#both about the story itself and the way the fandom reacts and talks about it

[toxifoxx]

How does it make you feel that M Preg is a canonical thing in FNAF?

i mean i kind of have mixed feelings it's obviously used as a tool of horror and is supposed to be gross and shocking, and it's always used as a shocking thing in the fandom too. not that it's unexpected but you can tell people think of a man being pregnant as something hilarious and outlandish/impossible, it's either something to laugh at or be disgusted by. and as a trans man myself it's just kind of like hmm. Hmmmm

[questionablecuttlefish]

Okay Fine Let's Talk Timebomb and Season Two.

I do want to talk about this because I have a Lot of thoughts and feelings and it has been building up and building up, not only based on what's happening in other social spaces, but what people keep bringing into mine despite my best efforts to avoid it.

This isn't any kind of hatepost, I don't think I could hate Ekko or the ship if I tried, I just want to explain my very mixed feelings about the whole thing.

My likely-to-be-very unpopular take on Season Two's Timebomb romance is that it left me feeling uneasy and uncomfortable.

Not with what was in the show itself, I feel like that was perfect. Powder and Ekko sold me completely. They made me feel things. I even liked how Ekko and Jinx's story ended. I think it was beautiful, poignant, perfect...

...until.

'The Discourse' since, the way the fan culture has exploded around it, and particularly some of the creators' commentary on it, has made me sour on the whole thing.

It feels like I'm suddenly part of an increasingly small subset of people who saw what they did with S2 Timebomb and applied our media literacy to what was on our screens and got something very different to what the fandom consensus seems to be.

For context, I semi-shipped TB before this. Though I've always been Team Lightcannon, I had a lot of respect for timebomb, I understood it, I had read a few very good fics, I was just in the space of "Jinx has hurt Ekko too much for him to ever fully forgive her for murdering his friends, they might come to an understanding, and there will always be a silent undercurrent of love beneath the hurt, they may fight together on the same side again someday, but whatever bond they had as kids is broken and they can't go back, and both know it."

I respected, and still do, people who shipped them romantically, but I've always seen them as a broken childhood friendship being a much more interesting dynamic, and being hot for each other lessening that to an extent and not really adding anything to it.

All of his interactions with Jinx in season one are violent; she murders five Firelights point-blank in front of him in her intro scene, and Ekko reacts particularly upset to the pink-haired girl, Eve or Eva, whom Jinx shoots in the back. It's clear this isn't even the first time she's fought them. We don't know how many of Ekko's found family she's put on the Memorial Wall or how close he was with any of them.

Ekko is clearly convinced that "Powder" is gone, and the person who replaced her is a cold-blooded killer who can't be reasoned with. Leading to the Bridge confrontation, and this:

This is the first time Ekko catches a glimpse of "Powder", yes, but more importantly, this is the first moment he recognizes Jinx's humanity. He's hurting her, killing her, and he can't do it.

....and she knows he can't do it.

So, to save him the weight, she pulls a grenade, with the intent to kill them both, foreshadowing quite neatly where Ekko/Jinx (but not Ekko/Powder) is going to go in S2.

Fast forwarding from Season One here, Ekko disappears for 2/3rds of the second season, completely offscreen.

When we catch up with him he's woken up in the S2E7 AU; the Powder Timeline.

Here's where I start to get a little confused by the fandom take. Because, you know, I've seen enough Star Trek and Stargate and Supernatural and Batman the Animated Series and Quantum Leap to know exactly what this is.

This is the 'bottle episode', this is the 'Perfect World' trope, where the protagonists find themselves in an alternate universe - or trapped in a dream - or they've died or think they've died and this is their 'heaven' - where they have everything they ever wanted.

This is familiar storytelling and E2 follows a familiar pattern, the protagonist struggles to adapt to the surreal new circumstances, they are seduced by the illusion, particularly falling in love with someone in the Perfect World, but eventually, they start noticing something incongruous - something isn't quite right - (In this case, it's Vi's death, and Powder holding back her genius and hiding her grief to be support girl for others) - that reveals the Perfect World to be not as perfect as it seems.

And the hero has to choose to go home, because he realizes that this isn't real, it doesn't belong to him, he doesn't belong here.

Which is exactly what happens with Ekko in E7.

Which brings is to AU!Powder and Jinx.

And here's where I really start to struggle with the seeming consensus that the romance between Ekko/Powder automatically leads to Ekko/Jinx, like you can just transfer the one to the other.

I'm sorry, fam, I thought my basic media literacy was telling me that this girl:

Is not the same person as this girl:

....and I am not getting into any debate about "Jinx" vs "Powder" as identities within our current Jinx. I'm talking about Powder in the E7 AU.

AU!Powder is literally a different human being.

She may have been the same person up until the explosion in Jayce's laboratory, but from that fork in the timeline, she becomes a FUNDAMENTALLY different person to Jinx, shaped by different experiences, different relationships, different life events.

Powder's physicality with Ekko, as you can see in those GIFs, the casual intimacy, the clear affection, the way she touches him, looks at him, her awareness of him in her space, is so utterly opposite to the way Jinx interacts with him that if anything, it nailed home to me how savagely absent this kind of feeling is from his relationship with Jinx.

Powder loves Ekko. She leans on him, snuggles into him, touches his hands, dances with him, kisses him.

Jinx cares so little about him she barely makes eye contact and would casually kill him without blinking.

And I thought that was the point.

I really thought that was the whole point of E7. Being in the perfect world, getting his perfect love story with his perfect Powder, the girl Jinx could have been, but can never be, drove home for Ekko that his feelings for Jinx, both romantic and resentful, were tangled up in his illusions of "Powder", and it took living those illusions as a physical reality for Ekko to see his mistake.

To be true to himself, and true to her, Ekko had to let that go and go home.

To face his world's Jinx, and be there for her in her darkest moment, even if it meant giving up the love he'd found with Powder, a love that belonged to a different Ekko, for someone who could never love him back.

To me that was Ekko's most heroic moment, an act of selfless sacrifice. But that's what it was - a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Season Two Jinx is not aware of any of this. The last time she saw Ekko was on the bridge where she nearly killed him, and for all we know she might have thought she succeeded.

She never talks about, thinks about, refers to, or even has scribble-nightmares about Ekko, not even once.

Season Two Jinx is, instead, having a love story of her own.

And Isha was and is a PUZZLE to me. Because she's more plot device than character, she isn't necessary except as a way to give Jinx a villain-to-hero arc and a way to reconnect to her humanity.

But she could have been Ekko.

If they really, really wanted us to have Timebomb Canon, instead of confining the entire arc to a bottle episode in an alternate timeline with a literally, physically different girl, they could easily have given all of Isha's considerable screentime to an Ekko and Jinx romance.

I'm sure Amanda Overton would have been on board with that. But that's not what we got. It's almost like reading two different fix-it-fanfics for the same character, put into the same show and running in parallel.

I'm not crazy, this is what's happening for Ekko in s2;

While this is happening for Jinx at the same time.

But Jinx's love story, too, ends with a tragic sacrifice.

And here's where the two stories finally intersect.

When Jinx is in her darkest moment, her absolute rock bottom, Ekko comes back into her life, a miracle, impossible, a Boy Savior.

But she's still ready to kill him.

Because she didn't dance with Ekko. She didn't invent a time machine with him. She didn't sit and watch the city lights with him and share a tender kiss and a heartfelt gift.

That was Powder.

Jinx and Ekko are resuming right where they left off on the bridge, right back to "I pull this pin and we both blow up".

They've both loved and lost, but their stories are absolutely unknown to each other. Ekko Doesn't Know About Isha. Jinx Doesn't Know About Powder.

It's only when Jinx (a genius, a reminder here) sees monkeys of her own design inside the Z-drive - recognizes her own handiwork, but knows SHE didn't make those - that, I think, sheer curiosity stirs her out of her darkness.

She has to know what that was about. She hesitates, just long enough for Ekko to speak. And, though offscreen, he tells her his story, and maybe she tells him hers.

And it's enough, just enough, to set Jinx back on her Redemption Arc, to become the hero Isha always saw in her.

Maybe even the hero Vi and Ekko saw in her, too. Her new costume is full of references to all of the people in her life who never gave up on her.

(side note, the yellow stars and crowns puzzle me, though - they're quite prominent, but who are THEY for? Isha? Maybe? Yellow isn't a color associated with anyone in Jinx's life, but that crown's identical to the one she scribbled on Demacia in Fortiche's map, is... this a very subtle future Lightcannon tease? Nah. I'm not that crazy.)

I mean her costume is also almost literally both a Fishbones and a Fiddlesticks cosplay, with her hair as Fiddle's tongue, so take from that what you will.

It's clear Jinx and Ekko war painted each other for the battle, but the Firelights are also similarly painted up, and (with Linke even confirming this) there really wasn't time to develop anything else, guys.

And I am, honestly, fundamentally angry at anyone who would suggest that, even if she'd been in any space to want it, our boy Ekko, one of the most genuinely good men in recent fiction let alone in Arcane, would take advantage of a girl he just talked out of suicide.

Moving on. During the battle, Ekko is knocked out and lying not far from Jinx. She doesn't even look at him, she leaps up to defend Vi instead.

And that's their final interaction on the show.

Instead of returning to Ekko, Jinx chooses one final act of sacrifice.

Ekko's final shot of the show is this.

He's sitting, alone, burning a mourning paper, where he sat with AU!Powder - where he and AU!Powder kissed - a place that has no significance to himself and Jinx, whatsoever.

It's little wonder who he's thinking about here, and which name he's burning on that paper. The girl he truly loved and lost.

For all he knows, Jinx is dead. But it's not only her he's mourning.

Or maybe he does know, or suspect, she's alive.

But either way, he's making one final act of sacrifice, too, with that paper burning into the breeze.

He's letting her go.

He's choosing his own story.

He's staying where he belongs.

Jinx may have become a symbol of the revolution, but it's Ekko who is, and always will be, the true hero of Zaun.

And this is Jinx's final shot.

Because let's face it, we all know she's on that airship.

She's "breaking the cycle". She's "walking away". She knows that Jinx has left too many scars on the people she still loves - on Vi, on Ekko, on the cities of Piltover and Zaun - for her to pick up the pieces.

She knows that if she's going to find out what "Jinx" might stand for now, she has to go very far away from everything and everyone. She has to leave it all behind and find something new.

Maybe even someone new?

And ultimately, that's why I feel the Timebomb we got was perfect, they shouldn't touch it, they shouldn't try to force it to be "Endgame", not because it couldn't have worked, but because that's the opposite of the story they told.

For the rest of my analysis, lol, this got a bit long but i have FEELINGS.

Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't buy Jinx and Ekko as a love story if they had actually told that love story. But they didn't. It had no screen time. They have less interactions in S2, maybe even in both seasons added up, than Vi and Loris. Let that sink in a bit.

We know it's Amanda's favorite ship, so she may have intended more, and may even actually give us all more at some point, but please, dear god, let's stop pretending they fucked or kissed or even held hands offscreen.

That's honestly a bit insulting to both of these characters, to insist hell or high water that this very important milestone in their relationship happened, but they just didn't even bother to depict it. That an entire love story (because it would be a whole one, remember, Ekko and Powder had a romance but Jinx did not experience any of that, she and Ekko are back at Square One) would just be cut for time.

They both deserve better than that.

Let's stop pretending there was some grand, horny, Forever Love story with 60 minutes of cut footage, all of it timebomb content, somehow left on the cutting room floor of an animated show where every single frame has to be deliberately hand painted.

Because if in some insane universe they had written, storyboarded, voice acted and animated an entire 60 minute additional timebomb storyline and then cut it from the show, that would itself be a searing indictment of the quality of the storytelling in that imagined arc, but that's not what happened. Anyone who knows how filmmaking works would shoot this one down, and the showrunners already have, so let's leave it behind.

I know Timebomb blew up hard, and I get it, but what we got on the screen is not confirmation that there is any relationship at all between Ekko and Current Timeline Jinx. If anything, Ekko and Powder's beautiful romance only highlighted the tragic 'never to be' of Ekko and Jinx.

And it's absolutely fine to look at the art book, look at the creator comments, and imagine what could have been. Draw the fan art, write the fanfic, imagine the what-ifs and the fix-its, those are all beautiful and valid expressions and deserve their space.

But don't go insisting it's "the canon" and going after the shippers of other ships for these characters as "not canon" or somehow offensive for existing, especially toward one particular ship that, yes, has been around much longer than timebomb, is uncool.

I think this is mostly people who are New From Arcane, it's Baby's First Ship and they don't know how to share space. The timebomb fans I knew pre-season two didn't do this, at least not often enough for me to notice or care.

But I'll just say to them, if a Timebomb follow up happens and they actually tell a good love story for Ekko and Jinx, I will accept it. Grudgingly, because I think Lux/Jinx is an untold, untapped story full of incredible character dynamics that would complete Jinx's story in ways that as much as I love Ekko, he's too tied to her past, he can't.

But I love Ekko, and I love Jinx, and I will accept it.

But I'll also say to them, if the followup doesn't eventuate, if things take a turn they don't expect, if Jinx's airship is heading for Demacia, maybe they'll have to experience just a taste of what it's been like for Lightcannon fans for ten long years.

And maybe that's healthy. Maybe that's okay. Maybe our endgames don't need to be 'canon' to have value and that's a lesson we should learn.

Maybe there's a new Light on her horizon, and that's okay too. Maybe Ekko won't be alone forever. Don't forget - until Arcane - his story had nothing to do with Jinx, and there was a whole lot of it.

More with the Firelights, maybe bring in the original Lost Children of Zaun from his old stories, his inventions, his parents, all could yet be in his future. Who knows? He might find a way back to AU!Powder - or she might rebuild what they worked on together, and come to him, no matter what butterfly effects that could set in motion...

But if Jinx is heading for a Light on her horizon, maybe Ekko might Explore some of his possibilities. Find a new Spark of connection. Just saying. Jinx isn't his only ship, either 😌

And it is okay for people to move on, and let go. Maybe, for two characters whose themes are letting go of the past, living in the moment, redefining their identities, and moving on, that's what their story should be.

[saintsenara]

asenora i will listen to anything you have to say about these characters ever. please tell us what the tea is with dron

as i rummage through the backlog of messages in my inbox the thing that i have discovered is that you girlies [gender neutral] are absolutely clamouring for citizenship of dron nation.

[thank you to @spectral-kitty, @thesilverstarling, and two mystery anons!]

to which i say, the borders are open, baby. you just have to read the following manifesto:

why fandom needs to stop sleeping on dron

something i am continually banging on about, as regular readers know, is the harry potter series' fondness for assigning [male] characters to narrative mirror pairings.

exploring these pairings is interesting in and of itself without a romantic dimension being involved - i could talk for hours about the mirrored approach to guilt and grief in snape and sirius' characterisation - but it's also true that several of the most interesting ships which can be drawn [however non-canonically] from the text are between the two halves of each mirror pairing.

tomarrymort is the obvious one, snack [or starprince or snirius or whatever we're calling it] is starting to get the attention it deserves, but people are still sleeping on draco malfoy/ron weasley [and also, may i say, on lucius malfoy/arthur weasley and narcissa malfoy/molly weasley], largely - i fear - due to the sheer popularity of drarry and dramione.

i'll be honest that i really don't like dramione, and i'm generally ambivalent towards drarry, but i do love dron. and the narrative mirror aspect is entirely the reason why.

ron and draco begin the series as mirror archetypes within the genre conventions of a children's boarding school romp. ron is the loyal, humble sidekick of the everyman protagonist, draco is the everyman protagonist's posh, stuck-up rival. both are insiders to the world of the story - whereas harry, the reader surrogate, is not - who introduce harry to the positive and negative aspects of the wizarding world respectively.

as a result, ron and draco are mirrors in terms of personality, and are much more similar to each other than either is to harry or hermione. this doesn't, of course, preclude ronarry [a ship i adore] or romione [which i've defended here] or drarry or dramione [if ya nasty], but it introduces a specific - and very interesting - tension into the pairing which is absent from these other ships.

both ron and draco have shared positive traits - they're both loyal [and their loyalty is very practical and pragmatic - ron is not hagrid, whose faith in e.g. dumbledore is totally unwavering; draco is not bellatrix, whose faith in voldemort is the same], they're both highly observant, they're both quick-witted, they're both capable of doing the right thing - if not always immediately [which is, in fact, more admirable than being preternaturally willing to suffer and sacrifice], and so on.

they also have shared negative traits. they're both attention-seeking [ron fucking loves nearly being knifed by sirius and you just know draco was seething], self-aggrandising, insecure, sulky, and predisposed to jealousy.

and this is a gift for authors, because it means that dron butt heads in a relationship in ways which allow for real character growth... or otherwise.

one issue that i have with drarry is that it often feels like the change either one goes through within a fic is kind of out of character. for example, you have a harry who feels insecure and haunted by his ill-treatment of draco [this is a man whose response to committing attempted murder is to be raging that it reduces the time he has free to hit on ginny], or a harry who is chasing after a cool and sophisticated draco who eventually learns to open up [whereas if there's two things draco isn't, it's someone who keeps his thoughts to himself and someone who isn't a distinctly unsophisticated flop].

dron, however, react to conflict in the same way - which means that the two of them finding themselves in conflict with each other absolutely slaps. they also have similar levels of emotional intelligence, and are likely - if they're inclined to - to be able to communicate with each other and work through issues surprisingly effectively. they can be a mess, or they can be a happy-ever-after, and i like that in a ship.

but, while ron and draco are mirror archetypes, they are specifically children's literature mirror archetypes. ron's role as harry's guide to the world diminishes in the later books, as the series' horizons move beyond hogwarts to think about wizarding society and voldemort's impact upon it more widely [he is replaced by characters such as dumbledore]; while harry becomes considerably less bothered by the pettiness of draco's rivalry with him [concerned as it is with things like being good at quidditch and getting away with misbehaviour at school] as the enemies he's focused on shift to being the resurrected voldemort and his death eaters.

which is to say that dron makes considerably more sense within a hogwarts setting than drarry.

as i've said elsewhere, an issue i have with drarry is that it's frequently written in a way which suggests that harry and draco have a mutual obsession with each other - while the actual evidence of canon is that, while draco is [as his archetype demands] preoccupied with what harry's doing, harry rarely gives the impression of caring what his rival is up to unless directly compelled to by draco's own attention-seeking.

ron, in contrast, spends a lot of time noticing things about draco unprompted - he can, for instance, recall overhearing him boasting offhand about what broom he owns in philosopher's stone - and retaining this information in order to deploy it at the opportune time to get a rise out of him. he delights constantly in his misfortune [him being hyped for days because draco's annoyed harry gets a firebolt is beautiful]. he's ready to throw hands with him at any given opportunity, often giving those of us who thrive on cheap innuendo plenty of material in the process [draco finds himself, for example 'on all fours, banging the ground with his fist' after having ron's wand pointed in his face... same, girl.] and he tends to consider draco much more integral to the various shenanigans which take place in the castle than harry does [ron is the main proponent of the 'draco malfoy is the heir of slytherin' theory in chamber of secrets - and he is shook when draco reveals that he's wrong].

and draco does the same. he comes into the trio's compartment on the train in goblet of fire and immediately starts telling ron how unfashionable his dress robes are. he obsesses over ron's position as gryffindor keeper for months - and, of course, makes up a song about it, which isn't exactly helping him pull off 'i don't think about you at all', is it? - and ron is profoundly affected by the taunts in way that harry, who doesn't really care what draco thinks of him, isn't. and he constantly goes out of his way to provoke ron into trying to punch him [him shoulder-barging ron in half-blood prince just after harry's essentially outed him as a death eater in madam malkins... exquisite pettiness].

all of which is to say, their interactions feel very teenage and petty and silly all the way through to the end of half-blood prince in a way that draco's interactions with harry and hermione don't, and - therefore - i sincerely think that dron can be made to work much more plausibly as a pairing in fics set while the characters are at school.

my final point in favour of dron is that they mirror each other in their approach to their other relationships, and the tension this causes is really interesting to explore.

both ron and draco have mirrored attitudes towards their place within their own families - something neither harry nor hermione can have with draco for obvious reasons. ron is one of many siblings and feels overlooked in the crowd; draco is an only child and feels overburdened by the visibility, especially once his father is sent to azkaban. they both conform to behaviours expected of them by family [they are both in the same hogwarts house as generations of their family, they share their families' political views etc.]. they are of the same social class and their families both have a reasonably similar level of political influence [despite what we're told about his insignificance, arthur weasley is known to everyone in the ministry and he's able to throw his weight around to influence policy even before the promotion he receives in half-blood prince], but their material circumstances are divergent. they both heavily resemble their fathers - to the extent that they are immediately recognisable as each man's son - and spend their schooldays defending family honour by playing out lucius and arthur's own petty feud [lucius and arthur - and, indeed, narcissa and molly - are also narrative mirrors, and we deserve many more enemies-to-lovers fics featuring them]. and the course their lives take during the war is dictated as much by their role within their families as it is by their relationship with harry - the scrambling post-dumbledore order operating out of the burrow is a mirror image of the ascendant voldemort operating out of malfoy manor.

they are also obviously defined by their mirrored relationship with harry - most interestingly by a major similarity in their attitude towards him: that both struggle with how jealous they are of harry.

this leads to lots of excellent tension which just isn't possible in drarry or dramione. how do both sets of parents react to the news their sons are in love? how do ron and draco's relationships with harry change as they find each other? how does draco cope with the hustle and bustle of life at the burrow? how does ron deal with having to have dinner at the manor [particularly interesting because the world in which draco lives is one that's familiar to him - he's not going to be shocked by any of the weird stuff in that house, he knows how it all works, so he can ruin christmas by deciding to have his dad arrest lucius for fun instead]?

it's messy, and fun, and it sustains me.

and some recs for the lads?

collateral damage by @danpuff-ao3, which starts out with both of the lads working out their... issues with harry and ends with declarations of going to lunch with each other's mothers.

dance the night away (aka it's true love, you bastards) by evandar, which has as its premise ron and draco ending up, largely by accident, going to the yule ball together.

this great stage of fools by @nanneramma, which correctly demonstrates how ron is charming enough that him being supremely annoying is actually loveable.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

hey I was wondering, do you have any thoughts or headcannons about Crescent? (Killer and Nightmare most popular fanchild) I always thought that his existence would be very interesting for the interaction between the two but the fandom kind of completely ignores them when it comes to Crescent, which is really annoying because this has so much potential to traumatize both of them (especially Killer)

Oh man, it’s been awhile since i thought about anything related to shipkids or Crescent. Now I did talk about how I think Stage 2 Killer, the Killer Crescent is most likely to be familiar with, would think of, react to, feel about, and behave around children in general right here.

All is to say, i don’t think Killer would ever want children of his own. Any kids he may potentially have would be on accident or something he was not willingly doing or had a hand in.

I do still think Stage 2’s ways of thinking about people in general—not full “people,” unreal, objects of fascination and study, NPCs running on scripts and predicable, tools or resources, targets, threats, etc—would extend to his own kids.

If it was something he didn’t willingly partake in, he’d avoid confronting his lack of agency or desire for such a thing—and he wouldn’t think of any kids as his. He’d think, “they’re not mine. Just another way this body was used.” Or “the results of someone else’s choices” or in some cases, “a means to an end.”

At most, if the child was an accident and unplanned, he may begin to see the kid(s) as “his.” But not in the way a parent typically thinks about their child; just as a fact. They’re “biologically” or magically, I guess, his. They may even be his in the same way that, say, the phone I’m typing on to respond to this ask is mine.

I wouldn’t want anyone touching it without permission or going through it or breaking it or stealing it from me. I have a password to keep it safe. I have a case on it so its screen doesn’t break when I drop it. It’s a cute case. I make sure to charge it when it needs to be charged, manage its storage, try to avoid giving it any bugs or viruses and try to fix it if it does get any. I make sure not to overcharge and overheat it.

Sometimes I play around in its settings and try to figure out how it works, what it can and can’t do, what I can and can’t change about it. There’s ideas and worries and thoughts floating around that my phone could be used against me, leak my personal information, explode and hurt me, etc.

When it doesn’t work as intended or in a timely manner or does anything that happens to regular phones and are just natural or inconvenient, I get annoyed with it and think about throwing it at wall. I don’t do it—but killer would have a much harder time with a kid in this analogy then I would.

I am not conditioned to respond with violence to certain triggers—it just mildly annoyed me. And he may just have to forcibly remove himself from the situation/kid, if only because he doesn’t want this kid “controlling” him.

If I lost or broke my phone id be annoyed and frustrated, upset about all my data and photos and videos and memories being lost—but would ultimately move on with my life. I would more so be upset that I wasted the money of the person who bought and gifted the phone.

Of course things with Killer and any kids of his in this phone analogy don’t fit perfectly. For one thing he wouldn’t even bother getting a “phone” in this case, and if he ever accidentally ended up with one and he wasn’t able to “share” it with someone (raise the kid alongside the parent as support or have any form of support), he’d find someone else to take it.

If he couldn’t find anyone else to take it, and the phone was capable of being taught to care and look after itself, he might do that if he’s in the environment to do so (aka not with Nightmare), then leave once he’s sure it can. Probably wouldn’t think much of the phone again.

Now back to Crescent specifically. I forgot what his story was so I had to look up a wiki, which may not be reliable, but something in particular stood out to me and kinda made me laugh.

“Killer doesn't care about Crescent. When Nightmare said that they now have a child together, Killer commented on this news with an emotionless "Wow".”

Very silly of him to do. But makes sense, since it’s to my understanding that this kid was not made out of any love between Killer and Nightmare—Crescent was made purely for Nightmare’s plans.

It’s mentioned that Nightmare is the mother, and maybe possibly given birth (?) to him, so at least Killer didn’t have to experience the body horror of unwanted pregnancy. But the way it’s said makes me think he still definitely wasn’t given any choice in this matter.

I remember hearing around that Nightmare actually raised Crescent in his early years due to wanting to raise him “right.” I personally don’t see Nightmare doing any of the child rearing honestly, i think it’d actually be left to Killer.

And I already talked about how I think Killer would fare with having been ordered to care for a child in the linked post, but there’s the added bonus of Crescent being Killer and Nightmare’s kid, Killer’s unwanted kid, the fact that he was likely ordered by the Boss to train and basically indoctrinate Crescent into whatever plans Nightmare has for the kid.

It was mentioned that Crescent is resentful and resistant towards Nightmare and his plans, hiding the full extent of his powers simply to spite Nightmare. And while I do think Killer may be all for spiting Nightmare, there’s the fact that Crescent himself isn’t likely to face the consequences for his disobedience; Killer is.

Hell, in the darkest timeline, Killer may even be the one ordered to dish out any punishment on Crescent himself; encouraged to give in to his conditioning while also having to restrain himself from killing the kid.

But it’s more likely that Killer would face punishment from Nightmare for any disobedience Crescent displays. Which in turn builds Killer’s both resentment and feelings of being powerless, but also leads to deep repression which increases his apathy and indifference.

All in all, i think Killer would both fear and hate that kid deep down. Very deep. But enough that whenever he’s in Stage 1, he’ll stay far away from Crescent; and warn the kid to do the same. He may even arm Crescent with a way to protect himself from Killer, similar to the way he tells Color he has to kill him if he ever goes Stage 3.

Crescent would likely be raised with the knowledge that his father—the one whose been taking care of and raising him all these years, but may have also been the one to have greatly wounded and betrayed him (regardless of choice or not)— is a danger to him, and one day, he may have to kill him—or he’d die instead.

[directdogman]

Hey dogman, idk if you answered this

Who, out of both DSAF and Dialtown, was your favourite to write and/or create?

It's very hard for me to pick favourites with my characters because I don't tend to give characters a lot of screen-time unless I find a character interesting or fun to write. You've caught me in a talkative mood, so warning, there's an onslaught of text coming!

DSaF: Dave was the most fun to write for, as I remember it. I mean, the guy is the walking personification of chaos and even when he's being constructive (eg, rigging robots to do insane stuff), it's usually in a destructive capacity. Dave will do LITERALLY ANYTHING but contribute to society in meaningful/valuable ways.

In terms of what character-writing I was most 'proud' of, I was also pretty happy with Dr Henry Miller, as a villain. Namely the research he embarked on, described in his logs in DSaF 3 (which the fandom evidently agreed with, as I got really strong feedback on those logs.)

One issue a lot of people (including myself) have with canon William Afton is that he's this kind of mad scientist character but his research doesn't really seem to be... idk, going anywhere? Other than using remnant (soul nectar?) to make kids possess robots, it's kind of a mystery how he got to this point he did from running a bad fast food restaurant. William gets fleshed out motivations in TSE and even then, it mainly revolves around his relationship with Henry Emily, iirc. It's actually pretty accurate to how real serial killers think, imo, but there's a pretty wide berth between this kind of serial killer and becoming a sci-fi fast-food mad scientist... So, I decided to try to bridge that gap.

DSaF Henry's logs actually mention where the idea for his research came from, namely the fact that he existed in a world with normal scientific rules just like ours and seemingly discovered something supernatural, and he approaches it like an amoral scientist would - trying to figure out how to figure out more about the fabric of reality using the newly discovered phenomenon of possession. The 'joy of creation' phrase people pulled from Golden Freddy's phone call in FNaF 1 is given context - Henry is trying to find out what's on the other side (and eventually, how existence itself formed.)

There's other aspects to his character that make him more interesting too, like the implication that his research is partially an excuse for him to act on an underlying sadism (with scenes implying that he inflicts damage on others than can't be justified as assisting with his research.) His background as a dissident/quack laughing-stock scientist (thanks to pushing his soul theory in a best-selling book, which is considered pseudoscience) BEFORE he embarked on his journey to become a fast food tycoon also makes it less farfetch'd that he'd be capable of y'know, harvesting human souls intentionally to continue his research?

I had more for the character on paper that people haven't seen but some of it wasn't revealed due to it feeling a bit too disturbing to publish. None of the contents would've been all that controversial, more just too tonally disturbing when written about in detail (like a omitted part from his backstory/lore post where he managed to pick up a hazy audio of his wife + son's crying from the radio of the car his wife/son drowned in and reacted with genuine elation upon realizing he'd discovered a new scientific phenomenon (as this was the first time Henry witnessed soul-possession.)) Yeah.

I don't feel much of a need to revisit Henry as a character because as a series villain, he was pretty thoroughly-written and he did his job effectively... And his fate was well earned! (He even got an epilogue short-story a few years back, further cementing his fate!)

Dialtown: From the characters/writing that the fandom has seen? Tough to say. I genuinely really like every DT character. Gingi and Mayor Mingus are two of my favourite characters to write for because they're both really insistent and react to adversity in a really comically indignant way. Mingus is more like Gingi than she cares to admit in very specific ways, which is the core hypocrisy of her character - she's one of the most abnormal things IN Dialtown, and spends the game on a quest opposing abnormality that she, herself, can't stand.

Many absolute rulers have debilitating physical and/or mental cruxes and despite that, usually have the final say on what is/isn't okay, often guided by arbitrary preferences. It's funny to remember all of the ancient kings and emperors who dictated how others should act, talk and even think, when very many of them themselves were anything except a good reflection of their own subjects! It's an irony I quite enjoy and leads to a fun character to write for!

My favourite DT writing is probably some of my Callum Crown speech drafts. I have a definite bias here since Crown's character is based on many figures I've encountered in my own reading (and his story relates to topics I enjoy reading about.) A lot of that is real nerd shit that wouldn't be interesting to 99.9% of DT fans (like a long conversation where Crown + Milt discuss a campaign speech Milt wrote for Crown and they bicker about if the wording/arguments used are truly honest.) Again, not super relevant to Dialtown-proper, but it explains a lot about why the world of DT ended up the way it did.

Realistically, the story of Dialtown itself is basically a weird little epilogue to a story that ended decades upon decades ago, centered around a bunch of small-town nobodies circling around the carcass of the last surviving main character of the old story.

I'm also very happy with Gingi's character partially because I know more about Gingi's past/future than you guys do. Gingi has such rotten memory that Gingi's backstory before DT's story begins is basically a complete mystery. Thanks to Gingi never getting close enough to any humans before laying its eggs, there's nobody in Gingi's life that can fill in the gaps. Companionship means so much to Gingi because prior to meeting The Gang, Gingi is aware of a massive and unknown block of time that's a complete mystery precisely because Gingi had nobody in its life. To Gingi, this time was basically akin to being non-sentient or dead, and Gingi would never go back.

While I was making DSaF, I drafted a ton of other stories on paper. I considered making most of them, but decided not to for various reasons, despite getting some solid feedback from collaborators. Bits of almost all of those project ideas made it into DT, with Gingi having traits from several other main characters I prototyped years and years ago. This includes where Gingi came from and what exactly Gingi is. I don't want to mislead people into thinking Gingi is more important than it is, like Gingi is the key to unlocking DT lore (I promise there's a LOT of aimless scuttling/devouring in Gingi's past and relatively little else!) BUT: Of everything from those old scrapped projects, Gingi is what I decided deserved to survive the most. And that has to count for something.

One day I'd love to make sequels to DT and perhaps explore some of the stuff I've described above, like why the hell the world of DT is the way it is or maybe where the hell Gingi spawned from. Thanks

[hamletshoeratio]

you say i can like a characters and acknowledge their flaws. Okey, did you acknowledge Kate and anthonies flaws???

What's y'all's obsession with Kate and Anthony? Genuinely asking here because some of the anons I've gotten have been saying absolutely vile things about Kate and Simone Ashley, which I refuse to post or give the time of day.

But anyways, I have been critical of Anthony before, particularly of how he handled the "love triangle" in season 2. I also hated his treatment of Sienna in season 1. I can acknowledge that his and Sienna's relationship was an important arc for his character, how ever much I hated his treatment of her. She deserved better. Additionally, a certain section of the fandom has to check their misogyny because the language used to talk about her is absolutely vile - and beyond hypocritical when compared to how the same people talk about Anthony.

Kate was mishandled by the writers. Full stop. The changes from the book were most detrimental to her and Edwina. I think Simone did amazing with what she was given, but they took out so much of Kate's development from the book. Most of my gripes with show!Kate are just frustration with writing decisions.

A lot of the writing decisions in general are just tone deaf. There's been a lot of rightful criticism on how the show has handled its bipoc representation. How Ruby Barker was treated in real life by netflix and the producers was disgusting. The way they've treated both her and her character has been vile. I hope to god her story in the show does not end the way it did in the books because that would be beyond horrific. If you're going to tell stories involving mental health issues, do so respectfully and responsibly. Otherwise, don't do it at all, because you're just doing more harm than good. Additionally, we've only had two minor queer characters for a show that prides itself on its representation. And those characters only appear in season 1. I'm not counting Brimsley because he only got proper characterization and arc in QC, and we have literally no clue where Reynolds is in the present timeline. And, while I enjoyed QC on the whole, the romanticization of Queen Victoria's birth as some sort of win for feminism took me out of the fantasy every single time. I'm not expecting the show to be historically accurate at all, the costuming confirmed to me that it wasn't trying to be back in season 1 and thats ok because its fantasy, but my god the way they include elements of real life history is beyond tone deaf.

Penelope herself was also mishandled by the writers. By making lady whistledown a far more active force in the show, they did not take into consideration what that would mean for her as a character. In the books, the Bridgertons react to the LW reveal like "oh OK, ride on Pen!" because LW hasn't been as destructive a force as she's been in the show. In the show, it makes no sense for them to react like that given what's been written about them and the impact that its had. LW, in the books, was far less harmful. By giving it a more active role in the story, they've unwittingly made her an antagonist because of the harm she's caused. Harm, I may add, that she's been mostly apathetic to. Show!Penelope needs a redemption arc, but she's probably not going to get one.

[arkus-rhapsode]

So I am both really excited and really nervous about how the internet is gonna react to Luluci's backstory from Witch Hat Atelier when it gets an anime. Its a very powerful story about a young girl experiencing sexual trauma. But also it cracks down on voyerism itself.

It did not mince words on how that made her feel as a woman to be subjected to sexual predation. And in the same chapter strongly condemning a man who tries to downplay the severity of trying to look in on people's naked bodies using magic see through goggles and claims there are far worse things you can get upset over than just a guy who wants to look at people naked.

Now its easy to anticipate the usual performative culture war nonsense about "shaming me for enjoying muh anime!1!" Though to be honest by the time it makes it to point in the series, you would have to be pretty much not paying attention to which way Shirahama points to on the political compass.

But it will also be very interesting to see how artists are gonna feel given that this is an attractive female character in a potentially high profile adaptation with this knowledge.

Like I'm not shaming anyone for drawing lewd stuff or being into that. Fiction is fiction and removing it from certain context for exploration of sexual interests is fine. But its basically a guarantee with any pretty looking character in a pretty looking series that gets popular. It's just something that might end up being a talking point both in relationship to this instance and also fandom/culture as a whole in this very divided internet we have.

[crystallizedkingdoms]

Haiii sie & johann *passes by* thank you very much for your kind words (I think in general besides art, your comments are a joy ^_^) OUT of curiosity what’s your writing process like when it comes to Yiik (How you deconstruct these guys in your work is something I definitely envy HA,..)

HAIII FOX :3 nice to see you <3 i will gladly tell you all about it i have been Dying to talk abt how i write yiik bc honestly, my fics for this game have been among my favourite to write! i might even have to put this under a read more lol

SO okay heres the thing. it helps to separate the story of YIIK into layers of reality. my personal layers (because god knows other people interprets it differently): there is Alex’s Reality (the story of YIIK taken completely as factual, delusions and lies and all. the year is 1999), and there’s the Outsider’s Reality (strip away all of Alex’s delusions and try to find what really happened. Michael being years older than Alex and moving away is here. the year is 2016). theres also the 4th wall which is self-explanatory.

so with these layers, there is no really hard line between any of them, including the 4th wall. it’s damn near impossible to ever truly tell how much of the characters we know is part of which reality, especially the Outsider’s Reality. we’ll likely never know Vella’s true name, how Rory actually interacted with Alex, what Michael really thought of Alex. the game of YIIK itself is riddled with allusions to other media that can only be pieced together understood by us the players, and never the characters themselves.

but here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter. When i write fics and deconstruct their character, i either pick one layer of reality to strongly settle in (december came too fast is settled in Alex’s Reality while the thing about explorers is: is settled in Outsider’s Reality) or i heavily oscillate and obscure the two, similar to how YIIK the game itself mixes both (both my Michael fics deal heavily in that territory).

When you’ve got that fundamental setting built, that’s how you can strongly probe how the characters react to each other and what theyre feeling inside. for example, Alex in his Reality is everything he wants and fears to be, and by god he acts like that. He’s snarky and self-centred, but he also has the mask of a Hero and a video game world that he can hide behind, so there’s a sense of untouchability to him. No matter what, he knows he’s going to be okay, if miserable.

But when i take him out of that reality and into the Outsider’s Reality, where he’s just a helpless kid with a broken family and broken friends, he can’t be the same. Unlike in his Reality where he can try to ignore and bend things out of existence, in Outsider he can’t. hes forced to confront his feelings for Michael and forced to confront his hatred for his sister (obligate nestling soroicide). It traps him. and trapped characters are the easiest to dissect.

Trapping the characters in YIIK is easily the best way to dissect them for me, because what is the game if not a trap? It’s Alex’s trap for everyone around him, including himself. So i explore that trap in a million different ways. Alex trapped in his reality. Rory trapped in grief for his sister, or trapped in a relationship with Alex. Claudio trapped in the chase for his brother, Claudia trapped in the expectation of mourning. All the different ways they react when they are trapped/free play off each other really well.

Anyways, the last and most personal point to me is the 4th wall, and specifically the use of allusions. YIIK is so open and proud about the fact it takes from different media to add and enhance the story, and while I’ve always let my other interests play a part in my fics (song lyrics as titles my beloved), YIIK’s openness to using other stories as blocks for the characters lets me do that with a billion times more confidence than any other fandom. if Alex can be Don Quixote, then he can be Marvin/Christopher Columbus from In Trousers, he can be a cuckoo bird. Rory and Vella can be Orpheus and Eurydice. Michael can be all the dogs in every poem, and he can be the New World.

tangential to the above i also just get really fucking loose and silly with it. Rory drowned his sister in a water well (which is physically impossible) because he believes it, so it is true now. Michael has a leash on his neck because that is what he’s feeling. Rory hooks up with the personification of Death as an allegory for his suicide because isn’t that weird and fucked up? (haven’t posted that one yet but its coming)

ACTUAL LAST POINT I PROMISE: it also really really helps to first understand the character at face value before deconstructing them. that sounds obvious as fuck but Trust Me it’s harder to really study who the character we see first is before we make any assumptions on what the hell is going on inside of them. Studying their speech/reactions/physical body language is something that really helps, and I’ve been procrastinating working on a guide for it.

anyway uhhh sorry for the essay. thank you for the question and if you wanna know anything specific/talk more abt it just shoot me another ask or a dm ^_^

[brucenorris007]

All right, it seems that a. . . not insignificant number of people take issue, or at least are upset by, the reaction of Sonic and friends to Metal Sonic in the final story of Heroes.

Yes I did just reblog that specific post, scroll down a just a little for reference.

I think the anguish and angst of Metal's perspective of the situation definitely warrants exploration; and HELL YEAH if we got to see that in any official media. I do caution against vilifying Sonic and his friends for how they reacted to Metal Overlord, though; nuance, everyone, nuance. (Not saying that was the intended purpose of that other post, I've just seen takes like that get twisted in fandom a lot before and would prefer it nipped before anything starts. Far be for me to want to even try to preach, of course.)

Would Metal interpret all the smack talk thrown at it as genuine hatred, as ignoring what might be a very dramatic and destructive cry for help? Yes, it's certainly possible. But A) Sonic and friends don't hate Metal whatsoever, since even Omega, who based his entire personality around destroying Eggman robots, gently gathers Metal into his arms after everyone else leaves and B) that angst isn't really theirs to address.

Keep in mind, the titular Heroes of the game are all teenagers and kids who just heard Neo declare "All living things, kneel before your master!" before turning itself into a lightning rod to trigger a transformation into Metal Overlord. Mitigating that alarming statement and the aggression packaged with it is their first priority; and if that involves a smack down, that's kind of Sonic's style anyway.

As for the fact that they lob smack talk in the first place, well, group think is a thing; and Shadow, amnesiac or otherwise, and Omega are both quite proud creature who don't kowtow to anybody, to say nothing of Omega's animosity for anything Eggman made. And honestly, I think Sonic might have been less likely to throw around and encourage smack talk if Tails and the other kids hadn't been present.

But Cream, Charmy and Tails were present, and being the youngest, likely scared of Overlord who, let's be honest, looks fairly monstrous. The adventure up to the point of the Final Story took all of three days when they were all on the move; worn out and frightened, people like Vector and Sonic would've carried themselves a certain way.

"Hey little buddy, this is just business as usual; nothing to worry about, yeah?" etc.

As for the line everyone knows from the Super Sonic fight of this game "You thought you could defeat me by transforming into a monster" yeah, yes, absolutely that isn't going to help Metal's turmoil whatsoever.

BUT. Consider the events of Sonic's most recent adventures: Chaos' rage, simmering for thousands of years, threatened to destroy civilization when it was released. The Biolizard, fused with the ARK, was minutes away from destroying the planet.

By comparison: "Oh, this guy doesn't care about destroying things, they just want a piece of me; I can handle that eight days a week!" would probably feel like something of a relief and a step down in tension and stakes.

Sonic's not out to hurt Metal's feelings, he's just leaning into what he sees as a fight with a rival. That Metal's personal stakes on the fight are much, much higher than that isn't a fact he's really privy to.

And the ultimate question at the end of it all, when Neo reverts back to Metal and, using the last seconds of a voice box it has left to ask "Why can't I defeat you?"

That question isn't really for Sonic to answer. It's not for anyone to answer except maybe Metal's shitty dad. Because there isn't a single thing Sonic could say in that moment that wouldn't worsen Metal's angst. I think the nearest to helpful that Sonic might have been able to give Metal that doesn't break character would have been:

"Because you keep trying to be me; and you're not."

Say what you will about whether or not Sonic and friends listened to Metal during final story, but Metal was never going to be able to listen to any answer Sonic had for it, no matter how helpful.

Literally.

Metal's programmed to see Sonic as The Enemy of All; to the point of paranoia. Despite the fact that Sonic's open invitation for a rematch is his way of saying he's down to hang out, Metal cannot interpret anything Sonic says as anything less than mockery, an insult or a threat.

In fact, that actually why the whole plot of Heroes kicks off; Metal's obsession with Sonic, with conquering the 'threat' briefly superseded its loyalty to Eggman. That's how deeply ingrained its fear of Sonic, and the pre-packaged identity crisis that comes with it, is.

Because that's the way Eggman made Metal.

[xxguardiantreexx]

!!SPOILERS FOR OMFD S2 FINALE!!

I want to talk about the finale of OFMD, and specifically about why exactly Izzy's death makes me feel so despondent.

So I usually try to stay out of discourse, especially when it has a fandom as divided as this one seems to be now. And I sincerely don't want this to be taken as me being JUST ticked off or anything. But I feel like Izzy's death, while upsetting on it's own, speaks to a larger problem this season struggled with.

Season one, to me, was a gem. My mom's the one who discovered it and told me to watch it, we ended up watching it together and I was hooked (no pun intended) and flat out thrilled to be watching a show that so lovingly showcased positive queer rep and had a tight, hilarious, and touching storyline front to back. I was a wreck (why all the accidental puns today??) when it was over and couldn't wait for season two.

And season two WAS good! It was funny, I loved Buttons arc and Calypso's birthday and all the other great moments this season had. But to me, the biggest problem is that the pacing was really rushed and the writing too convoluted and crammed full of plot points that didn't fit together in the time allotted.

I've seen people on Twitter saying that the episodes never gave the story room to breathe, to let the audience finish reacting to One Thing before moving on to The Next Thing. They introduced new characters, villains, big monumental moments, and I never once felt like I had time to take any of it in with the love and appreciation I would have liked to because things just kept happening.

I don't know if this was a product of the writing itself being flawed on it's own, or HBO not giving OFMD the amount of episodes it deserves, or both. And just to be clear, I do not condone or agree with anyone harassing the creators for answers, or telling them they're dicks or whatever, because that's wrong.

But in my opinion, this season just didn't work. Season one did a great job of balancing it's episodic shenanigans with it's ongoing storyline, and while nothing is perfect, it was very well written and paced.

And that is why I have a big problem with how they handled the death of Izzy Hands being the completion of his character arc.

Here we have a very repressed, battered and broken man RELUCTANTLY coming back from the brink of death, struggling with his handicaps, damaged relationships and purposelessness on The Revenge. And we slowly see him begin to rebuild himself from the ground up. He creates meaningful emotional bonds with the crew he outright hated throughout all of season one, finds a place for his years of experience again when teaching Stede how to be a real pirate, and comes to terms with his relationship with Ed, and Ed's relationship with Stede. He makes peace with all of it and lets the love of the crew, of family, drive him forward for what little time he has left, because he was always on borrowed time by this point.

Ending a character arc with having said character die sucks, because it hurts when it's a character you care deeply about. But it can work, and it HAS worked. That's why writers keep torturing us by doing it.

The problem for me comes back to pacing.

It's the fact Izzy died by a random gunshot wound because he was standing in the wrong place. It's the fact Izzy died for what reads very much as a way to progress Ed's character arc, not end his own. It's the fact Izzy died and the reaction of the rest of the crew was shown so minimally, with nary a word said about it in the aftermath. It's the fact Izzy died and we were immediately swept off into the wedding scene and the introduction of the inn, without giving us, the audience, a quiet moment to grieve as well.

I'm not saying he necessarily needed a bombastic death scene, or for the season to end on an exceedingly somber note. But I feel like Izzy, for all he'd done this season and the growth his character attained, more than deserved a heroes death and clearer acknowledgement by his family. Not to give Ed, who's just kind of existed this season to me, a pep talk with his dying breath and for everyone to just move on immediately.

If there had been time given for this story to breathe, as much as it would have saddened me, I think this could have worked. I think Izzy could have died and it would have had more meaning, the meaning I'm sure they'd hoped it would when they decided to kill him off.

But it didn't work. Not to me at least, and I'm sad about it. A lot of us are sad about it, and will continue to be. Because we still need time to grieve before we can move on. I know it's just a show, and he's just a character in it, but it's a show that's meant so much to so many people, made us feel seen and accepted in a world where that's harder to come by than it should be. And to see a character so beloved get treated as a plot device to an extent at the end of his journey... I would have just loved better for him.

R.I.P. our brash, loud, exceptional unicorn, Izzy Hands.

[hiemaldesirae]

Question: how would your characterization of demon Alastor react to finding out for the last 60+ years that what he thought was Vox breaking up with him was actually Demon!Valentino drugging/r**ping him with his venom/aphrodisiac and Vox has No memory of what he and Alastor actually had? No memory of anything except maybe the last month? And to find out Valentino only did this so Vox (who was becoming a TV mogul) would put his pornos on the tv. How would he help Vox remember? What would he do to Valentino? Would Velvette also suffer?

okay so. nonny, i wont blame you for not knowing, especially since ive never explicitly talked about it on main, but for future reference, im not that big on the whole abusive staticmoth dynamic. i can see why others enjoy it, and i do read stories with it from time to time simply because the premise captivates me that much, but in general id say i much more prefer a version where val and vox are at the very least best friends if not crossing into the sort of blurry best friends who smooch sometimes territory.

now having said that, i'll still answer your question because again, not very fair of me to just brush you off for no reason when i never made my preferences clear beforehand. (this gets long, so i'll leave a readmore.) warning: my demon radiostatics are always freak4freak no matter what. so this does get a little iffy in terms of ethics

my favourite interpretation of radiostatic is two sickos who are just as closely obsessed with each other, so in the unlikely case that al would let vox go for that long, when he realizes again the first thing he's going to do is go and. well. for lack of a better term, atticwife him (i hope to god this isn't just a term used in east asian fandoms because if i have to explain this ill eat lead). maybe after a little bit of time, he'll allow vox some liberties, but even then it'd be very little. ill put it this way- imagine the most toxic irl relationship you can: someone who tracks and micromanages their partners every move, barely lets them outside the house without going with them, monitors every friendship that they allow their partner to have, and there you have it. thats radiostatic! ah, young love. so sweet, dont you think? after all, alastor can't risk his muse's eyes slipping off him again. he's been deprived of that attention for far too long, and it wasn't even by his own doing! that's an offense in and of itself.

now im assuming that its only val who's doing the exploitation here so presumably vel would have no hand in any of the mess, and perhaps not even be fully aware of the nuances behind the scenes. i mean, it wouldn't really matter either way because once alastor finds out the reason why his other half hasnt been reciprocating their insane little song and dance he's getting rid of any and all obstacles, permanently. vox doesnt need anyone else so long as he has him- and hey, he was friends with him, rosie and husk first, so its not even as if its much of a loss. the only people he'd presumably leave alive would be voxs own contracted souls, and even then thats a bit of a gamble depending on just how bad i want the both of them to be: without his contracted souls, vox would be weaker and more susceptible to whatever alastor wants, so i guess its a matter of whether or not i want the freak4freak relationship where theyre both equally strong but vox willingly submits because he gets more thrill out of it that way or whether i want freak4freak where vox has to struggle way harder and still ends up giving in anyway because al is simply stronger

as for what he'd actually *do* to val. i mean. he does still have that radio broadcast of his, doesn't he? i think you can probably put the pieces together. the thing with animal sinners is that theres simply so many parts of them to break... show-wise, i never understood how overlords like alastor or val could even rise to their position, with the amount of weak spots they must have. that broken antenna vox and val share is certainly something that speaks to their higher vulnerability. and moth wings are especially fragile: i owned little silkworm moths at one point (they were my babies, i loved them for the month or so i got to care for them) but their wings were so thin they were wearing holes in them by the second or third day. val's coat-wings look much thicker in comparison, but of course, my perception is limited by the show only. so i mean, who knows? im sure whatever happens, itll make the best entertainment in al's eyes :)

[nitewrighter]

Hi! I'm very new to the overwatch Fandom and am currently obsessing over your fan kids (specifically Seye bc I don't see a lot of doom content and I love him) ANYWAY, doomfist does die, right? If so, who is it that kills him, and how do Seye and his mother react? I did read the post about Seye eventually destroying the doomfist with some help, but am super curious about some of what happens in between and after :>

Wow! Asks that make me dig through my ancient 'Marsey' tag.

To be honest, I used to be SUPER protective and vague when it came to stuff at this stage of the story I wanted to tell with my fankids, and was also being sadly dangled along by Blizzard's breadcrumbs of lore---I was in a dance with Blizzard where, I did have a very strong idea of how I wanted the story to end, but I was also dependent on Blizzard for canon lore so that I could make my ending the most accurate, the most satisfying. But seeing as there's basically only lore drops now because Blizzard no longer gives a shit about continuity or quality, and basically the cast has expanded so much since I initially plotted it out that I'll probably have to reconfigure this ending in some capacity anyway, I can talk about it now.

Basically there were two avenues I could have taken with Doomfist, the first one, that actually had those Marsey fics, where it was basically a 'continuation' of the Doomfist cycle, that is, some guy challenges Doomfist for the gauntlet and is able to kill him and take the gauntlet, which obviously puts Seye into a lurch as Doomfist's son and the previously assumed successor. I literally didn't have a name for this would-be killer, and in a way, it didn't really matter because you as the reader weren't supposed to see Doomfist's killer as the rightful bearer of the mantle and Seye's whole arc would be defeating this guy (with Marti's help) and then basically shutting down the weird Metal Gear-esque war cult that's risen around the Doomfist gauntlet as a symbol.

The other option was that Doomfist would be killed in the Final Battle™ at Nepal by... drumroll... Junkrat and Roadhog. NOW BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME, Junkrat and Roadhog would also die in this fight. Roadhog would die before Junkrat, but Junkrat would basically be talking to a very clearly bled-out-past-the-point-of-no-return-and-unconscious Roadie like, "It's okay, Roadie, you can take a nap. I can wrap this up," Before pulling all of the pins on all the grenades on his little chest harness while clinging onto Doomfist. Okay you can yell at me more now. But mostly I loved the combination of dramatic irony of Doomfist being consumed in these fires of chaos, and of the ~Junkers~ of all people going out in a blaze of glory against one of Overwatch's Final Bosses. I had this in my brain for years before Junkrat even got his "I killed the Doomfist!!" elimination line, btw. Doomfist views conflict as its own sort of order, but ends up getting killed by the wacky Mad Max randos who have kind of been the comic relief this whole time. Basically the fact that the Doomfist gauntlet itself would also be destroyed in this kind of fight would aslo be the thing that ends the cycle. That was also the battle that was vaguely referenced in this fic.

In both potential deaths for Doomfist, Seye becomes disillusioned enough with Talon as an organization to basically split off and form his own splinter mercenary organization (I was going to use my Talon Goon OC's as his starting lineup, haha), and he also attempts to create his own mantle as "Earthshaker" but he's still deeply affected by Doomfist's death because that's so much of his identity and he's had this enormous fear of irrelevance all of his life. Like this isn't just the grief of losing a father, this is the threat of oblivion that he's dreaded his entire life. As for Seye's mother, Tejuka, it's less of a blow to her--she more or less came to terms with the fact that Doomfist really doesn't have the philosophy or lifestyle to "go peacefully in his sleep," and that's one of the reasons why they divorced and she put so much effort into grooming Seye to actually be the successor of Ogundimu Prosthetics. Dying is easy, living's harder, etc, etc.

[lovecolibri]

I’ve seen people say we shouldn’t assume every female character is there to be Buck’s and Eddie’s LIs but the thing is; it has happened before. Not to mention, when I visit 911 hashtag on Twitter, there are plenty of locals who wish for every girl they introduce to the show, to be their girlfriends. I even saw someone say they want Buck to date Marisol even though they had less interaction than her and Eddie. People are already going crazy over Buck and Natalia, when they had 3 minutes together and all they did was talk about death. That’s why I agree with what you said, about the show not being clear enough for general audience, but enough to keep the fandom going.

Yeah, while it would be nice to not have to go through the "uuuugh, another love interest?!" every time a young woman breathes near the set, people react that way because the show itself has proven time and time again that they are only bringing these characters on as love interests 🤷🏻‍♀️ And for some people it's no bother and that's fine! But some people would rather prepare themselves ahead of time so they don't get blindsided and that's fine too. (Also, we know the show has changed tack a few times when the reception for stuff isn't great so I'm team "it's fine to call a show out when it's trying to do dumb shit and maybe everyone will get lucky and they'll change course.)

I...do not have Twitter and every day I'm reminded that's for the best, but I do sometimes see things and I remember people on Instagram shipping Eddie with May in season 5 and my coworker thinks Carla and Eddie need to get together because she's so good with Chris (as if Buck isn't RIGHT THERE and Carla doesn't have a whole ass husband at home) so I'm sure there are people already being happy with "hot people standing near each other". Couldn't be me though. I'm a sucker for a good love story and for good chemistry and none of these random women hold a candle to Buck and Eddie's chemistry together. Also, entirely outside of Buddie even, I would just rather watch both of them talk to each other and the firefam about things instead of wasting screentime introducing new characters for several episode arcs so they can talk to them instead. Like, it's happened enough times, Buck and Eddie both learned the lesson they needed to with their last girlfriends (Eddie more so because the BT breakup was nowhere near what it should have been wrt Buck walking away because he was miserable), I don't need them to learn the same lesson in a slightly different font.

I have BEEN a casual viewer of other shows before and been absolutely *blindsided* by a couple getting together that I didn't even clock until they were kissing so it's not like shows don't do this already, but Buck and Eddie deserve an epic love story that's more than just "implied" by little things we see.

[crof-fwf]

My thoughts around the "#GreenLightVolume10"

Well this is going to be a mix of some topics of which also goes hand in hand with the main topic about what I'm going to talk:

The Hashtag: "#GreenLightVolume10" have a truly impact when is about "Helping RWBY" ? Without the #,Is RWBY gonna be in a bad situation?

My quick answer for it would be: No, i dont think so, i know the hashtag made noice as a way to “encourage” but we know Vol10 will get the green lights, and why are you even thinking that RWBY is in a "red situation"?, seriously.

But for the Long answer im going to start:

Context:

The hashtag #GreenLightVolume10 was created in early April (approximately). It is unclear for me which tweet started it. I know that at least two Twitter users were among the pioneers who initiated the trend. The primary objective of the hashtag is to encourage Rooster Teeth to confirm the 10th volume or season of RWBY.

At the moment where the trend spread, a committed sensation was created to spread the hashtag so that it would be possible to continue with the RWBY story.

Many fans started to create numerous fanworks to this day, with a significant amount of new fan art featuring the included hashtag.

Where even the CRWBY members on the "RXT Austin 2023 panel" utilized that hashtag to promote it to the audience.

Source of the image.

Making in that way to impulse even more the support of the # which is still active.

And here is where i start to make a reflection about the way that # represent and if it really show us that: RWBY is in a real “critical moment”? As also in how the fandom is reacting about that and how probably RT/CRWBY are taking advantage of it.

And in my perception this topic involve 3 “main actors” what are related:

The fandom

CRWBY

Rooster Teeth

The Fandom:

In my perspective the fandom has fed this # given the context about the fear that RWBY will be cancelled, this being a fear since Rooster Teeth became a subsidiary of Warner Bros, adding to the fact that the WB itself has been canceling projects lately. This news It has created fear to the Fandom, which caused the motivation to promote RWBY in order to attract as many new people as possible with or without the use of the # (Leaving the possibility that in more radical cases this could spam, both in comments that are or are not associated with RWBY).

And the point what I’m trying to reach is what the fandom itself is in a state of Gaslighting themselves due to that constant and uncertain fear of “RWBY being cancel” leading to the compromise of promoting that hashtag more and more.

CRWBY

CRWBY at the moment of seeing the reaction of the fanbase, they decided to support and encourage to continuing promoting the #.

From examples im in completely aware is Kerry by saying to continuing the #

Since I cannot find the post that directly mentions "continued support" other than the one seen in "RXT Austin 2023 panel", I can at least confirm that the mention was made. (Where I allude to a possible post by Kerry; in case he made more mentions)

Well, and another example what we all know is of the “RXT Austin 2023 panel”.

These shows of support show that (from a fan's point of view) the CRWBY is capitalizing on the feeling of: "The people have spoken", to show "pressure” on Rooster Teeth, and so the fan feels that the CRWBY is also playing this role of "saving RWBY" and continuing to support and promote the # because they are "backed" by the same CRWBY.

Rooster Teeth

Talking about Rooster Teeth is undoubtedly something "complex" given the controversies the company has been involved in, but in this case I will limit myself to mentioning the following. From my point of view, RT can be anything (in terms of its controversies) when it comes to being a bad company, but I attest that RT is not stupid, knowing that it depends on money to continue to exist and not go bankrupt, it needs to keep its main sources of income afloat, with RWBY providing it with the most funding.

Where I have the expectation (and my comprehension) on how RT distributes the financial source, then I have the idea that Rooster should give more importance to those projects that bring them more profit, so it could lead to a hypothetical situation where other RT projects or shows have to be on a long hiatus or, worst case scenario, end up being "canceled" so that RT saves its funds to invest in its most profitable projects

Also i have to add in how recently Rooster Teeth generated money and incomes based in 4 situations:

Bumbleby Merch:

Thanks to the fact that the shippers "starved" through this time step until their confirmation in V9. Finishing by ecstatic the community and adding the fact that BB shippers are a large majority in the fandom, being the perfect opportunity to present the "Official BB merch" a few weeks after its confirmation. The merchandise in price aspects, I consider it (on a personal level) a bit overpriced…

But hey, "if it's official BB merch, then it's worth buying, right?"…

And, unsurprisingly, by the end of the day, the merchandise had sold out.

This image was taken in 06/04/2023

And that’s the merch what were release in the few weeks, and not forget the addition of new ones and finally the merch that was promoted in “RXT Austin 2023 panel”.

Source

Where the merch which was sold out was there Wall Scroll.

Picture taked in 14/08/2023

So this is how I want to express that one of the factors in making money is the number of "BB shippers" showing their support for CRWBY (and indirectly Rooster Teeth,"But hey, who is the owner of the shop like the one that makes and distributes BB merchandise?)

Gains given with the distribution by Crunchy Roll

I want to clarify what in this point is more speculative from my point of view.

Their distribution in the platform of “Crunchy Roll” has contributed with the amount of 15.5K reviews of 4.7. Where the comments what i saw in the reviews were in general positives.

Making look RWBY at least something “fine”…

And i remember something else related to it and i wanna talk about it quickly: Is Crunchy Roll gonna acquired RWBY?. Honestly I’m doubt because i don’t see it beneficial for RT to give the show by the same reason in how RWBY benefits RT. But still Crunchy Roll gonna be the distributor of the series.

The tiny gains with the Crossover with DC

Well, in this case, the film that was released I consider "50/50", taking into account that it received a mixture of opinions about what revolves around the film, so I can't confirm if it managed to obtain a good income, nor can I confirm if the film turned into a disaster. As I also add the fact that "RedBox" premiered the film before the official date, which may have affected the film's revenue.

Well, maybe we have to wait for the second part and see the “final results”

Gains given by the “RXT Austin 2023 panel”

The convention of Rooster Teeth which started on 7-9 of July, was also a good source of income for the company, where in this case: Selling merchandise of RWBY (Also by the fact that RWBY being celebrated for its 10th anniversary) oh and a few BB merchandise what i made mention in the first point.

Note: With the confirmation of more “Camp Camp” and “RvB” makes me doubt: "If your best project is in danger, how can you give the green light to 2 other projects? 10?". I really want to believe that RT has this "control" over the management of investment in its projects.

And I want to clarify something!

I am NOT supporting or defending RT!. Although I know that I argue that RT knows how to manage its projects and how it should be in a "stable" situation. I am NOT putting aside all the controversy surrounding RT, honestly RT can "fuck off", but as I said at the beginning of the post, RT is not stupid enough to not give attention to their best "gold mines". ", because without money, RT collapses.

And I add at the last moment: I doubt that RWBY will become independent of RT due to the fact that some members of the CRWBY are associated with RT (leaving aside if they knew about or covered up these controversies) and also how RT benefits the members of the CRWBY.

Everything mentioned was to indicate that RT must be "playing his cards right" in order not to lose RWBY, and NOT for showing support or something related.

My conclusion:

With all of the above, I hope to make my point clear and show why I think the "purpose" of using #GreenLightVolume10 has been somewhat exaggerated by pointing out how it has been exaggerated for something that is very likely to happen.

Also, I’m not trying to stop you from promoting it with your artworks, comments, or etc. My intention is to point out how scandalised the purpose of the # has become, to the point of having to cling to it as if the series depends on how active the # is. I don't deny that the # is a kind of "support" or "reminder" that people want more. But really, so much noise has been made to promote the #, for a thing that depends on the budget that RT has to give it to RWBY and thus generate their "investment".

In summary:

The fandom deludes itself into believing that RWBY is "in danger of not continuing with Vol10" (as if RT didn't make the necessary profits). Add to this that CRWBY, along with RT, are using the # trend as a way to save the ad section, as this # works as a "hype train" for them as a good marketing medium. Making a lot of noise so that in the end always the vol. 10 got his green light like that.

Leaving "#GreenLightVolume10" on the brink of becoming a media circus…

- F0under

Extra:

If (RWBY) has a good ending, at least it was worth it .

But if it has a bad ending, there is nothing you can say or regret, because you have already invested in it, they have done their thing, and you just have to eat the ending you were so excited about because you wanted it to go on.

- Ady.

[thewriterowl]

Hi there! Just wanted to let you know that I've been a silent follower of your work for a looong time (like since you wrote stony fic), and I've always been to shy or busy to actually say anything, but it's really inspiring to see how commited you are to your art and how you dont engage/appear outwardly unbothered by any negativity in the sw community- because it can get particularly dicey with the amount of vitriol the community can have for ships and content creators.

It's been great to see how your writing has evolved over the years and the way you just create the content you like to see in the world + how you do so with such a clear narrative voice that I can pick apart from other fic writers (in a very good way!) I took a long break from sw fic (both writing and reading) for a while after glimmerglanger was pushed offline but popped back to your profile, as I periodically do, and read your newer fic 'Ghosts of the Bent and Broken.' In all honesty, it got me down bad right back into the rabbit hole and I've been having a blast- I just wanted to essentially thank you and let you know that I've been a long time admirer even if I haven't said anything all this time and let you know that you have such a talent. I anticipate seeing where you take that story and all your ideas in the future! 🩷💫

Oh hello! This is such a sweet thing to drop by with and I am so happy to hear it all! It really made my day, so thank you for that :D

And I must say, HELLO FELLOW STONY SHIPPER! I think this also proves the Dinluke hivemind is real because I was just talking with someone in the community who also has enjoyed Stony and got into the whole "let's write a thesis about how we feel" type of conversation (Dinluke is my current obsession; but people can feel free to leave asks about other pairings like Stony!). So yay! Always happy to meet another one! Yes, you are right. It can be. But I love this fandom and this ship and want to enjoy it to my best ability so I just sorta get lost in the hyper fixation and don't react to the intensity that can peek in unless asked directly. I'd rather do what I can to make smiles if at all possible, you know?

It is wonderful to hear that my writing has evolved and is being enjoyed in such a way! While some of my characterization and stories may be a bit "rehashed" (I can't help it, I love it lol) I am pleased to hear that the writing itself seems to be making progress in getting better!

:D Welcome back to the rabbit-hole! I am so happy to hear Ghosts caught your attention! That one, i have a lot of plans for (as long as I keep winning against it; we're in a middle of a Denny's parking lot fist-fight) Thank you tons for taking the time to say this! It really means a lot!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I don't Eliza has ever heard of consensual marriage before. I honestly never liked her. First, she and her ghosts invaded NRC- a place that didn't belong to them and terrorized the students. She KIDNAPPED poor Idia and forced him to be her groom without asking what he wanted. Third, she slapped all the boys who were attempting to rescue Idia (who ungratefully trash talked them in the process). And then there's Eliza's old-fashioned ideals. I could go on, but it'd get too long eheh

!! 👀 No, no! This is actually a really interesting topic of discussion, lemme word vomit my thoughts out, Anon!

I have a lot thoughts on Eliza and on the Ghost Marriage event itself, so I'd like to take this chance to share them. Please take what I say with a grain of salt, as much of it is personal interpretation based on the information presented to us in game.

***Ghost Marriage event and Groom-for-a-Day card(s) spoilers ahead!!***

You're perfectly valid in saying that you dislike Eliza. Everyone's allowed to like and to not like whatever characters they want.

I agree that many of the things she did and said were over-the-top and unwarranted, but I think that was the entire point of Ghost Marriage: to be a parody of the "traditional Disney fairy tale romance", much like how the film Enchanted was. There were just too many not-so-subtle jabs at common romance tropes for it not to be.

For example, Eliza has unrealistic expectations of her future husband, and she thinks everything will magically work out, even though Idia is clearly distressed and against the marriage. Later, when the other boys are deployed to rescue Idia, there are even more jokes made using Eliza's extreme ideals as a springboard to jump off of. Yes, it was wrong of her to slap people around, but it was played off as something to laugh at because she would always be set off by the smallest things.

The highlight here definitely has to be Leona and Trey's attempt to woo her with song. Disney is especially known for its songs in movies, and Eliza just takes that idea and runs with it. She expects her ideal prince to perfectly finish any song she starts/serenade to her, as if they're actually in a Disney musical number. Obviously, if anyone attempted that in real life, you'd react the same way the TWST boys did: with confusion.

I think Idia trash talking the rescue attempts is meant to add to the humor. There's a huge contrast in how the boys of NRC see this courtship and "romance" and how Eliza sees it--that's where both the event's conflict and where the bulk of the humor comes from.

What I personally appreciate about Ghost Marriage is that it offers a realistic portrayal of love and marriage when you look past all the silliness of the event. Well, not on Eliza’s part, but on the part of the TWST boys we all know and love.

A mistake that people outside of this fandom often make is that TWST is an otome game, based simply on the fact that the cast is all male and full of pretty boys. However, despite TWST not being an otome, the fandom is very yume-centric and romance focused, because the characters are so appealing. The fact that TWST is based on Disney properties--Disney, who is known for their interpretations of classic fairy tales and their stereotypical happily ever afters--has set up this expectation of romance.

But Twisted Wonderland, the game itself, has a very nuanced and realistic approach in how it addresses romance. It’s played mainly for laughs in Ghost Marriage (and the main story does a good job of highlighting the boys’ unsavory points), but delve into the lines spoken by the characters and the Groom-for-a-Day personal stories, and you’ll see even more of this.

The most obvious example here is our groom, Idia. From the very beginning, he expresses not wanting to marry Eliza, but it seems that this sentiment extends to beyond just Eliza. He has a very negative outlook on romance in general, which is corroborated by many of his Groom-for-a-Day lines. Idia mocks the concept of living “happily ever after” and “eternal love”. He remarks that love is an illusion created by the brain, and even points out that everyone is still a student, so they should prioritize their studies over romance.

While Idia does seem to enjoy romantic materials (games, anime, etc), Idia himself has a very cynical view of “real world” love, and he makes that abundantly clear. To me, Idia represents the person that enjoys romance in media, but is not interested in the pursuit of romance himself. He can enjoy it when he’s an observer, but to actually be involved in romance is a big turn-off.

Okay, but about Idia’s rescuers?

Let’s start with Rook. Of the TWST cast, I would say Rook is the most positive in regards to love. He’s always willing to help others out, and he’s always appreciative of things, even when they’re grim or the circumstances aren’t in his favor. Ace points out to Rook that when he goes around praising everything, it makes Rook seem less trustworthy. To this, the huntsman only says they are his true feelings--he wants to love everything equally.

Rook is a free spirit. He loves whatever and whomever he wishes when it suits him. He can be fickle, but he can also find goodness, something to admire, in everyone and everything. Rook’s love is an all-encompassing and unconditional kind.

Riddle’s personal stories don’t revolve around love in an super overt sense. It’s about him running into Malleus and discussing what makes a worthwhile leader. See, Riddle is a traditionalist (which suits his personality). He expresses that if he gets married, he wants to have a marriage like that of the Queen of Hearts and her husband, which to him was a “loyal” marriage. He wants to have a textbook definition of marriage, and that’s perfectly valid.

Riddle’s personal story also reiterates something that is mentioned briefly in the Ghost Marriage event: that Malleus is royalty, so his proposals are not to be taken lightly. 

This is a feature that helps to define Twisted Wonderland as its own separate entity from other Disney titles and properties. In Twisted Wonderland, being royalty means something. In almost all other forms of Disney media I can think of, being royalty equates to dressing fancy, being rich, and having all the power without any responsibility. But in Twisted Wonderland? They remind you every so often that this character is royalty, and there are strict terms of service and rules that come with that position, including being sheltered and burdened with royal duties (actual politics and governing), and not being able to just “love” whoever you want, even if just for a rescue mission.

Moving on to Epel! In his personal stories, he’s questioning if the “ideal prince” even exists. The line that pops out to me the most is that “the bride seems to care more about the image of an ideal prince than blood lines or family names”. This ties back into how the rest of Disney media often portrays romance as opposed to how TWST portrays it. Heck, in recent years, Disney has tried to subvert its own standing on romance (example: in Frozen, Elsa tells Anna “you can’t marry a man you just met”, whereas in Disney classics like The Little Mermaid, the plot revolves around quickly getting the main couple together).

Obviously, characters can be “perfected” with the magic of media. The image of an “ideal prince” DOES exist because of media, but Epel’s pointing out that it’s not realistic. He’s implying that Eliza is in love with the idea of perfection, and she has lost sight of things that should be important, like blood lines (genetic dispositions and diseases that could carry over to children) or family names (meeting your spouse’s family, getting to know them, etc.). It’s a criticism that can be easily overlooked while you’re too dazzled by Epel riding in on a white horse.

Lilia represents another type of person in regards to love. He’s the person that knows exactly what he wants, but not in the traditional sense. At no point does Lilia ever detail his ideal life partner. Instead, his personal stories are littered with subtle hints that Lilia has no plans to settle down. He never outright says it, but he implies it in other ways, like saying how it’s a shame that Sebek and Silver will never get to see him in a groomsuit.

I don’t think Lilia is as bitter or cynical about love as Idia is, but I think he definitely has his own reasons for not pursuing love. I don’t think it’s related to his age, since Lilia has always marched to the beat of his own drum and done whatever he likes, regardless of his age. He acts super youthful for a fae that’s several hundred years old. No, I believe Lilia just... isn’t ready, nor does he want to, commit.

I don’t have concrete proof or any real information to go off of, but Lilia was able to raise Silver just fine on his own. He may very well just be used to doing things alone, seeing as he enjoys traveling the world by himself. Not to mention, he’s a war veteran. He must have seen many of his loved ones perish in combat--so maybe that’s made him hesitant to be tied down, in case he loses more of them. The reason could be more innocent than that, like maybe Lilia just wants to focus on his duties as Malleus’s retainer, or he just likes his solitude.

In any case, Lilia lacks Idia’s cynical views on love, but he, like Idia, doesn’t plan to get married... and that’s okay. We can see that Lilia is totally happy with himself without romantic love. He has his family and duties to keep him feeling fulfilled. Lilia is a demonstration that platonic love--specifically familial love--is just as valid as romantic love.

And finally, we have Ace.

ACE.

Okay.

You can call him an asshole all you like for ghosting his ex-girlfriend, but honestly? Hats off to Ace. I’m not saying what he did was necessarily right (it’s definitely a jerk move), but it’s realistic.

First of all, it’s pretty rare in these types of games to mention canon romantic relationships at all. I think the reasoning for this is because the mere MENTION of another person being with a character that is pulled from gacha takes away from their “worth”, their “availability”. You’re less incentivized to pull for your waifu or husbando because they’re already “taken”, so good on TWST for changing it up a bit.

Alright, back to Ace’s asshole move. Remember that this dude is 16. JUST 16. Ghosting your S/O or losing interest in them is perfectly reasonable for an immature teenager to do. You’re still young and learning--and heck, many adults still do this. No one is a perfect prince. To quote Trey, “I’m just a high school boy. What do you expect from me?”

Ace is an imperfect boyfriend, despite that speech he gives to Eliza about what the “ideal” partner is like. Ace may know what he wants in a partner, but there’s no guarantee he’s prepared for a relationship himself—and that’s a reflection of what happens in real life. People are imperfect, they fuck up in relationships.

After all, real relationships are the antithesis of Eliza’s ideals.

Real relationships don’t involve one person aggressively imposing their will on their partner. It should be equal parts give and take, and it shouldn’t be rushed or forced.

Real relationships aren’t perfect. Your personality won’t fix itself because of your partner, and your partner’s personality won’t fix because of you. You’ll disagree, you’ll fight, you’ll make mistakes. That doesn’t make the relationship necessarily a bad one, it just depends on how you work together to resolve your differences and move on from the disputes.

Real relationships don’t involve perfect people, either. You’re individuals with your own strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn’t cling to your partner and act like they’re infallible--and neither should they to you.

Real relationships take time and work.

With all of that being said, we can see that TWST has a very unconventional approach to love and romance compared to its contemporaries. They make fun of many common tropes and actually have a more realistic portrayal of “love” than most other mobage I’ve seen. There are some subtle things they do that also lend to this, like not running a traditional Valentine’s Day or White Day event in February/March (instead giving us Vargas Camp), or the Halloween Groovies being actually scary art rather than being traditional fanservice art.

I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to express my appreciation of minor details like that. Ever since the Ghost Marriage rerun, and the addition of the Idia and Lilia cards, I’ve been thinking long and hard about all of this, because I personally resonate a lot with those two in their views on love. I really like the lore and the representation that their Groom-for-a-Day cards add to TWST, that love isn’t treated like this infallible solution for everything like in so many other Disney properties. 

You can praise TWST for a lot of things, but I feel this is something that isn’t appreciated enough... So I wanted to express my gratitude for it.