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brookiidookiii · 10 months ago

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what are your favorite and least favorite ships? 👀

Oh boy do I have a lot of opinions

- tbh I like a lot of Jo ships. Jock joeather jomaria,, ngl lately I’ve been in a joeather mood. Her x any girl is always a classic. The only guy I can ship her with is brick really 😭 I think they have really good chemistry. And I am a sucker for rivalries + it’s been a childhood OTP. I low key thought they were gonna end up together when I first watched s4.

Now I could write essays on joeather forever. Their rivalry could’ve been something great but the writers were awful. I think Jo should kiss her enemies

- yeah sorry I’m a duncney enjoyer and I do not care how toxic they were. Adds flavor. Heathney is excellent too. Courtney just needs someone who will enable her bad behavior (also sorry I prefer heathney over gwourtney). The TikTok fandom is really annoying about duncney tho because I’ll see videos about how “why does no one ever talk about how toxic duncney is :(“ while all the tumblr fandom does is talk about how they can make them worse lmaooo

- samkota is my favorite canon couple

- MKulia duhhhh I’ve been a shipper since I watched the reboot, which I started watching probably a month before s2 got released. Toxic yuri

- Chemma in the sense that it’s ironic and I can just make memes about them I don’t actually like them

- gwoey ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

- Trent x Lindsay is a secret rarepair of mine. They can be cute

- SKYELLLAA as much as I love toxic yuri I love wholesome stuff too. I think they are neat

- sanders x MacArthur. Idek how to explain what kind of relationship they’d have but I think they are both butch lesbians. MacArthur you are my lord and savior

Okay least favorites let’s go. Also heads up I don’t really care for any of the m/m ships 😭 mostly because I don’t care for many of the male characters lol

- zoke. They didn’t even do anything wrong like I LIKE them but they’re just so boring and unentertaining that what’s even the point yk. And when Zoey got superpowers after Mike left. Stop. Secondhand embarrassment. Like in s4 they were obnoxious at best but in all stars that made me truly pray on their downfall. I like fanon zoke.

In my mind they had a sweet romance that lasted a few years until they got a bigger divorce and left on good terms

- any and all Noah ships sorryyyy he’s overrated and I don’t like Noah at all. I don’t get the hype around alenoah it’s not that good. Everytime someone calls MKulia yuri alenoah an evil politician gets another year added to their life. I don’t like you. Like I get why people like noco. Just pure fluff, which isn’t for me, and they did have that ear kiss which was something, but I still hate it

I saw someone say alenoah was basically just aleheather without heather and yeah. Everytime I see someone list out the reasons Alejandro would be into Noah it’s just the same reasons Alejandro’s into heather.

Also MKulia is more like joeather anyway but whateva,,

- I don’t even make that many sexuality headcanons bc I guess I just don’t think about it but I can tell you who’s straight. Damien is straight. He is the most heterosexual person the series has ever made. I don’t think he should be shipped to with men. Also Wayne is straight

- sugella because as much as I love toxic yuri, that doesn’t even sound like fun toxicity just misery. It’s not for me 😭 I still stan sugar tho

- ripaxel. I tried to like it SORRRYYYY ripper is annoying and he needs the death penalty. Everytime they’re compared to jock I lose a year off my life. Ripaxel is what jock haters think jock shippers like. You are all wrong.

Axel is my queen and lord and savior. It’s okay babygirl we can ride off into the sunset together

- prileb. Why did it exist. I hate this. But seeing priya in love was pretty cute I gotta admit

- gwuncan. Self explanatory

- Scottney cause wtf 😭😭😭 once again I like them in the sense that I can make memes about it but bro SCOTT???? Courtney you can do better than that thing. Scott has skidmarks

- fanon brott 💀💀💀 I don’t like fanon brick in general. Y’all do him dirty. Ong Scott would not let brick use him as his Barbie doll for clothes. Scott would make fun of brick for liking fashion. Do you know nothing about Scott? Saw someone once say that they would watch legally blonde together HELL NO.

Also I really really hate that when I go out looking for jomaria fanfics, they’re only ever tagged as side couples in brott fics. Are you kidding me.

- bro the malejandro fanfics 😭 who is writing these things. Some of those titles make me lose it. I think we all should stop acknowledging mal and all stars existences

- gwody. Once again that big ass chin motherfucker doesn’t deserve Gwen.

- Jo x any other guy. Sorry. She doesn’t deserve any of those fuckers. Jock is the exception because at least he’d treat her right but even then he’s just a guy

- I don’t like Scott x anyone in general. Even Dott I’m hesitant because it would never work out and that’s what makes it soooo fun to explore because in the end she always ends up killing him

bruh most of these yaoi ships piss me off idk I don’t get the appeal for any of them. But I draw whatever people ask from me idrc it’s not a big deal LOLLL

Also this fandom is so goddamn cringe for calling straight couples yuri/yaoi. YOU LOOK EMBARRASSING OKAY

There’s a lot more couples I dislike than like tbh. I don’t think this fandom or its opinions sorry guys

#ask #I am a hater sorry #I have a lot more platonic dynamics in my head

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aihoshiino · 11 months ago

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who are your favorite OnK characters (apart from Ai)?

i love that you clarified 'apart from Ai' because my blorbo brainrot derangement so thoroughly speaks for itself <3

From the main cast, I'd say my faves are Kana, Aqua and Ruby in that order. Up to Tokyo Blade I'd say I like all of them about equally, but from TB onwards, it's more like Kana --> Aqua ----> Ruby. Not that I dislike Ruby or anything…? There's just some weird bumps in how she's characterized post Tokyo Blade and I especially just really don't like Black Hoshigan Ruby as presented in the manga so she's kind of a miss for me in that regard lol. I looooove her in the first 30-40 chapters of the manga though and especially the anime… Yurie Igoma's portrayal of her is so cute and sweet and earnest. It's fucking insane to me that Ruby is her first main role in a show?? I rly can't wait to see where her career goes from here because I really think she's gonna blow up.

ANYWAY… From the side cast… Melt my beloved <3 His arc in Tokyo Blade is so fucking good and tbh his interlude chapter was easily my favourite of his. Sooooo excited to see his glowup moments in season 2. I'm also really fond of Miyako for similar reasons! The anime especially does a ton to make her and Ai's relationship a lot warmer and closer and that combined with her relationship with the twins has me so fond of her. I like Ichigo a lot as well, though that's kind of mostly just in the context of his and Ai's relationship and the Strawberry Productions family dynamic in general and I'm not necessarily crazy invested in him as a character on his own.

I also ADORE Kyun and Nino. Viewpoint B is my favourite OnK sidestory and Kyun and her relationship with Ai are a big part of that. I'm also SOOOOOOO excited to see more of Nino in the main story… I was always so fascinated by the 45510 narrator and the mess of emotions that story lays out re: her relationship with Ai so it's been such a surprise and a delight to see her getting additional development and seeing her relationship with Ai being fleshed out even more. Huge w for gay people and evil women enjoyers everywhere.

This also might sound bonkers but uh, Ayumi Hoshino is also one of my favourite side characters?? Yeah, Ai's shitty mom! I am just so endlessly fascinated by her and am really sincerely in awe of how incredibly well realized and well characterized she is across the literal four pages of on-screen panel time she gets in the entire manga. Her abuse is so, so foundational to literally everything about Ai and her presence was this horrible black smear across Ai's past that we could never get a proper look at, so the absolute gutpunch that was the anticlimax of seeing her in person for the first time and realizing how sad and pathetic and normal she was……………. bro…………………. I may have a lot of issues with how Akasaka writes certain things in OnK but he writes toxic moms in such a raw and real way, I can't get enough of it

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #onk spoilers

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gascon-en-exil · 9 months ago

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Hi! This is Blackacre438 from youtube dusting off a tumblr account I haven't used since 2014. Holy moly. If you're still at all interested in talking about 3 Houses (and it's ok if you aren't), you had mentioned a long while ago that among the supports you most wanted to see in 3H that didn't already exist was Dimitri and Ferdinand. Given you're a Ferdibert shipper and an enjoyer of the Fargheus Polycule, how well do you think Ferdinand would fit into the Homosocial knight culture of Fargheus?

Hey there. I do have a ton of FE16 headcanons and miscellaneous content on here if you search that tag going back to 2019-21, but after that point I did mostly run out of new things to say about the game (and started my YouTube channel, which took away a lot of my attention) so it largely dropped off. These days I don't keep tabs on all that much apart from the never-ending discourse, because there are still somehow prolific trolls in the fandom even now. But even so -

Under more serious readings of his character, Ferdinand would likely take well to Faerghus's homosocial knight culture if he had the chance to get adjusted to it. With that said, I pretty much never go for sedate Ferdinand (or Ferdibert) readings these days because the melodramatic, kinky dark comedy route is vastly more entertaining. I've long entertained the headcanon that, even in an AM AU where Hubert survives because Ferdinand advocated for sparing his life, the two of them would not work well in the polycule. Hubert would be as vindictive and evil as ever, and Ferdinand would almost certainly be more interested in his lover than in fooling around with a bunch of guys who to a man aren't kinky enough for his tastes (Sylvain, maybe, and Yuri if we're counting him...the others, not so much).

I can also easily see Adrestians in general looking down on Faerghus's culture of knighthood, including the distinctly martial flavor of homoeroticism that coexists alongside heterosexual marriage - a take on male sexual relationships present in several real-world premodern cultures. If Ferdinand and Hubert are campy theatre gays in a superficially high-culture Empire, they'd likely consider rather primitive a country where the men are all bound together in eroticized brotherhood and yearning to die in each other's arms on the battlefield. And on the flip side, I don't think the Faerghus boys* would really understand Ferdinand's perspective on things like camp or the gender-as-performance appeal of drag - an interest I infer from some lines in his Manuela supports. It goes without saying that they wouldn't get his certified villainfucker tendencies, either, even if a postgame Hubert would be expected to remain on his best behavior (he absolutely isn't).

To go even sillier however, several of us in this corner of the fandom have the headcanon that Dimitri is mostly a bottom because his Blaiddyd-boosted strength would literally kill most partners who try to take his dick. Ferdinand von "huge hole" Aegir would take that in particular as a challenge.

*Dedue is, as always, the wild card here, because he's not actually from Faerghus. I know I've written in the past about how Dimidue stands out from the other Lions M/M pairings in its dynamic and the presentation of their ending, which sees them cohabitate and apparently never marry anyone else. This not only lends itself to a reading of them adopting children and forming a semi-monogamous family unit, but it also speaks to how Dedue is disruptive (in a good way!) to the pre-Tragedy status quo of the Blue Lions. It gives Dimitri and Dedue's relationship a very different texture from that of Dimilix and Sylvix while also giving it more dramatic layers than Ashedue on account of the bits of Faerghus's knighthood culture that Dedue does pick up on (ref: his Gilbert supports, his resolve to take revenge for Dimitri in VW). And as I ship all four of those pairings in some form or another, more variety is great for allowing them to feel distinct while also coexisting peacefully.

That said, I think Dedue would find Ferdinand's penchant for theatrics bizarre if not actually obnoxious, and he absolutely wouldn't trust anyone so enamored of a man like Hubert.

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Ferdinand von Aegir #And a bunch of other characters and ships

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its-no-biggie · 10 months ago

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FINALLY finished ultra despair girls. rambles and ending spoilers ahead

i almost rage quit during the final boss fight because the combat mechanics were at their absolute worst (which is saying something because i found the combat incredibly frustrating front to back). but narratively the ending was. fine i guess. i think sdr2 did the whole "i reject your dichotomy" thing better and the way monacas plan got thwarted was kinda. dumb. i liked the fukawa/komaru development though! having monaca back komaru into a corner and then fukawa saves her, which monaca didnt account for, was good! but the whole. giant monokuma comes out of nowhere and tears the building down. defeat it and then you win!!!! really ruined the whole scene i think.

honestly komaru and fukawas friendship arc was the best part of the game. (also every komaeda appearance but thats just because im insane.) like the fight in the middle was SO yuri. especially when genocide jack held the knife up to komarus throat and she didnt even flinch??? obsessed. honestly fukawa kinda gets on my nerves as a character and that didnt really change, but it was cute that she finally made a friend. i liked it. the scene where fukawa finally got komarus name right was nice, and i like that she never once messes it up after that. and the way komaru tries to call her toko-chan once they become friends and fukawa really cant handle it so she goes back to fukawa-san, but then she calls her toko-chan in the after credits scene....... really good. theres more than that but just..... their relationship is a little unconventional but still really sweet and i like it. i think its good as the central relationship of the game. and also i think they should kiss

and. im sure ive complained about this before but im complaining about it again. absolutely BAFFLED at the decision to make the main villains abused children. genuinely what the fuck is that. its not that it COULDNT work but its not handled well at all..... like. yes they were manipulated by monaca, who was manipulated by junko. yes they werent REALLY the bad guys because komaru was being manipulated into siding with the adults for monacas grand plan (although by the end it was more like. both sides are wrong. so they /were/ still bad guys, just not the only bad guys). i dont CARE. the whole "woahhhh monaca was faking her disability for attention!!! because shes evil!!!!" twist??? awful. im not opposed to the concept of a character faking their disability for manipulative reasons but i resent the constant framing around these kids being "the bad stuff you went through doesnt excuse your actions". to be clear - im not saying that because you were abused as a child means its okay to kill all adults ever. but i am saying that kids acting out after being abused by their fucking parents is extremely reasonable, and the narrative is intentionally exaggerating this type of behavior in order to punish it. and im TIRED OF IT. monaca faking her disability for attention is literally explicitly because she felt like an outsider in her own family. yes it was manipulative. yes you shouldnt fake having a disability. but children whose needs arent being met will do whatever it takes to make sure those needs are met. and this is framed as Evil Villain Behavior and i am NOT HAVING IT. humanize the motherfucking abuse victims or die by my sword

anyway. overall. i got through it so it clearly couldnt have been too bad. i think im making it sound worse than it was - it does have its charms. but. i didnt really find the characters, plot OR gameplay that enjoyable. it has its moments but overall i didnt really have fun. so. not really a good game for me. but now its done and i can move on to the rest of the series!! yippee!!!

#anyway tune in tomorrow when i binge danganronpa 3 LMAO #also sorry if this is kind of a mess. its 3am. i finished the game an hour ago. youre getting my initial thoughts with minimal proofreading #uhh. should i put this in like. all the tags for this game? its kinda just word vomit #ehh fuck it. woe rambles be upon ye #ultra despair girls #dr udg #danganronpa udg #danganronpa #biggie tumbles

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fareehaandspaniards · 11 months ago

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Hold up, you like Valtr x Henriett too???? I should have guessed because you are one of the last surviving 5 people that aren't restrained by age gaps in shipping but still I thought it was TOO obscure hghjhjk

That's my SECRET side xD I may talk about Damian mostly, since I have a thing for white-haired (blonde) grandpas who are rather evil sexy lords or pure angels. BUT(T). I enjoy really many ships and characters that I never mentioned because I never have enough energy to talk about ALL of them... (in 95% of times I need a lot of energy just to talk so yeah I want to tell a lot but often forget or don't have energy for that)

I am secretly big enjoyer of Valtr, Henryk, Yamamura, Tomb Prospector Olek (lol), Arianna equally with Adella, big FAN of Yurie, Eileen and Bloody Crow of Cainhurst, Ludwig... and etc!

So YES Valtr x Henriett ship looks hot (as you said age gap doesn't scare me. It makes ship even hotter than it was. I don't understand people who scream when two characters who are in love aren't the same age. And by "scream" I mean publicly shaming anyone who ships couples like that! Hope after this I won't receive a message from anon like "SO you can ship 10 y.o. girl yeah???? If age gap in a relationship is cool then you ship kids right????!" because it's pure absurd and hysteria. Age gap is always perceived by fandom-society like something AWFUL, DISGUSTING and mostly by people who enjoy even more weird kinks)

(And you might ship 18 y.o. character with a 2000000010010903 y.o. eternal being and everything is fine for a fandom while eternal being looks sexy BUT WHEN IT COMES TO GRANDDILFS, PEOPLE ARE BEING BITC-)

(sorry it's not a vent post :'D Completely changed the topic)

I can't say I know much about Henriett except for her being beatiful and her connection with Amelia, Ludwig and Laurence. Also she has something against League. And this shit when two fantoms can't be summoned simultaneously makes me go HURRRRR because you know the two have something between them???

She gives me vibes of hmmm... Irene Adler who is now Sherlock Holmes? I remember Crow drew Henriett for you mentioning Shelock Holmes and now this is stuck in my head. Stoic, beautiful young lady who is interested in justice for all. From a good family, maybe even noble, but who chose a path of a Hunter with her huge weapon. I headcanon Valtr to be her former "mentor" until she found out that League is built on his insanity and he can't even see evil bugs himself. Disappointing :с Her vibe is like:

Also I thought that Gehrman/Maria also has a vibe of a teacher/student, but with gehrmaria it's more about romantical guiding the one you love with both mutual respect and tenderness. While these two have... Have some problems with that. I headcanon Valtr as a person who was REALLY interested in Henriett, but could show it through mumbling and telling her his own vision of the world and wanting from her to join him in everything, while she has own plans and ambitions, for example aeeeehhh destroy the wicked ones from the Church? haha so funny, unless...

Anyway good ship.

Little ambitious lady who is ready to kick some asses and tall sad unstable man, who has issues

#my art #funny #mutuals #ask #valtr master of the league #old hunter henriett #bloodborne #bloodborne headcanons

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liminalhymnal · 10 months ago

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Silent Hill enjoyers may hate me on this one but I'm not a fan of what I've seen Bloober doing on that there remake so I'm gonna be a hater to myself under the cut.

It looks like Homecoming/Resident Evil....bruh it's got qte's??? Will James also do sick-ass knife combos? WILL I GET GRADED RANKS AT THE END OF EACH MISSION?? WILL A VISIBLE TIMER POP UP DURING THE FIRST PYRAMID FIGHT???

I don't want to seem snobbish but with a classic like sh2 you can't just change the genre. Its supposed to be a psychological horror. Not Objective: Survive action-horror. Resident Evil is about zombies so ofc its gonna be full of action. But Silent Hill 2 is mainly first-and-foremost about the horrors of self-reflection and introspection with just a bit of cult shit thrown in at times for backstory on how the town does wacky shit to folks sometimes.

And that also troubles me; Bloober isn't good at handling the subjects that Silent Hill plays on. I'm not saying it has to be a 100% pure remake with zero changes at all, but if they fuck up the original tones of the characters like Angela or anything involving Mary I am pretty sure I will Kill.

I wanted to be hopeful for that new free to play Silent Hill too, but I feel like it's pretty similar to every other scary game out there nowadays. Everything was just so...obvious and not handled well at all. Like covering things with blood or the fuckin...."Silent Hill Phenomenon" they dropped in there and the whole MeNtAl IllneSs ScAwY thing. It focuses on the adrenaline you get from being suddenly scared (loud noise, sudden thing happening, getting chased) instead of the adrenaline you get from being unsettled (creepy atmosphere, subtle dialogue and storytelling that hint to darker implications), which lessens the impact because only the latter fear lingers with you as you play. The former just keeps you anticipating a qte or jumpscare. The dialogue is also cheesy and generic, like compared to sh3 Heather, who sounded like a real teenager and not one pulled off a Netflix original. While the franchise can be silly at times, like the infamous pizza line that pops up in Sh2, you gotta keep janky stuff like that to a minimum or else it ruins the vibe. Just...good lord man if you make your whole schtick about suicide then you should at least try to handle it decently and not give me a playable anti-bullying PSA written by an AI trained on Marvel sitcoms. I DON'T CARE IF ITS YURI, FIND BETTER YURI

#Like what you like but I personally don't like what they've done to my vacation home in Silent Hill #I might pack my bags and move to ol' Capcom permanently....I heard the fans eat good there nowadays #All that being pissed out I want to say I'm fucking stoked for the music and the updated graphics and I hope they do some justice to sh2

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solazu1 · 1 year ago

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Hello! My name is Sol.

I am an artist!!! Obviously.. yea. I am currently hyperfixated on Resident Evil now! but I also like Sweet Tooth, Pacific Rim, Dragons, Wings of Fire, The Oh Hellos, TOH, CCCC, Marble Hornets, Mouthwashing, and Dungeon Meshi!!

I’m going to be real my hyperfixations are switching here, there, and everywhere as of rn. Current fixation is Resident Evil and my Oc’s

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY ART WITHOUT CREDIT. ALWAYS CREDIT MY ART IF YOU’RE GOING TO REPOST IT OR USE AS A PFP. ASK TO USE IN OTHER THINGS.

some stuff about me! -

I love food. Nobody loves food more than I

Number one toxic yuri fan. I love women……

I am a proud lesbian

I have ADHD !!

I'm super super into learning about avians!! I love birds!! I am a big enjoyer of those guys!!

That’s sorta it! Don’t expect a regular posting schedule, I’m erratic with this stuff. I’m more active on Discord lol

DNI

-Proshippers

-Homophobic & transphobic cunts

-Ableist motherfuckers

-People who are into irl murderers like they’re characters, fuck offfffff I forgot the term but ykwim

#dni list #Heeheehoohoo #too lazy to Tag that other stuff #meow #introduction to my silly little thing

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carriagelamp · 2 years ago

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I’m legally obligated to try to read at least a few queer lit choices in June, so here’s what I’ve got! Not a lot of Full On Novels because this has been a crazy month, but I got lucky with some really cute ones

Bad Boys Happy Home v1

This was a yaoi that, so far at least, was significantly more domestic than anticipated. Akamatsu has been getting into fights with a man he met on his way home at a local park as a way of blowing off steam, even if he hasn’t managed to beat him once yet. However, eventually Akamatsu learns that the other man, Seven, is homeless and has been living at the park — rather than risk his sparring partner getting displaced, he invites Seven to come stay at his apartment until he gets his feet under him…

Bad Guys v1

Well, they finally put a movie out so I finally bit the bullet and read the first book of this series. I read it in French but there’s hardly enough text to make any difference. I can see why kids enjoy it, it’s fun and silly and the art is very accessible. It really holds zero interest to me though, it’s really more of a picture book like Elephant and Piggie than a graphic novel.

Demon Slayer v1-2

Another book I got talked into reading by children. I thought it looked like agonizingly generic shonen, another Naruto knock off or something similar, so I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it so far. The art is really appealing, it reminds me of old-school 90s Inuyasha art? Kinda? It’s about a boy whose family is slaughtered by demons while he’s away, and who returns to find his younger sister, the only survivor, turned into a demon herself. Together they band together to find a way for her to be cured, as he fights to become a demon slayer who can protect the both of them, and she fights her new, violent nature. I love sibling stories, honestly.

Dragon Girls v1-2

Jeez. I am 90% sure this was Scholastic’s attempt to capitalize on Wings of Fire with a younger audience and a budget of two dimes to get it done. It’s about a group of three girls who find out that they can travel to a magical forest where they’re dragons that are tasked with protecting the forest and the tree queen from an evil shadow. I don’t think anyone can enjoy this unless they’re actively a seven year old girl, and even then I have my doubts. It’s generic to the point of ennui and the art is so bad that even I could have drawn the dragons better.

Earwig and the Witch

The final novella that Diana Wynne Jones ever wrote. After what a botch Ghibli did of the movie version, I’ve been avoiding it, but finally decided to give it a chance. It was actually pretty enjoyable, it very much had a quirky Dahl vibe to it. Earwig, a young orphan who is good at getting her way, is adopted by a witch who intends to use her as labour. Earwig, however, isn’t about to take that lying down and teams up with the witch’s familiar to find a way to once again control this odd situation.

Girl Friends complete collection v1

A cute enough little yuri romance. Not as good as something like Failed Princesses, in my opinion, this one felt much more… tranquil, I suppose? It was sweet but didn’t have a lot of plot happening. Still, if you feel like a very gentle sapphic romance, it’s not a bad one to breeze through.

In Deeper Waters

Gay Little Mermaid! Hell yeah! Pirates! High sea adventures! Magic! This was lots of fun! It took me a little bit to turn my brain off enough to enjoy it at the beginning, but once I realized out this really is meant to just be a queer fairytale I was able to stop overanalysing and just enjoy the ride. Very fun, summer read, scratched an itch I was having after Our Flag Means Death.

Jackass!

This was something. Not as bad as I expected, a childhood friends to unexpected lovers sort of story, and definitely a story that knew its kink and ran with it. Side romance was, simply put, vile though and was rather hard to ignore to get through the rest of the book. Almost enjoyable. There’s better queer manga to read, this made me think more of the trash I read as a desperate teen in the aughts.

Kase-san and Morning Glories v1-3

Now this sapphic romance was absolutely 100% the best thing I’ve read this weekend. It was incredibly cute, and the art is so charming. It’s about “slow pace” Yamada, a quiet girl on the greenery committee, developing a crush on Kase, the school track star, and the very blushy cute romance the two of them fall into.

Lily To The Rescue // Two Little Piggies

Last year I had read A Dog’s Way Home by Cameron and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see that he had some children’s novels written in a similar style. This is a chapter book series about rescue dog Lily who now lives with her girl and helps at the family’s animal rescue centre. In these books she helps find, protect, play with, and support various animals that are found and brought to the centre. It’s just charming, with some of the loveliest art.

This Wonderful Season With You

Another really cute one, despite the comically generic title that I keep forgetting. This manga is about ex-baseball star Shirataki who ends up being talked into joining the programming club by short, shy, nerdy Enoki. While the other club “nerds” are intimidated by Shirataki, Enoki admires him and the two form an unlikely friendship which grows from there…

Witch Week

Another Diana Wynne Jones book because I was in the mood. This is one of my favourites of hers and I reread it every few years. Witch Week takes place in a world where magic is illegal, at a boarding school for “witch orphans” (the children of witches who have been burnt at the stake) and other “undesirables”. It’s a rather dull, unpleasant life in the school, until one day a note is found in one of the books that a teacher is grade, accusing someone in the class of being a witch. This is a serious accusation, and everyone seems to be trying to get to the bottom of it, as more and more magic seems to be cropping up.

#book review #book reviews #manga #diana wynne jones #witch week #earwig and the witch #kase-san #kase-san and morning glories #in deeper waters #this wonderful season with you #lily to the rescue #w bruce cameron #girl friends #demon slayer #bad guys #queer lit #pride month #chatter

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sabraeal · 4 years ago

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All That Remains, Chapter 7: The Flower Garden of the Woman Who Could Conjure [Part 4]

[Read on AO3]

Written in honor of @claudeng80′s birthday! I’m only a week and change late this time, but everyone knows what they’re getting into when they request this fic for gifts-- aka, me dithering for weeks on if a chapter needs to be cut and where it inevitably needs to happen. But here is an almost 5K labor of love...and a little bit of hope... :3c

It would easy to speak of good and evil, would it not? To condemn a sorceress for her conjuring, to pity a girl and her deception. That is the way such tales are crafted: for simplicity, moral lines drawn in the sand.

But life does not fit so easily into the pages made to contain it. A line of prose may distill it to its essence, but a word spoken, an act done by a living creature-- these contain multitudes.

“Well.” Lady Mihoko fixes a shrewd glance over the rim of her teacup, pinning Shirayuki to her chair. Bombazine may creak with her every breath, but when Mihoko sets her demitasse upon its saucer, it is silent. “You are much improved.

The words alone would make a compliment, but with the way her ladyship threads them through her teeth, it is an accusation. Her eyes narrow even now, a proctor determined to catch her pupil filching answers from across the aisle.

Still, it’s the kindest words Mihoko has ever managed to spare, and Shirayuki seizes them with both hands. “Thank you, Lady Mihoko.”

All her ladyship’s fine graces do not restrain her from a humorless grunt. “Do not think it so fine a feat. You could hardly have gotten much worse.” With another contemplative sip, she adds, “But your progress is at least...heartening. You might not be entirely hopeless.”

Polite, tea-appropriate smile firmly in place, Shirayuki casts her eyes down at her plate. How fortunate she is to be able to experience such a fine example of being damned by faint praise.

He mouth does not twitch; by now, she knows better than to allow any of her facial muscles free reign in the presence of the lady-- but it does waver. It was not her own voice lilting those words.

A toe nudges her ankle; the consort’s countenance is carefully composed of bland inquiry across from her.

“You are too kind,” Shirayuki manages, smile polished back to its original brilliance.

“I am.” She settles back in her chair, spine straight as a rod, conveying that her enjoyment of the meal now resides firmly in the past. “You are lucky indeed that Her Majesty deigned to take a girl like you under her wing. How fitting it is that my best student is responsible for righting my worst.”

“It is only because I had such a good tutor that I could even attempt to teach.” The consort sets her own cup onto its saucer, mouth rounded in a pleasant curve. Shirayuki’s never mastered the art of it, to smile to brightly with so little teeth or crinkling around the eyes, but on Haki the effect seems natural, right. “But I must say that Lady Shirayuki is a pleasure as a student. A quick mind and a dedicated learner.”

“What she lack in aptitude she certainly makes up with vigor,” Mihoko allows grudgingly. “In my day, that would not be near enough to make a lady.”

It would be easy to condemn the sorceress, would it not? To raise the roses from their bed and cast the bright light of truth upon them, to drag her into the village square and expose her as a deceiver, a most vile villainess to lead this stray girl astray. We would stretch our hands through the pages if we could but shake our girl awake, if we could put our hands around the throat of the conjuress and see she never bent another illusion--

But that would miss the point entirely. You were told, so long ago now, that life does not fit into the narrow confines fiction demands. Surely you have not forgot?

There is a reason for every action. Unfortunately.

“That is true enough.”

The consort speaks in honeyed tones, mouth composed in a thoughtful pout. But that, Shirayuki knows, is merely an inoffensive mask she wears, one that may be discarded at a moment’s notice. It is always her eyes betray her, burning with an intelligence she can never fully quench.

“But was that not also the era of the former Viscount Yuris? Or the Counts of Sui and Lido?” It should be an accusation, a condemnation, but from the consort’s mouth, it is little more than a polite conversation, small talk between two peers. “So many traitors in so few years.”

Shirayuki may have gained some dominion over her face, but not near enough to keep from glancing at Lady Mihoko.

“That is the nature of the peerage,” her ladyship says after a long moment, mouth pursed in a moue of discomfort. “There are always some that choose to overreach their bounds. It is up to every lord to manage his lands in his own way. Though I know Your Majesties have...newer ideas about such things.”

“Better ideas,” the consort reminds her, both silk and steel entwined. “Under the late king, the court grew indolent, as did the crown. If he had not passed when he did, Clarines might have become another Tanbarun.”

Shirayuki’s teeth grit down, stemming the tide of protest that crashes against them. She had fled her home with little pride or trust in its royals, and it’s not as if she cares for the institution, but-- Raj was no longer the embarrassment he’d once been. It’d be a long time before he’d earn as lofty a reputation as Izana or Zen, but, well, he was trying. And as long as his father remained on the throne, that was enough.

She doubts either of them would appreciate the opinion. It’s not as if any of this is about Tanbarun after all.

Mihoko clucks her tongue. “I would not venture to say we had fallen so far as that.”

“No,” Haki agrees, so pleasant. “But I would.”

A silver spoon clatters to a dish, Mihoko’s aged fingers trembling above it. “That would be your prerogative, Your Majesty.”

“It is my prerogative to see to the quality of my husband’s court, my lady. While once this may have referred to the breeding of its members, I believe we have come beyond that. After all, Lord Zakura was hardly born with silver in hand, or Lord Sui, or Countess Yuris.” The consort hums, delicately setting aside her demitasse. “There would be worse things than to see one of the finest minds of our time raised to a position which suited it.”

Her ladyship does not smile-- a terrible business, nowadays, she would cluck, spoon chiming against the rim of her cup, men should know that every smile returns tenfold in ten years’ time-- but there is a softening in her face. Not of agreement, but allowance.

“We shall see,” she sniffs, waving away another tray of sandwiches. “In time. But none of that removes what a wonders you have wrought with this one, and in less than a month’s time.”

Haki dips her head, the barest bow. “Imagine what a lifetime might bring.”

“Yes.” Mihoko narrows her eyes above the rim of her cup. “Quite unforeseeable.”

What does it mean to conjure, to summon something from nothingness, to breathe life where there once was none? It is no mere illusion; not smoke and mirrors and lies shined until gleaming. Not just a lady’s magic, no substance nor thought, made of wishes and air alone.

No, it is creation; the act of sinking one’s hands into clay and forming something utterly unlike its origin, to take one’s will and give it form. It is any surprise that it is the provenance of women?

But that is the thing, is it not? For every creation, there must be a will, must be a spark. For man to be made flesh, there must first be clay. For illusion to be made real, there first must be a wish.

“One, two-- a sprightly pace if it pleases you, my lady! Lift your feet--”

Sweat spirals down her spine, but Shirayuki picks her heels up of the floor, her sashay the barest whisper of slipper sliding across wood. Far from the ethereal wood nymphs cavorting across the palace’s walls, but it carries her across the floor with far more grace than she’s ever managed before. Like flying, provided it was a hen across the chicken yard.

Shirayuki careens more than glides to the next sequence-- the turn, three, four, return, one, two-- and her heart lodges firmly in the vicinity of her throat. She’s never managed this one before, not without stomping on Arundo’s toes or gravity ruthlessly asserting it dominion over her, dragging her to the earth where she belonged, but--

Haki’s hand squeezes tight around hers before lightening into a lift, pulling right over her head. She curls under it, up-up-down, before swinging back, far less measured, but a thousand times more triumphant.

So many of these story children start with nothing-- unloved and unmissed, abandoned by their parents, scorned by those meant to replace them. But this girl--

This girl was loved. She did not have the mother and father that so many other had, one taken by fate and the other duty; but her grandparents tended her in their place. While other little girls were scrubbing floors, or chopping wood, or being chased into the forest with only the bread in their pockets, she was adored; a treasure on her home’s hearth.

And then, in a breath, it was gone. No time for tears, for contemplation. No time for grief.

She does what all bold little girls do: she moves forward, she adapts. All those fears and grief she locks away; a little drawer inside her mind that only opens in the dead of night, when sleep won’t come to her. How worn those memories are by now, frayed about the edges, folded and thin from neglect.

Strange how it is always children who bear the heaviest burdens. Stranger still that they can grow to used to them, that they can bear them even unto adulthood and hardly realizing they are carrying them at all.

That is, of course, until they are lifted.

“You did it!” Haki catches her arms, stopping Shirayuki’s body from crashing into hers, a smile stretched wide across her face. “With not a step missed.”

“I did,” she bursts breathlessly, nearly sagging in relief. “I did!”

A clap cracks in the cavernous room, but it is only Arundo, his own mouth parted in delight. “Brava, my lady! I am most impressed.”

“As well you should be!” The consort steps back, letting her stand on her own two feet. “There are plenty young ladies I have seen on a dance floor that have not done half so well as Lady Shirayuki.”

Even flushed with victory, Shirayuki knows that for an exaggeration; a thick bit of flattery to bolster her confidence. But it hardly matters, not when she traveled the whole floor without a single misstep.

“I truly despaired of ever teaching Lady Shirayuki much more than swaying in place.” Arundo glances at her partner shyly, color high in his cheeks. “I see it merely took a deft lead.”

“Ah, Master Arundo, it takes a woman to understand how difficult a lady’s part may be.” Haki huffs out a laugh that is far less dainty than one she uses in front of courtiers, sweeping long strands of gold from the frame of her face. “If I knew which place to help, it is only because I remember where I most needed it. As my dancing instructor used to say, we all start at the same place.”

“Still,” Arundo insists, “for you to be able to dance the man and the woman’s part-- a most impressive feat!”

“Not at all!” Haki loops the last of her wisps around her ears, and just like that, the consort’s smiling mask slips into place. “This is but a simple waltz. You yourself must know a hundred or more, and dance both parts with skill besides.”

The dance master waggles a finger at her, playful. “Ah, but in the realm of grace and elegance, Your Majesty has far outstripped my paltry skill.”

With the high drama for which the Viandese were known, Arundo swept into a deep bow, bending near in half. Over his back, Haki glanced at her wide-eyed, mouth twitching, though any proof of it was gone before he rose.

“Please, Master Arundo, I am merely well-practiced.” The consort’s mouth tilts, a wry smile playing at her lips. “Izana and I often switch when we...”

Haki’s eyes pulse wide, her cheeks blossoming with a delicate pink. “In any case, I would not have done so well had Lady Shirayuki not already been through the best instruction.”

You see, Miss? Obi’s laugh is bright in her ears, as if he were only right beside her. Anyone can do it. And if you stumble, only stand on my feet and I’ll guide us both through it--

An arm slips through hers, the consort leaning close. “Won’t my brother be surprised to see such progress?”

Shirayuki cannot fathom why Makiri might care about her dancing. He’s seen it before, both of them often pressed into the same endless dinner parties at Lilias, the sort that always seemed to turn into dancing and awkward moonlight professions. He’d been light on his feet when any of the girls dared to approach, not a born dancer like Haki, but a competent one; when she’d clomped past him, dragged by regretful partners, he’d only raised an eyebrow-- an improvement upon the usual sneers she garnered from fellow revelers. He’d never been forced onto her dance card, but still--

Haki slips her a wink, and oh, it’s not her brother she means, but Zen.

You’re supposed to be learning to dance with him, after all. Even in memory, Obi’s smile cuts like a knife’s edge. No wife dances with any man besides her husband.

Shirayuki’s palms sting where her nails cut crescent into them. This room, it’s-- it’s far, far too small. Too tight. So confining, little more than a cage--

“Shall we break for a moment?” Arundo’s jovial lilt crashes through her thoughts like a bird to a window. “And then we shall start the next!”

“A perfect idea, Master Arundo.” Haki smiles down at her, so bright that the shadows of her thoughts burn away. “I dare say my sister has earned a break.”

It was always just enough for this little girl: a grandfather, a grandmother, a loving home and hearth. There had been no dreams of another there, not even when she lost them, not even when she pruned her roses and found another set of hands to take hers. Not even when those hands became a home in themselves.

But with a single word, uttered so casually, a drawer springs open.

Sister. The word echoes through Shirayuki’s head as they walk. There’s an itch of irritation beneath her skin, a pebble in her metaphorical shoe, but still--

Sister. She’s damp, not gently dewed like Haki, so drenched in sweat that her dress clings to her. Fatigued too, every muscle aching, including a few that hadn’t been in her textbooks. She has every reason to want to bury herself in her covers, to try to find the reason her skin feels too tight.

But that’s not what her attention’s caught on, not in the slightest.

“I’m not your sister,” she says, wishing she hadn’t at all. It would be so easy for it to be taken away, for that soft glow in her chest to be snuffed out.

“No,” Haki agrees, looping her arm through hers as if it belongs there, as if she belongs. “But you will be.”

In the morning the girl rose, the cottage empty save for the scent of honeysuckle and forsythia. Her small feet padded across the floor, right to the window latched tight against the night. She pushed up to tip-toe, fingers flicking against metal, and--

And her first sight was a garden, piled high with blooms; a paradise that belonged on a canvas in oils, not at her fingertips.

Do you see? the sorceress asks, rising from where she tends her beds. I awake to this glory every morning. You could as well, if you wanted.

I can’t, the girl says, certain.

The sorceress blinks. And why not?

I... The girl stares out over all this beauty, its scent surrounding her. I do not remember.

Ah, well then. The sorceress smiles, the way she always thought her mother would, had she known her. Then stay a while, and perhaps we will help you remember together.

“May I...” Shirayuki hesitates, biting her lip as they take another winding curve through the halls. The longer she stays within the palace, the more she’s certain: she could live a lifetime here and never knows all the twists and turns it takes. “My I ask you a question?”

The consort peers down at her, both eyebrows lifted in gentle question. “You may.”

“How do you do this all day?” Shirayuki restrains herself from sagging in her stays, whalebone the spine that keeps her upright. “It’s hardly evening and if I hold my shoulder back a moment longer, I think I’ll...”

Collapse, she means to say, but it lingers at the tip of her tongue, too sweet, too untrue. Scream is close, rend this dress to pieces closer still, but closest--

Her mind snaps tight around the thought, a steel trap with a wolf’s paw between its teeth. From the murmurings she’s heard since she first came to Clarines, Wistal has seen enough madness for a lifetime.

“Ah, you see, the secret is--” Haki leans in, looping her arm through hers-- “I don’t.”

Shirayuki blinks.

“You are still learning,” the consort continues, setting herself upright, setting their arms into the proper form ladies strolling. “And thus, you must memorize protocol every day, eat your meals under supervision, and practice the mazurka. I, however, have mastered all this, and thus, I cannot remember the last time I waltzed outside a ball.”

“But the etiquette--” the poise, the presence, the elocution-- “surely..?”

“Well, of course.” She shrugs, jostling their elbows. “But those lessons were a part of my childhood, much like how you probably learned to cook and clean and pick herbs instead of poison. It all becomes second nature to you, in time.”

Shirayuki doesn’t have the heart to tell her how easy it was to mistake mushrooms, but her point-- well, it’s a good one. “I’m not sure that will ever happen for me.”

“Perhaps not,” the consort allows mildly. “Certainly they will never seem as natural to you as they might to a lady born to manors and castles. And had you continued to try to learn manners from a book, than you would have had no hope at all. But--” Haki pulls her closer to her side, mouth curled with satisfaction-- “you are not alone, you have me.”

Her cheeks flush with heat; the very same as the flame that warms her chest. “Do I?”

“You do.” The consort nods, the sort that says she expects her will to be followed to the letter. “I have always wanted to share these things with someone. Alas, I was given but a single brother, and he my elder. But now I have you.”

What was it we said? A human heart has four chambers, beating in concert. A complex thing, a puzzle box of wants and desires, one buried beneath the other, a dangerous tower of longing crushed inside a container too small to hold it. And all of us live our lives never knowing its depths, not until a drawer springs open, and oh--

Oh how easy it is for our longing to sneak up on us, all unknowing. How easy it is to be blinded by it.

When the consort smiles-- really, truly smiles-- it’s too bright, like looking into the sun, and Shirayuki has to duck her head or be blinded. She’s light-headed from only a moment of basking in its radiance; she can’t imagine what might happen if she dared to look more.

“Besides,” Haki continues blithely, skirts brushing their slippers as they walk. “You could drop an entire tureen on my brother and I think he would adore you just the same. Maybe even more, if you dropped it on the right person.”

A laugh bubbles up from her, and oh, oh, it has been far too long-- it leaves her, a cage thing finally freed from its chains, and rampages through the hall.

Haki stares down at her, pale eyes wide and almost wary. For a moment her mouth works, rounding as if she might say, a lady laughs like a bell, not a gong, just like Mihoko--

And then she joins in, just as wild.

But how can she forget about her precious boy, you might ask? How can she forget about her home?

The answer is easy enough: one must only provide a new one. Oh, how easily a heart may be fooled when the illusion is so pleasant, when it is so wanted. Men on the verge of death imagine entire cities in the desert, oases just over the horizon, luring them yet another step to their doom. When there is no relief, no hope, when only doubts encompass us--

That is when we are most in need of fiction. Of an escape, of respite. How simple it can be to close ones eyes to harsh reality when it is paradise that lays before them.

But take heart-- such things never last. They cannot. It is folly to suggest there is no life without suffering-- an excuse to give breath to all kinds of evil-- but for plenty to have meaning, there must be a lack. To know joy there must be sadness, to know wisdom there must be ignorance, and when all one’s days are filled with a mindless, monotonous bliss--

Well, there is no paradise from which man does not escape, and no garden that will keep a little girl from what she seeks.

“Ah!” Haki’s jolts ahead, a filly at the end of her lead. Shirayuki nearly is dragged with her, her feet stumbling over the hem of her gown, but the consort extricates herself just in time, setting her to rights.

“Just-- just wait here a moment, if you would,” the consort tells her, fingers wound tight over the rounds of her shoulders. “It seems as though there is, ah, someone waiting for me at the door. I’ll only be-- a moment.”

Shirayuki blinks as the consort scurries away, skirts sweeping against the carpet in a rhythm and pace too hurried for Clarines’ stately queen. “But, your room is...”

Around the corner, she almost says, a better shorthand for not yet visible, which is what she means. Both points are moot; the consort springs away long before she can speak, the only part of her that remains the lagging lace of her train. And then even that is gone, all disappeared down the hall.

Perhaps it is the angle, Shirayuki allows. With her on the inside of the turn and the consort on the outside...?

Well, it hardly matters. She huffs out a breath, straightening her shoulders, and comes to stand in the intersection. This is a safe enough place to wait; the consort’s chambers are the first door on this hall, and--

And there is someone waiting. Or was, since all she catches of them the flash of a white coat.

The girl knows every inch of this garden in time, every undying bloom. For that is what they must be, at least for them to be so many, for so long. There are daffodils and daisies, dahlias and tulips, marigolds and gardenias, lilacs and lilies of the valley. A hundred flowers and more, too many to ever name crawling up lattice and sprawling over the bounds of their beds.

And yet, there is something missing. It sits at the tip of her tongue, begging to be said, but she cannot find the word, no matter how long she thinks on it. The only thing that comes to her is the memory of loam, and the warmth of hands brushing hers.

Don’t ever leave me, the sorceress would say, a smile on her lips, fingers tangled in her hair.

How could I, the girl would laugh, an inexplicable knot of dread tightening in her belly, when everything is so beautiful here?

“Shirayuki!”

Haki approaches her, smile wide and warm but also-- strain lingers at the corners. Maybe even displeasure. “I thought you were going to wait.”

“I was,” she says, wide-eyed. “I mean, I am. Who was...”

“No one.” The consort waves her off. “Just a delivery. A tisane. For my migraines. I ran out just the other day.”

“Oh.” Her mouth works, grasping for the words that had come so easily no so long ago, but now were like grinding glass. “From the pharm--?”

“Come!” Haki sweeps her arm up into her own, pulling her firmly against her side. “It’s time for dinner, isn’t it? We must see that you’re ready.”

It ends like this: she finds a petal.

It is no crimson red, no passionate pink, but instead a simple and clean white, not so unlike the gardenia. But it is too small for such a flower, too rounded, too plush. She presses it between her fingers and it is familiar as her own skin, as the scent of vanilla on the air, and yet she cannot find the name, nor envision the bloom from whence it fell. Surely it is nothing in this garden.

What it that you have? the sorceress asks, her voice suddenly sharp, like a blade placed between skin and bloated tick. Give it here.

The little girl has not reason not to. It must have blown in from elsewhere.

The sorceress takes it in her hand, slender fingers curling into a fist around it. When they unfurl it is gone, merely dust in the wind.

We need none of that world here, the sorceress says, kinder but firm. You will never leave me, after all.

Of course, the girl says, turning to her with a wide smile. The sorceress has a new hat on, black and covered in flowers, even finer than the ones she’s worn before. Why would I, when--?

Her teeth snap down, words stuck between them. It’s the only way to be safe, the only way to stop herself from saying now what she knows she cannot. Right there, painted on the cloth, next to a blood red dahlia--

--There is a rose. The sorceress’s hat has roses, and this garden does not.

Of course, she says again, stilted. This is where I belong.

Shirayuki stands frozen in the hall, mind churning like a mill’s wheel in the storm of her thoughts. The summer months mean whites and creams and ivories are in season, a playful palette that the consort’s court adorns with floral embroidery. But she did not see a floating train of silk, or the fluttering layers of linen, but instead--

A white coat. A brown paper package done up with twine and ink scrawled illegibly on the outside, passed so quickly from one hand to the next. The scent of herbs is fresh on the air, valerian among them.

She misses it. Almost as much as she misses...

“Shirayuki?” The consort tugs at her, a question writ across her brow. “Is something wrong?”

“Haki...” Her hands clench at her side. “Has there been any news of Obi?”

That is the thing about magic: it is easy to weave wishes into illusion, but to maintain it-- a different matter entirely. A woman may send all her roses underground, never to be seen again, but to remember to remove them from every vase, from the back of a brush, from a hat--

Impossible.

“Obi?” The consort’s grip tightens, even as her smile spread wide. “No, none at all.”

#obiyuki #akagami no shirayukihime #snow white with the red hair #my fic #All That Remains #snow queen AU #ans #i really and truly thought i'd get to finish out this section #but NO #it is not to be #to be fair it's one of the longest in the story #and it has the most like...plot movement in one piece #so i guess it makes sense #but SIGH #soon guys #soon we'll get to the turn on this #NEXT CHAPTER FOR SURE

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askgundamwingfans · 3 years ago

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This concludes the answers so far for the first set of AskGWFan Questions. If you have anything you wanna ask the group, use the ask function on tumblr or send me a dm!

What's a character/ship you've learned to appreciate? What made you change your mind?

Relena x Dorothy. Both as characters and as a ship. Part of this is that I hadn't seen all of the series at the time I first did fandom, but I had seen Endless Waltz, and that was the extent to which I had known Dorothy. She doesn't even interact with Relena in EW!! I had no impression of her (besides whomst??), and I honestly don't even remember if Relena ever appeared in fics I read since a lot of them were AUs anyway. However, after seeing the series and MISS RELENA and all of Dorothy's... Dorothy, I think she's got some great cult appeal!! And my mind really changed on both when I saw the whole series properly. I'm not sure I would have been on board with them at the time since I was less discerning about how female characters often get developed poorly, but I don't regret that I experienced Relena and Dorothy fully at a time where I could appreciate them.

I eventually started to appreciate Relena more, she grows up a lot by the end, even if she definitely should not be handling the responsibility she has...

Honestly breaking outside of the typical ships by reading more fics broadened my horizons. Writers I loved ventured into non-typical and I found myself enjoying the exploration. I think over time it had less to do with the ship and more to do with the characters as the fandom aged.

I've been reading a lot more yaoi since interacting with the larger fandom. I've always loved non-traditional gender roles in romance stories, and I don't know why it took me so long to try yaoi? I've read some yuri but never in Gundam Wing. Interacting with the yaoi community has opened up a lot more characterization of the pilots for me, which have always played the role of "tough, emotionless boys" in my headcanons.

Howard. He’s amazing and hilarious and as I get older I’m more and more like, is this the only sane character? I used to just be like “who is this weird guy?” and now I’m like “why isn’t there more Howard?”

What characters/ships do you think got some negative flack? How has the GW fandom's attitudes towards those characters/ships changed?

The scientists hahahahahaahah. I think for the most part unless you are in a niche group, the scientists are generally seen as child abusers to varying degrees. Tsubarov? Everyone still hates him but acknowledge he has a flair for the dramatique. Camp villain appreciation I guess. Relena was definitely shat on, being at the unfortunate intersection of romantic rival and 'annoying' female lead. Again, as someone whose canon experience was informed by Endless Waltz more than the anime, I don't remember if I had any opinions on her at all. However, I think people have admitted where they were wrong (whether owning up to bashing, or speaking up about fandom broadly).

Well besides the obvious Relena, one character that got so much hate and bashing in 1xR circles was Sylvia. I remember one of the first things I checked when I got back into fandom was Sylvia's role in the show and was surprised to see how little she actually does?? She's literally in one episode but was constantly dragged into 1xR stories to be a romantic rival for Relena. Pretty much the same role Relena took on in a lot of 1x2 stories. I guess we just got away with it because she was a minor character. It was just interesting to me that 1xR fans gave some girl the same treatment that 1x2 fans did to Relena. I think that realization helped me put aside the Relena bashing and move on from it. If I don't see Sylvia as an evil character anymore, why would Relena bashers? And I was really happy to find that I was right. As the fandom moved away from romance-centric plots to look at self growth and politics, less characters became target for fandom hate/bashing, and we moved on.

Well, back in the olden days Relena and Wufei were probably the ones who got it worst. Dorothy. Hilde. Zechs. Treize. Heck, even reasonably popular characters like Duo and Quatre had their own "defense" societies against some of the fanon surrounding them. But fans have grown up over the years and portrayals of the characters and various ships have too. (2x5 for instance has gone from a total rare pair to one of the top GW ships on AO3 which I find a fascinating trajectory.) Have we evolved into a perfect utopia? No, and there will probably always be complaints about how a given character or ship is popularly portrayed. I certainly have my bugbears, just like anyone else might. But it's a long time since I've opened up a fic and seen character bashing of the sort that was common c. 2001. People might not be shy about sharing their opinions on their own blogs, but picking fights on other people's content? Flame wars? Not so much these days. The GW fandom might be smaller, but we're also closer-knit. Fandom is about having fun; finding the pockets that bring you enjoyment and finding ways to filter out the rest, and I think we mostly get that (or we're just too old and tired to have much fight left in in us lol).

Well, very early Relena and Duo battles made me nervous of the fandom back in the day, but I think those mainly came from places within ourselves that we can see now don’t need to be at odds. I love them both and I am glad to see the fandom embrace them both on their own merits. I think it’s easy to be anti- when you are younger and appreciative when you are older (and I totally understand how people could be anti! No judgements. I just love everyone and want everyone to be happy. Except Zechs. He has some SERIOUS explaining to do.)

Oh, Relena *definitely* had a lot of negative flack. I'm glad most of us seem to have mellowed out about the poor girl. It's hard to hate a kid when one is in their 30's, lol

Relena of course, but also 3x4 was seen as the “lesser” ship back in my day and there wasn’t much depth or enthusiasm by many other fans.

#askgwfans #gundamn wing #ask #ask gundam wing fans #prev character bashing #new favs

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