#they don't have to go it alone

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @geasszine! These two would have such a hard time with each other after it all, seeing their regrets in the other, feeling their guilt on the current situation, and very “I should be paying this price but you shouldn’t”.

I also really wanted to write about Euphie/Suzaku but that would be going full AU territory XD I had to settle with just mentioning her. They’re my Sakura/Syaoran in another universe

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Nunnally wasn’t one to shirk her duties. She never had done so before her brother had declared war on their father, and she certainly wouldn’t now after the blood and tears it had taken for her to become Empress. Regardless if it were menial paperwork or enduring the dismissive attitudes of her political aides, she wore her best smile as she handled her empire.

It was the only way she could look in the mirror without feeling guilt for surviving when her siblings hadn’t.

Still, she was only human. Staring at the document on her desk, it was hard for even her to keep her smile. A two-week festival marking the one-year anniversary of her coronation, an event celebrating the fall of the Demon Emperor.

Her fingers trembled as she touched the paper. A year wasn’t long enough to heal all wounds and her own still felt fresh. In another year, Nunnally would be the same age as Lelouch when all of this had started. In two, she would surpass him entirely.

And now she had to stamp a paper cementing his memory as a monster into the minds of her people.

Her hand clenched, crinkling the document.

“Your Majesty?” From across the room, Zero turned his head away from the window to her. Ever the guard, his posture was stiff, ready to spring into action even in the relative safety of her study.

Nunnally bit her lip. No, not Zero. Suzaku. At the very least, in her mind, she refused to kill her old friend. There would be one person who would know and acknowledge his sacrifice, even if she could never speak of it.

“It’s fine,” Nunnally said, trying and failing to keep her smile. Taking a deep breath, she smoothened the document. The creases remained. “Schneizel won’t like that.”

Not buying her excuses, Suzaku crossed over. The concern in his voice was more prominent now. “What is the matter?”

Even his speech was formal these days. It was almost enough to make her cry. They were the only ones who knew each other, who knew the truth, and even then, there was a wall between them. “It’s been a year.”

“Ah.” Suzaku was quick on the uptake. He gently squeezed her hand as he scanned the document. “A festival?”

“Yes, Schneizel organized it.” Perhaps that was the worst part of it all: her older brother had cheerfully and proudly set this up. Even if she wanted to talk about the past, about simpler times, Cornelia was still venomous from Euphy’s death and Schneizel didn’t care to reminisce.

There was something lonely about the fact that the only one she could talk to about Lelouch was a man who refused to remove his mask.

“You do not have to attend,” Suzaku suggested kindly.

“No.” Nunnally shook her head. “The people will wonder otherwise and I…I cannot let his work go to waste.” She bowed her head slightly, her shoulders heavy. “I just wish…I wanted to buy flowers but…there is nowhere to send them.”

There was no grave for Lelouch; it would have been vandalized, his body dug up and defiled. Euphemia’s grave had been destroyed along with Pendragon and most of their siblings. The only marker she could send lilies to was Shirley’s.

Suzaku’s breath hitched. “The school,” he said after a moment.

Nunnally softened, glancing at one of the photos on her desk. One of the only photos surviving of their time at the student council. She reached out, her fingers brushing her brother’s smiling image, his arm casually slung over Suzaku’s shoulders. Perhaps that had been the happiest time for him, before there had been no going back. “Yes, you’re right. He would have liked that.”

“Perhaps the clubroom,” Suzaku added softly.

"Yes.” Nunnally reached out, grabbing his hand. “And for Euphemia?”

He flinched. Despite the years, some wounds did not heal. “That…” Suzaku averted his gaze, his hand trembling. “You should decide.”

“I am not the only one who mourns her,” she said softly. “She would have wanted you to choose.”

“Zero is the reason she is dead,” Suzaku replied quietly.

“You didn’t do that.” Nunnally gritted her teeth. There were so few things left that could make her angry and most of them were concentrated on the man in front of her. Neither Zero nor Suzaku, neither dead nor alive, her constant companion straddled two worlds and she was tired of it.

She didn’t want to mourn one more person, especially if she saw that person on a daily basis.

“Despite what the world thinks, you aren’t dead,” Nunnally ground out, trying to keep her ire out of her voice. “You don’t have to act like you are! At least not here, not when it’s just you and me.”

Suzaku tried to pull his hand free, and she dug her nails in. “Your Majesty—," he started.

“Nunnally,” she corrected firmly. “We’re alone. Please, just call me by my name, Suzaku. Like you used to.”

He breathed in sharply before double-checking their surroundings. “You do not know who is listening.”

“You personally secured this room,” she reminded him, finally letting go of his hand. The walls were thick, the door solid wood, and the only ones who could enter were the two of them. “Please, take off your mask. You don’t always have to be Zero.”

Suzaku stepped back, his hands fisted. “I must. That is my penance.”

For what, Nunnally didn’t ask. There was too much blood on both of their hands to ask such a naïve question. In all the ways that mattered, Suzaku both was and wasn’t the boy she used to know, the kid that squabbled with her brother and took his oaths far too seriously. The one that always smiled when he met her, the one who got bitten by cats and felt too much for those he cared for. His innocence had disappeared with the soft click of a gun.

It was just as well. Nunnally both was and wasn’t the girl she used to be either, the girl who could only cry and follow her siblings. Even here, even now, she was still chasing Lelouch’s and Euphemia’s shadows. Her life wasn’t her own to live, it hadn’t been since she’d asked for the trigger to a bomb.

Too much had happened for them to go back to who they used to be.

“And what about my penance?” she asked, her eyes meeting his. “Is suffering the only way to atone?”

“No,” he replied sharply. Then, gentler, “No.”

Nunnally’s eyes stung, her throat burned. There was a secret she couldn’t share with anyone, not even Suzaku, and it was this: she hated her brother. Not once had he brought her into his plans, not once had he given her a choice in the matter. Whether it was to destroy Britannia or himself, all she could do was watch from the sidelines.

Maybe she could have saved him.

Maybe she could have died with him.

Yet, here she was, alone with feelings she couldn’t do anything about. There was no one left to yell at, no one to take her anger out on. Lelouch was dead and the dead couldn’t hear the wails of the survivors no matter how loud she was.

She refused to allow Suzaku to do the same.

“Then why must you?” she shouted, unable to rein in her anger. Her helplessness. “Lelouch told you to be Zero. That doesn’t mean you can’t be Suzaku too. At least not here.” Nunnally’s hands clenched on her wheelchair’s arms, and she bit her cheek to keep herself from crying. Her voice still broke. “At least not with me.”

“That…” Suzaku reached up to touch his mask, his fingers pressing against the left side. Nunnally could almost see the bloody fingerprints Lelouch had left behind, the last wound he had left on Suzaku. “That is not something I deserve.”

“Then what do I deserve?” Nunnally asked, her voice wobbly as she furiously blinked back her tears. “You’re not the only one who killed.”

Suzaku fell silent, unable to refute, unable to agree.

In the end, they both had their cross to bear, their ghosts to appease. Nunnally pressed a button on her wheelchair and rolled over toward him. Clasping his hand between hers, she tried again. “We both have a lot to make up for. But…this suffering. This refusal to allow ourselves to be happy—it won’t help anyone. Lelouch wouldn’t have wanted that. Euphy wouldn’t have liked that.” She squeezed his hand and whispered, “I’m tired of living with ghosts. Please don’t be one of them too.”

There was a long silence and her heart dropped. Perhaps, in the end, her words weren’t enough. She wasn’t enough. Suzaku had always taken it on himself—

Suzaku squeezed back, breaking her thoughts. “Sometimes, I think I have forgotten how to live otherwise. It is hard. But…” He reached up with his other hand and took off the mask. Nunnally hadn’t seen his face in over a year but the familiarity of it made her ache and this time she didn’t stop her tears. “I’ll try, Nunnally.”

“That’s all I wanted,” she replied softly.

[paintedcrows]

Had a silly thought about hypothetical cat curse shenanigans with @dark-lord-of-awesomeness's How to Cat Burglar a Family ;)

Bonus doodle!!

[swampybogg]

[knifearo]

being aromantic is like. hey btw you're going to live a life that is the culmination of most of society's worst nightmares. sorry lol ✌️ but then you turn around and take a really good hard look at it and it turns out that living in that nightmare is fucking awesome and you get to wake up every day and take that fear that other people have and laugh and hold it close until it's a great joy for you instead. and being happy is a radical act that you define instead of someone else. and you're sexy as fuck that's just a fact of life i don't make the rules on that one

[monstermonger]

A Night Sky in the Woods

[technically-human]

*Reverses your Christmas*

A gift from @i-am-as-normal-as-you-are to all of you :) we really wanted the boys to get along for once, and what better occasion than Christmas? anything to make the Edwins happy!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji goes to Lotus Pier (No relation to the AU of the same name)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[radiance1]

The Ghost Prince does not, under any circumstances, answer a summoning after it was made aware he existed. None know why he doesn't, some are bitter and hateful of it while others are thankful that it's one less bloodthirsty manic to deal with.

The Ghost King meanwhile hasn't been seen in multiple eons, so the magical community who wanted to use his power just, stopped, trying to summon him for a long time.

Most magic users knew that the Ghost Prince never answered a summons, and that the Ghost King just dropped off the radar.

So could you really blame Constantine for not taking it that seriously when some wannabe hotshot cultists try to summon both of them in the middle of a city to wreak havoc?

He'll give them some credit though. Points for doing it in broad daylight and actually being somewhat of a threat with not relying on just summoning the Ghost royalty and figuring out what to do from there.

The area they were in was somewhat destroyed, then the cultists manage to complete the summoning circle to summon both of them and Constantine, well he just light up a smoke.

It isn't going to work anyways so what does it matter?

...

Is that a fucking Ice cream truck he hears? Who the fuck is driving an Ice cream truck while their city is being under attacked with cultists trying to summon eldritch ghost royalty?

He'll give them some points for dedication, though.

Then he looked at the cultists and nearly had a goddamn heart attack to see that the summoning circle is actually fucking lighting up and working.

The Bat is so gonna give him a headache over this.

----

Danny Phantom, crown prince of the Infinite Realms. Does not answer summons.

For one, it is annoying as shit, whenever someone interrupts his day just to ask for infinite power (that he can't give), world domination (that he won't do) or infinite riches (which he also can't do).

It just got annoying being summoned all the time so. One day he just, well, no. And hey, it worked out well enough for him to not continue doing it.

Then he also learned that Pariah Dark is basically the same, after he got out the coffin and stopped trying to take over the world for whatever reason. He was actually a pretty swell guy!

He was just with him too, with him being not so swell at the time for making him go through lessons about Ghost etiquette, rules, stuff that's expected of him as the crown prince.

And don't even get him started on the engagement and marriage proposals.

Overall, he just wanted to find an excuse to leave. Then he felt the familiar suggestive pull of a summoning and, instead of rejection as he usually does in a second. He thought for a bit if he wanted to go with that or crown prince duties.

It was tempting, but dealing with cultists seemed worse than this so he was about to reject.

At least, before he heard an Ice cream truck playing in the background. He doesn't even know how the hell that popped up through the pull but by the gods has it been a while since he's had Ice cream.

So he answers and is gone with a pop.

Pariah Dark just stares for a good second or two, before breathing out and deciding to also answer. Fright Knight is just there, off to side, questioning what he should do now.

Danny wastes no time with the cultists on the other side and in fact, he pushes them out of the way and goes diving for that Ice cream truck he hears. Only to realize he doesn't, have any money on him.

Fuck.

Pariah Dark is less inclined to follow the rules imposed by humans like money, but he does know it can be important. Once in a while. Not that often, but it has its times.

So when he sees his adopted son being sad over being unable to pay for some kind of human delicacy, he digs around in his hair (yes, his hair.) and pulls out some money and puts it on the counter as payment.

The man inside the tiny vehicle had shrieked before getting what they wanted. Which is good. Fear is a good motivator, Pariah thinks.

Unknown to him, it wasn't out of fear (Well, mostly) but because the Ghost King placed down a coin made of pure, solid gold on his counter.

The two then go about their business in the human realm, completely forgetting about the fact that they were summoned here for something.

Constantine is both relieved and about to have an aneurysm at seeing Infinite Realm royalty only answering a summon because of Ice cream.

[hypewinter]

*Slams fist on table* Clark and Jack switch places! And not just a mind swap either but full presto change-o magical dimensional full body switch. Maybe it's because Jack is an alternate version of Superman. Maybe it's due to ghost shenanigans. Who knows!

You know what I do know? Wild hijinks ensue. Clark wakes up in a weird laboratory, house mashup after just being at his apartment is the definition of confusion and panic. Just then Danny enters the kitchen to see his dad who's also very much not his dad having a full panic attack in the kitchen and just groans being at this point he's used to his life being turned upside down on any given day. This is probably the Ghost Writer's or Desiree's doing. Don't worry mister, we'll figure this out but until then, you're gonna have to pretend to be my dad. W-what? Ah you see my mom is very ghost obsessed and attributes everything to their doing. She also believes everything ghosts do is evil so if she realizes you're not her husband, you'll probably be strapped to a table. This makes Supes pause because A. Wouldn't she realize right away that he wasn't her husband? And B. She'd have a hard time strapping him down to anything. To which Danny answers A. She's so obsessed with her research she won't notice as long as you put in the effort and B. Trust me she has her ways. Poor Clark has no idea what situation he's stumbled into but he's about to find out face.

Meanwhile Jack is having a pretty good time all things considered. Just wait until Maddie hears about all the things he's encountering in this weird ghost territory (though the locals keep insisting their not ghosts despite having clear ghost powers). The Superfamily on the other hand is really freaking out and would really like to know where their patriarch is. Multiple heroes are called in but no one can really figure out what happened or how it happened. Until then they decide to keep in on the down low. Which isn't too hard considering how many super folks are around Metropolis. Superman is probably out on a space mission right now and Clark Kent took a vacation or something right guys? So unlike his counterpart Jack doesn't have to pretend to be anyone and is free to go full Fenton. He's researching and documenting everything, building contraptions out of any "ghost" tech he can get his hands on, and overall being a well meaning, fudging making menace. He's exhausting but also endearing. Especially how he rambles on about showing his wife all of this. He does keep slipping in some concerning " dissection" comments though.

[sarasade]

One of the most generally useful things to come out of Hbomberguy's plagiarism video and Todd in the Shadows' similar video on misinformation is how they bring transparency to the internet phenomenon of "I made up a guy to get mad at".

Seriously, I've seen people make up a lot of stupid shit on the internet over the years and it's often just a manipulative attempt to paint a group of marginalized people in a bad light.

That's the TL;DR version of this post. 

ANYWAY here is the long version

Those videos are mostly about James Somerton's plagiarism of other queer people's work. However I'd like to talk about that 20-30% of Somerton's original writing- and oh boy. It's mostly about complaining about White Straight Women and misgendering well-known trans creators such as Rebecca Sugar and calling Becky Albertalli a straight woman while it's pretty common knowledge that she was forced to out herself as bi because she received so much harassment over "being a cishet woman who appropriates LGBT+ stories".

One thing that irks me especially is how in his Killing Stalking and Gay Shipping videos Somerton brings up how straight women/ teen girl shippers exploit gay men for their personal sexual fantasies. This gets brought up several times in his videos.

Being all up and arms about Somerton being a "White Cis Gay Who Hates Women and Queer People tm" is not that useful because the kind of rhetoric he's using is extremely common in fandom and LGBT+ spaces on Tumblr, TikTok and Twitter. We really don't need to bring Somerton's identity to this since he is in no way an unique example.

It's hypocritical to make this about an individual person when I've seen A TON of posts, tweets and videos where queer people talk about these Sinister Straight Women who are supposedly out there fetishizing and exploiting queer men. It's pretty clear to me that this is just an excuse to shit on women and queer people for having any sexual interests. At worst these comments are spreading misinformation about BL, a form of media that has been excessively studied by both Asian feminists and Asian queer women.

This all sounds really familiar and I think it's good that people are calling it out as what it is: misogyny and transphobia. I'd also point out the potentially racist motives behind being this hypervigilant about Asian media.

People can absolutely be misogynist regardless of gender or orientation. I really don't know why we need to create some kind of made up enemy to get mad at. I actually think it's almost sinister how "anti-fujoshi" people call Slash shippers and fujoshi misogynists or claim that they have internalised misogyny while being dismissive about women's interests and creative pursuits under Japanese obscenity laws, China's censorship, book bans in American schools and various other disadvances that are part of being a queer and/or female creator.

I think we shouldn't be naive about the bad faith actors who want to turn queer people against each other. For example Fujoshi.info mentions anti-gender (TERF, GC etc) movement using this kind of rhetoric as well.

Anyway if you want to read more:

- about the false info around BL fandom fujoshi.info

-There is the scholar Thomas Baudinette who studies gay media in Japan. Here is a podcast with him and the scholar Khursten Santos

-James Welker is a BL scholar as well. Here is a podcast interview about the new international BL article collection he edited.

-I've already talked about this Youtube channel by KrisPNatz and his great Killing Stalking video that actually engages with the themes of the manhwa

- There is also HR Coleman's thesis DO NOT FEED THE FETISHIZERS: BOYS LOVE FANS RESISTANCE AND CHALLENGE OF PERCEIVED REPUTATION where she interviews 36 BL fans and actually breaks down why fetishization has become such a huge talking point in the fandom discourse. Spoilers, it's mostly about young queer people and women being worried that they will get judged and pathologized for their interest in anything sexual.

-Great podcast about Danmei and censorship with Liang Ge

[parallelkozak]

the cyberverse writers think theyre so funny i'm about to be hilarious

[kit-screams-into-the-future]

was having trans marty thoughts again and i came to a realization about this scene

[demaparbat-hp]

In your Spitfire AU, since Zuko is looking after Lu Ten II, what happened to Ursa?

Zuko is slightly older in the Spitfire AU. He was banished at fifteen, his head a little clearer and denial a little weaker than in canon. After his first look through the Air Temples, Zuko decides that if he can't find a myth, he might as well search for the next best thing.

Finding Ursa isn't easy, but in time he makes it to a secluded house in a near-forgotten part of the world. His mom is there, older and stronger and alive.

But she isn't alone.

And Zuko, as it turns out, didn't keep the best company during his search.

When Ursa is discovered and her secrets are laid bare for assassins (for Ozai) to find, she begs Zuko to take his little brother and run. She'll do anything it takes to protect her children, even if that means leaving them behind to keep a target off their back. Ursa diverts attention from them and allows Lu Ten's ancestry to be kept a secret. She orders Zuko not to follow her again, and disappears.

Zuko is left with a little three-year-old brother to raise and a mother he cannot hold onto.

[thequeenofsastiel]

Armand instinctively lowering his eyes in submission.

ETA: These are examples of Armand being submissive to Louis in their beautifully healthy D/s relationship. Gtfo with any kink negative tags

[andorerso]

rebelcaptain + the hunger games au

When Jyn Erso was eight years old, her mother died and her father left to become a gamemaker for the Hunger Games. Adopted by Saw Gerrera, her mother's friend, she became Jyn Gerrera and was forbidden from ever revealing her true identity to anyone. Ten years later, it's Jyn's last reaping. Saw, the forgotten victor of the 32nd Hunger Games, had rejected every reward the Empire offered him, preferring to live as a recluse at the edge of the forest in District 12, as opposed to the luxury in the Victors' Village. It's been decades since anyone in the district even recalled that Saw was once a victor himself, but he had made sure to teach Jyn all he knew of self-defense and combat training. It's the only thing she has of him left since his passing two years ago. Now, Jyn just wants to get through her last reaping and survive. But when she hears the name of the young girl she trades with sometimes, Jyn doesn't hesitate to volunteer in her place. She has nothing to lose, except her life, and every reason to believe that with Saw's training, she has a chance at winning the games. A chance that 12-year-old Kerri Andor wouldn't have. Things get a little more complicated when Kerri's brother is picked as the other tribute. Jyn is good at surviving, but Cassian, with his quiet cunning and surprising talent with a bow and arrow, could be a threat. Not to mention that Jyn knows he's the sole provider for his young sister and aging mother; a family who needs him. Who may die without him. Nobody is waiting for Jyn back home. When their mentor's plan to make them seem like star-crossed lovers triples the attention and sponsors they receive, Jyn is forced to play along with the scheme and pretend she has feelings for Cassian. Worst of all? She's not sure where pretending ends and where genuine feelings begin. The gamemakers say they can both go home if they're the last two tributes standing, but Jyn knows better than to believe the pretty promises of the Empire. Soon, she'll have to make a choice. Will she do anything to survive? Or will she let Cassian Andor go home to his family - even at the cost of her own life?

[naamahdarling]

I didn't get pics I didn't get pics my phone was in the bedroom charging but FANCY IS PLAYING WITH THEM. Not next TO them but INITIATING PLAY WITH THEM.

Not bitchily, not reluctantly, not with a short temper, not tolerating THEIR advances, but making her OWN advances! Inviting them in!!!!!! Even the detested Junie!

CRYINGGGGGG.