looking through a more academic queer lens because I think some performances I ranked lower would have better arguments. So Emotional doesn’t do much to challenge notions of heterosexuality, not outright and most of what it does is further establish, through the way the performance is filmed, that Brittana are the queer couple together here. But again why not go off the rails and suppose there were underlying feelings for each other here with Pezberry. There’s not much to support that in canon but it does establish a new dynamic between the two, much like Be Okay, and does so while being fruitier in my eyes. It’s that spark again which I’ll just take at face value for this and justify So Emotional in third place with it. Phew this is getting a bit messy let’s move on to the top two before I lose every reader who’s made it thus far lol.

2. Brave

Alright almost there, second place. So Brave is actually one of those Glee moments, like much of seasons 5 and 6 tbh, that I haven’t fully processed yet. Maybe I was too scarred by the feud that followed immediately after, but whatever it was I’d need to rewatch this whole storyline to be able to do this song justice. One day I will, and until then I’ll cut this section relatively short - that’s probably for the best lol.

So once again this is why I went on about diegesis. Because we don’t have the Wemma or assignment excuse here, this is a full on fantasy. Based on the camera work, though it is a duet we can infer it’s only happening in Santana’s mind. And that gives us so, so much more room to play with interpretations because fantasy songs like these are meant to very clearly reflect a character’s state of mind or complicated feelings they can’t express through regular dialogue. Should be, anyway. This is Glee season 5 so I’m a bit doubtful super extra care went into picking out each and every song but that’s not out problem, all we have is the end result. And the end result is what I can only describe as super gay.

First of all, Sara Bareilles herself has said this song was a love letter to a friend struggling with their coming out journey, so we already have the original song with a confirmed queer reading. In the Glee context, what I think they were going for is Santana’s complex feelings on her own disappointing career and watching Rachel thrive in the meantime, whom she’s grown to care for but has complex feelings about. But if they wanted to set up her audition and version of DROMP then I’m sorry, this scene just does not set the mood for it.

What it does set is the context that something queer this way comes. So you’re telling me Santana imagines singing this “it’s okay to come out, I wanna see you be brave” song with Rachel? Santana, the canon lesbian who’s had her own harsh struggles with her sexuality and coming out? And, in her mind, Rachel sings it with her? I’m sorry, what am I supposed to make of this again? It’s Santana trying to be brave about her career I guess but who even remembers what Funny Girl is when they have this whole sequence with a coming out (sorta) song.

Like I said, I don’t think I ever fully processed it but I hope I’m getting across how sus this is. Even if we consider that it’s actually only Santana, the already canon lesbian singing it, it’s still curious that she’d think of this of all songs as their fantasy duet. And even if she’s the only one with queer feelings here, that’s still a queer reading. And unlike with So Emotional, there’s no Brittany here for the feelings to be directed at. Yes, Santana is dating Dani here but let’s be honest Dani was barely more than a Demi Lovato cardboard cutout and Santana had a much more intense dynamic with Rachel. So yes, Brave is fertile ground for a queer reading and general gay vibes, and a good example of why non-diegetic songs can be read into much, much more.

1. Every Breath You Take

After all that talk about diegesis it just had to be, right? Every Breath You Take had to be number one, don’t wanna upset @amazonworrier. No but for real, this is the not so well hidden reason I’ve been wanting to write about their duets for a while. If there ever was a crown jewel of lowkey, or in Pezberry’s case highkey queercoded duets then Every Breath You Take has to be it.

Where to even start. What is this performance even? I can only assume it’s a shared fever dream induced by totally-not-a-breakup angst because surely they’re not actually singing their hearts out while rehearsing Funny Girl. And I can only assume, guess really, that the Glee peeps’ intention was to convey how pissed Rachel and Santana were and how they were keeping an eye on each other in the battle for Fanny. I guess. But did they really have to do the stalker song to establish that they’re feuding?

How it actually comes across to me is that here we have two people who really need to get a room but sadly they just stopped being roommates so now they’re living out elaborate and charged fantasies on a Broadway stage. Well not living out, I guess? Still. Sure, the fact they’re pissed and paranoid comes across but so does a level of sheer Gay that I can’t believe the producers didn’t notice. And I really don’t think it was intentional, I think they were purely going for a catfight here but because of everything prior and just the whole way this is filmed, it sure comes across as bitter exes still wanting to bang. Look at me finally getting to that point after 4,000 words of trying to find counterarguments to how gay Pezberry are in their duets.

Sure, you can have them sing

Every move you make And every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake I'll be watching you

and I’ll buy that they’re pissed at each other. But then you also have

Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace I dream at night, I can only see your face I look around, but it's you I can't replace I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace I keep crying baby, baby, please

and now I’m wondering if this really is a bad breakup for bitches who never even dated - or did they? Watching this performance you’d think so.

And once again I want to emphasize that there’s no loophole for this one. Out of universe, sure I guess they wanted the stalker song and already had the rights since they were gonna use it in season 3 anyway. But this is supposed to be a reflection of how they feel, how they both feel, with no counterarguments against the lyrics like “oh it’s XY week” or “oh it’s someone else’s proposal”. No no, they fully had a shared fever dream where they sang all that and glared at each other and were in general peak Pezberry Extra™.

Every Breath You Take “wins”, in this sense, because I’d struggle to find a reading that isn’t at least a little bit queer. One that doesn’t imply greater feelings, greater hurt, greater longing. Oh, I’m sorry, was this supposed to be about how the hate each other now? Because their previous duets were already pretty gay but this one is just off the charts.

So. In conclusion.

Once again the ranking itself could change pretty easily. I’m not set on it as much as I wanted to highlight some queer readings of Pezberry songs and rant about Every Breath You Take as the ultimate winner of this imaginary competition. If you or anyone else made it this far, I hope you enjoyed this brain rot lol and got your Pezberry fill. Actually, doing this made me realize I could go more in-depth with each song’s lyrics and twisting it until we get fruity Pezberry so hmu lmao

[neon-junkie]

Do you think it's wrong to ship a canon aro or ace character with a non-canon ace or aro character? So long as both characters are portrayed as one/both and you don't re write the character as being 'normal' or allo? Because I love the thought of Aro/Ace Crosshair being in a Queerplatonic relationship with Sola Naberrie (Whose creator stated they originally intended Sola to be ace and aro) It's never going to be posted because it's such a niche interest, but I want to know if I should be feeling rightfully guilty about writing it

I dont see any harm in it?

That's the beauty of fiction. You're free to play about with whatever ideas come to mind.

There are plenty of characters out there that are canon straight/gay, yet people will portray them as the opposite.

I would maybe clarify in the notes/description that you KNOW Sola is, in canon, aro/ace, but you've created this scenario just for funsies?

Expect backlash, though. Not everyone will be on board, and some may be offended at your ideas!

[novantinuum]

On the corrupted!Steven theory...

So, originally when I mused on this yesterday I was just playing around with random possibilities.

After combing the series for info about corruption, though, I’m mildly spooked at the increased potential for this to... perhaps be a thing? I’m not saying that this is what I for sure believe will happen- to be honest, I’m not even sure Crewniverse would go this direction at all- but just for funsies, let’s see what kind of “evidence” or “foreshadowing” exists that might support this potential story path in the context of canon.

(EDIT: 10/7/19 

I honestly no longer think this creature is a worm at all whatsoever, it’s either more akin to a horned caterpillar or potentially has limbs. Either way we can see so little right now that it’s hard to tell. I’m not editing the rest of this post because I want it to exist in its original form- but do keep this in mind reading the rest! XP)

1) The design of this worm creature.

Let’s start simple. Let’s start tangible. 

For future reference and simplicity, I will be henceforth be referring to this creature as... “Wormy Boi.”

So, let’s see what we’ve got here. I’m definitely not the first person to point out this fella’s pink nature, and the jarringly human-like nose they’ve got. (Compared to other corruptions, which have had distinctly non-humanoid features.) In the photo above, we also have Wormy Boi sporting glowing pink eyes, which then send out a flare of pink light/energy. So, seemingly a powerful entity.

If you watch the short segment before they sit upright, you’ll see that Wormy Boi is super, super big. They’re in the background, but BOY do they loom. The shadows cast upon them especially push that sense of size. They’ve also got a whole bunch of spikes on their back and framing their face.

So, then. What evidence could be made for this being a corrupted!Steven, as opposed to some other run-of-the-mill monster?

Steven Universe Future is a limited series, described as ‘tying up loose ends.” To me, as a viewer, it would make far more sense for the antagonists/conflicts to deal with big concepts that have already been established since there’s such a limited amount of time we have left with this world. Introducing a completely alien species in the last act of the show would feel offbeat from both a writing and a viewing perspective. Corruption- on the other hand- is something we don’t have full answers to yet.

We don’t see any gem, yes- but Steven’s gem is- of course- on his belly. If this theory were to be true, that would translate to the gem being on Wormy Boi’s underside, far out of our sight in this shot, due to how massive they are. As an addition to this, not showing the gem gives an air of mystery to this creature’s true nature- which makes it seem like there’s something surprising to discover here.

A corrupted diamond would surely be MASSIVE. Also, very powerful. The beam of pink light hints at Wormy Boi being quite a powerhouse.

The spikes on Wormy Boi’s back and around their face highly resemble rose thorns. We all know how much the Crewniverse loves their rose symbolism, and design wise, this aspect would make a lot of visual sense for a corrupted Steven. Running off of that:

The face/nose shape and the five horns on this creature’s head give off a very Steven-like silhouette. 

The nose, of course. The face has a very Steven-like shape to it, overall- although noticeably more angular and sharp. The mouth is reminiscent of the Watermelon Stevens’ mouths. And as for the horns, there’s five of them positioned equidistant around their face, just as Steven’s hair is always formed from five lil’ bumps at the same positions.

Okay, moving on.

(Read more under the cut!)

2) We do not yet understand the true nature of corruption.

“I guess it’ll take more than a kiss to heal damage from the Diamonds…” -Pearl, Monster Reunion

Corruption is still- bafflingly- a huge mystery. The Gems we’ve watched the CGs bubble since season one have been healed, yes, but there are still many gaps in our understanding of it. With Steven Universe Future’s promise to address some lingering story threads, it would make sense if corruption was on the plate for further discussion. So, what DO we know?

We know it’s something the Diamonds can do. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to require all four diamonds. Three of them together were able to cause all the damage to Earth. There’s also no statement made that more than one Diamond is required to cause effects like that. 

In Legs From Here to Homeworld, Blue and Yellow Diamond weren’t actually aware the corruption was something they were capable of producing. They seemed to assume they obliterated the Gems on Earth. Corruption is then, even a mystery to them. That’s... odd, isn’t it?

Pearl states that it’s “something nearly impossible to describe.” Garnet goes further to say... “It’s sorta like... if MC Bear-Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind.”

"A sound… A song?” There’s a lot of association between corruption and music.

It causes Gems to lose touch with their usual forms, instead warping into a more outwardly "monstrous” version of themselves that appear to be “just a bundle of fight-or-flight reflexes and survival instincts.” As seen by Centipeetle in Monster Buddy and Monster Reunion, it appears as if corrupted Gems try to regenerate with their original forms if unbubbled, but are simply not in a state where they can maintain that.

As seen with Jasper in Earthlings, extreme emotional distress very much seems to speed up corruption’s effects. This is less of a stated fact and more of my read on that episode, but I believe it to be an important tidbit, especially since Garnet states that corruption’s damage is mental rather than physical, at least at its core. This can also be seen in Monster Reunion with how Centipeetle’s partial healing backfires when she remembers the trauma of being corrupted and reacts strongly.

Now, when it comes to healing corruption, Steven tries to heal Centipeetle himself, and does make some nice progress... helping her regain a hold on herself as he treats her with love and compassion and understanding... but it’s ultimately not a healing that can occur in isolation, helping her on his own. She needs more support before she can heal from this corruption to a state where she can truly be herself again.

And that eventually comes in the form of the other Diamonds. So, all four diamonds can help relieve the corruption if they help these Gems all together. 

3) How could this theory potentially fit into the story anyways, you nutter?

Well, here’s the part of this post where I make some broad conjectures. I honestly am shooting fish into a barrel here because again- we know barely anything about how corruption actually happened initially, and my thoughts are very jumbled. Please forgive me.

"I don’t really know how the corruption works. It’s like they’re sick. They don’t remember who they used to be.” -Steven, Gem Hunt

So, corruption seems to be a mental ailment of Gemkind, turned manifest. It also seems to have a deep connection to a Gem’s emotions, with Centipeetle growing smaller and slightly calmer upon feeling more secure in Steven’s presence, and corruption speeding up as Jasper grew more and more emotionally overwrought and self-deriding about herself. 

When it comes to the Diamonds and how they perhaps caused it originally- without fully realizing- we know that at least Blue and White have abilities focused on causing others to act in certain ways. Blue has sway over one’s emotions, and White has a knack for forcing her thoughts and self upon others. (I’m not sure how Yellow’s ability would play in here.) Mayhaps, mixed with their grief and guilt and anger, their power simply pressed all of that hurt emotion onto all the Gems on Earth in one whole fail swoop...? Tearing their minds in the process of it all?

The question I still have, though- is whether a single diamond could produce effects like this. And whether a diamond could turn that ability on themself.

Could Steven accidentally corrupt himself? Why might that happen?

Well, let’s look at our boy here. 

He’s got a wide circle of support at this time in canon, but notably, he’s notorious for bottling up his emotion and not letting others in to help him- instead dropping everything to help them with their problems. Just to name a few examples (a few):

The Test. He feels betrayed and hurt at the Gems for a moment about the way they’re babying him with the rigged test, but instead of admitting the hurt he feels about the scenario, bottles that up to help them feel more like good guardians.

Joy Ride. He opens up to the Cool Kids about deep, incredibly troubling stuff that’s long been on his mind, but he’s never once talked about it with his family.

Mindful Education. The perils of bottling one’s emotions is literally the whole plot of the episode. The kid has a full out sobbing breakdown while he’s plunging to his death. Connie gets through to him a little here, but later episodes show that the resolution we see here is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Steven’s internal issues. 

Storm in the Room. Externally, Steven tries so hard to put on a guise of content and positivity, but once alone in Rose’s room feels safe enough to let the full brunt of his emotional trauma come out in an almost explosive manner. Geeze, get this kid some hugs. 

Gemcation. Steven actually fails bitterly on putting on his customary smile in this episode, simply because the weight of his problems have become such an impossible burden to him. When the other Gems are trying to help him open up, he isn’t immediately responsive to their efforts. 

What’s Your Problem? Amethyst spends the whole episode trying to cheer Steven up and find out how he’s doing, and instead Steven downplays his own feelings on the matter and ends up helping her sort out her own emotional issues.

So to sum: Many an Emotional Issue, a chronic tendency to avoid outwardly addressing said issues in favor of helping everyone else instead... and to avoid accepting other people’s help.

Even if he’s surrounded by all these people who love him, the fact of the matter is that Steven still feels as if he has to face his own inner demons alone.

Now, let’s look at the lil’ teasing synopsis that was given for Steven Universe Future:

“After saving the universe, Steven is still at it, tying up every loose end. But as he runs out of other people’s problems to solve, he’ll finally have to face his own.”

Blatantly sounds like we’re gonna finally get some addressing of Steven’s emotional state, now doesn’t it?

4) A concept on what could, theoretically happen

“Maybe… it IS a guy in a monster costume. I don’t mean literally, silly! What I mean is... there might be a conscious Gem still inside there, somewhere. What if the monster is turning back and forth into its original form? If it is, it might not be as corrupted as we think! There might still be a chance to save it!” -Steven, Gem Hunt

Suppose Steven- by some as-of-yet unknown means- ends up accidentally corrupting himself. His sorry emotional state only further amplifies the effects of this corruption, and makes it really hard to retain control. Wormy Boi as a form could be like... all his inner demons made manifest, a metaphoric mirror into his current mental state. But- as he is half-human- he’s not entirely unaware of what’s happening. Perhaps... as the quote above could be sneaky foreshadowing for... how he’s turning back and forth between this corrupted form and his normal form. 

He likely wouldn’t want everyone to see him like this, doesn’t want everyone to visibly know the sheer depth of how much he’s hurting. But just like the corrupted Gems were only able to be helped in community, with the support of the CGs and the Diamonds in preparing the fountain, Steven can’t fix this on his own. 

He can no longer face the dark alone.

At some point, everyone has to take a brave step. Reach out. Accept help. 

Steven’s helped so many people, and surely he deserves that same love and care in return, too.

And perhaps, when he’s eventually healed from this- and has gotten the opportunity to be open with his family and friends about the hurt he’s facing- he’ll be left with “corruption scars” as well. I think it’s an important thing to address, that no one goes through experiences like these without lingering effects. Stuff stays with you. Healing is not always linear. But life is a continuous journey, and with the support of people who love you surrounding, you too can make a change... can continue to live to the fullest at every moment possible.

I think the above would be a lovely moral for Steven Universe to tackle in its last run of episodes, no matter how they approach it- daft corruption theory or not.

Now, in the end- a reiteration. This is just a wild theory. I’m not trying to be any authoritative voice saying that this is for sure what will happen, because in reality I have no idea what Crewniverse is cooking. However, I do think it’s fun speculation, and I am kinda spooked at how well things fit. 

Whatever happens, I’m sure it will make me weep like a baby, though. Hoh boy. Grant me sanity in these coming months as we wait for answers.