#like fictional characters are fine but real people??

[cripplecharacters]

Hey folks, fully abled writer here! I've got a question about nicknames/descriptive names related to physical differences and abilities. I write a lot of fantasy fiction with differing name and language systems than the real world. I'm also fond of using compound names, such as "Dawnbringer, Hardcutter, Bluemark, Bearhunter, etc." So in a fantasy world where much of this society has given names and clan surnames following a specific theme of strength and durability, I have a character that has both his given name but also a nickname many people call him. This nickname is "Firebrand," and I invented him many years ago when I wasn't very critical of my writing or biases and just wanted a cool-sounding fantasy name. He is is a city guard in a city that is regularly attacked by fantasy animals for plot and environment-related reasons, and as I developed this character more I decided that rather than his original dark edgy backstory where he was called Firebrand because he was tortured, he now gains the name Firebrand because he survived a dragon's fire breath and came out of it with burn scars up his chest neck and arms, particularly on his hands that limits some of his movement and dexterity. I intend to make it clear in the story that it isn't a derogatory name, it's part of their society's theme of having names that signify how people survive things.

He likes the nickname and the meaning it has in his culture, because to him it means he's good at his job and he has survived hard times. Right now, the story is told through third-person P.O.V, and he is primarily referred to in non-dialogue narration as his nickname. In dialogue, he usually introduces himself with his given name and surname, but many people including the rest of the city guards refer to him with the nickname . His family and boyfriend will use either name for him depending on the context and company. At a later point in the story, when he and some others end up in a situation where they are dealing with fairies and the magical rules about giving them your name, his nickname gives him an advantage against the fairy rules.

Is this a reasonable concept at all, or is it all very weird to use an injury and acquired physical difference to identify someone with? Or, if the concept is alright but the name itself is bad, do you have any suggestions for how I might want to come up with a different nickname? I'm thinking if the use of the word "brand" in the nickname has too much of a negative connotation, I could try to replace it with something like "Firehand" or "Firebrave" that might have a clearer positive connotation to readers as well as his in-story society.

And although it's not the purpose of this question, I have been doing research about burn scars and treatment; this blog has been helpful! Since the burns were deep and he has limb tremors and cramps as well as scars, he has exercises and ointments to keep his scarred skin flexible, and he takes care not to take long tasks that will strain his hands with fine motor skills or whatnot. When on duty, his uniform includes gloves and a high collar for protection, but in casual clothing his hands are bare and his clothing doesn't hide his scars unless it's for weather protection. I may come back in the future with more questions about that, but I've determined what I need to start with about the physical effects his injuries have on him.

Thank you, and I hope you're all having a good day!!

Hello!

This sounds fine and pretty cool to me. The most important part is that the name isn't intended to be derogatory and that he actually likes it.

As a different disability-related example, "Wheels" and all its variants is a surprisingly common nickname that wheelchair users use (mostly younger guys). Sometimes you have a few of these dudes in one group and three people look at you when you try to call for one of them, it's just a fun nickname. Could it also be a cartoon-bully level derogatory insult if it was used for a character that hates it? 100%. It's very context dependent.

That's the same sentiment that's crucial here I think. Your character likes it and is proud of it? Go ahead. It makes sense in his cultural background and his nickname falls under a similar naming convention so it fits. I like the mention of how it reminds him that "he has survived hard times", since it's something that I've heard from burn survivors who explain why they choose "survivor" over "victim" to refer to themselves.

To answer your actual question: yes, I think it's a reasonable concept that makes sense in the character's setting. In another context yeah, it could be weird to identify with an acquired physical difference like that, but other people will do it anyway, you could as well make it "yours" and be proud of it, wear it as a positive. I don't think it's something that is an automatic "no" even if kinda weird. I'd go case-by-case and in your character's case it seems great.

As for the actual name, I agree that "brand" does have a negative connotation in English, all the criminal/cattle/label associations are less than ideal. I don't think it's detrimental to the concept like some other potential nicknames could be (looking at all the No-Faces and Half-Faces, which I do think are strictly derogatory) but if changing it to something less loaded wouldn't be an issue I'd probably do that. Both -hand and -brave are pretty awesome (the latter kinda reminds me of a warrior cat name but that's definitely a me problem), since they're either neutral or very positive in their connections.

Personally I care more about the fact that you're researching your character thoroughly, don't think that him being a burn survivor comes with some intrinsic negative traits, nor seem to put him in one of the Four Boxes. That's more important than terminology and vice versa - one could use the most up-to-date correct terms to refer to their OC and still make them into an offensive nightmare with bad execution. It doesn't mean that specific words aren't important but they (generally) aren't what breaks or makes representation that people want to see.

You seem to be doing good: my advice is to rethink the -brand part due to its connotations, and just keep researching as you write him.

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[rainbowwrare]

So I've seen a lot of discourse around some of the arcane ships and I felt like throwing my opinion into the ring too

I will preface this by saying I think shipping is fine, I am a casual shipper of both Jayce/Viktor (Though I think a queerplatonic relationship could work lovely for them) and Vander/Silco (yeah this ones a lil silly I guess but i just think it's funny so)

So firstly, Viktor and Jayce. I have seen lots of people (mostly on reddit but some here too) saying that we shouldn't ship them because guys should be allowed to be close and affectionate without being called gay. That is a valid viewpoint until it comes to the point where one is invalidating LGBTQ relationships. There is definitely a sore lack of healthy, close affectionate m/m friendships in the mainstream media. However, there is also a MASSIVE lack of good M/M, and same sex couple representation in general and there has been for many years. When people try to say "why is everything gay nowadays" it comes across as rude and condescending because it's really not true. The LGBTQ community has fought so hard just to reach the level of acceptance that we are at today, and even that is the bare minimum and below in some places. I think we should be allowed to have both of those things, they should be able to coexist, but people aren't making it better by just attacking anyone else who shares a slightly different opinion.

By all means criticise JayVik for it's faults (Mel?? My girl?? Jayce fumbled you so hard and the writers did too) (Also Skye, they deadass brought her back this season just to get rid of her again) but don't make it about that.

I think let people ship whatever they want to ship, and as long as it's not harming real people and if it's something that could potentially trigger people then keep it to yourself/make sure it stays within circles of people that it won't trigger.

Same applies to Vander/Silco, though I knowww this one is a bit more controversial. Way I see it, the "brothers" that they refer each other to applies more in a "comerades" sense, as I believe it was translated as such in the other language dubs? Anyway yeah, I just think they'd be funny together and they have a lot of angst writing potential so...

Yeah. Just let people ship who they wanna ship, shippers, don't force anyone to believe in it if the writers deliberately left it ambiguous (JayVik ending scene). At the end of the day they are all just fictional characters and That Is Okay. It's all chill.

[makeitmingi]

When Flowers Bloom In The Dark [Chapter 8]

Genre: Romance, Mafia!AU, Violence, Angst, Slow burn

Pairing: Hongjoong x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Florist!Reader, Mafioso!Hongjoong, Mafioso!Seonghwa, Mafioso!Yunho, Mafioso!Yeosang, Mafioso!San, Mafioso!Mingi, Mafioso!Wooyoung, Mafioso!Jongho

Summary: When you appeared and wept at his mother's funeral, Hongjoong found himself wanting to find out more about you. A regular girl, who owns a flower shop in his territory and has a relationship with the mother that he hasn't spoken to in years, why hasn't he ever noticed you before?

[Warning(s): 18+ for violence, use of weapons, smoking, alcohol consumption, slight gore, gang affiliation, tattoos and character deaths. Minors DNI. This is a work of fiction and does not represent the Ateez members in real life.]

Word count: 3.2K

"You can add a layer of natural compost to provide the plant with the nutrients its missing. Then add a layer of this mulch right at the top, it'll help keep the moisture in. Your plant should be fine right after." You smiled, handing the bag of mulch and natural compost to the customer after she paid.

"Okay, I'll go home and repot it properly. Do I stick to my regular watering schedule?" She asked.

"Water it every alternate day instead. Since we're retaining moisture, there's no need to water it every day now. Or it might drown the plant." You informed.

"Ah, I don't want that to happen." She giggled and you nodded with a laugh.

"Come back if you need any other help." You told her, walking her to the door. She bowed her head and left your store.

Once she left, you went back to working on online order pick ups. You recently received a big order for a huge event so you were trying to clear orders and you were not able to take in anymore new orders.

"Excuse me. Are you open?" The door opened.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?" You wiped your hands and went out to greet the customer.

"I need a bouquet for a friend in the hospital. Do you do that? Maybe a small teddy bear, I don't know..." She smiled in embarrassment. But you knew what she meant and what she wanted so you waved her further into the store.

"Do you know the person's favourite flower? If not, there are sunflower bouquets, those are popular because of how bright they are." You chuckled.

"She doesn't have a favourite flower... Let's just go with the sunflowers. I know she likes blue, can that be added?" She asked.

"Of course. I'll wrap the flowers in baby blue tissue, there'll make it really pretty." You smiled.

"Thanks." She sighed and sat down to wait. You hummed softly to yourself as you picked out the sunflowers and began to trim the stems, remove the excess leaves and arrange them.

"I'll add some extra flowers on the side if that's okay, just to bulk up the bouquet." You checked with the customer.

"Sure." You nodded.

She watched as you laid everything out in a bouquet arrangement and tied the stems together with a rubber band first. Then you wrapped the bottoms with wet tissues and began to wrap the whole thing in decorative tissues. The girl watched you as you worked, securing the bouquet together with a ribbon.

"These are the designs of small animal plushes we have. You can pick one and I'll add it to the bouquet. Also, you can write the card." You placed the box on the counter for her to pick.

"This one. She likes cats." The girl explained. You placed a holder and positioned the flowers while she wrote the card.

"All done. Is there anything else I can do for you?" You asked as you walked her to the counter.

"No, that's all. Thanks for all your help, the bouquet is beautiful. I don't know anything about flowers. I just know you get it for people when they're sick." She shrugged.

"Of course, happy to help." You showed her the bill and processed the payment on her card.

"Thanks again." She bowed and walked out of your store.

"Now, where were we?" You continued to work on your online orders. Suddenly, someone tapped you on the shoulder, making you flinch and jump, letting out a small yelp in surprise.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I forgot to ask for a name card." The girl from earlier asked.

"Sure, sorry about that. I overreacted." You tried your best to maintain composure as you went to retrieve a name card for her before she left again. Your heart was racing, you didn't know why you reacted so badly to someone touching your shoulder.

Who were you kidding? Of course you knew. Because it was like the guy that was at the club. You shivered as a flash of what happened passed in your head.

And at the same time, you wondered if the guy would come back and sought revenge against you. Or was he even alive?

"Don't think about that." You scolded yourself with a frown. You didn't know the state Hongjoong left the guy in, he could be dead or alive.

"Focus on work." You let out a long, shaky exhale and proceeded to throw yourself back into your work. Hopefully, that will be the last that you encounter Hongjoong.

You didn't know what he did and what he was but at this point, you'd rather not find out.

"Hi. I'm here to pick up order #2140?" A male came in.

"Yes, sure. Let me help you get that. Can I see the order confirmation? Just to be sure." You wiped your hands against your apron. He nodded and showed you in email.

"That's great. Here it is, order #2140. You can check that everything is to your liking. Then you can pay." You told the customer. He scanned the bouquet and nodded in approval, going to settle the payment. It was a standard bouquet that you had on the website, an anniversary bouquet that was quite popular.

"Have a nice day." You wished as he left. Since there was a little bit of lull time, you stopped working on orders and worked on your botany.

"Tincture." You opened your botany book. Tinctures were made of dried and/or fresh plants and herbs, steeped in either vinegar or alcohol to extract their properties.

"This, this and this." You sought through your collection to find what you needed.

Following the recipe, you picked out the herbs that you needed and placed them into a glass jar then added concentrated alcohol.

"Ready in 4 weeks? Wow." You wrote the date and type of tincture on a piece of tape and taped it to the jar. Then you placed the jar on the shelf to let it mature.

"Hi (y/n). Here for today's pick ups." The delivery man came through the back door like always.

"Hey, Mr Kim. Let me see which orders are for delivery." You went to the area where all the prepared flower orders were.

"Looks like it's all these here." You gestured. He nodded and began to bring the flower boxes out to where his truck was parked in the alley. You helped him carry the bouquets while he picked up more of the wreaths and flower boxes.

"You've got the addresses already right?" You confirmed. He hummed and scanned all the barcodes on the order invoices against his checklist to make sure everything was there.

"There's a bouquet missing it seems. Order #418?" He showed you the screen.

"Hmm. Let me check, it could be mixed up with the pick up orders." You went back into the store and looked for it.

"Roses bouquet with black and grey tissue." You checked the description on your order list. Maybe you had missed out on the order while wrapping the flowers.

"Sorry, Mr Kim. Let me quickly put that bouquet together." You bowed and apologised.

"No worries. It happens." He waved you off.

"Feel free to have some tea while you wait." You gestured to the pot of tea that you always brewed in the shop, it's usually for yourself or familiar visitors like delivery men. You quickly picked out the flowers that you needed and made the bouquet. It was a standard rose bouquet with baby's breath surrounding the red roses.

"There, sorry again for delaying you." You handed him the bouquet once it was done, all wrapped in the layered tissue and secured with a thick, silver ribbon.

"No need to apologise, (y/n). Thanks for the tea. Have a nice day." He patted your shoulder and left to make the deliveries.

"You too!" You waved as the truck drove off. After that, you went back to getting orders sorted.

Finally when you sat down, you winced as you lifted your leg. It was a sprained ankle, nothing too major but you've been hiding the bandage under pants and the pain with a smile.

"Hello~" Jihoon entered through the back door and you quickly put your leg down, making sure your pant leg covered the bandage.

"Jihoon, what are you doing here?" You blinked in surprise.

"Well, hello to you too, neighbour. I'm here to deliver you a warm lunch! You're welcome." He held up the paper bag and the iced drink that he was holding.

"Thanks, Jihoon. Let me know how much everything is and I'll wire it over." You smiled gratefully as you stood up. At your words, Jihoon shot you a flat look. He knew you would insist on paying but he didn't want you too.

"Hush, just eat. Don't worry about paying." He sat you back down and cleared your table so he could put the sandwich and drink down.

"Hmm..." You shot him a look but sighed in defeat and patted the seat beside you. Before sitting down, Jihoon poured himself a cup of tea from your warmed tea pot.

"This is nice. What is this?" He pointed, taking a sip.

"Mixed dried berries with raspberry leaf." You replied, taking a bite of the warm sandwich.

"Isn't that what pregnant women drink?" He raised an eyebrow. You shot him a surprised look but nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, my mom gave a lot to my cousin when she was pregnant with my nephew. Supposed to make birth easy or something. I swear she even bathed in it once." Jihoon scoffed.

"It'll help with muscle cramps too, it's an anti inflammatory and anti oxidant." You explained.

"Hopefully it'll get rid of my calf muscle pain then." Jihoon chuckled and took another sip. You laughed and continued to eat your sandwich, enjoying your chat with Jihoon. Mrs Kim was always your lunch time companion, Jihoon must know that you would feel the absence of her presence and come.

"Do you miss her?" Jihoon asked. Your hands stopped and you paused your chewing before nodding your head with a hum, knowing he was referring to Mrs Kim.

"You know that she was the closest thing to a mother figure that I have ever had." You replied.

"Mhmm. I also know you didn't even give yourself a break." Jihoon stated.

"I don't need a break, Jihoon. Continuing and distracting myself with work is what helps me, not sitting at home and crying." You shrugged, standing up and going to toss the trash.

"Don't you have a cafe that needs running?" You chuckled, changing the subject so you wouldn't harp on that topic for too long.

"They'll survive without me." Jihoon waved you off. You laughed and shook your head.

You and Jihoon continued to chat until your lunch break was over and you chased him out. No doubt his workers were good but you didn't want to be the reason why their boss slacks. So after giving him a bouquet of flowers to decorate his shop with, he left.

"Welc- Hongjoong sshi." You blinked, stopping in your tracks. Having heard the bell, you thought that there was a new customer. You didn't expect Hongjoong to come in.

"Good afternoon." Hongjoong bowed his head as he entered your shop.

"W-What can I help you with?" You blinked.

"I... wanted to make sure you got your ankle looked at." Hongjoong cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Oh! I'm fine, it's just a sprain. Nothing big. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable." You forced a small smile and gestured to the seats by your work table.

"I'm glad. Thanks." He unbuttoned his jacket and sat down on the stool. You poured him a cup of tea and offered it to him.

"Please, don't let me stop you from your work." He gestured to the materials that were scattered around.

"So, how have you been Hongjoong sshi?" You asked to try and prevent an awkward silence from falling down on the both of you. You kept your head down, focusing on the bouquets you were preparing to put in the display and fridges for walk in customers. Hongjoong watched you, sipping his tea.

"Same as always. What about you?" He asked back. You had stated clearly the last time you met that you didn't want the incident to be brought up again but Hongjoong couldn't help it.

"Fine. Same as always, too. Just here, running the shop, fixing orders, you know..." You shrugged.

"Hongjoong sshi, I don't mean this in any way at all but what's the real reason you came here?" You finally asked him.

"(y/n) sshi, I feel like I owe you yet another apology." He confessed with an honest look on his face. The way he looked at you, it just reminded you of Mrs Kim.

"If it's about what happened last week-"

"No, I mean, yes. Partly. I... I know we're practically strangers but I've been treating you unfairly." Hongjoong sighed

"Okay, now you've lost me." You chuckled. Hongjoong was relieved that you laughed, making this conversation a whole more lighthearted than he thought it would be.

"Like I said when we first met here... Whatever my relationship with my mother was shouldn't have clouded my view or attitude towards you. It's just... I don't know... It seems like we knew her as a different person entirely." He rubbed his temples.

"I get it..." You nodded your head with a hum.

"But that shouldn't excuse how I've been towards you. I have to deal with my demons myself." He confessed.

"It's okay, Hongjoong sshi. I know it can't be easy with everything that's been happening. And honestly, it's conflicting to me too." You empathised with him.

"So I'm not crazy." He cracked a smile.

"Far from." You giggled, fixing up the bouquet. You momentarily left the conversation to put the bouquets in the fridge.

"But still, I apologise." He insisted.

"There's no need to but if you insist, apology accepted. And I think at this point, we can drop the formalities." You turned your head to say to him as you arranged the bouquets.

"I'd like that." He smiled kindly as you returned to the work bench. You noticed his ears turning a light shade of pink. Dropping formalities didn't immediately mean a friendship but at least you two were no longer just strangers. Whether you liked it or not, the universe keeps making your paths cross.

"(y/n), I have another request, if it's okay with you." Hongjoon gulped as he mentioned. You nodded.

"I'm not ready to talk about my mother. My relationship with her, your relationship with her. I'm not ready... But when I am, I hope you'll help me." He looked at you with desperate eyes.

"Of course, Hongjoong. Any time. Whenever you're ready." You smiled softly.

RINGGGG

"Ah, hang on." Hongjoong clicked his tongue, annoyed that his phone broke that moment you were having. He looked at his phone to see Yunho calling.

"What?" He hissed, turning away slightly. You weren't gonna eavesdrop so you just continued your work.

"Look, Yunho. Just... hire another gardener, you don't need to tell me this! You make decisions too, all 8 of us do. If you need some sort of approval, ask Hwa." Hongjoong threw his head back with a groan.

"Fine, fine... Yeah, sure. I'm not sure why you want to add to my workload with this but I'll look when I get home later... Yeah, whatever. Goodbye." Hongjoong hung up with a grumble, glaring at his phone as he did.

"Everything okay?" You stifled a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. It's nothing. One of my brothers can't seem to hire a gardener himself all of a sudden." Hongjoong clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

"Well, if it's not too much. If you're too busy to find a gardener now, I could help you in the mean time." You offered.

"What? Really? I don't want to make you busier, I'm sure you have a lot to do with the shop." Hongjoong shook his head.

"I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't. My shop is closed Sundays and Thursdays anyway, I could go once a week on those days to tend to the plants." You shrugged.

"Just until I have the time to find a gardener." Hongjoong said.

"Sure, whatever you're comfortable with. Do you have a picture of your backyard?" You asked.

"Oh, let me see. Although, I don't know what plants we have." Hongjoong took his phone out and scrolled through his pictures, trying to find the last time he took a picture of the backyard garden. When he finally found one, he showed it to you. Your eyes widened at the huge backyard. The fenced garden only took a portion of it.

"Wow... That's a big garden..." You couldn't help but be in awe.

"It is. But you'll just need to tend to the fenced area. The rest of the field behind it is not necessary." Hongjoong informed. That was where they killed or practiced weapons sometimes.

"Sure, I'll be there on Monday." You smiled, excited to be working in such a big garden space.

"Here's the address." Hongjoong took the small piece of paper from the table and scribbled it down for you.

"Thank you." You took the paper and tucked it into your pocket.

"When I came in here, I didn't think I would leave after having offered you a job." Hongjoong admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. You nodded in agreement.

"You never know what the universe has in store for you." You chuckled and cleared your work table.

"Thank you, (y/n). I have to return to work now but I'll see you soon." Hongjoong slid off the stool.

"You're welcome, Hongjoong. Thank you for stopping by. I'll see you Monday." You walked him to the door. He nodded and bowed politely before exiting the shop. You watched as a chauffeur opened the door for him to enter a luxury car before returning to drive off.

"What just happened?" You asked yourself in disbelief as you walked back to your shop counter. You told yourself you should steer clear but here you were, offering to work for him.

But it was too late to regret now, what's done is done. You knew you couldn't go back on your word.

You'll just go, tend to plants and leave. Simple.

"I'm not ready to talk about my mother. My relationship with her, your relationship with her. I'm not ready... But when I am, I hope you'll help me."

Hongjoong's words from earlier replayed in your head. It was so different, he looked and sounded so involuntarily vulnerable.

To be frank, you were not ready too. You were fond of Mrs Kim, she took care of you, cared for you.

But were you ready to hear how sour Hongjoong's relationship with her was? No, you were not ready to hear any of that. Especially since that wound still felt so fresh.

"I hope I don't regret this." You muttered to yourself.

~

Series masterlist

[theyanderespecialist]

Base Yandere ADULT Billy Loomis Headcanons: Do No Wrong (Scream)

[Hello, My Sexy Muffins! I am finally here with the base headcanons of Billy Loomis! I hope that you all had a great spooky season as it is coming to a close and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving now let's do this! 

(Disclaimer: This is Billy Loomis when he is 18 or 19 because I do not know if he is 17 or under in the show, in this he is a young adult! Thank you!! 

Disclaimer: Billy Loomis is not yandere in canon! This is just for fun and not to be taken seriously at all! Simping for fictional characters and yanderes is fine! Just do not be illegal or gross about it! You know who you are! You Dirty, Flaky, Bisucits! Yanderes are not ideal partners to have in real life! Also, remember to separate fiction from reality and headcanon from canon thank you!  Disclaimer: Slashers and Villains are fine to simp for, just do not condone or support what they do in real life, and do not justify what they do. It is fine to simp for the bad guy as long as no real people get hurt! Again remember to separate fiction from reality and headcanon from canon! Thank you!) 

Enjoy this chapter!] 

-Base Yandere Headcanons With Billy Loomise Aka Ghostface From Scream- 

.Billy had a normal life and normal family and normal mental health.

.That was until his father cheated and that is when everything went to hell.

.He bloomed into a psychotic version of himself but he was not chaotic like some. Instead he could play the long game.

.Like Dating Sidney just so he could have the chance to kill her.

.He never loved Sideny and instead, he loved you, you were the love of his life and the person that he wanted the most.

.He is a very possessive man who would kill anyone and everyone for you, but he does not do it impulsively.

.Instead, he plans out each of his kills and even gets an accomplice he can trust to do them!

.He got someone to work with him that he could trust around you and that was a hard sell but not impossible. 

.He had the plan to kill Sidney and make you his and his alone. 

.He needed to keep you in the dark about his plans though as he did not want you to get hurt or be a loose end that would need to be tied up. 

.He would deal with rivals in a few ways, one of the main ones adding them to his list of victims but killing them at random so that no one expected that it was because of you that they were being killed. 

.The other less gruesome ways he would do it, is by planting evidence on them that got you to steer clear of them, or ending up with the police dealing with them. 

.Before that he made sure everyone stayed away from you by being your "friend" and saying no one was good enough for his best friend. 

.He is the type of yandere to be protective but slightly bit unstable. 

.In which if you were aware of his interest in you, you would notice the way he stares at you when no one is looking. 

.Or that he lingers by your side longer than he should. 

.Or even the times he broke into your home and watched you sleep. Hiding under your bed when you woke up so he could sneak out after. 

.Not to mention how he knew all your favorite things, the things you disliked, and so on and so forth. 

.That he knows a creepy amount about you. 

.If you were aware of his feelings you would have noticed it, but you were not, no one was, because once again he is good at playing the long game. 

.How he would confess to you?

.It could be a few ways, ending with a few results. 

.The first way is he could not wait any longer and broke up with Sideny, confessing his love to you. 

.If you accepted his love he would be over the men and may even not need to kill Sideny as he got his happily ever after. 

.If you rejected this love confession he would know you out and kidnap you, to make sure that you stayed safe and stayed with him. 

.He was keeping you safe after all, everything he has done he did almost solely for you! 

.Of course, really it was all for him, his selfish needs to own you and have you as his and his alone. 

.His selfish needs to get revenge on Sidney and her father when they had nothing to do with it! 

.To him what he was doing was justice and he was the fine hand of it, that Sidney and her father had it coming. 

.And that all the people he killed for you had It coming because they tried to steal you away from him and that was unforgivable. 

.Now the other way he would confess to you is the night he tried to kill Sideny, but this time he did succeed and you saw him kill Sidney. 

.He would have held your face with his bloody hands and told you he did it all for you. 

.If you accept his love (Which you most likely did because you did not want to die!) he would kiss you and take you away with him. 

.He cannot trust you to not leave him and tell the police what really happened. Not until he was one hundred percent sure you were truly loyal to him and him alone. 

.If you reject his love he will stab you in the stomach and run off with you, leaving evidence that Sidney's dad had killed you and hid your body. 

.He then has you taken care of far away as a jane doe. Then he takes you from that hospital and runs off with you. 

.No one would ever see you again, but everyone would remember the story of Ghostface, and how every few years he kills again. 

.The people that he does kill across the country are people who tried to help you escape or who he thought had got too close to you, and of course, Stu keeping up the Ghostface slasher legend. 

.Billy's love for you would go down in history the same way the Ghostface serial killer slasher did. 

.Side not do not try and escape too much, or he will break your leg, in a way that it would not heal right and that you can never ever physically run again. 

.Other than that he takes good care of you and would have gaslit and manipulated you into accepting his love. 

.Or you had accepted his love for your own safety and sanity. 

.Either way, you are always on edge with Billy and wondering who will he kill next because of you, and if he ever will kill you. 

.He would never kill you, because he is the type of yandere that blames everyone else for it. 

.Even if you slept with Stu, he would blame Stu and attack him before blaming you the love of his life, his darling. 

.In his eyes you can never do anything wrong. 

[YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS finally got this one done! I hope you all enjoyed this, and stay sexy, all of my sexy muffins!] 

[randomthefox]

Amy's always been a rude bitch. In Sonic Heroes she calls Eggman a mustached monkey. Yeah Amy smother someone with kindness when they need it but she isn't a saint. I don't know why everyone is suddenly deciding that she's supposed to be a perfect role model.

It's definitely overcompensating due to the utterly abysmal way that Amy is being written in the IDW comics. And due to the misconceptions that people have about the way she was written in Frontiers, because the people who act like the characters are written badly in Frontiers obviously have never actually played it and are just going off of second hand recounts that are incorrect. And also completely ignoring Dream Team and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and Superstars and all the other games Amy has been in recently (seriously I am so fucking sick of these threads from Amy fans who say some variation of "the way modern Amy is written" like bitch it's literally JUST the spin offs she's still the same hoe she ever was in the video games.)

They feel like they have to cheerlead because there IS a concerted movement of people who don't like Amy (including Ian Flynn) and they want to change everything about her character and turn her into a completely different character. To "fix" her. So folks feel the need to champion the qualities of Amy as she currently is (or, in their incorrect assumption that she's written badly in Frontiers, how she "used to be" but we're going to ignore everybody who thinks Frontiers is bad for the rest of this post because we all know they're objectively wrong because they haven't played it.) They want to say "NO, AMY DOESN'T NEED TO BE CHANGED TO BE A BETTER CHARACTER, SHE'S ALREADY A GREAT CHARACTER LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GREAT ABOUT HER!"

The problem is they're acting like they're on the political campaign trail and Amy is running for fucking president or something lol. They're treating Amy like she's a real person who we need to glaze up. They think if they acknowledge that Amy has flaws and shortcomings, it'll undermine the "Amy is fine just the way she is and doesn't need to be 'fixed'" argument, because if they say "Amy is kind of stupid and more than a little crazy" then the Amy haters aka Ian Flynn will jump on that and say "See? Amy needs to be improved!" As if taking a fictional character and sandpapering away all of their flaws to turn them into a boring fucking mary sue has ever been an "improvement."

It's insecurity. Amy fans are insecure. Because they feel the character they love is under attack and at risk of being turned into something else, turned into a different character instead of the character that they currently love very much. They see the way Amy is being BUTCHERED in the IDW comics, and see the way people who like the IDW comics are celebrating that and how the guy writing the IDW comics is stroking himself off like he's so great for "fixing" Sonic Teams dumb pink problem, and they get scared. Then they see that that same comic book writer is credited as writing the latest AAA Sonic game, and they get told by LIARS that he's writing Amy in that game the way he writes her in the comic, and they think their worst fears have come to pass and now they need to champion the values and qualities of Amy even harder to try and preserve her in the face of this perceived wave of ruination spearheaded by people who look down on Amy as a broken character who needs to be completely changed into something else to be fixed.

And it results in overcompensating Twitter threads that get really fucking annoying because Amy is not at risk of going anywhere. Sonic Team still knows THEIR character perfectly well. The shit ass IDW comics are NOT canon and NEVER will be and they sure as fuck aren't the defining or guiding north star of how the franchise is going to be handled or how the characters are going to be written in the actual official products. Sonic Team HAVE NOT and AREN'T GOING TO change Amy to make her more like she is in IDW or was in Sonic Boom or shit like that. They still know how to write their own character and have been seeing to her being written appropriately as she always has been, and as long as these people are still alive and at Sonic Team that isn't going to change.

Amy fans need to chill the fuck out and have faith in Sonic Team and stop worrying about them suddenly changing directions just because retards on Twitter and Ian Flynn think Amy is a bad character who needs to be changed. Just throw the IDW comics in the same trash can of irrelevance that we've collectively put Sonic Prime into and calm down. Also play Sonic Frontiers. And while we're at it stop acting like the 2010s Sonic games were bad.

[person4924]

why every time i meet a new person i either canon them gay or neurodivergent

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

To say that Kate needed saving from Tyler shows a deep misunderstanding of the Kate character and the movie of Twisters in general. Kate was the one who thought up the idea to choke (is that the word?) the tornado, she was the one who took Tyler's truck and released the solution stuff (I'm too lazy to look up the technical words for these things lol) into the tornado thus saving everyone. What did Tyler do in Twisters except chase after Kate? It dawned on me halfway through that Tyler is barely chasing after tornados anymore he's just chasing after Kate like a lovesick puppy. This all may sound like a diss to Tyler but believe me it is not. I love that character and I love when a guy is pathetically in love with a girl. Also as smart as Tyler is, it is conveyed that Kate is even smarter. If you don't like the movie then fine but stop unnecessarily dissing female characters to try and act like your better than other people just cause you don't like a movie.

[kyliafanfiction]

I sometimes feel like characters who do truly monstrous things while also having been victims of some pretty insane shit themselves are sort of an exercise in empathy. Or at least, should be seen as such.

Like, in real life, if a person who has been horribly broken by their experiences and failed by society than proceeds to rape someone - it's hard to feel the justifiable sympathy/empathy for that person (without excusing their rape, never do that) because well, you can look at this actual human person they hurt, or worse, and it feels gross and disrespectful to the rape victim.

And this is understandable. (And applies to more than just rapists/rape victims of course, that's just the most visceral one and thus picked for that reason)

But a fictional rape victim is... fictional. You can't 'disrespect' their trauma, and while obviously rape/whatever else is real, and people may related to the rape victim and thus see your comments about the rapist also being a victim as somehow being about their experience...

Well, it's not.

Because the rapist here, didn't actually hurt a real person. Fictional characters are objects. They're objects that often grab us by the throat and refuse to leave our fucking heads, yes, but they're objects. They are tools used by writers to tell a story, and readers to tell a story.

And one of the things fictional characters are good for is allowing us to consider experiences we never had, and imagine ourselves in other circumstances and lives. (Also just fun and fascinating and interesting to watch their stories).

It's very easy to feel for the rape victim in fiction, and rightly so. That's Level 1 Empathy there. Granted, some people IRL fail that, but that's not really what we're talking about here.

Advanced Empathy, hard Empathy is feeling for the rapist. Not for the rape, of course, even if they feel guilt about it, but if someone really was failed on multiple levels and was broken and damaged and went through the sort of psychological wringer that would leave most of us here on tumblr catatonic - they do deserve the same Empathy any human (any person) who went through all that.

Even after they also do the bad thing, critically they still deserve Empathy. And that is fucking hard. I very often have a hard time feeling bad for truly awful people who also deserve empathy and sympathy, real and even fictional (despite all this, yeah, I'm not perfect on this) for what they (separately) went through.

It also becomes even harder when what they went through is utterly bound up with what they did. How what they went through and experiences is in part responsible for what they did - because they still made a choice. The circumstances may have left them not in their right mind, may have left them feeling without choice, may have driven them to things they normally might not think of or do, but they still chose to do that bad thing. And that's not okay. They still hurt someone.

And yet - one cannot remove the action from the circumstances. So you can still feel empathy, and elucidate all the factors and circumstances as to what led up to their choices and why, and it doesn't change that they did the horrible thing. The rape, or the murders, or whatever.

But circling back - with a fictional character... they didn't hurt a real person. There's no one who is real that suffered. The things the character did IRL are bad because they hurt real people.

So you're not being disrespectful to the victim by feeling that empathy, or sympathy. By exploring the things that they were a victim for. Even by wanting to focus on those things - fictional characters should be compelling in all their aspects, if they're written well.

And yet, of course, if you do that empathy and do talk about what the bad person went through and all that context, people come at you. They call you evil, just as bad as the (again, fictional) character, or they say that you're treading dangerously close to the arguments people use to defend the real people who do these things in real life. Or you're disrespecting all the victims of these crimes IRL. Especially of course, if the person coming at you has a reason this comes close to home.

But again - fictional.

In an ideal world, we'd all feel sympathy and empathy when it's called for, regardless of what the person did. Even the worst most monstrous people deserve human treatment in prison. And if you don't have empathy, that's hard. Even if you do have empathy, that's hard.

So if you look at a fictional character (who doesn't hurt a real person by virtue of being fictional) that does horrible, vile things, but went through so much, and you still can't empathize or sympathize with them... I mean, it doesn't make you a bad person, not even close, this is still fiction, and there's people I should empathize with in fiction that I don't, but...

It's still a failure of your ability to be empathetic. And we're all humans. We're all failing at that, among other things, all the time. But... it's good to be aware of that. at least?

At the very least, bear that in mind when other people are talking about that context, and that victimization. And please, for the love of god, don't fucking pretend that the victimization didn't happen, that this person who did do terrible things (in fiction) suddenly didn't also (in fiction) experience awful shit, as if doing a bad thing erases all the bad things done to you.

Again - it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, but like... the horrible state of prisons in our society is a real, actual problem. The way we as a society dehumanize people who do bad things is a real actual problem for a lot of reasons (not least because it creates an incentive for authority that wants to dehumanize a person or a group to expand the definition of 'did bad things' to make their dehumanization now acceptable, among other things).

So yeah. Fictional character who suffers but than also makes others suffer - that's a useful exercise in Empathy. And doing that doesn't make you or anyone else a bad person, or actually defending the sorts of crimes, IRL or Fictional, that this character did. Contextualizing is not whitewashing, empathy is not erasing, and humanizing is not disrespecting the victim(s).

So yeah, they fictional character did bad things. But there's more to them than that. And you can say but and talk about what comes after but without disrespecting the fictional victim. Because the fictional victim... is just as fictional. Just as not real.

Is it possible for this to end up being taken too far? Yes. But that's a reason to be mindful of yourself when it comes to real people, not to never do it. And when it comes to fictional people - again, fictional. Nobody was actually, really hurt.

(I really do want to make clear, before people read the tags, that this applies to all crimes these sorts of characters do, rape was just picked as the one to use as the example.)

[flowersandfashion]

"Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness

Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus"

she really said:

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

I miss when I was little and playing a game was fun regardless if it had romance or not in it and what mattered in my head was the story and the characters individually and that's it. Cause like, if it had romance I'd welcome it and either ship it or not, and if it hadn't I wouldn't even care who this character would sleep with, I wouldn't even perceive their having a sexuality. Now, if I play a game with no romance and I try not to give a damn about the char's sexuality, at some point I will be made to feel guilty, cause everyone else has thought what their sexuality is and argue about it online. Like now I was suddenly presented with Lara Croft's sexuality and I'm like WHAT?! WHO CARES? I am so glad I left those games around the anniversary edition after Legend. Not only did they change her model for whatever stupid reason as if being an exploring archaeologist with big curves and slim waist was a crime but also apparently made an animation that brings up romance? I'm sorry I grew up with the games till Legend and I was reading the comics and it had 0 romance in them (maybe it had sth in comics I didn't have cause I didn't have everything). There were some guys who were into her but she had other goals in life and no time for such stuff. Why does everything have to have romance for you to enjoy it? Jeez.

[enixamyram]

(Me ranting about how some of the fandom tries a little too hard to pretend Velvette and Vox aren't also awful and that they somehow aren't aware of what Valentino is really like.)

Me: I mean you're still allowed to like them! I like Velvette even though she's a bitch. Seriously! You can like bad people! Friend: 🤨 Me: Fictional people! I meant it's okay if you like bad FICTIONAL people!

[daz4i]

controversial opinion perhaps but i kinda hate when youtubers, esp ones with a large audience, pull armchair psychology on villainous or clearly negative characters, when they don't have the disorders they're talking about or some background in psychology or at least talking to someone who has it to make sure what they're saying is relevant. it kinda feels like it adds to the constant demonization of these disorders (like. going "this character is bipolar because they killed someone on a whim" is Not Great to say the least) without any regard to how it affects the real people who live with them

[corset]

What is the point of "family" by the way. I don't really get it

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

I'm... kind of confused about this? Like Ignatz is basically saying the only way for people to move forward is by continuing to fight and destroy? That's a pretty awful message in general, but coming from Ignatz it just feels weird. It sounds like he's just accepted war and that it's just... something that happens so we should shrug it off and move on?

I know this game tends to have very strong pro-war/pro-invasion messages which is already really gross to me, but it went from being annoying and icky to just making me feel disgusted. Also, Ignatz of all people shouldn't just shrug his shoulders and be like well that's just the way of things, I guess! There's an active war going on so it makes sense that towns could be rebuilt and destroyed again. It doesn't mean just give up on it.

Also really doesn't feel like an Ignatz thing to say.

[mellotronmkll]

It's always funny Almost completely relating to people's posts about being obsessed with a piece of media but it's clear they mean like a TV show or movie and are obsessed with one of the characters but for me it's literally always always with no exception some fucking band so it's not really the same but it does have the same completely all consuming effect on me

[angelsdean]

there are a few side characters i just find so boring, uncompelling, or only relevant in the era they exist / only enjoy from my personal interpretive lens but if you express any of that some people will act like you've committed a murder. but sometimes a side character is just a side character there to fulfill a specific narrative purpose! and that's fine. like i don't hate any of them, but i also don't particularly care abt them beyond their narrative purpose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯