#but CLEARLY that’s just how men talk so

[ofcrowsanddragons]

Wakes up from a dead sleep to write:

What if Teia knew about Illario all along?

Everybody treats Teia like she's a Pollyanna, somebody that you try so hard to hide your darkness around because she believes so strongly that the Crows are family. This is a woman who calls Catarina "Nonna" and lives, when not even her grandchildren get that privilege.

This is a woman who everyone goes to great lengths to show the best possible interpretation of the Crows to, because she believes in them. She believes in each one of them, and she treats them like family! (Her enemies, she'll tear the hearts from. Traitors too.) To her, the darkest parts of the Crow houses might not as well exist, and like a torch in the night, she'll have you trying to excise those hidden pieces of your house before they she can be disappointed by them. Because she doesn't know, and she can't know.

She was a street kid.

She's an elf.

She made her name by becoming the blade between the ribs of cruel men.

She knows.

By Viago's own admission in Eight Little Talons, people like Andarateia Cantori don't become Talons. Can you imagine what she had to do to get where she is? She has a vision, and she's going to drag the Crows kicking and screaming into whatever dystopian vision of the future she believes that they should aspire to. She knows how to play the game to make people do what she wants.

Which brings me to the pure (like a fire is purifying) and oblivious reputation that she potentially has among the Crows. She won't see betrayal coming, maybe, but on the other hand no one is really willing to betray her.

But... what if she does see it coming?

She's keeping a close eye on Illario from the time that she's planning Catarina's funeral, and at a certain point, she had people following him. Sure, Illario is useless, probably nowhere to be found when she needs him. She's the one who draws the connection between Illario acting the same when he had just conspired to murder Lucanis and when he had just conspired to disappear Catarina (these were obviously phrased differently in-game).

She had a lot of opportunities to talk to him, however much he was avoiding her.

What if she knew? Or at least suspected?

What if she weighted so many of those conversations... planted suggestions... spent countless hours planting the seeds to tear the heart out of the person responsible for the deaths of so many Crows in her house on the day Catarina was abducted?

More to the point, what if those manipulations were planted primarily so that when Illario was clearly defeated, in the forgiveness ending he actually did take the hand that Lucanis extended in the end?

Would that be suitably self-absorbed for you?

[florencebirdsong]

Could I request Agatha + Rio + Deaf!Fem reader?? I was thinking of possibly they learned how to say I love you or something meaningful to sign to Reader..or something along the line of them being protective of reader on their date because people are quick to judge reader because she is loud without realizing it..

( I would like to say that I am a irl deaf person myself so I would love this!!)

Yes, I can! I only know super basic Auslan. Like the stuff you’re encouraged to learn in multiple languages (hi, how are you, I’m good, finger spelling, where’s the bathroom, I love you, help, hospital, etc) and I don’t know which sign language you use so I’ve kept the actual sign language descriptions vague. I hope that’s okay :) Please enjoy!

Valentine’s Day Event 2025

Tags: annoying man, small moment insecurity, ficlet

Authors note: sorry the bickering isn’t actually written at the start. I’m trying to keep these as ficlets and those two could go for pages

You watch fondly as Agatha and Rio’s hands fly as they sign. Their bickering-like banter easily picking up your mood. The start of the year has been rough but tonight is just what you need. A romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant that you’re going to leave far too early to go and find something much more unhealthy to eat.

A particularly witty response from Rio has you snort a laugh. Agatha quips back just as fast and you laugh freely. She winks at you before turning a smug look on Rio, who would look annoyed if it weren’t for the smile tilting the edge of her mouth.

Both of their faces drop at the same time and it takes you a moment longer to realise a man has stopped by your table and interrupted you all. He looks agitated, his gestures sharp and his features hard. He’s on the other side of the table from you and clearly only addressing your two girlfriends. You can’t tell what he’s upset about and you watch Agatha and Rio for any indication of this becoming a serious altercation. Relaxing when they only look slightly madder than usual, you wonder what the man is talking about. They both seem more pissed off than their usual reaction to being hit on by a man, even when being interrupted during a special dinner. But it is Valentine’s Day. Surely the man has some clue?

They continue to sign when they respond to him but you still can’t glean what exactly this is about. Only that they seem to be about to chew him out.

“No one asked,” Agatha snaps, her hand movements short and sharp.

You tap the table to get Rio’s attention. The dark look means she needs to be distracted. Agatha may be vindictive but Rio is merciless.

“What’s happening?” you sign.

“He thinks we’re being too loud,” she signs back. “Like he hasn’t been bellowing for the last half hour.”

Your eyebrows furrow, suddenly self-conscious. It’s been a long time since you’ve felt badly about being too loud, but for it to be bad enough for someone to try and interrupt a romantic dinner…

Rio taps the table within sight of your dropped gaze. You reluctantly look up.

“He’s been shouting half the night,” she reminds you. “It’s not your fault. Don’t apologise,” she adds pointedly.

Your eyes flick to Agatha, whose disgusted scowl is directed at the man’s retreating back. She notices your gaze and her face immediately softens.

“You know the study, dear,” she signs. “Women speak up slightly more and men think they’re dominating the conversation. I’m sure it’s the same for volume.”

You nod, hesitantly. Knowing you aren’t likely to stop thinking about it without a distraction, Rio stands up suddenly.

“I want cheap chocolate in stupid shapes,” Rio declares.

Agatha doesn’t take any more prompting. She picks the napkin from her lap and flings it onto the table. Rio holds her hand out to help you out of the chair. You all have finished eating and you haven’t even glanced at the dessert menu yet so you don’t feel too badly about taking Rio’s hand.

“Such a gentleman,” you sign after she helps slip your coat on.

Agatha steps closer to you both and signs without shame, 

“I doubt you’ll be saying that once she has you in bed.”

“Nope,” Rio agrees with a sharp smile. “But chocolate first.”

You don’t even glance at the man on your way out.

[rei-ismyname]

Cyclops earns Logan's respect through violence

The X-Men have just tangled with Proteus (and Moira, kinda) for the first time. It didn't go well, with Kurt and Logan feeling it the most after going through the looking glass. Logan is shutting down but Scott has an idea - insulting the fuck out of him. Really going to town emasculating, embarrassing, and provoking him into a fight. Are they lovers? Worse.

Scott knows what buttons to push. Chuck would be proud.

He figures he needs to speak Logan's language - toxic masculinity and ultraviolence. Kurt is like wtf are you doing? so Scott starts on him but it's in service of comparing him to Logan, accusing him of faking trauma.

Cyclops throws a drink in Wolverine's face and basically calls him a bitch, challenging him on their long rivalry. Logan takes the bait and stands up to fight. It's what Scott wanted but now he has to fight an angry and emasculated Wolverine. He keeps pushing him verbally during their fight, with his thought bubbles taking a very different tone. A judo flip and Logan is on his back, but he's up quickly and swinging to kill, bub.

Scott's shit talking intensifies, even as he's thinking about how difficult and dangerous this is. After framing the situation as 'man-to-man roughhousing' (so homoerotic) he moves to draw the other X-Men into the fight. There's a lot of drill sergeant vibes going on here, antagonising the team by giving them something to unite against. Scott flings Logan at Kurt, who is really not loving this at all.

'What's the matter shorty?' hits different

Banshee is wigging out, thinking they're going to kill each other - so he asks Colossus to break it up before someone dies. Jean knows what's going on, however, and tells them to stay out of it. Cyke is running rings around Logan, even reflecting an optic blast off Colossus to hit him from behind.

Woo, violence!

Kurt even speculates that Scott might be possessed, lol, so he tries to teleport in for a strike. Cyke has clearly played Space Invaders though, and he has his number, blasting him out of the sky.

With the others temporarily down, Ororo has finally had enough of this shit and she summons a lightning bolt as a warning. Cyclops plays possum a little then rolls into an optic blast right at her feet.

With three X-Men after him and more likely to join the fray (or just Storm getting serious) Scott quits while he's ahead, calling for peace. Logan especially doesn't think much of that notion until Scott and Jean explain. This was Scott leading and making sure the team was okay, Logan most of all.

Logan even opens up a little, admitting he was spooked. He says the obvious, that he hasn't thought much of Scott but is happy to concede he was wrong. I think Scott appreciates that more than he admits, and this is not the last time he'll have to fight all the X-Men. All that danger room training paid off. I could write a dozen essays on this issue but for now I'll just say it's an important one for the X-Men as a team as well as the Scott/Logan relationship.

I've never been in a paramilitary group, though I have had people try the tough love approach to my trauma. I don't speak to them anymore, because it's a messed up way to act. It's pretty satisfying here, and might even be the right decision. It's hard to argue with the results, but FR the X-Men all need therapy. Logan needs super therapy, or you know, to fight his friends every few months. This ISN'T Logan Behavior, not yet. It's messed up, but he's still a reasonable person at this point trying to be better. Havok and Polaris just watch without comment, which is kinda funny too.

[misfitwashere]

ROBERT REICH

FEB 14

Friends,

I want to talk today about the media’s coverage of the Trump-Vance-Musk coup. 

I’m not referring to coverage by the bonkers right-wing media of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and its imitators. 

I’m referring to the U.S. mainstream media — The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, National Public Radio — and the mainstream media abroad, such as the BBC and The Guardian. 

By not calling it a coup, the mainstream media is failing to communicate the gravity of what is occurring. 

Yesterday’s opinion by The New York Times’ editorial board offers a pathetic example. It concedes that Trump and his top associates “are stress-testing the Constitution, and the nation, to a degree not seen since the Civil War” but then asks: “Are we in a constitutional crisis yet?” and answers that what Trump is doing “should be taken as a flashing warning sign.”

Warning sign? 

Elon Musk’s meddling into the machinery of government is a part of the coup. Musk and his muskrats have no legal right to break into the federal payments system or any of the other sensitive data systems they’re invading, for which they continue to gather computer code. 

This data is the lifeblood of our government. It is used to pay Social Security and Medicare. It measures inflation and jobs. Americans have entrusted our private information to professional civil servants who are bound by law to use it only for the purposes to which it is intended. In the wrong hands, without legal authority, it could be used to control or mislead Americans. 

By failing to use the term “coup,” the media have also underplayed the Trump-Vance-Musk regime’s freeze on practically all federal funding — suggesting this is a normal part of the pull-and-tug of politics. It is not. Congress has the sole authority to appropriate money. The freeze is illegal and unconstitutional. 

By not calling it a coup, the media have also permitted Americans to view the regime’s refusal to follow the orders of the federal courts as a political response, albeit an extreme one, to judicial rulings that are at odds with what a president wants.

There is nothing about the regime’s refusal to be bound by the courts that places it within the boundaries of acceptable politics. Our system of government gives the federal judiciary final say about whether actions of the executive are legal and constitutional. Refusal to be bound by federal court rulings shows how rogue this regime truly is. 

Earlier this week, a federal judge excoriated the regime for failing to comply with “the plain text” of an edict the judge issued last month to release billions of dollars in federal grants. Vice President JD Vance, presumably in response, declared that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Vance graduated from the same law school I did. He knows he’s speaking out of his derriere. 

In sum, the regime’s disregard for laws and constitutional provisions surrounding access to private data, impoundment of funds appropriated by Congress, and refusal to be bound by judicial orders amount to a takeover of our democracy by a handful of men who have no legal authority to do so. 

If this is not a coup d’etat, I don’t know what is. 

The mainstream media must call this what it is. In doing so, they would not be “taking sides” in a political dispute. They would be accurately describing the dire emergency America now faces. 

Unless Americans see it and understand the whole of it for what it is rather than piecemeal stories that “flood the zone,” Americans cannot possibly respond to the whole of it. The regime is undertaking so many outrageous initiatives that the big picture cannot be seen without it being described clearly and simply. 

Unless Americans understand that this is indeed a coup that’s wildly illegal and fundamentally unconstitutional — not just because that happens to be the opinion of constitutional scholars or professors of law, or the views of Trump’s political opponents, but because it is objectively and in reality a coup — Americans cannot rise up as the clear majority we are, and demand that democracy be restored. 

[khorneschosen]

Again I don't know how you calculate that with a army that is not following the rules of war. Like uniforms.

And again they started this war They made this war what it is They started a war with a war crime I would like you to answer what the fuck I'm talking about rather than just going Well it's I for an eye so it's bad But why is it when the alternative is to let a man blind you is that preferable is it preferable to allow evil their sanction of imposing its will.

Because I'm going to be honest with you if the choice is allow evil to impose its will and blind you concern is with heaven my guy I am not.

Again they caused civilian casualties They chose to cause civilian casualties from their defensive structures to their war plan to the humanitarian crisis at every level You don't get to go eye for an eye and that allow them the right to kill civilians.

Because right now this is the only tool that keeps them from ever doing that shit again. They need to learn You do not target civilians and then pretend that you are own are safe. You do not get to run wars as prehistoric tribes do where extermination is the goal and then turn around and demand the standards of a civilized order.

Again can you condemn the first act of evil and say it should have its consequences. Because all this eye for an eye talk does not allow for it there is a time to put away the weapons and refuse retribution for the sake of peace but they did that and it got them October 7th.

How many October 7ths do they have to endure before You recognize and take in the full context of what is going on.

I agree Good should stop being punished and evil must be. Was it good being punished on October 7th you know innocent civilians at a music festival. Men women children people who had nothing to do with it international visitors to a music concert.

Were these people secretly evil Will these people secretly bad and deserving of what happened to them?

Again eye for an eye sounds cute and quaint and nice when there is an option for peace but the option for peace had been given and rejected. This is a point you need to tell Hamas not me not the Israelis not those who gave them every fucking chance to join the civilized order. So I'm going to point out that if I for an eye is being applied here it goes not to the Israelis it goes to the Palestinians. And should have gone before October 7th.

As they should as they should considering what they did on October 7th. Because I want you to understand They did that. They did in fact do that They went in and they killed civilians women children and men and they also committed every kind of crime that they could against them torture kidnapping rape there was nothing left off the table for them.

Et tu frater? Et tu?

As I've said before I see things a little bit too clearly because I don't drop context like you do. I don't remove a fact of existence from my consideration. You and this entire spiel have had to ignore October 7th and the context it brings to your argument as I have pointed out.

If you're suddenly worried about antisemitism because of elon musk but you spent the last year and a half harassing Jews and "Zionists" and excusing antisemitism in your own movement, you don't care about antisemitism

I don't trust you. The Jewish community doesn't trust you. You never cared about us, still don't, and you made it very clear

[goldenkiwistyles]

Heyy can I get a Eddie diaz confessing to fem!reader please? I'm a sucker for romance 😆

Beautiful Things ~ Eddie Diaz

Warnings: mentions of death, shooting, drugs, alcohol, drunk driving slightly angsty but happy ending.

Based of this request and Beautiful Things by Benson Boone.

~

It seemed like a regular call. As soon as the tones went off, everyone rushed to the trucks. You where sat opposite Eddie, smiling. It was a car accident, nothing to serious. One of the drivers was pinned in with minor injuries whereas the other one seemed unscathed. Automatically the team focus on getting the driver out after a quick assessment of the other man.

Just as buck was removing the door with the jaws the other man, rick started getting impatient.

"Can I get some help over here." Eddie went over to the man asking him to be patient will they helped the other driver."

"I don't want to wait I want help now."

Both men were growing frustrated. "Sir, I'm sorry there isn't anything we can do. You've only got minor scrapes and bruises."

This seemed to irritate him further. He was clearly drunk or something so Eddie reaches for his radio to radio for police backup.

"Don't even think about radioing for back up." Rick suddenly pulls a gun out from the waistband of his jeans.

Noticing the commotion you run over yelling Eddie's name.

Rick points the gun towards you. "Stay right there."

Everyone freezes, putting there hands up.

"Now don't you have some drugs or something you can give me." He points the gun back at Eddie.

"I'm sorry sir I can't do that."

"Just give me some fucking drugs or something."

"I can't."

There's a loud bang as he pulls the trigger and before your brain can catch up your body moves. Eddie blinks and your lying on the floor, bleeding out. You took a bullet for him.

Wile Rick is distracted Buck runs and tackles him, kicking the gun away.

"Mayday, Mayday Firefighters been shot."

Eddie collapses on his knees screaming your name as Chim and Hen rush over, to tend to you.

Please stay I want you, I need you, Oh, God.

Everything around him drowns out. All he can focus on is your still body lying Infront of him. All the pain, laughter and love he felt for you overwhelmed him. He never got to tell you how he felt. He was to scared. Scared that he would lose you. His best friend. His rock.

Someone places there hands on his shoulders and helps him into the truck. Eddie clings onto Buck, crying into his shoulder as they follow the ambulance to the hospital.

~

Several hours of surgery later they had managed to remove the bullet and stooped the bleeding but you were still lying in a hospital bed unconscious. Eddie had lost count of how long he had been sat at your side. He couldn't bring himself to leave you. The 118 was the only family you had.

"Please y/n don't leave me. I love you so much."

Don't take these beautiful things that I've got.

"I love your laugh, your smile." Eddie starts to tear up.

"I love your hugs and how safe I feel with you. How good you are with Chris and how you always insist on watching a movie and fall asleep half way through. God I love everything about you."

I've got peace and I've got love but I'm up all night thinkin' I might just lose it all.

It could be his mind playing tricks on him but he swears he felt your hand squeeze his.

"Y/n?" Y/n can you here me?" He is full on sobbing now.

Slowly you open your eyes, blinking rapidly at the bright light.

"Oh my Goodness your ok."

"Edd.." You try to talk but your throat is dry and scratchy so Eddie gently helps you have a sip of water.

"Eddie I... I love you...too."

It takes him a minute to process what your saying but as soon as he realises he's sobbing even more.

"Really?"

You wince slightly. Jesus who knew getting shot hurt do much.

"Yes you idiot I've loved you since the first day I met you."

Eddie gently leans down, connecting your lips in a tender kiss, pulling away quickly so he doesn't hurt you.

"Who knew it would take one of us getting shot to confess are feelings."

Eddie giggles. "Maybe we should of stopped being idiots and done it sooner."

You smirk. "Nah, I don't think I'd change a thing. I get to have you looking after me for the next few weeks."

"You bet. Your going to be so tired of me by the time your fully healed."

"Bring it on."

~

Hope this is what you wanted Anon. :)

Ik I made it quite angsty but when I read the request this was the first idea thar came to my head.

[crossthread]

No jokes here. The Navy’s best pilot and the Navy’s best admiral. Between them, eight air-to-air combat kills and five stars. These were men who commanded respect with or without your approval. This was the picture of ruthless competence.

Debriefing (& Other Stories) • part 2 of Easier Done Than Said by @compacflt

[squeebh8]

i need to know who at supergiant games thought it was a good idea to not only split odysseus from his family, but also go with the version where he cheated on penelope. i need to know why and how that decision was approved.

[tomorrowsdrama]

Nearly 3 years later and I’m amused that my thoughts on the first 10 episodes of Love Like the Galaxy are still pretty much the same 😆. Ok maybe comparing Yang Yang to a sad pug was kind of mean. I actually like her more on this second watch.

To add further to my previous thoughts now that I’m at episode 11:

1. Lou Yao is such a puppy, even down to the way he follows Niaoniao. I can’t.

2. Third Uncle and Third Aunt totally have a banging sex life.

3. Omg Li Yunrui is the negging scholar/potential third suitor!

4. Niaoniao is so smart in some ways and so completely dense in others. Poor Lou Yao practically spelled it out to her that he liked her and girl was worried he was blaming her for his broken engagement lol.

5. I really love the bond between the siblings, Yang Yang included! The only one sowing discord among them is the mother by constantly shoehorning Yang Yang into any conversation where Niaoniao is praised. Saying Niaoniao is good does not equal Yang Yang is bad! The two cousins get along perfectly fine. It’s the mother and her unfair bias against her own daughter who’s creating this whole jealousy/disharmony narrative. A true wtf moment was when she scolded Niaoniao and accused her of trying to steal the spotlight from Yang Yang just because Niaoniao offered a drink to Yang Yang’s aunt. Like, WHAT?

6. Third Uncle is so beyond whipped for his wife.

7. I love Third Aunt and how she constantly calls out the mother’s unfair treatment of Niaoniao. She deserves to have all these men simping after her!

8. Ling Buyi is such a goner for Niaoniao. I swear, the more feral and vengeful she gets, the more turned on he is. Talk about love at first hand sight.

9. I see what the drama is trying to do with the mother and I don’t like it/am not convinced. Honestly, it feels like she hates her own daughter sometimes based on how she’s so quick to think the worst of her and blame her for everything. I’m not falling for any of these “actually, she was going to punish the wrongdoers later on in secret, Niaoniao just misunderstood/didn’t give her an opportunity to do so” reveals. It’s all bs to me. Harsh behavior is still harsh, no matter what the reasoning. Oh she didn’t hit Niaoniao as hard as she could have? Too bad, she still hit her “to teach her a lesson.” How she treats Niaoniao is especially egregious given how Niaoniao was raised, or more accurately, not raised, by her Aunt Ge. Come on lady, cut your daughter some slack and give her some grace! You can’t expect her to know proper etiquette when she was never taught or exposed to that kind of social setting. So many of her issues with Niaoniao would not exist if she would just listen to her and try to consider what works for Niaoniao instead of trying to impose what she thinks is right/proper onto her. Like the whole thing about teaching Niaoniao how to read. It’s clear that Niaoniao is not stupid. She just isn’t interested in learning how to read ancient texts (and who can blame her?). But instead of trying to teach Niaoniao how to read via instruction manuals that she’s clearly interested in, the mother insists on forcing Niaoniao to read the classics. Because that’s what she wants and thinks a proper lady should do. Not once does she ever try to put herself in her daughter’s shoes and consider what would actually be beneficial for her. Anyway, all this is to say, the drama can try to rationalize the Mother’s behavior or redeem her all it wants. But I refuse to pick up what it’s trying to put down! It’s not even that the writing is bad. The writing in this drama is actually quite good. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

Anyway, this drama is exactly what I was looking for to get me out of my drama slump.

Quick thoughts through ep 10 of Love Like the Galaxy

1. I looooove Niao Niao aka stem girl.

2. Murder Boy is such a simp for Stem Girl and I live for it.

3. Ugh hate mom.

4. Upon Lou Yao’s first appearance: omg who is this fetus?

5. Lou Yao is totally a sub and he’s found his dream dom girl in Niao Niao.

6. Hellooooo Third Daddy Uncle!

7. I looooove Qi Qi.

8. Ugh mom go away already. Please drama, no more of this “she didn’t hit her as hard as she could so that shows she DOES care for Niao Niao” bullshit.

9. Dad is caring but useless.

10. Yang Yang constantly looks like a sad pug.

11. Mom’s only mad that Niao Niao won’t submit to her and obey her every command. Again, please just go away.

[inarmes]

continually infuriated with SC for her portrayals of black people and district 11 and i'm again going to touch on her portrayal of thresh, very specifically how he talks/his speech & some other tidbits. (as a black person, because i fear that has to be made clear.)

let's take a look at these. if you've read my post on my issues with d11, you'll recognize that they were also in that post and explained upon.

it is so redundant to have a black character whom in which is already a stereotype in and of itself to be further stereotypical. thresh is a "physical wonder," made out as if he's more of a beast than a person despite being an outlier & not trained like a career. he's made to seem intimidating and imposing and all around terrifying for someone like katniss, who differs in statute and mass. that's strike one. in most media, black = intimidating. which is not only harmful but just endlessly racist. now, for the extracts above, his speech.

SC has managed to imply a lack of education or a lack of understanding of speech, just from how thresh speaks alone. (“you kill her?” / “i let you go.”) he lacks the typical “did you” or “i'll let you” in both those phrases, with the words shortened to impose the idea that he isn't very grammatical. i don't have to explain to you why that's problematic. we could go through the slavery talk and how black people were discouraged from any level of education when possible, as their jobs were simply to work on the fields/plantations. SC imposes an impression that the people of 11 are not entirely grammatically educated from thresh's speech alone. yes, there's rue in comparison — who seems to speak fine despite being younger than thresh, which is a very specific thing that sticks out. you have thresh being quiet, reserved and only physically imposing. you add his level of speech to it, and it paints a very shitty picture which shows that she doesn't really know what she's doing and she's basing him off of an idea of a black person and not ... an actual black person.

thresh spares katniss, but at the same time acts out in a very brutal sort of violence prior in which is almost primitive with how it's portrayed — he's one of the only tributes that doesn't use a weapon such as a knife, bow, sword, etc. he picks up something from his environment. to me, SC characterizes him as something closer to a caveman, rather than a terrified teenager running on justice and a need to survive. she draws back to the old racist beliefs of black people (and by extension, black men) as being capable of only abhorrent violence, uneducated and worse, near uncivilized. it's a death game, people are going to be out of their usual selves in order to vie for the spot of victor, which is understandable, but it does not look good for him. it just doesn't look like she understood the drawbacks to writing thresh in such a loaded way (loaded being microagressive and heavily stigmatized.)

peeta (equally physically imposing) literally joins the careers, the brainwashed, bloodthirsty bunch of teens that thrive on murder in order to bring glory to their district, but thresh is the significantly physically imposing one and gets to be painted in such a harsh and violent light despite intention and circumstance. yesss. very telling. thresh does one good deed & shows himself to be a thoughtful and understanding person despite his traits and suddenly we all think that means that SC understands how to write a black person positively. nooooo. unfortunately not.

[deoidesign]

something that makes me sad is when people tell me the healthy communication in my writing is "unrealistic."

like guys this is how me and my partner talk with eachother... I'm writing from personal experience...

[bayetea]

I don't like the judo flip in moa as much as the next guy but in my eyes it's largely the result of rick not taking female violence half as seriously as male violence (a result of viewing women as weaker and inferior to men such that their acts of violence don't need to be taken as seriously) and not so much anything about annabeth herself. like I do genuinely feel that annabeth is a complex heroine and definitely one of the better ones in the realm of ya action-adventure fiction produced in the past 25 years but she is still a girl being written by a man and all I'm saying is that her writing clearly reflects that sometimes (more in tags)

[seradyn]

No cause I need to crash out about this a little bit because YOURE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE MISOGYNY 😭😭

I’ve read SO many fics where Sylus is OOC it’s concerning. People can write what they want, I’m a firm believer in that, but it feels like we aren’t even talking about the same character sometimes. I’ve read fics where Sylus calls reader/mc ‘slut’ during intimacy and I physically recoiled because Sylus would rather die a thousand deaths than call us that. Even if you asked him to he’d double and triple check you actually wanted that and still probably wouldn’t be thrilled to.

Like…genuinely, you can write whatever trope/kink/whatever you want, but if you slap Sylus over it then at least tag it OOC. I read a cheater fic that wasn’t tagged and had a vague summary, and I just had to grimace when I realized that’s what the fic was because Sylus would never in a billion years EVER cheat on us. The same goes for the other Lis. They are designed to love us and only us. They would never be so desperate for sex that they would fucking cheat. ESPECIALLY Sylus, who has stated he’s never been with anyone else. Not to mention, this man doesn’t give a fuck about random flings or one night stands. This man makes love, wants more than anything to just be able to make you feel good and show you how much he loves you. Why do you think he asked for consent multiple times before he dove in, in Nightly Rendezvous? Men like that don’t cheat 😭😭

As for the fic you’re mentioning, I’m glad I haven’t seen it, cause that is just…so far from what Sylus would do 😩 That implies a level of emotional immaturity that Sylus has repeatedly shown he is not down with. He literally encourages us to feel our emotions in a healthy way, and wants to be the safe space where we can feel them without judgment. People like that aren’t going to ghost you out of pettiness, that is just so fundamentally incongruent with how he acts and what he says. I could maybe see Rafayel doing something like that, but even then I don’t think he’d ghost us for DAYS, that is just an insane level of childishness.

Speaking of Rafayel, I read fics of him and Xavier too, even though I’m a Sylus main, and this problem is not nearly as common or consistent in how they are misperceived. Rafayel does get mischaracterized, a lot of people tend to forget how dangerous he can be, but even then I don’t see it as often in fics. And Xavier, I’ve only seen one or two fics where he’s OOC, and usually it’s with the same tropes discussed above.

I think a lot of this issue stems from 1. Infold’s marketing team and 2. Sylus first few interactions with the player in the main story. Unfold framed Sylus as the booktok daddy dom alpha male in his trailer, and a lot of people haven’t been able to look past it to the kind of character he actually is. I also know quite a few people write for Sylus without actually playing the game, which is fine, but again, some OOC tags would be nice 😩 And as for the main story, if you don’t bother to dig any deeper, he does seem like some dark romance dom, but if you look into his lore, especially the dragon myth you can see so clearly just how much pain he is in that you don’t remember him. It breaks my heart replaying those parts now because you can just see the anguish in his eyes that the one person who saw him as more than a monster doesn’t remember him. It’s so fucking sad 😭😭

That being said, I do wish the game did more to address the way Sylus treated us at the start. I’ve read some incredible fics that do, specifically this one, and it’s so fucking good. It holds Sylus accountable while acknowledging how actually romantic and loving he is. That first meeting he wears a mask to hide his pain, and this fic gets it so so right.

As someone who has been writing fanfic for years, a lot of time my fics are almost like a character study, diving into how they would react in different situations, what has motivated them to become the character they are. Sometimes I get stuff OOC too, and I’ll often put little explanations in the notes about why I chose to make them act the way I do, how I came to that conclusion about them. That’s different then blatantly writing them to do and say things they would rather die than say or do for the sake of a kink or trope. Cause that’s what it boils down to most of the time.

I also understand we’re talking about a fictional character, and none of this really matters in the grand scheme of things. But as a fic author myself, it’s painful how much Sylus in particular is twisted into something he just fundamentally isn’t. Why not write for another character at that point? 😭

It’s so clearly misogynistic because woman are always expected to cater to the man. Always expected to make room for his emotions and not get that compassion back. I’ve seen it so often in real life, I just want to tell these woman YOU DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER. And the Lis want to be that better for you. As I wrote in my most recent Sylus fic, he would genuinely be so disappointed if you just rolled over and let him treat you like shit. Like, babes, who hurt you? An intimate partner should not be acting like a child with petty games like that 😭 It reminds me of that video of the guy saying “bitch, what’s for dinner?” to his gf, and when she responds meekly, he tells her to slap him if he ever speaks to her like that. That is Sylus. He’d want you to beat the shit out of him if he ever treated you that way. He loves and respects us way too much to let anyone, including himself, get away with that shit.

I’ve been meaning to make my own post about this, so sorry for the long crash out. I just…AHHH I MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM. IVE SEEN THIS IN OTHER FANDOMS TOO IT MAKES ME INSANE

Hi! This is my first ask/time doing one of these but I just wanted to come here and say I ABSOLUTELY agree with practically EVERY word you said about sylus. Honestly BLESS your soul for you saying it because damn did it need to be said.

hihi, thank you for taking the time to send me something!

and thank you!!! i'm not usually one to post my 'hot takes' in public because i usually can't be bothered, but this really frustrated me. ESPECIALLY because i write my own fanfic, characterization is super important to me because if it doesn't feel like the character... what's the point, right? i get that there's a certain level of nuance to each character, and nobody but the creator of said characters is going to get them perfectly correct, but for god's sake sylus was CREATED by infold to love you, to be in love with you. this may just be my take, but having been on the recieving end of that treatment: nobody who truly loves you would ignore you for something so inconsequential to sylus as a buisness meeting or whatever. (i have two specific fics in mind but i don't want to reference them speficially because i'm genuinely not trying to call out anyone in particular)

because like. again, from what my friend has said and from what @bloomfalls and @seradyn have added to my og post in the tags, sylus wants YOU and only YOU. he's not the type of man to leave you wondering, to make you second guess his feelings.

^ direct quote from said friend ily dawg ur the realest

writing fanfic is really hard, esp when it comes to characterization, but i feel like in a game where these guys are SPECIFICALLY love interests it's like... guys the writing is on the walls, the floor, the cieling, and a sticky note duct taped to your forehead. it's so easy. for other fandoms, where it's not focused on love interests it's harder to be like 'x wouldn't act like this', so i will 100% give those people grace. but if i wrote something for sylus, (winkwinknudgenudge) i feel like! it would be pretty easy, given how we are GIVEN A MANUAL ON HOW HE TREATS THE PERSON HE LOVES.

and lastly: as i said, writing sylus so that he expects the reader to come crawling back to him after dogshit treatment and having the reader do exactly that, is misogynistic. i'm sorry, it has to be said.

[caswlw]

i’m just so devastated, exhausted, and emotionally drained. steve kornacki, thanks for your service. big fuck you to anyone who abstained, voted for trump, or voted third party.

[novella-november]

Is this fanfic friendly? I feel like an outlier.

I guess this is my sign it's time to throw together a FAQ post to link to lol.

Yes, every event for this blog is fanfic friendly :D

Though as I mentioned on my Ominous October post, for events that include multiple short stories, I encourage everyone to flex their creativity and take one of their planned short story fanfics, and at least *attempt* to turn one of them into something entirely original; rebuilding a character and story from the ground up to stand on its own two legs is no easy feat, and that is what makes it so fun!

It really gets your creative gears turning, to make an "au of an existing material" to be something entirely original, and you can be pleasantly surprised about the things you come up with!

As a few people say, its not just a matter of "filing the serial numbers off" -- you have to add in just as much *or more* as what you take out when you are turning a fanfiction into something that is original and completely divorced from its original source material / inspiration, and that is a hard, but very rewarding challenge!

Obviously, this is not a requirement (there's no hard requirements for any of the challenges, other than no cheating, including no using AI),

but if you would like an extra challenge for the short story events and you're planning on doing entirely fan-fiction, I highly recommend trying it out at least once, and seeing where it leads you--

you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what you find down that rabbit hole!

[compacflt]

idk if this question has already been answered or not but idrc, would your ice have considered it "talking about it" to admit his physical attraction towards mav? like calling him beautiful or genuinely complementing him. this goes for mav too

i do feel post debriefing ice would call mav beautiful openly or some sappy bs like that

love your writing 💌

anon i need you to know this ask was so cute it made me physically nauseous. i was sick all week thinking about how cute this ask was. thank you for sending it.

i actually had a couple drabbles where yes ice both pre- and post-TGM mission is like yeah im physically attracted to you, but it’s less like “oh my god you’re so hot 😍” and more like “i mean, yeah, you objectively look like tom cruise so it’s not like i really have a choice.”

but “beautiful” specifically i had not thought of, and it has knocked me off my feet and made me go feral/rabid/undomesticated for a few days straight, so i will be writing something about this. thanks.