#just that obviously 2 very different ideas on who Al-An is

[skymagpie]

I feel like no one would start shit with you over this, because it is something people don’t mention given that it’s obvious and sort of the point of Al-An’s arc in Below Zero. I’d argue that Al-An is equally our protagonist in BZ simply because he has the setup for a classic tragic story structure.

But when things like these are brought up, I feel that it’s good to read it both in the meta as you did, but also in their universe and according to the laws of their world to get the correct picture of the character and in this case, Al-An did act as best as he could given his upbringing and the circumstances he found himself in (which would make him a tragic hero despite his flaws). Al-An comes from a planet where experimenting on animals is not morally reprehensible, is part of their culture and it is a culture that considers themselves above both biology and mortality. Al-An comes from a culture that is as close to Gods as we can get from our human perspective, and the really good thing about Subnautica is that this culture learned too that there is nothing stronger than nature, no matter how far ahead you are, nature will catch up to you and will put you back in your natural place. It’s almost poetic how it nearly brought the Architects to extinction. That is why Ryley, who was a nobody and remained a nobody in the big picture of the universe, swam with the current unlike Alterra, the trans-govs and the Architects who swam against it, and why in the end he was rewarded by the Sea Emperor.

Al-An’s whole arc is how he learned this and he paid the price for his arrogance. I think Al-An in BZ is a different person from Al-An from 1000 years ago, because he had a 1000 years to think about how he screwed up and doomed his network and his entire race. This is the story that on a macro scale is supposed to parallel Sam’s story, where she, too, had good intentions, went against her “network” and ultimately paid the price with her own life and took the life of an innocent person. Robin and Al-An’s story is tied the way it is because through her and thanks to her, he is able to finally start seeking redemption, something she couldn’t really do for Sam (but imo, still did in a way). The game does not sugar coat that at the very end of BZ, Al-An is at the beginning of his redemption arc and that it is scary and he is aware that whatever happens he deserves it, but he is ready to face it - to face his failure, his mistake and any punishment that might come his way, because Robin is with him.

Also I do have to point out that Al-An and the Architects in Below Zero were written by a different writer from the Architects in the original Subnautica, and while on a technical level the two stories are following the same canon and writing, you can see how the two writers had a completely different idea for the Architects on some internal level. The OG writer who also wrote the BZ-Early Access had Al-An be cruel, threatening and uncaring, while the current Al-An often says things that insult Robin not out of malice, but out of genuine ignorance and by the end of the story he does respect and understand her. He is also a lot nicer and harmless, and seem to be understanding of her emotions and feelings (unlike most sci-fi aliens of his type, which is why I love him!). These are two very different takes on the Architects that bleed into the writing overall, so BZ paints the Architects more as benevolent, but careless rationalists, while in the original they followed that cliche of superior alien species who do not care for emotions and for inferior life forms as long as they are a means to an end. However neither representation is devoid of a bit of each other at its core. It is hard to place Al-An between both because it is noticeable that two different writers wrote it.

Not trying to start shit obviously but just a reminder that this man is fully on board with animal testing and has done it himself multiple times, even outside of life or death situations.

Like I feel like we need to remember that every so often. Like no, he would not be up for enviornmentalism or scientific ethics unless someone, probably Robin donwright forces him into it. Im not saying hes down for say diamond mining, but if Architects used oil they would not be any better than people. We need to remembr the messages of the first game, that showed just how fucked up and flawed architects are, and most importantly, how they get schooled by the brutal forces of nature, and have had to pay, hard. Al-An is explicitly made to be someone who thinks he is above nature even more than the average architect.

Nither is Marge btw, she WAS forced into it, and only partially.

[allastoredeer]

THAT MOMENT YOU REALIZE ALASTOR IS ACTUALLY WAY SCARIER THAN WE GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR

So, in the throes of doing world-building for my Hazbin fics and analyzing characters and how they fit into Pentagram's political system, I realized not only how powerful Alastor actually is, but how fucking scary.

Now, yes, in the grand scheme of things, Alastor is far from the most powerful person in Hell. Far from it. The Royal Family (Lucifer, Lilith, and Charlie), and the Goetia are way above the Overlords. Our twinky, angsty, galaxy bird, Stolas, could 100% body Alastor. I'm sorry, Al. I love you, babe. But in terms of the hierarchal system, you and the other Overlords aren't influential to the rest of Hell, at all.

But, it's an entirely different story if we stick exclusively to the Pride Ring.

I'm not trying to do a big, essay-length analysis, that's a lot of work and I'm tired, so I'll try to make it as brief as possible.

We know three crucial things: 1) sinners aren't allowed to leave the Pride Ring, 2) they've built a semi-functional society for themselves that is exclusive to their specific ring (with a political system that they've molded just for them), and 3) sinners can't kill other sinners.

So, what we have here is a big piece of land stuffed with people who can't leave it, in a society they've built specifically for themselves, with an amassing population that is constantly growing because they have no way of dying/or killing each other. (Honestly, it's like Heaven was setting them up for an Exterminations - THOUGH I'VE ACTUALLY COME UP WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, COMPLETELY FANON BASED THEORY/WORLD BUILDING IDEA ABOUT HOW HELL HAD KEPT THE POPULATION DENSISTY CONTROLLED FOR THE MILLENIA OF COLLECTING HUMAN SOULS, HOW THE POPLUATION STILL GOT TOO LARGE AND THUS RESULTED IN THE EXTERMINATIONS, AND HOW IT WAS ROSIE WHO HAD A HUGE HAND IN IT ALL.

Anyway, back on topic, so the Overlords essentially control this Ring. We know Stolas lives in the Pride Ring (judging by the red sky we see when he's at his house), so its possible more Goetia live there too (and imps, and succubi; the Pride Ring is known for being the most diverse of the Rings), but we haven't seen any evidence of the Goetia, or any of the other Hellborn, interact or influencE Pentragram City in a political way--outside of the Goetia being above the Overlords in the hierarchal system). I headcanon that they do have some involvement in Pentagram City, as they do live there, but for the most part, the Pride Ring is left completely to the sinners and how they run things.

Lillith got involved, obviously (but she's been missing for years in the beginning of the show), Lucifer hasn't been involved for who knows how long, and Charlie obviously doesn't have a lot of sway, nor did she have any previous influence given how she's treated by the very people she rules over. Her status is known, but there's no actual respect for her or her title as the literal Princess of Hell.

The royal family may the the strongest beings in all of the 7 Rings, but outside of Lillith, it seems they had very little involvement (in Charlie's case) or interest (in Lucifer's case) in ingratiating themselves into Pentagram City.

The entire Ring is being run by the Overlords. They cannot leave it. The Pride Ring is their domain. This is their new home. This is their world.

And in this world, the Overlords are the top dogs.

So, Alastor is powerful just in the sense that he is one of the Overlords. Like them, he is essentially one of the rulers of their personal, caged-off little world. He has power and political sway. He joined the other Overlords for Carmilla's meeting, where they were going to discuss the aftermath of the Extermination and what they can do about the loss in the population (and thus, their power, given that owning souls is how they get it).

It's implied that this isn't the first time they've had meetings like this, and if they get together to discuss the best ways to recover from the Exterminations and make up for their mutual losses (literally working together when they could've all just been rivals trying to undermine the others to get more souls), who knows what else they've discussed in their efforts to keep Pentagram City running (especially considering that the best way to maintain their power IS by maintaining the city, it's people, and keeping it from falling apart at the seams. Taking care of the city is in their best interests - I use "taking care of" very, very loosely, considering this is still Hell and it's hardly the gold standard of utopia's). They're essentially a Board of Leadership with mutually shared power.

The Overlords have all the power. All the sway. In their established world, THEY are at the top of the food chain.

BUT then, you take into account that sinners can't kill each other (a rule that extends even to the Overlords), and that's when things get interesting.

In episode 4, "Masquerade" Valentino told Angel that he's "killed people for less" during the scene in the dressing room. But, in episode 2, after Valentino had torn apart one of Velvette's models, she wasn't upset in the way an Overlord would be if they lost someone under contract, especially considering that owning souls is what gives them power (and I assume that they own the souls of most, if not all, of the people they employ). She said that she can't sit and wait for "that bitch to pull herself back together," so, yeah, the implication is that sinners can literally be torn apart (even by the Overlords, who are the strongest among them) but won't die is immense. No matter what you do, a sinner will reform, or heal, or whatever, but they will come back.

So, consider, that there is only one person who's been able to kill sinners, permanently, and that person is Alastor.

Not only that, he killed Overlords.

In a realm where death is impossible, Alastor had cheated the system. And as far as we know, he's the only one who's been able to do it.

The only person I can think of who has something similar is Carmilla, but that's because she'd integrated angelic steel into her apparel. (Though, there's something to be said about her selling angelic weapons to the masses, as she is a manufacturer and distributor of them not only in Pentagram city, but all of the 7 Rings, (as Stryker had gotten his hands on a "Carmine blessing tipped rifle" to kill off Stolas, who's a Goetia), thus, sinners killing other sinners can still be possible, but that's only if they get you're hands on a weapon with angelic steel, or they're wealthy enough to buy onr, and I imagine Carmilla doesn't sell those cheap.

But Alastor didn't use angelic steel. He found a way to tear souls apart, where otherwise they were only able to be owned. Considering how terrified Husk (who is one of the most calm and collected people in the Hazbin crew; who had once been an Overlord, himself) was when AIastor threatened to do they same to him, like, that goes to show just how serious it is. He was literally full-body shaking. Ears-pinned back. Flight-fight-or freeze. Pressing himself down into the carpet.

We've never seen him like that at any other time during the show, even during the Extermination when they were all about to die.

Alastor's threat had scared him more than literally getting killed my an army of Exorcist's.

And like, yeah???? I get it????

That shit has to be terrifying. Not only for those that Alastor threatens, but for every single sinner in Pentagram City.

This random guy cheated the system, killed without any outside means, and if he can topple Overlords (the strongest and most powerful of them) almost over night, there's no saying what he can do to regular sinners. (Or what they think he can do, I have more thoughts surrounding whether Alastor would be able to tear apart a soul that is owned by someone else, but this is already getting long).

And, presumably, the only reason he stopped is because he decided to.

Like???? Do you guys understand what I'm saying???? For someone to have that kind of power??? In a system where that power SHOULD NOT be possible??? A power that gives him this massive advantage over everyone else???? That no one else can do???? And the only reason he doesn't use it is because he decides not to????

It's no wonder Alastor was so feared. Why he still is feared (by those who know of him at least LOL he has been gone for 7 years). And, like, yeah we see him be all creepy and scary during the show. We see him use his magic and grow into his demon form, and he is intimidating in that right, but I think the true horror of his character comes from this ability to kill the unkillable in a system where it never should've been possible in the first place.

That's where the true terror of the Radio Demon lies. That's where the visceral fear comes from. And it's why he's someone you wouldn't want to mess with, even for the other Overlords (especially for the other Overlords).

Like, it makes sense why he has such a massive ego. Why he thinks he can take on anyone. It's because he has. He's powerful, even by Overlord standards, and he knows it. And it makes further sense why him now being on a leash is making him unravel at the seams.

Am I making sense??? Is this all just meaningless rambling to you guys??? Idk! Idk. It's just been tumbling through my head, and it made me realize just how scary Alastor is, especially from an outside perspective.

I have SO many headcanons T.T I've done so much world-building, and I am have so much fucking fun. I feel like a kid in a sandbox. My brain hasn't stopped buzzing since this show came out.

Anyway, I'm off to outline more wips and work on the fics I'm writing. Happy Hazbin-ing to the rest of you.

[wileys-russo]

i have LOTS of questions so i decided to write them all at once (hope you don’t mind)😭

1. where do they go to their first vacation? i can imagine eli being okay with it but how do ale, alba, mapi and ingrid react? i can imagine alba and mapi being like all calm and like “ahh just let them be young and have fun” and alexia and ingrid all stressed out thinking about everything that could go wrong😭

2. not a question but kind of a question? (and also this is more for @girlgenius1111 but since she is recovering from surgery and you will have free time i decided to write to you) but, I need a fic with fresa is looking after scout. like is this happening when fresa and sol still don’t know each other (and mapi just asks fresa to look after scout for sol)? like when they met while mapi was giving fresa the car tattoo? and is sol still incredibly shy when handing over scout? like when they first met? or are they friends already? or maybe even girlfriends? i NEED to know the tea!!

3. do you know the olive theory? like the one that hates olives and the other that loves them so they take them? (in the end both hate olives) is this applicable to sol and fresa (maybe with other foods)??

4 what is their absolute favorite thing to watch together? and similarly do they show each other some cliché Tv shows in spanish/norwegian? (in my country we have a tv show called family affairs and tbh it’s the cringiest thing i have ever seen, and if i ever have a girlfriend this is the first thing i am going to show her because she NEEDS to experience the cringe of other cultures)

5. who is the one to wake up super early and who is to one to go to sleep at an ungodly hour?

6. another question that very much involves @girlgenius1111 but let’s suppose that sol makes up with her mom and wants to meet with her, how does fresa react? is she super protective? is she supportive? is she a mix of both? does she freak out? is she ready to take out box gloves and beat everyone?

7. once again the opinion of the queen herself @girlgenius1111 is needed but how does sol react to finding out that the relationship between fresa and alexia/alba is very stranded? obviously sol likes alexia but she doesn’t know her on a personal level super well, what does she do when she finds out that it’s not as perfect as it seems? that they may have more in common that she initially thought? the same goes for fresa finding out about sol’s relationship with ingrid, like it’s different but in some ways very similar. i suppose both feel very abandoned? how do they get through that?

ok i have even more questions but i need to stop now or i may yap till the end of the day. anyway sorry for such a long ask. feel free to not answer (if i were you i would just ignore this tbh) or “not answering, find out later” is just as acceptable. whatever you feel like tbh!!!

anyway i love this story that you and k! have created together, you both are very special writers and i VERY much appreciate what you do and write, anyway take care and lots of love🍓☀️❤️ (if anything i have written doesn’t make sense i had a bottle of wine and my first language isn’t english😭)

idk if it counts as a vacation but early on into knowing one another but not yet quite dating they go to madrid together alone for a concert! you are absolutely correct lmao alba and mapi help them get their train tickets and drive them to the station, meanwhile alexia and ingrid are too busy stressing they're too young to go alone and they'll wind up kidnapped or something dramatic

K and I were talking about this literally yesterday and trying to work out a timeline for all the blurb ideas we have for Sol and Fres + how it all ties into filling the void and family line! but yes fresa looks after scout for a week (he comes to stay with her and Eli) when Sol goes to Norway with Ingrid and Mapi, but thats after they've been dating for awhile. the first time Fresa meets Scout its before she even realises she likes Sol, but Sol is shocked at how much Scout seems to love Fresa (aka dog whisperer putellas)

they actually both like pickles on burgers but pretend not to when they think the other doesn't, so neither of them end up eating the pickles despite actually having a mutual love for them (same goes for olives)

mmm i don't know a whole lot about tv shows outside of where i'm from but i imagine both Sol and Fres have a mutual love of trashy reality tv shows. specifically the kardashians and any sort of dating show like love island, too hot to handle etc. they both spend the entire time complaining about how awful the show is but also, never miss an episode. they also love to binge true crime dramas together, and Fresa loves medical programs but she knows she can't watch them around Sol because Sol faints at even the slightest sign of blood

Fresa is a morning person (Alexia's influence) and Sol is a night owl!

Fresa is very cautious how she speaks about Sol and Ingrids mum, obviously she knows whats happened and it breaks her heart that anyone could treat such a perfect human like that. but she also knows theres parts of Sol that still love her mum and Fresa doesn't want to go too hard on the 'your mum is such a piece of shit for treating you like that' train and upset her girlfriend. so she lets Sol take the lead in conversations about her mum and is careful how she responds!

By the time Sol and Fresa start to properly interact its after everything has gone down between Fresa and her sisters and they're well on track back to being as close as they used to be. But when Sol first opens up to Fresa about how she ended up in Spain living with her sister and the strains of their relationship early on in her stay, Fresa opens up about her own struggles with that and they bond over it. Fresa is a lot more forthcoming with information but Sol doesn't trust as easily so it takes a little longer for Fresa to really understand the extent of the struggles in her life when she lived in Norway thank you for all of these they really made me (and K) think!! i know some people might think its stupid to go so in depth about creating a life for a made up character but it really is a fun escape and i love creating Fresa's little universe, and its nice to write about a wholesome queer teenage relationship because they get done so dirty in tv shows most of the time! 🍓🍓 @girlgenius1111

[nightmare-foundation]

Hero/villain batfamily swap AU

Okay so I really wanna infodump about my au that I've recently made, which puts the batfamily in the Gotham Rogues' places. I haven't thought through all of them yet, and I haven't accounted for all the batfamily (i.e. Kate Kane, Luke Fox, etc), but this is what I have

The Rogues

Bruce- The Penguin

Dick- Two-Face

Tim- The Joker

Stephanie- Black Mask

Damian- the Demons Head/Ra's Al Ghul

Barbara- The Riddler

Duke- Mr. Freeze

Cass- Lady Shiva?

The Heroes/good guys

Jason- Batman

Nightwing/Robin I- Jacob 'Jake' Grayson

Red Hood/Robin II- Thomas Grayson

Raven/Robin III- Jonathan Crane

Spoiler/Robin IV- [name] Brown (she hasn't been named yet, but she's Stephanie's daughter!)

Robin V- William Todd

Black Bat- Rose Wilson

The Signal- TBD (feel free to suggest ideas)

Seer- James Gordon Jr.

Harvey Dent

Edward Nygma

Jack Napier

Oswald Cobblepot

Waylon Jones

Jervis Tetch

Basil Karlo

Admittedly, the ones I've thought through the most are Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian. Some characters i haven't thought much about at all or I have an idea of what I want them to be (like Harvey having a role similar to Jim Gordon, or maybe Edward works with Lucius?).

BUT- this is an au where an outside force fucked with the timeline (haven't decided who/what or how) and, after regaining their past timeline memories, the batfamily (now Rogues... except for Jason lol) have to work together to figure out how to fix the timeline. The problem being their current states make that task much harder than it'd usually be, especially with their current history with each other, even despite their memories returning. So there's a whole slew of issues, not just internal, but with each other and dealing with heroes. And they have... very complicated histories with each other.

I'll explain a few of them under the cut :)

Dick Grayson aka Two-Face

What differs in this AU is that Dick is, of course, never taken in by Bruce and is instead passed around from abusive foster home to abusive foster home in Gotham. Thanks to a mix of the circus having been not a safe place and the abuse he endures in foster care, Dick develops DID, BPD and OCD from the trauma. He grows up with a close friend in Jason Todd, and while they separate for a while (Jason going to train to become Batman, Dick going into law school), they come back together as adults.

Dick becomes a lawyer because Tony Zucco had used legal loopholes to get out of facing the consequences of murdering the Flying Graysons, and Dick fully intended on trying to fix the legal system in some way and to try to prevent something like that from happening to others. At some point, Dick ends up having 2 sons, Jake and Thomas, who are 8 and 3 respectively when Dick eventually becomes Two-Face.

Since he's very close to Jason, he's actually aware that Jason is Batman. When Dick gets more unsatisfied with the justice system, he joins Jason in crime fighting as the vigilante Robin. Unbeknownst to both of them, Two-Face (not yet called that, but i haven't thought of a name yet lol) is not only unsatisfied with the justice system, but also how Jason and Dick fight crime. (Two-Face believes in the anti-hero kind of lethal justice. No, he's not 'evil')

One day, I imagine something happens and Dick, in his civilian form, tries to defend someone from someone else, but the fight results in the attacker slamming a glass container full of acid into Dicks face. This is obviously deeply traumatizing, and not only that, it solidifies Two-Faces belief that vigilantes should adopt a more lethal form of justice.

This is, obviously, how they become Two-Face :) they're deemed too mentally unstable to care for their two sons, so Jason is the person who takes them in and cares for them.

Jason Todd aka Batman

Honestly, I haven't considered exactly how he gets the idea of becoming Batman, but I'm considering that the catalyst is similar; he witnesses his father's murder. Essentially Willis got on the bad side of some mob boss and gets killed in front of Jason and Catherine. Eventually, after that, Catherine succumbs to a drug overdose.

Jason grows up close to Dick, with them supporting each other throughout their childhoods and helping each other escape foster care. Eventually Jason comes under the care of Oswald Cobblepot (who is the surprisingly kind but tough CEO of Cobblepot Industries) after attempting to steal the CEOs tires. Through him, he gets into training, and he supports Dicks lawyer endeavors financially.

After he comes back from all of his training, he refamiliarizes himself with Gotham and then becomes Batman. There's a lot of stuff he's way more lax about than Bruce is, like killing or temporarily working with criminals if it yields better results, but he still has his limits.

Jason also has his own Robins, but his relationship with them is far more healthy.

Tim Drake aka The Joker

Tim wasn't actually all that unique prior to becoming the Joker. He grew up in and out of boarding school with somewhat absent parents, in a middle class then upper class household. Tim became a photographer and journalist as an adult.

How he became the Joker is simple: he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of who he was, he was framed, and dropped into a vat of acid.

What came out just... isn't Tim Drake anymore.

Misc.

This is essentially what I have for the others that I haven't fully figured out yet:

-Duke becomes Mr. Freeze not long after his parents are hit by a lethal form of Joker Venom. He keeps them frozen so that they stay alive while he tries to search for a cure.

-Barbara becomes the Riddler not long after Jim Gordon dies. There's a bunch of stuff that causes her to go villain mode, but her father dying is the catalyst, or the straw that broke the camels back so to speak.

-Damian is not centuries old like Ra's is, but he is on the older side (50s? Maybe older?). Really, a lot of characters are aged up lol. He is still related to Bruce and Talia. He has kids too! William (<- placeholder name, I'm having trouble naming him, I might give him a name that reflects his heritage. He's gone through several iterations already LOL) Todd is his grandson.

-Edward Nygma works under Lucius Fox and helps make things for Jason! He also totally makes escape rooms on the side. Cringefail malewife vibes, as he should always have

-Harvey Dent has a role similar to commissioner Gordon, though I'm debating if he's actually a police commissioner or a Private Investigator.

-James Gordon Jr. Is Seer, and i imagine part of the reason he became a vigilante was to prove people's assumptions of him wrong. He's physically disabled (not sure how yet, but he uses forearm crutches) and is diagnosed with ASPD. He works as a hero both in the streets and behind a screen. I'm not sure yet what kind of day job he has tbh.

[rat-rambles]

Ok Alastor shippers of all sorts, I'm going to put in my two cents and before I get into I'm a pro shipper all around just don't be mean to each other and tags are there for a reason.

My credentials: I'm an gray ace, aro person who's been around Fandom a very long time. Personally I've been initiated with the “but al is ace aro so you can't ship him” discourse and first off that's not true both because we can date -I Have a long term Partner- and because I've explored a lot of my queer identity through Fandom and fanfics and I think others should get the chance to do the same. I'm sure a lot of people will learn they’re ace aro because of alastor. That being said ik a lot of you writers out there aren't ace aro and are new to the topic so I'm going to go over some of my personal suggestions of how you could make Canon compliant works. (And if you do any or find any please send to me I'd love to see it)

Oblivious Alastor

Canonically this man doesn't know he's an ace in the hole. And I don't believe an egomaniac like him would assume that there's anything “different” about himself. ik when I was a baby ace I thought everyone was just being dramatic basically before realizing I was the exception. I can see this going 2 ways.

Radiostatic (pre show): vox is obviously completely smitten with al and al sees dating a more powerful overlord as an advantage(which vox in the past was the more powerful of the two). And Al starts getting slowly more and more uncomfortable and vox gets pushy in a very manipulative way.

Radioapple: enemies to friends to lovers? After Al and Luci become close friends, Luci starts to catch feelings for Al and Al agrees to date him seeing as he is fond of him and he's a very powerful ally so why wouldn't Al date him? As the relationship progresses they’re both confused by Alastor's behavior. Luci tries to be respectful. You know maybe he's just very against pda. And al doesnt understand why he's not feeling the things he's meant to.

I can see Al reverse heteronormativity- ing his way into assuming he's gay because he's NOT straight.

Malicious intent

Same as the last one except Al knows he doesn't have feelings for them like that and is trying to be toxic and uses them. IE what if Al was a gold digger actually.

Maybe I am in love?

Al actually thinks that he MUST be feeling a romantic connection because this is the closest he's ever been to someone and once again, gets steadily more confused as he realizes what he and his partner are experiencing is different.

All of these can end in nice queer platonic bliss and I think any story where Al and his partner discover he's ace after establishing the relationship is inherently interesting.

Last note some ace vocabulary

Ace and aro are a spectrum. Typically with ace people they will self identify as either sex positive, sex negative, or sex neutral. With Al it's generally head cannoned that he's sex negative but that's not explicitly Cannon and sex positive and neutral aces are valid.

Sex negative: is self explanatory it's what everyone thinks aces are; I don't want sex ever the idea grosses me out ect.

Sex neutral: is when someone doesn't have the desire for sex but isn't repulsed by it either. If they are in a relationship and their partner wants to have sex they’re open to it but don't expect initiation on their part.

Sex positive: people have a hard time understanding this because it's the seperating of the need for sex from the want. Typically if a sex positive ace were to never have sex again they'd die happy but if they have a willing partner they are happy to participate. It builds intimacy. It feels good, it's nice but it's not the same as being allo and having that cardinal lust.

note: please know what type your head cannoning Al as in your works when writing it, although people of course can change which they feel they align with, it's important to know how he's feeling about it.

I'm not as familiar with aro terminology but like with ace it's more about the drive the need the anguish. Al wouldn’t in cannon crave romantic connection.

Like with ace it's not actually cannon what type of aro he is some aro people are completely repulsed by the idea of romantic relationships or they only like it in theory (which playing around with the idea of Al liking a relationship in theory but not in practice could be a lot of fun.)

The gray romantic umbrella are aro people who can have romantic attraction to some degree. They’re still aro you can head cannon Al as it but please do a little research into which one you think your version of Al would identify with there quite a few so I'll spare the list here.

Demi romantic is when someone can develop romantic attraction for very specific people, very rarely. These people won't be on Bumble but might fall for someone after knowing them for a few years (or an indeterminate amount of time, my timeline was a year and a half I shit you not) a lot of you are looking for that.

As for kink. Lots of queer people especially are into kink because it's intimate, it's physical, it requires trust but it's not actually inherently sexual a lot of the time. And we do know that Al likes torturing and being dominant so yeah he'd be kinky that's completely canon compliant.

At the end of the day Al is ace aro in the show and that's what counts. Have fun be creative, explore the depths of your queer little minds and please be nice to each other.

(and if any of you make works related to this please please please send them to me thanks)

[cheesyv]

Rating Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss Ships

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I was originally going to post 2 different things (one for HH & another for HB) but I decided I would bring them together cause there are some ships involving characters from both. So This is gonna be a long behind post :]

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This should be obvious but for those who might get confused about the colors:

Green - For the higher rated ships. I love or think that ship could work

Orange- For both high and low rated ships. I’m on the fence for that ship. So I could have easily given it a lower or higher rating

Red - For lower rated ships. I hate or think that ship couldn’t work

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HH

Alastor/Lucifer 10/10 I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers tropes 😭 like I know it’s most likely not going to be canon (and let’s bfr a lot of our ships won’t be) but that’s part of the fun. I find the fics and art hilarious and absolutely adorable. I think the cutest thing is them being in a QPR 🤭

Husk/Angel 10/10 They are cute. Husk and Angel talking, bonding and all that fun crap lol

Alastor/Rosie 10/10 I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the idea of them being in a QPR.

Charlie/Vaggie 9/10 They are so cute and supportive, and fit well together

Vox/Lucifer/Alastor 8/10 Lucifer and Vox become Alastor’s simps, and pull him into all their crazy ‘adventures’ 💀 They start dating but Alastor doesn’t fully comprehend it. I find it kinda funny to imagine Lucifer & Vox thinking they’re all dating but that doesn’t even pop up in Al’s head. (Let’s be for real, Alastor is just barely holding himself together and “tolerating” them and maybe eventually growing fond of them)

Lucifer/Vox 7/10 I like the idea of them partnering together (in fake dating or partnership in hating and fighting Al) to spite Alastor.

Alastor/Vox 6/10 I’m not the biggest fan of this ship. I enjoy the art I see and find some of the comics funny/cute but truly my heart will always belong to radioapple 😔

Vox/Val 10/10 They are most likely already sleeping together and act like a old married couple in the show, just work on Vox’s obsession with Alastor (and Val’s character but you know that probably ain’t happening) and BOOM could be good (tho I think Val finds amusement in Vox’s obsession so idk).

Val/Vox/Velvette 3/10 Don’t really see them all actually dating or being more than business partners/family.

Adam/Lucifer 4/10 Yeah that would totally work 💀 cause Lucifer totally didn’t fuck both of his wifes and I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried it on Adam too. Plus I feel like there would be alot of beef between them. (Adam did attack the hotel and Charlie, they might have some more history then just wife stealing cause you know heaven/earth stuff) But i must admit I like the fan art of them.

Alastor/Angel 4/10 I just don’t like the idea of them together very much. 🤷‍♀️ no specific reason honestly, I never liked the ship even during the plot

Val/Angel 1/10 You understand. Val is shit and treats Angel like he’s shit.

Lucifer/Lilith 7/10 Im suspicious of Lilith. 🤨 I really hope she actually cares about her family 😔 I like seeing them in the garden of Eden and raising Charlie like a happy family but idk, something is off about her. I also love the angst 🤭

Rosie/Lilith 6/10 Is kinda cute but I don’t know enough about both characters (especially Lilith). 🧐 If they are even actually who they say they are (theory post) 🧐

Adam/Lute 8/10 I like this ship, they obviously have history and some sort of chemistry. The relationship might be alittle unhealthy tho. I also like to think of them in a father/daughter or mentor/mentee type relationship.

Cherri/SirPentious 7/10 Sir Pentious likes it and deserves love. I’m a little fiffy on this one cause of Cherri. But she can definitely gain genuine feelings (too bad he’s not within her reach anymore 😏) so I’ll give her some slack lol

Zestial/Carmilla 8/10 I ship it. They obviously have some sort of history and are friends.

Charlie/Emily 1/10 They’re so alike that I see them more as sisters than anything.

Charlie/Alastor ?/10 I don’t know anymore 😭 I used to not like it but now this ship is slowly growing on me. Especially after reading this. <- That post just makes sense and honestly I wouldn’t be mad if it was canon. It’s making me question “everything” lol

Husk/Lucifer 8/10 I like it as a platonic ship. I think they be good friends and can easily talk to each other. I really like @drazhaq’s comics of Lucifer cuddling Husk and him not being overwhelmed talking to husk.

Husk/Alastor 3/10 Not a big fan, I prefer Huskerdust

Cherri/Angel 2/10 They are best friends and I don’t think Cherri would be a good partner for Angel. Plus he’s gay.

——————

HB

Striker/Chaz 6/10 Honestly? They both got some sex drive in them lol. Wouldn’t be to bad if Chaz wasn’t dead ☠️

Chaz/Moxxie/Millie 1/10 I don’t like it. You can tell Moxxie and Millie didn’t like it either

Chaz/Blitzo 3/10 wouldn’t have worked out 🤷‍♀️ plus Blitz ?loves (?that’s what imma use lol) Moxxie and Millie to much to go dating someone who’s hated by them and (I must add) a lousy fuck/fucker.

Martha/Mayberry 7/10 😭 They realized the man wasn’t worth it so they hooked up instead. I’m not against it 🙌 if they got over their differences then sure, go for it ladies.

Stolas/Blitzo 7/10 ugh 😩 Honestly hate the way things are going and how they treat each other (specially Blitz). If they can’t figure it out, it’d be better to just split up and go on their separate ways. But I do want them to work out their issues and become happy together. They are so cute together when they ain’t doing the toxic tango.

Loona/Octavia 2/10 See them more as siblings, friends or mentor/mentee

Stolas/Stella 1/10 Hell no :)

Stolas/Striker 1/10 Striker was literally paid to kill Stolas. Even tho Stolas finds him hot doesn’t mean it’d work out lol.

Stella/Striker 4/10 They can go fuck off with each other :)

Fizzaroli/Blitz 10/10 As a romantic ship, hell no. As a platonic ship, hell yes. I’m glad they made up and are friends again, they are such a good duo :) (Tho I won’t complain if there’s some platonic make out sessions between the two /J)

Fizzarolli/Ozzie 10/10 They are ADORABLE together 😭 They way Ozzie is with Fizz makes me happy.

Moxxie/Millie 10/10 They are perfect for each other. If you ship one of these characters with any one else, how dare you 😠

Verosika/Blitzo 3/10 Obviously Blitz doesn’t like her like that and Verosika doesn’t anymore. They had their struggles and I’m glad in the end it was somewhat “sort out”. I hope they can be friends at least, if not that’s understandable.

Mammon/Fizzarolli 2/10 Mammon’s true love is money 🤑 and he treated Fizz like shit just to get more.

Stolas/DudeThatAskedHimToDance 6/10 Ah. I think it’s cute and could be healthier and less harming than the relationship Stolas has with Blitz. If Stoliz doesn’t work out then this could be an option. 🤷‍♀️

Loona/Vortex 7/10 I think they’d be cute together but you know he’s already in a relationship with bee

——————

HH & HB

Lucifer/Stolas 7/10 Two emotionally damaged dads? They’d be cute and would bond over being hurt by someone they love and their relationship with their daughters. But I think I like the idea of them being friends way better.

Verosika/Valentino 3/10 I don’t know 💀 I’ve been thinking about this one for a day or two. I’m just gonna say no

Ozzie/Angel 3/10 like the idea of Angel going to Ozzie for help/work, but nothing more

Loona/Cherri 7/10 Honestly? Two badass people = badass power couple lol

Loona/Charlie 2/10 not a big fan 🤷‍♀️

Blitzo/Angel 6/10 It could work, both are vulgar and brash. They got issues that could be worked on together. But those issues they got can also be a big problem in the relationship (as it is in helluva boss between Stolas & Blitz). But, if not romantically, then they could be great business partners.

Stolas/Angel & Fizzarolli/Angel 6/10 Platonic ship! Could go two ways: a good fuck or besties for life. I love the idea of them shopping and gossiping together. I don’t particularly think they’d work as a couple tho.

Fizzarolli/Angel/Stolas 6/10 Platonic ship! Could definitely be besties. Bonding over the lovers and tyrants in their lives, going shopping etc. Don’t think they all would/could be lovers.

——————

What’s your favorite/least favorite ship in HH & HB?

✨ Thanks for reading :) ✨

——————

[anna-scribbles]

can you share some of your writing/planning process for thirteen? i adore the non-linear format - how do you decide what scenes to put where?

ahh thank you!! idk how much of a defined process I have, but there's definitely a lot of planning that goes into it and i can show you some of that.

i keep all the chapters in one doc organized by month, and then i plan everything out in bullet points in a timeline at the beginning. here i just have october and november as examples bc after december things started to get more detailed/messy

all of the scenes (especially at the beginning) set the stage for things i’ve planned to happen later, or establish something that feels relevant to adrien’s character by the time we meet him in canon. the task of condensing an entire month into about 2-3 scenes has been a bit difficult; i’ve found out that i’m a very present-moment kind of writer so it’s harder for me to describe the passage of, like, weeks of time. so i’ve been pinpointing specific threads of adrien’s story that i want to be sure to tell and choosing scenes from each month that build on that.

i’ve had the idea for this fic in the back of my mind since about 2021 so i’ve had several scenes cemented in my mind, ways i’ve decided things played out, etc. some of the writing process has been building the narrative around those things or figuring out how we get there. that’s what i love about prequels in general, honestly - it’s inevitable where we’re going to end up, but how do we get there?

adrien’s situation, at the moment we meet him in origins, is SO endlessly fascinating to me. he is in the process of doing something reckless and rebellious and bold - running away - against the will of his father, a man he spends the rest of the series struggling with his compulsion to submit to. we find out, via the rest of the show, exactly how difficult it is for adrien to stand up to his father. and yet, in his very first appearance, adrien is running away from him.

how did he get here? what, exactly, pushed him to this point? was this the final escalation of a steady build of rebellious behaviors, or an impulsive breakthrough after one awful day too many? what has this small boy been through in the last year, and why does public school seem to be his only fathomable escape?

and WHY, if his circumstances are so dire as to compell him to rebel so boldly in the first place, does he still throw it away to help the old man in the road? what makes him so kind, when he has everything to lose? what happened? how did he get here?

i’m interested, obviously, in the character of émilie. i think that the hole she leaves in the narrative is a compelling silhouette and i’ve been having a blast trying to pencil in its details. it’s obvious that adrien loved her deeply and had a stronger connection to her than with gabriel. but also, adrien was still shut off from the world while she was alive. he was still, presumably, an exploited child star while she was alive. she was an actress and a mother and died by broken magic and never told her son the truth about any of it. figuring out who i think she was and then how to show that through young adrien’s eyes has been a huge part of planning this story for me.

as far as the twenty three year old adrien sections, those have been less involved as far as planning goes. i only recently mapped out which areas of the house i want him to visit during the different months. i wanted his sections to line up at least thematically, if not physically, where thirteen year old adrien is at in his story. for example, in december twenty three year old adrien cleans out the dining room where thirteen year old adrien was having terrible christmas dinner. and in january they’re both in the garden, etc.

it’s a bit harder to map out twenty three adrien just because it has to also make sense geographically - i can’t have him running back and forth up and down the stairs, let’s be real he doesn’t have the energy for that. i’ve also opened up the agreste mansion page on the miraculous wiki so many times while trying to map this out 💔💔 did you know that apparently there’s a third floor we never see in the show. yeah i have to figure out what to do with that now

ANYWAY long story short: the planning process for thirteen is kind of a mess, but the whole story is built around some central plot points that i knew i wanted to hit from the beginning. the details change a lot (as you can see from the outline above - it’s not quite right) but i keep the end in mind. just have to figure out how we get there.

thank you for asking!! mwah<3

[sunnylolli]

I came across your punk Arthur dad au where Al was having a bad day and I'd be really interested to know your headcanons of punk Arthur as a dad if you have any. I cant remember if that art came from a human au or not but I vibe so hard with the idea of human punk Arthur just raising his kid y'know? btw I wanna eat your art style its so good

Boy do I ever!!!

It is indeed a human au and it does have FrUk, but I focus more on Arthur and Alfred as their own little family-

Arthur is a young single dad. And I mean he's young as in he's just shy of 18 when Alfred is born and he's just turned 19 when Alfred is made his sole responsability.

Arthur needs to stop doing gigs and needs to put a pin in his entire social life because most of his 'friends' are really only friends with him because they go out drinking together and go to concerts, y'know?So by withdrawing from that for Alfred's sake, Arthur kind of ends up only really having Gilbert around, because Gilbert isn't really that easy a person to get rid of.

(Putting a read more because I go nuts beneath here, it seems)

- Arthur as a punk dad would obviously end up having a very different grown up Alfred than we got in canon- A very left leaning Alfred.

But I see him bringing Alfred to things still, but he doesn't bring him to places with too many people or music that is way too loud because 1. he's worried someone will come snatch Alfred from him and 2. he doesn't want to ruin his hearing.

He brings him to protests though, with earbuds. And 1970s Britain, it's not like those are lacking in any capacity. So we have Alfred sitting on Arthur's shoulders in a way too large band t-shirt, his hair messed up and having the time of his life in the sea of people protesting worker's rights.

And then he'll leave Alfred with Gilbert a few hours every day while he runs around trying to find a job! Which he eventually does and starts gradually making an attempt to make a savings fund for Alfred.

But it doesn't change the fact they're poor.

But they live in a flat, they own a vacuum and a kitchen, they have running water and they eat doner kebab at least a few times a month. And when Alfred starts school, Arthur starts uni in hopes of getting himself a more well-paying job, Alfred and Matthew get the same uniform as everybody else does.

So yeah, they're poor, but it could definitely be worse.

Arthur doesn't push ideology on either Alfred nor Matthew (When he enters into the picture), he doesn't tell them what to think, but he expresses his own beliefs and asks them things that can get them to think for themselves such as:

"If you were in their shoes, how would you feel about [x,y,z.]." And "Alright, then how would you like [xyz] to be different?"

Like he's very democratic in his parenting and he believes very firmly that good people aren't born, they're made. And while he doesn't have many expectations set in stone for either of them, he does expect them to do their best at things that they like doing and he does expect them to be good people.

Arthur is genuinely interested in who Al and Mat will grow up to be, the scene where he lies on the floor with Alfred is a reflection of that, in how he speaks to Alfred like a person rather than to a child-

(Because when soeaking to children it's important to remember they are just as much a person deserving of respect and recognition as any other person is and they do not owe you shit just because they happen to be a child. They do not owe you respect, if you cannot show them any.)

And also! In this au, Arthur simply is a good dad; Because I have started studying and I love projecting things I learn onto him and have him utilize my knowledge.

Punk Dad Arthur is the healthiest Arthur that exists within the Sunny sphere.

[an-organism]

so on ali’s motivation for [redacted under cut]

going to dragonstone - she’s trying to end the war as bloodlessly as possible for her immediate family while she has any leverage left whatsoever. there is some triaging going on, as she’s reached the point where she doesn’t think there’s anything she can do for aemond - that’s a realization that started to creep in with luke's death, continued through rook’s rest and his ascendance to the regency, and was capped off by what she saw of his treatment of helaena in e8. from her perspective he’s clearly negligent with the lives of his siblings, if not an outright deliberate threat to them, which makes it easier for her to justify writing him off as a lost cause and prioritize the others.

over the course of s2 we’ve seen her exhaust any remaining influence she previously had over aemond, larys, criston, and the rest of the small council, so once the walls start to close in she makes a last-ditch effort with rhaenyra, who’s the one and only person with any real power on either side of the war that she might have an outside shot at dealing with (indicated in part by the surprise church date a few weeks ago). she thinks, probably correctly, that she can at least convince her to spare helaena and jaehaera, but gives a solid effort at pleading for aegon’s life as well, exaggerating his injuries, her own sway over him, and his willingness to bend the knee to downplay him as a threat.

yeah it’s probably too little too late at this point, and obviously we see that rhaenyra won’t commit to sparing aegon (after which alicent straight-up leaves without agreeing to anything else, worth noting), but what does alicent have to lose here? it’s not going to get better if she waits any longer. if rhaenyra wins on her own terms, she’ll at minimum kill aegon, and who’s to say whether she stops at him; otoh if the war drags out, that leaves aemond in power as an escalatingly loose kinslaying cannon who’s doing an even better job at endangering his siblings than rhaenyra is. this way, either rhaenyra agrees to negotiate with her and she gets something out of that, she disagrees but alicent is able to plant the idea in her head and get a better idea of what she wants, or rhaenyra kills her on the spot and none of this is her problem anymore.

for whatever reason people are set on interpreting all this as either alicent being sooo down horrendous over stupid sexy nyra she forgets what side she's on, and/or condal et al just wanting to humiliate her out of spite or something? as opposed to a genuine attempt at exercising some control over the situation she’s in that necessarily involves telling rhaenyra what she wants to hear, which fails because 1) too much has happened already and 2) rhaenyra is in a very different place than she was at their meeting in the sept, what with her new cult and hot lover and subservient cuck husband and all. but what are her other options? nobody else is listening to her.

[the-game-spirit]

I have been going so insane over the zelda timeline regarding totk like I am LOSING my mind

like. either 1. botw/totk is a completely new continuity. worst option. boring.

2. it is SO FAR in the future of the (probably downfall) timeline and there has been SO MUCH canon-typical time bullshit in between that the other two either bleed over OR the ever-funny hyrule warrior's convergence theory happens that it may as well be just a soft reboot and history is just. repeating endlessly. also kind of boring imho

OR 3. totk memories happen sometime after skyward sword. interesting. also a completely fucking insane idea.

it's a misconception that SS zelda and link founded hyrule! they almost certainly didn't!

did the zonai make the timeshift stuff in SS? the tower of the gods in WW? the ooccoo? a fascinating concept!

what about the triforce? who knows! i don't think minish cap has anything to do with it either and it does get sealed away at some point sooooo

but more importantly

is there a fucking dehydrated ganondorf sealed away underground for every single zelda game

most people would be like, 'no, of course not, thats so stupid how does oot ganondorf exist if totk ganondorf is in hand jail already' and 'ganondorf has a history of reincarnation/revival but that can't happen if he's still alive ya dingus' and normally I would agree! I did agree! I've been scratching my head trying to make this work since I started playing totk

except!!! except!!!!!! we have literally already seen this happen before!!!!

so. skyward sword.

skyward sword is a closed loop time travel story. I cannot stand when people try to shoehorn another timeline split in SS because no split happens. that's the point. that was hylia's plan. the first hero? before skyward sword link? hylia's chosen knight that defeated demise? that was always skyward sword link in the past. demise even confirms this in dialog. something something he's 'never seen a hylian stand up to him before.' idk the exact quote but it Very Much Implies demise has never encountered any incarnation of link before.

so. how do we kill the imprisoned (demise) in the future and then go back and kill demise again in the past in a closed loop?

because we seal demise's consciousness in the sword, and his body in the ground

the imprisoned is clearly mindless. even more mindless than downfall timeline ganon post-resurrection. it has one single goal, which is to reach the temple and.... the master sword. with the consciousness of demise sealed within.

we have confirmation that two versions of the demon king can, technically, exist entirely separate from eachother.

it isn't a stretch to think that if his body is sealed away, effectively dead and unable to spread his malice, that the spirit of demise's hatred (if its not sealed with the sword, like in totk) would reincarnate until the time comes that the seal weakens enough (the first calamity) that it doesn't need to.

obviously there are still problems here like. where are the rito? (personally I think they just fuck off to hebra, which only barely exists in any other game, and I wholeheartedly believe the WW rito are a completely different species)

if totk ganondorf is sealed under the castle before oot, but the great plateau is implied oot castle town, why didn't we find dehydrated dorf there? uuuuuuuhhhhhhh next question

(listen the great plateau doesn't really match up with oot castle town anyway, no other details really match, definitely not the typical 'death mountain to the north(east), lake hylia down south' geography we usually see)

is rauru totk and rauru oot the same or different? zelda actually calls the sages 'ancient creators of hyrule' in oot, and since rauru is the only actually ancient one there.... uh. its entirely possible! why does he look hylian in oot? uhhhhhh? magic? because seeing some giant talking goat person that has never been seen before might not inspire trust in the traumatized monster-fighting 9 year-old-turned-16-year-old. also isnt oot rauru ALSO the owl? its been a LONG time since I played oot so I genuinely don't know if I just made that up but if so the guy has a history of changing form I guess

honestly I think we do have to allow for a certain level of handwavy 'new game' leeway, just like we do with EVERY game, in order to make this work. the map is always different. some things are introduced that have never once been heard of before in any other game. some things DONT exist that have in other games. some things are so different they're nearly unrecognizable. there are little easter eggs and no, they don't always have to mean something.

[awesomedurraworld]

do you just one day realize that you have tons of ideas and Aus, and half of them- if not 3/4 of them will be forever forgotten?

Like. When I tell you the amount of things that I come up with during one day is... Is unbelievable? Sometimes it is the same plot but different scenarios.

The other week, I was going back to my old chats with my bestie, and I was shocked to find this very old Au that I came up with, ( Papa Royed obviously.) and the fact I drew for it too??

I also Reopned an older Au, called “ Roy Elric.” which, really, Roy in Trisha’s shoes. Does that mean Riza is Ho? No I don't think so. I was inspired by this older fic on Ao3, and kinda doodled for their Au.

Another Au- Tangled. I have only shared this with my bestie, but basically when the “ kingdom dance.” music was trending- which has been my favorite type of music since I watched Tangled which was in 2011 😂 when I heard it again, I realized how much that song ( music.) will fit Fma, and 2 ideas came:

what if Fma had a culture? Like, dances, foods, and Music and clothes?? I started designing Riza’s costume over good 9 months ago, so if you are interested I will love to share

Idea number 2 is basically your classic Fma x Tangled. With Ed as Punzel and Roy as Eugene and Ho as mother gothal. Not that Ed is a prince, but the idea of him being locked and Roy freeing him to show him the world.

There is this other idea, that Roy adopted Ed and Al before they committed the taboo but kept them a secret to protect them?

And the idea of Royai retiring and having Ed and Roy is blind and military comes and Ed learns who his parents are?

Also, I never realized that I have been writing regressed Ed? Like, I never did until I started following Mayliz ❤️ and I was like. “ hold up, this has a name?” and then my bestie pointed it and was like, “ Your Ed always regressed,” and I was like “ oh yeah.” and kinda tempted to write a whole fic with that WITH AL AND ED being regressed

What If the taboo failed BECAUSE Ed isn't Trisha’s biological son?

Like, gah, I didn't even scratch the surface of these ideas. And I want to write after math of Hughes’ death! And OH MY GOD I HAVE THE AU WHERE ROY WAS IN HUGHES’ SHOE!

Okay okay, so instead of Gracia and Elysia, it’s Riza and Ed and Al, but the catch here is that Riza isn't a solider, she is just Roy’s wife, one day when the whole team goes around to fight Envy they find Mrs. Mustang there with her husband’s gloves, KILLING Envy? Like having no shame because he killed her husband and orphaned her kids. This would mean, that Riza is an alchemist too. Roy probably taught her to keep herself and the kids safe just in case

Also, I do want to write a fic where the boys just grief the loss of their dad

😩😩😩 I don't joke when I say this is just a normal day with my brain, haha, I just wished I had more time to draw and write. I am busy currently, but I am hoping and praying that mid of December won't come without me posting something. I want to finish Took my kids? Take my fire now- which, has been on my chest since last year and there is no way we're going to Jan 2024 with this fic unfinished

And yeah I guess this is all have to say today, is there an idea that you liked? What do you think of this haha

[mermaidsirennikita]

listen yes the diana ghost was stupid as fuck and i do agree with some of the cast being miscast (although i feel the real issue is they are not given enough to do) but idk man i was compelled. and more importantly entertained. god season 5 was so boring. maybe it's just that i had such low expections going in and i'll feel different on rewatch but i thought these episodes were a lot more focused, better paced and written compared to season 5. not perfect by any means but good bordering on amazing. i thought the acting was also very strong. i even feel like they handeded diana's death well and i'm impressed morgan didn't just totally repeat himself since he already covered these events in the queen. the shift in perspective helped i think. so yeah that's just me. i've seen the season getting a mixed response and it's definitely not on the level of seasons 1-4 but i thought it was still very very good.

To preface: I don't want to imply that you're wrong for liking it, there are totally my opinions alone.

For me, the ghost went beyond stupid--it's offensive. I know it wasn't a literal ghost, that's not even the issue. Peter Morgan softened the relationship Charles and Diana had in order to lionize Charles, which has been a huge part of s5 and s6 imo. Diana and Charles weren't like... good... when she died. She wasn't good with Elizabeth II either. Even if the ghost is idea is supposed to act as their projections, I don't think the general audience is necessarily going to get that in the way it was conveyed. Dianas would not like... lovingly usher Charles and Lizzie 2 through grief; and even the implication, however unintentional it is, goes into this idea PM has pushed that Diana didn't feel that badly to the monarchy, she didn't mean what she said in the Panorama interview, she was confused!!!!

And it's a part of invalidating her emotions, using her mental health especially, that is also a consistent part of the Windsor mythologizing of her in recent years especially. She didn't hate us. She was manipulated.

Diana was smart; she was abused by the Windsors; and I think she would've done a lot worse if not for William being the eventual heir. Compare it to Harry and Meghan--Harry clearly still has a kind of emotional attachment to his father and whatever he thinks his family is. Meghan has obviously ceased to give a fuck about them and did a while ago. When you weren't raised in that family and were treated like an outside as a married-in, I think your capacity for forgiveness probably goes away, especially when you're not financially dependent on them (see: Fergie, who stayed more loyal ultimately and is financially dependent on Andrew and by extension the royals).

And aside from that, I find the handling of Mohamed al-Fayed, a controversial man with controversial opinions, whose outspokenness and anger towards the royal family is totally valid--but who did have extreme theories that were used to invalidate the solid points he made at times. The other thing used to invalidate him was the concept of the Angry Brown Man who just Wants Revenge on the Rich Classy White People. The show has VERY MUCH played into that. And you can absolutely portray whatever Mohamed did to influence Dodi and that relationship (and I won't deny that he wanted them together) without playing into that stereotype.

I also found the way in which Dodi was portrayed, or really the lack there of, really disappointing. Dodi was given a really flat characterization over both seasons, which is a big missed opportunity to me--Dodi obviously died too, and his tragedy was really lost in the shuffle of the immense reaction to Diana's death.

To me, the attempted lionization of Charles and Camilla has really been distasteful. The were human. They made mistakes. Nobody is perfect. But the idea of Charles as this handsome grieving pseudo-widower who just wanted to be with the love of his life is so... off. Camilla as his loyal trusty partner who is ready to step up is... off. Camilla didn't want to be queen, at least not at that point. She slept with both Charles and her husband (among others) for years. She loved her husband. Charles saw other people. That's all valid, tbh; but I've never liked this idea that they were these consistent, steadfast lovers thwarted by fate and a more attractive, more popular woman. Camilla wanted to be his mistress, lol. Being queen or princess came with obligations that she (understandably) wasn't interested in signing up for. Charles kinda pushed her into that.

So yeah, idek. I don't find the writing any more compelling than s5, personally. I feel like the first four seasons did a great job of acknowledging the humanity of the royal family while also admitting to them being fundamentally shitty. Philip and Elizabeth have their weird failmarriage where they actually do love each other; and they're incredibly cold parents who scar their son. Margaret is a woman who wants her own individual identity and is mentally tormented by it; she's also an incredibly spoiled and self-absorbed asshole. Charles is the kid who wanted mom and dad to love him; he's also an emotionally abusive husband who is incapable of not wallowing in self pity.

I mean, I'd say this extends to people the show didn't see as shitty, too. Even Diana--she's got a good heart and is a good and loving (if not perfect) mother, and she soaks up the attention (while paradoxically hating it at times) and isn't very mature.

To me, it now seems like PM has failed to realize that he doesn't have to make Charles and Camilla seem like better people than they are to make them seem like people. Perhaps he feels he had to overhaul after the very negative reaction to them in s4. But the reality is? Those negative feelings were already there. Many people made up their minds about Charles and Camilla a long time ago. While I'm sure some people genuinely went "oh it's been long enough, we like them now" (particularly royalists) many, many people... still hated them lol. They just didn't think about it. The show gave them something to talk about. PM didn't make the royals look bad in that season; so much as he reminded everyone of why they were so, so criticized in the 90s.

(And he def gave a soft touch to some people before s5--good ol' Uncle Mountbatten's pedophilia accusations were never mentioned.)

So yeah, it just seems like they lack depth, and are more flattering portrayals of the monarchy versus even... well-rounded fictional people.

[bisluthq]

Lol if you think Taylor did what she did with Olivia because she's just a cutthroat business bitch who wanted her coin because Olivia said she got the idea to shout in a bridge from Cruel Summer. She came for Olivia because Olivia's success when Sour finally came out bothered her and Taylor wanted to dress her down. People forget that Deja Vu had been out as a single for almost 2 months before Taylor asked for credit. They asked for credit at the end of May the same insider who knew the credit situation was happening before it was officially done in July literally said this at the time. It was after Olivia's album was released and was a massive success, critically acclaimed in a way that was just huge and had a lot of people realizing that she wasn't just a flash in the pan girl having a little moment with Drivers License that Taylor changed her tune. And that's also what Olivia's cowriter literally said himself, that people 'get funny' about things when something becomes a big success. Taylor is insecure, she's not warm to young female artists who get too close to her own combined mainstream commercial success + critical acclaim + prestige personal female songwriter + Grammy wins. Listen to Clara Bow. Sabrina, Gracie, Phoebe et al will never bother her in the same way because Sabrina isn't a serious songwriter, Gracie is mediocre and Phoebe is indie. Girls like Olivia and now also Billie who have major, major success in a way that is very close to Taylor's young success (Billie even has the Oscars that Taylor has thirsted after for years) are basically the girl at the end of Clara Bow, who can be the next 'her' but with 'edge'.

but to me the very fact that she only did it when Olivia was big *is* what makes her a cutthroat bitch rather than a nasty bully? That’s the part I think we fundamentally disagree on. It would be extremely rude to go get your money from a random girl who’s releasing little SoundCloud songs or little TikTok songs lmao because 1) genuinely not much money to get there at all so like a cash grab is uncalled for 2) absolutely not a business threat.

As you rightly point out, Olivia was fast becoming one. And she had done so while punting her connection to Taylor. That obviously bothered Taylor lol.

Again, on male artists - I am certain Postie bothers Ed. Evidence: Postie is very much going for Ed’s vibe as a nice guy who writes across a few genres, is a very fucking serious chart performer, and has major critical success. Interestingly, while Ed loves to collab with people (more so than Taylor does) and although Postie has done multiple shoutouts to Ed and has said that he’s a big fan, there’s radio silence from Ed regarding Postie lol. Is that because Ed is a bitter old hag? Maybe. But no one would ever characterize (side note that took me way too long to spell correctly just now) Ed that way lol or look for evidence of him being bothered even (although I genuinely believe him to be bothered). Harry’s like the same age as Ed give or take and they’re friends but they’ve been demonstrably less close since Harry went solo and even more so since Harry started charting super well while also receiving songwriting acclaim. I think that’s coming from Ed, who has become somewhat more bothered by the situation, and not from Harry. Again, he’s allowed to be though.

I also think we understand Clara Bow in profoundly different ways tbh. It’s a commentary on how famous women are treated in society and she parallels her experiences with those of other women. It’s not her saying “fuck everyone” lol. In fact, Clara Bow is calling out that very thing - that there can only be one. And that’s only done to women. No one has said “Ed’s over, Postie’s the new Ed” and no one ever will. People only do that to women.

That said, again, yes obviously she’s going to compete with Billie and Olivia and other huge artists? Why shouldn’t she?? Why must she just go “yayyy” to that lol?

[mrschwartz]

omg no, don't feel bad about saying "resentment" because as the only childless/partnerless person in my friend group, i wanna break a glass when i need someone and know that they have Other People, and obviously i'm not proud of it/love that they're happy, but LOL it's a struggle. also agree that they all support each other but he Needs the band and they're aware of it! that's why they let him write his weird little songs and it's kinda sweet that they all seem so on the same page with (1/2 lol)

(2/2) the car as opposed to tbhc, because let's be real, they seemed a little perplexed by that one 😂 just in general the vibes are so much better now but Al Will Be Al and i do think he's tapping into something a liiiittle more honest lately BUT WHO KNOWS, six months from now he might be referring to this as "the performer" jfbsbfn 🤷🏻‍♀️

yes thank you!! i'm glad i'm not the only one who gets the feeling that he's the one who needs them the most and that they're aware of it. i think it's something they realized very early on, that he's a special little guy lol and are just happy to support him

i'm glad most of us can admit alex's """""protagonism""""". like i know he's the one the most in the limelight anyway so that's one of the main reasons it feels particularly skewed, but i feel like even that itself says a lot, you know? i know they all value each other's opinion, and they all contribute to the music and to the decisions, i know that, i know. but i loveeee "alex follows his gut and the band follows alex", like that's it. they're all always moving towards the same direction bc that's the understanding, to trust alex with his vision and to try to service that. they realized that very early on, his genius is special and rare to come by. i agree with you, it's very clear that they always support his ideas and the man himself!

and you know, to you last point. i think he's always honest (meaning always true to what he wants to represent) at the moment, like it's always a projection of himself and of his current interests at the time, but he gets bored very easily and is always ready to move on and to regret what he used in the past to represent himself. chameleon. like yeah the car him is him, or a part of him, and this time his interests are films and introspection and whatnot. 2 years from now? "oh no no i was reaching for the idea of playing the movie director part bc at the time that interested me greatly, now i'm.........." whatever you know lmao. fill in the blank. that's always the cycle. he always uses different words to describe this evolution but that's essentially it every time

[teenmomcentral]

Maci Bookout says she’s continuing to support— and talk to— her legally-challenged baby daddy Ryan Edwards, even though he’s currently in jail.

The Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star and her husband Taylor McKinney recently spoke to TooFab about how she’s kept her newly repaired relationship with Ryan going, despite all of his recent legal issues. (As of press time, Ryan is currently in jail in Tennessee, but will likely move to a local rehab center later this week.) 

“Obviously with all the crap that went down, and him being in jail now, we’re still in a good place,” Maci told the site during a video interview.

“And, actually, we speak to each other very consistently and often,” Maci added. “But it’s obviously just different now because it’s not in-person and he’s not out here in the real world. We’re still going in a good direction.”

As The Ashley told you, Maci and Ryan had been filming for ‘Next Chapter’ Season 1B together right up until Ryan was put in jail in April.

Maci said that, after reconnecting with Ryan during the Teen Mom Family Reunion Season 2 reunion show last year, the once-very-estranged exes began to work on getting along. 

“I think time definitely helped but us being able to genuinely have a conversation and make commitments to each other as far as what our role is to make a better relationship, and really start a relationship because we haven’t had one in so long,” Maci said, adding that all co-parenting of Bentley had previously been through Ryan’s parents, Jen and Larry Edwards.

In an interview with Us Weekly, Maci praised Ryan for continuing to bond with Bentley, despite the fact that Ryan’s been behind bars for the last few months.

“I think as crazy as it is, because he is in jail right now, he shows up and communicates with Bentley, I think, more consistently now than he ever has, which is mind-blowing,” she told the magazine. 

“Although Ryan made really bad decisions and is paying the consequences for them, I’m glad to see that that hasn’t stopped him from showing up or, like, calling and communicating because in the past that would’ve halted everything,” Maci added.

Maci stated that she has been honest with Bentley about Ryan’s recent issues.

“With Bentley being older and unfortunately this not being the first time that something has happened [with Ryan], Bentley and I have always had an extremely close relationship, but also a very open and honest relationship,” she said. “So for us I think just being straightforward and, ‘Here’s what’s going on,’ and then really just making sure that Bentley knows that we’re there for him and if needs anything or has questions or wants to talk about how to deal with something, just being there to support him through it.”

Taylor stated that he was not initially thrilled with the idea of Bentley and Ryan (and Maci and Ryan) reconnecting. (As The Ashley has previously reported, Ryan and Taylor have had a very tumultuous relationship, with Taylor and Maci taking out a restraining order against Ryan, after Ryan threatened to shoot Taylor in the head in March 2018. In 2021, Taylor almost got into a physical fight with Ryan’s dad Larry while filming the ‘Teen Mom OG’ Season 9 Reunion.)

“You’ll see it evolve,” Taylor said of his feelings about Ryan coming back into the picture. “In my opinion there’s a fine line between trying to protect Bentley and not get in the way of him having a relationship with his father, trying to find that balance and I don’t know, it’s tough.”

Maci also confirmed that she has been attending Al-Anon (an organization for people who have been impacted by others’ addictions). 

“That’s a game changer,” Maci said. “It’s way different than what I expected it to be, it is nothing like that. It’s very healing and it’s so much more about yourself, rather than the addict. It’s such a safe space to kind of look yourself in the mirror and work on yourself. I think that it just overall kind of helps every relationship you have after that.”

While Maci was not at Ryan’s most-recent court hearing last week, she did attend his hearing in June. She told The Ashley at the time that, “As Bentley’s mom it was important for me to show up for not only Ryan, but Bentley as well.”

Maci talked to Us Weekly about how Ryan’s faring while in the slammer.

“[Ryan had] rough patches just dealing with mental health [issues]… it’s a crazy world on the inside,” Maci said.

“At the same time, it’s like, yeah, but don’t do stupid s**t,” she said.

Despite Bentley’s renewed relationship with Ryan— as well as Maci’s— the ‘Teen Mom’ star said she’s always worried that things with Ryan will head south.

“Yes, I will always be afraid that there’s that chance that it’s gonna be a disaster,” she said. “But I think at the same time I’m just, like, I know what I can do and what I can’t do and … that’s all I can do, and I’m confident in that.”

[graysongoal]

This.

Also, earlier this month, IDF dropped leaflets OUTING QUEER PEOPLE in Gaza. (Note: the account did not blur out the individual's name or details, which are written in Arabic.)

That's not ally behavior.

Here are some links about pinkwashing:

Queer collective calls out ‘pinkwashing’ of Palestinian genocide - Prism | February 21, 2024

No Pride in Genocide: Calling Out Israel’s Pinkwashing - Yes! Magazine | February 5, 2024

Pinkwashing - Decolonize Palestine

LGBTQ Protests Against Israel Are About Justice, Not Anti-Semitism - In These Times | January 29, 2016

Yes, Our Anti-Israel Protest Disrupted LGBT Conference — That’s the Point! - Forward | January 28, 2016

Shutting Down a Pinkwashing Event Is a Smart, Legitimate Protest Against Israel's Occupation - Haaretz | January 28, 2016 (Note: You need a free account to read this. You can create one using a number of services like Temp Mail.)

Against the pinkwashing of Israel: Why supporting Palestinians is a queer and feminist issue - Al Jazeera | Aug 9, 2014

Gay Rights as Human Rights: Pinkwashing Homonationalism - Jadaliyya | Dec 16, 2011

Let's take a second to talk about homophobia, transphobia, and colonization.

I studied Islam, Arabic, Middle Eastern history, Israel, Palestine, and LGBTQ+ rights for 2 years in graduate school. My focus was all over the place, for sure, but it means I have a lot of knowledge that I can offer on this stuff. I am w h i t e and not Muslim. I am both queer and transgender. This is something I'm incredibly invested in, so please enjoy this infodump.

The idea that queer and trans folks aren't welcome in Palestine is absolutely false. Multiple Gazans have talked about having trans or queer neighbors or friends and not blinking an eye. Obviously, mileage varies based on who you run into... just like it does in the good old US of A.

And? LGBTQ+ identities were openly and freely embraced before colonization fucked it up. Whether it's recent history or pre-colonization, this has been researched and well-documented.

The digital archive unearthing queer Arab history - Huck Magazine | April 19, 2021

The Instagram Account Dedicated to Queer Arab History and Pop Culture - AnOther Magazine | April 16, 2021

This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers | April 2022

‘Queerness is part of Palestinian culture. We’ve existed forever’ - +972 Magazine | January 18, 2023

The Arab and Muslim Evolution of ‘Deviance’ in Homosexuality - New Lines Magazine | June 24, 2022

Queer Islamic Art: A Very Brief History - Epoch Magazine | December 2020

It’s different now, but Muslims have a long history of accepting homosexuality - Scroll.in | June 18, 2016

A Map of Gender Diverse Cultures - PBS Independent Lens | August 12, 2015

What changed acceptance was colonization, whether it was from the British Empire or others.

How the British Empire exported homophobia - Socialist Worker | August 22, 2023

How Britain Exported Homophobia - Migrants' Rights Network | February 24, 2023

How the Middle East Moved From Tolerant of Homosexuality to a Battlefield of Anti-Gay Violence - Hornet | September 16, 2021

377: The British colonial law that left an anti-LGBTQ legacy in Asia - BBC | June 28, 2021

The homophobic legacy of the British Empire - CNN | September 12, 2018

How homosexuality became a crime in the Middle East - The Economist | June 6, 2018

This is because colonialism is directly tied to w h i t e supremacy, racism, and belittling The Other in order to hold and maintain power.

The Gender Binary Is a Tool of White Supremacy - An Injustice! Magazine | July 14, 2020

Transphobia in Commonwealth countries is an injustice left over from British colonialism. It’s time we addressed it - Pink News | March 31, 2021

Transphobia is Settler-Colonialism - Tina Ngata | March 25, 2023

How Britain's colonial past can be traced through to the transphobic feminism of today - The Independent | June 10, 2020

Why Transphobia Is at the Heart of the White Power Movement - The Nation | August 18, 2021

Transphobia is a White Supremacist Legacy of Colonialism - Michael Paramo on Medium | July 17, 2018

Homosexuality predates colonialism. It is homophobia that’s new - Minority Africa | June 17, 2020

Transphobia, Whorephobia And (As) Capitalist-colonial Gender - Manchester University Press | April 29, 2020

Until we acknowledge the racist and colonial roots of transphobia, Trans Day of Visibility will remain a Western scam - Pink News | March 31, 2021

The Colonial Roots Of Homophobia - Zeitgeister: The Cultural Magazine of the Goethe-Institut

This is just one reason why, when we have folks like Tom Daley calling for a ban on Olympians from countries who have both a history of experiencing colonization violence and struggling to undo that RE LGBTQ+ rights, it pisses me the fuck off.

If you do not know the history or the context, you're doing everyone a disservice.

Whether it's in Africa or the Middle East, w h i t e colonizers act like we're so much better than these countries - countries that did not generally have homophobia or transphobia until we entered and fucked them up.

Instead, we view them as "barbaric" and "savage" and all the other racist buzzwords.

Victoria Kishoiyian wrote a bit about this, specifically focused on Africa, for the Harvard Political Review in 2022:

Backward and Barbaric: How The Western Gaze Perceives and Portrays Homophobia in Africa

tldr; colonizers fucked up the world, not only by creating false countries and giving land to people not indigenous to the areas (like Is rael) BUT also because we introduced homophobia and transphobia.

Pinkwashing is just an extension of colonial practices, and it must stop. Now.

You're literally gay??? And it's pride month??? And Israel's our only safe haven in that region???

There's no pride in genocide