#meaning if i am writing a character who is upset at something i will tend to try and evoke that emotion in myself

[qcomicsy]

Lately I've only been wishing to grab a comic about my favorite character and just have a genuinely good time reading it.

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[cpvnksabm]

i think sometimes rtc fans (fic writers especially) who are aware they aren't disability experts will try to "play it safe" and avoid depicting anything that could end up being offensive or inaccurate, because they'd rather not handle something at all than risk handling it badly. i understand this approach, and don't get me wrong, it's a good thing to want to avoid offending people - and it's also a good thing to be aware of when you don't know enough about something to write about it.

but it's upsetting when ricky is sidelined or excluded because people don't know how to depict him. and "include ricky but avoid going into detail about his disability" isn't a perfect solution either - for shorter fics it tends to work fine, but in longer fics, it becomes noticeable when something hasn't been mentioned. ricky's disability would realistically affect his life in many ways, such that if you're depicting him realistically for an extended period it's likely it will be relevant at some point.

on top of that, sometimes the "play it safe, don't do anything that could be problematic" approach extends to people removing parts of canon* that they think may be problematic. and i'm in favour of improving/ignoring the shitty parts of canon, but this needs to be done carefully and with a good understanding of what specifically needs improving and why, because sometimes it's a fine line between "removing the shitty parts of canon" and "erasing disability representation". there are some issues where, even if canon was flawed in its depiction of something, erasing/ignoring it is actually worse.

*when i say canon i mean the 2016-2018 script. i feel we've all agreed that the ableist 2022 script changes are non-canon for obvious reasons

one example of this is ocean's canonical ableism, and how often it's just ignored by the fandom. i think sometimes people are unsure how to handle it respectfully, or feel like it shouldn't have been in the musical in the first place. and different disabled people have different opinions on how well it was handled in canon, i have mixed feelings myself, but regardless of if it was handled well or not, i don't think making her some sort of Perfect Disability Ally Who Loves Ricky in fanworks is a good solution. because as a disabled person, i don't see ocean's ableism as something trivial that can be easily removed, and when people do casually remove it, i find it to be dismissive & minimizing of a real problem. it makes me uncomfortable.

which is funny because i'm sure, at least some of the time, people go with this depiction of ocean because they don't want to risk making any disabled people uncomfortable by depicting ableism!

basically what i'm trying to say here is: when you're depicting a disabled character, you have to make a lot of choices about how to depict them. and if you're scared of accidentally handling something badly, you might try to set it up so you don't have to make a choice on how to depict it, because it just isn't relevant - because ocean was never ableist in your headcanon, or because ricky's disability never impacts him in the story you're trying to tell, or because ricky barely appears in your fanworks anyway.

but choosing not to make a choice is still a choice. when you can't decide how to handle ocean's ableism, so you just don't acknowledge it - that's a choice! when you can't decide how ricky's disability would affect him beyond what we see in canon, so you just avoid going into detail about it, that's a choice. and sometimes the choices that you see as "playing it safe" and "not offending anyone" are, in fact, making some readers uncomfortable - disability representation is very rarely something as simple as "go with the safe option that cant possibly offend anyone", and avoiding showing disability is not a good approach.

and to be clear i am absolutely not saying i think everyone should have to go into full detail on how ricky's disability (& ableism) affects him in every fic. that would create its own set of problems. i think it's important for able-bodied people to be aware that some stories about the disabled perspective are not their story to tell.

but there's a lot of middle ground between "fic entirely focused on depicting disabled experiences in detail" and "ricky's disability is barely mentioned, his backstory is edited to remove ableism references, ocean is his best friend who was never ableist"! having some exploration of ricky's disability as background info or side details can really elevate representation - some of my favourite rtc fics ever are ones where, even if ricky's disability is never plot-important, it was always handled with care and there were clearly no points where the author could have forgotten he was disabled.

i don't have an easy solution here that makes this simple. but i do have some important advice:

just because something can be depicted badly doesn't mean it's always inherently wrong to depict it. there's a big difference between, for example, "the rtc writers could have done a better job handling ocean's ableism in the musical" and "ableism should never be shown in fiction, it was wrong for them to show it on-stage and we must never show it in-fic". there is really no need to entirely avoid something just because it could be done badly.

as i said at the start, it is a good idea to be aware of when you don't know enough about something to write about it accurately. but this doesn't mean you can never write about it, it means you can learn! research is super important and super helpful, and a lot of strictly factual stuff (i.e. the effects of neuromuscular disorders) can be found on a quick google search. writing advice specifically can be harder to find, since it's more opinion-based, but i find you can find a lot of general posts on tumblr and other social media

If you've tried doing research but there's something you don't understand, or you want to depict a really specific situation that nobody has made a general post about - you can ask! my asks are open for this exact subject! another knowledgeable person in the fandom, @icepoptroll , also has asks open and has given me permission to @ them

if you ever DO accidentally come across as ableist or just misinformed... it's not the end of the world. you can receive criticism, and you can listen to that criticism. this happens to everyone because nobody is perfect. you can apologise if necessary, you can go back and edit your own work to make it more respectful if you see a need to do so! while cyberbullying & harassment in fandoms does happen sometimes, most people aren't looking to "cancel" you, and most people will be understanding when you make mistakes.

so if you tend to sideline ricky, or write around his disability, because you're not sure how to tackle it and you're afraid of getting it wrong - please reconsider. there are things you can do to better equip yourself! ricky doesn't have to be a main character, nor does disability have to be the main subject of a fic, but it shouldn't be ignored entirely.

go forth and be brave in your depictions! thanks for reading!

[fumifooms]

Ok maybe kinda of a weird question you don't have to answer if you don't want to but I've seen some people saying that Chilchuck is canonically misogynistic so, as the Chilchuck especialist, do you have an opinion about that?

Anon you are brave and I love you. Listen if you, person reading this, get peeved or upset when people say Chilchuck might have had not insignificant flaws as a father and husband then probably stop reading here, we will be looking at Chilchuck like a petri dish and defile his pristine allure. Tldr: yes but actually no but really both at the same time aka people & social dynamics are complex and please let your blorbos be flawed. With that said I will be pretty casual and playful if that wasn’t clear already, sorry.

"Aren’t you happy to be in a harem party" "No it’s soul-crushing save me". Toshiro has been drinking his fear women juice since he was young, surrounded by an assassin nanny and her fellow assassin girlies, meanwhile Chilchuck having flashbacks of getting wrung out by his 4 women household…

Waiting on people is something we see he hates doing a couple times throughout canon and extras, here and how he says "it’s not a date" -bless his summer child heart- he frames being slow to get ready as a gendered trait to have? But I can forgive him for this one because honestly the framing of the whole page leans into that, it’s kinda questionable if we’re being highly critical of anything misogynistic or regressive. But it itself is the classic subversive "Women are desirable wallflowers— Wrong! They are a monstrous ruthless force that wears on the mind, body and soul" trope. I don’t fault Kui though, I got giggles from it, it makes sense for everyone’s characters, and Kui has never shied from gendered dynamics in her worldbuilding & characters so it’s not like she’ll write as if sex changes nothing and no one has opinions about it.

Alright alright let’s step back from analyzing this page specifically and get back to the question, is Chilchuck canonically misogynistic? It’s a complex question not because we don’t have hints but because it’s a very black and white answer to give and because misogynistic can be very wide or pretty narrow depending on how the term is applied.

What I would say? Yes, he is, in a realistic way that doesn’t automatically make him a piece of shit, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t uncomfortable or harmful. On the spectrum of misogyny he classifies to me as "It’s in the normalized lighthearted way of being a horny uncle who’s a little too loose about it around the dinner table", he’s a solid "He wants to treat women as pieces of meat and jokes about it but in actuality he’s a gentleman and a family careerman who has a job so he don’t really care about that rn".

Going back to Toshiro’s party, Chilchuck being weird about it being full of women doesn’t even happen only once but TWICE. I made a compilation of every time he’s crass, happens less than you might expect but the overall picture it gives throughout reading the manga is pretty straightforward. Repeatedly he’s shown to be dirty-minded and shown to objectify & sexualize women both lightheartedly and unprompted. They’re a punchline and they’re eye candy and it’s "of COURSE my succubus would be young women, of COURSE women would desire a muscled statue’s [redacted], of COURSE women are sexual beings and of course I am attracted to them".

Dungeon Meshi doesn’t bring up sexuality much and gendered dynamics tend to be more subtle than you’d expect from media in general, so there’s that, but I honestly struggle to think of any character that acts less normal about women existing than him. Like yeah he’s joking but Hien, Benichidori, Inutade and Maizuru were just breathing and doing their jobs. Who else’s misogynistic uhh, that guy working for the shadow governor that licks Cithis’ ear when she’s bound in ropes? The sheer jump from ‘makes demeaning jokes about women’ to ‘assaulter’ between these two, god.

Honestly it does feel odd to me that he’d be kinda demeaning like that about women even in a workplace setting —Chilchuck the union man out of everyone?— but Kui has spoken man idk, think what you will don’t shoot the messenger. It’s not like he’s weird about Namari? I guess he respects her too much- Wait that sounded wrong. Maybe it’s literally just because she and the other women party members are his direct coworkers, in line with his rule and all? But yeah, even if he canonically had a thing for blondes and pretty young women he has managed to only tease Marcille ceaselessly for fun & entertainment and make her hair extra shiny as his shapeshifter, you get a good behavior star there Chilchuck. He complains on waiting for Marcille to get ready in the barometz chapter and the first anime ED but he also does with Laios when he’s late to meet up the party in extras. He constantly pulls on Marcille to get her to safety as if she can’t protect herself but she’s referred to as clumsy a lot so he has that justified reasoning. He constantly berates everyone so no point to make there. He undermines Marcille’s opinions often but it’s because he dislikes mages and elves and idealism. Clearly Chilchuck knows women can be capable and clearly he can have women coworkers (and friends! Again, Namari) without belittling or sexualizing them, clearly he can be normal about women and knows that some of his attitude can be inappropriate. It’s just harmless fun to him, that he keeps for occasional playful banter and taverns and the ‘right’ moods.

And as I mentioned earlier! Chilchuck is also pretty gentlemanly and protective. As always desires vs wants and instinct vs rationality show up as themes. Yes his succubus aka his ideal, the deepest allure he can imagine, is beautiful naked women, but a chapter just before that was the bicorn, all about how faithful and virtuous he is, how his heart’s in the right place. His brain is virtuous but his heart is monkey. My point is that when it counts, aka 90% of the time and when things are serious, we don’t see signs of sexist bias and he treats women well. Often takes on a protector role or at the least takes them seriously, even Benichidori. He doesn’t want to hurt women or thinks they’re insignificant or anything. He’ll give a handkerchief to a woman in need with a slimy face.

Okay okay this is really entering speculation territory but in my own tally, the way he dismissed his wife’s ‘bad mood’ as some meaningless tantrum that he shouldn’t think any more deeply about, him starting out not reaching out to her as a resentful silent treatment, and her getting dissatisfied in the first place enough to leave makes me think he took her for granted and was kinda dismissive of her in general. Marcille’s theorical scenario is hypothetical and factually untrue at least in parts, but if we do follow it, him forgetting he’s out with his wife for once (in the precious counted time he’s home spending time with her) and not paying attention to her all outing, resulting in her being left out of conversations and just an ornament beside him the way she might have felt for a long time as his housewife waiting home for him to come back………

Editing this paragraph in: Okay I don’t know how I missed mentioning this but, when he’s asked why his wife left him, Chilchuck literally point blank thinks that being thought to have cheated on his wife is LESS SHAMEFUL than not knowing the reason why (due to poor communication skills or whatnot). It’s so ridiculous that it can be hard to see beyond it as a gag or twist, but make of this what you will but this is not a great look for his priorities and his view of women especially in regards to toxic masculinity, good lord. When I talk about him having a sense of being entitled to his wife and dismissive of her emotions that’s sort of what I mean. He thinks it’s better for people to think he mistreated his wife and did something terrible than just failed at keeping her affection for reasons he doesn’t grasp. His pride, both in giving her the silent treatment and doing damage control when talking about it to others like Marcille and coworkers, takes priority over their relationship and love.

Half-foots seem to be patriarchal. The last section of this essay’s chapter (not by me!) + combing through its half-foot chapter should give you insight on that if you want. It’s in their patronymic, it’s in the way marriage seems very important especially for women, and it’s in the implied gender roles, being a housewife whose life revolves around raising her husband’s kids and taling care of the family home waiting for her husband who’s out working to come back. I think Chilchuck is a bit a result of his environment and upbringing in that way, that most of the misogyny is internalized and subconscious and passive, it’s taking his wife for granted because not only does she trust her, his most precious person he’s known since he was a kid, but because she’s his wife, his woman, conceptually something that’s unwaveringly devoted, something that is very valued and enforced in half-foot communities. Here’s a short post on half-foot family bonds culturally + here’s a post on marriage and half-foots for more. The community aspect of half-foots is very strong, which makes sense especially for how empoverished and discriminated against they are, which does come at the expense of not unlike dwarves (dwarves which half-foots idolize) having more pressure to fit in and have a good reputation to not be cast out and have no support lines. By being scared and needing stability people will often be more conservative, etc etc, though the reverse is also often true, like Chilchuck with his union. But yes Chilchuck seems to have many biases he clings onto, harsh on especially Marcille and Laios, Marcille for her idealism, race and magic meanwhile Laios for his lack of social skills and ‘reckless’ behavior.

He also does the classic "Don’t you dare date my daughter!!", though it’s a bit up in the air because he only gets agitated about coworkers being suitors, not nearly as hostile to the idea when it’s some nameless dwarf. But y’know when a guy assumes every men is as horny and sleazy as they are so they’re like "never trust men"… Chilchuck does embody a lot the tropes of just, the everyday flawed middle aged man. The absentee father and careerman husband who does care despite it all. Disillusioned grumpy old man. Old divorced drunkard joe with a thing for cute young blonde women, as a friend put it.

We know Kui subverses tropes a lot, I definitely think Kui leans into these if nothing else for the bit. He’s tropes of the strict family Father, man doing inappropriate jokes around a beer with his drinking buddies, working man exhausted and frustrated by his job, midlife crisis. Also because of how he acts with Marcille, I always say he’s the boy on the playground pulling on the pigtails of his girl friend bc he thinks it’s funny. Because he thinks she’s pretty.

So point blank, Chilchuck respects women as individuals but he can get a little lost in the sauce when thinking about women in general and jumps to sexualizing them in ways that can be objectifying and dismissive. Casual lowkey misogyny for the bit that may or may not slip into non-jokes as well sometimes when it comes to seeing women as something inherently to defend or take for granted, though he’s well-meaning. He engages in gender roles of "men should be strong and burly" and "daughters should listen to their fathers’ opinion before dating a guy". A guy engaging in patriarchy without thinking much of it y’know, more or less passive and unaware. He’s good in economic and human rights issues but would not win the political correctness medal (though he does care about optics and is very conscious of appearing as upstanding and innocent with the elves or Toshiro’s and Kabru’s parties to avoid getting thrown in jail. Overcompensating for half-foot criminal reputations etc etc. Post on that here).

Do I believe Chilchuck would march for women’s rights? Yes. Do I believe he would make ‘ye old ball and chain’ and ‘my wife’ and ‘ah women’ jokes? Yes. Do I believe he would punch anyone making one such jokes about his wife or daughters? Yes.

I was pretty flippant bc honestly Chilchuck the Sleazy Horny Old Man is hilarious to me but yes hopefully the post was decent. "How could I be sexist? I love bitches"

[slightlyhozy]

“Through the Cold, I’ll Find my Way Back to You” || Chapter One - “Honey, Don’t Feed it, it Will Come Back.”

Characters - Púca! Andrew Hozier-Byrne x Original Female Character

Summary - Maisie Quinn, after inheriting a home in Ireland from her late grandmother, slowly learns a dark past about the land in which it was built on.

Word Count - 2,184

Warnings - Nothing for this chapter other than light animal death!

A/N - SO EXCITED FOR THIS!! I will try to be consistent and write interesting chapters, we will get a real introduction to Andrew in the next chapter, I just wanted to introduce Maisie first and the setting. Please leave thoughts!

If you don’t know, a púca is a monster across European mythology that tends to be a shapeshifter, commonly taking form as a horse, goat, dog, cat, ect. They also take forms of humans which tend to have animalistic traits. They are known to play tricks on humans but never truly harm them. There’s a lot on them, so if you’re interested, I recommend looking into it. I am pretty consistent with the traditional idea of them but I will add my own elements as well. I will also explain any important information or facts if I feel is needed, feel free to ask as well!

“What’re you doing now?” I can hear Elsie snacking on carrots through the phone.

I sigh, hauling another box off of another, using my earbuds, we had been able to call all day despite the time difference. “Right now,” I grunt, setting the box on the ground, moving to search for my box cutter. “I am unpacking everything for the studio…” The room in question was a beautiful conservatory with beautiful glass windows curving upward. Outside, bushes with thorns and small berries could be seen, desperately in need of a trim.

“How different is it over there? I mean, you must’ve noticed something by now.”

“Well,” I huff, stepping back to appreciate the natural light coming into the room. “I live 40 minutes from Wicklow, which is nice…But I do miss the city already; it feels all so stretched out now.” It was terribly ironic of me to complain about Europe being big in comparison to America, but after being raised in downtown Seattle all my life, to be thrown into a village where I have to drive to get my groceries was different.

“We miss you.” Elsie pouted. “Who’s going to bring disgusting vegan dishes to every game night?”

I let out a laugh straight from my chest. “Sorry, babe, you just need to find another pretentious vegetarian then.”

Carefully, I pulled out my easels and canvases I hadn’t used yet. The room was mostly boxes, with only two work benches being built and a random spinny chair thrown out. Making this house look like the ones on Pinterest was going to be a process.

“Say, are you and Lydia going to be able to make up here for Christmas?" I ask, fighting the wooden easel to unfold.

I can hear her hiss, disappointment sinking in. “I… I don’t know, May…It’s just…busy right now. You know, if we can’t this time, we just will come up for our anniversary! We’ve always wanted to go to Ireland.”

“Oh, that’s alright.” My voice came out a bit more upset than I hoped, and I could feel the burning in my eyes, a small sniffle escaping me.

“Maisie..” Elsie said sweetly, making me butt in immediately.

“No! No, it’s ok. I get it. You two are working…married, busy, have all your friends there, it’s fine.” I hated how I reacted—so reminiscent of a child, I didn’t even notice the tears on my face.

“Maisie, I…” She paused, seemingly looking for the right words. “It’s going to be hard for a while, ok? But you’ll make lots of friends! And we will still talk every day, ok? Don't feel bad because you’re upset; it’s okay to be upset.”

“I know, thank you.”

I had moved from Seattle to New Castle, County Wicklow, a few weeks ago. A year before that, my grandma had died, who, other than Elsie, had been my best friend. The loss still hurt, but hopefully something good was coming out of it. In her will, I was left to this beautiful property near Greystones. The house itself was pretty humble but charming and well kept. The garden was very large yet outgrown. After living in the hustle and bustle of a city like Seattle, I needed this, something different, it was like she knew.

My grandma inherited the house from her grandmother, who’s grandmother owned the home before the "famine." My Irish family had left Ireland some time in the 1840s to New York, where we eventually found ourselves in Washington. Thinking back on how hard it had to have been to just be Irish in either country made me a bit proud to find myself back at this house, just like how the women before me wanted.

While modest, the home was well built and was a good distance from the beach, which I had been utilizing for walking Lenny. Since the 80s, our richer part of the family had used it for a vacation home, but as my grandmother got older, the only thing she made sure of the home was keeping it clean, despite the fact it was empty now.

——————————————————————

A while later, still unpacking, now in the kitchen, Lenny began doing circles around the kitchen, licking at my leg. “Shit, you’re out of dog food.” I whispered to myself, leaning down to pat his head. Now that I had actual utensils, pots, and dishes, I could finally move on from adapting to their version of Chinese takeout and cook myself a proper meal.

At the grocery store, I spent a lengthy time deciding which shape of pasta was the most appealing.

In my pasta-induced haze, a voice broke me out of it. “Gosh, you look just like her, all grown up.” I turn my head to see an older woman, around 70 or so, smiling up at me.

“Oh, did you…”

“Know Evelyn? Of course, I met you when you were just a wain.” Heat rose to my cheeks, It was always embarrassing to meet someone who knew you from your family in public. All I could think about was getting out of it. “I saw your…pictures on Facebook, and I mean, it was identical until…”

My hand instinctively went up to my head. “Oh? My hair? Yeah, uh, I mean, at least it’s going to a good place.” A few months ago, I had completely cut off the long hair I had growing down near my waist into a pixie cut; liking how it’s growing out, I plan to keep it.

“Such a shame what happened.” The older woman shook her head. “She was a good woman, ye grandmother.”

Awkwardly, I nodded along.

“Nice to see the property put to use, I hope the stories don’t get to you though.” That caught my attention.

“Stories?”

“Oh? You don’t know? There’s a saying that hundreds of years ago, when your family bought the land, it belonged to a monster…called a púca…Something about it torments the humans who lived on the land in an attempt to scare them off.” A small giggle escaped me; I was no stranger to legends and myths.

“It’s all coincidences though; lots of dead animals are found near the property; I’ve never heard of any real trouble happening.” She smiled sweetly. “God is on your side.” Obviously, being a devote atheist for over 10 years, I had no real fear of any monsters.

“Oh!” The woman beamed, reaching into her purse for a pen and notepad. “Here’s my number if you need anything, love, just a call away.” I watched as her shaky hands scribbled down her home phone, pressing it into my hands. Mary.

“Thank you, Mary; I’ll be sure to get in touch.” I smile as we part, my mind drifting back to the word. Púca… It sounded like puta. I stifled back a laugh.

——————————————————————

Later that night, while Lenny was eating out of his dog bowl in the kitchen, I guarded my large bowl of pasta on the makeshift pillow-blanket couch I had crafted for myself. I sighed softly, checking my phone every minute in case someone wanted to ask me how I was or send me a funny video. Instead, I sat alone in the room, rewatching episodes of Gilmore Girls until there was nothing left in my bowl.

As I washed out my bowl, laying it on the rack, Lenny ran around my legs with a toy, eagerly waiting for me to throw it across the house for him. I smiled fondly down at my boy, the only thing keeping me from losing my mind. “Hey boy, want me to throw it?” I cooed at him, kneeling down to his level, excited by my tone. He wagged his tail and did circles, coming back to me with the small rope. Taking it, I tossed it across the floor, enjoying his nails scraping the tiles as he ran towards it, prompting returning it.

After a few rounds of this, a scratch on the door caught my attention, causing my brow to raise and my anxiety to heighten. It’s fine. I thought to myself, tossing the toy again, watching him retrieve it. It could be anything. Anything? Like a…no. Stop. Wiping my face, I waited for Lenny to come back. As he trotted to me, the scratching was louder, more aggressive.

Setting him off, the small retriever began to bark at the door, his little body jumping back each time. Shushing him, I walked to the window, looking out; there was nothing I could see. Púca. I scoffed, shaking my head; it was just my brain. I took a deep breath, opening the door slowly, unreasonably anxious about what I might see.

As I did, my leg instinctively went to barricade the door, Lenny barking at the small creature in front of me. I didn’t know how to react to the fox in front of me; it stepped back slowly, looking at me, making sad chirp-like sounds. My brows furrowed at the sight. “Ok…” I drifted off; my initial thought was that the animal was hurt, but the way it walked around my patio indicated otherwise. Perhaps whoever took care of the house before fed it, but it hadn’t come before.

Being a natural animal lover and suck up, I close only the glass door, letting me see him still. The fox pranced around still before sitting down in front of the door, clearly with no intention of leaving. Lenny stood, his tail high on alert. “Lenny!” I called out disapprovingly as I heard his familiar low growls. In a small bowl, I scooped some of his food with a few pieces of left-over pasta on top.

Laying the bowl down, I went back inside; even if it wasn’t aggressive, I didn’t want to invade its space, even if I was guilty of interfering with nature in the first place. My eyes drifted over the animal’s fur; it was a warm brown all around, and the ears and feet were black. Under the jaw and belly of the fox, the fur was white, as was the tip of its tail. Mostly, I was looking for signs of mange—anything to indicate it was sick. On cue, it looked up; the way its green eyes flashed at me caused my face to stiffen as I saw the reflection of light in it’s eyes. I looked back; there was no light to cause the eye to shine, and as I looked back, it was gone. The house was silent except for the low growling of my dog and the crunching of the fox’s feast.

——————————————————————

“It was so weird!” I complained to Elsie over the phone, clutching my colorful robe, tea in the other hand.

“Maisie, usually you make amazing choices, but this was dumb.” She said it matter-of-factly.

I shake my head, pacing around the cold floor. “How? It was hungry, Elsie; what was I supposed to do? Let it starve.”

“No, you’re supposed to call the Irish Animal Control, obviously. It could have had rabies.”

“Rabies? I don’t think so.” I chuckled, so sure of myself. “It wasn’t like…foaming at the mouth or aggressive.”

“Maisie, when animals have like…early rabies or something, they act oddly tolerant to humans, was there mange? Was it dehydrated or anything?”

“No… It looked really healthy, actually. It just wanted food; no one got bit, no one got hurt. Elsie, It isn’t that big of a deal; it’s a one-time thing.”

I heard a deep, disappointed sigh escape her. “Maybe you should’ve been raised in the mountains…Look, when you feed animals, they expect that you will give them food; they’ll come back. When I was little, growing in Bend, I accidentally fed a raccoon once, and she brought generations of baby raccoons for years.”

Walking to my porch, wanting to enjoy my tea with the cool air, I open the door. “If it comes back, I just won’t feed it; I learned my lesson, ok.” My eyes immediately drifted down in front of me.

“Maisie?”

“Uh, sorry…” Carefully, I set my tea on the railing. On the concrete, I stared at a small rodent in front of me, absolutely gutted. “There is a mutilated mouse on my porch.” I said breathlessly, always hurt by any dead animals.

“Oh, see! Now it’s rewarding you!” She complained over the phone as I stayed silent.

“Do you think they’re like cats? Like, they’ll bring you dead stuff because they think you stink at hunting or something…” I wasn’t too sure what to do with the body.

“I don’t know,” Elsie said flatly. “What I do know is that you should stop feeding it; just for your and Lenny’s sake, I don’t want you calling me at 3 am because you have to get rabie shots in your ass, ok?” On my side of the phone, I nodded, immediately looking for a reason to hang up. “Oh shit, it’s already so late, ok, Maisie, I love you; I’ll call you later, ok?” Thank god. Is all I could think.

After using a poop bag to toss the animal into the outside bins, I went to pull out my laptop, pulling up my laptop and searching: What is a Púca?

[tatumsversion13]

possible TW abuse, necrophilia, pro shipping

please read // accusation of being pro ship and engaging with necro fanfiction

I just came across this and I feel like I need to adress some things.

first of all, I DO NOT condone any glamorization of abuse or necrophilia and it upsets me that some people might think otherwise. I’ve created this account two weeks ago to try and connect with others who enjoy Scream just as much as I do but also as a form to inspire myself through fanfic, fanart, etc. When I’m outside or busy, I tend to mass like posts without further checking the tags or what they’re really about (which is probably not the brightest idea) so I can come back and read them later on. Apparently I’ve liked a fic that contained necrophilia. I was not aware that I had liked it but I’m glad someone brought it to my attention! It was 100% unintentional and I am not interested in reading stuff like that. I should’ve known better and double check before liking posts but I never realised it could be a bad idea because I honestly trusted my algorithm to not show me that kind of content. I didn’t even know people were writing about stuff like that. I understand the confusion but it was definitely not intentional. I apologise for any harm of confusion that may have caused.

pro shipping :

Assuming anon defines pro shipping as a person being okay with the shipping of different fictional characters whether they’re canon or not: honestly I don’t really understand the issue with this. Since when is pro shipping a bad thing? I mean the main reason this blog exists is because of a ship..? I only reblog stuff about stu x billy since that’s the only ship I care about regarding Scream (not including gale and dewey i mean they’re cute but idrc). After all those are FICTIONAL characters?? Most of the people I follow are stuilly shippers and the actors themselves openly talk about shipping their own characters? Besides, why would I care if people have other ships, as long as none if it glorifies things like pedophilia and/or abuse (and no, no matter how toxic, in my opinion and from the fanfics I’ve read so far, Stu and Billy’s relationship does not glorify abuse since all of their intimate acts are consensual).

If you consider pro shipping as shipping without limits (ignoring, condoning or glamorizing abuse, pedophila, necrophilia etc. that’s definitely NOT something I would EVER read or approve.

For the rest, I could care less about other people’s interests in fan FICTION (again, as long as they don’t contain any if the things I just mentioned). Feel free to correct me if I forgot something.

misogyny :

I made a post joking about how I don’t like Sidney in Scream 1/still hold a grudge against her. Not liking a character in a fictional movie does not make me misogynistic and I can’t believe I have to explain that. I absolutely adore Sidney’s character throughout the Scream franchise but I have no problem admitting that I did not like her in Scream 1996 for the simple fact that she killed my favourite characters (and she was just annoying). I know she had to defend herself and it’s a movie. Not liking a fictional character is never that deep and it doesn’t have anything to do with Neve.

Anyways, this is not what I expected to see when I came on here and I’m sorry if this sounds a bit defensive, i’m just tired of people acting like they know anything about others without confronting the person first but I am glad I’ve been made aware and I’ll pay attention to the content I engage with in the future! I hope this cleared things up and I’m sorry again.

P.S. If you have any issues with me regarding something I’ve said or engaged with, I would prefer if you dmed me so we can talk about it personally. Thank you for reading!

[altruistic-meme]

i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i can do this i ca-

*muffled screaming*

me, breaking out my laptop: i am going to write smut. it is going to pwp. i will get through this!!

also me, the moment i start writing: *pouring out feelings and angst and emotions and going nowhere near the planned smut*

[sophsicle]

Hi love

A lot of ppl on twt are saying not to read choices because of the use of sa and that Mary’s sa was only used as plot device, could you explain why you chose to include this in your fic?

I mean, I can, I have done this a lot and i'm a bit tired of it honestly, but

the very simple answer to this, is that, canonically, the only thing we know about Mary is that she was attacked by a bunch of death eater wannabes (Mulciber specifically) in her year

that is why Mary is attacked in Choices, it's canon.

why is it SA? because, in my experience, men, who feel entitled to respect and power, tend to use SA as a means of acquiring it.

it felt realistic to me.

i drew from a lot of experiences i have had, friends of mine have had, and just stuff that has happened around me. the way it's handled by Dumbledore, for example, is how my university handled a similar instance of girls being targeted by their male classmates

i tried to do it respectfully, i tried to make sure that it was about Mary, about her character, her experience as a Muggleborn in this society on the cusp of, essentially, a race war. I tried to make sure that James was not the hero of that story, and that Regulus wasn't able to walk away from it completely clean. I tried to make it complex.

in my opinion, people who have issues with it generally fall into two categories: 1) they are upset that James doesn't save the day. that James doesn't handle it perfectly, that he doesn't immediately cut Regulus out of his life once he realizes he was somehow involved, and therefore, they argue that I'm clearly saying that SA is somehow okay. I would hope that it is clear from Mary's chapter and her POVs that that's not what I was trying to do. I would hope that the fact that she never forgives James completely would also make that clear. And the fact that it's something both Regulus and James are haunted by until they die. i didn't want James to automatically know how to handle that situation, because he's a teenage boy, and i think he can care about Mary and still struggle with cutting Regulus off. like i don't know what other people's experiences are, but it is in fact very difficult to accept that the people you love can do bad things. it takes time. and again, i didn't want Mary's SA to be a moment for James Potter to be the hero. 2) people seem to just be upset that i wrote about SA in the first place. to which I say: fine, do not read it. but i think it is important to write about these topics. representation matters, showing how these things happen, showing how victims of SA are treated, how they feel, and process these things, how their relationships with their friends and families, and even with themselves, are altered by these experiences, i think is important. i TW all the chapters that dealt with it, i put it in the tags. if people don''t want to read about SA that is totally their prerogative, but they don't get to dictate what i do, their righteous anger is unjustified, and, quite frankly, the harassment i have gotten from them is vile and ironic since they are claiming that i am the one causing harm.

[justatalkingface]

hello! i don't want this ask to come off as mean or targeted at all so please don't take it that way, but i'm confused as to why you're still a my hero fan you don't seem to like the characters or the way that the story is headed, is it just hate watching (uhh,, consuming of media??) at this point? again it's cool if that's what it is, but you talk about the characters like they aren't that in depth, not just bakugou but. the other villains and also izuku too.

you said something about izuku just being happy and content with losing one for all in the new leaks, (in that same post you weren't caught up so i sorta get why you could draw to that conclusion,) but also izuku's character is known for bottling up his emotions.

Izuku's is always happy (even when he's not), the only time we really see him fall apart is his vigilante arc. yes throughout the story he is constantly crying, but again, never in situations that he is really hurt emotionally you know? We get to see his journey and his progress, it's all that he's ever wanted in life, to have a quirk and save people, so when that gets stripped away, he's gonna be a bit gutted no? thats what i think at least. the story started with "this is how i become the worlds greatest hero" but i think it's always been more about what make someone a hero, why people should want to be heros, and their stories behind it. why else create flawed characters like bakugou and shigaraki if not to show all the side of the story?

gosh, sorry didn't mean to write a whole essay, my words tend to get away from me. I would love to see your views once you do catch up tho.

Hmm. Well, I talked about some of my motivations in... that Gaiden post, I think, but if I wasn't OK with ranting, I wouldn't have made this account just to rant.

Why am I still a fan? And as an extended of that, still posting?

Spite.

No, seriously.

Like. When I first started reading MHA, I was amazed. It just felt so... refreshing, so unique; I loved how determined and kind Izuku was, I loved how human All Might was, I liked the variety apparent in the world, how rich it felt, all the potential to it. And then, before my eyes, I watched it rot away, so slowly I didn't even realize what was happening until it was already dead.

I miss what MHA was, and so much of this is... mourning, almost, for what was and could have been.

Also, like I said, spite, because I watched this fester before my eyes and honestly I want to call out each and every wound and point of rot on it's corpse, along with some desire for validation in finding people who agree with me.

'but you talk about the characters like they aren't that in depth, not just bakugou but. the other villains and also izuku too.'

Not... quite sure what you mean here? I think you mean that I think they're done badly? (And I do, so you're not wrong there.)

Alright, see, so I don't disagree with your logic here: Izuku is a mess. Izuku is a mess held together by lack of time (or not being allowed) to process his shit storm of a life and duty. He's gotten everything taken away from him.

He should be pissed. He should be feel destroyed, depressed.

But the keyword here is 'should'. And that is the problem, in a word. Izuku 'should' be upset. He 'should' be depressed.

But historically, things that 'should' happen regarding Izuku just... don't happen. From his abilities, to his opinion on himself, to other people's views on him... what 'should' happen, logically, just doesn't.

Also... let me pose a question:

Do you think Hori is going to end MHA with Izuku withering away from depression? That his friends, one by one, are going to abandon him, because they only ever really liked his Quirk, that his mom is going to die of disappointment of her useless son, that All Might will get killed by a three year old wielding a balloon? And that he'll die early, and the only one to attend his funeral will be Aizawa, out of obligation, and his entire summery of Izuku's life, and the inscription on his grave, will be 'Problem Child'?

Of course not. (Even though I get the feeling that Hori kind of does want that.) If he tried it, the editors would literally kill him. Less dramatically, they just wouldn't print it and make him rewrite it, because they don't want to fuck up the MHA cash cow at the finish line.

I'm not caught up, yet, but for this? I don't have to be. Stories like shonens follow basic structures, like a sort of skeletal system; you may not know the fine details, but you do know some things will happen. And shonens? They always have happy endings. Always. Even if the MC dies, they'll do it willingly, for a Great Cause(TM), and almost certainly go with a smile, and satisfied with their life choices. If it was a manga like Berserk, it would have been up in the air, because Berserk doesn't follow the same narrative rules, and so how it ends and what not are far more open to question than something like this (ignoring that, yes, Berserk ended too).

Fundamentally, MHA will not end with Izuku miserable. It basiclly can't.

That's why I say he'll be content, because he doesn't really have the time to be miserable before MHA finishes up. At worst, he'll have a brief shown moment of sad, because he reaches acceptance, because he won't be allowed to feel otherwise.

(Yeah, this doesn't feel targeted or anything, don't worry about it. If you get something more specific to ask me or whatever, knock yourself out.)

[a-ackermann]

RP RULES

This will only be a brief synopsis of my rules and standards, after reading below if interested please dm me, we can discuss rules and boundaries more in depth prior to beginning an rp. As of now all rps I’m opening are AoT exclusive.

- As a literate writer, varying on how detailed or lengthy of a writer you are will of course effect my responses, however please consider that me being a literate writer means the majority of my responses will be longer, varying 2-10 paragraphs, overall I max out at 3k word replies (IF that is what we’re going for). So long as there’s something for me to actually form a real response to I’ll gladly keep a rp alive.

- I will portray most canon characters and am very open to either SFW or NSFW plots, though when it comes to my own prompts my rps tend to turn NSFW eventually. (though I’m very strict about enforcing slow-burn say it were a build up to romance.) I tend to prefer playing as my OC with canon characters, obviously I ship my OC with Levi but this doesn’t mean I exclusively rp with Levi mains/portrayers. I’m open to about anything so long as you reach out with a suggestion. If you wish to have no NSFW content whatsoever, or at the least no sexual content please let me know!!!! I have no issues with these accommodations just because I’m a freaky little goose in the pond.

- I do not write homosexual pairings, both mxm and fxf. I’m a straight woman, who used to identify as a trans gay man when I used to write for gay pairings exclusively, if I were to do that now I’d feel as if I’m fetishizing. So respectfully, please don’t come to me asking for this because I have no exceptions.

- Regarding sexual content, I will not engage in any beastiality, scat/piss fetishes, DDLG/MDLG/age-play, etc, basically if it could get you in legal trouble or it’s just generally fucking disgusting don’t even bother suggesting it. Reiterating here, I enjoy getting freaky in writing now and then, but I won’t ever make it the exclusive theme of the rp.

- Please understand I love doing this in my free time,

FREE TIME!!!

Meaning, no, I am not ignoring you. I’m an outspoken and confrontational person by nature, if there is an issue I will openly address it to your face before ending a role play, guaranteed. Therefore, give me time if I haven’t updated you whatsoever, as in not even to say that I’m answering you soon, because I’m either at work or at home rotting after work.

- If you’re looking for me to play a specific character for you in one rp and you’re willing to portray for me in another at the same time lmk!! I know it can be exhausting writing as a character for someone else’s appeal when you also have an idea to execute.

- If you dislike the way I write for a character, please let me know so that we can discuss it and potentially work out changing things about my portrayal to better suit your expectations. I’m very open to criticism so long as it comes from good intentions.

- If you want to restart an rp by all means please speak up!! It’s very difficult to rouse or annoy me over an rp, I’d rather know you’re unsatisfied than continue leading an rp knowing you’re struggling to come up with a response.

- ISO long-term rp partners atm, I’m very interested in meeting other compatible writers.

- I’m not hellbent on any particular platform, I prefer Discord, otherwise if there’s an app you’d prefer to talk on just let me know.

- Finally, I can be picky with what rps that I open and those I engage with, though this doesn’t mean I’ll shoot you down immediately if I don’t like your suggestion, I’ll most likely stay and work with you til we’re both happy with a plot unless what you’re looking for is something I’m entirely disinterested in.

Please do not be afraid to reach out to me!! Even if we end up not starting an rp together I can assure you I will get back to you and I wont be upset if you have questions either 💙💙💙💙💙

P.S. Just to avoid further confusion, I’m continuing to go under my OC name on this account 💙

[ikintwosm]

Hello hello!! ๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ My nicknames are:

Marz

Cuppa Suppa [For close friends]

Cheese Pretzels!

Wonderful to meet you all! ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

Who am I?๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮I am a demi-girl and I use she/they/it! I am okay with any feminine or gender neutral terms! Just no masc terms!

✮ I am Aroace! [Meaning Asexual & Aromanitc!] I do not feel any romantic attraction to others!

✮ I am a minor so please don't say weird stuff, I'm not comfy with it!

✮ I am from Wales and I'm Welsh/British! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

More about me!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ I'm possibly neurodivergent! [Maybe ASD!]

✮ I have Trichotallomania and C-PTSD!

✮ I zone out a lot and am potentially a maladaptive daydreamer!

✮ I have possible selective mutism!

✮ I can have major highs and lows sometimes, and I can be quite short-tempered, so apologies if I am, I don't mean to!

✮ I am quite a soft-hearted and sensitive person! I also have trouble processing things sometimes, so apologies if I'm a little slow!

✮ I've been struggling with mental health for majority of my life, and I may be distant sometimes, as I need a lot of time alone!

✮ I am a fictkin! This means that I kin fictional characters whom I see myself in/relate to in any way! This could be due to similar characteristics, trauma/past experiences, etc! Although, this can also be due to finding comfort in the character or even something very simple that I relate to e.g. if the character has a British accent, as I do too!

✮ I also tend to act as fictional characters in order to regulate or cope!

DNI LIST!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ Do NOT interact if these apply to you!

Racists, homophobes, transphobes, abelists, etc.

Proshippers.

People with offensive humour. This type of humour makes me very uncomfortable.

People with s3xu4l humour. Suggestive jokes are okay but actual full on in depth jokes make me really unsettled. Also jokes that s3xu4l1s3 things that are perfectly normal also make me uncomfortable. Also things like THOSE types of usernames on tiktok and doing/saying really weird stuff is a massive no no for me, as I am a victim of s3xu4l h4rr4sm3nt.

People with rude/cruel humour. In some cases, it's okay, but please do not do it excessively or stop if I ask you to. I am quite a sensitive person, so that can easily upset me if it's not specified to be a joke or is just too far for me.

People who gatekeep characters they kin. I understand that you kin that character for a reason, but I don't like when people insist NO ONE else at all can be character. Other people can kin a character too!

My hobbies!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ I love to draw traditionally and digitally! I especially love drawing on Whiteboard Fox!

✮ I love to write character lore and AUs, own creations and things! I like to RP at times! [Nothing weird though, as that makes me uncomfy!]

✮ I am a VA, scriptwriter & storyboarder!

✮ I VA for:

An Extremely Mid Object Show [Magical Flame]

Shape's Shapety Object Show [Grey]

Didn't Really Enlighten A Mind! [Lamp]

Untitled Presentation [Teapot, Chinese Lantern, Loofah]

Battle For A Million [Bone, Glass Shard, Battery]

TWISTS [Mild Bobby Sauce]

Church Of The Divine Bloom [Eyeliner]

✮ I am a scriptwriter for Church Of The Divine Bloom & Getaway!

✮ I also storyboard for AEMOS!

My interests!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ I AM A HUGE OBJECT SHOW FAN!!

✮ Favourite shows:

BFDI/BFDIA/BFB/TPOT

Inanimate Insanity

HFJONE

BURNER

Object Kerfuffle

Discord Emoji All Stars

Problems and Solutions

Animatic Battle

✮ Shows I want to watch!

It's Time For The

The Nightly Manor

Extraordinary Enitites

Love Of The S*n

The Daily Object Show

The Battle For The Island Made Of Candy

Paper Puppets Take 2

Object Overload

Object Show 87

Mickey Mouse Battlehouse

Object Filler

CFMOT

Showvember

✮ Shows I am in progress of!

TPOT [Ongoing]

BFDIA [Ongoing]

II S1

II S2 [Ongoing]

III

Animatic Battle [Ongoing]

Object Kerfuffle [Ongoing]

BURNER [Ongoing]

DEAS [Ongoing]

PaS [Ongoing]

KFC [Ongoing]

✮ Shows I've finished!

BFDI/BFB

THANOS [Not continuing :(]

HFJONE

Object Fool

✮ I also love lots of other things!

FNAF

Bendy And The Ink Machine

Cuphead

Undertale/Deltarune

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

The Amazing World Of Gumball

Total Drama Island

The Amazing Digital Circus

Poppy Playtime

The Lego Movie

Parappa The Rapper

Dandy's World

✮ My music taste is quite broad and I can't typically tell music genres!

✮ Some of my favourite music artists!

Tally Hall

Miracle Musical

Lemon Demon

Ghost

Gorillaz

YFM

Glass Animals

The Living Tombstone

✮ Some songs I can't stop listening to!

More about me! [OSC]๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ My favourite characters!

X, Loser, Woody, Pie, Ruby, Lollipop, Yellow Face, Pillow, Clock, Naily, Gelatin, Teardrop, Remote, Fanny, Two, Winner, Foldy, Tree, Marker, Bubble, Dora, David, Bomby, Golf Ball, Tennis Ball [BFB/TPOT]

MePhone4, MePad, Toilet, Balloon, Silver Spoon, Candle, Taco, Bow, Yin-Yang [II]

Literally all the characters in BURNER [Though I like Limey, Peanut & Tissues a little more than everyone else]

Hour Glass, Hanging Pot Plant, Glass Pane, Box Of Explosives [Object Kerfuffle]

Lipstick, Cactus, Dice [DEAS]

Airy, Liam, Charlie, Stone [HFJONE]

Animatic, Nonagon, Pea, B Block, Weathery, Bouquet, Doorstopper, Iced Coffee, Danger Sign, Tea, Mushroom, Printer, Nebula Void [Animatic Battle]

✮ Characters I HATE /hj

Leafy, Profiley, Liy [BFB]

Clover, Walkie Talkie, Steve Cobs [Love-hate relationship] [II]

✮ My comfort characters!

Two, Ruby, Woody, Loser, Winner, Lollipop, Pie, Pillow, Tree, Dora [BFB/TPOT]

Silver Spoon, Candle, MePad [III]

Airy, Liam [HFJONE]

Peanut, Tissues, Pilly, Rosey, Polaroid, Daddy Long Legs [BURNER]

✮ My fiction kins!

[DISCLAIMER: I do NOT gate keep characters!]

Marker, Bracelety, Ruby, Lightning, Tree, Woody, Pie, Pillow, Ice Cube, Foldy, Golf Ball, Winner, Loser, Clock, Yellow Face, Pin, Naily, Teardrop, Dora [BFB]

Two, X [XFOHV]

Airy, Liam, Charlie [HFJONE]

Record, Tissues, Erasey, Hanger, Rosey, Limey, Pilly, Peanut, Daddy Long Legs [BURNER]

Balloon, Silver Spoon, Yin-Yang, Bow, Goo, Blueberry, Candle, Springy, Taco, Test Tube, Toilet, Microphone, Pickle, MePad, Steve Cobs [Certain AU with a friend!] [II]

Hour Glass [OK]

Animatic, Weathery, Exclamation Mark, jej, TOMATER [AB]

✮ Ships that I like!

Four & X [Classic!]

Silver Spoon & Candle [LOVE IT!]

MePhone4 & Toilet [Platonically!] [AU with a friend]

Pin & Coiny [I like it!]

Tree & Black Hole [YES]

Tennis Ball & Golf Ball [it's alright!]

Winner & Clock [Platonically!]

[DISCLAIMER: If I ever say I simp for a character, IT'S A JOKE!]

My creations!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ AUs I've created!

BFD High [BFDI]

Battle Back To Dream Island [BFDI]

The Wrath Of Two [TPOT]

Battle To Survive Insanity [BFB/TPOT]

Meeple Madness [II]

The Child [HFJONE]

BURNIT [BURNER]

✮ Object Shows I'm working on!

JNIW

D.E.A.T.H

Sensory Serenity

BAISOA

Other things!๋࣭ ⭑⚝

✮ I love to yap, so feel free to ask questions about me or my creations! I don't bite!

✮ Feel free to also ask questions/requests to my OCs, AU characters or sonas!

✮ I also have art requests open, free of charge!

@justanapplenothinghere owns a special place in my heart! He is one of my bestest friends!! Feel free to check out his amazing page!

@yari-saber @biblicallyaccuratefour @beetlebeeez are my best friends!! Feel free to check out their amazing art too!

✮ Have an absolutely splendiferous day! ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)

[loki-who-remains]

My grumpy ass has seen too much attack on Sylvie after ep4 despite having proper filtering and blocked blogs and decided to write this instead of studying for my exams. I’m sorry to probably disappoint, though: I am not solely a sylki or a lokius shipper. Both exist for me and make sense to me without excluding each other.

I think one thing people kinda forget when they aggressively discard Loki’s factual, canonical relationship with either Mobius or Sylvie is that complex characters tend to have complex relationships. You can be friends with more than one person and/or you can be in love with more than one. Also, the intensity of a connection can be different depending on how long/deep people happen to know each other. It doesn’t automatically mean that one connection is more valuable than the other. Everything matters, everything affects and shapes a person’s growth.

Loki clearly fell in love with Sylvie, or more like with an expectation or an impression of her. It happened too fast, and he had no time to process if he can trust her, or what it is she wants, or is it even mutual. He just decided that he deeply cares for her and hence is devoted to her. She was a bit more perceptive and used it to her advantage. Mortal humans fall in love all the time just like him. It happens earlier or later in life, or never to some.

Sylvie and Loki are variants of the same person. Sylvie feels like a Loki from the first Thor, desperate and lonely and angry. He probably falls for her because he recognises this similarity but he doesn’t take into account that he himself already changed. But well, symbolically he learns to respect and accept himself, his past and present selves, his wrong doings, learns to analyse and grow from there into something new.

And where Sylvie rejects him, Mobius accepts him. With Mobius he learns to respect and care for others. His partnership with Mobius goes from the good old back-stabbing through betrayal and hurting each other to a deeper connection. They share thoughts and learn to understand each other’s motivations. Loki is humbled by the fact that infinity stones are paper weights but even more by the fact that he himself is essentially just a little dude who wants to have friends, to have fun and do something meaningful. His past doesn’t define him or lock him out of any other probable futures.

He learns to be a friend. It is first of all a friendship, and as it deepens they love and care for each other even more. Maybe it’s something that never worked out with Thor, to be equal and to be seen.

In season 2 Loki reevaluates his own priorities. Sylvie still matters to him but he lifts his expectations and just lets her be, tries to understand her and love her as she is. To love this way, without asking anything back, is actually a very powerful thing. It changes you. He probably sees her better now and understands too.

He puts more significance into his reciprocated connections, he learns to combine self-love with the love for others. It might be my specific perception, but I don’t think that platonic love is somehow worse or better than romantic love. They don’t cancel each other. We learn from a small age that love is this and that, and it always ends with kisses, kids and weddings, but in fact it’s not. I’m not saying that dreaming about this kind of love is wrong. I’m saying that it’s not the only possible option. If Mobius and Loki are never engaged in physical intimacy it doesn’t render their unique connection meaningless or less valuable. It is still clearly love, there’s still devotion.

What’s more, both Sylvie and Mobius understand how important it is for Loki to have that connection with the other. They don’t communicate directly that much though, and it’s really a shame.

That’s how Sylvie lashes out on Mobius and he is puzzled and upset by it. Probably she knows about his life, so she points out that protecting the timelines is not personal enough for him. She’s right though; maybe not so much about Mobius but about the TVA on the whole. Btw Loki is being part of it right now and he behaves the same way as Mobius. It’s just that Mobius is the one who is used to light things up. The moment isn’t right though, and he doesn’t read the room.

But the thing is, because it’s not personal, he’s able to stay afloat, be there in the moment and not be distracted by something out there. Mobius is aware that he might be weakened by what he sees and doesn’t want to risk the entire operation because of that. (Maybe he’s wrong and if Sylvie shows him his life he’ll be able to stay put like B-15, but again, he doesn’t want to risk)

I think that both connections being equally meaningful to Loki will make his further choices difficult and the consequences heavy. Mobius’s and Sylvie’s, and Loki’s lives could depend on that. Just imagine if he’s made to choose between them, to sacrifice one for the other. Or to experience all this love, remember all of it and look at them and see they don’t recognise him anymore on any timeline. Or have to choose to never be in their lives to save them both or hide them both from Kang.

[dross-the-fish]

You're always so patient with anons, how do you keep from going off?

Because I know most of the Anons who come into my inbox aren't intentionally being malicious.

Real malice is very rare and there's no way for these anons to know me personally so I usually don't take it personally.

Another thing I've picked up on as I've gotten older. Half the things anons are upset about aren't actually about me or even about the thing they're complaining about.

What do I mean by that? Well, when an anon comes in complaining that I don't like something they like or that the version of a character I prefer doesn't look like their preferred version it's not about me or my interests it's about them. They were probably looking for some kind of validation and when they didn't get it from me they took it as some kind of criticism of their tastes and by extension a criticism of them as a person. A big example is the people who like Erik and can't stand to see people say his behavior towards Christine is toxic. They tend to think any kind of analysis of the text that doesn't paint Erik positively or is critical of reading a romantic relationship into Erik and Christine's interactions is targeted so they feel the need to justify themselves.

Another example is when people call out toxic patterns they see in the fandom or trends that they dislike, you inevitably get backlash from people who feel like they're being personally attacked rather than recognizing that the criticism is general or aimed at content and prevailing mindsets rather than individuals.

That's actually a very human and relatable reaction to have. I'm not above it myself, it's just that as I've gotten older I've learned how to stop and check myself and assess whether my feelings are coming from a sense of personal defensiveness or if I actually feel like there is something that needs to be discussed.

That's not to say I don't get frustrated from time to time or aggravated when I feel like people are projecting things onto my writing and characters that aren't there. Even more so do I get aggravated when I'm directly asked a question but then when I give my honest answer it's treated like I went out of my way to attack part of the fandom, but I know that at it's core very little of that is actually about me, my opinions or my work. It's about people feeling like they're being called out and not being able to handle it.

I find the best way to deal with it is to engage with it patiently and then block or ignore it if it's obvious that I am dealing with bad-faith or malice. Even if the other person isn't showing me their best side, I try to remember that in most cases I'm still talking to a human being who may not actually be trying to hurt me and I try not to take it personally on my end.

That said, if you find yourself in a situation with another user and feel like you're dealing with something that is too much for you or that is testing your comfort then you're within your right to block, step away or protest. I'm not at all advocating that you take someone's abuse.

[house-on-sand]

for the character ask game !!

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever? - vic sage!

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? - grant emerson!

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like? - jason todd!

6. What's something you have in common with this character? - conner kent!

23. Favorite picture of this character? - any or all of them!!

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? - any or all of them!!

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character. - helena bertinelli!! i'm curious

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever? - vic sage!

vic is an odd duck in general with many unforgettable moments but the one thing he does that ill never be able to get over is how he responds when someone asks him who he is when he's out as the question

shit like that. he's so extra for this. he also sometimes leaves fucking. calling cards with a question mark on them and i cannot even begin to explain how funny that is to me. he even acknowledges it's a "cheap stunt" and he should probably not do that but yknow.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now? - grant emerson!

i can get you screenshots of my first impression of grant aksgsk

my first actual intro + thoughts on him

then like immediately after that. i knew right off the bat i was gonna be obsessed with him. something about his energy compelled me and now look where i am. the hyperfixation spiraled so now i care way too much about a character very few people have even heard of. honestly i just thought his powers were really cool and his role in zero hour was fucking nuts /pos + his vibes, like i said in the screenshots, were super relatable. that fact has not changed either, me n grant... we are the same tbh. for whatever that says about me my thoughts about him now? he drives me insane, i could write a whole essay on damage as a character and i still wouldn't say everything i want to. he's a tragic character who was forced into the role of a hero as a teenager because it was that or jail. he's got tons of parents and no parents at the same time. he's angry and people act like that's unreasonable and he's not allowed to be upset about his situation because he's expected to be a hero and learn how to control his powers and all this other shit all while his teammates and the public view him as this walking nuclear bomb that's too dangerous to be around. ill never be normal about him.

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like? - jason todd!

i LOVE talking about his relationships with the other bats im so sorry but im insane about that and if i don't include it in something i write for him i fear I'll explode. i also love getting to write how emotional he is and how he thinks about himself because jason is so so influenced by his emotions and he's not just. Angry or mindlessly violent, he's got a much deeper nd intense range of emotions than that but people tend to take him at face value and don't realise that just because he seems angry bc he's lashing out or he's yelling or whatever doesn't mean he's actually angry. idk i love writing everything about him. as for smth i don't like when writing for him, i greatly dislike trying to write bruce in relation to jason bc i don't feel like i can capture bruce's character very well so he's There but for the most part it's just jason's thoughts abt him rather than them directly interacting. and this isn't so much something i hate while writing, but if i post something i don't like how anxious i feel abt how other people are gonna react to it bc not everyone sees him the way i do.

6. What's something you have in common with this character? - conner kent!

we share a punk aesthetic!! in different ways n subcultures n shit but we do!!! also... specific mental health issues lmao. conner is STRUGGLING in superboy 94 and one of the things we share is during the end of his relationship with knockout where he tries to kill the both of them. but yeah. we're both incredibly mentally ill and that's okay

23. Favorite picture of this character? - any or all of them!!

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED! (you're getting a selection sorry!) jason:

these panels specifically from utrh

these are also technically part of utrh but they're from the batman annual after the arc technically finished but i fucking love all of them.

and of course, the jaybin era! these r my favourites atm bc he's so tiny in the first one and i love baby metalhead jason todd!!

grant:

these panels from the last issue of his solo!!! im insane about him breaking free from the virus and his little mustache n piercing at the very end. he's so dorky n cute there.

and these ones! love these ones so much. just. the very first one is great because he looks so happy and free.

and finally these ones. i love the art here but most importantly i love that roy is giving grant a space to yell and feel and say the things he wishes he could've said to his "dad"

vic:

he's so gender in these ones

conner:

(bonus: my favourite panel so far of ted kord bc everyone needs to see it)

im not even gonna lie if i heard this man say holy cool cookie cow id be asking him out on the spot that shit is so silly akahsk i want him so bad.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? - any or all of them!!

jason - he picks up new skills fairly easily and is largely self taught when it comes to some of the different languages hes learned and the piano. he taught himself how to play piano just because he could and he was bored. (ik somewhere? him playing piano is canon but for me it's always real n true) & that his earth 2 counterpart, if he had one, goes to college and does a dual major in english & social work with a minor in criminal justice + goes on to get his jd and take the bar so he can still help people without being a vigilante anymore. plus it showcases how fucking smart my boy is! tied into this one, a funny hc i enjoy is regular earth jason being able to pass the bar (bc he's SMART and he will COMMIT to the bit) so now the young adult crimelord/vigilante can now also technically practice law. it's just so funny to meeee and he deserves that grant - that arsenal is his favourite hero! & this is less a hc and more an au but in my heart there exists a world where alan scott and j'onn acted as grant's mentors a little more bc i dig alan's interaction with him before his trial and every interaction he had with j'onn was great imo idk i would've loved to see it conner - im a grey eyed conner truther ngl! rlly vibe w the hc that even tho he's supposed to be clark's clone n he looks a lot like him, he does have some of lex's features. i also hc him as having freckles on his shoulders that he loves because they're something all his own.

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character. - helena bertinelli!! i'm curious

oh god i am a terrible person for fashion questions but i knew the exact vibes i had in mind for her when i saw this question!!! helena bertinelli would SLAY, absolutely devour a fucking corporate goth aesthetic. & i'll have to rb this with some references images bc i hit the limit! just kind this more professional, less obvious goth vibe. get some purple in there as a reference to the huntress costume... if she does makeup? (keep in mind i do Not do makeup) maybe a nice like dark/deep red lipstick... maybe even like a dark purple? idk i can see this specifically in my head. definitely leaning more towards an androgynous vibe. she's very clothes have no gender to me. sometimes doing a more feminine vibe if she's feeling it.

[underdark-dreams]

Hi underdark-dreams!! I love your writing . Out of curiosity , do you have any advice on how to do emotional/feelings-focused writing? You’re amazing at angst and pining etc and I was wondering if you have insights you’d be willing to share with other writers <3

Whoa, thank you! 🥺 That really means everything to me to hear!! I am humbled that you asked! 

I tend to write stuff on the fly and find the emotional beats as I go, so I don’t always have specific strategies top of mind. I often don’t outline either (resist the temptation fellow writers, you WILL end up scrapping whole scenes and killing your darlings 😭) 

This ask made me realize there are a few things I do keep coming back to for angst, pining, or generally emotion-heavy scenes. Nothing groundbreaking but happy to share! [w/ examples below the cut]:

Environment

Show/tell the way your characters' emotions affect how they see their physical space, or vice versa:

A character is stressed/annoyed and every sound around them sets their teeth on edge

A character unsuccessfully pining after another one can't stand seeing happy couples

A character who's so spaced out/distracted by their thoughts that they don't notice they're standing with their mouth open, in the way, etc.

Can also use physical environment for tension: a slowly building rainstorm that reflects a buildup to a confrontation between 2 people (I just used this one!)

It also works in reverse! A beautiful day that makes a grumpy character even grumpier, for example

Silences

They can say just as much as dialogue sometimes:

Two characters getting into a heated argument, someone goes too far, and there's one of those silences that makes you cringe inside as a reader

Two characters so comfortable with each other that they don't feel the need to fill a natural lull in the conversation

Or two characters falling for each other who keep stealing glances, noticing cute things about the other, etc. without saying it aloud yet

Body language/physical hints about feelings

Your readers are smart and will pick up on these, even when the characters themselves are still clueless:

Pining examples

fidgeting when the pining object is nearby

noticing physical things about the pining object (their scent, habits, tics, hairstyle, common expressions, etc.)

being uncool when the pining object touches them accidentally (or intentionally for Teasing Reasons)

generally finding excuses to touch each other

finding excuses not to touch each other

Angst examples

carelessly tossing/shoving environment objects because they're upset

neglecting their immediate needs/wants, not caring about being uncomfortable or hungry, etc.

body aches or pains because they're stressed, angry, etc.

acting or speaking without thinking

Switching POVs if/when possible to let your readers experience multiple views

Especially great for pining. This helps provide depth and gives your readers a more complete view of the situation than either of the characters have on their own.

Which leads to that great feeling of--clearly these two like each other, why can't they just talk/fight it out/kiss! Or: clearly this character is too in their feelings and thinks things are worse than they are.

Character A: saying something without thinking and immediately feeling embarrassed/dumb/regretful

Smashcut to Character B's POV: "God they're so cute, I wish I could kiss them right now"

Ignoring grammar when you need to

Sometimes a highly emotional scene calls for a run-on sentence or two to reflect the tumultuous feelings

People don't always think or talk clearly when they're emotional

Restating thoughts in a character's internal monologue several times, growing more emphatic to show they're in the middle of figuring out something important

Using repetition, synonyms, etc. to convey strong feelings in dialogue or prose

And some general advice:

Don't feel like you have to write a fic or a chapter straight through from beginning to end. I've fallen into this trap a lot. Sometimes you get a strong idea for a scene you really want to include. Skip ahead and write it! Usually, that helps me fill in what comes before and after better than if I force myself to write scenes in order.

Thank you again for sending this question in, anon! I hope this sparks some ideas for fellow writers. And I would LOVE to hear others' strategies for writing these emotional types of fics!!

I'm planning to post more musings like this and writing snippets on my new Ko-Fi! I'll still post all my works here and on AO3, but feel free to follow me on that platform if you like this sort of behind the scenes stuff. 🖤

[doomsdaydicecascader]

hey, could you go into more detail with what you mean with ‘being precious’ with characters. im curious and i like your writing a lot <3

i think it's difficult to express without it reading as just "mary sue" critique, you know. tvtropes bullshit. but it is kind of a thing that occupies the same space. and atop that, it's a thing that's a little bit difficult to express without context but i think there are three pretty meaningful examples of a character being made worse by the author from which you are smart enough to discern what i mean

the thing which ties them together is this: you are meant to come out of their story with an affection for the character that rivals the author's care for them - the author wants you to feel as much for this character as they do, but is afraid of portraying the character in flawed or even grounded ways, when the character's flaws or ways in which they are a grounded character tend to be what makes them relateable or worth caring about.

example number one is albus dumbledore. the end of harry potter is genuinely one of the worst things i've ever read, even before the terf shit, and this is best expressed through the way characters around him act - he is always right, except when he's wrong, but the ways in which he's wrong are okay because the character archetype that he turns out to be in the last book before he dies is "guy who makes the hard decisions because nobody else will", winston churchill guy. and naturally, jk rowling adores him so much that she made him the protagonist of her flop three-movie pentology even though there was a better protagonist right there with newt. he is a character who is thoroughly adored by the author in a way that ruins the story.

example number two is johnny, from the room. tommy wiseau is by no means a great artist, but i think a lot of people resent analyzing the room as art because it is so obviously bad and i think that takes away from its most compelling fact. johnny is characterized as too good for this world, as though the world itself was closing in on him, ready to take him out. his future wife is cheating with his best friend, lying about him being an abuser to her friends, his boss doesnt give him his promotion for no reason, his mother in law would put aside her cancer diagnosis to further tear apart her daughters marriage, and through this, johnny does nothing wrong. he was always too good for this sinful world. he is a character who is thoroughly adored by the author in a way that ruins the story.

example number three, as mentioned in that last ask, is lin manuel miranda's portrayal of alexander hamilton, which kind of combines the both of the previous examples. throughout hamilton, alexander hamilton is repeatedly portrayed as a tortured artist, a guy who writes like he's running out of time, a guy whose writing is so powerful that he could have meaningfully changed the world, if he were not also, a dipshit idiot who got shot in a duel. and hamilton is interesting, because the story itself bends over backwards to imagine new outs for him. when his wife, who is so upset by his actions that she exempts herself from being in the writings from which hamilton was based, something i am to believe is made up whole cloth for hamilton, the story itself goes out of its way to say "what if the stuff that his wife destroyed would have redeemed him" when the answer is, probably not, he was a shithead, but lin manuel miranda can't help but ask, "what if hamilton was actually just like me fr, a misunderstood dude who just wanted to make great art", he is a character who is thoroughly adored by the author in a way that ruins the story.

i dont really want to use the term "mary sue" or whatever because it is pretty loaded, and honestly, if the story you're telling justifies this feeling, i tend to really enjoy characters who really are just flawless, characters who the authors love and want you to love too. but theyre character studies - half blood prince and deathly hallows are almost entirely about dumbledore and his relationship to the cast, and it's the worst shit i've ever read. the room would be so unbelievably forgettable without johnny. and hamilton is hamilton.

and its the kind of thing i found myself prone to doing too - that kind of feverish, "he would not fucking say that" behavior about a character who would definitely, absolutely do that. i felt this way for a while about jane in post-canon, and i still kind of think post-canon jane deserved a better arc, to make a tragedy out of her existence, but that is a desire i have because i care a lot about jane crocker, you know?