#and it annoys me because that's the very thing they're accusing us of and attacking us for..

[sonik-kun]

Reading the comments on a certain post rife with JC antis and all I'm seeing is hearsay. Like they love to scream canon regarding anything us JC fans say. But it's okay for them pull shit from their asses and call fanon, canon??

[theerurishipper]

Shadybug and Claw Noir's relationship is so interesting to me. It's just a lot of small things that add up so well to form one great picture. It's like... they don't like each other, but they also need each other. Despite their glaring differences, their relationship is characterized by mutual support. Shadyclaw are partners in a world where mutual aid is a crime.

There are so many scenes in the special that show this really well. Shadybug and Claw Noir are always snapping at each other, and they're almost constantly fighting each other. But they're also such a well-oiled team, and they actually do work really well together. Like in the first fight with Ladybug. Claw Noir took the first strike to force Ladybug to dodge and Shadybug grabbed her when she was off balance. Or when they attacked Monarch at the same time and came at him from different sides. They function well as a team despite their differences.

They can't win on their own, and despite what they say, the episode proves them wrong immediately. Shadybug says she doesn't need Claw Noir, but the very next scene is her hiding behind him as he cataclysms the Akuma. And Claw Noir also needs Shadybug, because he asks her what they should do next, proving that he does rely on her plans. And I think they do know this, even if they don't want to admit that they depend on each other.

And all this is so interesting! But what's really more interesting to me is the emotional element of their relationship.

Like, Emonette has spent her life without any support or help from anyone, without anyone to depend on. She doesn't have friends; she doesn't have "a boyfriend who doesn't think she's a total loser," and she doesn't have a mom she can depend on (for whatever reason that may be). She's all alone in the world. She can't trust or rely on anyone.

Except Claw Noir.

Because whether she likes him or not, he's there. He works with her, he follows her plans, he's always there. Maybe he mocks her, maybe he tries to take her Miraculous (like she does to him), but he's a constant presence by her side, and she is aware that he's not going away anytime soon. And it's not like the bullying she suffered, because here, she's on equal terms with him. She can give as good as she gets.

And she does rely on him! Like I said before, she needs him. For the powers he brings to the table, at least, she needs him. And I think for someone as lonely as Emonette, the assurance that he'll stick by her no matter what, even if he's annoying and rude, is comforting in its own way. She doesn't like him, she's angry that he keeps trying to take her Miraculous. But she trusts him. Maybe not deeply, but for someone as lonely and hurt as Emonette is, having even that much trust in someone is hard.

Her reaction to him trying to take her Miraculous is also so interesting to me. She's actually angry that he does it. She confronts him angrily about it. And when he accuses her of the same thing, she goes on the defensive. And yeah, this could be her just being angry about what he tried to do. But it doesn't really add up in the context of what we know about their partnership.

You'd think that after all this time, she'd know why. That she'd be used to it. But no, she's angry about it. She takes the time to confront him about it. And the thing is, she knows what he's going to say, because it's going to be the same reason she gives him. I kinda feel like this isn't her just being angry about him trying to take her Miraculous. I think it upsets her when he does it. Because, despite claiming she'd be better on her own, she doesn't like that he wants to get rid of her. So, she goes on the defensive and asserts that she wants to do the same thing to him as a way of hiding her own vulnerability.

And we all know that the both of them are very good at denial (after 5 seasons of the Love Square, how could we not), and that's so true here too. Shadybug is in serious denial when she suggests that she'd be better off alone. We know she depends on him, and on some level, she knows it too. And yet, she says all that. It's not hard to read her reaction to his actions and his accusations as being defensive out of a sense of fear and denial.

Cause Emonette has had a very rough life. No one has supported her, no one has ever stood up for her or stood by her. She's afraid of being hurt and of being vulnerable. She's built up walls as high as a skyscraper and refuses to put them down out of a fear of being hurt again. She doesn't believe that anyone would stand by her and support her.

But Claw Noir has done that, even if their relationship is tenuous. He may not be nice to her, and he may not like her, but in some sense of the word, he has stuck by her, and he has supported her. And it hurts her that he would try to do this after all that.

Their partnership is important to her. When she's reading Marinette's diary and reads the part where Marinette is talking about her partner Chat Noir, she looks over at Claw Noir, indicating that that's how she feels about him. That she does associate the word "partner" with him. And then she rolls her eyes at him, but you know. Denial. Maybe I'm just being crazy, but that's really how it comes off to me after everything we know about them.

And one person rolling their eyes at the other is a common romantic trope sooooo

And we can't not talk about Emodrien! Because it's the same for him. Watching the special, it comes off to me that Gabriel isn't that great of a dad here either. Emodrien has been left to deal with his mom's death all alone because Gabriel is off playing hero and is pretty much neglecting his son. And Emodrien doesn't seem to go to school either, and apparently, he's still a famous person with fans of his own (he's wearing Gabriel fashion, which I don't think he would if he was so mad at his dad), so I think his relationship with Gabriel isn't that much different, except for the lack of manipulation and gaslighting (and arranged marriages and white rooms). So, I think that he also is like our Adrien in that he has pressure on him to be perfect (I think Claw Noir even says something along the lines of Adrien being perfect, implying that he does have to perform that role).

And honestly, Emodrien is just like our Adrien, a master at compartmentalizing. Adrien Agreste doesn't say a word in this special to anyone. He says his transformation phrase, and he exclaims about Shadybug being revealed to be Emonette, but he doesn't speak otherwise. And she did tell him to be quiet, but we've seen that he doesn't really listen to her, like when he didn't help her search Marinette's room and chose to take a catnap instead (sorry). He could have said something in the few minutes he was on screen, but he didn't. But he's so drastically different as Claw Noir. He's expressive and talkative and in your face about everything. Adrien Agreste having pressure on him to be perfect would explain why Claw Noir is so different. This is the part of himself that he's hidden away and can only express as Claw Noir (like our Adrien).

And the only person he can do this with is Shadybug. She's the only one around whom he can share this part of himself. And she doesn't leave. She's still around, and she may not like him, but she accepts it. He needs her too, not only for her plans and her own skills, but because he acknowledges him. She largely fights back whenever he does or says something, and often she is the one who starts an argument. And for someone whose life is characterized by a lack of attention from a parent and a recent loss, having someone who does acknowledge him must feel important. He can only be "himself" around her. And for this boy, whose only happiness in life till this point seems to come from staring at this one girl from the bakery, I think it does mean a lot, in some way, that Shadybug is around and ready to engage with him.

And I think his reactions to her and his rivalry/enmity towards her are also like her: stemming from a fear of vulnerability. We see that he's so unwilling to be perceived as weak that he's ready to tank a cataclysm to the chest that he inflicted on himself on purpose. He doesn't want to let anyone in either. And yet, Shadybug is someone that he relies on, and he may not like her, but he does need her, and she is important to him, in some way.

So, they are important to each other, and subconsciously, they both do value and need each other. What prevents them from accepting and sharing those feelings is their fear of vulnerability and their awful situation. They are pretty much stuck in a rivalry and a state of perpetual competition which entails that the one who gets the Butterfly Miraculous will be the one to survive. That's enough for anyone to try and hide their feelings of sentimentality for someone else. It's literally a matter of survival. Add this to their respective lives of suffering and loneliness, and it's easy to see why they can't show those feelings to each other. Their supposed hatred for each other is just a defense mechanism.

Is their relationship perfect or healthy? Not really. But their feelings are real. And it's so telling that when they do start to overcome their fears and start to take the steps towards forming connections with others, they instantly fall into a friendly, even loving dynamic. They literally leave our world holding hands. These feelings didn't come out of nowhere, they've always been there. Shadybug and Claw Noir were just too afraid of their own vulnerability and were stuck in an awful, forced rivalry to be able to express them. But once they take the first step towards accepting their feelings and start to overcome their issues, they instantly start flirting and their teasing goes from being cruel to being friendly.

They are still the same! Emonette still calls him fleabag, Emodrien still makes fun of her, but it's their approach that has changed. Instead of being veiled in cruelty stemming from their respective fears, they are embracing their true feelings. This whole special has been about them understanding themselves, their true feelings and what they truly need, and it led to them understanding their feelings for each other. They've always cared. Even in the middle of the special, when they hadn't had their resolutions yet, we have that touching scene of Claw Noir trying to comfort Shadybug.

Because their masks had dropped at that point. They were tired of hiding their vulnerability. Shadybug is crying openly and not making the slightest effort to hide it behind any excuse or mean comment. And if he truly hated her, Claw Noir could have just hit her with a cataclysm and taken her earrings. But he chose to try and comfort her instead. And it's interesting that they do not insult or argue with each other after that scene. They aren't fully open with each other yet, which is why she rejects his comfort, but it does speak volumes about their relationship, that the only thing between them is their fear and hurt.

In the scene where Emonette is yelling at Sabine that she's fine and to get off her back, there's a moment where she looks at Emodrien, and sees the look of sorrow and understanding on his face. And that leads her to admit the truth, that she's damaged. Before she saw him looking at her like that, she was being defensive and yelling for Sabine to get off her back, but after that, her tone changes. She opens herself up despite herself and cries before him. That scene was pivotal, I think, for them to completely understand each other, when they saw their own feelings reflected in the other's eyes without any masks covering them. It was a scene of mutual understanding. The feeling that the other person understood them, which led to them dropping their fronts and showing their true feelings.

They are the only ones who can truly understand each other. They are in this together, whether they like it or not. They know what it's like to be alone, and to feel hopeless. Both Shadybug and Claw Noir are dying from their misuse of the Miraculous (obligatory fuck The Supreme), and only they understand the fear, the hopelessness and the despair that comes with that. Only they know the feeling of being up against the world, of being alone and having no one. And they became that person for each other, the person who would stick by them no matter what, even if neither of them could see it yet.

[kitkatopinions]

Anti-rwde posters saying that since we block them, we're 'cowards' who 'just don't want to be called out' or whatever the fuck is really funny, because I've been in a lot of debates with a lot of anti-rwde people in the past and it usually goes one of three ways.

1. They come out swinging almost always on anon (cowardice right off the bat) with heavy handed insults while saying nothing I haven't heard before. We get in a debate, but they're ignoring the majority of the points I make and are refusing to answer anything I ask them, until I finally say something along the line of "answer my questions or I'm done with this conversation" or "stop just repeating yourself and address what I say or I'm done with this conversation" and they CAN'T, so I stop responding to them.

2. They come out swinging going on about how stupid we all are or how bigoted (with no proof) or something like that, I've then engaged, being like "Why do you think that? Do you have proof? Why are you so venomous?" And then they BACK DOWN and are like "Honestly I just don't like feeling bad for liking Rwby" or something along those lines.

3. They come out swinging with insults and unjustified accusations, but they actually do try to present an argument and 'prove' things and say we're stupid if we don't agree, and then I've engaged by addressing their points, explaining my side, etcetera, and then they're like "I'm not reading all that," or "Stop trying to change my mind" or something (usually when they came to me or rwde in general.)

Like, I block people for my own sanity because I've been sent tons of horrible anons including bigotry filled comments, right-wing propaganda, death and rape threats, and slurs. I used to be very choosy about who to block until I realized that it wouldn't stop the harassment, and now with almost two thousand people blocked, I only get attacked and sent hate like twice yearly! I can't recommend blocking people enough, because anti-rwde is as close to a cult without being a cult as Harry Potter and most of them are in way too deep to listen to me or have a rational discussion. But no, it's not because I'm afraid of having people disagree with me. I literally have disagreements with my own sister I literally live with, as well as plenty of my mutuals.

We're not against disagreeing or afraid of anti-rwde posters, I just think they're annoying because they don't actually debate, lol.

[olderthannetfic]

Ok so I'm thinking this could just be because of the online spaces I'm surrounded with and the absolute shit algorithms, but where does the assertion come from that white people are the ones who have super high standards for POC writing?

Ok I know, traditional publishing. Yeah, that's one side of things. The professional realm of US publishing is definitely high and staked against POC authors. No need to argue about that.

But I mean like, as readers. Because after seeing some people talk about that POC written "Wicked Gods book" I went on an age old online pastime of drama and tea spills in incognito mode, and the main people who seem to put POC writing to super high standards are... other POC people. Staying on topic for Wicked Gods, on that GR page of Wicked Gods there are tons of POC/BIPOC (they state it in the reviews) who're throwing out accusations that imply the writer is a traitor, hates POC, fetishizes colonialism, the impact of it, feeds into the WMAW trope etc etc. Even some who go full attack on the author saying their grandparents would be ashamed of them if they were still alive or that the author doesn't care about the people affected by history.

Then went to youtube, and while most of the POC reviewers are good at staying constructive, there are those who just immediately go to drag the author and do the same shit as some of the GR reviews I mentioned.

Anyway went down the rabbit hole of checking "controversial POC authors" or just some more reader bait books and yeah, a lot of the actual "high standard" talks come from a lot of POC reviewers. Though the standards are mostly POC having super high standards for other POC people on how to represent POC authors, writing and experiences, and culture. Anything that could be "bad" like colonizer romance, gets a lot of angry reviews from POCs about that, and some other tropes. Even in the cases where the POC in question isn't even of the same race as the author. The only real "white ppl standards" thing is that on average there seem to be more white readers on some books, but most of the white people deliberately reading POC books don't seem to actually have that high standards for the POC novels, they're actually kinda boring. Either it's very touristy, very nothing, just parroting some POC reviewer, or it's actually just a normal review with no commenting on accuracy or expectations, just taking the book for what it is and criticising what they do know, eg poor depictions of feminism, or just poor writing..

--

I suspect the actual pattern is 50% the "How it works" thing where a minority person is anomalous and memorable while a "default" person's bad writing/actions/etc. are forgotten and not treated as part of a pattern we should pay attention to...

And 50% people being more sensitive to portrayals of their own group or a minority group they relate to or whatever. I know bad depictions of women annoy me more than those of men, and my standards for f/f are unfortunately higher than my standards for m/m.

I do see white people signal boosting pseudo-activist stuff they clearly don't have enough context for and should probably not be signal boosting, but I'd say the actual white person bad behavior in this sphere is more often abject indifference.

As for where the assertion comes from... I presume it's the usual "My enemies must be of the demographic I dislike!" idiocy. You see this fallacy in every type of argument put forward by every type of person. It's certainly not restricted to POC bitching about white people.

[blackdigitalrose]

Tues - Yes! Pretty Cure 5 - EP 23 - 25

EP 23

Dig that subtle symbolism of the other coloured beads rolling away from the pink one. (Ha, it even looks like a butterfly)

It is fair logic (let's ignore the fact it's a magical girl show and they generally don't work that way)

Not as subtle but that's suggesting Milk is now in this for the long haul and I dunno how much I can take of her and Nozomi butting heads ¬.¬

Those manipulations and mind games could have been done better, so rushed through, it belittles all four of them by having them controlled so easily, with almost no resistance.

Dude wasted zero time, if he had this info available at hand, how come none the others did? Or is this suppose to be the equivalence of managerial level clearance? (Really is something rather unsettling about him though.)

As well as ignoring the fact, that despite all this set up, the preview for the next ep has ruined it all...again -.- dangit Toei, it's almost feeling more worthwhile to skip the previews just to keep the surprises.

EP 24

I'm sensing a pattern here...

Egads, why are you bailing her out, she needs this, she needs this lesson and once again everyone is bailing her out and giving her pass because they're the ones at fault not her. Have Nozomi take some god damn responsibility! Yes tempers flared and things that weren't meant were said but it is on both Nozomi (and Milk) They weren't being aware, they weren't being responsible, they were the ones who were being childish, they were the ones who didn't show consideration for others until it was too late; your initial reaction after all that work is justifiable. ┻━┻ ︵╰(°□°╰) It annoys me so much that this keeps happening!!!

I was wondering where he got to, did they just leave him to go rampant in the town or just shut him away some where once he had dealt with four of the five Precure. They never sent him after Nozomi after all, he just got forgotten about?

Geez, just how many stages do these guys have? And what does he mean by once, Girinma already said there was no going back once he used the black mask, is this not the all or nothing gamble?

So what's this, 24 eps and finally one down? The scaling is going to be iffy if the lost from the first half are around too long in the second half because raising the bar like this each time would just be a cop out

It looks like a very glittery, sparkly Power Rangers finisher, although that is rather literal attack name but that scaling is all over the place o.O

And they remade the butterfly at the end as if nothing had happened, I dunno what this show fears if it lets any plot point stew for longer than a minute.

EP 25

She owns and island to!? Just how loaded is Karen? And she somehow thinks this is normal behaviour? Does it not occur to her how different her life is to practically everyone around her because it doesn't seem like she goes to a super expensive school just a basic one (despite how insane it looks?) It's a 2+2= a fish moment ???

While it is nice to see again and it is nice that they acknowledge, must it always be over such petty things? They accuse the others of being childish when they are just as bad themselves.

That is all well and good, it's like a coping method for what happened before but the question is this; at this point, we know the none of the villains are bleeding hearts so why are you lecturing them with this in the first place? You think they would care, is it just for the audience sake?

A new group finisher and a new single attack, have to admit, that is a snazzy one though.

It was a sorta breaker, semi recap ep and the actual resort is the next ep, which is actually a surprise, figured it would all be squeezed into one (but that preview, is Rin the only one who doesn't have a fairy love interest? They should have just added a fifth to cover all there ground).

Not as good as Futari Wa's, the stake were risen and resolved in a blink of an eye and then we're just taking it easy for a couple of eps. So much more could have been done, so much more could have been explored. Nor am I fan of the default answer of, we just somehow got roped along with her shenanigans... It's a group effort, why is so much emphasis on Nozomi? If any of the other four were missing, you know they'd still be able to function.

I just don't even know with this one, it's like one step forward, two steps back.

Honestly now, come on, do better.

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

that you bake of this

I find it interesting how the first poster is accusing groups of TB stans of not handling criticism, when TG stans (particularly Alicent stans) are the ones most often "melting and crying" over criticism.

Pointing out Alicent's hypocrisy and cruelty, the fact that Aegon is a rapist, and Aemond was a coward and cruel are all met with screaming. They flat out deny any facts of canon that show how awful their favs are. I've been told to kill myself multiple times just for pointing out actual canon things Alicent has done. Like, the call is coming from inside the house TG lmao.

I don't deny that there are certain people who claim to be TB but have absolutely braindead takes (namely certain Daemon stans, which is very sad). But the fact of the matter is, those people are a very small percentage. The percentage of insane people who can't stand criticism is wayyyyyyy larger in the TG fandom.

Most of TG stans' so-called criticism of Rhaenyra is just calling her a whore, saying she roll over and take any injustice, and that she's not nice enough. Of course we get annoyed and angry with that, it's not even actual criticism; it's just noise. The few times they actually have valid critiques of Rhaenyra, they still tie it in with calling her a fat whore. Anything of worth they could possibly offer is always completely bound to their intense hatred of Rhaenyra.

No, Rhaenyra isn't perfect, we don't expect people to just blindly worship her. She's not a good person, she's classist, and she wrongfully ordered the executions of innocent people twice. However, she's the rightful heir, that's literally a fact. We expect Rhaenyra to be supported because she's a victim of the patriarchy and misogynists. She doesn't have to be your favorite character, but the fact remains that she's the rightful queen and the Greens are usurpers and warmongers.

As for the whole "team smallfolk" idea: it's basically always used as an excuse to be blatantly hateful towards Rhaenyra. The "team smallfolk" and "team neutral" people never attack the Greens with the same vigor as they do Rhaenyra and her family. In fact, most of them even say that they're "green leaning".

The contradiction in this idea of supporting the smallfolk and the Greens simultaneously is that if the Greens hadn't interfered, the Dance and the deaths of the thousands of smallfolk wouldn't have happened. Rhaenyra and the Blacks didn't start the war, the Greens did. The Greens committed the most atrocities and refused every single offer of peace Rhaenyra offered.

I think the second poster is hilarious though. I don't know if they're TG, I assume so based on the subreddit. I don't know if they meant to, but they pointed out just how hypocritical the first poster's mini rant was. The first poster tacked on "Also they hate "Team Smallfolk," and the second poster pointed out how most of TG also just don't give a shit. Even if the second poster isn't TG and was just going to that subreddit to start something, there are still so many TG stans who admit that the smallfolk don't matter to them. I even had an anon once tell me that the maids Aegon raped don't matter to them as an answer to why they like and support him. I'm not going to say that they're right on not caring, but at least they're not hiding behind that false moral superiority.

Like I said earlier, the Greens were the ones who caused the deaths of thousands of smallfolk, both indirectly by starting the war and directly through Aemond and Daeron. The Greens didn't care about the smallfolk in any way, they only cared about power. Any TG stans who act like they're "better for the smallfolk" are delusional.

To sum up my thoughts: the first poster is projecting. Every single one of their criticisms apply better to their own group. The delusion and false superiority that poster displays are hilarious and frustrating.

[fair-dinkum-mechanic]

honestly? not a clue how to cope at the moment.

I don't understand why people can wrong me so, SO viciously and be rewarded for it. Like my life just continues to spiral out of my control, but people who absolutely savaged me are not only rewarded, but excused. idk maybe its not very modest or humble of me to kinda wish that they'd have to face the consequences of actions that were totally and completely unfair, and have left permanent scars on me for the rest of my life.

but I have to make peace with the fact that they never will - and they'll live out the rest of their days not even giving it a second thought. Not even so much as thinking about an apology or acknowledgement of their behaviour. Just forever believing that I was toxic or cruel to them, when I know I wasn't. Well, we all do toxic things, and I'm guilty of that even in these cases, but I know why now I acted how I did and said things I said, but why am I held to such a higher standard when I DO mess up? and these other people get away with it like they did absolutely nothing wrong at all??? Is it because they did it to ME? because that's exactly how it feels. It feels like because it was done to ME it's excusable and justifiable . Because it was ME they did nothing wrong, because I'm me and I'm difficult, unlovable, ugly, annoying, obnoxious and ultimately worthless in every sense of the word. every ounce of anger directed at me is justified, each mistreatment, harshness, attack, accusation, all of it, is all justified simply because I'm me.

and no nothing has happened to trigger this, just me dwelling too much on the past and seeing now where those people are, and where I am. If they're looking for justification or affirmation that they were in the right - here it is - I still don't see how but life has handed you guys the reward, and I'm still here wanting to cut myself out of my own skin. I deserved every piece of abuse you hurled at me.

I deserved every single scathing word. I deserved to be yelled at, sneered at, snapped at, made to feel afraid, alone, guilty, ashamed. When you threw the shoes and the plates I deserved to witness it. When you lied and lied and lied, but then accused me of the guilt, I deserved it. When I was chastised and scorned for every single decision I made, even healthy ones for self preservation and helping everyone, I deserved it. When the years, and years, and years of mental and emotional abuse shut me away like a menace, I deserved it. When despite that my friends justified your behaviour, consoled you, reaffirmed to you inadventently that I was indeed the sole problem, I deserved it. And nobody knows just how much I punish myself every day because I deserved all of it. I may not understand WHY I deserved all of it, but it's very, very clear that I did. Every day I punish myself. I deny myself, I hurt myself, I tear shreds out of my mind and my heart every single day because if there's anything I know it's that I deserve it. And the continued pain, and the continued indifference absolutely shows me that it's true. And I do get sad over it. It's not poetic there's not beauty in it at all. I NEVER get those years back. It's done, the milk is spilled, I'll never stop bleeding over this and I only get one life, and it's been forever, forever trashed and burned from this. I'll never lead a normal life. So yeah, you guys win. I hope that gives you some sense of satisfaction, or joy, or whatever. There's no use in all of us being miserable. Congratulations, really, you're on the winning side of the coin, life has favoured you.

[thesunfyre4446]

(1) Before the show aired I used to say I was on TB, now I feel like that's admitting a shameful secret? Because I'd be putting myself in the same bag as A LOT of delusional TB/Rhaenyra stans, most of whom are just bullies. The more I see both teams fighting on reddit or here the more stupid it looks to me; I end up wanting to correct them but then it comes off as me siding with TG. I'm not but it kills me to see how wrong they got the story. Most TB fans read F&B and filled in the blanks with their own delusions and think that's what really happened; what's even worse is they can't separate book from show. They think they have the moral highground but a lot of them are terrible, with their double standards and self righteousness. Like when they accuse TG of mysoginy but then crucify Alicent for everything she did and didn't do. Even young Alicent, who did absolutely nothing wrong, but still gets attacked by Rhaenyra's feminist stans.

If anyone asked me now I'd say I'm not in any team; my favourite characters are aligned with Rhaenyra, whom I think is the rightful heir based on my understanding of succession. I will defend Alicent cause she's an interesting character that people refuse to try to understand and is treated unfairly. I actually loved watching most of the characters (and relationships) because they are all so complex, even if I don't agree or like them . They are engaging, despite what "team" they're on. It really annoys me that so many fans miss out on this because they're busy with the TB vs TG war.

i think that not being in any team is the best way to watch the show, anon.

i mean i'm TG but watching daemon is def very entertaining. he's a horrible person but matt smith (who's one of my fav actors from the good old doctor who days) is incredible. i can enjoy daemon's character while also acknowledging the fact that he's a horrible person. appreciating characters for their complexly & just how entertaining they are without agreeing with the things they do or even liking them is a skill this fandom desperately needs to learn.

i got a hate anon a few days ago accusing me of "having bad morals" for saying alicent did what she believed was right and honorable, and then just refused to understand that what alicent believes is right is not necessarily what i believe is right (i mean she's a fictional character from a medieval inspired fantasy world, of course we're not going to have the same set of values ? ). i'm not TG because i believe that men should inherit before women, i just like the characters better and find them more interesting.

i also think that this fandom has a HUGE problem separating headcanons from actual canon. with daemyra shippers being the obvious example. daemon and rhaenyra's relationship is very toxic. he's psychically abusive to her, he gr00med her, he abandoned her in a brothel... like this is obviously a very bad relationship. but people still insist on labeling daemon as a MaLeWiFe and a femenist (?) [he smashed his wife's head with a rock because he didn't like her but ok] and get very angry whenever someone tries to suggests that maybe... daemyra isn't that great of a ship.

don't get me wrong it's fine to ship daemyra, we all like to ship fictional toxic relationships, but you have to separate the headcanons you have from the actual show.

yeah the double standard with the so-called feminists attacking alicent is... a lot. an unhinged stan left a comment on one of my posts talking about alicent's "lowly hightower c***". a lot of them are accusing her of "seducing" viserys when she was 14-15, or defending corlys for offering his 12yo daughter as a bride to the middle aged viserys... i'm not very comfortable with these posts so i usually just end up blocking the op. (and don't even get me started on how some of them treat nettles)

thank you for the ask! ;)

[the-firebird69]

Trump is a very dumb person as I accused around 69 and everyday is IQ becomes less and less and lower of course and he is annoying as hell he's kind of a wild card and his people have him do stuff and it's very stupid what they happen to and and have him say he is usually quite depleted meaning that he does not have energy stores he doesn't have real fat for instance what he has is some sort of inflated flubber and he is going around saying that he's going to kick everyone's ass and getting beat up a lot oh they used to do that anyways but now it's gross and he's sick and he's attacking our son verbally mentally harassing him with things trying to kidnap him like Non-Stop we need this to stop we need experts in here we need a lot more experts so we need people to get rid of this fools and a few people came to me today what can we do to help we realize you're under duress it's all kind of flowing to you we're talking to them and we hear it they just simply do not want to comply with any Norm. And he says they're terrorists and so that's right and what should we do to terrorists because we have a program it seems to be causing us some issues in that where saving up assholes and we were warned about it I do not ever save an a****** forced and we do see why and they start to say we're going to have to go over it again what part of the plan is he why is he part of the plan I don't agree that we should have the enemy who sits there and declaring is the enemy as part of our plan we should have him leave as far as part of our plan only in the morning is kind of similar but different so I heard you get involved and it says what am I saying wrong what you're saying is you don't know if it's true or something what we're saying is we want the guy dead and he's going I understand that and I want him gone too that's where we got to

Thor Freya

It sounds weird I'm saying is he's part of the program of something we can hear you guys none of these people are really part of our program and they aren't really and this guy is turned into a massive jackass and we need him out we have to present it again

Nuada Arrianna

We have alternates and it shows in the presidency and minority warlock and minorities and it has to happen we're pushing for it and we're getting resistance from large group yeah the Mac proper

Frank Castle hardcastle

We're going to use this idiot on them and we have the side to do it and they helped

Thor Freya

Olympus

[sonik-kun]

Figures why I had them blocked. I only block people who get very aggressive. I can see throughout the post that they're being malicious towards op. 😬😬

It's the way they twist our words to make us sound like abusive people who condones the actions of fictional characters that annoys me. Like conflating us with child abusers and accusing us of being complicit with the genocide in Palestine just because we like JC is so disgusting. I refuse to be called something I'm not. Most JC fans ik are of the opinion that you can say what you want about JC. Just expect criticism from us and don't attack our morality just because we like a fictional character.

It's funny because they act all morally pious, but I've seen them say the some of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in a fandom, and I've been in many toxic fandom spaces before. I can hold up my hands when I say that the Wangxian fandom has been the most toxic. Sneeze in the wrong direction, and they will all jump on you. And God forbid you enjoy MDZS in a different way from them! 😂

I didn't know they all said that about Hua Cheng 😨 Damn.. That's messed up.. And very hypocritical (I'm sorry to hear what you've been through btw. Hope you're doing better now 🫂)

Watching jc antis get upset because the canon jiang cheng tag is being used against their logic will never not be funny XD

Jc antis: "Lets make the canon jc tag to write about his canon traits. That will show those jc stans 😈😈"

Jc fans: *starts using the tag to write about his canon good characteristics and all the good he has done with the correct citations from the original source.*

Jc antis: "nooooo not like that!!! >:( "

[lovee-infected]

For the anon talking about how they hate how over exaggerated a character is. I am not trying to start hate or anything, but if you don't like the way how someone portrays the character, just stop reading it. Some people don't delve deep, they just want to write fanfics for fun they're not going to make sure it's 100% the characters VERY complex personalities. Or the way how they view a character is different from their beliefs. I've gotten this message before and I am TIRED of it

I think it's a good time to talk about this because I've been thinking about bringing the topic up for a while. To begin with, let's clear something between the two anons because I think it's a misunderstanding:

Note: Please read this, this is important.

Anon A is saying that they're sometimes bothered by how some fanfics and Aus have a different way of picturing character X, in other words, they don't really enjoy it when a character is bring mischaracterized

Anon B (this anon) is saying that if you're bothered by a fic because you don't like how they're characterizing an specific character, then you don't have to read it.

Let me say that both of these anons are right, yet to think that their ideas are the opposites of each other, is totally wrong. In other words they both have a point, but I guess their points needs a stronger a better way of being explained in order to avoid any further dramas and misunderstandings.

Why am I doing this? Because I've seen -enough- of it. After the twst character analyses, aruges toward the mischaracterizations in this fandom became a thing, it's been causing some issues and arguments between the fans and it's mainly because of how sides fails to explain their points clearly.

Though I didn't really receive any rude asks/comments regarding myself the matter I can still how some fans feel attacked, offended or called out by character analysis posts or have the NERVE to attack or offend others with their own perspective on characters and try to force others into accepting them.

Enough with drama, I'm sick of it. I'm going to explain this as clearly as I can, hopeful that this would at least lessen the chance of having to go through another drama regarding the mischaracterization issue.

1) The concept of FANfiction

First off, the fanfiction itself; what is a fanfiction? What type of writing is considered to be a fanfic? What is it even used for? These are the questions we all need to answer before getting to know the world of fanfic.

Just as its name explains, it's fan + fiction. It's the result of the fan's creativity and imagination taking place in a fictional plot, something that hasn't happened with the original characters and he original story. The fans' imagination is often far beyond the plot which the original story/series/book offers, yet this isn't going to hold fans back from imagining it. Fanfiction is the way of giving yourself (or others) the specific and plot with the original and canon version isn't going to give you, in other words it's a way of getting what you wish to see through a story but this time, it's you who'd decide what will happen.

You are the one who decides how characters will be, you are the one who decides how and where this story happens and you are the one to choose how this story must come to an end. It's all about your own imagination and creativity, which enables you to have power over everything about your own story and fanfiction, everything (In expection gor than legal issues including claiming the original character as yours). You have the power, and you choose how it should be.

2) Fanfiction and mischaracterization

This was mainly the most brought up issue in the recent Twst drama, mischaracterization through writings. Many were saying how they find this annoying and nerve-wrecking, but no one really talked about how mischaracterization comes to life.

Let me tell you, as long your writing is a fanfic, there is a 70% chance of mischaracterizing the plot or the characters and there's nothing wrong with it, that's just how fanfiction works! It isn't supposed to be canon, it is fanon and only fanon. Everything that happens is fictional and fanon based, in other words, it's the fan who decides what should happen in a fanfiction and how it's supposed to be!

One of the Fanfiction's best purposes is giving the fandom a chance to mischaracterize! To write the characters the way they wish them to be and not necessarily the way they truly are. Fanfiction allows us to imagine and create something that isn't true, so let me clear my point here: It's totally okay to change the characters' personalities in your fanfics! As the writer, you have the right to do so, and since writing a fanfic must be for your own pleasure in the first place, no one can stop you from imagining whatever you want! No one can jump out and say stuff like "YOU CAN'T MISCHARACERTIZE A CHARACTER IN A FANFICTION" because that'd be super lame. It's your own fanfiction, your story, your creation and you're free to mischaracterize if that's how you like it to be! And if anyone doesn't like that, remember that they don't have to read that.

3)What is the problem?

Look, we've been going through some drama because of the recent character analyses of twst fandom, and I'd like to explain why. First off, note that I think both sides of the argument have been wrong and I'm going to talk about both of them.

Let me begin with a small example: It's been argued that based to what we've seen from Leona's personality so far, he doesn't seem to be the type to love healthily or even easily fall for anyone. Some of the fans seemed to be offended by the statement and said that "They still want their Leona fluff no matter what everyone else says" okay okay, this is the problem I was talking about: Saying that canon Leona doesn't seem to be much of a fluffy lion or a sweet lover isn't equal to forbidding the fans from writing fluffs for him or picturing him as a adorable and gentle lover! No one has the right to hold fans back from appreciating and enjoying what they like! But it's important to know what exactly is happening.

I'll talk about some crucial points you need to know about character analyses and how it's different from a fanfic in part (4), but before that, let me continue to give some examples of the recent argues and how each of the sides were wrong.

A) You enjoy reading fluffy Malleus content but character analyses have been saying that he isn't as soft and cute as you'd expected him to be. Does this mean that you can no longer ask for wholesome Malleus content or enjoy reading them? -> Of course not! You're still free to read/imagine/write whatever you like with Malleus! No one has the right to tell you what to do, and character analyses aren't meant to be a way to hold you back from enjoying what you like! If you're enjoying something, go for it! In this fanon world no one can accuse you for not following the canon interpretations!

B) You've spent a rather long time getting to know Ace and his canon personality, and you really like the way he is! But by reading fanfics/ fandom's interpretations on him you can't help but to feel like they aren't giving his personality the justice he deserves, and aren't seeing the great and amazing character he truly is. Is it okay to feel upset about this? -> Just as I said, it's totally fine to have your personal interpretations of a character no matter how different the rest of the interpretations are! But the real question is: what should you do when you think fandom isn't doing a character justice? This would be answered in part D!

C) You are enjoying your personal ideas and headcanons with Idia and many are saying that your way of picturing him is so adorable! Does this necessarily mean that the canon Idia as well is like you describe him? -> Absolutely not! No matter how adorable an Au/headcanon is, everyone's free to enjoy it but you should remember that canon ≠ fanon. You are totally free to imagine whatever you'd like! But keep this in mind that you shouldn't insist on your ideas being necessarily canon!

D) You feel like many are mischaracterizing your favorite character and you don't like it, what should you do? -> Well to begin with, remember that other fans have the right to characterize a character just as much as you do! You can't stop them from doing what they like or expect them to change the way they are because of how different the canon interpretation of a character might be. But you as well have a great chance to inspire the fandom by your own ideas! You can try to discuss how different the canon personality of your favorite character is and even try to turn that into a character analysis! This way you'd not only avoid causing any drama because of disagreeing with someone's way of picturing your favorite character, but you will also have a chance to present your personal ideas and characterizations to the fandom in a friendly and polite way!

E) You don't like how an author is characterizing some of the boys, what should you do? -> Easy solution, don't read it. Let me tell you, I have gone through this a lot and do you know what I do whenever I read/see something that doesn't match my tastes and expectations? I keep scrolling! That's all, I don't have to like it, but I don't have to read it either! 😀

F) You're an author and a writing request is asking you to write for a character in a way you just can't or don't want to write because that goes totally against your idealistics and ideas on a character, for example: You just can't write something really wholesome and fluffy for Leona because you can't imagine him being like that, what should you do? -> It's obvious, then don't write it! You have the right to choose what you'd like to write and how you like to picture a character no matter what others think. If you want to picture Leona as an emotional and soft boy, it's totally okay! If you want to picture him as a cold-hearted and mean prince, again it's totally alright! Remember, just like fans you have the right to picture and characterize the characters the way you want to, and no one can tell you otherwise!

G) You've read a character analysis and you realize that you've been mischaracterizing Floyd for a while, should you feel bad or sorry about it? -> Of course not!! Even if you were mischaracterizing him, keep this mind that there's nothing wrong with picturing Floyd as the way you want him to be! As long as you don't claim your headcanons to be canon and share stuff like "Canon from is definitely like this" or "Floyd would do that, canon! ^-^" it's totally alright to imagine him the way you like!

H) You saw someone saying something about Malleus that didn't match the canon interpretations of him. You quickly replied to then and corrected them about their wrong point of view and tell them how the real Malleus is, which kinda led to and argument between you and the person, did you do the right thing? -> Absolutely not! Attacking others out of nowhere and without any context isn't the right way of introducing the canon characterizations to the fandom! Even if you were right, keep this in mind that the other person has the right to picture Malleus or any other character the way they want them to be so if you want to correct them or try to get to know the canon character interpretations, you should do that from the logical and polite way.

I) Someone wrote a character analysis for Idia and said how they find it so annoying when people who refer to Idia as "Baby" and "uwu beanie". You often refer to Idia as baby or cutie yourself and the context of that analysis/general post some how got to you. You feel lowkey attacked and offended, did the original poster say the right thing? -> No, matter what the context is or how accurate and well-written that analysis was, directly calling people who have a certain way of picturing a character "Annoying" is rude no matter how you think of it. Even if the original poster were right about Idia not being UWU, their way of wording their sentence wasn't really pleasant; keep this, in mind that everyone in the fandom is free to picture Idia as they like and it doesn't even matter if you don't like it or not! If you're going to write an analysis/essay regarding a character's personality, remember that you should prove your point and disagree with opposite opinions through logical reasoning and explaining your point, NOT by offending and attacking other ideas by savage contexts like "You have to stop saying that Idia is like this", "I hate it when people say Idia is like this", " It's so annoying to see people saying Idia is like this... "

4) What's with the character analyses then?

There's a difference from the canon and fanon interpretations of a character, this is a truth which cannot be denied. But it's important to remember that just because a canon interpretation of a character exists, you can no longer enjoy the fanon interpretations!

Even I, for example, enjoy picturing someone like Malleus as an purely evil being like Maleficent herself because I enjoy seeing him as a perfect figure for "Mister of all Evil", but in my Malleus analysis post I explained how we should NOT think that Malleus is nothing but pure evil or a heartless monster! See, this is the difference I've been talking about. I'm pretty well-familiar with the canon Malleus, but I'm also enjoying the my own fanon Malleus and I know that the Evil Malleus I admire is a fanon one, not the canon one!

The thing is, character analyses aren't meant to be a way to hold anyone back from enjoying their fanon interpretations or imagining what they like, they aren't call out posts either. They are simply a way of getting to know the characters as if you're getting to know one of your irl friends. You come to think of them, see how deep their personalities are and get to learn more about them!

It's true that reading a character analysis might make you realize that you've been somehow mischaracterizing a character but this, isn't anything to be sorry or frustrated about! Character analyses are written to learn us more about our favorite characters, or as I like to name it, they want to show us that they're a lot more that we may imagine them to be!

Now, you may wonder how can we write a good character analysis without getting out of the line, offending anyone or giving out any cheap information?

I, personally, am pretty strict when asked to do a character analysis. Doesn't matter if I like the character or not, I'd try to judge them nonetheless. You HAVE to talk about both good features and bad features, and you must strictly avoid your analysis from getting personal; you have to make sure that your personal thoughts, feelings and emotions regarding a character aren't effecting your analysis. You shouldn't be writing it in a way to show off with your analytical ideas either.

Some people think coming off as rude would make them sound valid and acceptable, or they might just be used to being a little offensive in general, but as I explained in part 3-I, I won't recommend using any harsh or mean languages at all. Let me note that your way of wording your ideas is crazily important and if you're not careful enough with what you say and how you describe your ideas, your post would be not only be not much helpful as an analysis but also a cause of more drama and arguments. Also, keep this in mind that even the best of character analyses can't totally catch the characters' personalities correctly because we do not own them! Twisted wonderland's characters are a property of aniplex and neither me not anyone else in this fandom has the right to claim what a character is 100% like unless Disney officially releases those details!

Writing character analyses can be hard, from finding enough of hints to defend your point to choosing the right Grammer and way of speaking to avoid any further misunderstandings. But remember, those who write character analyses have no right to attack anyone because of them (They can oppose to different opinions of course, opposing ≠ attacking ), but keep this in mind that readers have no right to attack then because of their analysis either! See, that's a two-sided relationship. Both of the, sides have to learn to respect, both of the sides should, know, their boundaries and both of the sides have to be respectful!

Warning: When I say you're free to do or imagine whatever you wish to do, know that posting and sharing writings too has its own rules. Make sure to put the proper warnings, and avoid using any taboo or clearly impolite and sometimes, illegal concepts such as incest, pedophilia, etc.

I actually had a lot more I wanted to say regarding the matter but I'm keeping it short, because I know that writing too much would make this boring and pretty hard to read. Hope that it's clear enough and avoid the possible future misunderstandings and arguments regarding the matter. Please, this isn't even about twst, it's about learning to respect each other it's about real life. Having people read THIS is a lot more important than having them read my character analyses or writings.

[orange-waterfalls]

All Your Fault

Yancy x gender neutral!reader, Illinois x gender neutral!reader

@glitchbitch69 ty for the prompt!

A/N: aight look, im not good with angst. I did my best??? Rated T for cursing and like 1 single mention of blood. It's sad boy hours out here. Mostly Yancy x reader, a bit Illinois x reader if you squint. I bet you could probably say Yancy x Illinois, too. Fluffy at the end.

Word Count: 2.2k

--

Yancy sits near the lantern, glaring at the adventurer sitting across from him. The adventurer in question was looking at the side of the tent, watching for any shadows.

Zombies are attracted to light after all.

Or is it sound… and moths are attracted to light…

I'm getting off topic. Let's continue.

Yancy clenches his fists when he thinks back to you…

You…

He loved you…

Your skin, your smile, your handsome and/or beautiful face…

And now you were gone. You disappeared.

No… you were taken from him.

And it was all this bastards fault.

Illinois. Yancy hated Illinois. But you made him promise to stay with him. Safety in numbers. It took everything he had not to deck the guy every time he opened his mouth. He was so cocky and arrogant for absolutely no reason! He was so annoying! He hated him… he missed you… he missed you a lot…

Illinois, on the other hand, was fond of Yancy. He found him endearing. And if you liked him, he couldn't be that bad. The kid did kill his parents, but he didn't know the whole story. He couldn't judge. He was happy when Yancy decided to stay with him. He had something to remember you by… he liked Yancy and he loved you. And he missed you.

But he'd never let that show. He'd keep his feelings to himself. He'd act just like he always did. Cocky, flirty, and adventurous. He had to. For Yancy. For you.

He missed you a lot.

Illinois turns back to Yancy, who's glaring daggers into his soul. He smirks at the man.

"C'mon, bud, I know I'm handsome, but there's no need to stare," he teases. Yancy narrows his eyes even more.

"Fuck youse," Yancy growls.

"Language, pal, language," Illinois chuckles. If Yancy glared any harder his eyes would pop out of his sockets. Illinois crossed his legs. "There ain't any out there now. I think it's safe to go to sleep." Yancy, still a bit pissy, nodded and layed down on a jacket. Your jacket. The jacket you lost when you died. He loved the jacket… it smelled like you…

Illinois was a bit jealous that you had given Yancy your jacket, but he understood. Yancy was nicer. You were closer to him. You both let yourselves be vulnerable around each other.

Unlike Illinois, who was too proud and masculine for his own good.

He waited until Yancy was sleeping before lying down himself. You made him promise to keep Yancy safe. He intended on keeping it. Only when he was absolutely sure Yancy was asleep, he laid down. He covered his face with his hat and closed his eyes.

--

Illinois wakes up and puts his hat back on his head. He yawns and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. He could feel how empty his stomach was.

"Alright, bud, I'm gonna go out and-" Illinois looked over, only to find there was no one there. His eyes widened. He left the tent and looked around frantically.

"Yancy? Yancy?!" He called. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! He had promised. He was supposed to keep Yancy safe! What's he gonna do? He looked over and saw a dense forest with sneaker tracks in the dirt. He took a deep breath and headed in.

He ran through the woods, gun in hand, hoping and wishing and praying to find the prisoner. Why the hell did he run here? Did he see a zombie and panic? Did he see a zombie and not warn Illinois? That's rude…

He searches for 15 minutes without finding anything. He tries his best to go in a straight line, but he falls down a hill, not exactly knowing where he came from when he gets to the bottom. He groans and staggers to his feet. He holds his head, but pulls his hand away as he feels blood.

"Ain't that just peachy," he grumbles. He takes bandages he found at a hospital and wraps them around his head. He walks forward, hoping to find a trace of Yancy. He finds something even better. He finds Yancy, sitting on the grass, barely moving. Illinois sighs in relief. "Jesus, man, y'almost gave me a heart attack…" Yancy doesn't move. Illinois frowns and slowly walks towards him. "Kid…?" He reaches out.

"I saw them," Yancy says, barely above a whisper.

"Saw… who?" Illinois asks, hoping he isn't going crazy.

"Y/N… I saw them… they was right there… I went after them but they was gone…"

"Yancy…"

"Don't you fuckin' "Yancy" me, asshole!" Yancy suddenly screams. Illinois steps back, surprised.

"Y/N's gone Yancy," Illinois calmly explains. Yancy clenches his fists so hard he draws blood. His face is fixed in a hateful glare, and tears begin streaming down his face.

"I know they're fuckin gone! I've known that for the past 3 months! I know that they're gone, and I know that it's all because of you!" He screams, sobbing between sentences. "Y/N's gone and it's all your fault!" Illinois frowns, not knowing how to respond to that accusation. It wasn't his fault… was it? You decided to distract them… that was your decision… it wasn't his fault… it wasn't. Illinois inhales deeply.

"I'm going to go look for some food. I expect you to be back at camp by the time I get back." Yancy scoffs and turns away from him. "I'll give you some time to cool down." Illinois turns back towards where he came. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should comfort Yancy. He decided against it.

He'd only make it worse.

--

Illinois is out for a bit longer than he expected. He had a run in with a really weird military guy… what was his name? Ted? Not like it matters. He's dead. Illinois did manage to find a couple cans of soup, beans, and vegetables in an abandoned camp. He wondered what happened to them…

He decides not to think about it too much.

He makes his way back to camp, hoping Yancy listened to him this one time. He was happily surprised to find Yancy sitting next to a fire, holding two birds. He looks up at Illinois for a moment before looking away. Illinois raises a brow.

"I, uh… I thought I'd surprise you with lunch… but… I don't know how to cook a bird…" he explains awkwardly. Illinois smiles.

"That's alright. It's difficult. Here, we'll cook these and save them for dinner. We should pack up and keep moving." Yancy nods as Illinois begins to show what he's supposed to do.

After they finish cooking the birds and eating two cans of beans, they pack up. They decided it'd be better to keep moving and look for better shelter than to sit around doing nothing. By the time dinner rolled around, they'd found a nice, small, abandoned house. They both agreed it was best to stay there instead of in the tent for another night. There were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. It was cozy. They liked it. They manage to get the stove to work using a lighter, and they make soup to eat with their bird meat. They sit in silence eating their dinner, both feeling very awkward. Yancy sets his bowl down after he finishes and sighs.

"Uh… hey, Illinois?" He asks. Illinois looks up. "I'm, uh… I'm… sorry about earlier…" Illinois smiles sadly.

"It's fine, kid."

"No, it's not… I had no right to say that to youse, I was feeling sad and I needed someone to blame, so I took it out on youse… I'm sorry," Yancy explains. Illinois blinks at his sudden maturity and smiles.

"Alright, I forgive you," they both sit, smiling at each other, sharing a moment of mutual understanding. Until…

"I would hate to see your cute little face upset," Illinois winks. Yancy squints at him.

"Youse is a douchebag," he grabs his bowl and takes it back to the kitchen.

Both men sleep in the bedrooms, feeling a bit more closure. They knew that it wasn't either of their faults. They could get along better now. They'd be alright.

--

Yancy wakes up to something small hitting his arm. He brushes it off as a bug, even when he feels it three different times in the exact same place. Then, he feels something much larger hit him in the face.

"OW, what the fuck?!" He yells. He looks down to see a fairly thick book on the floor. He looks out the window, wondering who just threw it. Instead of seeing a human, he sees zombies at the front, trying to break through the door and windows. Yancy yelps and runs across the hall to where Illinois is sleeping. He shakes the adventurer harshly, calling his name to get him up. Illinois groans.

"What? What is it?" He whines. Yancy grabs him up and pulls him to the window, where even more zombies are trying to break in through the back door. Illinois yells out and scrambles to grab his stuff. They gather all their clothes, equipment and food, and run out a window on the side of the house. Illinois vaults out effortlessly. Yancy, on the other hand, does not know how to vault. He knocks a lot of things over and makes a lot of noise as he leaves. The zombies notice this and start to chase after them. Illinois grabs Yancy and starts running. Where to, he had no idea. Just away from there. They run and run and run until the end up in a forest. They run until they get to an open space, catching their breath.

"God…" Yancy pants, "I didn't know zombies were so fast…"

"Me either…" Illinois pants, "but we need to keep going." They try going forward, but are blocked by a wall of zombies. The same thing happens with the other three directions. They stand in the circle of zombies, looking back and forth, trying to find a way out. There was none.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Yancy panics. Illinois stands, shaking, not knowing. He can't save him. He can't protect Yancy. He failed.

"I'm sorry, Y/N… I'm so sorry…" he whispers. Yancy hears it and covers his face with his hands. They both sit, holding and hugging each other, waiting for what's to come.

Suddenly, they hear quick footsteps and the zombies all stop. Keeping their eyes closed, they hear a series of grunts and moans and groans. Then they hear the zombies leave.

Wait… the zombies are leaving?

They open their eyes to see all the zombies just… gone. Except for one. Right in front of them. Illinois stands up, pulling Yancy with him. He hides the man behind his back and brandishes his gun, ready to shoot. But the zombie steps back, holding its hands up. Since when do zombies surrender? He sees something shine in his eye and looks to see what it is. He sees a necklace.

A golden necklace.

A necklace he gave to you on your second adventure together…

Wait…

He looks up at the zombie's face. Your face was a bit gray, but it was you.

It was you!

"Y/N?" He asks in disbelief. You look up at him and smile, nodding happily. Illinois drops his gun and runs over, hugging you. Yancy stands for a moment not knowing what to do.

"No… no way…" he starts. Illinois turns, expecting him to be angry or confused. He's just the opposite. He's smiling from ear to ear. "NO FUCKING WAY!" He yells and runs into your arms. He starts to sob.

"But… but you…" Illinois starts. You shrug and show him your bite. Yancy pulls away.

"But how are youse… y'know… thinkin'?" He asks. You think for a moment, knitting your eyebrows together, before shrugging. Yancy laughs. "Of course ya don't know, ya dumbass," you gently punch his shoulder.

"How'd you find us?" Illinois asks. You scratch the back of your neck. You try to talk, but no words form.

Is that just… a thing? With zombies?

Hm. Guess so. Anyways.

You get on your knees, grab a stick, and write something in the mud. "I've followed you for the past two months. I know what you smell like."

"You know what we smell like? Aw…" Illinois teases. You glare at him playfully. It was nice to know he hadn't changed. Yancy, on the other hand, looked 3 minutes away from a full-on emotional breakdown.

"2 months? 2 months youse was right there? 2 months we coulda been together?" He asks, tears visible in his eyes. You frown, feeling guilty. You take Yancy into your arms and just hold him. He starts to cry. Which turns into sobbing. Illinois stands, looking at you two. He smiles. You were back! Thank God. He didn't think he could handle Yancy. After a minute he sighs.

"Alright, you two. Let's head out," he says. You nod and lift Yancy off of his knees. He wipes at his eyes and sniffles for a moment before walking, refusing to let go of your hand. Illinois follows close behind. You were back… you were still here, but now, you're with them. He almost couldn't believe it. He laughs to himself.

Yep. They'd be alright.

I'm supposed to be studying lol

[moderatelysociallymaladjusted]

I know I know. No one wants to hear about overwatch. But look. I still like it. And I'm thinking about the old guard playing it. And I have some thoughts. Nicky plays Ana. She's a sniper. But also a healer. Keeping an eye on the team and looking after them from afar. Now. Nicky is also a deadly little thing and while I do think he'd main Ana because Nicky is also a nurturer, I do think occasionally he'd switch out to just widow if he thinks they need proper accurate sniping. Since I see them playing as a team most of the time no one complains about a sniper on the team. Ever. Even attack. They knows he's good at it. I feel like Quynh might play hanzo because of the use of the bow. It's familiar even if it's a video game. (insert someone saying Booker should play hanzo only on the premise that they are both sad bastards who long for the sweet release of death to repent for their betrayals) but look. There's a part of me that wants her to play Genji. But you know. A competent one. Who's incredibly good at it. She gets so many solo teams kills with her ult. Enemy teams always try to say they cheat because of how accurate and good Quynh and Nicky are at their mains. Andy might be drawn to Reinhardt at first. Big tank dude with a big ass axe. But I don't think she'd like his play style. When she thinks tank. She thinks for in your face brute force. Not kind of. Just blocking and protecting. I kind of think in the end she plays ashe a lot. "My business my rules" kind of thing. She's not the most fond of guns. But she will play her because no one really has an axe that she likes to play. Though I think she could rock a good Brigitte from time to time. She just tends to forget to give out shield boosts cause she's too busy wacking people in the face with her mace to notice. Booker flips between soldier and reaper since they're both gun guys and well. Everyone pesters him into playing soldier all the time. "You've got the old soul dad vibes going on book". Booker does. On occasion. Play sombra. And he's Hella good at it. He's not the annoying one that just runs around hacking health packs or enemies and then runs away. Nope. He hacks. And burns them down. I think Joe occasionally goes for reaper too if only for the shotgun thing. But I'm not sure who he'd main. I think he'd like Lucio because. Come on. Lucio has those cool upbeat vibes and Joe is here for it. But he likes to be in your face too. Hence reaper and maybe occasionally asking Quynh if he can have genji this round cause he wants to be the sword guy. I'm not 100 percent sure on Nile. Nile might like dva. The whole "I'm not a child" Dva occasionally says. And Nile is so sick of the team calling her kid. So she connects with dva on that aspect. But she might bully Booker off of soldier sometimes cause she just wants to have a decent rifle and shoot people more accurately from time to time. And if she can't get Booker to let her have soldier she'll play tracer. Note when she does play dva or tracer and Booker is playing soldier she is constantly making dad jokes. He isn't amused. But the point is everyone can technically play just about any character. Do they all have their weak characters? Yes. But in a pinch, especially in mystery heroes they can play just about anyone of them. Once they get use to the mechanics of the game. They're used to being a very well working team. So communications during matches isn't difficult at all. And they've all used a variety of weapons in their lives so playing characters with different skills isn't too hard. The only thing that fucks them up is just simple game issues to do with inaccurate weapons use, lagging on occasion or any other actual game related technical issues. They could play comp if they wanted to. Hell they might. Not only are they sometimes accused of cheating they are also sometimes assumed to be a professional league team playing on side accounts to be annoying. It's just a good way to blow off steam and have fun when they have down time. And well. They are a team of six. So it works.

[marionettejonesdraws]

Kacchako Positivity Week Day1: Fragile

Ah~ Finally got over my anxiety and finished this piece. Then I spent a few more hours writing a fic to explain the situation. I end up doing that for other pieces too I guess.

Do not repost

If you like my work, please buy me a ko-fi. I need to upgrade my laptop(so many bugs). And I do need a new scanner. I want to make big A3 pieces! Coz details!!! Also making a custom drawing table with lightbox. Extra funds would be really helpful with my restart on illustration. OuO/ Cheers

Introductions~ the ones not explained on the Roses piece anyway.

Todoroki as runaway dragon prince, will drink a bar dry. Aizawa's as fae clergyman under the Church of Ibara, might die if he manages to finish that mug. Kiri and Sero as human mercenaries. Jiro as fae bard. Mina fell asleep waiting for Ochako to come back after running off with a stranger. Toru as light fae bar maid, decorates the pies and everything else. Dabi as the missing dragon prince currently working for the Ones Cursed by the Sun. Toga as bloodsucking demon also working with Dabi. They like the food here.

Storytime~

If anyone would ask, some would say that nothing is as fragile as the Thorn Prince's ego. But they would be wrong. It hasn't been true for many years now. Some would say it is the Rose Princess since she's been confined to the castle all her life. That too is just a common guess. It is something not many would expect--a secret kept from the plebians, the knights, and even the nobles. That seemingly endless sky forms it's first crack, because of a chance meeting? What does the future hold for these two young lords, and how will they mold it?

This scene: (Sorry for the messy construction. I'm really sleepy.)

Katsuki and Ochako are just coming back to the tavern after spending quite a lot of time having fun finding out more about each other. Iida and Kirishima run in and abruptly grab hold of their respective lords to separate them. "I, Knight of Rose Tenya Iida, in response to your violence against the Princess, have a duty to imprison you. Surrender or face worse punishment!" Tenya declares while drawing his sword.

BK: Princess? Oy! You didn't tell me about that. What's the big deal? (taking a big step forward)

Kiri: Hey, stop. Where did you run off to anyway? You two have been gone for 4 hours. This guy kept threatening to run you through! And goddamn, he runs fast.

Ochako: I thought that if you knew, you'd treat me differently.

BK: Differently? What would YOU do if you found out that I am a demon prince?

Ochako: Eh?!

Kiri: He's no- (gets punched)

BK: Let go already! (Points thumb on self)I am Prince Katsuki Bakugou of the Thorns.

Ochako: (trying to get past Iida's arm) It doesn't matter to me, one bit. We were having so much fun swinging swords on the rooftops. I don't want to miss a chance to make friends with someone so skilled!

Iida: gasp* How dare you swing your sword at such a fragile girl?

Ochako/BK: I'm/She's not fragile!

Iida: Regardless, you shouldn't mingle with demons without charm markings. They're dangerously unpredictable. Don't you know how quickly they turn into beast at the slight smell of blood?

Kiri: That's nonsense! I've been living with demons for a few years now. I've bled from sword training, yet I have never been attacked.

Iida: Silence! It doesn't apply to you,dragon. (swinging his sword very close to Kiri's face and pulling it back to a defensive position)

BK: Point your sword at him again, and I'd cut that arm off!

Kiri: Hey, no harm done. Let's just go home. (turning to face BK, ready to fly him off)

Iida: Monsters like you just bring disquiet and adversity. Do you even know your place in this country, demon?

Ochako: Don't say such awful things! Those accusations are simply untrue. (Still trying to get past Iida) You can't keep being like this to them. It's just one demon who-

Iida: You, how many times have I told you to stay away from trouble! (Pulling her cloak and pushing her back a few feet) We will go back to the castle this instant.

Bakugou shoves Kiri aside not leaving his glare on the knight. "For someone so large, you sure carry a small sword."

Iida: It's so I can fight in narrow spaces to prote-

"I'm not talking about that metal stick, you self righteous brick." BK huffs, walking closer. "You smell of fear. Someone with as weak a heart as yours can't protect Ochako."

Kiri rushes between them, lines growing on his face as he prepared to match BK's strenght. "Calm down. Calm down! We don't want trouble. We're just going home, right?" Kiri turns to face Iida to apologize but was met with the tip of his blade. He jumped back, pushing BK behind him. Bakugou's eyes turned to slits, markings tearing out of his eyes and cheeks, "You really got on my nerves, but this is different. I'm going to fucking kill you!" Kirishima barely stopped BK from pulling his sword out, eyes enlarged as he struggles to hold down his friend.

The surge of demonic aura flung open Iida's shield. "Iida, put down your sword!" Ochako pleaded as she tried to pull down his arm. "I command you! Put down your sword!"

Iida: If it's my blood you want then come get it!

BK: I'm not just going for blood. I'm going to fucking devour you!!!

Mina rushes out of the tavern, woken up by BK's demonic aura. "What's happening here? It's dangerous to let your power loose. If Iida finds out."

Ochako: Mina! Help me stop Iida. He's going to get himself killed.

Kiri: Mina? What are you doing here?

Mina was startled to see both the princess and her childhood friend, but upon looking farther she froze. 'He's the prince. The Thorn Prince!' At that very moment her instincts forced her to grovel.

Iida was taken aback: Mina what are you doing. Get up!

Mina: Lord Bakugou, please spare my idiotic companion! He is just doing his duty.

BK: He pointed his sword at my friend. Twice!

Mina: He's just very verbal with his hands, my Lord.

BK: What does that even mean, pink hair? This guy has been running his mouth about us demons. Am I supposed to just let that go?

Iida: If there is a witness, then it is true isn't it?

Ochako: It was just one demon! Pleaaase, put down your sword.

Kiri legs are starting to tremble against BK's weight. "Stop, Bakugou! The sun is setting!!!"

BK: Not till I take his head!

Mina shouts even louder hoping that they'd acknowledge her. "Take mine instead! Both of you, take my horns. I can't let my Lord and my companion fight each other over such trivial things! If anyone should be punished it should be me. I let her out of the castle and left her to roam unaccompanied. It's my fault!!!"

BK can't stand being ordered around, but this demon was adamant in her plea. "Who is your master, pink hair?"

Mina: I am Princess Ochako's servant my Lord.

BK: And who is this obscenely judgemental man to you?

Mina: A work companion who is dearly beloved to the princess. He is like a brother to her.

BK looks over to Ochako, still pulling Iida's arm back in the verge of tears: Tsk... Kirishima we're going home.

Kirishima almost fell forward as the weight against him disappeared. "Thank goodness." He bends over to Mina to help her up. "Hey, I'm glad to see you again."

Mina wrapped her arms around him. "Wow, you really changed." Kiri hugs her back, "Yeah."

BK from high up shouting: Stop exchanging looks. The sun's almost gone. Mom's gonna kill me!

Kiri: What are you saying? Geez. See you later, Mina. You gonna be here tomorrow?(unfolding his wings)

Mina: I'll send you a bird.

Kiri: Aww yiss! Bye~

Mina and Ochako watched them fly off into the sunset as Iida sheathes his sword.

Ochako gave a sigh of relief, her hands still trembling in Mina's. Iida grabbed on to Ochako's arm. "It's about time we go too. Pick up your things." He tried saying it as softly as he can with his strained breath.

Mina threw a loud slap across Iida's face. "What was that? How dare you! You put our lady in danger because of your personal vendetta? You go to the barracks on your own! We'll take a carriage."

Ochako's tears started to flow. "Mina, please don't be mean to him. He was just trying to protect me."

"No. That was just him being a jerk. He must have unnecessarily provoked the Prince. You saw how nice that guy is."

"But... but... *hnnggg*" Ochako buried her face into Iida's chest. "I thought you were gonna die! Stop starting fights. I was so scared. What if you leave me too? What will I do? I'm not powerful enough to save you yet." Her legs finally gave in after a whole day of running about. Iida caught her and lifted her up. "Tenya, promise me you'd stay safe."

Her expression was too much for Iida. He can't bare looking at her so he hugged her tightly, his head resting on her shoulder. "I'll do my best to keep this promise."

Mina is annoyed, but her lady needed to be reassured. "Fine~ We'll all ride the carriage."

They already left~

Todoroki: Well that's unexpected.

Aizawa: Urgh What farce. To think they'd actually meet. This is going to be troublesome.

Todoroki chugging down another mug: The aura he released isn't even a portion of his real power.

Aizawa: With luck, the charms on his body will restrain him till he is able to control it.

Todo: I think I can handle him easily. For now~

Aizawa takes a sip: Have you noticed the darkness lingering about them while they went around town?

Todo: You mean, aside from you? (Aizawa looking a bit annoyed.) Not till just a while ago. They got drawn to him when he let loose.

Aizawa: sigh~ What was the queen thinking? Doing this so close to the ceremony?

Todo: She loves her son. (Raises hand to get another mug.

Aizawa: A bit too much.

Todo: Cheers (clunk)

Aizawa: For the blue sky.

Todo: And the blue sea.

[newwwwusername]

The Play That Goes Wrong - Dennis & Annie - Tourette's Syndrome Awareness Month Prompt 9 : Fakeclaiming

Prompt : Write a fic in which a character with tics is accused of faking and how they deal with that Headcanons : Tourettic!Dennis, Nonbinary!Annie, Autistic!Dennis, he uses an AAC device, Neurodivergent!Annie (not at all focused on)

Dennis was walking backstage and stopped suddenly outside of the green room because the door had been left slightly ajar and the conversation going on inside was...

"Honestly I think he's faking it" he heard Robert say. He frowned.

"Faking what?" Max asked.

"The tics" Robert replied with a slight chuckle. "I think he just wants attention"

"Hey now..." Annie tried to speak up, but Robert kept going.

"I mean, he'll go long periods of time where there's barely any of them and then, like, a show week will come along and suddenly people aren't paying as much attention to him since we're so focused with the show" he went on. "And, conveniently, that's when he starts complaining about the tic attacks and they get so bad"

"Yeah, cause they get worse with stress" Chris spoke up, a bit annoyed at Robert's dismissal of the actor's disorder. "So of course they're gonna get more noticeable when a show week comes along"

"Plus, he doesn't make a whole show of it" Jonathan added. "If he was faking it, why would he always isolate himself whenever they got too bad?"

"Whatever" Robert scoffed and then the door opened and he was met with a very still Dennis Tyde, the stillness only broken by a few small neck jerks and whistles. "Oh... Dennis"

"Why would I fake this?" Dennis asked, more confused than anything. His neck jerked painfully and a few throaty noises erupted from his vocal chords. Robert winced. "This is miserable" he continued. "I fucking hate it, Robert. Why would I fake it?"

"I..." Robert was at a loss for words. He simply turned away and walked out the side door to take a breather. Dennis looked at the other people in the room and then ran off in the opposite direction to the prop closet, humiliated. He didn't like that the validity of his disorders were being talked about while he wasn't there, especially by his friends.

"I'll go check on him" Annie told the others and, with that, they got up and followed where the man had ran off, leaving the others to contemplate.

"Dennis, I'm gonna come in" they announced before opening the prop closet door. They immediately spotted the actor curled in a ball next to the fridge, tics wracking his throat and body. They frowned. "Oh, buddy..."

"You should- Mph! Haha! Wow! WOW!- You should go"

"Do you want me to go?"

"No" Dennis shook his head, which set off a number of painful neck tics. "But I don't- Mph! Mph! Wow! Loser! LOSER! Loser!- I'm not fak- Fake! Faker! Faking! Haha!- Fuck..."

"Hey" Annie soothed, sitting next to him and allowing him to rest his head on their shoulder. "It's okay" they reassured. "I know you're not faking. The others know that. I think even Robert knows that deep down, he just has a stick up his ass"

"I'm sorry"

"For what?"

"Causing a- Loser! LOSER! Faking! He's faking!- Causing a- Haha!- Caus- HAHA!" his neck jerked violently and he groaned in annoyance. Annie sat by silencing, allowing him the space to say what he wanted to, which he appreciated. "Causing a scene" he finally was able to say. "I'm sorry for causing a scene"

"It's okay" Annie reassured. "You didn't do anything wrong. He was being a real dick" they continued. Their phone buzzed, so they pulled it out and smiled slightly. "Sandra's going to talk to him" they informed. "So, don't worry about that"

"Mm" Dennis muttered. Truthfully, he was just tired. This whole thing was just tiring.

"Do you want to be left alone?" they asked again, noticing his drop in energy. He shook his head. Thankfully, alongside the sudden energy drop, his tics died down, so his muscles were able to at least begin recovery from the attack. He opened his mouth to talk but nothing came out, so he pulled out his own phone and went to his text-to-speech app.

'Stay here and just exist with me?' he asked. Annie looked over at him and smiled.

"Of course, bud"

Do not repost on other sites! If you want to participate in this month's challenge, there are 15 Tourette's-centered prompts that you can find here

[neuro-gal-thoughts]

Supporting Other Women

Does anyone else feel like they're constantly in a conundrum with female friendships?

I recently had a conversation with two new coworkers, both women. We're all in our late 20s to mid 30s, and yet the pair of them said they don't have female friends. Both said other women play into competition too much. Too much gossiping. They get along better with guys.

*sigh*

I want to support and be friends with other women. But when the women I talk to just pit themselves against "other women/girls", what do I do?

If I choose not to be close to them, I feel like I'm participating in ostracizing the "Pick Me's" and it doesn't make them want to interact with "Other Women", only furthering the divide of "Pick Me's/Not Like Other Girls" and "Other Women/Girls".

But often, if I choose to try to get close to them it tends to turn into clique-ish situations. The new friend will often have at least one girl/woman they don't get along with who they gossip about, and then talk down other women.

Like, it makes me uncomfortable if a woman passes judgement on a celebrity ("I can't stand Jennifer Aniston. She's only famous because of her looks and her famous dad." Girl, we don't know Jennifer Aniston IRL and talking shit about her doesn't make you inherently better than her, why do you have to put others down??? ToT ).

I had a friend who often told me they had a lot of female friends and they were the fun friend who I could talk to about fun things, trade interests with.

I don't know when I first noticed the negative ways they'd talk about other women, but I recall a moment that stuck out to me was when I shared a podcast with her.

She liked the show a lot, she loved the male host....but the female host has an annoying voice.

The showrunners had talked about receiving fan letters about the female host's voice before too so it kind of hit a nerve with me.

I told the friend they didn't have to listen to the show if they didn't want. But I didn't know how to tell them that I found their comment on the female host's voice to come with a shade of misogyny.

Maybe because I knew the friend would see this as me attacking her. She has a lot of female friends and she supports other women a lot. How dare I accuse her of misogyny....are some of the defenses I imagine she would say to me.

I ended that friendship because when I tried to confront them about hurting my feelings, she followed up "I'm sorry" with a list of excuses ranging from she's a bitch and blunt and I should know that, I wasn't very caring to an issue she had a week before (which she didn't tell me had upset her until I addressed with her that she had hurt my feelings), her life is so different from mine maybe I just don't understand what she's going through in her life, how dare I expect her to hold space for my feelings because it's sexist that society expects women to be responsible for coddling other people's feelings.

I felt off and bad that she used sexism as an excuse for being dismissive with my feelings. I also noticed that when she was defending herself she was comparing herself to me a lot ("Maybe you take this hobby too seriously, I'm just trying to have fun" "your life is so different from mine maybe you just don't get where I'm coming from").

I remember when I was trying to reply to her I didn't want to compare her to me, I didn't want to accuse her of having feelings or thoughts I suspected/guessed she might have because I don't know what she was feeling or thinking. But to see that she did that to me...it just made me feel terrible and like she was deflecting accountability.

It was a fear I had would be her reaction and that was why I was hesitant to confront her in the first place. To see my fears confirmed, it was a reminder that someone who invalidates my feelings and thoughts don't need to be exposed to my feelings and thoughts.

I just think...often we are pitting ourselves against each other when we don't need to.

As a non-confrontational pacifist, like, I don't know how to navigate that relationship without it either being me feeling like I have to walk eggshells around someone who says they are a feminist but will always (silently and not-so-silently) compare themselves to other women or me ending the friendship because I felt like our friendship was toxic.

Not to say I don't have any fellow lady friends, I do. One of my closest friends is a woman I've been friends with for almost 2 decades.

I've never felt like either of us pitted ourselves against each other. This friend has told me about her struggles with comparisons to other girls and women throughout their lives but I have always felt this friend is more nuanced and honest. I don't feel judged or like she will hate me when I get insecure and make mistakes.

So I don't know.

I guess, like all people, there are some women I can get along with better than others. But that doesn't mean that I'm doing it wrong.

But God damn, I really do wish I could strip away the comparisons and competition with other women and just have us show up for each other.

I know I still have a lot of work to do, but I wish it wasn't so hard to navigate.