#bisexual antagonism mention //

[effypcfcwrites]

The Owl House

(Originally posted on my personal Facebook dated April 25, 2023)

This is probably the first time I'll be posting a detailed review of a piece of media that I like, so witness me sing all of my praises for this animated series from the House of Mouse, because wow, I've never been so invested in a Disney show after rewatching Gravity Falls.

For those unfamiliar, The Owl House revolves around Luz Noceda, a teenage girl who stumbles upon a portal to an alternate world called The Boiling Isles, meets a witch named Eda Clawthorne, learns magic under her tutelage and eventually enrolls in Hexside, a magic school where she makes many friends and goes on multiple adventures.

I binged this whole show in a span of weeks and even stayed up all night on my day off to finish it up to Season 3, the first 2 Seasons being on Disney+ and the latter on Disney Channel's YouTube page.

Simply put, I love it so much! I love how it reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and, dare I say, Harry Potter, which it even poked fun at, at times. Well-deserved, considering J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views and HP’s underlying anti-Semitic undertones.

I loved the pop culture references to Thor: Ragnarok, Howl's Moving Castle, Metal Gear Solid, and even Hades, among many others! I thought those were very clever and funny, and just a treat for fellow nerds, geeks, and fans of fantasy stories, anime, and video games.

I love the LGBTQ+ representation all throughout the show, which was such a bold move considering Disney’s iffy stance on the subject. None of them were antagonized for it, and it was treated as something normalized in both the Human and Demon Realms. The show featured 2 gay dads, non-binary and aromantic-asexual characters, and one of the internet’s favorite sapphic/WLW couples Lumity, which is the ship consisting of canonically bisexual Luz and implied lesbian Amity Blight, whose rivals-to-friends-to-lovers relationship was just so wholesome, so natural, and very healthy, considering they're both teenagers. Suprisingly, there was very little melodrama, not once were they petty towards one another whenever either party did something wrong, and they never got tired of showing affection towards each other. I found myself shamelessly gushing over how cute, adorable, and supportive they were together, and tearing up a lot during key moments of their relationship, especially when they both found themselves in dire straits as the story progressed.

I love the writing and the character development of them all! None of them felt static, they all grew throughout the series, maturing, getting better, and healing from their own insecurities, trauma, and guilt. The humor and comedic timing was a nice touch, and I was really taken aback by how S2 ended on such a dark cliffhanger with all stakes raised to the roof, similar to A:TLA S2 and The Empire Strikes Back, as mentioned earlier. That season wasn’t afraid to have such a grim ending, with such a great payoff by the end of S3 which is worth celebrating.

I love the animation and art style, which blended colorful and whimsical with eerie and ominous in just the right amounts. As a sucker for animated movies and series such as Adventure Time, The Prince of Egypt, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it was just such a delight watching it.

I love the overarching message of the show, which is to be truly yourself, to embrace your quirks, and never to limit yourself and your potential based on what the majority of society and the powers-that-be expect from you. All throughout, you’ll find the characters challenging pre-established norms and roles, and it’s just so satisfying seeing them all win.

11/10 top-tier show. Don’t @ me, it’s hard for me to find something I disliked about the series. It's definitely a must-watch, especially if you're sick and tired of all the bleak nihilism of modern adult animation, and you just want to baby your inner child and escape to a whimsical fantasy world with characters you can all relate to. Betting my bottom peso you'll all be hooked, like I was.

[nevermore-grimes]

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐲 💄

Dividers by @cafekitsune

Role(s): Primpara Age: 34 Pronouns: She/her Species: Human Birthplace: Earth Sexuality: Bisexual

More Info

TW: Brief mention of rape

When Giffany and Nevermore first met, she was a total bitch. She actually stole Nevermore’s first boyfriend, lmaooo!

And then during their second meeting, she flirted with Loki in front of her to distract her from the real trouble she was brewing. (She tried to kill Nevermore that same visit, but Aerith absolutely rocked her shit, lmaooo!)

But, after The Grandmaster broke up with her during The War Saga (dating a gay man kinda sounds like a skill issue, lowkey), Giffany left the side of evil and attempted to strand herself on Ego (the planet where the war is taking place).

Nevermore found her in this miserable state and laughed it off, but something in her genuinely felt bad for her heartbreak (and also Aerith was being too good of an influence on her big sister, I guess), so she went back to take Giffany back to the Avengers as a rescued civilian.

Fury had other plans for her, though, so she started training as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent instead (and she’s actually made a lot of progress really quickly!).

When she first joined the team, Giffany and Nevermore fell right back into their rivalry. But, one day, Nevermore overheard another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent antagonizing Giffany and saying that “with what she was wearing, she was asking for it”.

Nevermore turned around and beat the shit out of him (a quick nod to her “Justice Incarnate” days), risking her job and her status as Peter’s guardian in the process. But, when questioned as to why she attacked him, she refused to respond out of respect for Giffany’s privacy.

Realizing the gravity of Nevermore’s situation, Giffany finally came forward and admitted what had happened to her. So, Nevermore faced minimal consequences for the fight, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was fired for disorderly conduct (not to mention causing physical, mental, and emotional harm to a colleague, but I digress…).

After this harrowing experience, the girls began to get along a little more often, and slowly became friends.

[bigtimedaddy111]

I had asked you what happened in LO that had you so upset this time 🤣 it was like a month ago though, I think. So whatever happened a month ago

Take a seat, cause I got A LOT to say.

My god, more like what didn’t it do. I make sure to scrub my webtoon of anything relating to Lore Olympus, and sometimes I like to re-read it to piss myself off and by god does it work without fail every time.

First off, I feel the need to address the most obvious one, Persephone, Hades and Demeter. In the comic, Persephone and Hades’ relationship is often called out for the romanticization of grooming, while also using rape as nothing more than an unnecessary plot device at the hands of a god that never even touched her in the og, to which the author, Rachel, doesn’t even do a proper job of bringing justice to. Persephone is so weak in the comic, which I know is a strong word to use, but there is quite literally no other way I can think to put it, while also at the same time being the definition of a mary sue. And then the obvious antagonistic Demeter, aka the grieving mother whose feelings and actions were 100% valid.

Not to mention the lack of proper lgbt representation. I remember reading it, and thinking about all the couples that could have been mentioned, but then Rachel up and left them out, and instead decided to make Hestia and Athena a couple, Athena being made with a more masc presenting design which I honest to god mistook as a man at first. Speaking of antagonizing gods, APOLLO. I know he may not be the most popular Olympian, which I blame for this comic in particular because of the large influence it has. I have always been an Apollo and Ares girly.

Rachel not only erased his bisexuality, along with other gods like Hermes, but Ares doesn’t seem to fond of women to me, which never made sense considering that he constantly aided and respected women all throughout his myths.

I don’t even know what she’s going to do with Patrochilles now that Achilles was just introduced.

I

Hate

This

Fucking

Comic

[flashbic]

do 2 + 12 for le lorrain pls 🥺✌️ good morning

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That he's 100% one of the good guys but ALSO that he's allowed to be a bit of a jerk! I love that while he says he regrets what he did to Falconi, just a few hours earlier he's right there, literally taunting him about it and being a dick. We know he still lies to ladies for attention! Despite how well that went the one time! In that other ep his dad is literally asking for his help, and sure he wants to help, but he was actually still going to say no before Cartouche stopped him because he was more focused on keeping his identity as a Cartouchien secret.

He's a nice, smart guy, and he comes off as smooth so it's not as easy to notice, but you kinda get the impression that he hasn't completely lost the asshole vibes! And i think that makes for a fun character!

(special mention to the one bit where he walks next to Demachault and messes up his wig Just For Funsies, it's so gratuitous and i just think it's funny ok)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Bisexual le Lorrain REAL. I like the idea that those aren't feelings he ever really did anything about, because ultimately he likes flirting with ladies a whole lot and that's enough for him… but maybe he had some confused feelings for his bestie Cartouche for a little bit, and maybe that's part of what made him tag along when they first met.

In general i don't really consider that orientation as something that would've influenced the way he treated Falconi back when they were rivals; for the most part i like to think that he saw that relationship more as competition initially, and that things turned sour because he couldn't stand having someone he thought of as beneath him beating him at anything. Also i see him typically being more attracted to people who are outgoing, funny and talkative, and Falconi being generally none of those things wouldn’t have helped asdfjgk (the fun point being that maybe Falconi could've been a little bit more like that if he hadn't felt like people were constantly antagonizing him)

My other headcanon is that he’s a single child ans is absolutely a mama’s boy <3 She taught him music (canon!) and maybe spoiled him a little too much.

[fierrochase-falafel]

Guanyin temple thoughts (AKA nothing can stop a dramatic bisexual)- spoilers!

I'm reading the Guanyin temple scene in MDZS at the moment and LORD none of the media censoring Wangxian's gay relationship will ever be able to convey just how much Jin Guangyao got upstaged by them here-!!!

Especially comparing this whole fiasco with the one that went down in CQL, every few lines these 2 are doing SOMETHING really gay, usually also really funny because of the timing, while everyone else is paying attention to the plot. In CQL, this whole arc felt like a culmination to Jin Guangyao's and Lan Xichen's subliminally gay plotline more than anything, but the great thing about the novel is that Wei Wuxian especially just keeps stealing Jin Guangyao's thunder. First they have to deal with Wei Wuxian's obliviousness, then Wei Wuxian confesses, then Wangxian have their really sweet moment and spend every moment hereafter making their gayness known to all in a 5 mile radius (case in point: Wei Wuxian taunting Su She and making Lan Wangji laugh, Wangxian hugging and being super loud about it because of Wei Wuxian's trauma-induced cynophobia and then Wei Wuxian covering Lan Wangji's ears from the wrongly-played guqin)...and THEN Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have THEIR moment while Jin Guangyao is discovering his mother's body is missing. Jin Guangyao's antagonism almost means nothing anymore.

Not to mention, Jin Guangyao is barely an antagonist for over half of this entire scenario. Even though he's keeping them all hostage, it's not like some of them have better things to be doing really (read: Wangxian and Nie Huaisang). All the catharsis they'd desperately needed for years, they're getting that here anyways. Jin Guangyao literally joins in on getting Wei Wuxian to realise his feelings, almost like it's a casual gossip sesh giving life advice to your (gay) sworn brother's son-in-law-to-be:

Wei WuXian glanced at him before turning to Lan XiChen, “It’s like this. I couldn’t sleep tonight and took a stroll outside the inn. I only came here accidentally. HanGuang-Jun’s in another room. He doesn’t know I went out.”

Jin GuangYao found this strange, “You two got two rooms?”

Wei WuXian, “Who told you we’d definitely get one room?

Jin GuangYao smiled, but said nothing. Wei WuXian, “Oh, I know.” Lan XiChen told him. Wei WuXian, “You two really do talk about anything and everything.”

This does NOT feel like a hostage situation- this just feels like a gathering of people who would be happier with extensive therapy. And...I have nothing useful to say really. I just think this is really funny. Especially when you consider how Wangxian's presence in the farce that was the Second Seige of the Burial Mounds (that legit just happened) derailed how THAT was supposed to go too, with Wei Wuxian solving the mystery of the gravedigger guy in live-time while Lan Wangji silenced anyone trying to argue with his bf.

Jin Guangyao and Su She are being sidelined hard in their own plot, and not just by the oriole to their mantis AKA mastermind Nie Huiasang. Even though they are supposed to be the main antagonists facing a climax, the real climax is the resolution of emotional conflict between the hostages they've taken. As for their fate, that was decided years ago when Jin Guangyao accelerated Nie Mingjue's death. The actual plot, interesting as it is, was barely ever in question because of the constant background presence of this mastermind, who's trapped Jin Guangyao exactly where he wanted to. There is no real defeating of the villain, because Jin Guangyao is made to be at his weakest in the temple, and his strongest before Wei Wuxian was even summoned back yet. It's so strange...it really sets in stone that in the novel MDZS, there is no real villain. There are people who learn from their mistakes, people who don't, and people who judge them as if they're any better. Nie Huiasang is Jin Guangyao's retribution for his continued crimes and Wei Wuxian is the person Jin Guangyao could've been if he stopped blaming others for said crimes...both of them, subtly or unsubtly, dominate his hostage attempt completely. Maybe that's what I'm really trying to say here. I do feel quite bad for Jin Guangyao though, having put his entire life into building up a reputation knocked over in 1 fell swoop, and having to watch his only true remaining friend lose trust in him in real time. All this additional conflict just further emphasises how Jin Guangyao's fall from grace has really already occurred.

Sidenote: Everyone becoming homophobic effective immediately after Wei Wuxian's ill-timed confession is also just really funny, they were so mad at his obliviousness like 2 seconds ago and now they're edging away from him (maybe to give them space, sure, but still)...Wei Wuxian, in all matters, is the epitome of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". Except for Jiang Cheng, in which case he's just straight-up damned (/lh).

Also the way they're yelling (it doesn't say they were yelling but I picture them yelling this) about hugging when Jiang Cheng shows up and while everyone else is like, "What's Sect Leader Jiang going to do? Will he beat Jin Guangyao? Will the plot advance?"

Wei WuXian, “Hug me!”

Lan WangJi, “I am hugging you!”

Wei WuXian, again, “Hug me tight!”

Lan WangJi, also, “I am hugging you tight!”

Managed to upstage not just Jin Guangyao but Jiang Cheng too, effortlessly, as Wei Wuxian always seems to :,) Take that, Jiang Cheng's pride! /lh

These guys have been separated for 13 years, ok? They deserve to have this.

[hislittleraincloud]

"You love me," she leaned her lips to his ear, planting a gentle kiss against his sideburn. She caressed her little fingers up and down his neck after loosening her grip on his jacket.

"Wednesday — "

"You do. I know you do."

-- More Than One String to Her Woe, Part 2

While I continue to piece together a coherent Part 2, here are some fun facts about Afterburn Wednesday (some you know, some you don't):

She is hypersexual. Back in ye olden dayes of my youth, she would have been called a nymphomaniac. She was (before Donovan) a chronic masturbator. Her parents furnish her with whatever toys she wants since they don't want her stealing theirs, but up until Donovan she never bothered with inserting anything thicker than her fingers. Her vibe collection is amazing. At this point in the story, she is addicted to Donovan and his 🍆. He's all she wants, and she has a million and one reasons why she is attracted to him.

She loves it when he calls her 'doll', but hasn't come up with a consistent nickname for him because she wants it to be as perfect as 'doll' is for her. She does love to tease him by calling him her 'dirty old man'. She has called him 'D.J.' and (of course) 'Daddy'. There are other nicknames to come as she settles into whatever terms of endearment she chooses.

She's more ✨special✨ than she is in the series. She has more powers, one that has yet to be explicitly revealed (though it's been heavily implied).

Donovan actually teases her a lot, and that's what tends to lead to her ravaging him. He'll tease her about something like her height (lots of Wizard of Oz jokes...which is apropos since he has referred to her as a little munchkin to her face), and she'll react with violence that turns into passion. The teasing is mutual, with her reciprocation focusing on his status as an old man. His reactions are unpredictable, ranging from his subdued shaking of his head to a play spank, which also turns into passion (but you can bet that Wednesday deliberately antagonizes him in order to receive that reaction...it turns her on to antagonize him). All acts of 'violence' between the two during their efforts to get a rise out of each other lead to affection, regardless. See: The fact that she still gets her 🍆 after being thwarted at the end of Chapter 5. She really enjoyed that sink fuck.

She is not without her disagreements with him on certain issues. (I'll probably cover that soon-ish in the text.) But they are few and far between, and none are deal-breakers.

She likes animals in general (AB Wednesday is consistent with N/C Wednesday's "I've hibernated with grizzlies", taking it to be truthful), but loves foxes. 🦊 While she does taxidermy, she still has respect for their lives and their sacrifices. She's a carnivore, like the plants she loves.

She is self-conscious about her singing, which is the main reason why she blew the Pitch Slaps audition. She's not great, but she's good enough that she can hold a tune once she's practiced. She has sung for Donovan.

Afterburn Wednesday is heterosexual, but if she were bisexual, she would find Bianca and Yoko attractive, because to her they look like women (not girls); her older age preference extends to women. Enid and Divina are too 'cute' for her taste (not to mention that ABW can't stand anything Enid likes, and Divina doesn't like her much anyway...plus the Divina/Kent thing weirds even Wednesday out, since she can't fathom sleeping with her own brother 😬).

Story-wise, AB Wednesday spends the 2022 holidays in and around Jericho. 👀 (Oh my, and how will I swing that? Easily, because it's AB Wednesday and she gets what she fucking wants. 💀)

I can't do an Afterburn Donovan until the main chapters are done, since we're finding out more about him through the text. 🥹

[kissedashes]

~ * 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙜?

NAME: Foster Underwood

AGE: Thirty

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Male, He/Him

FACE CLAIM: Joseph Quinn

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

EYE COLOR: Brown

HAIR COLOR: Brown

HEIGHT: 6'0"

DATE OF BIRTH: July 22nd, 1990 ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus  

LEVEL OF EDUCATION: High school freshman drop-out

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION:None

OCCUPATION: Drummer for Velvet Concord

HOMETOWN: Macon, Georgia

POSITIVE TRAITS: Loving, opened, nonjudgmental, adventurous.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Careless, indecisive, impulsive, aloof

~ * 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚

tw: gambling addiction, physical abuse

Dirt poor. That was what Foster Underwood was growing up - and he never could seem to get that identifier away from him. Growing up in a town like Macon, where the most glamor was going to the local gas station to pick up an icee, Foster and his family could barely afford shoes. Foster was the youngest brother and boy of a family with six boys - and it was the loudest trailer park in the entire park. Combined with his parents fighting, his rowdy aunts and uncles coming over from their trailer with their screaming babies - it was safe to say that Foster was okay with loud noises ever since he could remember. He was always the comedian in his family, always willing to make his family laugh whenever there was too much going on. His mother in particular always needed a good laugh, seeing as she struggled with lupus and she needed all the distraction that she needed. When that wasn't good enough - music was what made his mother happy. He wasn't the best singer, but he loved music too - old tapes of The Cure, the Kinks, Radiohead, Blondie - they were always his mother's favorite. Music was always the way Foster dealt with his life, his hard time at school due to his own learning disability, the crowded tiny trailer park and not to mention, his father's drunken antics. When all of his brothers had left the trailer, moved into their own and whatnot and it was just Foster, his mother and him - Foster would antagonize his father so that he wouldn't hit his mother. It worked - but it hurt like hell.

All of his bad luck changed, however, the day he came across an old set of drums in the garbage. He was skateboarding and there they were - not too badly damaged whatsoever. Foster took them back to the trailer, showing them off to his mom as he kicked around with a few bangs and suddenly - it was like something had clicked. The power he felt with the sticks in his hands, the way that this could be his voice and his loud voice roaring over his chaotic family, his abusive father - everyone - it was powerful to say the least. There was nothing that held Foster back and he practiced on those old drums all night and all day - the rumblings of the trailer park having to listen to his noise for once. He learned from Metallica, ACDC, Pink Floyd - all of the greats and he couldn't get enough. Soon, as he entered his freshman year of high school, Foster had gone to some basement party to play some drums with a local band and a friend of his cousin was there. Little did Foster know, his friend's cousin's father worked in Los Angeles, connected to a few music acts and like that, it was magic.

Foster went over, a few towns over, to an expensive house, a beach house that belonged to his friend's cousin. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, and the music producers that were there looked him up and down. With ratty shoes, holes in his band tee shirt and ripped jeans, he was certainly no heart throb, but there was something endearing about him - something effortless. He picked up the sticks for his drums and like the producers always said - the rest was history. It wasn't long that Foster dropped out of a high school - no great loss there, and was told to move to Los Angeles where his manager could sign him and put him up. It was hard to leave his mother, but she made him promise to go - to enjoy himself and remember where you came from. Foster did exactly that, and the country boy was off to Los Angeles where soon enough, there was a rock band that needed a drummer. The boys in the band were known as Velvet Concord and Foster liked their sound.

Again - the rest was history.

Fame was unlike any kind of drug that he had ever experienced. Foster had done coke, weed, some pills here and there - but fame? Fame was like nothing else - and money was the ultimate thing. The piles of money that he had now - it was unlike anything he had ever seen and the world of Los Angeles was a snake slithering. He was intoxicated by it all - while his other bandmates were into the drugs, the girls - Foster was all for the money. He bought new cars, a new fancy house, new clothes - it was a life he had never knew he could have. With that, came with his own issues - his gambling. Gambling and getting more money at expensive casinos was something that triggered something in him - the thrill, the impulse. Soon enough, he was gambling every single night after a shower and everyone knew he was. They would open doors for him, open entrance, but it wasn't long until his finances took a hit.

His band had to stage an intervention for him - and send him to rehab. Foster still never thought he had a problem, but the gold that he had turned to rot, turned to ashes in his mouth. He is back with the band, but Foster is not the same little boy from Macon, Georgia anymore - he wants the money, the fame, like a hungry monster. Still sweet, still overall a good man - but with the lights and fame and gold of Hollywood always in his eyes.

[oceantoast-writes]

I really like these questions, so I wanted to take the time to answer them! 

1. Favorite line: 

I think this is really hard to narrow down but I love some of the lines that characters say before getting their awakening cutscenes like Ryuji’s “Stop looking down on me with that stupid smile on your face!” and and Sumire’s “You’re telling me I’m not cutting it? As if I don’t know that better than anyone!” 

I also really love both the engine room scene and Yusuke’s awakening so so much 

Least Favorite: 

My least favorite scene is probably Morgana’s argument with the thieves and the subsequent scene in Mementos with him. It’s such petty drama that could have been resolved 5 times over before that point because the phantom thieves ask him to tell them what’s wrong several times before he runs off. Not to mention that it makes Haru look....kinda stupid given that she tells the phantom thieves that she cannot join them because they aren’t helping Morgana when Morgana is repeatedly and outwardly antagonizing them every time they try to meet him halfway 

2. Favorite Character: I think Goro is one of my characters of all time but I’m also very partial to Sumire and Yusuke. I like most the Phantom Thieves ^^

Least Favorite: Makoto or Mishima for sure. Makoto for being a cop but Mishima just commits the cardinal sin of character that is so deeply annoying 

3. Absolutely 

4. I haven’t paused the game but I will let the menus sit open to hear him make his little anime boy noises 

5. I think despite being bisexual Ann gets the most women, but if we’re talking who I think is exclusively attracted to their same gender it’s Futaba because everyone else is bi to me 

6. I did! Her scenes in the third semester brought me very close to crying

7. Favorite: most Akechi, Akira or Ann ships 

Least favorite: I like Shuake but I’m gonna say shuake because a lot of shuake fans make the entire game about the ship which spoils it for me. I’m also gonna say Shutaba, Shumako and Yutaba

8. Best Phantom thief outfit is a tie between Sumire and Yusuke for me! They’re both exuding gender 

Worst: Makoto’s, it’s def an eyesore

9. I think it’s not that Haru had too little screentime it’s that her introduction was entirely overshadowed by Morgana (who’s arc was bad) and then she wasn’t developed much beyond her relationship with her dad after that 

10. Favorite social link is probably a tie between Haru, Yusuke and Futaba’s, all really solid character arcs that are explored with a so much depth they could probably make a visual novel of each independent arc 

Least favorite: Hot take...Akechi’s because on their own it’s mismatched scenes and the game itself is really where the meat of his arc is, and Makoto’s for having the whole thing support her profiling someone and then being a cop. Ohya too for being all tell and no show 

11. Best Confidant: Tie between Hifumi and Iwai 

Worst: Ohya or Mishima 

12. I have a big preference for Royal for having an overall tighter story and making Akechi a manual confidant, really adds to his main plot even if I think that on its own his social link is just okay 

13. Yes for sure

14. The entire Kaneshiro arc. It’s only there to put Makoto on the team and literally nothing would change if Kaneshiro was a shadow in mementos 

15: Best line: I really love most of the royal trio’s dialog, as well as Maruki’s. One of Maruki’s lines that most sticks out to me is “I must have always been afraid that you and I wouldn’t wish for the same reality” 

Worst: Literally all of the dialog in the okumura arc. They would not fucking say that 

16. Akira. I don’t care if Ren is the name that Atlus picked, this man is Akira to me 

17. Best Palace: Madarame, Sae, Shido and Maruki are all tied for me 

Worst: I think the Okumura arc sucks but honestly the spaceship being a monument to greed is pretty cool! The worst palace is probably Kaneshiro’s for being just kinda unimaginative and boring 

18. Best Palace theme: Gentle Madman, Ark, Price and the alternate version of A Woman are all pretty great to me 

Worst: Sweatshop, Days When Mother Was There

19. So fucking gay there’s no way to describe it 

20. I do, but I ship most the girls Ann interacts with with her so take that with a grain of salt lol

21. It was so so good! I love how he takes similar actions to the Phantom Thieves and puts their actions in a legit moral gray because if what he’s doing negates the free will of others and the thieves have regarded that as a bad thing...what does that say about them? 

22. Yes absolutely

23. I think that the one thing he wanted more than anything was to be loved, so perhaps that’s why he has the princely persona in the bad ending because he believes so deeply that nobody will love him as he is

24. Mostly just to confuse the hell out of joker 

25. I don’t think she did other than getting kind of relegated to the background as often happens with the addition of new phantom thieves 

Reply to this post/message me your answers to any of the following:

Favorite and least favorite moment/scene/line from the game

Favorite and least favorite character from the game

If you think Xander Mobus gave Joker a hot voice or not

If you ever paused the screen just to listen to said voice (🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️)

Who you think is the gayest member of the Phantom Thieves

If you enjoyed Sumire’s inclusion or not

Favorite and least favorite ship(s) in the fandom

Who you think has the best and worst Phantom Thief outfit

If you think Haru had too little screen time and if she deserved more

Favorite and least favorite Social link

Best and worst Confidant (outside of the PTs, Akechi, and Sumire)

If you prefer Royal or Vanilla

If you think Joker was given a personality or not

Most useless scene/aspect of the game

Worst and best line

Which canon name you prefer for Joker

Best and worst Palace

Best and worst Palace theme

If Joker and Akechi’s interactions feel gay or nah

If you think Ann is gay for Shiho

Opinion on Maruki’s character (if his inclusion was done well or not, his status as a antagonist, etc)

Whether Joker was right to break his friends free of their perfect realities

What you think Akechi’s perfect reality would look like (unless he’s too jaded to have anything of the sort)

How the hell Maruki knew Morgana wanted to be human (this one’s mainly a joke lol but feel free to answer anyway)

If you feel like Ann’s character significantly changed after the first two arcs (this one is especially important to me because I feel like she did but I wanna hear y’all’s thoughts. I still love her, though).

[posi-pan]

I don't know if you will answer anymore asks about Loki but I just wanted to let you know that the Thrillist posted a article interview with Kate Herron. Where she acknowledges Loki is written as both bi and pan in the comic books. Which hearing this makes me very happy as a bi/pan person

well, would ya look at that. all the harassment and panphobia that i've been dealing with over saying loki has been labeled bi and pan, and the ultimate source they've been using as proof of loki only being bi fucking said the same exact thing i did. incredible.

Thrillist: Loki is confirmed bi for the first time in the MCU. It's a huge step forward for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I know you tweeted about how important it was to you. How did it come about? Kate Herron: I thought the writers wrote it in really beautifully. It's a small step in the sense that it's just he's talking about it, but then, see, it's a big step because people online have been like, "This is massive for me. This helped me come out," or, "In the country I'm from, this is huge." I was like, "OK, that's great." It was just nice because in the comic books, he's been written as bi. He's also being written as pan, and I think, for me, it was just getting to acknowledge his identity in that sense because it does build a part of who someone is. I just thought, "Well, it's canon in the comics, so if we can find a way to do it, that can work within our story." [x]

i'm glad this makes you happy! i hope every bi/pan person who was feeling bad and torn and erased due to people debating and being assholes over loki's "true" sexuality feels better hearing this.

[aroworlds]

The Vampire Conundrum, Part One

When Rowan Ross is pressured into placing an aromantic pride mug on his desk, he doesn't know how to react when his co-workers don't notice it. Don't they realise he spent a weekend rehearsing answers for questions unasked? Then again, if nobody knows what aromanticism is, can't he display a growing collection of pride merch without a repeat of his coming out as trans? Be visible with impunity through their ignorance?

He can endure their thinking him a fan of archery, comic-book superheroes and glittery vampire movies. It's not like anyone in the office is an archer. (Are they?) But when a patch on his bag results in a massive misconception, correcting it means doing the one thing he most fears: making a scene.

After all, his name isn't Aro.

Contains: One trans, bisexual frayromantic alongside an office of well-meaning cis co-workers who think they're being supportive and inclusive.

Content Advisory: This story hinges on the way most cishet alloromantic people know nothing about aromanticism and the ways many trans-accepting cis people fail to best communicate their acceptance. In other words, expect a series of queer, trans and aro microaggressions. There are no depictions or mentions of sexual attraction beyond the words "allosexual" and "bisexual", but there are non-detailed references to Rowan's previous experiences with romance.

Length: 2, 951 words (part one of two).

Note: Posted for @aggressivelyarospec‘s AggressivelyArospectacular 2019.

What is pride merch for if not petty passive-aggression in response to allo folks’ amatonormativity?

Beset by dizzying anxiety, Rowan places a green mug, printed on one side with a five-striped flag, on his desk. Done. He exhales and takes another furtive glance around the poky ten-desk office, but only Shelby sits close and she’s too busy peering at her computer to notice him. There: mug at work! Right where people can see! He grabs his phone, snaps a quick photo to send as proof to Matt and then, before anyone can ask about the mug or Rowan’s behaviour, moves it beside his pen caddy, the handle angled to hide the stripes.

Why does he have to be this scared? Everyone knows he’s trans. Hormones aren’t yet magical enough to give Rowan cis-unquestioned masculinity; coming out felt less damaging than constant misgendering. At the same time, being trans is why he feels like to pass out from nervousness. The initial slew of queries, concerns and clarifications, followed by daily episodes of cissexism, isn’t something anyone should care to repeat!

Trans identity, after the passing of marriage equality, at least possesses the dubious state of being the new conservative-favourite punching bag. Before he sent Damien his “I accept the position, by the way I’m trans” email, few people here would have been ignorant of Rowan’s theoretical existence.

Aromanticism, by contrast, requires more than revelation: it requires conceptualisation.

He thought he was prepared, last time.

Rowan Ross, master of whiteboards and planners, came for his first day armed with a list of resources and print-outs of an article he wrote for his university’s student magazine. He’d written out answers to likely questions and rehearsed them at his mirror. He wasn’t going to have another panic attack when faced with questions he couldn’t answer. He was going to be fine.

Instead, he learnt again that one can’t prepare for all the shapes of cis ignorance.

Hesitating to mention his aromanticism because being out as trans already ramps up the difficulty of his working life shouldn’t be cowardly. Why can’t Matt see that?

He stares at the mug, dizzy. Damien may not notice the striped flag, but Shelby uses anything as an opportunity to provide unneeded reassurances. Melanie has enough enthusiastic, unrestrained curiosity for ten people!

I read that trans men bind their chests. Is it comfortable? Do you do it every day? Are you allowed to wear a bra when you don’t?

Rowan shudders. No. He’s survived her interrogations; can’t he survive this, too? He practiced a short explanatory speech, made an email-ready digital PDF booklet and packed printed versions inside his satchel. He rehearsed his responses to as many provocative and prying questions as possible, including the line I’d rather not answer that. Maybe it won’t be as bad, this time! Maybe they won’t notice immediately, giving him more time to prepare and anticipate. Melanie doesn’t come back until next month; perhaps this mug, so bright and green, will pass unremarked until then.

Does the want to return it to his bag make Matt right?

Rowan touches the handle for luck and wonders if this will go better should someone not Melanie ask first.

***

“Good morning, everyone!” Melanie breezes through the office in an aura of floral-with-vanilla perfume, making a beeline for Rowan’s desk. She’s small, curvy and grandmotherly-but-modern in appearance: coloured slacks and loose floral-print blouses worn with dangling gold pendants and stacks of bangles over freckle-dusted forearms. Aside from her pixie-cut grey hair, she looks to him like a walking Millers advertisement. “Rowan, can you tell me how to put the new logo in my email again? Please? I know you told me last time.”

Rowan doesn’t understand why people who send emails on a daily basis don’t take the time to learn these things, but he’s worked here long enough to accept this lack as a fundamental truth of the universe. He turns to face her, his flag mug held in his right hand. “Do you want the instruction PDF I wrote, or do you want me to just do it for you?”

A few months ago, caught up in a fit of hopefulness inspired by a new SSRI and the less-inspiring reality of being the youngest person in the office, he spent his spare time typing up Rowan Ross’s Ultimate Guide to Basic Office Computing—a guide languishing unread by anyone not Rowan.

“Just fix it for me now.” Melanie beams at him, paying his mug no attention. “Thanks, Rowan!”

What will it take for someone to notice? Pouring his coffee on their shoes? He swallows the dregs, stands and follows Melanie to her computer before setting his mug on her desk, flag facing outwards, to take up her mouse and open her email settings.

To think he worried about someone’s asking questions! Rowan didn’t consider the problem of a lack of interest, but he’s spent the last five weeks drinking from a flag mug without as much as a passing glance.

“You’re a doll, Rowan!” Melanie hesitates; Rowan holds back a sigh. Here it comes. “Wait. Is that offensive, even though there’s male dolls, like Ken? And gay men collect dolls, don’t they? But gay men like feminine things and you don’t when you’re trans-gender, do you? You’re a darling? I know! You’re a treasure.” Melanie grins, as though she didn’t make an easily-overlooked statement into a thing shaded with too many queer microaggressions for one bi trans man to untangle, and grasps his mug. “I’ll get you some more coffee! One sugar, a dash of milk! Thank you so much!”

Her pink-painted nails and beige hands cover the flag, only a small section of black and grey visible at the edge of her pinky finger.

Maybe she’ll notice when she fills the mug.

Maybe she’ll notice when she brings it back to him.

Maybe pigs will fly and she’ll stop placing that too-long pause between “trans” and “gender”, too.

This way, there’s no need to endure alloromantic absurdity or criticism. No suffering the pain of being unable to explain or correct, given how often cis people dismiss even small gender-related requests. He did what Matt demanded; he left the mug on his desk. How is it Rowan’s fault that nobody’s knowledgeable enough to express curiosity? That he forgot to factor in the remarkable cishet tendency to avoid anything suggestive of unknown queerness?

Going ignored, somehow, doesn’t feel like a victory.

***

When Rowan sees a mug online featuring a shield in aromantic colours behind a design of crossed arrows in pride colours for other aromantic-spectrum identities, he snatches one with frayromantic blues. He also buys an unneeded but matching pencil case followed by a journal covered with rows of arrows coloured in aro stripes.

If he needn’t fear curiosity or question, why not pride up his desk? At least he can gulp coffee from a frayro mug emblazoned with an aro shield every time Shelby asks him if he’s found a partner yet.

What is pride merch for if not petty passive-aggression in response to allo folks’ amatonormativity?

A fortnight later, he arranges his mugs on his desk, stashes his decorative paper clip collection in the pencil case and ponders, just for a moment, if anyone’s made a pride-themed whiteboard.

“Rowan!” Damien appears out of nowhere and claps his hand on Rowan’s shoulder. He’s a raw-boned giant of a man with an improbable ability for stealth; Rowan, cursed with a body that reacts to unknown stimuli as though lethal rather than first checking, still can’t keep himself from jumping out of his chair on Damien’s approach. “I’ve got this photo from last night I want for Facebook. Can you crop out an arm from the side for me? I just sent it to you.”

“Sure,” Rowan murmurs, once his heart stops threatening to burst from terror. “I’ll do it right now.”

“Thanks. I’ll get you a coffee.” Damien snatches up the new mug, tiny in his oversized hands. Rowan doesn’t care to imagine how much of Damien’s pay goes to custom tailoring, but his pinstripe suits are the living dapper embodiment of every How to Dress Like a Professional Man guide Rowan has read and failed to implement. “Huh. I didn’t know you were into archery. One sugar, little bit of milk?”

“Yeah. I … uh...” Rowan blinks, struggling to find an answer, but Damien heads for the hallway and the kitchenette they share with the rest of the floor. Archery? Surely none of the arrow designs are realistic enough for any archery enthusiast to regard them as an expression of interest for the sport? Not to mention the stripes?

How do cishets cultivate their air of continued obliviousness? They’ve all seen Rowan’s trans pride phone case and bi pride pin; nobody won’t have seen the rainbow flag in the news. Shouldn’t one of them catch on to the concept of pride flags?

Why complain when their ignorance is easier than their questions?

He shakes his head, opens his emails and finds the photo from yesterday’s event, complete with a stray arm on one side and a half an empty chair on the other. He crops out the arm and the chair before adjusting the contrast and colours, until the photo appears as though only maybe taken on a cheap phone, indoors, by a man with his back to the window.

“Hey, did you know that Rowan’s really into archery?”

Rowan looks up. Damien stands by the door, showing Melanie Rowan’s newest mug.

He should say something before he gets archery gear in the office Secret Santa. He should say something even though they’re on the other side of the room and a lifetime of good manners, parental expectation and disabling anxiety says one doesn’t intrude on someone else’s conversation. What if someone in the office secretly likes archery and asks him questions? But corrections mean doing the one thing Rowan hopes he can continue to avoid, so...

He slides his hands under his legs and inhales slowly in a vain attempt to head off the giddy anxiousness. Does this mistake desperately need fixing? Can’t he wait to see what happens first?

“Archery? How does anyone get into archery?” Melanie shakes her head. “You don’t do it in school. Is it a country thing? Or a rich kid thing?”

“I did. Year nine, I think? And my school wasn’t that fancy. I think kids do more of that stuff, now, than real sport.” Damien shrugs and heads towards Rowan’s computer, setting his mug down on the desk. “You fixed the lighting! I don’t suppose you can make my face less red? It isn’t that red in real life.”

It is, but that’s easier to fix than the burgeoning fear that this archery misconception won’t be a one-off incident.

***

Another awful conversation with his housemates pushes Rowan into getting out his sewing box, despite a Melanie-induced fear that showing himself to be good at a traditionally-female art will result in another expression of cis nonsense. Too many friends still ask why he buys plain T-shirts from the women’s section (better fit) or has lavender-scented shower gel on his shelf in the bathroom (he likes it). He’s a man to the not-completely-cissexist people in his life if he meets a boring, insecure definition of manhood. “Oh, great God of Trans Men,” he mutters, “please pardon me for the crime of unmasculinity, because everyone knows you don’t allow true men to embroider.”

How is cross-stitch not just analogue pixel art, anyway?

He flips off whomever it is Melanie thinks “allows” him to defy gender norms before sketching a pattern, struggling with the shape of the R. His embroidery floss stash doesn’t allow him to perfectly colour-match the greens, but after the best part of a weekend Rowan produces a patch reading “ARO” in aromantic stripes against a background of allo-aro yellow and gold. He needs another hour to stitch it to his satchel beside a cluster of badges (trans pride, pronouns, bisexual flag), but the finish is worth the late night and sore fingertips.

Surely this will tell people that those five stripes mean something more than a liking for archery or the colour green?

He fists his hands, lips trembling. What call does an allo cis gay like Matt have to mock the idea of coming out as aromantic when Rowan, who lost his home, his family and his dog to the mistakes he made in coming out, knows exactly what those words mean? Why did Matt have to say that “someone like Rowan” only put a lousy mug on his desk because he knew nobody will ask? Yes, he owns a collection of anxiety disorder diagnoses, illnesses fairly earnt, a disability unchosen. That doesn’t make him cowardly!

Matt doesn’t emerge from his bedroom before Rowan dashes to catch the train, so he lacks even the questionable satisfaction of seeing his housemate note the large patch on his bag. He’s just left with a mood bouncing between frustration, anger and the quieter, sickening fear that making the patch didn’t challenge Matt’s opinion as much as validate it. Should Rowan have done that? What else can he do?

Why does Matt have to be so damn allo?

By the time he arrives at the office, Rowan focuses just enough to concentrate on the distraction waiting for him in the kitchenette. The walls need painting and the air conditioning smells like mice, but sharing the floor with four other sub-governmental community projects meant everyone pitched in for a decent coffee machine without too many hassles. Damien needs to stop taking terrible work-related selfies, but he does enforce a cleaning rota so Rowan can enjoy avoiding the horrors of instant coffee.

“Aro?”

Groggy annoyance fades into a heart-pounding, palm-sweating, vibrant wakefulness. Rowan wheels to face Melanie; she peers at the satchel hanging off his hip. Matt’s wrong about Rowan. This will prove it!

“Uh, yeah,” he says, fighting to sound casual. “I’m aro.”

There. He said it!

“Oh, like the movie vampire?”

The movie vampire? What vampire? There’s no obviously-aromantic vampire in a well-known movie; someone online would have said so! “I’m sorry?”

“The Twilight movies! You know the ones the teenage girls liked, with the family of glittery, vegetarian vampires and the human girl? And it was supposed to be romantic somehow? My daughter had posters and a quilt cover and T-shirts and Barbie dolls.” Melanie pulls a face, her lips twisting. “But she loved them, and there’s a vampire called Aro.”

Belatedly, he remembers a joke that posts about a minor character used to turn up in aro hashtags. “I suppose? But it isn’t a name when—”

“Damien! Rowan’s called Aro now! Should we hold a meeting telling everyone? Or just send an email around?” Melanie looks out into the hallway dividing the floor into its suites of offices: Damien stands outside their door, his battered phone held to his ear. “I didn’t know trans people were allowed to change names twice! Although I don’t suppose there’s a limit, is there? If I married someone five times, I could change my last name five times, couldn’t I? Is it really that different?”

“It,” Rowan says into the barest break in sentences, “isn’t—”

“Damien! Stop gasbagging about golf or whatever … I swear, that man never listens when you want him. Always on the phone! Damien.” She bustles out into the hallway with the determined stride of a woman on a mission. “Rowan’s Aro now!”

Panic spurs him into running after her. “Melanie!”

“Aro!” Shelby grabs his forearm as Rowan skids into the hallway, her brow furrowed in concern. If Melanie seems like the plump, huggable sort of grandmother, Shelby looks like the muscular, marathon-running grandmother who hits the beach every morning. Salt-coarsened long hair in a single braid, a fashionable black blazer worn over a T-shirt, hiking boots. “Is that European? Don’t worry, we’ll all do our best to remember, and you’re allowed to growl when we don’t. We said there’d be no problem, and we meant it. You’re allowed to growl at us when we make mistakes, okay? Okay, Aro? Promise me that you will correct us!”

The self-appointed protector figure of the office, she was kind during Rowan’s first week. Kind in a way that draws unnecessary attention, given her inability to correct someone else’s misuse of pronouns without crafting a production of hushed voices and pointed nudges—followed by scathing lectures that never happen far enough outside his earshot.

Why are the only options complete stealth or queerness front and centre in a way that never lets him be just a different shape of normal? Where exists a blessed middle ground?

Melanie reaches Damien and stares up at him, waving one hand and tapping the opposite foot, until Damien lowers his phone.

“Uh … thank you, but my name isn’t—”

“You absolutely must correct us.” Shelby squeezes Rowan’s forearm in a firm grip. “We’re not used to all this, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try. Aro. Do you people usually choose unusual names like that? You know, you trans people? Promise me that you’ll correct us. You need to know that we don’t mind in the least, truly we don’t!”

“I’m not—”

“Anyway, how was your weekend? You didn’t stay at home, did you? It worries me that you haven’t found a girl yet. Or a boy!” Shelby clasps his hand between hers, looking into his eyes as though hoping to impress upon him the depth of her sincerity. “You do know, Aro, that any girl—or boy!—will be lucky to date a sweet boy like you, don’t you?”

What does it mean, Rowan wonders in irony-fuelled despair, that returning to Births, Deaths and Marriages now feels like the easiest option?

[blapis-blazuli]

B, D, G, and S for the ask game!

!!!!!

2 (B): How did you discover your sexuality, tell your story?

It, um… it actually took me a while to realize that I’m bi. I grew up in a fairly homophobic area, and the few girls I knew as a teenager who were into other girls were… not very nice to me for being autistic. At the time I very briefly rethought things because of the internet, and at the time I came to the conclusion that “girls are pretty, and I guess I get why other girls like them, but I like guys and don’t see myself with a girl, so I guess that’s that”. Honestly the fact that I was so proud of myself for finally making a bi character (a Sonic OC that I never got around to writing in anything), and that the first not-straight character I made for the Deadly Mistakes RP (Chester) was also bi should’ve maybe made me realize it sooner… I didn’t really question myself again until much later when I found out that most of the people involved with DM (in its current rendition that is) weren’t straight. I guess I finally realized it when I ended up getting a crush on Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe around the same time I also developed a crush on Blendin Blandin from Gravity Falls.

4 (D): Who was the first person you told, how did they react?

In real life? I’ve only told one person, and he was a bit surprised but okay with it. (Then again, maybe it was because my way of coming out involved me starting things off by mentioning that Vincent Price was bi.) Online? I think the first time I mentioned it to anyone was in the Deadly Mistakes chat way back when we were using Chatango. I don’t remember how people reacted to that, but I do remember one person who’s no longer part of it (for many unrelated reasons) kinda… had some weird comment regarding how I said I wouldn’t mind being with both Blendin and Lapis. (Something along the lines of “threesomes are so wholesome” which… I think I get what they meant, but… that wording… why)

7 (G): What is one question you hate people asking about your sexuality?

I don’t really get that many questions about it myself, but I really hate it when people go “How can someone say this character is bi when they’ve canonly shown interest in the opposite gender?” Like… It’s not that hard to figure out? Or people who say that being bi is automatically transphobic (there are bi transphobes but that doesn’t mean we’re all transphobic, and it’s also a really shitty thing to say when trans bi people exist) and/or nb-phobic (which has just as many problems).

19 (S): Have you ever faced discrimination? What happened?

Not… exactly? I did get one cowardly anon who told me “fuck LGBT” and called me a degenerate when I was being harsh on Tumblr staff’s stupid titty-ban rule that ended up marking one of my friends’ blogs as sensitive content despite it being a SFW blog (and never fixed it btw, so good job staff /s) among all the other problems it caused. I’m not really out anywhere but online, so maybe that’s why? I dunno.

Thank you for asking!

(LGBT+ asks)

[transselkie]

@xek-xek I love you so much this post was literally made thinking about Steve “the bisexual” Harrington (and whatever the fuck Billy Hargrove had going on)

The thing about heterosexuals writing media is that they are often surprised to learn that real life people they know are queer so how are they supposed to recognize it in their own characters?

[sofia-d-asb]

Carve a place for yourself in a world that has disregarded you for too long. Be the force of reason that your kingdom needs, or perpetuate its reputation as a force of destruction. Find love and weave friendships, or cast it all away for the sake of retribution.

Get it on Steam | Get it on Google Play

Play the Free Demo | FAQ

Centuries of war define the Kingdom of Arcadie. Will you allow them to define you?

You are the second-born, second-in-line to the throne.

As Arcadie is set to sign a peace treaty with your age-old enemies, you are put in charge of any future dealings with them.

Today will see you taking the first step towards a new destiny, and perhaps a new future for your Kingdom.

Will you put the Realm's interests before your own, or will you precipitate it down the path of another century of war?

Create and customize your character: male or female; gay, straight, or bisexual.  

Interact with a cast of vivid, fleshed-out characters.  

Experience naturally-evolving romance; steamy, sweet, passionate, or even thoroughly ill-advised.  

Define your personality through your choices and actions. Will you be friendly and conciliatory, a wisecracking charmer, or will you antagonize anyone who would dare approach you?  

Learn about the mystical power wielded by your ancestors, and perhaps even tame it for yourself.  

Be a peerless warrior, or make knowledge your most powerful weapon.  

Will you strive for peace, or demand blood be spilt? 

Ariana d’Arcadie: Your older sister, and the Crown Princess of Arcadie. She is headstrong, powerful and quick to dish out commands. Whether you love or hate her is up to you.

Wilfred/Willeen Steinmann (M/F): The Commander in the South. They are fervent defenders of the royal family. Their tenacity has been forged on the battlefield. Perhaps you can make them realize there is more to life than endless strife.

Stanislas Duval: The Commander in the North. One of the rare proponents of peace within your Kingdom. He is the sole reason your centuries-old enemies have agreed to cease hostilities.

Cyril Lavignac (M/F): The Commander in the West. They have a quick smile and always the right words to ease tension. A reassuring presence when your world upends itself.

Violence, character death, non-explicit descriptions of blood and injuries, mentions and use of alcohol, optional sexual content. Arcadie: Second-Born is intended for a mature audience.

[crownscost]

╰     ┈     [   nick  slater  ,   30  ,   cis  man  ,   he  /  him   ]   in  the  time  of  dragons,   DAEMON  TARGARYEN  is  entering  the  game  of  thrones  .   said  to  be  persuasive  +  disarming,   we  can  only  hope  that  is  the  case  as  regrettably  they  are  also  well  known  to  be  impulsive  +  foolhardy  .   when  asked  about  them,   people  are  always  reminded  of  the  fanning  flame  of  a  dragon’s  breath,  fighting  for  a  crown  that  was  never  meant  to  be  split  in  two,  veins  filled  with  history  like  the  pages  of  a  book  —  a  story  woven  and  not  yet  finished  .   though  they  are  the  PRINCE  OF  DRAGONSTONE,   their  true  loyalties  lie  with  house  targaryen  and  rumour  has  it  that  if  given  the  choice  they  would  support  their  self  above  all  else  .   those  of  us  in  the  shadows  wish  them  luck  and  can  only  hope  they  will  survive  what  is  to  come  .

LAYER  ONE  ,     BASICS.

full  name   :   daemon  aerys  targaryen  .

nicknames  ,   aliases   :   demon  none  .

meaning  of  names   :   daemon,   of  greek  origin,  meaning  to  tame,  subdue   ;   aerys,   a  family  name,   associated  with  the  mad  king   .

titles   :   prince  of  dragonstone  .

age  +  date  of  birth   :   thirty  +  386  ac  .

birthplace   :   king’s  landing,   the  crownlands  .

ethnicity   :   caucasian  .

gender  +  pronouns   :   cis  man  +  he  /  him  .

orientation   :   bisexual,  biromantic  .

LAYER  TWO  ,      FAMILY.

father   :   lucerys  targaryen,   king  of  westeros  .

mother   :   visenya  targaryen  nee  celtigar,   queen  of  westeros   .

siblings   :   aegon  targaryen,   twin  brother  ;   saerya  targaryen,   younger  sister  ;   rhaegar  targaryen,   younger  brother  ;   aerea  targaryen,   youngest  sister  .

marital  status   :   betrothed  to  shaera  rogare,  formerly  married  to  laena  targaryen  nee  velaryon  .

children   :   none  .

extended  family   :   house  celtigar  (  maternal  cousins  ),  house  velaryon  (  former  in  -  laws  )  .

dragon   :   valyris,  named  once  upon  a  time  for  the  ancestral  home  of  the  targaryen  family,  is  a  large  and  sleek  dragon  that’s  a  deep  sapphire  in  color  .   most  would  argue  that  his  scales  were  a  uniform  blue  —  the  color  of  the  night  sea  or  the  blue  of  the  sky  just  before  the  sun  rises,  but  anyone  allowed  close  enough  would  know  otherwise  .  though  yes,  generally  a  dark  blue  in  nature,  he  has  several  speckling  of  scales  in  varying  shades  of  blue,  some  as  dark  as  night  itself  and  others  as  light  as  any  clear,  summer  sky  .   he  has  a  relatively  mild  temperament,  perhaps  it  comes  with  age  and  a  slew  of  the  prince’s  younger  siblings  eager  to  spend  time  with  a  larger  dragon,  but  he  is  certainly  protective  of  his  rider  and  has  certainly  singed  the  hair  on  more  than  one  untoward  individual  .

LAYER    THREE.     PHYSICAL.

height   :   six  foot  three  inches  .

hair  color   :   blonde   .

hair  length  +  preferred  style   :   loose  and  shaggy,  rather  devil  -  may  -  care,  wavy  or  curly  depending  on  its  mood,  looks  as  though  he’s  run  his  fingers  through  it  a  dozen  and  one  times  .

eye  color   :   purple,  light  and  almost  lilac  in  shade  .

scars  /  distinguishing  marks   :   a  thin  scar  across  his  right  brow  that  he’s  had  for  as  long  as  he  can  remember,  likely  from  getting  whacked  with  a  wooden  practice  sword  when  he  was  young  .

dominant  hand   :   left  .

LAYER    FOUR.     HISTORY.

trigger  warning  for  :  mentions  of  death  .

the  heir  to  westeros,  born  an  hour  before  what  the  world  considered  the  spare,  daemon  was  groomed  to  rule  the  kingdom  from  his  very  first  breath,  born  with  a  title  that  would  have  been  easier  to  bear  had  there  been  years  between  him  and  aegon,  and  not  a  matter  of  minutes.  minutes  that  garnered  father’s  attention,  how  he  spent  his  time,  and  every  second  of  his  life  down  to  the  very  last  one.

that  meant  his  youth,  of  course,  was  spent  staring  wistfully  out  windows  longing  to  run  with  the  noble  children,  to  sit  at  his  mother’s  skirts  or  antagonize  his  siblings  without  his  father’s  frown  burning  holes  in  the  back  of  his  head.  so  instead  he  sat  with  tutors,  learned  strategy  and  suffered  through  meetings  that  sent  him  worlds  away.  he  grew  up  too  fast,  took  on  too  much,  and  none  batted  an  eyelash  at  it.  it  was  his  duty  as  a  son,  as  a  prince.

daemon  grew  close  to  his  father  because  of  it,  his  shadow  that  filled  his  shoes  better  and  better  the  older  he  got.  he  knew  it  was  his  responsibility  to  learn  the  ropes  to  prepare  for  the  weight  of  a  king’s  crown  on  a  prince’s  shoulders,  but  he  still  found  time  for  things  that  he  enjoyed  :   swordplay  and  horseback  riding,  charming  the  people  of  court,  pouring  over  the  pages  of  history  books  that  his  father  never  bothered  with.  ‘  the  history  is  in  the  past  for  a  reason,  we  are  building  a  better  future,  ’  and  while  perhaps  the  king  had  a  point,  daemon  disagreed.  he  never  said  as  much,  never  wished  to  truly  provoke  familiar  targaryen  anger,  but  what  was  history  if  they  didn’t  learn  from  it  ?

the  older  he  got,  the  more  he  came  to  realize  that  his  father’s  views  were  flawed,  and  he  was  no  perfect  prince  either,  but  ruling  for  the  sake  of  ruling  was  not  the  path  he  wanted.  what  of  their  people  ?  their  freedoms,  their  choices  ?  choices,  he  knew  he’d  never  have  as  a  first  born,  never  have  as  a  crown  prince.  his  father  was  molding  him  into  his  image,  yes,  the  prince  that  bears  the  spotlight  and  the  expectation  —  the  weight  of  the  world  if  asked  of  him  —  but  even  he  had  opinions  that  did  not  match  the  king’s.  

he  wanted  to  be  a  fair  ruler,  a  king  that  could  better  the  people,  that  did  much  of  the  face  to  face  interactions  he  often  cared  little  for.  and  yet,  the  older  he  got,  the  more  of  a  pawn  he  became,  and  sometimes  he  felt  as  much  of  a  bargaining  chip  as  either  of  his  sisters.  he  was  never  under  the  assumption  that  he’d  marry  for  love,  or  that  he’d  ever  have  an  ounce  of  say  in  the  matter,  but  it  was  clear  that  his  father  had  a  certain  agenda  when  he  chose  daemon’s  wives.

laena  came  from  a  vassal  house,  strong  in  targaryen  support  but  stronger  still  in  their  valyrian  bloodline,  and  to  his  father’s  credit,  at  least  she  was  beautiful.  it  was  no  match  made  in  heaven,  but  she  was  easy  to  get  along  with,  took  to  the  position  well  and  fondness  came  with  time.  she  was  good  company,  a  good  companion,  and  though  children  never  came,  it  never  stopped  him  from  assuring  her  that  one  day,  she’d  be  a  good  mother,  too.  he’d  seen  her  with  his  niece  and  nephew,  seen  how  easily  she  settled  alongside  daella  when  she  did,  wondered  when  he  could  give  her  a  babe  of  her  own.

it  never  happened,  of  course,  no  matter  how  many  years  had  passed  or  maesters  they  saw,  her  death  sudden  and  tragic  and  cutting  him  deeper  than  even  he  would  dare  to  admit.  a  smarter  man  would’ve  called  it  love  that  made  the  loss  hurt  as  it  did,  but  he  had  always  been  a  fool  blinded  by  stubbornness,  too  stuck  in  his  ways  to  think  a  marriage  like  theirs  —  arranged,  for  political  ties  and  not  happiness  —  could  blossom  into  more.  he’d  watched  his  parents  for  years,  observant  as  he  was,  seen  the  way  that  everything  they  did  was  an  act,  that  not  even  five  children  later  had  truly  warmed  them  to  one  another.

his  father,  of  course,  hardly  afforded  much  time  for  mourning  the  loss  of  the  princess  of  dragonstone  before  he  began  his  hunt  anew  for  a  bride  worthy  to  one  day  hold  the  title  of  queen  of  westeros.  he’s  not  too  much  of  a  fool,  however,  to  know  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  unrest  stirring  because  of  this.  he  hears  the  whispers  of  his  foreign  bride,  the  way  he’s  failed  to  provide  heirs  for  the  kingdom,  the  way  his  brother  has  excelled  in  all  the  ways  he  lacks.

daemon  believes  he  is  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne,  has  trained  his  whole  life  to  take  on  the  role  and  lead  their  kingdom  in  greatness,  refuses  to  let  unrest  and  the  tension  between  him  and  his  brother  deny  him  of  his  very  birthright.  he  could  be  a  great  king,  would  be,  as  long  as  he  had  say  in  the  matter,  but  he’d  be  lying,  too,  if  he  said  that  there  weren’t  some  days  when  he  wished  he’d  been  born  the  spare.  what  life  could  he  have  lived  then  ?  it  didn’t  do  to  dwell  on  such  questions,  though,  and  he  would  play  the  game  of  thrones  as  well  as  the  best  of  them,  or  die  trying.

[westiec]

June 17: Chengxian 💜🖤💕

childhood friends to lovers/QPPs, ace Jiang Cheng, bi & aro Wei Wuxian, modern AU

(A/N: If you're wondering about a certain other someone, he will have a wonderful, full life of his own in Suzhou in this AU but is not in this story. 💙 There are some brief mentions of offscreen ace-antagonism, not by anyone we know.)

Read on ao3

Jiang Cheng had been Wei Ying's best friend in the whole world for his entire life.

Okay. Well, not quite his entire life, but certainly since Wei Ying’s parents moved to California when he was little little, which was about as far back as Wei Ying could remember anyway. Wei Ying’s baba and Jiang Cheng’s baba had grown up in Wuhan together and been best friends when they were kids, so naturally, when Wei Ying’s family moved into the same neighborhood as the Jiangs, it made perfect sense for Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng to become best friends too.

It was Jiang Cheng who had taught Wei Ying that he didn't have to be afraid of dogs, by introducing him to Princess, Jasmine, and Lil' Love. Lil' Love lived up to her name, coming and quietly sitting in all her fluffy glory on Wei Ying’s lap every time he went over to play.

It was also Jiang Cheng who Wei Ying got drunk with for the first time. They snuck booze from the cabinet where Wei Ying’s parents kept it and laughed at the faces each other made with every shot until they stopped tasting the harsh burn, and then laughing more just because.

(Wei Ying’s mom had not laughed, not at the time, when the two teens had been sick as anything the next morning, but instead made them a gloriously greasy late breakfast and gave them lots of advice about proper hydration.

Then she told Jiang Cheng’s mom and let her scold them.)

It was Jiang Cheng who came out first, their first semester in college, when he told Wei Ying he didn't think he wanted to have sex with anyone, ever, and asked if Wei Ying thought that meant no one would ever want to date him. Wei Ying hugged him tight and told him he didn't know about everyone out there, but he knew Jiang Cheng was the best guy in the world and would be an awesome boyfriend, and he'd fight anyone who said differently.

Jiang Cheng found a group on campus for third culture LBGT kids, and Wei Ying went with him, as a supportive ally.

Which was how Wei Ying figured out that he was not just a supportive ally.

In listening to the others talk about orientation and identity and attraction and cultural expectations, Wei Ying realized that what he'd always assumed was normal—finding all kinds of people physically attractive, regardless of their gender—was actually his bisexuality. So that was kind of cool.

"So yeah, now we can be queer together!" Wei Ying said, when he excitedly shared his newfound realization with Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng snorted. "Yeah, 'all' and 'nothing,'" he joked.

It was Jiang Cheng who'd helped him practice what to say to his parents when he wanted to change his major at the end of sophomore year, and Jiang Cheng who reminded him to eat and sleep and "take a fucking break, Wei Ying," those next couple semesters when he took way too many hours so he wouldn't have to rack up a whole extra year's worth of student loans to finish his new degree plan.

It was Jiang Cheng who graduated first, on a gorgeous blue-skyed sunny day in May, and Jiang Cheng who suggested Wei Ying keep living with him at his new apartment, so he wouldn't have to try to find a one-semester lease until he finished in December.

(They renewed the lease together every time.)

Jiang Cheng ribbed him playfully each time Wei Ying met someone new, but he was always there each times things fizzled out after a few months for reasons that never quite made sense to Wei Ying.

Jiang Cheng occasionally dated too, and Wei Ying was glad he never did have to fight anybody—though he did drive Jiang Cheng to the emergency room the time he came home with split knuckles from punching a guy who, "seemed to think I didn't know my own mind about certain things."

But dating sucked for everybody, right? It wasn't like Wei Ying or Jiang Cheng were in any hurry to settle down and do the whole spouse and kids thing or whatever. Wei Ying tried to imagine it and just... couldn't, though the image of Jiang Cheng with a baby was admittedly pretty cute.

~

It was not Jiang Cheng, but Jiang Yanli, a few months after she proposed to her girlfriend and they started planning their wedding, who Wei Ying finally asked, "Yanli-jie, how does a person decide someone else is their person?"

Jiang Yanli looked across the room to where Jiang Cheng was showing her soon-to-be-wife how to put side spin on a billiards ball and smiled. "I think you just know," she said. "You meet someone and you get to know them, spend time together, then one day you realize you love them and want to build the rest of your life with them."

Wei Ying wrinkled his nose. "I dunno if it works that way for me. Just some random person? I've never met anyone I can imagine wanting to live with all the time. Well, besides—huh..." he cut off suddenly and darted a look over at Jiang Yanli, who just calmly sipped her drink.

"Have you ever told him that?" she asked, after a moment where Wei Ying reassessed his entire life and dating history. "I think he might appreciate hearing it."

"I... huh. Yanli-jie, you're kinda blowing my mind here," he complained.

"I gathered," she said wryly, before fixing him with a smile that made all the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Of course, I trust," she told him, "that I do not need to explain to you of all people how very dearly I hold my didi's happiness and well-being."

He swallowed and raised three fingers in the salute he'd used ever since the summer that—hah—he and Jiang Cheng had decided as kids that they would make their own oath of brotherhood like the heroes of their favorite show. "I, Wei Ying, swear to you that I would kick my own ass before I did anything to hurt him."

Jiang Yanli leaned over to knock her shoulder against his and nodded. "That's what I thought."

~

Turned out, dating Jiang Cheng didn't suck at all.

It felt easy in a way Wei Ying’s past dates never had, less like trying to keep up with a game whose rules everybody knew except him, more like... well, like spending time with his best friend in the whole world, but on purpose. There was also a tension in the back of Wei Ying’s mind that seemed to have lifted, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that had gone.

It was Jiang Cheng who helped him figure it out.

"I think it's that now I'm able to count on this. On us," he said, when Wei Ying brought it up. "Before, whenever you went out with someone new, I wondered if this would be the time you'd find someone to fall in love with and leave me behind."

"Aww, Chengcheng! I would never!"

Jiang Cheng huffed and rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were pink. "Well, I know that now," he said, a pleased little smile breaking through his attempts at a scowl.

"As long as you're sure—" Wei Ying began, still getting used to thinking about himself with the word "aromantic." Still a so very sure that Jiang Cheng deserved to be fallen in love with.

"Hey!" Jiang Cheng cut him off. "None of that. I know you. And I know you don't see it this way, but I personally think it's pretty damn romantic that you choose to love me, on purpose."

"I simply have exquisite taste in life partners," Wei Ying sniffed, embarassed the way he always got when Jiang Cheng declared something he'd done "romantic."

"You do," Jiang Cheng agreed. "Someone told me a long time ago I was the best guy in the world and would make an awesome boyfriend, and that he would fight anyone who said differently."

Wei Ying laughed. "That's you and your sister I've promised to kick my own ass if I ever break your heart, then. Guess I'll just have to keep you forever."

"Damn right, you will," Jiang Cheng agreed, grinning smug and happy and breathtakingly beautiful. Wei Ying leaned across the couch to give him a sweet, closed-mouth kiss—the kind Jiang Cheng had shyly admitted he actually did like, a lot—and smiled too, at how lucky he'd gotten to be with his best friend in the whole world for his entire life.

🖤💜

Today's (extremely long!) thread was inspired by this WONDERFUL art of ace Jiang Cheng and bi & aro Wei Ying! Go give Midori some love on Twitter!

I spent a nonzero amount of time googling to double check when various terms and flags came into vogue, so if you're wondering, WWX & JC were in college in the early 2000s, before the ace and aro flags were designed. By the time they get themselves figured out, they can get their cute wristbands.

...which, yes, means these dingdongs spent about a solid decade living together before realizing that was what they wanted to do forever. 😉

This also means Jiang Yanli and her unnamed wife here are getting married between when California started recognizing same-sex marriages in 2008 and the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015! THIS SHIT'S RECENT!!!

Happy Pride, thank you for reading, check out more LGBTQIA+ sweetness on my #PrideMonthSnippets Masterpost!

[imagineredwood]

🥀 Seven Deadly Sins - Coco 🥀

Summary: Coco’s injury has shifted his focus and frustrated him, making his wrath unhinged. His anger isn’t new, but you being on the receiving end is both unfamiliar and unpleasant. 

Pairing: Coco Cruz x reader 

Warnings: Mentions of injuries/blindness, mention of death, angst, breaking things, crying 

Word count: 802

“What are you, my fuckin’ mom?! I already had one of those and she was trash, I ain’t looking for another one!”

Coco’s voice was booming as he yelled at you, the shout reverberating in the home. You sighed and shook your head, walking away from the steaming Mayan to sit down at the diner table and give both of you some distance.

“I’m not trying to be your mom, Coco. I’m trying to look after you the way I’m supposed to. You’re my Old Man. That’s what this whole thing was supposed to be about. You protect me and I protect you. We look out for each other and take care of each other. ‘Us against the world’ isn’t that what you said? What happened to that?”

You kept your voice level, not trying to antagonize him, but to get him to think and see. Metaphorically, of course, the eyepatch not letting him see things literally either. The injury had taken its toll on the man and you had been there every step of the way. Helping him, soothing him, guiding him. You had done everything that you could to help him heal both physically and emotionally from the fear of never seeing again. He had grown more and more bitter as the days went on though and now, he was at his tipping point. Angel had already called you up and let you in on the fact that he and Bishop had gotten into it in Templo today, the decision not to seek retaliation throwing the sniper into a fit of rage.

And now you were on the receiving end for trying to help.

You were trying to calm him down, trying to help him see logic and reason. His anger and fear of permanent blindness were not allowing him to care though. Instead, all he had was wrath.

His nostrils were flared in fury, eyes scanning the home for something to destroy, and as soon as they landed on the cookie jar, he was like a wrecking ball.

He picked it up and hurled it across the kitchen, smashing plates and throwing glasses, knocking over chairs, and shouting. You stayed out of the way, wanting to stop him but not wanting to get hurt. You knew he would never hurt you intentionally, but the wrath he was consumed by was what you did not trust. He continued for a few seconds more before crumbling to his knees, his voice hoarse as he lamented.

“What if I can’t ever fuckin’ see right again?”

Standing back up, you held your hands in front of you and walked toward him slowly, trying to avoid the shards of glass. Your voice was calm as you bent down to be beside him. With a gentle touch, you placed both of your hands on his shoulders, making sure he felt you there.  

“I know you’re angry. You have every right to be. You’re injured and you feel betrayed because they aren’t cutting out their hearts like you feel they should be. Like you would for them. I know. Retaliation right now isn’t going to fix that though. It’s not gonna fix your eye and it’s not gonna fix Riz. He’s fighting for his life right now and you can’t see out of one eye. No one is denying that you should be angry, and no one is saying that they won’t make it right. Bishop just wants to figure things out before he lashes out. Everyone is on edge. The last thing we need is for more people to get hurt or god forbid end up dead because you guys went in guns blazing and didn’t think. I need you safe and I need you alive. So does Letty. We need you, and that’s why I get on you. I love you.”

His shoulders were shaking as he wept, long hair hanging down in his face, tears of frustration, fear, and hopelessness streaking down his one cheek. You wrapped your arms around him, offering him your warmth and love.

“It’s all gonna work out, baby. No matter what, you have me and Letty and we’ll be there for you every step of the way. If you do lose sight in that eye, we’re still gonna love you just the same, and so will your brothers.”

It was a simple statement, but it was enough to get the point across loud and clear, the sniper wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand before using it to grasp onto yours and standing with you. He looked exhausted as he hung his head.

“I know. I love you too. I’m sorry.”

With everything already forgiven, you shook your head, taking his face into your hands and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Let’s go take a bath.”

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