#These quotes at near the very end of the quotes btw if you want to find them in the code yourself. also you could ctrl + f search daywalker

[plushee-cant-draw]

oKAy uh Wilson rework real *Chucks all the new quotes I could find at you* I... Can't find any that are Wilson specific for some reason? Normally rework quotes are under a section titled their name or sm, but anyways have quotes for the weird shadow pillar and pig hound... thing idk, copyed and pasted directly from the code below the read more:

Wilson:

-- DREADSTONE = "It seems to reflect shadows instead of light.", HORRORFUEL = "It sends a terrible shiver down my spine.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Freeing him might not have been my best idea.", IMPRISONED = "I feel almost sorry for him.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "There's something glinting inside the marble.", EXPOSED = "A pillar of impossibly hard stone.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Lightweight, sturdy, and snazzy!", DREADSTONEHAT = "To keep my brilliant brain safe and sound.", },

Warly:

-- DREADSTONE = "Terrible and beautiful all at once.", HORRORFUEL = "It makes my teeth chatter.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "I have decided on fear!", IMPRISONED = "I don't know whether to feel fear or pity.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Perhaps I could free the poor creature?", EXPOSED = "Ah zut, that stone is far too tough for me to break.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "A fine peice of armor.", DREADSTONEHAT = "My head feels safer already.", },

Wanda:

-- DREADSTONE = "As off-putting as it is, it could be useful.", HORRORFUEL = "It gives me a terrible feeling...", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "I knew I shouldn't have involved myself!", IMPRISONED = "I shouldn't involve myself in these things.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "They seem breakable... but I don't think that'd be wise.", EXPOSED = "Oh botheration. I think I just remembered something...", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "It should keep me well protected, at least.", DREADSTONEHAT = "That stone turned out to be rather useful.", },

Wendy:

-- DREADSTONE = "It is cold... and beautiful.", HORRORFUEL = "There are always more horrors to come.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Kindness only begets more pain...", IMPRISONED = "What a pitiful creature.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "We are all tethered to this place in one way or another.", EXPOSED = "It is too strong, and I am too weak.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Let the darkness surround me.", DREADSTONEHAT = "What's the point?", },

Winona:

-- DREADSTONE = "It's evil-lookin', but tough as nails.", HORRORFUEL = "Makes the usual nightmare goop look almost pleasant by comparison.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Yeesh big guy, I was just tryin' to help you out!", IMPRISONED = "That pig's seen better days.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "That marble doesn't look structurally sound to me.", EXPOSED = "I stand corrected. That rock ain't goin' nowhere.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "That's some real high-grade protective equipment.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Lookin' sharp! Literally.", },

Wortox:

-- DREADSTONE = "A stone as black as night.", HORRORFUEL = "A goop most foul.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "I'm sensing the answer is foe.", IMPRISONED = "Friend or foe?", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "A terrible fate, to be locked in this state.", EXPOSED = "Why hide this stone inside?", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "All blows will be blocked by this armor of rock.", DREADSTONEHAT = "A stone fortress for my brain.", },

Webber:

-- DREADSTONE = "We're not sure if we like that rock.", HORRORFUEL = "It makes our spider skin crawl.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Hey! We were just trying to help!!", IMPRISONED = "He doesn't look like a normal pig. Or even a normal werepig.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "We feel bad just leaving him like that...", EXPOSED = "We can't break through it!", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "It's kinda scary, but it keeps us safe!", DREADSTONEHAT = "A pointy helmet to match our pointy teeth!", },

WX-78:

-- DREADSTONE = "IT IS HARD, COLD, AND EVIL. I LOVE IT", HORRORFUEL = "DARKNESS: 100%. NO SHADES OF GREY DETECTED", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "I THINK IT TOOK THE POINTING AND LAUGHING PERSONALLY", IMPRISONED = "THE FLESHSACK IS STUCK. LET US POINT AND LAUGH AT IT", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED", EXPOSED = "ERROR: MATERIAL IS TOO DENSE TO DESTROY", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "IT LOOKS GOOD ON ME", DREADSTONEHAT = "ACCEPTABLE PROCESSOR PROTECTION", },

Walter:

-- DREADSTONE = "It's just a rock, what's so scary about a rock?", HORRORFUEL = "It can't be THAT bad... can it?", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "I thought he'd be a bit happier to be free...", IMPRISONED = "We can't just leave him like that, Woby! We've gotta help him!", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Hey, what's that stuff inside?", EXPOSED = "Oh, it's just a different kind of rock.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "It looks like an evil knight's armor. Neat!", DREADSTONEHAT = "Never forget to wear your dark helmet.", },

Wurt:

-- DREADSTONE = "Pretty rocks!", HORRORFUEL = "I-is just goop! Not scared!", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Grrr! You just big stinky pig!", IMPRISONED = "Nyeeeeehhh!!", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Heehee, stinky pig all locked up!", EXPOSED = "Rock too hard for breaking, florp.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "So pretty... it mine!", DREADSTONEHAT = "It real good for headbutting, flort!", },

Maxwell:

-- DREADSTONE = "Petrified nightmares.", HORRORFUEL = "That's the good stuff.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Say pal, why don't we talk this out?", IMPRISONED = "You went nosing around places you shouldn't have, didn't you?", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "I can just make out something dark within.", EXPOSED = "That stone would be useful, if only it could be broken.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Black never goes out of style.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Darkness is never far from my mind.", },

Wolfgang:

-- DREADSTONE = "Is just rock, not scary! ...Right?", HORRORFUEL = "S-scary...", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "H-how about friendly game of arm wrestle, yes?", IMPRISONED = "Angry piggie has gotten more muscles!", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Mighty Wolfgang could break pillar!", EXPOSED = "Mighty Wolfgang could... not break pillar.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Wolfgang doesn't need scary rock armor!", DREADSTONEHAT = "Ha! Wolfgang's head is already hard like a rock!", },

Wigfrid:

-- DREADSTONE = "A stone of ill omen.", HORRORFUEL = "The sight of it chills even my courageous Viking heart.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "You leave me no choice, beast! To arms!", IMPRISONED = "The beast hath been consumed by foul magic.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "The pillar is weakened... mayhaps it could be broken.", EXPOSED = "Only something of great might could crack that foul stone.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "It will serve me well, despite its origins.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Ready to bear the brunt of battle!", },

Woodie:

-- DREADSTONE = "There's something off aboot it.", HORRORFUEL = "That stuff can't be good for ya.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Not even so much as a \"thank you\", eh?", IMPRISONED = "Whatever he's got better not be contagious.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Looks sturdy... ish.", EXPOSED = "That's some firmly planted stone.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Luce says black ain't my colour.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Gotta protect the old noggin', eh?", },

Willow:

-- DREADSTONE = "Eww, why does this rock feel so cold and clammy?", HORRORFUEL = "That must be what nightmares have nightmares about.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "You jerk! I was just trying to help!", IMPRISONED = "Looks like somebody's having a bad day.", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "How crazy would I have to be to try and break that pillar?", EXPOSED = "It won't break. I didn't try that hard, but still.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "It's fine I guess.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Do I have to wear it? On my head??", },

Wickerbottom:

-- DREADSTONE = "Metamorphic, if I'm not mistaken.", HORRORFUEL = "Highly concentrated ectoplasmic residue.", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "This creature has terrible manners.", IMPRISONED = "My, how did it end up in this state?", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "How odd... the marble appears to be encasing something.", EXPOSED = "It will require much greater force than I can muster to break it.", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Extremely durable, and surprisingly lightweight.", DREADSTONEHAT = "Thankfully, the material has no adverse effects on the mind.", },

and lastly,

Wormwood:

-- DREADSTONE = "Pretty", HORRORFUEL = "Scary...", DAYWALKER = { GENERIC = "Why so mad?", IMPRISONED = "Stuck. Poor Twirly Tail", }, DAYWALKER_PILLAR = { GENERIC = "Where you grow from?", EXPOSED = "Where you grow from?", }, ARMORDREADSTONE = "Pretty rock clothes", DREADSTONEHAT = "Rock for head", },

No clue what this means, I just saw the weird shadow pig on my dash and instantly went "Is-Is this real? not a mod, reAL?"

[angstflavoured]

A little fiddauthor analysis...

Making this post mostly just to get all of my thoughts out about it regarding how I think it is inherently very toxic on both ends, despite people treating it as more wholesome near the beginning when they were both younger… and the fact that I think it’s very incredibly one-sided. I’m strictly going to be talking about CANON events, not headcanons or speculations or AU’s. If you wanna draw Fiddleford and Ford being cute and hugging and dating, I don’t care, I like a lot of the content for them myself. It isn’t canon to the show and doesn’t affect or harm anybody. That’s what a fandom is and I’m not trying to police anyone, I just think a lot of people misinterpret their relationship and thought it would be fun to talk about it because I find their dynamic really interesting. I’m going to be using a lot of direct quotes and scenes from Ford’s journal, TBOB, and the show, so buckle in baby ! This was supposed to be a quicker and smaller one while I work on my Billford essay, but I had a lot more to say than I thought…

First off, it’s interesting to see how Ford thinks their interaction after so long is going to go. In Journal 3 he says he has “no choice” but to call Fiddleford up to work on the portal because Ford just doesn’t have the smarts to do what he wants to do himself, and he thinks he’s going to have to literally beg Fiddleford to join him. But as we see in the journal and in the show, it hardly takes ANY convincing at all for Fiddleford to drop everything he was doing and leave his wife and kid for months on end to work on a project he knows nothing about. All the info he has he got over a short phone call. It seems like Ford, at this point being so close with Bill and thinking he’s the only one who cares about him, just assumed that most people he used to talk with don’t think about him anymore. He’s had Bill whispering in his ear that he’s the only one who understands him, so it makes sense he doesn’t think Fiddleford will want to do this with him. But from what it looks like, Fiddleford either has been waiting every second for Ford specifically to get back to him, or just has been waiting for any excuse to get the hell away from his family which is… yeesh. Either way, not very healthy regarding his wife and kid. He doesn’t seem to really care all that much about either of them, but more on that later.

Obviously Ford cares about Fiddleford, as soon as he comes down to live with him, Ford hasn’t been so happy in a good while. He missed human connection, despite how good things were going with Bill. Having another person there to talk with was nice. Despite Fiddleford having strange quirks that did irk Ford, he found them endearing and genuinely felt better in his company.

But I think the biggest thing here a lot of people overlook is that Ford only ever refers to Fiddleford as his college buddy in the show, and in the journals as “my assistant.” I’ve seen so many people have Ford call him his partner, but he actually only calls him this like once in the show i think. It’s always my assistant, my research, my theory. Which is funny because Ford didn’t come up with any of this stuff with the portal on his own. Bill was the one that gave him the blueprints. Fiddleford even questions Ford at one point, asking if he had help coming up with them because of how complex they are, and Ford decidedly DOESN’T mention Bill and instead tells him “with hard work, anything is possible.” (Btw he does refer to Bill as his partner multiple times… just sayin.)

The way he talks to and about Fiddleford, Ford is always talking down. He does think that Fiddleford is smart and does think he has a brilliant mind, but he still thinks that he’s below him.

Because Ford has Bill.

And oh my lord, do I not see anyone talk about this. Soooo many comics always depict Fiddleford knowing about Bill existence, but I think the biggest roadblock with their ship and a huge point of contention is that Fiddleford never canonically knows about Ford’s relationship with Bill until after he’s already lost his mind when he’s old. He doesn’t even KNOW that he exists until he’s half sucked through the portal. People ignore this, but it’s so important to their dynamic. Ford doesn’t think that Fiddleford could handle it, and he doesn’t think he necessarily deserves to know. Because Bill is Fords thing. Their relationship is special. Ford is special.

Ford claims he doesn’t tell Fiddleford about Bill because he would throw him in a looney bin, despite their research being so whimsical and ridiculous already. They’re literally building a portal to a different dimension, Fiddleford would’ve believed him. And the way Ford talks about it, you can tell it’s less about Fiddleford thinking he’s crazy and more about something else.

Could F ever truly appreciate the complex fates that brought me and my Muse together?

He doesn’t think Fiddleford could APPRECIATE it. The language he uses, you can tell that Ford knows that Fiddleford would see right through Bill’s facade. And Ford doesn’t want that because he wants to be friends with Bill and he wants to be special, and he’d rather hide Bill and stay in denial than tell his dearest friend, just so he can feel special a little longer.

This is why I think as much as Fiddleford’s romantic feelings for Ford were there, it never ended up going anywhere. Ford would always choose Bill over him. When Fiddleford got him the axolotl pet, Ford quickly threw it out and lied about it to Fiddleford just because Bill told him to. And there’s multiple cases of interactions like this, where Bill will talk down about Fiddleford and Ford will just be like damn… yeah. Here’s a journal excerpt from TBOB around Christmas time. For context, Ford got into a huge fight with a monster and tried to contact Bill to help him, but he didn’t come. And then Bill randomly shows up later when Ford’s at home decorating.

I was almost roasted by Krampus, and where was he? Off inspiring some other scientist? Posing for some tapestry? Were we even partners? He threw the accusation back in my face. “Hey, I’m not the one skipping portal work to carouse with a third-wheel hillbilly with second thoughts about our project!” I started to argue--but he had a point. F has seemed less and less committed to work lately.

Which is INSANE !!! when we see that only a fucking page ago, Fiddleford was explaining how he got in a fight with his wife because he didn’t get her a present for Christmas. After spending multiple weeks and making multiple prototypes for a pair of 6 fingered gloves for Ford.

And if we hop back to Journal 3, there’s a particular interaction with them which is crazy to me. While hiking up a mountain to go to Crash Site Omega, they get into a fight with the Gremloblin, which fucking swoops up Fiddleford into the sky. In Ford’s attempt to get him down, they both end up falling down through the roof of a barn, where Fiddleford gets stuck full of quills and breaks his arm.

Despite our fortune, I have become worried about my assistant. I was able to treat his physical wounds, but I fear there are mental wounds not as easily remedied. For the past several nights, he has been unable to sleep, apparently still haunted by the Gremloblin’s gaze. More alarming is his Cubic’s Cube. It has sat scrambled, unfixed, on his desk for days. I myself have survived many monster attacks without trauma, but perhaps F is more sensitive than I realized…

OH. MY. GOD. The way that Ford talks so condescendingly is enough to make any person's blood boil. It’s the same way when Fiddleford gets sucked through the portal, and when Fiddleford gets pulled back, Ford’s first words out of his mouth are “WHAT DID YOU SEE!”

As much as he cared for Fiddleford… he has no regard at all for Fiddlefords VERY VALID feelings about events that would traumatize literally anyone. But he just pats Fiddlefords back and tells him to get used to it because this is just part of the job and he shouldn’t be whining so much. He does nothing to properly comfort him and scoffs it off like “apparently he’s ‘TRAMATIZED’ or something. I’ve been through so much worse and never had a problem, I don’t get what his issue is.” And then ford is SURPRISED AND APPALLED when Fiddleford creates the memory gun.

Which oohhhhh lord, the memory gun. jesus christ. Such a big example of the distrust between them on both sides. Fiddleford literally canonically lied about destroying the gun and then erased Fords memory about it so that he could erase his own memories in secret without him knowing. And also probably fords sometimes! Not completely canon, but like…. Fiddleford did it once, I wouldn’t put it past the guy. And then when they go to the carnival, Fiddleford hands out his fucking card to Ivan (the leader of the society of the blind eye, who was a teen/early 20s at the time) so that he can erase memories for him that he didn’t like.

Biggest thing we can take away from everything regarding Fiddleford’s character, is that he always takes the easy way out. He ran away from his family he obviously didn’t really care for as much as he should’ve because that was easier than talking it out or divorcing. He pushed it aside for later. Bro was literally looking for a fucken Brokeback Mountain situation, but Ford wasn’t giving anything back to him. So instead Fiddleford constantly made a fool of himself doing things for Ford and tripping over himself to show his gratitude when all the while Ford was entirely focused on Bill. and then he just goes around and starts erasing memories, because it’s easier than having to actually deal with things. Which is why I don’t foresee a reality in which Fiddauthor makes sense, in the way they actually end up doing anything together. Because Fiddleford’s too much of a coward to admit his feelings first, and Ford obviously has his sights on someone else.

And here’s the BIGGEST damning thing, like oh my god.

In Journal 3, Ford goes to a fortune teller (which don’t get me fucking started on how judgy he is to her and how much he talks down about her, DESPITE HER BEING LEGIT AND ACTUALLY WARNING HIM). Long story short, she gives Ford a spiel about how someone close to him is deceiving him. She then gives him a mood ring and says “when this is blue, you may pull through. When this is black, you can’t turn back.”

And LO AND BEHOLD!! OH MY FUCKING GOD, when they’re at the carnival and Fiddleford is talking to Ivan and whispering--

Ford. Looks down. To check if the ring is black.

I took one last look down at my hand and was strangely relieved to find that the palm reader’s ring was still blue. I shoved it in my pocket, collected F, and tried to put the whole experience out of my mind.

FORD LITERALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THE IDEA OF FIDDLEFORD BETRAYING HIM BEFORE BILL. IN FACT, HE LITERALLY NEVER MENTIONS THINKING IT WAS BILL ONCE.

He talks about how they got into a fight at dinner the night before the portal test because Fiddleford was having second thoughts about it being dangerous, and Ford told him to be there or he would get left behind. He’d do it without him.

And when Fiddleford gets pulled through the portal and quits the project, Ford says gooooddd fucking riddance, I never even needed you bro.

F, you weak-willed hayseed! Go back to your doting family and a life of fear and compromise! I weep now not for our failed partnership, but for the golden opportunity thrown away. To think I considered him a friend! I know my true friend. It is my Muse.

One of the few times he ever refers to it as partnership btw. Literally only when they break everything off.

And Ford only starts fighting with Bill about everything after it starts directly hurting him. It literally just seems like Ford is less upset about Bill’s plan being evil, and more upset at the fact that he lied to Ford LMAOOOOO he didn’t like the fact that he was disposable and lesser to Bill, despite Ford treating Fiddleford the exact same way.

At the end of all of this… it may seem like I’m really fighting against this ship, but not in the slightest. I LOVEEEE them so much, but in a way where it would be really toxic and not actually end up with anything happening.

Such a biggg theme when it comes to Ford’s character specifically is yearning. He yearns for success and attention and love and acceptance, but he’s constantly never giving other people those things. Which ends in him not receiving any in return. That is obviously until he gets back from dimension hopping and works on being a better person. When he starts towards healing, that’s when he starts receiving what he always wanted.

There’s so much tension between Ford and Fiddleford it's like disgusting, they were so incredibly gay… but, I hate to say it, it was very one-sided. They did have some fun times together and Ford enjoyed his company for quite a bit, but it was nothing like how Fiddleford felt for him. Fiddleford was always thinking about how Ford was feeling and what he was doing, and Ford never really did that for Fiddleford unless he was prompted to. But he was alwayasyayayss thinking about how Bill felt. And he always chose Bill in the end.

I just see so much of all of this get swept under the rug and never addressed, when it's kind of sad because it’s all so interesting and really adds a lot to both of their characters. They were both so morally gray back in their day, and honestly even more so now that they’re older, and its kinda sad to see that all go ignored. I JUST LOVE TOXIC GAYS SM AND THEY WERE SO TOXIC AND I’D LOVE TO SEE PEOPLE EXPLORE THAT MORE. Hopefully maybe this will prompt some people to think about it like this…….. It’s all so very tragic and their relationship was doomed from the start and i loveeeee shit like that. only misery to be had...

[nishloves]

seventeen on your periods <3

a/n: these scenarios might or might not be inspired from my irl experiences lmfao, hope you like it as much as i liked writing it &lt;3

svt x f!reader // headcanons // fluff // m.list words: 1.3k warnings: slight cursing

choi seungcheol

did someone say that his baby was hurting???? fully prepared with blankets, hot packs and soup to help your cramps; talked you out from your unhealthy cravings (coffee and dairy presumably worsen your cramps); used to be a bit clueless in the starting but did his research so that he could help you out <3 tries to spend his days with you and regularly texts you to see if you need anything. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR UTERUS IS COMING OFF?" calls 911.

yoon jeonghan

can see him teasing you for your foul mood and asking, are you on your period? on the days when you're just plainly... angry. he's eerily correct though (you usually get your periods in around 2-3 days after he quotes that hateful sentence), but is a sweet pie when you actually get them; he would take care of you, indulge in your cravings and cuddle you when you watch a series whether it be gore or the most slow burn shit you have ever seen <33

hong jisoo

he's so patient oh my god, the best one to have around to help your mood swings! he would patiently listen to your rant about how you tore the wrapper in a different way than you wanted to and then he would cheer you up??? like, oh god, marry me. he won't be clueless. at all. you're surprised that he knows so much about periods. "what do you mean coffee worsens cramps???" "yes baby, now put it down alright? I got dark chocolate for you." "you're the best<3"

wen junhui

boy makes you laugh so hard that you actually forget that you're on a period for a while lol. would cook and clean for you and gently kiss your forehead when you thank him for cooking so delicious meals; I can clearly see him calling you during shoots to ask if you need anything or if you're doing alright if he can't stay beside you (considering he travels a lot btw korea and china), would calm down your anger issues and it would almost seem like you both switched personalities. won't joke around too much because he doesn't wanna accidentally upset you, but he always and I mean always, does something so stupid that you end up cackling afterall.

kwon soonyoung

was clueless during the start despite having a sister; worked his way through research and observing you. you won't let him cook for you lmao, if you don't wanna cook you're ordering take out, but he's not cooking until he literally begs you to. but would gladly help you with other works, bringing groceries? buying sanitary pads and painkillers? stroke and play with your hair while you both cuddle together? all done. he doesn't do much but his presence calms you down, a lot. like really a lot. just him being near you is ibuprofen enough. "you sure you don't want me to do anything else?" "no... can you just hold me please?" "i will hold you for eternity <3"

jeon wonwoo

definitely tracks your periods, let's all your pre menstrual tantrums slide, will make you tea to calm down and educate you about periods, "apparently an average female spends nearly 10 years on her periods." feeds you food which helps relieve your period cramps. does every household chores if you're unable to do so, kisses your forehead amidst his work <3 oh also, would introduce you to cod/pubg where you can let go of your pent up anger (: "I WILL KILL YOU!" "you're doing great sweetheart."

lee jihoon

he's clueless, even more than hoshi. but he's smart so he caught up with it quite earlier than hoshi and you just didn't realise that he had zero and i mean ZERO idea about periods. like yeah he read about it in 8th grade but that's it, but would definitely be very attentive towards you and would spoil you with affection if that's what you desire. you just need to tell him what to do and he will do whatever you want. secretly buys your favorite food because your reactions are ten times more dramatic than normal and loves seeing you giggling because he did something nice. would get sad when you're not feeling your best though; can i do something to help uplift her mood? :(((

xu minghao

makes you green tea and asks you to meditate to calm your mood swings lmao. can see him trying his best to soothe you down by rubbing your back and playing with your hairs, gentle kisses on your cheeks as he urges you get up and take a hot shower and not act lazy. he's so prepared its almost scary than endearing. would also call you like three to five times while he's away... he would still not hesitate to calm down your delusions and force you back into reality from your sappy imagination. "i miss you :(" "i'm laying down right next to you." "i meant it figuratively!" "i miss my smart y/n too" "hey!!!!"

kim mingyu

be honest, you thought he was clueless right? he's not. not at all. he gets you hot towels to lightly soak your belly, gives you belly rubs, makes you soup, plays with your hair and massage your lower back to help your pain. you thought he was sweet? he's sweeter now! bam, you can't be mad at him anymore ahahahahaha. holds you close to him and runs his hand on your body; "I feel like shit gyu" "you're a pretty cute shit then"

lee seokmin

poor baby is clueless lmfao, you have to help him navigate through even basic stuff, definitely called you to ask your coochie's size because pads were available in different sizes. cooks you very delicious meals and fulfills all your cravings. your bad mood is not so bad anymore because he gave you his most radiant smile. his presence can heal you easily. "thought you felt sick?" "not now when you're here <3"

boo seungkwan

was sassing you out and then you started crying and then you revealed that you were on your periods and it all clicked. doesn't sass you, gossips! and gossips so much that you don't care about your cramps anymore! would sass other people to make you happy. takes care of you and regularly get you head pads for your aches, foot massages to make you happy <33 would definitely get sad when he sees you in pain tho :((

chwe hansol

man's chill as f and doesn't treat you any differently, while other members do tend to get a little cautious (more when you're bawling your eyes out after seeing a cat video), he won't treat you any different. he just kind of... adapts? you feel like shit? he does subtle things to make you feel good. you're emotional? hes there to be emotional WITH you. you want him to take care of you? no problem. he's there. always.

lee chan

please you can't not tell me that he was absolutely fucking clueless at first, was honestly scared when you lashed out on him for not picking up after himself and thought that you are always equally angry during your periods (who isn't lmao) he soon realised that you just have needs during that time and hormonal fluctuations just make you a little scary. would follow you like a puppy tho :( and carry out every single task obediently; would definitely wish to take away your pain. hes so sweet omg (would also ask your coochie's size)

[biggest-geo-oogami-enjoyer]

Gregariousness (Geo x Sociable and Loud! MC/Reader)

For @ch1mmichurry! Hope you enjoy Anon! :] - Signed by biggest-geo-oogami-enjoyer Gregariousness: the quality of enjoying the company of other people.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geo…well…to say he resents noise would be an understatement.

He prefers solitude, silence, serenity. You, on the other hand, are the opposite of all 3.

You’ve always been the life of the party, the one willing to perform stupid stunts or sing karaoke because…as you quote: “Why not.”

You remind him way too much of Deryl, which he also doesn’t appreciate, but hey, you’re friends with his friends, so he’s got to deal with you.

Only starts warming up once he realises you’re not an obnoxious little shit.

When you befriend the others, and start trying to talk to him (his attempts at intimidation only put a small dent into your confidence, unfortunately); he’ll tell you to shut up.

Plot twist, you don’t.

In fact, you make it a goal to try and talk to him.

“Geode! How’re you doin’?”

“Piss off.” 

Until the day he actually gets angry at you (mostly for existing).

Then you get crushed into smithereens a smidge upset and stop trying to get him to warm up (dw you’ve got Deryl and Crowe for emotional support).

But he got so used to it he honestly misses it (to his disdain).

So he starts anonymously sending you gifts, and learns to play the songs you like (in secret, obviously)

Will claim he ‘happened upon them’ if he ends up playing near you at some point (idek maybe their school have a theatre or smth???)

Anyway, eventually decides he’s fond of you (Geo thinking he’s fond of you actually means he *really* likes you btw)

Will approach you every now and then (he’s gotta worm his way in first, like you did to him), to the stage where he’ll just ‘coincidentally’ be in the same spots as you.

To him, you’re like a beam of bright light that sears away at the walls he’s built up over several years, and part of him yearns for said walls to fall. (Sadly that part of him is teensy small and it’ll take a long time for him to fully open up)

Doesn’t actively attempt to murder you if you call him Geode after a while, as long as Deryl doesn’t find out. Then he totally would.

If you’re more physically affectionate, he’ll rarely let you give him headpats. He’ll pretend he fucking hates them, but by this point you know him too well.

Doesn’t exactly understand why you need to socialise so often, but he won’t stop you…he simply wants to know:

Who you’re with.

Where you are.

What you’re doing.

Are there people he resents there.

Are you going to drink.

And that’s him being lenient.

Seems to be the most nonchalant mf ever, but trust me, if he ends up liking you, he’ll end up stalking observing you, ensuring you’re safe and making sure to swoop in as soon as he decides you’ve talked to enough people that day.

Essentially, he won’t be fond of the need for interaction (isn’t he more than enough?) but he’ll last. He likes his alone time, after all.

You both agree to try and improve (you talk quieter around him, he tries to be a tad warmer), and, if this mutually beneficial relationship situationship works out, well. He’ll appreciate it.

The fact you - despite still being a walking, talking megaphone - still actively make an effort is good for him; he has patience, he can wait as long as both sides show commitment to the cause.

Will ask you out at the end of school, so if he you died of happiness, no nosy shitbiscuits will try and pull something. (I think he is the type to believe in the Evil Eye, at least somewhat)

Because albeit your nature, people adore you…or hate you, but you don’t care.

So yes, Geode does lov- appreciate you. And will continue to do so. For the rest of his life. What can he do? He’s in love with very fond of you!

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Gonna work on a set of headcanons/short story oneshots for a...pretty angsty idea I had. (I love angst so much it's a tad concering actually)...but no matter! Send requests my way, I'm more than happy to oblige with requests. :]]

[melonteee]

"A pirates life means leaving lovers at shores, because your first love is the sea! I can't see Sanji canonically with Pudding, or with anyone, because that's not the life a pirate lives! After all, his dad was 60 without a partner and a crew of his own (ie the Baratie chefs), why would Sanji be any different?"

I want to push back on this a bit not for any shipping reasons, but because we have canon examples of this not being a hard truth in the series. Aladin/Praline + Bege/Chiffon & now Lola/Gotti are examples of couples seamlessly being part of a pirate crew. Bege & Chiffon even have a kid who constantly sails with them. So I'm just confused where this idea of romance being impossible if the Strawhats want to stay together comes from. We already know they're different from other crews what with lack of offical hierarchy & how they feel comfortable to boss Luffy around so why not this particular case? Luffy even implies if any of his crew wants to get married it's no big deal to bring them aboard. This goes for ANY crewmate btw not just Sanji.

Lastly, not only did the literal king of pirates have a whole family sail with them (Oden+Toki & kids) but even he fell in love and had a partner. The only reason he gave up the pirate life was because he was dying. Sure, he could've met her after he got his death sentence, but I really don't think he still would've stopped being a pirate had he been able to keep doing it. Probably would've taken her aboard ship too. He already knew what having a family aboard would be like.

I dunno. I think it's a bit silly to think you cannot be a proper pirate AND have a partner sail with you. I mean if you can take a baby from a chest and raise it on your ship I don't see why you can't have your gf/bf travel with you if you both choose to do so. Isn't the freedom to live how you want the core of the pirate way?

I just feel this sentiment is just a preemptive way to hate on any possible ships for our strawhats just because it might not be the one we want? Like a way to go ha! see it's ~bad writing~ IF the hypothetical becomes reality. I feel Oda has left enough hints through worldbuilding that romance is not 100% off the cards for our mains.

I'm not trying to start an argument, but I do think people might want to try deconstructing the whole "No Romance in One Piece" mentality that was built upon misinterpreted quotes by Oda very long ago & perpetuated by sexist male fans because we're nearing the end lol and if it happens fans will unfairly rage about it all over the internet like with so many other series when they don't agree with endgame couples. People can still engage in ship content even if said ship isn't canon after all. Canon isn't a binding contract.

*sorry if this comes off condescending I promise it's not meant to be!

It's just mainly because, again, Sanji's own mentor didn't have a partner, and while Sanji LOVES women and everything it feels...strange?? For him to like, end up with anyone, when he says he's a man for ALL ladies! I'm not saying it's impossible, as you've pointed out, but I just cannot see the Strawhats getting partners by the end of One Piece, at most I can see it being heavily implied but that's it.

There is romance in One Piece, of course, but it always has a point to it, and the greatest romance within One Piece is the world of adventure and fantasy itself. I personally would be very disappointed if there were end game pairings that were solid and set, because not once have I thought any of these characters want to settle down and marry anyone. It's cute to have crushes here and there, but I have just have never seen any indication of marriage being in the books once for them.

Big Mum's children were very specific cause that arc overall was about marriage and family, and while Pudding did fall for Sanji, he still rejected her and her marriage. Yes Luffy said it wouldn't be a problem, but in the end, Sanji still didn't want to. Sanji only accepted the marriage when making the promise that the Strawhats would be safe, so I'm unsure why it would suddenly flip in the future and he'd have his sights set on marrying someone lmao

Oden and Toki were also different because the purpose for their marriage was to continue on Oden's lineage. Yes, they fell in love, but Momo and Hiyori ultimately existed for Wano's plot.

I think I also just really fucking hate endgame pairings LMAO like if One Piece ends with Strawhat endgame pairings instead of open interpretation I will just pass away because I really don't want this series to box itself and its characters in by doing such a thing.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

Do you have any books to recommend for people who are new to writing but want to get into it? Ive got some money to spend on books and I’m not sure where to start, and I don’t wanna buy something that’s not worth it :,) but you’re one of my favourite writers and I trust that your taste is good considering your writing is beautiful 🫶🏾

ANONNNNN I’M SO SORRY THIS IS SUCH A LATE RESPONSE 😭😭😭 i spent … a little too much time stressing over what books to include. and how to describe them. blame my faulty brain ok!!!

BUTTTT first of all!!! i’m so honoured that you’d think to ask me this!!!! and that you trust my taste!!!!!! that you think my writing is beautiful (i sobbed btw) YOU’RE SUCH A SWEETHEART… thank you very much 🥺🥺

i decided to make a list of some of my overall favorites, but pls remember that writing is subjective!!!! i hope you can find at least one or two books on this list that intrigues you, and that you’ll end up liking the way they’re written too, but. y’know. there’s never any guarantee!!! i added links that’ll take you to goodreads, where you can check the summaries and reviews of each book to hopefully make the process easier for you 🫡🫡

with that being said!!! here are some ari book recs just for you <3333

war of the foxes - richard siken

my absolute favorite poetry collection, from my absolute favorite poet <3333 i’m assuming that you’re looking for novels rather than poetry but. i HAD to rec this one. because i love it soooooo dearly and it’s inspired my writing so much!!!! siken’s use of language is just …… sooooo tasty. so good. i’m completely obsessed with him. his other poetry collection is called crush and centers around tenderness/sex/violence (and the ways they blur together), but i’d say this collection is more about. art. making art. it’s also about love and war and. lots of things. but art is a big theme. paint on paint. etc. it made me severely ill in the best of ways <33 i really couldn’t recommend it enough!!!

eureka street - robert mcliam wilson

this book is . sooooo underrated 😔😔 i hate it so much. not the book i just hate that it isn’t widely renowned because it SHOULD BE. i read this for one of my high school english classes and it. changed my brain chemistry forever. it’s so good. wilson’s writing is so insanely gorgeous?? it reminds me so much of the writing in disco elysium (my fav video game + biggest writing source 🙏)…. honestly i think it’s worth reading for the writing alone. anyway!! this is a book about love. it starts with the quote ”all stories are love stories.” it’s also about the troubles, which is a conflict between catholics and protestants in ireland during the late 1900s. this book takes place at the end of a period of terror and bombings, but still manages to be about love first and foremost. the main characters are charming and silly and kind of insane in the head <33 this book is VERY funny btw… it had me laughing out loud a lot but also had me feeling so much. it’s so, so heartfelt. you can tell wilson loves belfast. and you can tell belfast loves its people. this book is so special to me and i don’t think i can explain its entire appeal with just words, so you’re just gonna have to trust me when i say it’s wonderful <33

the human flies - hans olav lahlum

do you like murder mysteries 👀👀….. i do. this is my favorite one. it’s very near and dear to my heart!!! the human flies is a classic whodunnit where a man has been killed in his apartment complex, and the other residents are all suspects. it’s about trauma. kind of. and it has a really good historial twist where it turns out that they’re all connected through ww2… but i think the greatest charm point of this book (aside from the mystery) is its characters!! they’re all really vibrant and charming. or not so charming. but they’re hard not to get attached to i think!!! this book also subverts the detective genre by making its detective really useless which i love <333 he ends up being contacted by a girl in a wheelchair who’s basically sherlock holmes and she does all the mystery solving. it’s great. if you’re into the murder mystery genre then i really recommend this one!!

beartown - fredrick backman

THIS BOOK . god. this is another one that i can’t really talk about coherently because it means so much to me. i think every single person on this planet should be strapped to a chair and forced to read it <333 this is a book about…. literally everything. if i had to pick just one thing it’d be community. but like… it’s about family. it’s about friendship. it’s about hockey. it’s about sexual violence and locker-room culture and their devastating consequences. it’s about cherry blossoms and the hope they carry. it’s about healing. it’s about a small town and the people who live in it. every single one of them are interesting. when it comes to the actual plot… i think it’s best to go in blind but i doooo feel obligated to tell you that the center of the book’s conflict is a rape. the first half of the book introduces beartown, its famous hockey team, its people and their stories. the second half deals with the consequences of this rape. backman wrote this book so, so thoughtfully. the topic is obviously sensitive but you don’t need to worry about the perpetrator not getting what’s coming to him, because he will. and ohhhhh BOY backman’s writing. his writing is so unbelievably pretty. that’s the best word for it. he’s literally carrying swedish literature on his bare shoulders. holy fuck. in conclusion; this is maybeeee my favorite book of all time? and you should read it :3 it’s very long but i promise it feels so fast once you get into it. it’s the kind of book that i think everyone can fall in love with!!!! it really did change my life i think.

the travelling cat chronicles - hiro arikawa

honestly, i think this is the book i’d recommend to you the most!! not because of quality (though definitely that too!!) but because i think it’s perfect for someone who’s just getting into reading. minus points for being kindaaa long but that’s all!! i think i should preface this by saying that this book made me cry LMAO. ugly cry. sob. i’ve never cried so hard reading a book before…. it wasn’t a bad cry though!! this book is sad but it’s also so charming and hopeful and sweet. it’s about a cat who travels around the country with his owner satoru(!!), not knowing where they’re going or why they’re going there. the kitty is the narrator and he’s sooo charming. satoru is too. their dynamic is so precious :(((( if you love cats then you’ll love this book, trust me!! anyway… to me this is a great pick for new readers because the writing is super pretty but also really. easy to chew? the story is also written in a very compelling way which should make it a pretty quick read despite its lenght!! it’s very much a roadtrip book :3 i love it a lot and even though it made me cry i consider it a bigggg comfort read (but i’m a jjk fan so take that with a grain of salt)

the stranger - albert camus

ok so!!! i did try not to add any classic books to this list because honestly i don’t think many of them are good introductions to reading. the educational system could learn from me . BUT…. this is one that i think you can get really hooked on even if you don’t study literature. this is a book about . existentialism. or just apathy (and overcoming it)… the protagonist doesn’t really want much in life. he just follows the herd. he’s basically like…. just some guy?? but also very much Not just some guy. because just some guys don’t answer their girlfriend’s proposal with ”if you want to.” or chainsmoke. or kill a guy because ”the sun was too hot.” yeah. he’s very charming (<- worrying taste in men), very weird and very interesting. most analyses on this book are just attempts to diagnose him. the central conflict of the book is the murder he commits, and the trial that follows, where the attention shifts from his actual murder to… the fact that he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral. hm. this book is really fun. :3 and i love camus’ writing!!! like many books on this list it’s pretty but easy to chew, so i think you’ll enjoy it. read if you want to Think about life. or if you want to see meursault have his bisexual awakening in the middle of a murder trial.

the great gatsby - f. scott fitzgerald

jay gatsby they will never make me hate you…. remember what i just said about not wanting to add classics to this list? the great gatsby is another exception <333 honestly i just . really love this book!!! it’s such a short and tasty read!!!!! i’ve heard that american students really hate it because they were forced to read it and like . i sympathize but 🤨 c’mon. there are sooo many classics that are so much more hellish to read for school…. they don’t know how good they have it……. anyway. the writing is very pretty and the descriptions are soooo…. captivating. so many lines are stuck in my brain. (”they’re a rotten crowd. you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together” my BELOVED <333) people will tell you that this book is about the futility of the american dream and it IS but i also think you should make your own interpretation!!! because there are lots to make. personally i favour the queer one <33 because i’m…. me. gatsby is just . such a tragic character. but also so pathetic. and charming. he’s one of my og meowmeows. this book is worth reading if only for him. i need to dip him in olive oil.

kafka on the shore - haruki murakami

…. sigh . look 😔😔 do i like haruki murakami? no. do i like his writing? unfortunately yes. this book is fucking wild and kind of gross in . a plethora of ways (tw for umm cat beheadings? almost rape (in a dream)? fantasy incest kind of maybe…?? it’s not as bad as it sounds but like. it kinda is. idk.) but for some reason it’s still one of my favorites. i feel like murakami’s classic blend between fantasy and reality stays the same throughout his works and it’s just….. reallyyyyy tasty to me. i think that’s why i still think of this book so often. it really really moved me. and i mean…. let’s face it, his writing is very pretty. this is a book about growing up and it really doesn’t shy away from the discomforting topics that come with that. it’s also about talking cats and mommy issues. kafka has lots of them. i think he’s kind of annoying. the other characters are very charming though!! in this book you basically follow two different plot lines, and both are really captivating imo… buuuut the book is Very Long and very weird so i don’t know if i’d recommend it to someone who’s just getting into reading 😭 it really is very good though… if nothing else, read it for the Vibes. they’re very tasty.

waiting for godot - samuel beckett

this is a fun one <333 and a weird one. NOT a good rec for a new reader lmao but i do have to add it because i adore samuel beckett…. and this is my favorite play!!!!!! it’s usually associated with absurdism which i think says enough on its own. this is a play about…. waiting for godot. that’s all <3 the two main characters, didi and gogo, are basically stuck in a timeloop where they wait for godot to come. he doesn’t. they keep waiting. i adore this play for many reasons but some of them are: timeloops my beloved (1), didi & gogo are super funny and gay and their back-and-forth dialogue kinda turns into poetry sometimes (2), it’s SO much fun to analyze (3). godot can literally be whatever you want him to be. that’s so fun!!!! it’s a weird play but if you want to get into reading plays then… it’ll be here <33

giovanni’s room - james baldwin

aaaand finally!!!! this lovely gem <333 i’m actually not completely finished with it myself but i can tell you that it’s already one of my favorites!!!!! it’s about . shame. and tenderness. and morality. all that good stuff :3 i’ll try to keep this short but . basically…. it centers around a closeted gay/bisexual man who goes on vacation to paris while his girlfriend is vacationing in spain. in a certain bar, he meets a certain barman, whose name is giovanni. they really hit it off. sadly they’re doomed by the narrative. goshhhh this book is just. ough. first of all??? james baldwin is SO . fucking good. his prose is so gorgeous. soooo so gorgeous. worth reading just for that. but the dynamic between david and giovanni is …… so lovely??? and the glimpse you get into their heads is just so. beautiful. :((( this book is so SAD . but also not really. it’s bittersweet. david has to choose between a safe life and a happy life and he’s doomed to choose the safe life. that’s all there is to it.

aaaaand those are my recs !!!! i feel like i’m forgetting some really good ones……. but i don’t want to keep you waiting any longer :’3 i really hope this helps anon!!! i’m so excited that you’re getting into reading!!!!!!!! it’s really just a matter of finding writing that you actually like. i recommend searching up some quotes from each book, just to get a feel for the writing itself!!! pls know that i’m cheering you on in your reading journey 🫂🫂🫂

(and if you end up reading any of these then. pls do let me know!!! i’d love to hear your thoughts 🥺)

[fantastic-nonsense]

You mentioned about your cass cain reddit post (read it all and loved it btw) that you knew even more behind the scenes dc drama than what made it into the post. If you’re comfortable with it and still remember, would you like to share some of the behind the scenes dc drama that didn’t make it into that post now? (Ofc just ignore/delete this ask if you’re not comfortable with it I was just curious XD)

Necessary context: this ask is referring to this write-up I did for r/HobbyDrama a little over a year ago, which I offhandedly mentioned to a couple of people awhile back was "9 pages in a Word doc and STILL left a bunch of stuff out."

Okay so most of the stuff I left out, I left out because it was more about Barbara or Steph and the larger situation around how DC handled the Batgirl mantle more generally than it was about Cass and the whole debacle that happened there. Since the post was already getting so long, I chose to just not talk about a lot of that for length purposes and to keep the write-up more focused on a) Cass as a character, b) editorial or creative decisions that actually impacted Cass specifically, and c) top-level issues, since the write-up was geared towards an audience who largely doesn't read comics. I also left a few things out because they're somewhat hearsay and/or "known to be true but technically unverifiable information," mostly for credibility reasons.

Largely, the thing you have to understand about DC's treatment of Cass is that there was a major power struggle at DC between those who wanted Barbara Gordon to become Batgirl again and those who wanted Cassandra Cain to remain Batgirl. The "Babs vs. Cass" fight and viewing Cass's treatment within the context of this massive internal push for Batgirl!Babs is the backdrop through which the majority of this industry drama needs to be understood, because otherwise a lot of the stuff that happened to Cass doesn't make much logical sense.

So, with that being said...here's a list of eight things I either cut entirely or barely mentioned that may not necessarily be directly related to Cass but are nonetheless relevant to the larger debacle of "DC's mishandling of the Batgirl mantle" that impacted Cass's character trajectory. General warning for the immense psychic damage you will inevitably experience if you read this and its length, because between the screenshots and quotes and explanations this ended up being much longer than I expected it to be.

Yvonne Craig: The first major thing that I chose to cut was a paragraph about Yvonne Craig, the actress who played Barbara Gordon in Batman '66, and the near hero-worship that a lot of (specifically middle-aged, white male) creatives, editors, and managers at DC had for her. Basically, the broad strokes of this issue is that due to their weird obsession with Yvonne Craig's Babs–which is probably due to them having childhood crushes they never got over–several men with power within DC (including Dan Didio himself) shared a sentiment that Barbara was the "one true Batgirl" and no one else but her should ever be Batgirl. Basically: if Barbara Gordon couldn't be Batgirl, Batgirl as a mantle wasn't worth using at all. This led a concentrated decade-long effort to put Babs back in the Batgirl cowl, which obviously influenced the various attempts to push Cass out of the role.

I chose to cut it for two reasons: it was more related to Babs and why there was such a coordinated effort to make Babs Batgirl again rather than Cass as a character unto herself, and it's largely "very well-respected and often-repeated hearsay, but still hearsay." The prevalence it had within the rank-and-file creatives at DC is suspect, but we know that several prominent creators, editors, and upper management shared that perspective (even if they largely don't talk about it on-record). We know this sentiment absolutely existed; Scott Peterson, for example, talked a bit about how "crazy he was for Yvonne Craig" in his interview about creating Cass. It's just not a particularly well-sourced discussion point and was more suited for a write-up on Babs than it was a write-up on Cass.

Batwoman's Costume Design: I barely mentioned Kate in the write-up and only in relation to how Cass's book was cancelled to make way for the theoretical Batwoman solo book that never happened, but there's actually a lot of really interesting industry drama behind Kate's creation. Specifically as it regards Batgirl...Kate's costume was originally meant for Barbara, per Alex Ross:

"The design I did was initially for the proposed idea of a new version of Batgirl, so it was intended to be another stab at bringing back Barbara Gordon, or having the new Batgirl be costumed as a tribute to her, maybe even with a red-haired wig." -Alex Ross, "Giving Batwoman Her Look"

Ross and Paul Dini had been planning to revive Babs as Batgirl for years, but Bat Office Head Editor Denny O'Neil was staunchly against it so it never happened:

"Paul Dini had this idea of putting Barbara Gordon in the Lazarus Pit to revive her…spine, I guess," Ross said. "At least, that's what he would've done in the television show had they continued doing more cartoons, and her spine was broken the way it was. I thought it was a great idea, and we pitched then-Batman editor Denny O'Neil with these drawings of that costume design.........and that went nowhere. Denny shot it down, because, according to him, everybody loves Barbara Gordon as Oracle and as a handicapped character. The theory was that DC didn't have enough handicapped characters, so they weren't going to do anything with Barbara as she was. And the design went into the drawer." -from "Giving Batwoman her Look"

When O'Neil retired in 2002, the floodgates opened and we started seeing a concentrated creative/editorial push to make Babs Batgirl again. Of course by that time Cass was already well-established, so Ross's design was later re-purposed for Kate Kane's Batwoman and the power struggle largely manifested in a gradual sidelining of Cass from major Bat events (starting with Hush, as I mentioned in the write-up) in an effort to pave the way for putting Babs back in the cowl. Which brings me to the next piece of industry drama I cut.

War Games: There's...a lot of industry drama behind both the conception and execution of War Games. Most of it isn't particularly relevant to this answer or the original write-up, but there are two things that are. One, the fact that Stephanie's death was mandated by editorial and everyone involved knew it was coming. This is what prompted Steph's temporary takeover of the Robin mantle. Depending on who you believe, either Robin writer Bill Willingham, Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks, Detective Comics writer/Bat Office editor Andersen Gabrych, or Dan Didio himself suggested that Stephanie become Robin as a story trick for readers and a sort of narrative "consolation prize" in preparation for the fact that they were about to kill her:

“The whole way through it was planned purely as a trick to play on the readers, that we would fool them into thinking that the big event was that Stephanie Brown would become Robin but we knew all along it was a temporary thing, and she was then going to die at the end of this crossover story.” -Dylan Horrocks at Auckland Writers and Readers Fest in 2011

"I knew coming into the Robin series that Spoiler was doomed to die. And I wouldn’t have done that, but that was already locked in even before I came on Robin, so I had no point at which to say you shouldn’t do this. But, I did I have this hair-brained idea that, well, if she was going to die — she was such a frustrated character…I mean, everything she wanted out of life she pretty much didn’t get. So, can we give her one little reward before she dies and let her become Robin for awhile." -Bill Willingham for Word Balloon in 2012

"You know, me and Stephanie, we go way back. The story with Stephanie Brown goes, they came to me as Executive Editor with the "War Games" story, and said 'we're going to kill Stephanie Brown.' I knew Stephanie Brown for who she was, and said, 'I don't know, if this is going to be the big ending to your story it doesn't feel big enough at the time, because the character wasn't strong enough yet.' So I said, 'Why don't we make her Robin for a short period of time, build some interest in her, and then we kill her!'" -Dan Didio for Newsarama

Steph becoming the major collateral damage of the immediate post-O'Neil editorial era would later set the stage for why she was viewed as an acceptable compromise choice to become Batgirl during the Reborn era.

Two, the writer of Cass's solo at the time, Dylan Horrocks, was so discomforted and offended by the concept of the story (and particularly its treatment of Steph) that he deliberately kept Cass out of the event's "main action" as much as possible during her tie-in issues. This has been widely reported for years and while Horrocks himself rarely goes on record about it, he has made some comments that more-or-less confirm it:

Horrocks: "I'd write [Batgirl] very differently today....for me, it was...complicated. One day I'll write about the experience properly. The War Games event was deeply depressing." -Dylan Horrocks on Twitter in 2012/2013

Sidenote: War Games was actually the last straw for both Ed Brubaker and Horrocks; Brubaker was fed up with all the editorial mandates/executive meddling and Horrocks was frustrated by the Bat Office's misogynistic and grimdark story direction, so they both left right after (Brubaker for Marvel to write Bucky Barnes' resurrection and Horrocks for indie comics).

So why are Horrocks' writing choices relevant to DC's subsequent treatment of Cass? Well, as I stated in the original write-up, it heralded the beginning of a "there can be only one" era for female Bat characters. DC could handle the idea of several male Batfam members running around at the same time but apparently more than one female Bat at a time (regardless of moniker) was just too much for them. It was also the last major Bat event to feature Cass in any significant capacity until her post-reboot reintroduction. So while she was largely removed from the action for good reasons, War Games stands as a haunting precursor to the direction DC was headed with her character: sidelined and replaced in favor of characters editors were planning on using (Kate), could agree on using (Steph), or liked more (Babs).

Batgirl (2008)'s Sales Performance: I cut this bullet point largely because it's ultimately a footnote in the larger saga that was Cass's limbo years. Basically, after the resolution of the Evil Cass arc DC reassured fans that they "had plans" for Cass as Batgirl. This later manifested via her appearances in the Batman and the Outsiders (2007) run and (eventually) a new solo mini. Unfortunately, Batgirl: Redemption Run didn't perform nearly as well as DC hoped for a variety of reasons: many Cass fans swore it off due to it being written by Adam Beechen (the writer who wrote her heel-face turn in the first place), the first issue was poorly written, the story wasn't particularly engaging, etc. The tepid reception and subsequent poor sales of this mini were then used to retroactively justify booting Cass out of the Batgirl mantle entirely during the aftermath of Bruce's death in Final Crisis and the Battle for the Cowl event.

However, DC was already planning on taking Batgirl from Cass and giving it back to Babs at the time, and it likely would have happened even if the mini had done well. The way we know? This image foretelling the events of the Reborn era and Blackest Night was teased in the final issue of Dick's Nightwing solo, as was this one from the end of Babs' Birds of Prey run. That's not Cass kissing Dick, folks; that's Barbara Gordon, Batgirl once again. This planned choice was, as I stated on Reddit, later confirmed by Dan Didio in an Editor's Column during Steph's Batgirl run, who said that at one point Babs was "as close to being Batgirl again as Dick was to being dead in Infinite Crisis" (which is to say, very nearly a done deal). I suspect that only a last-minute internal writer revolt–particularly from Gail Simone, who we know was a vocal supporter of keeping Babs Oracle–stopped it from happening.

Cass's Absence in Battle for the Cowl: I mentioned this in the original write-up but largely glossed over the particulars. In-universe, Cass had just been adopted by Bruce, was fully Batgirl again, and was largely reconciled to the rest of the Batfamily after the Evil Cass arc. And yet her only appearances during the Battle for the Cowl event (and the aftermath of Final Crisis more generally) were cameos in the main book and a main role in the BftC: The Network tie-in oneshot. Literally the only thing she did for the entire duration of BftC was create the Network, which helped the Bats deal with Gotham rogues, and take out a few criminals alongside Huntress. So you have DC continually downplaying and sidelining Cass in a story where she reasonably should have had a major, co-starring role. This event also marked her final appearance as Batgirl, which leads into the next issue I cut.

Batgirl (2009)'s Marketing: this one's very complicated and doing it justice would involve tracking down a lot of old ads and interviews revolving around how DC solicited and marketed this book in the lead-up to the reveal that Stephanie Brown was the new Batgirl, which I simply didn't have time to do at the time of the original write-up and ultimately would have just sidetracked the whole thing, but in short: readers didn't actually know who the protagonist of the new Batgirl solo was going to be when the title was announced. DC had cancelled Birds of Prey and announced both a new Batgirl book and a miniseries called "Oracle: Search for the Cure" (which later became Oracle: The Cure). So Babs' return to the cowl was being solidly teased, but Cass was still Batgirl and showed no real signs of wanting to give up the mantle.

DC's marketing and editorial teams played up this ambiguity by baiting both Babs and Cass fans in order to drive sales: this included teasing ads, early issue solicts that deliberately obscured who was wearing the cape, and a refusal to confirm who the Batgirl of the upcoming solo title would be during interviews and con panels. They chose to heighten the ambiguity even within the title itself: early covers of the run often obscure Steph's hair, eyes, and sometimes even her whole face; the first two issue covers even feature Steph in both Cass's and Babs' Batgirl suits to heighten the confusion. So was the Batgirl of the new title going to be a newly "cured" Barbara Gordon, a second shot for Cassandra Cain, or someone new entirely?

Obviously, none of these things happened. As we all know, Stephanie became Batgirl. The choice to make Steph Batgirl was a compromise decision, as Didio mentions in his editor's note (linked above):

"After long discussions it was agreed that Oracle had become such a strong character there was no sense going back. And since we wanted to make a change, Cassandra no longer seemed right for the role (Not to worry Cassandra fans; plans are afoot, in a very big way, for our favorite non-lethal assassin in 2010). As for Wendy, Bette, and Misfit, none felt strong enough for the position. That left us with the one choice we all agreed on, Stephanie Brown......from the time of her death to the outcry for a memorial and ultimately to her return, there is no denying that her character had connected with a portion of our fanbase and, more important, connected to the Batfamily. It just seemed to make sense that she was the one, and given her history and ties to all the members of Batman's world, the potential is there to make this new Batgirl the one fans will be speaking about for a very long time."

So as previously stated, Steph's treatment during the War Games era ultimately set the stage for her to be the compromise choice for the new Batgirl; she became this interim buffer character because everyone at DC was fighting over Babs vs. Cass and she was the only one everyone could agree deserved the title, and she thrived in that role over the next two years. And a new Birds of Prey book was then announced in the aftermath of Oracle: The Cure and Blackest Night, so Babs' prominence as Oracle survived for another two years until the New 52.

But Cass? Well...Cass unceremoniously handed the Batgirl mantle off to Steph, seemingly fucked off for no discernable reason, and showed up in a grand total of six issues across the entire Batbook slate over the next two years while being largely written out of the Batfam's history and having her reasoning for leaving Gotham retconned from being a choice into being an order from Bruce. Which segues us directly into the next piece of drama that I somewhat glossed over in the original write-up.

The Reborn-era Editorial Erasure Edicts: Bryan Q. Miller, the writer on Steph's Batgirl solo, was under strict editorial edict to basically not mention Cass or include her in the run if he didn't absolutely have to. For example, when he asked editorial if there was a reason why Cass left Gotham, they basically told him "she leaves. why? Because she just does, so your book can exist. Come up with a reason to make her leave and then don't use her."

This era is still pretty opaque in terms of what we know about what various writers were and weren't able to do with Cass, but we do know that Miller specifically was disallowed from featuring her in-person in Batgirl and highly discouraged from mentioning her in general. However, he noted on multiple occasions that he liked Cass and would be happy to use her:

Babs and Steph are the core of this title, no doubt about it. While we'll have another passing reference/flashback to Cassandra soon, I'm leaving the rest of Cassandra's story to whichever lucky duck gets to write her elsewhere in 2010. As for Batwoman, I'm leaving Kate in Rucka's capable hands for the time being. -Miller in an interview with CBR in 2009

If at some point the story I’m telling feels like it can only be told with Cassandra as a part of it, then believe me, I’ll try to find a way to work her in. As it stands currently, however, Cassandra’s fate and future are not in my hands. -Miller in an inerview for Broken Frontier in 2010

Had the book continued past Issue #24, we know that Cass would have had a recurring role as Black Bat in the present day as well as being featured in a Batgirls time-travel story, teased through one of Steph's Black Mercy hallucinations in that final issue. Other than that, we still have no real idea to what extent Cass's presence would have been allowed in the Batgirl book had the New 52 not happened.

Now, I will note that some of the omissions of Cass during Steph's run were seemingly his choice. He's mentioned that he left Cass off of Steph's infamous "Batfamily whiteboard history lesson" cold open from Batgirl #15 on purpose, for example:

The reason she didn’t make the white-board history lesson for Wendy was simply that I didn’t feel it appropriate to poke fun at her. Steph has a smirky little good natured time editorializing the Bat family tree. To suddenly have a serious/tribute panel in the mix would have gotten in the way of the tone of the opening. Now, that’s from the writing standpoint. From a character standpoint, Steph drew for Wendy what she deemed to be the pertinent players on the Gotham board and their connections/histories, given her role as Proxy. You’ll note, she also didn’t mention her own role as Spoiler (though she just couldn’t RESIST drawing that adorable little Spoiler with the broken hearts over in the Tim/Robin section). -Bryan Q. Miller responding to a fan letter from Caitlin in 2010

It's certainly possible that the editorial edict surrounding Cass's presence in the book also impacted his decision to leave her out of the history lesson. We simply don't know. However, the above response is the only statement he's ever given on that issue and we've yet to hear anything to the contrary.

Outside of Batgirl, DC also went to considerable effort during this era to erase Cass's importance both as Batgirl and to the Batfamily more generally. From being basically excluded from every Bat book except Tim's globetrotting Red Robin book to descriptions like these:

Black Bat: one of several former (and temporary) Batgirls, the wonderful Cassandra Cain has adopted a new Batman Inc. identity as the Black Bat, operating out of Hong Kong. -Batman. Inc (HC Edition)

It was not a fun time to be a Cass fan.

Elsewhere, we know that Gail Simone was actively campaigning editorial to let her use Cass in a significant capacity in her relaunched Birds of Prey book. There was also a substantial rumor at the time that Cass would be taking the White Canary mantle from the villain Simone introduced in her opening arc (see this twitter thread for more on that). For varying reasons related to both DC's general treatment of Cass at the time and a hesitance to give Cass to Gail specifically (which I'll elaborate more on in a moment), neither of these things ever happened.

We also know that Scott Snyder loved Cass and tried to get DC to let him write a Cass story on multiple occasions–a struggle which continued throughout the early reboot years and eventually resulted in the creation of Harper Row, as I mentioned in the original write-up. He eventually managed to convince editorial to let him write Gates of Gotham, which co-starred Cass in a significant role for the first time since 2008 and ended on a good note...and also wound up being her final appearance in comics for nearly five years.

Other than Snyder and Fabian Nicieza (who wrote the majority of Cass's few Reborn-era appearances in Red Robin), critical darling and editorial favorite Grant Morrison was the only other writer who was allowed to handle Cass. They're the one who gave Cass the "Black Bat" codename in Batman Inc. #6 and supposedly wanted to do a Cass and Steph team-up later on in that book. Unfortunately, because of the impending New 52 reboot they were ultimately only allowed to use Steph in "Leviathan Strikes" (and even her ability to be Batgirl in that final appearance was up in the air for awhile, causing the book's artist make Spoiler!Steph sketches for the story just in case editorial nixed her appearance as Batgirl).

So going back to Gail Simone for a moment, why wasn't she allowed to write Cass in Birds of Prey? After all, she was one of the few female writers in the comic industry, and a successful, well-renowned one at that. She was writing a women-led book helmed by Barbara Gordon that had featured and guest-starred a wide variety of DC's female heroes over the years and was actively asking to use the character. Well, even besides the various editorial mandates sidelining Cass and keeping writers from using her, there was another problem.

Gail Simone's Proposed "Christian Conversion Arc": The year is 2006, we are still pre-Evil Cass arc, and Gail Simone has been asked by DC management to pitch what she would do with Dick and Cass if assigned either Nightwing or Batgirl to write. She never actually turned in a Nightwing pitch, though apparently she had pretty strong ideas, but she did turn in her Cass pitch. And what did Gail Simone come up with?

Cass saves a Christian minister from a robbery, discovers Christianity, and becomes a hardcore convert who quotes the Bible and talks scripture with gang members while wearing a white outfit and being called "Angel of the Bat" as she protects Gotham's homeless and marginalized residents. No, really. That was her pitch.

I can't even begin to explain how bonkers this idea is and how many problematic elements are baked into it both conceptually and in the inevitable execution had the pitch actually been greenlit. I could talk about how Gail presents a fundamental misunderstanding of Cassandra as a character throughout her description of the pitch. I could talk about how unsuited this kind of arc is for Cass more generally given her stories up to that point. I could talk about the racist history of Christian missionaries in Asia and the awful implications of Cass apparently needing to find God to look after Gotham's most vulnerable residents and be "genuinely happy for the first time." I could talk about how the Batfamily already had two sincerely devout Christian characters in Jean-Paul Valley and Helena Bertinelli and forcing that narrative onto Cass was doing nothing new or novel. I could talk about the problems with Gail, an atheist, deciding that this was an arc she felt qualified to write for any character (much less one like Cass).

Instead, I'll simply say that this failed pitch and Simone's consistently poor, exoticized handling of other Asian characters like Cheshire and Lady Shiva likely contributed to editorial's hesitance to hand her permission to write Cass during the Reborn era, and that I ultimately cut it from the Reddit write-up because I felt like including it would derail the post from talking about what happened to talking about "could have beens" (since this would have theoretically happened in place of the Evil Cass arc). It leaves Cassandra Cain as a truly good, kind person attempting to do good and save everyone she can rather than the racist caricature of a villain that we ultimately got; that's about the only good thing I can say about it.

......I'm sorry, everyone. I was going to do one final entry and talk about the Rebirth-era storytelling decisions and editorial edicts but I got to the end of this one and found I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm the embodiment of the Ben Affleck and Hayao Miyazaki smoking memes right now. I'm so tired, y'all. I'm so tired.

There's infinite amounts of racist, sexist, and ableist industry drama bullshit that I could cover related to DC's handling of the Batgirls and Cass more specifically and no write-up or additional posts will ever be able to sufficiently cover any of it with the depth, attention, and outrage it deserves. There's always more to talk about. There's always one more piece of awful bullshit to drag out of the shadows. There's always one more cut in the thousand fans have already talked about over the past twenty years. I could write a full-length book featuring several currently non-existent tell-all interviews with various creators and likely still not reach the bottom of the barrel. And the things that will likely never be public knowledge far outnumber the things we actually do know about DC's shitty treatment of Cass (and by extension Babs, Steph, and every other woman associated with the Batfamily).

And while things are better for Cass now than they were then, we're still far from any of the girls being treated well. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go. One day, I hope this won't be the case.

[throwing-in-the-towel]

I just discovered this blog through another social media page, and I’m so glad I did. Not only do I absolutely love your content, but I love your positive attitude towards the cast and the show in general. Most other fan stuff I have come across seems to be either a crazy obsessed fan page that’s a little over the top for me, or a page where there is so much controversy over cast members, etc. You clearly have a love and passion for the show, but in a healthy, respectful way. I like that a lot. I cannot stand the fans who are so obsessed that they rush the show several times a week, and because the cast now recognizes them because they are there all the time, they think they’re friends. Unless cast members are giving them their private phone numbers and they’re hanging out with them outside of anything show related, then they’re not friends! It’s a celebrity-fan acquaintance. Those parasocial relationships really creep me out. I admire that while you have had several amazing interactions with the cast at SD that you treasure, you aren’t under some illusion that they are your friends. I’ve seen the show twice and did SD both times. I also had some really memorable interactions/conversations with certain cast members, one in particular, but I’m under no impression that we’re buddies now. So thank you for not being one of those fans, lol. I also really appreciate how you show love and respect for the entire cast, both OG members and the swings/understudies. I hate how people seem to constantly fight over who is better, an OG cast member or an understudy. Why do people do that?!! Do they not realize that you can enjoy and appreciate both? You don’t have to pick one! It’s fine even if you do have a personal preference, but it is not ok to demean the other actor. So thank you for being so nice and respectful about each member of the cast. Anyway, this ended up being a much longer response than I intended, sorry! Just wanted to say how much I like your page and your content. Thanks for being awesome!!

thank you so much,,i really appreciate this message more than you know! :D

a lot of the rush repeaters are utilizing concert culture for this show, which i really dissaprove of. broadway theaters are not the same as a concert venue, and camping out at 2am for rush tickets like you would for a GA pit at a concert is really wild imo. i sat near a group of these peope once (a morning i also rushed back in early june) and the entire show they were quoting the lines/dancing in their seats/etc. and it was so incredibly annoying and just rude. really left a bad taste in my mouth...they then went on to be incredibly obnoxious at the SD.

and i will say,,the parasocial relationships people have with the cast (the ones that usually lead to awkward stage door encounters) make me sooo uncomfortable. i don't want people taking advantage of how friendly the cast is!!! i know the main victim of a lot of social media stuff is jason,,part of the reason why he doesn't really interact with fans on social media that much anymore is b/c of the weird things people say about him/post about him/send him, etc. i have a recent story about something that happened next to me at SD involving him that was so awkward that i'll share:

there were a group of girls next to me that were talking about their friend (let's call her sarah) who i guess has seen the show a bunch and they kept saying how the cast "knows her" and they think she's funny. which i don't doubt btw!! the cast remembers ppl that are repeat SD offenders and i don't doubt she was funny/making jokes with them! i've done that before too! these girls were being very obnoxious about it and it was just weird imo. so jason walked out and they were planning to be like "oh we have to tell him sarah says hi, he loves her, this will be so funny" stuff like that. jason comes around to them and the girl says "sarah says hi by the way" and jason was like ??oh, hi?? and the girls were all giggling and he was like "sarah ...who?" like he was very confused by the whole thing. and the girl was like "oh you know her, she's seen the show a bunch of times" and he very clearly did not know who this girl was. she then went on to tell him sarah's last name (as if he'd know that) and it was just so awkward. the girl then went on to show jason pictures sarah had taken with him to try and get him to be like "oh yeah i know her!" and he was just like "tell her i said hi," and moved on to the next fan. the girls seemed very disappointed by the entire interaction, they were videotaping it and i think they wanted him to be like "lol yes i know her, she's great" or whatever.

i have this whole conversation recorded on audio b/c i screenrecord with my mic on when i take pics of people/with people at the SD and i can't even listen back to it, it makes me cringe that bad. there's really not anything wrong with that interaction, it was just very uncomfortable in the moment and the reaction afterwards of the girls made it seem like they were annoyed. meanwhile they didn't even say anything to jason except "sarah says hi." this is your moment with the actor, i get wanting to do a nice thing for your friend, but the actor appreciates it more when you yourself try and have a nice conversation with them! there's also a lot of content farming that goes on specifically with jason that i really don't like and it makes me feel bad for him and the other cast members.

sorry for this rant LOL but it's something that's always on my mind and really bugs me! thank you again for the kind words, it really put a smile on my face! i try to cover the show in the best format that gets information out, while also being passionate!

[someshipshouldnotexist]

Merthur

Merthur is one of my all-time favourite ships, for very good reason, and should absolutely exist in canon.

It will forever irk me that they're not canon, because they are like, absolutely soulmates??? canonically too??? like this whole "two sides of the same coin" and "other half" bullshit sounds a lot like a soulmate situation to me so??? why no canon???

I'm sorry but they also just stare longingly into each others way too much for them to be totally platonic bffs.

And some of the lines they've said??? To quote some of my favourites, "do you know how to walk on your knees" (literally their first meeting lmao) and "is your little bottom sore" (both said by Arthur btw) like...it looks a bit suspicious...

Also that one scene in s04e12 where Arthur walks out with no pants...and Merlin's eyes instantly glance down...there...

Also Merlin's depth of devotion of Arthur??? This man is willing to slaughter entire armies for his king, that is a very strong bond they have. Not just that but in The Disir, Merlin gives up the opportunity to free magic, to have everything he should want, for a chance to save Arthur from a potential threat who hasn't yet proved himself to be anything but a loyal knight. That is love and you cannot tell me otherwise.

And Arthur? For me one of the most compelling scenes showing his love for Merlin - not just his attraction (because they really do flirt a lot) - is in s04e06. His fear over losing Merlin, the grief he feels when he thinks he has, his refusal to give up, his desperation and denial - Arthur was going through it. And when he finds Merlin, the smile that blooms on his face? The look in his eyes? That's love. It was a soul-crushing relief with swallowed Arthur in that moment, Arthur who thought he lost Merlin, his other half, the man which made him whole, as he found the man he loved again.

I also really just have to mention Freya's episode when Arthur is trying to cheer Merlin up, like he notices Merlin is down and tries to help in the only way he knows how (he's so proud of himself when Merlin laughs and he succeeds my god), and then HIS SMILE??? THAT SOFT SMILE HE GIVES MERLIN??? so not platonic at all. There is no way. Anyway I look at it, all I can see in that smile is Arthur's love for Merlin.

And let's not lie, Arthur is not comfortable with physical intimacy. Like at all. (let's blame Uther) But with Merlin? he's constantly ruffling his hair, punching him, clapping his shoulder. I absolutely believe that Arthur is an Emotionally Repressed Man-Child and these are the only ways he knows how to convey his care/love for Merlin.

Merthur have hands down the most tension-filled sexual chemistry in the entire show. Arthur and Gwen were nowhere near as good together as what Arthur and Merlin could have been, if bbc had let it happen.

I will absolutely die on this hill, I am, to the end, a merthur defender.

(Let's be honest they were basically flirting the entire show).

Merthur is, without a doubt, an 11/10 ship. You cannot change my mind these two are my entire personality atp.

[runningfrom2am]

“After the games, it would be so easy to point the finger at you and call you dangerous and insane.” MY GIRL IS THE LEAST DANGEROUS ONE IN DISTRICT 12- HOW DARE THEY!! (unless she has “salt”, i can’t really blame her)

“you didn’t have much of a choice if you wanted to live.” hmm, isn’t that just the best?

i mean this in the most affectionate way possible, i love seeing coryo blaming himself for things that happened to her when he was only partially responsible.

she went from treating coryo as coriolanus to treating herself as coriolanus and i love that.

she really has all the plays memorised, hasn’t she?

sejanus, my beloved <3 he will never get the jokes and the quotes but that’s okay. in his defense, how was he supposed to know that referencing and talking about plays help her?

“Okay, now, this is the hard part.” [that “what do you mean?!” jennifer lawrence video]

“Political Science” disappointed but not surprised.

on one hand i know lennox learning that his sister is leaving for capitol with coryo would be a problem even though he’s more likely to understand the reason why, on the other he didn’t get to say goodbye 🥲🥲.

she didn’t include cole to her thoughts about mayfair and billy taupe- i seriously need to know what happened with him.

lucy gray crying for billy taupe is making me emotional for some reason. she didn’t deserve that.

coryo, for the love of god, please stop progressing the games in moments of panic. please.

well, money solves everything.

hiiii bestie i’ve missed you!! (sorry again ab your phone btw omg)

1. SHE’S LITERALLY THE SWEETEST LIKE THEY WOULDNT DARE (but commander hoff absolutely would if they couldn’t find anyone else to blame, it would either be coryo and spruce bc fingerprints or HER, and coryo couldn’t have either as an option)

2. story of her damn life at this point 🥲

3. no bc ME TOO. he keeps flipping on it too bc he’s like “yeah i kinda ruined your life but now at least we have each other, right?” and it’s the sweetest and scariest thing (for both of them). once again, i feel bad for him 😔

4. SHE TOTALLY HAS OH MY GODDD. like babe pls for just a moment consider that things you can’t control are not your fault 🥺

5. literally and apparently i have such a thing for writing r with a near photographic memory, i.e ‘in this life or the next’, the entire concept of this series too,,, omg idk what it is i just love it it’s so fun

6. sejanus is just trying his best HAHAHA. he’s like “okay so as far as i know we’re in a bit of a rush… why are we telling confusing jokes?”

he’ll get it someday, just that day is not today hahaha

7. BAHAHAHA NO LITERALLY

8. yeah 😔 my apologies but he literally only has one goal in life and when coryo sees something he wants, he’s gonna have it.

9. LENNOX BABYYYY

listen,, i had a large internal battle about whether or not he would wake up this was SO hard to decide, but i do think he literally would have put himself in the way of her getting on that train and it would have ended very badly for all of them. but don’t worry, she’ll write them every day :) (will he respond? that’s another question. i feel like it will take him a while to not be angry)

10. the good news is you’ll find out in the next part 🤪

11. okay thank you bc i can’t honestly see lucy gray being like “im done with his cheating ass fr” and then being genuinely unmoved by his death. she talked a big game, but even when she said that r knew that it wasn’t true. he was so much more than an ex to her and i think that’s a little glossed over in the movie

12. THE WORST PART IS HES SO GOOD AT IT LMAO. he literally does it again in a future chapter i’ve already written lol

13. sejanus is like *sigh* “if it works, it works.”

[starboundsingularities]

@kirbyoctournament

get chisped lol

Name: Popato Chisp (Chisp for short)

Reference Images:

Notes on Personality (optional, but preferred!): honestly he is just a silly little guy!! difficult for me personally to describe personalities but he's like a sillyboy to me. he's just a little guy. honestly. look at him.

Backstory and Lore (optional): OKAY. OKAY SO I HAVE A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE PERSON WHO MADE CHISP (MY GOOD CLOSE FRIEND FLINTHEART HIIII FLINTHEART) BUT ALSO MY OWN LITTLE INFODUMP BECAUSE CHISP IS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART. as a fair warning though a lot (not all! simply a lot) of this takes place in a huge crossover rp and isn't even in the kirby universe but he originated from kirby so he counts :3

Chisp is only a very little waddle dee! He's not a baby persay but moreso around 6, i think? He struggles communicating verbally like the other waddle dees because of how young he is and a general nervousness about talking so he uses nonverbal communications!! And my cannon for Chisp is that before he started realm hopping he was one of the waddle dees that travelled to the kingdom of the sky to rescue Dedede with kirby, but after it was all over he was!!! The only person to go and stay with Taranza, while everyone else went back to dreamland, chisp just sat next to Taranza and gave him a little shoulder pat, and that was when Taranza sort of, took Chisp in as like, a cool uncle figure, training his realm hopper abilities and such, Although as a "Pop-In Friend", and part of the reason chisp is so proud of his abilities is because its usually very hard for a waddle dee to stand out, they're mostly just faces in the crowd and chisp is nonverbal, as well so he finds it even harder, so having a close good friend who can teach him what makes him special was the first time chisp felt like an independent little guy!

^ flintheart wrote this everyone tell flintheart that chisp is so so cool i love you chisp

OKAY SO. my turn now. cracks knuckles. doesn't do that actually because it's Uncomfortable to do lol

SO CHISP IS JUST A LITTLE GUY RIGHT. living his life basically existing on dreamland. he's like a kid. we love him.

so one day this rift opens, right?? but not to forgotten land actually though to a different placce. to. okay you're going to fucking hate me. we've dubbed it ohio. and a couple of people end up going through that rift! not on purpose of course. but kirby goes through, king dedede goes through, taranza ends up going through it was later

and chisp. chisp is also in ohio. through... through the rift, right?

through the rift, right?

nope! chip is a realm hopper! or, as they're known in dreamland, pop-in friends! (which is such a cute name for them btw than you flintheart)

and those are something specific to ohio lore and not part of kirby but shhhhh. it's fun. anyways realm hoppers can teleport! and!!!! most importantly!!! they can just travel between dimensions!! like for fun! not even through a rift either like a lot of interdimensional travel is, just like teleporting, but through other dimensions it's very fun. i would imagine. i wouldn't know obviously i'm not a realm hopper they aren't real but it SOUNDS fun.

anyways chisp is a realm hopper and he's in ohio and he's ALSO. a child. and! he ends up getting adopted :) by one of my ocs, trinity. she's like just some girl. it's hard being a single mother when you're 15 and your child is a waddle dee and your friend slash crush keeps saying "waddle deez nuts" /lh

ANYWAYS THEY'RE SO /POS

trinity is a realm hopper too!! she's only ever told chisp though because she's scared something bad might happen if more people find out. sad! but this isn't about her.

anyways fun little facts: - chisp actually chose his name! trinity wrote down a bunch of names her friends suggested and let chisp pick which one he wanted (or write his own if he wanted to) and he picked popato chisp! chisp for short!

- trinity is refusing to acknowledge her crush on kat. chisp is trying to play matchmaker with them :3

- chisp is nonverbal!!

- chisp and trinity have little matching friendship bracelets

- chisp has been taught by someone trinity knows how to play guitar!

- kat is Going to give him a sword. you can not stop this from happening.

- trinity dyed her hair orange to match him :3 - yes he is named after popato chisps of undertale true lab fame. thank you for noticing

[romilly-jay]

Lost - and Found! - in a Loop

*** spoilers (I guess, probably) ***

Good job this isn't in anyway attempting to be a timely look at cultural phenomena because this movie landed on Amazon Prime in Feb 2021. (And I discovered, in the Lev Grossman interview linked down near the bottom of this piece, was one of the many productions impacted - in this case, shortened - by the 2020 pandemic.)

Is being timely important for a time loop movie? Okay, clearly facetious question since the answer will be NO for the characters other than, I guess, there would be Better and Worse days in history to be trapped in, but YES for the production, for practical reasons - like, COVID, above - but also for zeitgeist reasons.

This was the movie's Twitter campaign BTW - super cute - it's a time loop movie - every day's the same day! - sort of.

On the subject of timeliness -

Sort of a segue but I was listening earlier to Richard Osman and Marina Hyde discussing the summer's Strictly Come Dancing scandal on The Rest is Entertainment. One factor they covered was that generally it's very unusual for Big Shows to last twenty years and that Strictly has achieved this by changing what it's like as a show, in line with the times, fashions, assumptions etc also changing.

Specifically for Strictly, that has involved the level of difficulty and skill increasing massively. Marina quoted a piece from Michael Hogan in The Guardian that identified that S1 of the show saw a single 10 given by the judges while in S19, there were 69 10s, not because the judges are softer but because the standard of dancing performance has risen - and the toll on participants has risen along with it.

She linked that to a general rise in intensity, perfectionism, and performance pressure - and the driving out of fun - even in supposedly amateur contexts. Feedback loop to social media, ofc.

Well that's incidentally a nice reverse segue back to this movie, because this movie is a sweet celebration of low-key, unimportant magic moments. A love story between the MCs that is also / somewhat / mostly a love story to enjoyment of the everyday.

I'm not saying the movie itself is amateurish (it's not) but it's two teenagers hanging out in small town America. There's no saving the world, there's no super-hero antics, and there's no magic escape from everyday tragedies, either - the lost job, the parent with cancer.

There IS some quantum physics babble and some blurred logic (like, is it okay to take someone else's future hostage? - even if you didn't do it intentionally - just because you're super sad and it would be nice to have someone to help you go through the grieving*?)

*this is, I think, the most cynical possible take - a less cynical version being that the universe somehow figured out that these two were made for each other and held onto HIM until SHE was ready to let go of her difficult day and move forward. Arguably, IRL, she wouldn't have had the choice because time DOESN'T conveniently loop just because someone wishes hard enough that it would - or maybe it does, but not for me... I can understand how someone who has experienced that exact thing would want to stay quiet about it.

The point is - best not to get too Hard Science critical, but taking the story on its own terms, I liked it. And *especially* the shift in emphasis from his story to hers in the final act of the movie.

Here's a review by a real film critic - they also seemed to like it:

The movie was written and I think exec produced by SF writer Lev Grossman, who gave a nice interview about getting it made (below).

He also cameoed in the movie as "rescued from bird poop" guy - and talks charmingly about his experience of being in front of the camera as a little anecdote at the end of the same interview.

BTW having seen that the clothes in the promo poster were the same ones as the Lev Grossman scene, I wondered briefly about whether I'd forgotten the two MCs wearing the same clothes all the time. Flicked back to Amazon. They didn't! Then, ofc, I realised that it would have been weird if they did. The entire point was that they were the only two people making different choices during the course of that single day. What simpler visual cue for us than changing the clothes they're wearing on different versions of that same day?

Amusing (to me) side note - I tried to tell one of my lecturers about this movie and he was HORRIFIED by the cuteness of the central concept, that the key to the time loop dilemma was linked in a non-metaphorical way to the movie's title. I didn't and don't find that horrifying or disappointing but rather charming and a little delightful. Oh, you smuggled the answer to the puzzle right there in front of me in the actual title and I feel comforted that your characters are taking joy and hope from small things like - little girls jumping after soap bubbles in the back yard or a sea eagle grabbing a fish from the lake. This is in keeping with our respective tastes (and, for all I know, our respective characters) and without question relates to whatever internal factors explain why he loves The Road and I love cosy things.

[bubblep0ppy]

hello, i’m nine and i’m here to tell my truth, as ridiculous and stupid that sounds, because you people have been only reading one side of the situation and i don’t think that’s fair. 

i joined with nailea devora to a group recently after more than a year of not even getting near to groups in general because as a lot of us know, people can’t control themselves and the hate they throw on a daily basis is honestly gross and my mental health can’t deal with that, but alas i was back for something i thought was fun, playing a dumb nepo baby who gets whatever she wants and plays dumb about it but in reality she had her ups and downs. she took me a while to figure out because i do love my characters and writing them 

during the first party of said group, there was a mixup and characters had to dress up and poppy’s group (she was the manager) decided on cowboys, now tell me, what would you do? because i jumped onto pinterest and found several pictures of nailea wearing a cowboy hat and i picked the cutest ones i found

did i check her age at the moment? no, because nailea is 21 years old and my character as well... why would i (and i quote someone from said rp) carbon date the pictures of my character? 

so i posted it and kept the party, poppy was around all day and as of the day i dropped her, she had the most tweet count in the entire group (if that tells you anything) 

during the party she was flirting with another character she liked since day 1 and they’ve been talking and it wasn’t a sexual relationship, just flirting like literally everyone in that group or the entire rpc for that matters 

him qrt that picture and poppy jokingly said “you let a cowboy ride you” or something like that, she never said anything actually inappropriate on main because she didn’t even say it on dms. 

and this is when things get wild because the yuqi fc started fights with everyone and i get that some characters are just assholes, i love villains in media, but in my opinion, some kind of ooc talk must exist before you right on attack someone on main, out of good manners at least (but we all know not everyone has that privilege) 

poppy ended up blocking the yuqi fc out of principle, she wasn’t gonna let some biter bitch to ruin her night (which ended with her sleeping alone btw, seeing as how much they care about my character’s sexual life) 

after that, the yuqi fc kept posting indirects or very direct attacks to my character, at one point it was all they posted and ignored it, i don’t like to get into drama that way and if they couldn’t kept poppy out of their mind.. well everyone has haters, right? 

this went on for WEEKS and poppy only cared about it when her friends sent her ss of the post cai made, and she was annoyed because her friends used to confront xem only for cai to laugh about it and not even give a good explanation 

i talked to the admins about changing my fc or even drop the group but i was convinced to stay because i haven’t been done anything bad. 

guess what? the bullying kept going. 

when i dropped the group for a day, i was tired of it (and other problems my chara found herself into even though it wasn’t plotted, again) and as soon as i left, cai mun posted an “apology” to the tl saying how it was a ooc thing that went ic for some reason. 

now to clarify, i have no idea who this person is and honestly i don’t want to give them the privilege to meet me or talk to me because someone with that much hate in their person is just not someone i want in my life. 

they claimed that the picture with the cowboy hat was of nailea being underage, which i can’t say 100% sure, but nailea deleted all of her underage pictures from instagram and this one was posted 3 years ago, when she was 18/19 years old. 

yes, younger than the limit for the group, but that doesn’t mean she was underage or even that i was using that to “infantilize” her, poppy was a very complex character and i don’t see how someone who was blocked for 90% of the time could say something about the way i played her... 

and speaking about the “sexting on main” i never did that and feel free to stalk my old account, the only “racy” thing i posted was a tiktok and it wasn’t even that graphic and again, it was posted for another person poppy was talking (not in a romantic way) 

but i don’t know, let the person obsessed with mario bros and calling themselves a “princess” for the entirety of the group to tell you who’s being childish 

[little-orphan-ant]

🚢 please i need it

hmmm i am giving you my child Alfred Rush (Alfie!!!)

(ant from the future: jesus christ this was supposed to be short. warning: it is Not Short)

he was 15 when he boarded the titanic and turned 16 on the 13th (?), a couple days into the voyage. it was a very special occasion for him because it was the first time he was allowed to wear long trousers. (i want to hug him so bad im screaming) he was travelling to his brother in Detroit with family friends, Frank and Emily Goldsmith and their 9yo son Frankie. Emily became friends with Rhoda Abbott, meaning Alfie knew/was friends with Ross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

when the boom hit iceberg oh no sinking oh no Death happened, the Goldsmiths, plus Alfie and another friend they were travelling with named Thomas Theobald (most superior name ever btw), did actually make it up to the deck, unlike most 3rd class families. Emily, Frankie, and Alfie were somewhat near in the crowd to the Abbotts and also Bruce Ismay, as they all ended up at the same lifeboat. as Ross and Genie were turned away, Alfie was allowed in, because he looked younger than he was and was also Quite Short (we have that in common <3). but he didnt want to go!! he said, and i quote/maybe paraphrase bc i cant remember what his exact words were: 'No! I'm staying with the men.' and dklfjdsafsjdf. like i know he was just being a little boy who wanted to grow up quickly (yes hes older than i am but shut up) but!! Alfie staying back probably made room for another kid. or fucking Bruce Ismay. wait never mind. fuck Bruce Ismay.

but i seriously go batshit abt the parallels between Ross and Alfie. Ross was forced to grow up too fast, while Alfie (as the youngest of 9 kids and kinda spoiled i must admit) wanted to grow up but wasnt allowed to. screaming crying throwing up i love these boys.

we dont have any confirmed pictures of him :( but i imagine him looking something like this

he is Small and i want to embrace him lovingly but sadly i cannot :(

[the-punk-zone]

for anyone sitting there wondering how in the hell people can still support trump to this day, what with all the facts and videos and direct quotes being shown to them, its because they quite literally can't see it. its a cult in near every definition of the word, and he is their leader. they dont see him as a person, they see him as above themselves and everyone else, here to bring forth the world they think we should be living in. hes not afraid to shout the hateful rhetoric they spew, despite society telling them its 'wrong'. for all intensive purposes, he is their god

think to heavens gate and how despite their beliefs being proven wrong when bonnie nettles died, they didnt look at it for what it was, instead they simply moved the goalpost, rewrote the narrative to make it fit. they couldnt see what we deem as obvious because theyre too deep into it. its a form of brainwashing; trump tells them a few things they want to hear, and slowly but surely he wraps them up so tightly in his words that they cant escape. they dont want to escape, and the only way to get anyone out is to remove them from the undue influences, to keep showing them again and again that theyre being lied to or manipulated, and sometimes it will never work, their minds simply not their own anymore. charles manson is a good example of this, with a few of his followers being loyal to him right to the very end. the sad part? manson used lsd (supplied by the government, btw), trump just uses hate.

to them, hes the very person theyve been waiting for, but to us hes the devil in disguise. its ironic, in a way, that they wanted a 'savior' so badly that they fell for evil wearing the guise of prosperity

thats why they cant see it, and thats why you can never truly unerstand their view; its not real, its a lie made up by someone 'higher' than them. they are living in a complete different reality than us, so deep in the dark they are literally blind to what is good verses what is bad, left to just fumble around with only their 'savior' guiding their path out in all his 'shinning glory'

[bubbabooo]

ao3 recs

i’m back 😋

decided to make another ao3 recs list hehe, these are always my fav to make

i’ve also decided to completely revamp the way i do my recs lists. before the descriptions were too vague and lazy. now i’ll be giving my own description along with what i thought of the fic. looking back on my old recs lists i cannot believe they got as many notes as they did when they were so crappy LOL

also i don’t know if you can tell but i’m trying to make my lists prettier ☺️☺️ (hence the header image and the pink dividers :p)

side note, there’s and alarming amount of atsumu fics in here?? i didn’t even realize that i’ve been reading purely atsumu content?

Forget-Me-Not by ChaoticSins

Atsumu x reader, friends to lovers 💗💗. this one has me in a chokehold. so you and atsumu are childhood friends and you’ve been in love with atsumu practically your whole life. you end up leaving for college but then when you finish it you need to get an apartment. atsumu offers to be your roommate (see where i’m going here?). this whole story had me squealing and kicking my legs. i really don’t want to spoil it but i will give you one of my favorite quotes in this book: “But…don’t ya fuckin’ dare think yer 5 years of waitin’ around for her is anywhere near the 11 years I spent lovin’ her,” :) ongoing

msby black jackals online! by mooshys

Black jackals x reader, mostly platonic but one of the guys will be endgame ;). this one is by the same author as shiratorizawa antics! i adore that story and they both share many of the same elements. if you liked that one you’ll definitely like this one. here, you are the teams social media manager. you go through many heartwarming (and hilarious) things with the team. this story is definitely a nice fluffy getaway from the majority of fics i read haha. it was so fun to read and i loved it. completed

Better Days Ahead by morningsideup

Kuroo x reader, demon kuroo x reader, magic/modern au. do i really have to say more?? this fic…! so you are just the run of the mill museum worker (btw your co worker is tsukki), living a boring ol mundane life. until you find the demon prince kuroo who accidentally traveled to your universe and is now unfortunately stuck due to you destroying the item that brought him here. now, you are stuck with this spoiled demon prince and are forced to help him search for the missing shards of his gem that brought him here so he can travel back home. cmon, tell me that doesn’t immediately want to make you dive into this fic. the tension between reader and kuroo drives me insane. and you’ll come to know that tsukishima can be a little shit. 10/10 so far, ongoing

They were roommates by atsukashii

Iwaizumi x reader, roommates au<333, friends to lovers. you are in need of a roommate. you see an ad for a girl named tooru oikawa looking for a roommate. you jump at the chance and are looking forward to moving in. you think everything’s perfect until you get to your new home and see that tooru isn’t a girl, and that he has a very friend who also happens to be your roommate. oikawa won’t be difficult to live with, but iwaizumi? and his hotness? def gonna be a problem. this is the perfect quick read. it’s so good for when you’re in a reading stump and need a pick me up. iwaizumi makes you feel all mushy inside🥴. and the ending has to be one of the most satisfying fic endings i’ve read recently. completed

Set the Bar High by BeansNCornbread

Atsumu x reader, enemies to lovers, complicated. you work at a bar. you’re a college student and this is the perfect gig for you. however, miya atsumu never fails to make your life more difficult. he shamelessly flirts with you while he’s with other girls, and never leaves you alone. maybe you’d consider indulging him if he didn’t break your little sisters heart all those years ago. cannot explain how much i love this fic so far. the way atsumu desperately tries to get your attention while you keep brushing him off. and the tension. the fucking sexual tension between reader and atsumu. it has me bitting my nails. i binged this in an entire day. i love atsumus cocky ass and his fucking pining is so obvious but our oblivious readers ass doesn’t even realize it. craving the next chapter. ongoing

call me home by laurelandharper

Ushijima x reader, faking dating troupe<33. You are a famous ex child star and current professional model. you and professional volleyball player ushijima wakatoshi are paired up together for an ad campaign. to overcome unavoidable rumors, the two of you decide to fake date until things calm down. nothing can go wrong right? hehe. i love ushijima. i just love this man. everytime i read a fic with this man i’m blushing. what i really liked about this fic is was how short it was (occasionally i enjoy a nice quick read) and i liked the build up of reader and ushijimas relationship. it felt very real for me. sometimes when i’m reading the fake dating troupe i feel like the authors sometimes force the relationship. i didn’t feel that at all while reading this fic. ushijima is such a sweetheart and gentlemen here. love this fic please read it <3 completed

Challenge Accepted by Cutesight

Akaashi x reader, sort of enemies to lovers? There’s a challenge going around. Get the attention and “break” the handsome setter of Fukurodani. No one has completed this, no one’s even gotten close. However, when curious little y/n decides to partake in the challenge, she gives akaashi a run for his money. This fic is a guilty pleasure. It was a nice break from the other complicated fics i’m reading. It’s a very easy read and i love it for that. Honestly, a couple times throughout this story akaashi was getting on my last nerve. like just be with reader?? but overall it’s such a fun read. one of the best ways i can describe this story is idiots in love. oh and konoha is a little interesting in this fic too ;) completed

I Hope It Hurts by demxnscous

Atsumu x reader, enemies to lovers. you are the manager for Inarizaki. you and atsumu have never gotten along. the setter has always been a pain and you thought maybe things could improve over time. they didn’t. but now you’re being forced to tutor him, will things get better? this fic is hardcore enemies. atsumu and reader hate each other. this story is still in its early stages, so we’ve only seen a little build up with reader and atsumu. but i love the hatred between them. it’s so raw. it’s not the bullshit enemies to lovers where they kinda don’t like each other. they strongly dislike if not hate each other. i cannot wait to see this story blossom and progress. ongoing

Red Thread by deltachye

Ushijima x reader, soulmate au. in a world where you are bound to someone for life, all you want is to be with your soulmate. however, after finding him, and living with him, what do you do when he loves volleyball more than he’ll ever love you? i’ve said this before, but i tend to stray away from soulmate aus. this one is one of the few exceptions. honestly as much as i adore ushijima, he could be severely annoying throughout this story (which was intentional). this story does have some scenes which may be triggering for some which the author includes in her tags, so check it out and don’t read this one if you’re uncomfortable with those topics. overall, this story is a good example of how good a soulmate au can be without forcing it too much. completed