#clearing misconceptions

[darkhugprince]

"It looks kind of like..." (this quote isn't about Asriel)

A common point suggesting that Asriel and Ralsei look alike and thus it makes Ralsei's state of being uncomfortable is to cite Noelle's words when she sees Susie and Ralsei hanging out together. People claim that Noelle states that Ralsei looks like Asriel to Kris, making it clear that they're the same or super similar.

Firstly, let's make sure we're clear on the exact wording that Noelle uses. There have been iterations of this dialogue passed around before. These iterations have included:

"That looks like Asriel."

"He looks like Asriel."

"He looks kind of like..." (Asriel)

"They look like..."

etc. Here is, verbatim, what Noelle says:

The exact wording here is important, because it leads into a couple points that I'm going to make in regard to this not being about Asriel at all. Points are ordered in strength (with the weakest point first, and the strongest point last):

Point 1: It/its is a pretty rude way of referring to someone. (who hasn't expressly said those are their pronouns)

Now that we have the exact wording, we can presume the only way this referring to an Asriel similarity makes sense is with wording like this: "It looks kind of like Asriel".

Except, uh... that's a pretty odd way to word it, isn't it? (Followed up after "Who's that person she's with?" in particular.) The reason why the pronoun is changed in these iterations is because... well, nobody really refers to a person that they don't know like this. Both they and he would make more sense here, and it also falls more in line with Toby's writing style.

Noelle is generally a polite sort of person. The idea that she would intentionally use that kind of wording for him just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Point 2: No recognition? No suspicion?

This will go into point 3 some, but it starts off with the idea that if this is supposed to be Noelle thinking Ralsei looks like Asriel, it is a little odd that she a) doesn't seem to pay attention to him first, and b) starts off asking who he even is.

Here's the thing: when you recognize someone in public, your reaction is not going to be, "Who is that?" That wouldn't be the first question someone asks; it's pretty nonsensical. If someone you see in public looks similar to someone you know, you're most likely going to react instead with, "Am I seeing things? Is that... x? From x?" or something akin to that. Not like who you're looking at is a complete stranger.

In addition, Asriel is supposed to be off at college by now, so that would make his appearance here even more surprising. An Asriel lookalike in this space where he decidedly shouldn't be? Suspicious.

Point 3: This is not the response you have toward someone who looks like a close friend you've known since childhood.

Beyond this particular interaction, Noelle doesn't interact much with Ralsei at all nor seem to take any particular interest in him. In fact, he's left so little an impression, when Noelle drinks RALSEI TEA in this chapter, she says, "There's nothing in here!" That suggests absolutely no impression at all. Hell, she might not even remember he exists.

If she was genuinely curious about Ralsei's supposed connection to Asriel, she likely would at least want to ask him, right? Yet, she completely drops wondering anything about Ralsei after this (completely optional) interaction.

There's no shock. There's no fanfare. It's not followed up on, despite one very crucial fact that makes that behavior from Noelle decidedly odd if she's comparing him to Asriel: Noelle is or at least was close to Asriel, enough to be on nickname basis with him; she always calls him "Azzy" in her dialogue. The idea she has no impression at all of Ralsei when he supposedly looks so similar to her friend is... Absolutely boggling to believe, to be honest.

So what was it she was going to say, then?

Well, here's my guess:

"It looks kind of like they're on a date."

Not only does this make sense contextually (they kind of do look like that, to a stranger), but that would be in-character and in-line for Noelle's behavior throughout the chapter. She does try to "sus out" Susie's relationships to other characters, and... well, we don't need to talk about how she gets when Berdly confesses to liking Susie himself.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I won't let you go again.

(Timeskip follow up for the MDZS Homestuck AU)

[nanenna]

This Conversation is Exactly as it Should've Been

Sleepy King AU Masterpost

Slight change in chapter title because with this brand new POV we finally have someone being reasonable!

🌟✨💖✨🌟

Duke was in the middle of his midday patrol when he got B's alert. “Come to the Watchtower, O will brief.”

Ominous, but not overly so. Nothing about the message said it was super urgent, so Duke turned back but kept an eye on the streets below as he switched to Oracle's channel.

“Hey O, what's the sitch?”

“Oh boy, do I have a story for you!”

Two attempted muggings and one long explanation later…

“So B wants me up there… to be the Ghost King's welcoming committee?”

“You guessed it!”

“What.”

“B thinks Danny will be more comfortable with another teenager, once you're up there just guide him to the hangar and wave as he and whoever's on the craft leave.”

Duke switched out his helmet for a domino, it would help not hide his age, and got into the zeta tube, “And where is this guy?”

“Let me patch you into the team's channel.”

Duke set his comms to listening only, he knew how B operated.

“Kal,” came B's deep voice, “where is Danny right now?”

“Why?” Superman asked. 

“So we can have someone nearby to guide Danny.”

“Wouldn't I be the best option?”

“No.”

There was an awkward moment of silence before some else spoke up. “Danny did run from you.”

“I have contacted an associate closer to his age, he's ready to go meet Danny.”

Superman sighed, “Of course you did. Anti-possession charm?”

“It's part of our standard equipment.”

That was news to Duke, he should ask about that later. Superman rattled off a floor number and directions to a storage room. Duke obligingly followed the directions.

“Danny spotted, he's out of the closet.” 

Duke couldn't help snorting at O's joke. “Good for him!”

“Shush, he's heading towards you, just keep heading down the hall. And remember, play dumb.”

Duke could do that. He rounded a corner to see a brightly glowing mass of shadows shambling down the hall. The figure themself was a slightly greenish white, like a glacier put through a color filter, hair face and all. Their eyes were two neon green flashlights, like the Lazarus pits or kryptonite. Their whole body glowed, like they'd been dipped in glow-in-the-dark paint. Their aura was dark shadows, writhing around them. There was a jagged blackhole floating over their head.

Duke blinked and instead found a pale teenager with black hair, intensely blue eyes, and wrapped up in Batman's cape with pale fingers clutching it closed.

“Oh I was not the best choice for this,” he muttered under his breath. He shook his head to finish clearing his vision, then smiled at the guy now standing a couple yards away, eyeing Duke warily. He pasted on a bright smile and waved, “Hi, I'm Signal.”

“Signal?”

“Yeah, I work out of Gotham. And from the looks of it so will you.”

“Huh?” The guy, presumably Danny, looked down to where his slippered feet were poking out the front of the cape where it parted to drag behind him on the floor.

“Batman's cape, looks like the adoption craze has struck again. B keeps bringing home new kids, there's like half a dozen of us.” Duke laughed along with the polite titters on his comms. Then he stepped closer to Danny and stage whispered, “Half of us have black hair and blue eyes, so you'll fit right in.”

Danny looked at Duke skeptically, “Do you?”

“Sure do.”

Danny didn't seem to know how to react to that.

“So, where you heading? I know the Watchtower can be pretty confusing at first.”

Danny's eyes grew big as saucers, “I'm on the Watchtower?!”

“Yeah, want a tour?”

“I… I …” Danny nodded eagerly, then hesitated. “My ride’s here.”

“Oh cool, where they at?”

“The uh… the hangar?”

“I can show you where it is.” Duke started walking, Danny fell into step next to him, still clutching B's cape. Duke let the silence sit for a minute because… 

“Marvel, Danny’s parents are ghost hunters,” B’s voice came over comms. Duke had no idea what was going on on Marvel’s end, O likely had him separated on that front.

“Are we sure sending the Ghost King home with ghost hunters is a wise idea?” Wonder Woman asked, trust her to ask the real questions.

“Yes!” Someone else said with heavy exasperation.

“They seem to have recently had a change in heart, they’ve denounced all their old work as flawed and outdated.” There was typing to go with O’s voice, likely showing everyone else said announcement.

It seemed the peanut gallery was calming down, so Duke turned his attention back to Danny. “So, you an orphan too?”

“No!” Danny sounded aghast.

“Ah, not as much a requirement as one might think. My sister, Orphan, still has both her parents, ironically enough. So does Spoiler and Batwing and Robin.”

Danny looked confused again. “Um… I'm pretty sure my ride is actually my parents.”

“That's cool, it's good to have supportive parents.”

Danny flushed, super obvious against his pale skin, but smiled happily. “Yeah.”

Danny seemed content to let the silence sit as they entered an elevator that would take them directly to the hangar. Duke wasn't done teasing yet. “So I told you my name, what's yours?”

“Oh um…” Danny looked down, “Danny.”

Duke raised an eyebrow, “Not got a code name yet,”

“No, I d- uh…” Danny's lips thinned. “Nope, just Danny. I'm not doing the whole,” a hand extended from the cape to gesture up and down Duke, “costume thing.”

Well that was an odd response, maybe Danny was the one steering the body after all. Then again, they had very little idea what Phantom looked like, and whether he considered himself a hero or was just being territorial.

“Well you don't have to if you don't want to. Lots of people with powers just lead normal lives.”

“Who said I have powers?” Danny asked defensively.

“Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. It's still true though, as metas become more common it's going to be less common for them to go into cape work.”

“Yeah well, I don't even wear a cape.” Danny looked away with another blush.

Interesting.

Duke nudged Danny with his elbow, “You're wearing a cape eight now.”

Danny looked down and blushed all the more. “Fine, I guess I am.”

“But good choice, I don’t wear a cape either. Capes are cringe.”

Danny cringed at that, the blush coming back. So Danny does have a code name, is wearing a costume, and that included a cape at least for a little while.

The elevator slowed to a stop with a ding. The door opened into the hangar, where a small, unfamiliar craft sat in the middle of the otherwise cleared off runway. There was Captain Marvel and some people Duke didn't recognize standing near the craft. The strangers, one of whom was waving around a safety green baseball bat, seemed to be scolding Marvel, who had his hands up in surrender. Danny let out a relieved sigh as he stepped out of the elevator, quickly heading for the group.

“Danny!” One of the group said. Everyone’s attention turned to him, most of them smiling.

“Danno!” A large man in bright orange grinned and waved cheerfully. “We’ve been worried about you!”

“Hi, Dad, Mom, Jazz, Sam, Tuck,” Danny said in quick succession. “Sorry about that, I have no idea what’s going on or how I got here.”

The woman in teal turned her attention to Marvel, “Well someone was about to explain the whole situation to us, weren’t you mister champion of magic?”

Marvel grinned sheepishly, “Of course, ma’am.”

[augustusnotoctavianus]

i am SIX FOOT SEVEN i do NOT WEAR HIGH TOPS i did NOT FALL ASLEEP AT ACTIUM i FIGHT ALL MY OWN BATTLES and i age AT THE SAME RATE AS MY STATUES.

[ocelotlesbian]

rant time again:

i have noticed this awful, discreet little plague within the jshk fandom where some, and i'm sorry (not) for saying it this way but it's true, dumbass fans will see anyone even merely suggest that mitsuba is feminine or genderqueer or would like wearing skirts or just isn't some perfectly masculine boy, and say "no that's not true he hates being seen as feminine," even spreading outright misinformation that he said this in the manga (no he fucking didn't) and it's just.... bitch *what*? that is not fucking true. just because he was bullied for looking feminine doesn't mean he hates looking feminine as a result. the ENTIRE POINT of the mitsuba arc is that those bullies were *wrong* and he should've just been himself instead of sanding down his personality to cater to the people who hate his true self. and mind you, this is the boy that actively wears his medium length bright fucking pink hair in a ponytail & brags about how cute he is 24/7. he actively presents himself as feminine, someone who hates the idea of being percieved as girly wouldn't fucking do that. he *enjoys* his femininity, you dumb fucks.

and while we're here, let me get to the *real* point. why do you automatically assume that a character who is percieved as feminine, and more broadly, a character who is percieved as QUEER, has to hate themselves? why do you assume this despite evidence to the contrary, despite *the story itself* telling you otherwise? why do you assume that? is it because you see someone breaking free from gender norms & heteronormativity as inherently negative and something they *must* hate deep down? is that the reason? tell me, what is your fucking reason? why do you see this beautiful little boy being openly queer and *happy about it, loving who he is* and assume he must hate himself, that him being queer is a flaw he must want to "fix"? why the *fuck* do you think that? it's horrible. do fucking better oh my god i hate you people so much

[beaft]

bitchy post alert, but "asexual people can still have sex!" is one of those phrases that's like "you can wear makeup every day and still be a feminist!" in that yes, it is technically correct, but i don't understand why it needs to be emphasised so strongly and so often as if it's some sort of praxis

[fangswbenefits]

This line is often used as a gotcha moment or weaponised by those erasing Astarion's pansexuality:

As a non native English speaker, I initially thought he was exclusively referring to men since 'handsome' is an adjective that I would solely use for men.

However, one of my lovely mods on the Astarion discord server pointed out that it was used for women as well back in the day.

And then I remembered this line from Pride and Prejudice:

I wanted to clear this out in case other non native speakers were unaware of it 😅

[emmaswanned]

a singer, is that what you are? --i also play the lyre. oh, a liar and a player too! [x]

ZEPHYR MALAISE TRYPHON: mephistopheles tiefling | college of swords bard

[petr1kov]

look i know we all love making fun of walter white but i feel some of you misrepresent the reasons why he did some of the things he did on the show to make him appear more irrational than he already is, which is a bit annoying to me. the most recurrent ones: he did not start cooking meth to pay for his cancer treatment, because he didn't even want to get one until his wife and son pressured him into it - his original goal was to earn money so his family wouldn't financially struggle after his death, which then evolved into him also using it to pay for his cancer treatment. still, never his primary goal.

also, he didn't try to start shit with gus at all during season 3. most of the problems he's had with him that season (firing gale, killing the guys who killed andrea's brother, having jesse kill gale) happened because at this point in the show, gus really, really wanted jesse out of the picture, and straight up wanted to have him killed multiple times, which walt didn't want to happen, wanting jesse both alive and near him (both out of a twisted sense of parental affection + the fact that jesse could ruin hank's career and put him at risk if left to his own devices). so their beef was really about walt wanting to keep jesse alive, which only then later evolved into a tug of war over who would get to have him once gus realized jesse could be useful, and a battle of egos.

it's why mike's constant complaints about walt ruining their perfect business with his megalomania one rang as half true to me, because truly, the only way walt could've have 'peacefully worked' for gus with gale as his partner would have been if he simply did not care about jesse's fate at all, something even mike himself, who grew to really care for jesse eventually, once urged walt to do (letting jesse die was the 'full measure' being referred to in that half measures speech he gave to walt), and that is something i just can't imagine walt doing at that point in the show - and, frankly, it's not even fully his fault, this time

[darkhugprince]

it's been a big talking point that kris apparently dislikes ralsei, feels really uncomfortable with him / mixed on him, doesn't want to be around him, etc. "making" kris hug ralsei is harmful to them because they don't like hugs, by the same notion, and especially not with him.

there's a problem with this kind of definitive, declarative statement:

there's no proof within the text that supports this.

when kris hugs ralsei, they never express any kind of discomfort. many of those who believe kris has their own autonomy can agree that kris chooses the way things are said, even if they don't choose what exactly is said. on top of that, their discomfort is noticed by other characters.

no character at any point notices kris being uncomfortable with ralsei in any cutscene. you could argue that ralsei has reason to ignore it because he's the one getting hugged and he likes the hugs (i would say this contradicts his character, but for the sake of argument i will acquiesce on this one point, and that's something to go into for an entirely separate post from this one), but susie also doesn't notice any discomfort kris supposedly has with ralsei... and she does notice when kris is uncomfortable in general.

there's two big counterarguments i can anticipate with this:

argument 1: tea theory

the counterargument here would say that because ralsei tea only heals kris for 60hp, it means that they aren't very fond of him.

and you know what? you're right. that does mean that kris isn't as fond of him compared to noelle (+70hp) and susie (+120hp). it's also true that the argument that kris doesn't know ralsei as well (while true) seems weak in the face of the fact that susie, who also doesn't know him well, gets +120hp.

there's a few different pieces to my response to that:

i think susie heals from ralsei tea more because she grows attached to her friends very quickly. before her relationship with kris was purely antagonistic, yet after a day she also heals for +120hp from kris tea. she and noelle are implied to barely talk, and from noelle's tea she also heals +120hp. i believe this is a pattern specific to susie... and ralsei, who also heals +120hp for both of them despite knowing them a day.

noelle is kris's childhood friend. they have grown apart over time, which means they aren't exactly best buds (and even noelle is uncertain they're friends), but, though the feeling has a confusing "aftertaste" as implied by noelle when she drinks kris tea, it's clear it's still generally a positive relationship. after all, noelle is happy to hear it when kris says that they are friends when questioned by the addison. being 10 points under that, where there are clearly fond feelings but some conflict getting in the way of intimacy, is not that bad in the face of it.

noelle and ralsei are total strangers and get +50hp from each other's tea. +10 points above that implies at least a mildly positive association, even if it's not as strong as the other two.

it should also be mentioned that when kris actually drinks the tea, they don't react in discomfort or throw the tea away or anything like that. they have "no reaction". this doesn't imply that they're uncomfortable with ralsei at all... they just don't really have a strong impression of him.

given that your own tea heals +10 outside of battle, and +40 in battle, and doesn't really taste like anything, i think it's safe to conclude that if the emotion was negative, it would do less than that. as ralsei's tea doesn't heal less than either, at the very least, kris considers them above stranger level.

argument 2: asgore's remark about hugs

when asgore gives kris a bear hug, he makes a remark after apologizing for it. people have taken this apology to mean that kris dislikes hugs.

this... well, to put it simply, unlike tea theory, this is a misinterpretation of asgore's words and people misremembering what he said. he said, verbatim:

there's a couple different parts to go into in this one line:

"i forgot if" -- this means he doesn't know for sure. he doesn't remember if kris has stated any objections to the hug in the past.

"you don't like hugs like that" -- specifically, referring to asgore bear hugging them and swinging them around.

firstly, this is not conclusive at all about kris's feelings; asgore doesn't even know for sure how kris feels here. secondly, even if it was, it's talking about a specific kind of hug. kris could totally be very fond of hugs and just not like to be literally manhandled.

and even if it was totally about what people thought... we get no confirmation from kris themself about this response, so we have no idea how kris feels about it. no feedback whatsoever. and asgore doesn't mention them looking uncomfortable, either.

i would go as far as to say that this line isn't meant to tell us anything about kris. i think it's meant to tell us about asgore. twofold:

asgore still holds a lot of affection toward kris and seems to miss seeing them, enough that he's overenthusiastic about showing his affection toward them.

asgore has been separated from kris long enough that he doesn't remember some specific details about their preferences.

other than that, there's nothing to draw from this. it's people reading a bit too much into the line and misquoting it.

in fact, counterpoint, i would go as far as to say kris does like hugs --

they're open to letting toriel hug them without any input from us.

if ralsei has the HUG PRINCE title, post-spamton neo, if you answer with "no", he hugs kris. why is this relevant? well, after, they turn to susie and obviously say something to entice her into hugging them too, which would be very odd behavior if they dislike hugs.

i should also mention that ralsei's hug does seem to calm them down. contrasting it to other options (such as offering cake after "yes" where susie says that the goosebumps don't disappear after, and it takes some banter between ralsei and susie to get them to smile), kris spends the time after his reassurances and susie's follow-up making the joke to hug susie. susie does not say anything that would hint that ralsei's hug made them uncomfortable in that scene.

last note

i wanted to mention one other thing that makes it pretty clear to me, beyond any tea theory, beyond any reading in-between dialogue, that kris, at the very least, does not distrust ralsei like people say, in the practical sense.

simply put: in the weird route, when kris is calling for help, ralsei is the first one that they call for, even before susie.

why would they do that, if they don't trust him? if they're super uncomfortable with him? if they think he's unreliable, or will betray them? not only do they call for him, they call for him twice before moving on to trying susie.

it's true that right now they aren't attached to him, not to the same degree that they are to susie (someone who they are implied to have a crush on via noelle's blog), but we'll have to see how the relationship changes. at the very least, nothing currently suggests that kris outright dislikes or hates ralsei, nor that they're uncomfortable in his presence.

(it should also be mentioned that there's a good chance they feel concern for him, too, as when susie thinks ralsei is screaming in distress, kris rushes along with susie in a segment we can't control to get to him.)

[arachnesbich]

Ghost cores being mistaken for something like an egg is a niche in this fandom that makes me so feral, I have so many fic prompt ideas.

One thought that keeps going through my head is Danny gets hurt some how (Escaping GIW? The Fentons vivisection?) and ends up in the care of a hero. There isn’t enough ectoplasm around him to heal his wounds and keep him alive at the same time, so in order to preserve energy and focus on healing he needs to retreat into his core and go into a sort of ghost coma.

Deciding to put his trust this hero, Danny tries to explain that his injuries are too severe to heal in his current state, he ‘can’t stay’, but doesn’t have anywhere to keep his core safe. He cannot stress enough just how important his core is, how fragile it is, about how he didn’t have anyone he could trust to properly take care of it, and just begging them to keep GIW away from his core.

The hero agrees to take care of their core and not turn it over to the government, if only to calm him down so they could attempt to treat his injuries to the best of their abilities. Hearing them promise to take care of him until he’s well enough to take care of himself gives Danny enough relief to just disappear. He literally fades from existence, leaving behind a bright green orb the size of a crystal ball.

In a mix of adrenaline, panic, and blood loss, Danny gives the hero the impression that he’s an meta/alien that escaped from government experimentation, begged them to take care of his ‘core’ and keep it safe from the government that was experimenting on him, died on their couch, and left behind a fucking egg the color of the Lazarus pit/Kryptonite.

After some time Danny heals enough to be semi-conscious and, feeling a little guilty/embarrassed about making this random hero responsible for him, tries to force his reforming before he has enough ectoplasm to return to his original teenage/adult form. He ends up reforming way younger than he really is (maybe he has just enough ectoplasm to form as a toddler/baby instead of a teenager, maybe he reforms at his ghost age, maybe his mind is so focused on the embarrassment of being cradled and cared for like a baby that his ectoplasm is like: “Oh, OK. So we’re a baby now :D ”), giving more credence to the thought of it being an egg that just hatched.

Just shenanigans with the hero trying to take care of an egg then a meta baby, while said meta baby tries to figure out how to get back to his original state.

[bastardlybonkers]

The wing body language you portray is so fun to watch, it really reminds me of the fan language people used to do.

https://youtu.be/pY3npLFwCYs?si=c3uWqXwS6cI4KDk7

I imagine bee having wing conversations with others wing mechs; Him and star having a ‘conversation’ but bee is really intermediate and Star is doing the equivalent of sonnets.

Bee wings * Happy little wing raises*

Star wings * Complex movements that’s full of micro gesture of words of affection he can’t say aloud*

Bee wings in response *👍*

Thunder cracker writing this down because you can’t make this up.

(Bee really needs a Wing language for dummies book fr )

i think i mightve misled people on the whole wing 'language' thing in these comics 😅 theres a lot of fans who have hcs or do worldbuilding where fliers have a whole language (or even multiple different languages) with their wings, but the way ive been drawing it is more like...hm. hard to explain. like if you never had a face before and now suddenly you do, you wouldnt really notice if you were biting your lip at someone you find attractive, but everyone else around you would? not a perfect metaphor but close enough, there wouldnt really be a human equivalent

i do think its cool when other people do wing languages!! its just not what ive been doing in these lol

[velvtcherie]

society if people stopped mischaracterizing caleb

[factsilike]

Really tired of constantly seeing posts declaring that everyone in MXTX novels is complicated and 'morally grey' and that's what makes her works wonderfully written, and that everyone else who doesn't see that is stupid, or is 'demonising' characters and bashing them for rightfully criticising their shitty, very much unjustified actions.

And ironically it seems so simplistic to just declare that, because yes her stories are wonderfully written and complex, but not for that reason. You're clearly not reading her works and only spouting what you think her stories say. There are many morally grey characters in morally complex stories out there, but MDZS IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

NONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS (i.e protagonists and their male leads except for LBH maybe) ARE MORALLY GREY OR MORALLY COMPLEX.

THEY ARE ALL MORALLY RIGHTEOUS.

Just take a closer look at their actions compared to the actions of literally everyone else around them, it's not that hard to see.

Not to mention that MXTX herself literally says that WWX and LWJ are both morally ideal and that ahe hopes her readers can be like them, but people seem to have no respect for the word of authors in the name of their self projection onto the characters being contradicted nowadays 😒

(also saw someone dismissively say that HC may think that the world revolves around XL or whatever, but others don't and they're right??

First of all, did you even read the novel? HC made his judgement based on how others treated him versus how XL did when he was a CHILD. And how XL continues to treat others to this day. He is well within his rights to think the world of XL, especially since XL suffered more than every other person and still doesn't succumb to evil, despite having every right to do so, miles more than others. He all but regards XL as his moral compass, because he's proof that truly good people do exist in this world, and not ONE other person in the novel is shown to be as good as him.)

One of the reasons why I really don't like the Xianle Trio is this; neither FX nor MQ seem to regard XL as his own person with his own agency, who is capable of making his own decisions initially as HC does, and only near the end of the novel do they let up a bit when their asses had to be saved by XL multiple times. (especially considering what fools they made of themselves in that spiderweb cave lmao)

Both of them try to enforce XL ALL THE TIME ("Your Highness don't do this or don't do that or don't say this or don't go there or don't talk to him"), as if XL has not survived perfectly well on his own without them FOR 800 YEARS.

The difference between them and HC is clearly spelled out when FC asks HC about why he is not stopping XL, and HC replies that while he may not agree with some of XL's decisions, he would never force him to do what he thinks is correct, something both MQ and FX are CONSTANTLY shown to try to do.

Like please. Xianle Trio who? More like suffering XL and his pair of nuisances who think themselves to be his babysitters. And most of the time he's the one babysitting them.

Another thing that irks me is that their frequent arguments are often played off for laughs, but XL is truly a saint, because if my friends were constantly bickering over petty things all throughout our dangerous journey and giving me nothing but headaches, especially in survival situations, I'd given them the boot a long time ago.

[justaz]

pjo fandom Does Not read canon and it is so Obvious. please. i’m begging. pick up the books again or Shut. Up. 😭😭😭

[ecos-syscourse]

you dont have to be traumagenic to have a CDD and I will challenge that idea forever until things start lining up

it is impossible to Google search and get answers for MOST CDD's, because of how 'controversial' they are — but nobody cares about DDD! if you search for information, you will only find medical and scientific pages :]

DDD is a disorder we suspect we have and are seaking a diagnosis for. (we like up with symptoms AND common comorbidities!)

we've done lots of research on it!!

this article says the cause of the disorder is similar to other dissociative disorders, and is 'often caused by traumatic events that the person has expirienced or witnessed'. it also says that 'biological, psychological, and environmental factors' may play a role.

this article says that 'some people may be more likely to experience depersonalization and derealization than others'. it states 'may be related to childhood trauma or other experiences or events that cause severe emotional stress or trauma.'

these are things that they (same website) list as factors that raise the risk of DDD

wikipedia says 'Besides traumatic experiences, other common precipitators of the disorder include severe stress, major depressive disorder or panic attacks.'

so, you technically don't have to have trauma for this 1 (one) CDD!

now what does this mean about DID and OSDD? probably fuck all.

but now you can be a nerd and go "ERM, ACTUALLY!" whenever somebody says CDDs are caused by trauma ! (in which they'll just give you an odd look for making such a bold claim and ignore you)