#see!! its that easy!! you can still care about a character without them being your fave. without being romantically into them.

[archivist-the-knight]

(Image description: A series of images.

Image one is a chibi-esque drawing of the person's sona, an anthro cat. Sitting criss-cross apple sauce, their hands are gripping their knees with fervour. He's smiling angrily, eyes twitching.

Image two is the same catsona, however not in chibi form anymore. She has her head on their eye and is smoking a cigarette, a heavy shadow over his figure. The image accompanying this is a screenshot of tumblr tags that read "women are always the woman character. men are people."

Image three is the same drawing as before, but zoomed in on the persons face, meant to indicate more disbelief. Accompanying this is a screenshot of tags that read "yknow. thinking on it? It's. It's because i'm gay. Like i'm still in depth with the female characters, but i'd rather see guys than girls you know? I love the gals but I just can't put the same kinds of thoughts towards them like that because I am so fucking gay my guy." /End description)

the way people treat girl characters in fandom joker-ifies me

[bloodbenderz]

there was a lot of mistakes made in the live action but the worst one without reservation was that the creators did not understand patriarchy and they did not understand women's liberation outside of an american context ( or any context if we're being honest )

it's easy to see on a surface level how that fucked up katara's whole character how she wasn't allowed to have her character defining moments how she wasn't allowed to be angry or even excited or impulsive but i think it doesn't really become clear how deeply wrong the show's conception of gender & patriarchy is (and the implications for the political landscape of the show) until you get into how they destroyed sokka's character too

sokka's whole Complex is born of patriarchy. i'm not trying to do men's rights advocacy here but in my experience when a people is under constant threat, constant assault, constant violence (much of which is gendered) and the traditional "protectors" or "providers" of that people are men, the masculine role becomes protecting women and children. i am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing but it is true the narrative of violent resistance is overwhelmingly about men. to be a man in a time & place like this means fighting to protect your women, & to die for them is honorable. that is where sokka gets this idea that he has to be a warrior & he has to fight & if necessary die for katara & the rest of the tribe. it's about duty. everyone has a part to play, a role to fill

everyone including women! which is the other half of this. the duty of women is to keep up the home, to maintain a country worth fighting & dying for, to raise children so that the community can have a future. it becomes especially obvious in the context of the show when you see how the nwt lives & in specific how yue lives and dies.

many women participate in patriarchy. many colonized women participate in patriarchy. most of my family comes from or still lives in a country completely devastated by colonialism & its aftereffects & many women in my family believe wholeheartedly in the idea that everyone in the house has a role to play. it's not because these women are stupid or they hate themselves. but when you grow up believing that men & women are fundamentally different, and seeing that women are in specific danger because of their gender, it actually makes a lot of sense to expect the men in your family to protect you, and to raise your sons that way.

in practice that means that men aren't really expected to do anything around the house, especially when there's no actual danger. my aunt literally 2 days ago told me this lol like she doesn't make her sons do anything bc she wants to let their lives be easy before they have to go out into the world & take care of their wives & children.

what does women's liberation look like when an entire community is under threat? colonized women have been dealing with this question as long as colonialism has existed. the writers of this show don't even pretend to understand the question, much less to formulate a thoughtful response to it. they just say oh, well, katara, yue, & suki are all the exact same type of liberated girlboss for whom patriarchy is no significant obstacle.

which brings us back to sokka lol. sokka, at the beginning of the show, has completely subscribed to patriarchy, has integrated it into his sense of self. he has a lot of flaws, but he also has a lot of really good traits. his bravery, sense of honor, loyalty, work ethic, selflessness, all of this came from him striving to be a good man. he would die to protect katara, because she's his sister. he also has her wash his socks & mend his clothes, because she's his sister. even after he meets suki, humbles himself, & expands his view of the role a woman can play, he doesn't completely disengage from patriarchy. at the end of the day he believes in his soul that a good man's duty is to fight & if necessary die for his people, & that's exactly his plan. this is a very real psychic burden. pre-aang, it's also largely fictional & completely ridiculous. we're SUPPOSED to think it's ridiculous. he's spending his time training babies & working on his little watchtower. the swt hasn't been attacked since their mother was killed because it has been completely stripped of all value or danger it once held for the fire nation, & everybody knows this. there is very little "men's work" left, aside from hunting & fishing, which is so damaging to sokka's self image he resorts to toddler bootcamp to feel useful. the contradiction here is comical. it's also completely devastating. that's supposed to be the fucking POINTTTT like colonialism & patriarchy convinces this young boy he needs to be a soldier & die for his family. & you know what he does? He acts like a young boy about it. they didn't just leave this unexplored in the remake they completely changed the circumstances to 1. make sokka incompetent for some reason 2. make his "preparations" seem less ridiculous. Which ruins the whole character. Possibly the whole show.

all this makes the writing of katara & the other women infinitely more offensive to me. katara is a good character because she believes in revolution. she wants to liberate her people from imperialism, & she wants to liberate women from colonial gendered violence, traditional patriarchy in her own culture, & the complicated ways those things interact. it is LITERALLY the first thing you're supposed to learn about her. she's the PERFECT vehicle to address the question of women's liberation under colonialism. one of the things i was most looking forward to seeing in this show was how labor is distributed in a place where almost everything that needs to get done is "women's work" & how it affects katara & sokka's day to day relationship when their lives weren't at risk constantly. what actually are her responsibilities every day, & how do they compare to sokka's? how does her grandmother enforce these traditions with katara & sokka, & how is that informed by her own experiences in the nwt? what does patriarchy look like in a tribe made up of mostly women & children? it's so important to who katara is & what she believes! but why bother exploring any of that when u could instead make her a shein model who has nothing in common with the source material except her hairstyle lol.

yue is actually even worse to me bc yue is supposed to be sokka's counterpart. she's supposed to show you how destructive it is for women specifically to internalize this gendered duty so completely. it sucks for sokka, but he is a man & thus his prescribed role gives him some agency. yue's role affords her no agency whatsoever, & this is the POINT. to make her someone who's allowed to break things off with her fiance if she likes, who sneaks off to do what she wants when she's feeling stressed, whose will is respected as a monarch, like what is even the point of yue anymore? in the original the whole reason she was even allowed to spend time with sokka was because her father knew she was with a trustworthy boy. her story completely loses all significance when the dimension of patriarchy is removed from it. the crux of her whole story is that she is not just a princess but the literal & spiritual representation of the motherland. that's what women are supposed to represent during wartime, at the cost of their own sense of self. in order to fulfill her duty to her people she gives her life to them in every single way that matters.

it's just so unbelievably frustrating (and WRONG) that the only types of characters for these writers are "soulless misogynistic fuck" and "liberated american-style feminist." there's no nuance at all! they don't bother exploring how real love manifests in patriarchal communities, & how patriarchy defines the limits of that love. or how for so many of these people their idea of goodness, morality, & honor is gendered. or how imperialism affects not just individuals but entire cultures & their conceptions of gender. but why do any actual work when you could completely change sokka & katara's general demeanors, their entire personalities, & their roles in the tribe so you can dodge any & all nuance

Anyways. in conclusion. it was bad

[noellefan101]

Hello hello! I love reading your Streamer AU for the HSR cast, can I request you to do a part 2 for it hehe 🤩

You can pick whoever you like but can I request one of them to be Fu Xuan? The thought of her streaming is kinda funny HEJISEHWJSHEHEH

Also thank you so much!! You may refer to me as - - Anon 🏎️

ofc im so sorry that im a few months late though 😭

Char: Fu Xuan, Topaz, Aventurine the gambler, Blade x gn reader

warnings: ooc, not proofread, swearing, you are pretty :3

Summary: your princess(or partner if you wanna be boring) is a streamer, a popular one at that. this is a fic about: how their chat finds out that you are dating, how they treat you off-stream and on-stream/do they treat you differently

Fu Xuan

How chat found out: it should be pretty easy for anyone to find out if im going to be completely honest. as she is both a bragger and a complainer.

if you had done something, anything, that she didnt like or just thought was stupid, she was going to lovingly complain about it to her following. and yes, this also applies to everything and everything you accomplish.

so uhm, lets just say she also sees no reason to keep such things a secret unless you begged her to not mention your relationship(she would still end up talking abt it at some point).

but luckily her chatters are nice and like you. but they definitely how Fu Xuan pulled you, they do not see the vision of how she did that

On-Stream: she herself does not see any difference in how she treats you whether she is streaming or not. her viewers however, very much see a difference to when you are with her or not

"Fu Xuan seems nicer with [name] around", "Xuan's eyes seems to light up just a little whenever [name] is around", this was not known to her until her following started chatting about this online

her face was unusually red when she read a message about her being soft for you on stream

Off-Stream: she, kissed you more, maybe even more affectionate in general, since she just doesnt like her whole life being online and thinks its unhealthy and dumb.

she is also just way too into you for her to want to share you with the random people watching her on a tuesday afternoon.

Topaz

How chat found out: you forgot she was streaming and brought in a snack for her and numby

and you accidentally called her 'love' while walking in

oh she was so red, and it did not help that she was on a call with aventurine and he heard everything

On-Stream: honestly, couldn't care less about what her following thinks, although she does get embarrassed.

she will hug you she will kiss you.

she will do whatever she wants to do, but is extra shy when Jade is around and watching.

and despite what she say and does, if you ever kissed her infront of the camera she would combust and melt into a little puddle

while numby is just innocently eating her little meal beside you two

Off-Stream: doesnt let go of you unless she actually has to get up and do something without you

loves hugging you, and especially with numby cuddling up with you both

kisses you more and it feels like you're kissing for longer, but this is just your observations

Aventurine

How chat found out: are you kidding? you really dont know? he doesnt stop fucking talking about you

he's playing another gacha game? oh this character kind of looks like [name], i should totally get them

irl stream? he's getting distracted left and right because he saw something that you would like

just on a call with his friends? talking about how pretty you are left and right

he just doesnt stop, there was no way you weren't going to appear on camera at some point

On-Stream: kisses you a lot just for just existing

chat thought it was cute in the start but now its more like when does he stop omfg

hugs you a lot and makes you sit on his lap while he gambles, saying that you bring him more luck

will still not stop bragging about how amazing you are, even when you're just sitting next to him on your phone

Off-Stream: still does not shut up about you, and is still very affectionate

but he is a little more touchy when people arent watching, still wanting you for himself in one way or another

he likes showing you off, but he also values his private life when he isnt the popular streamer Aventurine, being watched by thousands of people

but with you, and only you? he is just Kakavasha

Blade

How chat found out: one word, Kafka.

this is the only possible way other than you yourself walking in to see him streaming and you happen to be on camera.

Kafka, Silver Wolf, and Firefly is the only reason his following knows that he even has a love life to begin with. they talk more about you than he does! betrayer!!

but seriously, Kafka loves to talk about you two to her own viewers as well, even getting Blade to correct her because you can bake, and is very good at it

On-Stream: he doesnt talk about you, this may seem concerning but i assure you he's just shy. if he talked about you on stream it was because they girls made him talk about you.

but he just likes his private life, alright? he also strictly told Kafka to not tell them anything bad about or her head will be on a platter

but no matter, you can go kiss him yourself if you want to, he cant do anything to you

or he will die mentally and hopefully physically

Off-Stream:

absolute bbg

will not let go of you at all, never ever

he's always touching in some way or form the whole day, but when he turns on the camera and starts streaming its like his personality turned around

the only thing remaining is how he longingly looks in your direction whenever you come in with some water

thank u for reading and thank you 🏎️ anon for requesting even tho this was long ago(im still very sorry abt that)- Masterlist

You are welcome to reblog and like any of my posts, but you CAN NOT translate, copy or hate on anybody for liking my posts

[muffinrecord]

Also I'm a little harsh on Magia Record's storyline being a little... soft? On the hostilities between characters. But I also understand why things are resolved the way they are.

Magia Record is ultimately a story about characters coming together and saving each other. It's baked into the gameplay-- the connect was a big feature that even made its way into the anime.

You can tell the vibe of the game just by comparing it to the anime in fact. In the anime, a ton of characters die. Iroha is unable to save Kuroe, Mifuyu and Momoko have to die as penance in exchange for saving the ones they mislead, Homura fails to save Madoka (and possibly other PMMM original characters) and rewinds time, Ui dies, Touka dies, Nemu dies. Alina dies. Alina's interactions with Karin amount to mostly fan teasing. We see magical girls in the background who are working together against Walpy, but Kanagi is barely present, which means she doesn't have her moments of grouping up with Yachiyo (and all that represents for the east versus west conflicts).

In the anime, the girls fail.

In the game, they succeed. Characters like Mifuyu, who lead others astray, try to kill themselves for redemption but are prevented from doing so because her friends love her and want her to stay with them. Kanagi gets to work with Yachiyo, showing that they have bonds and similarities beyond their differences. Momoko's group never fractures and joins the Wings of Magius, so their friendship continues to keep them propped up and saved. Kuroe is introduced late in the game but she obviously survives and learns to live on. Homura gets to save Madoka and stay her Glasses self, continuing to deepen her friendships with the rest of the gang. Ui, Touka, and Nemu get to be friends again. Touka and Nemu are put on trial but still get to work to try and save humanity. Alina fails to kill people and has Karin more prominently present to remind you of her softer sides, Nemu fails to get herself killed, and blah blah blah, you get my point. This isn't even getting into arc 2, where characters start off very hostile to everyone but smooth at towards the end.

I've got my own personal dislikes of how conflict ends in Magia Record sometimes-- I feel like it takes the easy way out and ignores more interesting routes. I think ending a story so that everyone gets along can be boring and lazy sometimes.

At the same time, I do respect the writing direction for it. I think there's value in saying that everyone (or damn near everyone) can be saved, that people ultimately want to help each other. People want to connect with other people. Friendship can save all. Your friend might be going down a dark path but you can save them through the power of subtextual yuri companionship, compassion, and understanding.

Like, it's a fantasy because you shouldn't be burning yourself to help others, but also fantasy isn't always bad. Sometimes it's nice to have stories where things work out for the better.

I do think though this is why the darker stories in the game really stand out as fan-favorites. Glasses Homura failing to save Kuro is such a gut punch because it feels like that should be impossible in the world of Magia Record, where you can march into a cult and make the leaders into good guys again. Mikoto's pain and suffering stands out because Hanna is never coming back and Mikoto isn't going to get better again. Ryo and Ikumi stay dead. Jun stays dead. Sakuya stays dead. They don't come back.

I'd wager that one reason the story "Girls in the Hood" and its follow up "Dependence Blue" are so popular (besides good writing) is because the fantasy fails and has painfully realistic outcomes in it. Jun isn't able to prevent Mitsune from contracting, despite trying her best to show that you don't need magic to be strong. The two struggle with communicating with each other, despite how much they care for one another. And Jun dies without their feelings being resolved. In a story where so many characters get happy endings (or learn to accept their circumstances), stories like this stick out and have a painful resonance.

I'm meandering again, but yeah. I wish Magia Record was more brave with its writing and that it wouldn't chicken out on pursing conflict at the expense of making characters unlikeable, but I also feel like that wasn't what it wanted to do either. We can say that it's because they wanted to keep their characters as loveable as possible given that it's a gacha and they need to market it to you, but it's also just a storytelling direction that they preferred at the end of the day. I don't have a link but I remember hearing that the writers wanted to keep the game light, that they didn't want people to log in and feel miserable playing a phone game (I could be very badly remembering this).

And you know what, sometimes that kind of cozy friendship-defies-all was very comforting. I dunno. Yeah.

[pruneunfair]

Rating female leads in manhwa.

Navier

6/10, I absolutely hate her writting and has devolved into a mary sue who only reacts to everything around her while her mass of supporters never shut up about great she is. Her synopsis claiming her as someone who loves all her subjects gets contradicted when its shown she doesnt really care about the slaves.

BUT in season 1 she wasn't bad, I liked her resolve and it was when she actually cared for her people, I feel like if we got to see a clear backstory beyond "she wasn't allowed outside when she studied to be empress" I would understand her total apathy more.

Ariande

7/10, I adore villains, especially villainous protagonists and at first I liked the idea she wouldn't be any better than her family but still had a soft spot for Arabella, she loses a few points because it turns out she's excused for killing people before in the name of "love" and is viewed as someone who can do no wrong.

Adelaide

10/10, she's like Navier but better, she has more noticeable flaws and while she is a kick ass warrior during the tower arcs she still is human and can't always take it alone without consequences, she acknowledges Diane's struggles and makes an effort not to be her enemy and is proof that you dont need to make FL overpowered gods to be strong women. A beautifully made FL in a underrated story

Robellia

1/10, She doesn't divorce her husband despite the title literally being "I will divorce my tyrant husband." But that's more of a problem in most other manhwa. She's too much of a perfect epic goddess for me and most of all she does the whole "buying all the slaves but giving them a home." to make her look even better, what is with manhwa and inserting slavery for no other reason other than to make the FL look better?

Arianna

0/10, there is nothing good about her. Other than being a mary sue and a personality that only revolves around the latest sexy man, she legit forces another guy to join her haram by threatening diplomatic war on his kingdom and bodyshames her fiance but all of a sudden wants him more than ever when he loses weight, it took a random chick being inserted with a 🍇ist persona to make her look "better."

Yerenica

6/10, in any other story, this girl would've been despised by the fandom for being a homewreaker/pick me. She gives me so much second hand embarrassment but she's not terrible, I actually really like her design too. Not a fan of the kidnapper-hostage relationship she and the ML have though.

Pereshati

10/10, the best one here. She feels so much more human than the others on this list, she's got flaws, a relationship with the ML Therdeo that has both realistic progression, blunders, but overall healthy love, she also has relationships outside of her husband which I really love, I actually get scared for her when shes in danger instead of the usual "oh great, heres the typical kidnapping trope", a great motherly FL

Hestia

5/10 I will be easy on her since I just started reading my derelict favorite but I've only heard bad things about it through spoilers so I don't have much hope, also girl, please acknowledge that just because your favorite character did it for love doesn't mean he's absolved for murdering 2 people, thank you

Edith

9/10, my 3rd favorite on this list. You do not know how happy I was when instead of immediately viewing Rhyse as a rival to defeat, she was actually nice to her and the chapters of them were so sweet, she even acknowledges that it isn't anyone's fault for acting out but the author who is pulling the strings.

Layla

8/10, I feel so bad for this poor girl. For some reason I noticed on reddit and tiktok that she's getting hate for not standing up to herself or just not being the usual "girlboss" protagonist, did it not occur that she cant do much to a duke!? Layla deserves so much better and she needs to be far away from Matthias, I don't care if it's "dark romance" he is torturing her for his own pleasure.

[simplyreveries]

Finally found a TWST writing account with their requests open (trust me it’s rare these days to find TWST writing accounts that are taking requests when I need them)… hehehehhe time for a silly request!!

Characters of your choosing (I can’t decide so you get to) with a reader who is self-aware about being in a game. Platonic or romantic, I don’t really care too much. :3 no pressure if you don’t wanna :D

self aware; riddle, azul, malleus

this concept is so interesting to me, thank you!! i did characters i was in the mood to write for!!

riddle rosehearts

he's confused. he doesn't understand you, but he already knows you're from another world, so he doesn't exactly question it. i mean, of course you're going to be different. he admires your seemingly fearless attitude when dealing with what events come your way but hasn't grasped the concept that it's because you already know what's going to happen, so it doesn't exactly phase you when it comes things such as the overblots.

riddle has the befuddled look whenever you compare him to the queen of hearts. though he is flattered because he looks up to her greatly, he doesn't understand why you're so adamant on telling him it all the time. like whenever you laugh and point out he's "based off of" he's so?? what?? or compare the other dorm members as well. he thinks you're trying to be funny or something and not being serious.

whenever he has history class with you, he's always caught off by surprise when you're able to suspiciously answer most of the questions regarding not only the great seven but other figures and places as well! he thought you just studied well and thought it was rather intelligent of you, not that you already knew.

azul ashengrotto

he finds you peculiar, at first, he thought you were easy to manipulate into signing over the contract during the events of chapter 3 and he tried to take over ramshackle away from you. when you did it without much care or thought, he thought was amusing to see! he was too caught up in being able to successfully "deceive" you that he didn't seem to notice the lax "ohh i know what this part is" attitude from you.

azul has only heard of idia at the board game club they're in together talk a little about his favorite tropes "isekai" and stuff like that. he is curious about the world you're from, but whenever you talk about it, it feels so strange to him. and you keep comparing him to the sea witch! which he thinks is nice but believes he has a long way to go with how great she was.

he feels kind of frustrated when you can almost be one step ahead of him because you know how things are to play out! and even how to talk to people around you. he thinks its impressive though- he thinks you can just read other people well.

malleus draconia

he sees how keen you are on things in twisted wonderland, for someone from another world. but doesn't say anything about it for the most part. whenever you talk and almost get excited, talking about the stories of characters like one of the great seven he quietly listens and adds onto what you're saying. it's interesting, your knowledge is abundant, and you've only been here for a few months.

malleus likes by the way you act. though he isn't entirely sure why you're so confident on knowing how things are going to play out he finds your attitude amusing for a human. you commonly would compare him to maleficent and he'd chuckle shake his head and proceed to tell you stories of just how powerful she was.

he tilts his head slightly, looking down at you confused when you seem deep in thought during your nightly outings before the events of chapter 7. you usually seem so calm and collected but he seemed curious as to why you seemed worried and stressed for once about what's to come in the future. still unknowing what you know. he'll smile softly and tell you, "you need not to worry, child of man."

[blasphemousclaw]

i think rykard had a tendency to disregard formality except as Ritual or as Political Ambition, like as just a headcanon. the way he marries tanith and deeply adores and confides in her, when a lot of her descriptions emphasize the potential gulf in social power between them (drawing on a lot of tropes heavily associated with the character of Lowborn Sex Worker Consort) and how he held a disregard for the way the Golden Order handles itself (creating a strict orderly hierarchy of power between its peoples and appropriate mannerisms between one class and another (see the pages and how kenneth haight talks)) and how he has a studious scholalry streak from his archeology at mt gelmir and his sorceries, i can see him as being this larger than life figure who takes the formality inherent to ritual worship and power and really pushes that to its limit to get the kost bang for his buck, just going all in, which builds up this idea of a figure out of legend, and then its immediately contrasted by a frank, casual manner of speaking outside of those circumstances, a way where he holds himself as a singularly powerful lord but despite that hes easy to talk to, and he values the opinions and ideas of those who would normally be his "lessers" or "beneath him" and takes them seriously and treats them with respect

a lord who takes counsel from prince and pauper alike, who married a dancer, who speaks bluntly and without shame but encourages others to do so as well, who embraces the blasphemous and heretical such that you never feel you have to hide anything from him, but when he conducts a ceremony for the great serpent its like the whole world stops to bend its ear for the way he channels such power and authority that you cant help but believe that hes truly something different from all of you, and yet despite this you speak freely to him anyways. such a man could inspire ruthless loyalty to the bitter end with ease, throughout the most horrible of wars, all until it hits that critical breaking point of the serpent, and even then some still cant bring themselves to break away from him

ok theres ABSOLUTELY a theme of repudiating the conventions of nobility and class with Rykard… I think his belief system is based on the idea that the gods are no better than mortals, and they have no inherent divine right to rule: “When Rykard turned to heresy, taking by force became the rule. The gods were no different, after all.” The gods “take by force” just like any common mortal tyrant, so why should we accept that they have an inherent authority over us? There’s this theme of seizing one’s own fate and taking power for oneself — like Bernahl calling out to the Greater Will directly that “we refuse to become your pawns” — which I think would be really inspiring to like, a common soldier who’s felt disrespected and taken for granted all their life. Though Rykard is as noble as they come, he too is fighting against a suffocating Order. Tanith explicitly likens the plight of ordinary Tarnished to the Shardbearers… they’re all made to “scurry about, fighting over what miserly scraps they allow us.”

Speaking of Tanith, Rykard making her his consort is such a deliberate political statement? Lords like Kenneth Haight would no doubt look down on her because of her commoner foreigner background, like he even calls Godrick, a demigod, a “country bumpkin!” Marrying Tanith instead of someone from Erdtree nobility shows that Rykard doesn’t care at all about established class structure… why is Tanith any less worthy than an Erdtree noble? I think Tanith is speaking from experience when she says this about Rya: “Besides, no-one should be blamed for their heritage. Think about it. We are resisting the ways of the Erdtree itself. What matters one's lineage in such a crisis.”

basically one of Rykard’s blasphemous beliefs is that the gods are only gods because they are strong enough to stay in power and keep people under their control. he would have a society where every person is the master of their own fate. at least I think that’s what his followers thought before he fed himself to a serpent god and started eating people

[sepublic]

Lumity and Conflict

            We’ve all talked about Lumity being a really healthy relationship, a refreshingly healthy one at that, but we should also appreciate how the writers manage to have this AND portray conflict in a way that isn’t contrived, too.

         Take for example, Follies at the Coven Day Parade. It’d be SO easy to have the conflict come from Amity going ahead with checking Luz’s videos, and then have her and Luz argue over the breach of privacy, like in a lot of media. But instead, Amity KNOWS it’s wrong, but at the same time she can tell Luz has a problem and a tendency to keep it secret, which forces loved ones to call her out until Luz finally confesses and asks for help!

         So Amity’s conflict is whether or not she SHOULD go through Luz’s phone, and it resolves in a healthy manner because she goes to Willow for advice. That of course continues the plot thread of these two attempting to reconnect after their sorta reconciliation in Willow’s mindscape, and sets up the eventual confrontation between the two in Labyrinth Runners, regarding Amity still continuing to underestimate and condescend Willow, even if from a place of good intent.

         And that’s so much more interesting than Luz and Amity drama for the sake of drama, because now we get to throw in Willow and Amity’s dynamic and check up on how it’s developed, set up how it WILL develop, all while having Amity manage to do the right thing, but with some meaningful struggle and discussion, sympathetic and nuanced given her legitimate concern for Luz (rather than insecure snooping for the sake of it) and her issues of bottling up, on her way to do that!

         And we do see Amity struggle with insecurity over her and Luz’s relationship earlier, but she doesn’t take it out on Luz; Instead, we have her struggle with Hunter as the two are paralleled and contrasted in their relationships with people they care for and feel the need to impress, due to the abuse of their childhood! Again, more interesting and less stereotypical than Amity being the toxic, possessive lesbian trope.

         And Luz and Amity still have conflict WITH each other, like in Reaching Out, but it manages to avoid feeling contrived because it isn’t drama and jealousy for its sake, it’s about uncovering an aspect of Luz’s past, a fundamental experience, while also following through on addressing a character flaw she’s displayed for a while! Thereby advancing Luz’s growth instead of creating a reset for both girls to work through all over again. I like that Luz and Amity are allowed to be a healthy couple and have conflict, while also still navigating that conflict in a pretty healthy way.

         I think it’s a nice message to kids about how your relationships can be healthy and still not be perfect, if you put in the time to communicate and work through those problems, because every relationship will have issues. But what makes it healthy isn’t the absence of issues, it’s how both parties handle them together.

         Plus, Lumity still struggles with conflict, albeit together, both of them facing another problem; There’s stuff more lighthearted like Any Sport in a Storm, in which we get to see Luz and Amity struggle with an issue, but they do it mutually. There’s no drama or problem between them, it’s the two tackling a separate thing together and we get to see them interact and have fun with no concerns about their relationship. There’s still conflict and there’s still Lumity, but we see how they actually function as a duo together in synergy, how they approach outside things as a unit, without the dynamic itself at stake, just a shared objective. The conflict isn’t between Lumity, it’s Lumity VS Something Else.

         Then we have Clouds on the Horizon, which is Lumity coming together, to fight against Odalia and her control, her abuse and disapproval; It’s only Luz and Amity’s love for each other prevailing, no doubt about their standing with one another, against an outside force, Odalia. Dana said she and the writers intended Lumity to act as a sweet counterbalance to a lot of the angsty struggle, and indeed it provides some light-hearted relief seeing the two just get along and be happy together! But they still manage to balance and spice it up with some conflict sometimes, without jeopardizing the relationship because it’s not contrived conflict either.

         It’s Lumity against an outside force, or it’s Luz and Amity navigating being in a relationship, while being both relatively mature and understanding about it, AND allowing room for insecurities for them to feel and work through. Their relationship doesn’t feel more precarious or toxic because of the problems, it ends up feeling MORE healthy because Luz and Amity take the time to acknowledge and work on them (unlike Raeda, who are messy in their own compelling way).

         And we still do have Luz genuinely mess up (such as her and Amity’s separate conflict with Kikimora that episode), she gets to be a flawed individual who makes mistakes, but it’s not out of a macho disregard or apathy for her girlfriend; Likewise, instead of expecting Amity to settle as the unconditionally supporting, demure GF, the narrative does make a point to Luz that she has some responsibility to let Amity in, and that Amity can only take so much of it, and she’d be right to set those lines for Luz to cross! 

        There is conflict between Luz going off and being a hero, getting into trouble, and Amity having to back her up; But it’s a conflict that takes the side of Amity and others who played that role, which is refreshing to see. They both take care of each other, which I’ve already discussed how Amity does, but don’t forget Luz did it plenty in S1, then in Eclipse Lake, especially Clouds on the Horizon where she plays a role of support to Amity going out and getting into trouble, enables her GF to be the one up to mischief! It’s really neat, is all.

        There’s conflict in getting Lumity together, but for all the buildup of coming together in a relationship, we also get to see them navigate being together as the second half of their storyline, rather than the ending. So it’s the reward of Will They or Won’t They culminating in They Do, coupled with the narrative of them AS a relationship, not just becoming one, both ends of the spectrum. Wonderful balance. 

[idolish7imagines]

Hello! I hope it's okay to request how TRIGGER would show their jealousy for a S/O who's friendly and caring to everyone? Thank you in advance!

TRIGGER would show their jealousy for a S/O who's friendly and caring to everyone

A/N: Sorry this took so long! I hope you enjoy it!

.::.

Gaku Yaotome

Gaku takes great pride in you being his s/o, practically everyone's darling around the company of both his coworkers, staff and friends

everyone except his sometimes, apparently.

He's 100% for you to be independent and having strong relationships with others, being dependable and all that. But he can tend to get...possessive for lack of a better term.

He knows he's special to you, thats something in which his confidence would never wain, but he does need his alone, quality time with you. It helps him recharge especially after a long day.

As much as he loves that you're always present and there for both his and your own friends, he's still not above blurting out his needs that you should take a break from tending to everyone else and do something chill with him, like watching a movie or going for a drive.

His schedule was already hectic in certain seasons, so quality time is important to him as it is

It doesn't happen too quick at least, he'll give at least a 2 week grace period before his arms wrap around you from behind and he practically begs you to not leave and go do something besides being at his side.

With that said, its pretty easy to recognize when he's jealous.

Even if he's on good terms with the person, there's a painfully particular frown he gives when you're talking to them and he's been left out while standing by.

One thats easy for people that aren't you to spot as well, which has led to much more teasing than he'd be willing to admit.

Though the good part is that after his bouts of jealousy he feels the need to make up for lost time by taking you to an expensive dinner to remind the both of you how exclusive your relationship is

Kujo Tenn

Tenn is conflicted

He once had an impulsive thought to take you out more, but all his ideas would greatly interfere with his schedule, at least the ones that he feels would be enough to consider quality time

Sometmes he feels like you belong to everyone and not just him; which isn't necassarily bad, in fact he can relate, always trying to please his fans over his own needs and wants

The fact you're so kind is part of why he fell for you. Even when he had his moments where other people would consider him cold, you were always nice and understanding towards him

But that doesn't mean he won't pout like an annoyed cat when he sees you mingling at small parties and even with his other group members while leaving him in the background practically.

At times he's even petty enough to excuse himself from the room while pretending he has something better to do (though he usually comes back at realizing he's being a tad childish)

Once you notice he's jealous he'll ignore you a bit as 'punishment' but all you have to do is pet his head or let him rest it on your lap and its like he's reset and all is forgiven

He won't go as far as wanting to have you cut contact with the person at least not verbally but you can tell when he'd prefer to have your attention more

Alternatively you can buy him sweets and he'll be a little more content

but he definitely wants to go on some kind of date with you. Maybe two for good measure. Of just you and him, whether its something a bit more outside like going to the amusment park or just spending the day in each other's presence without taking any other calls (unless its for work)

Tsunashi Ryunosuke

Ryunosuke is not a jealous man. He trusts his s/o 100% (which would be a catastrophe if his judgement of character wasn't astute before dating someone)

Though it'd be a lie to say he didn't still go through his bouts of loneliness when its been a while since he's seen his fellow group members or even you due to his schedule. He wants to be happier when you tell him about the other things you've done, but ends up having a bittersweet taste in his mouth after hearing it.

It moreso makes him feel bad that he can't control his emotions getting the better of him, rather than directing it towards you.

And so, after realization, Ryuu figures the best way to cure it is to try and catch you the next time the both of you have enough free time to make your relationship feel special again. Easier said than done though.

Unlike Gaku, he wouldn't ask for much in terms of spending time with you alone. Just a night spent at either of your homes, making dinner or even ordering in and watching something and talking.

Weirdly enough, his other friends notice faster than you his feelings about the matter. He still looks at you fondly when you aren't looking back, but its different.

After a few attempts at denying when being asked about it, he'd finally admit that he'd been missing you

Even if the person he's jealous of is in vicinity when they hear that its pretty hard to be upset with him when he puts on such a genuinely somber face

Ryuu tries not to make a big deal out of it, assuring that he's fine with whatever you choose to do with your time

(which, obviously you'd spend more time with him)

[thequietkid-moonie]

I just thought of this right now but how about a Yandere Violet Evergarden

Whose darling (who is a secret spy for a secret pro war organization) being aware of Violet’s feelings and using it against her to manipulate them

And how she would react to finding out about her darling being a spy. Will she be mad? Would she not care? It’s up to you.

(Also sorry for all the Violet Evergarden asks I just love her and the series so much)

Loving a spy from the other side

[ YANDERE, ONE-SHOT ] [ Violet Evergarden ]

Its fineeee ~ I absolutely love your ideas! Besides, Violet Evergarden is a beautiful story with a beautiful prota, I'll be more than happy to write mor for her <3

I wrote it in the time where she was still a soldier because i thought that way it would be more interesting

Honestly, getting closer to Violet was a really smart move, she has being the most stronge and diligent soldier from the start, and not only that but she is also quite close to the major and his soft spot, so getting her to your side could be quite helpful. However, it wasn't an easy task, Violet barely answer to anyone that it isn't the major

A key for a spy is to not attracting too much attention, being an infiltrator means having to act and become one of them, so you slowly did that, working perfectly in the role you are playing, sharing laughs and sorrow with your comrades and innocently trying to include that poor child that is mostly seen as a weapon for others

Acting innocent as a simple curious soldier, asking your comrades about her and laughing at their silly jokes about her being the dog of the major, getting to know as much as you can and making a plan before slowly getting closer to her, being kind and treating her as an equal, even more, as a human

Honestly, the character you put and the efforts were slowly start to pay off as the major slowly start to trust you a little more when seeing your humility and kindness towards Violet, scolding you for being too soft but showing a clear trust, while for Violet, she was starting to feel something she has never felt before, only the major has ever treat her with this kindness, but with you is diferent, maybe you were acting a little to much to try to force her to look at you, but at the end it worked since Violet now can't take her eyes away from you

She doesn't understand how or even why, but Violet can't help but want to see more of you, your kind smile or you attempts to make small chat with her, praising her skills but also making sure she wasn't injured after the battles, it was all new for her and it was making her feel like anything else before, nor even the trauma of the war had affected her this much, maybe it was because, deep down you were what was making all she have endure worth it

Soon you started to see why Violet was treated like a simple weapon, since now it was you who she started following around without saying anything, everytime she has free time she imediatly goes searching for you, whenever you have to do the patroling she join you or whenever you are together in the squadron she tries to be close to you or at least keep an eye on you, just in case you need her help

It is her clinginess and her own silent step what end up making her find you sneaking around the important things of the major, looking throught the secret information, and yet her trust is still on you, she doesn't understand why but she feels like she can put her life in your hands, she can life and die for you, and it isn't dificult to notice when even when she had just discovered you she still look at you with those innocent and trusting eyes

This is a war, people do bad things to be able to win this battle, and you couldn't care much about morality in this moment, who will tell you that manipulate an innocent child into your little job would be wrong? her? your boss? No one, besides, if you win maybe you can win her forgiveness by offering her a good life, since she seem too eager to be with you and be useful for you then probably she wouldn't mind helping you a little

In all honesty, Violet didn't know what to think or how to react, but at this point she is too infatued to say no, even when she is not sure about all of this the moment you smile at her, pleading for her to keep the secret and asking her for help, saying that this would be something just between you and her, Violet will not be able to say no, not when this feels bigger than anything else, more important than herself, not when her burning feelings scream at her from the bottom of her heart that no matter what, she has to follow you because you are the only right thing in her life now

Thats how Violet happily start helping you, doing all you ask her to, it doesn't matter if she is betraying the person who had saved her as long as you keep smiling at her the same way, as long as she is useful for you nothing else matter

[fiomeras]

I think people underestimate how badly grief can warp someone's psyche and change them fundamentally as a person without proper care. I think people put too much of grief being tied to family members as an easy way out to make a guy more worth the sympathy without having to do the work of making people care about those characters on the notion that blood is always going to be more meaningful than friends regardless of the nature of the relationship. I think about how incredibly ingrained traditional values in people are that even if you're queer you still retain some of the prejudices and ideals that your oppressors taught you that you dont even notice it at times and you have to consciously give in the effort to unlearn it. I think people automatically assume that a nuclear family, kids, one character who plays the "woman" ( overly feminized overly caring the mother of the relationship ) and a "father" ( the protector the harsh one ) is a guaranteed happy means to an end even if it goes against the personhood of the people in the relationship as if that to have a happy ending they have to settle down and immediately lose what semblance of themselves to fill traditional roles reminiscent of 50s ideals of family that breeds abuse and prioritizes reproduction above all else. I think people see and understand this and try to just flip the roles to remedy this failing but ultimately do not do anything because the dynamic still remains the same. I think its an extreme uphill battle and nobody is exempt from making mistakes such as this. I think from just how much of it is around us it cannot be avoided and will happen time to time but it does not mean ignorance cannot harm as much as conscious hate does as it has been proven to be weaponized countless times against people less fortunate and under powers that they cant fight back from. I think im going crazy and i rhink need to go to the hospital.

[yanderes-galore]

Transformers Prime Yandere! Ratchet concept?????

Sure! I love Ratchet :) This is me spilling my thoughts on various things more than an actual plot. I just hope I nailed his character since I like him so much- Probably could've made this longer but was unsure how/what to add.

@trashysimpaa gave me inspiration for how to do this here!

Yandere! TFP! Ratchet Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Denial of feelings, Cybertronian/Human and Cybertronian/Cybertronian pairing mentioned, Stalking, Overprotective behavior, Trackers, Manipulation, Isolation, Kidnapping, Violence, Forced companionship, Brief mentions of jealousy, Vague implications of murder, Drugging.

Ratchet is definitely the type of yandere to act different depending on what you are.

When it comes to an Autobot darling he'd be more comfortable to feel fond towards them as they're Cybertronian and an Autobot.

When it comes to a human he'd take time to get used to you before considering anything.

Ratchet hasn't always been the biggest human person until he spent more time on Earth.

He'll come around eventually.

When it comes to a Decepticon! darling you'd get something similar to angst and enemies to (one-sided) lovers/friends.

It would depend on how loyal you are to Megatron and if you're even capable of change.

He can't shake the fact he cares for you despite your beliefs.

Ratchet is a slow yandere in terms of obsession.

He's slow to care for anyone new due to being older.

He's lost so much he doesn't like getting attached.

Although when it comes to you he can't help but worry.

Ratchet would definitely be a yandere who is in denial of how he feels.

No matter how he sees you it happens.

Yet the strongest cases of this would be romantic feelings towards a human or any sort of feelings towards a Decepticon.

Ratchet would be the type to try and ignore how he feels.

Like most Autobots Ratchet is protective of you and his mind often drifts to your safety.

Be it missions or every day life, the fact the world is so dangerous is a truth that sticks in his mind.

Can't really blame him since he's bee through war-

It happens when you lose everyone you love... including your entire home.

Ratchet would try to be subtle with his care towards you.

All Autobots tend to have trackers to see their vitals and location, Ratchet can check it at the base.

Soothing his concerns and checking where you are is easy when you're an Autobot.

Even though he'd prefer you staying at base with him.

Decepticons probably have something similar.

With a hack or two he could probably track you if he really looked into it.

When it comes to a human things are harder.

He can't track you as easily as a Cybertronian.

Which means Ratchet either sneaks to your house in vehicle mode... or sneaks a tracker onto/into you somehow.

It seems very invasive but he tells himself it's for your own good.

In fact that's his driving factor most of the time in his obsession.

Ratchet feels his main responsibility is to keep those he cares about alive.

He doesn't care if that means invading your privacy or locking you away from the world.

Speaking of which, kidnapping could happen with Ratchet but it's uncommon with him.

When it comes to an Autobot darling he could convince you to stay out of missions but even that has its limits.

He wouldn't really kidnap an Autobot.

A human or Decepticon? Most likely.

Kidnapping a human darling would be him convincing you to stay at the base.

It's all for your safety, just for a few hours...

Hours turn to days...

Days to weeks...

Perhaps even months.

He just doesn't let you go.

A Decepticon! darling would be taken in under the guise of prisoner.

In reality it's a way Ratchet can be close to you without much issue.

Ratchet can be seen as either a platonic or romantic yandere for any partner.

He works really well for both roles and would still do just about anything for his darling.

Ratchet may be a medic, one meant to heal... but he is definitely capable of violence.

He can fight and hold his own, he'd be even more willing to do it if it was for his darling.

It doesn't matter how much Energon must be spilled...

As long as he has you he's the happiest he could be.

Ratchet is definitely one to act like he knows more than you.

If you're having arguments he claims he knows so much more than you, that he knows how to take care of you better than yourself.

It's frustrating for the both of you.

Ratchet is stubborn and will not change his mind on things.

If he decides isolation will keep you safe, that's final.

End of story.

That's his form of manipulation.

He won't really make you feel bad, he'll essentially parent you until you comply.

Fighting him is a losing battle.

I can see Ratchet getting jealous at times.

He isn't very vocal about it so he silently thinks on it.

You can tell there's an edge in his voice and he makes small comments on it but he won't kill anyone.

Ratchet isn't the most affectionate Autobot but he'll try.

It's actually a bit funny (and creepy) to hear him grumble about it.

[Edit] I forgot to mention this awhile ago but Ratchet, along with characters like Knock Out and maybe Pharma, would drug his darling.

If you're Cybertronian he bumps up some anesthesia.

If you're human he does research on what drugs affect the human body and how.

He'll give you just enough to make you compliant, he knows exactly how to make you docile.

If he's romantic then he'd try to kiss his darling, often trying to be as gentle as possible.

Especially if you're human.

If he's platonic he's much more like a guardian or parent.

He gives words of encouragement and tries to take care of you.

Overall I believe Ratchet is one of the more stubborn and slower yanderes.

It takes him time to accept the fondness he holds towards you...

Once he does then he doesn't plan on letting you or those feelings go, no matter how hard you try to change his mind.

[whole-circus]

Hello!! May I please ask for something along the lines of… Like, several creepypasta characters (like EJ, Toby, etc-) with a gender neutral s/o who usually covers their body head to toe, like, not even leaving a piece of their skin out in the open, maybe mostly due to some deep seeded insecurities,, or they got some bodily deformities,,, or both— But they let their creep see them without all the clothing after maybe like a month or two of being in a relationship???

(You don’t have to do this one of course, I just really like your writing, I also hope you have a nice day/night!!!)

Creepypastas x gn.reader that covers their body!

➥ with Jeff the Killer, Homicidal Liu, "Ticci" Toby, Eyeless Jack, Ben Drowned, Laughing Jack

Hi hello love! Sorry you waited a lot! :(

.•┈••✦ 🖤 ✦••┈•.

☆ Jeff the Killer

Oh? S/O? Is that really you? Jeff is pretty suprised - but he doesnt complain! Im pretty sure he would try to get you uncover yourself earlier because he is stupid and a meanie. But when you done that yourself? He is relieved, he would be scared that you are maybe afraid of him? Maybe he did something wrong..? Like lets be real, he is a serial killer, he wouldnt blame you. Ofc he would never say that out loud. But when he sees your body, he doesn't feel any diffrent about you - no matter what you were hiding. If you were insecure then he would be way nicer to you, showering you in kisses..maybe even more close activities..because he loves you for you.

☆ Homicidal Liu

Doesn't mind that you cover your body a lot, and doesn't really mind when you showed him - dont get me wrong, he loves that you feel comfortable and trust him that much, but he never wanted to push you. Also! Even if he finds you really attractive, then he is is in relationship with your for your amazing personality. But when he sees you? Man, I mean he doesn't complain. You are still the prettiest person he has ever seen! No matter what were you hiding - if it was just some insecurities or deformation! He would place kissess all over your body and complement you even more often (is that even possible??).

☆ 'Ticci' Toby

Curious boy!! There is a high chance that he actually aksed you about it..or! He didnt even noticed, he just..dunno, were with you and didnt thought about it. Why are you always so covered head to toes? Are you a spy? Maybe a magic creature? What are you hiding silly..? If you finally show your body and explain, he will be even more in love! Like you are such a dummy, he loves you anyway - no matter if you actually were hiding something like deformation, or if you were insecure. He would kiss all your bad thoughts away! I totally see Toby saying all this lovey-dovey stuff, he would be your number one supporter!

☆ Eyeless Jack

He noticed the way you always dress in a lot of clothes, no matter the weather..or how you try not too look into mirror whenever you pass them. Jack sense that something is wrong, and that you hiding something. He propably thought that its all becasue of him - are you scared? Disgusted? Maybe you didn't feel safe with him? The situation were killing you both, so he was so relieved when you told him the reason! Jack is a grown ass men, and no matter what were you hiding, he doesnt care. Like come on, he is literally a demon, there is no way you could scare him away! He would be even more clingy to you, caring about your well being and always put you first.

☆ Ben Drowned

Ben can be a huge tease about how you dress, he would make a lot of this sex related jokes, so it wasnt easy to you. No worries, he loves you a lot, you are his bestfriend and partner..but he was wondering what is wrong. At first he thought that its just your style (he doesn't judge, he is a ghost himself!!), but you were always covering your body so he got more suspicious. But when he finally sees your body? When you finally tell him what was wrong? He was glad you cared so much about him, that you were so trusting. He wouldn't make a big deal out of it - like oh, you look pretty..now wanna play with him? Ben made you place already..(this place is definitely his arms tho!)

☆ Laughing Jack

Jack is really touchy, he just clings to you like koala and its hard to make him stop. So its pretty obvious that he noticed how you were a bit distant sometimes, always making excuses and stuff. He was pretty miserable because of that, you are his S\O ..he wants you to feel safe and comfortable around him.. So he start asking a lot of questions, most of them were pretty random, druing normal conversations. But he waited..and it was totally worth it - he immediately hugs you and give you a lot of kisses! He would spend hours and hours praising and worshipping you..no worries, he has all the time in the world!

.•┈••✦ 🖤 ✦••┈•.

[redux-iterum]

man. i really do love the way you’ve handled tigerclaw— he’s still a bastard, but he’s a bastard who GENUINELY thinks he’s doing right by his clan, his family. the shift in motivation from “i want to conquer the whole forest as a tyrannical dictator” to “i want to isolate thunderclan from its neighbors so it can be restored to it’s former glory and flourish” is WAY more impactful, imo. i also think there’s something to be said about how he’s (maybe) willing to exempt fireheart— whose entire character has been about BUILDING bridges between thunderclan and the rest of the forest— from his hitlist and make a hypocrite of himself because he and goldenflower have a fondness for him. i choose to believe that tigerclaw is still proud of the way fireheart stands up for what he believes in, even if it is conflicting with his own goals.

tldr; loving the direction of this so far. thank you guys for all your hard work!! looking forward to my heart continually being broken in the future <3

Figured answering these two together would be ideal.

It’s excellent to hear the enthusiasm and kind words, thank you! I’ve been stowing away this discussion about Tigerclaw and Fireheart for a while, and now I get to blather!

People have brought up that Tigerclaw choosing not to hurt Fireheart is unusual, since Fireheart’s the one that’s soft to outsiders and has been on track to softening the entire Clan as well, and Tigerclaw is against that. The reason for this requires a bit of a tangent.

Tigerclaw initially was a bit emotionally distant with all his Clanmates, save Goldenflower (for the most part). Not in the sense of “I don’t care about any of you”, but more like “I care about you, but I’m not so attached that I can’t kill you to save everyone else”. He’s had the thought in his mind for years that he could be a better leader than the one everyone already loves, that these cats had impaired judgement and couldn’t do what needs to be done, that he didn’t want to commit to having a family because that could get in the way of his silent and righteous crusade. He cared for his Clanmates, but his heart was careful not to get too close to anyone, even, to a very small extent, Goldenflower. What if he needed to put her out of the way too?

And then Fireheart happened.

Initially, Tigerclaw didn’t care about him. It’s some kittypet who has a tiny bit of potential. Big whoop. He was under the category of “to be Handled if he gets too uppity and does the wrong thing”, and Tigerclaw expected he’d stay there forever. That was fine and easy, even if Goldenflower got attached to him. He could kill Lionface if he needed to, why would he be unable to take out a shrimpy outsider just because his mate likes him?

The thing is, Fireheart’s got this annoying little talent of drawing out people’s kindness and affection without even trying. We’ve seen his own gentle, broad love for everyone around him, even those he just met and knows nothing about beyond them needing help from a stranger. He is overflowing goodness and fondness and empathy in a somewhat compact ginger body, and you can’t break that or scare that out of him. And somehow, with that infallible bravery to keep being kind and polite, he manages to worm his way into the core of another cat and soothingly convince them, even unconsciously, to offer a nice word to someone they don’t like, or maybe ask a Clanmate if they’re doing okay when they think they don’t care, or even just blink trustingly to calm a frightened and starving outsider they should be chasing away. It’s difficult to catch him doing it, but as we’ll see in the rest of the series, it’s a gradual, unstoppable infection.

This talent is what made everyone (well, except for Darkstripe, but he doesn’t like anybody) so fond of him, even if they preemptively think he’s just a dumb kittypet who needs to toughen up. Frostfur is a good example: she went from apathy and disdain to offering him silent support when he brought Cloudkit home and actively partaking in conversation with him when he approached her, just over the course of this book. All he had to do was, like I said, be kind and polite, and he gradually broke down even her walls. Charred Legacy, the next book, will go more into this, so I’ll save the details for now, but my point is that Fireheart is really damn good at making his Clanmates and friends care about him and others.

How troubling (and mildly amusing) it was to Tigerclaw to find that he wasn’t exempt from this. And how amazed he was to find that coming to care for this little outsider his mate was eager to adopt opened up a whole new world for him. Maybe having kits wasn’t so bad. Maybe he could be a father and still do what he needed to do, and maybe his family didn’t need to get hurt in the process. Maybe Goldenflower was more precious to him than he realized, and maybe Fireheart was someone he could see as a son, and be proud to do so.

What Tigerclaw failed to account for is that attachment complicates things. You might have to kill someone – but no, now you come up with excuses not to. They’re just misguided, you can fix them with a couple conversations. You don’t have to take them out. They’re your family! And your family is important! Surely you can let them live, just these particular cats. You can change their minds. They’ll understand and appreciate your goal in time. It’ll be just fine, you know it.

And so it went, deeper and deeper, until his twisted mind was able to justify not hurting Fireheart ever, solely because he’s his son, and his son deserves to live no matter what. In the same way he thought of his more “dangerous” Clanmates as a liability even if they didn’t really do anything wrong, he thought of his mate and son as essential to ThunderClan, even if they went against his ideals.

He never did see the hypocrisy in that. And even to the end, he never even dreamed of hurting Fireheart.

That’s his son, you know?

[roses-dreams-andthorns]

Hello! Can I request a reader that has the same power as Chuuya from BSD? (Gravity manipulation) with the first years. If there is a character limit you can kick off anyone you want.

Thank you and have an amazing rest of your day/night!

Hiyaaaa!! and you have a good day/night too!! Trey really liked this idea, so, lets goooo!! I'm gonna add some of Chuuya's other abilites too (Enhanced Speed, durability, strength and reflexes) (Also, Trey hasn't watched BSD yet, so please forgive me if it isn't acurate-)

Ace

Gravokinesis is probably a hard type of magic to learn, (since no one in Twisted Wonderland seems to use it, let alone mention anything about gravity magic-) so when he sees you just ever so casually magically lift up some huge rock that was in your way, or tear a piece out of ground he sits there like "How the hell?" and will remain that way for the rest of the day. He does find it cool though, but knowing Ace, he's not gonna admit that. Someone's in your way? pull a huge rock over and smash em'. Someone's annoying you? Bring in the rocks and crush em'. that's basically what you do... or you would do, if it wasn't against the school rules to crush people with rocks... He also finds your magic quite useful too, you can get him out of sitcky situations he probably caused by making him float mid air and dragging him somewhere Riddle can't get to him, and he pays you well when you do it, so its a win-win for the both of you. There are sometimes, though, he just wants to feel like he's flying without a broom.

"Hey, Reader! Lift me up!" he demaned, eyes sparkling with excitement, but still trying to keep his cool exterior.

"Hm? you wanna fly, I assume? Well.... I suppose it wouldn't hurt... just don't do anything stupid." you lecture, Ace giggles, replying with, "I know, I know!"

You cast your magic, making Ace float mid air, he smiles brightly, like hes having the time of his life.

Deuce

My sweet boy... he'd find it so cool, and asks you if theres any way you can teach him. He loves it when you use your magic on him to make him float, he feels like a bird everytime and something in him flutters like he swallowed a swarm of butterflies. You've also used it a few times to protect him, resurecting bits of the ground to throw off the path of a bunch of idiots that dared put Deuce in harms way.

"Deuce, get back!" you yelled, stepping between him and the delingquents were persuing him, using your gravokinesis, you threw off their path, and lead Deuce safely to the infirmary.

"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful, Deuce..." you lecture as you patched his injuried arm.

"I'm sorry... are you mad?" He asks.

"What kind of ridiculous question is that? of course I'm not. I just don't like seeing you get hurt." you assure him, as you sigh.

Epel

he thinks you're pretty manly, being able to do all these stunts and tricks with gravity... If only he could do that... Your gravity, plus your enhanced speed and reflexes make it super easy for you to do these really complex looking combo moves, if I went into detail on them, this would probably exceed tumblrs word limit...

"Oi! Reader! Teach me how to do that gravity stuff! I wanna do all the cool, manly tricks you do!" Epel demands confidently, giving you his signature smirk.

"Hm... fine. But..... I expect you to listen when I teach you, take notes, study it, and practice it, otherwise, I'll quit teaching you."

Jack

When he first witnessed your gravokinesis was probably during the magift tournament, when you partnered with Heartslabyul. You speed was greater than anyone else's on the field, you had greater durability and stamina, and your reflexes were so fast, hardly anyone could see when you caught and tossed the disk, you got Heartslabyul quite a few goals with that.

"Reader, mind if I asked... how did you get your gravity magic?" Jack asks you curiously.

"I was born with it, I suppose..." you respond, you honestly didn't remember how you got it.... so you assumed it was something you were born with.

"Is... there a way you could teach me? It could be useful for my workouts..." he comments

"Yeah, I can teach you, I guess, Just pay close attention, okay?"

Sebek

Though he will not ever dare admit it, he finds it cool and awesome, but of course, his mindset is just "WAKA-SAMA IS SUPERIOR" so he takes your gravokinesis as a threat to WAKA-SAMA's power, thinking how easily you could take WAKA-SAMA's throne. (Yes it is now a requirement for Trey to write WAKA-SAMA in all caps)

"HUMAN! I demand you explain your power at once!" He yells, almost breaking your eardrums

"Ouch! Chill, Sebek! All I can do is maniplulate gravity! is there any further explanation needed?" you yell back.

"YES! I require you to describe to me the innerworkings of your power!" he demands, acting like its a threat, when in reality he just wants to learn it so he can impress WAKA-SAMA!

[dateamonster]

webcomics*! webcomics baby!!! i grew up reading these bad boys like they were the sunday funnies. im serious i would get up early in so i could check my daily roster of webcomic updates before leaving for school.

webcomics sort of feel to me like my generations version of zines. not that both those things arent still around, i just mean that, in the same way that there was this big boom of super creative zine self-publishing in the 70s through the 90s thanks to the increasing access to copy machines, and later home printing, the early 00s-10s was sort of the moment people seemed to collectively realize they could kind of just upload whatever they wanted to the internet and people would actually see it, leading naturally to another boom in indie art and storytelling.

a lot of the comics that popped up around this time were sort of... rough. raw. weird. there were no rules about what a webcomic had to be other than 1) a comic and 2) on the web, so there was some freedom to be as messy or as precise as the author wanted. this led to some real bangers, and some absolute flops. but regardless of how it turned out i think theres something to be admired about the sheer amount of creativity going into these projects that, for the most part, were purely passion-driven without any guarantee of greater recognition or success.

obviously webcomics are still around, but the culture surrounding them has shifted quite a bit. most people who are willing to put in the work of a longform serialized comic In This Economy are also doing so with the hope of being able to profit or at least sustain themselves financially on their work. theres no shame in that! but it has made the webcomic scene more competitive, more polished, less experimental. capitalism at work, you know.

people arent really as incentivized to try new things and dare i say get a little weird with it when innovation doesnt pay the pills. however that doesnt mean that there arent still artists out there who are challenging that.

i got the idea a while ago that i wanted to put together a list of webcomics that have been really influential to me and my own creative efforts, but i realized that list would be a mile long and wouldnt really give me the breathing room to talk about why those works resonate with me. so i decided instead to make a list specifically of my (currently) most beloved, most influential webcomics that i feel like are doing something unique that sort of pushes the boundaries of what is considered a "normal" comic.

presented in no particular order, with all attempts made to be spoiler-free, below:

nasty red dogs and feast for a king by kosmicdream (18+)

delicious, dark, meaty comics. ffak in particular is like this massive sprawling scifi stream of consciousness thick with blood and viscera and. a lot of highly transsexual erotic cannibalism tbqh.

personally i find nasty red dogs a lot more like easy to get into story-wise, but both are just chockablock full of this beautiful grotesque unapologetic and downright indulgent physicality. its pages dripping with every fluid you can think of and some you cant, and its also compelling surprisingly empathetic characters set against a backdrop of otherworldly rituals, cosmic pre-apocolypses, and worlds inside of worlds inside of worlds. body horror heaven lives here.

mr boop and crimehot by alec robbins (very 18+)

if youre at all into weird webcomics youre probably already well familiar with mr boop, and if you arent theres really nothing i can say other than Please give it a shot, but if you havent been keeping up with alecs work since then you might not be as familiar with his current project crimehot. and thats a damn shame because it is all the comedy, unabashed horniness, and surprisingly understated storytelling of mr boop taken to its absolute max.

crimehot is set in a future where nearly every aspect of human life and culture is controlled by an all-powerful all-seeing computer algorithm. but who cares about all that when theres a ragtag team of ultra sexy ultra horny master thieves going on wacky little misadventures together!

alecs style is blunt and simplistic in a way that comes off as juvenile at first glance, and then uses that presumption to completely blindside you with its actual content, reminding me weirdly enough of memeable classic tails gets trolled. in spite of their potential as works of ironic comedy however alecs comics really give me this impression of total earnestness. crimehot in particular is so blatantly un-erotic, with its complete lack of any subtlety, comically exaggerated (and surprisingly diagetic) anatomy, and impossible physical positions, that it circles back around into becoming, indeed, kind of hot. i think silliness can be hot so sue me!

blind alley by adam de souza

departing completely from my last couple recs, blind alley is a cozy, peanuts-inspired comic strip about the day to day lives of the children of blind alley. its also occasionally a deeply unsettling horror-mystery that has just barely begun to show its hand more than two years in. its distinguishing factor to me comes from the fact that the cozy exterior doesnt seem to be there to conceal or divert your attention away from the growing sense of unease that infiltrates its panels on an increasingly frequent basis as the story progresses. it feels more like the two elements live side by side, horror and mundanity, otherworldly creatures and secret conspiracies living peacefully alongside lazy summer afternoons and goofing off with your friends. it perfectly captures the anxiety of knowing that theres something the grown-ups arent telling you, the powerlessness of being a kid.

blind alley feels to me sort of like if those "what if Nostalgic Cartoon was secretly DARK" media theories were actually real, and actually scary. i might be getting ahead of myself as the series likes to take its time and is really only just starting to peel back the layers, but what ive read so far feels makes me feel like this could be something very special.

boy island by leo fox

beautiful beautiful beautiful first of all. the dreamy, surreal visuals? the colors?? oujhjh.. boy island is set in a world split violently in two, divided into boy island and girl island, and surrounded on all sides by a sea of monsters mutants and ghosts, those sorry souls who committed the trespass of trying to cross from one land to the other, or even live outside of either! a boy named lucille must strike out on his own to make it to boy island, but in doing so begins to discover things about the world and in fact himself that reveal an even greater mission.

im making this all sound very dramatic. its a trans story. its about trans people, being trans. its also about surviving the ripples of a world laid out for you by your parents, managing grief for the ones that didnt, and a funny little blue guy named jounce. also did i mention its gorgeous? hot fuckin diggity it is gooorgeous.

vivians ghost by hal schrieve (18+)

speaking of trans comics!! (plot twist: theyre all trans comics suckerrrr) look, all of hals comics are fucking baller and im sure the book zes got coming out will be too, but ive like Imprinted on this one. its attached itself my brain. much like the main protagonist collin has been attached to by his suicide victim best friend and ex highschool bf viv!

the sketchy art style threw me off at first but it quickly becomes part of the charm and meshes very well with the chaotic pace and gutpunch emotional moments. theres a strong element of magical realism that i honestly think comics as a medium were made for. viv is a ghost, and viv is grief, and guilt, and fantasy, and shame, and glorious trans revenge taken form, and hes not even the only apparition in this story, taking the stage alongside cameos by jesus christ, a detransitioners fursona, almanda palmer, and (checks notes) gonzo for a second there i think.

as a disclaimer (or incentive, depending) no one in this story i think is someone you could really call a good person. some of them are in fact plainly terrible. they are all so undeniably fucking fascinating though. and viv himself gleefully inhabits that moral gray area, deliberately and loudly disturbing any image of himself as a pure perfect victim, blurring lines and thrusting both the characters and audience out of their comfort zone. its a challenging read thats not going to be everyone for sure, but i definitely think its worth the read.

(and if this sounds interesting to you but youre not sure you can handle it, hal has other equally good comics that are still heavy on the trans gay relationship drama but much lighter on the childhood trauma.)

what happens next by maximumgraves

if youre reading this on tumblr i hope that youve at least heard of what happens next by now. thee seminal tumblrina art of our time i swear. it starts with a true crime podcast exploring the strange story of griffin and his accomplice milo, trans teen murderers, the latter of which has since been released from the psych hospital while the former continues to serve his sentence. but thats in the past, and in the present milo still has to figure out how to live the rest of his life.

the story moves rapidly, though not necessarily chronologically, in and out of the real world and the online lives its characters frequently inhabit like its guiding you through a twisted dream. its a comic on the internet about the internet from someone clearly well aware of its more poisonous aspects, as well as the addictive quality it can have for someone who has become otherwise isolated from the world.

at the end of the day though the major appeal i think is the characters, how messy and horrible and tragic they can be, which is all you can really hope for from a largely character-driven narrative. to say much more i think would ruin the experience, but ill say what happens next absolutely delivers on its ominous title, and im waiting on the edge of my seat for the next chapter.

preeny has to repeat 6th grade by momodriller

on a Much lighter note, preeny has to repeat 6th grade is a super cute adventure series about a magical little kitty named preeny who on her first day of sixth grade is called upon to go on a great mission. its a sparklefur comic!! ive been really starting to dive into furry art lately, and if youre the kind of person who raises an eyebrow at that statement, fine, whatever, but im talking to the cool people right now so keep it to yourself.

art from within the furry subculture is such insanely creative and passionate stuff, and the focus on this subset in particular, calling back to the early 2000s deviantart xD rAWR s0 rand0m era of online culture, feels so intensely nostalgic it makes my chest ache, despite never being heavily involved in the sparklefur scene myself.

the author states in the comics description that the story takes inspiration from her experiences as an autistic child, and even before reading that man i felt it. what really makes this comic unique to me though is that the majority of characters that appear are based on adoptables the author purchased off of, as she puts it, the children of deviantart. i LOVE that. not only is that probably amazing for the kids, it makes every character feel truly unique and adds perfectly to the overall flavor of the world shes created. there is just not another comic i can think of that feels alive like this one.

broccoli soup by secretpie

ok so i know how we might feel about webtoon comics but hear me out. broccoli soup is probably the first comic ive seen to really exploit the otherwise sort of bland and restrictive format of webtoons, utilizing the excess of white space to enhance the feeling of emptiness that characterizes the protagonist broccoli's time in the blank void they call home as well as to make the sparse use of color really pop in contrast.

broccoli soup is a mysterious series thats a little hard to pin down in terms of genre. a strange little being named broccoli spends their days in a vast blankness drinking tea with their loving yet highly suspicious Best Friend and benefactor, doris. doris has the ability to move between worlds, coming and going as she pleases, while broccoli is only allowed to leave when they are on a mission on her behalf. these missions vary, but the goal is always the same: make everything Polite and Good.

as the story progresses, little by little more friends and more color come into broccolis still new existence. the art style also changes from world to world, which imo is a very nice touch. and! theres music! its an interesting project that dances back and forth between fantastical whimsy and some surprisingly dark moments. and thats the shit i like to see.

thats all for now! though if im lucky there will be many more fun stories and projects to talk about in the future. keep in mind as well that this is like barely half of all the webcomics im currently reading, just the ones that most stick out to me as really doing something special.

until next time yall!!

oh wait sike honorable mentions time

awful hospital by bogleech

the only reason this isnt up there with the rest is bc im woefully behind at the moment. ill get back to it eventually! awful hospital is an interactive multimedia horror-comedy webcomic about a hospital that is. well this hospital is simply sub-par to say the least.

hedgehog's dilemma by mellodilla

this ones still a little new to say much on but so far it looks like a cute series. what most appeals to me is that the art style looks like something that fit in seamlessly with an early 90s newspaper comic strip. in particular it has a strong calvin and hobbes vibe to me. just, you know, about wacky lil lesbian animals living their lives.

ok now im done for real

*for clarity's sake, im using webcomic here to mean "a series of comics that was first published and predominantly exists online" so even if a print version exists, i still consider it to be first and foremost a webcomic. this also includes comics that contain a multimedia or interactive element. if its a combination of pictures and words to tell a story, its a comic.

also my list is probably going to end up massively favoring serialized fiction because thats just what i like to read, but i dont necessarily think thats a required element.