#and that’s mostly because they are also their own character

[candyheartedchy]

I think I just discovered a repressed fictional crush and I’m not sure how I should feel about it.

[dmbakura]

i still think the devil may cry fandom's vast oversimplification of the themes in devil may cry (regarding human "good" vs demon "evil") are amplifying some very bad faith criticisms of the netflix adaptation. as well as some weird moral essentialism i just really don't vibe with. this is long and kinda messy but whatever.

i see people mostly take issue with this scene in which lady and white rabbit have their confrontation and lady says this:

this, to me, does not go against the themes of the game at all. it's not some cynical attack on "humanity". contextually, this is a sorely needed moment of reflection on lady's part, where she's able to connect with white rabbit and realizes that their ruthlessness is a shared trait. she's speaking about herself here. lady considers herself the antithesis of a demon, yet she realizes how terrible she's been acting and that they're Not So Different. she's a flawed human being and this is an explicit, textual acknowledgment of that.

i really take issue with the idea that devil may cry has ever been about coddling and portraying humans as innately good. most major villains in the dmc games are human, statistically. every single dmc game except the first 1 has an over-arcing human villain at the center of the conflict. sanctus is a religious cult leader. agnus is an unethical mad scientist. arius is a CEO. arkham is a wife killer. these are all very human evils. demon villains like mundus and argosax tend to embody more stereotypically villainous evils, but the human villains are much more nuanced and varied in their approach, which in some respects makes them a lot more dangerous.

but you might say "well they're evil because they throw away their humanity, as dante even calls out. these tears are a gift only humans have" and to which i say, so? these are conscious choices these villains made to get where they are. yes, thematically their decision to throw away good traits like compassion and empathy led them on the path to evil, and dante himself equates these traits with humanity, but dante is also biased against his demon half and has an entire arc about being wary of that part of himself until he's finally able to accept it, which is how he awakens his sin devil trigger in 5 (mirroring vergil's rejection/ultimate acceptance of his human half.)

idk man. just feels yucky seeing all of this "well demons have always been an Evil Race in devil may cry" when no, it's always been more complex than that and pretending otherwise is a massive disservice to this series. there is no hard moral dichotomy in dmc. sparda disproves this from the very opening scene from the very first game. he was one of the most powerful demons in hell, who fell in love with humanity and decided to turn against his own kind. even if demons in a general sense tend to be "evil" (mundus seems to be a particular outlier in how evil they are honestly, hating humanity to an almost comical extent), they're shown to be completely capable of good, just as on the flip side, humans are capable of being evil. again, it's about choice, what you do with the power given to you, choosing to protect what's important or throwing away everything. these are not immutable traits of humans or demons, as that would mean characters like sparda, trish, arkham, sanctus, lucia, bradley, baul, modeus, etc would not exist.

there's maybe an argument to be made about dmc netflix's explicit use of politics and whether this is appropriate or not, but i don't think it's a bad thing it decided to really dig in on the nuances of humanity. i think the choice to make white rabbit a human villain who in a sense "throws away his heart" makes him thematically consistent with devil may cry's ethos, as ive mentioned in my other post about him. i view him akin to a character like vergil, who straddles the line between human and demon, and doesn't really fit into either "demon overlord" or "overambitious human sociopath" like the other series villains. more variety is good actually.

[cripplecharacters]

Thank you so much for this blog. Can I take a moment to ask the rest of your followers to please stop using it to ask for *permission* to write whatever they're trying to write? On every ask that starts with "can I write XYZ?", I just wanna grab the asker by the shoulders and ask back "what do you think is going to happen if you do?"

Since there's no ableism police going around inspecting amateur creative projects, this is really a poorly worded version of "is this bad/ableist/problematic/gonna get me cancelled/punished?", with an undercurrent of "am I bad? Am I a bad person? Please reassure me that I'm not a bad person", which is a hell of a lot to drop on a handful of strangers online who can only ever give you a bit of information and their own biased personal opinions.

I swear I'm not trying to be a jerk about this. It's good that so many people want to depict disability in fiction beyond flat stereotypes. But it's incredibly hard to create *anything* with this level of anxiety and craving for approval. It's sooo much better to be driven by playful curiosity. Learn to love research! Don't underestimate your capacity for critical thinking! Dare to form your own opinions! The worst that can (and will) happen is that you'll be wrong and make mistakes. Big deal.

I also invite everyone to get further along in the writing process before running to consult here. Writing is rewriting, and it's easier to rewrite what's already on the page than toy with hypothetical ideas forever. Tumblr jokes a lot about the mere existence of bad pieces of writing being "a hate crime", but let's get real. Your accidentally ableist first draft is not an act of violence, and treating it that way is not disability advocacy or activism or helpful to anyone.

Sorry if this ended up too long or verbose. What do you mods think? Agree/disagree?

I can't speak for the other mods but I mostly agree TBH.

There's much more to writing disabled characters than just getting a "stamp of approval" that what you're doing "is OK". And it's not that it's bad to consult others to make sure you're not being ableist (it isn't), but a good disabled character can't just be a character that's Not Offensive.

They should be well researched, they should be interesting, and they shouldn't just be there to be "good disabled rep". They should be a character, not a diversity quota to fill.

I've addressed the whole "no one is actually going to Cancel You if you write something ableist" in one of my older posts about writing characters with facial differences because it's true. One billion movies and series and comics come out every year and a ton of them are ableist, and I promise you no one is getting "cancelled" over having a villain with a scar.

I stopped answering those "is it ok if my villain is deformed and scarred?!??" asks because they don't really add anything, they're usually not looking to change anything or learn anything, they just want a Cripple's Stamp of Approval. And that's not going to result in a good character, ever, it's just like showing a thumbs up to a writer that it's OK for them to write this offensive thing. What's the point? If you want to write it so bad, just do it... There is no Council of Disfigured People that will cancel you and take your house. You don't need my permission to write a generic evil disfigured guy and I'm not going to grant it. If you don't want to actually learn or change anything, there's no point in asking.

As I said, that's my opinion and not necessarily representative of the other mods on the blog.

mod Sasza

As to my opinion I largely agree. You (the general you, not you specifically asker, which is what I will mean in this whole ask when I say 'you') can write whatever you want and no one will send you a certified letter by mail that says you are Cancelled or a Bad Person or whatever.

We just want people to do research and put thought behind what they're writing. To think about why things are considered ableist, by us or by anyone else. And we want people to make disabled characters be characters and not just a Trope.

We as a mod team, but also as just regular people, can't or control what anyone does or doesn't write/draw/do. No one can. If you want to write something we hate, then do it. We won't stop you. We can't. We just won't like it, but if you're that committed to writing what you're writing, you can live with that, or at least you should. Someone's specific piece of art/writing/etc won't change our minds on what we've previously stated. No, not even yours. But you can do it if you really want to because that's how being an individual person works.

mod sparrow

[backstageinfatuationvn]

I remember seeing a lil animatic(?) on Twitter on how you worked on Kier’s design for 6 years. I can’t find it anymore tho 😭 but what was your thought process when designing him? I luv luv luvvvv his design smmmm 🥹❤️ you n your co-creator are doing an amazing job 🫶

The animatic is still on my personal twitter account! And thank you!! SUPER LENGTHY POST BUT HERE WE GO!

Originally Kier had black hair and a similar haircut to Kethan (old art from 2024)

The first one was actually him dressed as the phantom of the Opera since he is one of the main inspos (old inspo meme I did)

Kier was originally created 6 years ago actually, back then I also made many versions of him. But the most important one was Gacha (yes I was a gacha kid 💔)

I sadly don't have his gacha photos anymore since it was from a very ancient phone but if memory serves me right, he would've looked like this. Yes I installed the app again HAHAHA

He didn't originally have midnight blue eyes. That was added when I started bringing him back to my works before Backstage Infatuation.

Personality wise, he is originally a yandere! Nothing changed from there in terms of that but interestingly enough... Back then in my gacha days, I originally shipped him with another male OC. A BL gacha series was planned where it centered around Kier's obsession with the male OC but was later discontinued for reasons I cannot remember. It was a long, long, looong time ago.

I focused on other stuff so he started catching dust until I picked him up around early 2024. That's when I started planning for his comeback after remembering past memories on a random tuesday night before sleeping LMAO

I drew two pieces before his redesign (the first two images), this was when I was into the yandere vn games.

Just wanna shout out these two games because these inspired me to make my own!! YOU and HIM and TKATB really inspired me to make Backstage Infatuation (there was also Dramatical Murder). I also have a love for Idol culture and Kpop, so I based Backstage Infatuation on my interests.

It is no secret that Backstage Infatuation is a passion project of mine, most of the characters in the game are old ocs being brought back to life and new ocs being finally used. Kier was one of those OCs that were brought back to life and needed a new makeover.

Fast forward to November 2024, I started redoing Kier and originally came up with his overall face and hair.

Interestingly enough, I actually came up with his idol fit first after seeing an outfit on Pinterest!

This is the original concept of his first idol outfit draft, felt it was too plain but really liked the black and white theme.

Second try and I came up with this! Even added silver feathers to symbolize LUXE's angel theme.

I added midnight blue (with stars) accents and it really made them look ethereal and elegant, at least for me. Which fits the group's original concept!

For his casual outfit, I wanted to go with something stylish and cool at the same time. I went with techwear influence and came up with the outfit now used in the game! Originally he didn't have black leather pants, but denim... It didn't look good in my opinion. 😭

Old and New design comparison

I kinda stole Nightwing's color palette for his clothes and changed a few stuff (mostly the blue)— Sorry I just really like Nightwing 😭 HAHAHA.

Few tweaks there and there, I became satisfied with his design!

I also made different outfits for him, a easter egg outfit I plan to add, his summer outfit and spring time outfit. I do love dressing up my son and exploring different fashions for him. ❤️

I do enjoy designing clothes and outfits. (Already reached the 10 image limit so here's a poorly made collage)

Sorry if this took a long time 😭 I had to find my old gallery saves for some of the pictures but this was such a fun ask to answer! It's nice to have a memory refresh ❤️

I hope this answered everything and so SORRY IF IT'S LENGTHY 😭😭 - Ive (Creator)

[forsaken-headcanons]

(TW for implied child death !! and body mutation idk. uhh basically the c00lgui did some things. yeah.)

If we're going to start blaming a survivor for being Spectre or for being the reason everyone's there, it's most likely to be 007n7.

NOW HEAR ME OUT PLEASE DON'T BLOW UP MY HOU gunfire sfx

ANYWAY AS I WAS SAYING, if one of the survivors were to be "Spectre", it would most likely be 007n7 for a small list of reasons I've gathered so far.

First off, the survivors and killers. I have a small list of the characters and why he would "forsaken" them.

Noob & Guest 666 - Noob and G666 had an extremely positive friendship back then, which made 007n7 deeply resent them because - how dare the two of them be happy, while he had to suffer in his own guilt for what he had done to Noli? He did some shit and figured out how to fuck with G666's code (I imagine Robloxians are mostly made up of code) and made him what he is in forsaken, hence why G666 mostly has a red-black color palette like his c00lgui (the color palette's definitely a stretch, but whatever </3)

Elliot - This is a really obvious pick. Part of me thinks that he would've let Elliot go if he hadn't pissed him off by banning them from Builder Brothers' Pizza and making c00lkidd extremely emotional and throw a tantrum about it, but I feel like that's just the PizzaBurger shipper in me. If I would be more realistic, he might've just forsaken him out of spite.

The Admins + 1x1x1x1 - Again, really obvious. They tried to supress him and his hacking things yada yada.... He also made Doom a killer out of spite and specifically chose him because... y'know. Doombringer. He is quite literally the bringer of doom??? And he also added 1x1x1x1 to rub more salt in Shedletsky's hypothetical wound.

Taph - Works for the Admins. Also, I feel like at some point, Taph would've demolished 007n7's house because - y'know - falsely terminated, so 007n7 just kept that hate to himself internally because he knew damn well he was gonna get his "revenge" soon.

Two Time & Azure - Similar to Noob and G666, he resents their relationship and how close they were. When he found out that a ritual had been performed and Azure had been sacrificed, he had taken that opportunity and made him into the killer he is in Forsaken, along with sending in Two Time, a way to teach them that no offense goes unpunished.

Guest 1337 - 1337 had a positive and a really happy family. 007n7 envied his joy and decided to take it away from him, just his own was taken away, too. This could explain why Guest was never favored by the "Spectre" and hadn't left him with any tools or items to fend himself with, only his fists and abilities.

Chance - They were always carefree and were surrounded by a BUNCH of people. 007n7, again, envied that. The carefree attitude they always had, their large friend groups, their fame... He had everything, and yet he still had the nerve to let himself be put into dangerous situations for the adrenaline rush. If life-threatening, adrenaline-inducing, scarring experiences was what Chance wanted, 007n7 would give it to them.

Area 51 killers - 007n7 probably had an Area 51 phase as a teen or something. Idk I can't make up anything here except for that.

John Doe & Jane Doe - Again, envy. Seeing their positive marriage had dealt some level of effect on 007n7. He felt envious of the fact the two were happily in love, happily holding a relationship he knew he would never had. The thought of that alone had driven him insane with anger and guilt, corrupting John Doe and leaving Jane Doe only as a mere spectator, never being able to see her own husband face-to-face ever again.

Noli - As a plea of forgiveness. Before he had left Noli for whatever reason, 007n7 knew about Noli's sadistic tendencies and how he used to often torment people with his programs. He had forsaken him as a way to tell him "Hey, I still remember you enjoy this. Please don't ever think I forgot about you." and "I'm sorry for what I did. Here, I'll let you have free will to do whatever you want, as long as it means you'll forgive me."

(This is where the TWs come in !!)

c00lkidd - Had a bit of difficulty figuring out this one without implementing some hcs into it. You know how there was an accident that had something happen to c00lkidd? 007n7 could never forgive himself after that. He spent all night and all day trying to search for kidd, going from town to town, asking locals if they had seen his son, to no avail.

It wasn't until the day he had finally found c00lkidd's body, deep in the woods, dripping in blood. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know why his son was dead, heartlessly murdered, left in the woods. Driven by guilt, he had tried his best to bring him back to life, tears dripping down his face as he messily fumbled with his son's code, trying to find a way to bring him back warm and into his arms.

All he had ended up doing was disfiguring his own son's body. Arms and legs freakishly longer than a normal 10-year-olds, a wide, sunken smile on his face, and a distorted voice. But it didn't matter. He had brought his son back to life. He knew what he had done was wrong, but he couldn't bring it in himself to undo his craft. Instead, he had opted for sending his son into the crooked world he had crafted, letting him "play" with the survivors and make new friends. After all, all he wanted was the best for his beloved son.

As for 007n7 himself, well...

The one in rounds isn't actually him. It's just a more advanced clone of himself, which is why "he" almost always never smiles, always looks distant or out of it. He had used that puppet multiple times to try to have conversations with his son and former friend, trying to see if they were doing alright in the pocket dimension.

Uhh might add some more on this theory soon <3 my brain is FRIED rn and I still have some homework to do :P

-⛑️🍗 anon

007N7 AS THE SPECTRE AU/THEORY??? WAITT THIS IS LOWKEY PEAK.... we might fw the idea for this actually...

godss the concepts of how everyone got here are so so good!! but trust us when we say we are hunting you down for the potential angst ideas /silly. in tears at c00lkidd's part... 7n7.... 7n7 we don't think that's what your son would've wanted vro 💔💔

[fox-guardian]

hii i hope this is ok to ask but i love how fucking HUGE you make curly look, do you have any advice on how to draw muscular frames? :o

thankies!! i love drawing him Robust-Looking <3

as far as advice goes, when it comes to anatomy i always recommend the channel proko on youtube, they have all kinds of videos about how to draw anatomy with each area of the body broken down. basically, if you're trying for anatomical accuracy with muscles and stuff, their vids are a great way to grasp how muscles work!

as far as general shapes and vibes though, i have a couple quick tips of my own <3

the biggest part, if you can imagine, is proportions. typically tutorials will tell you the average shoulder width for a person is about 2-3 heads wide, so if you're making someone Bigger and Beefier, you'll wanna go past that a bit. (and making a character's head smaller is gonna make their body look bigger by comparison, so if you wanna go crazy, shrank that thang)

For example, Daisuke (who i draw as lean, but still with some muscle, especially in his arms) is 4 heads wide at his shoulders, while beefcake curly over here is 5 (sometimes more depending on the drawing lol). something as simple as broadening the shoulders already gives a character a beefier-looking silhouette.

[ID: Simple rough sketches of Daisuke and Curly from Mouthwashing with colored circles showing how many heads wide their shoulder width is. Daisuke is four, Curly is five. end ID]

~~~~

"but what if i don't know how to draw the muscles and am not going for realism/don't feel confident enough in that yet? how do i give a muscular vibe without as much detail?" FEAR NOT it's super easy. here we use the power of SHAPES!!

i draw jimmy and curly with the same "skeleton" or base frame, so i think they're a good example of this next bit. despite having the same bones, i broaden the fleshy parts on curly's limbs (focusing on his shoulders cuz he has big ass shoulders) and keep his upper arms wide before tapering down into his hands (muscles tend to be largest at the base of the limb and get smaller up to the hands/feet but there's plenty of design exceptions). i carry that shape language down into his legs (which i emphasize with his fitted calf-height boots). meanwhile jimmy stays fairly squared, especially when fully clothed

[ID: Simple sketches of Jimmy and Curly from Mouthwashing with notes describing their shapes. Jimmy has a rectangle over his body and is noted as being "relatively rectangular" and the shapes of his limbs are mostly straight. Curly has a trapezoid over his body and has a "top heavy shape" with limb shapes that taper down and in. end ID]

~~~~

and honestly, a good hack to make a character read as more muscular or robust is to give them a buddy that contrasts that. once again, jimmy will assist.

even in a simple drawing like this, giving jimmy the opposite tapering to his limbs just emphasizes curly's hugelargeness by comparison. it also shows that you don't need a lot of detail or realism to convey Beefiness

[ID: Another, more simplified doodle of Jimmy and Curly, pointing out that Jim's limbs taper outwards while Curly's taper in. end ID]

~~~~

another final quick tip i have is: the neck makes a difference!

people with more muscle tend to have thicker necks (it's because of the muscles there, if you can believe it) and it's kinda become one of my fav bits of drawing curly lol. idk why <3 necks fun to draw <3 for him, i draw his neck starting at the very edges of his face and widening out at the bottom to match the shape of his head and to flow a bit more into his trap muscles, but you could go Even Further Beyond if you so Choose. i've found this is a surprisingly good way to convey Beefy Person Beefy even if you don't have as much anatomical knowledge.

[ID: Four bust sketches of Daisuke and Curly comparing their necks. The first two show them both facing forwards. Daisuke's neck is slimmer and straight, while Curly's neck meets the edges of his jaw and has a wider base with higher trap muscles. The second two shows them in profile, with the back of Daisuke's cranium sticking out past his neck, while Curly's is even with his neck, showing how thick is is from the side. end ID]

~~~~

in review we got:

widen shoulders relative to the head to convey a Broad silhouette

taper limbs inwards from base to extremities to emphasize the shape/size of the muscles

give em a less muscular buddy for contrast

thick necks help a lot in conveying a muscular build

and of course, i know i only used men in these examples, but these tips will work just fine regardless of a character's gender. please draw more beefy women ily <3

i hope this made sense and helps you and whoever else might see this uwu

if anyone has any questions about it i will. Try. to answer them. making these posts is oddly difficult lol

[meanbossart]

Some more asks about Izzantar and Grodderick!

Some general Insight about their relationship can be found here, the two paragraphs below concerning their dynamic specifically:

Grodderick and Izzantar are, in a lot of ways I suppose, the opposite of DU Drow and Astarion; bedroom habits included. While the protagonists of this blog have no particular dynamic that they stick to, the latter have roles that they feel most comfortable in and rarely abandon them, which is also perfectly okay.

Izzantar likes to be taken care of in bed. He prefers a partner who takes responsibility into their own hands and do what they want, when they want it. If he's unhappy with something, he will voice that discontentment; but he will be the unhappiest if you constantly seek his approval or guidance to do everything. As a male drow who was popular with the matrons, this is probably a dynamic he grew used to and feels at home with. If he's bedding with you, his body is already yours and you can do with it what you will. He also bottoms 100% of the time and is pretty indifferent to the involvement of his own genitalia in the endeavor, and the more time he spends away from drow and the Underdark, the more he settles on taking care of that part of the exchange himself.

Grodderick as a man is pretty malleable, but he fits into Izzantar's preferences fairly well as someone who is very confident in bed, and will happily take the wheel. Ironically, while Izzantar perceives himself as being extremely easy to please, Grodderick thinks otherwise - the drow expects a lot of particular behaviors out of the half-orc without actually voicing those preferences beforehand, like the taking of absolute control, apparent disregard for his own pleasure and overly rough play. Like I said, Grodderick is confident - but he's not an arrogant asshole or somehow unaware that he has at least 200 pounds on the drow.

But through communication everything is possible and the two do reach a kind of middle ground. By the time they're married, Izzantar is a much softer, less demanding person, and Grodderick has grown to understand that his requests for egoism are very much still for his pleasure and comfort.

Game Izzantar came after the creation of the character, and by then I did already have a voice-claim in mind (Thomas Brodie-Sangster! After puberty, obviously.) I picked BG3's Voice 1 for him which honestly I find quite similar LOL so either one works!

He does! VERY rarely, however. He usually looks either completely stoic or a little pissed off, but a little 😏 isn't so rare. He also laughs, believe it or not. That said, big ol' earnest smiles are indeed rare, and probably something he reserves for private moments. It's not really a response to his negative life experiences as much as just a personal quirk - he has a minor facial tick and I think being overly aware of his facial expressions became a habit because of it.

I might change this in the future, but at least as of right now he never takes any steps to change his physicality nor does he ever see what he is doing as "changing" anything in the first place, if that makes sense. He presents female, his husband calls him wife, people assume that he's a woman and are never told otherwise. In regards to his voice, he speaks a little softer in public but mostly I just like to think that voice pitch wouldn't be particularly demonstrative of sex or gender in Faerun.

[kastanik]

Here's mine:

I take breaks for two or three months between each chapter upload. Mostly because I suffer from constant burnout and I have other obligations outside of writing, but it also helps me think of new ideas, and it gets my frequent readers excited when I drop a chapter knowing that their patience has paid off.

This is mostly the case with the fanfic I'm working on right now, but I write about 10,000 words for each chapter.

To add to the last point, I try to go for the feeling that you've just watched an episode of an early to mid-2000s tv show.

My toxic trait is that I go back to edit my chapters after they're published. They're not entirely major changes, just adding small details to make the story flow better.

Not afraid to say it, but I'm obsessed with astrology. I create birth charts for my characters for shits and giggles. Aries and Scorpio have more in common than you think.

Kind of going back to the last point, I keep a list of chapter release dates and their zodiac signs. Why? I dunno. Probably just fun to imagine what lessons are being taught by that zodiac sign in that chapter.

Another toxic trait of mine is that, although I do appreciate the extra help here and there, I'm stubborn about working alone. I set my own rules and hours like a boss, but I clock in and get shit done like a worker (sometimes to the letter, sometimes not). Seeing the world today, I doubt anyone would like my 2-3 month breaks very much.

No matter how much I got the chapter planned out in my head or in my notes, nothing scratches my brain better than the ideas that come to me as I write that chapter in that moment like I'm some medium between this world to one that I question the existence of. Same thing happens when I draw.

My writing process is this: 1. I write the rough draft of the chapter down in my notebook. 2. I write it again digitally using Stimuwrite (a writing app intended for users with ADHD) when I'm at my computer or the Inkpad Notepad app on my phone (the neat thing it does is that it syncs to a cloud so you can also access your notes with your computer to make the next step happen easier). 3. I copy and paste what I wrote in these programs/apps into a Word document to make some last minute spell checks, make it look pretty, and then, finally, after all that time, upload that fucker to AO3.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older and my memory isn't what it used to be, but something I started doing a lot recently is that if an idea doesn't fit in that moment but I wanna save it for a later chapter (or, bold of me to say, maybe for another fanfic), I put it in the extras folder. Not sure if it'll patch up those pesky plot holes very well, but hey, if it works it works.

✨ 10 chaotic writer facts you didn’t ask for but are getting anyway ✨

I write 1,000–3,000 words a day. Not because I’m disciplined, but because I have no social life and mild control issues. It’s fine. I’m fine.

Before I ever touched a keyboard, I was an artist. Like, sketchbook-at-recess, drew-my-own-manga-level obsessed. I’ve been drawing since I was five. Now I use those powers to procrastinate writing.

I talk to my characters like they’re real people. I once argued with one out loud in a grocery store. We’re not on speaking terms anymore.

I name all my WIPs things like “pain_project” or “he cries again.docx” because I enjoy foreshadowing my own breakdowns.

I collect empty notebooks like a Victorian ghost who died tragically in a stationary store.

I have cried because a character forgave someone. That’s it. That’s the fact.

Sometimes I start new projects just to avoid editing old ones. This is not a healthy system but it is a personality.

I finish a gut-wrenching scene and then go eat cereal like nothing happened. Cold emotional whiplash is my brand.

I regularly forget what my characters are supposed to know, and when it happens, I just give them sudden intuition or full-blown memory loss.

I’ve rage-deleted whole chapters because a side character took over and made the main one look bland. And yes, I made the side character the lead.

Okay, now your turn—drop your own ✨10 chaotic writer facts✨. I know you’ve got them. Don’t leave me screaming into the void alone. Reblog this with your chaos, I want to see the beautiful mess.

Love u all!

[vaos-studios]

THESE 2.0 DESIGNS ARE SOSO GORGEOUS AND I'M LOVING READING THEM ALL ‼️‼️‼️ You did so good with the theming of them all, and the shapes and colours flow so nicely with each other and the characters' personalities. I'm so excited to see more! May I also request Buck and/or Dave stuff too cuz those two have been ROTTING my brain away lately.

Do you plan on posting a story of this AU to AO3 or whatnot? I'm very invested in what we've got so far this is all soso banger!

aaa Ty!! Character designs with specific themes and color coding is my jam I love seeing that in media

and I actually plan on making a mini comic series that I'll be posting here on Tumblr! Part 1 is in the works, it'll mostly be in the perspective of the toons. I'm not sure how long it'll be, but every manager will get their own introduction at least.

anyhow Dave jumpscare (featuring my friends hehe)

Also quick note about 2.0 Dave: I think I have a new idea about a new feature in his design which I'm a little hesitant to add because uh

It's a little scary ngl and

I still want 2.0 Dave be faithful to his canon personality and I feel like adding spooky features to a goofy guy takes away from that a little ( even though I'm already kind of leaning that way with the upgrade making Dave more intimidating which he doesn't dig very much )

but tbh I might just be overthinking considering I'm doing the exact same thing to the department bosses 😭

[karaaaak]

More specter infodumping‼️🔥

Firstt, I wanna talk about my favorite specter design, Ada’s

(Random but I love the added detail that the border information thingy is different for each character)

I don’t have to much to say about it so I’m just gonna go ahead and list some things, some of speculation, some are just things I noticed

CW for some of these

Due to the fact that her limps are separated in her specter (along with a couple other things I won’t go into) I pretty highly believe that Ada was dismembers after her murder. Mostly liking leaving her body unfound (either because it was unrecognizable or simply because nobody came looking for her

The fact that one of her abilities is her scream also ties in with the way she was murdered. It was planned. She was taken out to the woods/forest specifically, so it highly unlikely that anybody would or could hear her if she did or tried to yell/scream for help

Her specters body seems to be growing moss which relates to the place she died, the forest. Same thing goes for the animal bones.

She seems to be able to summon her specter quickly when ordered too. I’m not to sure why this is. It could just be because without her specter she is “useless”, her specter makes her powerful, makes her wanted, something she isn’t used to being.

Going along with the previous one she quickly untransforms when asks to be someone she wants to appear as neat/good infront of, first Annabel, and later Morella. (It should be noted that she detansforms quicker when asked to my Morella.) this is most likely because of her fear of being seen as unladylike, unattractive, and/or disorganized.

Im not to sure what to add to that, I feel like Im forgetting some things but idk.

Next, I wanted to originally talk about Morella after Ada (totally not because I ship them and wanted to put them in the same post..) but I can’t find much on her specter, so unfortunately I’m doing Monty

Monty, is a Dybbuk, more specifically, a Son of Belial. Which is “a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil”

The Name itself comes from Hebrew and means multiple things depending of how it is translated. Some include “worthless, yokeless, may be have no rising, or never to rise”

In the Bible, Proverbs 16:27-29 (I think) to be more specific, read as follows:

“A man of Belial plots evil, and on their lips it is like a scorching fire. A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good”.

According to google “In the context of the Bible, "Belial" refers to wickedness, worthlessness, or something that is of no value. A "man of Belial" is someone who is evil and morally corrupt.”

Uhm, I’m not to sure what else to add, since I don’t pay too much attention to Monty’s specter in particular. I would encourage you to do some more on you own, since I can’t provide to much on him :P

If you have any feedback, tips, yada yada, pleaseee comment then, reblog, idc. 😭

[jeizet]

Ichihime Week Day 5: Movie Stars

You thought I was over with Ori Poppins?!?! NEVER SHE IS TOO PERFECT

So she was casted as Mary Poppins in the newest movie! and is taking care of 3 siblings!

This is an AU because while drawing this my brain was on fire let me ramble:

So.

Newest Mary Poppins movie and Orihime Inoue and the Kurosaki siblings have been casted for the main roles!

This is also Yuzu's and Karin first movie, in the case of Karin also maybe the last since she is really not interesting in being an actress but thought making a movie would be a fun experience to have at least once.

Because this is his yourger siblings debut, Ichigo has been extra protective over them, but thankfully the actress casted as Mary Poppins suits the rol even without acting. Everytime the siblings stumble on their words or forget the lines Orihime is there to save the moment winning Ichigo over.

His sisters love her, when they are acting it's so much fun and when they are not Orihime gives fantastic advice since she was also a child star.

He gets why his sisters love her while acting (he is also one of the children Mary Poppins takes care of, and is actually the most problematic one since he is close to being an adult in the story) he experiences that acting with Inoue is dynamic, fun, and easy. In the easier scenes there would be a lot of takes because Inoue would be making faces when the camera is not looking at her which makes him break character, and hard and emotional scenes are mostly in one smooth take.

Conversing with Inoue he discovers that she is the type of actor that is just unaware of the risks of being a public figure, has no bodyguards and goes home by bus, which is absolutely unacceptable for his protective ass. Upon discovering this he drives her home and if she wants to go somewhere he meets her there, which is a surprise for everyone because young actor Ichigo Kurosaki does NOT go out, NEVER.

Fans and media are crazy for #ichihime, she is radiant and funny which makes the fans of Ichigo love her since they now have so many paparazzi photos of him laughing as smiling. And accidentally, Ichigo is becoming the biggest greenflag because people take photos of him being a gentleman... which is just his personality. Photos of him moving Inoue's hair out of the food, recordings of him remembering Inoue's order from the local coffee shop owned by a very nice old lady. Or his cuter side like how he adds insane amounts of sugar to his coffee because "adults drink coffee", but ever since Inoue ordered him a chocolate milk he has never asked for coffee again (when he is with her, he has to keep the cool persona for everyone else even though is already crumbling)

Nothing new is really learn from the actress Orihime Inoue because she has always been very open, but she is noticeably more relaxed now that she has a pseudo-bodyguard around.

Note: they are like 17, teen actors idea, Ichigo has a motorcycle.

[bojanus]

I've only played the first, but I played it recently after many years of assuming it would be too #edgy for me. Turns out that even though, yes, it IS #edgy, it's also written with enough sincerity and a thoroughline of hope that rewards the player for getting invested.

In terms of "waifu"--gonna be real, it's got a lot of surprisingly well-written women. I have no doubt people latched onto the women because each female character has their own unique thing going on, and most importantly they all have narrative significance and agency.

Playing it for the first time in 2025 I was occasionally like "Hmm this word choice or stereotype is gross/uncomfortable" but overall I thought it was a good game that mostly held up modern day!

(the trial minigames though.... ahahahah I hated them but they became part of the frustration and fun eventually XD)

Is Danganronpa actually good?

People make it seem like the Waifu anime game with edgy moments is it more than that or is that just what people are in too? (no judgment just not for me)

I think they're fun! They're compelling murder mysteries and the dark tone offers a kind of grim appeal. I would hardly call it a waifu game. The writing can be pretty trashy but sometimes trash is what you're in the mood for.

But also, just because I like it doesn't mean it's good or for everyone

[ratatosk777]

Dysfunctional Trio AU MASTERPOST

figured I'd do this for more convenient search

AU description: Mothiva and Zasp enter Snakemouth den before Kabbu and Vi, hence they are the ones who find and save Leif. At first Mothiva isn't interested in keeping Leif around, but she changes her mind as she learns he has ice magic powers. Leif doesn't have much choice but to join the exploration team, so it's easier for him to get around in bugaria in search for answers to his questions. Team Mothiva is now the leading team in the association, mostly because they have Leif, his abilities allow them to defeat enemies and get to places they couldn't get to without him. Inside the team though it's not going as well. Mothiva is selfish and egocentric. Leif hates Mothiva but has to stick around, he is sort of on his own in this team. Zasp tries to overcome his simping for Mothiva. this AU explores the character development of each team member.

later Zasp and Leif would develop some sort of queerplatonic relationship, because I feel like that fits their dynamic more.

see all dysfunctional trio stuff in my blog here, and also I made a list of art posts. I'm ordering them based on their position in the timeline, but miscellaneous and team vi are random

Pre-Snakemouth

Chapter 1 part 1 part 1.1 part 2

Chapter 2 part 3 part 3.1 (shitpost) part 4

Chapter 3 part 5 part 6

Chapter 4 part 7

Chapter 5

Chapter 6 part 8 part 9

Chapter 7

Post-sapling

Team Vi stuff part 1

MISC (shitpost, none-canon, out of timeline, random sketches, etc) 1 - random sketches 2 - doodle 3 - silly leif/zasp sketch 4 - meme 5 - silly leif/zasp sketch 6 - random sketches

[greypistacchio]

i really wanna explore this in a lot more depth in a fic sometime soon, but it really got to me to see Dean progressively lose the home he'd managed to build with Lisa and Ben over the course of season 6.

although i will forever love and worship destiel/deancas as my SPN otp, it still felt so unfair and tragic to watch Dean's relationship with Lisa fall apart. regardless of how much i might agree with the core message ("just because you love someone doesn't mean you should stay and screw up their life"), it's one of the most heart-wrenching things Dean has gone through thus far.

hell he could take. hunts he could take. demons and angels and the apocalypse he could take - essentially, everything that has to do with the family business his father raised him in. from the day that Sam was born, Dean has been forged into both a shield and a blade. he's mom's little angel whose life purpose is to keep his brother safe, and he's dad's little soldier whose calling is to hunt down as much of the supernatural as he possibly can to keep humanity safe from harm.

Lisa and Ben fit neither teaching Dean has had hammered into him since he was four. instead they were his miracle. his one shot at a normal life. his one small haven after so much bloodshed, carnage, and late nights spent driving across the country's most remote roads. his first-ever taste of what life could've looked like, had he not been born to Mary and John Winchester to fill a role in Heaven and Hell's agendas.

something i can't stop thinking about is the gleam in his eyes whenever he got to teach Ben something or do family stuff with him and Lisa. the part where he hands Ben a tool as they work on a car? goddammit, you can BET your ass that John never bothered teaching Dean shit about Baby, and if Dean was able to put the Impala back together from scraps and loose screws it was mostly out of self-taught instinct and a lesson or two from Bobby. yet there he was, teaching Ben his way around car engines the way John Winchester never bothered teaching him.

and that's what fucks me up the most, alright? the fact that Dean keeps telling himself that he's becoming just like John when, in truth, he couldn't be a further cry from what his father was. John was forced by Heaven to fall in love with Mary, whereas Dean fought Hell, Heaven and his own fears to get back to Lisa after season 5. there is very strong subtext indicating that John used to be physically abusive, if episode 5.16 ("Dark Side Of The Moon") is anything to go by. meanwhile, you can see something snap inside of Dean the moment he shoves Ben back during 6.05 ("Live Free Or Twihard") in a knee-jerk reaction. he doesn't do it to punish Ben, the way John presumably did whenever he beat Dean. instead he does it to keep Ben safe, because he doesn't trust himself to not give in to his bloodthirst as a newly-turned vampire who hasn't fed yet.

Dean deserved to have another chance at choosing the life he wanted to lead. he deserved to be loved and cherished by Lisa and Ben - not as a shield or a weapon, but as a lover and a fatherly figure. he was good at it, goddammit!! there was so much tender love in the way he interacted with Lisa, there was so much quiet devotion in his banter with Ben, there was so much pure affection in the snapshots of their day-to-day life we glimpsed at throughout season 6. Dean looked relaxed, safe, and happy, and it just ughhhhh makes my heart break for him that this, too, was taken away from him in the end.

i love Sam to death, and I don't think Dean was in the wrong when he dropped everything to get his little brother's soul back from Lucifer's cage. i also love Castiel as Dean's endgame, and I don't necessarily think that Lisa should've stayed Dean's love interest merely because they shared something beautiful.

but i still cried when Dean explains to Ben that he can't stay, because regardless of how coherent and in-character this turn of events was, it still hurt a lot to see Dean lose one of the very few safe places he's ever had. it hurt that he's lost perhaps the first people (other than Sam and Bobby) that have truly loved him regardless of whether he's a good hunter or has good looks. it still hurt a lot that Dean had to lose the home he'd wrestled with himself to build, and it still hurt a lot that regardless of how hard he's tried, regardless of how much he's already given up for the sake of a family business he never chose for himself..., regardless of how deserving he was of something better, he was forced to watch it slowly crumble down.

[zaceouiswriting]

The new guy next door (4)

Characters: Theo Raeken x male reader, Isaac x male reader (Mostly mentioned after the beginning)

Universe: Somewhere in Teen Wolf

Warnings: Death, cheating, domestic violence

As the days and weeks passed, the familial feeling only grew. You constantly teased and bickered, and your hands often wandered over each other's clothes. The initial bad feeling about your actions had almost disappeared.

But one day, everything changed: you heard screaming while preparing dinner and burst through Theo's front door. You knew immediately that Isaac was back because his car was parked in the driveway.

With wide eyes and a heavy feeling in your stomach, you slowly descended the path to your home for the first time since the water pipes busted. The closer you got, the louder the screaming became, but it was one-sided. You only heard Isaac screaming while Theo tried to explain, but Isaac kept interrupting him.

You knocked on the open front door to get their attention. It didn't take long before you succeeded, but not in the way you had hoped. Isaac stormed back and grabbed you by the collar without saying a word to you.

“What the fuck is this?” he screamed in your face.

Carefully, you placed your hands on his chest, but that was enough to slam you against the door, forcing the air out of your lungs and a strangled moan from your mouth.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Theo angry, his fists clenched at his sides, but you raised your hand to hold him back.

“Isaac, please” – you breathe heavily – “Let’s talk about it… It’s not what it seems!”

"Fuck that!" He slammed you against the door again. "What is this guy doing in my house?"

Something snapped inside you when you heard him call it "his" house. For the first time, you actually felt anger toward Isaac. Before you knew it, your hand was burning, and the sound of skin slapping against skin echoed in your ears.

Isaac stumbled backward, his eyes wide with shock, his hand on his already flushing cheek.

"I'm so sick of your behavior, Isaac!" Your voice deepened, sounding almost threatening. "Whenever you grace me with your presence, you act like a king, something a mere peasant like me should be honored to see, but the truth is, your income is pitiful; you couldn't even dream of owning a house!" Your words were like verbal blows, hitting their target. "This is my property, inherited from my grandparents before our wedding, and I paid for the extensive renovations. So don't you dare claim this house as yours!"

In the end, you dug your finger into his chest, flames of injustice blazing in your eyes. You were obviously fed up with his nonsense, and even Isaac was stunned, unaware that such a fire burned within you. But Theo? He licked his lips lasciviously, as if the scene had affected him in a way that you only noticed out of the corner of your eye, barely outside of Isaac's field of vision.

"And for your information, Isaac, the pipes burst, flooding the house, and Theo, unlike you, got to work immediately and is currently fixing everything he can! So, if you want to play the big homeowner, you'll pay him," you hissed at him. "Theo, what's a quote for everything?"

There was silence for a moment, and Theo's face twisted thoughtfully. "All in all, about 20-30k. And that's quite a discount."

When you saw your husband's face, you knew he didn't have enough money for that. "We can both be grateful that he not only offered me to live with him for the time being but also didn't ask for any money, just for me to cook him food," you told him rather heatedly. "He's a good, thoughtful man and neighbor, Isaac. Unlike a certain husband who's never home and, despite working harder than a mule, doesn't really earn much more!"

When you started screaming, Isaac shrank, his eyes filling with tears. You knew what he'd been through and that the trauma his father had inflicted on him was still fresh even after all these years, but you couldn't bring yourself to truly care. You'd been over him for a while, but the last few weeks with Theo opened his eyes to the neglect you were experiencing.

“Either you reduce your working hours to regular hours, terminate the lease on your small apartment in the city, or I’ll divorce you!” 

When the ultimatum finally left your lips, it felt like a thousand stones had been lifted from your shoulders because you had been carrying it around with you for so long that it felt too good to be true.

Isaac stood there stunned, too perplexed to speak. He obviously hadn't seen it coming and was probably too convinced that your blind love would surpass everything he'd done to you, but even your patience clearly had its limits.

"You have one week, Isaac. If you decide to work the way you were, you never have to come back to my house, because I'll call my lawyer first thing Monday morning. And if you decide to work the way you had in the first years of our marriage, we'll go to couples counseling!"

Without another word, you slipped past him and returned to Theo's house, but instead of slamming the door, you slowly closed it again because it wasn't your home.

You had no idea what Isaac and Theo had talked about, but Isaac came to Theo's house and knocked on the door. When you opened it, Isaac was pale, his head drooping, his shoulders hunched so low that you feared something had happened. But Isaac apologized. Tears even welled up in his eyes, begging for a second chance.

Hearing his wish to reconnect, your heart skipped a beat, though not in the same way it did when you first got together or married. Your thoughts quickly turned to Theo. As you remembered Theo's warm personality, his caring nature, and most of all, his attentiveness—along with his Greek god-like body, of course—your cheeks began to glow.

Despite your longing, your husband stood before you, seemingly believing your reaction was directed at him. A smile played around the corners of his mouth; it seemed almost wicked in your imagination, but that couldn't be right, could it?

Without hesitation, you let him in. You led him into the living room, where you talked for hours. But the spark had died. He came to his senses too late. But you didn't want to give up and offered him one last chance.

Everything seemed to be working for the first few days after Isaac's return. Theo mostly stayed out of your business, and Isaac helped Theo with the repairs to your home. But then the weekend came. Friday afternoon, he announced he was going into town, terminating his lease, and talking to his boss. You were skeptical but hoped for the best.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Theo looking out a window of your house, glaring disapprovingly at Isaac, as if he knew something. You should have asked him, but you didn't, wanting to hope that the love you once had for your husband would return.

When Theo came an hour later, he told you he had to quickly pick something up from town. It made you feel strange, since Isaac hadn't been gone for long.

You waited in limbo, feeling as if you were falling into an endless abyss of self-doubt and growing despair.

It wasn't until Theo returned toward evening with a grim expression that your world collapsed. He simply ordered you to sit down, and although you were confused, you did as he said. Without saying a word, he put down a few pictures and his phone. At first, you were confused, but then you looked at them—really looked at them.

Your heart shattered, but you didn't want to believe it. "That's Vanessa," you said, your voice breaking. "She's just a colleague of Isaac's." You tried to smile to hide the pain in your soul.

With a blank expression, you smiled at Theo, wishing he would agree and that what you had seen was nothing more than a bad joke. However, Theo remained silent. Instead, he flipped through the gallery of hundreds of pictures of Isaac and Vanessa. Then, he came across a video—one that couldn't possibly be swept under the rug.

"I followed Isaac into town. But I took these photos by chance a few weeks ago," he admitted sheepishly. "Do you remember when I had to pick up some stuff to dry your place? Since then, I've been wrestling with myself about whether or not to tell you. But I didn't know if you had some kind of... you know, open relationship or something? Even though I like being exclusive, the world is kind of strange these days." He lowers his head in shame. "I didn't want to assume anything."

“Why are you doing this to me?” you ask, tears streaming from your reddened cheeks.

There was a long moment of silence until Theo let out a deep sigh.

"Because you deserve better," Theo suddenly replied, his gaze intense. "A man who knows what he has in you and who will stay faithful to you until the end!" His eyes softened; you could see he wanted to get closer, but your emotions were too raw.

That was the final blow; you started bawling your eyes out until you couldn't breathe anymore.

Theo calmed you down enough to sit alone on the couch, snuggled under blankets, and with a bowl of ice cream in your hand, watching movies that actually had happy endings.

A few minutes later, Theo opened the door with two police officers behind him. Fear coursed through you, but before you could comprehend anything, the police officers took off their hats. "Are you (Y/N) Lahey?" The older of the officers asked you. As you nodded, his gaze dropped. "We regret to inform you that there had been an accident, and your husband, Isaac Lahey, did not survive. Neither did his passenger, Vanessa Martinez.“

Dry sobs erupted from you, having already cried out. "How could this happen?" you heard yourself ask, even though it shouldn't matter since you'd just found out he'd cheated on you.

"As far as we can see, it was a complete accident, sir," the younger officer announced. "We'll check the car according to protocol, but it seemed like they were..." He looked at his partner and nodded. "The passenger was somewhat at fault, as she distracted the driver with... a certain service."

You could see how uncomfortable he felt.

"I understand," you said, showing him the pictures. "I've known for about half an hour that he cheated on me, so I'm grateful you confirmed it."

Suddenly, tears rolled down your cheeks without you even noticing it. The younger officer immediately became soft, handing you a tissue they carried for moments like these.

“Please excuse my lack of emotion, but this is all a bit too much for me right now.”

The older officer immediately stepped in and calmed you down. He told you he understood the turmoil, and the hurt look in his eyes made you believe he did.

You nodded slightly. "Is there anything else?" The officers shook their heads. "Then I'd appreciate it if you could leave now," you smiled weakly, speaking quietly. "I'd rather collapse when I don't have an audience."

The officers agreed to leave. They expressed their condolences once again as they stepped toward the front door. After leaving the house, they spoke briefly with Theo on the porch, only to hear a loud wailing coming from the house: bloodcurdling cries.

[Masterlist]

[ruins-of-tragedy]

I think the hot-headed part has some merit, even if it started off as a label imposed on Yang. A distinction should be made though. She is easy to irritate mostly during combat. And more often than not, it works at her own expense.

Yang strikes me as the kind to feel her emotions covertly. Buried under responsibilities both her own and that of others. There are not many people she can share her entire self with. Her true thoughts, emotions, what have you.

Her being quick to anger when fighting, as a result of simmering tensions within, makes sense to me hence. It's akin to a coping mechanism. Gives her an outlet for all the stuff she keeps locked in. Helps with her semblance 'cause the temper seems to enhance the oomph of her attacks against folks like Junior.

Am more sure of this since by the time V3 rolls around, the only major bits of information we know about her ranges from Ruby being her sibling, how her semblance operates, and the story she shared with Blake about their childhood (Honestly, this is an extremely significant step for Yang).

Her other qualities, we as the audience glean from her interactions with the rest. Even there, she is probably the most tame member of RWBY. (I still remember feeling a little frustrated 'cause Yang didn't have a lot of exposition. That makes sense to me from the point of view of her plot now.)

After V4, and this is even more noticeable following Team RWBY's reunion in V5, Yang is more open about her irritation and has small outbursts. Some of them are misdirected and uncalled for, like the remarks she throws at Maria, but I assumed that was her trying to let herself be present and just feel.

I view Yang in the earlier volumes to be the hyper independent kid who doesn't rely a whole lot on others unless there's no way out. People taking on this much need some manner of equilibrium and Yang achieves it via bursts of rage during combat. Not the most efficient method, for her mental health or physical, but it helps.

Though I adore the fact she never unsheathes her wrath on others outside of a fight, her head clouded by ire during one is a disadvantage to herself. Makes her more susceptible to taunts and manipulation. The doubles battle against Team FNKI is a good example of this. Neon twists and turns Yang like a fiddle initially.

As for the whole Tai of it all, I feel Yang being kind and loving at her core after everything has much to do with her parents. Tai, more so. He has been through A LOT. Lost not one but two people he wanted to build a life with. Yang recognising her father's pain and not holding the resulting actions against him speaks wonders on not only who she is, but also the bond they share.

I like to think when Tai isn't there, he really isn't. However, when he is, there's no doubt about it. This obviously doesn't change the ways he may have let her down. Doesn't bring back the days Tai closed in on himself. But it shouldn't also disregard his attempts before AND after Summer's disappearance, to be there for his kids.

Tai is the one integral to Yang's character arc in V4. And I feel it's because he has been there himself. Emotionally, at least.

Parents are complicated business. What matters to me is, Yang doesn't hold their past against her father. So I won't either.

EDIT: This started with OP mentioning Yang pulled herself up for Ruby. Does that mean when Tai finally came to, he did it for both Ruby and Yang? Maybe it took him longer, but am glad he got there in the end!

It's remarkable seeing this wave of posts about the messy Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen family and it's fascinating reading.

Here's a little thought I had just now though....

Yang actually did shut down after her trauma, just like Tai did.

The difference being, Ruby mattered enough to Yang to push her to fight through it.

Very interesting.