#i wish this fandom had more agreed upon ship names

[theywhoshantbenamed]

hi hello i see u in my tags and i also need to draw them curled up in bed together reading books

-yeti <3

Oh hello hello!!

Yes you see the vision you must draw Michigan and Ohio, lifelong rivals, cuddling in bed because they hate each other so so so much

For a fellow visionist, and for @abcwordsurge , I will share the lil doodle I had for them

Mitch strikes me as the type to be constantly touching his partner. Skinship is just comforting, so he’ll cling onto Ohio even when they’re not really interacting, even if it looks uncomfortable

Yea the punching counts as skinship to him

ALSO can we talk about how they’re literally the red/blue ship like Texas and Cali could be them if only they actually fought each other. Those two need to step up their enemies game fr if they wanna keep up

[rjmhereunderprotest]

Elora & Cynder: A Triangle in the Mind

Shipping in Fandom seldom makes any sense. This coming from someone who hopelessly follows the relationships of far too many fictional people. For one, we all get way too invested in a romance that is even more out of our control than usual. We also tend to overanalyze, project onto and impose our own values concerning romance onto these characters.

And then of course there’s always the big fight that crops up, the quest to be canon. To see our choice of a pairing validated in the actual story. Because it’s the big win, it says the creators listened to you, that you had a hand in either creating this outcome or you solved the matchmaking mystery for the franchise. It’s literally people chasing after the fabled Marvel No-Prize, all you get is momentary satisfaction that your romantic preference won out.

Frankly, as time has gone on, I’ve found the desire to be canon more and more silly on its own merits. Is it nice to know your ship is confirmed? Of course! Is it extremely satisfy to watch said ship either finalize or progress? Very much so. Is it worth screaming at people on the internet over or harassing creatives on twitter or writing revenge and fix fics if it doesn’t go your way? No, never. That's the sign of a very insecure person. I was personally shocked to find out some fans of “Road to El Doraldo” hate Chell and write her as a conniving two-faced thief who betray Tulio and Miguel the first chance she gets… because they want the two dudes to get together. And my first thought upon learning that was, beside the semi-racist connotations of turning the lone native character in the main cast into a villain, a very simple question. One that YouTube Shit Poster come Professional Voice Actor ProZD, SungWon Cho, asked… “Why don’t they all just F--k each other?”

That never seems to be the answer doesn’t it? Despite the obvious resolution of just making some throuple or threesome or polyamorous/harem situation, most fans reject that option. They gravitate to singular ownership, a traditional coupling regardless of gender orientation. Mainly because that seems to be the socially acceptable dynamic. That romantic love cannot be shared and must be exclusive. Anything else is a fantasy. Not say no one likes stories that feature non-traditional relationships, it’s just the majority of fans prefer romances to be between two people. Despite all the toxic crap they cause, no one seems to want to resolve a love triangle in what appears to be the easiest method that makes everyone a winner.

I think it’s this natural affinity towards competition that gives shipping such a weird dynamic within fandom. I’ve always found it odd that no one can just be happy with their romantic preferences, they have to be made canon. If not, well, sometimes the most extreme reaction to that is disowning the whole IP and declaring it ruined forever. I can name more than a few people who didn’t just go down with their ships, but wished to torch the whole franchise as they sunk. So strong is the feeling of betrayal it seems among fans that creatives going a different way with their characters romance wise can result in such explosive reactions from the fanbase.

However, some shipping wars have an easier resolution than the threesome option. Ever since the multiverse opened up as a mainstream concept in storytelling, pretty much anything is possible now. You could just have either side of the shipping war win in one timeline over the other and vice versa. Everyone gets to win, I’ve argued this point myself, that it honestly would not hurt anyone for Felicia Hardy and Peter Parker to be a canon pairing in at least one universe within the Spider-verse. But even here, people are adamant. One ship must reign supreme across all worlds. Anything else is breaking the canon.

I just find it strange, that in this one area, it seems everyone agrees with Miguel O’Hara concerning Canon Events. Everything else is authoritarian dogma, but don’t you DARE let Peter Parker marry anyone else but this specific hot redhead!

And the Spider-verse is not alone, it seems that even the expanse of the multiverse and alternate timelines cannot stop people from putting their foot down. One Ship to rule them all and that’s where we finally discuss our subject for today, well, subjects to be more exact.

The “Spyro the Dragon” franchise is probably not the most explicit example of this sort of shipping war, but it is the most blatant in this aspect. The famous 90s mascot platformer wasn’t always an example of this, but circumstances arose to create a love triangle that exists nowhere save inside the minds of fans. The tip of the triangle, Spyro himself, the spunky purple dragon who flies, headbutts and torches his enemies while being too cool for school. The romantic rivals in question? Elora the Faun and Cynder the Black Dragon. The former, the defacto leader of a forgotten realm fighting against a vile usurper. The latter, a kidnapped dragon twisted into a villain only to be saved and thrust on a quest for redemption. Two romances for one dragon hero. There’s just one thing…

They don’t exist in the same timeline or even universe.

Elora is from the original timeline of games developed by Insomniac, primarily appearing in the second entry, Ripto’s Rage. Cynder is from the “Legend” Timeline of games, a more serious minded reboot of the Spyro series that did away with a lot of the cartoony aspects of Spyro’s world in favor of a more mature epic fantasy story. These games were published by Activision after they acquired the rights to Spyro long after the original games and their timeline were shuttered. Elora does not exist within the Legend Games, as in she does not have a variant of herself in that game’s story. Cynder did not exist period within the original games as she was made specifically for the Legend series. And she still does not exist within that timeline post its revival by ��Toys for Bob” through the Reignited Trilogy. There is no reason for a love triangle to exist between these three because there are two different Spyros, two different worlds, and neither of the female characters exists within the other.

This should be simple then, Elora has original-recipe Spyro (Voiced by Tom Kenny), Cynder has Legends Spyro, (Voiced by Elijah Wood) and that’s that. They don’t even need to SHARE Spyro! They have their own continuities within the canon each with their own variant of the purple dragon hero. And yet, fans have created a rivalry between the faun and black dragon regardless.

Why? Why do something so pointless? There’s no need to fight here, even if just for fun. These are two separate timelines within the same franchise. No one has to win or lose, right? Well, not according to fans it seems. As far as they’re concerned there is only one Spyro and only one of them can have him. So again, why? What’s the end goal? What’s the psychology behind this?

Well, I’ve given it more thought than someone should for a platforming game about a wisecracking dragon. So here are my thoughts on it. It revolves around a few points, story tone preferences, character dynamics, missed opportunities, the shifting tides of copyright ownership and simple good old fashioned nostalgia, combined with the hope of seeing one direction for the series reign supreme. So let’s get cracking on sorting this out then. Starting with who these characters even are.

Spyro: The Purple Burniating Hero

In the vein of mascot platforming heroes in gaming, Spyro is fairly atypical. He’s a too cool for school wisecracking little fireball, ready to jump in and fry any bad guy or bully in his way. Also sheep, he kills a lot of sheep. The commercials said so. His personality and character is pretty just what it says in the manual. Like Sonic or Crash Bandicoot, he is perfectly fine with just chilling and taking a load off. He only throws down when given no other choice or when others are being treated unfairly. He’s not so much a reluctant hero as he’s the chill hero. He accepts responsibility, but he’d rather be relaxing. He won’t shirk a fight, but he doesn’t actively seek them. And when the fight does come he’ll have attitude and cracks to spare. He is the prototypical 90s hero, he even skateboards because presenting these characters as cool was in now.

Of course, that’s Insomniac’s Spyro. Legends Spyro is indeed a reluctant hero, a chosen one sent on the hero’s journey through three games to defeat a great evil. Over time he comes to terms with who he is, what he is and grows in power as he does so. He finds allies, he conquers foes and challenges, he reaches a point of no return and a lowest point, the whole Campbell shebang. And the fact he’s voiced by Frodo only reinforces this characterization further. He’s been called to save the world, coming from humble origins as the adopted child of a dragonfly family to the true hero of the realm. Spyro therefore has to grow in confidence, overcome his fears and doubt, decide what kind of hero he wants to be and make harder choices. Legends is a more serious story and relies more on fighting mechanics than the original games ever did. So while he’s also easy to explain, he’s not the same character. If he didn’t look like Spyro, you probably wouldn’t recognize him. He’s that different.

Keep this in mind going forward. There are two Spyros, with different personalities, different journeys and different overarching goals. Their games aren’t even really in the same genre or have the same aesthetics. Legends is very clearly a fantasy setting whereas the Original Games did whatever they wanted to do as time went on. These two different Spyros therefore require entirely different love interests if they have any at all. Because, and I can’t keep stressing this enough, they aren’t the same Spyro and their stories are vastly different in tone and style in general.

With that in mind, let’s actually look at the two girls vying for two different Spyros.

Elora: The Doe Next Portal Door

She’s a faun, you dorks, a nature spirit in the shape of two-legged deer girl. Her original look had her possess a fox tail. The Reignited trilogy decided to go full deer in her new design. Elora is a kind, caring and cheerful person. She is also the de facto leader of Avalar, and she is no push over. She does not take the invasion of her realm by a pint-sized tyrant lying down. She is proactive in finding a hero and in assisting Spyro to defeat her enemy. She is not at all in distress. She is doing her best to lead her people through a period of upheaval and support the hero she summoned as best she can. She’s also a bit of a snarker who’s capable of telling her own wisecracks when needed. Overall, like the Insomniac Spyro, she is not a fairly complex character. She accomplishes her role, being an expository character to push the plot along.

Despite this though, she’s endearing. She’s a friendly face who is more than a little sympathetic to Spyro for interrupted his vacation. And she’s fairly chill with him overall. She might have been a bit underwhelmed by his size, but she quickly got over that and became a firm supporter. Not just because Spyro was their only option for a dragon, but because he proved himself.

Elora in this respect is a very easy going love interest. She isn’t annoying or pushy, she doesn’t chase after Spyro, but she does support and admire him. She can stand on her own two hooves and she is not personally in need of constant saving. A change from most female leads in games at this time, because you’d think we’d have to save her at some point in Ripto’s Rage. Not so, she’s, once again, never the Damsel and surprisingly a competent leader among her peers.

This is what made her a well-liked character, even if there wasn’t much to her. And her affection for Spyro, while never explicit, was evident. Without getting too deep into this for now, they looked cute together, even more so post-Reignited makeover. Regardless of anything else, that was probably the biggest appeal for Spyro being with Elora. It was cozy, safe and chill. Perfectly matching Spyro’s attitude and the game’s tone itself. Insominiac’s Spyro games aren’t exactly action-packed bareknuckle stories that keep you on the edge of your seat. They’re fun cartoony platformers that are easy to pick up and play. So a romance that is fairly easy going makes sense for this sort of game. It’s the same dynamic behind Mario and Peach, except it’s a dragon and a deer-person who never gets kidnapped. It works, but it’s not going to get more complex than it already is.

Cynder: The Tortured Ex-Bad Girl

If you want a story arc with some meat on its bones, Cynder is your gal. A Black Dragon stolen from her nest by villains and raised to be evil, Cynder became a terrible horrible countryside burning dragon of death. Until Spyro defeated her, she shrunk to pint-size, and she was left regret over all the years of being a brainwashed servant of evil. Cynder has a lot to atone for to prove she’s not the same dragon that caused so much pain and she is a constant element throughout the Legend Trilogy as a result of this.

Her relationship therefore grows with Spyro alongside her character. She starts as an outright villain, only to become redemption seeking loner and then a fellow playable hero trying to save the day. While not the most complicated of journeys, it is fairly compelling in the respect that it’s a solid character arc. One that she sorta shares with Spyro, as it turns out. While she was brainwashed into being evil, Spyro potentially could be turned to Evil just by his nature alone. So they both have to face temptation and doubt concerning whether or not they can resist turning to the dark side, although in different ways.

This commonality creates a sort of bond between the two and the chemistry between them grows considerably. Cynder’s personality takes a while to develop though as its always shifting as she grows. Her final characterization, a sassy, sarcastic and moody dragon doesn’t really come into full display until the third game. But the path to getting there is at least believable and earned. Once Cynder fully emerges as herself, it is a rewarding element to her arc. Combined with her fears of turning evil and hurting those she cares about, as well as her tragic backstory, it makes her a very easily sympathetic character that players quickly grew attached to.

And it didn’t hurt that, by the third game, you could play as her and she had some cool powers to use. Fairly unique in fact from Spyro’s regular attacks, which made for an interesting dynamic between their playstyles. Overall, Cynder was just a pretty cool character with a lot of depth to her.

Given the changes in tone for Legends it only made sense that any romantic subplot would be more involved and detailed. Cynder having to overcome her fears of upbringing alongside Spyro’s fears that being a purple dragon might mean he is innately evil are interesting twists on the genre conventions. Cynder, the one in need of redemption, ends up being Spyro’s support a lot, while also having to constantly prove to herself and others that she’s not the monster she used to be. While Spyro does believe in her, the problem he faces is believing in himself and the hero he’s prophesized to be versus the villain others claim he’ll become. In their end, theirs is a shared heroic journey, which explains why the final game basically has a co-op function for two players. They are shared protagonists and their end goal is to find peace with who they are and what they are before they can finally admit to their feelings for each other.

Which they do, unlike the original games, Cynder very explicitly states her love for Spyro by the end of the trilogy. No cute little fireworks date, no unspoken glances, no ambiguity, just outright declaring your love for someone as the world goes white around you. A serious story, with serious stakes requires a greater sense of closure to be satisfying. And no one was going to be satisfied if the game did not end with the obvious chemistry between these two dragons paying off.

Looking at both of these characters, it kinda makes sense while people would gravitate to Cynder mostly. Her’s is the romance with a better payoff in the end. And yet, Elora still has her fans who still support her with Spyro. And again, there should be no problem with that anyway since Cynder does not exist in any of the Insomniac Games and Elora has no counterpart in the Legends games. Fauns don’t even exist there. So both ships should just not bother with one another, right? They have no reason to actually fight. What’s up with the rivalry?

Again it comes down to a number of factors, but a major one is very easy to explain. It all has to do with one of the fundamental forces of our reality.

Time

In terms of gaming, there was a long stretch between a lot of these titles. By the time Legends came out, the glory days of Insomniac Spyro were long gone, usurped by a number of Vivendi Universal titles that were far from beloved classics. But we’ll get to them in another topic. The point is, when Legends came around to breath new life into the franchise there was little room for the old stuff in people’s mind. The old continuity was gone and the new canon was here. Best to just jump on board because you weren’t getting any other kind of Spyro game other than this. And when Cynder is the only game in town romance wise, people just go with it.

However, Legends ended. Cynder stuck around of course, through the Skylanders era, but Spyro itself was far from its roots by that point. When the Reignited Trilogy hit though, the Insomniac Timeline had a huge re-surge in popularity. Cynder wasn’t gone from the public consciousness', but she wasn’t IN the new games at all. Because they were total remasterings, if not complete remakes, of the original games themselves. So Elora’s new cute design took center stage alongside its more romantically framed cutscenes.

Once people remembered that Elora was a thing, liked Spyro and she was a pretty neat character in her own right, people gravitated back to her. However, even though Legends was over, that didn’t make people forget Cynder. For a long while people wondered if she’d be added to the game as a skin or something. No such luck. But the point was clear, fans didn’t want to see Cynder lost in the shuffle to the ravages of time. So they had to keep her relevant in the face of Elora, who had suffered this fate originally.

And the only way to do that, especially if she didn’t appear in the games herself, was shove her into the continuity fanon-style and enact the oldest romance trope in the book! The Love Triangle, in all it’s bitchy, argumentative, petty glory. All because time’s passage flip flopped which girl got the most screen time with the titular dragon hero. Which brings us to the next reason which, more or less, is similar to time in that it deals less with its passage and more with its memory.

Nostalgia

Spyro’s games have two distinct nostalgic eras, Insomniac and Legends. And there is a bit of argument over which folks prefer. For a lot of fans, Spyro’s REAL games were his Insomniac days, a belief reinforced by the Reignited Trilogy. Platforming, puzzle-solving, collect-o-thons with diverse gaming mechanics and sections. Ripto’s Rage in particular is considered the best game of that era, the one where Elora first premiered. Like the Faun, this style of game evokes a more innocent period in gaming, before micro-transactions and battlepasses and overpriced DLC. When you could sit down and have a simple enough adventure with a fun character and that was it. That’s the era of gaming that engenders a lot of good feelings in folks. Insomniacs Games were cozy, light-hearted, funny interactive/playable Saturday Morning Cartoons. While certainly not perfect, Spyro’s original adventures remind fans of a fantastic point in gaming history that has, more often than not, been forgotten and left by the wayside.

Is it any wonder that when Reignited brought the games back, fresh and mechanically updated, alongside Elora herself, that all those memories flooded back in? So in that respect, Elora is not just a part of that era in gaming, she herself is representative of it, alongside Spyro. On some subconscious level, they’re both part of a legacy that still gives fans, old and new, warm feelings.

Legends is a different sort of nostalgia, less about games and more about story-telling. The Legend of Spyro Trilogy hooked fans into it with an epic quest, high production values and earnest attempt at evolving the character and the franchise. It was less of a simple platformer and more of a full born action-adventure title. One with gravitas, pathos, legitimate stakes, all the good stuff that makes these sorts of titles compelling. People came back to Legends mainly for the story, even if the gameplay was rather atypical at times. Not to mention it was something fresh and original. After years of franchise stagnation, of games that failed to hit the high marks the first three managed, the Spyro franchise was in a rut. Many thought it was basically dead. Then the Legends Trilogy came along to breathe new life into it, mature it out of its roots and do something different.

That’s all very admirable, but there was one inevitably problem, good stories know when to end and The Legend of Spyro had a very definitive ending point after three games. Factoring in its final entry’s mixed reception from critics, the writing was always on the wall. No matter how much fans engaged with the story, the Trilogy was going to end eventually. It couldn’t stretch on forever, the big bad Malefor would be defeated and Spyro and Cynder would have no one left to fight or torment them about their fates.

The thing about that is, once something is over, it’s very easy to grow fonder of it in its absence. Even easier when its replacement is… well Skylanders which was less of a Spyro game and more of a marketing to sell toys. Lots of toys. Toys with designs that frankly weren’t very beloved. So yeah, Legends was very quick to get re-evaluated among any fans with doubts as a result of Skylanders being around. Which only further exposed them to a game series that was attempting to do right by Spyro even if its gameplay wasn’t as interesting or timeless as the originals.

Cynder in this way represents this bold attempt at more mature storytelling, with conflicted heroes, epic fantasy quests, highly sought after vocal talents, emotional pay off and true investment in a relationship with long-form chemistry. Cynder is a hold over from a period of the Spyro franchise that was trying to be more than another Collect-O-Thon Mascot game. So it makes sense fans see Cynder’s relationship with Spyro as the one with more meat on its bones. The romance that actually goes somewhere, made you care about it and wasn’t just odd to the side in ambiguity just to seemingly give Spyro a girlfriend. Cynder was more involved, deeper and complex, and so were the games she was from, at least storywise.

If I could explain this any simpler it would be by comparing the two timelines to another pair of franchises. For many people, Spyro’s original games are like Pokemon, a solid title that was light on story that was easy to pick up and play. So what if it wasn’t always the deepest most complicated plot, what mattered was that people could have fun with it. The Legend of Spyro Trilogy is Digimon, a game that’s not going to stand out much, but its story is awesome! So what if it was just a brawler for kids like Digimon was a Tamagotchi for boys? Its story drew you in and offered some truly great characters, just like Digimon’s Anime.

And knowing that each love interest more or less represents their respective timeline in this regard this brings up us to the next reason fans have for this rivalry.

Future Direction

Spyro 4 is not exactly announced, but it is anticipated, and there’s a clear idea of where fans think it should go. Most seem to believe it will be back to basics, just like Crash 4 turned out to be from the same developers. But it’s clear some people kinda want their Legends era back, or at least Cynder. While it’s not clear how Cynder would adapt to the less serious Original Timeline, it’s obvious a little of her being a more tragic hero figure would lend the game at least SOME of Legend’s flavor to the proceedings. The thing standing in the way though is Elora.

It’s very obvious that Toys for Bob has no intention of leaving their design for Elora by the wayside. Her appearance alongside Spyro in the Crash Team Rumble game is evidence enough of that. This isn’t like last time when Vivendi Universal and Activision took over and shoved Elora to the side (We’ll get to that in a bit), no the fan response to Elora’s new design and the reinvigoration of her ship with Spyro have clearly had an impact of sorts. If there is a new Spyro game, chances are she might end up being playable. But if that’s the case, why bring Cynder along?

She’s just another dragon. Sure, she might have different and new powers from Spyro, but won’t a lot of her gameplay just be the same? That might fly for switching between Coco and Crash in their game, but Spyro? Shouldn’t fans expect, given how you could play different characters for some levels in Year of the Dragon, a bit more variety? Sure, people complained about some of those characters’ mechanics, but no one seems to outright hate them enough to wish they were gone. Elora potentially has a different moveset entirely, magic powers, different skills Spyro couldn’t do, maybe they could adapt some of her moves from Crash Team Rumble in fact.. What can Cynder really offer but just being another dragon?

Well, likely something actually. Any of her powers from the third Legends game, Dawn of the Dragon, could easily be adapted into a new mechanic to encompass her role in the platforming and such. Shadows for one could make for some interesting platforming tricks if properly utilized creatively. Perhaps she could jump from shadow to shadow so she has to find a way to destroy lights? That’s just one example, but you could do a lot with a shadows-based gameplay mechanic.

The question is less about gameplay then and more about story. Does Cynder really fit in a world like the one based off the original games? Can she work in a Reignited storyline from that timeline? Reignited brought back the chill, fun vibes of the original games. Does Cynder really belong there or is she just too foreign? It’s an ultimate question of will Toys For Bob evolve Spyro as a franchise or just replay its greatest hits? Does Cynder get to come along for the ride or has Elora already taken her spot?

That’s where the real core of this rivalry may lie. The fact that Cynder may be facing canon extinction as a result. That at best, she’ll get a cameo in the next game and be cosigned to her last appearance being in Skylanders, a fate worse than death. So the love triangle is a way to keep her involved, keep her relevant, keep her from being forgotten. Even if it makes no sense since she already HAS a Spyro and the one in Reignited acts nothing like the one she’s in love with. But that’s the issue in the end, does the series move on without Cynder because Elora gets to comeback despite not being in nearly as many games as Cynder has?

Fans wanting to impose their vision for the direction of a Franchise is nothing new, but in this case it’s about Cynder’s future within the Spyro IP itself more than anything. Cynder should be involved, in their minds, because Spyro shouldn’t forget Legends. It shouldn’t forget he had a longstanding romantic partner over the course of three games! Whereas Elora comes back in a remaster and suddenly she’s the Soulmate? How is that fair? Worse, how is it fair the faun gets to play a role in these new potential adventures while the black dragon gets left out in th cold?

Honestly, Cynder fans DO have a legitimate concern about her character being forgotten and Elora fans should know this better than most. It happened to the faun herself after all. And it was far more sudden. She didn’t even really make it to the third game in her trilogy.

Deer Crossed Out

After her prominent role in Ripto’s Rage, Elora appears one more time… in the closing cutscenes for “Spyro: Year of the Dragon.” As nothing more than a glorified cameo where she hopes Spyro will visit her and then watches fireworks with him. Elora doesn’t even appear in the special bonus stage unlocked afterwards as a character. In fact, much of her position from the second game, an expository support agent for Spyro, is replaced by Bianca instead. A magical rabbit sorceress apprentice who starts off bad and then goes good because her boss is horrible and she falls for Hunter the Cheetah. A key criticism of “Year of the Dragon” was its overabundance of new characters, taking the focus off of Spyro too often when Insomniac probably could’ve just used the ones they already introduced.

It didn’t help that, for a lot of fans, Bianca just wasn’t interesting as either an opponent or ally, as her story, in contrast to Cynder, is rather cliche in how it unfolds. To clarify here, no one "hates" Bianca despite all this. In fact, fans quite like her relationship with Hunter. But she still basically replaces Elora in the game and spends a good chunk of it as the obvious reluctant villain who will switch sides eventually. Leaving no room for Elora to develop or appear beyond her cameo just so the hero's sidekick can get a girlfriend.

Worse was yet to come, as Bianca stuck around, but Elora did not. As Bianca’s affinity for magic made her ideal in Vivendi Universal’s eyes to play the role they needed for the next game. Enter the Dragonfly is regarded by many as the worst Spyro game. Terrible graphics, stale gameplay, unexciting story, it just did not go over well with fans. So sadly, Bianca is associated with a huge low point in the franchise. Which probably doesn't help her popularity score.

Elora also didn’t appear in the game following that, Hero’s Tail instead introduced a new love interest, Ember. A pink girly dragon who constantly chased after Spyro like a more annoying Amy Rose. With an even more childish voice and even less use to the story than other companions in past series, Ember did not gain many fans for herself either. She has never appeared since and many do not miss her.

But why not bring back Elora for either of these entries? Where did she go? Why the decision to kick her out of the franchise despite her introduction being in its best game? That’s hard to pinpoint, but there are some reasons.

Mainly, as stated before, Elora’s function just kept getting filled. Either gameplay wise or structurally. Bianca became the de facto quest exposition giver, whereas Hunter is already Spyro’s friend. Year of the Dragon had so many characters taking up time that any chance for her to be playable was overridden.

They also might have decided to keep romance out of a primarily boy-centric action game. Ember becoming an annoying girly dragon that tries to force herself onto Spyro was probably a means of appealing to that aspect. And rather than have Spyro reject Elora, who people like, it was easier to introduce a love interest that was made to fail instead.

The simplest answer could be that it was a major oversight and they couldn’t work her into the plot. Elora is essentially ruler of Avalar, at the very least the only person there with any sense. The Professor is smart, but he’s a bit of a scatterbrain and lacking focus. Hunter is… well he’s Hunter, the less said on that the less I’ll have to insult him. So Hunter can show up to be the screw-up sidekick but Elora can’t play Bianca’s role and Ember fills the anti-romance angle that they don’t want to tease anyway. It was easier to just not use her and claim she’s in Avalar if anyone even bothered to ask.

So why wasn’t she in Legends? Hunter was in Legends, Sparxs was in Legends! What prevented Elora from showing up at all? Perhaps it was to cut down on fantastical creatures elements. Most of the denizens of the Legends timeline are anthropomorphic animals. Elora probably didn’t fit the aesthetic and by the time Hunter shows up the Trilogy is wrapping up. He also takes over Elora’s traditional role, given that he’s more competent here. And the typical expository mentor role is inhabited by older dragons as well. Lastly Cynder plays the role of love interest and its likely the creative team did not want to do a love triangle period. Also probably why there’s no Ember here either, although that’s probably because no one liked her.

The most likely reason for all of it though is fairly simple, as we keep coming back to. It wasn’t just that Elora’s role was filled, but it’s because they couldn’t figure out a new one for her to take. She was actually going to be playable in a Handheld game, but that part of it ended up getting scrapped for time. It wasn’t until Crash Team Bash that the very prospect of Elora being a playable and fighting was ever explored again. Elora was essentially stuck in a box because no one wanted to expand her role. And the only other thing they probably could’ve done would’ve regressed her, turning her into a damsel in distress for Spyro to rescue. While the trope hadn’t been completely eradicated yet, the early 2000s and subsequent years saw the rapid decline of “Distressed Damsels” as a story element. For good and ill, this meant Elora didn’t get the chance to find a different role and all the ones she could fill as is were suddenly taken.

It’s honestly a shame, because it feels like it would’ve been really easy to make Elora more than just an NPC. There were opportunities, but no one really took them until recently. So Elora missed out on being a bigger part of this franchise, purely because she wasn’t offered the chance she probably deserved. Much like Cynder getting locked out of the story going forward feels like a looming prospect for her fans now. Elora’s revival as a mainstay in the franchise was cemented by Reignited and the response to her redesign. Will it be Cynder’s turn any time soon?

This is also all another unfortunate reason for the rivalry. Taking it all in, Elora barely had any time with Spyro. Two games, and one of those is only by technicality because she shows up when the main conflict is over. While there certainly was chemistry and relationship building, compared to Cynder it was minor. There was a whole story arc involving Cynder redeeming herself and conquering her fears and confessing to Spyro as the world potentially ended. But Elora gets to come back because her game got a remaster and suddenly her cozy romance trumps that deep whirlwind love story?

Cynder in that respect does not deserve to be forgotten anymore than Elora. And if that means shoving her into the new game, whenever it comes up, as a love triangle option, so be it! That’s the mindset that seems to be at work here in the end. A desire for both girls to get their due, with the dragon they chose, even if he’s a singular variant from a singular timeline.

Let’s then consider, how does this love triangle manifest within the fanon and why does it even have to be this way to begin with?

Black Dragon vs Forest Faun

Depictions of Spyro’s life with either of his love interests is both similar and different. Both rely heavily on being cute, loving and adoring one another. The key difference is in the tone. Cynder and Spyro have always had a mutual hurt/comfort vibe, both needing one another for the support they bring the other. Elora and Spyro? It’s a dating your best tomboy friend scenario, a clear mutual friendship of two buddies. The ship isn’t devoid of drama, but it isn’t fed off of it. It’s not the same romance if you switch the Spyros because they don’t need what the other love interest offers.

We won’t even bring Ember into it, since her existence as the annoying one-sided crush chasing girl doesn’t offer much in the way of interesting dynamics. So let’s just focus on what each pairing brings to the table on its own. Rest assured, we’ll spare you some of the more “graphic” elements of the fandom, analyzing that won’t get us anywhere.

Elora and Spyro as depicted go on a lot of cozy romantic engagements. Sometimes with Spyro more grown up so it doesn’t feel like we’re watching two kids get together. Spyro is often depicted like one of the older dragons from this timeline, standing on two feet with articles of clothing signifying his adult identity. Mostly utilizing a red scarf I find because it goes good with purple. A lot of depictions of Elora in these scenarios have her mostly the same, perhaps a different hair style or wearing a crown to better signify her position as leader of Avalar. But even here, regardless of content, these get togethers between the two are fairly atypical dating material. They’re dancing, looking up at the stars, snuggling beside a lake or in a field or valley of flowers. Picturesque romantic postcards I’d call it.

Some people would probably call this Vanilla. But that’s not fair as it denotes a level of averageness to the content. I’d call it what it is, functional. A healthy, aspiring relationship between two people who love each other, regardless of their extreme differences is not exactly a BAD thing. I imagine a lot of people would kill for that sort of love. That level of closeness. Elora and Spyro aren’t together because they NEED each other, they genuinely WANT to be together, because they enjoy each other. That’s why it resonates, it is… once again… comfortable! A warm blanket feeling, because Spyro is a chill hero and Elora is perfectly chill right back. They get each other.

Cynder and Spyro get each other too, but because they share their pain and trauma with one another. And instead of destroying each other, it made them stronger. Both have brought the other back from the brink, pulled them away from their darkness, more than once! Both never stopped believing in each other even when they didn’t believe in themselves. The most poignant moment of their entire relationship happens when Cynder has fallen to evil once more and is attacking Spyro. He does nothing to defend himself.

Cynder: Fight back! Fight Back! Why won’t you fight back!? Spyro: Because you’ve left me nothing to fight for.

This confession instantly brings Cynder back to her senses, standing by his side in the final fight to say “There’s always something.” That is a sort of deep love that you can’t walk back. It was inevitable that she’d say she loved him after that.

As a result, Spyro and Cynder’s content, mostly set post-game itself, is about both of them coming to terms with their trauma and learning to just be happy with one another. The war is over, the battle one, they can be together now, supporting the other whenever they feel weak or helpless. Their relationship is one of a deeper bond, forged through an epic quest. One they didn’t always share together, but inevitably walked along all the same. It just presents so much more juicy stuff to work with for a lot of people who like seeing hurt and broken people fix each other. Isn’t that what love is meant to do?

So their relationship has a lot of snuggling and touching as well, but it feels more intimate. Clearly they were friends, but through different circumstances. It’s the draw of their dynamic, as redeemers of one another, Spyro of Cynder’s past, Cynder of Spyro’s legacy as a purple dragon.

But if Cyder is to go forward this can’t exactly be the same. The dynamic is lost because Spyro’s Insomniac Timeline, continued in Reignited, is NOT a world that supports this high stakes epic romantic shared healing journey. The edges are sanded down, the trauma non-existent. Not great destiny, no forces conspiring to turn our heroes to evil. How does Cynder fit in when the core of her dynamic with Spyro is forced to be altered?

It’s possible for Cynder to be a bad girl that turns good and tries to prove she’s redeemable, but we’ve already had that story, Bianca. She was bad, she flipped back to good when she saw what she was doing was wrong, and she just became a more boring Elora that was dating Hunter. Cynder would be treading familiar ground. Her reintroduction could be interesting, but it would feel samey. And even if done properly, why would the more chillax, happier, less troubled by epic destiny and temptation to his darker nature, be interested in this version of Cynder romantically? She doesn’t seem his type.

There would have to be a lot of rejiggering to make it work and prevent her from ruining her personality. You don’t want Cynder to CHASE Spyro, that would make her like Ember. Cynder and Spyro fell in love through shared experience, not competition. It would probably be better off for everyone if Cynder had a different sort of dynamic with Spyro overall. Something along the lines of Princess Luna from from My Little Pony learning to understand fun again after her tragic turn to evil. Less about recovering from trauma, and more learning how to let go of her past and chill. The end result is probably never going to be like Legends, but it’s worth a try if only to allow her to stick around in future titles.

So in the end, even if Cynder did show up, maybe it would be better if they just made her less of a romantic rival and just another friend Spyro has to help teach how to loosen up. Anything more dire and it just doesn’t fit the world we see in the Reignited Trilogy. Honestly, if people WANT the dynamic they claim to crave from the Legends Trilogy, they should be asking Toys for Bob to remaster that next, rather than try to recreate the same circumstances in an environment that doesn’t support it.

Of course… there’s always MY way.

Why Don’t We All Just F##K Each Other?

Yes, I’m reiterating this solution again. Why not just let this be the default in our minds? If we absolutely must have only one Spyro, then its easier to just enable the Purple Dragon to BE like a dragon. Why can’t he just be ambiguously dating both girls with their shared consent? One could do that without making it too explicit. I admit, the solution is unorthodox, but dragons would likely not be held down by one perspective mate. They are generally seen as hoarding creatures, Spyro himself loves collecting Gems, probably has several giant piles of the stuff by now. Why not hoard other things too? Not as possessions so much as mutual partners? It would work! No one loses, everyone wins!

Well, more or less. We still face the ultimate problem that Cynder original dynamic doesn’t fit here in the Reignited Trilogy. We will never get the same thing that draws people to the Legends Trilogy. So even in this scenario, we don’t exactly get everything we want.

Ships Passing in the Night

The truth is one can’t really solve shipping, even when the obvious answer is presented. Elora exists in one universe, Cynder another. There are two Spyros, each can have one. Perhaps if the Legends Trilogy is remastered this point will become even more moot as both timelines will have their modern day comebacks. That is a longshot though. The rights to the Legends series are a tangled mess, even if Cynder might not be. Toys for Bob has the games that were made under the Insomniac Team. They can’t exactly just do the same thing they did for it with Legends. Especially when those games were a mixed bag critically and the demand for them is relatively niche.

But that won’t stop the rivalry, because it’s deeper than just who gets to be with Spyro, it’s how people will be able to experience future games with Spyro. It’s about the direction the series intends to take and the fear of some things we love being left behind. You can’t really fix that scenario in any sense, even with the perfect solution already presented.

I think I’ve made it obvious I mostly stand with the idea that both ships work in their own way. Both are valid choices narratively. Both present different opportunities. Cynder for deep enriching storylines. Elora for a chance to take opportunities her character was denied. I can’t fault either aspiration and frankly I love both of these characters a lot. And I don’t think I’m alone, because I’m not the only one who realizes this sort of thing. Sure, there are plenty of pieces of fan content with Cynder and Elora going at it for Spyro’s affections. But the drama is low key and more than a few people don’t actively seek to defame the other character.

It’s why I mostly call it a rivalry instead of a war. The Shippers ultimately know neither side can win because there’s nothing to really lose. Not as long as the two characters remain in opposite continuities. So that’s where it will remain ultimately. Even if another game comes out because the dynamic that made people enjoy Spyro and Cynder being together won’t be the same. And it wouldn’t be fair to cast Elora aside again just as she’s gotten a second chance.

Perhaps we can learn something from this. Maybe not just turn every love triangle into a big ol’ F--kpile, but at the very least that we can be satisfied in the reality that not everything is win-lose. Sometimes, there’s not even a thing to win. No one is losing anything, because those games remain, the memories remain, and what they meant to us can carry on. Not every rivalry has to dominate the other. Sometimes, they just need their space.

[the-l-spacer]

Hello asimov fandom here's my humble contribution to the fic pile (and obviously its about the mule)

-

He’d read once, in a book-film in the corner of an old shop on a backwater planet, that power corrupted. That absolute power corrupted — absolutely.

He had long since forgotten the name of the book-film and the planet on which he had read it; all discarded along with the memories of his earlier life, filled with nothing but degradation and misery. Yet, the lone sentiment remained, and Magnifico — The Mule — could not find it in himself to agree. 

How could I? , he thought, as his long fingers moved deftly across the Visi-Sonor, adjusting the multitude of contacts comprehensible solely to the one who played it. For power does not corrupt, it frees. 

His audience of Foundationers, dressed in their best in preparation for the fifth opening of the Time Vault, barely saw him, now. Barely saw the pathetic figure he cut on stage before them, in his colourful and ill-fitting costume, his awkward limbs and too-long nose. No — when he performed, they saw only what he wanted them to see. Thr Visi-Sonor conjured flashes of colour that exploded before their eyes and resolved into grand visions of gleaming kingdoms amid never-ending fields of stars, glimpsed in an instant and destroyed with the slightest turn of a knob, then rebuilt into something far greater. 

Beneath their base reactions, he could sense their minds, too, the emotions that fell sway to him as surely as the notes cascaded from his instrument, making them gasp and sigh and weep upon his command. He revelled in it; after so long spent at the mercy of others, the power, the control was dizzying, and he had yet to tire of the feeling in the time since the discovery of his abilities. For the duration of this performance, they were but playthings, his playthings, and soon— it would be soon, for he knew that his ships were nearing Terminus by the minute — the rest of the planet would follow suit. 

It was a delicate balance he struck, being on this stage, having been commissioned by the imbecile in mayoral garb to compose a Visi-Sonor concerto in honour of the great Hari Seldon. The piece was to rally the despondent citizens of Terminus as the shadow of the Mule hung heavy over them, to inspire renewed confidence in the far-off promise of the second and greater Galactic Empire, helmed by the Foundation itself. And so it did! He flicked his wrist decisively, and trumpets and booming drums sounded forth, exclaiming, Victory!

Yet, the performance had to be laced with an undercurrent of doubt, for that was why he was here on Terminus. Here, the minds of military leaders and politicians and citizens were his to alter as he wished, with almost no effort from his part – for only a civilization of fools would have absolute confidence in the calculations and projections of a man who had been dead for centuries. And as much as the galaxy had to say about the Foundationers, no one called them fools. All he had to do was find the fractures in their fervent beliefs, the unspoken: but how could psychohistory possibly predict this? , and widen them just so, until eventually, eventually , their psyches broke under the burden.

It was easier with the Visi-Sonor, and for that he was grateful. The sound of a single discordant pitch, too brief to take notice of but there all the same, an image of a seemingly-immaculate marble bust – with a small, hairline crack running through its centre. This and more he made real in the audience’s minds’ eye, and as they sat, rapt at attention, he almost let a wry smile slip across his face. Almost.

If only they knew that what they most feared, the one factor the great Hari Seldon could not predict, was there among them, an invited guest! 

He let the final, tremulous note linger in the air, until it faded into the background hum of atomic energy. 

Applause; some polite and others fervent, admiring, and all eyes were on him. One mistake, one wrong move.. and he would be at their mercy.

A good thing, then, that assuming the position of the fool came as easily to him as breathing — too easily. He let himself shrink back, let his body curl into that whipped-dog position he’d taken up so many times throughout his youth, more a defence mechanism than anything. 

How simple it was – to look and act a fool, and have everyone’s assumptions do the rest of the work for him. All while his ships inched ever-closer, ready and waiting to turn their guns and atomic field-depressors to the Foundation at his signal. 

I will beat you, and the rest of the thrice-damned Galaxy will fall into place , he thought, allowing his knees to shake, his eyes to widen in fear at the onslaught of attention. He took a step back, and another. 

Then – 

“Magnifico, you played wonderfully!” 

And then, there was Bayta Darell.

-

Her hand was in his, as they followed Toran to their assigned seats around the Time Vault. He clutched to it, her palm small and plump, a stark contrast to his knobbly knuckles and stick-thin fingers.

Their seats were far from grand – the three would certainly not be graced with Indbur’s view of the hologram front and centre – but they would suffice. As Bayta turned to an acquaintance she knew in university, now an important someone-or-other in Foundation politics, the Mule slid his hand out from her grasp with a murmured, “A thousand pardons, my lady,” and drifted among the gathered crowd of the Terminus’ greatest – with the exception of his humble self, of course. 

He had work to do, Foundationers to edge into despair and hopelessness. And while he set about his task, he let his own mind wander to Bayta.

She was someone he did not, could not understand, and it maddened him. Keen and assertive, yet unquestionably kind. Why did she, of all people, look upon him as a person, as a friend , when all everyone else could see was an object of ridicule? What made her seek his company, clear the clutter in her and Toran’s guest bedroom for his Visi-Sonor? 

The Mule was not naïve. Too much had happened over the course of his life for him to simply place his trust in someone, as if it was something to be given freely. He knew that she seeked to uncover the Mule’s identity, to stop his rapid conquest that threatened the home she so dearly loved; and Magnifico was the Mule’s clown, the closest thing they had to a lead. 

At first, he’d dismissed her genuine fondness of him – and even at the thought, a gentle shudder racked his slight frame – as a byproduct of that need for information. Treat the Mule’s servant well, and out would spill that despot’s secrets and weaknesses; a logical enough exchange in theory. But as time went on, and Bayta and Toran and Pritcher and Ebling Mis deemed his mind too addled with fear to ever produce anything of use, she still insisted that he stay. 

Perhaps, then, it was her desire for someone to take care of, in the absence of a child. Toran had jokingly pointed out as much on several occasions. But even if this was maternal affection, the Mule could not recognise it, for he had never known his mother, nor any figure who could have substituted as one in his long adolescence. All he knew were cold figures of authority who met the needs of that strange, mutant freak – barely – out of obligation, and turned him out as soon as they could. Then, the streets, the twisting sewers and alleyways of his home planet, spaceports and travelling fairs, the cargo holds of transport ships taking him to planets in unknown sectors, before the discovery of his power led him here. 

And Bayta, with her dark, tired eyes and soft hands, wanted him to stay.

He did not have a place he could readily call ‘home’, he mused idly as the lights around the Time Vault dimmed, and he returned to his seat, drew into himself. Yes, he derived some small amount of amusement from having his pawns spread rumours of his origin, so that the Mule could have come from the Sayshell Union, or from Trantor, or from the Foundation itself; even from that elusive ‘Earth’, the planet from which legends claimed all life in the galaxy stemmed. But in truth, even he had forgotten the name of the planet he’d been born on, for all civilizations with technology barely advanced enough for interstellar travel seemed the same to him.

The closest place that came to it was the back of a rusty spaceship, where he’d spent some time as part of a theatre troupe travelling in the Ariminum sector. He found no camaraderie there, and certainly nothing approaching affection, but he had been left alone, and after a lifetime of jeers and whispers, that was a novelty in itself. Over his time with them, he had taught himself the Visi-Sonor, and picked up the delicate, lilting phrasing of the Central Sectors after months of observation. 

It was in this learned dialect that he spoke, as Bayta turned her attention to him. “Do you suppose, my lady, that all these great ones were in the audience, perhaps, when I… when I played the Visi-Sonor?” 

The day he mastered the instrument he held at his chest was one of the few moments of his unhappy life when he truly felt joy . It had taken months and months of constant practice for him to make any sense of the knobs and switches that comprised its unwieldy body, and even more until he could shape a piece to his liking. 

And it was only after the fact, when he realised that humans were much the same as the dials of the instrument; a minute adjustment, a semitonal shift and their tunes could be transformed entirely. Anger could be moulded to placidity, derision to respect, and contempt to… to an emotion he dared not name.

Bayta had undergone no such change, and yet, she replied with a gentle patience that made him want to lash out, to break down and scream 'do you know who I am?’ . He did none of those things, however, as she reassured him that yes, the great minds of the Foundation had heard his performance, and thought him the greatest musician in the Galaxy, and he might as well act the part and straighten himself out. 

He knew that he was better than her, better than them all, and he let a modicum of that confidence seep into his posture. 

In response, Bayta grinned, squeezed his shoulder, and almost instinctively, the Mule reached out to her mind with the tendrils of his. 

Ah. It is pity, then, that motivates her.

It should have chafed, knowing that she condescended to him – knowing he was three years her senior, knowing who, what he was. Instead, his breath hitched, and he felt a thrill run through him. 

Could he take it? Could he accept whatever she had to give him, and stay?

No — no! With only a slight twitch of his shoulders to betray him, he banished the thought, and turned to focus on the matter at hand. What truly mattered. 

The lights dimmed further in the room, until all everyone could see was the empty glass cubicle at its centre.

The Mule took it all in; the excitement of the gathered crowd, their nervous anticipation, and of course, the seeds of doubt and dread so carefully sown over his weeks on Terminus. It would all be over soon… he only had to wait for the right time. 

And just then, the hologram of Hari Seldon materialised. 

With everyone’s anxious eyes turned to the old psychohistorian, the Mule finally allowed himself to smile. A small, hard smile that cracked the odd planes of his face, making it all the more grotesque – it was a mercy that the room had been plunged into darkness. 

Let the true performance begin.

-

In the end, it was easy. A well-timed swell of despair that he made ripple through the crowd, to the city beyond. An army – his army – that waited patiently at the gates for the sign to strike. A pulse from the ultra-wave sender he kept in his jester’s cap, activated when it became obvious that the old mathematician had gotten his predictions glaringly, disastrously wrong. 

And just like that, the Foundation crumbled. 

The Foundation was his.

The hologram in the Time Vault had long flickered out – whether due to the work of the Mule’s atomic disruptor, or the cannons from his warships, or simply because Hari Seldon had finished with what he had to say – no one knew, and no one cared. Not when the sound of warning sirens pealed all around them, when the Mule’s great black ships bombarded the harsh soils of Terminus. 

The crowd of once-respectable citizens surged around them, swarming for the exit (not that there was anywhere they could escape to, for the Mule’s territory encompassed all their neighbouring planets). For a time, Bayta and Toran had done nothing but sit there, stock-still among them all, as if in the eye of a hurricane. 

The Mule, too, allowed himself a moment to be still, to relish in that feeling of satisfaction, of utter superiority that came when he knew he had won.

At least, he had tried to. For there was something, now, that dampened that sense of victory ever-so-slightly. 

There was someone… 

He whipped his head around madly, until his brown eyes landed on Bayta.

Bayta – rooted to her seat in terror, fighting to keep a single tear from escaping her wide, hopeless eyes.

Despite himself, despite everything, a single, startling thought crossed his mind – ironically, making him freeze in horror from a source wholly different from the panicked crowds around him. 

Galaxy, what have I done?

It was Ebling Mis, that mad psychologist, who snapped them out of it. He hauled Bayta and Toran from their seats, and by the time his focus shifted to the Mule, he had slipped effortlessly back into character. 

“The Mule is coming for me!” 

Bayta tried to lay a hand on Magnifico’s shoulder, as she had done frequently in the past, but he batted it aside. That was a necessity, for he was sure that if she touched him, his resolve would shatter completely. 

Then, a resounding blow from Toran, and he let himself go limp.

-

Through the chaos that surrounded them, both on the streets and in the atmosphere above them, Bayta and Toran managed to reach their apartment. Panting, they slammed the door shut, and locked it behind them. It wouldn’t help, not against the Mule (they both knew that), but that afternoon, they found themselves willing to accept even the smallest semblance of safety and control over the alternative.

In the darkened house, Toran remained a flurry of motion. He shifted Magnifico off his shoulders, making his way to their study. 

The instant his feet touched the floor, Magnifico practically hurled himself into his favoured armchair by the couch, a trembling, huddled mass of bony limbs. Neither Toran nor Bayta seemed to pay him any mind. 

“We’ll need passports, credits, if we want to leave here by ship, try our luck on other planets in the system,” Toran muttered, rummaging through their drawers. 

“Torie.” Bayta said faintly. She was still standing at the threshold of their living room. 

“I have to get word out to my dad on Haven, too,” he continued. “The Traders need to know that the Foundation is under siege by the Mule, and to expect the worst.” 

Slowly, feeling as if she was moving through water, Bayta made her way to his side. 

“Don’t know if our tight beam transmitter works, but we may have a backup generator in the basement.“

“Torie, let me help,” she said. “You go see if you can get the power back up, I’ll get our things ready for if — when we have to leave.”

He turned to her, and finally registered her presence, or lack thereof; for in that moment, the woman who stood before him seemed to bear little resemblance to that self-assured, intelligent Bayta he’d first fallen in love with. “No, no, none of that,” he said, softening.  “You stay right here, with Magnifico. Make sure he doesn’t dash off to get caught by the Mule’s men. And… make sure that you’re alright, too.”

She began to protest, but the words died on her lips when Toran brought a single hand up to brush her dry cheek, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. 

Toran was right — that oppressive weight of terror and dread held her down, still. She needed to rest, to breathe, or she’d be of no help to anyone. 

With a sigh, she fell against him in an exhausted embrace, murmuring a quiet, “Thank you,” into his curly hair. 

Toran tightened his arms around her in wordless response. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and left. 

In his absence, the walls of their home seemed to expand impossibly around her, and Bayta could not help but feel utterly alone in the middle of it all. Alone, but for —

She slumped into the couch. Next to her, Magnifico perched on an armrest, as though ready and waiting to take flight at the slightest provocation. “Now don’t you go running off on me too,” she feebly joked. “Two men in a minute might set a record.”

As has become habit, The Mule had kept one eye on the couple, his mind alert for any sign that either of their suspicions regarding his true identity had been aroused. Always the guarded onlooker; observing others’ interactions through an invisible, impenetrable barrier. 

“Nay, my lady; for though the raging tempest I fear most has arrived at our shores, snapping at our very heels… I confess that I feel safer here , coward that I am. I – I will not run.” 

Magnifico’s fingers worried relentlessly at the threads of his ruffled collar, and Bayta caught them with her own, gently moving them to his lap. 

“Magnifico, I’m — I’m afraid, too,” she admitted, looking mortified as she heard herself say the words aloud. “My home is under siege. I don’t know how the Mule breached our atomic shields, but he’s here, now. Seldon, psychohistory… all of us had it wrong.”

The oddest impulse came over the Mule. A sudden, nearly overwhelming urge to stretch out a hand, and put it around her shoulders, echoing the gesture she’d shown so freely to him in the course of their acquaintance.

Ridiculous. It was he who was the source of her misery, and yet —

His hands twitched at his sides. He said nothing, frozen in indecision, until Bayta closed her eyes, took a shaky breath in, and let it out, slowly. 

That smile made its reappearance. Small and unsure, but there nevertheless. She shook her head slightly, and said, “But what am I saying… you have as much a reason to fear him as I do. More so, after everything he did to you. Are — are you well, Magnifico?”

Was he well? He did not recall the last time anyone had asked him that question, if at all. Still, he had to respond.

“My knees tremble and my heart hammers so against my poor chest, my lady, but…” He raised his eyes to meet hers, tried to mirror her smile with an upward twitch of his lips. “But as long as I am by your side, I feel sure that I will not come to harm.” 

And while you are with me, nothing and no one will touch you, he did not say. 

Bayta took his hand, and the Mule became aware of a strange sensation — a stabbing warmth in his chest. 

“That’s right. We’ll keep you safe, Toran and I. It’ll…” she hesitated, and her pinched expression relaxed, by just a touch. “It’ll be alright,” she said, almost more to herself than to him. “We’ll be alright.”

He gave in. Allowed himself to lean tentatively, questioningly against Bayta, and she rested her head on his shoulder in answer. 

Again, that squeezing of his ribcage.

And again, that dreadful, unwanted thought. 

What have I done?

He dared not move, or speak; in that instant, he found himself unable to look at her at all.

And it was there, against his thin shoulder, curled up on the couch, where Bayta eventually fell asleep. 

In the darkened living room, lit only by the occasional flashes of laser-fire from the warring ships overhead, he remained still against her. But the Mule’s mind — his mind raced.

Why, why that sudden moment of fear, of doubt? In the years after his mastery of the Visi-Sonor, and the art of manipulation of human emotion, he’d sworn not to regret a single atrocity he committed in vengeance against the galaxy. 

He closed his eyes against the onslaught of unwanted emotion. They were his puppets, his living dials, and he was master of them all. After twenty-two years of torment and isolation, with not a soul coming to his aid, wasn’t that justice? His power, a great cosmic compensation for his shortcomings – physical and otherwise?

Yes, power freed, and it addicted. For all his life, he’d been starved of it, and now, he had all that he would ever need. All of the Galaxy at his fingertips.

And yet –

Playful hands tussling his hair. Kind eyes, open in admiration as he plucked wild notes and dancing lights from the air. A weight and a warmth, asleep next to him. 

Was there something else, something more that he had missed? 

He wanted to growl in frustration, but reined himself in. Self-control, patience; if he had no redeeming qualities at all, at least he had these. 

It would have been better if I hadn’t approached them at all; better to have disregarded that couple on the beach entirely, and let Han Pritcher lead me to the Foundation instead.  

Even with his power, he could not change the past. But while psychohistorian he was not, at least his great mind could map out the near future with clarity.

On the eve of the Foundation’s surrender, there on the couch of the young, married couple, the Mule planned out his next steps – in accordance with Bayta’s wishes, he would stay on Terminus for now. To keep the Foundationers’ eyes off him; in case anyone suspected that there was more to the Mule’s clown, whose arrival heralded their civilization’s downfall. To uncover and destroy any plans for rebellion. To ensure that the atmosphere of despair he created remained absolute. 

To… to remain close to the Darells. 

To her.

For all his life, he’d been aware of the gaping hole in his being. He knew that something essential had been scooped out of him, and this – this difference , was what separated him from humanity. He’d attempted to fill it once, with music and performance in an attempt to make the crowds laugh with , not at, to gaze at him with respect instead of mockery. When that was not enough, and when he finally became aware of the power that set him apart, he turned to conquest. 

When all the Galaxy was united under his rule, when humans learned to respect his name so that he had nothing to fear from them ever again – then and only then would it be enough to fill that gaping pit inside of him.

A single hand ghosted lightly over Bayta’s troubled face, not quite touching her cheek, where a stray lock of hair had fallen loose. 

No, he thought, firmly. He had to purge the thought of her; that counterpoint impossible to adapt to, that confusing, frustrating improvised melody he was unable to underscore, the puppet that cut its strings entirely.

He knew what he had to do. And he knew that it would be enough.

It had to be.

[castlebyersafterdark]

Why do you think so many byler fans seem afraid to say Finn and Noah might be attracted to each other? Or perhaps even dating? They always say every time Finn and Noah interact or do something sus like making matching playlists or whatever they always say it's all byler coded. But maybe, just maybe, it's not byler coded at all. Maybe it's just foah coded.

Multiple angles on this one to consider: the intersection of tabloid culture, association with celebrity stan parasocial behavior, discomfort with the concept of RFP, and seemingly agreed upon 'rules' within fandom communities.

Think about tabloid and paparazzi and gossip media. What's so different about public interest in whatever the fuck is going on with J-Lo and Ben and speculating that co-stars on a netflix show could possibly be a romantic item? Is it all kind of intrusive? In a way. I speculate and gossip about my coworkers and friend's love lives, too. It's all very human. Yes, the celebrity angle IS intrusive because they are public figures and the paps are stalking them, people are pouring over social media hints. But it's a part of fame. We as fans on the internet in this particular example with the Strangerthings cast are mostly... not being very intrusive, though. What impact is a tumblr blog? Now, there are intrusive fans. Stan culture. Social media harassment. IRL stalking. But that's the extreme, and the extreme exists for everything popular. I'm talking more about community places like tumblr, though.

What really is the harm in making a little comment or talking about potential relationships between the costars of a television show you enjoy, with your 'friends' - here, friends being your blog followers etc. Most of these blogs talking about it probably have a few hundred followers at most, it's a niche community. It's pretty self-contained. I understand when people are uncomfortable with written fanfiction, maybe, esp if it gets pretty explicit. Since their name and likeness and inferences about their lives are being made - but I genuinely don't really have a stance on it, to each their own, keep it off highly visible places if you do indulge, because people are going to write it. I don't have an interest in it, but I'm not here to judge what people are doing as long as it's respectful and not used as harassment.

So, I think it's a combination of those things. I treat it as very light-hearted gossip. Like, I've said before. I don't really "ship" celebrities, but I enjoy chatting about the what-ifs and maybes and the speculation angles, I just like harmless celeb gossip from time to time. I think maybe if you put too much emotional investment into hoping or wishing that their relationship is "real" is where the judgement or hesitation comes from the greater fandom at large - because it's maybe one thing to get really invested in a fictional couple becoming canon or not. It's a story. But when it's real people - there's the angle that yes, they do actually exist in the real world with real lives and agendas etc etc.

And maybe some people also don't want to even entertain the idea of these specific celebrities together because they themselves have a little crush? And some people are a little out of touch and get genuinely upset when the celebrities they like get into a relationship, as if the fan's chances with them have literally been shot. I remember a girl I was friends with in college getting devastatedly upset when a celebrity came out as gay since she no longer had a crush on him anymore. And I asked - what does that matter? You just all the sudden think he's ugly? And yes, she was upset because the fantasy of liking them meant they now would never ever want to be with her. And it really truly baffled me. Especially as a gay guy who with no hesitation crushed on so many straight male celebs without an ounce of whatever the hell this girl's mindset was. They're never going to meet you, let alone propose marriage!!

Many factors. I think: to each their own, be kinder, have fun, don't harass people, don't be intrusive, and be a little more open-minded in fandom.

[strangerfigs]

my thoughts on the script... and comparing mike and el's relationship to will and mike's;

i wish we had a name for willelmike love triangle because it would be so much easier but man i have so many thoughts, and i always see people say don’t trash another ship when discussing your ship, and as much as i agree, it’s hard not to do in love triangles seemingly as that is kind of the whole point - contrast

and like i love el/jane, whatever she wants to call herself which i hope the end of the series will be jane but anyway, i digress. my point is, my intention is never, ever against el. in fact, most of the time, she is not the one wrong in her relationship w mike. she has her moments for sure (spying, possessiveness, etc.) but can you rly blame her? no.

anyways, i rly just want to throw that out there because rly mike and el's relationship is so important, but w both of their characters - they rly both seem to indulge in their worst traits while romantically paired together, and it's just tiring to see, tbh. because i love both their characters but they both regress with one another so much, and also hide so much of their true selves. their dynamic is so beautiful in season 1 because i think a lot of it is them actually being themselves around one another, and i think there is an understanding between them, but it's lost in s3 and so on... and even in s2, we don't rly get much of them so ? it's hard to argue it's there

while i'm not fully decided on if mike is gay or bisexual (he is for sure queer, don't even care how st ends - he is), i could see both ways, and in both ways, i think their relationship is important to each other; i do see all the queer gay codes for mike, but i think there are some people in the fandom who don't want to say he is bisexual because then it leads to more confusion about his feelings about el, how he feels about her, and when those feelings faded, but like, it happens. all the time. and it still makes the romance valid, even if the romance started on rocky foundation (it did) and that's part of the reason it falls out. and mike can still be capable of having feelings before eleven or after, as well as feeling repressed and stuff.

i think sometimes, i even myself want to believe he is gay because it just ties things up in a cleaner way, but the thing is, too, is that it is a love triangle, and just like we say about will, for it to be an actual love triangle, mike has to have feelings for them both, which i think he does, but he and eleven's relationship, which is referred many times to star-crossed, is just doomed because of many things, but that doesn't make it non-romantic, unless he is gay, but idk, i feel like ... honestly bisexual is more messy in terms of this love triangle, but it makes more sense when you look at the ways in which they are described and the imagery of the love triangle itself and it's pattern within stranger things in terms of these character's plots

will and el also literally kin each other, so, yeah, i think it makes sense that mike would fall for both of them? but his relationship with will is just stronger; it has a better foundation; its a stronger bond that consists of all that's what is missing in his relationship with el, and it allows for both characters to be themselves without a need for defense; they just love one another for what they are, not what they pretend to be or hide; they see the best in one another! and they are both big nerds, and yeah, the years of friendship (which unfortunately el did not have a chance at w mike) helped, but this is part of the problem too because they could have been friends first but they weren't, and situationally, it just does not work because of how it ended. do i think maybe el and mike could have been not star crossed upon another circumstance or situation? maybe! but do i also think a big part of the circumstance is mike's initial love for will that just feels embedded into their relationship by proxy? yeah

something not stated within mike's monologue to el is in between the lines. when he found her in the woods, he was looking for will. even though mike did want to help her because he is a natural protector for multiple reasons, some being self righteousness (feel you!) but yeah, he wanted to help. mike is literally a knight. he wants to be a white knight to el but she doesn't need that from mike, and i don't rly think that's something that mike could ever accept anyhow because again, their initial relationship begins with him saving her, he likes this dynamic, but after the end of s2, this is when that ends, and we start to see their relationship struggle, and mike is being sincere, is the literal issue that comes up in s4! and i even think that maybe there is some authenticity to this, or i guess, reason for mike to think this - el doesn't even reach out to him for emotional support because of the bullies, which is so odd to think, but - el doesn't want to have to rely on mike. she wants him to see her as strong and happy. she doesn't want him to worry about her. she just wants him to love her. but what does that even mean to her? i don't think she or mike fully understand because their relationship, again, is star-crossed. it just fundamentally does not work, whether it be due to the circumstances, who they are, how they begun, etc. it just doesn't work because they rly seem to not be in sync regarding what they both want from a relationship with one another, and how they view romantic love

whereas with will, he feels like he can open up to mike because he is the only person who doesn't baby him, treat him different, yet he is the one that keeps him going, as though, just by being mike, just by existing as mike and will, mike is literally providing what he WANTS to do with el; he is will's paladin. his knight. his heart. but it's not even about wanting to feel as though he is his /white knight/ or important. it's just about will, and i think that's what lacks with el and mike again. it's more self-based than about el when he says he wants to protect her; he doesn't trust her, he doesn't understand her - both concepts are established between 2 and 3. he wants to feel needed by her, but he is needed by will, but it's not about self fulfillment with will, or himself, it's about will, which is how it should be. when he helps will, or when he messes up with will, he is focused more on will, then himself. this is seen so so so many times. if not, just through mike canonically only calling himself mean names when talking about his behaviors with will. and i have seen many people say 'why does mike only talk about el' throughout s4 with him, which is something i thought too at first, but if you look back - after 4x4, after he says he was worrying too much about el and feels like he lost will - he LITERALLY does not bring up el again to will. it is ALWAYS will who brings her up to mike because he sees him hurting.

and we don't even know for sure if this is what mike is even thinking about because it's not him who ever brings it up. it's will who prompts the discussion; it's will who lays out mike's feelings for el; it's will who establishes the theme and emotions of the conversation, which is LITERALLY displayed in the script:

also this is all i'll say. I know everyone was worried about the 'what are you 12 years old, dude?' comment because i just immediately assumed it was will's reaction to himself, but i do understand that it's under mike, so let's just... for a second say it's mike, well is it really that ooc for him to think this? yes, it's a jerk thing, but mike's defense mechanism is so high in terms of will, and his feelings for will. his immediate reaction is to recoil, to be mean because it braces closer to the truth, but then... let us say, this scene went differently and mike said these words aloud, hurting will. we know he'd regret it, we know he'd apologize, and we know that he'd have to reflect. just enough. to apologize. he would have to think why he would say or think that; he'd recognize it was wrong and mean but also like. yeah. that sounds nice. trust me. being repressed, in denial, and dealing w a lot of internalized homophobia often leads to these /reactions/ even if not said aloud. it's jerking away, mentally because you literally need to recoil with disgust, with - no fuck that - because it opens too many worms if you don't. it is an option, maybe the only option to really keep yourself safe from opening up the can of worms. trust me. i've been there. i've recoiled at gay interactions, almost instinctively because i spent so much time building up that straightness, and it becomes a jerk reaction to be straight, but there is much more to it; you may have been able to rewire your conscious brain but your subconscious knows

anyway. back to the script bit up there^ because i rly was not intending on discussing that for so long^

we again see will thinking that he knows what is going on inside mike's head which is fair because he knows him so well and they understand each other, but this scene, as we saw on screen, and on the script, is the PEAK of misunderstanding between them. it's clear in the "will doesn't understand" and then later "mike doesn't understand" along with will filling in mike's blanks on the situation.

and the way it's written, yeah, as someone who is in the social work field, i agree that mike being worried about losing el due his insecurities, and even not being able to say ily because of that, makes sense in terms of possibilities and practicality regarding attachment styles and relationships. but do i think mike has this attachment style? this fear avoidant attachment style? no, i don't. do i think it's a convenient way to explain his behavior/latch onto? yeah. i think on a red herring scale, it makes enough sense to misguide the audience, and i think on just a human being scale, it makes sense for mike to use that as the excuse. and maybe that's insane of me to psychologically see that YES this is ACTUALLY a possibility and can be explained, but it still does not add up to me personally... but even if i did think this explains everything, previous things i said explain why this is just part of the reason mike and el are star crossed ^

so, yes, maybe this is part of it ^ but i also think that maybe mike is accepting that el does not need him, and in that, realizing that maybe their relationship isn't meant to be, but will doesn't rly get what he is saying, and just wants him to feel better, so he does what he does and gives him what he needs, which literally just so happens to be his exact feelings, and that makes mike feel better which is just crazy. like really let that sit with you. and in a way... really describes this whole love triangle.

mike is STRUGGLING with his ability to say ily to eleven, possibly due to insecurities, fear of abandonment, poor self worth, etc., and will, wanting him to feel better; just saying it to make him feel better, but also completely honest in how he feels about mike, literally just ... makes him feel better, like it's so easy with them, and that's... that's just the thing. it's natural and easy and they are just... exactly what each other need.

and i think in this scene of misunderstanding and miscommunication being the LITERAL only scene where mike's heart is not facing will... this CUSTOM MADE SHIRT... is telling.

and then, you compare this to 4x4, where they are directly discussing their relationship (prompted by mike, and where, yet again, will tries to push the focus on el, but mike corrects it) it is said that, what mike is saying - makes COMPLETE sense to will. they are so aligned in this scene, it's insane, and it's the only scene where the focus is just on them. like do i rly need to say more?

i think mike is struggling with his feelings, and so much more goes into it because of internalized homophobia, but whether he loves el or not, their relationship is doomed, and if he does love el? that's okay. because guess what? he loves will too. like i said, his journey began with will; the best thing he ever did was become will's friend, and he only met el because of will; and mike can maybe love el without his monologue being true; he can think he loves el, but honestly. i don't think he knows what that even means, and i don't think he will know until he GETS what will was saying when he described himself (as el) as a mistake, and so on.

i think he is trying very hard to make it work with el; saying things that he thinks he feels or that she wants to hear, or reimagining their relationship in their head, but it's doomed because it just lacks foundation, understanding and trust and everything you need. maybe, maybe they love each other? but like - what does that even mean to either of them? maybe mike does not know how to live without her, but why? it is a lot of big statements that feel empty; they lack true meaning or back up, and critical thinking. they were literally only kissing in s3 all the time yet mike was so torn up about their break up, but when it came down to it - when it came down to actual desperation, it was will who he was biking in the rain for. he might think or believe all these things about el, and he may refuse to allow himself to think about will, but it's just all so obvious in his actions and the way he looks at both of them, and how he cannot even say the word love to will, about el, which could have various meanings: because he struggles to say it to her, maybe doesn't and also because it's will, and there is a deep part of him that loves him too, which makes it feel fundamentally wrong to say he loves someone else around him, even if he doesn't recognize that, but maybe it became easier when will let him go; pushed him to el, TWICE, like - that subconscious hope, was squashed, because why on earth would someone push him to say more to their GF while they felt that way? *also in lucas on the line, mike tells dustin and lucas he and el wrote each other love letters yet he cannot say the word to will, and also not saying this content of the w will could be portrayed as a form of defense and self preservation because if will knows he cannot say i love you... some of that reason being because of will himself... then will can figure it out which he cannot allow to happen. (trust me this form of thinking, i've legit done) but mike rly underestimates will's self sacrifices which is why i think mike in s1 is perplexed by will's decision to tell him it was a 7; why tell him when mike didn't see it? i don't think mike understands just how SELFLESS he is, and also, i mean, will gets SNIPPY with mike lmao, and he also doesn't see him as a baby; like he doesn't view him as this, just selfless baby angel, like he just sees him as will, very much of who he is, but also as person because he doesn't idolize him, but he also trusts him, canonically, more than any character on the show it truly seems, and also understands him, canonically, more than any one on the show, but i sometimes think this blinds them both;

they both understand and trust each other so much that they believe they know what the other is thinking, but they don't, and i think it blinds them both, which leads to this miscommunication trope so much. why didn't will reach out more? it's obvious he was JEALOUS but how does that come across to mike? it just seems like will doesn't want to talk to him, and he called maybe a couple of times, yet always whines to dustin about joyce's job, even though... didn't el just tell him about it... it's very obvious that mike cared about will not talking to him at rink o maria; like i know everyone's discussed it but just cuz i have to, he says WILL SABOTAGED THE WHOLE DAY because of his attitude, and THIS IS RIGHT AFTER EL TELLS ANGELA SHE RUINS HER DAY LOL??? like the stark difference is just... insane. but yeah, like i said, i think these two are always on the defense when it comes to their actual feelings, esp mike, but in the form of will: i know everyone think he's like fully accepted his feelings for mike, and such, but i think he's still teetering, considering the script confirms he HATES himself. i think they are both still teetering. but will is a lot more confident about it too, but like... really. we need to believe the multiple inferences we got that say will pulled away from mike and that HURT mike, like i feel like we ignore this bit too much, and i think it's cuz it's all directed from will pov, but mike literally is hurting from this distance. he is. and he is the one to literally say they are friends but these moments truly show how defensive mike is with this. he walks around eggshells with his feelings for his FRIEND. until they're alone. and until they are both in sync. and then it's like hey, hello, you're so important to me, i love you. and in the van, as a reminder with LITERALLY JONATHAN IN THE MIRROR, they aren't alone, and mike needs to be more on guard too because of that because i do think the end of s3, was... a heavy realization but he's still in denial, or regressed, or what not.

anyways.... this got out of hand. but i really just think they're endgame, and it's ok if mike does love el, even romantically, because... well, does he? does he really? it is very... very not... hm. it would work better as friends, but that doesn't mean he never had romantic feelings for her, but it's very much empty, which very much opposes will and mike's relationship which lacks words of affirmation and sometimes quality time but is... really just shown through so much else. amen. the end.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Slumbering Hearts (Alcina Dimitrescu/Reader, Soulmate AU) Pt. 1

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language/brief nudity Warnings: None Summary: In a wicked twist of fate, you find out your soulmate is none other than your employer, Lady Dimitrescu. To your misery, she (at first) seems equally displeased, her heart already belonging to another. But in time, the two of you find yourselves wondering... could the universe be right, after all? Soulmate AU in which every person has a unique "soul mark", which they share with their soulmate. Notes: Reader is gender neutral, but at some points will be described as leaning towards being feminine (due to personal interpretation of Alcina's character). Additionally, Lady D will eventually be referred to by her first name, so don't worry if you feel weird about her being called by her full title all the time, it's just for this chap, when the reader isn't familiar with her. Lastly, this contains a bit of one sided Alcina/Miranda, which serves as a plot point, but is (clearly) not the primary ship.

1: In The Shadow Of Giants

Three months, two weeks, and one day. That’s how long you’ve been at this accursed castle, serving cruel mistresses, having been plucked from your peaceful life in the village. Anger stains your every thought, slowly festering inside your chest. There is no cure, at least not without a fatal price, but there are mild remedies. ‘Tis not long before the other servants learn to give you the more physically demanding chores. Nothing numbs your mind quite the same way that chopping firewood does, though you often settle for hard scrubbing age-old tile. Every day ends with your muscles crying from the effort of it all. Every day… except today. Another servant, from the night shift, has been wounded severely, and her job was deemed too important to be foregone.

And, as such, she has been replaced. By you. For once, you turn in early, long before your clothes can become stained with sweat. Yet you aren’t happy, not when you know that this change will ruin your sleep for weeks to come. Even worse, it’ll be impossible to avoid your ‘employers’, whereas working the day shift meant almost never seeing them. So far, you have only seen them on four or five occasions. Hell, you’ve only met two of them, being Cassandra and Bela. Based on what others told you, the other two weren’t much (if at all) better. As you try your best to get some rest, only a single ‘positive’ thought runs through your head: Well, worst comes to worst, I’ll get killed, then I won’t have to worry about anything anymore.

---------------------------

“Remember: No talking unless you’re asked a question. The Mistress has had a rough morning, and this is her best chance at relaxing,” Juniper explains, for what seems like the eighth time since the two of you met. There’s a nervous energy around her, which does little to ease your own anxieties. If you heard correctly, she’s only been at the castle for a couple weeks, having previously worked for Mother Miranda. You’re not sure what would have caused the transfer, considering most who were ‘fired’ ended up dead. Something told you that it had to do with antsy nature. “Oh, and don’t leave unless dismissed, even once your part is done. We all need to be ready, in case Mistress- I mean, Lady Dimitrescu needs something. Sorry, I’m still getting used to how things work here.”

“As long as you don’t slip up in front of her and get us both killed, I don’t really care,” you replied, giving Juniper a level stare. Clearly unsure how to respond, she pauses for a moment, mouth opening then closing without a sound. Once she’s seemingly composed herself, you give a short nod and push open the door to the bathroom. Two other servants are already inside, and they flinch at your arrival, briefly mistaking you for their boss. “I can hardly believe they made me change shifts for this,” you add, under your breath, rolling your eyes. What was so important about making sure a few candles stayed lit? During bathtime? Maybe it was something you had to be a giant, vampiric noblewoman to understand. Regardless of your annoyance, you quickly get to work, striking the first of a couple matches. It’s a rather dull task. To think you would have preferred heavy labor to this.

Before long, the last flame springs to life, and Juniper dims the lights, allowing the candles to become the focus. At least one is scented, though you cannot place the specific kind. Less than a minute after the last one is lit, the door once again swings open, revealing your most elusive employer. She’s… more than you anticipated. In every conceivable way, truthfully. Taller, more graceful (even as she has to duck through the entrance), and, as much as you hate to think so, far, far more beautiful. If not for the warm lighting of the room, you would have worried about someone seeing your blush. Certainly I am not the first to react this way, you think, as you bow alongside the others.

“Yes, yes, get on with it,” Lady Dimitrescu says, with a sharp frown. Then she moves closer to the tub, which you imagine could fit half a dozen ‘normal’ people, and holds out her arms to her side. For a moment you’re confused, but you instinctively mimic the motions of the other maidens. Together the four of you reach for her robe, gently taking hold of it while she steps into the bath, before hanging it onto a nearby hook. A second later your entire world is turned upside down. You’re freezing in place, eyes wide, as the bare back of Lady Dimitrescu reveals itself to you. Yet this is not an instance of poorly veiled lust. No, it is equal parts horror and repulsion, for you find yourself staring at a distinctive soul marking.

One that matches your own.

Beside you, Juniper watches you with concern, silently urging you to stay silent. Neither of the other two servants seem to react, other than by taking a small step backwards. Unable to speak, let alone form coherent thoughts, all you can do is point a trembling finger towards the soul mark. It’s right in between Lady Dimitrescu’s shoulder blades. Once upon a time, you had marveled at the design, smiling every time you saw it in the mirror. Now, it might as well be the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen. Based on her expression, Juniper seems to agree, although for different reasons. As your hand drops back to your side, you try to compose yourself enough to focus on the task before you. Instead, someone breaks the quiet, boldly, daring to think that they would be rewarded for it.

“My Lady,” a servant says, stepping forward, shooting you a waywards glance. Instantly she has your employer’s attention, though that comes with the metallic sssssslk of her claws extending. There’s an unspoken threat that demands respect. None comes, however, just the frenzied words of a panicked maiden. “I know who your soulmate is, my Lady. I thought that perhaps you’d-”

“A name. Give me… a name,” Lady Dimitrescu interjects, claws still out and impatiently tapping on the tile floor. Tense, you start to step forward, wanting desperately to silence the treacherous maiden. But her tongue is faster than your fist, and soon enough your name is echoing through the room. “Oh? The one right behind me, hmm? Dreadfully convenient, really. Step forward, dear, and let me see the proof. Assuming it exists.” All eyes other than hers are on you, now. With a deep breath, you begrudgingly step in front of Lady Dimitrescu, trying not to even briefly glance at her chest (or worse, lower). One of her hands shifts, a long claw tilting your chin up. “Well?”

“Forgive the placement,” you mutter, awkwardly grabbing your shirt collar, tugging it down to reveal your soul mark, planted neatly on the center of your chest. If Lady Dimitrescu’s gaze wanders, it does so too quickly to be noticed, though she does make a low humming noise at the sight. Feeling much like a piece of meat on display at the butcher’s, you scowl deeply. Soon enough, but not as soon as you’d like, the claw under your chin retracts, and you once more cover up your soul mark. You can’t bring yourself to look your soulmate in the eyes.

“Hmm. Not what I expected. Not at all,” she muses, more to herself than to you, softly. Behind her, Juniper is sending you a sympathetic expression. All you can do, as Lady Dimitrescu judges you, is glare at the origin of this revelation. What did she think to gain by speaking up? Hadn’t she heard the same rumors that you had? Didn’t she know that your employer already loved another, even if that affection was unrequited? There was, simply put, no chance that you were the preferable option. Not when there was no race against neither time nor death. At best, you could be a distraction. Something to keep her mind off of the person she’d rather be with. “Go clean up, get some sustenance if you must, then go to my quarters. We will discuss this further there- after I am done here.”

With that said, she waves you off, letting you relax for the first time in several minutes. After giving a short bow, you immediately move to leave. On your way, you intentionally bump shoulders with the maiden who spoke up, sending her a glare, then give Juniper a nod of acknowledgement. Nervous wreck or not, she was the only person you ‘knew’ on the night shift. Not that such a thing would even matter soon. To think that we’ve been soulmates this whole time, you think, living in the same castle for months, never seeing each other. I wish things could have stayed that way. At least you’d have some time to process your developing situation. Though you doubted you’d have enough time.

---------------------------

In an unusual change of pace, Alcina dismisses the rest of her servants, long before her bath is done. They exchange glances before scattering to the winds. A heavy sigh leaves her lips, and she sinks lower into the tub. Of course I have a soulmate, she thinks, bitterly. I knew this. Knew that it wasn’t her, and yet still, I find myself surprised. Disappointed, even. How had an already rough evening gotten even worse? More than that, what was she supposed to do about it? There was a part of her that wanted to kill her soulmate. She figured that, with them out of the way, the universe might finally understand who she was meant to be with. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for ‘widows’ to be given a new match, and those were generally other ‘widows’. Considering that Alcina knew for a fact that Mother Miranda’s soulmate had long since died, she did not think that her hopes were beyond possibility.

But there was another part of her, quieter, that dared to be more realistic. If the universe said that this human, this tiny thing, was her soulmate… would it not make sense to at least try? What harm could it do, when her current love had been unrequited for so long? Was this not the end to several decades of loneliness? Damn it, she thinks, gripping the edge of the bathtub until her knuckles turned white. There was no denying it, now that a single drop of rational thought had corrupted her mind. Fuck it all, I hardly have a choice. Or anything to lose, for that matter. With her decision made, she rises to her feet, emotionally ready to face the unknown.

---------------------------

“Ah, so you do follow directions, after all. I half expected to learn that you had attempted to flee, or perhaps had a gruesome run in with one of my daughters,” Lady Dimitrescu chimes, as she ducks into her room. Inside, standing at attention, you await. All of your earlier nervousness returns, though this time it is tinged with your natural rage. Of all the monsters in the world, this was the one you were expected to love. It mattered not how tall she was, or how sharp her nails could be, or how fierce her loyalty to Mother Miranda. To you, it mattered that you had no choice in being here, that only a handful of servants had come to the castle willingly. It mattered that a single mistake could mean a cruel death. So you did not greet your soulmate with a smile, or excitement, rather with a forced bow and blank expression. Better to be dead than to fake true love. “Come now, do at least pretend that you are excited, for my sake. I have been waiting a century for this, after all.”

“Perhaps the universe found it difficult to find someone who could love you,” you say, the words tumbling out of your mouth, instant regret boiling up inside of you. What you expect is a swift death. What you get? A deep sigh, a scowl, a look of frustration. Still fearing your possible demise, you are quick to keep speaking. “Or maybe the universe heard me talk once, and struggled to find someone to tolerate me. Countless possibilities, a galaxy full of mysteries… and here we are. Forgive me for being crass, my Lady. I would blame it on my schedule change, but something tells me you would see right through that lie, yes?” Not like that was much better, you think, wondering how the hell you were going to survive this.

“You’re quite the character, aren’t you?... Do try not to make me regret this, I’d rather not kill my soulmate. Now, sit down, it’s about time for a proper introduction,” Lady Dimitrescu commands. Then she’s sitting on the edge of her bed, gently patting the spot next to her. Joining her is just about the last thing you want to do right now… but you obey nonetheless. Still, you angle yourself away from her ever so slightly, hoping the subtle body language would help you distance yourself from her. There’s something in her expression that tells you she knows exactly what you’re trying to do. “I am Lady Dimitrescu, though you already know that. You may call me Alcina… for now. Behave, or that is one of many privileges I will not hesitate to take from you. Understood?”

It takes all of your willpower to avoid rolling your eyes, but you manage, instead giving a short nod. This’ll be interesting, for sure.

[defectiveconantoy]

Shooting Stars

Fandom: Detective Conan

Pairing: ShinRan

Rating: K+

Prompt: Childhood

Genres: Slice-of-life, Friendship, Romance

Words: 829

A/N: This fic took different names, different ideas, and MULTIPLE DRAFTS before I completed it. All of that insanity started happening right after @shinranweek’s prompts were announced. Took me over a month to finish this minific. 🤣

Shooting Stars

Outings with Kudo Shinichi are some of the best times of Mouri Ran’s life. At nine years old, she can’t count the amount of times his adventures have gotten both of them in trouble. Not that she minds, though.

When she’s with Shinichi, he takes care of her, makes sure she is safe and happy. Always. If she gets hurt, he protects her. If she feels lonely, he provides her company, For a kid his age, he sure knows how to make Ran feel uncertain emotions for him that she doesn’t feel for other boys. In fact, he’s the best guy friend she’s ever had.

The sun is now setting in Beika. She approaches Shinichi’s house with a picnic towel rolled neatly into her right hand. They planned a nighttime hangout at the park last week and agreed to meet at his place today come sunset. “Hello, Shinichi,” she speaks into his doorbell speaker box. She giggles and quietly wonders what mishaps they’ll encounter this time.

“Is it sunset already?” He briefly pauses. “Oh! I forgot. Ran! One moment. I’ll be ready in a sec,” he hurriedly answers. It hasn’t even been two minutes, and he’s running out his door and through the gates. He swiftly grabs Ran’s left hand and runs towards the sidewalk.

They quickly pass and turn through the neighborhood and into the busy streets. Ran panics, “What are do you doing? Why are we running? I might drop our towel.”

Shinichi turns in her direction, blue eyes staring with confidence. “Don’t worry! Keep a grip on that towel. We’ll get there.” He pants. “Just need to get to the park before anyone else grabs the best spots.”

They approach the park entrance and the grassy picnic area. Luckily, they is plenty of room for them to settle down. Shinichi stops Ran at one spot and crouches to pant and rub sweat off his forehead. Ran places the towel onto the ground as he calms down.

“So, tell me. What are we here for,” Ran asks

“Shh! It’s a secret.”

“Not fair!”

They both sit down. “Just wait until the sky turns dark and our eyes adjust to the darkness.” He winks confidently. “I think you’ll like what you see.”

The night sky settles, and boy, is he not kidding. Her orchid eyes widen in amazement. Stars, stars everywhere! They fill and brighten the black sky. Some stars even connect to form constellations, just like in astronomy books. Never has she felt close to outer space. All without a rocket ship!

Ran points and shouts, “Look! A shooting star. They say if you wish upon them, your wish comes true.” She pauses to close her eyes and make her private wish. Shinichi, the rational one, would usually laugh, but he lets her enjoy herself this time.

He sits next to her with a faint blush on his face and his eyes concentrated on the stars and says, “Summertime: the best time to watch the stars with a good friend like you. Thanks for coming with me.”

Ran was grateful for her time with Shinichi tonight. He sure did surprise her with stargazing. A humble surprise that’s to be expected from someone like him. The moment is comforting. She feels reassured by him being next to her with the vast, limitless sky in front of the sky.

She turns in his direction and hugs him tightly. He blushes again and hugs her back, in spite of her tough grip.

Fast forward ten years later. Ran and Shinichi have now been dating for two years and still can’t believe they’ve become lovers. They frequently visit the park, only this time, it’s like returning home after a long journey. Now, they are no longer the rushed nine-year old kids. No, he was better prepared this time. They went out to eat and enjoy the sunset before heading out to the park.

To them, each star now represents a memory from the past ten years, events, decisions, mistakes, confessions, and remedies that they endured together. He stares at the sky with the same amazement from before. “The stars are as beautiful as ever, even more so with my girlfriend. I wish I could have said that all those years ago, but speaking your mind isn’t always easy when you’re young,” he chuckles.

“Ran, look! There’s a shooting star. I know you like those, so make a wish.” She blushes and leans her head on his shoulder as she also watches the night scene.

“So, what did you wish for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“For you to never leave my side.”

He gently strokes her hair and lightly taps her chin to lift her face to his and kiss her. His lips press hers lightly before wrapping his hand around her hair. She shifts and lays her hands on his chest and kisses him with more intensity.

He slowly pulls out and whispers, “Your wish is my command.”

[literateleah]

the paradox of emily prentiss’ audience perception and character design

some of y’all about to be real mad at me, but it must be said:

emily prentiss’ character design makes no sense: my personal opinion + an objective analysis

i think it can be challenging to separate the versions of characters we have in our little brains from actual canon content, but doing so is important for understanding what those characters are truly like, especially within the context of their environment and in contrast to others around them. plus developing a deeper understanding of the media we consume is super fun and interesting! with that being said: emily prentiss should not work for the fbi and here’s why (in three parts regarding who’s responsible: cbs, paget, and fans) (sit down and grab a snack i promise this is over 3k words)

quick disclaimer: i don’t dislike emily at all! that’s my girl, i just looked closer and realized some funky things the writers did and felt the need to analyze her of course: so let’s get into it

part one: what cbs did

cbs set the stage for emily’s introduction on the heels of the departure of lola glaudini as elle greenaway! lola has clarified that she decided to leave the show because filming in los angeles was not the best environment for her personally, and after one successful season on a major network (but not much established long term plot or drama beyond elle’s departure as a character) a consistent ensemble cast was required- particularly because the bau had been criticized for being predominantly male in the first few episodes of the show and not much development was given to penelope or jj yet. enter emily prentiss.

for the duration of seasons 2-3ish, emily was framed as a chip off the block that was elle greenaway, just slightly…richer? in her first few episodes emily was hesitantly polite but ambitious, clean cut, intellectually concise and held her own within the team. she seemed equal parts intimidated and frustrated by her male superiors (gideon, hotch) but certainly proves herself among other profilers. her childhood was explored only within reference to her strained relationship with her mother (which was only ever referenced once more after the fact) and we received a short overview of her educational and career history in her first few episodes. emily fit right into the hole elle had left, and didn’t have many major storylines yet.

seasons 4-6 brought a bit more development and depth to emily’s character! she begins dropping more snarky remarks, one liners, and socially deepening her relationships with the other team members. this seems more within the lines of elle’s design, but emily arguably took more time to grow into her place within the team. during the foyet arc she was vulnerable and supportive, and the doyle arc gave her some independence and agency she didn’t have previously. this era also solidified her appearance and persona as more edgy, which falls in line with general fanon perception of her character (especially when compared to jj or penelope). i can’t address this era or season 7 without mentioning that cbs was actively trying to remove paget from the cast, similar to how they did to aj cook as well. paget has spoken about this instance before, and i believe it slightly affected her portrayal of her character, and “lauren” was somewhat of a goodbye for both paget and emily (thus why she wished for mgg to direct since they were best friends).

season 7: in my opinion, one of the best seasons for emily. she was wisened and deeply wounded by her experiences with doyle, which was understandable of course. she returned to the team she loved and learned to appreciate life in a different way, remaining mature during this time period as well! though her departure was a bit less than graceful and sudden at the end of this season, it made sense compared to some other exits the team had seen.

now *sigh* all the rest.

paget as emily appears in two separate guest appearances (once in s9 and once in s11, and she is referenced offscreen as well) before permanently reprising her role as unit chief of the bau. these appearances were most likely to boost ratings and get the team back together (i.e. 200) or just to pepper in international cases (tribute). emily’s personality remains pretty consistent here, just more mature and comfortable in leadership positions (seeing as she is running an entire branch of an international law enforcement organization). then season 12 hit.

upon the departure of thomas gibson as hotch, cbs reached out to paget to see if she would be interested in fulfilling her role as emily within a longer term unit chief position. i’ll get into why this is wack in a few paragraphs, but the remainder of her time on the show is spent on a mature portrayal that seems very distant from her previous versions. emily is more authoritative, gives orders with ease, and has no qualms about leading a team of agents or even receiving promotion offers as director of the entire bureau.

thus concludes a general summary of the canon content cbs gave us as viewers. now let's talk about what they didn’t give us, regrettably

the primary aspect of emily’s design that comes to mind for many is her queer coding. though not much was to be expected from cbs, a prime time cable tv network, each of her relationships on the show (all with men) seemed oddly forced, and without much chemistry as compared to the SOs of other main characters. rumors of scrapped plotlines have floated around about what may have been, but the ultimate lack of acknowledgement of any queer characters in the main ensemble still leaves a feeling of disappointment to audiences, and leaves more to be desired as for how emily navigates social bonds.

part two (sidebar): what paget did

i think it could be agreed within audiences that paget brewster’s portrayal of emily made the role what it was! her dry witty delivery and emotional prowess combined with sitcom acting experience made her performance a mainstay for years. i think she did the best she could with a confusing and at times flat characterization, and brought the role to life.

paget also heavily contributes to fanon indirectly with her comments outside of the show (press, cameos, twitter etc). her general continued interest and fondness for the role post production affects fan perception, particularly in what she chooses to elevate and comment on. she and aj have both spoken about viewing jemily content, and paget and thomas have both also commented on hotchniss. most cast members feel free to comment on their characters in the appropriate timing, and seem open to discussing fanon ships and theories outside of canon!

part three: what fanon did

as we can tell from this fan space as well as the presence on insta, tik tok and twitter, fans LATCHED onto emily super quickly. she’s remained a favorite over the years, and this fan persistence is what brought her back so many times after leaving (so many times). in my opinion, queer coding and a bolder female trope (in contrast to her female counterparts) are the main pulls because they resonated with so many fans- new and old. with that being said, newer fans of the show in the past year in particular have been heavily influential in fanon, solely because of the large influx of fan content and popularity of it.

fan content began to take coding and bite size moments and snippets from the show as canon, and cemented it into much of the content and discourse they created. these small pieces of emily’s character are significant, but have become magnified by how easily they are to share and edit. for example, a collection of catchy one liners from emily over the seasons makes for a great video edit intro, or gifset! there’s absolutely no problem with this content, it just all combines to create a certain fanon perception no character escapes (this isn’t a phenomenon limited to emily or the cm fandom!)

these droves of content also solidified emily’s personality as much more defined, but at the same time, simplified it in a way that’s slightly harder to explain.

fanon: more emo/goth than canon basis

fanon: more introverted/anti social than canon basis

fanon: more violent/chaotic when canon emily is relatively well mannered and doesn’t start many conflicts (particularly in the workspace)

fanon: much less maternal when canon emily displays desire on multiple occasions (even crossing professional borders) for children, particularly teenage girls (possibly projection)

(again, nothing wrong with this interpretation at all and it still varies! This is just a generalization based on most of the popular content i have seen)

part 4: why it doesn’t work

let me start with this: emily prentiss does not like her job.

we don’t receive much in depth information about emily’s internal feelings and thoughts towards her mother beyond resentment. this stems from wanting to make it on her own, as a professional and as an individual (cough cough college deposits). this makes emily’s insistence on proving herself to authority figures in her earlier seasons is interesting to watch in different circumstances. she cites her experience and denies help from her mother when justifying her placement in the bau to hotch, she is extra vigilant about being helpful on her first case with gideon, etc. nevertheless, emily forges her own path outside of diplomacy and becomes a successful profiler and agent, with the help of her privilege, wealth and name whether she likes it or not. but if we read between the lines and fill in the blanks cbs neglected, these ambitions may subconsciously be oriented towards pleasing her mother.

example one: emily’s authority issues go further than just “rebellion” or “anarchy”, she frequently questions the ethics and sustainability of the work that the bau does. every team member does this, but emily much more so than anybody else.

in “amplification”, emily almost breaks federal protocol to inform civilians of anthrax threats. she butts heads with both hotch and rossi on this front, and ends the episode with having a conversation with rossi about the ethics of lying in their line of work. emily resigns to a solemn “it be like that” and moves along, accepting this reality.

on multiple different occasions emily laments to derek about the darkness she sees on the job, and it’s shown that this gets to her quickly on particularly bad cases. this is another contradiction of the design that she can supposedly “compartmentalize” better than others on the team, when she cannot unless the lives of others are at risk (doyle arc, s7 finale).

emily also responds in this way to many cases involving children, a similarity to jj many don’t notice upon first watching the series. “seven seconds” and “children of the dark” come to mind, during the latter in which emily is prepared to cross multiple professional lines to adopt a teenage girl left orphaned by the case, until hotch stops her and establishes that her emotions can’t rule her judgement on the job. regardless of hotch’s thoughts about her attempted caretaking abilities, these actions and impulses deeply contradict the typical bureaucratic pathways of the work the bau does.

the looming reputation of her mother’s diplomatic history hangs over emily, and after going to law school and working for the cia, she most likely did want to forge her own path as far away from being a socialite: being a spy. her inner nature doesn’t always reflect this profession, and leads me to believe that with her knowledge of psychology, law procedure and care for children: emily prentiss might be more inclined to working in social work, placing suffering children and teenagers in homes they deserve.

and finally, the hill i will die on: emily prentiss was an bad unit chief

this wonderful post touches on my general sentiment, but there were many reasons as to why emily prentiss’ career arc makes little to no sense (plot holes included).

first: her background. emily attended chesapeake bay university as well as yale and achieved a ba in criminal justice. keep in mind that though timelines evidently don’t exist in the cm universe, emily prentiss is ONE YEAR older than aaron hotchner (for context). in her first episode, she professes that she has worked for the bureau for a little under ten years in midwestern offices- something the audience laters knows to not be true. emily worked with the cia and interpol as a part of a profiling team and undercover agent up until roughly TWO YEARS before her canon introduction. plot holes and time gaps aside, this makes me wonder, why didn’t she just say the cia was a backstop without revealing the highly confidential nature of her work with doyle (similar to jj’s state department backstop and cover story)? penelope or hotch could have easily accessed her file and seen that she did not in fact have experience with the bureau in midwestern offices recently, and given the fact that erin strauss set up her bau placement, i’m presuming these formalities or references were overlooked.

second: her experience within the team. emily worked as a part of the bau with the bureau for roughly 6 or 7 years. after this, she is invited to run the entire london branch of interpol, one of the most renowned international law enforcement organizations. i’m surely not the most knowledgeable on requirements or standard timelines for such matters, but with the fact that emily had never led a team in her life (not in the bau or interpol previously) and had roughly 10 years of field experience, i don’t believe she would have ever realistically been considered eligible to run the whole london department.

third: her return to the bureau. fanon depiction of their relationship aside, if you believe aaron hotchner’s last wish before going into witsec was to entrust his team to emily prentiss, you’re dead mistaken. bringing emily back was clearly a pull for ratings after the loss of two main characters (hotch and derek), but logistically a bad decision. let’s suppose emily has had 4 or 5 years of experience in london now, this established authority position would be unlikely to change at the drop of a hat, even for old teammates or friends. also considering how close they were after a decade of working closely in bureaucratic and field contexts, i firmly believe hotch would have referred jj for the job of unit chief but that’s another discussion for another time.

emily’s reign as unit chief is odd, because of the many chaotic storylines crammed into it. but amidst bad writing and viewings plummeting, emily’s character is completely flattened. completely. emily is unrecognizable, both in appearance (that god awful wig) and personality. at times she acts as a complete wise authority, giving orders and delegating local authorities as hotch did. but at other times she makes multiple illegal, emotional, and incorrect judgement calls based on personal circumstances that lead to further chaos (deleting the recording of her and reid’s mexico conversation and reprimanding luke in “luke” for the exact same thing she did in season 6 even though she enabled her to do so come to mind).

i’m not sure if this is due to paget trying to find her footing in the role again, or the writer’s bad decisions towards the end of the show wrecking any previous design for their ensemble. then, there’s the infamous “wheels up” scene in s13e1. notoriously cringey, this seems like a vague caricature of something rossi would say many years in the past (the same goes for her pep talk in “red light” in the hunt for diana reid). these moments are meant to mature emily in the audience’s eye, but instead completely removed her from who we understood her to be, and made her an unreliable leader.

part five: and why it does

in theory, emily was a bolder foil to jj, similar to elle who she arguably replaced at first. she came into her own, and stands as a more uniquely developed character than almost any other in the main ensemble. she isn’t as maternal or domestically inspiring as canon jj, less bright and sunny than penelope, not quite as stoic or intimidating as derek or hotch. And yet at the same time, she’s a fairly blank slate. stripping fanon content away entirely, canon emily has few defining traits (all of which are constantly changing), and that may be the key to why we love her so much.

[zirkkun]

Maybe this is cheesy, but with all the praising on stream, I decided I wanted to just gush about my friends and people I look up to on here too. I’m gettin’ sappy and sobby at this hour and I just wanna go out on a high note.

(Started writing this at about the half hour mark before Unus Annus’s death, and now it’s like an hour later. Gosh I just don’t know when to shut up huh? lmao)

@zilthai37 - heya!♥ know you don’t follow Unus Annus stuff, so this will definitely be out of no where for you, but god. You’re too good of a person. I can go to you for literally anything and honestly I probably take it for granted. Something trivial, something serious, you’re always down to talk. I’ve never met another human being who’s so open with talking about things and so open to learn about other people and ideals. You’re honestly so great and so wonderful, man. I love talking to you and I just want you to know that you’re incredibly irreplaceable as a friend and a person.

@cheshiregrinnbuttoneyes - I think you’re the only friend of mine from high school that still talks to me consistently -- and that’s so wild, considering during high school we almost never had the chance to talk. God, you’re just so passionate about your works and you’re always working on your art, and your art is so cute and wonderful. You’re also one of the NICEST people in the world. I don’t know many people who would be willing to give away what they have to support someone else. I adore talking to you and I’m so glad I didn’t lose you, and I never want to, not prematurely.

@secretly-neurotic - heyo! i dunno if you’ve been watching Unus Annus at all, so this might be a little random, but I just really want to say that you’re such a great friend and such a great memelord to talk to. Your art is AMAZING and I’m so glad that you’ve had the chance to be able to spread it to more people recently. I should do a better job of reblogging it so even more people can see it, haha. I know you’ve been real busy with school stuff lately and honestly i just feel really proud seeing you work towards things that you’re really interested in doing, while memeing it along the way. Tell your dad good luck with his BOTW game, hope you get your Switch back eventually lmao

@thoughtfullytired - i think of all my irl friends on this list, i’ve know you the shortest amount of time, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less valuable to me than any of my other friends. You always work so hard to improve your art, and you’re always so amazing at being able to express your emotions into your artwork. I love talking to you about everything, whether it be our nerd stuffs or just regular stuffs. You’re also so incredibly kind to offer your help on Act to Flirt, completely unprompted, when I came to you just ranting about my inability to write music, haha. Hoping the best for you in school (and for your space ship!!) even though I haven’t seen you in a long while.♥

@sansismybitch - ah the name sticks out in this sappy list, but it’s still a very fitting name regardless lmao. you’re honestly a really great and really inspired person. your dedication and interest in supporting those whose works you like is honestly unparalleled. i love when i get asks and memey submissions from you, it brings a smile to my day! talking to you is just so wonderful, and i know a lot of people out there would agree. i just want you to know that you’re really a wonderful person, truly.

@alch3mic - we’ve not talked very long, and I know I definitely already wrote you an incredibly sappy message the other day lmao, but this write-off wouldn’t feel right without saying something to you, especially since the two of us have been watching this stream together (though separately!) You’re just so incredibly passionate with all your projects and I honestly really look up to you and what you do. I’m always so happy seeing when you post because everything you write or draw always brings a smile to my face. Keep doin’ what you do man♥

@teirrart - maybe we don’t really talk (unless it’s some intense thirsting over milo), but I still really adore the work that you do! i think you were one of the first couple of people i followed when joining the fandom and re-joining on Tumblr here, because I adored the buttons you had on your store and bought them IMMEDIATELY haha. It’s still kinda funny to me to realize I have a set of buttons with Ink and Lust made by you and you’ve got my charms of Ink and Lust too.. it’s like a trade in a way, but I’ve just never had it happen lol. Your work is so cute, your characters are wonderful, and your stories are so emotionally driven. I adore them and adore what you do.

@tatatale - god, I still think about the drawing you did with Lust, Insans, and Ace. It brings such a smile to my face and it makes me so happy. I never thought someone who’s artwork and comics I’ve been reading since they started and really admired would ever make something with the characters I’ve made. And you do collabs and fanarts of people’s others works a lot! It’s so incredible to see. This kind of fan interaction is honestly so precious and rare. I adore your comics, I adore your art style, and you’re just so kind.

@owl-bones - we’ve only talked a few times, usually passively talking about the development of our dating sims, haha, but honestly your artwork is amazing, and the work you put into what you do is amazing. sometimes I sit here, a bit jealous of just how good Bonely Hearts Club is, but it’s honestly some silly jealousy lol. You put in an incredible amount of heart and soul into every bit of that game, and it’s so clearly evident even in just the short demo we’ve had so far -- everyone can see that. You’re an incredibly talented person.

...and, well, although you two will probably never ever see this, I suppose I’ll take the chance and throw my voice to the wind anyhow lol:

@markiplier and @crankgameplays - jesus christ, I’ve been watching you two for so long now that i can’t even believe how long it’s been. i was literally barely in high school. it’s so funny to me how I literally had the thought of “Man, I wish Ethan and Mark did more collabs” when YouTube decided to recommend me the escape room video from Unus Annus, a channel that I had somehow MISSED entirely. (At that point, of course. I watched every video from then onward and the ones from the couple of weeks I’d missed). It’s just so wild to me to really think that... a lot of what you two have done have really shaped me today. People often talk down upon the idea of looking up to others because people can do things wrong in the future and then - oh no - now you’re suddenly regretting supporting them. But you two have never once given me that kind of vibe, and I don’t feel like I’ll ever get that from you two in the future. Your work ethics and dedication to what you do really inspires me. It’s gotten me to where I am. Unus Annus ironically made me want death less when I was at such a low point in my life, and made me realize the value of using the time I have been given. It just somehow clicked for me. So, if either of you ever do see this? Just - thanks.

Memento mori.

but also, memento vivire. Remember to live.

[my-bated-breath]

On an Immensely Popular Post

Disclaimer: What I’m writing here may not be completely accurate -- like most works of art, literature, and even STEM tend to be -- and as a new fan of ATLA, a few of the metas I publish may be obsolete or unintentionally insensitive. That being said, I like to believe that I can contribute something valuable to this fandom. In all my (real) metas, I wish to be as objective as possible and not rely on my biases, fanon, or common “knowledge” that may just be misconceptions. If anyone reading this finds something to be false or contrived, I am always welcome to constructive criticism. What I am not welcome to is senseless hate or bashing.

My first experiences with the ATLA fandom begun a long, long time ago, but the most recent and powerful revival of my love for ATLA started with me actually watching the show and soon after, with me falling into the endless abyss of ATLA metas on Tumblr. Sifting through the well-written analyses and the emotion-based rants had taught me a lot about critical thinking and the power of influence, so now I’d like to present a meta that critiques an extremely popular post with over 60,000 notes. And since it’s so popular, this is the part where I must make yet another disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I hold nothing against lesbians4sokka (whose name has now been changed to comradekatara). They have the right to share what they want, but since this particular post has become so influential that it’s still being reblogged regularly to this day, I believe it is within my right to criticize it - emphasis on “criticize,” which is different from “hate.”

Now that that’s out of the way, let us begin:

Lesbians4sokka/comradekatara covers 3 main subjects in their post, which I will quote/summarize below:

(1) Ma/iko: “...the entire foundation of mai and zuko’s relationship was built on how miserable they were together, and how they would just sit there and hate the world together— letting their misery fester as they enabled each other’s depression— and I think that’s really unfortunate because they would work so well as friends if they weren’t trying to make their dumpster fire of a relationship work.”

(2) Zutara: “similarly, what makes zuko and katara’s dynamic so compelling is that they share the same flaws, only as opposed to mai’s apathy and misery, it’s katara’s rage and guilt that zuko identifies with. they both share trauma over having lost their mothers, and both in a similar way (sacrificing themselves for them) and they both cope with their grief through rage, often misplaced… katara and zuko have a deep & profound friendship, but if they were to be in a relationship, they would only bring out the absolute worst in each other thru enabling each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making.”

(3) Z/uk/ka: this pairing makes for a healthy and wholesome relationship because throughout the boiling rock, we see that “sokka and zuko make an excellent team, as they balance each other perfectly. sokka thinks big picture, and plans ahead, but zuko will charge into situations.” They inspire each other, they trust each other unconditionally, they become more open and supportive of each other, they share a lot of common interests and narrative parallels, and in general, just make each other happy (which could work both platonically and romantically).

As for my response: I’m sure many of you are expecting me to start to save the “best for last.” That assumption would be incorrect because I actually have the least to say about point 3.

I agree that Z/uk/ka can be a good relationship. Their dynamic is funny, playful, supportive, etc. etc. (there are so many positive adjectives I could use to describe their dynamic, the list could go on forever). And they could make a great couple.

…

What, did you expect more from me? That’s it, I’m done.

I’m not here to attack Z/uk/ka as a ship, because while I can never actively ship it (I’m a sad, narrow-minded exclusive shipper, always had been and always will be) I can objectively appreciate them as one. It’s points 1 and 2 I’m more concerned about.

Now, since we’ve already begun working backward, I’ll begin my critiques on point 2: I could write extensively about the parallels between Zuko and Katara, including but not limited to shared pain and a few shared flaws - and just a few, because their weaknesses diverge in many important places. However, since I’m trying to write as objectively as possible and since Zuko-Katara parallels have already been discussed to death, my analysis will focus elsewhere.

However, something from comradekatara’s post that I would first like to address is this-

[Zuko and Katara] both cope with their grief through rage, often misplaced. in the southern raiders, they both act deeply insensitively towards sokka by acting as if his grief over his mother’s death is somehow less valid simply because he is a lot quieter in his coping mechanisms and doesn’t project his rage & guilt onto everyone else.

- or rather, the idea that Zuko and Katara’s shared pain causes them to act insensitively towards Sokka (and though the post does not mention it, Aang as well).

(Note: these points have already been covered by countless metas before mine, so you can skip/skim this section to read a newer argument in the next section.)

Even ignoring the fact that the Southern Raiders had many out of character moments, Katara’s insensitivity towards Sokka is first and foremost a reaction against his insensitivity towards her.

_____

Dialogue from Season 3, Episode 16 “The Southern Raiders”:

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand. [Begins to walk away.]

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Katara: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster.

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn't love her the way I did!

Sokka: [Hurt] Katara!

_____

While I believe that Aang’s principles of forgiveness are morally sound, the way he pushes his beliefs onto Katara undermines much of her grief. At first, Aang tries to relate to Katara’s experiences by comparing them to his own, but there is a forceful connotation to his dialogue that suggests that Aang considers himself to be the moral authority compared to Katara. Hence, Aang judges Katara (“I think it’s about getting revenge”) without trying to reach out and understand her, forgoing the empathetic common ground in favor of taking on the moral high ground.

Thus, when Sokka tells Katara, “she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right,” Sokka is not only saying that Katara should choose forgiveness, he is implying that Aang is the ultimate moral authority on this matter and that Katara should accept that. Moreover, similarly to Aang, Sokka’s opening line, “she was my mother, too,” had the potential to establish common ground between himself and Katara, but the added “but…” places Sokka on the moral high ground against her instead. Of course, when we remember that just two lines ago Aang equates Katara to Jet, Sokka agreeing with Aang seems even more thoughtless and unsympathetic.

So when Katara lashes out against Sokka, ostensibly “acting as if his grief over his mother’s death is somehow less valid simply because he is a lot quieter in his coping mechanisms and doesn’t project his rage & guilt onto everyone else,” it is important to note that Sokka undermines Katara’s louder, more visible way of grieving as well (though that discounts that for most of the show, Katara only uses her grief over her mother’s death to sympathize with others).

Moreover, Katara’s line, “then you didn't love her the way I did!” is hurtful, yes, but it is not necessarily equivalent to “you didn’t love her as much as I did.” Katara’s love for her mother is different from Sokka’s because her pain over her death is different -- after Kya’s passing, Katara had to carry the emotional burden of becoming a pseudo-mother to Sokka (see Sokka and Toph’s conversation in “The Runaway”), a burden that did not cease after she joined the GAang (see the entirety of “The Desert”). To Katara, Kya was not only her mother, but the representation of the childhood she lost and the sacrifice made to protect her life. Sokka simply does not have that same relationship with Kya.

I do not mean to say that Sokka and Aang unfairly taking on the moral authority in this situation means that this authority instead belongs to Katara (and Zuko) - “The Southern Raiders” is filled with questionable moments from all parties involved. However, TSR is an episode that delves into Katara (and Zuko)’s relationship with a mother’s sacrifice, so how Zuko and Katara respond to this specific trauma from their past does not dictate how they respond to painful circumstances in the present/future. Let’s see how this is true.

Sozin’s Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King

No doubt Zuko and Katara felt some form of frustration upon Aang’s disappearance, so let’s see how they “[enabled] each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making”:

Here, Katara and Zuko make a decision together that turns out to be calm, rational, and not at all emotionally-driven despite their mutual frustration and worry towards Aang.

Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters

Zuko holds immense pain and self-loathing over betraying Iroh, yet Zuko and Katara’s conversation does not enable/exacerbate negativity from any party involved (since Zuko often translates his grief into anger, and Katara was evidently angry at Zuko’s betrayal). Instead, their conversation is open, encouraging, and constructive.

(Note: this is where the review of points made by previous metas ends.)

Hence, to say that “[Zuko and Katara] would only bring out the absolute worst in each other [through] enabling each other’s rage and emotion-driven decision making” -  when we are given in-canon examples of the opposite being true - would be a sweeping and inaccurate generalization.

But for the sake of argument let’s say that, hypothetically, Zuko and Katara’s relationship would fail because they only bring out the worst in each other. And here’s where the argument falls apart for me - Is the argument here that Zuko and Katara have an incredibly meaningful friendship yet somehow this “friendship” causes them to enable each other, thus encouraging each other’s worst flaws and regressing each other’s growth? Is a healthy friendship - much less a “deep and profound” one - not one where two individuals can learn from each other in positive ways and balance each other’s shortcomings?

Or is it something different we’re saying here? Are we saying that two individuals can have a “deep and profound” friendship and yet the moment their relationship shifts from platonic to romantic, they are terrible for each other?

While many significant platonic bonds are stunted when they become romantic, I still believe it to be common sense that some of the best romantic relationships stem from a platonic foundation. But since much of “common sense” on the internet sees that “sense” is nonsensical and “common” is a nicer way to refer to mob mentality, I have done my research to show how Zuko and Katara could have been an excellent case of a friends-to-lovers relationship.

An excerpt from my meta, “Research Shows that Zutara Would Have Been the Ideal Friends to Lovers Dynamic.” (give it a read if you want to see references to relationship-research and an overanalysis on diction/tone)

The reason why Zutara is framed as a “toxic and unhealthy” relationship is that their romance would be a classic example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, a trope which modern media has not been particularly kind to. However, when executed correctly, enemies-to-lovers can produce a healthy and loving relationship, frequently relying on friendship as an intermediate between the “enemy” and “lover” stages in the most well-executed versions of this trope. Meanwhile, the trope of friends-to-lovers is just as popular as enemies-to-lovers, though the specific dynamic required between two individuals to achieve this transition is not well-known. Recognizing this, Laura K. Guerrero and Paul A. Mongeau, both of whom are involved in relationship-related research as professors at Arizona State University, wrote a research paper on how friendships may transition into romantic relationships…

According to Guerrero and Mongeau, “...scholars have argued that intimacy is located in different types of interactions, ranging from sexual activity and physical contact to warm, cozy interactions that can occur between friends, family members, and lovers…” Guerrero and Mongeau then reference a relationship model where the initial stages (i.e. perceiving similarities, achieving rapport, and inducing self-disclosure) reflect platonic/romantic intimacy through communication while the latter stages (i.e. role-taking, achieving interpersonal role fit, and achieving dyadic crystallization) often see both individuals as achieving a higher level of intimacy that involves more self-awareness.

In the rest of my research-based meta I demonstrate how Zuko and Katara’s platonic interactions in the show fit into the stages of communicative intimacy (i.e. perceiving similarities, achieving rapport, and inducing self-disclosure) that Guerrero and Mongeau describe as being mutual between friendships and romances. As such, crossing the line between friends and more-than-friends most likely would not cause a dramatic shift in the Zutara dynamic since much of Zuko and Katara’s platonic intimacy easily translates into romantic intimacy. I’ll end off with another excerpt from my meta.

Excerpt from “Research Shows that Zutara Would Have Been the Ideal Friends to Lovers Dynamic.”

“...it would be remiss to simply dismiss the Zutara dynamic as one that would instantly become toxic should they pursue a romantic relationship.”

With that little thought in mind, let’s move onto point 3: an exploration of friendship, romance, and why toxicity is not exclusive to the latter.

Let’s start with what I agree with:

“The entire foundation of mai and zuko’s relationship was built on how miserable they were together, and how they would just sit there and hate the world together— letting their misery fester as they enabled each other’s depression...”

I’m not sure how necessary it is for me to elaborate on this point given that it’s already been accepted by comradekatara and perhaps 60,000+ other users on Tumblr (a gross exaggeration but this remains unimportant), but in her essay, “Zuko, Mai, and the Nature of True Intimacy,” Araeph contributes more nuance to the concept of Ma/iko and mutual misery, stating that,

Unfortunately for [Zuko and Mai’s] relationship, Mai is and will always be a pessimist—a character trait, not a character flaw, in her. The key difference lies in how Mai and Zuko use their negative feelings. When Zuko sinks into negativity, he gives up on any actions that will materially change his world for the better; Mai, on the other hand, can remain negative even at the height of her character development, and it does not impede her ability to act.

So while Mai enables Zuko’s depression, Zuko does not necessarily do the same for Mai. Nonetheless, throughout their relationship for the first half of season 3, neither of them communicate constructively or push each other to grow as people.

This may be the third disclaimer I’m making, but I first want to say I have nothing against Mai. However, I do have something against the idea that “[Mai and Zuko] would work so well as friends if they weren’t trying to make their dumpster fire of a relationship work.”

Their relationship is a dumpster fire, yes, but will the flames cease simply if the amount of intimacy in the relationship changes?

comradekatara state themselves that their entire romantic relationship is quite depressing - they are only able to connect through empty physical intimacy and mutual hatred of the world. Without that, there is little left for them to bond over. Once Zuko overcomes his conflicting morality and inaction from the first half of season 3, he becomes someone who is strongly guided by his principles and beliefs. However, for the entirety of the series, Mai is characterized by her moral apathy. To cite from Araeph again,

It is moral intimacy that is the last and worst omission for Mai and Zuko… Zuko’s struggle to find and follow his principles is the most central aspect of his character, yet it is a struggle Mai neither understands nor respects…

Lack of moral intimacy (not sharing the same core beliefs) is something that applies to both platonic and romantic bonds. Thus, just as transitioning from a meaningful friendship to a romance does not inherently create toxicity in a relationship, switching from a romance that exacerbates one (or both, depending on how you interpret it) party’s misery does not necessarily erase the preexisting negativity in a relationship - perhaps some of it may subside, sure, but as long both parties continue to fail at communicating and understanding each other, even their friendship seems bleak at best. In this case, Mai and Zuko may work well as conditional friends, or in other words, friends who are only friends when they have something to mutually be miserable over. And this tiptoes the line of speculation, but they could be a formidable political team. But unless the Ma/iko dynamic shifts drastically in the lovers-to-friends transition, I’m not sure if there’s much potential in a friendship between them.

In conclusion, there is a lot I don’t agree with from comradekatara’s post, but if there’s one takeaway I want to impart onto everyone who’s read this far, it’s this: crossing and uncrossing the line between platonic and romantic bonds is not always a transformative experience for the relationship, and the nature of human relationships is a complex spectrum -- not a light switch that can only be set between healthy and unhealthy.

Thank you all for reading!

[gertrudnorthman]

* 1000 Year old Vampire

* Childe of Northman

* Sister of Eric Northman

* Not new to Fandom

* OC of True Blood

* 21 + Literate and Detailed

* Ships with Chemistry

I don't remember anything of the attack, my mother, the Queen or my father the King of Sweden. I was told by my brother Eric that they fought diligently to save the lives of my mother and me.

When the attack ended, a cry was heard from near the body of the Queen. The new Viking King rushed to the infant Gertrud's side (that's me)...

He hurriedly gathered me up and took me to the medicine man. It would have seemed my mother had shielded me with her body only injuring me with scratches from the wolve's teeth and claws. Though they were deep, it took much time for me to heal.

My brother Eric raised me along with other women in the immediate vicinity who were sympathetic to our plight. Luckily pregnant Viking women were aplenty so they were readily able to feed me.

As I grew, I did learn how to take care of men as I was going to be Queen one day if Eric bore no children. I was betrothed and wed at the age of 16. 3 children resulted in the marriage at the hands of a brutal man by the name of Harald. 1 boy, Trygve and 2 girls, Ingrid and Liv. He was desperate for Eric to die in battle so that he could take the seat as King to rule over Sweden.

Harald sent traitors into battle with my brother and he was brought to the edge of death. His body had not been returned with the others. I would not allow the elders to declare him dead. I sat as Queen Regent until his return.

At each turn as I attempted to give orders, Harald attempted to overrule them. He attempted to starve our people to have me declare my brother dead. Yet the elders refused it to be done. The people sided with me as I was their Queen Regent and he was nothing to them. This angered him greatly.

He took it out on me and the children. More so me. As the men in the village that remained or returned from war who called him a coward for not marching along side them into war threatened to kill him if he raised a hand on the children of their King. So he relented to take it out on me.

He took a whore into our bed and put a child into her belly. Claiming his child with her would be the next King of Sweden. Threatened to kill me and our children in the middle of the night.

I consistently told my children that their King and Uncle Erik was fighting the war and would return one day. There was no need to worry. He loved them very much.

Erik returned when I turned 23. I am not sure if he was watching my husband rule from afar over his Kingdom as a tyrant, but upon his return he killed Harald for the crimes he committed against our country. I disposed of my married named for myself and my children as I did not wish for our country to see me or my son as a tyrant. My parents and brother were well loved and respected.

Thus installing my 7 year old son Trygve Northman as the King with our trusted advisor Birger as regent until he reached manhood.

As my brother explained what he was and how lonely he was without Mother, Father and me, I nodded and agreed to become a creature of the night and be with him throughout the ages. Leaving my children behind in the care of others, with the promise I would return.

I returned every six months to say hello and watch them grow. I could not stay long as the hunger grew too unstable. I informed my children I was fighting wars with their uncle, however they were always in my heart. As they grew, I had to 'die' as I was not getting any older.

I traveled the world for the next 1,000 years with my brother, my Maker... there was not a place in the world we have not been. We are constantly seeking vengeance on those who murdered our parents.

Now we are here, in this... dump Shreveport Louisiana. In a bar by the name of #Fangtasia. Not that the club doesn't do well since we 'Came out of the coffin.' (What a ridiculous saying really). It gives us plenty of food, in private of course. I have my own office for those very reasons.

He seems to have this...thing for a human. Or so she claims to be. By the name of Sookie Stackhouse. I honestly don't understand what he sees in her, but she smells like the sun coming over the horizon. Something I remember from days long past. I just want to taste her. And Eric being who he is pulled the "As your Maker, I forbid you to bite Sookie Stackhouse." He should just say as your brother..

[xz1005fanblog]

2021-02-27 Some things I want to say

WARNING LONG POST

Context first, translation of his post above will follow:

Disclaimer: I have no interest in other artists other than Xiao Zhan, and I am merely explaining the situation of the fandom in China that led us to the fiasco in March 2020. I do not care for bjyx, I ship WangXian but I do not ship real people as a basic principle.

My opinion as an international fan of Xiao Zhan and as an AO3 user (yes, I am not Chinese nor do I live in China, I just happen to be able to read Chinese) is that C-entertainment industry is TOXIC and celebrities are not free targets for you to cyberbully. They are human just like you and me. 

Everyone needs to learn a bit more about compassion. 

I am sure all of you read about the cyberbullying Xiao Zhan went through last year. There were multiple factors that started all of this, most of which XZ doesn’t talk about in this letter because of how sensitive the topic is in China. I’ve never explained entirely what happened because I personally thought that this is not something overseas fans should worry too much about. Especially since most of you don’t have a wb or db account, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway. But since Xiao Zhan himself decided to post a letter to respond to this subject, I’ll put in my 2 cents just that so everyone is on the same page.

Basically, after The Untamed aired in China, the show fandom split into 3 groups. XZ fans, WYB fans, and CP fans (or bjyx, whatever you wish to call it, those who love shipping these two real people together - not just the characters in the drama). Of course there are still people who would watch the show without becoming a fan of the actors.

At the beginning, most people thought they were good friends with each other, with all the short BTS clips from The Untamed. However, fans slowly discovered that it wasn’t the case. Some unofficial BTS clips emerged where WYB said XZ was shooting multiple dramas at the same time = 轧戏 (which is very frowned upon and a disrespectful thing to say to an actor), whereas in reality, XZ only asked for a couple of days days off during the shooting for The Untamed because his scenes in Joy of Life had to be redone and he was bound by contract. On the contrary, WYB had to ask for most weekends off because he was participating in Produce 101 at the time. Other clips shows them fighting about somethings WYB said about WWX, which made XZ mad. So this broke a lot of CP fans’ image of their relationship, and they either stopped shipping/became XZ or WYB fans only. This angered WYB’s fans, of course, which made them blame XZ for the entire fiasco.  

Other incidents continued to happen after the show which increased the friction between these 3 fan groups. XZ fans and WYB fans would fight about various voting charts, and fight with CP fans because they don’t like seeing the two actors together. In the meantime, CP fans continuously feminize and weaken XZ in order to ship the 2 actors together (it’s rather an unhealthy trend in China, I’ve been in multiple other western fandoms before - not real person shipping - but we rarely glorify weakening/feminizing the bottom of a ship, because of the underlying prejudice against real homosexuals, who are not synonymous to transgenders).

Some incidents added oil to the fire afterwards. It’ll take me too long to explain everything, so I’ll just put here the main ones to explain why there’s so much bad blood between these 3 groups of fans.

On XZ’s birthday, some CP fans found XZ’s parents’ apartment building and yelled BJYX is real. This angered a lot of XZ fans, because of how disrespectful it was towards the old couple and the clear breach of privacy. WYB fans and some CP fans were also angry that XZ didn’t reply immediately to the birthday wish on wb that WYB sent at midnight (??? XZ was busy shooting a drama, can you blame him for not being on wb at midnight? Give the guy a break.)

In November 2019, WYB filed a lawsuit against some of XZ’s fans (instead against of his own haters!) for dissing him (although I’ve never seen any proof, and a few of those fans remain active on wb now, one of whom has even defended WYB's portrayal of LWJ before...). This angered a lot of XZ fans and CP fans who didn’t understand how he could have done this to his “friend”, and further proved that their relationship wasn’t that fantastic to begin with. WYB fans felt justified in hating XZ and all XZ fans as a result, and openly bullied XZ fans on the grounds of the Nanking CQL Concert. 

In January, The Untamed was named to Beijing Journal Drama award. CP fans and WYB fans were unhappy that XZ was named to the Best Male Lead category and WYB was named to the Best Male 2nd Lead. They attacked the award committee wb by spam commenting all their wb posts and the entire drama was pulled from the nomination afterward. XZ fans were especially angry that they started all this only for the nomination to be pulled out - because the only possibility was one Male Lead per drama, and anyone would agree that if chosen between WWX and LWJ, the character with the most scenes and importance in the story is WWX. 

Yadda yadda yadda, fast forward to February 2020, it started with a fanfiction written by a CP fan that depicted XZ as a prostitute transgender woman and WYB as a highschool kid (UNDERAGE) = AKA very sensitive material in China. It was posted on AO3, but the author posted the link of said fic on wb and a lot of CP fans broadcasted it around, so much that XZ fans became aware of it. Due to how sensitive the material is and how badly it would taint XZ’s image for his future roles, some XZ fans started reporting the wb post that contained the link (NOT AO3) and the author’s wb page. This is common practice in fandom on wb, usually done to get the wb posts taken down. This caused panic in the CP fans crowd because they thought XZ fans were reporting AO3 and that they were gonna lose the website (which is impossible, because AO3′s servers are in Sweden and not subject to Chinese laws anyway). 

Because of how sensitive AO3 was in China and how haters tried to pull in antigovernmental into their crowds, the subject quickly became too dangerous for XZ fans to get involved in. Official fan groups in China unanimously decided to ask all fans to stop participating in the online debate and stay within the fan group circle only. 

Someone on AO3 made a commentary about this incident that you can find here. She dug up a lot of info on the companies feeding money to the trolls online, but as I am an overseas fan and cannot really verify her info, I will not comment on those statements. 

Sometime in the middle of this fiasco, someone started spreading the notion that XZ fans hated fanfiction and were trying to report anything that goes against their image of their idol... And subsequently people who were not CP fans or XZ fans became aware of this problem when they couldn’t access AO3 suddenly because too much curious fans where trying to access it and they crashed the servers. However later on, people could access the website without any problems. I am not personally in China right now so I can’t verify these claims of the website being walled or not for real, but I know from various reliable sources that on March 1st it was only an overload of the server, and people could still access afterwards. 

With this however, haters (which include previous CP fans, WYB fans, and other idol’s fans) attacked XZ for not telling his fans to stop reporting, for not saying anything. They attacked XZ’s endorsements and spammed hate speech on the products he was promoting. They would rate 1 star in all his dramas and songs on db, and then buy accounts to further rate 1 stars (yes that thing exists in China, everything can be bought in China, don’t ask me why.) The reason why I believe that all this wasn’t coincidental, is that barely the day after the fiasco started, someone posted on db the exact list of all his sponsorships, detailing exactly who to call to protest, what words to spam in the comment sections of various official brands’ wb accounts. This entire thing was too well planned to be just a normal fandom fight. 

Whether it was other actors’ fans who organized this to cut down competition, we will probably never know for sure. The following year was laden with fake rumors, hate speech blasting from multiple directions. They attacked his personality, saying that his polite manners are just for show (when the reality is that he has always been a gentleman even when he wasn’t popular). They attacked XZ for faking donations to Wuhan, forcing him to show his donation certificate to prove himself. One of his friends couldn’t stand the cyberbullying anymore and revealed publicly that his grandfather recently passed away (the date on this drawing is 2020.03.03, he couldn’t post this last year). 

His friend defending him from the cyberbullies, saying that he had plenty of reasons to stay silent. That his grandfather passed away recently and his family has been planning his funeral. 

(Sources also said that his mother was hospitalized a few days afterwards. And that haters went to his mother’s hospital to harass her and her nurses)

Haters saying that XZ is using his grandfather’s death to excuse himself (??? is he not allowed to grieve like a normal person???)

Haters wishing that XZ becomes depressed from the cyberbullying and kills himself, wishing that he was dead, wishing that his fans were dead too. Photoshopping his picture into a funeral portrait to curse him

Haters admitting they are cyberbullying XZ, but rejoicing in the fact that they are so many so XZ can’t sue all of them. They have also reported his upcoming dramas for various reasons just so they cannot be aired. 

The airplane incident I’ve already talked about here.

A picture antis made to diss on XZ fans: AO3 can be still accessed even if it’s walled, Lofter can be still access even if it’s taken down from the app store. Your gege’s picture are still accessible even if he died. 

I’ve only posted here the tamest screenshots, there are far worst ones that I won’t be posting because the amount of vitriol give me nausea just looking at them. 

In all this fiasco, antis gave him the tag of “idol who didn’t manage his fans well”. But Xiao Zhan never thought fans needed to be trained, he thought of them like normal people, and their love, something to be treasured and not used. But some people in China still blamed his fans for starting all this mess, and partly him and his studio for not being able to stop it. 

Below is the translation for XZ’s letter, posted on the wb post above

Some Things I Want To Say

Today, I have something to say to everyone. I’ve thought of a lot of ways to do this, but in the end, I chose the simplest way to tell everyone about all my feelings and thoughts in the past year. These opinions, maybe they won’t be able to represent anything, nor won’t they be able to change anything, but I still wish to say this today. 

On this day last year, the incident happened very quickly, as if a bomb exploded on my face - endless phone calls, never ending message notifications, everyone’s opinions and questions came in like a tsunami. I wanted to say something back then, but I didn’t know what exactly. I was apprehensive of making a statement, afraid that one wrong word, or one wrong sentence would be taken the wrong way and end up adding oil to the fire. This is why at that time, I chose not to say anything. 

I never thought that the online fighting would grow bigger and bigger like an avalanche, getting larger crowds involved, and gradually leaving one person’s control. Even though afterwards I made repeated statements to make amends, it could not develop as I wished it to anymore. 

This life filled with broken protests and tumultuous noise continued to this day. And I felt I was going through a very dark and never ending tunnel. Unrest, ruminations, turmoil... I have also asked myself what did I do wrong exactly, why did everything after that day became as if it were an uncontrollable vessel. 

I spent a lot of time to digest, and then spent a lot of time to understand, understand everyone’s words and actions. Slowly, I started to understand what everyone was criticizing about me personally. The moment that I chose not to say anything, I lost that window of opportunity to reason with everyone. So I was wrong, from the very beginning. 

At that time, I wasn’t yet able to clearly understand the entire incident, to understand everyone’s feelings, nor did I know what kind of responsibility I had to carry as a public figure. Thus, I missed that opportunity to communicate with everyone, and wasn’t able to withstand the responsibility of letting these antagonizing feelings grow. Now, I can clearly recognize that throughout this year, this criticism that everyone had against me of “Idol Who Lost Its Voice”, was correct. During this year I reflected upon this repeatedly, as a public figure, I have to not only improve myself within the boundaries of my profession, but also have to carry the social responsibility that comes with my influence. To influence those who like me, who follow me, towards the right worldviews within my capacity. Even though my studio and I have already expressed some opinions through wb and interviews, but scars that this incident that brought such antagonistic emotions between different circles are still difficult to heal. 

No matter how late, my own problem has to be corrected. I would like to express my first comment: Xiao Zhan, would like to apologize for “losing voice” towards those who have been affected by this incident. This is my first responsibility towards the public, face the problem and admit my faults. 

Also, I would like to use this opportunity to speak with my fans. This is my second responsibility. In one of my interviews last year, I have said, I do not really agree with “managing” my fans (some celebs in China have hired people to manage fan groups in order for them to behave in certain ways for their purposes. Antis tried to spread the false rumor that XZ also had those people and that they directed their fans to start this mess), because everyone is an individual. No matter my studio nor myself, we do not have the authority to “manage” them like some would manage workers in a company. Afterwards, I reflected many times, maybe I cannot use the word “manage” to define my relationship with my fans, but I do have the responsibility to “correctly influence, and actively advocate”. So today, I would like to tell my fans, everyone has the right to like or hate something, and it should be respected and allowed within their own space. Of course this right should be reasonable, should not hurt anyone else, and remain within the boundaries of the correct values and norms. I hope my fans and friends can understand that no matter which profession, no matter what age, one’s own preferences or actions should not cross the line for one’s professional ethics or disrespect basic principles. 

(Here he is referring to reports of teachers using his name in class or asking children to say his name to cheer for him. This is a problem that occurred also with other celebrities in China, and for which he has already expressed himself previously.)

No matter online or in real life, everyone should be responsible for their own words. I also hope that we are not represented tags like “xx’s fans”, that we do not set this as the basis of where we stand on a topic nor do we let this determine what’s right or wrong. Everyone have their own hobbies and interest, respect everyone’s choice and freedom of speech. No matter whether they like me or hate me is their own right. Passion, this should be a source of strength to everyone, I do not wish for it to consume or hurt anyone. Perhaps I cannot change this kind of environment, but at least for you and me, today is a new start point. 

At last, I would like to talk a bit about myself. Ever since I came into this field, until today, I have always been defined by some tags. But the reason why I originally stepped into this circle was my passion for performance and music. And this is why, I will keep working on becoming a better actor and singer. The sudden criticism of “having lost voice” made me realize that, other than what I have always focused on professionally, I have to also be able to carry the responsibility of a public figure and an idol. I was born in a normal family in Chong Qing, and have lived a normal life, like many other people, for more than twenty years. Today I will also use this opportunity to apologize for the words I have said before as a normal person (I’ve already talked about it here), for the people I have inadvertently hurt. As I work hard on studying to become a better person, I will try to become a better “public figure”, so that these two Xiao Zhan can blend in together, for a better self. 

This past year, no matter big or small, I have to be responsible for the incidents that happened because of me. I can demand this for myself, but I have no right to force it on other people, so I can only hope that those who really like me can really listen to me: please be a bit more reasonable for things outside of personal preferences. Live a healthy life, put more time and energy onto one’s real life, and less on the senseless fighting behind fake IDs and unreliable online world. Only to become a better self. 

(Here he’s referring to an online fight that an anti called 晨小晨 started. I’ve already explained a bit here.  #微博管理员回应晨小晨事件# )

Sorry for any grammar errors, this post was really long to make and I didn’t proofread. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to translate the entire thing for overseas fans since you don’t understand the entire context, and because I wanted my wb records collection tag to be complete, I felt I had to... and I got carried away trying to explain everything. Tried to summarize it as much as I could.

As a fan of Xiao Zhan and also an AO3 user, I would still like to apologize for how this bullshi*t ended up disrupting respectful and peaceful users of AO3. The Untamed tag did not contain hate fics before all of this happened, it is unfortunate that a place where there used to be only love, ended up being tainted by antis and haters.

To the anonymous person who asked me a few months ago if I supported bjyx, this is my answer: You have the right to like whatever you want within your own corner, as long as it doesn’t bother anyone else and isn’t against basic principles. I ship WangXian as characters from a novel, but I have never liked RPS as a principle. 

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Hi, I know you’re a fan of namjoon so I wanted to ask your thoughts on this ring thing? I’m kinda new and assumed all these namjoon is married with kids stuff were a joke. But some people seem to totally believe that. I mean where he’d get the time to see a partner and kids is beyond me but who knows? Anyways I was looking at some of their recent pics and he doesn’t wear it all the time - which if it was a couples ring - wouldn’t he? I thought maybe he would only wear it if they were appearing on Run or Korean shows, but he didn’t have it on for either of the new shows they’ve been on recently, as they may not have been as widely watched. I mean I guess it’s none of our business - but I’m trying to rip of my delulu hat for making me think Seokjin gave it to him 🙈

Hi anon, I hope you don’t mind that I’ll combine my answer for you with my answer to another ask since I feel like they fall into the same kind of category, as in people taking things too far and/or blowing things out of proportion. And, coincidentally, both have something to do with rings.

I’ll start with your question though and give you another example that followed a very similar trajectory as the omg namjoon is married with kids because ring narrative/theory. Some months ago, Namjoon posted a few pictures on twitter and among them was a picture of him with another guy wearing a green sweater. His face though was covered. At first ARMY didn’t think much of it, but then, eventually, someone started a joke that “remember that sweater Joon wore for BV4? The guy is wearing the same one, what if that's his boyfriend?” and it went viral.

It started out completely harmless with hundreds of positive and funny tweets made in good humor, no one taking it that seriously knowing that we’d never find out even if it were true. But, as the jokes started to simmer down, everyone had their laugh, the next wave came in and this one decided that this isn’t a joke at all but serious matter. Quickly this harmless fun turned into a witch hunt of “ARMY” trying to figure out who the guy might be, if he is Namjoon’s mysterious friend that once sent him a coffee truck with custom drawn designs on it, perhaps the same one with whom Namjoon already once posted a picture sitting on this garden porch swing type thing, some even trying to prove that the guy is either Seokjin (in which case, what would be the need to cover his face?) or Florist Isaac whom they met during that one RUN episode.

So, very quickly a few idiots turned harmless fun into something almost malicious and got into fights with ARMY who were trying to tell them to stop.

The ring thing followed a similar story. It was once a harmless joke based on the fact that Namjoon wants to have kids one day, so some made jokes about what if he’s already married but we just didn’t know etc. But very quickly that got out of hand as well, going as far as people claiming the little girl in his pictures which he posted around his birthday or something is his daughter (even though it was said it’s probably the child actress from BTS WORLD) and that him making jokes (during a BangtanB while trying on glasses before their MOTS7 press con) about his child being able to read/write hangul at a very young age wasn’t jokes at all but solid proof of the fact that he is married with a child (despite the fact that he would’ve had to have gotten married and his wife pregnant not long after their debut for the timeline to even work out somehow which makes it seem even more ridiculous). This even went as far as people spamming the comments during this vlives with questions about it, flooded his selcas on twitter with questions and “jokes” and, again, attacked anyone who told them to stop.

In all of this, watching it happen from the sidelines as someone whose bias is Namjoon, I was confused why these particular rings (which I don’t even think were the same ones each time) caused such a reaction. The members have all worn so many different rings over the years, on all fingers, sometimes even like eight at the same time, and yet it wasn’t until 2020 and their KBS interview after their first BBH100 #1 that things went bonkers. All because Namjoon decided to take the ring off before they started filming or something.

In all of this I see two things that make me wonder:

When would he have the time to find a girl (since same sex marriage is not a thing in Korea) with whom he would have enough time to befriend her, trust her (considering who Namjoon is, that one is a major thing), fall in love, date and be together for a few years, and then get married? From Seokjin we know they have maybe two or three days off a month and work at least ten hours a day on their BH regulated schedules. Add to that the time they spend in the studio working on music outside of schedules, gym time, a few hours of sleep, and perhaps a few scarce hours of free time to (in Namjoon’s case) go to a museum or ride his bike, does that really leave enough time for romance (with an outsider) that leads to marriage (and a child)?

Is age 26 at the height of their career really the time for marriage? Even more so when you are someone like Namjoon, the leader of the world’s biggest group with more responsibilities than we can likely imagine as outsiders. Sure, he said he wants kids, but he can still have those in his thirties, he can also get married in his thirties, after all, life does not end once you hit thirty despite what some teens believe.

Lastly, I actually think that if it were true, Namjoon, or really anyone from the hyung line, would be the ones who wouldn’t have to hide it, at least not when compared to the maknaes. You could argue that “it would threaten their career” but would it really? Perhaps if the ring were from a man (some namjinists did make jokes that it’s like his promise ring from Seokjin or whatever, but it was all in good fun, nothing more than that), then yes, but connected to a woman? That one member from EXO also came out and said he’s getting married because his fiancé was pregnant and all it did was cause a few fansites to close and a handful of people to “protest” in front of the SM building. 

Little correction about my comments about that EXO member, though even with this my point still stands:

From anon: Re: your last post about namjoon’s rings! I agree with everything you said but just a small correction. I’m not an EXO stan but it wasn’t just a a few “protests” or fansites closing. From what I read online, he his fiancée and later wife, and his child were harassed, threatened and stalked to the point where he enlisted early just to give his family some relief. We all know there are people like this in every fandom and I know BTS would be aware of these things, so they’ll be extra careful.

Would there be delulus like this who’d go crazy if Namjoon were to say “ARMY, I’m (getting) married”? Of course. Would it ruin BTS’ career? I seriously doubt it. Do I think Namjoon would actually come out and say it if it were the case? No, but not because it’s bad idol etiquette or because BH wouldn’t allow him, but because people are insane and who knows what they would do.

It’s the same with times when people argue “I wish X ML members would just say he has a girlfriend so the ship wars would end” without taking into consideration the girl’s safety and the fact that a partner different than the one X member is shipped with has never been that big of an obstacle for some before. Just create a conspiracy theory about the company forcing this upon them and voila problem solved. We’ve seen that before when the tattoo scandal happened, and people thought JK might be dating that tattoo artist and therefore it would mean he isn’t in a relationship with Jimin or Tae.

Whatever happens in the members private lives, it is safer for all parties involved if it stays private, even more so if their romantic partners were non-idols, or non-celebrities, or another member.

Now onto the second ring question:

From anon: I am a young army and I am slowly losing my bearings. I've seen Vlive S, H and V. Many say it was a Tk*ok day (?) And all three emphasized it, and the V even wore the friendship ring for Jungkook. Is it true? I don't understand anything about it, I don't see it. After the last BTS interview on TV, I thought Vmin are best friends, not Tk*ok. I thought V said he didn't want Tk*ok and yet he was so happy during Vlive because it was Tk*ok day? Help!

Now this one, I was curious if we’d get an ask about this, even more since, if you’re a reader of our blog, you likely already know what I’m going to say.

Let’s start where you usually do—at the beginning. The day of the vlive coincided with what T*ek*okers have decided on is T*ek*ok Day, based on how supposedly some years ago this was the day Tae and JK named their subunit like this. I tried to find where exactly this happened, as in in which piece of official content, but I couldn’t find anything except for a screenshot. Anyone have a clue or a link?

Side note: T*ek*okers love using the “ship” naming as proof that not only are they real but also proudly showing it off by giving themselves a name but continently forget that they are not the only ones who gave themselves subunit names. After all Jimin and Namjoon named themselves MiniMoni, or Yoongi and Jimin who are MiniMini, Namjoon and Seokjin calling themselves RJRJ last year, or that one vlive with JK, Jimin and Seokjin where they also put together their names the way you build ship names. At the end of that vlive Tae, thanks to come prompting from the chat, named their trio vsope, so does that mean they are a romantic ship now too?

If you were watching that vlive as it was happening, and decided to look at the chat, then you know what was happening. For those who did not, basically the chat was flooded with comments about T*ek*ok Day, asking where JK is whom Tae loves, where his boyfriend JK is, congratulating Tae for T*ek*ok Day etc. Basically shippers took their shipping into a space where it doesn’t belong, into a space where the members can see it, and therefore purposefully broke one of the shipping rules (I even saw some tweet about how they were proud of themselves for literally spamming the chat with T*ek*ok comments which is so wrong, and I mean that regardless of which ship we talk about). In between those were the usual other comments like speak English or say hello to XYZ or say XYZ in whatever language, and very few comments that actually reacted to what the members were doing on screen. Like when Tae said he didn’t shave, instead of telling him that it’s fine, which it is, it’s his face after all, some decided to tell him he should shave more often, basically telling him what to do, which he saw and read out. Great job.

But all the madness came to a “climax” when Hobi was reading comments and among some other ones read out T*ek*ok, just the word not the T*ek*ok Day ones, and unfortunately we all knew he wasn’t reading out the Korean word for Thailand, which sounds the same though it is spelled a little differently. In that moment all hell broke loose. Focus cams of Tae’s facial expression in that moment went viral among shippers, most of course claiming he looked so happy, while other non-shippers claimed he didn’t look happy at all. It’s a micro moment so I won’t get into it, who knows what Tae thought in that moment and what his facial expression meant and if it even had any connection to the word and Hobi reading it out loud at all.

Because he read that comment, Hobi was basically crowned the new leader of the T*ek*ok shippers (I thought that role already went to Jimin?) and twitter basically had a meltdown.

As for the ring, I know this is something a lot of ships have, with romantic connotations according to their shippers, so I was curious how these rings supposedly look like in T*ek*ok’s case and if they even match the ring that Tae wore in the vlive. If it would, fine, if not, well…

If it’s not clear from the picture, the “supposed couple” or friendship rings are very delicate and thin, and sure enough I did find a lot of pictures in which both Tae and JK wore them, usually at different times, I will admit that. But the ring Tae wore during their vlive recently was much thicker and had some kind of design on it, therefore it’s a completely different one. Sorry. Why he wore it, if he bought it for himself or received it from someone, what emotional connotation to may or may not have, those are things we won’t know anything about unless he would tell us, so there's no point in speculating.

“Many say it was a Tk*ok day (?) And all three emphasized it” now this is curious to me since I watched the vlive as it was happening, and I didn’t see that at any point in the vlive. Sure, Hobi read that one comment, but if 95% of comments were about that, I wasn’t even surprised by it. Perhaps he thought that it would get people to stop? Perhaps he just read whatever comments his eyes landed on? Perhaps something else entirely? We have no way of knowing it so there is no point in trying to fixate on it. But besides that, they were talking about many other things and having fun making their smoothies, decorating them and just having a good time together with each other and with ARMY. 

So, this way of presenting the vlive basically comes down to shipper perception, confirmation bias, and simply, almost, rewriting history.

Rings do not determine who your best friend is (according to a quick google search, wearing a ring on your index finger simply means friendship or self-esteem/authority), after all many of the members have rings either from each other or ones that match, like Namjoon buying Jimin a Cartier ring for his birthday a few years ago which Jimin proudly wore since it’s really pretty, or pink and blue rings (there are several different ones, actually) that Namjoon has worn with Seokjin in the past (which fits into the Namjinist pink and blue agenda), or the rings Jimin and JK have together according to their shippers, and many more. Jimin and Tae have a whole plethora of matching jewelry in form of necklaces, rings, bracelets, even contact lenses (as in wearing one of each pair to match each other), some which were chosen by their stylists and others they bought themselves for themselves (which are all conveniently “forgotten” by those who ship either big ML ship). Though we’ve seen that even with clothes given by their stylists they were still the ones to choose their own accessories, like Namjoon choosing a pair of glasses from a whole box of different ones, or the members choosing rings from two big boxes before going on stage.

Tae himself said, on multiple occasions across multiple years, that Jimin is his best friend, even his one and only best friend, and that he’s the one he likes most which he even proclaimed on national TV. As long as Tae doesn’t say that this has changed in the last, what, two weeks and suddenly JK is officially his new best friend, those who claim otherwise are basically nothing but shippers pushing a narrative that willfully ignores Tae’s own words. Just like they ignore and twist his Weverse comment about how T*ek*okers should get out of their imagination. What doesn’t fit is ignored or adjusted until it does fit.

Lastly, sure enough, Tae really was happy during that vlive but I’m fairly certain (though neither you, them or I will ever know for sure, we’re not in Tae’s head) it had absolutely no connection to T*ek*ok Day, something shippers created and not Tae and JK themselves, seeing as Tae has been in a very good and happy mood for a few months now. Whatever makes him so happy, I truly hope it’ll continue making him happy and I wish shippers (and solo stans) would stop trying to force a reason (which fits them) upon his emotions.

I know it’s easy to get confused by how loud shippers are online, especially as young ARMY (in this case both ARMY who are young age wise but also young in the sense of being new to the fandom), but shipper opinions, in many cases, are just noise, and also noise twisted and skewed a certain way to suit them. If you kept to OT7 spaces on the day of that vlive, no one really paid attention to the ring, most were annoyed by and furious at the shamelessness of the shippers in the comments, and tried to just focus on how fun the vlive was instead.

[johaerys-writes]

Fandom: The Song of Achilles

Pairing: Achilles/Patroclus

Chapter 13: I Would Know Him of High-Flying Birds is up! The boys’ reunion in Skyros, from Achilles’ POV :)

Read here or on AO3! Read from the beginning

The white fabric of Achilles’ dress snapped around his ankles, and the petals on the flowers of the garland around his neck rustled as the wind blew over the plains and jagged hills of Skyros. It whipped up the dust of the long and narrow track field that had been prepared in Poseidon's honour, sending it flying in swirls above the ground.

The celebrations had been going on for most of the day, with prayers and sacrifices to the god. The priests were now burning leaves in the lit braziers by the temple, and blessing each runner that would take part in the race. Young boys, no older than Achilles himself, their dark skin gleaming with oil, their hair oiled and bound; they all knelt before the priests now, waiting to be blessed with the god’s favour.

Achilles envied them. It wasn’t too long ago that he, too, was competing in festivals like these. The thrill of his victories had always been exhilarating, even when anticipated. Yet now he was watching from the sidelines, standing amongst the maidens, concealed under layer upon layer of fabric. Other men, lesser than he, had a chance at competing, at showing their worth, while he was safely hidden from view.

The acid thought did nothing to improve his mood, and the day was still young.

The sun hung bright and hot in the middle of the sky, while the priests still said their prayers. Sweat had started to bead on Achilles’ forehead, despite the chill breeze that was blowing. The maidens were supposed to dance in honour of Poseidon after the trials were over, but Achilles had already had enough. As soon as the race started, and the sound of the runners’ feet tapping the hard packed ground mingled with the music from the lyre and the cymbals, he slipped away, unnoticed.

The shade underneath the thicket of pine trees surrounding the stadium was thick and cool, and the cliff beyond that was empty and quiet, overlooking the Aegean that glittered blue and gold in the distance. He pulled the scarf from his hair with a sigh, and let the breeze comb through his hair. It brought with it the scent of saltwater, of fir and pine, of wet sand. It was a scent Achilles had come to know well, in the months he had stayed in Skyros.

It was almost months now. While he had been on the island, the moon had already waned and waxed once, and was slowly moving through the next cycle. Close to two months that he had spent there, without Patroclus.  

The days flowed by in a never ending stream, the one blending into the next until he couldn’t tell them apart. His daily activities felt like chores to him. The walls of the palace were a prison, his women’s clothes the ropes that tied him there. His appetite was all but gone, and it was becoming harder and harder to find the will to join the girls each morning, knowing that Deidameia would be among them.  

He was wasting away.

The realisation left a sour taste in his mouth, a bitterness that was steadily boiling within him, seeping into his bones. The war chiefs of the Greeks would all have gathered in Mycenae now. Perhaps they had already set off for Troy with their armies, while he was there, dressed in women’s clothes and pretending like he had no worries other than spinning wool and practicing his dancing. They would all talk about him, wonder where he was. They would talk amongst themselves, about the one that was born to be the greatest warrior, the one destined for battle and glory unmatched by any hero who had ever lived, yet when glory had called, he was absent.

Achilles had come to terms with that. He had. He had accepted it, because to go there would mean taking Patroclus with him, placing him in danger, having him fight in a war he did not care for. It just wasn’t time yet; Patroclus wasn’t ready, and neither was he. There will still be wars to be fought, his mother kept telling him, and Achilles believed her. He would have a chance to claim his birthright, when the time was right. Both for him, and Patroclus. And for now, they would both be safe, away from it all, together.  

And yet.

They were not together. Months had passed, and Patroclus still hadn’t come.

The thought was poison, eating away at his insides. His mother had promised, she had given him her word that she would tell Patroclus where he was. Yet the days kept flowing by, and Patroclus hadn’t arrived. His mother would have kept her end of the bargain, he was sure, but for all of Achilles’ wishing and hoping and waiting, no ship had reached the small bay below the palace.

What if something had happened to him on his journey? What if he’d been hurt, or worse, while trying to reach him?

Achilles’ hands tightened were they rested on his forearms, stomach twisting with unease. Patroclus would come. Achilles was sure of it. He was well, and he would come, and they would be together once more. No other possibility could exist within Achilles’ mind, there was no place for anything else. Patroclus would come because… because he had to.

It was a childish notion, yet Achilles felt no shame for thinking it. They were meant to be together. After Patroclus came, nothing would ever come between them, ever again. Achilles would make sure of it this time.

The sound of approaching footsteps made him tense. He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.

“Pyrrha,” Deidameia said quietly. Almost timidly. She had been that way around him ever since… that night. Achilles did not want to think of it as more than ‘that night’. It was enough to remember it had happened at all.

His fingers balled into fists, and he forced himself to relax them. “You don’t have to call me that here,” he replied. “There is no one around to hear.”

She came to stand beside him, her footsteps muffled by the dry grass beneath her feet. She looked out into the sea, and the languidly moving shadows from the canopy of leaves overhead carved harsh lines across her features, hiding her expression from him.

Achilles looked away, blocking her from his vision.

“It never hurts to be cautious," she said. "Does it?”

Achilles made no reply. Deidameia took in a breath, then slowly let it out. At times, it seemed to Achilles like she held back her words when he was around. Her behaviour around him had changed. She was no longer pouting and stomping her feet when something displeased her, nor did she laugh and jest with him, or ask to braid his hair. She would sit quietly beside him and listen when he played the lyre, but her dark eyes had a forlorn look in them now, like he was far away from her even though he was right there. When they spoke, their conversations were short and tense, hanging in midtones.

Deidameia had changed, that was sure. But then again, so had he. It was a new and unfamiliar thing for him, this uneasiness that spread within him whenever she was near. He would look at her hands, and remember how small they had looked when illuminated by the shifting light of the candle in his room, how cold they had felt when they had been on him. She would practice her dancing, and he couldn't help but remember how she had looked when she had slipped free of her nightgown and lain beside him on his bed. She was small and thin like a child beneath the layers of fabric of her dress, fragile like a doll. Achilles had been scared to touch her, at first. She had insisted he hadn’t hurt her, though he was quite certain he had. He had seen how her brow had furrowed, how her teeth had left marks on her lips when she’d bitten down on them, how she had held her breath. She could not have liked it.

But then again, neither had he.

“You’re so quiet these days, Pyrrha,” Deidameia said shyly beside him. She was fidgeting with the flowers on her garland, picking at the velvet petals.

“So are you.”

She glanced up at him, surprised. She averted her gaze when their eyes met, her cheeks growing a flushed pink. “Yes, but…” She worried her lip, “You hardly speak to me anymore.”

“Only fools speak when they have nothing to say.”

Achilles hadn’t meant for his words to smart, but Deidameia winced as if he’d cut her with a whetted blade. She turned away from him, her small hands balling into fists at her sides. “I am your wife,” she said with a trembling voice. “Who will you speak to, if not to me?”

You are not my wife, Achilles almost said, yet knew the words to be untrue. He had agreed to be her husband, however little he had relished the notion. It was a bargain poorly struck; yet it had been struck. To not honour it would bring shame upon him, upon his name.

He let out a soft sigh as he uncrossed his arms and turned to face her, as was proper. “What would you like to speak of, Princess Deidameia?”

Hope kindled in her tear-filled eyes, and her crimson lips parted in a sharp intake of breath. “Anything,” she said, her cheeks flushing even more, “anything you would like. Prince Achilles.” She curtsied before him, bowing her head. The sun caught on the glossy black waves of her hair.

He stood straight before her, clasping his hands behind his back. It was not easy, finding a topic of conversation that would interest them both. But then his gaze fell upon the cyclamens and violets of the garland that hung about her neck, and he remembered how Patroclus and he had gathered them in Pelion, hung them and dried them and worked them into dusts and pastes under Chiron’s instruction. Patroclus and he always used to talk about plants and their uses, would make a game of coming up with as many as they could whenever they went walking beyond the olive grove, past the stream, through the winding paths of the forest. The sycamore trees would be turning red and gold now with the ripening autumn, their fallen foliage covering the forest floor in a thick carpet of leaves.

A pang of longing drove through him at the memories. How long would it be, until he could see Mount Pelion again? Until he could walk those same mountain paths, gather herbs and swim in the stream, sleep under the glittering rose quartz crystals of their cave with Patroclus by his side again?

Deidameia blinked up at him, expectant. Achilles drew a slow breath.

“Have you any knowledge of herbs?” he asked.

~

The sweet notes of the lyre drifted into the quiet morning, a timbre that vibrated through the half-empty dancer’s hall. It was followed by Deidameia’s laugh, sharp and fleeting like quicksilver.

“Do it again, Pyrrha!” She was sitting beside him, her dark eyes alight with excitement as she watched his fingers move along the strings. Her own lyre was in her lap, forgotten. “One more time. I wish to see it again.”

Achilles plucked the same notes, slower this time, then waited for Deidameia to follow his example. She had decided earlier that week that she wished to learn how to play the lyre as well as he did, and she had barely left his side since then. She had quickly reverted back to her old, highly excitable and tempestuous self shortly after their talk at Poseidon’s festival, yet her behaviour was still changed. The other maidens seemed to have sensed it; Deidameia hardly had any interest in spending time with anyone but him, and they all took care to keep out of her way- and the sharp edge of her tongue.

“Look at your hands, how beautifully they move,” she crooned, watching his fingers with a sort of hunger. “Phoebus Apollo himself must have blessed you, Pyrrha, when you were born.”

Achilles did not reply. He simply focused on the act of playing, letting the music thrum through him, brushing all thoughts aside. It always had this effect on him, the trilling sound of the lyre; it would ease away any tiredness or ache, it would imbue his mind with calm and serenity. There was no room for outside distractions when he played; that other people enjoyed it mattered not. The lyre that was now cradled in his hands was a well-made one, of carved walnut wood, smoothed and polished to a high shine, yet the sound was almost hollow, almost dull. The sounds that came from Patroclus' lyre were deep and clear; this lyre, however well-made, could never hope to compare.

“You try it now,” he told Deidameia when the piece was over. “As I showed you.”

Deidameia blinked, as if waking up. Her gaze was dreamy and distracted while she watched him play, yet now she straightened in her seat. She tossed her head back, sending the dark curls that hung down her back swinging.

“Like this?” she asked. Her fingers, when she placed them over the strings, were the wrong shape, despite Achilles only having shown her how to properly position them moments before. Her eyes flicked up to his own, dark eyes regarding him carefully through her eyelashes.

“No,” Achilles said, his voice only slightly tinged with exasperation, “that is not how I showed you.” He set his own lyre to the side and sat close beside her, guiding her hand. It was not so complicated a hand position, yet Deidameia seemed to be particularly slow in picking up his instruction. Patroclus had learnt it perfectly in less than a day. “This. This is how you do it.”

Deidameia’s arm brushed his own, so close were they sitting, and Achilles thought he felt her shivering, though the window behind them was shut and the coals were hot and glowing in the brazier. She plucked the strings one by one, holding her breath. The sound was harsh and strained, but at least the chords were somewhat correct this time.

“How about this?” she asked softly. “Is that better?”

“Yes, slightly. You need to practice more.”

She beamed at him, the colour in her cheeks rising to a bright cherry pink. “Oh, I will. I’ll practice day and night, until I do it perfectly. Then we can play together, and everyone will be so envious of our song.” Her head tilted towards him ever so slightly, a sweet floral scent wafting from her curls when she tossed them back. “You are the best instructor I could hope for, Pyrrha.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

Achilles simply stared at her for a moment in puzzlement. “Thank you,” he finally said as he returned to his seat. “If you say so.”

Deidameia seemed faintly disappointed at the distance that Achilles put between them. Yet before she could say anything, once of her maids appeared at the door. Deidameia’s quick, dark eyes fell on her, and the girl cowered at the annoyance that flashed in them at having interrupted the lyre lesson.

“Forgive me, my lady,” the girl said, curtsying, “but a visitor has arrived. He wished to speak with your father, but he is indisposed, so—”

“A visitor?” Achilles’ heart fluttered with hope at the words. The palace of Skyros hardly ever got any visitors, so it was unusual enough an occasion to make all the maidens in the hall abandon their embroidery and their skeins of spun wool to stare at the maid. Achilles stood up.

“Who is this visitor?” he demanded of the girl, who gaped at him. “What is his name?”

“It is surely nothing, Pyrrha!” Deidameia said hastily, abandoning her lyre and springing to her feet. “Nothing to concern yourself with.” She shot a fiery glare to the maidens, who averted their gazes and returned to their work. “One of my father’s friends that has come to visit, I am sure. Or perhaps a prince or king who wishes for his daughter to join my dancers. We do get those quite often, remember?” She set her small hand on his arm, in a gesture that Achilles vaguely registered was supposed to be soothing. He glanced down at her, and she gave him a small smile, which was only a little tense. “I’ll go see who it is. You girls should not alarm yourselves. I’ll be back shortly.”

While Deidameia was away, Achilles sat on hot coals. His hands on the lyre were stiff, his knee jerking underneath the fabric of his skirt. Could it be? Could it be that Patroclus was finally there? His stomach twisted with anticipation, a swarm of bees buzzing in his chest.

He would see him again. He would hear his voice again. He would touch, kiss, hold him again. The thought was enough to make his head swim.

Achilles anxiously searched Deidameia’s face when she returned to the dancer’s hall. Her air was different than before she had left; the skin on her forehead was just a little tight, her lips pursed, her hands clutching at the fabric of her dress where she stood. She noticed his gaze on her, and gave him a smile that little belied her thoughts.

“A very special guest has arrived,” she announced to all the maidens in the hall. “A scrumptious feast is being prepared for him. Of course, no feast would be complete without Deidameia’s women. We shall perform our finest choreia for him.”

While the maidens were casting off their embroideries and finishing coiling their skeins of wool, Achilles approached Deidameia to quietly ask her, “Who is this guest?”

She looked up at him, and he thought he saw a shadow darken her features. It was gone in an instant as her lips widened in a sweet smile and she said, “Oh, you wouldn’t know him.”

~

The maidens practiced their dance all morning, and most of the afternoon under Deidameia’s watchful eye. She was uncharacteristically thorough in her instruction that day, and more than once did she snap at one of the girls, even Pagona and Phrasikleia who were among the most adept, for not performing the steps correctly. She also refused to practice the paired dances with any one other than Achilles, though he had somewhat come to expect this.

“Of all my women,” Deidameia announced while the girls were putting on their finest dresses with the most lavish embroidery, their most colourful scarves, gilded bracelets and anklets rattling as they moved, “Pyrrha is the most graceful, the most fleet-footed. None of you could hope to match her.” She flashed him a bright smile as she took his hand, then stepped into the torch-lit corridors beyond the dancer’s hall.

The smell of cooking meat, spiced bread and the rich scent of wine being mixed with water in the wide brass bowls reached them as they made their way towards the throne room. As the princess, Deidameia was leading the procession, with the rest following behind her. Her dark, glossy hair was expertly curled and delicately perfumed; her red lips had been tinted scarlet with crushed rose petals; rows upon rows of golden bracelets and rings caught the torchlight as she walked ahead. Just before entering the throne room, she stopped, turning to face them.

“Do not enter unless I call for you,” she ordered, and left them in the half dark of the corridor.

From the gap in the door, Achilles peered at the crowded room. Rows of tables had already been set, laden with food and drink. King Lycomedes was there too, taking his seat at the highest table with Deidameia by his side. Servants were moving about left and right, bringing in yet more bowls of fruit and meat, platters of cheeses and steaming loaves of bread, or mixing wine and pouring it. It had been weeks since such a lavish feast had been prepared.

The question had never left Achilles’ mind. Who was this guest?

“Stranger from Pelion,” Deidameia’s silvery voice cut through the din and the chatter. “Never again will you be able to say that you have not heard of Deidameia’s women.”

A wave of her hand was their cue. Achilles stepped into the hall, carefully lifting the hem of his skirts as he walked. The soft notes of the flute, the lyre and the cymbals accompanied them as each dancer moved to position. Deidameia stepped around the table, coming to take Achilles’ hand. It was cold around his, holding just a little too tightly.

Achilles flowed effortlessly through the practiced movements. His feet tapped the earth in the rhythm of the cymbals, his arms lifted in time with the trill of the lyre; he tossed his head back when the flute reached its high notes, then ducked his eyes when it quietened. The dance Deidameia had chosen was one of the most elaborate, with each movement being mirrored almost precisely by each dancer’s partner. Deidameia smiled encouragingly at him every time their steps met, her eyes flashed every time they parted. She reached out to touch him, her beringed fingers skimming his wrist as they danced.

When the music drew to a close, she came to stand beside him, her hand still reaching for his. They curtsied and bowed their heads in perfect sync, then straightened. Achilles lifted his head.

Somewhere in the silently watching crowd, the sound of a single intake of breath.

Achilles’ heart ceased beating, the world around him coming to sudden halt. He knew that breath. He knew it, better than his own. He would know it in the dark, amidst countless others. He would know it in madness, in death, if the sun never rose and the mists of oblivion swallowed the earth. He would know it.

He would know him.

Achilles’ limbs moved before thought reached them. The crowd parted before him as he stepped, then walked, then ran, closing the distance between them.

“Patroclus,” he whispered, voice thick and strained, catching in his throat. His arms wrapped around familiar, slender shoulders, his nose sank in familiar dark curls, his lungs swelled with that familiar, comforting scent: jasmine blossoms, salt and sea, warm earth still wet with early morning dew.

Home. He smelt like home.

“Patroclus,” he said again, eyes stinging with tears, “Patroclus—”

“Pyrrha!”

The voice reached him as if through a cloud; the name unknown to him now, incomprehensible. There was no room for it, not when he had Patroclus in his arms. He drew back to look upon him, cradled his face in his hands. Honey brown eyes peered back at him in disbelief, gleaming in the light from the fires in the braziers. His brow was tanned and weather beaten, his plush bottom lip chafed from the wind and the salt. Achilles traced the outline of those lips with his thumb, drinking in the sight of him, the feel of him. He caressed the faint dark circles underneath his eyes with the pad of his fingertips, and thought of all the long and fretful nights they had spent apart, reaching for each other in their dreams.

“My mother,” Achilles whispered, searching for the right words. He had to tell him, to explain. “My mother, she—”

“Pyrrha!” Deidameia clutched his arm, pulling him away, at the same time that King Lycomedes asked, “Who is this man, Pyrrha?”

Achilles reluctantly peeled his eyes away from Patroclus to look at the King. The hall was empty now, void of dancers, musicians, servants, the crowd that had gathered. The king must have sent them away.

“No one,” Deidameia shrieked, still tugging at his arm. “He is no one—”

“My husband.” Achilles held Patroclus’ hand tightly, never letting go. “He is my husband. He has come for me, and now I may leave your court.”

Deidameia went silent. Her hold on him went slack, and she looked up at him with wide, uncomprehending eyes. “You cannot,” she said breathlessly. “You cannot do this to me.”

Achilles regarded her coolly. A distant part of him was surprised at how little her reaction mattered to him. He had agreed to marry her only so that he could see Patroclus again; now that he was there, there was nothing holding him to her anymore. He had honoured his end of the bargain. Nothing that she did now was any of his concern.

“Sir,” King Lycomedes asked Patroclus, his disbelieving expression mirroring his daughter’s. “Is this true?”

Achilles squeezed Patroclus’ fingers.

“Yes,” Patroclus said, and a shiver ran up Achilles’ spine upon hearing him speak. Gods, how he had missed the sound of his voice.

The next few moments washed over Achilles like the icy waters of a violent, rushing river.

You have betrayed me! Apathes!

We are married. You are my husband.

I have lain with him.

I am pregnant.

He stood, frozen and numb, before the onslaught of Deidameia’s wrath, her anguish, her defeat. In the midst of his shock, he felt Patroclus’ fingers slipping from his own, his sandaled feet padding to the door.

“Patroclus!” Achilles ran after him, leaving Deidameia and the old king behind. His mother, who had appeared at the first sign of the commotion, made as if to reach for him, but he swerved past her. He cursed when the hem of his dress caught around his ankles; he jerkingly tugged at the fabric as he followed Patroclus out of the room. “Wait!” he cried, and caught him by the arm.

Patroclus stood perfectly still. He did not turn to look at him when he said, “Let go.”

Achilles started at the emptiness in his voice, the detachment. Patroclus had never spoken like this to him before.

“My mother,” he uttered hastily, “she made me. She led the girl to my room. She—” He scrambled for words, yet the consonants and vowels tangled on his tongue. A sudden coldness crept within him, a strange sort of despair. It startled him, how quick it was to steal his thoughts away, to turn them to dust.

“I did it for you,” he said, helpless. “For us. I had to— I had to see you. She said that if I did as she said, she would tell you where I was.”

Patroclus was still not looking at him; it felt as if he never would. Achilles cupped his cheek, brought his gaze up to his own. He searched his eyes, his face, his expression for any sign of recognition, of forgiveness. “Patroclus.” His heart thumped painfully, clawing at his chest as he searched, and searched. “Please, say something.”

“You did it for nothing.”

Achilles blinked, frozen. “What do you mean?”

“Your mother did not tell me where you were. It was Peleus.”

The breath that had been gliding down his throat caught, dandelion puffs trapped in the thorns of a prickly pear tree. His voice sounded as if coming from far away when he asked, “She did not tell you?”

“No,” Patroclus answered, and the harshness in his tone was so sharp and foreign that Achilles winced. “Did you truly expect she would?”

“Yes,” Achilles whispered, and the sudden emptiness left him breathless. The magnitude of his mother’s betrayal stung. It was deep, bottomless; Achilles could not find where it ended, where it began. Had everything she told him been a lie? Had she lied about keeping him safe, keeping them both safe? Had the last two months been for nothing at all?

It did not matter now. What was done was done, but Patroclus was there. He was right there before him, yet looked at him as if he could not see him. Achilles counted his heartbeats as he gazed at Patroclus, searching his eyes, searching.

“Forgive me,” he said, his voice engulfed by the oppressive silence of the corridor. He reached for him once more; his palm cradled the curve of his cheek, fingers brushing the shell of his ear. Every fibre of his being ached for him. He could not stay away. “I did not want it. It was not you. I did not— I did not like it.”

Something in his words seemed to pierce the invisible veil that had settled between them. Patroclus looked at him then, really looked at him, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“There is nothing to forgive,” he whispered, and leaned into Achilles’ touch.

They embraced then, like they never had before. They reached for each other as if through a fog; Patroclus’ arms wound around his middle, Achilles’ fingers threaded through dark curls, unruly and dishevelled from countless days of the sea breeze combing through it. Achilles leaned down to capture his lips in a kiss, to feel him, taste him on his tongue. He held him close, drew breath from his lungs, drank him in as if he were sweet summer rain falling on dry, parched earth.

“I missed you,” Achilles said against his lips, breathless, reeling, “I missed you—”

“I missed you, too.” Patroclus clutched him fiercely, his voice steady despite the tears that were coursing down his cheeks. Achilles kissed his damp eyelashes, wiped the tears away with his thumb, his throat burning with the effort of holding his own back.

When Patroclus' tears had ebbed, Achilles edged back to look at him, at the outline of that beloved face. The trembling torchlight cast shifting shadows on his cheekbones, his jaw, the slope of his nose, the hollow of his eyes. Achilles traced them with his fingertips, slowly and deliberately, followed those same pathways he knew like the back of his hand. He did not need that feeble glow to see him; he would know him even without it, the way one knows their heart is beating even if they cannot see it, knows their blood is coursing through their veins even when they cannot touch it.

He would know him blind. He would know him in death. He would know him at the end of the world.

[travoltacustom]

HYPNOSIS MICROPHONE 4TH INTERNATIONAL POLL (DECEMBER 2020) Part 6: Fandom and the Future of HypMic

Thank you for your participation! These are the final results for the 4th Hypnosis Microphone International Poll. After months of work on this, we have estimates for general fandom opinions. Do you agree or disagree with the general opinions? Please let us know!

The results were held back from original posting as we were waiting to post for a month before the 2nd DRB finals (which is on Doppo’s Birthday this year.) My deepest apologies for how long this took to get out. We will be releasing these results with a section per day, with the end of these results showing the Japanese side.

Click the READ MORE to view the results.

PREFACE

The data collection for this poll received 902 votes to give us an indication of the demographic of those who consume Hypnosis Mic. This poll was open to English speakers, and thus, results may be considerably Euro/American-centric. The word ‘international’ has been used to refer to how fans are from many places around the world, but the poll may also refer to this group as ‘English-speaking’ etc. The Japanese poll had a smaller respondent pool with 400.

This poll received the most activity through Twitter, given that the series is most active on that platform. The poll was also posted on Tumblr, Facebook and the HypMic wiki. Commentary has been given on sections of the poll. These results will be available in full on from this account. The Japanese poll results shall follow about a week with comparison to this poll.

The poll was conducted from December 2020 to January 2021. This poll is UNOFFICIAL and none of the composers of this poll have any relation to King Records whatsoever.

This has been split into MULTIPLE posts due to the amount of data and limitations of tumblr.

PART 6: Miscellaneous Questions

Respondents were allowed to select up to 3 characters.

As we were processing these results, all characters have received some part of character development.

Did MTR deserve the 1st DRB win?

YES, Matenro did deserve the 1st DRB win: 73.1%

NO, Matenro did not deserve the 1st DRB win: 26.9%

Did FP deserve the Rule the Stage DRB win?

YES, Fling Posse did deserve the Rule the Stage DRB win: 83.9%

NO, Fling Posse did not deserve the Rule the Stage DRB win: 16.1%

Who do you believe will win the 2nd DRB? This was not a ‘who do you WANT to win’ question.

CANNOT DECIDE: 23.9%

Fling Posse: 21.7%

MAD TRIGGER CREW: 17%

Dotsuitare Honpo: 14.6%

Matenro: 9.6%

Bad Ass Temple: 8.4%

Buster Bros!!!: 4.7%

Who do you think will win BB vs DH, MTC vs FP, MTR vs BAT?

Dotsuitare Honpo VS Buster Bros!!!

Dotsuitare Honpo: 56.3%

Buster Bros!!!: 31.1%

Can’t Decide: 12.6%

Bad Ass Temple VS Matenro

Bad Ass Temple: 33.4%

Matenro: 50.8%

Can’t Decide: 15.9%

Fling Posse VS MAD TRIGGER CREW

Fling Posse: 44.8%

MAD TRIGGER CREW: 41.5%

Can’t Decide: 13.7%

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE IN THE MAIN PLOT OF HYPMIC?

With 902 responses, we decided not to do a table of these as we’ve already showed which characters respondents wanted to be explored more. However, we will show ‘interesting’ points that we’ve found.

INTERESTING RESPONSES

Exploration of the pre H-era Japan, what caused the war and what the war was like.

Exploration of post WW3 / H-era Japan with politics, society etc.

More female characters as either part of Chuohku, rebellion etc. Possible mixed gender crews

Revolution/rebellion against Chuohku. Referred to as “a SUMMIT OF DIVISIONS moment in canon” and later governmental reform.

Why was the Hypnosis Mic created and more on its development.

In depth explanation as to what happens after being mindhacked.

General insight into more than backstories but their daily lives and possibly romantic lives.

Introduction of more divisions / return of old characters to form new divisions

Another anime season; a proper adaptation of the manga

Why were the Yamadas ‘orphaned/abandoned/separated’ from Rei? Why did Ichiro hide what happened?

BB’s Mother/Rei’s partner - did something bad happen to her?

Jyuto’s past - how he used to be when his parents and partner were still alive.

Why did Jyuto interrogate Doppo?

Does Samatoki feel guilty for blaming Ichiro? Does he feel resentment towards Ramuda even though he figures that he was ordered to do this?

Jakurai’s history as an assassin

More on Yotsutsuji and Jakurai’s relationship

Jakurai and Hitoya’s friendship and how it ‘fell apart’

Who is the original Ramuda and why were the clones created?

Others finding out about the Ramuda clones.

Hifumi and Doppo’s childhood/highschool years.

How did Doppo’s depression get so bad?

The Dirty Dawg’s reconciliation

MAD COMIC DIALOGUE / Ichiro & Kuko / Samatoki & Sasara talking things out and addressing what happened

OTHER RESPONSES

Many responses of just “yes”, “):” “I’m” and “...”, but most importantly “I’m just kind of here for the ride”

There are many that are begging for angst, character death and “chaos”. Some have wished suffering upon certain characters but these will not be disclosed.

“For all of them to get therapy tbh”

“LGBTQ”

“A more complex plot”

“fun and crazy things”

Mentions of ships becoming canon: Hifumi x Doppo, Sasara x Rosho

There were accusations of HPMI being “sexist/misogynistic/not feminist enough” that went on to describe things that have already been addressed.

“I just wanna see Ichiro yelling “fuck you” to his dad”

Otome being Buster Bros!!! mom as well, or that she had some relationship with Rei.

“more test tube babies”

“More Doppo screams”

“(...) Whether or not Rei is worth saving or if I should just rip his tits off (...)”

“An explanation for (why) Rei is Like That”

“Rei vs the rest of the cast just because Mastermind boss battle”

“rei boobs”

“man I just hope they have a nice day. I would like to know about Kuko more :) hes funky and i think that's neat hope hes having a nice day :)))“

“More Kuko feet”

ADDRESSED REPONSES: Responses that have been answered/addressed during the 2nd DRB dramatracks to some degree.

Buster Bros!!! fighting with Rei

Jiro and Saburo no longer being dependent on Ichiro

Jiro and Saburo’s relationship being repaired / seeing eye to eye.

Jyuto’s backstory with the drug problem

How is Ramuda able to participate in the DRB if he’s being hunted down

Gentaro’s identity and brother/family.

Dice confronting Otome

Jakurai coming to Chuohku’s side

Hifumi’s trauma and who Honobono is. (Note: I hope you guys are okay after this one)

Sasara’s time as a gangster with Samatoki

Sasara/Rosho dependency

Nemu being freed from her mindhack/will she be freed.

Is Yotsutsuji still alive/comatose?

WHY DID YOU GET INTO HYPMIC?

Of 902 responses, 166 responses mentioned a character by name or song. Not all characters were mentioned but of the ones mentioned, each was mentioned:

Of 902 responses, 47 mentioned a division by name or song. Each were mentioned:

Fling Posse: 11 times

Bad Ass Temple: 9 times

Buster Bros!!! 7 times

Chuohku: 6 times

Dotsuitare Honpo: 4 times

Matenro: 3 times

Of 902 responses, 43 mentioned a seiyuu. Each were mentioned:

Here are some ‘notable’ reasons people got into HypMic:

“That's a loaded question buddy, assuming I went into this willingly. (...)”

“(...) I love how hypmic combined Male Idols, (Jojo) Stands, and a whole lot of angst in a project (with some fluff here and there).”

“Riou’s tits”

“Because I hated seeing it everywhere so I decided to learn about it before I hate it more. I've fallen deep into this hell.”

“ensemble stars made me v upset”

“I saw bald Ramuda plushie and wanted to know more about him”

“I saw Jakurai and went OOGA BOOGA.

“honestly i saw some fanart of doppo with the fattest and most juiciest ass ever and i was immediately interested, but unfortunately doppo cannonically has a concave ass and jakurai doing a brazillian butt lift on doppo’s ass cannot save it </3 i still love him though”

“Haha pretty rapper bois go brr”

“I'm gay”

“someone was hating on it on twitter and i decided to download arb”

“friend of mine told me to install enstars game, so i installed hypmic”

“I downloaded one of the songs without knowing what it was from for a two week trip into the buttfuck middle of nowhere Wyoming for a school trip in 11th grade and it’s one of the only things that kept me sane”

“Because Jakurai was a hot milf “

“Ice cream spoons”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To see the next part with comparison to the JP fandom, please follow us to the next post. To view ideas on the series’ production, go back to the previous post.

PREVIOUS | NEXT - NOTE: WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW THEN LINKED HERE

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

Of Gods and Men - Ch 3

Title: Of Gods and Men

Fandom: Supernatural / Vikings

Pairing: Destiel and Sabriel

Rating: Lemon

Tags: canon typical violence and gore, smut, angst, still some fluff

Summary: A Vikings inspired Destiel fic.

     Dean, Barbarian King of the lands, must make a crucial decision in the survival of his people. Leave the one and only land and life they have ever known, leave their home, or make the possibly dangerous journey across the seas to a potentially better life. Who knows what will await him across the waters, hope, future, maybe even destiny.

AO3 Link

Masterlist

*** My works are not to be posted on any sites without my permission! But comments and reblogs are love! <3 Please and thanks!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Three

     The hall erupted into cheers and toasts of great journeys to come as Dean and Sam left to speak more privately in his chambers. Once inside, Dean crossed the room, tossing his cloak to the side, and pouring two hefty goblets of mead. He handed one to Sam and joined him where he sat at the small table to the side of the room. 

     “Are you excited, little brother?” Dean asked with a smirk over his goblet, “Your wish comes true. We travel across the seas to new lands, just as you wanted.”

     “I am! I know this will bode well for us and our people, I have seen it in my dreams and I can feel it in my bones.”

     Dean chuckled at his excitement as he took a long drink. He had to admit, he was excited himself for their adventure and what awaits them across the seas. 

     “Brother, might I ask you something?” Dean hummed as he took another drink. “You spoke of a destiny, your destiny, that it waited for you in the new lands. What did the Gods show you?”

     Dean placed his goblet on the table at his side and leaned over, elbows on his knees as he spoke to his brother. “A life of peace and happiness,” he smiled, thinking back, “and as you saw in your dreams, me with children, so many beautiful children!”

     “I told you it was wonderful, brother!” Sam reached over and smacked a hand down on Dean's knee, “All I want for you is that happiness and love I saw in my dreams, that the Gods have shown you in this vision.”

     “And there is one more thing the Gods have graced me with.”

     “What is it?!”

     Dean sat back up and pulled down the shoulder of his shirt, and turned to show Sam the handprint scar that had appeared there. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell agape, hands reaching out but not touching. “Brother, you were touched by the Gods! This is a great honour!”

     Dean smiled and shook his head, “No, Sammy, I do not think this handprint belongs to any of the Gods.”

     “Then who?”

     “I believe I was touched by my destiny.” Dean watched as Sam finally reached out and laid his hand over the handprint. His hand was too big, it didn't fit. 

     Sam pulled his hand back but his eyes still remained fixed on the scar. “What do you mean, touched by your destiny?”

     “In the vision,” he began, placing his own hand over the scar, “there was a man, he told me to come to him. And when I saw him, when I looked into his eyes and heard his voice call to me, I have never felt such warmth in my chest. I believe that this handprint belongs to him, that he is the destiny that awaits me across the sea.”

     “You must find him then!” Sam nearly jumped up from his seat, “We must hurry and ride the seas to find this man!”

     “Easy, brother, easy,” Dean laughed, raising a hand to his brother, “give the men their two days' time, and then we will leave. There are preparations that must be made first before we make this venture. Have patience, Sam, the time will come.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     “Brother, I need to speak with you for a moment.”

     Sam followed Dean through the busy docks, trying desperately to hold his attention.

     “Sam, there are many things left to prepare before we depart today, make it quick.”

     “Gabriel.” As soon as the name was out of his mouth, Dean stopped walking and turned to Sam, giving him a knowing look. “I don't think he should come with us.”

     “Why not?”

     Sam sighed, “He is so small, too weak, I fear he will not make the journey to the new lands. We know not how long it will take to cross the seas, I wish not for the Gods to take him so soon.”

     Dean laughed, then turned to continue walking down the docks, “Be careful, brother, it sounds like you might be starting to care for the man.”

     He rolled his eyes at Dean as he followed after him once again, even though he knew Dean could not see it. “Brother, I beg of you, speak with Gabriel, convince him to stay behind and wait until we return to gather the rest of the people in the warmer seasons.”

     “I do not think I can.”

     “Why not? You are the king, he will listen to you.”

     “Oh, dear brother, this has nothing to do with me or my position,” Dean tossed a smirk over his shoulder, “as long as you are on that boat, Gabriel will be too. I do not think he wants to let you out of his sight, let alone see you off on a journey that could last a very long time. I do not think the Gods themselves could convince him to let you go without him.”

     “Dean, please I…” The two stopped again as Dean inspected some ropes being brought to the boats, and Sam shifted from foot to foot. “I do not think he would fare well if we should get caught up in a fight.”

     “Ah,” Dean turned to him, crossing his arms, “so you worry for him.”

     “Yes! I do not wish him hurt if battle should occur.”

     “Because you could not bear to see so.” 

     “Yes!” He nearly shouted, not even noticing the mischievous smirk on Dean's face.

     “Because you feel for him.”

     “Ye-” He stopped short, realizing what Dean had said and what he had done, almost getting caught in the trap. “I…”

     Dean softened his devilish smirk into a genuine smile, and placed both his hands on Sam's shoulders, “When will you admit it, brother? Just love the boy already. It's obvious you feel for him, and he for you. The Gods will smile upon your union.”

     Sam opened his mouth to either dispute it or agree, though Dean didn't get the chance to find out which before they were interrupted by just the man they were talking about. 

     “Sam! Sam!” He came running up and stood between them, though Dean noticed much closer to Sam than he. “I have more supplies for our trip to the new lands! Food, furs, and more weapons. Which boat should I put our furs in, Sam?”

     Sam looked down at him wide eyed and took a slight step to the side, “Our furs?!”

     Dean chuckled lightly to himself, then spoke in barely a whisper, “And my point is proven yet again.” Sam looked up to him and blushed, but Dean just continued to smile and slapped a hand on his shoulder as he spoke to Gabriel, “You and Sam will be travelling in the first longboat along with myself. You may load yours and Sam's furs at the front of it.”

     Gabriel nodded with a huge smile on his face, looked up to Sam once more, before running off to the boat Dean had told him he would be travelling on. 

     Sam turned a deep frown on his brother who was still smirking, “Brother, this is not wise, what if he gets hurt?”

     “He may be small, Sam, but he is as fierce a warrior as any other viking I know,” he slapped his hand down on Sam's shoulder again, stepping closer and staring intently in his eyes, “worry not about Gabriel’s safety and more so about getting him into your bed.”

     Sam scoffed and smacked his brother's hand away from him with a shake of his head. Dean laughed, hearty and full for the first time in a long time. “Do not try to deny it, Sam, and perhaps a little love will loosen you up. The man is already all over you, just let him do it with a little less clothes on.”

     All Sam could do was sputter out nonsense, eyes wide as he stared at Dean who only continued to laugh at his brother's obvious level of discomfort. After having his fun and a good laugh at Sam's expense, he turned and shouted towards the docks, “Ready the boats to sail, men! It is time to depart for the new lands!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

     The docks were crowded now with not only the vikings taking part in the adventure to the new lands, but with loved ones as well. Wives, husbands, and children all gathered to say one last goodbye before watching the boats disappear on the sea's horizon. One could never be certain of two things when going on such a journey. The first being how long they could be gone from their home every time they left, and the second was one Dean had still not yet come to terms with accepting. Everytime they left their familiar shores it was a danger, and no matter how hard he tried, Dean could not save everyone. Not always would every viking make it home to hug and kiss their loved ones again. So he always told those travelling with him on such journeys to make every last second count, for one never knows.

     Dean didn't have anyone to say goodbye to, no one waiting on him to return safe, with the hope of the Gods in their hands. And after seeing many a time the despair as their ships left the shores, and the devastation when they returned with less than they departed with, he sometimes thought he should count himself lucky that he did not have that weight on his shoulders. He had Sam, of course, but Sam was always at his side, through every journey and every battle. They never had to worry for the other and were always there to protect each other. But… despite all that, sometimes he did find that deep down, he did wish he had someone. But if what he was shown in his vision from the Gods was true, he would be finding happiness just over the horizon, or so he hoped.

     “Dean!”

     He turned to the familiar voice with  a smile, shaking off his thoughts, and walking to meet her. “Ellen, are you ready to take my place while I'm gone?”

     “Hardly,” she scoffed, “no one’s as fit to lead us as you. The people will be awaiting your return eagerly, as will I.”

     “Nonsense, you will be fine, Ellen. The people will follow your lead, I have great faith in your guidance.” 

     “I appreciate your optimism, Dean,” she crossed her arms, suddenly surrounded by an air of importance as she continued, “now, any last words of wisdom before you depart?”

     Dean shifted and matched her stance, both exuding the same level of strength and power. He smiled slightly to himself, he knew she was the right person to replace him in his absence. “Just one thing. You have enough food to last you all through the winter, and once the winter has passed, if the new lands prove to be bountiful, we will return and bring you all to our new home. But, if we do not return come the end of spring, you must lead the people and move on, leave Nazareth. If you stay it will be your death’s. Promise me you will do this if we do not return.”

     She knows what he means. That danger, that risk that comes with every journey away from home. If they do not return, what he really means is if they all die. But she nods, not saying much more on the matter, not really wanting to think of that outcome. “You just take care of that old goat for me, will ya?”

     They both looked over to a gruff, brooding man helping to load the boats. More like ordering other people to do it while he watched from the docks. He looked back to Ellen who was watching the man with a fond smile. “I promise I will take very good care of him, and bring him back safely.” She turned to him to barely smile back, give his arm a pat, then leave. He then turned back to the man and shouted, “Bobby! Are we ready to set out?”

     He turned to Dean, giving him a thumbs up, then hopped into the boat. Dean shouted once more for the men to say their last goodbyes and board the longboats. He joined Sam and Gabriel in the lead boat, and just as the edge of the sun breached the horizon and was fully in the sky before them, they all set sail, heading off to a hopefully better future and a very bright destiny.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Dean was sitting at the front of the boat, legs hanging over the edge. This day brought with it the fourth sunset since they had departed Nazareth, and still he was too excited to sleep. The rest of his men were huddled all around the boats, sleeping peacefully as they rocked gently on the sea. 

     As they slowly drifted through the night he let his thoughts wander back to his vision, to the mark on his arm, to the man the handprint belongs to, the man with the piercing blue eyes. His hand slowly wandered to rest over the mark, he could not wait to find this man, to see what splendors the Gods had in store for him not too much farther away.

     Shifting below him had him turning to look down at his men, finding Gabriel right below him, huddled under as many furs as he could find, but his small body was still feeling the chill of the airy sea night. He shifted again, tossing and shivering, teeth chattering in an attempt to find warmth. Watching him, Dean started to think maybe Sam was right, maybe this trip would prove to be too much for Gabriel, maybe he should have convinced him to stay in Nazareth.

     Another body shifted off to the side and Dean's eyes drifted to the noise. Sam, who had been sleeping closer to the edge of the boat, had now shifted closer to Gabriel. Dean could see that his eyes were wide open, more likely having been laying awake listening to Gabriel shiver and not getting much sleep for his worrying. A small smile crept across Dean's face at the thought of his brother caring this much for another.

     After a while, it seemed as though Gabriel’s shivering was getting worse, and just as Dean was about to jump down to do anything to warm the smaller man, Sam's hands reached out from under his furs and across to Gabriel. He grabbed him and pulled him towards his chest, settling him as close as he could against him. Gabriel opened his eyes with a squeak of shock, but upon realizing that he was being pressed into Sam's chest, he immediately settled and wrapped his arms around Sam, burying his face into Sam’s heat.

     Sam let go a fond smile as he too wrapped his arms around Gabriel and pulled him impossibly closer, resting his nose in the smaller man's hair, rubbing his hands up and down his back. Slowly he stopped shivering and his light snoring, though slightly muffled by Sam’s chest, was a relief to Dean’s and Sam's ears. 

     Dean settled back into his place on the edge of the boat, thankful that Gabriel was finally warm and comfortable, then looked down once more at his brother and the huge smile still plastered on his face, cuddling with Gabriel. Dean huffed out a light chuckle, “No feelings for him, my ass.”

     And Dean found himself laughing even harder when Sam, not moving an inch or even opening his eyes, whispered back so as not to wake Gabriel, “This may be your boat, but do not think I won't throw you overboard.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: More to come soon! If anyone wants to be tagged let me know, and if you know anyone who might like this fic please share it with them XD  Love you all <3

Tags: @thebridgekid