#its not even like romantic pining. i don't GET crushes really. or not often

[shwarmii]

how can you like drunk angst over first kiss?? 🥺

anon is regarding this post here, specifically my tags

characters discussed belong to @dakotawritesif / @disenchantedif

omg, so easily lol

bc its not just drunk angst, it is drunk angst about knowing their ex is gonna DIE, UNNATURALLY, AND SOON and pining/having never made up with them

but also im an asmr/audio-roleplay connoisseur*, so like, uh, also the following here. yeah. this primes me up to LOVE drunk ex scenario regret/pining shit lol (you'll have to excuse all these audios being men btw, i have a soft spot for deep voices and there isnt many deep-voiced women VAs in the audio-roleplay community (unfortunately foR MEEEE UGHH), much less many that have a video involving this niche Drunk Ex trope anyway lmao rip (same with the audios all being either "for Anybody" or "for Females". i don't currently have any "for Males" in this niche, even tho im the type of enby that listens to all three types of "for [you]" audios. alas. boo hiss))

none of these are "Luci-Inserts" btw, moreso "Evidence of why OF COURSE I AM MORE HYPED FOR DRUNK HALLWAY OVER FIRST KISS", like a vision board kinda sorta lmao

When Your Ex Drunk Calls You (I Miss You) (Slurred Speech) (Funny) (ASMR) (M4A).. (Fun fact: this VA is Scottish. also M4A = Male For Anyone, not just M4M (male for male) or M4F (male for female))

(this one is by the same Scottish VA) When You Drink With Your Ex (Kissing) (Exes to Lovers) (Drunk) (Regret) (Wholesome) (M4A) (ASMR)

(more of this Scottish VA bc he makes me laugh) When Your Crush Drunkenly Confesses To You (Singing Idiot) (Taking Care Of Him) (Silly) (ASMR) (M4A) (bonus there is a morning-after part two to this one yay)

Your Drunk Best Friend Wants You Gor Valentines [M4A] [Tsundere] [Confession] [Sober Listener] (and this one has a part two about the morning-after too)

ASMR Voice: I Should Have Told You [M4A] [Drunk Voicemail] [Ex-boyfriend] [Missing you] [Regret]

Audio Roleplay for Women | "Orbit" | Drunken Confession

Audio RP: Your Ex-boyfriend Asks For Another Chance [M4A] (not drunk but i love this one) (also it has a part two as well yayyy)

this one ((M4A but he does say you have a "pretty face") bc i do like Luci being upset someone is going to hurt the MC) and this one ((M4F) because i like the frustration lmao rip) also fit the vibe but neither are drunk or exes lmao rip

like, you would think as someone who is chronically ill to the point that my meds say "absolutely no alcohol (and one used to say no weed, idk if im still on that one, id have to go check)" that i would not give a shit about drunk scenarios buT I DO LOVE IT IN FICTION SO MUCH. my irl friends also like getting drunk on/off, or high, and my forced sobriety due to meds (and also family history, let's be honest. i do come from a long line of addicts, apparently, best i dont get involved, and i never have been) means i get to play Designated Driver pretty often. so i do recognize some realities/fantasties in the scenario. but also, god, i love the trope because it allows for such forced vulnerabilities, i fucking love whump fics, and a drunk ex fic is really just a whump fic with no bruises

and, ngl, i do think it is more likely we will get a First Kiss pov somewhere down the line if it loses than i think we will get a Hallway pov if it loses

plus, they were like what, 10?? 11??? idk how old they were when Luci/MC got together. but i know these fuckers are fresh out of high school and Luci is getting drunk, which means biTCHES ARE UNDERAGE DRINKING (which is an interesting characterization for Luci that i think reveals a lot about the Rivera parents as well as Luci's connections to wealth/alcohol), so there is that drama of "hide, hide, hide!!" if nothing else

and, again, then there's not only the angst of "ah, my ex-partner and/or -best friend" and the wanting to make up platonically/romantically but there is also the angst of "i knOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET MURDERED SOON AND IM NOT READY TO GO TO YOUR FUNERAL BUT I DONT KNOW HOW TO STOP THIS" kind of "lost time", "call for rain-check until you can't" angle too. plus, i could see Luci being protective or frustrated or terrified, there are so many fun angles no matter the platonic/romantic additional feelings involved. and, because of how this pov works, there isnt going to be a kiss or anything happening. so it's just going to be slow-burn (to friends or lovers, idk your mc) and pining (platonic pining is a thing), i love that for me specifically lmao

but i do, like, get it. i get what you mean. if i thought this ask was mean-spirited, i wouldve deleted it and not answered; but i read this as "lol yeah that is fucked of me huh lmao you right". bc, YEAH, first kiss is romantic, drunk in your shared hallways is NOT lmao rip but i dont care if its romantic or not, i care that its making my guts get all twisted up. and the angst of (1) drunk ex that needs to taken care of (or needs to run away from you, either or) (2) thinks youre going to be murdered/in an accident and die soon and (3) may/may not still be in love with you and (4) knows they dont have enough time to reconcile with you and make-up for lost time... ngl, that is going to impact me more than a first kiss. im ready for the tragedy. fucking love this kinda shit

also i have my own hcs about my mc, Giselle "Gigi" Kraven, and Luci Rivera's first kiss. so. that probably also plays a role in all this bUT HEY!! IM STILL TRYING FOR THE 50/50 LMAO RIP WE ARE HELPING EACH OTHER, MY COMRADE 🤝 YOU GET (DOOMED) FLUFF AND I GET (ALSO DOOMED) DRUNK ANGST, THAT'S A WIN-WIN LOL

*i would like to add: i have no idea if any of these VAs have drama or something. i dont pay attention to the fandoms, except vaguely for Redacted Audios because of the theories and world-building happening there (which the video here doesnt have much to do with), but otherwise i am so fucking ignorant bc i do not look these people up, i just watch their videos. i have been burned too many times by the Steven Universe fandom and other such communities and whatnot to get involved in fandoms i am only casually into, so i just only stick my nose into fandoms/creators i am die-hard into and dont delve into the rest, thanks for understanding if i may be out of the loop ✌️

[the-local-scp]

I still love Tokoyami’s character so much! I’m trying to write a fan comic and I was wondering if I could ask if you could make some head cannons about him. I really enjoy your view on his character ♥️. I think your input could really help me flesh out his character more. I was wondering if you could make head canons on how Tokoyami would feel if he liked someone? Do you think it’d take him a while to be honest about his feelings? What do you think are clear signs he’d give if he was crushing on someone? Lastly how would Dark Shadow play in to the situation and how would he help Tokoyami through this?

I can do my best! I am aromantic, so this will be my best attempt (assuming you mean "like" in a romantic sense)

- Firstly, i hc Tokoyami to be on the aromantic spectrum. I don't have a label for him, i think he probably just doesn't feel romantic feelings very heavily/he experiences them rarely

-2ndly I don't think Tokoyami is overly obvious about his feelings. the most noticable difference is just that he might be a bit more open to the person than he normally is.

Now, some hcs on how he'd approach these feelings

-he likely panics a bit when he realizes what exactly hes feeling. Its not new to him necessarily, but hes not used to it. Once he calms down he goes into courting mode

- He plans carefully. Tries to learn what the person likes using Dark Shadow as a source of intel (shes more social than he is, she'd easily be able to get some answers)

- I've stated before his love language is acts of service, so he likely tries to offer his help to whomever hes crushing on as often as he can. Helping them with work (even if he himself doesn't fully understand), helping them clean, making them coffee/tea/whatever really.

- He also takes Dark Shadows advice on giving gifts (very bird of him). Usually smaller trinkets, nothing grand. Perhaps plain jewelry such as a simple chain necklace/bracelet. If he were to get the person earrings he'd try to find something small that fits their personality. if the person is bubbly, he might try to find some cute smiley face earrings or actual bubble earrings. If he were to get them a ring it'd be a simple band. Mayhaps an engraving (if we wanna get cliche, then the person probably doesn't really notice the engraving)

- My personal hc that Tokoyami knows how to cook comes into play finally! He makes food for his crush and obviously himself so they can eat together n be all cute. He probably also buys this person their favorite sweets, learns how to cook meats just the way they like it, and dare i say he learns from Sato how to make their favorite pastries

- He writes letters to the person. wax sealed. the letters are very much romantic goth. He likes being a lil dramatic. He writes some of his more word vomity and sappy ones in English, hoping his crush doesn't understand the language too well.

- However, if the crush is on the oblivious side, Dark Shadow will tend to take over and be more blunt for Fumi.

- Dark Shadow is social, so Tokoyami doesn't think too much of her hanging around the person of interest. What he doesn't know is Dark Shadow is dropping more obvious hints

- "He thinks your hair is very nice today. He also really liked the outfit you wore yesterday." Stuff like that.

- Eventually Dark Shadow will get overly tired of the pining. She'll say it outright.

- "He really really likes you, ya know. Give him a chance, you won't regret it! I know him best, you can trust me."

- Tokoyami is embarrassed by his shadowy sibling, but he also knows himself. Hes secretly thankful she has a loud mouth, cause occasionally that loud mouth benefits both of them.

[kitkatt0430]

9, 14, and 21 for the relationships asks?

9.) When you write, do you plan out the stages of a relationship, or just let it flow? Do you have any works where the characters seem to "write themselves"?

I'm much more of a seat of the pants type writer than a planner, so I'm much more likely to just let it flow. But at the same time, I'll often have at least a general idea of the phases of the relationship. The whole friend to crush to mutual pining nonsense to crashing ridiculously into dating sort of thing. Or variations thereupon. :D

There've definitely been a lot where the characters seem to write themselves, though. The Pied Piper's Army of Rats series has both to some degree. There've been some changes here and there, but once I started working on it the series has followed the general plan for the Cisco/Hartley ship from the start. The two of them having to learn to trust each other, then become reluctant friends, start noticing there's this attraction brewing, move in together to get Hartley out of STAR Labs and further from Eobard's control, the Out of Time/Rogue Time event really polarizing their feelings for each other and demonstrating that in two separate timelines Hartley chooses protecting Cisco over his own safety, and then finally they hook up afterwards.

There's still stages to go, getting comfortable with living together as a couple all of a sudden and Hartley still wanting a space that his sister can move into with him when she turns eighteen. (It's been hinted at, but Jerrie's doing late admissions to local colleges in Central & Keystone that offer things she's actually interested in, but knows her parents won't support her through. She's done regular admissions already for the 'approved' places for business and science degrees she has no interest in.)

But then the other big ship of the series was Barry/Iris/Eddie which swung in out of nowhere and refused to be quiet. I just love Westhallen too much, I couldn't resist the opportunity to slide it in. And, honestly, those three just work. I don't really have a set plan for them, to be honest. I'm just winging it. Which, admittedly, may be why the latest fic in that series is yet unfinished. But I'll get there.

14.) Are there any relationship dynamics/tropes you want to write in the future, but haven't yet?

I've been inspired to write Reverb/HR - definitely a bit of a crack ship there. And that'll likely take the sunshine/grumpy dynamic to much more of an extreme than I've taken it before. So that's a specific one that's coming up.

But overall, I'm not really picky about the relationship tropes I write. I'll probably eventually even write something with Hanahaki disease in it, just so that I will have tried it once for the challenge of it. The more I write, the more I realize that some things I write not because they are tropes or ships I specifically like, but because I enjoy the challenge that writing those things presents. It's why I like fix-fic writing, because there's definitely a challenge there in taking something that feels broken to me in some way and determining how to make it work better.

I think this is why I'm looking forward to getting around to the mpreg request fic I was sent. Though I'm also kind of glad it's far down on the list of fic requests, since it is out of my usual comfort zone. Gives me a lot of time to figure out how I want to make it work - backstory on the characters for how they reach the point of wanting to have kids, the circumstances for which its possible, how much real science can I use to back up the hand-wavey fictional science... and then also writing it in a way that it can still be an enjoyable fic for those who might not usually read that trope but are still choosing to give it a chance. (Like myself, though I've still read plenty of it over the years.)

21.) Not all relationships are romantic. What's your favorite non-romantic relationship that you've written about?

Lisa and Hartley as QPPs. Clicking as friends at first but the later coming to realize how important they are to each other and how comfortably they've just kind of come to living together... the Missy Verse is probably one of my favorite little ongoing series because of them. I may not add to the series a lot, but when I do it tends to be heavy on the side of looking at how their relationship grows from a regular platonic relationship into a much more queerplatonic ship.

[penelopelima]

I find it fascinating that, still today, you can't escape this take that everyone now seems to agree on. "The Hunger Games was about the horrors and the oppression, and Suzanne Collins intended to criticize the media by subverting romantic tropes and highlighting how they focus on easy, star-crossed lovers stories instead of the deeper thematic elements at play. Oh, and the movie is responsible for focusing too much on romance, the books are nothing like that."

Be honest with me. Do you really think that intention was well executed? I mean, sure, some of that was there. But it falls really short. Sure, the Capitol exploited their fake love-affair and they had to play into it to survive. Except that no, that was only on Katniss' part, Peeta was crushing from the beginning, and she ended up reciprocating.

There ended up being a very real romance arc that vertebrated the trilogy. The characters involved are very preoccupied with their interpersonal drama, their hurt feelings, their miscomunication, their sacrifice for each other. Come on, Katniss prioritizes saving him over challenging the system all the time. She only commits to the rebellion as a result of seeing him reject her due to brainwashing, in a sort of "well if you don't love me I guess I'll just die then". In fact, the only character within the triangle that was actually more interested in overthrowing the dictatorship ended up, in true American media fashion, being villainized for it, his characterization becoming very much an unsympathetic caricature of the typical "you become what you once hated" trope. Which was unneeded, by the way, since you already had the full-circle revolution trope and the leader of the revolution who is deep down just as bad as the dictator trope. Like, Suzanne, you could have done with a bit of nuance by not making every main supporter of overthrowing the Capitol a crazed maniac.

The real message of the Hunger Games books was very much "you can disagree with an unfair system, but the moment your motivations go beyond pure survival or protecting loved ones, you may just become an extremist."

You will see this take of The Hunger Games not being about romance so often that it almost manipulates your memories about reading it, tbh. So many people say there was no love triangle. False, there was. I've seen even some people say that Katniss and Gale had only platonic feelings for each other. False, Gale was pretty clearly interested in her from the beginning, and Katniss contemplated the idea of a relationship with him several times throughout the books. Why is everyone saying that the books had no triangle, and that this was a marketing ploy for the movie exclusively? Have you collectively decided to forget the text?

I read them when they came out, while I was a teen, and I still found the romance arc endlessly frustrating and truly anticlimatic. The weakest part of the story. So, I get that Suzanne Collins might have had that intention in mind when writing, but she could have been much more groundbreaking by actually making the romance purely fabricated for the sake of talk shows and sponsors. Instead of dragging that "love triangle and fake relationship but deep down real relationship angst and pining", which really watered down the tone. You can't say there's romance subversion when the romance can be accurately summarized in ao3 tags.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with writing or reading romance. I just cannot for the life of me fathom why so many people are denying its existence in the books, or downplaying its importance in the narrative.

[coraniaid]

Willow Rosenberg for the character ask game!

Favorite thing about them

When I first watched Buffy as a kid I overidentified with Willow to a worrying and slightly obnoxious degree.  She was smart! And funny! And had hidden depths!  And was occasionally callous and strange.  All very relatable.

(And I for one found it completely believable that Willow could teach a class despite not even being a senior yet.  I mean, I was pretty sure I could do that, if only anybody had thought to ask me....)

She's not my favorite character anymore, but I still like her a lot.  

I think she's probably the second best realized character across the whole show, with a narrative arc that nobody other than Buffy can really compete with.  And I think it's great how so much of what she does, even in the later seasons, can be explained by her character in the first couple of seasons: her attempts to live up to being Ms. Calendar's replacement;  her instincts to take charge in a crisis; her need to always be helpful so that people she cares about will want her around.

Least favorite thing about them

There are a few subplots with Willow that I don't think really work.  The secret affair with Xander, just after the show went out of its way to confirm that she'd moved on from pining over him.  The 'magic is a drug and Willow is an addict' subplot, that briefly threatens to derail all the character progression she's had over the past six years.  But what the show does to her relationship with Buffy in the second half of season 7 is the low point, probably.  I mean, she kicks her best friend out of her own house so that Faith can be in charge?  Willow does this?  I don't think so.

Speaking of Faith, I also have very different emotions watching Willow tell Faith "It's way too late" to redeem herself in Choices these days than I did when I first watched the episode.  ("You had friends in your life like Buffy"?  Did she, Will?  Friends, plural? Are you sure about that?  Could you name two of them?)  If I think about it for too long, it makes me a little sad that the reaction I had to this scene aged thirteen ("go Willow!") was probably closer to what I think the writers intended.

Favorite line

"I knew it!  I knew it!  Well, not ‘knew it’ in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know!"

brOTP

Xander.

Actually, this was almost also my answer for the nOTP question as well: Willow's early crush on Xander is kind of adorable (if often inexplicable, given what we see of early Xander), but I'm really glad the show doesn't have them end up together.

Willow's friendship with Xander over the course of the show is really great though.  And I think it works particularly well post-Season 4, when ... yeah, they don't really have much in common, but they still have all that shared history that they don't have with anybody else, and they still obviously mean a lot to each other.

OTP

Oh, Tara, for sure.

(I mean, I love Oz, I think he's great, and I'm still mad about how he gets written out of the show in Season 4, but there can only be one answer to this question, right?)

nOTP

Hmm.  I don't particularly dislike Kennedy as a character -- and the truth is she's one of the only Potentials who I can easily remember -- but I do think the writers rush Willow into a relationship with her a lot faster than they should have done after Tara died.  (On the other hand, given how quickly Willow herself tries to set Buffy up with Scott Hope after sending Angel to hell, and how much importance she puts on being in a romantic relationship generally throughout the show, I guess it's not exactly out of character for Willow either.)  Kennedy has the bad luck of only being in my least favorite  season of the show though, so.

Also, and I know this is one of those worldbuilding questions I'm in danger of thinking about more than the writers ever did, but. I can't really wrap my head around how Kennedy can be young enough to still be a potential Slayer -- when we know from the Cruciamentum that all Slayers are called sometime before their eighteenth birthday or not at all -- and yet old enough to be in a relationship with Willow, who's presumably at least 21 years old when they meet.  (I think the show just ignores the Cruciamentum, right?)

Random headcanon

I don’t really see how Jesse and Willow can ever have been friends, given (among other things) their very different attitudes towards Cordelia Chase.  So although we see them hanging out in the first episode, I think this is one of those cases of two people associating because they have a friend in common – and not many other friends – even though they can’t actually stand each other.

(This also helps explain why Willow never talks about Jesse after he dies.)

Unpopular opinion

Honestly, I think it's kind of sad that Willow didn't get to go to any of the fancy colleges she was accepted into.

I mean, sure, she chooses not to go, and I know lots of people find that empowering or encouraging.  And of course, not everybody has to go to the most prestigious academic institutions they can, and it's not the end of the world if you don't go the 'best' college.  And I know that, on a more practical level, Willow had to go to UC Sunnydale if she was going to stay as a regular on the show.

But at the same time, when I see Willow and Buffy argue in the later seasons, when I see Willow feel resentful about being in Buffy's shadow and being seen as her sidekick, when she clearly has so much free time on her hands that she fills up with learning more and more magic,  I can't help but think that -- if Willow were a real person -- she'd have a been a lot happier at Harvard or Oxford or somewhere else where she might have actually been challenged academically for once in her life.  And that her relationship with Buffy might have been healthier if she hadn’t given up that future for her.

Song I associate with them

I'm going to be painfully literal here and stick with Michelle Branch's Goodbye To You.

Favorite picture of them

Not my favorite episode, as I've said before, but I love the awkward little wave Willow offers Oz when she's pretending to be her vampire alter ago in Doppelgangland

[twstwonderlandstuff]

valencia karasu hc's (1)

profession-wise in the future, valencia will either be a drummer or a cafe owner

she'll also have 3 kids; 1 girl, 2 boys, all in the age difference by 2, along with 1 kitten and grim, ofc

valencia has a dating simulator character that she's been pining strongly over for 4 years

he's a knight, similar to silver and the sleepy kind (like silver)

she has merch and a shrine for him in her room. very gung ho on marrying him and taking him as her wife

has a 2 part powerpoint presentation on WHY he is so wifey

valencia bursts into tears at the sight of a pretty boy

e.g.: vil schoenheit, epel felmier, silver

valencia and grim WILL match outfits by enlisting vil's help. they're almost always matching

valencia has a small chest, so she cross dresses to make up for it. I mean, might as well, right?

has a very deep voice and can be easily mistaken as a man. sort of sounds like a mix of lilia and sebek? yeah

has coerced deuce into asking jack and sebek why their boobs are so big. ace is there too, coercing deuce. gets pummeled by the both of them in the end

very ticklish!!! is often how the other students get their revenge on her

gives grim little forehead kisses and raspberries on his stomach

her love language is physical touch! will platonically kiss friends because you don't KISS your homies goodnight?! you fuckin disappointment 🔫 LMAO

uses ppt presentations for explanations. v good at editing them (meme wise)

okay i am between making her super short or like 172 cm...

it's way funnier if she's short so...

VALENCIA IS 145 CM SHORTER THAN ORTHO HAAAAA

HOWS THE WEATHER DOWN THERE SHORT ASS LMAOOOO BET YA CAN'T EVEN TOUCH ME

oh that being said she'll climb jack as a challenge

also she calls sebek a halfling to assert DOMINANCE

she likes wearing cold shoulder turtlenecks, but also likes her back exposed! she also likes wearing short skirts (above the knee) and thigh highs, but do not worry, because she's wearing pants underneath 👍

also has a cat patterned jacket that has a very simple stitch pattern of a cat

speaking off, has once accidentally flashed herself in front of the whole class. did not come to school for 1 week. vivica had to drag her out her room LMAO

eats chocolate ice cream as a comfort food

oh!!! also has a lot of crushes on people! men, women, whoever it is, she'll crush on you, so i guess a romantic? hmm not sure though

she has a lot of fleeting crushes, but longer standing crushes do exist! started when she was about... 6, 7? yeah

absolute bloody besties with vivica (her cousin)! they get along like bread and butter

ace, her annoying brother-in-arms. had a momentary crush on him before going 'are you fuckin insane??? HIM??? no.' otherwise very good friends who like pranking deuce hehe >:D

deuce, her better brother-in-arms. very easy to tease. he's also the partial reason she hides her gender because... have you seen ghost marriage deuce trying to woo eliza?

lands on silver as her long time crush. the music club knows about it and the first years know about it

once she has a crush its really easy for it to slip out between friends

oh yeah she's also part of the music club! good at drumming, and I mean good. too bad i dunno anything about drums or i coulda added some trivia here LOL

is trying her best to court silver but ITS NOT WORKING LILIA GIVE MY GIRL A HAND STOP LAUGHING AT HER PLEASE SHE IS ON HER KNEES

[littlemisssquiggles]

I love rose garden 😍

I think oscar hasn't dated much at best maybe a girl or to in school or a girl is age is ant set him up with ,so he maybe knows how to date,

I don't think ruby dose,I don't think her date let her date,am after becane fail ,I don't think dating on her mind but I think at some point after,salem gone

Ruby and Oscar will start dating as the show ends I could maybe see them having an on screen kiss in the last volume

Do you think ,rose garden will kiss or date

Sorry if u been ask this be for

You and I share the same sentiments about this wholesome ship between these two budding smaller, more honest souls, anon-chan. Personally I agree with you on thinking that Oscar has probably never dated or been in a romantic relationship before. My assumption is that Oscar has lived a pretty sheltered life with his only source of human contact and companionship being his family back on the Pine Family farm.

Since Oscar stated that he never met huntsmen and huntresses before back in V5, my assumption was that he and his aunt probably lived in the middle of nowhere in Anima where the closest neighbours were probably towns away. Either that or many of their local neighbours moved to the kingdom for the protection of the huntsmen. That being said, my hunch was that Oscar didn’t interact much with kids, especially ones around his age growing up which would explain his social awkwardness when meting RNJR for the first time. At least he’s courteous to adults highlighting a good boi (best boi) who was raised right by his family.

I also liked the thought of Ruby being the first girl Oscar ever truly had a genuine crush leading to those feelings ultimately evolving into love. Looking at Oscar, I more saw him as being one of those types who didn’t really bother much about romance; so much so that I imagined Oscar would be so inexperienced to love that he wouldn’t even realize his own feelings until someone else had to help him make the realization for himself.

I saw Oscar as the type who only allows love to blossom if it’s with someone he trusts wholeheartedly since to him, trust is everything and he’s not one to open his heart to any and every one. But once he does and he’s found the one who has tamed his heart, he will be ever devoted to said person; loving and supporting them unconditionally with every bit of his being.

I pictured Ruby being the same as Oscar. For me, I think outside of admiring them in her favourite childhood fairy-tales and supporting the relationships between her friends in real life, Ruby is quite the little red novice to romance herself. I perceived her as not really being all that interested in romance too since the feeling has never really hit her before. Unlike other characters she might know, the little light of love has never sparked in Ruby before so much like Oscar, she strikes me as being another who probably wouldn’t realize she was in love with someone even if Cupid damn right thwacked her over the head.

That being said, this is what makes the potential of a Rosegarden romance so fascinating to me and why I like it so much. At the end of the day, Ruby and Oscar are just two kids fitted with roles of responsibility beyond their years. They are both often looked to as figures of guidance and wisdom or at least are expected to. All the more reason why I love how the show has highlighted the two showing support for one another since, within our main group of young heroes, they share the most in common (at least in my humble opinion) and can understand each other in ways unique to them; thus making their bond more meaningful than any others they might share.

At this point, I can’t really say whether or not romance is in the cards for the rosebuds. Don’t get me wrong. As I’ve voiced multiple times in the past, this squiggly Rosegardening Pinehead is all for Ruby and Oscar falling in love with each other (particularly if it parallels the Fairy-tale romance that happened between Ozma and Salem a long time ago only with a much happier ending and happily ever after). I’m down for a Rosegarden romance but whether that will be is up to the showrunners. I’m not sure if Ruby and Oscar will “date” but I do like the idea of them sharing an onscreen kiss.

As a matter of fact, once upon a time, long before it was revealed that Oscar will be kidnapped by Salem, I was one of the theorists who kept advocating for it. Therefore I had concocted this scene in my head where Salem gives Atlas an ultimatum to surrender Oscar over to her in exchange for sparing the kingdom from annihilation. And while his comrades were strongly against this, Oscar, on the other hand, had made up his mind that he was willing to trade his own life if it meant the protection of everyone.

I had this scene of Ruby and Oscar professing their true feelings for one another after Ruby desperately tried to convince Oscar not to give himself up to Salem. I had this idea of the Rosegarden first kiss mimicking the first on-screen kiss between Katara and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In that series, Aang kissed Katara after expressing his concerns of never returning from confronting Fire Lord Ozai. And as Katara goes in to object, Aang kisses her on the spot as his way of letting Katara know his true feelings for her just in case he never got the chance.

For me, I pictured something like this being done for Oscar with Ruby. With him kissing her as a means of letting her know right then and there how much he loved her; just in case he didn’t return to her in the event that Salem  killed him.

I even had this idea of “I love you” being the very last thing Oscar says tearfully to Ruby before he is taken prisoner  by Salem and she and the others are left to die in the destruction of Atlas Kingdom. Even if we never get a Rosegarden onscreen kiss, I personally would still like the show to confirm Oscar having feelings for Ruby.

The longstanding Pinehead headcanon is that Oscar has a crush on Ruby and has been in love with her since the moment he looked into his silver eyes; paralleling the young man who met the lone Silver Eyed Warrior in the Warrior in the Woods tale from Fairy Tales of Remnant.

That being said, I’m waiting (ever so patiently) to see if the show would…y’know…do something more to make the notion of Oscar being in love with Ruby more official since I feel like they’ve been more or less teasing that since V5. It’s obvious that Oscar cares a lot for Ruby. It’s clear that he admires her and looks to her as a symbol of hope. However at the same time, it is also clear that Oscar acknowledges Ruby’s vulnerability (the side that she rarely likes to show but is evident to certain characters like Oscar and even Maria Calavera and of course, us as the audience) and the huge burden of responsibility placed on her shoulders and does his best to support her when he can in his own way.

But does this mean that Oscar is in love with Ruby? I’d like to think he is but I’m waiting on the canon to confirm since I feel like they’ve building up to it since the very moment Oscar met Ruby. I don’t know whether or not romance is in the cards for the rosebuds but what I can say for sure is that something important has been building between these two kids since V5 and I’d like to think thatV8 is the time to actually prove this or not since Oscar is expected to be taken by Salem at some point.

Not to mention that he’s also supposed to be dead a la Ironwood and I’m still waiting to see if that will be mentioned at any point by Ironwood when RWBN_P go to confront him up in Amity.

But we’ll have to wait to see what happens anon-chan. But whether or not, Rosegarden is carded to be together or not, let me say this, fam. I’ve voiced this point possibly several times in the past but given the nature of this fandom and how certain-certain shippers are behaving these days, this squiggle meister is going to make this firm statement.

Just like you anon-chan, I love Rosegarden too (if it isn’t obvious already XD). As a RWBY ship, they are my OTP and I adore this ship very much for the potential it has. Despite my own personal gripes with the writing of the show, if there is one thing I will give to the CRWBY Writers is that thus far, I’ve enjoyed the progress they have made with the growing bond between Ruby and Oscar. It is thanks to them and the things they have done with these two why I like them so much and humbly look forward to whatever else they have in store for their growing bond.

That being said, while I might love Rosegarden and why I may even wish for the series to pursue a romance with them---at the end of the day, that is NOT my ONLY motive for supporting this pair. It’s not even my main motive.

I don’t love Rosegarden solely because I want the showrunners to make them endgame and should the showrunners not do so, I will hate them forever. That’s NOT it. That’s not how I am as a person. I have always, ALWAYS said that whatever the showrunners do with this pair---whether it becomes a romance or stays purely platonic, I will respect it.

And even now, as we’re entering a new season, I stand by that. Regardless of what the showrunners choose to do with Rosegarden, as a supporter of the pair, I will respect it and it will NOT deter me from giving the pair as much love and support as I’ve always done.

Basically---in a nutshell, if Rosegarden becomes canon, this squiggle meister will support it. But if Rosegarden doesn’t become canon, guess what? This squiggle meister will still love and support it. How about that, huh?

I feel the need to express this now because there honestly seems to be this weird vibe in the FNDM in respect to Rosegarden and its community. It always annoyed me how certain-certain shippers and their respective community would go around the place acting as if their favoured ship was better than others even going so far as to bully other shipping communities because of it. In my opinion, there is no need for that. Just like what you like. Enjoy it however you wish and be respectful enough to allow others to do the same. That’s how I’ve always looked at it and that’s how I move.  

And that’s one thing that made me appreciate the RG community. For the most part, all of us share that same sentiment. We love our ship but we respect other ships and their respective shippers. Probably because some RG shippers are multi-shippers. While I’m not a multi-shipper--- since I more tend to latch onto one favoured ship and stick with it till the end---this is one thing that I liked and respected a lot about the RG community.

…Which is why it honestly disgusts me when I see the things that certain-certain shippers say about us.

What’s even worse is that even when we attempt to defend ourselves, somehow that proves to make things worse than better because then other certain-certain shippers start implying that we’re fighting a war with certain-certain ships when in reality, we’re not fighting anything. We’re just shielding ourselves against the nonsense the other people are sparking.

We didn’t start the fire yet…we’re being held responsible for it by association and even when we try to out the fire, somehow we still get chastised both by the folks who hate us and the ones we hoped would understand. It is honestly a mess and if you’re unware of it then stay oblivious, fam.

For the longest while I have heard stories about the toxicity within the RWBY shipping communities. But back in those earlier times, the toxicity was mainly contained to a few certain-certain ships and their shippers. Now it may seem that the toxicity is starting to spread into the RG community. Not in the form of us becoming toxic ourselves in our own behaviour towards other ships but more in the sense of certain-certain shippers kicking up dirt and trying to start fights with the RG community by making arguments against us whether it be here on Tumblr or Twitter or the dreaded cesspool that is the RWBY Reddit community.

And…sadly to say, I’m seeing some of my fellow Rosegardeners taking the bait and…that honestly needs to stop.

That type of attitude is one of the reasons why I’ve started to slowly back out of the RWBY community. That doesn’t mean that I’m jumping ship. I’m still following the RWBY train---just picture it more as me following it alone from the comfort and sanctity of my own little squiggle mobile gently chugger-chugging down the tracks. This way I can enjoy the show the way how I want to only engaging when I feel like it and more importantly, staying very, very, VERY FAR away from all the chaos that I’ve seen stirring up for seasons.

I still like the show and I’m still very much invested in seeing where it goes, particular with Rosegarden but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t becoming increasingly difficult for me to just enjoy the things that I genuinely like about RWBY.

Rosegarden and the development of these two smaller, more honest souls (individually and as a pair) are two of the things I still really like about RWBY. However I’m honestly tired of going on the tags and seeing my fellow RG shippers sharing and responding to the discourse surrounding the ship sparked by certain-certain shippers.

I’m tired of seeing all the weak strawman arguments made by said certain-certain shippers against RG and why they believe their ship is superior and more likely to become canon and whatever. Like seriously? WHO CARES!

I’m tired of it all and I genuinely wish my fellow RG shippers would stop answering these types of people. When will you learn that you are fighting a losing battle? It doesn’t matter how many posts you make. How much good evidence you provide from the show or the showrunners. Even if you are in the right, it all doesn’t matter. These types of people don’t care. All that matters for them is stirring up nonsense and throwing hissy fits when they don’t get their way. It is childish behaviour at display and nothing anyone says will stop it. So why even bother to entertain it at all?  

This is not me trying to knock down my fellow Rosegardeners in the RG community or even me throwing shade at others to “start shit”---I’m just…tired!  Tired of seeing that shit, y’know what I mean?

Shipping is supposed to be fun. Happy fun times where you get to gush and nerd out about your favourite pairings, not really because them becoming canon was all that important but just because you like it. What happened to just liking something and having a perfect platform to like it and enjoy it with others who feel the same way about it with you…IN PEACE? No malice. No disrespect. No fighting over which ship is going to be canon endgame (as if the canon means jack-shit in the long-run because look at Zutara, Sheith and Klance for Pete’s sake). I dunno. Overall, I’m just tired of the RWBY shipping community as a whole and it’s becoming tough just to have fun being a Rosegarden shipper anymore. So I think stepping back is a good way to go. 

Sorry if this response went off course anon-chan. It’s just that your question motivated me to express things that’s been on my chest for some time. I hope you don’t mind and hopefully I was able to give you a decent answer in all of this. Feel free to let me know or not.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello! I was wondering if you had any advice for my scenario: I don't think I am anything but heterosexual (most of my crushes have been women) but I think I might be potentially interested in my best friend (to give a description, he's gay himself)? I dunno, I think about the possibility and I'm not entirely adverse to the idea. I remember even cuddling with him and liking it. I don't know what to do or how to feel. Any advice?

Hi Nonny!

First of all, it’s totally okay to be confused about who you are and what you’re feeling: despite what the media and bigots want you to believe, sexuality is fluid and sometimes it really is “straight with an exception” as cringy as some people make that out to be. 

Second of all, I’m not an expert, so this is my disclaimer to say that take my words with a grain of salt; I have never had any serious relationship in my life, but I’ve spent endless hours consoling my friends with my thoughts, so hopefully that will help you

Finally, I’m assuming you are self-identified as a male since you do offer a pronoun for your friend, and given the context of the wording of this ask, it’s the deduction I’m making here.

Now that that’s all done and done: IT’S OKAY. Sometimes, we discover things late in life about ourselves *coughs* either due to environment or our own ignorance, and when we take a moment to sit down and self reflect, the whole world suddenly clicks. It IS a scary thing to think you’re one thing but as our understanding of sexuality continues to expand pretty much daily, the more everything starts to make sense. Lovely, it could be anything from just feeling comfortable around your friend to actual attraction. I think with men, it’s difficult to parse those feelings because you guys are forced to not engage in them because “it’s not manly” or “you’re such a girl if you do” (which I don’t understand why that’s an insult but go off I guess). For that reason, my heart hurts for guys because societal norms dictate that you aren’t allowed to discover yourself. It’s slowly getting better, but there’s still a lot of work to do. 

So in that sense, Nonny, I understand why you may be confused and unsure, especially if you may have been brought up to bottle up those feelings or to not be allowed to self-reflect. I’m here to tell you: IT’S OKAY. Be emotional. YOU ARE HUMAN, and as such, we are emotional creatures. I’d rather you cry and talk about them than bottle up your emotions to a point where they convert into anger and bitterness.

So, back to your question after my little tangent there. I’m NOT going to label you, Lovely, that’s not my place, but many-a-people I’ve talked to mention similar feelings when realizing that they were bi- or pan- romantic/sexual, and only realized it later BECAUSE they were in similar situations or escaped confining lives that shunned anything other than the heteronormative.

Sexuality is a GINORMOUS scale that ranges from “not at all”(sexuality) to “very very”(sexuality) and there’s so much in between that, that it’s PERFECTLY NORMAL to possibly be “straight with an exception” if THAT’S the label YOU choose for yourself. I’m not going to tell you “nope, you’re bi, sorry”. That’s not my place. You know yourself better than some rando blogger on the internet, LOL. THAT SAID Lovely, I am going to encourage you to at least sit down and do a LOT of internal self-reflection, and reading up on sexuality on Wikipedia, or, just doing a bit of Googling I found the Bisexuality Resource Centre and I don’t know what its reputation is amongst other bis, but just like AVEN helped me as a STARTING POINT to understanding who I am, perhaps that site will also help you as you begin this journey. From there, like I did, you’ll find some terms and other books you can read and Google and begin to formulate your own opinions and understanding about you. Here’s an interesting article on wikiHow that talks about trying to define friendship from romantic feelings. And another one here from Psychology Today on Platonic love. 

So, where does that leave you with your friend, then? I think it’s important for me to note here that it’s VERY IMPORTANT that through your journey, you NEED to also take your friend’s feelings into consideration; PLEASE don’t lead him on if you have no intention of following through. It’s very possible that you and your best friend are just SO comfortable with each other that seeking physical contact is y’all’s way of expressing your appreciation and platonic love for each other. Chances are good, depending on where you live, that he feels constantly on-guard when he’s in public and when he’s with his family, so letting his guard down around you is a high honour that you should NOT exploit. Cuddle and hug, there’s nothing wrong with that; there IS such a thing and queerplatonic life partners / relationships (my best friends have this very thing, in fact), and you guys could love each other very much and get everything you need out of a relationship without sex.

Here’s where it gets tricky and scary, though, Lovely, and it may be better to address it before it morphs into something that will irreparably damage your friendship. I think in this case it may be worth talking to your friend about your confusion, but don’t necessarily say it’s because of him. Express to him that you’ve been having some feelings lately that you’re not sure about, and you’re currently trying to learn about yourself and his opinions and strength will be valued. If he is your best friend, he will encourage you and be a shoulder for you while you navigate your emotions. He should be able to provide you with that “in the know” knowledge of how you can understand yourself so that you will be happier and less confused. Men so often don’t talk about their feelings, and trust me, it will be beneficial to you in this case, I think. Talking makes it REAL. Keeping it to yourself only internalizes it and can fester wrong conclusions.

Will it become awkward between y’all? Maybe, possibly, or not. The cuddles may stop, if only so that you guys don’t get your feelings mixed up with your friendship. But know that everything will be OKAY at the end of it all. My self-discovery journey took 4 years, so it’s NOT an overnight thing. But having someone you trust to talk about it, and to acknowledge it makes you feel more valid. And in the end, if it becomes something else or not, at least you know a lot more about you and about where you want to stand in your relationship with your best friend.

Now, I’ve avoided saying this next bit up until this point because the important thing to focus on is YOU, BUT. There’s ALSO the slight possibility that you guys got yourself into a Sherlock-and-John situation where he’s ENDLESSLY pining for his only-dated-women-since-we’ve-been-together best friend, and he’s keeping quiet because he loves you and your friendship is more important to him than losing you… which is why he allows the cuddles with you. IF that scenario is the case, AGAIN, you guys NEED to talk about it so you’re not leading each other on. A strong friendship will survive an emotional upheaval / revelation like that, and even if nothing comes of it, you guys will still be besties.

Bah, sorry it took me so long to answer this, Lovely. I was crying the whole time I wrote this because I’m a sap and it reminds me of my own “oh shit I’m not broken” moment. That and I am SO worried that your friendship will break, but you guys seem to be very close so the TL;DR version of this is: TALK. Honestly, many problems are solved with open and honest communication, and having someone close to you hold your hand on your journey will be a welcome thing to have.

In the end, this is YOUR decision to make, so have a think on it, weigh your options, and do what your heart feels is right.

If any of my followers experienced something similar, or if I have erred anywhere, please feel free to add your own, Lovelies, so that Nonny doesn’t feel so alone and so that they can know that everything will be alright.