#but i don't really like to ignore canon outright unless i have to so

[fadewalking]

... but like should i add Felassan to the muse list

[child-of-helios]

hello. I've a rather stupid question. I've only read the books once, as a kid, and I don't understand why people hate calpyso x leo. whys it so bad? why does everyone seems to hate it on here?

xxx,

eurydice

First of all, this is my first ever ask, I've made it mother :D Secondly, I'd gladly explain! Though please note that it really has been a good while since I've read the books too, so my memory is kinda foggy :] Warnings for: Slight mentions (but not too much) of rape, pedophilia and mental illness (oh boy this is a tough one)

So, I have made a post abt this before, but it was written in a fit of rage so not my proudest moment (but my most popular post, oops). Anyways, I feel that the hate towards Calypso x Leo is because of a few reasons. 1. It simply didn't get enough development to feel worth it imo. Similar to Jason x Piper, I felt like there wasn't enough there to warrant a canon ship. There is also the fact that personally, I thought that their dynamic was more of a familial or that of siblings, which made me uncomfortable. I would've much rather have them be friends. 2. The uncomfortable age gap. It feels very weird because while yes, Calypso was depicted as a teenager, she is thousands upon thousands of years old. The fact that she fell in love with a literal child is incredibly weird. It was weird enough with Percy, but at least they didn't end up dating. With Leo though, she did end up dating him and the age gap feels very odd. Its even weirder knowing she had a relationship with Odysseus, who by that point was a pretty old dude so she was probably very mature and an adult (though she doesn't act like it). 3. Calypso is kinda a rapist. In the Odyssey myth, she forces Odysseus (a married man) to sleep with her. I'm sorry, but I can't support any relationship involving a rapist unless its rapist x prison cell. It makes me uncomfortable because she could very well take advantage of Leo, a mentally ill teenager with self-esteem issues. 4. Her toxic treatment of Leo. Calypso was very pissed when Leo arrived on her island, rightfully so after what she had gone through, but even then her treatment of his was outright cruel, especially compared to that of Percy and Odysseus. She made him sleep outside, exposing him to the elements after he got flung through the air and ended up on her island, which must've caused some damage. Then after they started dating, I still felt uncomfortable reading about the two, because their dynamic just didn't work, and I don't recall her apologizing to him for her treatment of him. 5. Leo's arc was thrown away. I think the worst of all, is how this impacted Leo's character. He should've had an arc where he learnt to love himself, but because of Calypso he didn't. I think the moral was supposed to be: 'even if you're mentally ill or have problems, you still deserve love!' but it came over more as: 'ignore your issues and get all your love from someone else.' Isn't it more important for kids to learn about self-love? And as an extra: what could've been. I think that Leo shouldn't have gone back for Calypso, that that ship shouldn't have happened. I prefer him going back to Echo and them learning about self-love together as buddies (and maybe evolving into more than that). Echo was stuck in an abusive relationship with the Narcissist, so I think it would a good arc for them both. I also think that if you really wanted a romance, Jason x Leo would've been much better. We know that Rick can write good gay romances, we know that Piper turns out to be a lesbian, so why not make Jason and Leo gay? I think it would add much more to the tragedy of Jason's death, but that's for another post (and this one is getting too long already oops). In conclusion, I think Caleo is bad for many reasons, but especially because it didn't have enough time to develop and the dynamic was simply too creepy for me to get invested in. Sorry for the super long post- Have a lovely day :D

[utilitycaster]

@thmtrnfrvns replied to your post “ok so I was wrong about The Emissary and the...”:

didn't matt say that if you popped the bubbles those people turned to dust? Like the bubbles are the only thing preserving them? I might be totally wrong but I keep seeing this question being asked so I'm confused

​He hasn't, and I actually want to cover this. The lore has thus far been noncommittal, both from an out of world perspective (ie, the EGTW, for which this serves as a potential plot hook should people wish to explore it) and in-world (ie, in the canon of Exandria from the main campaigns and other canonical works such as The Nine Eyes of Lucien). We don't know if it's possible; we also very much don't know that it's impossible.

Which is what I want to talk about, because it's weird to me that this idea spread so much within the fandom - that the bubbles are an outright lost cause. I mentioned it before, but the argument the gods should be destroyed (even from behind the Divine Gate) in some sort of retribution for Aeor barely holds up as is; it certainly won't bring back Aeor, and the Divine Gate serves to hold back the gods already so destroying it only in order to kill them is purely an act of vengeance. But it really falls apart if there could be survivors of Aeor.

It's very easy to hold yourself up as the champion for people who cannot speak. They can't contradict you; you can say their motivations and desires are whatever you want. This is something explored in modern political thought, both in the many critiques of the anti-abortion movement (fetuses are fundamentally agency-less things) and in, for example, Dara Horn's People Love Dead Jews. Obviously this is true for any fictional character - none of them can respond to their advocates directly - but especially one who can't even in canon speak on their own behalf. If you say that Ashton would be on Ludinus's side, Ashton might, within the narrative, prove you wrong; but if you say the Aeorians would be, well, who knows. They're dead. Unless they're not. Bringing back anyone from the stasis bubbles fucks over that argument twice: now there are survivors, and those survivors can speak. (Worth noting that the two Aeormatons we've seen in C3 directly have not been in Ludinus's favor, and that his generals at least had no vested interest in sparing the Aeormaton they knew about; this isn't about the people of Aeor or what was lost, it's about pointing at corpses and saying they'd have your back if only they weren't dead.)

This a pattern for the people making arguments in Ludinus's favor. They invoke the titans (dead long before the narrative, and the person who killed the last two of them was Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, whom they don't seem to condemn for it, and they never really talk about what life for the titans must have been. It's not about the titans). They invoke FCG (dead, and they didn't really like them much when they were alive because of, you know, the whole faith in a deity thing, but now that he's dead they can pretend he's a mouthpiece for them. It's not about FCG, or Aeormatons, or Aeor.) They tried invoking the characters who were vaguely critical of the gods in the past but didn't have the lore to back it up and those characters (Keyleth, Essek, Percy) have all sided very clearly with the Accord, so now they stick only to people who can't weigh in and disprove the point. They make up hypotheticals about Bor'Dor and Petrov, the former of which is, again, dead, and the latter of which is a minor NPC with but a slim chance of appearing again whether he lives or dies and both of whom are equally representative of how the Vanguard preys on disaffected young people and chews them up and destroys them while telling them it's for the best, and ignore the many, many living who have been irrevocably harmed by the Vanguard.

It might end up being true that the stasis bubbles are a dead end, and I think it's pretty likely they won't get explored in-game, but if someone says they're absolutely a dead end - especially when Ludinus is going to invoke the fall of Aeor - it's worth exploring why they're saying that. Are they just misinformed (in which case you should still examine their argument, for, you know, not knowing the source material sufficiently well to craft accurate premises from which to argue)? Or would even acknowledging the possibility that they're not a lost cause destroy their argument?

[skaruresonic]

idk why so many antis took the whole "like long lost sibling would " on that alt text for the promo of dark beginnings as canon and 'solid evidence' that shadria have a sibling relationship when the text can also be read as sarcastic or mocking? I might be reaching but sarcasm doesn't really translate well in text but putting any indication like ' or () when it doesn't flow in the original text always feels like somebody making snarky comment to me, idk to me personally I could argue w antis that it mocking them by being like 'isn't this obvious ship bait totally platonic' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Idk it just so annoying to see so many antis go 'haha shadria fans must be weeping' when it a fucking alt text on a promo that I doubt any writers or higher up would quality check in comparison to the fact in canon that shadria has yet to be label unlike other characters in the series as well as ignoring how many opportunities the series had to outright have shadow call Maria his sister no media be it games, shows or comics has him calling her sister or vice versa. So unless the new game outright has him referring to her as sister in all languages, shadria will still be a valid ship and even if that does happen it still won't erase all the moments the two had either shippers r still gonna ship.

I don't understand why antis think one little text line that not even in any media is gonna make Sharia shipper suddenly stop. Apology for ranting but omg it so annoying seeing anti act so high n mighty over something so trivial 💀

Personally, I'm inclined to agree with Beev on this one. It seems like they threw in "as long-lost siblings would" in order to placate the antis. Which would, ironically enough, imply an awareness that the piece could be read as romantic.

There was really no need for a parenthetical note to dictate the tone of the piece. If they left it at "Shadow and Maria reach out for one another in an infinite abyss," the reader could interpret it any way they want.

(Random tangent, but describing space as an "infinite abyss" also strikes me as a bit strange. You can see stars in the piece.)

I think SoA knows the flavor of the food they've been serving us recently, but they did this as a sort of PR move to cover their asses. They might be worried about losing face with Shadria antis, who form a not-unsizable portion of fandom now compared to Shadria shippers.

...but I mean. Come on. There's no way they're not aware.

And the thing is, it's not like the manga or anything else is explicitly confirming the dynamic is definitely romantic, either. It's not like we shippers aren't aware we have our ship goggles on; we just wanna vibe in our space.

Ever since playing SA2 as a kid and wondering if Shadow was in love with Maria, I've always had the feeling that their dynamic was supposed to be left open to interpretation. Antis want to impose their reading upon pain of accusing you of being a freak, while the shippers are more like "haha... unless?"

Also, it's really funny to think this is the ship they consider worth calling people "demented dogs" over. Have you literally played any other video game ever? Read any book? Watched any movie? Oh no, a ship the game probably wanted us to ship a little! OOGA-BOOGA.

This is probably one of the least problematic ships in existence tbh. Methinks the antis doth protest too much.

Besides, you're (general you) being disingenuous to claim there are no undertones whatsoever. Why include them if the dynamic is only supposed to be interpreted a certain way?

Using Sonic X as an example of what I'm talking about might be cheating, but since it's about as non-canon as the manga appears to be, it seems fair to mention it.

In Sonic X, Shadow also tends to recall Maria through a romanticized filter; he remembers her as being extra beautiful and ethereal compared to other characters who recall her as simply an ordinary girl.

Compare Shadow's flashbacks to the flashbacks of the soldier who shot her:

In the soldier's flashback, Maria is just a frightened child who pulls the lever. We're not shown her body, but rather his reaction:

In Shadow's flashbacks, Maria slumps tragically to the ground and/or lies on the ground, calmly speaking her last words while bathed in soft blue light.

There's a heightened sentimentality to Shadow's memories of Maria which serves to emphasize, I guess, the "beauty" that the ARK tragedy took from him. Considering Shadow is stated to like "nothing," maybe he finds nothing or no one else as beautiful.

Not that her death wasn't tragic in and of itself, but there's a marked difference in tone. One feels like a child's senseless death viewed from the POV of the man who killed her, and the other feels like... to be frank... something romance anime-coded.

It's worth noting that Shadow maintains this romanticized filter even when fantasizing about an alternate timeline where she survived (or perhaps the future they had been looking forward to after she was cured), so you can't always chalk it up to a product of Gerald's brainwashing:

...let's unpack this on the therapist's couch, hmm?

---

I don't understand why antis think one little text line that not even in any media is gonna make Sharia shipper suddenly stop.

Very true, and it's a fool's errand to try. I was going to reblog that piece without tags, as per usual, but I decided to tag it as "Shadria" just to flip antis off. Fuck you, you can't tell me what to ship on my own blog. xP

(also tagged it "Shadria" because "Shadria" was the original ship name and it's still a perfectly good ship name. it's a pet peeve of mine, how antis chased shippers off the Shadria tag and forced them to come up with less elegant portmanteaus. "Shadaria" and "Mariadow" sound so much clunkier than "Shadria")

---

Apology for ranting but omg it so annoying seeing anti act so high n mighty over something so trivial 💀

No worries, antis are annoying at best. Wish they would just go away. >.>

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, hope your doing well. I was rewatching book 5 and something struck me. Crowly stills does his thing to get yuu/mc to host the NRC tribe at Ramshackle. But compare to previous chapters hes seems a little nicer, i guess? He offering renovations and upgrades ( a positive), instead of just threatening to cut yuu's food budget or something (a negative).

Where im going with this is, do you think Crowley may have felt a tiny tinge for his (in) action in book 4? Or atleast, realized he actually screwed up. He did give Yuu in case of an emergency.... and promptly ignored it (or just turned it off) when he went on break. He likely had to have heard what happened over the break...an likely saw his missed calls and put 2 and 2 together. Sure he may not feel bad enough to apologize (at least openly), but he does seem to make himself scarce early in b5. That could just be him being, well, the headmage. Maybe he's just not sure how to deal with MC or how they'd react to seeing him? So instead of threatening Yuu, he offers them something instead? Idk, maybe im reaching. Crowley relationship with Yuu is complicated. I do like to believe he has some empathy or regret (or maybe he just has more respect for yuu by b5?) After everything up to that point

Like i said, i may be reaching here. Wanted to get your input. Sorry for the long ask. Have a good one :)

In many fandom depictions of Crowley, he often serves as Yuu's guardian who is incompetent but well-meaning. I'm also guilty of doing this, Crowley is considered my OC's father figure (even if my OC isn't a Yuu). That's how we choose to engage with the characters and the world that we love! However, I don't believe that Crowley has that sort of tenderness for Yuu in canon, whether at the start or as their relationship develops over the course of the main story. Now, that's not to say that I think Crowley is cold or hateful towards Yuu. Far from it! He does care for them, but in the same way that a teacher might care about nurturing their students and preparing them for the world beyond graduation. Crowley demonstrates a similar attitude towards other NRC students, with one very clear example being in his Raven Jacket vignettes. In those stories, he likens his students to apple trees that he raises and nurtures, hoping that one day they might bear fruit. He does not particularly grant Yuu special treatment unless it's a scenario where he wants them to do a favor for him. (Though here I would also argue he does the same for other students when he wants them to resolve an issue in his place, which happens frequently in event stories; in Fairy Gala, he warns the boys they'll be held back if classes cannot proceed due to the wacky weather. In Ghost Marriage, Crowley shames the boys for not expressing interest in rescuing Idia, etc.)

I also want to set the record straight regarding how exactly Crowley gets Yuu to comply with his requests. Reviewing all avaliable books in the main story, Crowley rarely outright threatens Yuu if they refuse to help him:

Prologue — Crowley does not initially ask anything of Yuu, but he does provide them a temporary home and food until they can sort something out. During Yuu's stay, they are meant to do handiwork to earn their keep. However, Crowley tries to expel them after their involvement in breaking what is considered a precious chandelier. In this case, his anger is somewhat justified but it's still the one major example of Crowley leveraging something to force Yuu to act in a way that he desires. The thing is, it's revealed in chapter 19 that Crowley did not believe Yuu could acquire the magestone he asked for and was all set to finalize the expulsion papers. So really, he wasn't serious at all in giving Yuu a chance to redeem themselves and was going to expel Yuu anyway (until they happened to prove their "usefulness"). Whether this counts as an example of Crowley "threatening" Yuu, then, is up to individual interpretation.

Book 1 — Crowley makes no specific request to Yuu. He shows up late in the book and suggests to the frustrated Adeuce that they fight Riddle to claim his seat as dorm leader, but does not tell Yuu to do anything in this situation. Recall that it was Ace that marched up to Ramshackle's front door and demanded that he be allowed to stay overnight; Crowley had no part in that.

Book 2 — In 2-7, Crowley asks Yuu to investigate the strange string of accidents that has befallen the students set to play in the upcoming inter-dorm magift/spelldrive tournament. There is a part where Crowley says he "never promised to cover living expenses". You, as Yuu, have the option to ask him "Is that a threat...?" to which Crowley never properly responds. Interpret that how you wish. He then offers Grim and Yuu a chance to participate in said tournament if they succeed, seeing as they lacked the 7 players needed to form a team. Crowley even says he will find 5 other players to fill in their missing team seats for them.

Book 3 — Here in 3-6, Crowley never actually threatens to cut off food. Instead, he is trying to earn pity from Yuu by guilt tripping them and emphasizing that he, the headmaster, is so busy with his tasks (like finding Yuu a way home) and will provide them with the funds they need regardless because he is so very kind. He's trying to tug at their heartstrings by pointing out the things he selflessly does for them, so they feel obligated to do something for him in return. Once Yuu agrees to help, he lavishes them with praise and says it is "expected" of someone he personally chose.

But!! I want to add that in the Episode of Octavinelle manga, this same scene is depicted as Crowley threatening to cut their food budget. I'm not sure if this is just a different interpretation (since Yuuta seems to prepare more food than is usually implied in the game; this would explain why their food costs go up significantly) or if Crowley truly was also threatening to cut the budget in the game.

Book 4 — Crowley makes a reasonable request in 4-2; he asks Yuu and Grim to tend to the fire fairies over winter break since it's a task no one else will be present to handle. In exchange, he says he will give them a banquet of tasty foods (which is not an empty promise; in 4-39, the Ramshackle Ghosts tell Yuu and Grim that the headmaster has left them with a ton of food as thanks.

Book 5 — Crowley appears in 5-21 asking that Yuu allow the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle for their month-long training camp. He explains that Vil and Rook are willing to give up their share of the prize money if Yuu agrees to these terms. It is then that Crowley adds that he will help with renovation too, most likely to sweeten the deal with his word.

Book 6 — Crowley does not ask anything of Yuu. He does, however, call in STYX in 6-2 because he becomes concerned about the threat that Grim poses after consuming multiple crystallized blots. After Grim is taken, Crowley instructs Yuu in 6-4 to wait until Grim has recovered and been evaluated by a third party to speak with him again.

Book 7 — Crowley makes no specific requests to Yuu.

You can see in almost all instances that Crowley uses a variety of tactics to get his students to do what he wants them to. He bribes, shames/guilts them, points out very real consequences if the problem at hand is not resolved, and, yes, occasionally makes what can be interpreted as a vague threat. Despite this, the fact remains that he was always nice, not just post-book 4 (in fact, Crowley was also nice during book 4). I don't see the circumstances as "anything before or during book 4 is him being negative and threatening to punish Yuu and anything after book 4 is him being kind and positive to Yuu". In most cases with Yuu, he is offering them something they would want. His go-to strategy isn't threats, it tends to be the promise of a reward.

I wouldn't tie any of Crowley's actions to feeling a sense of remorse or guilt on his own part. While it's true we don't really get to see inside of his head, from what we see of him... this man is utterly shameless. He's willing to resort to emotional manipulation to convince literal children to solve problems that he, the powerful mage and adult, should be dealing with. What's more, he praises himself for Yuu's competence and willingness to step up. That's him placing a lot of faith in his students, and I don't think he feels any guilt in doing this. Why else would he send them into dangerous situations over and over again? He must, to some extent, believe they can already handle themselves just fine, otherwise he's creating tons of legal liabilities for himself by purposefully throwing children of tons of affluent families into the line of fire. Besides, he's a highly skilled mage himself--if any true, TRUE danger were to befall them, surely he could save the day himself. My thought is that he has sort of a "tough love" approach where he tosses his students into the fires and sees how they get out of it in one piece, but it's just presented in a "devil-may-care" way because of his lackadaisical attitude.

Regarding book 4, I personally see Crowley giving his cell phone number as just a means to provide reassurance to Grim and Yuu, since they (especially Grim) are protesting about him seemingly leaving on vacation. It's an empty gesture so he can have his getaway without much of a fuss; I totally believe that Crowley did not ever intend to answer his phone. When he returns in book 5, he's already asking another favor of Yuu, so I get the sense he isn't really bothered by what happened. I would even say that Crowley still has several major appearances in book 5, not that he has made himself scarcer. He appears to ask the favor, appears again to evaluate their performance, and then a third time at the cultural festival to speak with the headmaster of RSA. Crowley gets plenty of screen time here, much more then in books 6 and 7. If he truly felt bad or actively wanted to avoid Yuu, he could easily just tell other students (ie Vil) or even school staff (ghosts, teachers, etc.) to relay the deal for him.

Again, I want to be clear: THIS IS NOT CROWLEY BASHING. The only thing I am expressing in this post is that while I do love this bird-brained goober and think he cares for his students, I don't believe it's done in the conventional sense you're thinking of. Crowley can be selfish and callous and throw his students into danger, and that's okay! Sometimes we want to love a useless man who's trying his best, even if his best is pretty lousy/j

Whew, that was a lot of brain dumping! I hope I properly responded to all your thoughts and that you found this read semi-entertaining~

[yingleis]

zyz and ying lei meeting privately as the only two known demons in the demon-hunting bureau 👀 how would they establish their dynamics??? im so against their basically non-existence canon interactions. they definitely had a talk and im wondering if you would be able to expand on their dynamic ❤️❤️ (wastedwaterpotential is my more active cdrama sideblog and am a big fan 🥺)

(Episode 11 rewrite: "Come with us to Kunlun" scene but with ZYZ and YL instead)

Ying Lei doesn't know what to make of it– this ragtag group of humans, a Da Yao, and the reincarnation of the Baize goddess working together to repair the Baize seal.

(But it was more human interaction than he'd gotten in the last couple of years, so he would take it).

Only now, it seemed that their investigations were leading them to Mount Kunlun, and Ying Lei wasn't so sure that he was ready to return yet, as much as he wanted to offer his help with guiding them up the mountain.

It is that indecision that kept him awake, knowing that he didn't have much time left to decide, and Ying Lei finds himself in the kitchen of the Demon Hunting Bureau once again at the hour of Yin, attempting his hand at Osmanthus cakes.

The first batch didn't quite smell right, and so he starts preparing a second, wondering if he should have added another spoon of osmanthus syrup after all.

It is then that Zhao Yuanzhou wanders into the kitchen, perches on the stool Ying Lei had set out in the kitchen for Bai Jiu, and nonchalantly swipes a piece from the pile that he'd been working on.

“Hey–” Ying Lei protests half-heartedly. That had been one of the nicer looking pieces, and he'd been reserving it for Bai Jiu, only for it to get stolen by a heartless, greedy Da Yao just like that!

“Not bad, it almost looks like the ones on the streets,” Zhao Yuanzhou remarks, ignoring Ying Lei’s dirty looks as he chews on the cake.

“Of course!” Ying Lei huffs. Even if he could not taste, he did have his other senses– and what chef would he be, if he couldn't even mimic the appearance of human food?

But no, surely the Da Yao Zhu Yan wouldn't just come in here to steal and compliment his food.

“What is it?”

“Hm?”

“Surely you're not just here for food, you don't even eat!”

“I do eat,” Zhao Yuanzhou corrects, feigning indignance. “I feed on people's malicious intent.”

Ying Lei sighs. If Da Yao wouldn't say it outright, then he would. “You guys are going to Mount Kunlun tomorrow, aren't you?”

Zhao Yuanzhou nods, expression expectant.

“...I'm staying here. Besides, doesn’t the Demon Hunting Bureau need a chef?” Ying Lei says. If they sent Zhao Yuanzhou to pressure him into going– well. He respected the demon, but he was adamant about his choice to stay in the mortal realm.

“Oh?” Zhao Yuanzhou raises a brow, sneaking another piece into his mouth. “A little mountain god who would rather be a chef amongst humans. Most would kill to have your status in the Wilderness, you know.”

“Stop that,” Ying Lei frowns, moving the dish away from the monkey’s greedy hands with a warning glare.

There's a pause, a stalemate where neither of them speak, unwilling to budge from their stance. It was unlike Zhao Yuanzhou to be so stubborn, from what Ying Lei has observed since he joined the Demon Hunting Bureau.

The other demon was usually rather easygoing, unwilling to interfere with their personal affairs– unless it really mattered, such as how he tied Pei didi’s soul to the puppet– but as much as Ying Lei thought, he couldn't see why it would matter to the Da Yao whether he went along to Mount Kunlun.

Sure, they may encounter fierce spirits on the way there, but they were nothing their group couldn't face without him tagging along.

(And Ying Lei does feel guilty for not taking this chance to visit his grandfather– it's the guilt that had been eating at him, the little nagging voice keeping him awake at night– it was why he was haunting the kitchens at this hour of the night, after all.

But a part of him is afraid,

Afraid that if he returned he wouldn't be able to leave for the mortal realm again without regrets).

Zhao Yuanzhou is still looking at him with that unnerving, unblinking stare, a silent challenge to continue this impasse of theirs until the others woke, and Ying Lei caves with a sigh.

“I don't want to be a mountain god,” he admits, sneaking a glance at Zhao Yuanzhou, wondering if the Da Yao would smite him for that treacherous confession.

But he says nothing, expression as impassive and unreadable as ever, so Ying Lei continues. He'd made his own bed and he would lie in it. “I never understood how my grandfather and the other mountain gods could be so willing to remain in the Wilderness, in that lonely and desolate place for so long, compared to the lively and ever changing mortal realm.”

The silence after his confession stretches, unnervingly so, and Ying Lei returns to his second batch of cake batter, preparing the mixture for lack of anything better to do.

He doesn't realise just how long the silece had stretched until Zhao Yuanzhou lets out a little chuckle, startling him from the rhythm he'd gotten into while kneading the dough.

“I think I once said that to the old man too…” he murmurs, clearly lost in a memory of his.

“Huh?”

“Ying Zhao wouldn't force you to be a mountain god and you know that,” Zhao Yuanzhou says, expression unexpectedly grave as he fixes his eyes on Ying Lei.

I'll respect your choice. You can be a mountain god, or an ordinary person if you want.

“I know.” Ying Lei mutters, staring at his flour covered hands.

He hears the telltale scrape of the stool as Zhao Yuanzhou gets up, deftly swiping another piece of cake from his pile as he leaves him with a jaunty, “I'd like to see the expression on that old man’s face when I bring his prodigal grandson back.”

(a/n: in retrospect, I should've tried to add in a part where Zhao Yuanzhou tries to pull seniority rank like Wen Xiao XD "call me uncle!")

[still accepting fic requests]

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

ATHENA CYKES (ACE ATTORNEY)

1.) Despite supposedly being the MAIN CHARACTER of the game she was introduced in, she somehow still always ends up playing second fiddle to Phoenix and Apollo, to the point where she isn't allowed to take the lead on even so much as a single case. Instead of the senior lawyers standing to the side in a mentorship role like they do for literally EVERY OTHER PLAYABLE CHARACTER, Phoenix and Apollo keep stepping in to outright take over for her. She literally does not make it through even a single case without needing some male character or other to swoop in and hold her hand every step of the way, not only Phoenix and Apollo but once even Blackquill, her rival prosecutor, as well.

Why? It has nothing whatsoever to do with her competence level. It's a video game; her competence is determined by the player's, just like everybody else. It seems like the writers just couldn't STAND the thought of her doing anything on her own, or thought that the players would walk out en masse if it wasn't the Phoenix and Apollo Show every second of gameplay. (And yeah, it DOES sometimes take me some time to warm up to new characters, but that was the case for Apollo too! At least give me the CHANCE to judge her on her own merits rather than assuming that I'll immediately write her off!) Like, why did you even WRITE this character if you think so little of her?

2.) WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN. She's introduced in the middle of a male characters "trilogy" (Apollo justice) so the story is never about her. She appears in aa5 only to NEVER headline her own case IN HER INTRODUCTORY GAME and always fail unless a man comes in and saves her. Her own story is sidelined for Apollos. Next game, she only really appears in one case that's a throwaway and still can't do shit on her own. Ugh. She deserved to be treated better, more competent, etc.

3.) my girl is an attorney and a practicing psychologist at age 18 (youngest defense lawyer in the series) & is often shown to be more competent than her male colleagues, and yet is constantly pushed out/sidelined/generally treated like an assistant character rather than a lawyer (the assistant position in these games is usually reserved for characters who don't have law degrees/are generally not educated enough to understand the courtroom proceedings to their full extent. athena is none of those things but she gets treated the same way by the game because. well. we know why.) Instead of being the main playable attorney in her debut game, the story is taken over by her male colleague (WHO ALREADY HAD A WHOLE GAME DEDICATED TO HIS BULLSHIT BTW) & her development is ignored in favor of his in both her debut game AND her second game. Even when her backstory IS explored it's done via a male family friend of hers, meaning even when her OWN story is being told it's not even about her it's about simon's lame ass. for extra context here in her debut game she is only the playable attorney in one case out of five, while the other (male) playable attorneys were playable in all or all-but-one of the cases in THEIR debut games. capcom hates women sooooo bad

CARMELITA MONTOYA FOX (SLY COOPER)

1.) Carmelita has always been portrayed as a sexy badass, but the fourth game in the series does her dirty. Throughout the game she’s given the “bitchy ex-girlfriend” treatment and is always regarded as an unreasonable nag. In addition, they put her in an impractical miniskirt (previous games had her in pants), and there is a minigame where she is forced to dress like a belly dancer to distract some guards (including prompting the player to have her shake her ass for extra coins) and when she complains about this, nobody listens to her, and is then reduced to the damsel in distress in the final act of the game, when previously she has always been a major help in taking down the final boss. While not the main reason a lot of Sly Cooper fans hate this game, it’s certainly a factor.

[clandestine-j]

everytime i see tommy getting called a copy or a cut-out of eddie. i kinda wanna scream because ya'll basing it on what? him flying, liking fighting and cars?? so is everyone who served a card-board cut out?

and as i'm about to explain it, please don't think i hate eddie but these are things HE DID

so first, until it's confirmed in canon that eddie is queer, ryan has said he is a straight man. that is canon, that is the truth.

tommy is not. we know tommy struggled with himself and was in the closet during his time at 118, during the racist captain, he was in the army during don't ask, don't tell and i wonder if he knew about himself then as well

we know eddie joined the army in attempt to be a man, provide for his family AND to run away from his wife and child because he couldn't deal with his child's illness

as far as we know, we don't know WHY tommy joined but unless they're going to throw out some random shit about him having a secret family, it wasn't because of that

aside from the start, eddie is a fairly open and seemingly could lean more extroverted personality

tommy seems like a more reserved person, not to say he can't have fun but his resting bitch face goes strong

and my biggest point

eddie is continuously proved himself to a partner in ALL of his relationships, i don't care how you feel about shanon, anna or marisol. when it came to shanon, he OUTRIGHT ignored her please for help. he knew for MONTHS that her mother was dying and when he got back, he wanted to settled down instead of supporting his wife while she was going the shit of it on his own. with ana, instead of just breaking up with her, he used her to baby-sit chris, wasn't open and the breakup was horrible and i stand on the hill that she should've broken up with him. the same for marisol, he asked her to move in, it would've been another taylor thing if she had sold her home. and now, he's currently cheating on her or is willing to cheat on her. i hope she breaks up with him too

from what we know, tommy might not have been a great partner at times but we do know, is when it comes to something in a relationship, he communicates right away. some might not have liked the way tommy broke things off with buck after that date but he wallow around, he didn't make excuse, he didn't dance around the subject.

so to bring it all home, unless we find out tommy has a secret kid, with a dead wife that he left for the army and then a string of relationships where he let his partners go on thinking he interested in them only to do them dirty, he's not eddie's cut out. he's tommy who knew he was gay for a while and even after the 118 became more of accepting place, he didn't feel like he could be open. he's someone willing to put his life on the life for someone who saved his life (does this means he a copy of the whole 118), he enjoys spending times with his friends, and he's someone who make clear boundary's in his relationships with people.

like i'm sorry buddie isn't happening right now and i'm sorry that people are excited about tommy and buck's relationship and it feel like people are moving on from buddie but it's not gonna be made better but saying tommy is some place holder for eddie and buck really wants to date eddie and projecting that onto tommy

[crazyexdirkfriend]

Okay, I've got a sincere ask, since you've got an insanely bright head on your shoulders and I need you to dissect the hell out of Dirkjake so I can use it as a hand guide to navigating smthn in my personal life but like- in one of your posts you state that Dirk's inability to communicate with Jake is (inherently the problem) where as Jake isn't as much at fault (you tagged it with Half Joking, so im treading lightly here) but i was wondering if you could elborate on that? Unless you were actually joking. If you weren't, I'd sincerely like to know why Dirk's communication issues (in terms of fault) highly outweigh Jake's affinity for denial and ignoring all of his issues outright. Are they not both equally at a disadvantage? Is Dirk actually The asshole for his inability to express himself properly?

Hi! Thank you, thank you I'm glad you think so but my supposedly bright head is mush atm. So my opinion on this rapidly changes wrt to post-canon, but that is my opinion on HS proper more or less. I'm not like, super serious on it bc as I've grown up I'm way less hardline on what was basically a messy teenage relationship. But I was very very opinionated on it when I too was 16. I don't remember when the post you're referring to was exactly so just (vague hand wavey) Basically my point is that in HS proper, Dirk and Jake are both bad at communicating, though people typically attribute Jake's lack of communication as being at fault for the ultimate relationship breakdown, alongside Dirk's clinginess. I don't think any of that causes the relationship breakdown as much as the channels of communication being broken on Dirk's end, so I think it's important to look at how Dirk and Jake communicate before any of that.

Okay so for starters, they don't. Dirk and Jake never have an on screen conversation so all Jake's attempts to communicate with Dirk are scuppered. Jake makes genuine attempts to communicate with the real Dirk throughout the first leg of the alpha kid arc, and is blocked every time. When Jake tries to communicate issues via Dirk proxies, he's shut down entirely. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking when Jake tells Hal about Brobot being "tender." Now, I don't ascribe to the belief that the robot is being inappropriate when he says this. I believe Jake is attracted to Dirk and the robot treating him more gently is sending his mind places. However, Hal's immediate response to this is to shut off novice mode, leaving Jake to fight the robot on the harder mode. Hal is not doing this because he legitimately believes this will make Jake more comfortable; he's doing this to fuck with him. Jake speaks up about an issue and is immediately punished for it because Dirk or Dirk-proxy is defensive -> Jake is less likely to speak up. (Side note: a lot of people say that Dirk is not aware of what Hal is doing and does not condone it. This is contradicted in the text when Dirk says he knows Hal is fucking with Jake and thinks it'll teach him to be less trusting in people, and does not contact Jake back himself. Dirk's issues with Hal interfering with Jake only arise later.)

Since they don't communciate, we don't have much to go on about how their conflict styles mesh aside from via Dirk proxies. Which is basically stuff like the above. So when we get to their largely offscreen relationship, the information the audience really has to go on is that Jake appears to have upped and left without saying anything and is hoping the whole problem really just goes away without having to text Dirk back, and Dirk is frantically trying to communicate with him, and assuming that he's too clingy. We don't actually know if Jake HAS communicated with Dirk. All we know is that he's not currently doing so.

My personal belief is that it's a bit of a leap to think that Jake has gone from being vague, dancing around issues, but bringing them up when the issue is actively on the table (brobot, Jane's crush, etc.) to immediately packing a bag and going to the hills without saying *anything.* I just think that Jake is less likely to press the issue if he thinks Dirk is going to take it the worst possible way, and to the worst possible extreme, and Jake is less likely to press an issue if he thinks he's upsetting someone. If "I think the robot is a bit tender" leads to "Ok I'll put the robot on *waterboards you in the sea and beats you unconscious* mode," then "I think I could use some time to myself for a little while" leads to "Ok, guess if you need space so bad I'll stop bothering you and we can just stop hanging out altogether." And Jake, despite wanting space, is very very afraid of his friends all deciding he isn't worth the hassle and abandoning him permanently. So he'd immediately recant and drop it (until he cracks)

Now since we don't know what happens between Dirk and Jake in that gap in the narrative, I'm conjecturing. I suppose my point is that assuming that Jake doesn't communicate to Dirk is also conjecture, and not the natural conjecture I would make based on his actions up until this point. He's avoidant of conflict, not avoidant of conversation. I also don't think Dirk being immediately receptive to Jake asking for space is in line with his actions up until this point- I believe his response would be the above, or continuously "fixing it" until Jake drops it.

My point basically is that if you take all that in isolation, it's a sad miscommunication between an insecure boy who takes things to extremes and another insecure boy who doubts himself and can't stand up for himself. No one is the asshole for that. But it's not in isolation. Dirk allowing AR to interfere with his communication with Jake shuts down the channels of communication before they ever date. If I remember correctly, Jake says at one point that he can't remember when the last time he spoke to the "real" Dirk was. I just don't think it's overly fair to blame Jake for the culmination of a communication breakdown that was months, if not years, in the making on Dirk's side. It's less that Dirk is THE asshole and the only one who did anything wrong, and more that generally when people say there was fault on both sides, Jake is the one who receives extensive criticism on his communication skills. Now ultimately: I'd take this with a pinch of salt. They're kids and their first relationship doesn't work out, it's not hugely important to ascribe fault one way or the other- this is all semantics tbh. I only really argue the point for three reasons. 1. I think it makes for a better narrative reading of Jake repeatedly trying to communicate with Dirk and getting a blank wall pre-game and that wall ultimately crumbling around Dirk's persona during the game. It reads better as a cohesive story 2. I think viewing Jake as "the problem" skewered a lot of people's reading of later scenes in the text, especially when HS was actively updating pre-gigapause, and the portrayal of Jake as "the one who can't communicate" leads to a wooden reading of the other alphas by association. and 3. Hal gets the blame for a lot of stuff people don't want to put on Dirk, which also skewers readings of Hal's actions later on. Now if we were talking EPILOGUES...then absolutely Jake's issues with denial, avoidance, and lack of communication (and terminally low self esteem) are going to play a primary, if not inciting role, in their ultimate relationship breakdown. But that's a whole other post and I'm aware I'm rambling at this point. Caveat: If this is an issue concerning your personal life though as your ask sorta suggests, I'd triple take this with a grain of salt because this is a very specific HS situation and HS is ultimately a story with a plot and characters have to act a certain way and do certain things bc it makes the story go zoom. Real people who may resemble Dirk and Jake are not necessarily going to have matching issues, communication problems, and robo-clone answering machines

[adobe-outdesign]

i know you covered the points in the shelmet post but i would love to hear the full anti trade evolution rant tbh

Alright first off, it goes against the point of the entire series. "Form strong bonds with your Pokemon!" and then once you do you have to take an action to get rid of them in order to evolve them. what the hell

Kind of tying into the above, but it's also counter-productive. If you want to keep your 'mon, then you have to undo the action you just did in order to get it back. what the hell kind of logic is that

There is literally nothing in place to prevent your Pokemon from getting stolen. really loved that Pokemon? tough shit, turns out the other person isn't gonna trade them back. finding people to trade with online helps with this but only a little

and god help you if you find a shiny

since trading is now online, it requires an NSO online subscription, effectively paywalling those Pokemon and potentially completing the Pokedex. trading through HOME normally is a way to get around this but whoopsie doopsie, Pokemon don't evolve when traded in HOME

(You can trade locally, but that requires you to have friends that own Switches with that specific game)

It also screwed people over when it was link cables as well, because you had to know a person IRL, softlocking most trade evos unless you were lucky

GameFreak's solution to the online thing seems to be to make trade evos available in-game in some fashion (such as through raids in SV), which at least fixes the 'dex issue but ignores the bond thing once again. I don't want to replace my beloved Haunter with a random Gengar, I want to evolve my Haunter

This is a minor quibble but the lore around it has never been explained and most Pokemon seem to outright ignore it. For example, Slowpoke canonically evolves into Slowking when bitten on the head by a Shellder, yet for some reason you have to trade it with a random (non-Shellder) Pokemon while holding a King's Rock

I think the Karrablast/Shelmet line is the only line to have a "reason" that they evolve via trade, with the 'dex acknowledging they evolve when both Pokemon are bathed with electric energy. still nothing about that requires trade however

The Pokemon that evolve via trade, Karrablast/Shelmet line not withstanding, are completely random. why does Machoke need to be traded to evolve? because shut up

(I guess you could argue the same thing with most item evos, but at least there's a rationale behind the items if not the Pokemon themselves, and item evos aren't even half as problematic to being with)

And what's frustrating is that PLA has a linking cord item that evolves trade evo because it's meant to be a single-player game (you can still evolve via trade as well if you prefer that). it's literally THAT easy of a problem to fix

Another option would be to have an NPC that will basically trade your trade-evo Pokemon back to you. Maybe you have to bring them a certain item or something for each trade so it's not overly easily

I also think GameFreak hasn't made a trade evo since like Gen 5, implying that they know it's an issue but are too cowardly to fix it

I feel like Palafin is sort of a "modern-day" trade. it's still an issue because you still need to either pay for NSO or know someone to evolve it with, but at least you only need the person to enter your game via multiplayer to evolve it instead of needing to trade it off, which is slightly better

thanks for coming to my TED talk

[oliversrarebooks]

This is just a stream of consciousness, feel free to ignore imao. I might just be on one and not having a cool concept like i think i do.

day walker-vampire able to walk in the sun

If Maestro sired a day walker, how would he feel about it? Threatened? I think yes, but would there ever be any envy or pure horror at what he has managed to accidentally sire? Would he be able to keep this under wraps that he accidentally did this? Assuming the day walker in question is loyal to him above all else, how would this affect Maestro's interest in someone like Lily. She is his favorite though he leans heavily on Alexander for reasons I believe go beyond simple disobedience on Lex's part. You mentioned they had some brief bonding, so I do wonder if he views him more as his son since he came first, and Lily is a little close to that but so very distant at the same time. He is a very emotionally distant man, yes, but I do wonder how far his sentimentality really would go when it gets the best of him before he "snaps out of it" and returns to the cold shell of his former self. The image crafted for him since birth that being the only image he really understands(cold, apathetic)...interesting concept of a character he is...unfortunately i am so wrapped up in college work i am unable to write it and i fear if i didn't get this ask in it would be doomed to be forgotten in my drafts. (Such as many things are)

*these are just my takes on it so far/thus far came together by previous asks, posts, canon, and just how i processed it all. Though bookseller may have/had changed since the asks and posts and side story, aus, etc...things you've posted for bookseller, I really am so invested in these characters. Maestro specifically the most right now. He is a loose canon waiting to fall apart. :)

@softvampirewhump

Hm, I don't think the Maestro would be all that threatened by a daywalker. He's looking to sire vampires with strong compulsion powers to subjugate humans. Unless the daywalker has some other strong secondary power, I think they'd be considered a novelty at best.

The Maestro would certainly value a sired that was loyal and trying to please him. (Much like in sowhumpshaped's Riana stories.) If he had such a sired, it would certainly lower his estimations of his current sireds, since he'd have less of a need of them.

The Maestro's lingering sentimentality for Alexander certainly does have its limits. Primarily, it stops him from killing Alexander outright when he does something disappointing, which is often.

[this-acuteneurosis]

im going to be really, really curious what you do with force sensitivity, like og trilogy there were like 5 force sensitives throughout the whole movie, and Yoda strongest Jedi in centuries last of them teaching powerhouse Skywalker lineage on a very tight time frame of im going to die soon can only teach so much is very different beast then there are many thousands of trained force sensitives running around with accumulated knowledge and wide variety of power. Leia perspective will be FUN.

Not gonna lie, I have a very strong head canon for how the Force works, and, uh, it maybe crossed canon at specific points, but if it's recognizable that's mostly an accident. And while the head canon is strong and defines pretty much every fic I write in the GFFA, I don't really write about it outright unless speaking about it in plain terms is necessary for the story (see: no explanation in For Want of a Skywalker).

For DLB, at a meta level, if people are interested, I hope my audience understands that all of my narrators are unreliable and imperfect. Leia's understanding of the Force comes a teeny, tiny bit from a couple of things her parents said about Jedi, mostly from Luke and his personal experience with it, and currently a bit more from her own experience and conversations with Jedi in the Order. She doesn't know how it works, and hasn't really had to talk about it in an academic or mechanical way very often.

In contrast, the Order has a lot of history, academic study, belief, and organization behind their perception of the Force. For this fic, I'm really leaning into ignorance and bias being the key between the Order's understanding of the Force and Leia's. To some extent, both of them are wrong about how the Force works. Not maliciously, they just don't know. And what they do "know" is personal and limited. So Leia and the Order will make assertions, based on experience and data, and might come close to "the truth" without hitting right on it.

All this to say, Leia is about to have some conversations with the Jedi Order about the Force, and actually...they aren't necessarily accurate to how things "are." Just to what both sides have experienced.

So if characters say something, and then later in the fic stuff happens and it doesn't fit with what's been asserted about the Force, that's not a mistake or an accident. I'm very purposefully having both Leia and the Order learn, by trial and error, what they don't know about the Force.

[eisforeidolon]

I don't think it's at all surprising that of all the factions in this fandom, it's the hellers who have such a repeated problem with intensely cult-y subgroups.

In my experience, all of the groups have their own weird, ugly corners. I think the pull of desperation to belong and fit in (especially for people who already feel lonely or vulnerable) is easy to underestimate. So yeah, there's a certain amount of petty bullshit us vs. them infighting to be expected in a space filled with different groups who ostensibly like the same thing - but only really value entirely different aspects of it. However. For most people, there will be obvious lines that are too far. Especially when we're talking about an online group where you can never be forcibly isolated from others the same way you could be by a cult IRL. Full on blatant outright lies, bigoted attacks, doxing, telling people to die, etc.

So why do those lines get crossed anyway, especially by organized groups of bullies in fandoms? I think there are plenty of other factors having to do with our impulses as humans when it comes to group behavior - because hellers aren't exactly unique for this shit? But I suspect in hellers' case particularly, their fandom enjoyment being based entirely in a delusional shared reality about the show plays a not inconsiderable part.

Like, you can't be a heller to start with unless you're willing to take the opinions and theories of internet randos as more valid about the show than TPTB (and the show itself). So the entire group as a whole has been self-selected for people who are looking for others to tell them what they want to hear over reality and common sense. They need leaders to follow and they need to believe those people have super special insight and authority which will ultimately prove them all right about the ship. If those leaders can be wrong about one thing (how to interact appropriately online), what else might they be wrong about (like the ship being totes canon/the most important lurve story evar)? And that? That is untenable to their whole identity in fandom as hellers crusaders for Very Important Representation! So of course they ignore not only how shitty the kinds of people who will happily jump into those roles of pseudo-authority are towards outsiders (who deserve it for ignoring The Truth™ about D/C), but even how shitty they will be to group members who don't toe the line or they take a random dislike to (who must also surely deserve it).

At least until suddenly it's them who are being shit on. For some, that can be a genuine wakeup call to how absurd and ugly the whole thing is. But it isn't a surprise when others just continue being self-deluding assholes because they're only upset the group turned on them this time. This particular leader was just the wrong guru! They're still ready and willing to believe and do whatever they need to for The Cause™.

[darkenforcer]

✍ 😒📝⌨

MUN TALKS ABOUT THE MUSE || not accepting !

✍ Favorite thing about writing the muse?

DEVELOPING HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER MUSES!!! he isn't an outright asshole toward people he isn't overly familiar with (unless they suck), but he hardly lets his guard down, either. i love being able to deepen his friendships into something more emotional -- open -- and allowing that softer side to shine! yuri's a perceptive, considerate guy! i'll never be immune to sprinkling that into interactions when given the opportunity.

i also enjoy writing the distinction between his base-level snappiness with the sort of banter he develops with the people he's fond of, too! i'd say balancing his caring and sarcastic personality in general, actually; it's easy to accidentally veer too much into either trait, so deciding when -- and how much -- i should emphasize one or the other is a fun challenge i like to give myself!

😒 Is there anything canon about your muse that you ignore? 

answered ! but i just remembered the one (1) thing i'll Always ignore: a director's comment in the official scenario book stating yuri could "potentially" develop feelings for estelle down the line. their relationship's compared way too often to sibling-like dynamics (e.g., the legend of brave vesperia and the child of the full moon, another director's comment stating he currently sees her as a sister, etc.) for me to be comfy with that. i can see how people would think she has a crush on him, but i don't believe he'd ever reciprocate it with the other stuff in mind, y'know??

📝 Favorite headcanon for your muse? 

i know it's the most indulgent thing on the planet, but i'm sooo attached to trans yuri. while i have my own headcanons, the specificity doesn't matter to me -- ftm, mtf, nonbinary, whatever! -- i lose my mind (/pos) whenever i see it in fanart or fanfic! he doesn't gaf about societal expectations of him, anyway, so it wouldn't be out of character. there's already a lot of gender shenanigans in regard to how he's perceived by others across official material, too; might as well commit to the bit lol.

⌨ What’s a situation you’ve always wanted to RP with the muse? 

i really wanna write out more big bro yuri stuff! or, at the very least, threads where he takes on the occasional babysitter role for younger muses lol. since it plays such a prominent part in his characterization, i'm always itching for more! i'm still holding out for a karol coming to isola, honestly-- i'd kill for the opportunity to express the sheer amount of brotherly love yuri has for that kid.

[ouatsnark]

Rolling my eyes.

Saw a confession saying things Emma and Killian should not name their kids: Liam, Leopold, Hope, Alice, Milah, etc.

I can't remember them all.

And someone turned it into a 'things I think Killian and Emma should not do together': have kids.

Bleh.

Like.

First of all, the confession is dumb. Like. I understand why not Milah or Leopold or Eva.

Eva, James, Leopold, Ruth, and Robert (which I think were also names on the confession) Emma didn't know.

Killian also probably wouldn't be comfortable naming their kid after the grandfather he murdered (Robert). Emma probably wouldn't be comfortable with it (unlike SOME PEOPLE).

Milah, Graham, and Neal, well. They're exes. And I'm not sure either would be comfortable with it, though I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to Graham as a middle name if they were. But again. Not likely.

And Liam. Well.

Liam would have been a nice name had Emma not met Liam in the Underworld. He acted badly so of course they might not want to use the name.

That's not even accounting for Liam Jr, Killian's younger brother whose existence would probably keep Killian from using the name.

Brennan is a heck no, for obvious reasons.

Ingrid is iffy.

But Hope?

That was the literal canon name for the Captain Swan baby. My friends like to think of it as a tribute to Snow White and David's whole hope thing. Which. Nice. It's not a bad name.

Alice isn't either (it's also a semi-canon and nice one, if you assume Rogers and Killian's mon had the same name. Even though I like to ignore/rewrite season seven completely minus the newer characters).

Like. I personally don't like the whole reusing the names thing because it was done a lot. But saying they shouldn't name their kid Hope, and then the whole 'shouldn't have kids thing'.

It's just rude.

And of course, they had the nerve to do laughing emojis too but if I do that for their ship I'm wrong (which, for the record I wouldn't do. I don't post my opinions on ships unless asked and even then I'm not outright rude about them).

I really don’t care about the other ships on this show until they come for mine but stuff like this is why I don’t care to keep silent. If they can spout their nonsense then I can drop some truth bombs.

Was there a reason they gave for why “Emma and Killian shouldn’t have kids?” Or is this another “if CaptainSwan has a baby then Emma is replacing Henry but if Emma and Regina or Regina and someone else had a kid that’s perfectly fine” double standard bull shit?

I agree that the whole “reusing names” thing is tiring. Emma’s baby brother being named Neal was dumb enough. I stand by the theory that Emma just never told the Charmings the entire story and by the time Neal died the writers had the characters viewing him as some kind of hero. Idiotic really. Or maybe it was for Henry’s sake. I don’t know. It was dumb. The only one that made sense was baby Robyn.

But it is crazy to even list some of those names… I mean the writers are stupid at times but none of them would be stupid enough to name the CaptainSwan child Milah, Alice or Liam! Liam and Alice already have living namesakes. A second would be absurd. And I also don’t think the writers were dumb enough to name the CS child after their respective dead exes or almost exes! I wouldn’t even agree with Graham because Killian never met him! I can’t see Killian wanting that, personally.

I wouldn’t have minded Eva or Ruth as a way to honor her parents and the family line (people do it even if they never met the relatives) but I always saw Emma and Killian giving their children names that were significant to their journey together. I'm not sure Ingrid would fit since she didn't have that much of an impact on them... Elsa, maybe! But I don't think that fits either, honestly.

I am firmly in the “Fook and Hook do not share the same past” camp. So much was retconned for that wish realm that I just firmly believe that other little details could be different. Killian never mentions his mother’s name so in my mind she’s a nameless figure that died before he is even old enough to remember her.

I have heard SQers try to say that Hope is a Swanqueen thing but it isn’t. It is a Charming/Snow White thing. So it makes perfect sense that Emma would want to name her daughter Hope.

[independence1776]

Oh yay, wonderful to see you doing the “choose violence” asks! 😁 May I please ask for 6, 7, 20, and 22?

Sorry to take a bit responding; my week was Exhausting.

["Choose violence" meme questions here.]

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Honestly? It's more general tendencies I find annoying rather than fans of a particular ship. Basically, don't accuse people of homophobia because they don't ship a particular slash pairing or because they ship het. Don't say things like "everyone's in fandom because of shipping." Don't act like people who don't ship your ship are your enemies. Live and let live, people; the multitudes in fandom is what makes fandom interesting.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

The clones. I was never interested in them in the first place (I didn't watch TCW until mid 2019). But fandom turned that disinterest into something more approaching dislike. I will typically not read fic that only features clones or is lone Jedi & majority clones. I outright dislike Mando clones; the clones are canonically not Mandalorian and identify Kamino as their homeworld. They'd have a completely different culture than what fanon likes to set them up with. They don't actually know how to out-empathize the Jedi. They don't need to tell the Jedi how to do self-care. I like pretty much none of the common fanon about them. I do enjoy clone-centric fics that don't work with common fanon, but those are few and far between and given my dislike of most clone fic, I don't go looking for it.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

The constant fighting in the Fallen Order and Survivor video games. I know it's the genre of video game, but I'd rather explore and have occassional fights rather than having to constantly stop exploring because there's an enemy or creature to fight.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

In Star Wars, I really don't think I have one? Not unless you count the books Padawan and Master and Apprentice, largely because of the worldbuilding about the Jedi they contain. It's worldbuilding that (yet again) contradicts the Legends Jedi Apprentice material so I think people prefer to ignore it in favor of the angst in the latter. But I wouldn't call either book my favorite part of canon, though Padawan was a joy to read. Okay, I guess that is it: Obi-Wan has friends in canon that are not Legends kids and they're quite frankly a handful that would be so much fun to read fics about.