#being ace isn’t something I think about often because I forget that to others it’s not that obvious

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

this isn’t exactly a question, but has twisted wonderland ever expanded on gender norms before? I know in sunset savanna women seem to be highly respected, but it seems like that is a behavior unique to sunset savanna. It seems like gender discrimination might be uncommon in briar valley because Mallenoa was so respected by her subjects, but Sebek, silver, and grim were surprised to find out she was so self sufficient and powerful when they met her in Lilia’s dream (this is more my interpretation tho) . in the endless night event, silver tells a story about a warrior who taught for her country, which is a reference to mulan i think, and the person he is telling the story to is very surprised that the strong warrior is a girl. I think silver told that story to Leona but I don’t remember. I’ve heard that royal sword academy is a school boys and girls can both attend, but night raven college is one of the most prestigious magic schools out there, so it being boys only makes me wonder if gender is a part of magic politics, although we have been shown female characters who have high educations and magical abilities such as Mrs . Rosehearts

No, not really? It’s explicitly mentioned and touched upon in extended conversations maybe a total of… 3ish times. Of those instances, most are referring to the Sunset Savanna.

Gender norms and politics are some of those elements of world-building that can come off as really ham-fisted and preachy if the characters stop everything altogether and just start expositing about it. Thankfully, TWST largely doesn’t take that “telling” route and instead “shows” us what they mean through subtle implications.

Now, for the most part I think the gender norms of Twisted Wonderland are similar to the real world, but may be more progressive overall.

For one, Twisted Wonderland has many male characters (both in NRC and beyond it) who openly wear cosmetics. No one ever comments on men wearing makeup or dressing up in a negative light. Sometimes they complain about putting makeup on (ie the effort) or certain fashions they don’t vibe with but never do they say it’s “not manly” for them to put on makeup/perfume/jewelry, care about their clothing, etc. Even the characters we traditionally think of as masculine (Jack, Leona, etc.) wear eyeliner and eyeshadow, jewelry, or try new styles of clothing. Floyd and Ace express interest in fashion. Jamil cares about the quality of textiles and Kalim is willing to buy tons of jewelry for himself (and his classmates!!) if the mood strikes him. Rook regularly compliments people’s looks and Cater has an eye for aesthetics too. Lilia brags that he is “cute” and likes to show off his cuteness to others. And, of course, we cannot forget our queen Vil, who champions the idea of challenging and redefining gender norms. He also shares these ideals with Epel, who has been called out by Vil for having “outdated” gender norms. Given that Vil is such a popular celebrity (5 million followers on Magicam), I get the impression that the sentiments he extols is a popular way of thinking and is the direction that TWST society wants to move toward. (This is assuming that his fans are mainly younger people.) The boys often “dress up” and wear different makeup when visiting new places such as Silk City and and Clock Town, so it appears that a lot of Twisted Wonderland society that we’ve explored leans more liberal when to comes to gender expression.

Another detail I think is important is that many of the Great Seven—in fact, over half of them—are women. This is notable because oftentimes history glosses over the achievements and accomplishments of women in favor of their male peers. The fact that NRC and all of Twisted Wonderland seems to honor them in addition to their male counterparts says something. The G7 women aren’t even the only instance of female figures who shaped history. Azul and Floyd, for example, have brought up the Mermaid Princess on multiple occasions, talking about how her union with a human prince and personal efforts have strengthened the bond between land and sea.

Gendered terms to refer to mages exist, but according to Lilia, “witches” and “wizards” are outdated (they were used during the human/fae war era of ~400 years ago). Currently, most prefer to use the gender neutral terms “mage” or sometimes “sorcerer”.

There does not appear to be gender restrictions in terms of the modern day workforce either. We know of the boys’ family members who are great mages or hold significant power or status. Mrs. Rosehearts is an accomplished medical mage, Mrs. Ashengrotto runs the most popular restaurant in the Coral Sea and his grandmother is a benefactor to those in the neighborhood, Mrs. Shroud is STYX’s Chief Engineer, Meleanor is an integral leader of Briarland’s military forces, Maleficia is queen, etc. Even the women in more mundane roles play vital parts in their communities: Mrs. Clover is a baker alongside her husband, Mrs. Zigvolt assists her husband in his dental clinic, Granny Bucchi supports him as his only relative, Marja travels and helps sell her family’s produce, etc. There are many economic opportunities for women in this world.

Some may point out that NRC is a prestigious all-boys school, so there aren’t opportunities for women in education. The same goes for RSA, which is another prestigious all/ boys school. To that, I say… that’s because NRC is a very limited scope of magic education as a whole. We don’t know how many other schools are out there or if all magic schools are boys only. It’s not impossible to think that there may be girls only or mixed schools out there—but the NRC cast are the ones this game focuses on, so we view things from that perspective. I’d also like to add that we only see male students from other schools because of meta reasons: 1) there are limited game assets, so some details are inaccurately conveyed by the live 2D models, and 2) this is a joseimuke, a game with a predominantly male cast aimed at a target audience of women. It makes sense that there wouldn’t be many live 2D assets for random female mobs.

There isn’t any lore in-game or in other official materials which would imply that women are discriminated against in education or in the workforce. However, Twisted Wonderland at large seems to still perpetuate gender expectations and gendered traits as we understand them irl. There are some instances when the idea of women having traditionally feminine interests are mentioned: (Suitor Suit) Ace complains that his ex only liked romance and animal movies, disliked thrill rides, and preferred cute things and taking Magicam pics; (Birthday Boy) Cater also mentions his mother and older sisters having interests in making sweets and cute things. Additionally, as Anon mentions, in Endless Halloween Night, Silver shares the story of Mulan, who pretended to be a man to save her father from enlisting in the army. He told this tale to Jamil (not Leona!), who reacts with surprise when he learns that this capable warrior is a woman. At the same time, there are “masculine” expectations vaguely alluded to: Deuce states he is the “man” of his household, Epel of course worries about his manliness and sees Savanaclaw, the athletic dorm, as “cool”, etc.

Of course, these gender norms are not pervasive nor are they the same everywhere in Twisted Wonderland. One extreme is demonstrated through Epel, who holds the most regressive beliefs prior to Vil’s influence. This leads me to believe that Harveston is one of these areas that perpetuates these beliefs—and when you think about its population, it makes sense. Epel tells us that his hometown is largely elderly people, who are more likely to hold conservative worldviews compared to young people. The community, being small and located pretty far from nearby urban centers, is also exposed to fewer ideas that differ from what they perceive as their “norm”. These factors will naturally shape its residents and inform how they interact with and perceive others.

I actually think that Briar Valley would also be one of those areas with regressive gender norms for similar in-universe reasons as Harveston. Briar Valley is described to us as a region mainly populated by long-lived fae… meaning they are pretty old and more likely to be conservative. Not only that, but the area is very isolated and fae in general prefer to keep to their own kind. Briar Valley is also said to be opposed to change and new ideas and technology being introduced to their land. All of these factors suggest they would have more old-fashioned ideas about gender, not progressive ones. Meleanor and Maleficia may be widely respected and viewed as capable women, but I do not think it is fair to extrapolate how magically gifted monarchs of the Draconia bloodline are viewed to the governed population. It is more likely that they are the exception, not the rule. This better explains why Sebek and Silver, who are technically subjects of Briar Valley, are surprised to learn of a powerful princess. Their shock, as well as how Lilia describes human princesses as being meek and needing protection, also implies the usual gender norms. Given that humans seem to be the majority race in Twisted Wonderland, it means those gender expectations were predominant at the time.

The Sunset Savanna is the only country we know of at the moment where women are noted to be viewed differently. According to Leona, he “respects women” since the women back in his home country are physically stronger and stronger-willed than men. (This may be a reference to how irl lionesses do most of the hunting.) It’s not uncommon to see women in high-ranking warrior or guard positions because of this. This implies that the gender roles are somewhat reversed here; women are the ones expected to be strong, not men.

Slight tangent here: I don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that “strong” women are somehow better or more deserving of praise than “weak” women. It’s a fallacy that I see perpetuated way too often in media. True feminism does not mean demonizing what is seen as traditionally “feminine”, nor does it mean women can only be independent or strong by acting in traditionally “masculine” ways. Feminism means not judging or holding back women from pursuing whatever it is they want to do, be it a career of their own, homemaking, or anything in between. Women can be strong and admirable no matter what they choose to do with their lives.

Okay, so Twisted Wonderland does operate on gender norms—but that does NOT inherently mean that Twisted Wonderland is a sexist hellscape. Gender discrimination is on a spectrum, and we’ve yet to see any blatantly regressive demands be taken as anything of real merit in TWST. If anything, they get clowned on and told off as much as Sebek is for his anti-human sentiments. And, as I’ve pointed out earlier, Twisted Wonderland on the whole appears to accept and normalizes things that may not be widely accepted irl— namely, men in makeup or in traditionally feminine fashion. There’s also many examples we can look to of regular women in power or jobs across the world of Twisted Wonderland.

We also need to remember that TWST was penned by people who also live in a society of gender norms, so it’s expected for their lived experiences to also bleed into the worlds they create. It doesn’t make them bad people, it just makes them human. They write what they know and also play around with the ideas of different societies—those that skew in both directions (as we see with Harveston vs Sunset Savanna).

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Aro Week 2024: Let's Talk About the Limits of Representation

A lot of the discussion around writing marginalized identities comes down to one thing: representation. Representation in the books versus the authors, what the representation looks like, the variety of representation, what representation is present and allowed, what diversity is there and what isn’t.

For aro week, I want to talk about how limited that is for aro (and ace) people. Because the thing about representation is that to be exist beyond Word of God, it’s got to be discussed in the text. And that means romance (or sex, for ace people, but while I’m ace, and most of this is going to cross-apply, this post is for aro week so this is just a global note) has to be discussed in the text.

But a lot of time what I want as an aro person is to just not have to think about it. I think in general I’ve seen similar sentiments expressed across marginalized groups: we always have to think about our differences, and it’s a mental load and burden that other people don’t have to deal with. And as an aro writer and reader, a lot of the time what I want, and what most allows me to lay down that burden is to just not have romance in the damn thing. It’s hard to figure out how to write sometimes, it’s something I have to mentally keep in mind while I read.

While I go through life in general, I often just…forget it’s a thing. I forget when Valentine’s Day is often. I forget that people are normally dating. I forget people want to discuss with their romantic partners when making plans with friends. I forget they want to go everywhere as a group. I forget things look like dates. My life is one in which romance is rarely a factor unless imposed on it by outside forces. It’s not relevant.

But if I write that for characters, or for readers, a place where romance is not just imposed on their mind, the characters aren’t actually…aro. A story in which romance, romantic attraction, or interest in such things never comes up is one in which no character is canonically disinterested in or not in possession of such thing. It’s one which has no moments of obvious recognition of the aro experience or joyous bursts.

It’s a story in which, “Eh, they could or couldn’t be attracted. It never came up, so anything is valid because nothing is canon.”

The definition of being aro might lie in not experiencing romantic attraction. And sure, the character might not. But this is fiction. Not reality. And in reality, aro people’s experiences are more than the dictionary. People have relationships to romance and attraction and interactions with the concept are often recognizable and definitional. No real person can live without interacting with romance and attraction, and those relationships to it are as definitional and important to being aro or being gay or being straight or bi or whatever as the dictionary definition is.

Characters don’t have to interact with it. I’ve said romance isn’t relevant to my life as an aro person much of the time. If romance isn’t relevant to a character’s story—well, lots of things aren’t relevant to stories we assume are happening, like…most bathroom trips, or meals, or menstruation. A character isn’t representing an eating disorder because they’re never shown eating: it’s more complicated than that.

Being aro is more complicated than that.

A story in which character relationships wholly rely on and depend on something other than romance, a story where character relationships are undefinable and not attempted to be defined but only described and developed, a story in which characters and societies and people exist outside the omnipresent framework of romance inherently comes from a place of aroness and the aro experience. It speaks most to that place.

Most people who experience romantic attraction are often thinking about it. A story without such things is one which is lacking something they’re looking for and expecting, not a story where everything proceeds as usual without being interrupted by Oh, Yeah, That.

So, then, if alloromantic people will notice something is Different and aro people might seek it out, this way of writing around romance because it’s not relevant to the story the way it is not relevant to my life needs to be framed in the metatext so people, aro and alloro alike, know what to expect and what they’re getting into.

But when all talk about marginalized stories comes down to “What Types of Characters Are Here?” and “What Culture Is This World Based On?” there’s this empty space to explain stories like mine.

There’s so many things to the aro experience that don’t revolve around rejecting romance. But if you ever look for an aro story about something else, how can you even find it? It’s so difficult to talk about an aro story that isn’t Representative and exists in a way you don’t even have to think about it and there are no smooth bumps to remind you of yourself so you can immerse into it that…I think people forget stories like that can even exist.

[ladykailitha]

Well Met By Moonlight Part 17

Welcome to the beginning of the end, for the next four weeks I will be putting out the last chapters of this story. It's done. And I am sorry to see it go. I really loved writing this story even if it kept changing on me and evolving into what it is today.

In this chapter we have Jason being sneaky, Wayne and a new werewolf in town.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

~

Eddie and Steve were having a quiet walk about town, holding hands and talking softly to each other sweet things.

Or that’s how it looked on the outside.

They were actually on the hunt. Wayne had been teaching Eddie how to hunt like vampire the last two years, and Steve was learning how to hunt as a werewolf and not just as a man in a wolf suit from Nancy.

What were they hunting? The manticore. Steve’s stronger sense of smell would help them track the beast down, while Eddie’s extensive knowledge of its habits and haunts would narrow down where to look.

People often assumed that Eddie was bad at facts and dates but he wasn’t. He was actually pretty good at them, his problem in school was not doing the homework. He would ace every test, he’d just forget to turn in his assignments.

Hell, his first senior year got one of the Hellfire Club members mad at him because he scored in the top ten percent of the nation on a portion of the SAT. She was averaging an A- average in the class they shared together and thought that that meant she should have gotten in the top ten percent of nation instead of him. To say that things soured between them after that was an understatement.

All this to say that Eddie was smart. Smarter than people gave him credit for and not just how he figured out the meaning behind Patrick’s attack. He knew people. Differently then the way Steve knew people, but still he was clever and quick witted.

Eddie stopped in his tracks and jutted his chin across the street. “Isn’t that Jason Carver?”

Steve looked where he was indicating and frowned. “I thought your uncle said he was sick. What’s he doing in town?”

“Uncle Wayne’s been saying that Jason is becoming more and more withdrawn since Patrick was attacked,” Eddie explained. “He thinks he might have recommend Jason be brought to the full extent of the law, which is something Uncle Wayne really isn’t looking forward to.”

“But we’re trying to find Patrick’s attacker!” Steve protested. “I thought he would be happier that we’re trying to get justice for his friend.”

Eddie frowned, the crease between his eyebrows deepened. “I think his hatred of werewolves and vampires goes deeper than his sense of justice for his friend.”

Steve shook his head. That just couldn’t be true. He knew Jason from basketball. You wouldn’t be able to find a boy more loyal to his friends than Jason Carver. But he raised his head and looked Eddie in the eye and knew. Jason had only showed him his good qualities because they were equals.

Eddie had seen the worst of the other boy. The sneering viciousness beneath the veneer of civility that he showed to those he thought lesser than him.

“We need to find the manticore before he breaks his masters bonds,” Steve whispered. “I’m more concerned what an unbound creature like that could do to this town, over someone like Jason.”

Eddie watched Jason for a moment more. The other teen did not seem to be up to anything nefarious, other than lying to Uncle Wayne, so he nodded.

But the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and the hairs on his arm stood up on end. There was a predator here. He looked around him.

“Babe?” Steve asked, reaching out to touch his elbow. “What wrong?”

“What do you smell just now?” he asked, searching the shadows.

Steve stilled. He scented the air. The wind was changing, but there!

“It’s a sharp metal tang in the air,” he murmured. “Like the scent of dried blood. It’s acrid.” He wrinkled his nose. “Foul.”

Eddie nodded. “That’s what I scented too, but now it’s gone. Whatever it was, though. It was not the manticore.”

Steve shook off a shiver that slid down his spine. “It was werewolf. But not one in my pack.”

“Banished you think?” Eddie asked as the wind shifted to carry the scent away from them. He could still feel the uneasy feeling down the pads of his feet. Whoever was out there was dangerous.

Steve tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing else we can do today. The rogue werewolf would have sent the manticore aground.”

Eddie nodded, the cat sìth was probably hiding the manticore’s scent anyway. “We need to talk to Wayne.”

~

Wayne listened intently to their report, soaking in everything they told him. He sat back and thought through it all.

“I think I know who the Banished you smelled in town is,” he said quietly. He handed Eddie the file he’d gotten from Sam and waited.

“Dr. Alexei Oborin,” Eddie read aloud. “That’s Nancy’s werewolf, right? The one she was sure caused a stir when she was little.”

Steve frowned. “She hasn’t told me anything about that.”

Wayne nodded like he wasn’t surprised. “She was waiting to see what that file contained. But I’m leaving it up to you if you want to share it with her. It’s has some pretty gruesome stuff.”

Steve nodded absently as he read over Eddie’s shoulder, the other man waiting until he was done before turning to the next page. No matter how much longer it took Steve than Eddie.

“The name of his bondmate is blacked out,” he said with that little frown of his that made Eddie want to bite him between the eyebrows for being too cute. “Do we know why?”

Wayne shook his head. “I’ve already pressed my source pretty hard to get the file. He could get fired if he doesn’t return it in a week.”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance, but wisely said nothing.

“They were teenagers who were camping out in the woods near the pack compound,” Steve read. He frowned. “That’s strange.”

Eddie and Wayne’s heads snapped his direction.

“Look at the location of the two girls bodies...” he pulled out the photo in file and turned it to face Wayne.

Wayne looked at the picture and then back up at him. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking at, if I’m honest here, Steve.”

“It’s something I learned recently from Nancy,” he replied. “I don’t fight like a wolf in wolf form. I don’t go for the jugular for example because I know as human how easy it is for a human to throw up their arms to protect that area of the body. I knock them over first and press my weight on their chest to make it harder for them to do just that.”

Eddie frowned, but Wayne looked back down at the photo.

“Shit!”

The arms and upper torso were torn to shreds, the way you would expect from a wolf attack, but the bodies themselves were arranged to make it look it was the work of a crazed werewolf. Like something straight out of a horror movie.

“Someone moved the bodies?” Eddie reasoned. “But why would Alexei do that if he thought the kids were hunters? There would be no reason to. It was supposedly self-defense.”

“Unless it wasn’t,” Wayne said, continuing his nephew’s thought. “What if the bondmate came and rearranged the bodies to plead insanity on Alexei’s behalf?”

Steve nodded. “And then when that didn’t work, they claimed that the kids were hunters.”

Wayne rubbed at the stubble on his chin wishing, not for the first time, that he had been changed with a clean shaven face.

“That make sense.”

Eddie closed the file and looked on the front of the folder. “VHS? Video Home System?” He tilted his head to the side.

Wayne snorted, then giggled. Suddenly the stoic vampire was laughing so hard, tears of blood rolled down his cheeks. He took out a handkerchief and wiped away the tears.

“No, no,” he said around his feral grin. “It stands for The Van Helsing Society. But, dear god, I am going to use that on that bastard the next time I saw him.”

“As in Abraham Van Helsing?” Eddie asked, his eyes wide. “From Dracula?” He scooted forward to the edge of his seat.

Wayne nodded, still grinning. “The first name was changed but Van Helsing was a real person. Karl Van Helsing was the first to come up with the first policing body for supernatural beings. After the incident in London, it was pretty clear that people were going to start noticing that supernatural beings existed and he came up with The Van Helsing Society.”

“Pretty arrogant of him to name it after himself,” Steve huffed, rolling his eyes.

Eddie scoffed, throwing himself back against the sofa cushions. “Says the alpha of the Harrington pack.” Then he shook his head and muttered. “It had to be fucking cops.”

Steve just shrugged. “I never said that was also arrogant. I never understood why it wasn’t called the Hawkins Pack or Roane Pack considering being alpha isn’t hereditary.”

Wayne smiled at Steve. He had always liked him since he was a young boy learning that his parents had died. But he was really starting to like the man that boy had become, too. Because it was ridiculous that the pack hadn’t been named after the town or county it resided in.

“They are far more than just cops, Ed,” he warned. “They are a powerful group with abilities all their own. Crossing one of the Society isn’t the same as crossing a mortal or even supernatural cop, like Hopper. They are protected against possession, hypnotism, and even enthrallment.”

“Are they all descendants of the original dude?” Steve asked, pressing even closer to Eddie on the sofa. He didn’t like the sound of these supernatural cops either. Because where were they when he was being abused by the Franklins. He couldn’t even remember the night he first changed. He only remembered when he came to and he and Wayne were burying their bodies. He was just so grateful that the abuse was over that he really didn’t think of why.

But Wayne was shaking his head. “According to the records the last Van Helsing died during the oiliphéist riots of 1922 in Ireland.”

“That’s too bad,” Eddie said, cocking his head to the side. “As anti-vampire as the name has become a symbol of these days, I would still have liked to have met one of his descendants.”

Wayne chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve had the pleasure only once. Greta Van Helsing in 1871. She was a spitfire to say the least.”

Eddie ran his hands over his face. “Please tell me you didn’t fuck her...” he moaned.

“Not on your life,” Wayne huffed. “Even if she was immune to the whole agents and supes producing unhinged offspring, she was a lesbian and won’t have even spared me a glance.”

“Unhinged as in cool super powers, unhinged?” Eddie asked, lowering his hands from his face. “Or mental asylum unhinged?”

“Sadly the latter,” Wayne said mournfully. “The magic that they use to protect themselves from being controlled does nasty things to the natural magics supernatural beings are made of.”

“But Van Helsings were immune?” Steve asked, still pressed to Eddie’s side.

Wayne nodded. “Probably because like most things in nature needing a balance, the Van Helsings were naturally the balance to the supernatural creatures of the world. There are probably other families just like them, but Van Helsings are merely the most notable.”

“Makes sense,” Eddie said, taking Steve’s hand and giving it a squeeze. He could tell this talk of the Van Helsings was making him upset.

“In other news,” he said, “The Hughes, the Hollands, the Martins, and the Camerons are all willing to send in guards for Steve.”

“I wasn’t aware the Camerons were supernatural,” Wayne said rubbing his chin. “What are they?”

“Louie Cameron is a selkie, and Debra Cameron is a siren,” he explained. “Making their daughter Vickie one hell of a strong supe.”

Steve sat there with this confused pout on his face. “Guards? Why would I need guards?”

“I don’t trust the Pack right now,” Wayne replied. “There is more going on in that pack then meets the eye and I can’t be everywhere. Especially with Jason causing trouble in town. Patrick tried to warn me early on that Jason would try something like this, but I wanted to believe that there was good in their somewhere.”

Steve’s expression shuttered to a blank mask. “What do I do?”

“Just start hanging out with me and the others outside of the compound,” Eddie said, squeezing Steve’s hand again and covering it with his other hand.

“Okay,” he breathed. They were right, as much as Nancy wanted him to further integrate into the Pack, he needed to be on the outside to see what was going on and understand it.

And he knew the best way to do it, but it was going to take a lot of convincing. But he was up for the job.

~

Notes:

oilipheists are sea monsters from Ireland.

Cameron is the last name I gave Vickie from season four.

And the SAT (a test to determine how well you've learned your lessons over the course of the year not the college one) thing happened to me. I was doing poorly in English because of the stupid correcting sentences for grammar and punctuation bullshit (there is a very good reason I use betas) but when the results came back I got top ten in the NATION for reading comprehension. My friend in the class who getting A's in that class was so mad it wasn't her that she legit stopped talking to me because she was that sure I cheated.

Tag List: FOURTEEN SLOTS REMAINING

Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi

3- @fullpoetrybread @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookworm0690 @littlewildflowerkitten @just-a-tiny-void @potato-of-the-lord @thelittleclare

5- @goosesister @tinyplanet95 @she-collects-smut @irregular-child @y4r3luv

6- @fairytalesreality @anaibis @papergrenade @ravenfrog @blondie1006 @dreamercec

7- @thedragonsaunt @sadisticaltarts @kultiras @blackpanzy @disrespectedgoatman

8- @kal-ology

[bunbunsa]

Something you should hear — a pick-a-pile Tarot reading

Pinned | Ko-Fi | Other Collective Readings

Take what resonates, leave what doesn't. There are three piles to choose from:

(You can send me more ideas for collective readings you’d want to see in the ask box.)

Pile 1

With the right guidance, you’ll find what you seek. Follow this one person you trust; don’t doubt your intuition. They’re there to lead you to abundance. It’s a person older than you that you know well. I feel like there’s a strong connection between the two of you—it could be love, someone who teaches you (in any way) or a family member.

Even if you feel like you don’t need them showing you what to do, try listening to their words at least once. Stop being stubborn. They want the best for you, and, in the future, they’ll be one of the most valuable people to you. It’s a time to understand what maturity really means to you, and doing it alone isn’t a good choice.

Cards: Knight of Pentacles, The Lovers, Ten of Pentacles.

Pile 2

If you wish to expand your wealth, do not forget the overindulgence you’ve struggled with in the past. Whatever the wealth (after all, what you deem your “wealth” doesn’t need to be money)—which you feel like you have in an already great amount—is important. Don’t try to dismiss it. You’re proud of your achievements, and others notice them often.

Look for stability. Leave loftiness behind—don’t let it keep you in place and change your ways, or you’ll end up alone. Think of the people who are now here with you, helping you with everything you’re doing. Remember what trully matters.

Cards: Three of Cups, Temperance in reverse, Nine of Cups.

Pile 3

Something made you waver. Remember that you still have your courage even if you forget about its existence because of what happened. I promise you it’ll be alright. It hurts, but you’re still here, trying to move forward. You were not defeated because it was not a fair fight.

You need time to rest and rethink it all in a way that’ll help you find peace because you’ll manage to do that in the end. Nothing is forever, as much as we both love and hate it. You could use writing as your outlet, even if it’s just a diary.

Cards: Strength in reverse, Four of Swords in reverse, Ace of Swords.

[crystallizsch]

in the current event, grim says something like wow it must be nice to be going on vacation. im just gonna be at ramshackle all day. and it got me thinking because!!! yuu and grim really are in it together. he says he doesn’t remember having a family in book 4, so they really are all the other has. a lot of people, when talking about yuu’s problems, forget about grim a lot, i think. of course he gets yuu into trouble and isn’t very helpful, but he’s literally like. a kitten. he fights for? yuu and i just. think they are neat !

YESSS ANON

NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT I’M ACTUALLY OBSESSED WITH HOW THE STITCH EVENT SHOW THE “OHANA” FAMILY THEMES ESPECIALLY WITH YUU AND GRIM (and how it just made it more blatant in the ending) (thanks lilia for spelling it out hfjdjjd)

(source)

literally the recent event has grim all jealous of stitch and even overprotective of yuu (that one scene of grim jumping into water to try and save you??? that got me so much)

anyways you’ve opened a whole can of worms in my brain ougheghdhegr

i dont talk about yuu and grim often but they are actually one of my favorite dynamics in the game

imagine being transported into an unfamiliar world and the only thing that is remotely in the same situation as you is some kind of talking magical cat that doesn’t even respect you in the slightest, looking down on you.

also what are even the conventions in this place? are you even going to be okay? sure you’re being kept in this… ramshackle building but what’s guaranteeing your safety? “accidents” can happen.

then this talking cat is back and suddenly you both are begrudgingly a package deal. you’re essentially just using each other. yuu needs grim bc they’re magicless and grim needs this human to attend this school.

but (since they really have no choice anyway) they spend all this time together that they eventually become THE package deal.

like at that point who is grim without yuu and who is yuu without grim?

it’s also interesting bc grim seems to have these childish tendencies on top of acting like… a cat.

so of course he becomes so attached and dependent to them. who else has given this feline direbeast a home after all? why it’s yuu, of course. especially when he doesn’t remember anything else.

and to compensate, grim is the one to protect yuu. in his mind he’s the leader, he’s the protector. it’s a failure on his part as the great mage grim if he lets anything bad happen to his hench human.

and for yuu’s part, this feline beast is the one who’s always there with them funnily enough (there’s also ace and deuce but they’re not the focus here right now)

so similarly yuu cares about grim as much (at least that’s how i choose to interpret it bc you could argue yuu only “cares” bc if anything happens to grim, they’re kinda fucked)

grim is definitely more than this talking sidekick companion and i will go to my grave believing that he’s the biggest part of yuu’s character and vice versa.

i also believe that canon yuu has a more integral part in the story beyond being an isekai protagonist and the one seeing disney movie visions + mickey. im just waiting on when we find out the real reasons yuu and grim are together.

hdhhfdhdhgd anyways you’re right i think yuu and grim are just neat. i am putting them in a jar and shaking them affectionately.

[ramshacklerumble]

For the OC ask meme!

9 and 12 (fave teach and fave event/role in it)

Nine has been answered here! But twelve—!

stitch event, my beloved. spoilers ahead since it hasn’t hit en servers yet

(this also wound up kinda long but its because its crucial to me okay)

it was a tie between this and the ghost marriage event, but storyline wise i have to go with lost in the book with stitch because it’s the event that officially launches the 💖KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE 💖 factor within the quasi-glorious and utterly exhausting misadventures of one gia yugo.

working with the assumption this is the final escapade of the trial by fire that was gia’s freshman year, one would think the approach of summer vacation would give them some semblance of comfort. once everyone takes their leave, gia and grim get left with the run of the school grounds— something gia fully planned to take advantage of in preparation of sophomore year.

suddenly being stuck on a magic island certainly put a pause on things. and gia…doesn’t seem to mind… like at ALL.

to everyone’s surprise, the normally straight-faced, busy-bodied prefect of ramshackle dorm is having the time of their life. smiling, openly playful, quick to joke— even volunteering to sing at the campfire alongside floyd and stitch’s ukulele strumming— ace initially worries gia might have hit their head when no one was looking.

after some needling on his part, a conversation that takes place during his suisui wear vignette when they go out on patrol, gia finally tells him despite being stranded on an island, they can’t help but feel…happy that it happened.

it’s a tad selfish, they admit. but while they were hearing everyone’s plans for summer vacay back at the library, there’d been this sense of bitterness welling up inside them. they were going to be stuck at school stewing over the threat of what their future held while everyone else got to go home and spend time with their families or whatever.

they didn’t have to think about what was going to happen after graduation.

gia on the other hand isn’t sure what comes next and that terrifies them. but they’ll deal with their crushing fear of the future when they get back to school, for now they’ll take the island for the breath of fresh air that it is.

yeah, okay, being stranded isn’t exactly a vacation— but it’s a bit of a ‘been there, done that’ type of deal. in comparison to their arrival at night raven, being stuck on an island with perfect weather, tons of food, and an alien that can make anything out of everything is a cake walk.

and besides…even if they do wish deuce was there enjoying the sea breeze with them. they’ve got ace, don’t they?

there’s a little more to this convo i’d like to flesh out, but there is a notable shift between gia and ace during the final days on the island. they are almost inseparable, often making up excuses to pair up for the day’s chores and generally having fun together.

ace comes to realize that this “new gia” isn’t actually new and in fact, he’d been catching glimpses of them throughout the school year. it’s the reason why he sticks by them even when things get real fucking bad, real fucking quick.

he’d sooner go through another ten overblots scenarios than verbally admit this, but in truth, he’s come to deeply care for this weirdo. the thought of someday they might not be there anymore leaves an awful taste in his mouth.

when the time to leave on the spaceship comes and they’re rocketing towards the atmosphere, ace sees this side of gia already beginning to slip back into hiding. before he can really stop himself, he tells them not to shut themself in again. they’re gonna have just as much fun together as they did on the island when they get back to school, got it?

i cannot explain how upset i was when the group wakes up with no recollection of everything that happened— the ‘group forgets the entire adventure they went through at the end of it all’ trope is the bane of my existence BUT we see that the group has an inkling that SOMETHING happened between them and i’m running with that SO—

gia didn’t get the chance to reply to ace’s statement on the ship, but they are absolutely BEAMING after they wake up, look at him and say: i feel like…we were just talking about something.

and ace is confused, more so a little stunned by how natural the smile looks on gia’s face, but he can’t quite shake the feeling either.

no one can quite put a finger on what happened, even though everyone suddenly has the urge to have an outing to the beach together despite the majority of this group never having hung out together in such a way, but no one fights it either.

gia personally is excited to have something to look forward to for once.

when the time to go meet at the beach comes, there is the reoccurring phenomenon of group déjà vu they all just decide to shrug at. but for ace, he gets hit by it the hardest whenever he steals a glance at gia.

they dont look any different, save for the smile they shoot him when they catch his eye.

(hey but gar isn’t gia shipped with floyd. yes, my love. they are. and they’re shipped with ace too. it’s eventually a polycule that forms after they all graduate named dragon roll— hey dont run, dont run i promise i make it make sense coME BACK—)

wanna send an ask or get some yourself? here!

[cloudcountry]

the pursuit of beauty

Genre/Tropes: Enemies to lovers vibes except they're barely friends at the end? Implied unrequited love (Rook to Reader.)

Summary: Rook thinks you're beautiful! ...And you think he's creepy.

Author's Comments: Wrote this for a friend but also because one of my writing goals for January was "write a trope you don't write for often" and I chose enemies to lovers because I've written for it like twice. I took some liberties for how the brooms work in TWST because I don't think they ever talked about it when I wrote this? It doesn't affect the plot that much, but meh. It's there and it doesn't matter anyway. Uhhhh the ending is rushed because I got bored by the end but I hope ygys enjoy this one anyway because I liked writing it!

~~~~~

“Oh, mon coeur! Isn’t it a lovely-”

“Nope, no it isn’t. Please go away.”

This morning started just like any other, which meant it was going very badly for you.

Rook Hunt, the Vice Housewarden of Pomfiore and the recent thorn in your side. He seemed intent on observing every moment of your day, monitoring what you ate and how much weight you gained and even your sleeping patterns. It was a huge breach of boundaries and he chose to excuse his behavior by saying it was “for the pursuit of beauty.”

Creep.

“How beautiful! Your scorn is as lovely as your smile.” he beamed, trailing behind you as Grim yanked on your pant leg.

No, you refused to walk faster. You did not want to give Rook the satisfaction of running away from him—you knew all too well it would only lead to a chase (like with those poor Savanaclaw students.)

“You should get going, you know. I don’t like having you around and I know you have places to be.” you whipped around and glared at him, “So why are you still here? Go away.”

He chuckled, gazing at you adoringly.

“Is it such a crime to be mesmerized by beauty?” he hummed.

“Yes. Now leave. Go to class.” you rolled your eyes, turning on your heel and walking away.

“Geez what a weirdo!” Grim huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “I coulda taken him if he tried anything funny! Don’t worry, hench human, I got him!”

“I know you do, Grim.” you smiled, patting him on the head affectionately, “Now come on! We’ve got to catch up to Ace and Deuce.”

The two boys in question were already waiting outside the classroom for you, a hot beverage and a breakfast sandwich in Deuce’s hands.

“See? I told you, they always sleep in a bit too late on Fridays.” Ace rolled his eyes.

Deuce handed over the snacks as you accepted them gratefully, touched by the gesture.

“Thank you two so much. I really appreciate it.” you beamed, subtly holding the breakfast sandwich out of reach of Grim’s grabby paws.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s whatever. You owe us, though.” Ace waved it off as he headed inside.

“A chocolate croissant sounds good.” Deuce snickered, following Ace inside.

You rolled your eyes, tearing off half of the breakfast sandwich and giving it to Grim.

“Eat quietly and neatly, okay?” you murmured, taking a seat next to Ace.

“Yeah, yeah! I know.” Grim grumbled, ripping into the breakfast sandwich like he hadn’t had four pancakes fifteen minutes before.

Meh, he was cute. You’d let it pass.

The history lesson moved as slow as ever, Trein’s droning voice making Ace almost drift off twice (both times you ended up elbowing him hard in the side, but it was unavoidable! You’d be a bad friend if you didn’t wake him up.) The second time he grumbled something about how he shouldn’t have gotten you that drink, but after you promised him a slice of cherry pie from the cafeteria he shut up.

The cafeteria, unfortunately, had the one person you wanted to avoid.

You could see him staring at you from all the way across the room, without even an apple on the table in front of him. Could he be any more obvious?

You elected to ignore him once again, trying to forget the creepy feeling of being watched as Ace and Deuce snacked on the food you bought them. Grim didn’t seem to notice him either, or maybe the food in front of him was too good for him to care. Either way, you wanted to wrap up this lunch period and get to your next class as soon as possible.

Now, the only problem with that was that your next period was a study hall. Because the brooms used for your classmate’s flight practices flew entirely on one’s own magic and how they controlled it, you were exempt from using them. Crowley had dumped you on Crewel’s schedule, making up some excuse about how you could grade papers with him and contribute to the school (as if you hadn’t saved the school from destruction multiple times from the sheer amount of Overblots that had taken place over the year you’ve been here.) Besides, Grim had magical abilities so he could use the brooms just fine for the both of you.

You know, you hated Crowley a little more than Rook. At least you didn’t have to deal with the Headmage today.

Your lunch officially spoiled by thoughts of the people you hated, you tucked the wrapped items away for later. You knew Grim would probably eat them (as he was already snatching bits and pieces off your plate) but you both needed to be fed somehow. All three of your tablemates looked up at you as you stood, sliding your tray over to Grim.

“I’m going to head to Crewel’s a little earlier than usual. Grim, you can have my extras.” you said, patting the cat monster on the head affectionately.

“Are you sure?” Deuce asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I just remembered Crowley and it spoiled my appetite.” you joked, knowing full well that all of them would catch on.

Ace cackled, waving you off with a loud “good luck!” You waved them goodbye, forcing a smile as you stepped into the quiet hallways. It really was so much nicer at NRC when you walked the halls alone. No offense to Grim of course, but it was hard to get alone time when you were constantly being followed around by a strange cat that never quite stopped talking.

The walk to the classroom was as uneventful as it always was. For a moment, you expected the Terror of Rook Hunt to pop out from behind a corner and make some weird comment, but he didn’t.

Weird.

Shaking off the thought, you made it to the classroom without so much as a disturbance. You envied the rest of your classmates for spending time outside and getting to stretch out their legs, but the thought of going through Vargas’s training regiment made the envy vanish immediately. Grading papers wasn’t so bad when you got used to it anyway.

The second the bell rang, you sprang up from your seat and passed the graded papers to Crewel’s waiting arms. He thanked you with a smile, gesturing to the cauldron right in front of his desk. The joy from your hard work was dampened by the knowledge that the teachers still kept an eye on you during magical lessons—especially Crewel—even though you had proven proficient at everything they’d thrown at you so far.

Well, except the magic part. Obviously. That’s why you always had to work with someone else, even if Grim was with you.

You stood by the cauldron and watched as the students from flight lessons filed in, Grim lighting up as he rushed to your side.

“Hench human! Ace almost fell off his broom today!” he cackled.

Ace followed close behind him with a sour look on his face, gently nudging Grim out of the way with his foot.

“Yeah yeah, fur ball. It’s because Kalim ran into me.” he huffed, shaking his head.

“Silence, pups!” Crewel smacked his whip against his hand, and the class went quiet, “Good. Today we will be creating a sleeping potion. I have outlined the ingredients and instructions on the chalkboard. You are welcome to use any of the resources in the classroom to complete your assignment. However, if you fail, you will be responsible for making up the ingredients you used. Do I make myself clear?”

The students all nodded, a mixture of fear and excitement in their expressions.

“Good! Now, for this assignment, I have decided to split up your normal groups. You will not be working with the same people you have been. To get all of your pups more comfortable with each other, you will partner with someone you don’t yap with often!” he announced, eyes flickering to you and your trio of friends.

No way was he pulling this shit right now. Was he serious?

“And I will be choosing said groups!”

Oh great, even better! Now you couldn’t pretend to not know Trey or someone who was friendly enough to you!

“Grim, I want you to partner with Azul. He’ll keep you in line.” Crewel smacked his whip against his hand again.

Grim looked taken aback, but said nothing as he rushed over to Azul.

Yeah, being a cat and being threatened with a whip probably wasn’t a good combination.

“Ramshackle Prefect, you’re with Rook. He is proficient in potion making and can help you along if you find yourself stuck.”

No fucking way.

“Huh?” you piped up, mouth open in shock, “Wait, Rook Hunt?”

“That is what I said, yes.” Crewel replied, stern eyes offering no mercy.

You decided not to test your luck even more than you already had, and began the slow and painful walk to Rook’s desk. He watched you with smug, narrowed eyes as you approached, his gaze like a hunter. He was so creepy. You were never doing this again. Education be damned.

“Don’t say anything.” you grumbled, crossing your arms as you took your place next to him.

Rook shrugged and smirked, keeping his mouth shut. That somehow made you more irritated. You rolled your eyes and turned away, taking note of the ingredients on the board.

Weirdly enough, Rook said nothing during the entire class. He kept staring at you though. You could tell Ace was keeping an eye on you from across the room as he stirred the contents of the cauldron meticulously, lest he risk Sebek yelling at him. The concern made your chest swell with warmth and appreciation for the most irritating of your friends.

The time dragged on for far longer than usual for you. The fact that Rook wasn’t bothering you the whole class period made you more uneasy than it should have, but it made the hour easier to bear. The second the bell rang, you cursed as the potion released a puff of smoke.

Something had gone wrong with the final step.

If the look on Rook’s face was any indication, he didn’t know what had gone wrong either. Crewel approached the two of you with narrowed eyes, inspecting your potion thoroughly.

“You stirred it too hard.” he said, finally meeting your eyes, “You will be required to procure the materials you wasted and create the potion again.”

“Yes sir.” you grumbled, not too thrilled about having to spend more time with Rook.

“Of course.” Rook smiled, and you knew he was enjoying this.

When classes let out for the day, you dragged your feet to the botanical gardens. Your friends weren’t even laughing at your misfortune as they promised to wait for you at Ramshackle. They didn't listen to your reminder that they had a curfew, and that Riddle would surely have their heads if they broke it.

Oh well. Nothing you could do about your idiots.

Rook was already waiting in front of the botanical gardens by the time you got there. You made sure to match his smug smirk with an angry glare, entering the greenhouse without saying a single word.

“Come on, mon coeur! You hurt me so!” he cried out, dramatically throwing his arms open, “How are we supposed to work together if you won’t even talk to me?”

“I cannot tell you that I hate you enough.” you hissed, walking faster into the greenhouse, “Your mere presence makes me so uncomfortable and I hate how often you follow me around. You have no respect for boundaries and every time I see you I want to punch you. Anything to get you to leave me alone!”

“My pursuit of beauty has left you uncomfortable?” he questioned, tilting his head, “I wasn’t aware you harbored such disdain for me.”

“Are you serious?!” you gritted your teeth, shaking with rage, “You never leave me alone! I always tell you to go away and yet you think I enjoy having you around?”

“I simply thought you were an angry person.” he shrugged, seemingly unaffected by your outburst, “That is, until I saw how you acted around your friends. You were always so kind to them, so casual…I wanted that with you. I want to see every side of you.”

“You’re…you’re unbelievable. I can’t understand how Vil deals with you.” you shook your head.

“You should be flattered! It’s rare that someone catches my interest.” he offered, shaking his head from side to side.

“Well, I’m not. So stop it.” you stormed off, intent on finding the plants you needed as quickly as possible so you could leave. You’d need to talk to Crewel about this so you’d never have to partner up with Rook again. You’d never allow yourself to be in this position ever again.

Going through the mental list of plants, you tried your best to ignore the possibility that Rook was lurking around every corner. No matter how often he talked to you, you could never understand him or anything he did.

Snatching up the first plant on your list, you winced as its thorn pricked your palm. The pain only made you angrier as you ripped out the thorn and continued on your way. The rage bubbling inside you served to make you more productive, and before you knew it you had gathered all of the plants.

Now you were angry that Rook hadn’t done any of the work.

You sighed as you started your walk back to the front of the botanical gardens, slowly speeding up when you saw no sign of Rook. You needed to get out of here before you ran into him again and he ruined your afternoon even further.

“You’re done gathering, mon coeur?” Rook asked, popping out from behind a bush.

Speak of the devil.

“Yeah.” you refused to meet his eyes as he stalked closer, a bundle of plants in his arms.

“It seemed we gathered double what we needed!” he chuckled, following you out the door.

“Sure. Now get away from me.” you shuffled away from him, taking your phone out of your back pocket to text Ace and Deuce that you were on your way back.

Surprisingly, Rook didn’t push it. You paid him no mind as you walked back to the classroom, trying to move through the halls as fast as you could without running.

Rook tilted his head as you went, examining every move you made. You really were fascinating to him. He yearned to know more about you, but that knowledge was out of his reach. Perhaps he should listen to what you told him earlier if he truly wanted to see every side of you. Perhaps he had to give you space for a while, and form a new space for himself in your life.

Rook Hunt was nothing if not adaptable.

🏹

The next morning, there was no Rook at your front door. You were immediately suspicious as to where he was, but a quick sweep of Ramshackle’s front lawn confirmed that he was nowhere near you. Brow furrowed, you slowly left with Grim, meeting Ace and Deuce on your way to first period.

Rook didn’t show up once until alchemy, where he made no weird comments about beauty. You made sure to stir the potion slowly and carefully, hoping another greenhouse trip was not in your future.

When Crewel gave the nod of approval, you nearly jumped for joy.

“Good job, Prefect.” Rook smiled as the two of you washed the beakers you’d used.

You shot him a weird look and said nothing.

Rook didn’t show up at your dorm the next day either, or the next. He started making small talk with you at alchemy, questions that were not at all invasive or weird. You asked him what had gotten into him multiple times, but he always just laughed. While you had no idea where the sudden change had come from, you definitely preferred this side of Rook Hunt to who he was before.

You weren’t stupid, though. You knew he was only acting like this to take you off guard.

One day, you opened the front door to a white rose on your doorstep. By then, you’d gotten relatively used to having Rook not show up and bother you. It’s not that you were beginning to like him or anything, far from it. You just didn’t hate him as much anymore.

The white rose was kept in a glass of water on your nightstand.

“Your calmer side is just as beautiful as your angry side.” he said one day, watching as you cut up an herb for the poison you were creating.

Instead of telling him to go away, you stuck your tongue out at him and ignored him.

That was progress.

To observe your beauty properly, Rook bided his time before making more friendly advances on you. He invited you to the Pomfiore dorm for a self care night. You asked if Vil and Epel would be there, and he said the entire dorm would be attending. The fact that you still didn’t like the idea of hanging out alone with him was discouraging, but he was persistent.

You spent most of the night talking with Vil and Epel, laughing and smiling as Epel struggled to open the container the face mask came in. Rook watched you like always, taking notice of how relaxed you seemed and comparing it to how you looked around him.

He determined that he was getting close to having you comfortable with him.

“Rook!” you called out, waving your arms in the air, “Are you just going to stare or are you going to come over here too? You look like a creep!”

“Prefect! Don’t yell!” Vil scolded, fussing over your mask like a mother would.

“Rook!” Epel screamed at the top of his lungs, for no particular reason other than wanting to yell.

“Epel!” Vil shushed him, shooting him a glare.

Rook laughed, getting up from his seat on the nearby couch and walking over to the three of you.

He’d get you to warm up to him sooner or later.

All for the pursuit of beauty.

[2-lines-and-a-circle]

Naive vs kindness

So as everyone has been unveiled for the new event, I was excited to see an event focusing on Kalim, Ortho, and Ace. I feel as though this is going to be a fun group. However, I’ve also noticed these three have some strong traits that tie into each other. Once again this is just my thought, so feel free to disagree or agree. 

Kalim is undoubtedly kind, but that often can be overlooked as him being naive. I personally don’t see his kindness as him being too naive, rather I see it as his truth. Kalim is someone who takes things as people say, he puts trust into other’s words and believes them earnestly. However, the problem here is that he’s surrounded by people who know how to use this trait of his to their advantage. Instead of it being an honest truth it’s now tied to him being naive because he isn’t aware of what others are doing to him. Quite a problem, but it doesn’t seem like those closest to him truly try to tell Kalim he’s being taken advantage of. You could argue Jamil tries his best, but most of the time he tends to divert the situation. One could also argue that it’s Kalim’s fault as he’s blind to it. In the upcoming event story, I have a feeling Kalim will get lured to the circus on the account he believes he’s doing something good. On another note, Kalim has a piano behind him in his card, but it’s broken which is unusual for Kalim. Especially since he’s a member of the light music club and values music greatly. 

Now for Ace, I think he’s both kind and naive, even if he’s not the nicest. Ace has a very roundabout way of being kind, which is kinda similar to Lilia. They won’t say it straight up, but it’s enough to tell what they want to show or mean. As for him being naive, I think it’s his ignorance. He often forgets to read the fine print especially if he got involved with Azul when he was warned several times from Riddle. This would be the only way I could really see him getting involved in the circus. It’s that or maybe we’re getting Ace’s brother!!! I highly doubt it though, but it would be interesting if Ace’s brother was there as a magician or something. I’m only saying this because he learned magic tricks from his brother, and you often see them at circuses. But you know what you also see? Showmen. Ace’s outfit looks more like a showman than anything else and with his pose it looks like a show is going on. So maybe he’s playing a role which entitles him to be a puppet for the performance? Like is he tricked into performing??? Plus, with all the clocks I think there’s going to be something to do with time, maybe there's a time limit. 

Lastly, Ortho! I have high hopes for what we’re going to see with Ortho, especially since he’s going to be with Ace in another event! Otho is naive in the sense that he is learning about the world. Other than that aspect I can’t really see him being naive otherwise. For his kindness I would say I think he has just as much as the average person, but it’s a little selective. I can’t see Ortho being nice to those who have done him or those closest to him harm. Nor do I think Ortho is the most forgiving character. It’s a little tough to say where he truly lies on the meter for me. In regard to his card and the connections to the story, I wonder if he’s trapped. Ortho is the only character who is visually upset in his card. Plus, there’s a bird cage near him and with the solo spotlight, it looks like he’s trapped like a doll. Which is why he could possibly not have his heart flame visible. 

[blues824]

hi! could i request the octavinelle trio, riddle rosehearts and vil schoenheit with a “go with the flow” wise type s/o, like when they first arrived in twisted wonderland they were rather chill about it and said something about letting fate guide them and being scarily nonchalant about being taken to an entire different universe!!! they spew random advice all the time which turns out to always be helpful and because people at nrc are usually very standoffish seeing someone giving them random advice and a parting line like “ you did not ask for advice but it’s advice you needed, may you find peace in yourself” and just drifting away is so bizarre?? very much a pacifist and will try to avoid fighting, but if they have to fight they will absolutely win, clean your wounds that they caused give you a world changing life lesson, basically a oogway/uncle iroh mix s/o and g/n please! because just imagining a person from another universe basically outsmarting and out wording an entire school with meditation, tea and an hour long conversation is really funny in my head! love your work so much!

For the advice given in each character, read it aloud. It will make sense as to why I worded the phrases that way… except for Vil’s.

Riddle Rosehearts

Is most definitely concerned about your mental health and wellbeing. You were literally transported to a whole other world and your response was I guess this is where the universe has led me.

Once, Riddle was angry (when is he not) at Ace for ‘tarnishing the name of the Heartslabyul dorm and therefore the Queen herself’. You just put a calming hand on his shoulder and told him: You didn’t ask for advice but it’s advice you need for if you look within yourself, you will then feel complete.

It only became apparent when he overblotted and you packed him the f up (respectfully and out of necessity) that he was standing in his own way. He asked how you knew he needed to be told that and you shrugged, telling him that his vibes were just off but he had potential as you sat patching him up.

From that day on, he will join you in your meditation schedule because he knows that it can be very calming. He’s noticeably calmed down and became more lenient towards rule-breakers. Sure, they still get punished, but they get punished by adding more chores rather than collaring them.

Azul Ashengrotto

He is intrigued by your unique way of thinking compared to the other humans he has met. In fact, he can’t recall ever meeting a mer-person like this either. He was a bit surprised to hear you say I guess the wind shifted the sails after being teleported to Twisted Wonderland.

Once, when Azul was worried about losing profit and you just appeared out of nowhere and told him: You’re forgetting to take care of yourself because you worry about money, but it’s all for nothing. Now isn’t that funny?

It wasn’t until after his overblot that he realized the true meaning behind your words. He was just too dumb to notice. As you patched him up, he told you about his revelation and you giggled and said: Right on, man. Knew you’d get there eventually.

You will help him out with lessening his workload just so he has time to look after himself. Whenever he feels his stress levels rising, you lead him in some meditation. Your voice was just so gentle that he was having trouble not falling asleep. He tries to pay you for your efforts but you refuse, saying the universe brought you for a reason and that reason was to help a cecaelia in distress.

Jade Leech

He has somewhat similar viewpoints. He’s a go-with-the-flow person as well, and won’t often be derailed by inconveniences. However, he loves resorting to violence, which goes against your ideology.

Once, you saw that Jade was ‘hugging’ someone because they accidentally knocked over one of his mushroom planters and you came by and said: Bro, if you don’t let this go… it will drag you down deeper, more than you know

Of course, when he didn’t stop, you resorted to the last option. Absolutely smacking the shit out of him with a broom. Of course, you applied ice to the bruises and helped him, but this ordeal gave him a taste of a different side of you.

You’re actually glad to hear that he likes gardening, because it’s such a calming activity that allows you to give back to Mother Earth. You often go to his room or the greenhouse to meditate so that you can be one with nature. He joins you every once in a while, but no more than twice a week.

Floyd Leech

We all know how this man is. Mood swings left and right, ‘violence is always the solution’ mentality, the list goes on. He finds it amusing how you just randomly teleported here and your first words were: Fate has given me another adventure today.

Once, when Floyd was in a depressive mood, you came by and sat next to him. He was about to send you away when you said: Dude, your chakras aren’t aligned, not like how nature had you designed.

He didn’t get it at all until he actually observed you. You were always peaceful and serene, often found in a positive mood. It wasn’t until once when you pushed him away to save a baby bird outside that you gave off a negative vibe.

Floyd then decides to tag along with you. He still plays basketball, but he meditates and always makes time to go on walks to relieve stress. You’ve even given him mint and chamomile tea bags because they had soothing properties. Nowadays, he’s usually happy save for that once-in-a-blue-moon.

Vil Schoenheit

He also found it amusing how your first words were: The energy this place gives off is totally wack, but I’m vibing with it not gonna lie. Well, in case you didn’t know, everyone picks up on your wacky energy as well.

You once saw Vil angry because Epel wasn’t complying with his skincare routine, so you came by and said: You two are completely different species. How do you expect a crocodile and an anaconda to get along?

This went for everyone he couldn’t control, and he didn’t understand until after his overblot when you were the one tending to his wounds. You had apologized for resorting to violence, but he understood because it was necessary.

Now, he incorporates meditation into his yoga. He will often invite you over as well so that you could be yoga buddies and keep the other on-track. Vil noticed that he’s become more positive recently, all thanks to you.

[bloggingboutburgers]

What’s the difference between being aro/ace and being a prude? Not trying to be rude I just notice people use that argument when saying asexuality isn’t real

...Not sure if troll or an actual question but OK there we go

Being a prude is a personality trait.

Being aro or ace is an orientation you're born with.

One doesn't imply the other. You can be any orientation and be a prude.

But also, beyond that:

The prude personality trait has been, from what I can reason, built off very heteronormative, conservative and dare I say, often Christian views about what should be "proper" and what isn't. It's built out of pre-constructed notions of what is socially acceptable or not, which, mind you, are notions that are harmful to asexuals and aromantics, as they are to any queer person.

See, often times, being a prude doesn't mean you don't care for sex - you just don't care for the public display of it, but you also see it as something that SHOULD happen in very specific conditions. Prudish thinking, more often than not, sees sex as a daring reward that should happen only in private, under very specific conditions (often marriage) and that has to lead to conservatively and socially tangible results (a "happy" marriage, whatever that means, or especially, offspring).

So while being a prude is a case of "Sex, sure, but not like this, and don't talk about it to people", asexuals who are sex repulsed like me are instead like "Sex? Nope. Not ever. No thanks." And that's not even mentioning sex-positive asexuals, who WILL have sex and just not feel any sexual attraction or desire, just going along with it because it's a dynamic that works well with their partner, or because they're curious to know about it, or so on.

Let's also not forget that being a prude may not limit itself to sex talk. It actually extends to everything that isn't considered "socially proper" by traditional standards. I speak my mind kinda gratuitously, swear profusely and don't bother with "manners" all that much. A prude wouldn't like that of me. I also happen to have zero interest about sex. That doesn't make me a prude.

[betmagic]

Little sunshine au

Bath time

So there’s a bit of a change with the crew’s bathing schedule in this au

With Ace and Sabo being captains of the crew ( especially since in this au they spend a lot more time with Makino , who made sure the two boys knew about basic hygiene)I think they’d set a standard for how often they should wash up. Not that they tell everyone but set an example that the others fallow - even Zoro who canonically baths at least once a week.- so the crew bathing schedule at most every other or two days. so there’s no issue with how often one should bath.

The problem comes from the youngest member Luffy.

So basically luffy doesn’t understand why he needs to take bath , his mom is made of water and he visits her at least once a day so to his logic he’s clean( even though mom tells him he’s still dirty and it’s important to take a bath). This wasn’t much of an issue back on dawn. The boys tended to bath together ; especially after Ace got his devil fruit and as a precaution since he still gets a bit weak in water ( along with his narcolepsy), so they were able to keep Luffy from getting away. ( plus Sabo had told Luffy it was important to stay with Ace until he was done to make sure he didn’t accidentally drown , something Luffy takes very seriously)

- It was no problem since the bandits had a decent bathing area ( the bandits made it a bit bigger with Garps help - saying the boys liked bathing together so of course Garp made sure they had big enough bathtub/ Dadan definitely benefited from this renovation)

or they could go to the river if needed - luffy was instructed to stay close incase something like a crocodile or bear was nearby. So the brothers are used to bathing together.

This continues when they set sail, but the ship’s bathrooms only big enough for two people ( barely). The only upside is that at least he’s contained to just the ship( luffy knows if he escapes to the ocean , mom will just plop him right back on deck- she’s definitely entertained by his antics but knows it’s important to have a proper bath- plus he’ll be forced to have another bath) instead of a whole forest. No one else noticed since it was mainly Ace or Sabo in charge of bath time.

But so after they gather a few members ( after sanji or chopper)they start rotating luffy duty around. One of those includes bathtime; which the brothers did warn them that Luffy will escape if he gets bored. Luckily it’s not an issue because some of the crew members ( Ussop and Nami ) actually had a somewhat normal upbringing / at least until they were 8/ to suggest bubbles and bath toys.

Luffy loves the bubbles so hes content to stay at lest until the bubble eventually run out. Once the bubbles are gone he gets bored.

So He decides to escape Bare naked and all!

So imagine Ace and Sabo will be in the middle of meeting with nami about where to go next and supplies they need to stick up more to some yelling * and get to the deck to see that a nude giggling 6 year old is running around deck!

Shenanigans issue and eventually the boy is caught- depending on how clean he is will determine wether he needs to go back to the bath or not- this quickly becomes a reoccurring problem.

The crew do try to troubleshoot this of course, because simply telling luffy not to won’t work.they try to have someone take a bath with him- and it includes the girls / Luffy doesn’t really understand why guys freak out over girls body’s. He doesn’t act inappropriate either being careful of where he touches ( though mostly thanks to Makino he knows not all girls are okay with being touched and only if they say it’s okay) so bathing with nami or Robin isn’t as big a deal- unfortunately this does little to help and just adds a naked crew member who forgets to cover up or loses their towel during said chase.

So It’s a common occurrence on board ( they’ve excepted that they can’t stop luffy from escaping at this point) and it’s become as competition of sorts who can catch luffy first.( there are multiple towels hidden on deck for when luffy decides to dive or some gets knocked over to grap and cover him up) luffy thinks it’s fun thus encouraged to do it as much as possible even when his brothers are in charge.

This problem would be helped when they get the sunny, having a larger bath to fit 5-7 people

** I still haven’t come up with what they call this situation,definitely something like like we got a code 319 ! Or something Let me know if anyone has ideas please! ( im begging please i need help)

[mdnghtfae]

reciprocation

characters: malleus x gn reader, brief mentions of heartslabyul dorm members and diasomnia dorm members wc: 2.1k warnings: none i think a/n: this is for @humbuns malleus event 🥹 this is such a cute event thank you for having it; loosely inspired by the song if you let me, by alina baraz

don’t keep your feelings to yourself if you let me i’ll treasure all the things you tell if you let me, if you let me

It wasn’t very often that people outside of Diasomnia wished him a happy birthday; in fact, it wasn’t often that anyone outside of his inner circle spoke to him, if not for common courtesy.

As he grew older, his disdain for his birthday also grew, and while Lilia attempted to celebrate every year, Malleus usually opposed such parties. However, ever since he began attending Night Raven College, his birthday has become…tolerable, at best. And after meeting you, it seems his birthday this year is on it’s way to being the best one he’s had since he was a young fae.

The day started as any other, he attended his classes, had lunch with his fellow dorm members, unsuspecting of any surprise party that may be held in his honor. Of course, you were invited. Actually, you’re the one that had come up with the idea.

You had walked up to Lilia about a week before Malleus’ birthday, telling him that you wanted to do something for Malleus. He apologetically tells you that the dragon fae isn’t exactly fond of these parties, as people only show up due to his royal status and not because they genuinely want to be there-of course, except the Diasomnia students…and now, you.

Lilia gives your arm a squeeze to comfort you, at least for the disappointment in being told to not plan anything for Malleus. If anything, you could always ask Malleus to meet you somewhere one on one. But you’re stubborn if anything else, and are determined to plan somewhat of a decent party for him…at least with his close circle as guests.

And so throughout the week, and with the help of others, you were able to put together a decent party. Cater helped with the set up, Trey came through with a birthday cake, and you were able to force Ace and Deuce to basically help with everything else. If you had asked Azul and the Leech twins for help, god knows what you would’ve owed in return. So Ace and Deuce had to suffice…and Grim.

And now, the day of Malleus’ birthday, you’re trying to decide if giving him two gifts is overdoing it. It’s not like the gifts are a big deal, you can’t exactly give him anything pricey and luxurious, so you hope the tamagotchi style game is enough. Your eyes slide over to the small, potted gardenias on your nightstand. Is it too much?

You huff out an exasperated sigh, cracking your knuckles as you stare back and forth between both gifts. Are the flowers too much? Forget that, is the message too much? You’re almost sure that Malleus has feelings for you, at least, that’s what you think based on his behavior around you . Any guy could walk you back to your dorm, but no guy stalls the way he does, hoping to keep you at his side just a little longer.

His gaze always lingers longer than publicly appropriate, and he finds the oddest excuses to see you, as opposed to asking his dorm members for help. He quite literally goes out of his way to be around you, and yet you wonder that if you show him how you feel, he’ll reject you. That is, he has to know the meaning behind white gardenias first. If he doesn’t, then you can just come up with any excuse as to why you’re giving him flowers.

You put both gifts into a gift bag, adding tissue paper to make the gift presentable and head into the lounge, where Malleus’ close friends are already gathered. Cater walks up to you, and while he’s not Malleus’ close friend, he is yours, which warrants an invite.

“I’ll take that,” Cater says as he reaches out to swipe the gift in your hand.

You take a step back, smile on your face as you shake your head. “No you won’t, because I’m giving Malleus the gift-personally.”

Cater holds his hands up in faux surrender as he steps back, a knowing smile on his face, which does little to ease your nerves.

Sebek begins to yell, startling you. “Everyone! Lilia is on his way with Malleus! Get in positions!!”

Now usually, you’d say something snarky in return because someone needs to get him off his high-horse, but you choose to ignore that urge today; you’re far too nervous to do anything except mull over what you’ll say to Malleus.

Everyone begins to hide as the lights are turned off, your knuckles probably turning white as you hold onto the gift tightly in your crouched position behind the couch. Suddenly, your breathing is too loud and the lounge is too cramped. All too soon you hear muffled voices coming from outside, which become clearer as Lilia lets Malleus in.

“Lilia, why are we entering the dorm without being permitted entrance? You’re not one to let yourself in.”

All Lilia offers in return is a smile as he leads Malleus out of the entry hall and into the lounge. Someone in the room flicks the lights on and everyone takes it as their cue to jump out of their hiding spots. Confetti poppers pop and people cheer, a somewhat cohesive shout of Happy Birthday resounds as Malleus stands there in shock. He’s quick to compose himself as he thanks the guests, saving you for last.

He makes the rounds as swiftly as possible, pulling you aside to a more secluded part of the room so he can speak to you in a semblance of privacy.

“Did you do this for me, child of man?”

You nod, gift still clutched in your grasp. “I did. Well, it wasn’t just me. I had help.”

He quirks an eyebrow, “but you planned this, yes?”

You nod again. “Yeah…and before you get upset or anything because I know how you feel about birthdays, I was hoping this would change your mind.” You rock back and forth on the balls of your feet, nerves creeping in as he intently stares at you.

He peeks around you, eyeing the gift you have behind your back. “Is that for me?”

You hold it out in front of you, a hand underneath the bag to keep it from ripping-although it shouldn’t because you paid good money for a pretty bag that would hold the plant. “I was hoping I could give it to you privately.” You desperately hope you’re not blushing, especially because you haven’t given him the gift yet.

With the commotion of the party, you both are able to slip out of the dorm easily, walking along the path you two usually take during your nightly strolls. Once you spot a bench, you motion in it’s direction, leading the way to it soon after.

It’s a pleasant evening, the weather isn’t too cool nor too warm, and yet you’re sweating. Were you really this nervous? Malleus waits for you to take a seat first before sitting down himself and turns his body so that he’s facing you.

Shakily, you hand him the gift with both hands. Malleus’ left hand brushes against yours as he replaces your careful hold on the bag. As your hands touch, you flit your gaze toward his to catch his reaction and are rewarded with nothing but a slight grin. He usually wears his heart on his sleeve; when he’s mad he resolves to using magic instead of talking out his problems, and when he’s sad, he sulks and claims he’s not upset.

But around you, he’s hard to read. Or maybe you’re just incredibly oblivious. Malleus continues to stare at you intently, waiting patiently for you to say something, only for it to take you a few seconds to realize you hadn’t pulled your hands away. Malleus’ hands gently hover over yours, a warm look in his eyes as he waits. You blink, startled, as you pull your hands away. “Sorry.”

Malleus shakes his head, a fond smile gracing his features. “You need not apologize.”

It’s your turn to sit patiently as you wait for him to open the bag. And so he does. He takes in a deep breath as he pulls out the handheld game, eyes widening, lips parting in surprise.

You lean slightly forward, waiting for him to say something. He smiles, sharp canines on display as his grin grows wider. “My companion will no longer feel lonely, thanks to you.” He sets it down in his lap, carefully, then takes out the potted flowers. Holding it up in the palm of a hand, he tilts his head slightly to the left.

You suck your bottom lip between ur teeth, worried he won’t understand the underlying message you’re trying to get across. “Do they not have gardenias in Briar Valley?” Your voice comes out strained, not realizing you’ve been holding your breath as you wait for his reaction.

“If we do, I have never seen such flowers. They are quite fragrant.” He says softly after smelling the gardenias. “And beautiful. They’re much like yourself.”

You sit up straighter, not expecting such an outright compliment. “Oh…thank you.” You give him a tight lipped smile as you continue to wait on his response. He’s quick to notice your expecting something.

“Am I missing something, child of man?”

You twiddle your thumbs as you debate on whether or not you should tell him about the meaning behind the flowers. “Do you…do you know the meaning behind these flowers, Malleus?”

He smiles upon hearing you speak his name; there’s no other sound he’s most fond of except for your voice. “I’m afraid not.”

“Well,” you start as you fidget in your spot, trying to find a comfortable position, “these flowers are- they mean-“ you breathe out a sigh, not sure how you should say this. “The flowers are meant to show that someone has feelings for you…like a secret crush.”

He ponders this for a moment, gaze shifting from the flowers toward you. “There are many things one could feel for another. Do you mean platonic feelings?”

You want to scream, really. He’s dragging this out and honestly it could be for his own amusement. He could be fighting to suppress a sly grin, feigning naivety. You shake your head, not trusting your voice.

He pushes forward. “Then?” He tilts his head to the left again, studying you. “What kind of feelings, child of man?”

You inhale, and on your exhale you rush out the word romantic. He carefully puts the gifts in the bag and sets it aside, inching closer. The old bench creaks as he shifts his weight. You hadn’t realized it had darkened, but as he moves closer you can see the moon’s light reflecting off Malleus’ horns. He tucks a few strands of your hair behind your ear, his hand then cupping your cheek as a knowing smile finds its way across his lips. Despite his cold demeanor, his hands are warm, and you find yourself moving closer to him.

“Shall I take this as a confession?” His breath fans across your cheeks as he leans closer, his personal space becoming yours.

Your breath hitches as you try to find the words to answer him. “If you want it to be.”

He holds your chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting your head up so he can meet your gaze. “Is that what you want it to be?” You both are talking barely above a whisper, too afraid to disrupt the peaceful silence that had descended, save for a few crickets.

You barely nod and are sure he doesn’t notice, but he does. Malleus knows a lot about you-more than you probably think. Most believe him to be somewhat aloof, but he’s very observant when he wants to be.

One hand moves to the back of your head, pulling you close. You’re expecting a hug, until you feel his lips press a gentle kiss to your forehead while his other arm wraps around you. “I was hesitant about this birthday, not expecting much.” He admits as he speaks into the air behind you, your upper body still pressed against his. He pulls back so he can look at you, arms dropping to take both your hands in his. “You have proven that I can enjoy birthdays and that certain gifts can make one incredibly happy. You have changed my mind.”

You smile. It’s more relaxed this time, the nerves you felt a few moments ago having dissipated. “So, you liked the gift then?”

He nods approvingly. “It is the best gift I have had the pleasure of receiving.”

“Which of the two?” You ask.

His smile only grows wider, and you’re proud at the fact that he hasn’t stopped smiling this entire time.

“You.”

[thefandomenchantress]

HAPPY NEW YEARS ENA!!!!!! Since its New Years, how do you think everyone will celebrate it?

God damn it’s so far past new years. Sorry I somehow didn’t see this until now, but better 2 and a half months late than never…?

———

Teruko Tawaki: Regularly forgets its New years. She had more important things to worry about on the run, but at Hope’s Peak she tried to join in on the festivities and pretend she cared. She enjoyed being invited to a party for once.

Xander Matthews: …It was never the same celebrating after his family died. Just like how everything else wasn’t the same. Another year without them. Yay. Being surrounded by friends at Hope’s Peak helped get his mind off things, though, and he brought some alcohol to the class party. Unless the school staff asks, in that case he totally didn’t.

Charles Cuevas: It never held too much importance to him. He did find it annoying how he had to remember to write a different year every time he tried to write down the date, because he’d often forget and have to rewrite it. Whit convinced him to celebrate New Years with the class, and he had a decent bit of fun.

Ace Markey: He gets extremely existential, unsurprisingly. Being reminded of the passage of time makes him anxious, so he’s not the biggest fan. He went to the party and was one of few to not drink Xander’s totally-not-alcoholic beverages, and from listening to what everyone was saying while intoxicated he knows many more secrets than he should.

Arei Nageishi: Probably throws confetti at midnight and then makes someone else (Eden) pick it up. New Years never garnered much fanfare at home, but she joined Ace in not drinking and took many photos for blackmail—Er, totally not malicious purposes.

Rose Lacroix: Falls asleep waaaay before midnight and misses all the festivities. She went to the party, but ended up falling asleep at the snack table. Eventually she got woken up by Nico right before midnight, and as soon as that was over she made a beeline for her dorm. A bed sounded nice.

Hu Jing: She enjoyed spending time with her family, even if she thought staying up that late could be exhausting. At Hope’s Peak she was just trying to make sure nobody died during the party, which was surprisingly hard. Still, the promise of a New Year, full of new possibilities did bring her a bit of excitement. She’s overcome with the joy of the realization she’s made it this far and managed to make so many new, valuable connections.

Eden Tobisa: An excuse to celebrate something with her close family and friends?!? Count her in! She likes it not only because of her birthday, but because she loves the feeling of new beginnings and a chance to turn everything even better. She loved seeing everyone spending time together and having fun at the party.

Levi Fontana: He isn’t too passionate about the holiday, but he likes to make New Year’s resolutions and trying to improve himself. He’s in the 2% minority of people who don’t give up on their resolutions a month in. He joins Hu in trying to make sure nobody dies at the party.

Arturo Giles: He likes to see what celebrity is on TV and preforming a New Year’s Eve show, but other than that he’s not very interested. He didn’t want to go to the party, but Veronika dragged him along. He didn’t even try to pretend he didn’t want to be there.

Min Jeung: In the past, she mostly just spent New Years studying, unsurprisingly. One year closer to seeing if she would become the Ultimate Student. She ended up hiding under a table and reading during the party, eventually joined by Teruko.

David Chiem: Time to profit off of everyone’s newfound desire to change themselves for the better! While this time of year has his business more profitable than usual, that means to maximize profits he has to work more, which he finds exhausting. He finds everything about this time of year exhausting. At the party, he ended up kissing Xander…Ten bucks says neither of them remember by morning.

Veronika Grebenshchikova: Horror movie marathon until midnight, naturally. She finds the New Year ever-so-slightly exciting, she supposes. At the party, she tries to get everyone to play truth or dare and proceeds to either try and make them reveal incredibly personal secrets or do incredibly dangerous things. Xander is the only one who tries one of her dares, but ends up getting stopped before the can accidentally hurt himself.

J Rosales: Another year with her Mom, great…She was pretty neutral on New Years in the past, honestly. She went to the party and had a decent bit of fun, and once again made the New Year’s resolution to go to the gym more so she could get really buff and shit (She rarely follows through for more than a month or so, but she’s planning to ask Levi if he could be her gym partner and she hopes she’ll be too prideful to quit if someone else is doing it with her).

Whit Young: Used to spend New Years alone at home. He is now making the most of having friends around, and gleefully goes to the party. He teases a lot of people about who they’re going to kiss at midnight, but mostly gets responses asking about if he’s going to finally make a move on Charles and he immediately gets flustered and changes the subject.

Nico Hakobyan: They usually aren’t thrilled about spending five extra hours around people when they just want to go to bed. They begrudgingly attend the party after much contemplation, because they get nervous they’ll miss out on something and regret it later. They end up sleeping at the snack table with Rose for most of it.

———

Thank you for the happy new year, by the way! I hope you have…er, had a happy new year, too! Thanks for the ask!

[monstersinthecosmos]

i love you asexuality in the VC post! i feel like i don't see people talk about the ace aspect of those books often, even though that was something that really spoke to me so much when i first read them (tbh it also makes me a little burned out to see some adaptations focus so much on the sex too because part of me is like. but i /liked/ the asexuality of it all! that wasn't a bug it was a feature!!)

I can’t always tell why we don’t talk about it more often; sometimes it feels like it’s so obvious that it goes unsaid, and other times I think ace folks in fandom are just so shy to bring it up because historically people have been such rancid cunts about it? I’m not sure.

But again and again, every time I make asexual VC posts, I get so many people commenting, tagging, DM’ing, inboxing to thank me or tell me they feel seen, and that’s what we need more of! 

It’s hard because like, I understand why visual adaptations feel the need to show it visibly, especially because I think it’s easy to forget that asexuality is already so heavily misunderstood/underdiscussed IN the queer community itself, and when we see this bullshit on TUMBLR of all places it tells me that even inside the queer echo chamber we are struggling for visibility. So I don’t expect mainstream audiences and ~ regular people ~ to understand it at all. I also fully respect the politics behind SHOWING SEX and being loud about it. I think that’s very much needed in the current political climate.

There’s a discussion to be had about non-sexual intimacy and split attraction models though; for example, we could also visually communicate with kissing and casual intimacy, touching, cuddling, etc, and the nature of TV and using sex to sell means that it’s not enough. And when you see an adaptation on a network that can’t use graphic sex anyway, it winds up being a lot of telling and not showing, so by that point I wonder why they can’t just be more casually intimate. 

It goes back to the misunderstanding in the books, too, like, the non-sexual romance and intimacy, even the vampire-sensual intimacy isn’t subtext. Not fucking doesn’t make the queerness subtext. It just means they’re not fucking, and I think when fans insist otherwise we’re getting into “all queer people are obsessed with sex” rhetoric that’s extremely problematic, and if you’re keeping score it’s the current talking point of the right to try to erase our existence in public. But the way this gets weaponized within fandom (on both sides) is just so fucking tired lmao. 

The whole conversation can be a huge bummer and I have interacted with tons of ace folks in this fandom over the years and everyone felt the same way about the canon asexuality and appreciated it and felt seen, etc. Especially older fans who didn’t know what asexuality was and likely felt alienated or were made to feel broken. So I just would love if people could discuss it without punching down at ace people and taking away like, the one fucking thing we had lol, and it would also be great if defensive ace folks didn’t overcorrect and try to center sexlessness as a moralizing tool, because it isn’t. I think when we start weaponizing and trying to arm ourselves by turning orientation into ethics we’re losing the plot. I think sometimes allos punch back and get defensive because they think we’re saying they’re gross for wanting to see sex or whatever and that’s not really the point. 

Personally, I read the books young enough that I always felt very supported by them, like I experienced the same confusion and worry about being broken but also the books were such a source of comfort because I was like, oh I just appreciate people the way vampires do.

Anyway it also provides so much rich extra context and framing for some of the characters and their intentions and can inform so much more meta. Like, examining themes of rape (vampire/biting rape vs literal rape) there’s so much to unpack about intention and desire when vampires see humans as food, when pleasure is about thirst and feeding and survival and nourishment and not only about sexual gratification. It just adds a whole other layer to discuss and I think that enhances the stories a lot. And like I said earlier, I understand that reducing it to “asexuality” as a human construct might seem as reductive as reducing it strictly to sex, but I hope one day people can build their cases against it without being so dismissive of ace people because it’s really recognizable and prominent in the text.

[ryuichirou]

💙 anon here!!

How are you both?! I hope all is well for you guys!

Here for another anon ask so here we are cause I love my little TwistedS!uts.

So 💙 anon here for the anon asks:

What are the twst characters kinks you think they have.

(You guys can list all characters or any you guys want in general)

That is all from 💙 anon!

Remember to drink plenty of water and eat your meals!

Hi 💙 Anon! You’ve been waiting for a reply for quite some time, sorry for the wait. I hope I’ll get to some other old asks as soon as possible, there are some very fun ones in our askbox…

This one is pretty fun, for example! It was interesting thinking about every character in that way hehe, although I skipped a few that I had nothing to say about… but still, this ended up being a pretty long list, and I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for your concern and support, have a great day! And don’t forget to drink water and eat too~

Alright, so these dirty pervs.

Riddle – subverted powerplay (when he is more dominant at the beginning, but then Something happens), size kink; he isn’t really aware of/doesn’t admit either of those.

Ace – he is a baby dom that still has a lot to learn; he is also into using someone else’s dirty clothes for masturbation.

Deuce – probably praise kink, but he is yet to discover his own kinks, he is kind of shy when it comes to that.

Trey – teeth, duh. Overall, he is pretty orally fixated, but teeth is his weird thing. He likes both touching them and admiring bite marks.

Cater – hard to tell, but I feel like he has some surprisingly intense kinks that we are unaware about. Voyerism, exhibitionism, group sex, maybe something else…

Leona – anything rough, but nothing too bdsm-y. He is actually quite masochistic, but he’ll never admit it.

Ruggie – “anything you want as long as you’re paying”, but in actuality he genuinely enjoys leaving bite marks and receiving good scratches on his back.

Jack – he’s probably the most vanilla out of the entire cast, but he still gets quite feral due to his wolfy instincts.

Azul – quite dominant in general, but if we have to pick one kink, it’s probably bondage, ropes, his own arms/tentacles, anything that restricts his partner.

Jade – also into ropes, but he is more sadistic about it. He is very meticulous in general, so I can see him using needles, certain drugs and other dangerous experimental things. Oh, and sensory deprivation, blindfolds… also, sometimes he also wishes he could use his unique magic more often.

Floyd – he has a new kink every week, he does whatever he feels like doing, but his love for choking and gagging is pretty consistent. Scratching and biting is also something he loves to do. And also extreme creampie. Right now he is intrigued by water sports, so beware everyone.

Kalim – he isn’t aware of his kinks, for the most part he does whatever he wants, but he tends to enjoy hair pulling way too much for Jamil’s liking. He also likes dressing his partner up and having sex in a pool.

Jamil – spanking (but only when he is in a very good mood), hair pulling (hello) and edging; all these options are inconvenient to him, but he can’t help it and kind of hates it.

Vil – he enjoys some elements of roleplay and sometimes gets a bit carried away. He can also be surprisingly bratty at times. Body worship is good, but he gets bored of it quickly, so he needs some kind of a twist to that kink…

Rook – this guy has way too many. The most notable ones are voyeurism (duh), primal play and actually brat-taming.

Epel – muscles. Just… muscles. He is sure that he is just fascinated by them because he also wants to be big, but nah, the boy is way into muscles.

Idia – he also has quite a bunch of them, although a lot of them are purely theoretical, like he just loves reading certain doujins and watching hentai and stuff… But in general: robot fetishism (let’s be honest), tentacles (let’s be honest), dirty-talk and humiliation.

Ortho – doesn’t have any kinks per-se, but he is fascinated by the idea that people can get aroused because of the weirdest things. So he actually has phases when it comes to kinks, and he learns a lot during those. Right now he is very into sensory deprivation! What an interesting concept, isn’t it?

Malleus – he is surprisingly into whatever his partner is doing, his only requirement is for him to go all-out. He is quite intrigued and wants to be entertained. If I had to pick one kink for him, it’s probably wax play, it just feels right.

Lilia – waaaay too many kinks; even if he isn’t all that into it, he’d probably done it. He used to be very into sadism, blood play,  knife play, all this stuff, but now he is more into exhibitionism, sex toys, somnophilia, to name a few.

Silver – sexual servitude; he is very submissive and a little bit masochistic.

Sebek – stuck between being a dom and being a sub, and doesn’t even realise it. He is really into verbal degradation, you can’t shut him up. At the same time, I can also see him cuckolding in very specific scenarios so…

Crewel – come on, we know it. I’m pretty sure he practices bdsm and petplay quite regularly.

Trein – enigma of a man that is suspiciously reactive to dirty talk.

Crowley – yes, Crowley. Crowley is an exhibitionist; he is just way too good at hiding it. He is also much more messed up that we’re giving him credit for in general.

Neige – body worship, phone sex; I can’t explain either of these, to be honest.

Che’nya – absolutely cursed chaotic beast, he has too many kinks, but his most favourite one is probably tickling, because he is that cursed.

Rollo – more kinks that he cares to admit, but he never acts upon any of them, that would just be disgusting. But if we’re being honest, he is quite masochistic, so anything where his partner takes power from him and punishes him would make him feel good.

[talkingattumble]

okay deltarune opinion incoming so spoilers and all that

Okay here’s like my take on the secret bosses so far. Fair warning this isn’t structured at all, I just kinda leap from subject to subject and this entire thing is just ramblings so don’t expect some well thought out and presented theory it is just my thoughts, and some messy theories. SORRY IN ADVANCE FIR THE LONG POST like seriously this post is just a bunch of enormous paragraphs about my extra shaky barely supported deltarune theories so be warned

First of all, jevil is pretty widely assumed to be the joker card in a deck of cards. Mostly from the fact that he was the jester in a card based dark world and that he is wearing a joker outfit. Also, his signature line is “I can do anything”, which is kind of a reference to the fact that a joker card can do anything in most card games. Anyways, so I saw this theory in a video about the bosses being tossed aside or ignored things. And I was agreeing with it, but then I thought about jebil. Why would a joker card be tossed aside? Okay well in my experience. The joker card is usually super op in most card games. For example, in war, most of the time the joker is regarded as being able to beat any card (in some cases only an ace can beat it, but I’m not sure how common that rule is or if it has any significance to the interpretation). For this reason, it’s usually not included to make the game more fair, as most of the time anyone who ends up with a joker card gets a huge advantage. So a lot of the time people end up playing without a joker and forgetting about it. And his whole backstory? I think that jevil believing that his life is a game is another reason he’s always saying “I can do anything”. The world he lives in is populated by (mostly) a suit of cards. And once he realized he was the joker, he kinda realized how powerful he was compared to everyone else. He could literally do anything they could. So yeah that’s my take. Very badly structured and probably obvious, but I’d rather make a post than spam my friends about it.

Spamton is kinda more easy because of the sheer amount of characters who are able to add details and perspectives to his story. But I’m still gonna take a crack at it. Right off the bat, it becomes obvious that spamton is a spam ad. His disjointed speech that’s often interrupted with words or phrases you often see in spam, the fact that he pops out and starts forcing us to make a deal (in contrast to the other ads who you could choose to interact with), the rip off items in his shop, and his literal name. I think this is also what the addisons meant when they said “he was just unlucky”. Unlike the other ads, spamton was kind of doomed from the start. No matter how hard he works, nobody will buy his products because he’s a spam ad, and basically Nobody ever clicks on spam ads. The rest of his story is mostly outright told to us. He gets famous from a man named Mike, gets so popular he gets into the queens castle, the addisons leave him out of jealousy, Mike stops helping him, he goes a bit insane and starts worshipping a broken down machine, he gets evicted, and eventually we come along and help him (to sum it up). I also have a theory that he might’ve falllen into the acid pool at some point, but it’s not well supported. My only evidence really is that he’s very tiny and the dialogue in his shop where he randomly starts screaming in pain and saying how “it burns”. Not really important but I couldn’t fit it in anywhere else. Ok moving on. So even though we’ve basicslly got spamtons backstory down, there’s still something we’re all in the dark about: Mike, the man in the tv. So it’s kind of widely accepted at this point that mike is the grinning tv seen at the end of chapter two, and that’s what I’m basing my theory on. So why would the tv guy help spamton? Okay so here’s my thoughts. One thing that has been a regular thing on tv for a while is dumb commercials that try to convince people to buy useless things. I feel like Most people usually don’t pay attention to that kind of stuff. But I will say, even though I have no evidence to support this, based on my experiences and the people around me, commercials work much better than spam ads, even if they’re essentially the same thing. My thoughts on why: spam ads are something st the edge of the screen that you can ignore or usually close. And when they take the form of messages or emails, they’re usually sent straight to the junk or spam sections, meaning there’s a huge chance they won’t even be seen. But on tv, most of these spam advert style commercials are on live channels, meaning they can’t be skipped. Meaning that more people see them and are tempted to buy the things in them. So if spamtons ads were out in commercial form, it would make sense for him to suddenly get a boost in popularity. But this could also explain why Mike stops helping him. Eventually, due to changes in the way tv works, these dumb spam ad type adverts became less effective and only caused people to be more annoyed with live tv/switch to other methods of watching movies. So it would make sense for Mike to drop spamtons commercials as soon as they started causing viewers to drop. My last piece of evidence to support this would be, how one addison specifically calls attention to the noise that is heard when you try to call someone in the dark world. It’s described as garage noise, but what you hear is a messed up kind of staticky noise. Spamton also has static in his eyes when he mentioned Mike.

Oh yeah, here’s another thing. Something I don’t see many people talk about it the moment in his shop where his eyes go dark and he says “hello….can anyone hear me…..” or smth like that, and then says that he didn’t hear anything but he thinks it’s probably for us?? I’ve got a few theories. It could be his connection with Mike (again, note that he has dark static eyes when he says this). “It’s for you” is a phrase commonly used when you get a phone call for someone else, and in this theory we can surmise that Mike was the one calling spamton. So maybe it’s a hint about us facing Mike next chapter? I have some other guesses but no actual evidence to support them so I’ll leave those out for brevity (I say that as if this post isn’t a gajillion paragraphs long already lmao)

Ok last thing: this is pretty irrelevant to the bosses but it technically counts. So a lot of others have already drawn the obvious connection between spamton neo and mettaton neo. But why is mettatons robot body rusting away at the bottom of queens castle? Here’s my theory. So mettaton, at the moment, seems to not have transitioned by this point (wether you view his transition in undertale as being a trans thing or just being a ghost inhabiting a body it likes thing, the word still applies either way so it’s what I’ll use). He refuses to show his face, and is a lot more negative, angrily answering to you and immediately assuming you want to see napstablook instead. Another thing to note is that he calls himself a nobody, and no one in the town seems to mention him. So given all that it’s safe to assume he’s still a ghost with no body. But what does that have to with his neo form in the cyber world? Well my thought is that mettaton designed what his dream form would look like using the computer, but then for some reason (sadness, shame, despair, whatever you want to interpret it as) he tried to delete the file or buried it deep. As the queens castle in general reminds me of a search engine (the rooms based on the characters searches, the butlers giving people the things they ask for or like, the bookshelves, queen herself being concerned with noelles searches, etc.), it’s possible he might have even bookmarked a tab with his design and then forgot about it/didn’t want to revisit it, and the bookmark got buried under the searches and bookmarks of others. Whichever makes more sense idk it’s late. Anyways. So if mettaton is at the point where he wants fame, knows that he wants a different body, and has long had a design, why is he still a ghost who hides away? Well the sad truth is (in my opinion), he’s got no way to make the body. Undertale was a much more fantastical world, full of magic and crazy inventions and things that would be otherwise impossible. Deltarune is a much more grounded world. It contains monsters, but there’s seemingly no magic, no crazy inventions, ordinary shops and buildings. While a “magic portal to a dark town” would be commonplace in the world of undertale, this same thing is laughed at and not believed in the world of deltarune. So, chances are it would be way harder to build a robot as complicated as mettaton neo. Especially because it seems that deltarune takes place in the 2000a or 2010s (based on the computers they use, the chalkboard in the classroom, the clothes the characters wear, and also undertale took on as in 201X so I’d this truly is a parallel world then it likely also takes place at that time). Also, in this universe, alphys is a schoolteacher. There’s no such occupation as “royal scientist/inventor”. So there’s nobody to build the body anyways. In a nutshell: mettaton designs his perfect body, forgets about it or buries it deep due to negative feelings about not being able to achieve this, and he never transitions, meanwhile the powerful design he made stays in the computer, old and buried deep underneath all the newer searches and files.

But why would spamton worship this machine in particular? Well the first theory is that the machine is very old. Mettaton is obviously older than Kris (he was much older than frisk and doesn’t go to school with Kris). So it would make sense that by the time Kris gets to the cyber world, mettatons design file is considered very very old to the cyber people. Maybe file she has something to do with power, or maybe spamton assumed it was an ancient relic because of its rusty and decrepit look. I’d guess the second because I think one of the swatchlings has dislogue mentioning that spamton would pray to the machine, and that swatch refers to it as a relic. My second theory is that spamton thought that if he could transfer his consciousness to any other body, his strong would be cut, no matter what form it is. And the only available empty body in the castle was the machine in the basement, so he placed all his bets on that.

And finally my third theory (least likely to be true, I believe the answer is a mix of one and two, but this is my personal favorite) is that mettatons body design was made with freedom in mind. This is something they might have sensed and started worshipping the machine for. After all, for mettaton, that body meant being free to be himself, to express himself, to be who he really is. If queen can sense emotion through searches (she called noelles searches strange and sad and is protective of her due to this), who’s to say spamton can’t? Spamton also mentions the smell of freedom a lot, so it’s possible freedom is smth he can just sense.

WOW THAT WAS A LOT. Alright that should satisfy my “must talk about deltarune to everyone and anyone” urge for the week. A lot of this is super shaky, and a lot of it probably has canon answers I just forgot about. But whatever, I mostly just wanted to ramble about deltarune, no structure just word vomit (plus it’s like super late so I’m kinda tired). Also I’m sorry this post is so spamton centric, I know I said I’d talk about both bosses but jebil really got less words than mettaton of all character lmao. I do live jevil and have a whole other load of opinions and theories about jebil, but it’s late and that writing all that here would only make this essay of a post longer. Also there’s way more information available about spamton (two routes worth of content, lore dumps by almost every character in queens castle and even some outside of the castle like the sweet capn cakes or the addisons, the secrets in the spamtons sweepstakes arg stuff, and you can actually talk to him instead of just fighting him) which makes him easier to talk about.

ANYWAYS SORRY FOR THE LONGPODT GOODNIGHT AND CONFRATS ON ACTUALLY READING TJIS HIGE POST