#idk i just feel very apathetic towards it

[erebius]

idk the ama looks like a lot of nothing to me with a couple of stupid unrealistic things that fans are just gonna retcon like we always do HAKSNSKNDND

[cosmicourple]

I am (not) sorry for showing this idea to the EPIC fandom,,

Timeloop A.U w/ Odysseus. Timeloop resets back to waking up to the Wind Bag opening every time Ody’ either dies or falls asleep after making it back home & after killing the Suitors bc hehe suffer short man 🤌🧍‍♂️.

so ye, obviously u got the usual Timeloop Angst + added trauma & all that,,,,, ye, ye, uh nu & also said Timeloop has ‘:3ly’ caused some lasting changes on Ody’ like more of his Demigod genes showing (+ added Demigod uncannyness hehehaha), scars of previous Loop wounds now appearing & staying on his body, body acclimating to have basically inhuman reflexes, strengh, all that Demigod jazz. Including: insane muscle memory.

Including the muscle memory of taking massive God Cock / Kinky Deity Stuff. Just- hear me out pls 😇

imagine, Ody’s’ currently on like, what??? The 997 Loop??? Kinda lost basically any and all previous remains of moral?, EXTREMELY FUCKING BORED- also kinda given up all hope of finding a way to break out of this living hell??? (So the usual stuff for timeloops). Now just trying to pass the now constantly resetting time??????? Has currently made it up to Thunderbringer & is feeling a bit less apathetic towards his crew plus just feels like switching things up from them dying again lol he’s very numb rn so:

decides he’s feeling for some ‘There Are Other Ways’ type activity (minus the attempted murder,,,, tho-), precedes to seduce Zeus n get whisked away to be bed, while crew is now being blown towards home, with a lot of shet 2 think about rn ggggfff but anyway & just when Zeus is smugly revealing his big ahh dick, he expects Ody’ to be wide eyed, maybe a bit horrified on “how is that suppose to fit????”, only to look down and. The mortal is just. Staring blankly (almost bored—) at his member, bc, he’s seen it before, taken it before, & at first, in those first few sexy encounter! Loops, it had been overwhelming, had felt rlly big & full inside of him,, but now???.

Ody’s’ body remembered the fullness, the stretch, the overstimulation, the ridiculous feeling of power radiating from it, matching who it belonged to hahaja- & now knew how to take it without nearly,,,,, any problem lmao.

it gets even more weird & a bit distressing 4 Zeus when he’s like “oooooookay- ehemanyways- I can still work w/ this & get the usual reactions” n starts doing the usual (to Odysseus ‘routine’) preparation n teasing. Is barely started when Ody’ silently huffs, still very bored, reaches out and grabs Zeus’s cock, lifts himself up towards the King of Gods while smoothly positioning said wiener :) to be right under his hole, & before Zeus can get a word out due to mental buffering (knew this bitch had balls but what—), he slides down onto his dick in one swift motion.

this has also happened w/ Poseidon. W/ both of them in fact, in Loops before :333333.

cue, the literal-out-of-the-Loop(s) crisis from Zeus :D🫶🫶🫶. (one of the many to be expected from everyone lolo)

,,idk I jst want feral man baffling dem Gods, & in general:

turning up the Monstertm to. 16.

(technically) cannibalising Deities :3.

looking at his whole crew dying like 😐.

trolling crew w/ Demigod uncannyness. Especially in serious situations.

using said Demigodness to fuck around, explore, be free & feral :D.

beat the shit out of Calypso.

beat the shit out of sea monsters.

doing the crouching cryptid pose, freaky yellow glowing eyes & all :3.

more murder.

other morally fucked stuff idk yet <].

[elsa-fogen]

hello lobotomy au - special delivery! PAIN.

it's even more depressing than i expected... shit. it makes ME sad. which, usually, doesn't happen.

this au is really fucking depressing.

"i'm not gonna post about this au any time soon" - she said and immediatelly posted something

okay, so, how this "surgery" affected the Trix

Stormy's now absolutely passive. she doesn't do anything on her own, doesn't talk, doesn't react. she's basically like a ragdoll - except the times when she's not. she has only two conditions now, 1 where you can do anything with her, 2 where you can't move her even with a fucking tank. nothing in between. What is going on in her hed tho is a complete mystery.

Darcy's doing little bit better. just a little bit. she still can talk, can do many things. she just doesn't. she's absolutely apathetic, and without guidence she can just… starve to death, lying on the floor near the full fridge, just because she can't make herself get up and do anything (I wanted to give her memory issues - that she can't make any new memories and wakes up thinking that the last battle with the winx was just yesterday, but i was told that lobotomy doesn't cause memory issues). she also almost doesn't feel any emotions. The only thing she feels - is rage towards people who did this to them, when she sees Icy crying. speaking of her…

Icy is lucky (or unlucky) to be the most functional one of the three. she can still walk, talk and react almost normally to her surroundings. she just has really hard time thinking anout literally anything. it's like her iq dropped from 180 to 40-50, idk. so, yeah, no plans for world domination in this condition can be made. she even has hard time planning her day. And, also, she now can't control her magic at all - anything she touches will be frozen, so she has to wear artifacts that don't let her use magic at all. But not only her magic is out of control, her emotions are as well. In my aus Icy usually doesn't cry at all. In this one tho... in this one she will cry for all her alternative versions, yeah. And, as a bonus, occasional epileptic seizures.

And the worst thing is - she DOES realise how much she changed, notices that things she used to do without thinking at all now are taking her way to long to do. And she sees how her sisters changed as well. And she hates herself, she hates the winx, she hates the light rock for doing this to them. But she can't just end her sufferings, although she was thinking about it, her sisters will not survive without her. so she keeps living. for them.

she found a way, she spends her evenings trying to live through the next day and making a plan in her notebook, she sets alarm clock for every step, she sends million delayed reminders to herself. she goes to bed very late, but at least her next day will be a little bit easier.

But... their life has another catch. Obviously, none of them can work, not with such conditions. Icy tried, but got fired in less than an hour. But they are getting only one pension - for Stormy. Why is that? Because Icy and Darcy have huge family savings. But they can't get to them - it's now too difficult of a task to do. Icy can't plan the whole thing through, something will go wrong and she will be lost. And Darcy can't even leave the house before losing last bit of motivtion. Even if she left, she would stop in the proccess without someone who'd tell her to continue. And they can't go together, not without Stormy. And with her it becomes much more complicated. Hell, they can just lose her somewhere. And so they have to just survive with what they got.

The Trix don't have anyone, except for themselves. Who will take care of Darcy and Stormy if something happens? Icy always would answer: I will. But who will take care about you, if something happens to you? Darcy and Stormy will, isn't it obvious?

she never thought, that something can happen to all of them at once.

[maxdibert]

Omg now I'm also curious about what you think about the characters' political spectrum. I think Severus would be a centrist and the type of guy who would say "facts above feelings". His worldview is very isolated in the books, he only focuses on how the world impacts him and what benefits him the most, so he would be pro worker rights, but I doubt he would take things that don't touch him, like feminism, seriously. Would he be an incel? Lol idk. Lily would be a typical liberal feminist. James and Sirius would be centrists or just apathetic, because why would they actually care about politics when they have it all, but they would pretend to be liberal to safe face and attract girls. Peter would be right leaning and probably an incel too. Remus...I genuinely don't know.

Hermione would be a liberal but I can see her becoming more leftist with time. Ron a liberal, same as Harry. Dumbledore would be a leftist but do nothing to change the system, just like in the books.

I'm not an expert so I'm curious what'd you think? Do some of my guesses fit?

It always amuses me when people frame Severus as an incel when canonically he’s always gotten along better with women than with men. In his household, his father—the man—was the negative figure, while his mother’s world seemed to be what interested him most. His first friend (and apparently his only real one) was Lily, a girl, and he also hung out with Petunia, despite them not liking each other. At Hogwarts, his safe space was still with Lily, a girl, while boys represented the negative aspects of his life: on one side, the Marauders, all men, making his life miserable, and on the other, his housemates leading him down a dark path. As an adult, as a professor, despite the comment he makes to Hermione, he’s always shown to be much harsher and more aggressive with boys than with girls. In fact, his antipathy toward Hermione is significantly less intense than what he feels for any of her male classmates. His paternal figure, Dumbledore, is a gay man, and the only coworkers we know he had a cordial relationship with were McGonagall (a woman) and Charity Burbage, with whom it’s stated they were “friends,” another woman. Then there’s Narcissa, who apparently knows where his shabby Muggle house is in his poor Muggle neighborhood, and with whom he behaves unusually gently, considering his usual crappy personality. That’s not the behavior of an incel, nor is it the behavior of someone who hates women. In fact, given his history as a victim of violence, with all that violence being perpetuated by men, it’s not surprising that he might feel considerably more comfortable with women, who have not been negative figures in his life but rather the opposite.

I don’t see Severus as a feminist supporter, because I don’t think he’s someone who actively participates in political matters. After his flirtation with the far right and the way that blew up in his face, I see him as someone who stays on the sidelines of such things. But I absolutely do see him supporting laws against gender-based violence, for example, because he was a victim of a violent household. I don’t see him going to protests, but I don’t see him opposing them either. Politically, I imagine him as more of a centrist who might occasionally vote for more progressive parties on social issues he considers fair, given his life experiences and working-class origins, but never getting involved in those debates or sparking discussions because he’s pretty burned out from his own past.

Lily is a self-insert for Rowling, so yes, absolutely a neoliberal white feminist, the type who’s all about “I love Hillary Clinton,” with a perception of women’s rights that only considers the problems of white European women and doesn’t grasp intersectionality or dissident feminism. The kind who thinks some people “take things too far” or who says, “I’m a feminist, but the real kind, the kind who doesn’t hate men,” you know? She’d never have voted for Thatcher, but she’d probably see her as an excellent example of an empowered woman, if you catch my drift. That kind of person. Maybe progressive for her time, but a total relic by 21st-century standards. I see her as the type who starts out with more leftist ideas in her youth but gradually shifts to the right over the years, although always supporting basic social causes that won’t fix systemic issues but make her look good in a conversation.

James and Sirius are the typical rich boys who don’t understand the struggles of the poor but think they’re “not like other rich people,” so they claim to have a progressive mindset. Sirius, for example, is the type to bash the right but then treat waiters like crap if they don’t serve him quickly enough at a restaurant (ahemKreacherahem), and he’d get really defensive if someone called out his problematic comments because “I stood up to my fascist family; I know what it means to fight for my beliefs.” Zero self-criticism because zero fundamental political awareness. James is a bit like Lily: “I’m progressive, but let’s not go overboard because extremism doesn’t lead anywhere,” which is a very convenient way of saying he supports workers having vacations but doesn’t want them burning down factories because “that’s not politics; that’s terrorism.”

Remus is the kind of guy who votes for social-democratic left-wing parties with union leanings but doesn’t say so openly at a dinner party and always presents himself as more moderate because he cares more about what people think of him than about his own rights.

Hermione is the classic progressive who seems very leftist within her circle and stands out because, surrounded by a bunch of centrist and neoliberal idiots, she might almost pass for a Bolshevik. But real Bolsheviks would treat her like a system lackey. She’d be seen as too leftist for conservatives and too conservative for the left. She also has a pretty questionable white savior complex and could use a solid dose of deconstruction and some reading on the issues of Eurocentrism and colonial leftism.

Ron is the guy who votes for progressive parties because his whole family always has, and his family does it out of the same habit, so he doesn’t even know what he’s voting for; he just does it out of inertia. And Harry? Harry is a neoliberal with socially progressive tendencies, but social issues only matter to him if they directly affect him. Plus, he’s a system loyalist because he ends up as an Auror, which is the magical equivalent of being an MI5 agent, so… On this account, we’re ACAB; sorry, not sorry.

Dumbledore is the typical guy who was a fascist in his youth and later joined some far-left party but still approaches it the same way he approached the far right: all or nothing. His political vision isn’t ideological in itself but entirely militaristic. He wants to achieve the objective, and he doesn’t care who he steps on to get there, so he’d actually make a fantastic Stalinist.

[bestworstcase]

Suddenly reminded of your remark in one of your essays about Lionheart being the token Faunus headmaster in the academy system, and something about… idk the irony of him being in Mistral, which you indicate is one of the most racist places for Faunus aside from Atlas. Just amusing cuz I never saw that take before.

not just irony, imo, i think it does a lot of thematic work for the faunus subplot

regarding the question of whether atlas or mistral is worse for faunus: while faunus are systemically disadvantaged in all four human kingdoms (and menagerie is politically marginalized on the international stage)…

in atlas/mantle:

jacques schnee, a virulent bigot behind closed doors, is at pains to present himself as a tolerant benefactor to the faunus in public; one of his conversational partners during the charity party in v4 is another businessman who pushes back on jacques’ covertly bigoted rhetoric by specifically citing class disparities between atlas and mantle and the reality that faunus in particular face a lack of opportunity that can’t be overcome by just being employed. this bit character isn’t an activist—he’s a businessman. that means these are mainstream, normative viewpoints in atlas.

mantle news media and law enforcement are apathetic to the disappearance of several faunus in arrowfell, but when it turns out that the man responsible is a political figure beloved by mantle’s human working class, his support evaporates. (there’s further nuance in that he acted under duress, but even his most enthusiastic supporters react to the news that he hurt faunus miners with horror)

robyn—also a beloved political figure to the mantelian working class—explicitly includes faunus and this does not diminish her support with humans in mantle whatsoever.

when racist grandma goes off in v8, her daughter tries anxiously to get her to stop and, importantly, nobody else in the crowd of scared / stressed out / angry people in mantle speak up in agreement with her.

when weiss slams a drunk guy into a dumpster for making a racist remark to blake, the drunk guy’s buddy more or less just goes “woah!” and then double-takes because is that weiss schnee—what he doesn’t do is react like he thinks weiss or blake was the one out of line.

in the CFVY novels, it’s revealed that velvet’s dad works for the atlas military and she’s spent at least some time in atlas with him, but she doesn’t feel any particular wariness toward people from atlas or assume that they’ll be racist to her until they prove otherwise.

ilia remembers her classmates at an atlesian prep school being very openly racist, which tracks with how weiss is when she arrives at beacon; these were, in all likelihood, largely the children of covert bigots like jacques—kids who picked up rancid attitudes at home and lived in a sheltered bubble where these attitudes were allowed.

SDC operates globally, so we don’t know where adam suffered that hate crime or what happened to the perpetrator

so, while atlas/mantle do have systemic racism against faunus and some individuals are quite bigoted on an interpersonal level, it plainly isn’t socially acceptable in atlas or mantle to be openly racist, because a strong majority of the populace in both cities seems to fall somewhere between neutral to supportive of faunus rights. given the “no faunus” sign the madame had in her swanky hotel a decade ago, this may be a fairly recent swing in public opinion.

in mistral:

the white fang is headquartered in mistral and the bulk of its operations seem to be focused there, suggesting that this is where the pain is sharpest; sun, who attended haven academy and isn’t exactly a deep thinker, scorns the group as a “cult” and “a bunch of creeps who use force to get whatever they want,” which is less an objective statement of fact than it is an expression of what the dominant cultural narrative in mistral probably is

mistral has sundown towns.

qrow is from mistral; his narration of the world of remnant faunus episode is laced with very clear unexamined biases even though his stance is generally pro-faunus—very much what you’d expect from a guy who grew up in a very racist environment (there are no faunus in the branwen tribe) and then learned better but never really did the work to unpack his subconscious aversion to faunus

lionheart is politically marginalized to such an extent that he’s able to plausibly use his impotence with the council as cover for his deliberate sabotage

during mistral’s prewar occupation of vacuo, faunus were enslaved in mistrali dust mines in vacuo as per the CFVY novels

in stark contrast to velvet’s indifference to atlas, she is terrified of mistralis and associates the kingdom with, specifically, sexually charged racist harassment; so while in atlas she undoubtedly dealt with microaggressions and the occasional open racist, her experience with people from mistral has led her to presume “virulent bigot” as the default.

at least some businesses are segregated even in the present. (and at least one of qrow’s informants is a regular at a segregated noodle shop, underscoring the previous point about his attitudes)

now obviously there are mistralis who aren’t aggressively racist and others who support faunus rights, the kingdom isn’t a monolith, but the details were given suggest that open bigotry is normative and socially acceptable; there are certain places in mistral where faunus risk being murdered just for setting foot there. mistrali faunus may not face such quite sharp economic pain as in atlas (because the systemic issues mantelian faunus deal with intersects with the rampant classism which harms everyone in mantle), although mistral also has steep class divides that would likewise fall harder on faunus than on humans; but it seems to me that mistral is, culturally, a lot more hostile to faunus than atlas/mistral with bigotry allowed to flourish out in the open.

and, a pit stop before bringing this around to lionheart: ozpin offers lukewarm vocal support to the cause of faunus rights and vague platitudes about “taking strides” to close the divide (which blake calls him on in remarkably sharp terms given the sheer amount of power he holds over her as her headmaster), but… he shames blake for hiding her cat ears rather than do anything about the racist bullying that goes on at his school; he singles out blake, clearly suspects her of being salem’s spy and makes implicit threats when she doesn’t cooperate; he jumps to the worst possible conclusion about lionheart but trusted ironwood without hesitation in v5 despite ironwood’s objectively much more alarming behavior; he gifted lionheart salem’s old tea-set. so ozpin is not… especially a good ally to the faunus even though he notionally is on their side.

which brings us to lionheart. why did salem choose HIM, out of all the headmasters or teachers she could have tried to convert into a spy?

she picked the one faunus—not just headmaster, lionheart is the only faunus faculty-member we’ve met so far. the faunus appointed by the ruling council of a notoriously racist council to be the headmaster of the school where a faunus student absorbed the message that the faunus civil rights movement is a violent cult.

in other words, the most vulnerable member of the inner circle, someone who would have been walking a precarious political tightrope under extreme pressure to be absolutely beyond reproach because anything less would have gotten him torn to shreds, figuratively speaking, by a hostile public; and as if that isn’t bad enough, ozpin didn’t trust him either. ozpin is extremely quick to jump to the conclusion that lionheart is a traitor, in contrast to his blithe certainty that taking the lamp to atlas after ironwood closed the borders and withdrew his troops from mistral right before salem attacked haven!!

raven asks lionheart what salem has on him. it’s this. it’s him being the token faunus headmaster with his hands tied by the council in front of a racist public that he knows will rip him apart if he screws up even a little, and allies he can’t count on to have his back because ozpin is weird about faunus too.

is it any wonder that he folded like wet cardboard when salem threatened him. ozpin thinks she was just so scary that she sank her claws into lionheart and deleted his courage but the reality is the man was working under enough pressure to turn anyone into a nervous wreck with or without salem putting her thumb on the scales, and she just… recognized that and took advantage.

[sunflower-cathedral]

Thank you for making that Stress post… it's been really bothering me how some people have been lumping her in with Iskall as if they're on the same level just because of that comment

I have to admit, I did have the same gut reaction of disappointment and betrayal to the comment that I think a lot of people had, in part because I did/do believe she's in a vulnerable position in all this, and was concerned for her safety given her radio silence.

And to be clear, it was an awful thing to say, but a single supportive comment posted from her Youtube channel after months of silence simply doesn't compare to the detailed accounts and evidence from Iskall's victims, including private evidence that was verified by the hermits, not to mention the video itself (which given how much he downplayed the allegations was as good as a confession in my eyes)

Idk I just think it's concerning considering how close they were professionally and personally, and ESPECIALLY considering many of Iskall's targets were women he worked with professionally…

I don't feel comfortable drawing conclusions when there's just so much we don't know right now. And I don't think it's for nothing that Kass said to keep Stress out of this in their statement, and that the hermits, even now, have kept all their criticisms focused on Iskall in particular.

I think those involved are trying to maintain her privacy in all of this, and I really do respect that, but I also hope she's ok, in every sense of the word.

no worries, and honestly all of what you said is exactly why I refuse to villianize or form an opinion just yet. I got crucified by some people on twitter over my disbelief of people villianizing her so fast and someone even made a tweet about me bc of it 💀

what iskall has shown in public from his 'I got cancelled' video, alongside everything he's done in private towards his mods and vh dev team, should really be enough for people to pause and actually ask: Is that actually Stress who's made the comment, Is Stress being manipulated and gaslit, and is Stress actively at risk of harm in her situation. if he's willing to do what he's done to people under his power, and so blatantly willing to play victim in a public video while blaming others and throwing everyone else under the bus, then I have no doubts he'd easily do the same towards his girlfriend if not worse.

and a lot of people also aren't aware or don't realize that she has 3 kids. it is so much harder to escape abuse with children involved. there's also the fact she's now lost a massive form of her passive income via wiping her channel clean. and while i wont discuss the reasons for this, I'm inclined to believe there's a chance she's being purposefully isolated. there's so many possibilities and different kinds of abuse she could be facing right now.

People are apathetic. there's a huge discussion that needs to be had around critical thinking, peoples inability to show emotional care towards sensitive situations like these, and just general apathy. the internet has become drastically crueler the past few years in fandom. The fact me asking people to *not support her* but at least not villianize her has been met with hate and gnashing teeth is really disappointing. it is not hard to look at the full picture. it is not hard to wait for stress to properly say something before forming an opinion. people have also come to me, just like you have with this ask but in dms instead, thanking me for my tweets/posts because they're afraid to say anything. and that's very telling. opinions like this should not be scary to post, and when I first made my tweets I was shaking super bad from anxiety haha.

and honestly? I've seen things so far that are like, people treating her worse than iskall. and at what point do you say the hatred has a pinch of misogyny in it. watching people celebrate her wiping her channel has been beyond disgusting, especially when it is a very very scary sign and hopefully the hermits are in some form of contact with her, though from what I've heard I don't have high hopes.

at the end of the day I wish a lot of people would realize the situation at hand. we don't actually know if stress made that comment in the first place and - not to go tinfoil hat on this but - they live together so he easily could've written the comment, and people could be playing into his hands just as he'd hope by reactionary hatred. Isolating Stress further by attacking her and villianizing her means that if Stress is a victim, and she gets out, she's less likely to speak up. in fact, she's drastically less likely to get out of the abuse if the villianizing hate is being shown to her/If she's seeing it herself.

remember to always think critically in regards to the full picture. never contribute to hate that can keep someone trapped in abuse if there's abuse happening.

[hikaaa-bi]

look, i like that people are interpreting lena’s behavior as her actually caring about her employees. it’s definitely possible but right now, it seems to me like that’s not the case.

i think that lena is just trying to do her job. that’s it. she’s an exhausted corporate worker who probably doesn’t get paid enough for all the shit she has to deal with, she’d rather be eaten by bonzo than make things worse by letting her employees get into trouble. she doesn’t want to clean up the mess they’re going to cause, she definitely doesn’t want to do more paperwork, my girl just wants to survive.

it’s clear that lena is not THE boss, she definitely has higher-ups who are going to blame her if something goes wrong in the OIAR. i think that’s the main reason why she’s being so careful. this is definitely apparent in the most recent episode, where she was more concerned about the computers being destroyed than she was about sam or alice getting hurt. of course, you could say that she doesn’t want to admit that she cares, but i genuinely think that she doesn’t care all that much.

i’m not trying to say she’s evil or apathetic or anything. i just don’t think she has any personal feelings towards her employees. she’s a very exhausted and likely traumatized woman, who is just trying to do her job. she has already had to deal with the externals herself and probably still does, she’s not going to let her employees run around and make things worse.

idk maybe i just like lawful neutral characters too much.

[emry-stars-art]

I’m wondering (and not sure if this has been talked about yet in a post I simply missed) about how Abram copes with Andrew’s physical affections (or lack thereof) in your lovely royal AU. With the history behind ‘pretty’ that you described for Abram in that last post, I feel like there is so much potential of him expecting to be touched, even before they are courting (but especially during/after), and wondering why Andrew doesn’t—especially once it’s established that he thinks of Abram as ‘pretty’. They are of different station so it would be so easy for Andrew to act entitled to Abram’s body like so many before, especially with Abram in a position where he’s basically serving him in some way. I wonder if it makes him relieved (due to professionalism/personal comfort at the very beginning) or anxious (due to having no ability to tell what is coming for him/later due to doubting if he is really wanted that way if Andrew doesn’t act the same as his point of reference) or a little bit of both for different reasons.

I imagine Andrew to be both a very tactile person and not necessarily so because he is so very aware of boundaries and only crosses them with invitation or purpose. I wonder how that translates here and how his touch plays into how Abram perceives him (and honestly there’s the whole part too where it’s something they have in common, trampled boundaries and bad associations and bone-deep understanding of such) or if they would ever have a conversation about that where Abram wonders about the curtesy of distance and space he is being given.

I’m like two seconds from passing out bc it’s pretty late here so idk how much sense this ask really makes but I’m having thoughts. I love your AU and your work and hope you have a wonderful day <3

YOU GUYS ALWAYS FIND THE MOST INTRIGUING THINGS TO EXPLORE I LOVE YOU (and your comments/etc, apostrophe-philosophy, are always a joy to read hehe)

(First: find the royal au writing masterpost here 💕)

I’ve been working on/thinking about this ask long enough that I’ve straight up forgotten if this was a thought I had when writing that first post (here) or if you brought it fully to my attention but we can safely assume it’s the latter so thank youuuuu for that truly. I love exploring Abram’s slow inch (and Andrew’s, but he’s had more time to get adjusted) towards finding a healthy relationship with touch 🥲 and oh my GOD don’t let me forget to tell all of you about Abram and gloves

I wrote a scene/lil collection of scenes about Andrew clearing things up here too because I’ve been wanting to explore Abram’s POV for a while 👀 there are references to canon abuse, so take care. As always, sparknotes version and additions below

I LOVE your points about Andrew, I totally agree that once it’s established and he’s allowed, he’s very much a tactile person, he just needs to get there first 💕

We all know for obvious reasons that it never once crosses the prince’s mind for Abram to be anything more than a professional bodyguard, even if he does find him attractive. He’s very good at courtesy and polite distance. How I imagine this goes down in the timeline is this:

1) Nathaniel shows up at Palmetto and he’s never allowed close to important people. Certainly never allowed close enough to touch. Totally safe there. It doesn’t take him long to understand Day really won’t take advantage of him since he never did in Evermore either, so that’s safe. There’s not much else to worry about for that long stretch of time.

2) Nathaniel/Abram becomes the prince’s guard. There’s probably a little anxiety just because there’s plenty of opportunities for the prince to try something, but as time goes on and Andrew keeps the previously mentioned distance, even acting apathetic (as he does), Abram starts to assume that the prince is straight/doesn’t care. It wasn’t as if every single person in Evermore was trying to get at him. Just the ones that wanted to. Obviously, the prince doesn’t want to. It gets to the point that Abram feels comfortable and doesn’t try to constantly watch his own back when he’s on duty.

Then the prince, perhaps feeling a little bold or hopeful or just wanting to say something so he doesn’t keep feeling like he’ll explode, makes a single comment on Abram’s “pretty face”. Even something that could be brushed off as friendly jest, if he really wanted. But Abram completely freezes up. Andrew, of course, notices. He doesn’t try to ask about it then, but he definitely notices. But he assumes that Abram took it as the genuine compliment it was, and that Abram is entirely uninterested or even wary of those advances. So he makes no more comments, he leaves the entire concept as far away as he can get it.

Now that Abram knows the prince finds him pretty, he’s just waiting for Andrew to be the same as everyone else. He didn’t even directly answer to the nobles in Evermore and they were still so bold - but he’s Andrew’s servant in the most direct way, and Andrew is a prince. Surely the prince is even more entitled to him than they were. (When he realizes this is what’s happening, Andrew tells Abram in no unclear terms exactly what is and isn’t expected of him. It takes longer than that for Abram to shake the anxiety he grew up with, but at least after that he can start repeating the prince’s words to himself when he needs to.)

3) that’s cleared up well enough, but then (much, much later) the prince wants to court him. At first Abram can’t think much beyond “there’s no way this is real” but then the more he thinks about it, the more nervous he gets again. He doesn’t know Palmetto courting traditions, what if he’s expected to do something he isn’t ready for. What if now that he’s accepted the courtship he can’t tell Andrew no anymore. It wouldn’t be fair of him to, he thinks, he shouldn’t have agreed so quickly.

But there’s a time they’re out doing whatever courtship things (maybe another horse ride for funsies idk), Abram’s getting nervous about it again, and when Andrew asks for a kiss or to hold his hand, Abram doesn’t answer. He’s also a little confused when Andrew doesn’t just do it anyway, because he hadn’t said no, but Andrew is watching him in the way that usually means Abram is acting too much like he’s at Evermore again. He tells Abram, “Nothing’s changed. You can say no.” And Abram does immediately - not because he doesn’t want whatever he was offered but because he scared himself. Andrew’s still watching him. “Don’t forget that again,” he says. Abram takes a shaky breath. ��Yes, prince.”

But as soon as Abram’s past that anxiety for the second and probably final time? Andrew is still as tactile a person as before and gods know Abram is touch starved to hell and back, he’ll take any kind words or touches he can possibly get and he craves them. Specifically from the prince. Who loves to give them.

I’d love to come back and make a fluff post specifically about that point in the timeline if we can collectively come up with enough ideas for said fluff 🥰 for now thanks again for the ask, swear to GOD we’re gonna get these idiots a happy ending, but I’m having way too much fun in the meantime 😂

[crguang]

Hear me out. Vampire Shalom!

Wait, if we are a vampire, does Shalom's blood taste like cola gummy? LOLOL

It's a joke from CN commun since her hair resembles a cola gummy jelly candy

-🎹

dont even joke lad… first of all yes. yes. yall thought kafka would make a great vamp? lets bring in miss mostly unfeeling, calculating, distant and always composed shalom. apathy is a big part of vampirism to me, after a certain age you realize time is a circle and certain vamps will take on more of an observer position towards humanity because they’re not part of it. it’s easy to grow apathetic when you’ve seen history repeats itself over and over, when you’ve watched lifetimes pass and when you’re inherently disconnected from your humanity. shalom is so vamp coded in that way; she lives amongst humans but is not part of them because she was made anew. you make a vampire, there’s nothing organic about it. she’s a different kind of vamp than kafka (who likes playing with her food), she prioritizes efficiency over anything else. also a classy eater, will lure in “willing” victims with well-placed flattery and warm smiles and she prefers docile ones over those who make feeding more difficult by thrashing around. shes very intense in the way that it’ll seem like she’s giving you her undivided attention and has an excellent memory so she’ll remember every single detail you ever said or did, which makes you feel listened to and understood. that’s why i call them willing victims, she’d entice them in letting her feed from them by building a one-sided connection with them and they somehow get out of that encounter just wanting more. master manipulator. she drinks from the neck, she likes the pretend intimacy of it. very clean, no unnecessary bloodshed and doesn’t waste a drop. she finds the unpredictable side of humanity fascinating and so she spends a lot of time observing it, she understands humans on a cognitive level but things that can’t be explained in their behaviour puzzles her in a good way. only remembers traces of her own humanity like the faint notes of a perfume in the air but she can never quite connect with it. that’s not to say that she would be cruel, quite the opposite, which makes me insane. aaaaaa she was made to be a vampire, she blends in well yet still leaves people with the feeling that there’s something off about her… she’s so deceptively warm but that’s because she can’t actually be warm. you know what i mean? it’s not because she’s mean she just has not felt warmth in a minute. i could fix her

shalom’s blood would just lack some nutrients i feel like LMFAO, i don’t think she particularly cares about her body and eats whatever she has to, plus she has zero strength whatsoever so those bones are lacking some calcium or something. her relationship with her body is honestly what interests me the most about her, it’s still a human body so she must have all the physiological reactions to getting hurt but after she got shot in the neck and just smiled like idk. you drink from her and she just sits there limp and docile oh i’d be freaked out. her pulse races but there’s no reaction from her otherwise unless she figures out that it bothers you, then she adjusts her behaviour to make you more comfortable… so sentient doll-like sometimes, im scared

i always thought cola gummy was a really cute nickname lol it’s just sweet, also how chief is represented as an orange idk where that comes from but it’s cute. also!!! if u ever want to dm me your ideas you absolutely can, i don’t bite! no need to make a second acc but if that makes you more comfortable then it’s also cool by me <3

[pepsiiwho]

That a very vivid dream of nothing so have rock Lee fic ideas, might make this a one shot

Originally I was gonna do sm dealing with the prompt “Lee is tasked with locating Naruto (and sasuke, as they are attached at the hip) and “neutralizing” him— preferably in the field and without significant retaliation” because I find the concept of Lee being taken seriously as a ninja and possible machine of incredible, pointed violence, or an expendable tool of the machine that can easily be replaced, either works— to be very very compelling. In this story it would be Lee and probably shikamaru because I think it’s funny to put the apathetic one with the hair’s trigger for a reflex.

But digressing, it would explore Lee’s relationship with being a ninja, an object of violence and warfare. He’s never been anything else and everyone he knows is one as well, but the violence has only been funneled outward to the ‘enemy’ not towards someone from his own home base. Would that stir something in him? (Yes). Would he struggle with the moral guilt? (Yes). Would he complete his mission? (Yes, to the detriment of his psyche).

I want to watch him squirm. Worse, I want to watch him have to go through his ex-gaara to get to Naruto. More feelings come from that.

This version of Lee is stuck to his duty, to his fighting and the personality that is so deeply tied to fighting. He’s formed himself around this identity, this need to prove himself and ‘better’ himself through strength and there’s no natural way to do that without moral discomfort when you’re being used to worsen lives. In this bad end Gai probably died in the war, or whatever (hand waves) and he’s reeling writhing that constant there. He’s obviously aged out the system and works as a remarkable ninja and has money and a support system, or enough of one, but that doesn’t replace gai or fill the hole. Shrugs. I so love my doomed guys

But I’m thinking instead of something so deeply canon divergent I think a small character study on Lee and possible resentments he’d have to his peers and friends and how they interact with him. Making all my favs resentful is like a reward idk. They deserve to feel bitter, even if only fleetingly. Maybe this can come at the hands of Gaara asking something something to the effect of “how are you not mad at me?” And Lee responding “… I think I’m just mad at everyone” and it branching off from there.

(Projection and AU levels of extrapolation incoming) He isn’t allowed the agency to be too mad usually, not even just bc of his own self restraint, he’s an orphaned child with little to himself— he has to keep himself in line and do his best lest he lose his father figure or his teammates or his work or whatever, so on so forth. It’s as much an active thing as it is a trauma response and way for him to preserver. Sigh

My fucking thingie….

[bobbydagen24]

Just thinking that in the past Viz has stated that Angel is insecure and hates his spider feet and Husk is insecure over his animal form so maybe it could be cute to see them both reassure each other over their insecurities.

Its been stated in the past by Viz that Angel is insecure over his feet and in the show he's never seen without footwear on

( don't get me wrong not too unusal except for the parts where he's at his job and is seen wearing nothing except his shoes )

and Husk is someone who seemingly dosn't give much of a crap about how he appears to others given he's always half dressed and either drunk or hungover all of the time,

but Viz has also said that he apparently does have insecurity over his annimal form ( which is apparently why he dosn't use his wings very often well that and laziness lol )

so Husk despite appearing apathetic towards how others see him could actually deep down be insecure over aspects of his own form as well.

which could maybe be another little thing the two of them bond over in the future maybe he finds out about Angel being insecure over this aspect of his body when he accidentally sees his feet one time.

and Husk while trying to reassure him about stuff like this admits that he still feels embarrassed or ashamed about parts of his own form as well

which probably surprises angle given how much Husk acts like he dosn't give a shit about how he comes off to other people all the time 😂😂😂😂.

idk I'm not saying this would be like a major plot point or anything I was just thinking this could potentially make for another cute moment of bonding between the two of them.

also I find the idea of sinners having image issues to do with their Hell forms to be interesting.

[wish-i-were-heather]

Any thought on TGG?

YES YES YES YES YES SO MANY THOUGHTS UHM HELLO

okok so i wrote like an essay of predictions and what i thinks gonna happen next on in the notes app on on my phone bc i was camping when i finished reading it so i had no service and couldn't go online and tell people my thoughts 😭😭

uhh im gonna put my main points (spoiler warning ofc also this is gonna get really long)

i think eves whole kidnapping thing is bc of eve (obviously bc like slate is working with her) but because eve wants gray's attention

i cant remember if she knows about lyra or not but still

i just think this because i dont think she would really want anything to do with gigi, just using her bc gray

basically my main point is i think the main plot glorious rivals is going to be about finding gigi (i hope im right and she doesnt get dropped of at home in like chapter three or these will all be incorrect)

when gray finds out what happened to gigi he will flip out. obviously savannah will too probably moreso bc like thats her twin but gray is very protective of them both so he'll freak out like crazy

especially once they inevitably put the peices together and realies why kidnapped her, he'll probably want to kill eve (i'd say not actually but i wouldn't be surprised if he genuinely did. i do so like)

i think that both grayson and savannah will like actually refuse to participate further in the grandest game until they find out what happened to her

and obviously avery and the others arent apathetic so theyre gonna understand and its either gonna be cancelled/postponed

and when they do pause/end the game, they arent gonna tell people why cause that'd cause more drama

omg also im forgetting her name but gigi and savannah;s mom. i feel like she's either gonna be a really big character in the next book or not in it at all, i dont think theres really gonna be an in between.

also xander was really starting to grow a friendship with gigi, so he'd be concerned too.

i want gray and xander to have more "screen time" together and like grow their relationship bc they have a funny dynamic but we dont see it a lot

also i keep forgetting to mention her but SAVANNAH

shes gonna be so worried omg and she will be even more angry and worried than grayson will be

she is going to blame it on avery, i mean she already doesnt like her because she "killed her father" and whatever but just like yk

i have a feeling that the teams from this book are gonna come back

like rohan is gonna be on savannah's side about this whole situation, also like avery and jamie dont like him bc the whole jamesons rib situation lmao so that wont be hard to convince him

and theyre gonna be against avery and the hawthornes because savannah doesn't like her

and then lyra and gray are gonna be on the same side obviously (excluding odette bc idk where she fits into all this)

and not gigi obviously but then knox and brady, theyll probably be doing their own thing??

idk knox is obviously kinda a jerk and i dont like him and hes not in the game anymore

but brady he might try to help gigi? im not sure what to make of him

i feel like each "team" is gonna be trying to figure out what happened with gigi?? idk like i said if finding her isnt the main plot this is gonna be a little embarassing

ok but stepping away from that...

so we've known alice is alive but now thats to odette everyone knows

what did she want tobias to do when she came back? and just idk i have so many questions

WHO IS THE WATCHER???

my first thought is alice but thats too easy, too obvious

for the same reason i dont think its eve nor whoever the heck knox's sponsor is.

what if its this calla girl??? bc brady says shes alive?

why is everyone alive tho tbh first alice then calla, everyone but sheffield sorry sav

UNLESS HE DID COME BACK THAT WOULD BE SO BAD BC HE WOULD BE SO MANUPULATIVE TOWARDS SAVANNAH AUGH

ok anyway idk hes not coming back (hopefully)

i do think whoever the watcher is is the same person who gave lyra the ticket

ALSO KISSES KISSES KISSES I SCREAMED THEY KISSED SAVANNAH AND ROHAN AND LYRA AND GRAY FINALLY OMG THEY WERE SO HORNY THE WHOLE BOOK TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH

especially rohan like woah chill theres other people reading this book save some thoughts to yourself

but overall i loved it and i need glorious rivals right now

[mamadarama]

Omg back on Kohaku like MY BABY MY SWEET LITTLE PINK CUPCAKE I MISSED HIM SOOOO MUCH MWAH anyways

Thinking about how everyone who loves Kohaku wants him to be free and out of the murky parts of society. Despite Kohaku being firm and adamant that he doesn't mind, that he can have both his freedom and the dirty parts as well. But everyone somehow, from the moment he was born, just won't let him.

He quite literally was born and everyone in his family decided they'd protect him from the dirt. As much as he understands, he also believes he's not absolved of that fate, that the moment he was born into this family, his place in hell is sealed and final.

Sure it's not like he wants to go and be an assassin. All he wants in the end, is freedom. Whether that be the freedom to be a cute, sassy idol, or the freedom to use his skills to protect or do the dirty work. As much as everyone tries to stop him, he won't let them. That is his freedom, and to him, the only thing he'll ever want. And he doesn't mind.

He doesn't mind having two separate faces, his best carefree and pure self that he shows to fans and his friend Aira. His sharp tongued and darker mindset he shows to Madara and some others. He's so similar to Madara in this way, both born into darker underbelly families making their hands bound to be stained some way or another

Madara doesn't want that, he wishes he can be a gentle, caring mother like guy who makes everyone smile. Even if he accepts it, it's more like he reluctantly does so. This is the little boy that wanted to be a hero, realizing he was meant to be a villain. He accepts it even if he wishes it was different, but it can't be, no matter how much he wishes. He can only look back and see tangled threads of complicated feelings, it's overall a mess that would take so much to come undone.

Kohaku meanwhile accepted from the very start. Even if everyone tries to shield him from it, he knows there's nothing he can do to escape it. He knows the values of life, happiness, freedom and everything else. He's as mature as Madara in that sense. Even if everyone desperately pushes him to be in the light, that is just not what he wants. He wants the freedom to do as he pleased, without anyone deciding what his fate will be.

Thinking about them a lot. In the official translation for Stippling, it talks about two (something idk) that's so far apart but parallel enough, that when looked at from a distance, they appear together and the same. I can't help but think about how much all of their songs are about them.,,

Anyways I'm insane omg I'm getting a motorcycle license soon aaaaa

- Madara yume anon 🍀

YEAH !!!!!!! i love kohaku :] hes great . i think unlike madara who actively works against things that will improve his life , kohaku is apathetic towards them and if he continues to be that way things will eventually get better for him . there are people trying to help pull both of them out of the pit theyre wallowing in and its much easier to get kohaku out because even tho hes not interested in being out of it , hes not opposed to it either. whereas madara will fight to stay in his familiar misery. idk i slept all day im too tired to try and make words mean what i want them to mean .

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Your responses to the Stolas/Blitzo debate are… odd. I agree that Stolas is being hypocritical, overly judgmental, unfair, and ignorant of his own behavior- but isn’t that the point of the show? Blitzo’s also messing up in a lot of ways, he takes jokes/insults too far, he has problems respecting boundaries, he’s acting unfairly aggressive and apathetic. But that’s the whole point of the show, isn’t it?

We are only halfway through season 2 of a 3-4 season show, which means we still have sooo much further to go in the story. Therefore, of course the characters are still flawed. If Stolas and Blitzo were perfect and weren’t being flawed the story would be flat and boring- or if Blitzo was the only one making mistakes. Then there would be no show to watch, no?

Also, I feel like, if Blitzo’s allowed to be ignorant, narcissistic, and intentionally hurting others due to his insecurities, trauma (like being overly rude bc he’s defensive, disrespectful of boundaries) AND he’s allowed to make mistakes on his path to healing and redemption-

then so isn’t Stolas? Stolas also had a hard upbringing and an abusive marriage, so there’s many things he flawed in (like expressing proper intimacy, or properly self-reflecting). He’s not as far as Blitzo right now in his journey to be better but he will get there- as Vivzie has said herself. There’s still AT LEAST one and a half more seasons, in which will contain Stolas’s self reflection.

This is also why I think you might have the perspective that the SHOW itself sets Blitzo up as the bad guy. Because 1. Anyone with proper media literacy can also see Stolas’ flaws but more importantly 2. The show is about Blitzo, and at the moment is focused on Blitzo. Therefore we are seeing every side of him, the good the bad and the ugly. We haven’t entirely begun Stolas’ arc (we’ve like… dipped our toes) and thus the show isn’t putting a main focus on anything about him- his mistakes OR his healing. But those things will start to unravel as this season goes on and into the next season.

If you have the opinion that the FANDOM hates on Blitz? Well I can’t really help that, besides saying idk what side of the fandom you’re on. My side very much stays in the middle and admits they are both wrong.

I just feel you’re being too harsh on Stolas and aren’t really seeing the show for what it really is: HALF of a story about two equally flawed individuals.

Thoughts?

You think I'm too harsh. I will be even harsher. The reason why I am harsh on Stolas is because the crew doesn't realize how much Stolas is fucked up as a person and how realistically in life Blitzo would get the heck out of their with that crystal and leave. Yep, no being gaslighted into a relationship based on a facetious grand gesture but just leave that unapologetic bird. The guy said he was trying to make things right but he never properly apologized nor showed he truly understood the gravity of power he had on Blitzo. Also most of all he doesn't understand how condescending and bigoted he was and even when Blitzo spells it out the doubles down and claims Blitzo is the bigoted one. It's projection on his part and shows he still hasn't learned anything while pretending he is. The problem is he doesn't have he narrative harshly hold him accountable. It doesn't try to correct his behavior but gives him new excuses to feel sorry for him as we groan at the narrative's favoritism towards him and how supposedly he's actually this great guy despite that erasing all of season one. Sorry, but Stolas is worse and the show refuses to admit it because they have fallen so in love with him. Also the guy should expect to instantly be forgiven and be sympathetic for it. That is what shows Bojack called out for which is feeling entitled to forgiveness after you didn't do anything to try to properly heal those around him while Blitzo gets wrecked for the same thing. The show is hypocritical on who it wants to punish and who it wants to reward. And it's rewarding a abuser who thinks he's the victim.

[mercymaker]

as the hours to midnight grow shorter, it's only normal to look back at 2023 as a whole and when it comes to my presence here on this site. I don't often share a lot about my life here (not as much as in the past, anyway) and that's just a growing trend with me and social media in general. this year I've been barely active on the internet and, overall, I think it's a good thing!

however!!! I just wanted to express my gratitude towards baldur's gate 3 for happening to me, as it made me feel passionate and creative again. I was so focused on creating something substantial and meaningful with my time that I put so much pressure on myself that it resulted in me absolutely stagnating. I was withdrawn, isolated, and growing more and more apathetic towards the world around me and creativity as a whole. but then bg3 happened and I felt like part of something exciting again! creating for the sake of creating, having fun with it, making stories and characters and experiencing and sharing them with other like minded individuals!!!

and I found a community, as well as some very dear friends! I know that people are moving on to other things (which is only natural), but I'm here to ride this phase out as far as it takes me. it's good to feel passionate, creative and just.. idk, have so much fun with something!!!

thanks to all of you for tagging along on this journey! 💜

[just-absolutely-super]

sorry if this is too random, don't feel obliged to answer but...what's your problem with 03 ed?

It’s not that I really have a problem with 03 Ed, I just don’t like how he’s written…or rather how the writers treated him

Ed is such a miserable kid in 03, and while he starts that way in the manga you see that gradual growth to his healing where he learns to accept the people in his life to help him achieve his goal and obtain a happy life

In 03, it’s like Ed isn’t allowed to be happy. They have to keep piling on the angst and give him every obstacle for why he shouldn’t heal and be happy

And it’s like they took away that part of Ed that treasures human life. He and Al were very against using the philosopher’s stone once they found out you have to kill people to achieve it. 03 Ed, however, was very willing to do it and that felt like a character assassination to me

And his attitude with the 03 Homunculi also felt off to me. Yeah he didn’t care for the manga interpretations, but those guys didn’t used to be human. 03 wrote Ed very apathetic and uncaring toward them (including the one who USED TO BE HIS MOTHER), and idk it just felt very un-Ed like to me because I know something like the 03 Homunculi deserved more of a ethical and moral dilemma other than, “They’re evil and it’s unnatural for them to exist, so they should just die!”

That’s basically it, Anon. I did enjoy Ed in the beginning episodes but then the Lab no. 5 adaptation happened and I realized that this just wasn’t going to be a good show, and it was just downhill from there…