#like I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character who has the same attitude about their gender as me

[artlyloser]

Blue Eye Samurai is one of the best things I’ve watched all year and I’m not even finished yet

[phant0mth1ef]

“who do i look like thirsting over a guy who still has a galaxy s6?”

part 2 to the little streamer drabble i posted!

-

“girl look at your twitter.”

the voice that your phone was emitting rang in your ears, pro hero by day, your longtime bestfriend by night, monoma neito. also known as, phantom thief.

“what? what happened?” you quickly tapped off the call screen, your finger rapidly going to find the app with the blue bird logo, trying to see if you were getting cancelled, or worse, if you were getting shipped with neito.

you quickly tapped the topic that showcased your name, wondering just what all the fuss could possibly be about at 2:53 am on a tuesday morning.

of course, the gossip magazines have now caught onto what you said and they were sure as hell never going to let it go, at least not until you provided them with some details.

“oh my god. neito you told me he wouldn’t even see it! you fucking liar.” you pinched the bridge of your nose while one hand placed your phone on your countertop, the sound of the man laughing echoing throughout your household as you went to open your fridge.

“you had to have known he’d see it! you’re not exactly an underground streamer y’know. although, you’ll never be in the spotlight the way i am.” how the hell was he a pro hero with this attitude? no way his approval rating was high.

“well yeah! but i didn’t think he’d reply to it. d’you know how embarassing this is for me? it was just a joke! it’s literally a lyric from a megan thee stallion song.” you groaned as you cracked an egg over your bowl, whisking it in.

“wait. what’re you doing?” he heard you shuffling around.

“baking a cake. i can’t sleep.” you murmured softly, grabbing your flour.

“i’m coming over.” the man had always had such a sweet tooth, and he was more than happy to indulge in the treats that you’d bake whenever your mind was fully occupied.

“i’m here!” you jumped, forgetting that you had given the man a key in case he was ever on night patrol and needed a place to crash.

he was in his hero costume, his patrol had just finished and the stupid tailcoat that he had followed his every move as he waltzed into your kitchen, a bright smile on his face.

“god, neito! knock or something, i could’ve been naked.” your voice revealed to him just how startled you actually were.

“nothing i haven’t seen before.” oh right, that’s how you both got so close. you used to hook up with the man before becoming bestfriends.

“anyways. back to the main subject. what the hell do i do? he’s seen it. so it’s not like i can delete it and pretend it’s never happened.”

the man handed you the sugar from your pantry before sitting on your countertop right by your stove.

“well no, you can’t delete it now. honestly i say live up to it, what’s the worst that can happen?” he was always so confident, it made you like him and hate him at the same time.

“i don’t know, neito. i mean that’s embarassing! who do i look like thirsting over a man who still has a samsung galaxy s6? i’m so stupid sometimes, this is why i need a media manager.” you poured the cake mix into the pan, tossing neito the bowl so that he could have the leftover mix.

“mm. thank you. chocolate cake mix.”

“can you be serious?” you threw a wooden spoon at him, the man letting out a small ow! before getting back to your conversation.

“i am being serious, sweetheart. unfortunately this is just something you’ve got to live up to. i’ve met the dude y’know, and he’s a cocky little shit but he’s not that bad.”

“so he’s basically like you?”

“hey!”

you sighed, setting your timer for your sweet treat. this was just an interaction you couldn’t keep on avoiding.

tags: @sukunasbottomlefteyeball @pixiesluver

new character unlocked: monoma neito

[thrashkink-coven]

I saw someone make a post a little bit ago about kids leaving fandom spaces and entering into religious/ devotional spaces with the same attitudes. The kids who think you can disrespect a God like Zeus because he’s problematic in some of his myths. I couldn’t agree more.

and i got to talking to Lucifer about it because I was chatting with someone who came from the Hazbin Hotel fandom (I’ve only ever seen the pilot). Lol

They were talking about giving Lucifer ducks and I was like ??? ducks? does Lucifer have a thing with ducks??? I had no idea???? Which grimoire does that come from ?

And then I go to try and research it and I’m like oh? lmfao okay. Not my Lucifer.

When I asked him, his attitude was very 🤷‍♂️

he said something along the lines of:

“whenever a person makes an attempt to contact a deity for the first time, always, their expectations and understandings are projected onto the spirit. This applies to you too. I appear to you in the way that makes the most sense to your brain and senses. But through this form, I still communicate the truth to you. I appear to you as an older man, older and wiser than you, because that’s how your brain rationalizes my ancient nature. My eyes are the color of the hottest shade of fire because that’s how your brain understands my energy. My hair is an inky black void or blonde strands of light. A morning or evening star. My voice is gentle, my hands are delicate because I embrace you tenderly. You think my light is beautiful, so I appear to you as a beautiful man. I appear to you as a planet because that’s how your brain rationalizes how much larger I am than you.

The funny thing about these people, usually children, is that there’s very little room for me to shine through because that “Lucifer” is a very large character. He’s zainy, he’s entertaining, of course. He’s a cartoon character. They aren’t interested in me or my gnosis, they’re interested in that character. Which is fine, it doesn’t bother me. I like when my name is used in art. Better to have my name said than forgotten. It happens often. Recently, they made a tv show under my name, so those people expected me to be British and cocky. They put Lord Paimon in a horror movie. He had edgy teens contacting him for months.

(he seemed to find that very funny)

Those who are genuinely willing and ready to walk the path will find us regardless of what face or appearance we use or how we are introduced. Most of these people are not occultists. They don’t wish to do the Great Work or know me as a God, so they don’t. In these cases, these people are irrelevant to me.”

so you’re okay with oblivious kids offering you ducks to invoke a cartoon character?

He found that funny too.

“Lucifer has been so many things in so many stories. Some of these portrayals are closer or further from the truth, but they are all caricatures. None of them are truly me. I may use a form that is familiar to someone who is contacting me for the first time. Maybe I’ll be the Lucifer from Hazbin Hotel to make them feel more comfortable. But when the practitioner wishes to know me, the “character” is shed in favour of a truer connection. When we first met I came to you as a light, as an enchanted garden, a serpent, a crow. You did not seek me as a character, you sought me as a concept, Enlightenment. I could take any form, either beautiful or terrible, and you would accept me. You would find value in it. I am not your favourite character, I am your favourite God. These so called “oblivious kids” aren’t offering me anything. They don’t know me, so their actions do not mean anything to me, neither positive or negative. I will always be happy to see people engaging with art, being inspired and understood by it. My name being used in media only presents more opportunities for more people to find me. If people feel drawn to that character, then that is good… that’s fine. But you know that I am so much more than just a character.”

you don’t find it disrespectful at all?

He laughed at that as well.

“I must be among the most disrespected spirits to have ever had his name known by man. I’ve had my name cursed and banished, I’ve been hated, cast away, bastardized and demonized. These people, just enjoying their characters and media, are the very least of my concerns.”

Fair enough.

[musicalmoritz]

Good Femslash Fics Already Exist

With the whole push for more femslash in fandoms, I’ve never understood the amount of hate I see femslash “fans” direct towards existing creations. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more variety, I do too, but every time someone brings up the fact that femslash fan fictions are already being written someone opens their mouth to say “yeah but those suck.” And then they proceed to read 300+ atrociously mischaracterized mlm fics. They complain abt plotless fluff and then read the exact same pwp scenarios over and over again

And hey, if you don’t want to read femslash that’s totally fine. You don’t have to pretend it interests you. I’m someone who actively looks for femslash and my only problem has been a lack of content in smaller/male-dominated fandoms, the fics themselves are cute af. Ya’ll are missing out on some real masterpieces by labeling all existing femslash fics as “boring,” some of my favorite fics ever are femslash. If an mlm ship invades the tags just filter it out, filter out every mlm pairing in the fandom if you have to. AO3 gives us that option for a reason

I’m not saying we don’t need more variety, but we’re not going to get that by shitting on writers who actively put in the work to make more femslash. When I started writing femslash consistently it was very discouraging because I’d seen soooooo many people online saying they want more femslash fics, yet nobody was reading mine. Then I looked at the stats on other femslash fics and they were the same, really great fics were barely getting any hits or kudos. It kinda sucks knowing that an mlm fic I wrote in 3 hours got more kudos than a wlw fic I spent months on (for pairings of relatively equal popularity). This seems to be the biggest roadblock for people wanting to write femslash, no one supports it. Even tho fandoms claim they would support it, they never do. It’s something I’ve learned to stop caring about but not every writer is gonna push through

This brings me back to a comment I saw about “boring, hair-braidy wlw fics.” That description really stood out to me, and to this day it makes me feel a little self-conscious about my old femslash fics that were “boring” and “hair-braidy.” But then I came across a fic for this one pairing that had actual hair-braiding. It was incredibly well-written and meaningful, exploring how both characters struggled to ask for help but they were able to recognize each other’s dilemmas and help in subtle ways. They did this, of course, by fixing each other’s hair when they both felt helpless to do anything with it. Such a simple way to express a very deep bond. This made me reassess the way people talk about femslash fics, and the way I’d been thinking of them myself. Is fluff really that much of a crime?? Do all cottagecore-type fics really have no substance?? Do femslash fics have to copy exactly what slash fics are doing, or are they allowed to have their own tropes??

My attitude towards the overload of plotless fluff wlw fics is “this is a good starting point.” We need more people writing femslash, more variety in what is written, but that doesn’t mean what we have is bad. I critique wlw fic tropes a lot but I always give the disclaimer that I actually love the fics themselves, I just want to see more of a different thing. And I comment on every femslash fic I read (every fic I read in general but especially femslash), I try to leave something thoughtful to let the writer know I appreciate the effort they put into their work. You’d be surprised how many writers said they were encouraged to update a fic or write more femslash because of a positive comment I left them. Engaging with fics will give you more of a good thing. It has so much more influence than that video you’re about to make talking about how there’s no good femslash fics. When you say things like that it actually discourages people from writing, and makes them feel bad about things they’ve already written. Support femslash writers guys, it’s sexy

[lazorbeanz]

Why do you personally ship, like, or appreciate Sonamy? What got you into Sonamy? What’s your favorite moment between the two?

Why do I ship Sonamy?

Okay, ima admit it..for someone who is a diehard sonamy fan, and thinks about AND ONLY about them literally every waking second, I can not think of ONE reason why I ship them to begin with….

“So you just ship them for basically no reason WHY?!” Pretty much 😅

And I’ve seen so many other people give their really good reasons and opinions on why they ship sonamy, and I full on agree with ‘em, but as for myself, I rack up nothing…and it’s my favourite ship too I mean come onnn TwT

I’ve also had my sister ask me this same question not long ago, and all I could do was just sit there and think “Damn your life almost revolves around these 2 HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE AN ANSWER?!” I constantly beat myself up for this because I know I should 😭

And I mean, stuff like being the dynamic duo that they are, (whether in battle or not) their attitude and affection for each other evolving over time, respecting the other’s wants and needs, respecting boundaries (kinda the same thing tbh lol) , enjoying each others company, and just how the whole idea of sonamy has turned from what some people may see as “toxic” or “forced” (that might be the better word for it) from early 2000s media, to something more laid back and healthy like recent media because of all the character development over the years… etc, etc…are all fantastic reasons, and even reasons I would now apply as to why I love the ship even more…BUT they’re not the reasons I began to ship them in the first place, because these things I NEVER took into consideration when I starting doing so.

To put a long story short, I just saw pink and blue hedgies and was like, “ooooh I sense chemistry”

I feel like I could be going no where with all this. But all I’m tryna say is that I LIKE sonamy simply because of who they are…just a speedy blue boi and his hammer-wielding pink girlie. I APPRECIATE them solely because of their existence, especially in my life. They are like- one of the few things I ever look forward to these days. I SHIP them because unlike any other ship that has sonic or amy in it, sonamy just… “works” (I don’t know how to explain it but you know what I mean right??) And despite not being canon, (YET! 😏) they have got to be the closest ship to becoming canon (besides vectilla) ..unless I’m just biased :p

What got me into Sonamy?

Well, I did kinda just answer this in the previous question lol but I have to elaborate!

So yeah it started off with just seeing them 2 together and thought “I like where this is going hehe” tho tbh it never really went anywhere…because I was watching Sonic Boom at the time XD, the first piece of Sonic media I consumed since regaining an interest in the franchise. AND WE ARE NOT going back to like 2015 or 16 when I first discovered Sonic…idek what I did regarding shipping back then…I think I like shipped blaze and shadow or something OH LAWD-

Also to think that those short lived Sonamy moments in Boom didn’t even bother me in the slightest?! Present me is disgusted by such lack of interest or care! 😫

Okay okay I’m straying from the question, I’m sorry!!

There are a few things that got me hooked on Sonamy. First was definitely the tv series’. Boom, Prime and X all had adorable and wholesome moments that I could’ve almost died of cuteness from! Some of it was also hilarious too. In Sonic boom for instance, sonic and Amy would fight like a married couple lololol

Another thing (and this was the game changer) was the fanart and animatics. These became the addiction for me; one comic would lead to me reading another, which lead me to read another and so on. Or I’d find an animatic on YT and watch that and then begin scavenging trying to find more animatics to feed these cravings of sonamy I was beginning to gain all of a sudden.

And it just got worse and worse to the point I practically need a daily dose of Sonamy or I just might go feral

But I mean, how could I not?! YOU GUYS ARE SO GOSH DARN TALENTED AKJDJSJDND

Sadly now my food hath runneth dry over the months…so if any of u like come across anything sonamy pls don’t hesitate to tag me or send it to me pls I need it ajhshsjs

On top of all that, came the brainrot. My growing love for this ship and all the incredible media really sent me into a serious Sonamy delulu era. Literally almost ANYTHING can send me into deep thoughts about those 2, no kidding. I literally planned out in my head an entire story of them a couple days ago. Sometimes it’s a head canon or 2, other times just something extremely wholesome I’ll imagine them do and I’ll be deceased. Those rats live in my head rent free omg-

As I said, ANYTHING can trigger this brainrot; a song, a scene, a quote, a random object…you name it, I’ll come up with a Sonamy headcanon in relation to it.

I can’t also forget other sonic media that also boosted it like game cutscenes and IDW. Lately IDW has been CARRYING it for me with the little Sonamy moments like in the 900th adventure, #67 and other tidbits I’d find in former issues. The amount of frames I’ve seen of them hugging warms my heart waaa🥺🥺

Overall, this fandom has really impacted me and my love for Sonamy. (and sonic in general) all the things I’ve learnt and discovered have made me love them all the more because of it. My life has almost become an Sonamy aesthetic now…I am NOT joking when I tell you my PJs are Sonamy coded, and that was hardly intentional…🤣

Favourite Sonamy moment?

Arrghhh why just one?? Pretty much ANY moment involving those 2 cotton candy hedgies are bound to be my favourite!

Totally not saying this cuz I can’t pick a favourite *cough cough*

Take this, it’s the only Sonamy image I really have in my photo album rn.. (I should be in jail for this)

Its one of my favs so it counts :)

Woowee that just about covers it! Now you know all about my weird and wonderweird love for my favourite ship :D 🩷💙

[penny00dreadful]

Part 4

[Part 1] [Part 3] [Part 5] [AO3] [Cover Art] [Eddie&Chrissy Art]

“Opinions?” Steve asked, feeling the familiar presence of his own Captain of the Guard at his back. A presence who'd never put his hands unnecessarily and so cruelly on someone just because they shoved someone else.

Hopper might be a gruff and cranky old fart but he wasn't a malicious man.

The ease at which the Stoirmeach Captain resorted to such violence after what could arguably be called a small slight, the nonchalance and hate he had shown towards Eddie, who was supposed to be Chrissy’s closest confidant, her best friend, her advisor, all of which should have given him a level of protection against what had happened… Steve could tell it set Hopper’s teeth on edge. 

And Steve figured he wouldn’t be letting that edge go any time soon.

Probably not until they were safe and sound back in their own kingdom.

Even if someone back in Torthúil had shoved Steve in anger or hate, the most they would have received would have been a cuff around the back of the head.

Hell, if Hopper went after anyone who'd ever shoved Steve, Robin, Dustin, Mike and Erica would have had permanent residences in Torthúil’s dungeons.

The very thought sent a shiver through him.

They didn't really use their dungeons.

Unless Steve was to count holding wine and ale and cheese captive.

Which he didn't.

Because he and Robin had pilfered freely of the first two in his youth which then led to a pilfering of the third with Argyle, the herbalist and Jonathan, the apprentice painter.

“That Sullivan fella’s got one hell of a stick up his ass.” Hopper grumbled back as Steve took count again of all of the gifts they had brought from home to present to Stoirmeach’s court. “And that Munson character is not very popular.”

Robin snorted humorlessly from her position inside the wagon. “Yeah, no shit.”

Hopper just continued to scowl. “Apparently the princess has never demanded anything as ferociously as she had demanded that Eddie be allowed to stay in the kingdom as her advisor. It was a very unpopular move but she refused to budge on it. Some think he seduced or blackmailed her into it. Others rather… uncharitably think she’s keeping him around as a… a bedmate.”

Despite the sheer ridiculousness of the statement, Steve couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder at Hopper, watching him turn his red face away, trying to keep his words as respectable as possible. 

“Did you find anything out about why they were so aggressive? Had he done something else to piss them off?” Steve asked. “And what did they call him? Outsider? Tree dweller?”

“What the hell even is a tree dweller?” Robin muttered back.

“Someone who dwells in trees?” Steve shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Sinclair was talking to a few of the grunts on Stoirmeach’s side and according to them he’s just an all around troublemaker.” Hopper had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “Just does things to be a nuisance. Which sounds a whole lot like—”

“Bullshit.” Steve pushed in with raised eyebrows.

“You think so?” Robin was attempting to crawl her way out of the covered wagon and Steve offered her a hand down.

Steve shrugged. “All I’ve seen him do so far is look out for Chrissy. He might be going about it in a bit of an unorthodox manner, but his heart seems to be in the right place.” He squeezed his fingers around Robins. “Would you not do the same for me?”

She immediately opened her mouth to deny it, but she stopped, slowly sealing her lips back together with a frown.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like his attitude.” She grumbled after a few moments of silence. 

“You don’t, but it also doesn’t mean you’d attack him for it.”

Robin just shrugged. She probably didn’t have many qualms about attacking Eddie but unlike the soldiers, her attacking would have just amounted to hair-pulling and rib-jabbing. 

Steve turned back to the inventory in the wagon with a little smirk, silently delighted he’d been able to catch her out.

He wanted to make a good impression. He wanted to make sure their kingdom knew that their princess Chrissy would be well looked after.

But based on what they all just witnessed, he wasn’t so sure anymore whether they’d give a fuck whether Chrissy was taken care of or not, or if they just wanted her married off.

Either way, the gifts were here now and if they helped ingratiate him into the kingdom, maybe he could try to make everyone’s life there easier. 

Himself, Robin, Chrissy… even Eddie.

There was apprehension crawling around him, thinking about what might be awaiting them all once they got there.

Was he going to be forced to witness more brutality?

God, he hoped not.

He was only a week out on his journey. He had over a month left. And he already wanted to go home.

He sighed, pulling himself back out of the wagon and leaned himself against it, casting his eyes around.

He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Chrissy or Eddie since the incident had happened and based on the shouts of laughter and boisterous storytelling coming from the Stoirmeach guard, bragging to his staff, no one else had seen the two either. 

Things were still a little tense. Steve’s side of the camp had been shaken by the brutality and were no longer sure about how to act around Chrissy’s side who had taken it all in stride.

But hopefully, with time, things would become easier. And hopefully Steve could prevent an incident like that happening again.

Either way, it was up to him to make things better, to make this marriage work. Being a crown prince certainly had its advantages, but there was an awful lot of responsibility on his shoulders at all times too.

And he did feel responsible for what had happened. He knew Robin would tell him that it wasn’t his fault but still.

 Pushing himself back to standing, he took the short few muddy steps towards the tent Eddie and Chrissy had disappeared behind.

Now that he was standing in front of the closed tent flap, he found himself wishing for a closed door instead. 

At least with a closed door he could knock. 

What was he supposed to do here?

Rolling his shoulders back and holding his head high, Steve attempted to punch out a strong and authoritative clearing of his throat.

Instead what he got was a very awkward clearing of his throat, left shuffling foot to foot as the sounds from inside died down the second he had made his presence known.

The black flap acting as a door was pulled back and Eddie’s expression quickly morphed from waryness to surprise when he saw who it was and then straight down to irritation. 

It appeared to just be him. No Chrissy in sight.

“What do you want?”

He was holding the arm that had been grabbed and twisted a little awkwardly at his side, held in close and gingerly, his body angling it away, while the other arm held the tent flap open slightly above him. There was an intoxicating smell gently drifting over the air, something spicy and warm and a little peppery. It was a scent he had never smelled before.

Steve was left kinda just… staring.

It was the first time he’d gotten a good look at Eddie when he wasn’t shrouded in darkness, snapping at him or getting manhandled for the capital offence of looking after his best friend. 

He was all darkness and light. Dark brown curls spilling around his shoulders, one half pulled back in a braid tight against the side of his head showing off a delicate curling vine of green leaves inked into his skin, crawling up from under the collar of his leather doublet, stopping just behind his ear. An ear that was pierced through with various silver studs and rings.

His eyes were deep and dark, enormous and even though they were squinted with suspicion, Steve thought he could lose a sizable amount of time staring into them, trying to catalogue every shifting colour. 

His skin was so pale, Steve might have thought he was unwell but something about it told him that that was just Eddie. It allowed his curls, his eyes, the ink on his skin and the dusty pink of his lips to stand out even more, sucking Steve’s gaze in, enthralling him. 

The dark, almost black colour of his leathers stood out as well and Steve could just about make out some embroidered forest designs along the hems, dark green in colour again and a little shakily applied.

Eddie had his skinny, bony, long fingers adorned with silver rings, there were chains hanging around his neck and from his belts, a small black handkerchief of some kind tucked into the belt around his waist at the back.

Eddie was…

Eddie was kinda really pretty.

Steve felt almost overdressed in his laced hems, brightly coloured embroidery and billowing sleeves.  He’d removed his cape and crown for the evening, but even so, he felt like he was posturing.

“Has your mouth ceased to function, Your Highness?”

Steve snapped his eyes back from where they had settled again on those long, skinny fingers, pressed into the fabric of the tent.

Eddie had an eyebrow cocked at him, almost challenging him to bite back, to get offended at the snark or snap in anger. 

Steve decided then and there he was going to do everything within his power to assure Eddie that he wasn’t the kind of royalty he seemed to think he was.

“Lord Munson-”

“Well that’s a first.” Eddie snorted, his lip curling in a sneer and he leaned forward a little, trying to punch his next words into Steve as much as possible. “I am untitled.”

Steve blinked.

Well… it wasn’t like he hadn’t heard of such a thing before. True that most people in the household of royalty would be titled themselves or a close relation to the royal member in question. Lucas wouldn’t have had such an easy journey entering into Hopper's service if his father wasn’t a Lord and friends with Hopper. But Torthúil didn’t have such things as a rule.

Robin wasn’t titled either.

“Okay. Mr. Munson-”

Eddie’s eyes had widened slightly but he still opened his mouth and Steve, remembering how he had introduced himself earlier, quickly corrected himself. 

“Forgive me. Eddie.” He took a steadying breath in. “I just wanted to come check on you. To see if you were doing okay after…” He waved his hand around, a little awkwardly. “Everything. And I wanted to apologise as well.”

“Ap- apologise?” Eddie’s remaining snark had now melted away to complete bewilderment.

“Yeah. I’m sorry you were subjected to that, I didn’t know your guards would be so…”

“Eager?” Eddie removed his hand from the tent flap, instead leaning his body against the supporting pole. He raised his arms as though he was going to cross them but his mouth tightened when he moved the arm that had been grabbed, so he seemed to just settle on letting that arm hang while he rested the other against his hip.

Steve grimaced to himself. Eager was certainly a word for it. 

“Listen, Highness—”

“Steve.”

Eddie’s mouth hung open, frozen from where it had been when he was interrupted and he just stared for a moment.

“Steve.” He said, rolling the sound around on his tongue, seeing if he liked how it tasted.

Steve felt the corner of his lip tilt up, satisfied.

“Steve.” Eddie looked at him with determination. “Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t know whether I like you or not, but you didn’t put your hands on me, did you?”

“Well no but—”

“Then what are you apologising for?”

“I… I’m still sorry that it happened because of me. It shouldn’t have.”

“No, it shouldn’t have.” Eddie agreed, but still raised his good arm to wave Steve off. “But it’s nothing I’m not used to. Don’t worry your pretty little princely head about it.”

“You shouldn’t have to be used to it.”

He was met with an eyeroll and a few muttered words that sounded distinctly like just like Chris. 

“Sun’s setting, Stevie. Best get back to your people before they start whispering about me casting spells on you.”

Steve looked over his shoulder to find both sides quickly averting their eyes, doing a very bad job of hiding the fact that everyone was watching their interaction. The only person who continued to look on unashamed was Robin.

When he looked back, Eddie had already dropped the curtain, separating the two of them again and effectively ending their conversation.

Steve was stuck ruminating on the whole interaction for the rest of the evening, into the night as he and Robin got settled into their compartments.

They had originally been roomed separately but that simply would do. They had insisted on it and wouldn’t budge until Robin's bed was brought into Steve’s room.

While their side took it in stride and accepted it as standard because it was standard, Chrissy’s side initially looked appalled, as though Steve had just planted a kiss on Hopper in front of all of them.

But Steve and Robin got their way eventually, while Chrissy looked on, slightly amazed, like she hadn’t even known it was an option. 

Steve and Robin pushed their provided luxurious beds closer together so they could gossip at a lower volume, wary of being overheard with nothing but fabric, Hopper and his soldiers standing between them the wilds, and the Stoirmeach retinue.

“Does it strike you as odd that the Stoirmeach side just seems to… ignore Chrissy?” Steve whispered to her. “Or at least they don’t really pay her much mind.”

“It is very strange.” Robin muttered back, tucking her hands up underneath her pillow. “But things are different for women.”

Steve mirrored her position. “Not different enough to ignore their crown princess, surely.”

“No, not that different.”

“What do you think of her?”

Robin sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, chewing on it for a moment before letting it free.

“I’m not really sure. I haven’t seen much of her. Does it sound terrible to say she’s a little like a flower not getting enough sun?”

Steve frowned before shaking his head as much as he could from his position. “We’ll give her all the sunshine she needs back home.”

Robin hummed, hesitating for a moment.

Steve let her, waiting to hear what else she had to say.

“She’s very pretty.”

Steve raised his eyebrows a little. Yeah, Chrissy was pretty. She was tiny with big blue eyes and long flowing blonde hair pulled away from her face with two braids ending with a bow at the back of her head. Her blue gown wasn’t as intricately decorated as Steve’s, Robin’s or even Eddie’s clothes but it fit her well, adding to her delicacy.

Steve was surprised to find himself thinking of Eddie again. When he thought of pretty, he thought of him.

He shoved the thought far out of his head, instead choosing to focus on Robin and how her cheeks were pinking up ever so slightly, bringing out her freckles the way her blush always did. 

She was always weak for any pretty girl.

“Hopefully,” Robin sighed, breaking Steve away from his thoughts. “Hopefully what happened with Eddie today is just a one off. The excitement of the whole thing.” It was clear to Steve she was trying to find some kind of positive, but she wasn’t quite buying her own words. “Maybe things will be better once we get to Stoirmeach.”

Steve only nodded.

He had a lot of other hopes aside from never having to see Eddie get treated so brutally again. 

Top of his list was that even if he and Chrissy never ended up on the romantic side of love, maybe they could be good partners, good rulers together. Good friends.

It was the best he could hope for, really. 

The journey back to Stoirmeach was simultaneously too long a trek and too short.

Steve was desperate to sleep in a real bed again, to be surrounded by actual walls and an actual roof, to stand in front of a fireplace and to be able to wash in more privacy than a tent provided.

But he also felt he was going to miss the mealtimes with Chrissy, more intimate than a standard dining room fair by virtue of them being out in the woods.

As heavily observed as they were and as public all of their conversations were, sitting around a small table with her, only able to squeeze in four chairs maximum—a much a tighter fit than the sprawling and opulent dining tables and banquet tables Steve had to compare to—it reminded Steve of his evenings down in the kitchens with the kids, Claudia and Joyce.

They never ate alone together, Robin was always seated to his right and Eddie was always seated to Chrissy’s right.

Which, of course, meant that Eddie was always next to him too, Chrissy directly across from him and conversation flowed surprisingly easy between the four of them.

They didn’t speak about anything personal, anything private or risky. They steered clear of discussing the incident that had happened when Steve and Robin first arrived, preferring instead to stick to safer topics such as their favourite colours or their favourite time of day.

Nothing so bad as that incident had happened again and Steve wasn’t sure if the Stoirmeach guards just hadn’t been in a foul enough mood to lash out or if they were holding themselves back based on his own less than favourable response to it.

Still, he, Robin, Hopper and surprisingly enough, Lucas kept a very close eye on the guards whenever Eddie was around, just in case Steve needed to step in again and use his status to keep Eddie’s head from being ripped off.

It became clearer as the days went on that the Stoirmeach guards didn’t just dislike Eddie, they hated him.

For what reason, Steve had no idea but when Eddie smiled at Chrissy or reached a hand out to reassure her, Steve couldn’t fathom a single thing Eddie could have done to receive so much ire. 

Lucas had taken a bit of a shine to him as well, though as their travels went on, Steve found himself less and less surprised by it.

Eddie had initially been wary of him. Anyone dressed in armour of any kind seemed to have his hackles raised and Steve had been ready to jump in the middle if Eddie so much as looked at Lucas wrong.

But he needn’t have worried. 

Once Eddie had come to realise that Lucas was not going to attack out of nowhere and instead was gushing questions about Eddie’s inked skin and how curious his friend back home, Dustin, was to learn about it and how it worked, the door had been opened and Steve didn’t think it would ever close.

Steve was a little worried that Lucas was going to arrive back in Torthúil after the month was over with his skin covered with inked in designs but at the same time, he wasn’t Lady Sinclaire, he wasn’t Captain Hopper. He couldn’t tell Lucas what he could and couldn’t do. 

He could just look on disapprovingly with his arms crossed if it came down to it.

Though he didn’t seem to be the only one in the camp with disapproving thoughts on his mind. 

Though he had… smoothed over things with Eddie as much as he could where the incident was concerned, Chrissy’s advisor seemed to be a prickly guy.

Steve thought that he’d probably never be considered good enough for Chrissy’s hand in Eddie’s eyes but he couldn’t exactly say he didn’t understand it.

If some foreign royal had come to snatch up Robin into an arranged marriage, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to find them worthy, even if they were the softest person in existence.

But Eddie seemed to find things to glare at Steve about.

When Steve methodically cleaned mud and dirt from his boots, he got a glare.

When Steve sat with Lucas and Robin, smiling along with them over whatever shenanigans they had decided to reminisce over, Eddie studied him like he was trying to read his mind with a critical eye.

When Steve donned his crown and cape again as the shape of a castle appeared on the horizon far off in the distance, signalling their imminent arrival, Eddie shot him a dirty look.

The guy clearly had some hangups and some preconceived notions that he was refusing to let go of, but Steve didn’t let himself get too bothered by it.

Eddie could think what he wanted about him. He wasn’t going to beg for his approval but also wasn’t going to treat him like shit just because he didn’t bow and scrape at the sight of him.

He actually liked that about Eddie.

Bowing and scraping wasn’t something he was used to. 

The royals back in Torthúil just… didn’t engender that kind of higher-than-their-fellow-man type of feeling. 

And he liked it that way. 

But Steve was left to wonder as the castle loomed ever closer and the town walls rose up to meet it, whether that would be the same here.

He knew the chances were slim.

He wasn’t ignorant to how the rest of the world worked but they weren’t the only kingdom with such a system.

The carriage window was slightly cracked and through the crack he could smell the sea air, hear the sounds of angry crashing waves against the high cliff the castle–his home for the next month–sat on.

There were grey clouds hanging low above and the first smattering of rain against the window glass.

Mingled up in the sea air was the smell of fish and sheep shit, the quick and cutting wind carrying it easily from the beaches down below and the craggy mountain fields.

He reached blindly for Robin’s hand, not taking his eyes away from the window.

She gave his fingers a little squeeze and not for the first time Steve was unimaginably grateful that he had her there with him.

As they passed through the large, slightly rotted wood and metal gate at the entrance to the town, the rain began to fall harder.

Steve had expected to see people going about their business, despite the weather. Things needed to be done, rain or shine after all. But as they bounced down the narrow grey cobblestoned streets towards the looming castle, high up on its cliff, Steve could see… almost nobody.

In fact, the only people he did see were soldiers standing at street entrances and alleyways, clad in dark steel, black and red, watching the caravan pass by silently.

Every so often one of the guards would look behind them, glaring down the alley and Steve had the uncomfortable realisation that they were keeping the townsfolk back there, out of the way of the carriages and wagons and while it did mean that their journey was much quicker, it felt… wrong.

He really, really didn’t like the idea that Stoirmeach’s people were being pushed out of the way for him. Some foreign prince. 

Steve tore his eyes away from the window to send a glance Robin’s way and found her doing the same, the two of them sharing a silent what the fuck communication before they turned back to their respective windows.

He would have loved to see Chrissy or Eddie at that point. He would have loved to see how they reacted to all of this, or if they had any reaction at all. Maybe this was all normal to them.

But they weren’t travelling in a carriage like Steve and Robin, they were in a great wooden wheelhouse, generously outfitted but with tiny windows near the top, almost like prisoner transportation.

They found Steve’s carriage strange and he found their wheelhouse strange.

He supposed it wouldn’t be the last strange difference between them.

The town was at an incline, the castle sitting above the streets below and Steve got the impression everything in the town would be visible from the battlements or even from the windows.

Wide stone steps curved down from the entrance, flaring out on either side and lined up in formation along the edges seemed to be every member of staff that the Cunninghams employed in the castle, all standing stock still, hands folded in front or behind them, watching them.

He thought it was supposed to be intended as some kind of greeting or maybe even a display of wealth but Steve just felt uncomfortable all over again looking at all of these people forced to stand out in the rain.

Steve and Robin’s carriage came to a halt in front of the steps and with only a moment's hesitation—he couldn’t make the staff stand outside for any longer than they needed to—he pushed the door open and stepped out.

He cast an eye around at the staff and immediately took notice of two people very conspicuously missing.

The king and queen were nowhere in sight.

Steve watched as the rest of the caravan gradually ascended the incline after him and he felt himself wanting to fuss over the gifts he had brought, wanting to make sure they were all presentable and had made it here in one piece but his attention was diverted as Chrissy’s wheelhouse came to a stop behind their carriage and both she and Eddie stepped out.

They stared up at the imposing grey, weathered castle like they were heading to the gallows. It was like a weight had settled back on their shoulders and they were bowing under the pressure. 

Behind him, his people started to get his gifts organised to present to the king and queen and Steve was left with nothing to do but to wonder if he was going to have to find his own way to the Great Hall to be received by them.

Chrissy and Eddie appeared at his side, unusually silent and stony faced. 

Chrissy took his arm with a strained smile and for all the animosity that Robin and Eddie had shown each other, he stood on her side, almost as if to bolster her for the trek into the castle.

With a slight tug, she began to lead Steve up the steps and into the castle and Steve supposed there was no use hesitating. He was in this now and he needed to see it through to the end.

His kingdom was relying on him. He needed this to be a success. He wanted to get Chrissy out, he didn’t like the weight hanging over her and Eddie, it felt like they were being slowly suffocated.

He wanted to bring the two of them home. He just had to get through this month and all would be well.

With Chrissy on his arm, Robin by his side and Eddie next to her, Steve took the first step up the stone stairs.

[Part 1] [Part 3] [Part 5] [AO3] [Cover Art] [Eddie&Chrissy Art]

As always, major thanks and much love to @hbyrde36 for the magnificent beta work, @arelliann for their beautiful artwork, dividers and header, and to all my cheerleaders helping to keep me motivated. 🥰

[ruibaozha]

I saw how some people use historical figures from Chinese mythology, folklore and religion for NSFW, literally, turning them into their own OC's, and I was wondering, what do you think of that? Because it seems like they just took them, and didn't do more research asking the question of "is that right?"

As per your second question for me I will leave that unaddressed and instead invite you to discuss those matters properly in private, especially if this answer is dissatisfying.

I personally do not care much if NSFW or suggestive content of such deities exist (except for the child Nezha, leave his child form out of this.) or that it’s being produced in the first place. The numerous Chinese social media sites like LOFTER, Douban (豆瓣) and Xiaohongshu (小红书) feature fan art of Daoist deities like Nezha and Er’lang in these kinds of situations. Fan fiction of these deities are similarly of the same attitude. It has nothing to do with if proper research has been conducted, especially in the case of Er’lang Shen who cannot act on romantic feelings even if he wanted to.

It feels to me that there’s an exception regarding Chinese deities and folk heroes when deities of other religions have been sexualized. This screams of not only hypocrisy but of ignorance in being offended on behalf of the Chinese. In the few months I was active in the LMK fandom I’ve come to realize a majority of the other Chinese in the fandom are either adopted or second generation immigrants with no real cultural background; and as a consequence have severely inaccurate biases on matters like this because they aren’t aware of how insignificant this is.

I’m admittedly not active within the LMK fandom anymore and as such I don’t know what’s happening there unless someone is compelled to talk about what is going on. But it feels to me that as per usual people are holding Journey to the West as the be all end all on numerous fronts when the books really cannot and should not be heralded as such. Moreover, it’s strange that the fandom is completely okay with sexualizing Sun Wukong, the Six Eared Macaque, and the Golden Winged Peng while any other character is unacceptable.

I assure you that numerous derivative works feature Chinese deities in relationships and sexual contexts, even Tang Sanzang is featured in movies or television shows with a romantic partner despite relationships of that nature betray his Buddhist faith.

I’ve been considering making a post about the cultural dissonance that’s happening here and various attitudes or opinions other people have because they lack the cultural context to realize how insignificant and misinformed a lot of this “discourse” actually is.

What is it about Chinese mythology that sets it apart from Nordic or Greco-Roman mythology in these ways? Why is it perfectly acceptable to sexualize Loki or Achilles, but not someone like Muzha (who was a very real person that became deified, in the same fashion as Guan Yu, as who he was studying under was seen as an incarnation of Guanyin)?

I don’t think this type of thinking will ever make sense to me as a true testament to how different the fandom (especially on Twitter) and myself feel about this matter.

[its-rat-time-babey]

So ship question, apart from five/zahra do you have any other GT characters that hou ship?

To be honest, not much. Shipping just isn’t my thing. Five and Zahra are kind of an exception even with the other fandoms I’ve been a part of.

If I really think though.

Five and Zahra.

I ship Bergy and Blake (that girl from the spaghetti place).

I headcanon Miko as Aroace because I’m Aroace and I like Miko.

And then there’s Mitch.

I kind of jokingly and inconsistently ship Mitch with both Nameless and Nix to some extent. And by that I mean whenever it’s convenient or more importantly funny for him to either be Dating or have Dated one or both of them.

In general though apart from having a slight preference towards Five/Zahra because it’s the only explicitly canon one and the idea of Aroace Miko, I’m open to any ship that isn’t explicitly Minor/Adult or Incest or that sort of thing. Even what I said before about Five/Zahra and Aroace Miko aren’t set in stone and I’ll consume just about any content for just about any ship. Glitch Techs content is Glitch Techs content and I’m not complaining.

Five and Zahra? Sure.

Zahra and Miko? Ok.

Five and Miko? Why not?

Add Haneesh in there somewhere? Never actually seen it before but I’d check it out.

The only exception I can think of is Miko/Mitch, because:

My Aroace Miko Headcanon and the Canon? Pseudo-Canon? Widely Accepted Headcanon(?) that Mitch is gay outweighs my usually neutral attitude towards shipping.

Mitch’s age is kind of up in the air (I don’t think anything is explicitly confirmed in canon) but the general consensus (or at least my own personal view) is that he’s 18-19 so I try to avoid putting him with minors just in case. Again not sure if Mitch’s age is ever canonically revealed so I’m not judging anyone who does ship them, you do you and Mitch could very easily be the same age as everyone else, in fact that would make a lot of sense if he was, but it’s my own personal preference.

It’s a similar case for Five/Mitch, but at the same time i headcanon that Five has, or at least Had, an unrequited crush on Mitch combined with a whole bunch of hero worship before and partially after becoming a tech.

[the-bi-space-ace]

I’ve been wanting to talk about something for a while and I’ve just never felt like I’ve had the right words but I’m going to give it a go now.

In the most caring and open hearted way possible I want to talk about ✨shipping✨so here it goes. This post will move around a lot so please stick with me. Clearly, there’s a world of nuance, and I won’t touch on every single corner of fandom shipping behavior because this post would be miles longer than it already is, but I’ll focus on the broader attitude towards shipping, queerness, and platonic relationships.

I’ve seen plenty of posts about how shipping is cheap. How it’s bad. How it’s ’always about the two men’. How it’s ’not canon so shut up’. How 'straight ships need more of the spotlight'. How ‘nothing’s ever platonic anymore’. Or, my least favorite ‘I don’t like the ship you ship so I think you’re evil, actually, and deserve to be harassed’.

Shipping is a fun part of fandom. As someone who is asexual (demi to be exact) I love a good intense relationship in any form it comes in. Platonic, romantic, sexual. Any of the above really is fun for me to read about and look at art of. I ship plenty of stuff but I also have plenty of platonic relationships that I give the same weight. If not more sometimes tbh. Every relationship I write is intense. It’s wrapped up in deep feelings of love and affection. It’s always going to be that way even if it’s not romantic.

Some people just really love romance and I’ll never ever knock that. Romance is beautiful. It’s lovely and deep and intense and gratifying. It’s a wonderful thing to write about. There’s nothing cheap about it. This demonizing of shipping is really just pushing people further away from a cohesive and accepting fandom space.

There’s been a shift where instead of people just having fun shipping they’ll try to belittle the popular ship, usually the queer ship, and it’s really not getting the message across that you want. What I think some people mean is ‘don’t erase or demonize this female character for your queer ship’ but sometimes what is said is ‘your queer ship isn’t canon you’re an idiot and you’ll never get what you want get over it dick head’. And yeah, there are plenty of people who do, in fact, demonize the female character to ‘justify’ their ship instead. And I think one of the primary problems here is this idea that you have to justify your ship. That it has to make sense. That one ship has to be horrible and toxic to make yours superior.

That isn’t the case.

The same goes for the ‘well my ship is canon so get over it that person will never be queer’. It’s just mean spirited and unnecessary. Sure, I may know a specific ship will never happen but I’m shipping it anyway. Because it’s fun! And I like it! And I'm queer as hell! Of course I want my ships to be queer. Claiming some kind of superiority because your ship is ‘canon’ is ridiculous. This is a dollhouse. We’re playing with dolls. Barbie can kiss whoever she wants because this is my dollhouse and you have yours. It’s all fine.

You can enjoy your ship and let people enjoy theirs and keep your mouth shut when someone ships something you don't like. It really is that simple. No, the straight ship is not toxic just because you don't like that ship and no the queer ship isn't cheap and awful just because it's queer and you don't ship it. It doesn't need to be some attack on you or your ship just because someone ships something else. They can simply ship other things. And we can all have fun, shipping multiple things. It doesn't have to be a contest. It shouldn't be.

I want to touch on platonic relationships for a bit because it’s a relevant topic while talking about shipping and being someone who writes a ton of Gen fic I want to discuss it in more depth.

There is a lack of acceptance of platonic relationships between characters. That or it’s usually belittled for the romance, pushed aside, devalued. And this does happen a lot. It’s hard, it sucks, and I struggle with that sometimes too. No, not everything is romantic, but that doesn’t mean it matters less. It's a sad thing to see and experience especially as someone who has had friendships that have fundamentally changed me as a person and I value those friendships so much it hurts. Friendship does not equal less than and sometimes it is treated that way.

However, I’ve seen this sentiment that you should blame shippers having their fun time and belittle them for shipping something that you might see as platonic. Because it is their fault for 'being sex obsessed' and 'making everything romantic'. And this just doesn’t sit right with me. Because there is literally no issue with either.

If your goal is to get people to care more about platonic relationships then shame is never going to be the answer. Shame does not work as a tactic. It just serves to belittle and hurt the other person. It can actually make them more resistant in the first place. Again, shame is not a productive tactic when trying to get someone to try something new. So much of this argument relies on shaming shippers, shaming queer shippers. It doesn't sit right with me. It never has. Shipping and liking sex are not shameful things. Shippers are not the enemy and they shouldn't be seen like that.

Teen Wolf comes to mind when thinking of this. Several long standing friendships that I’ve loved watching evolve exist in that show. They show genuine closeness and love and it’s platonic in the show between several main characters. Which is awesome. I love Lydia and Allison, best friends, perfect matches, support each other until the end and also Scott and Stiles childhood best friends with each other until the end and never wavering one bit. I love their commitment to each other. It’s beautiful. Seeing them commit to each other and never treat each other as less than their romantic counterparts in the show was excellent for my teenage brain. And, ya know what, it still is as an adult.

I also don’t think someone shipping a pair like Scott and Stiles ever cheapened my love of their friendship. I just don’t see it that way. Maybe it’s because I am often able to enjoy a wide variety of aspects in fandom, even the ones that aren't my 100% cup of tea. I was introduced to fandom super young and was well versed in the concept of ship wars and I was around for the ‘super gay hell’ fiasco. I have been supportive of the ‘ship and let ship’ concept forever and will be forever. I genuinely hate the concept of a nOTP and will not participate in shutting down other ships for no reason, even ones I don't personally ship.

Because that is not the fandom I want to participate in.

I've seen what happened in the Star Wars fandom before I was a part of it. I have read the posts, I have heard the horror stories, I have been shocked and appalled and I'm still grappling with if this is a fandom I really want to invest my time, energy, and creativity into. A place filled with so much hate and negativity that I have thought of turning away, leaving, abandoning works I've longed to write, simply because I can't seem to resolve this fandom that has been so kind to me with the one that has genuinely harmed so many people. I write primarily Gen fic because it is what usually captures my interests. The intensity of a relationship outside of a romantic or sexual tie. One that is reliant solely on the affection and care between characters who are just like that about each other. And that has seemed to garner way less hate and toxicity than those who participate in shipping on the regular. So, is everyone actually nice or are you only nice to me because you see me as worthy of your respect because of what I do or don't ship? Have you ever thought about that? Because I have. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Now, I don’t really ship the straight ships, but I don’t think you’re evil for doing so. I like my media queer, everyone else can like their media however they like, and we can all coexist as long as no one starts getting weird about it.

I think we do need more diverse representation for sexuality and different types of relationships in canon and fanon because it’s all a big ecosystem and it needs variety to survive and appeal to more people, but I also don’t think the burden of that should fall on the fans. We shouldn’t be pushing fans to abandon their preferred ship bc not enough people like the relationship the way you do. That’s unrealistic. What we should be doing is focusing on doing things the way we specifically like them done. I love intense relationships and primarily it ends up being platonic, that doesn't mean you need to see it or write yours that way. If I do what I love and you do what you love chances are we are all going to find our people and it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm not going to scoff at you for shipping a ship I don't. That's silly. I hope you enjoy reading them falling in love a thousand different times in a thousand different ways in a thousand different universes. I hope it makes you happy. I may even want to read some of your faves too, if you share them with me.

I think fans should ship whatever they want. I think if you like the straight ship, if you prefer the queer ship, if you prefer platonic relationships then have at it. Do your thing. Have fun in the way you want to have fun and be unapologetic about it. Ship rare pairs. Ship people from different tv shows. Ship what makes your heart feel full and happy.

But don’t go on rampages against other people’s ships just because you personally don’t like them.

It’s okay to feel frustrated that the way you like to participate isn’t the most popular way. It’s okay to feel frustrated that there aren’t more characters who are ace or bisexual or strictly platonic. It’s okay to feel frustrated about that. But it is not the fandom’s job to create that for you. Don’t go after people just happily shipping their characters. Don’t draw a line between us as if we can’t all just get along in our little bubbles. This is supposed to be fun. Our fantasy world where anything can happen and it all does happen. A beautiful little town where we hand out fics and art like they’re a fresh batch of bread we made that we want to share. Dividing us only leads to fandoms fizzling out and that’s not what anyone wants, now is it?

All of this to say that I love the big wide world that is fandom. I have read some things I never thought I would, seen some art I didn't expect to like, and made a lot of really great friends throughout the years. And, hey, we may not ship the same thing. I may not seem like the type of person you want to associate or talk with, but I hope that I've built a space that says 'you come as you are and I come as I am' because I know so deeply how it feels to be ostracized because of something other people didn't like about me. I know how it feels to be left out, to be hated, to be bullied, to be harmed by other people. And I never want to be someone who does that to other people.

So, hey, if you aren't sure about all of this discourse then maybe this has helped at least show you a different perspective even if it didn't change your mind. Fandom is supposed to be for everyone and it hasn't actually been for everyone... maybe ever. We still have a long way to go, as much as we may start to believe we have reached a peak, or allow ourselves to get complacent.

Fandom should be for everyone and I hope I live to see the day that it is.

[itstokkii]

I’ve seen your forbidden trio art and I really love it but I don’t think I’ve seen you represent Japan and South Korea alone? (I might be wrong)

How would you personally depict their modern day relationship? I think I’ve only seen people go two routes. Either “everything is fine and they love each other and they don’t mention the atrocities at all” or “they can’t be in the same room without Korea trying to kill him”

finally...assorted korpan hcs

here's the thing. a lot of chinese culture was spread to japan in mainly 2 ways, and this was through korea or ryukyu(okinawa). whenever korean envoys went to japan and came back, they'd always criticize and nitpick everything japan did wrong. your "emperor" is a king, not the emperor! that's reserved only for the son of heaven in the chinese court! how could you write the date wrong, it's not in order!

korchupan relations across the centuries are basically like you and a senior girl in highschool bullying a girl that's a year younger than you two, and then suddenly the one being bullied traps and tortures you in a basement during half of university while stalking the senior girl, and now you're in the workplace and you have to work with her now as colleagues while the senior girl is now the enemy

a lot of koreans absolutely despise the japanese govt, but most of the time the general attitude is "today's people aren't the govt, criticize the system of ignorance rather than the people themselves." if they do see a japanese person online denying warcrimes or something, though, koreans are quick to respond, since they still don't let that kind of apologia fly, and correct the person.

korea's the older one, she and her older twin brother reported the discovery of japan to china, and immediately became the middleman of "hey lil bro do you have a moment to talk about confucianism?" to this day she sort of teases him for being the younger one.

in a similar vein to amekor, things are relatively positive between japan and korea now, but she still holds him at arms length. japan enjoys kpop, and korea enjoys anime. yoasobi actually performed IDOL on M countdown(basically where kpop idols perform as fans vote for the top 10). yoasobi isn't a kpop idol, so her appearance was a surprise, and many koreans viewed it positively.

oshi no ko did quite well in korea, and walking around stores at least 1 gacha machine has oshi no ko merch.

anime fans like combining the kpop concept of photocards and like decorating merch cards of anime characters too.

there will be moments where jp spots korea at an anime event, both in cosplay. they're like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE" and meanwhile korea spots jp at a twice concert and same thing happens.

japan also secretly enjoys kdramas lol

in the Olympics, when korea is against japan, many koreans keep yelling "get 10 points get 10 points" and then to japan "get 9 points get 9 points," so in that sense korea's quite competitive especially against japan.

korea also destroys him at league overwatch and valorant lol

in amekorpan meetings, both korea and japan actually share a similar disdain towards america, as he's the naive one that simply wants them to get along without much hassle. he's never been on the receiving end of embarrassment or defeat, so he wouldn't understand having to work with someone who's frequently expressed desires to invade for centuries. korpan also feels a shared sentiment of "he's the youngest in the room, why is he telling us what to do?" and if they both ever get a moment of privacy, they'll shittalk him lol

I feel like korpan only really gets along through a common enemy tbh. sometimes they'll talk abt how china was centuries ago, as the "older sibling" that insisted he knew better. and nowadays, they both shittalk him because "gaah communism our capitalist asses can't stand him!!"

however, sometimes they'll argue over who china liked more...lol

in short, korpan hates constantly being a sort of pingpong ball for america and china.

they come early to an amekorpan meeting to fight in the parking lot. hong kong and taiwan livestream these and split the superchat donations. after a few times japan and korea even learn to bring a change of clothes so they can show up to the meeting slightly early without bloodstains on their jackets. america never suspects a thing

when one of them dozes off or close their eyes during breaks, the other will get a cold can of coffee from the vending machine and place it on their forehead or neck. "no slacking"

she'll rarely invite him to her house alone without others. even though they have a lot of cultural exchange in the modern day, she doesn't consider him a friend, and no amount of online cafe gaming and street food sampling will change that. japan's more like a reluctant ally since america insists the both of them "get along!"

[your-local-hoemie]

It's me, the anon who requested for Rosaria request. Since you're not too familiar with her yet, I won't ask for a request that's too detailed/much, you may write whatever you want as long as it's fluff

Thank you, take your time ^^

*+:｡.｡ Rosaria head-canons~ *+:｡.｡

Thank you!! I’ve done some research into her and though I’m still not too familiar with her personality so I figured head-canons would be the safest route! I’m gonna try my best to keep it as close as possible so I’m super sorry if it’s not >_<

(Also hot vigilante goth nun with attitude??? Yes please?!?!?!?)

Warnings: flufffff!, Not proof-read, gn!reader, swearing, maybe slightly suggestive if you squint, this can be either platonic or romantic~

Characters: Rosaria.

-How did you manage to gain her trust??

-Who did you have to kill???

-Absolute dom energy, I’m sorry but yes.

-has the biggest soft spot for you but would rather die than openly admit it

-what’s that? Someone’s been bothering you a little too much?

-not anymore <3

-i feel like she’d absolutely love candy but is too embarrassed to admit it so she keeps a hidden stash

-when she gets a little too drunk at the tavern she’ll sometimes brag about how strong and awesome you are~

-knuckle popping addict same

-has let you do her hair one time and got upset because she had to let it down but makes everyone think it’s because she didn’t like it ;)

-doesn’t sleep much so you’ll sometimes visit her and just enjoy talking or ranting to each other!

-you can’t tell me she doesn’t have bottled up social anxiety

-as someone with social anxiety I can smell out my people

-is really good at censoring her swearing~

-thinks children are disgusting but also will protect them with her life if they’re hurt

-like even if it’s just a grazed knee

-speaking of which, if you get hurt then good-fucking-luck I guess

-hauls you all the way to Barbara while scolding you

-she’s just worried though so don’t take anything to heart :(

-totally hasn’t done naku-weed on her breaks

-totally hasn’t asked you to join

-also enjoys watching arguments go on in the city square or at the tavern and she’ll absolutely cheer on the side she agree’s with

-a merchant from Sumeru once imported a whole box of scarabs for some reason and when she found out one was in her hair istg that’s the closest you or anyone else has ever seen her come to screaming

-also threatened anyone who saw and still holds a grudge against them

-people are scared to play against her in genius invocation TCG after someone won against her and she broke a glass with her hand

-rumours say that person still has scars from the holes she bore into them that day

-yet somehow you always win against her

-not because she’s letting you or anything

-has openly said that Barbara’s chilli powder he’ll drink has genuinely impressed her

-sometimes doesn’t realise she’s broken a bone until she notices her arm is doing a full on 360 and is just like

-“ah shit not again”

-if you’re sick or overworked she’ll do your commission for you!

-when you ask to repay her she’ll just tell you to join her at the tavern~

-any excuse to spend time with you :)

-if you’re comfortable with it she will do your eyeliner or what ever makeup you’d choose to wear (if you wear any) while sitting on your lap ;)

-she also encourages you to go with her to take out hilichurl camps if you’re feeling stressed just to let off steam

-and it helps!

Aaaa again I’m sorry if it’s not super great but I’m hoping to familiarise myself with characters I don’t usually interact/play with so I’ll end up doing a better version sometime in the future!!

[delicatelystrangepolice]

If you don't like certain YR blogs just block them, I have been doing that for three years. It makes your experience so much better.

I think this ask wasn’t meant for me (because I have another that I think belongs to someone else in my inbox) but I will take some liberties to use this moment to blab about the topic.

In my post I wasn’t actually talking about any particular blog or person. I was talking about the whole culture of this fandom. And listen, I’ve been on Tumblr for a long time. I’ve seen a lot of things. I know how the internet works and I know how fandoms work.

What I was commenting on was more based on general observation. I personally didn’t get that much of a poor treatment, mostly because I don’t say much. But when I was very new to this fandom and I was orienting myself around I saw how a lot of other people are treated.

What I didn’t say in my post and is probably worth noting is the fact that YR fandom is fairly young. Both in people’s age and in its own age. I was excited to be in a fandom that’s still forming because I like to observe how the internet’s culture changes.

At the time I got here there were a lot of speculations about the third season, but I noticed a lot of… how to describe it? It was an interesting time because people were still processing the 2nd season (especially those who were there before it aired) but there were also a lot of newcomers who, like it’s always the case, had the same doubts and questions the old fans had before.

And what I observed: the old fans weren’t very welcoming of the new fans. I know how psychologically it works – you thought you’d already been through that, you talked this shit to death with your friends and blogs you like and there’s another round of the same questions, the same ‘bad takes’ you thought you explained many times. It’s natural, it always happens in fandoms.

What I didn’t like about this phenomenon in this particular fandom was the tone – everything was always such a high stake. Someone says ‘um I think Wille’s behavior is problematic’ and the responses were always ‘LIKE LITERALLY NO! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN?? HE’S A TRAUMATISED CHILD!!! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT ABOUT A TRAUMATIZED PERSON??? HAVE YOU BEEN TRAUMATIZED???”

I did literally see someone saying ‘Oh, well, I don’t think Wille was abused’ and someone saying ‘You must have been abused to think this.’

I have a problem with that because an attitude like this discourages people from forming discussions. Someone was talking about a character and they were attacked personally for this.  You know what I’m saying?

I have a problem with behaviors like this because the internet culture, fandom especially, was often a place for me to talk about things I couldn’t talk about with people in my real life. It opened a new world for me, new opportunities to form bonds that I would never form if not for the fandom. Maybe the younger generation can’t appreciate it because it’s more obvious to them, but I was thinking about my younger self who could finally find like-minded people. And I think it’s important that those spaces can be safe and cultured enough because not everybody lives in big cities, and not everybody has access to see much of the world other than the internet. Fans attacking other fans because they disagree with what some mainstream creator decided to do with a show is the opposite of that.

Another thing is I personally have zero problem with ‘drama’ – I think a very helpful tool to clear the air very fast. What I have a problem with is the attitude ‘DON’T BRING YOUR SHIT TO THE FANDOM, GO TALK THIS SHIT IN YOUR DMS’ Well, some people here don’t have friends. Some people came here to form friends. How can they find anything when it’s not talked about ever? In every community has to be enough space to talk stupidly and with passion, even if you personally disagree with that.

I understand the internet culture enough to have some patience for stupidity. I know how to take care of myself and know how to get offline when it’s bothering me. What triggered my post was another person saying that they don’t want to talk about Young Royals because it’s not pleasant anymore. I just knew how that feels. And I knew why.

Here’s a post that’s helpful with the topic I think.

[blackwoolncrown]

that's a really interesting take on dating (not sarcasm), would you mind expanding on it? no worries if not ✌

Okay sorry I actually just expanded on it in the original post but for the sake of archiving….

Dating is not historically the norm. MASSIVELY generalizing, there are two main ways people to about seeking a *partnership* (not the same thing as seeking a sex partner which is and has always been easier)

One tends to happen before marriage age in cultures where it’s allowed and it’s more like “hooking up”. Aside from pregnancy and STIs the long term stakes are otherwise low and long term commitment isn’t the goal. Rather it’s something that tends to happen w young people as they use sexual interactions as a way to gain social status (think abt social hierarchies and currency tied to who gets to make out the most)

The other is marriage, whether poly or mono; this is a practice that tends to apply to older individuals with higher long term stakes. In this realm, premarital sex is frowned upon (I’m actually pro premarital sex for really important reasons but I’m against non-committal sec) and overall it is expected that a period of courtship ensue during which the quality of the potential partners is assessed.

Now I am not saying there can’t be issues w more traditional cultures irt this.

But what I am saying is that after assimilation and various cultural genocides, these practices have largely been eroded.

Additionally the “free love” push of the 60s and 70s which freed people from purist conservative sexuality then bred an attitude of “sexual liberation” that saw the maintenance of any barriers to sex as conservative, old fashioned and restrictive.

And I think that’s kind of a mindfuck bc for any hood it did, it fundamentally lowered the bar for mens access to sex, and now it’s like 6 feet under.

For better or worse, the average man organizes a lot of his life around whether he can get laid and how much. When it costs nothing- whether in money or more importantly effort and quality of character- for him to get it, he’s absolutely not going to put in more than he needs to.

I think it’s also noteworthy that the foundation for tbis ways laid in WWI bc during the draft, the amount of available bachelors dropped, but it was still a time during which women really needed to get wed to get anywhere in life, so women began to compete for men, which is WILDLY out of pattern for how things used to be. Around this time they were willing to “prove” themselves as available bedmates and homemakers to a degree they wouldn’t before, in the hopes of a ring. So you started to see girls “going steady” w men which is basically providing all the benefits of a wife without him having actually committed to anything at all. And our modern dating pattern was born.

Meanwhile, “dating” has evolved from “multi partner mini courting” to “seeing someone for sex and hoping they care about you after” and it’s honestly fucked up.

Like all things considered letting a man smash in your house or his when you hardly know him is fucking insane. And ppl will do this repeatedly w someone who they don’t have previous intimacy w then get hurt when that person fails to prioritize them emotionally.

Plus a lot of dudes think that since sex is easy to get- it’s like fucking door dash for many, just go on an app and make an arrangement- that they are getting the “meat” of a relationship without having to deal w tje extras.

But ironically the benefits of a committed relationship have way more to do with emotional and psychological growth and safety than sex, which is really more of the culmination of the two.

So ppl are just having these really shallow relationships w each other, putting the cart before the horse and then being upset when they’re not getting anywhere.

Meanwhile the dominance of dating apps is the biggest opp I’ve ever seen. Yeah siren describe exactly what you’re looking for so someone can fake it or unintentionally internalize it and then you can be upset and feel manipulated when once the per formative stage is over they are “different”.

Additionally relationships aren’t like….this cute thing you “just do” bc everyone else is doing it. A partner isn’t like a life accessory. It’s actually a decision to face and mutually work through your most intimate issues. And it’s like almost no one these days knows that. So they don’t stick anything out or gain the tools to manage a relationship before actually seeking one. Then they become serial daters just triggering each other en masse then hopping on social media to complain abt how hard dating is. Like..then stop?

For those who are solely seeking sex, I don’t care. I’m not in tje business of judging. But a lot of ppl are seeking a relationship. And doing so through dating is, in my autistic opinion, clearly illogical.

Also recent study shows actually 68% of marriages started as friendships. Not from dating.

Dating is a lie and the idea that it’s THE way to find a partner is false.

[randomfangirl5]

Sweet Magnolias “Okay, but…” rant

Can we just talk for a second about Show vs. Book characters?!

I’ve seen SO many posts and interviews or whatever that talk about how the show will follow the books and all - and while that is FANTASTIC couple-wise - but I’m not really convinced that it can.

Character Point 1: Annabelle “Annie” Sullivan

Show Annie is healthy while Book Annie had an eating disorder. I’m not saying that if they decided to follow that storyline that it couldn’t work, but… she’s so conscious of what her mom eats - she attempted to remove all sugars from their home after Dana Sue went to the hospital - that I’m not sure how they would make it believable.

Book Annie ends up becoming a physical therapist or some such and working at The Corner Spa. She COULD choose this path for her life in the show. BUT Show Annie seems more design oriented than Book Annie ever seemed to be. At the moment, I can’t see Show Annie having any interest in being a physical therapist person.

Book Annie seems to have less backbone or equal footing in comparison to Show Annie. The way it seems in the books is that Annie became a physical therapist person BECAUSE of Ty. Like her decisions only focused on a boy. That may just be my interpretation. But Show Annie is part of that blog or message board or whatever that posts photos of the “real Serenity” and I just never got that vibe from Book Annie.

Character Point 2: Tyler “Ty” Townsend

Let’s start with the MAIN divergence that I see between the two: cheating on partner and getting someone else pregnant. They COULD do this - I’d stop watching in protest - BUT it would major shifts in personality/perspective/attitude for it to seem convincing. Show Ty was SO mad at his father for cheating on Maddie and ruining their family by getting someone else pregnant. I can’t see the boy who barely tolerated Noreen’s presence and noticeably grew agitated when she watched his games ever turn around and do that to the person he was with. Especially not if that person was Annie.

Book Ty seems TOO invested in baseball to really be the same person as Show Ty. Maybe thats just because we’ve seen Show Ty deal with the loss of being able to play baseball already and having that “baseball bubble” shattered. Show Ty has already dealt with an injury that requires a break from baseball and he’s found other things he enjoys in that time. Book Ty never seems to have that revelation. Show Ty just seems to have more depth of character to me.

Book Ty just seems to think things will fall into place with very little work. I remember in one of the books, Ty has a conversation with Cal and Cal calls him out on believing that just showing up would guarantee that things went the way Ty wanted. Show Ty seems to have started to be a bit more humbled already. Someone his age called him out on just trying to flirt his way into getting what he wants. Also, Show Ty has had to watch Annie with someone else and not be able to say anything. I don’t recall anything like that for Book Ty.

Character Point 3: Maddie Townsend

Show Maddie has been dating Cal a while, right? No proposals or pregnancies as far as I can see. It feels in-authentic for Show Maddie to decide on trusting and marrying someone that fast.

Character Point 4: Helen Decatur

Book Helen and Book Erik were in a friends-with-benefits relationship. Show Helen and Erik are friends - we’re ignoring that rough patch where they don’t talk - but I have yet to see hide nor hair of “with-benefits” in the show.

Book Helen is so desperate for a child that she manipulates Book Erik to get what she wants. Show Helen is a wonderful lawyer that gets what needs done done. But Show Helen would NEVER violate trust given to her like THAT. Show Helen wants children, but she’s gonna do it by herself if she has to; none of that (toxic) behavior needed as she’s too kind-hearted for that.

Need I go on???

Does anyone ACTUALLY think that we can really say that the show will follow the books?!

thank you for listening to my rant.

(Yes, I adore TyAnnie)

[purelillies]

leshy! ( or deathcards and you! )

or a strange analyzation on leshy, and his deathcards.

this is another long post, just so you’re warning, but leshy! i’m extremely fond of him. maybe it’s all the time i’ve spent, embarrassingly, in kaycee’s mod, but i adore his character. but i can’t help but keep thinking about act one, especially after i fucked up my runs and didn’t know story events depending on deaths, and not runs. my bad.

( another fair warning: this is going to be me, as usual, over-analyzing dialogue for a total of maybe two people and myself, and whoever else is still clinging to this game like i am. )

but what i’m referring to is his attitude towards the player. inscryption is an odd one, considering we have luke carder as a player but it’s also acknowledged in kaycee’s mod that we, us, myself and whoever reading, are also the player.

leshy sounds, for lack of a better word, soft at the start of inscryption. i know that sounds odd, but i see it in how he talks to the player. behold, act one dialogue!

“ fear not “ implies that he thought you’d be worried, though, seeing from your deck and how the game is progressing, you probably have already figured that your cards don’t leave you deck anyway. he’s still telling you though. even for a tutorial, he tries to be more forgiving than he really needs to be for the player. but that’s not what’s majorly differently.

deathcards! yeah, i’m talking about them again, and they’ll take a major focal point, since i think they’re some of the most telling details about leshy.

i find it interesting that he specifically uses favor, when you don’t really have a choice when it comes down to it, and the entirety of the next sentence. yes, in hindsight, deathcards are only a creation he made, but he doesn’t need to continue to make them whatsoever. it shows that it’s his choice to create them, to put a memory and use to you outside of this isolated run.

and the use of “ we. “ he even says as such, that it’s you and leshy working together to create it, rather than leshy deciding the entirety of it for you, which he has done ( assuming from the scrybes since we don’t know much about how he took over inscryption ) and could do again. 

but, as resets go by, especially if you win against him instead of dying, he starts to become . . . more aggressive. it’s noticeable in his endgame dialogue, which i don’t have on hand, but as you best him over and over without progressing, he starts to grow frustrated with you. he gets angry when you refuse to eat ( even though we can’t, but still, it’s much more straightforward upset than ever before ) he seems more disheartened when you destroy the moon, but what i find most revealing is the deathcards. 

leshy says himself that to live as a beast is the most honorable fate he can see, both in act two and as he admits after winning against him without progressing, and how he doesn’t mean for the scrybes to feel trapped to this fate. of course, it’s completely reasonable they would—they’re contained in cards, and were put into them by force—but to leshy, this is the highest fate he could give them, a place on his board, to serve as a beast. he also does this to kaycee through a deathcard, and we can see from entries in kaycee’s mod that him and her became good friends. these deathcards are, inadvertently, a sign of respect to him. 

even if you fail, even if you trip flat on your face, leshy still finds it worth to immortalize you because you tried, and at least if you look through the awareness of the player’s eyes, knowing the challenger is the same person, it makes the finale that much more satisfying. when you initially fail to him, that’s what he feels—a sense of respect because not only are you the first challenger that he’s seen in who knows how long, but you tried, and that’s valuable. 

after you dying, you can choose, though from a limited selection, what stats you have, your sigils, your cost, your name. and then, you’ll be a card people can pick from forever. for as long as the copy of the game exists, people can see your card and know your name. you’re a beast, now. you’ve achieved the highest status he can give you. 

and then, look at the card you’re given if you win. it’s plain. you can’t chose your stats. sure, you’re a rare card, but you’re only asked your name. and if you look to the door, you can see that you can’t even read your name. i thought, initially, the number one medal would go up depending on how many times you have beaten him prior—like a counter of when you won—but, no. it stays. it’s the exact same for each deathcard. you won, but it’s a sour fate to him, and reflects his feelings to you. you can’t be used. no one can even see your name, just that you won, and what happens to people who win. 

with the dialogue you get during the deletion, if you chose him and still chose him for the final duel, along with just the heart-ripping “ please, we don’t need to keep score “ makes me feel as though he’s gained respect for the player, and genuinely had a great time playing his version of inscryption with you and trying to make you live. trying to give you a life and enjoyment even if he’s limited in the power he truly had to show you that. he values you as a person, as a challenger, and as a player in general, just as he values the scrybes. 

i wish the scrybes saw that, too, that leshy’s respect for them is reflected in the way that he still made them cards even if they were hidden, that they’re still playable when he could’ve degraded them to much worse. it doesn’t make their fate better, and it doesn’t make what he did better, either, but it’d be nice to know that he still cares, despite what he’s done. 

i just like how his respect and emotions towards you as the challenger are reflected through deathcards, and the fact he values them so much that his signature ambience track is literally called “ deathcard cabin. “ 

and, as an off note, since i wanted to say this too but didn’t want to break the odd flow, he reveals more about himself the more you win, after you win, without progressing. i’m not sure why? you could take it as caving in, or emotions, but i find it interesting as well. 

so yeah. dnd with a tree. 

[gr1an]

I know I already said this but people not shipping gemtho has nothing to do with the fact that gem is a woman and everything to do with the fact that gem doesn't want to be shipped.

It's not fair to say that it's misogyny when it's actually just respecting her wishes.

It's the same with Xisuma, you don't really see a lot of Xisuma ships because he said he doesn't like it. Obv there is some but casually scrolling through the tag doesn't give anything

i agree about the misogyny point but as a new fan, what is the difference between gem’s attitude towards ppl shipping her character vs someone like etho’s, who i don’t think has ever said he was comfortable with shipping yet ships like ethubs and smalletho are still incredibly popular.

i called it misogyny at first bc of fandom’s tendency to reduce women to

“mom friend”

“fav character’s sibling” (s.kyblings….)

“[popular ship]’s biggest fan” (gem does kind of lean into this with smalletho, though) 

“character that gets in the way of [popular ship]”

and maybe i’m just unfairly judging the fandom before i’ve seen how they really are , but the patterns don’t come from a void. and as ppl on tumblr, we do have tendencies we fall into.