#thanks for asking Abyss!

[zeroducks-2]

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

💀: If you had to choose one major character to die, who would you choose?

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think?

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

Okay I spent the whole day yesterday trying to come up with an answer to this, and then realized that the "theories" out there are mostly actually headcanons? I mean I personally have a whole ass crackpot conspiracy theory about Silver Age Flash comics but I haven't seen many of those around.

So I'll go with a popular "headcanon" I disagree with (between quotation marks because lots of people act like this is canon): The whole Gotham/Bludhaven vigilante ensemble living in Wayne Manor. At no point in time this happened. These people barely speak to each other and for sure they never lived together.

💀: If you had to choose one major character to die, who would you choose?

It's DC. They don't stay dead. Even if I personally would like for Bruce to die and stay dead for a while since the character has no been squeezed like an orange until the last drop and has not much else to give to the narrative anymore - get him out of the picture for a while and let the other characters actually grow in his absence.

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think?

help my pansexual ass thinks everyone is hot

I already mentioned Harvey. I'm gonna have to say Bernard Dowd - he's the most generic looking kid I've ever seen in my life and he was way hotter when he was 6ft tall with noodle arms and a beak of a nose.

ask game here

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

oh shit i just realized i forgot to post the trans dipper essay

oh well, better late than never!

Introducing - Why Mason "Dipper" Pines is Trans and Why that Matters - an essay I spent more time on than I did my actual college project today

Mason "Dipper" Pines from Gravity Falls is trans. Trans masculine, to be specific. Do I believe this was intentional? No. Do I believe that there's a seriously convincing case to be made? Fuck yes.

So first off, he's just like me frfr, which is pretty compelling in and of itself. But that's not enough for a whole essay, so we move onto our second point - character designs. Dipper is designed like, well, like every modern-era trans man I've ever drawn who isn't goth. The shorts, the one shirt in the one color, the absolute insecurity. He even does the hunch of the back! Also, I think I heard somewhere that the vest is to make his shoulders look broader, which I'm not entirely sure is canon but I am accepting this whole-heartedly. It's such a trans move of him. He's too young (and it's summer so it's too hot) to wear a dysphoria hoodie so he picked a vest. (I say too young because dysphoria hoodies usually cover your chest and Dipper and Mabel probably haven't hit puberty.)

The second part comes directly from science. According to this article, and many others, sex in identical twins is complicated, but most identical twins will be born the same sex. There are cases where this isn't true (which might be the case for Mabel and Dipper) or they might be fraternal, which is also pretty likely. However, looking at them when they were younger (and listening to their very similar voices), it's likely they were identical and both girls. That's not to say I dislike trans Mabel - every trans woman I draw dresses like her, so I do love her being trans as well and them hitting the age of like. 10. and swapping genders is incredibly funny and adorable to me.

So, we can't reliably use the aforementioned evidence, then, can we? After all, identical twins can be different sexes, although rare, and we don't have any proof they are identical beyond their visual (and when they were younger, audible) similarities. Well, first off, I'd say that's pretty compelling evidence already. In a cartoon, especially one as detailed and beautiful-looking as Gravity Falls (the art is good and I will die on this hill), visual language makes up for a lot. And Alex Hirsh has gone on record saying that he very much wanted Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal for Dipper and Mabel respectively, to the point where he would have canceled the show if Kristen hadn't signed on, so I wholeheartedly believe every character (with the exception of Grenda and any other characters who had last minute va's picked) had their voice actors picked very specifically. I can't find whether Jason Ritter voiced younger Dipper, though, so that's a dead end.

Now, that's all well and good, but it's a lot of visual language, isn't it? Why don't we move into something more based in the writing itself?

So the first and most prominent example of Dipper being transgender is the episode Dipper vs Manliness. You know it, you probably have emotions on it, it's the episode where Dipper is trying his hardest to be a man's man. The episode was supposed to be about toxic masculinity and how to be a real man is to stick to your morals. It's a good lesson and in my opinion, holds up even in 2024. Pretty good. Does a great job of what it wants to do. Now, Dipper vs. Manliness has been dissected to hell and back already as a transgender allegory, so I'll keep this brief: the episode centers around Dipper being mocked for not being manly. While Mabel and Stan still see him as a man, albeit an effeminate one, it gets to Dipper. He proceeds to do anything to prove himself a real man. If viewed as a trans allegory, Mabel is teasing her brother and not realizing how deeply it actually hurts him (whether accidentally because she fails to realize how insecure he is over it or because she hasn't been there before, depending on how you want to headcanon it). As for Stan, I like to pretend he's supportive but regularly forgets Dipper was ever a girl, so he makes a serious slip up because of that (and/or he's regurgitating stuff said to him. That hits harder if you also headcanon trans Stan, which I am warming up to). Dipper proceeds to try and prove himself a man, crying when he takes even one more blow to his self esteem/sense of identity as a man, and eventually gets comfort from his family when they realize just how BADLY they messed him up. He is affirmed as a man and the episode ends. Everything that can be said, has been said - including that you don't have to act toxically masculine - or even masculine at all - to be a real man. Remember this part, it will be important later.

So, other trans moments for Dipper come a little sparser. Dipper vs. Manliness is the example for a good reason. But still, there's other moments. The short Voice Over from one of the short story compliation episodes is another one that's commonly referenced as a metaphor for voice dysphoria. Yes, Dipper's voice is cracking in ways common for a cis pre-teen boy his age, but the pitch and tone of his voice can also be seen as his more feminine voice peeking through. Taking the potion can be seen as taking testosterone or other hormones. Granted, this falls apart when you consider that Dipper is later discouraged from taking the potion, because that could be read as Dipper being discouraged from transitioning, but on the other side of the spectrum, it could be read as Dipper being affirmed as a real man despite his voice. From that perspective, his family prevents him from taking (possibly dangerous) homebrewed hrt. Also, the euphoria he gets when it does change his voice is just. Absolutely adorable.

Now, my favorite resource for Dipper acting trans is in the episode Headhunters. He's asking Manly Dan questions and Manly Dan calls Dipper a girl. And MAN the discomfort on Dipper's face. He immediately attempts to correct Manly Dan, but is shut down and the episode moves on. I think that for such a short moment, it does a good job of making Dipper seem trans, though. He is called a girl and feels extreme discomfort around it. He does not like being called a girl. He is not a girl. But he's not shocked or surprised or even really offended - he's resigned. He's used to being called a girl. Sure, he hates it, but he doesn't cry or scream or anything. Sounds to me like a trans man who's absurdly used to being misgendered but still hates it. That pain never goes away, but sometimes all you can do is flinch in discomfort, try to correct and move on, like the episode does.

For a (mostly humorous) video of more of Dipper acting trans, check out this video.

So I think we've made a pretty compelling point for Dipper Pines being trans masc here. Looks pretty good, yup, this is a great essay, let's wrap it up. Oh? What's that? The name of this essay?

Why Mason "Dipper" Pines is transgender and why that matters.

Well, let's dive into section two of this essay - why does Dipper being trans matter?

Someone could easily say it doesn't matter. Just fun fandom headcanons, that's it, wrap it up now. Nothing more to say. Dipper is trans and that's just a fun reading of his character.

But I don't think that's the case. I think that Dipper being trans means so much - to trans fans of the show, to fans who have never seen or spoken to trans people before, and to queer fans of Gravity Falls and similar shows. (I personally am a Steven Universe fan who really valued the representation there, so Gravity Falls and all it's queer coding means a lot to me.)

First and foremost, I'm not going to keep you in the dark as to why you're remembering my earlier point. As a recap, it was this: Dipper vs. Manliness, and by proxy, Gravity Falls as a whole, says that you don't have to be traditionally masculine to be a real man. For a show that spends a lot of time mocking a kid commonly headcanoned to be a trans man, that says a lot, and a lot of stuff I think more people need to hear.

You do not need to act like your gender to be your gender.

You do not need to present like your gender to be your gender.

You do not need to fit some rigid box that society enforces to be who you are.

If you are a man, you are a man, trans or cis, regardless of how you act. (And the same goes for women and nonbinary people! You don't have to fit a mold.)

You don't owe anyone anything.

You don't owe people masculinity. (Or femininity or androgyny for that matter.)

I think that's part of the reason Dipper vs. Manliness ages so well. Dipper reads as trans, especially to queer fans, and his story in that episode tells us that we don't have to be someone we're not for people to take us seriously as who we are. At the end of the day, the really masculine thing is staying true to you - a sentiment echoed and reversed in The Last Mabelcorn, where the most feminine thing you can do is to stay true to yourself. I can't find it right now, but I could swear that there's a That GF Fan video explaining my point a little better. The point is, there's nothing that makes you more of whatever your gender is than staying true to yourself.

Additionally, if Dipper really is trans and someone sees themself in him, that can help them explore their gender or explain it to other people. Young kids who have never interacted with trans people before can see Dipper and grow up to connect the dots - or grow up to have him crack their eggs.

I know I'm new to the fandom and I was already out before watching the show, but he really helped me explore my gender. I like dressing like him - he's very relatable, even though I'm old enough to be in college now. I see him as a very anxious, slightly paranoid trans kid, and I see a lot of myself in him. He has a lot of issues, and a lot of issues that aren't trans specific but definitely hit harder when you are trans. He makes me feel seen on a level that I never thought a cartoon character could do.

Honestly, here would be a good place to put a rant about representation in kids media - queer kids under the age of 12 exist and struggle. I liked a girl (before realizing I was trans) in fifth grade, so about 9 years old. There are kids who experiment with their gender when they're younger than that. We're here and we exist, and every single time a character in children's media is made and is prevalent, another kid is able to really see themself.

That's really the point of this section. Dipper is trans. That matters. People - mostly queer kids but people of all ages - see themselves in him. He's here and we see him as queer because it's validating. It feels so good to hear Stan affirm him at the end of Dipper vs. Manliness, because it proves that at the end of the day, you don't need to present as super masc or femme or androgynous to be who you are.

Gravity Falls, through coding Dipper as trans, sent a message:

You are seen. You are loved. You are valid.

Thank you for reading this all. Trans Dipper means a lot to me, and I love writing him and seeing him in general. I want more of him because Dipper being trans means the world to me.

I love you all. Have a wonderful day. Remember to stay true to yourself.

[mewnia]

You have nice loose shapes and fresh colors! It makes everything look lively. (If you need future Tales character suggestions, I would like to offer Sync.)

I GOTCHU YOU’RE GREAT I APPRECIATE YOU

[scarredlove]

Earlier I asked a question, but I don't thing the picture i sent you went through! (I'm new to tumblr, sorry!😅) I want to give this to you!

SPIT TAKE I THINK YOUR PICTURE HAS COME THROUGH!!

THAT'S MY BOY RIGHT THERE! SLUGGY ECLIPSE!!! He looks so sooooooffftt!! Just offering you a lovely, calm, late night swim with him~ Probably doesn't realise humans can suffer hypothermia /silly

The background is so pretty!! The water, the moonight, his expression and just how his robes fall over his body is just so gentle... And the attention to detail with his feet and claws just make me so happy <3

Thank you so so much for such a lovely surprise!! And welcome to the DCA tomfoolery! /gen

[kimeoshi]

Boss aventurine looks soo slutty in your style, I love it

Thank you!! Just doing what I must do, upholding the creed... You must all know how insane I am about him. WHO in the hoyo HQ allowed this and most importantly who accentuated his waist and gave him claws and gave him high boots, then proceeded to make his clothing skin tight..?!?_($( Looking at Ratio. It should have been me.

Anyway hopefully my brainrot has spread successfully,,, there isn't enough Aventurine of the Stratagems in this plane of existence

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

You know how girls have this sixth sense or guts feelings about a guy having ability to be dangerous person or like 'oh this person can be fucked up' . Do you think this is what happen with those 20 girls rejecting shinichiro sano? Like if it was 3-5 I can say bad luck ? But 20? I know most of the fandom say the girls are blind or shinichiro flirting skills are well bad enough making him desperate or it is him being a leader of the gang in Japan where it is seen in negative image. But c'mon universally teenage girls love a bad boy image. I don't think out of those 20 girls didn't find shinichiro sano attractive with all these qualities. I love Shin but 20 rejection in reality straight up a red flag?

20 appears as a funny hyperbole at first, and it sure was used for comedic effects but I agree Shinichiro has unsettling flaws (to say it nicely). Transposing the number '20' to real life could appear off.

Shinichiro is indeed a delinquent (and the leader of a whole gang of them, who reached Japan's number 1 spot - that's not nothing) and is seen by all the characters we know as an endearing idiot with a heart of gold. And yet no girl fell for it. Good for them, they deserve better than making the experience of being with Shinichiro. They wouldn't have known what they'd have signed up for..

Shinichiro is a red flag in himself once you see pass the 'perfect brother, perfect friend' mask. He is a 'good person' but only because his life didn't make it so he saw a point to doing 'mean things' - he's not against the idea, we know about Original Timeline. 'It's because he didn't have Mikey anymore!' I don't think one's morals should be dependent on another's well-being. (I eat that shit up everytime in fiction, and I love messed up characters, Shinichiro fits both and I love that, and i love him, but it'd be daring to say he's a good person knowing everything he did - and knowing we ignore a lot more stuffs). Sure he was a 14 y/o but he still named his gang after an irl ultranationalist organization (knowing how Japan hides and denies its past, I wonder how he knows about that), he brought his 8 y/o brother to a gang meeting when he was 18, his idea of bonding with Izana was showing him how to act like a delinquent, etc. Original Timeline makes him even more of a red flag but considering the additional factors behind his behavior at that time, it's possible to think (and whether it's right or wrong I don't know, interpretations vary and sometimes Shinichiro is very hard to grasp, I have troubles with him at times) his behavior there wouldn't ever manifest had it been not for this exact situation of losing Mikey (and what was left of his family on the way).

And yeah, Shinichiro would never be as violent, impulsive and hostile as when Mikey dies - but those things didn't stem from nowhere. There's definitively crumbs of it even when Mikey's doing well. He's got trauma he refuses to address (parents' death, parentification, ...) which.. I can see as cradle for some toxic positivity - being portrayed as perfect, good and kind until OG timeline, we only ever see him smile until he loses Mikey. And when he tries therapy it doesn't work.

One thing you can't take away from Shinichiro though, is that he's earnest, he has not an ounce of malice in him. If he deceives people (by making them believe he's perfectly imperfect) it's not intentional because he himself sees himself as the image most see him as. That's worse in some way, because he really is unaware of how harmful he can be - he's a red flag but he sincerely thinks he's good, he never purposely intends to hurt anyone. He loves to help out his loved ones and he'd probably do the same to strangers, but he also sucks at assessing their pain or any kind of repercussions in any given context (ex: treating Haruchiyo's 'slashing his friends because they badmouthed Mikey' incident lightly, abruptly disbanding Black Dragon and seemingly not doing anything for Takeomi's distress, downplaying Sanzu's scars, ...). He's an enabler, too. If a loved one were to say '[x] makes me happy!' then he'd let them to [x] even if it actually harms them - he wouldn't see how that can be wrong, since they're happy.

The fact they were so much makes me doubt of the seriousness of his feelings I have to admit. While he has a lot of love to give and is genuine in his interactions with others (unless they're twisted by denial, ie: OG timeline Shinichiro acting happy and fine), it appears as if he's just desperate to have a girlfriend - without caring who it may be. It seems very shallow, does he even know the girls? If they don't know him it'd explain a bit why they didn't accept. If we restrain those love confessions to his Black Dragon years he has confessed to five girls each year - almost one for each season, one every 2 month and a half or so on average. That's fast lol.

After that we could talk about the possible reasons why he was so eager to have someone; ranging from 'typical teen wishing to acquire relationship experience' to 'thinking he needs to provide his little siblings with a mother figure because he can only fulfill the father figure role' by way of 'needing to save the family's face after their father's cheating get spread' but.. I don't want to develop them more, and they aren't really the topic at hand here.

Another issue that could arose from a relationship is that he'd put Mikey and his family first before anything else - that's a hard true and that needs to be accepted quickly too, no girl could ever be his number one priority no matter how desperate he sounds to have one.

One may say his inability to get girls is a difference between him and Takemichi — the fact Takemichi got Hinata as a girlfriend because she fell for him, got Emma to almost sleep with him, and got Yuzuha to have a crush on him. But we're used to comparing those two silly guys and thinking they both function the same way and by so, Takemichi being an idiot but still good at heart, Shinichiro can't possibly be a red flag. It's the kind of thing the story doesn't make you instinctively overthink, I think. We have clues on how Shinichiro is as a person once we scrap the surface of TR and starts to dig, but we really have nothing about how he'd be in a relationship, how he'd act toward a significant other - and picturing him as another Takemichi is just something that the story makes us do throughout the entirety of it so it feels logical for a time to give Shinichiro the same traits.

[felixravinstills]

hi!! for the tag game can i ask about the persephone fic??

re: wip game

Of course! Persephone Fic is mostly an elderly Persephone talking to an elderly Mags on a train. It's kind of a lesson on forgiveness but probably not in the way people would expect. Also kind of explores ideas about privilege, and I am thinking about Persephone and Nero having opposite ideas about forgiveness (Persephone believing in it and Nero not believing in it even for himself), but this latter part may not feature heavily in the fic... or maybe it will if I surprise myself?

Similar to what I said for Don't Lose Your Head ask, there isn't too much going on with the concept, so not too much to say without just describing the fic beat for beat, haha!

[blackcatarts]

abyss monarch cookie! Please!

and/or white chocolate cookie!

ok i do like this one

[not-poignant]

Ive been writing fanfiction for a while (never posted them) but on a whim i posted a few pages i wrote on AO3.

its weird because now if i want an update I HAVE TO WRITE IT MYSELF (???)(it is also very freeing in a way to have control over that)(but also i have a job)(also kinda gives me brainworms bc all i can think about all day is what i am writing), and not only that but other people would like to see more and it makes my day :)

anyways, it gives me a better perspective of what it is like to be a writer online and i am very thankful for everything that you do and all the time you put in and i will continue to leave nice comments on your works. thank u 4 the stories

omg anon now you too know the feeling of 'what do you mean i have to write more, where's the rest???? wtf no one told me it was like this (it was like this tho)'

more seriously - CONGRATS - like, congrats on the writing, congrats on taking the step to put it on AO3!! That's huge. It can feel like a lot of pressure but ultimately you gotta focus on what brings you joy as much as possible. I'm so glad that other folks are enjoying it though!

Being a writer online is in all truth my favourite way to be a writer. It's not for everyone. Some people want to write books in (mostly) isolation and then publish them and then have (mostly) nothing to do with their readers. Others maybe want a bit more to do with their readers but still write in a very novelist kind of way.

I'm out here just going 'ALALDKSLJFDDSIF AHHHHH CHAPTERS GET YOUR CHAPTERSSSSSSSS' like a 9 year old newspaper boy complete with flat cap, soot smudge on my cheek, and really annoying voice to try and get people's attention, and y'know, the metaphor's weird (hey I never said I wrote good responses to asks), but it's a great old time and I love when y'all stop by the newspaper stand and read the chapters before going on with your day :D

But yeah, like, why did no one tell us we had to keep writing the chapters? Kind of rude, if you ask me

[gutfaced]

🔥Coriolanus Snow

abyssal in my inbox.... shocking news (hiiii!!!!!)

i really have nothing positive to say about snow, both within the ballad and the original trilogy. as coriolanus, and especially coryo, we see that he has so much room to do good. he owned hereditary kindness from his mother which lingered over his head. owned so many chances through his interactions with others, knowing what it looks like to be down on your luck and kicked in the side, and yet damns those he loves to the same destiny without a second glance. he is the one pulling the noose around everyone's necks, knowing that he remembers the burn of the very same rope.

he had so much hope and trust harboured by others, and set that aside for his own personal assets again and again. as president snow, he goes on to path the same fate once more — indoctrinating, selling, sentencing and harming his victors, (and overall the citizens of panem) through the ringer of a deep hell. inherited from his father was a cruelty that was seated comfortably in his being, and when given the chance to pluck that root? he allowed it to grow into a city of thorns.

[persephoneprice]

my brain is full of cobwebs, so you must excuse me rehashing something I definitely mentioned before in a fic (and also for the fact that this is sad), but I do in my head always imagine that if she survives until closer to the 74th Games that Snow kills her after whichever Hunger Games Titus (the D6 Tribute who resorts to cannibalism) is in (The Hunger Games, Ch. 10).

Even if Snow doesn't kill her, I feel like he'd make her life worse though. Perhaps, she gets isolated from society, assuming she and Festus are married, maybe Festus notably falls out of favor, ect. (I just think that Snow'd take out being reminded of uncomfortable memories out on people who also remind him of the same memories).

Anyway, I hope you have a good day even if it's busy!

omg abyssal in the ask box one of my fav sights!!

oh, oh wow. the idea of snow killing off persephone after the cannibal tribute deeply hurts. i know that seeing that- and there’s no way she did not see that- had to have affected her.

i would love to know what exactly you think led to snow killing her off! how did the cannibal tribute lead to him wanting to kill off pippa?

i can imagine a scenario where seeing titus leads to persephone having some sort of breakdown (seeing that + …everything else in her life) and that’s when snow decides she’s just too much of a liability to keep around.

or i could also see him reacting from a place of trauma and overcorrecting by killing off “all the cannibals” in the capitol as to prevent himself from having to relive the bad childhood memories.

i can absolutely see (and honestly think) at some point that persephone and festus fall out of snow’s favor. maybe there’s still enough affection there on snow’s end that he doesn’t kill festus, just makes sure he’s so far removed from elite capitol society that he can’t reach snow or do cause any harm.

of course, i can’t imagine that festus doesn’t know enough to be dangerous wherever he is- so snow may have no choice but to kill him off as a means of protecting himself.

i have the opinion that snow is affected by the trauma of his childhood into adulthood and i can see him trying to mitigate the affects of it by getting rid of the reminders of it- mainly by getting rid of the people who knew that version of him. he doesn’t want anyone around who remembered coryo- the boy who had to claw his way into remaining in elite capitol society, the boy who made the mistake of falling for a district girl, the scrappy version of himself. of course, i can also see him just feeling the need to get rid of everyone who knew about lucy gray. anyway, i’m just rambling now so i’ll shut up. sorry!

[zeroducks-2]

💛 Eobarry?

💛 reunion kiss / relief

(long post. Imagine they've been on and off allies for a while here)

Eobard is barely quick enough to catch him before he can crumple to the floor, and Barry just about collapses in his arms. Tired, he's just tired. Probably sore all over but very much alive and alert given how he grabs back onto his Reverse, albeit with his arms shaking.

And despite he just wants to check him all over and make absolutely, completely sure he's going to be okay, Eobard knows he needs to get both of them away first. He's held tight while he runs, Barry hooking an arm around his neck and gripping the front of his suit, obviously fighting not to pass out.

He wants to tell him that it's alright, that he can rest and has nothing to fear from him here and now, but refrains. No point, better just bring the other somewhere safe, and maybe even come up with some reason why he was there which doesn't sound like the truth, like he's been desperately looking for him, and make it seem more like a coincidence.

When he slows down Barry is soft and warm against him, barely awake. Eobard can feel his soft breathing in the crook of his own neck. And despite knowing that here is alright and he'll get found by some other speedster soon, Eobard has a hard time letting him go.

«You clumsy, idiot do-gooder, what did you think you were doing.» He mumbles between his teeth, holding him just a little bit tighter. He tries to come to terms with how scared he's been of finding his dead body, but his heart won't stop racing.

«Hm.» Barry turns into his neck, and maybe he's more awake than what it looks like. «I knew you would've been there.»

«What...?»

Barry holds onto him more tight and stays sort of hidden like that. «I knew you'd come.» He adds more quietly, like he didn't want to be heard. «You said you would.»

It's... true. Eobard did say that. He said "I'll come back for you" when they got forcibly separated in the heat of the battle. He did not think Flash had heard him.

«That was not meant as a permission to try and kill yourself.» He snarls, probably more viciously than intended because Barry flinches against him. «And you trusted me, just like that?!» He adds, possibly even more viciously.

Barry has managed to lift his head, and his eyes are glossy with exhaustion, the tears in his cowl showing burns, cuts and tufts of his blond hair, but he's very much alive and the relief of it is still so strong Eobard forgets what else he wanted to say.

«I'm sorry.» Barry says, their foreheads resting together like he didn't have enough strength to stay upright by himself. «I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.» He closes his eyes and a shaky hand comes up to cradle Eobard's cheek. «But I'm glad you came.»

The kiss starts slow, and Eobard doesn't manage to snuff the surprised, dry sound that climbs its way out from the pit of his chest. And just like that he's out of breath, supporting Barry's nape and caressing the lines of his face between a kiss and another, having to sit down in order to hold him properly.

«I'm glad you came.» Barry repeats, a whisper soft between them and clinging to his shoulder again. «I'm glad you're alright. I was scared... I thought you might have gotten hurt and I was too hurt too, I couldn't come get you.»

«You're being pretentious now. I'm faster and stronger than you.» Eobard reminds him, any trace of animosity gone from his voice. «I was never in any danger.»

«Yeah, okay.» The smaller speedster replies with a smile like he doesn't believe him, but doesn't object and just kisses him again, then again, not letting him phrase anything else. «I'm glad you're alright.» He repeats like he wanted it to sink in, half passed out and needing Eobard to keep him upright.

«I'm glad you're alright, too.» He lets himself say out loud, resisting the urge to hold him too tight to avoid upsetting his injuries. «I'm not... I'm not ever letting you go again.»

Barry blinks at him tiredly, but Eobard doesn't elaborate and just kisses him again.

kiss ask game here!

[abyssal-author-and-artist]

ramble about noelle. now. no choice. now.

I mean it's 6:30 am for me and I'm at the point in the all-nighter where I might just pass out so... of course I will!

She's honestly probably my second favorite character. (First is Berdly my favorite boyfailure) Like yeah Kris is cool and all but first Noelle's design is just so good. I note this in some of my older drawings that I haven't posted but her design can very easily be adjusted to echo the Delta Rune - the horns can mimic the wings, and I give her three freckles on each side and then her nose is prominent to be the three triangles. Make her face more heart shaped instead of oblong and boom! Delta Rune face!

Second the Snowgrave Route has me by a chokehold and always has. I have an au that plays with it but I really wish I had leaned harder into her being manipulated because her whole headspace in that route is so fascinating to my angsty little heart. She suffers and I'm here for it.

In all seriousness, though, I like looking at her through the lens of her being expected to know everything and have it all together when she's thrust into this strange world with no preparation and no prior experience. As the player, you're handed control of her mental state. In a normal route, you help her be more confident in all encounters, help her learn how to navigate social situations more easily and let her embrace silliness similar to how you help Berdly. In the Snowgrave Route, you teach her to black out and do horrible things. You tell her to give all her control to you and she does, but it ends up making her terrified of giving up control because she doesn't want to hurt people, doesn't want the shutdown and blankness that comes with her giving over control.

Side tangent, that leads into Kris Noelle parallels! In the Snowgrave Route, you force Noelle to give over control and, at least in my opinion, it makes her act a lot like Kris in some ways once you leave the Dark World. She's quieter, seems to carry herself differently, is more defensive and possessive. She's terrified of giving up control. At the same time, she's also still acting in ways you've taught her to. Reminds me a little of certain Kris behaviors/headcanons - they're very possessive of Susie at times, and I personally love to headcanon Kris as having no filter when the soul isn't possessing them because they're so used to having a forced filter. Truth be told, any parallels here are mostly conjecture because Kris can't act super independently, but i do enjoy thinking of them as playing up their weirdest quirks to still be themself, which I just love.

Another thing involving Kris - I'm very decidedly neutral on Kriselle (at least normal Kriselle, Snowgrave toxic fucked up Kriselle is my shit) but I love looking at Kris and Noelle's relationship platonically. Estranged best friends who still care for each other but don't know how to anymore. Kris playing Noelle's piano means so much to me you don't even know. I want to make a young Noelle design so I can draw her listening to them play. They both mean so much to me as friends who want to reconnect but can't. Pulled apart by the same connections that once pulled them together (Asriel and Dess). There's so much there and it makes me feel things I'm just now delirious enough to express.

Okay Kris-related tangent over they can go back to their moss corner now. Let's talk about Noelle and gifted kid burnout! Because she is going to hit it so hard honestly. Bear with me since it's been a while since I've seen a playthrough and I'm about to ho into the arguably more "pay attention or you die" part of the game that I never paid attention during so I might get stuff wrong.

If I recall correctly Noelle's actively a star student. Doesn't seem like she struggles too much, either. She's a great student - always answers questions, always gets good grades, etc. I've seen a lot of takes with her mom pressuring her to study constantly, which is a good take, don't get me wrong! I just find her more interesting - to me - if she's coasting through without trying, because if she's anything like me when I was in middle/high school, she knows a huge burnout is coming. She can tell she's starting to have to care about little and she's about to crash and burn so hard. Imagine having paralyzing anxiety and also knowing you're about to hit gifted kid burnout lol (<- the words of a man who was like that a year ago. Now I just have the burnout proper!)

Her relationship with Susie is fascinating to me too. Have you seen that meme of Timmy Turner from Fairly Oddparents (i think that's who it is) praying going "please God let this happen it would be so fucking funny" except "this" is "suselle not be canon"? Because I unironically love that from a writing standpoint. I am a Suselle shipper through and through but honestly I think they have a lot of potential outside of it being canon. I love the idea of Noelle struggling to get over her crush and failing. Their relationship warping into new, unseen flavors of gay pining. Something just west of queer-platonic, where it's inherently romantic but neither is able to acknowledge it as such. Nothing actively toxic, just Noelle begging for Susie to hold her hand so hard it hurts - partially because sign of affection and partially because Noelle has a pattern of wanting Susie to hurt her which I could unpack but would have to at least touch on topics I don't really feel comfortable infodumping about in this otherwise sfw post at - wait it's already 7:30? So that's enough Susie and Noelle for now! Although I still think they should go on gay little dates.

Is it Kris tangent part 2 if it's Player tangent? Because Player tangent time! Mostly a bunch of points i touched on in Kris tangent. You can control her a lot. Ruin her psyche forever etc etc. This is honestly my Snowgrave Kriselle toxic mess tangent because let's be real, it isn't even Kriselle. It's not Kris x Noelle. It's Player x Noelle. You manipulate her and break her and make her scared and dependent on you and then you give her a Thorn Ring and she bleeds and gets stronger through pain and the whole time she is forced to do whatever you want and I. I just. There's so much symbolism there and it's so pretty. (Which leads into my catholic guilt tangent later which is already written but I might as well add to it.) So messed up. A part of my Gravity Falls infected brain wants to say "it's a little Billford" because I know you would understand what I mean. So I will! Snowgrave Kriselle is sorta Billford with more catholic guilt to me. Like Noelle's like "ah my best friend Kris! :) We've grown apart recently but I trust them implicitly and will not consider what they want me to do! :D Oh no, they betrayed me? :( That's not good. I'll just back out now- what do you mean the religious iconography built directly into our relationship means I am directly tied to them and they're allowed to order me as they choose while I am forced to listen because I am simply a servant of our God figure who is controlling Kris. What do you mean there's catholic guilt woven into my bones and I cannot escape because my whole situation is extremely easy to see as a metaphor for religious trauma. Stop it. Stop making my symbolism indicative of real-life situations I don't want you be trapped because of the guilt and shame associated with leaving being so intense and ingrained into my character that I can't leave. D:"

Also, taking a deeper look at the Angel iconography surrounding her? The robes and the Thorn Ring and the everything? Oh yeah, I could write some religious trauma into that girl. (Well I already did because I wrote this out of order and my religious trauma rant got out of hand.) Bonus points because she's canonically queer - bless you Toby Fox writing lesbians into everything you touch - and double bonus points if you headcanon her trans! Imagine having your religion held against you to make you hate yourself as you just try to live and then also you go to a terrifying magic world and also get kidnapped while dressed like the icon that's used to guilt trip you into thinking you're irredeemable. So terrifying and fascinating I could just blend her in the Blorbo Blender. Trademark.

And Snowgrave Route? Whooooo the catholic guilt metaphor is strong with this one! I already mentioned the Thorn Ring - a reference to crucifixion and the crown of thorns? Not sure, I never got that far in the Bible (wasn't raised religious but was forced to read the Bible as punishment once or twice). She gives herself over to a sort of savior, a godlike figure, Kris. Something something parallels between Kris and Chara/Frisk Undertale means parallels between Kris and the Angel that the Undertale children represent and therefore Kris can be regarded as a sort of messiah like figure in accordance to that and therefore Noelle gives herself over to a messiah (Kris) and suffers because of it. Not even overtly. Kris never hurt anyone else. They only hurt her. And really, they made her stronger. Sure they guilt her into killing a non-believer (Berdly), but they also make her stronger, stronger than they could ever be. She's now reliant on them and a wreck without them, but they pulled her out of one of the worst times of her life - heedless of the pain they inflicted on her - and they haven't ruined Susie. Isn't it her fault they hurt her? Did she not devote herself enough? Did she make a mistake somehow? Some small, imperceptible slight against them? Or maybe she simply isn't strong enough to receive their wisdom and she's paying the price of not being enough for them? Not being worthy of her messiah's "unconditional" love? Angel, she got enough of this in the Light World, now she's got two entities breathing down her neck. Extra powerful as a metaphor for religious trauma when you consider Kris as being functionally more of a prophet and yourself as the god in this situation. Because like. You are. If I ever write this into a fic I might just tag you if you're chill with it because I loved the catholic guilt rants so much.

It's been an hour and a half and I am on my phone and my finger hurts because phone evil wants to eat me and also I am running out of perfect haven't-slept-in-over-18-hours clarity so I'm going to. Probably brainrot over my newest obsession in the stupidest way possible. Maybe eat breakfast in an hour because I will evaporate without coffee and it's 7 am anyways. Thank you for an excuse to do this lol I love Noelle so so so much and I don't think about her enough. I'd like to stress i did nothing but write this, with a small break to draw the Noelle enclosed. Anyways I have like. Ten(?) Deltarune fics, about there, maybe more maybe less, not sure and not opening another ao3 tab to check right now. If you wanna check my fics out my user is the same there and also my ao3's linked in my pinned. Frozen Tears is my Noelle centric AU but I might rewrite it because wow I forgot how much I loved Noelle and. Kinda hated writing that fic. All my favorite details of the comic (because it was a comic first, made when my style first turned to what it is now) get lost which is a shame. I was so proud of the single panel of Kris's wallet.

Anyways here's a shitty Noelle for your troubles. Every time I draw her I do it differently I swear and also I haven't drawn her in like. Six months. So.

Fun fact my Tumblr didn't want me to post this post! So it was finished yesterday and it's early so I'm not editing it to remove the time markers

[meadow-roses]

@accidental-spice thank you so much for the ask you sent me!!! 😭💚 I was working on a response, but Tumblr ate the message when I tried to save it as a draft ;;;;

I'll have to start over lol but I'll see if I can recreate the character ramble about Anthony in a new post for you tomorrow xDD

[boabel]

re: ask game

Bel! I'm so glad we've gotten to know and chat on tumblr and through the server! I love hearing about etymology and your ideas for names! You bring me tales of D9 from where I sit amongst my terrible awful Capitol people (I am here by choice 😔). It's also fun to see peeks into the House and TUA fandom through your blog!

Thank you for indulging my Ravinstill nonsense (and even enjoying it)! Maybe, one day, I'll force one of them to go to D9!

thank you sm!!!! ofc i enjoy ur ravinstill nonsense, its legitimately the best part of this fandom!!!!!! and yes, forcing the ravinstills to go to d9 would definitely be an interesting story, we'll have to see where it goes 👀

[thatalienrabbit]

Have you made any new fapureg memes as of recently?

Only this