#also love that the whole fandom has pretty much adopted it as their headcanon also

[fckedupnerd]

This interview with Mathew Baynton about Felix Fickelgruber is my roman empire 💚

[coralhoneyrose]

fun chrom and or robin headcanons? chrobin headcanons?

alternatively what are some widely accepted or constantly brought up things in the awakening fandom that you hate?

my fun headcanon is they try to both be objective and somewhat professional as leaders but when c&r are alone together they love to gossip. you know theyve seen some stuff

Oooh what a fun question! I’m sure as soon as I hit post I’ll remember a bunch more but here’s what I was able to come up with~

Robin: I actually like head-canoning Robin as having ADHD. I could ramble about that for ages tbh but I think they fit the “twice exceptional” profile really well and that a combination of being an anxious perfectionist and having an attention disorder would make a lot of sense given that we know Robin is both very confident in their tactics and intelligence but also prone to workaholic tendencies with pushing themselves to extremes to make sure they’ve thought of everything. I also headcanon Robin as being kind of a slob LOL like I think their room would always be a mess with things strewn everywhere but *they* know where everything is meant to be so don’t even think about moving anything, Frederick >:(

Also this may be obvious from my writing, but I like headcanoning Robin as having darker skin than in canon in large part to circumvent Awakening’s unfortunate tendency to only feature that trait for Plegians who are antagonists. OH! And I love the idea of Robin being touch-starved when the shepherds first find and adopt her too.

Chrom: I headcanon he has very pretty cursive handwriting that he was forced to learn by his tutors growing up; that he low-key kinda likes PDA; that he’s mindlessly touchy with Robin specifically, even before he realizes his feelings; that he has a praise kink; that he is a morning person; and that he’s not particularly religious, despite being….ya know, the exalt of a halidom.

Idk if it’s cheating to also list that I headcanon him as biromantic demisexual (given that I have a whole fic about that) but I’m restating it anyway because that one is very dear to me. Also! I did not come up with this one myself, but I saw a tweet from another Chrobin author once about how they hc that Chrom would abdicate the throne before he gets particularly old to help ensure that Lucina’s coronation is a happy and celebratory event, and I love that idea and thinks it suits both of them really well <3

I think the one you shared is cute and fitting for them too! Both of them take their jobs really seriously so I can absolutely see them making an effort to keep too many court politics out of their work but then debriefing about stuff and laughing at all the stuffy nobles together after to help maintain their sanity.

As for things brought up / widely accepted in the fandom that I dislike and / or strongly disagree with, the three that come most immediately to mind are:

- That Chrom and Robin have a dumb one / smart one dynamic. I think they’re both very competent leaders and that while Robin is clearly the smarter of the two, I’ve always interpreted Chrom as probably having above average intelligence and just being really blunt and kind of oblivious / not tactful in certain delicate social situations which….tbh I fully believe Robin can be guilty of that sort of thing as well LOL

- That the f!Chrobin supports are “objectively” some of the worst in the game”. I can definitely understand and sympathize with some of the complaints about them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re my favorite supports in awakening full stop. And I do also think that a subset of the complaints leveled at them are wildly off base

- That male and female Robin have different personalities. I just do not think this is true. I think the differences we see in their supports are pretty much always a direct function of being treated differently by the other character on account of their gender and responding to those differing circumstances accordingly

I have started drafting and ultimately aborted so many posts making arguments for all these points but somewhere along the line I usually remind myself to take a deep breath and that people can enjoy these characters and ships however they want to. Ultimately if I don’t like something, it’s easy enough for me to tune it out and keep doing my own thing and I’ve found fandom has become a lot more pleasant that way LOL

Andddd I think that covers everything? Thanks so much for the ask—I had a lot of fun answering it as probably evidenced by how long this turned out to be asjfk

[lesbiansanemi]

SHINOBU FOR ASK GAME!!!

OFC OFC HELL YES MY BELOVED SHINOBU <3 TY JAYFORD <333

Favorite thing about them: There are so, so many things I love about Shinobu, but ultimately I think my favorite thing has to be her all-consuming desire for revenge. That sounds so edgy, but it is very rare that I get to see a female character have a genuine revenge plot line, let alone that being the main focus of her story, and it actually gets to end with her killing the man she wants revenge against. So many revenge plot lines (especially ones given to women) end with the character giving up vengeance, or allowing someone else to take it for them. Not Shinobu. She got what she wanted and told Douma to go fuck himself in hell. Queen shit

Least favorite thing about them: I tried so hard to come up with something, but I truly have no genuine complaints with Shinobu's character and how she's written. So I'll choose something petty. Her hairstyle. Like, pinned up it looks fine, I like it, but we never see her hair down so I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT DRIVES ME INSANE. I def don't think she has very long heir, I tend to go with shoulder length, but god I would love to know

Favorite line: Tbh her whole monologue from her opening scene still sticks with me. Her cadence and word choices and cheery smile as she talks about torturing the sister spider demon did such a good job of introducing her as a character, and their the lines I can most clearly remember off the top of my head

brOTP: Now.... hear me out.... Shinobu and Sanemi. I like the hc that they grew kind of close themselves when Sanemi and Kanae were Hashira together. I think they probably would have gotten along pretty well (well, by Shinobu and Sanemi standards) before Shinobu adopted a lot of Kanae's mannerisms and personality after her death. Because of this, I like to think that Sanemi is one of the few people she will fall back into her "old" personality with, at least in small ways. I do think they drifted apart after Kanae's death though. Partially because Shinobu emotionally distanced herself from pretty much everyone, but also because Sanemi didn't like her trying to emulate Kanae in the ways that she did. He found it weird and unsettling. But, every now and then, in brief moments where they're alone together, they can fall into old teasing and banter more easily than they realize

OTP: ShinoMitsu, easily! It's one of my favorite kny ships in general. I think that Shinobu and Mitsuri compliment each other as characters very well, and there is so much angst potential regarding their relationship (I know you know what I'm talking about, you understand Jayford haha). Mitsuri inspiring Shinobu to want to live again but she doesn't know how is actually something that can be so personal

nOTP: Shinobu x any man. Sorry that's a whole lesbian. But more specifically, I really can't fuck with Giyu//Shino or Dou//Shino. Keep that shit AWAY from me. I just don't like them in general, but I find so much of the content for them leans very heavily into "woman fixes sad broken man" and makes Shinobu way too nurturing and mothery which.... eugh....

Random headcanon: I like the headcanon that she opens the Butterfly Mansion to any women who need a shelter/resources for any reason, related to demons or not. The estate is huge, and as a Hashira, money is not an issue. So she's more than happy to give any women and girls a place to stay if they need to get out of bad situations (be it related to family, marriage, or something demonic). She is obviously very busy, so she's not directly involved with a lot of the women who are in and out, but she does what she can for them. She's also very willing to get any girls to good trainers to become swordsmen, if they want

Unpopular opinion: I feel people in the fandom swing wildly between two misinterpretations of her. The first being where people act like she's a much "better" person than she is, and who seem to fall for her smiles and pleasant tone. They treat her as if she can do no wrong, and tend to get mad/upset if someone depicts her as less than perfect (wild to me, esp considering canon makes it very obvious that she has many flaws). However, you also have the other side of the spectrum, where people act as if she's a horrible, awful irredeemable bitch and disregard her kindness as nothing but an act because she's complex and sometimes does questionable things. I do think both of these things are rooted in misogyny, the belief that women have to either be perfect goddesses, OR they're two-faced fake bitches, and unfortunately because Shinobu is so nuanced, she tends to get both. But yeah I hate both these interpretations of her and they are both very wide spread. Like guys... can we please just appreciate her for being a nuanced character who has both good and bad aspects, I'm begging

Song I associate with them: I have a couple! Kamikaze and Spoils of War for Shinobu specifically, and then Thank You For the Venom and Dying Star for some ShinoMitsu vibes imo (I should make a Shinobu/ShinoMitsu playlist)

Favorite picture of them: Every time I think of this little drawing I lose my mind, it's so cute and the way Shinobu is just fucking staring at her.... Real

[epickiya722]

Noe (from Vanitas) for the ask game, please....

My first impression: I kid you not, I freaked out when I first saw Noé. I've been writing since forever and you know how we have those characters that we create and stick with us? Yeah, I have a group like that. And Noé looks exactly how I imagined one of those characters to look like. Yes, skin, hair and eye colors are the same! Even both being vampires! Only differences are names, different personalities and my character isn't that tall and he's actually half vampire.

My impression now: I adore Noé so much! He really is my favorite character out of the whole cast.

Favorite thing about that character: Everything, but it's his personality that really got me. He's such a sweetheart, but he will get ruthless if he needs to.

Least favorite thing: Sometimes... Noé can stress me out... anytime he's fighting and gets in danger I'm just like "NOOOOOO".

Favorite line/scene: Almost every scene Noé is in I just love so much, but to choose a favorite has to be when he pretends to take Vanitas hostage and Vanitas freaks out because how scary Noé was.

Favorite interaction that character has with another: Of course, his interactions with Vanitas are my favorite interactions. Really like that whole scene they had on top of the bell tower.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: I would love to see skits of Noé with the dhampirs. Just them hanging out and whatnot. And Murr has to come along. I like Murr.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: Yoichi Shigaraki from My Hero Academia. They have good hearts, tad but naive to world, but not afraid to take a stand for what they believe in. Also, funny enough, they are voiced by the same person (Stephen Fu) in dub.

A headcanon about that character: I headcanon that Noé's adoptive grandparents would sing him a song to comfort him whenever he felt down and he still remembers it. Whenever he's alone and feels some kind of way, he'll sing it to himself and he has no idea that others has caught him at those times. Turns out he's actually pretty good at singing and has a voice that can tug at heartstrings.

A song that reminds of that character: Alessia Cara's All We Know. I listen to those lyrics and I think of Noé. Just resonates with him, you know?

An unpopular opinion about that character: I actually don't have one for him!

Favorite picture: Noé had this range to him that he has that I admire, so a couple of shots of him I like are these. He's just so gorgeous!!

Send Me a Character...✨️

[pain-in-the-butler]

Have you ever considered what a meeting of Alois would've been like with the current Dadbastian development? The anime and the 2nd season were both pretty bad in terms of uncomfortable fanservice and handling things very disrespectfully, but thinking back on Alois' character now as an adult, I really pity him as a clearly traumatised and intensely disturbed child, who through abuse has, much like Ciel, developed more 'adult behaviour' that is not appropriate for his age as a defence mechanism. It's probably thinking a bit too optimistically for Dadbastian to extend concern for those outside of his immediate phantomfam, but would you think that maybe, just maybe, Alois could trigger the same kind of protective urges as Ciel? Alternatively, if you were to write something similar to Coattails but instead for Alois and co, do you have any headcanons on how you'd otherwise depict their relationship? Dad Claude? Dlaude??? Thank u for indulging my whimsical ass & sorry for the wordvomit

Hi, anon! As a fellow whimsical ass, I'll do my best to answer your question. Boy, okay, lots to consider here...

First off, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by the phrase "current Dadbastian development", but I'm going to assume you're referring to what's happening in Coattails because I don't think there's been any Dadbastian development in the manga that I've missed.

Second off, our feelings on Alois are the same. I was nineteen when season 2 came out and I didn't like it at all, I found its handling of certain themes pretty deplorable and I mean. It was a mess. At the time, I felt indifferent to disturbed by Alois, and ultimately just went away pretending the whole season never happened. However, the current fandom has made me realize that Alois is a character with a lot of potential who was definitely in the wrong hands. It's very sweet to me how many fans still care for him as if he were their adopted son and have come out with some extremely creative and realized content of him. It gives me a better appreciation for him and what he could have been.

So now to actually attempt your question. Again, assuming you're asking about Coattails, Sebastian is only really interested in being a parent to Ciel and a caretaker of varying degrees to the rest of the Phantomfam members. I think he would be able to feel sympathy for Alois's situation, but he's no bleeding heart. I'm not really sure what the scenario is here where somehow Alois and Sebastian are getting to know each other and also Alois might want Sebastian to help him over another person already in his life? It's a little difficult to answer...

And if it was in regards to canon Seb, well... yeah, he's pretty disinterested in anyone that doesn't directly benefit or threaten his contract. I don't think he would do anything to make Alois's life better.

While I hate canon Claude, I certainly think fan content can utilize him as a father figure if they made some tweaks to his character. My bud Em has explored that in this fanfic that I enjoy, and I think she's probably a better judge of Dad-Claude than I could ever be (she might even write a longer story about it someday!). Sort of going off her example, I would keep Claude's awkward/stiff personality intact and get rid of his bad-touch vibes (obviously). Unlike Coattails Sebastian, who is accustomed to big emotions but is new to love specifically, I don't think Coattails Claude would be used to feeling anything outside of his own control. He's also not very playful so he would probably have to learn to let go of things and I just realized I'm describing Bambi's dad's journey in Bambi II so god fucking dammit I did it again—

tl;dr there are so many people who can answer this question better than I just did but uhhhh I hope this was okay 💁‍♀️

[randoimago]

May I please request the letters D and F for Naoto, Kanji, and Yu? 😃

Alphabet Headcanons

Fandom: Persona 4

Character(s): Naoto Shirogane, Kanji Tatsumi, Yu Narukami

Type of Request: Headcanons

Note(s): Doing these for Yu is so interesting because you can absolutely play him as cheating on everyone and agreeing with Adachi's whole "Marriage is a ball and chain". I did this as him being a decent human being though.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Naoto

Has honestly never really thought about it. She's spent so much time trying to prove herself and focusing on schoolwork and her career that she hasn't really thought about her actual future when it comes to family life.

She probably wouldn't mind it, but she does want to make sure she's comfortable and happy with herself before she has a partner.

She's very clean. There are times when she lets her desk get to an organized chaos, but when it gets to be too much then she does a very good job at cleaning.

As for cooking, it's decent (which is more than can be said for the others). Probably better at baking than actual cooking, but if she is using a recipe then she can do a pretty damn good job.

Kanji

Would like to settle down someday. He tries not to show it, but he is a sap for romance and should he find the right person then he'd like to be married and have/adopt kids. Just do the whole thing.

He's pretty good with cooking and cleaning. He isn't a fan of doing either, but his mom has griped at him enough so he can make a nice meal and makes sure to leave things looking nicer than he left them.

Yu

Not really something that's on his mind. He'd like to have a deep relationship with someone some day, but he doesn't quite know about marriage. It's definitely something to contemplate and talk about should the time comes.

At the beginning of the game, Yu can make something edible and keep dust off of shelves. Once his stats build up then he is a lot better at cooking and cleaning. Like Kanji, it's not his favorite thing, but once he's developed his skills then he can do a pretty good job.

.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Naoto

Like mentioned above, a relationship hasn't really been right on her mind. She doesn't hate the idea of being in a committed relationship, but there will have to be a lot of patience because she wants to be happy with herself before she can be with someone else.

Probably dates someone for a long time. There's definitely questions from close friends/family about if you guys are ever going to get married. She just wants to make things perfect and if it's not then she'll wait.

She's not in a rush to get married. If she's in a relationship with the one then they will know how much she loves them and appreciates them with words even if a ring isn't on any finger.

Kanji

The idea of having a partner is very exciting to him, but he also knows he's scary and not the easiest to get along with so he's not in any rush for a relationship. When it does happen then he isn't going to look at anyone else.

Would be like Naoto with wanting to wait for the perfect moment, but ends up asking you to marry sooner than he wanted due to his mom's pestering.

He would have wanted to make things really nice and sweet but might just casually pop the question and try to take it back because he can do better, but you end up with the ring anyway.

Yu

Is open to having casual dates and seeing a few people before settling down with a boyfriend/girlfriend. He's still young and so he wants to have some fun in between the stress of being a high school kid.

When he does have a partner then he will be committed to them and happy to be with them, but until then he's happy with being casual.

Yu would wait a bit before marriage. He was casual with others before so he won't be too hot and heavy with the relationship, just seeing how it goes.

When he fully realizes he's in love then he'll sit on those feelings for a while just to make sure it's actual love and not something else.

[scandalouslamb]

volumnia for the ask game!!!

Ask Game

Thanks, anon! Always happy to talk about my favorite wire mother!

My first impression

Haha, Silly Mad Scientist Lady! I always thought she was kind of interesting, but I always need some sort of visual to help kickstart my obsessions and I wasn't really in the fandom after reading the book so I wasn't seeing any fanart (is there pre-movie Gaul fanart?)

My impression now

Viola Davis' portrayal really dominates my mind even though it's probably not exactly how Gaul was supposed to look at all. She is wire mother to me. I love her. I need her to look me in my eyes and scare me so bad I have a heart attack.

Favorite thing about that character

Just her whole vibe. She's the worst and I love her

Least favorite thing

That everything about her and Max (Pres. Ravinstill) is made up/a joint hallucination with El.

Favorite line/scene

When she's talking about being and obstetrician and sharing her world view with Coriolanus. That's her little creature <3 Or he's trying to make him that!

Favorite interaction that character has with another

See above

A character that I wish that character would interact with more

I-is President Ravinstill too much of a cop out at this point? Because he's a man who barely exists? Well, the other answer is Felix, so RIP.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character

Renee Branvillier Parmedes from B! and Adora Crellin from Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects. I don't know how well those comparisons hold up to close scrutiny, but they have the certain vibes... Also maybe Jenova from FFVII. Alien mother... just corrupting some guy raised in a lab.

A headcanon about that character

She's not really a part of the oldest and most influential families, and her home life was pretty standard before the usual Capitol intrigues probably killed her parents. But she was already strange and off-putting. I don't think she's born into who she becomes, but rather her worldview is the easiest explanation for why she is the way she is and she excepted it with no nuance. Her just adopting that worldview snowballs her into who she becomes. <- I'm explaining this badly.

A song that reminds of that character

Someone put me out of my misery. I don't know! Actually wait!

The Most Unwanted Song Ever by Dave Soldier and Komar and Melamid???? Because forced to listen to that song on loop while playing board games at 3am in a classroom during University was insane and maddening, and it was definitely a surreal Volumnia worthy experience. The operatic rap portion... The soprano juxtaposed with the children's choir jingles. I think about it often. (don't click this)

An unpopular opinion about that character

I never want to see a prequel about her origins. The mystery of it is part of the appeal. I love hearing what other fans think is going on, but I don't think Suzanne Collins should ever give us something concrete (idk if this is unpopular? very few people talk about her...)

Favorite picture

[marinersubmariner]

Reyyyyyy

TL;DR I can’t believe Star Wars made me sad about getting new Star Wars

Even though I’m no different from everybody else wanting Star Wars to break free of the endless prequels/callbacks/rehashed time periods that it’s mired in, the truly unfortunate thing about TROS is that it was so painful and left me perpetually trying to repair and reconcile it in my imagination with a litany of demented headcanons that now anything moving beyond that time period is... also going to be painful. Continuation will only make it more real and irreversible. They’re not going to focus on the things that have become so important to me to fix, because the official story is something that they can’t and won’t acknowledge as being broken. There is a fundamental, irreparable disconnect in what, to them, is the canon and what, to me, is a mistake.

I wish I could say they can’t hurt me anymore, but they can. They can hurt me even worse now because I’m still bleeding out in a ditch from the last time.

I really do try to focus on things I like (and there is a lot of silly and bad Star Wars that I like!) and not get bogged down by bitterness and negativity, so it really bums me out that it’s so hard to feel excited about this. Over the past few years it has been increasingly depressing to dwell on a special interest without new content as fandom activity diminishes by the day. Nothing compares to the excitement of not knowing what will happen next, seeing a new trailer, anticipating New Stuff. But on the other hand the dormancy feels... safe? Relaxed? I mean, there’s no time pressure of current events or new things on the way, I know all the material I have to work with, and beyond that I can just make up whatever shit I want! I may be sad but I’m free! WELL NOT ANYMORE.

As with all overused buzzwords I really hate fandom’s use of the word “feral” these days, but annoyingly that’s the best word for this type of thing. I used to be a domesticated canon fan, but canon ended and I was released into the wild and forced to fend for myself, and now if canon ever tries to adopt me again I’m going to be hissing and biting and clawing and refusing to eat whatever they try to feed me because I developed my own way to survive. :(

I think a big part of why some people hated TLJ so much is that they were committed to the headcanons they invented after TFA and they had a very specific idea of what they wanted to happen. Being super invested in your own fanfic ideas kills your ability to let other people tell the story. And while of course everyone has thoughts about where a story might go, I wasn’t so invested after TFA that there were things I NEEDED to see. By the time TLJ rolled around I only abstractly cared about what happened next and my interest was entirely as a gen fan. So I loved TLJ! Just being along for the ride is so fun! It’s chill! Head empty!

Even pre-TROS, while my investment skyrocketed after TLJ and I had a specific wishlist, I didn’t have an unreasonable wishlist (I THOUGHT). I didn’t game it out with detailed theories or reading fanfic or anything, it just seemed like there were pretty obvious things they needed to do to wrap things up in a satisfying way. So the disappointment came into play, but more in the sense of “uh this does not align with some very basic expectations that had been set by the previous 8 movies.”

After TROS is where it got ugly, and I suddenly CARED about SHIPPING because they made me like it and ruined it AT THE SAME TIME so my need to fix it became so strong that there’s now a whole separate fanon ecosystem that has taken up residence in my brain. They left us high and dry with an inert ending and no hope, the door slammed shut on any interesting new path for the future. Of course fans are gonna try to circumvent that any way they can.

So now that they’ve confirmed new post-sequel material is coming... haha I’m in danger. It’s so scary. I’m sweating. I’m panicking. They’re never gonna do what I want because what I want is crazy. I am guaranteed disappointment from every angle, on all fronts, no matter which way it comes from it is coming for me. Even if they DID do exactly what I want (they won’t), that would still be disappointing because reality never lives up to expectations. It’s a no-win scenario.

I can’t be a breezy gen fan anymore. I have an agenda. The fun is over. I’m too attached to the infinite possibilities of my imaginary scenarios and I don’t want them to be obliterated by grim reality. I’m gonna lose it. I’ve already lost it. TROS + pandemic times broke me so completely that there’s no going back. I’m done for.

Even setting aside [DEAD CHARACTER] factors, the most basic metric is that it’s going to be hard for me to accept any new story with Rey when I still can’t hear or read “Rey Skywalker” without cringing out of my body. There’s no way around it, they’re not gonna undo it, they really saddled us with that embarrassment for the rest of time, tainting everything that follows. All future story has to be built on an unstable foundation because there are things in TROS that truly can’t be undone (“we knew you were a Palpatine the whole time lol”). And I’m especially wary now that the franchise seems pretty dedicated to getting worse as it expands. TROS felt like such a betrayal, and so much of the live-action tv output since then has been mediocre to bad, I’ve lost the trust I had in 2019.

I have so many issues with just the suggestion of Rey alone rebuilding the Jedi, because the thing I actually wanted out of the sequels was Rey, Finn, and Ben as the founders of a new Jedi Order—which, you know, obviously didn’t happen. Of course we don’t know anything at this point (like if this movie will even really get made at all) so there’s no way of knowing if other characters will return (Rose Rose Rose Rose), but even throwing it out there as “yeah just Rey by herself! only Rey! alone, like she was always meant to be!” is maddening. I will be shocked if John Boyega ever comes back to play Finn since he seems pretty definitively done with it, and even on the off chance that Ben gets acknowledged he’ll still be dead, and it all makes me so sad that there was such an enormous opportunity of having this next generation established in their own trilogy actually become a team and usher in a new era together and instead it’s just. Rey, alone.

And the fact that NOW they’re like “oh right maybe we should’ve done something with the whole Jedi thing when we were wrapping up the saga”… oh my god. Yeah no shit!!!!!

I guess I still have a while longer to desperately cling to my deluded hope that they’ll do something good that I want. There’s a bunch of dyad cosmic weirdness just sitting there undefined and unexplored, FOR EXAMPLE, and if nothing else I have gotten soooo good at clowning. I’m going to clown until it’s absolutely not possible to clown anymore, and even then I’ll probably still clown.

For now I have to try and ensconce myself in the tiniest bubble of my positivity that I love Rey! And I’m so excited to see her! And for her to get NEW OUTFITS and NEW HAIRSTYLES!!! And USE HER OWN LIGHTSABER!!!!

(and she bangs a ghost.)

haha who said that

[cowboybuckleys]

i didnt like hearing mack call kim “mom” so soon in 9x15. i think it would have made more sense if she called adam “dad” before she called kim “mom” because she already had a mom she was close to before and she never had a dad.

idk if these are from the same person or i’ve blogged something that ppl are just now seeing and ppl are genuinely curious about my opinion on a super similar topic.. but the messages came in nearly back to back, so i’m gonna answer both here :)

i’m probably the only one who feels this way, but i disagree that Adam should’ve gotten dad first or that it was too soon for Kim to be called mom because she remembers her mom and didn’t really have a dad. fwiw, my family is dealing with a similar issue with my niece trying to understand how to address her step dad now that he’s adopted her and my nephew. everyone in this fucking family seems to have an opinion without asking the kids what they want and it's honestly fucking dumb but that's a whole other story lol. i would say to Mack what i said to her— a new parent in your life doesn’t cancel out the love or memories you have of the parent who has passed away, but you can also call multiple people mom and dad at the same time. hell, if all your parents are alive, you can call as many people mom or dad if that’s how you see them. if anything, having extra people to love and care for you and make you feel safe and happy is what the parent you’ve lost would have wanted. it's what any parent wants. and there’s no timeline or goalpost on when you should start calling someone mom or dad. and anyone who tries to force you to say something one way or the other is gonna get to have a not so fun conversation with me about respecting your decision and your boundaries on the subject matter.

and well, yeah that last part doesn’t apply here obviously cos it’s all opinion in fandom and that’s totally fine and valid lol, but i would gladly say that to anyone who is wrestling with something similar in their own life. the argument of ‘well she had a mom but didn’t have a dad, so—' doesn’t hold up for me. it's not a statement i love hearing when talking about blended families cos there's no common qualifiers for how or why someone decides those things and lumping all situations like that under one umbrella is not my favorite thing that fandoms do.. it's actually one of my biggest frustrations with how blended families are talked about in a lot of fandoms.. but my headcanon that they all celebrated BOTH of Mack’s moms for mother’s day is accurate until the show explicitly tells me otherwise because i can't fathom that Kim would be mad about that.

i do think, narratively, where they had Mack call Adam dad was pretty fucking perfect. for a show that gets relationships wrong A LOT, this one was always a safe spot for me. i knew that Mack would look at Adam as her dad and i had hoped we’d eventually get burzek on good terms again, but to hear her say it like for her it was never and has never been in question felt like the right choice. it was not a throw away line, it was very much meant to mean something doing it in that moment in that way. because it sure as shit was in question for all the adults in the room and i think that it needed to be addressed. i don’t necessarily think it needed to be said sooner because it was always just a matter of when Mack would say it. thank god that poor kid didn’t have to parent trap those two idiots tho lol.

my only real expectation for that moment was that it had to be during this season. for all the build up, for all the arguments, for all the pushing each other away, that moment had to be before the season ended. and it had to be Mack's doing. i would like to hear Kim say something like "you're her dad", sure, but for me it was always about when Mack would say it.

[ninadove]

For the recent ask game: Korra from TLOK!!

(Idk if you’ve seen it but I know you’ve seen ATLA so if you haven’t seen TLOK yet then let’s hear what you think about Uncle Iroh)

I have seen both series, so now you get to hear me rant about two fictional characters! Lucky you!

KORRA ( THE LEGEND OF KORRA )

First impression:

Pretty girl. Muscles. Short hair. Queer.

Need I say more?

Impression now:

I love how much Korra grew throughout the series.

I’m sure many many Tumblr folks have expended on it in proper essays, but it’s refreshing to see that the writing team approached her as they would any protagonist, instead of treating her differently because of her gender ( which makes sense, in a world where cool warrior ladies like Kyoshi have been a thing since the beginning of time ) !

Favorite moment:

No surprise here, I’m going to say the ending. I knew about it beforehand and it is the reason I started watching the series in the first place.

Idea for a story:

I’d love to see more content about Baby Korra discovering her powers and her parents absolutely F R E A K I N G O U T about it! What little we saw of her at that age was so cute.

Unpopular opinion:

Not sure if this is an “unpopular” opinion, but the relationships between the Main Four were the weakest point of the show in my opinion.

I was extremely annoyed by the whole love triangle debacle, and even Korrasami felt a bit underdeveloped ( There were HUGE instances of flirting between the two in S1, and then they kinda… Paused… Until halfway through S4? ). That one is understandable, though - we all know the challenges of trying to sneak a queer storyline into a kids’ show.

Overall, I didn’t get the “found family” feel that made ATLA so great from Korra and the gang. I’ve heard good things about the comics, though, so I might get my hands on them someday!

Favorite relationship:

Despite what I just said, it is Korrasami, 100%.

I like that they didn’t let the love triangle ruin their friendship ( any negative feelings they had were directed either at Makko or themselves, rather than each other ) and how well they work together despite being so different.

And Korrasami did so much for queer representation in general. It might not seem like much when we look back on it now, but these girls really kicked the portal door open for all of the great stuff we’re getting today!

Favorite headcanon:

Many people have created great art of Korrasami getting engaged using a Water Tribe betrothal necklace. I especially love scenarii in which Asami is the one to propose ( engaging in your partner’s cultural traditions because it’s important to them is a huge pro-gamer move in my book ) .

IROH ( AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER )

First impression:

A funny old man who might or might not be sabotaging Zuko’s efforts to find the Avatar on purpose. For his own good, of course.

Impression now:

A much more complex character than I originally expected. He’s great, obviously, but also imperfect, and I love him for that. More on that later.

Favorite moment:

Probably not a surprise either: the reunion with Zuko in the White Lotus camp. Cleared my skin and watered my crops.

Idea for a story:

I’d like to see more fluff of Iroh in his later years, when he can reflect on how much Zuko has grown throughout the years. Maybe play with Izumi as well! Intimate character pieces are my favourite type of fics to read and write.

Unpopular opinion:

He’s not as perfect as the fandom makes him out to be… And that’s a good thing, actually!

I especially think he could have done more to protect the kids from Ozai ( we see him look away when Ozai burns Zuko’s face, and his whole attitude towards Azula, A LITERAL KID, makes me uneasy ). The complexity only makes him more compelling though, and I think we could all benefit from recognising that even good people make mistakes sometimes.

Favorite relationship:

Iroh and Zuko, obviously. I absolutely ADORE the adoptive father figure / troubled kid working through his trauma dynamic ( something something Professor Layton, something something Hershel and Clive ).

Favorite headcanon:

I really hope he got to meet Baby Iroh and understand how much of an impact he truly had on Zuko’s, and probably Izumi’s, lives.

I could also see him b*tching about his nephew with Mai over tea. If they can’t embarrass him a little, what’s the point?

Thank you for these @crestofshame!

For anyone interested, the ask game can be fond here.

[specterthief]

Futaba Sakura for the ask meme!

Sexuality Headcanon: lesbian! of the girls she's probably the one i'm most set on with that but i've heard strikers is big yutaba hours so i'll see if that changes my thoughts when i beat it Gender Headcanon: trans girl and genderfluid are my favorite futaba gender headcanons but i can go pretty much any way here too, like joker A ship I have with said character: anntaba my beloveds!!! i think they'd have a really fun dynamic together and tiny gamer goblin x tall gorgeous model (who is also actually a gamer goblin) is just so delightful to me. it's also the only futaba ship i've read fic for that really rang true with her character to me so it has a special place in my heart. i also like the idea of her and kana reconnecting irl and ending up dating someday but we don't really know enough about kana for that to be much of a ship A BROTP I have with said character: JOKER!! i love the whole coffee family so much and they're a found-family-siblings dynamic that just feels really real and sweet to me. i find the family angle on their relationship much more cute and compelling than the potential romance and the collective sojiro + joker + futaba adoptive family unit is just so precious to me. (also futaba and sojiro themselves, holy shit, they are so soft) A NOTP I have with said character: i already mentioned mishima in his post and that i don't care for romantic joker/futaba here... it's not really a notp so much as just a meh-tp but shipping her with sumi doesn't really do anything for me despite being one of the most popular ships for both of them A random headcanon: she's been REALLY into the call of cthulhu ttrpg through novelizations/drama CDs/replays for a long time (along with all the various video games/visual novels/etc inspired by the mythos) and knows the rules in and out despite never having irls to play with. she ropes the phantom thieves (and sojiro) into a campaign she DMs after months of meticulous planning and turns out to be really really fucking good at DMing tabletop games General Opinion over said character: i absolutely adore her!!! even though i know she's not strictly canonically autistic she still manages to be one of the absolute best autistic characters i've seen in anything and my autistic ass greatly appreciates her for that alone, but on top of that she's also funny and adorable and relatable and a great addition to the cast. her popularity in the fandom is absolutely earned and from my sample size of 2 she's definitely my favorite persona navigator so far

[echonvoid]

Holy Shit!!! Thank you guys so much for 50 followers!!! Have a celebratory screenshot redraw of the best bois!!

I started with just wanting to draw them with face masks (a strange benefit from quarantine; I never knew how much I loved wearing masks); which led to wanting to draw them wearing merch outfits. I spiraled from there. Raph’s was the hardest cuz I wanted it to be like corpse husband or the dude from Tokyo ghoul; an eyepatch face mask combo. But neither fit. So a teddy bear would do (although now I’ve totally decided it’s a knock off glam rock freddy)

Other headcanon shit:

They all definitely had a Minecraft phase that they will sometimes re-hyperfixate on (Pbbfffttt I’m not projecting I dunno what you’re talking about/s)

Techno’s death hit them all hard. He was definitely a MC CC that they all enjoyed; the potato war was much quoted in their household. He probably passed shortly after the movie, so it was salt in already massive tender wounds.

Dinosaurs was a thing they love because of splinter and the Jurassic Park series; he hyperfixated on them when Jurassic World came out. And they all loved getting to share it with him. It was one of his healthier mental and physical health times when they were growing up. Only Mikey actually ended up hyperfixating on dinosaurs, to the point he’s the only one that can name the more obscure dinosaur species

MCC is sacred. They, splinter, April and all their other friends join. It’s essentially the Super Bowl for them. They all pick/vote on who perspective they’ll watch from (Philza being the most often picked) eventually Draxum is roped in as well (Mikey definitely bonds with him by playing Minecraft with him)

Individual Headcannons:

Leo:

Still has his can, it’s just pretty hidden. He’s a huge Ranboo fan: I mean Gender and Gay? Sign him up. (Also the fact that they can both teleport in some fashion or another is just an added bonus)

It took him a long time to accept his transness; he never felt like he should consider himself that since he’s amab and a demiboy. Finally April and Donnie helped him accept that he’s still trans, transitioning or no.

He still struggles with it, not wanting to take away from “actual” trans people, but he’s working on it. And the fucking comfy ass pj pants really help.

Donnie:

The cape/cloak is supposed to be JoJo’s Bizarre adventure merch (a cloak I saw on their store) but all the cloaks had ridiculous patterns and character art on the back, and I had no fucking idea how I’d even go about doing that. So you get a mosaic esque one instead

The only other merch he’s wearing (except for maybe slippers idk) is a Philza beanie, which of course says Dadza on it; it was given to him as a gift by Mikey in honor of all his robotic children

The non-Bi-nosaur is my pride and joy, it’s based off of this I found while looking for ideas and inspiration (I added the Bi part, god I love puns)

God I want the pants I drew for him. Oh and he’s definitely wearing arthritis gloves to help with pressure sensitivity and joint pain

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention that Donnie’s mask is based on Corpse Husband

Mikey:

Made his own mask based off of some of my own versions of c!Ranboo. He’s a huge fan of beeduo and the whole arc where they adopted Michael. Fell in love with Minecraft bees. They spent weeks drawing the Minecraft family. (Fell out of the fandom cuz of the craziness of the kraang, and all the ccs doing different things)

The jacket is definitely not the same matching pair Tubbo and Ranboo bought; not at all /s

And yes her shirt has a Minecraft EnBee on it.

At this point it’s safe to assume they’re all wearing arthritis gloves to help with all kinds of pain and sensitivities. Mikey’s help with a cooling salve he puts on whenever his scars start feeling like they’re lighting on fire. The glove pressure is just a nice soothing bonus

Raph:

I need to give Poot Raph some more love, he’s definitely how I feel as an eldest sibling and someone with very nasty anxiety disorder. Apparently my love of twins is too powerful

Like Donnie, he has a burning blistering rash along his skin where the kraang infection had been. It healed after a couple weeks but the scarring and irritation remained.

The siblings all compare him to Glamrock Freddy, which to him is the highest honor they could bestow upon him; it really works well since both Freddy and Raph were mind controlled at some point (a fact that they don’t bring up too often)

Raph’s shirt says “Dinosaurs are cool; Transphobia is not” (from the great Jammidodger) and his Jacket is a Techno Memorial hoodie

His right eye can only see in Ultraviolet after the Kraang invasion. The eyepatch is incredibly important so he doesn’t get a sensory overload or blow a breaker in his brain from such different spectrum inputs

This is what he sees:

[just-a-plain-old-bitch]

Ok, I just saw someone do this and I just did it to my friend...

So here are the Les Amis and Co. As described by me :)

Enjolras: oh boy, gay. Very gay. Also blonde. He has a big forehead. (This is the guy Joe Quinn played). He likes red a lot. Sings a whole damn song about it. He dies

Combeferre: what a funky man. He likes moths. Also, like the ENTIRE fandom has decided he's a medical student. Pretty sure it's not canon tho. He's played by that guy I was on about the other day who I thought was like 40. He also dies

Courfeyrac: gay. Short king. Defo likes theater. Literally everyone's friend. Either dating Jehan or Combeferre depending on the fanfic you read. I've met the guy that played him in the film. Also dead

Grantaire: Cynic. Has a crush on Enjolras. The fandom has decided he's a cat person and he does art. Bi. He's an asshole. But a loveable one. Honestly I can talk about the different characterisation of him for DAYS. My boy Vicky Hugo did him so dirty tho. Also dead

Feuilly: Orphan. Bless him. Sweetest boy. Honestly so slept on. Wants to adopt the whole world. Enjolras has had a crush on him. He also makes fans (how funky is that!). He's ginger. Most people Headcanon him as Polish (same tbf). An icon. I can talk about him for days. Oh he's also tall. And dead

Jean "Jehan" Prouvaire: Monarch of "what the fuck is gender?" No fashion sense whatsoever. Also another favourite of mine. Gay. Or queer. Something along those likes. They also speak like 10 languages (canon) I find that so freaking cool. He also plays the flute. And he does poems. Alistair Brammer plays him beautifully. They are the youngest of the barricade boys. They were kidnapped on the barricade and died alone. (I can talk about them for months)

Bahorel: Sometimes queer. Sometimes straight as fuck. I can't decide. Sports a stunning moustache. Boxer. Very muscley. I don't think about this guy enough. I should. He's a funky guy. Very loud. Also dead

Bossuet: B A L D. Big part of his character. Oh he's also bi. And polyamorous. Dating Joly and Musichetta. Very clumsy. Vicky Hugo makes this VERY obvious in the book. It's like he has 2 personality traits. Bald and Clumsy. He's also rad. Best buds with Grantaire. Dead

Joly: Med student. Also a hypochondriac. And germaphobe. This man.. please help him. He's very extravagant. Has a cane. And a top hat. Dating Bossuet and Musichetta (as said earlier). Also short king. Also Chinese. What an icon. And he's dead.

Marius: poor soul. Help him. Constant state of confusion. But somehow he pulls 2 bitches? Idk how either. Bless him, he's trying his best. Courfeyrac is his comfort extrovert. He is also afraid of Enjolras and Combeferre. Don't blame him tbf. Noodle boy. He's so tall.. like 6"5 or something. He actually survived.

Eponine: Has a crush on Marius in canon. But my Headcanon.. she's bi. She's also a bitch. But in the best way. I love her. Feminist. Marius is probably also scared of her. Shitty childhood. But y'know, she vibes. She also reminds me of you. And I've seen the person that plays her perform live. HOLY SHIT I cried. (For the record, the show was Frozen). Also dead

Cosette: Marius' main girl. In canon. Headcanon she's defo queer. Cottagecore goth. Adopted. Listens to Taylor Swift (so does Eponine, I forgot to mention that) she's probably Eponines girlfriend, let's be fair. She needs a hug. Trauma central. Bless her. I love her so much. I'm still deciding weather I like her with Blonde hair or Brown hair. Her and Jehan are besties. She also survived.

Musichetta: Icon. Ginger. Suuuper curly hair.. like wild. Pansexual. Also poly. As said earlier, dating Joly and Bossuet. Don't know much about her.. but she defo loves musicals. Watches bootlegs with R (grantaire) when bored. Indie/grunge style. Girl boss. I believe she survived.. idk tho

[outoftheframework]

my proposal for tropes we as a fandom should adopt in all fanworks going forward: Duke Thomas edition

So every fandom has tropes and characterization quirks that have been generally accepted into fanon and, like, maybe? they were originally based on some obscure comic panel from the 80s or something but it doesn’t really matter because we’re all just,,, cool with it? Like for example- in the dc comics fandom, an art piece could show 3 of the bats that look virtually identical except one of them is holding a box of cereal so that one is obviously Dick Grayson. . . Y’know?

Anyway, these things usually come up naturally I guess but I’ve been here a while and it’s finally time to put my foot down. It’s high time for Duke Thomas to be more in fanon than “the sane one.” Because he might be the relatively new guy but he is certainly fears no gods or laws of the land just as much as the other bats, lemme tell ya. 

TL;DR here are character quirks (”canon-based” or otherwise) that we should all really latch onto seriously I’m begging y’all to make at least one of these happen-

Duke “Habitually Jumping Out of Moving Vehicles” Thomas

This one’s actually based in canon y’all; Duke did indeed yeet himself out of the back of a cop car and off of a bridge (in We Are... Robin). Normalize Duke’s wearing knee and elbow pads as Signal because jumping out of a car turns out relatively fine once and then suddenly Batman’s rooftop disappearing act seems mellow compared to the amount of times Gordon has whipped his head around to see a now Signal-less backseat. 

Like, he’s going 60 mph?? And he didn’t even hear the door open?? and tHE DOORS ARE STILL LOCKED??

Imagine this leaking into civilian life and Bruce waking up to a blurry photo of Duke mid-escape from a limousine on the front page of the Gotham Gazette.

(more under cut)

Duke “Puzzles are my Passion” Thomas

Duke is ~canonically~ very skilled at both solving and concocting riddles (as a child during that time where The Riddler just,,, controlled Gotham, he worked non-stop on riddles, trying to make the perfect one). Please y’all- let Duke solve puzzles. Have the other bats ask him for help after 36 hours straight of brooding over some brainteaser that Duke works out within the half-hour. He texts a picture of the solution scribbled out on loose leaf in the margins of his pre-calc homework because this boy shows his work. 

My guy is a word-cross FIEND. A mind-sweeper speed-runner. That guy who mails into the Gazette to correct a solution in the “fun & games” section and also ps that photo is not of me I am simply a polite young man who is much too busy writing into the paper in the year 2021 to jump out of limos-

I also would love to see this integrated into the type of cases he investigates / runs into on his daytime patrol. Like, obviously the criminal activity is going to dramatically differ before and after sundown, but that doesn’t make Duke’s work any easier or less important. It’s a different skillset; he has to work differently. Instead of jumping into fights, halting mob meetings, saving civilians in dark allies, etc. Duke has to sort through all of the moving pieces before they all converge into something catastrophic. 

It’s a known fact that criminal organizations in Gotham make and execute a lot of behind-the-scenes plans during the day specifically not to run into the bats. And Duke knows and monitors this shit all by himself; his work is crucial to logistics and information gathering for the bats as a whole. Now criminals have like, a 2 hour gap between bat-shifts to try and get stuff done. But Duke would 100% set traps on timers or lead them on this pre-set convoluted goose chase  to distract them until the night bats come out and to let himself enjoy the whole thing playing out on the news while he finishes homework that’s due at midnight.

Duke “I Know a Guy” Thomas

So in going off of the basic concept for the “We Are. . . Robin” run in combination to his general likability, Duke has a lot of friends all around Gotham. Okay, sure, he doesn’t have a Super best friend or a Speedster on speed dial, but he does know this guy who details cars up on West 35th and will tell them all about the new mods on Black Mask’s transport vans if they come through the third floor window and bring takeout. 

Bruce and Tim will be waiting for the facial recognition software to identify at least a partial match off of security cam footage when Duke pulls into the cave, takes one look at the screen, and says “Oh, that’s <insert name, address, abridged life story, and known associates here>.” This also brings in the opportunity for Duke to have some sort of perfect recall for faces, voices, names, etc. which I think could be a really cool element for his position as the batfamily member who has a lot more personal interaction with the people of Gotham.

I’m also into the idea of a lot of people knowing/telling stories about Duke. Not to reference the Chuck Norris meme but almost like the Chuck Norris meme lmao. Think about Jason mentioning his brother to someone and she replies, “Duke Thomas? Like that Duke Thomas? The one who swam across the harbor because he said it’d be faster than the subway and it actually was?” These stories have varying levels of truth to them but Duke will never confirm nor deny when he gets random calls from family members yelling “you dID WHAT”

So those are my top three, and the following is a little speed-round of headcanons :)

Duke has a super expressive face. Like when he’s relaxed around family, you can tell exactly what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling by his visual reactions to things

Duke rotates through picking up new and revisiting old hobbies at a pretty rapid pace. Some hobbies include: bullet journaling, origami, viola, cello, synth, conversational basics in multiple languages, up-cycling and embroidering clothes

Duke has a really fucking adorable smile. He can’t help it. He’ll try to grin sarcastically or smug to be annoying but his smile just cannot be anything other than endearing. He also has a very specific booming laugh that’s an absolute treasure to hear, because it’s the most genuinely happy thing ever. 

Duke unironically enjoys Signal by Twice even though the first time he heard it was after Steph had set it as his morning alarm.

So.

Come and get your food, I guess.

Feel free to add on if you’d like! I’d love to see anything you guys write/draw/etc. based on anything from here if you feel compelled to do so!

Stay safe and be well :) 

[nevermindirah]

Do you have any thoughts on the use of AAVE for Nile (or lack thereof) in TOG fanfiction? I've been reading some Book of Nile fic and some writers seem to write her as a Millennial™ (using words like "fave" and "woke") but never acknowledge her Blackness in her patterns of speech. I know we don't see her use as much AAVE in the films, but I would argue she's in situations where code-switching would be valued (first in a "professional" environment in the army, then around a group of non-Black strangers).

Hi anon! I have many thoughts on this and I'm honored you asked me! But I should start by saying I'm white and any thoughts Black fans and especially Black American fans have on this that they want to share would be beyond lovely. (I'm not gonna tag anybody bc that feels rude but please add onto this post if any of y'all see this and want to!)

The main reason I personally avoid AAVE for Nile in my own fics is because I'm not Black. But Nile-centric fics by Black writers tend to avoid using much of it too, at least from what I've noticed/understood, and my guess is it's largely for the reason you mention, that she's in situations that encourage code-switching.

In movie canon Nile is highly competent at tailoring her language to each situation she finds herself in. This fantastic linguistics analysis meta shows how skillfully Nile chooses her vocabulary and grammar to meet her goals with different conversation partners in different contexts. In comics canon Nile had a bunch of different civilian jobs before joining the Marines, so she would've had experience code-switching in the ways that made sense for all those different contexts as well as the Marines and her family and high school and wherever else she spent her time before we met her. And now she's spending her time with a handful of immortals none of whom are native English speakers and a fellow Black American but one with a Queen's English UK accent whose professional experience is in the CIA where high-status code-switching is often an absolute must for success or even survival.

Fics featuring Nile are charged with extrapolating from that to how it might show up in her use of language that she's coping with a traumatic separation from her family and her career and pretty much everything she's ever known and now she needs to be able to make herself understood to people who seem to care about her and each other but are super duper in crisis, three (soon to be four) of whom predate Modern English entirely and the only one who's anywhere near her contemporary she's not supposed to talk to for a century. All of these people are telling her that pretty much any contact with any mortals poses an existential threat to her and the rest of the group. How the FUCK is she supposed to cope with that, like, generally? And would it be a more effective way for her to cope if she talked to Andy Joe and Nicky using the speech patterns that she used to use with her mom and brother, to at least retain that part of her identity even if it means having to do a lot of explaining, or would it meet her needs better to prioritize Andy Joe and Nicky understanding what she means with her words over using the particular words and grammar forms she used with her family?

I've seen several fics, both Nile-centric / BoN and otherwise, explore this a little bit in how/whether Nile uses Millennial™ speak. It's often a theme in Nile texting Booker despite the exile because of the popular headcanon that he as The Tech Guy is the only other immortal who understands memes. But Nile's much-younger-than-Booker mom probably uses Boomer and/or Gen X memes and Andy has been adapting to new communication styles for forever as evidenced by her canon high level of fluency with standard-American-accented English.

Which brings us back to people avoiding AAVE because they're not Black and they don't want to make mistakes (or they're not Black and they don't want to get yelled at for making mistakes, though I think many people overestimate how much they'll get yelled at while underestimating how much these mistakes can hurt). I can imagine some Black fans hold back from using much AAVE in fic because they don't want to share in-group stuff with white people who are likely to then adopt and ruin it, as white people so often do with Black cultural stuff. Some links about this including a great Khadija Mbowe video. I'm saying this gently, anon, because you might not know: woke, an example you cited as Millennial™ speak, is AAVE, and that's gotten erased by so many white people appropriating it and using it incorrectly online.

And also there's the part where fandom is a hobby and you never know when you're reading a fic that's the very first thing someone's ever written outside of a school assignment. This cultural considerations of language shit takes a level of effort and skill that not everybody puts into every fic, or even could if they wanted to because they haven't had time to build their skills yet. It's definitely easier for non-Black fans to project our millennial feels onto Nile than to do the layers of research and self-reflection it requires to depict what Blackness might mean to Nile, and it's not surprising that often people sharing their hobby creations on the internet have gone the easier route. There's not even necessarily shame in doing what's easier. It's just frustrating and often hurtful when structural white supremacy means that 3-dimensional Black characters are rare in media and thoughtful explorations of them in fandom are seen by the majority of fans as not-easy to make and therefore Nile Freeman, the main character in The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, has the least fic and meta and art made about her of our 5 main immortals.

I've been active in different fandoms off and on for twenty years and I barely managed to write 5,000 words about Sam Wilson across multiple different fics in the 7 years since I fell in love with him. There's an alchemy to which characters we connect with, and on top of that which characters we connect with in a way that causes us to create stuff about them. Something about Nile Freeman finally tipped me over the edge from a voracious reader to a voracious writer. It's not for me to judge which characters speak to other individuals to the level of creating content about them, but I do think it's important for us to notice, and then work to fight, the pattern where across this fandom as a whole Nile gets way less content, and way less depth in so much of the content that's in theory about her, than any of these other characters.

Anyway, back to language. My two long fics feature Nile with several Black friends — Copley and OCs and cameos from other media — but all of those characters except Alec Hardison from Leverage aren't American. It's very possible I'm guilty of stereotyping Black British speech patterns in I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore. I watched hours and hours of Black haircare YouTube videos in the research for that fic and I modeled my OCs' speech patterns on what I heard from some of those YouTubers as well as what I've heard people like John Boyega and Idris Elba saying in interviews, but the thing about doing your best is you still might fuck up.

I'm slowly making progress on my WIP where Nile and Sam Wilson are cousins, and what ways of talking with a family member might be authentic for Nile is a major question I need to figure out. For that, I'm largely modeling my writing choices on how I hear my Black friends and colleagues talking to each other. I haven't overheard colleagues talking in an office in a long-ass time, but back when that was a thing, I remember seeing a ton of nuance in the different ways many of my Black colleagues would talk to each other. Different people have different personalities! And backgrounds! And priorities! A few jobs ago my department was about 1/3 Black and we worked closely with Obama administration staff many of whom were Black and there was SO MUCH VARIETY in how Black people talked to each other, about work and workplace-appropriate personal stuff, where I and other white coworkers could hear. There are a few work friends in particular who I have in my head when I'm trying to imagine how Sam and Nile might talk to each other. From the outside looking in, God DAMN is shit complicated, intellectually and interpersonally and spiritually, for Black people who are devoting their professional lives to public service in the United States.

One more aspect of this that I have big thoughts on but I need to take extra care in talking about is the idea of acknowledging Nile's Blackness in her patterns of speech. There's no one right way to be Black, and Nile's a fictional character created by a white dude but there are plenty of real-life Black Americans who don't use much or even any AAVE, for reasons that are complicated because of white supremacy. (Highly highly recommend this video by Shanspeare on the harms of the Oreo stereotype.)

Something that's not the same but has enough similarity that I think it's worth talking about is my personal experience with authenticity and American Jewish speech patterns. My Jewish family members don't talk like they're in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and I've known lots of people who do talk that way (or the millennial version of it), some of whom have questioned my Jewishness because I don't talk that way. That hurts me. Sometimes when another Jew tells me some shit like "I've never heard a Jew say y'all'd've," I can respond with "well now you have asshole, bless your Yankee-ass heart," because the myth of Dixie is a racist lie but I will totally call white Northerners Yankees when they're being shitty to me for being Southern, and this particular Jew fucking revels in using "bless your heart" with maximum polite aggression, especially with said Yankees. But sometimes I don't have it in me to say anything and it just quietly hurts having an important part of me disbelieved by someone who shares that important part of me. The sting isn't quite the same when non-Jews disbelieve or discount my Jewishness, but that hurts too.

Who counts as authentically Jewish is a messy in-group conversation and it doesn't really make sense to explain it all here. Who counts as authentically Jewish is a matter of legal status for immigration, citizenship, and civil rights in Israel, and it's my number 2 reason after horrific treatment of Palestinians that I'm antizionist. But outside that extremely high-stakes legal situation, it can just feel really shitty to not be recognized as One Of Us, especially by your own people.

It can also feel really shitty to be The Only One of Your Kind in a group, even if that group is an immortal chosen family who all loves each other dearly. Sometimes especially in a situation like that where you know those people love you but there are certain things they don't get about you and will never quite be able to. I'm definitely projecting at least a little bit of my "lonely Jew who will be alone again for yet another Jewish holiday" stuff onto Nile when at the end of I See Your Eyes Seek a Distant Shore she's thinking about being the only Black immortal and moving away from the community she'd built with a mostly-Black group of mortals in that fic. Maybe that tracks, or maybe that's fucked up of me.

Basically, this got very long but it's complicated, writing about experiences that aren't your own takes skill which in turn takes time and practice to build, writing about experiences not your own that our society maligns can cause a lot of harm if done badly, it can also cause a lot of harm when a large enough portion of a fandom just decides to nope out of something that's difficult and risky because then there's just not much content about a character who deserves just a shit ton of loving and nuanced content, people are individuals and two people who come from the exact same cultural context might show that influence in all kinds of different ways, identity is complicated, language is complicated, writing is hard, and empathy and humility and doing our best aren't a guarantee of avoiding harm but they do go a long way in helping people create thoughtful content about a character as awesome and powerful and kind and messy and scared and curious and WORTHY as Nile Freeman.

[deltas-writing-corner]

School days: Family shenanigans

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x reader x Suguru Geto

Author note: Happy pride month y'all. Be gay, do crimes, and enjoy these extra headcanons I absolutely didn't have to write but did anyways.

Warnings: besides extreme fluff and shenanigans, nothing to throw up the alarm for. If I did miss anything that needs tagging, please inform me right away!

New to the series? Click here

So you all bought a house at some point. How neat! What was the process like? It was pretty fun, but also stressful as hell because it was not only a big step for the entire family, but also for the relationship itself. It's strange how signing a bunch of legal documents puts the past few years into perspective.

Regarding legal custody over Nanako and Mimiko. It was agreed that Nanako and Mimiko would be formally adopted by Suguru and you, which technically makes the two of you their fully recognized, legal guardians. All three of you would have loved to sign the official adoption papers together, but the laws aren't there just yet. Satoru was fine being left out of the adoption papers since you and Suguru have normal and sane families outside of jujutsu society, so getting the papers approved was exponentially easier this way.

He still has some degree of legal custody and authority over the girls. He's signed a power of attorney, which allows him to make any legal and financial decisions if neither you or Suguru are present or incapacitated. You all also drafted a will that grants Satoru full custody over the girls should you two kick the bucket. Neither you nor Suguru have any intentions of dying anytime soon, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Having all these legal safeguards put in place gives you all a little peace of mind.

Since being raised with three parents is all they know, Nanako and Mimiko don't get why some of their classmates or even other parents think it's weird or “wrong”. They brushed it all off at first, their young minds at the time thinking the rude comments were their classmates being jealous or mad they only had two parents while they had three. As they got older and started to better understand that their family dynamic is not only nontraditional, but somewhat controversial, they took the offhanded comments and stares much more personally. They got into a few altercations in middle school. Not at the same magnitude as Megumi (thankfully), but you three were called quite often into the principal's office to discuss their behavior.

Yes, Satoru loathes these meetings just as much as you expect him to. Yes, Suguru does as well. Yes, it's usually up to you to keep your husbands calm and not give in to their urge to strangle the principal when they make blatantly underhanded comments towards you three. Don't worry, you're so used to dealing with authority figures making sly, degrading remarks right in front of you that you make sure to tear whoever it is you’re speaking with into a new one in a subtle manner. Your daughters' actions aren't the best, but neither are the actions of the people in charge of them. It's a constant battle of trying to find a middle ground that satisfies everyone involved.

Side note: You're not allowed to go to these meetings by yourself anymore. The one time you did was because of Megumi and he made the greatest mistake anyone could ever make; he got lippy with you.

Yeah, you tore him a new one too once he got it all out of his system. After that day, Megumi came to respect you as well as fear you. Mostly respect.

People eventually learn to shut up and mind their business when it comes to your family, but only after Satoru and Suguru gave them one too many death glares and intimidating gestures. Nanako and Mimiko aren't embarrassed by this at all or beg them to stop. In fact, they happily do the same to the other students too! ("What? If they get to do it, then so should we!")

Onto more light-hearted shenanigans. The one who’s most likely to pull out a whole roll of family pictures for random people given the slightest opportunity is Suguru. Satoru is a close second, but the photos he pulls out are the more embarrassing ones.

Some of his favorites are: A photo of Suguru with glittery pink bows in his hair, courtesy of Mimiko, while Nanako crookedly applies makeup on him, disgustingly blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick included. A photo of the girls drawing on your face with a permanent marker he gave them while you took a nap. A photo of Nanako and Mimiko dressed up like him, blindfold included.

Suguru and you are usually the designated shopping bag holders whenever the three of you go out to shop because Satoru doesn't know when to stop buying shit. He even buys random things too! Examples? A retro portable cd player or a second-hand gaming console from the 90's that he doesn’t even play. He even bought a saxophone once, and you're damn sure he’s never held one in his entire life.

As everyone knows, Satoru has expensive tastes when it comes to clothing. If he's stuck between two items and can't choose, he will almost always go down the "I'll buy them both!" route even though he knows there's no space to put it once you guys head back home.

His spending habits aren't entirely cluttering. Sometimes he'll buy something for you and Suguru or even for the kids. Clothes, jewelry, accessories, anything that his mind latches onto and makes him think "Oh, they'll like this!", he'll buy it without worrying about receiving something in return. How sweet!

Just kidding lmao if he gets you or Suguru a gift he accepts taking over his weekly chores as a fair trade. He's a bit less evil with Nanako and Mimiko. All they have to do is give him half of their dessert after dinner! That's all!

Speaking of Satoru being a spoiling spouse, he definitely spoiled the girls with candy when they were younger. They suffered a few cavities later down the line because he truly doesn’t know when to stop and even went behind your back whenever you told him to stop and it was a pain having to deal with. Thankfully, as they got older they gradually turned away his sneaky offers which shattered his heart into dust. It seemed like it was just yesterday when they were tugging on his shirt and begging him for an extra piece.

When it comes to Nana and Mimi's dating when they're teenagers, you’re usually the one they go to regarding that realm. When your husbands find out you’ve been in the loop and they aren't. it’s almost laughable how they expect you to share all the details with them. They’ll push and try to appeal to you to get you to loosen your tongue, but it’s glued shut over the more juicy details. The crumbs you do give them are about potential suitors but nothing more. Don’t be surprised if you find out they staked out their school to see who exactly you’ve told them about.

So, what happens if one of them brings a love interest back home or they let it slip they’re seeing someone? Tou guys are gonna invite the lucky person over, of course! Satoru and Suguru are going to interrogate and threaten them if you take your eyes off them for too long. it's sort of inevitable at this point. They can't cope with the girls growing up so quickly. You on the other hand are a bit more welcoming and lax with whoever they bring home. The general consensus is that you all will love and support whoever they decide to be with, but if the guy or gal is clearly a piece of shit scumbag they better hope none of you catch wind of this. You’re all equally overprotective when it comes to your girls.

In the event that Nanako and Mimiko decide that they want to become Sorcerers, they’re going to be met with a lot of resistance from the three of you, especially Suguru. This life isn’t one you would wish upon your worst enemy. Yes, all three of you met through this way of life, but you all had close encounters with death far more than anyone else should have to experience. Most of the people you’ve met are either dead or disfigured beyond recognition. The ones in charge are a bunch of bullshit traditionalists and Satoru and Suguru are trying to defy them with their progressive motives, which still needs to be approached with considerable caution despite them being the strongest. Needless to say, things aren’t that great within the jujutsu world and you don’t want your kids anywhere near it while the iron is still hot and constantly being struck.

If they really push the issue and show that they are dead set to follow in their parent’s footsteps, you all will give your blessings and get them enrolled at your alma mater. While the three of you still work at Tokyo tech, going back to the dormitory is very daunting and brings back both good and bad memories. What’s even funnier is that your old room still has the large mattress you bought all those years ago. It was well worn out by the time you all graduated.

Ah, the good old days of waking up either too hot or too cold, limbs entangled and someone likely drooling on the other.