#and if it really wasn't your intention to be critical and you can't see how your actions came across that way

[rocketbirdie]

YOU. You are correct about Cloud Strife. Everything you say about him is CORRECT

Hi I'm going to use your ask as an opportunity to go on an unhinged tangent about him below the cut.

I believe that EVERYTHING about Cloud Strife as a character makes total sense once you realize: it's autism.

Here's a character whose entire arc revolves around the erosion of his identity and his desperate attempts to adhere to an ideal image, at the expense of his own wellbeing; and how self acceptance is the thing that brings him back from the edge of despair.

Youtube theorycrafters waste hours of their lives trying to piece together Cloud's psyche, when the answer is just... autism. It really is that simple. I will die on this goddamn hill.

In Trace of Two Pasts, we learn that even as a toddler, Cloud really was just... like that. Unemotive and awkward. And the entire lifestream sequence in the OG shows us a young Cloud who behaves in baffling ways. Tifa and her friends invited Cloud into their group, but he rejected their friendship while simultaneously harboring a seething jealousy. How the heck does that work, huh?

Viewing this through the Autism Lens™️, his approach make way more sense. Fearing his own inability to read and reciprocate their intentions, he pushes them away, and the resulting loneliness crushes him. He mistakes that loneliness for anger. He turns that anger outwards and gets into fights. Because the other kids don't understand him, Cloud sees them as stupid and immature. It's the perfect recipe for disastrous distrust. The tragic result is that, when Tifa gets into her accident, Cloud is immediately blamed by kids AND adults. He's seen as inherently dangerous and unpredictable, even though he did nothing wrong. It's like they were already looking for the perfect excuse to hate him.

The worst part is, because he struggles to articulate his own thoughts and feelings, he starts to just... accept what other people say about him. He's a pain in the ass. He's a selfish brat. He could try being a bit nicer. Any attempt that he makes to argue, backfires and proves their points even more. He's being childish. He needs to get his shit together. Nothing's ever good enough for him. He stops fighting it and lets people drag him around and violate his boundaries, because no matter how loud he yells or how intelligently he argues, nothing he says ever reaches their ears. He trims away more and more of himself to try and appease others and nurse the constant emotional pain. (And that's not even addressing the entire traumatic *waves hands* everything that he's gone through by the time he reaches Midgar! That would have to be its own tangent lol.)

It's hard to watch as a player; the secondhand embarrassment of Cloud's social blunders is immense. Some people don't like Cloud as a video game protagonist, which is perfectly valid. But a lot of times, they justify their opinion by perpetuating the same damaging language. He's an asshole, he's a weirdo, he hates people. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating. I know Cloud is just a fictional character, he doesn't need to be defended from harsh criticisms. But I can't help but wonder what these players think about the "weird people-hating assholes" that they meet in real life.

It also makes me wonder if they were even paying attention. I think the games make it pretty damn obvious what's going on. He's an asshole because other characters treat him like one before they even get to know him. He hates people because he doesn't understand them, and they don't even try to understand him. He's a weirdo because he has a strange way of showing how deeply he loves and cares, and he's afraid that his love will be misinterpreted like every other emotion he's ever dared to show.

The autism is everywhere. It permeates his entire being. It's in his silly responses when he takes things too literally. It's in his painfully practical way with words. It's in the stiff expressionless look and the flat tone of voice. It's in him constantly adjusting his gloves, shifting his weight, looking down at his feet. It's in his questionable idea of what you're supposed to do with your body at a yoga session. It's in the half a dozen flustered high fives, it's in the motion sickness. It's in the contagious eagerness with his special interests in SOLDIER and materia and chocobos.

It's in the moments where the facade crumbles and we get to see the real Cloud, the one that Aerith knew was in there— the one that Tifa finds in the lifestream— the one that Zack gave his life for— the Cloud that cherishes the whole world. He's got so much of everything inside of his heart, and he doesn't know how to get it out. You'd be a weird asshole about it, too.

[morgana-artt]

Silent Words (P x Deaf!GN!Reader)

Note: Just a little thank you to those that commented on my previous post, y'all were so sweet in encouraging me to write, I'm not great at writing but I really hope you enjoy it! My requests are open if anyone has any ideas and I'm also open for criticism especially with things such as deafness, I want to be as respectful as I can be when writing things like that.

Note #2: The reader in this wasn't born deaf but eventually lost their hearing as a child. And pinning, LOTS of pinning because I'm a sucker for that stuff lol

________________________________________

Finally getting back to the hotel, P made his way into the main lobby and greeted Sophia with a nod and she with a wave. "Hello Gepettos puppet, I'm glad you are back safe. Did you manage to get to the factory?", she asked as P nodded in reply, "That's good. Please take a rest you deserve it" she smiled as P nodded and made his way to Eugenie, his legion arm wasn't doing good and needed an upgrade.

Upon walking to that section of the room, he caught a glimpse of a new face- or the back of the head of someone he had never seen before. Remembering how Sophia said to introduce himself to new people as a way to be polite (of course when doing this outside of the hotel he had to be careful and wary), he walked towards the piano room and saw you with your back turned reading a book of some sort. He walked closer and mimicked a cough to get your attention- you didn't react. He tried again and still no reaction making him tilt his head, his eyebrows twitched, were you ignoring him on purpose? He walked a little closer before feeling a gentle pull on his arm making him turn around and see Sophia, she smiled, "They are deaf" she stated making P raise an eyebrow causing Sophia to soften her gaze. "They can't hear you which is known as being deaf, there is different types of deafness some people can still hear although poorly and some can't hear at all. They arrived here not too long ago, still... introduce yourself they're nice" she said with a smile as P turned around and faced you, so you couldn't hear? P had yet to learn about disabilites and yet it intrigued him, while he did say a few words he was rather silent for the most part which he preferred. One reason was that his voice sounded flat and the second reason was that he saw no point in being talkitive for the sake of being talkitive.

He stood up straight and walked towards you before gently tapping your shoulder causing you to turn around, your (E/C) eyes stared at him before giving him a smile. "Hello" you said quietly, P nodded his own way of a hello. "Are you also staying at this hotel?" your voice soft and a little scratchy as if you didn't want to disturb the silence of the library. P nodded, he pointed to your ears making you blinked in confusion before realising what he meant, "Ah, yes. I can't hear, haven't been able to since I was 8" you explained to the puppet who watched you intently. "Are you...P? I've been told there was a special puppet around and I'm assuming you're him?" you asked, P as usual gave a silent nod, still looking at your ears. A voice called out for P, it was Eugenies. P bowed to you before making his way to his legion arm upgrader, you smiled as you faced back to the book in your hand.

Sometime passed and P made his way to the piano room again but found you with Miss Antonia, he watched as you were moving your hands in certain ways without opening your mouth and speaking while Antonia was chatting with you.

This interested P, you were moving your hands and fingers in certain ways towards your face and outwards. He walked towards you making you turn your head, you waved and noticed him staring at your hands, "I'm using sign language, it helps me communicate more easily without having to speak" you said, your voice hoarse which indicated that you didn't speak very often yet made the effort to explain it to him which stirred something in him. You, forcing yourself to use your voice in order for him to understand your movements made him feel a bit bad (though how is that possible? He was just a puppet after all). His eyebrows furrowed as he scooted closer to you and pointed to your hands then at him to then you, you blinked as Antonia chuckled "I think he wants to learn from you" she stated as you let out a small 'oh!'.

You smiled at him and excused yourself from Antonia and sat on the couch and waving your hand for P to come sit with you which he did. "I'll teach you some simple conversations" you said as you began to teach him things like 'Hello', 'How are you?', 'I'm feeling...', etc... It took him a while to move his hands in certain ways (especially his legion arm) he made a few mistakes but that only made you smile before correcting him. 'There you go! You did really well!' you signed and clapped, he hung his head a little as if getting embarrased and also feeling something stir in him more. 'Thank you...' he signed back, he enjoyed this and wanted to learn more but he saw the time and pointed at the clock making you turn your head, 'ah...probably should go to bed. Thank you for taking the time to learn with me P, stuff like this...means a lot' you signed and stood up along with P, 'Goodnight P' you signed before gently touching his arm making the cogs in his chest turn even more. With that, you walked off to bed. P watched you before putting his head down, he felt determined to learn more as he enjoyed speaking that way and with you no doubt.

He walked to Antonia on anything about sign language, she located him to a section of books that would help him and he set off to learn. At times through the days you would catch him reading intently, "P? What are you reading?" you said as he then quickly hid the book at his side and signed 'Nothing important. Also you don't need to talk, it's okay', you blinked 'oh? Have you been practising?' you chuckled as he stared at you, he WAS practising and he was doing it for you so you didn't feel obliged to use your voice and hurt your throat more.

As the days passed, you were still staying at the hotel and was sitting next to the fire with the hotels cat in your arms. During the days, you would converse with P via sign language and you noticed him getting better and better which made you have a sense of pride as you thought it was really sweet of him trying. Staring into the orange wisps of the fire you heard footsteps approach, turning your head you saw your puppet friend approach you as he sat next to you. 'Busy day?' you signed, 'Yes, many puppets, I can smell the oil...it stinks' he said, his face scrunching up. You could see him changing more and more every time he came back and with the biggest change of them all- was his hair. You really liked it like that and wanted to play with it, would P be okay with that? 'Hey, P...' he tilted his head at you, 'can I...play with your hair?' you signed to him making him sit up straight- he nodded a bit too enthusiastically for his liking but he liked all the little touches from you, despite not being able to hear you, you would sit next to him as he tried to play the piano with your hand on top of the instrument and feeling the vibrations with your eyes closed and your shoulder touching his. He loved moments like that.

You smiled and sat in front of him, his legs opened with you between them with your own legs at the side of his waist as you ran your fingers through his silky brown/blackish hair. His eyes immediatly closed as he felt his ergo stir inside him, he leaned closer to you pulling you closer by your waist making you blush, his head now into the crook your neck as you played with his hair. With becoming more human he could now smell so him being able to smell a soft almost flowery scent from you made him move closer into you, he pulled back after a few minutes and looked directly into your eyes for signing, 'You smell nice', ah... bless this puppet he was so direct that he forgot humans get a bit flustered at stuff like that- you included. Your face heated up more, 'Antonia was kind enough to lend me a perfume-', 'It suits you' he replied back as he went back to the position you two were in previously. You had a feeling he knew what he was doing sometimes. Cheeky thing.

With more days passing you and P would have fully fledged conversation in sign language, the only person who really understood was Antonia but she didn't take notice of your private conversations...sort of. She would catch phrases here and there. She smiled as she glanced at the two of you sitting on the floor signing away with a smile while P would stare, his gaze looking more lovingly as the more you delved into your story. P would glance at your hands and at the one that was closest to him, the more time he spent with you the more he wanted to be close to you and with this language you were speaking with just the two of you he felt so close to you. It was just him and you, conversing in your own little world and he enjoyed that.

Later one night you were looking out the window, getting to the Krat hotel was dangerous you remember almost being hit as you didn't hear puppets and it frustrated you. You can fight but you're no where near as good as P or even a stalker. You sighed but any feeling of despair was quickly washed away as you felt a familiar presence next you and knowing who it was you didn't bother to turn around and smiled as you felt a head on your shoulders. 'Hello you' you signed as P leaned closer to you, 'You aren't asleep yet? Are you okay?' he asked and you shook your head 'I'm...doing okay. The city has become so...isolating and depressing it's hard not to think about it how many lives have been lost and how lucky- or unlucky- I am to have to surived for so long.' You faced P, 'P...I know it's only been a few days but...I really care for you. I'd even call you a dear friend and even a...ahem, well, You've done a lot for the people of Krat and I just hope you know that you have my support no matter what. P, I...' you couldn't say it. The three words you wanted to say, they wouldn't come out, as if your fingers were frozen and refused to budge. You sighed, 'I should probably head to bed now...would you like to join me?' you asked shyly as P nodded not a moment after.

You were already in pj's and watched as P took his coat and shoes off now only in a plain shirt and pants (which were thankfully clean) and headed into the bed with you, laying next to you he gently moved his legion hand towards your face the cold finger tips grazing your ear making you shiver slightly as you close your eyes and lean closer into him, you could feel...beating? You could feel his heart beat making you smile as if it was like music to your touch. It wasn't long before you drifted off to sleep knowing P would alert you if anything were to happen.

Without your knowledge, P signed you something that you wouldn't be able to see but he meant every word of it. The three words that wouldn't come out of you either.

'I love you'

And with that he pulled you close, hoping one day he'll get to express those words to you but for now he enjoyed all the little moments with you and that was good enough for him right now.

[through-rosey-glasses]

PWHL Teams and Which Taylor Swift Era They are in

My sister and I were talking about how Minnesota Frost is clearly in their Tortured Poets Department Era, and that inspired the rest of this post. This is just a fun little thing I did, please don't take it too seriously or personally.

(Also for swifties, I used the old versions of album covers as it refers to that era. Red TV is totally different than Red ya know.)

Minnesota Frost:

Currently in their The Tortured Poets Department Era. Basically messy despite being on top of the world. The album came out after the raging success of Taylor Swift in her Era's tour and winning her fourth album of the year at the grammy's. This new album brings out snappy lines targeted at fans and revelations at how Taylor Swift didn't live up to the ideal many fans had of her. In Minnesota we had the recent firing of the favored general manager and drafting of a controversial player. You can't convince me that Ken Klee wasn't blasting But Daddy I Love Him, as he made all his messy decisions.

Boston Fleet:

Speak Now was a Taylor Swift era filled with spite and determination. The whole album was written by Taylor Swift alone, partially because her ex and some critics accusing her of not being a proficient writer on her own. After losing the Walter Cup, the Boston Fleet have the confidence that they can make it far and the determination to be better. (I also think spite comes naturally to Boston, not like they need a motivation or something.) This era is very youthful but honest, and I think that energy would be great to see in Boston next season. Someone blast better than revenge.

Montreal Victoire:

A personal favorite of mine, the Red Era of Taylor Swift had it all. Heartbreak, style, chaos, parties, love. This era was also risky and complex, Taylor Swift blended country and pop, bringing critical acclaim and a wider fanbase. Montreal has had a fun, but chaotic summer. Their draft picks are a fair mix of old and new. (With that wild Kessel pick) Their name and logo got rave reviews. People see the the good foundation the team has and are waiting in anticipation for what's to come.

Toronto Sceptres:

Reputation is a come back era, and Toronto has something to prove. Following a devastating injury to a star player, the team wasn't the same during the playoffs. This season they are going to have to show that they are still that team. Reputation is a fan favorite album and I have found Toronto to have the strongest fanbase. (They sell out most often and have the largest social media presence.) The team knows they are good and they have the support, they just need to rebuild.

Ottawa Charge:

Folklore is an era of surprising change. During Covid and following the cut short run of Lover, Folklore was an unannounced reinvention of Taylor Swift. It wasn't an intentional change, but one forced by the way of the world. Ottawa needs to find its grove and step into its own again. I haven't heard much from Ottawa on anything really, and I hope its because they got some cool alt indie surprise on its way.

New York Sirens:

Listen I am not only picking 1989 because it has a cool New York aesthetic. This is the era of leaning in and giving it your all. When Red didn't win album of the year, Taylor Swift decided to move to New York and reinvent herself. New York was last in ranking last season, but got first in draft. They have been working off season with insane draft picks and that somehow it worked out trade with Boston. New York has the star power, the New York city life, and the rebranding to help turn them into something new.

[sapphic-agent]

I really hope my ask won't be seen as mean, hope to word correctly....bc your last post about how Eri and Shig do share some common ground. I agree but it irks me how LoV stans use this to make shig sound not so bad.

Many fics and arts where "shig saved Eri" exists as Eri is an accessory for Shig and nothing else.

I do see the paralels here. I do wonder about the mother....did overhaul killed her?

It's very convenient for the heroes to label Eri's quirk as good ...bc if she had just decay...she would be label as having a bad quirk. Maybe the heroes wouldn't care much. (Makes me wonder where are the healing quirks or medical advancement in this world)

But while they have a similar backstory...how Izu would possible know? I sincerely ask here bc AM went radio silence regards Shig to Izu, same with Gran and the police did a really lousy investigation (I'm assuming is lousy bc we don't see what they did and whatever they did it was one time thing) and didn't share the infos with Izu.

Does Izu knows about the nomus?

Im even surprised he knows shig is TENKO...but of course, such reveal is underwealming as fuck and him and Nana don't take at all.

Izu is mistreated by the narrative and no one talks to him ever.

Not to harpy on your post bc I agree this could have been useful....but like how Izu would know anything about Shig? Unless Shig tells or Izu becames the best hacker ever...or reads mind...he can't know. Ever.

I've said this before, but the reason Izuku doesn't understand Shigaraki is because they haven't interacted enough prior to the Final War.

Their conversation at the mall was a good moment. It shows that a) Izuku has the capacity to resonate with a villain's intent AND disagree with their actions (Stain), b) Shigaraki at this point didn't have a goal or direction, and c) it IS possible for Izuku to understand why hero society is corrupt. It also highlights the differences between them, attempting to show them as complete opposites.

The mall scene was a great way to explain the dynamic between them. And it's something that should have been expanded on throughout the story.

Admittedly, I don't know how Shigaraki's backstory would come up. But I'm sure it wouldn't be a hard thing to do. Didn't All Might pull up Tenko Shimura's disappearance? Maybe Izuku figures it out on his own somehow. Idk.

But to me, it doesn't even specifically have to be Tenko's actual past. It could be an implied thing that Izuku learns from watching how people treat Eri. Hell, part of him already has a clue from his fight with Shinsou.

(One thing I actually hate about Izuku's character is his inability to acknowledge the corruption of society despite being a victim of it. He started off being able to do this with Stain, but for some reason that just went away. He studies under Endeavor, even defends him to Dabi and tells Todoroki he's ready to forgive him. Lady Nagant spelled it out for him and he just... Doesn't react. Doesn't even think about what she said. This is on Horikoshi's awful writing decisions, but it's the one criticism of Izuku that's 100% valid)

Eri shouldn't be used for Shigaraki's redemption. I honestly wouldn't want her around any of the LOV, that's putting her in danger to make another character look better. It's the same issue that I have with Aizawa making Bakugou watch her.

But I do think that Izuku's experiences with the people around him- which includes Eri- should give him a broader worldview. That's typically how development and growth work. If Izuku was going to reach out and try to save Shigaraki, it should have been with an understanding of how society failed Shigaraki.

Saving him also could have meant a lot of different things. Saving Shigaraki from AFO's influence/brainwashing wasn't a bad goal. Saving him from himself, though, is different. People have to want to change, you can't make them. You can give them support, but Izuku wasn't in a position to do so because he's, y'know, a sixteen year old who isn't even an official pro hero. Of course he wasn't equipped for this. Most actual pros wouldn't have been

[atravellersguidetofandoms]

♦ beauty and the beast ; dottore x gn!reader ; modern au ♦ the infamous second harbinger with...a beautiful voice !?

your boyfriend, zandik, is...known in the science field. how wouldn't he be? he's one of the top students of the sumeru akademiya and a criminal.

you don't say criminal lightly.

but he's definitely a genius, which is also why he never gets a break from his job, constantly doing one experiment or the other. he is one of the fatui's biggest assets.

luckily, you managed to convince them to give him a break since sitting in his lab all day and looking at him dissect weird creatures wasn't the best date plan, and they agreed (with some persuassion which may or may not have included threats and food).

"why do we have to do this again?" zandik says, rolling his eyes. "because it's fun, zan," you start, "and we haven't had time for ourselves in ages," you scoot over to him, cuddling up on the couch. with a sigh, he wraps his arms around you, draping them across your shoulders. too engrossed in the movies, you fail to notice the lovesick smile on his face as he brings you closer to him.

what movies are you watching? well of course some of the best movies in history! disney movies!

the movie marathon goes on with zandik telling you how childish this is. "seriously, these are movies for children," he'll say, squinted his eyes in criticism. but he doesn't change it, neither does he leave, but he still seems very uninterested.

that is until beauty and the beast pops up on the screen. you fail to know why, but he doesn't criticise it after the first few scenes, intently focuses on it, occasionally looking at you whenever belle and the beast are together. is he pulling you closer as well?

you both ending up falling asleep by frozen.

the next day, zandik has work yet again, and you don't know when you'll be able to have a peaceful time like you did before again. the thought makes you feel a little sad.

you seat yourself on one of his tables, fidgeting with some of his things before you hear a familiar song. you look at him, confused until you see his lips moving.

"certain as the sun," he pauses, "rising in the east," you're sure he doesn't realise that he's singing, but you can't bring yourself to tell him. how can you when you're entranced by his voice. it's angelic and almost like a lullaby. enough to rival columbina, even.

"tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme," he pauses again, tinkering with something in his hand, "beauty and the beast," you look at him in awe, slowly getting down from the table as he reaches the end of the song.

"tale as old as time," he sings and you creep forward. "song as old as rhyme," this time, you two sing together. zandik finally realises what he's been doing, but instead of stopping, he smirked, bringing you closer by the waist and facing you, lips inches away.

"beauty and the beast," he finishes the song with his lips on yours, smiling. you really have him wrapped around your fingers, don't you?

© atravellersguidetofandoms

[destinysbounty]

I'm literally so sad that Cole wasn't in Seabound. Like isn't he the master of Earth? Isn't the seafloor like the deepest place to be? Wouldn't he be closer to his element if he went in the deep sea? Man.

I'm not the first person to bring this up, and I probably won't be the last, but it is a bit odd how Wildbrain feels so intent on splitting the team up all the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a good split-up in theory - hell, seasons 4 and 9 are some of my all-time favorites, and overall I think the concept of splitting up the team gives us the chance to explore unconventional dynamics in similarly unconventional situations. There's just one main problem with how Wildbrain handles split-ups: 1) there usually isn't a particularly strong narrative reason for it to happen.

Now if I list off every arbitrary split-up and exactly what made it arbitrary, we'd be here all day. But seriously, next time you watch Wildbrain, try and pay close attention to this sort of thing. Once you notice the way they love to split everyone up at the barest hint of provocation, you can't ignore it. It's everywhere. Obviously there are times where they do have narratively satisfying reasons to split up (s13 is an example of this done well imo), but the sheer volume of arbitrary split-ups kinda sours things a bit - for me, at least.

Which brings us to Seabound. I genuinely don't understand why Cole and Kai couldn't have come along for Seabound. They give this argument that "oh, we need someone to stay behind and hold down the fort while everyone's gone", but...first of all, when has that ever been a pressing issue for them? These assholes leave Ninjago City unattended all the time. And even if they did finally decide to make that a priority after all these years, why is Kai staying behind??? If you ask me, not only would Kai realistically want to be involved in the quest to fix his beloved sister's powers, but Kai also would have been way more effectively utilized by the plot, by actually being part of the plot. Y'know, in the submarine with everyone else. Not only because we'd get the chance to see his fear of water get some resolution, but the whole narrative about Nya's childhood trauma would pack a lot more weight to it with Kai present (for obvious reasons).

And as for Cole...y'know what, up to this point I'd never really thought of a good way to give Cole something to do in Seabound, but you present a great point. Maybe there could be some scenes between Cole and Nya, talking about how overwhelming it can feel to be completely surrounded by your element. In this version of events, maybe Cole takes on an almost mentor-like position as he tries to help Nya connect with her element as he had done at the end of season 13. And for maximum angst, perhaps at the end of the season she takes his lessons and puts them to use - but instead of simply connecting with her element like he taught her, she's becoming one with it. This isn't perfect, of course, but at least now we've found a way to make Cole and Kai feel more relevantly involved in the plot.

Don't get me wrong, as much as I'm criticizing it I absolutely adore Seabound. BUT if I were given the task of rewriting it, personally I'd have the whole gang accompany Nya down to Merlopia. And as for having a land crew to watch over Ninjago in the meantime, I'd throw in some supporting characters. The ninja go "oh hey we need someone to hold down the fort and look after Ninjago while we're away", so they round up a ragtag crew of support characters from past seasons to sub in for them. Y'know, Skylor, Dareth, Karlof, and other characters of that caliber. And then we occasionally cut back to this reserve team, whoever they are, as they get up to all the adventures Kai and Cole would've been up to in the original canon version.

(Or if we want to create a lead-in for the next season, then perhaps they get the mayor or commissioner's help in recruiting a reserve team to look after things in their absence, and then this reserve team becomes the New Ninja during Crystalized).

Again, I don't want anyone to mistake my criticism for dislike - Wildbrain holds a special place in my heart, and I do enjoy it a lot. But I also have to admit that this relentless and at many times painfully arbitrary team-splitting is starting to get a bit annoying.

...oh wow, that was a long rant. I'm not entirely sure if any of that made sense, but either way just know that I agree with you 100%. Thanks for the ask!

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

The Ice casting decision reeks of misogyny. It's doubly disappointing as a Japanese ice show considering just how good/deep their women's field is. Kaori not only being reigning world champion, but having made history with it just so recently, rubs salt even further into the wound. Makes me wonder if they're falling into the same thing I keep seeing posted on various platforms of the women's field being "not interesting" anymore - various arguments around this statement.

No matter the reasoning, it's extremely disappointing. Especially with just how they openly stated it to, though I guess it doesn't leave anyone wondering just how intentional it was to have them all left out.

Thank you for your thoughts! This probably serves as an answer for my poll. I am still using this to comment on some of your thoughts under the cut and share some additional points from my view.

The decision of an all male cast is strange and uncalled for especially considering their deep field of women. I really wonder what lead to that final decision. I totally get the disappointment and anger even if I like most skaters that are announced for the show. But tbh from my point of view Japan has a lot of mysoginistics way of thinking instilled in their culture, so internalized mysoginy may have played a part, even if probably or hopefully nobody went like "we hate women, so we don't want them". From the reaction by Japanese fans I came across the criticism wasn't as negative as the reaction from the English fandom. In the end the Japanese fans buy the tickets.

We can't tell if the producers buy into the "women skating is not interesting anymore" or if they have other reasons. There is not any justifiable reasons to exclude women single skaters imo! One thought appeared on my mind though: from my outside observation the Japanese single women skaters do not have the same "superstar" status as the male skaters in Japan and maybe that plays a part why they are deemed by producers as "not a selling point"???After Mao Asada no other female Japanese skater got as much attention. It's a shame especially as Kaori has three world titles now! She deserves so much better. All of the Japanese ladies deserve better in general! (Though the women discipline is popular with tv ratings in Japan yet I don't see the same hype around the women skaters as male skaters in the fandom and fans will attend shows not casual tv watchers. Again just an outsiders observation of the Japanese fandom, so by no means any sort of factbased.)

I also think it's maybe in Japan but to me it doesn't feel like a Japanese ice show, bc besides Kao and Shoma and Satoko if you can even count her as she isn't perfoming apparently (that's the wildest point imo to have Satoko and not have her skate 💀) there are not many Japanese skaters announced and I mean the men field in Japan is deep too. So when all male, where are they? Where is Sota, Yuma, Kazuki, Koshiro??? I mean Nika Egadze a stronger selling point than any of them? 🙃

Many things are worth criticizing but the transparancy of the "concept" is not a negative point for me. Transparancy is always good, even if it's not transparent about the reasons for an all male cast. It's better to sell tickets when ppl know what to expect than to let ppl buy tickets blindly expecting certain skaters that then would not fit their concept. They did try to sell tickets last year before anyone was announced and that seemed to have sparked criticism inside Japan, maybe a reason why there is a complete annoucement about their casting decisions, even if it wasn't a decision anyone asked for.

Maybe this decision for an all male cast is also just a promotion stunt. Whether we like it or not, it was a "hot topic" today in the fandom and trended on Jpn Twt.

Whatever lead to that decision I feel like one thing is clear looking at SOI (a show that has the same producer) that new concepts for ice shows are needed. As much as I hate the "empty seats" discussion, shows don't sell as strongly as they used to, not even in Japan (unless it's Yuzu's show but then it's also focused on a male skater and on one skater only). They need new concepts and I am not against having a new concept, but the big question is whether that new concept had to EXCLUDE women single skaters performing???? Absolutely not.

Only time will tell if their "concept" will get ppl interested to buy tickets or turned off. We'll find out in July. And frankly in the end our view doesn't matter much as the majority of us won't be the target audience for this show.

[pettyprocrastination]

Hi!! How are you?

I would also love to hear/read more about Tess x Joel x reader!! ❤️❤️

im great!! I hope you are doing well too darling <3

___________

For the longest time, you think Tess and Joel are married. It's an honest mistake, really. Seeing the way they work together like a well-oiled machine and have done so for years leads you to think there's more to their relationship.

Which there is. But neither of them will admit it.

Tess is easier to talk to. Not to say she isn't scary as well because christ, you know the things she's capable of and make sure to never short her on a trade or a cut of the profits, but its different. She speaks. Even as she's looking over the haul from your last run to make sure you aren't skimping her out, she talks to you. Little jokes injected into every few sentences while looking over stock, the occasional remark in awe of "you were able to find this?" that filled you with pride each time in that raspy voice that kept you up at night.

Joel is silent.

He sits in the room and watches. Rarely uttering a word unless its to shoot down an idea for your next run because "FEDRA is getting antsy, unless you want to be on the execution list tomorrow I suggest you wait a few days." or to raise his nose at the oddities you've collected.

Like a proper guard dog, he watches and waits for a command.

The first time you speak to him alone, without Tess, is when it happens.

You had just told him that you were planning another run for tomorrow after making connections with another smuggler who wanted to meet. But the location was at least a two days walk from the QZ.

"You can't possibly be that stupid."

"Excuse me?"

His eyes narrow and he leans in. On instinct you shrink back and curse at yourself for doing so.

"You plan on meetin' somebody you've never worked with before and never seen in person, alone because of what? Blind trust?"

"Because of profit."

He snorts. "Yeah well somethin' tells me 'mutual profit' isn't what he has in mind. The answer is no." Your face grows hot under his criticism, his patronizing fucking voice and that stupid southern accent to the point where you grab at his shoulder when he turns away from you.

"I wasn't asking for permission, man. I was telling you. Just make sure that your wife knows I'm-"

There.

His head snaps back as if you had slapped him, staring at you with in shock before his eyes narrow into slits.

"What did you just say?"

His voice rumbles a low, warning timbre that makes your hands begins to shake despite your intentions of looking strong.

"I said-" the room suddenly feels smaller. Corners all too tight and the door too far for your liking because its hitting you know that youre alone with him and just how many times Tess has sent this man out to break some bones on her accord without a second word of it.

"I said." Your throat tightens and you force the words out. "I said to tell your wife-"

"She isn't my wife."

Oh.

"Oh!"

Joel shakes his head. His face scrunches up and shoulders pull in, you realize then that he isn't angry.

He's uncomfortable.

"Oh, I uh. Didn't know." The floorboards groan beneath you as you shift your weight from one foot to the other. "I just assumed that-"

"Well we aren't, alright?" He holds out a hand to stop your further explanation but it does nothing to hide the red tint creeping up his neck and ears. "She's just my-"

His voice fails him as he struggles to find the words to properly explain just what Tess is to him and him to her. The silence becomes all too consuming as he makes a vague gesture in the air. Flitting his fingers and waving his hand up and down in a way that perfectly encapsulates just how fucking complicated it is.

"I understand."

The situation has gone from terrifying to awkward so fast you could have laughed as you now try to soothe the nerves of the same man you worried was ten seconds away from snapping your wrist like a twig. "It's none of my business, really. Just-" You turn on your heel and cringe.

You'd rather him just break your wrist, honestly.

"Let Tess know when I'm leaving for the run, okay?"

"Push it back a week and we'll join you."

Your hands freezes, hovering over the doorknob and you look over your shoulder. Joel stands behind you, face in his hands.

"I'm sorry?"

He takes a deep breathe and looks at you with tired eyes. "If you can contact your man and get him to push the meeting by a week, Tess and I will go with you, alright? You need to have somebody there with you in case something happens."

He takes a step forward, broad shoulders boxing you in and he leans over and opens the door for you.

"Besides, you're the only one in the QZ who specializes in weird shit." Joel pulls back sighs. "Tess wants to keep the connection."

You don't bother hiding your smile from him.

"I prefer the term oddities." "Yeah? Well, I prefer the term headaches. Now fuck off so I can go talk to her."

Joel watches your form dash down the hall and disappear from his sight. He pinches the bridge of his nose and groans. His thoughts wander to you, then Tess.

Then you and Tess.

"Fuckin' moron."

[sokkastyles]

Iroh is likely to hold a selfish grudge against Azula forever, he absentmindedly gave her gift from imperial conquest, abandoned her to an abusive household, shows angry and contempt to her before she does anything wrong, repeatedly tells Zuko to hate her and beat her up, says she’s crazy, puts Zuko and Azula against each other, gets angry that he got burned when he backed her into a corner, tells Zuko she doesn’t love him, even after she makes a speech about how much she loves him and wants him by her side, and treats Azula like the devil, while treating Ozai with much more compassion than he deserves

he’d probably want he to be executed, have her bending taken away, etc.

He also abandoned his traumatized 16 year old nephew to rule over a country all by himself for one of the most selfish reasons ever, so he can open a damn tea shop in a city he wanted to commit genocide in, which is in another continent, he also doesn’t show up to his coronation, what a dick

he also decides not to stop the airships and instead gives that job to 3 children, so he and his cult members can selfishly “liberate” Ba Sing Se because it was his “Destiny” what an asshole

I may be harsh on Ursa, but at least she TRIED

This is why the Azula fandom can't have nice things.

He's not "likely" to hold a selfish grudge, and doesn't in canon, so that argument is moot, anyway. Iroh is actually the one who says in the comics that going with Zuko to find Ursa might be good for her, because he clearly cares about her and wants her to have that closure.

He "absentmindedly" gave her a gift? What the fuck does that even mean? Azula also very purposefully burned that gift, though, while calling her uncle a lazy fatso. Azula stans trying to downplay or justify that by saying Iroh's gift wasn't good enough is really, really ugly behavior, and not an argument I am interested in.

He doesn't show contempt for her "before she does anything wrong", he is actually polite when she shows up lying to his and Zuko's faces, but he doesn't walk into her trap because he sees straight through her. Pretending that she did nothing wrong, when she absolutely has malicious intent there, is stupid and dishonest.

Same with pretending Azula was just defending herself in the Chase, because the reason she was there is because she had mercilessly tracked down the gaang, Zuko, and Iroh. Them teaming up against her is what we call Karma.

Even then, though, Iroh isn't actually angry at Azula. Even when he says "she's crazy and needs to go down," it's delivered in a deadpan and humorous way, not an angry way, and he says it for Zuko's benefit, to tell Zuko that he is allowed to defend himself. It is not about his feelings at all.

He doesn't pit Zuko against her, or tell Zuko to beat her up. He also doesn't treat Ozai with any compassion whatsoever. That's all complete nonsense that actually hurts your argument because it's transparent that you have no actual argument.

I'm also not going to entertain any argument about Iroh opening a tea shop in Ba Sing Se because he also was instrumental in saving that city, which actually changes the whole situation, which is why you left it out. He also did not abandon Zuko. I don't agree with everything in the comics but what they actually show is Zuko not wanting to bother Iroh, but when Aang takes him to Iroh at the end, he says Zuko is always welcome there.

And lol, Ursa "tried" according to you when she's not the current target of your nonsensical rant, but I don't think for a minute that you won't try to turn your "criticisms" towards her if you think it might absolve Azula of responsibility. That's all this is, just the completely ridiculous ramblings of someone who overidentifies with a selfish and cruel character because it feeds your own victim complex. You don't want Iroh or Ursa to try to help Azula, because that won't feed said victim complex.

Again, this is why the Azula fandom can't have nice things.

[kyouka-supremacy]

also here is your excuse to do beast sskk as well :)

Thank you so much for asking them I owe you my life,,, this is going to be long. Doing Akutagawa here and Atsushi in the next post.

Favorite thing about them: Akutagawa's real, authentic struggle to be good. His struggle to conciliate the inhuman Beast in him with his genuine striving to be good. I think it's a very beautiful way to depict a real and universal struggle of every man. He's just very sympathetic in his trying so hard to be a good person and how more often than not fail at it, which is very endearing to read about. He's just a very human character in his very beastliness. I think trying to be good despite his very own nature and even fight against his nature to be a better person is endlessly admirable. Akutagawa's character in Beast is an expanded, more elaborated on and mature, and overall better version of the same struggle Akutagawa faces in canon, and I love it.

Least favorite thing about them: Sometimes I do have the impression that when writing him the author gets lost in the very loop of not good → tries to be good → is still not good → is inherently unable to do good. I wish I could elaborate on this better, but I need to reread Beast to do that. Just... Sometimes it feels like the author themselves doesn't know which road to pick between “man is inherently unable to do good” and “you aren't evil, you just haven't had you chance to be good yet”. There's a primary example for this: the act of brutally slaughtering the men who killed his friends Akutagawa commits at the start of the story is repeatedly framed all over the novel as something deplorable, mindless, and simply unmistakenly evil; and I deeply disagree. I can't agree with the story when it tries to frame Akutagawa as evil because he killed the men who killed his friends, because I see how that action wasn't moved by evil for evil's sake, but rather by the deep, inextricable love he felt for his family. And someone argues: but the reader is supposed to pick up on this inconsistency! A critical reader is supposed to see how since the start, Akutagawa has never been an entity of pure evil. But... I don't think it's the case, or at the very least that it was something intentional onf the author's side. For a very simple reason: Dazai and Gin say otherwise. And those two are the characters we're supposed to trust. Dazai, because he literally can't speak false in bsd (sorry. But c'mon. You know how the author writes him. Everything Dazai says is true and just and irrefutable). Gin, because in the story she takes on this very role of showing how much pain and suffering Akutagawa's inextricable evil causes. When Gin says :

If you really wanted vengeance—if you really wanted to avenge your friends—you would’ve come up with a plan before attacking. You would’ve stood by until your wounds healed, researched your enemy, and patiently waited for your chance. But you didn’t do that. You left me behind when I was injured and rushed right into battle without so much as a plan. It was like you were enjoying the flames of revenge. [...] If I’m wrong, then prove it. Convince me. Prove to me that you had some sort of grand scheme that day. Prove to me that you didn’t just want to destroy the world you despised like some wild beast.

we're supposed to believe her. I wholly doubt that passage was put there for the reader to say “she's wrong” at all. But it's also true that when Kunikida later says “You’re not evil, [...] You just don’t know who you are yet”, he directly contradicts that. So you see, Beast as a story itself in my opinion struggles to conciliate its need to prove Akutagawa as intrinsically evil and its belief that everyone has its chance at good. Which... I don't really blame it for, it objectively engages with complex philosophical themes it's hard to delve into, especially when coming from a place of the nihilism the author more often than not has been bearer of in the bsd story.

(Didn't want to spend this many words on this but it's really a complex subject you can't properly explain by keeping it short. That said, I love Beast Akutagawa infinitely more than what I dislike of him lol.)

Favorite line: Everything he's ever said 😭😭😭 His monologues are all very good, the struggle to become human so real and easy to relate to. “Until that day I become human, I will continue to run, howling loudly” may be my favourite.

brOTP: Akutagawa's relationship with Kenji in Beast means so much to me......... They're one of my favourite duos in the whole franchise, I really like the two of them together. I like to think they will become work partners in the future (well, I know for sure anyone in their sane mind in the agency is going to keep Akutagawa and Tanizaki from becoming partners LMAO). Then, Oda and Akutagawa (Oda cares about Akutagawa so much and AAAHH), Akutagawa and Tanizaki's relationship is heartwarming in its own weird way, and in general really Akutagawa & the whole ada is just the best. THEY are the found family of bsd, the only of that kind. (Side note, I love Ryuunosuke's relationship with Gin, and I love how Beast emphasizes on how much they love each other, but ough, I have so many issues with how Gin is written in Beast... Please please forgive me Akutagawas. I just think you deserve better writing.)

OTP:

DUH

DUH

DUH

DUH

(They're my favourite bsd ship ever okay. I like them a lot.)

nOTP: I wouldn't say I have any notp for him, but I do quite struggle to picture him with anyone who isn't Beast Atsushi (´；ω；｀)

Random headcanon: He helps out at Kenji's farm whenever it's harvest time. In general, I like to think he carries on the lessons of humanity he learnt during his ada quests arc. I like to think he also pays visits to Oda's children (his little siblings), plays with them and tutors them and so on. They're his chance of being a good older brother where in the past he failed.

Unpopular opinion: He's the cooler version of canon Akutagawa LOL

Song i associate with them: Usseewa by syudou, cover by hyozan ft. flower. A while ago, I happened to tell my sister that the song made me think of Beast Akutagawa, and she went “Really? But isn't he stupid?”, lmao. She was right, but the reason I tend to associate the song with him isn't the honor student and successful businessman parts, as much as the unrestrainable rage the song expresses, the frustration, the hatred towards everything in the world, the finding notions such as “rightness” and “stupidity” equally meaningless. The carelessness for hurting other people. The underlying feeling of loneliness. It's more about the vibes, really.

Favorite picture of them:

Favourite panel from the manga:

Favourite illustration by Hoshikawa:

Favourite illustration by Harukawa:

Send me a character?

[coffeebanana]

How would you recommend interacting with a writer. If a story wasn't to your taste, or left you unsatisfied. But you still want to encourage, the writer. And show gratitude for the free entertainment?

Hi anon!

The short answer is, a simple "thanks for the fic!" or "thanks for sharing!" or even a few emojis will often suffice. You really don't have to let the writer know what you didn't like. At the end of the day, they're not writing the fic for you, and obiously not every story is going to satisfy everyone the same way--otherwise we'd all be the same and that would be a horrendously boring world to live in.

The long answer is probably unecessary, but I like to procrastinate on my WIPs talk 😂

There's a format of commenting that goes a little like this: "i don't normally like [X ship, X trope, the way X acts in canon, etc...], but i love the way you do it!!" And honestly I myself have used that before--mostly for tropes, though possibly for some ships as well. And on the surface, that's reads as a compliment. Personally, when ppl leave me that sort of comment, I'll usually interpret it as a compliment too--unless they're full on bashing the thing I love (which sometimes happens with people criticizing canon). And I do think it's INTENDED as a compliment. (That's how I've meant it, when I used it, so I do try my best to also interpret others in good faith.)

But it can also read as "I don't like this thing that you really like and I felt the need to tell you that." Honestly, I didn't even realize it would come across that way until I saw someone else point it out. And then...yeah, I started to notice the fics I get it on more (A lot lot lot of my ladrien fics, lmao.)

So I'm at a weird cross roads where I try not to use that anymore--unless it's with someone I'm fairly sure will understand how I mean it?because sometimes you do have more of a rapport with certain ppl and they'll understand what you mean--but I also don't want to say it's 100% a bad thing to say. I really do understand the intent.

Anyways, my point in bringing that up is that you never don't know what seemingly innocent "this wasn't quite to my taste" comment is going to read as an insult. And so if you really DO want to encourage said writer, I'd recommend sticking to the positives.

Another big thing that's important to me personally is: don't lie.

People have a tendancy to...I don't want to say be disingenuous, but certainly to exaggerate at times on the internet. You see that in the SCREAMING CRYING EATING GLASS types comments. And those are USUALLY sincere in the way that the emotions they convey are sincere. We as a society understand they're not literally eating glass but that they're in agony because the angst in the fic was so good and they want more. But then--something I've noticed--that sort of lingo has a way of slipping into a default response of sorts. And sometimes that makes me question if people really mean it?

This second thing is probably more of a personal thing than a response to your question, but since it's something I've been thinking about lately I hope you don't mind that I brought it up too. I really don't want people to lie to me about my writing.

Not even if it's "to be nice".

Maybe this is in part because I myself find it...difficult to be insincere with ppl, but I don't want false compliments--that's something I tell my friends too. If I write a trope or pairing you don't like? There's never any pressure to read it. I don't expect comments or kudos from anyone. And I'm not someone who in general believes people are insincere--that's not really fair to other people. But everyone has doubts at some point, and I feel like adding to that by straight up lying to make someone feel better just isn't the way to go? If you can't pick out a detail from the fic that you genuinely enjoyed, then maybe keep it to the simple "thanks for sharing!"

So, I guess the TLDR is: keep it short and sweet. keep it encouraging if that's really your goal. (and, if this ever happens to be in reference to something that I specifically have written? please don't feel like you HAVE to say anything at all)

Thanks for the ask!! Sorry I went on for so long LOL💜

[scentedpepper]

Missions, Malaise and Migas Pt. VII | Leon Kennedy

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 Pt. 6 Final Part

Fandom: Resident Evil

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Male Reader

Summary: Leon and Y/N have some underlying issues. Ones they tried to warn DSO about.

Content Warnings: None

Other Pairings: Luis Sera x Reader

Author Note(s): guys I'm pissing and shitting the last part is out tmrw

fighting sleep when I edited this😭

The storage facilities were further away than either man had anticipated. Another half a mile of trudging through sticky mud, the sweaty hands and the way you all clung to your weapons, it left Leon, in particular, feeling uneasy and vulnerable to anyone else's attack. So, of course, when the steel doors finally opened and you all limped inside, Leon turned too quickly, unceremoniously slid the deadbolt, a loud thud echoing the vacancy.

You were the first to sit, and you lowered yourself to the metal floor in such a way that you didn’t want Luis nor Leon to see it. Because there was struggle there, that much was obvious as your hand, which had bled through the bandage, grasped to the crinkles in the wall and you delicately lowered your form to the floor as if you held a child in your non-existent uterus. You let out a soft huff when you felt a solidified pressure against your butt and your gun fell into your lap.

Despite the fact that you don't directly look at your partner, your senses are turned in his direction, taking him in, feeling when he eases into position beside you, his legs outstretched, though his fingers still clenched around his gun. He doesn’t lean against the wall, doesn't force you to fall into a lull like your body craves. He knows you're not calm.

After a beat of quiet, he decides to interrupt.

"How you holding up?" He barely gets the question out before your head ticks in his direction. His vision is focused on his weapons. He's carefully looking over every bullet that he has left, the stocking, the inventory that his vest holds.

"I'm fine. " You reply sharply. You can practically feel the suspicion drying against your skin like the layers of blood already there.

Though you can't directly see him, you can feel his stares heating your skin. The one that begins with concern then slowly melts away and comes back like the water drops from rain. The one where you're unsure if he's judging you, mentally criticizing what you're saying to him. Sometimes, you wonder if he has an open book with his thoughts that he conveniently turns the pages to. If you could see his mental library, your name would appear on those pages a lot more than you care to admit.

You shake the thoughts from your head, your other senses returning to the man. The inhales and exhales, how you can hear the slight jangle of his vest moving as he breathes and your hand is reaching into your pocket, pulling out the handgun you took from the woman who attempted to stab your partner in the neck.

A silent thank you that wasn't exactly appreciated.

You let a sigh, a puff out of your chest that hurts more than you're willing to admit and you say the first thing you think of.

"It doesn't feel like we're making progress. "

Leon didn't look at you, continuing to examine his weapons.

"We'll go back for more evidence. " He manages after a moment, the tone of his voice causing your heart rate to throb in your ears. It's deadpan and you get the distinct sense that he doesn't really want to be talking to you right now. Like every other thing that comes out of your mouth is a spitball aimed for his left temple.

Another exhale that you wished you didn't push out so harshly. Your head leans against the wall behind you and then a clank, your gun, at your side. After that, the silence.

Moments later, after peering out the crack through the heavy door and listening more intently than his ears were capable of, Luis sat in the empty space on the other side of you. You're vaguely aware of your breathing, your heartbeat, Luis next to you. It's all in and out and you can't tell if the beat of your heart is from the walk uphill to the storage facilities but the increasing rate is beginning to cause worry that you otherwise hadn't addressed.

You close your eyes, an odd way to fight against the blurring of your eyes.

Your chest wants to rise with the amount of oxygen your body craves and your toes are curled inside your boots, arms draped loosely over your abdomen. There's a faint but consistent ringing in your ear. Despite the fact you could've sworn you weren't in the battlefield, the sounds still echoed around in your skull.

Something is crawling at the back of your throat and there's an airy feeling in your head that causes you to force your eyes back open, wide. You lift yourself up just an inch before a white dot begins to move in and out of your field of vision. You let out a strangled, hitched gasp, slamming back against the wall.

"Hey. " There's something, or more so someone that calls your name in the distance, an arm outstretched, someone's fingers curling around your shoulder. "Y/N. "

You don't respond. You can't. You're too busy trying to stand again. Fight it. Fight. Fight. Fight. But your back slides back down the wall. The sound reverberates through the room and it stuns the men into silence for a moment.

"Y/N?!" Luis is alarmed to say the least and he's begin to get up on one knee. You can't feel his hands on you as you try to stand again but it's his palms bracing you that leaves you successful in your improper endeavors.

"Y/N. " Leons standing now. He takes a few steps forward. Slow. He's stepping like you're a tiger who's been cornered and at any second you may pounce. "Y/N stop. You're just hurting yourself. " There's something other than the usual authority he holds in his voice as he watches you stumble across the room, a hand clutching at your abdomen.

Before you get a chance to speak, a hoarse wheeze shakes through your body and the hands that have wrapped around you, pulling you back with little struggle, seem to have a secure grasp and without intention, you do nothing but use that. Your head falls into the crook of the persons shoulder, the back of your skull, the nape of your neck, the curve of your upper back. It fits against them perfectly.

"Leon. " Your voice is a mere whisper and your eyes are screwed tightly together. Everything feels like pins and needles. When you speak his name it's like watching something deteriorate; crumbling brick, cracks spreading across a clear surface. "I-" You can't get it out. It takes too much of a breath. It'd send a blinding strike of pain throughout your entire torso.

"Don't try. " He says quietly.

It's a few more seconds of staggering with him holding you close to his frame, never daring to pull you away from his shoulder even when you sway on your feet.

You can feel another prescence above you and it doesn't take much to know Luis is there, examining your face, listening to your unsteady breaths. Then his hand is on the back of your head and his fingers give you a kind stroke.

It should hurt. If he were to press a little firmer it would ache but you appreciate the touches nonetheless.

"We need to get him out of here. ¡Rápido!" Luis sounds almost as uneasy as you feel.

"No. " Your voice is barely audible. It's strained and full of effort just to make a sound at all.

Luis and Leon look to you and then back to one another.

In-between the exchanges, your eyes slowly slit open, locking with Leons as you grip the vest that is looped around his side. You can feel yourself losing your footing, like your legs are being detached from your knees and pulled out from underneath you.

You faintly register your name whispered from his lips, his face is strained, scared, and he doesn't look away from your fading gaze and suddenly, it stops. Your vision.

Your lungs cave in, your chest caves in and your head is resting in the safety of Leon's shoulder, an arm bracing you.

[leomonae]

I've been thinking about how differing perspectives for characters can lead to some very unexpected, yet in retrospect entirely reasonable, outcomes. Particularly in regard to the Araj and Astarion conversation.

So when Araj wants him to bite her, you can either shut her down immediately when Astarion refuses, or say you're surprised he's not more interested in the idea, right? Which... yeah, my Tav said that one because Astarion is usually all about acquiring more power and this seemed like a weird thing for him to object to. They were curious, really, nothing more. But then Astarion starts getting upset, characterises it as you trading him for some potion, and then you get a choice again.

Tell him to do it, tell him he shouldn't do it since he doesn't want to, or tell him (paraphrasing from memory) "well, the potion seems like it could be useful, but it's up to you".

And if you pick that last one, he is going to break up with you that night.

(okay yes for accuracy's sake I'll mention that there is precisely *one* way I found to navigate the following conversation so he doesn't break up with you, but it's not at all obvious, it's not a result of the profuse apologising and grovelling lines you can choose, and IIRC it required picking a line my Tav would never say because it wasn't all that sensitive or respectful in itself)

And the thing is, from Astarion's point of view, breaking up with you then is entirely reasonable! He feels used, like what he wants doesn't matter and you pushed him for your own benefit, because you basically just tripped right over a massive trigger of his! To him, you have at the very least been... careless, with him. More likely, you knew exactly what you were doing and never truly cared about what he wanted at all, because why would he ever think otherwise when nobody else ever cared? "You're the only one", he can tell you later on in Act 3. Except here, in this possible timeline where you very mildly encouraged him to go ahead, you just... weren't.

Astarion has just realised he wants something better for himself, that he can't keep on like this, and you've quite simply never given him any reason to think you might be that kind of better. Why would he have any motivation to go giving you any more chances at this point? You're just like everyone else when it comes to what you want and value from him, after all; you just proved it to him, whatever pretty words might now be coming out of your mouth to try and manipulate him into giving you what you want again. And again, and again, and again.

But that's not necessarily the case, of course.

See, I actually picked that "sounds useful but up to you" option, my first time through the conversation. And the reason for that? It was because from my Tav's perspective, that was the most respectful way to handle the situation. Especially as a follower of Ilmater; to my Tav's mind, it was about giving Astarion all the relevant info to weigh up the decision he thought was best, where he could choose to sacrifice a little for everyone's benefit. But if instead he had a reason like oh, say, massive backstory trauma which meant agreeing would be harmful to him, he could and should freely decline. And either way, Tav fully intended to respect and support his decision. To continue treating Astarion like the competent adult he clearly is (Insight check: critical failure).

But Tav wasn't yet aware of that whole "I didn't know how to say no!" aspect which he would later go on to yell as he was ending their relationship. Tav had no way of understanding him well enough yet to successfully navigate the hidden minefield that's Astarion's past and how it has affected him. And things just... never lined up right for Astarion to trust Tav enough to explain any of this, until he already felt like he'd been used and ignored and betrayed. So that was simply the end of things for them, Tav's good intentions be damned (until I reloaded, of course!).

And I kind of love how real it all felt. It can be a scary thing, trying to have a relationship with someone where it's so easy to misstep and their trust has been broken so many times before that they have very little benefit of the doubt left to offer you, after all. It really... drove home for me just how much of a gift it is, when Astarion chooses to give Tav a real chance. When he's able to bring himself to trust Tav enough to try and have a real relationship together; to be honest with them about how he can't continue to provide the one thing he believes he has to offer anyone, at this point in time. That's just... he is so, so damn brave for opening himself up like that to what must seem like all but inevitable rejection and scorn.

And I adore every little bit of how messy and complicated and believable he and the relationship with him both are. They're nothing at all like you expect, getting into things at the start; it's lovely to get to take the journey alongside your character, constantly finding yourself re-evaluating everything you're being presented with by and about him, and slowly coming to realise that something truly special lies beneath.

[dracomort]

I'm sorry if I have hurt you in any way because that was not my intention. I don't really mind who you ship or what you ship. It's just, I open my Tumblr and the first I see is someone calling something I like a crack ship while talking about their favourite ship. My point is why talk badly about something/someone else's ship when you're also shipping something which is also very unrealistic? Like I get it you have a favorite, but you can talk about your favourite without saying someone else's ship is not possible/crack for that matter. My bad if I made you feel bad because I really didn't want to do that. I just didn't want to the see someone bashing my ship as the first thing I see when I open Tumblr. I just don't get why people can't ship their own things without calling others' ship crack. Either ways, I'm sorry you felt attacked honestly; I really respect you as a person and a writer. And that's why I was sad to see you say those stuff. I really liked your fics as well and I love how you write Tom, I really do. That is why I was so surprised to see that post on my feed, but oh well. I do hope you have a good day and again I'm sorry if I made you sad in any way.

I appreciate the apology. I understand that it's not fun to see something that you interpret as critical toward your ship on your dash, however, I did not put that post in the Tomarry tag. If those kinds of posts are upsetting to you, then consider unfollowing me, because when I receive asks, I will answer them with my honest opinion. Coming into my ask box like that is not appropriate.

I'm just scratching my head here, because tbh that wasn't an anti post? To say that Tomarry requires a reimagining of canon or that there are plenty of things they could dislike about each other is not me saying it's a shit ship. Drarry's my OTP after all, lol, hate = spice. I also didn't call it crack, though I don't think crack is an insult either. Most Tom ships are crackish to some extent, especially ships that require an AU for the characters to even be the same age (Tomarry, Tomione, Taco, etc.). Harry Potter x the dude who tried to kill him a bajillion times is pretty implausible to most people, but that doesn't make it a 'bad' ship. You can make any ship work and there are many, many writers who have brought more life to Tomarry than Canon Hinny received from JKR (before someone else comes for me, this isn't a Hinny critique either, this is a critique of JKR's ability to write romance lol)

This is what I've said on Tomarry and Taco previously.

^FYI this was a joke

Finally, it isn't your ship vs mine. I've shipped Tomarry longer than I've shipped Taco. I'll ship Tom with a pair of snakeskin loafers if I thought they'd have chemistry. I can ship something without singing its praises endlessly. In fact, I reckon I've said way meaner things about Taco on here than Tomarry lol. I've said that Tom would loathe Draco under most circumstances and that he would murder him for sure since lil bro can't stop yapping. I've also said Draco is ugly an acquired taste and Tom has no game 💀. My DAD has come to Draco's defence over some of the things I said about him as we were watching the movies. Roasting is my love language, pls don't misunderstanding it.

[cyber-clown]

Hey, you may not recognize me, but clownmeatpizza is one of my sideblogs. I just wanted to apologize for how I responded to that post you made earlier this week. I had been seeing a bunch of posts misconstruing the criticism of the concept of "transandrophobia" as people saying that trans men don't experience transphobia, and I now believe that this whole thing was started by people who were deliberately and maliciously trying to divide the trans community. I had a friend who was reblogging a lot of this kind of stuff and I believe he was tricked into believing the pushback against "transandrophobia" was about denying that trans men experience transphobia as well. I no longer believe in the concept of transandrophobia.

A couple people found your post and began attacking you directly instead of just engaging in a conversation or a debate about the topic of the post. These people were not following me, and they reblogged the version of the post that only had my first response to it and not my second response or the rest of the chain, which had existed before they discovered the post. I believe this was done deliberately to remove the context and use my initial response as a jumping off point to justify attacking you and to try and convince more people that the criticism of transandrophobia was really about claiming trans men don't experience transphobia, which is not what the criticism is actually about. While it wasn't my intention, I still feel I should apologize for people having used my initial response as a means to attack you.

Hey it's totally okay, we can't always control how these things happen. I'm just glad to see you've given it some thought, really. I admit I could have worded the post a little less inflammatory but ultimately I thought better of it because it doesn't matter how nicely you word it, if people want to get mad they will (which is sort of what it was a complaint about to begin with)

As for other people attacking me with your reply as a jumping off point, it happens but ultimately that was their prejorative. I pre-emptively disabled anon asks and once I noticed an uptick in replies Like That I just responded calmly by drawing my fursona getting crucified and then locking reblogs, no big deal.

If anything I was relieved to see more people than I expected actually genuinely engaging with the post since that means I didn't word it terribly haha. Best of luck, thank you for the apology.

[9haharharley1]

I'mma keep it coming with I wanna see your head canons for Danny tbh I wonder if we're similar about the boy. So I guess 002

How I feel about this character:

I love him, I really do! I had such a crush on Danny when I was a teen, made worse (or better, idk) by the fact that when the show aired, I was also just entering high school. So it was one of those, "oh look! A socially awkward teen also has to deal with the stress of living! He's just like me fr (minus the ghost powers on my part)!"

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Romantically? Vlad, Valerie, Clockwork, and Dan, but mostly Vlad.

Want to see him get railed and ruined and crying? Dan, Nocturne, Skulker, Wulf, Walker.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Tucker and Sam (provided Sam can get over some of her holier-than-thou attitude)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

This boy doesn't have a dominant bone in his entire body. I don't like reading top Danny fics, my boy deserves a break, and I'm also not a fan when he's taller and beefier than Vlad either. I stan a short king and I will take no criticism.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

It's a kids' show, so I know this was never gonna happen, but I would have loved to see him have a full psychological break. I'm talking an entire episode dedicated to Danny having a complete and total panic attack, Batman the Animated Series style. Parents want to catch and study him, one of his best friends keeps pushing him to do the superhero thing, parents and peers are pressuring him to date said pushy friend, he's failing in school, he can't retaliate against his primary bully, his future is screwed if he doesn't watch himself, the ghosts keep coming and they won't fucking stop, his sister keeps giving him these worrying looks like she's worried, why should she be worried? He's fine, everything's fine, he's only half-dead, what's the big deal?

Danny eventually has that panic attack the closer he gets to graduating, unsure of his future, scared he's gonna fail and never be able to leave Amity Park, terrified that all he has to look forward to is fighting ghosts and running/hiding from his parents. His future is forever uncertain because the alternate time line, and his friends can't understand, even if they're trying, but they just can't know what's going on with him, and he sees the fear in their eyes every time he brings up that dark future. He could go to Clockwork, but Clockwork will only give so much advice. He doesn't share more than is necessary to keep time in tact, so he eventually breaks and goes to Vlad. Who else could possibly understand if not the only other halfa in existence?

Basically, I would have loved to see him become increasingly overwhelmed until he had no choice but to run away and go to Vlad's. They make a temporary truce long enough for them to bond over their shared plight.

my OTP:

Pompous Pep, of course (you will pry this ship from my cold, dead hands)

my cross over ship:

None

a headcanon fact:

Danny totally had a crush on Vlad the first time they met. He thought he was handsome and charming and all that gross first crush stuff, and he actually enjoyed talking with him, even if him hitting on his mom was super fucking weird. Danny could look past that because he knew his mom wasn't interested, was happily married, and when Vlad wasn't focused on her, he could be pretty cool. Too bad he had to go and ruin it by revealing his evil intentions.