#link is canonically cis in many of the games

[smilesrobotlover]

💛💖🏳️‍🌈?

💛 what’s a popular ship you can’t get behind and why?

Totk zelink, botw zelink, aoc zelink, just that entire zelink. Idk why, there is def chemistry, I just don’t like it. I actually have the entire zelink tag blocked cuz I’m sick of seeing them 💀 I’m kinda on the fence with zelink in general but that specific one I do not like.

💖 what is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series?

Kinda broad there XD idk, I guess phantom hourglass doesn’t deserve all the hate it gets and it’s not a bad game in general. Sure some can say it’s the worst in the series but to say it’s a bad game? Nuh-uh, that’s just wrong. There are much worse games out there I assure you. Phantom hourglass is flawed but there are so many GREAT things about it! Idk if that’s very unpopular tho, a lot of people have started liking it lol.

I guess a better unpopular opinion is that the ocean king temple isn’t that big of a pain to get through? At least if you know what you’re doing and if you don’t have a guide, it’s actually very fun to explore the temple. But this one I def understand the hate even tho my opinion has changed on it lol

🏳️‍🌈 any characters that are seen as queer but you don’t see them that way?

😳 do I even want to MENTION this? A specific character does not really come to mind truthfully, but I am sick and tired of people saying that Link can’t be cis or whatever. Like yes he’s androgynous for us to project ourselves onto him, and so people have every right to project their headcanons onto him and make him trans, gay, etc. but others also have a right to make him not queer. Now I really don’t have many lgbt+ headcanons about a lot of Zelda characters (save a few) so I ultimately don’t care about others having queer headcanons, and if you want to make Link or any Zelda character lgbt+ then go ahead! I admit I do that with some of the characters that I do have headcanons for! But if you believe that a link can’t be cis and straight because “that goes against his androgyny” you’re actually stupid. Cis people can be androgynous. Straight people can be androgynous. Nobody fits these perfect little boxes. I think we should just be respectful to headcanons and understand that none of them are actual canon, therefore people can do whatever they want 🤷‍♀️ no need to gatekeep or force people to have headcanons that simply aren’t canon, ok?

[aretheyqueer]

Is your blorbo gay? trans? ace? Does no one else see the vision?

Then welcome to @/aretheyqueer where we vote to determine who's lgbt and who's not. Everything decided through this will legally become canon. (Unless you don't want it to be).

The blog is run by an agender bisexual-ish person. My pronouns are they/them. I also run @do-you-ship-it-polls and @do-you-know-this-baby (way too many)

I have anonymous asks turned off, but feel free to dm me if there's something you'd like to ask/say privately.

Clarification:

With lgbt+, I include anything you can think of basically. Lesbian, gay, bi, asexual, aromantic, pansexual, intersex, xenogenders. However, this is only for non-canon identities. If they are canonically lgbt, then I highly recommend @do-you-know-this-queer-character and @douknowthisgaydisabledcharacter

This is all meant in good fun. Providing a reason for your claim sounds more exciting, but you can submit based on vibes or because you want to. A character can take part in multiple polls. A man can be headcanoned as a lesbian. If you believe it in your heart, it can become reality.

Credit:

I use the pride-themed hearts dividers made by @cafekitsune (link).

Submission rules:

Submissions are currently open. When they are closed, if you see a character in the queue that you'd like to send propaganda/reasoning for, you can dm me or send me an ask with your addition. I won't publish these asks.

Submit through the form above please!

No real people unless its funny (things like BSD and the Hamilton musical is ok)

They cannot be confirmed to be the identity you're requesting - but they can show traits for it. A wlw character can get a poll as a lesbian or bisexual, for example. An unspecified non-cis character can get a poll as nonbinary. Etc.

This will not be followed 100% because I am dumb. don't kill me

No Harry Potter, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. Sorry!

Here is a spreadsheet of submissions i've received, in case you don't want to submit something that's already submitted, or want to add additional propaganda/reasoning.

It doesn't update automatically, so your request won't shop up immediately.

Fandom jail

None!

Tags:

#gay , #lesbian , #trans etc for each label.

The exception here is #intersex headcanon - which will be used in order to not take away from the information featured in the intersex tag since this was requested.

#anime , #tv shows , #video games etc for each media.

#asks , #not a poll

Updates:

Submissions are currently open.

Please behave <3

[oddmawd]

THE ART OF QUEEN SACRIFICE - A Dark Doflamingo Romance

SUMMARY: In chess, a player commits “queen sacrifice” by intentionally giving up their queen to gain a significant strategic or material advantage upon the board. But life is not a game of chess, and such strategies are easier prescribed than practiced — a lesson the princess of Mary Geoise will personally learn when she offers her hand in marriage to the infamous pirate warlord Doflamingo in order to spare her beloved kingdom from his wrath. [Pirate!Doflamingo x Princess!OC. Unnamed/undescribed OC for x-reader fans.] [Pirate AU. Yes, a pirate AU for One Piece. It makes sense in context, promise.]

TAGS & CONTENT WARNINGS

AO3 Link - This fic is hosted in its entirety exclusively on AO3

FANDOM: One Piece

PAIRINGS: Doflamingo x OC (can be read as Doffy x Reader)

RATING: E(xplicit)

WORD COUNT: 8 chapters total, 75k+ words

GENRE: Dark Romance

TAGS: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Stalking, Manipulation, Emotional Manipulation, Intrigue, Corruption, Chess, Chess Metaphors, Strategy & Tactics, Yandere, Yandere Donquixote Doflamingo, Pirates, Princes & Princesses, Eventual S m u t, Romance, Dark Fantasy, Non-Linear Narrative, Fairy tale vibes, Cis Female Reader, Cis Female OC

WARNINGS: Canon-typical violence, s m u t in chapters 6-8, Doflamingo is a manipulative bastard

CHAPTER 1 - EXCERPT

The princess of Mary Geoise stood upon the balcony to watch her beloved kingdom burn.

She dressed plainly for the occasion. No finery, no frills, no fuss. That night she wore but a simple gown and plain shoes, bare of all regalia but the bauble she never took from around her pretty neck. She clutched this necklace in her shaking hands for comfort. Most days she hid it beneath her clothes, tucked under modest necklines and away from the prying eyes of her maids and watching father, but the time for such caution had passed.

They were almost at the end, now. Her father could levy no punishments graver than what awaited her come dawn.

“My lady.”

The third and newly appointed general of her father’s armies — for their enemies had slain the first and his replacement alike — bowed upon the flagstones at her feet. Distant fire reflected in the depths of his worried eyes. The princess could not remember his name, though she recalled the black tattoos upon his hands well enough. She bade him stand with a nod, gaze returning to the tableau of destruction playing out before her. Fire had not yet touched the noble quarter, but sparks rose to the stars at the city’s edge, spreading inward through the other districts in a sullen, rust-red ring.

“What news?” she asked with the taste of ash upon her tongue.

“Our blockade has fallen. Pirate forces breached the city walls.”

She closed her eyes. “How many?”

“A-all of them.” The general swallowed. “The Pirate Warlord sent them all.”

From his rightful place atop the conquered throne, her weary father murmured, “Don’t…don’t call him that.”

The wan-faced king sat slumped, mouth slick with wine, fingers clasped around the neck of the seventh bottle he’d downed since news broke of the pirates reaching his kingdom’s shore. He did not look like a king that night. Tonight, he was just a man, the dignity of his station crumbling in the face of imminent defeat.

And like a diamond that had lost its luster, he was ignored. “Pirate ships block the harbor,” said the general. He answered to her, now — a princess in name but the kingdom’s queen in practice.  Especially after the secrets that had recently come to light. “There can be no escape. Not anymore.”

He needn’t have said it. The princess already knew. A game of Monarchic Chess sat behind her, half complete, tiles of the board arranged in the shape of her kingdom, the game of this attack splayed out upon them in perfect, miniature detail. But although the game was not yet finished, she could already predict the outcome. The number of ships, the element of surprise, the pirate warlord’s tactics…her forces were outgunned, and with no warning to aid them, they were outmaneuvered, too. The blockade had been naught but a desperate, last-ditch effort to repel his forces, her final attempt to save them — to save not only herself and the monarchy, but to save the people she had vowed to protect. Her people were the ones who truly mattered in this scenario. She had known her efforts would fail from the outset, and that she acted on their behalf in vain, but hope compelled her try for one last chance at victory.

A chance now slipping through her fingers, as impossible to grasp as hope itself.

“Thank you, General.” She turned from him, and from her father, and returned her attention to the kingdom she had failed. “You are dismissed.”

But he did not leave. Instead he said: “There’s more.”

Bitter laughter charred her throat. “What more could there possibly be?”

“Messengers from the Pirate Warlord — from the enemy.” He corrected himself with a sideways glance at her father. “They came to tell us citizens have been taken hostage.”

Her blood ran cold. “How many?”

“Hundreds. Our operatives have confirmed it. They are gathered in groups, held at gunpoint.”

She considered this for a time. “And the Warlord’s demands in return for their safe release?”

“He…” The general looked as stunned as she felt. “He hasn’t made any.”

“So far,” the princess murmured. “There is still time yet.”

And so she waited. The general left. In his absence, advisors slinked from their hiding places in the shadows of the throne room to stand about like carrion, black-cloaked and beady-eyed, waiting for the corpse to pick clean with their sharp beaks. They wrung their hands, watching her. Whispered in her father’s ear, though he was too drunk to heed them. Many though they numbered, and brilliant in their own right, they were no help to the princess. They never had been, she ruefully mused. She alone had been their savior for many years, unknowing all the while, fighting their battles for them atop the Monarchic Chessboard. But now, even with eyes at last open to the truth, she was helpless to deliver them from this hell on earth.

It was over. It was well and truly over.

High in her tower above the city, the princess’s eyes burned as she gazed at the burning kingdom, lids heavy and thick in their struggle to remain open. So many sleepless nights. So many games played. So many tears spilled that evening, and in the many evenings before the Pirate Warlord attacked her borders outright. But all had been for naught, and now he marched upon her shores. Her enemy, her foe, her villain — he would be here soon. Soon, she would look the devil in the eye, and fall.

Unable to resist, she allowed her tired eyes to close. Smoke and ash rose from the burning city. Wind caressed her cheeks, her throat, even her hands as they clutched the necklace she loved so much. But the cold comfort of the jewel on her palm could not guard against the distant screams of her people as they were menaced by the pirates who had laid her father’s armies to waste. There could be no comfort for the princess as the noose prepared to pull tight around her throat. There could be no stopping the ring of fire sweeping toward her.

Closing her eyes was an insult to the citizens she had failed to protect. They did not have the luxury of awaiting their fate from the impersonal height of a palace tower. 

Thus, she opened them again to stare into the heart of her burning, beloved capital…but to her surprise, the image before her did not match the horrors in her head. The fiery horizon had not moved. The ring of fire had not closed. No, it somehow held steady, a constant halo of destruction that had moved not an inch deeper into the capital city and the palace waiting at its heart. The onslaught had been held at bay by…she knew not what. Had the invasion halted? But why?

What was the pirate warlord waiting for?

Her hands left the stone parapet along the balcony as she whirled to face the throne room.

“You there,” she asked, but the advisors scattered like crows under the stone of her gaze. She turned instead to the guard at the door. “Where is the general?”

“I can find him, Princess,” the guard said, scrambling. “I can — ”

He vanished through the huge oak doors. She returned her stare to the line of fire. Her knees ached from standing on the cold flagstones for hours on end. The princess had not moved since they received word of the unified pirate army’s invasion of the capital, but she refused to sink into despair alongside her wilting father. The bauble in her hand gave her strength. Oh, that beloved pink jewel she wore on its delicate chain — it gave her courage even when weariness clawed her eyes and dug sharp teeth into her psyche. She rolled it through her fingers, weighing it on her palm and giving the sparkling gem the smallest kiss when she thought no one was looking. The diamond held more than mere glitter or monetary value. It held the very core of her dreams in its facets, glinting back at her with a thousand possibilities and all the lives she might have lived had the unthinkable not occurred.

But the unthinkable had occurred. The war had been lost. The pirates had won. She would never be able to tell the person who had given her the gem how much his words had haunted her since their parting. She would never be able to tell him she wanted to reconsider the offer she had rejected. She would never be able to take his hand and say yes as she so longed to. That possibility had gone dark the moment the fires lit. If only she had met him in some other life, perhaps — 

The door opened, and the general said: “He has stopped advancing, Princess.”

She spun in a tangle of skirts. Once again the general knelt upon the stones behind her. Her father moaned atop the throne, but she hardly heard his cry of despair.

“Have our forces rallied?” she asked, but there was no hope in her heart. “I did not think they would be capable — ”

“No. They are not capable.” He passed a tattooed hand over his weary face. “He could press forward again at any time. He has the forces to destroy us in an instant.” But here he paused. “And yet.”

“And yet he has not.” Her hands fisted, fingernails scraping soft skin. “Why has that monster — ?” She shook her head. “He is just a man.”

“Princess?” asked her general.

“Never mind.” She dropped her hands and turned, head held high, tired eyes unyielding as they dragged her scattered advisors from the shadows. “Tell me again. Tell me everything you know about him.”

“We have told you everything already, Princess,” they whispered.

“Then tell me again,” demanded the princess, “about the Pirate Warlord Doflamingo.”

READ THE REST OF CHAPTER 1 ON AO3. CLICK HERE!

[th-ramblr]

Me? Making up an RP server? Why... yes. [Join Link] (18+)

Baldur's Dweebs is a loose campaign-style Baldur's Gate 3 Roleplay Server that seeks to recreate the BG3 experience through written roleplay and with a little more nuance than the game itself allows, welcoming writers of Origins, Canons, Tavs, and OCs alike.

Still actively looking for people to claim Lae'zel, Karlach, Halsin, and Minthara if those characters pique anyone's interest!

Most other non-Origin canons are also up for grabs.

OOC / Server Rules: (more complete rules in the discord)

Be Excellent To Each Other

No discrimination of any kind towards both "privileged" (white, male, cis, straight, able-bodied, neurotypical, etc) and "unprivileged" (poc, female, trans, LGB, disabled, etc) groups. Respect must go both ways or you're not welcome here.

Admins and Mods are people too. Treat us how you'd like to be treated.

If you feel that another user is acting inappropriately, please bring it to the attention of one of our staff. If you are having problems with a staff member, bring it to the admin. Staff are not exempt from rules.

Admins / staff are community advocates and mediators, but not babysitters. We expect you to do your own due diligence about communication.

Keep All Topics To Appropriate Channels.

Avoid political talk.

Vague-posting, passive aggressive commentary, or harassment aimed at other current group members is a kickable offense.

Participating in "callout culture" is a kickable offense, except in the following circumstances and with hard, irrefutable evidence of the accused crimes:

-Malicious stalking & hardblock evasion -Sexual harassment -Grooming (regardless of ages) -OOC Pedophilia / Hebephilia / Ephebophilia -Death threats -Suicide baiting &/or "kill yourself" type behaviors -Targeted hate, harassment, and cyber-bullying -Generally anything that would legally fall under "criminal actions" in a court of law

Roleplay Rules:

The "Canon Claims" channel is for those who would like to be the server's "Main" version of any Baldur's Gate 3 canon character (Astarion, Shadowheart, Gale, etc). The channel works on a first-come first-serve basis.

Duplicates are allowed, but not considered "canon" to server-wide events and can only be played in "Non-Canon threads". (See further down)

All RP channels are required to use appropriate tags for threads. These tags include Public, Private, NSFW, Canon, and AU/Non-Canon.

In order to request a thread be marked "Canon", you must request the tag from admins. This is to avoid accidentally mismarking a thread or mismarking a thread in bad faith.

Private threads should list participants. Those not listed should ask the thread starter for an invitation first if they'd like to join the thread.

Canon Threads will be held to a higher standard of quality and realism than AU/Non-Canon threads, in order to maintain a cohesive narrative.

Questions and Answers:

Q: Are Duplicates allowed? A: Yes and no. For "Canon Threads", there is only 1 version of each canon muse allowed server-wide. However, there is no limit on duplicates in "AU/Non-Canon" threads.

Q: How many characters am I allowed to play? A: Currently, we want to limit Origin and Companion Canon muses to one per person. There is no limit on Tavs/OCs, characters from other franchises translated into BG3 (from anime series, live action shows, video games, etc), or non-Companion canon characters (such as Cazador, Raphael, Scratch, Thorm, Orin, Gortash, Orpheus, etc).

Q: Am I required to play a character infected with an Illithid/Mind Flayer parasite? A: No. In fact, we encourage that some not be.

Claims: (updated 2/15/2024)

Lae'zel - unclaimed

Shadowheart - claimed

Astarion - claimed

Gale - claimed

Wyll - claimed

Karlach - unclaimed

Dark Urge - claimed

Halsin - unclaimed

Minthara - unclaimed

Minsc - unclaimed

Jaheria - unclaimed

The Emperor - unclaimed

Raphael - claimed

[idiotsonlyevent]

wow, naoto's writing is bad! and its not even bad because "they should have been trans" or whatever tf ppl are saying, its bad because its inconsistent both internally as well with persona's canon lore. like, the whole basis of the persona series is that your shadow is part your true self. even though it says things that you don't want to hear or admit to others, it's still YOU. naoto's shadow 'wants to be a man.' naoto's shadow wants gcs. naoto's shadow is trans.

and that's not to say that you can't write a story or an arc about questioning gender. or a gnc woman. or about what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated field. or a child that's forced to grow up too quickly because they're surrounded by - and doing the job of - adults. but to do that, then naoto's social link should have actually explored those things? we hear a lot about how it must be tough to be a woman detective. how the adult police officers don't take naoto seriously. but it's never shown; those issues aren't explored in a meaningful way. we know that they happen in the real world, but we don't get to see naoto react to those things; like the yosuke reacts to the junes part-timers, or the way yukiko reacts to the reporters and kasai-san. so that angle falls flat because those problems aren't acknowledged in naoto's arc.

naoto is openly dysphoric. i'm not saying that makes them trans bc dysphoric cis people exist, but they are repeatedly shown being uncomfortable when other characters bring up their height, the pitch of their voice, and their chest. and you can say that them deciding that they're a woman means that they're not comfortable being seen as a man either - that's fine, nonbinary people exist - but the scale of the discomfort is so completely different that it feels ridiculous and almost in bad faith to say they felt as uncomfortable 'as a man' as they did 'as a woman.'

and honestly, im a little tired of seeing stories where women 'dress up' as men to avoid sexism. i know the people writing these have never actually talked to trans men, but that's not how the world works. we don't come out and suddenly become magically accepted by society. you can be out for years and still be routinely misgendered! and in some cases, if you pass, you're expected to uphold and reinforce sexism - fun! /s. but those stories never show that, do they? i get that they're supposed to be escapist fantasies, and not real life, but persona 4 is a game that has relatively grounded themes and characters. many of us are or know a yosuke, a chie, a yukiko, etc. naoto's writing feels out of place because the themes it's trying to explore are either completely ignored or bastardized so badly that they become nonsensical.

it's also incredibly demeaning and egregious that to romance naoto, you basically force-fem them, when the whole point of their 'platonic' social link is that their gender doesn't matter (until at the very end, where they decide they're 'a woman after all'). this is pretty clearly done to assert the heterosexuality of the protagonist, but it's still really gross. are gnc women w lower voices not allowed to date men now? fellas, is it gay to date a woman?

but actually the most uncomfortable part to me is the rhetoric surrounding naoto's transness. i know this game came out more than a decade ago, but it uses the same negative tropes about transmasculine people that are being peddled by t€rfs and transphoßes today. and it's primarily other women (chie and yukiko) enforcing naoto's gender expression to stamp out any ideas of transmasculinity. naoto can't Actually be trans - she's just a confused little girl! she'll grow out of it and realize how stupid she was to throw away her beauty to be an ugly man! she was a girl all along! its straight out of social contagion nonsense, when their arc could have perfectly meshed w the theme of acceptance if they um. maybe accepted that they can be trans, even without needing to 'change their sex'? they can be a man with a 'woman's body'? they can see themselves however they want? (reminded of that post of a 'western' trans person saying they thought the trans man from one piece was a caricature or something, and the replies were just. japanese trans people saying that the way he's presented is empowering for them bc it's impossible to get hrt/gcs in japan, so they prefer narratives that accept their bodies as they are.)

naoto could have been amazing gnc woman, non-binary, or trans man rep, if atlus stuck to it and explored what any of those things meant to naoto as a character. instead, they fumbled the writing so badly that it becomes impossible to tell what they were trying to say. unless you're trans, then one day, you too can become normal! 

[tavyliasin]

Hello Darlings~ About time I dropped a little "about me" post to pin, right? Oh don't worry, I shan't bore you for long. My Carrd link there has a directory of all my fanfic works, giving you an overview of pairings, content, word count, and a little summary of each. I'm Tavylia Sin, or you may call me Tavylia, Lia, or Tavy, I'm not very fussy on that one, darlings~ My pronouns are she/her, and I'm a Cis Woman from the Nine Hells (or the UK, as it is otherwise known). If you'd like something a little more detailed about me, keep reading~

So, who in the nine hells am I, anyway?

Well, I'm a thirty-[vague coughing] year old creative writer. I've been writing other things, unpublished, for years now, but it was Baldur's Gate 3 that pulled me out of my shell and into the world of NSFW writing. So, I hadn't really written a single word of smut before late September 2023. In the month of October, I wrote over 80,000 words of it. I know, I am not sure how I did that either, but the passion took me and I didn't want to let go either, darlings, I was having too much fun. I still am!

What are your main works and pairings?

My first work was ATG, aka A Tav's Guide, or to give it the full and proper title: Of Living, Loving, and the Strangest of Bedfellows - A Tav's Guide to Fucking Across Faerun: Sordid Coast Edition A cautionary tale, loves, never let Volo name your work even if it is funny at the time! Anyway, ATG was meant to be a game-paralleling fun dive into how my Tav romanced Astarion but then still took every opportunity to indulge in lustful pleasures that was presented to her. There's some emotion in there, a reason to why she does who what she does, and although in many places I try to stick to canon there are plenty where I also deviate from it to find more fun~ I then started trying my hand at some non-ATG pairings and stories, indulging in a few One Shot stories as creative exercise and a few requests for people in the community. It has all kept growing from there! My favourites to write for are Haarlep and Raphael, as well as Astarion, Halsin, and Gale, though I'm honestly happy to give almost anything a try! I love trying to capture their authentic voices and find ways to stay true to their character motivations, or at least to twist them towards my sinful designs~ I'm also looking at writing more lesser-seen characters and pairings so watch this space.

What about Style? Tropes? Themes?

Darlings, most of my works will include some form of bondage, BDSM, powerplay, and kink. I find it all so very fun, and it can be gentle as well as intense, depending on the participants and the mood. I also write some occasional angst and fluff, when I'm not feeling the smut-fic flowing, and deeply enjoy exploring emotions. You'll find a lot of my writing runs long - even here, brevity is clearly not my strong suit! I enjoy longer dialogue, a build up to give context to the scene, and at least a little plot even to a One Shot scenario. When I really have fun with a piece, I just don't want it to end, really~ In terms of language, you may well find my works to be more verbose, and despite the topics I prefer to lean on softer terms and describe sensations and emotions more than the physical parts involved. I want you to be able to immerse into the scene, to let the feelings surround you and encompass you as the words flow from my page into your mind~ I adore reading other styles, but for some reason I struggle with writing certain words and phrases into my own pieces. So I find ways to be creative and still maintain the sex and the lust~ Whilst I might have some preferences in who I like to write for, or find some dynamics easier to write, I am also more than happy to write for suggested trans and nonbinary OCs, or if you asked me to write a canon character as trans or nonbinary I would love to try my very best to make your dreams come true~ It's a little disappointing we don't have trans/nonbinary main characters or NPCs in the canon, but of course fanfic can change that if you so wish. Incidentally, I always refer to Haarlep with they/them pronouns. This is what is used in the game from the Narrator, and also fits to how they are able to take on any physical form with little concern beyond what pleasure my be wrought from it. In my opinion, they have no interest in whatever "gender" is, unless it's some new sex move they haven't tried yet.

Have I seen you somewhere else?

Maybe darling~ I use this same name for Twitter, Tumblr, and Discord. Anything tied to my presence will use this same name, so that's how you'll find me. I'm most active in Galecord, where I adore playing with my fellow degenerates in the NSFW channels as we encourage each other with fic writing and art, enjoying each others work and gleefully sharing samples as we write too. My very dear darlings over there mean so very much to me, and have consistently been a voice of support that has fired me up to keep writing. Otherwise you might see me in a couple of others, like Tav1's performer's official server, but you'll rarely find me outside of NSFW zones. Indeed, the Tav'ern Babes discord is the only one I am in that is linked to any of the performers, because he doesn't seem to visit that area of the server. I would never wish to put my work where it isn't wanted nor personally push it towards any of the performers or game staff - if they find it themselves I'm more than happy for them to enjoy it (and will never want to know if they hate it, that might crush my soul), but it's here for us, the fans, to enjoy and play with as an extension to the game.

Questions?

You're welcome to drop me an ask, darlings, or to contact me through any of the links on my Carrd. If it's about my personal life though, sorry loves~ Part of what gives me the confidence to write and share NSFW works is the little layer of anonymity. I assure you though that my personality and platonic affections are entirely genuine, and I do intend anything nefarious~ I have been asked about KoFi or commissions once or twice, but fan fiction works should remain free to protect our right to keep making it. If I were being cheeky then I might suggest that I wouldn't turn down a gift voucher, but honestly I just enjoy being able to socialise and create within such a wonderful community. Some day I'll try and publish an original smutwork, make just a few pennies from it perhaps, to keep myself supplied with hot drinks and snacks while I curl up in my SmutCave tapping away at some new WIP that has seized my soul~

In short, loves, I'm a little bit like a sexy Batman. I'm the hero nobody asked for that turns up in the dark of the night, few know my secret identity, I have some wonderful accomplices in the Smutstice League (we're making that a thing as of this moment, right?) and I hope to make the world a better place in my own little way. By writing too much. The main difference? I'm not a millionaire/billionaire, and my fashion sense is just slightly better~

[ajdionysus]

Back when Ocarina of Time came out I was very young and it was my favorite game, so I created a self-insert character named August.

My head-canon was this: Since Koume and Kotake had influenced the creation and birth of Ganondorf he might not be the actual destined male, born every 100 years. Another Gerudo named Ra’Hel had gone out, met a nice Hylian and gave birth to August, the centennial Male. But as this was a threat to Ganondorf, he was disguised and raised among the women and girls. He also had a twin sister and best friend named Havah who knew his secret. (Why didn’t Ra’Hel just take August and Havah and leave? I dunno I was a kid.)

Years later, Link comes and befriends the Gerudo and August in particular. This began the adventures I would write about where Link, Sheik and August quested across Hyrule to stop Ganondorf’s evil plans.

August had the unique weapons of a whip named Sirocco, which he could use for various purposes like Indiana Jones, a beautifully bejeweled Gerudo Scimitar, and a golden, clawed glove of his own making on his right hand that helped him scale/slide down walls as well as fight.

Character wise he was a soft spoken and deeply sensitive, but very confident young man with strong convictions who was very excited to see the outside world and be himself without having to hide. In one story, I wrote that he found out Sheik was Zelda in disguise but kept her precious secret as he deeply understood her predicament, having lived it himself for years. In later stories, he was confused because he found both Sheik (Zelda) and Link attractive! He ultimately fell deeply in love with Link but never told him… although the fact that Link seemed attracted to the male-presenting Sheik gave him hope… Yup, slow-burn/unrequited romance! (Young pre-out bisexual me was pretty spicy don’t you think? Haha)

In the end, he helped Link and Zelda retake the kingdom and while he was supposed to become King, as per tradition, having seen the Gerudo culture from a different POV, he was a strong proponent of abandoning this tradition and passed the crown to his twin sister, Havah. August continued his adventures and friendship with Zelda, but now, sadly, without Link. He journeyed far and wide helping rebuild, looking to rehabilitate the image of the Gerudo across Hyrule. The last story I wrote was a short one where Zelda and August reminisce and share how much they miss Link.

I kept this character locked away for years. Then when Breath of the Wild came out and Link was disguised as a Vai, I remembered August and eagerly found and touched up an old drawing of him. I was so excited! I thought “This old story still works and he fits even better in the BOtW world!” (I didn’t get my own skin tone quite right, as I am a little darker than August in this picture.)

Now that Tears of the Kingdom is out, I am sharing this for the first time. Seeing Link’s arm and the art style of everything as well as the story of ToTK, which is all about finding yourself and finding a family of friends, I felt August fit better than ever! Like it or not The Legend of Zelda has long been a safe, inviting, exciting world for people like me (Jewish, Spanish, Cis-Bi Male) as well as for many others. I hope it continues to be for years to come. Hyrule is big enough for everyone.

[ariapmdeol]

sanemitsu for the ask game! ❤️‍🔥 🫂 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦾👗🪢😬😶 but if you don't want to do all those just pick a few you want to do

SANEMITSU FOREVER (blatant favoritism) I went in with 'hmmm i can keep these spoiler free' and that was a lie ^_^

❤️‍🔥 A romantic headcanon: OK CONFESSION im a canon compliant Fan so despite how much i like seosane i dont think either of them would ever go "we're dating" in canon. They both still miss their dead spouses so In the seosane world that lives in my head i think they just do things sometimes without labeling it as 'dating' or 'as a couple' 🏳️‍🌈A sexuality headcanon: He is so bisexual <3 to me <3 🏳️‍⚧️A gender headcanon: im never consistent w these asdkasdljdas. Trans man? cis? nb? idk i just think he's neat either way. transmasc is the funniest option bc it means we can joke about utsugi giving him top surgery 🦾A disability headcanon: I think the scar on his hand aches sometimes! it's harder to write with it (I've been treating it like a burn scar), which is ironic for a writer ^_^ 👗A headcanon about their clothes +🪢A headcanon about their family (I FUSED THESE..): Despite him distancing himself from the Harada name, it's interesting that he ends up aligning himself more with them as he gets older. Minoru wore purple, but Sanemitsu wears the Harada green and has a braid like his father did. This isn't a hc but more analysis oops I just have many thoughts about character design. 😬A headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done: ^_^ sanemitsu feels guilty about a whole lot of things ^_^ defining "the worst thing he's done" isn't easy; A lot of it is interconnected but at its core, a lot of it links to this idea of running away. He ran away from his parental role for Haruki, he ran away from facing the Harada bloodline, he ran away from taking action over and over again. The Hanged Man Symbolism is strong... Even when he finally chooses to take action (re: start of DLC), it's only after losing everyone... i'm still editing the essay on this one so if this doesn't make sense yet it's coming soon i promise!!! 😶A random headcanon!: HES GOING GRAY <3 snmt with gray streaks/roots means so much to me i love this old man,,

[saishuu-heiki-a]

come one. come all. WELCOME to my humble little blog for sephiroth of ffvii. non-mutuals and personal blogs are not to interact with or reblog any of my personally created content. things may appear drab as i’ll be working on getting links and tags established when time permits. i am friendly, often times goofy, so feel free to leave as many ask things as you’d like, or drop by my messages to plot something out! 

activity  — varies greatly depending on how many interactions i receive; ie threads and ask memes. this could be low or medium-high. i’m a busy person, and this is one of my too many blogs.

depiction  — sephiroth will be canon compliant from before crisis to advent children. the original ffvii game is my default, but i will write within the world of the remake. anything which is not depicted throughout all the games, the novels, and the movie will be of my own creation. i will also create some alternate versions/timelines which will place sephiroth in other worlds or have different roles within the ffvii universe.

I DO NOT TAG TRIGGERS. I DO NOT SUGAR COAT THE ACTIONS OF SHINRA OR SEPHIROTH. themes of genetic modification, torture, murder, death, manipulation, psychological distress, abuse, gore will absolutely be present. 

i’m a grown ass man ( > 20 ) and while i’ve never encountered drama, i’ve seen and heard any of it that it’s just idiotic. a character’s actions and thoughts are not of the writers. don’t try to dictate what people write. if you have a problem, shut up and move on. this is a hobby.

i’m a multi-para and novella writer, but i will write out shorter things when the time arises or if two characters are just shooting the shit.

i am mutuals only and need to see actual writing on your blog, not just constant ooc posts and shipping calls. i do post some minimal crack post from time to time, but i tag everything in case someone wants to block it. if you don’t have a tagging system, i won’t follow you.

once again, i don’t tag ‘triggers’. if i see you need something specific tagged which i write, i won’t follow you (back). 

not all my threads are necessarily graphic and r-rated; not every post is like an episode out of spartacus, but my character studies and ask responses more likely lean towards the more graphic side of things.

just because sephiroth doesn’t like you, doesn’t mean i don’t like you. i like you, i’m writing with you. yeah, you’re free to try to take down sephiroth, just don’t be shocked when the big dog bites back. honestly before sephiroth started looking into how he came to be, he was a pretty chill guy when he wasn’t working. so if you’re intimidated or afraid, don’t necessarily be unless that’s your thing. 

i do not write on discord.

sephiroth is portrayed as a cis male. romantic entanglements are unlikely to occur but not entirely impossible.

⸝⸝  PROMO .     ⸝⸝  MEME TAG .     ⸝⸝  HEADCANONS .     ⸝⸝  ASK BOX CALL .     ⸝⸝  PLOTTING CALL .     ⸝⸝  AU VERSE (1) .     ⸝⸝  AU VERSE (2) .     ⸝⸝  FFXVI VERSE .     ⸝⸝  HIGH FANTASY VERSE .     ⸝⸝  JUJUTSU KAISEN VERSE .     ⸝⸝  THE WITCHER VERSE .

                                                                               ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ʙʏ ᴋᴇʟᴇᴠʀᴀ • ʰᵉ/ʰᶦᵐ

[commander-krios]

Because I am a very anxious person when it comes to sending aka I hope you don’t mind that I send this question about the kotor gift exchange to you here.

I am wondering about how nominations work after reading the faq and can you request for your kotor ocs to be included in works?

Hey! No worries! I'm happy to answer any questions.

For nominations, we tend use the generic, non gendered "Revan" for gender neutral or people who don't have a preference on what they receive, f!Revan for those playing a female leaning Revan (both for trans and cis) and m!Revan for those playing a male leaning Revan (both trans and cis). Similar tags apply to the Jedi Exile.

When you nominate something, this is the format they take. Some examples we've used in the past:

m!Revan x Carth Onasi (for a male Revan and Carth romance)

Revan x Bastila Shan (for a gender neutral Revan and Bastila Shan romance)

f!Revan x Juhani (for a female Revan and Juhani romance)

Revan & Jedi Exile (gender neutral Revan and Exile friendship)

Revan/f!Jedi Exile (gender neutral Revan and female Exile romance)

and etc.

Whatever pairings, platonic or romantic, you'd like to possibly get a gift of, you would nominate. Many pairings are already nominated so you could check to see if they are already there before submitting your nominations.

If you have a specific one you'd like me to check, please let me know and I can see if it's already there.

We stay away from nominating with OC names just to keep the tags uniform and not confusing.

However, when you make your official signups, if you have a specific OC Revan or OC Exile, you can link everything to that OC in your signup form. For example, links to their face claim or art of them, descriptions of their personality and game choices, how they interact with other characters in games, any fic snippets can be linked as well, anything that can help your gifter make you a gift you'll love!

Let me if you need further clarification.

Addition:

Nominations = any pairing you'd like to see, can include canon, non-canon, across KOTOR media (for example, characters from the comics interacting with game characters), OC pairings (like Exile/Revan), etc. Whatever you nominate will be made available for every person signing up to use.

Signups = your very specific request about what you want as a gift and what you want to offer as a gift. Your signup is personalized to what you'd like.

[science-lings]

Hero’s Spirit Things

AKA, things that all holders of the Hero’s Spirit have in common because of it.

1. Sleepy: ALL LINK’S ARE INERENTLY SLEEPY, nap time is very important and it’s not their fault, the hero’s spirit is literally just like that. 

2. Sword: the hero’s spirit makes any little guy absolutely frighteningly good with swords. It is canon that in BOTW, Link kicked ass when he was a fuckin baby so it’s not hard to assume that the rest of them just had a natural talent for stabbing. Most of them were kids when their games took place and they could all absolutely kick ass as pre-teens. This is not normal so I’m attributing it to the hero’s spirit. 

3. Stronk: Sure, some of them need items and whatever but as a general baseline, they’re all just a little stronger than they look. They can pick up rocks and statues and weapons that they really shouldn’t be able to. In Wind Waker Link can literally pick up statues and other characters that are about the same size as he is, like this kid is freakishly strong. 

4. Green: Idk they just all like green. it’s not always just a tradition thing, they just like the color an abnormal amount. You know how some people are with certain colors (like purple or black, aka me) that’s how the Link’s are with green. It’s a personality trait gifted to them personally by the hero’s spirit. 

5. Gender: not a single one of these bitches is cis. Every incarnation exudes androgyny, but specific identities differ each time. Some of them are transmasc, some are enbies, some are fluid, the point is that the hero’s spirit strictly prevents them from being cis.  

6. RBF: all of their resting faces are varying degrees of grumpiness. Some look more pissed off than others but they all have the big downturned angular eyebrows and a little bit of a frown when they’re really just chilling.

7. Emotional Constipation: none of them know how to healthily cope with the trauma that comes with saving the world so they just shut all of their feelings in until they die. Some are a bit better at this but all of them have the problem of keeping all their feelings locked up tight so that no one will know that there is anything wrong. This is bad and they all need therapy. This also leads to mutism which each of them has a form of. I’m pretty sure that the only voice lines Link has ever had was in WW when he says ‘COME ON!’ and ‘MEOW’ and that is all. Some have fairies to speak for them or are merely implied to speak but never in cutscenes or important moments. Most of the time it’s mentioned is just that he’s oddly quiet but in botw its stated to be more of an anxiety thing. 

8. Stupid: The hero’s spirit is reckless and heavily prone to solving problems with violence. Bravery often crosses the line into astounding idiocy. This is a good thing. If Link was too smart he would be too powerful. He’s good with little puzzles and battle techniques but he can’t to math. Ganon would win if he made his keys to his big lairs a division problem. However Ganon is also stupid and this is why Link always (not always) wins. 

9. Oblivious: specifically in the ways of romance, I mean this guy can get princesses to fall in love with him over several lifetimes but not once has he recognized this as the case. He has been proposed to by fish princesses on two separate occasions and in two very separate lifetimes and both times he kinda just... went with it. Either that or the Hero’s Spirit is also on the AroAce spectrum which is also very valid and good. I just like the idea that he’s a total heartthrob and is completely unaware of it. So many npcs acknowledge that he is hot but he’s too busy catching bugs and eating dirt. 

10. Nature: Even the incantations of Link that aren’t literally raised by trees or can turn into animals, all of them have a fun little connection to nature. Even HW Link talks to fairy’s and would probably enjoy a nap in the middle of a forest. They see and speak to nature spirits and have a slight eldritch quality to them that give them an air of strange and abnormal, but in like a wild divine way. They’re all a little more in tune with the world of animals and plants and they can command the winds and control lightning and sometimes its so easy to see how they’re more than just human.

feel free to add more 💚💚💚💚💚💚

[herotome]

hello! i was wondering if you were going to add the ability to change your pronouns and/or have less feminine pics for MC? i personally use they/them pronouns and like to play games where i can use them even if i do not put myself into the game... thank you for your time!

In regards to the MC's appearance: 

Yes, I do want to include more customization options in the future, though you may be disappointed to hear that I plan on making this a paid feature. I’m interested in making it a crowdfunding reward tier, where backers can design their own MC to appear in that little resume profile picture box.

Masculine-presenting MCs are more than welcome. While I can't predict what profile pictures people will submit (or if people would even be willing to pay for that kind of thing), I will always encourage people to headcanon their MCs however they like.

In regards to changing pronouns:

important update from 2023: Haha... how the turn tables. How should I say this? I’ve come around. “Daisy’s changed her mind,” so to speak.

You can now choose your pronouns in Herotome. The protagonist is still intended to be a woman (and can be cis OR trans, as I always intended), but pronouns can be swapped between he/she/they, and even changed on the fly after a certain point in the game, so you can rp as genderfluid!

I was not pressured into this decision, I just took a long long time to reflect and really think. I've tested it extensively and it feels right.

Mainly, I had to internalize that gender =/= pronouns. He/him lesbians exist, I use they/them myself, and there are all sorts of beautiful gender identities out there!! I've just seen gender paired with pronouns so often in games; when the player decides on one, they are automatically deciding on the other...

It was freeing when I understood that it doesn't have to be that way. I don't have to make my game that way.

My thoughts from 2021 are persevered below, with certain areas crossed out. I don't want to hide or delete my statement from back then even though it's far from perfect, and I think it's important to showcase how thoughts and feelings can change over time.

Thank you for your patience understanding!!

----

I once replied to an ask about pronoun customization a long time ago, but I have been feeling a need to update my response. My previous statement was people pleasing and overly cordial. I was terrified of disapproval, of disappointment, and of rejection. I hated the idea that someone would be turned off by the game just because the protagonist is a woman. I knew there was a high demand for customizations of all kinds, and the very idea of going against what people want has caused me... still causes me a lot of grief. It's taken effort to try to let go of this haunting need for approval. I've increasingly begun to feel that my previous statement sends the wrong message, and that by hiding my shifting feelings on the subject I am bordering on dishonesty. As such, here is my updated response: 

No, I will not be adding pronoun options to Herotome.  If Herotome is no longer a game that interests you due to lacking this option: I understand completely.

I enjoy many IFs and VNs that do feature pronoun options, and surely you will enjoy them as well. I can recommend the highly beloved Perfumare and The Passenger, for starters. You may also enjoy The Remainder and Hybrid, which feature canon non-binary protagonists.

I'm sorry if I’ve disappointed any of you by being ambiguous or by refusing to answer asks about on the topic of pronoun customization - this was selfish on my part.

... But I would like to elaborate more on this subject, if you'll allow me, because there is a disturbingly common misconception that adding pronouns to a game is as easy as flicking a switch.

(There should be a “Read More” link under here. Of there isn’t please just click on the post itself to view it in full).

In code, yes, you could say it works like a light switch. On-off. He-she-they. 

Now. I would like to direct your attention to the network of wires connected to the light switch, which run beneath the walls and connect to various light sources throughout my house. The wires represent grammar, the protagonist’s POV, artwork depicting the protagonist, and how the protagonist is perceived by other characters. The lights represent every single instance the protagonist’s gender is referenced to in-game.

(Yes there are way too many lights in my house, it's a weird horror party house - bear with me.) In writing an interactive game designed for immersion, I have wired the game a certain way: the protagonist is perceived as a young woman throughout the game, going by "she/her." So in our silly metaphor the lights are... let's say they're green lights. Were I to add a pronoun-switching light switch, with the goal of giving my players the freedom to chance their pronoun lights whenever and however they please, I will have to: A) Write for ALL the perspectives: 

...by gutting the walls to add additional sets of wires, so the lights in my house can be flipped to various different colors - he-she-they - purple-green-gold. 

But that’s not all. We have to ensure every single wire is affixed to the CORRECT lights because otherwise you’ll have this one flickering green light while the rest of the house is gold, and people are going to send me messages asking what's wrong with my house lights, it's rather disturbing to have one random green light flashing at them when they'd definitely flipped the switch to gold. 

The lights are so much fun and deeply engaging, but require careful supervision and frequent maintenance. It’s an enormous amount of work, and frankly every dev who undertakes it deserves all the patience and understanding in the world.  B) Write in a gender neutral way:

... by gutting the walls to rip out the wires entirely, throwing all mentions of being a woman directly into the trash. Replace the wires with gray ones and turn some of the lights permanently off. The pronouns can change, but much of the language concerning the MC will become vague. Muted. Palatable. No colors.  Designed to please everyone and offend no one. You flip the switch, some lights turn on... and there's no longer that wash of color that makes the lights feel personal and catered to you and how you present yourself. 

But hey, if you're playing as an android or a space alien or if you're on a fantastic magic adventure where gender roles are totally irrelevant -- who even needs colorful lights? The gender neutral way can work, has worked, and a lot of people (including me) do enjoy them. However, I do think that if all games were written this way, we would lose out on a lot of varied perspectives, and that’s not what we should strive for.

Many devs plan their game around the wires from the beginning - whether the lights are gray, or many colors, or just one color. 

I planned for Herotome to be one color. It's a shade of red that is quite personal to me, because I want to try and show people how incredibly beautiful and interesting this shade of red can be, amid an industry populated with cheaply made, mass produced, poorly-translated-blank-slate-primary-color-protagonist-red. (DOUBLE, TRIPLE EMPHASIS on "industry" and "mass produced," y'all better not think I'm throwing shade at my fellow indies when I'm throwing it at soulless mobile and mainstream games LOL)

I truly did consider gutting the walls to add pronoun options at one point. I’ve considered it at multiple points. I second guess my decision and I stress and I spiral, but the more I develop the game, the less feasible the idea becomes and the more it breaks my heart.  ... So there you have it. There's my pronoun light switch manifesto. I’ve been putting it off and holding it in and as a result it's been boiling over for a longggg time. 

Sorry again if this is disappointing news for some of you. I need to accept that I can't make everyone happy, and not everyone is going to enjoy the game. But it's going to be okay. ❤︎  Either way, I’ll catch y’all on the flip flop.

Much love,

Wudge

[kukuandkookie]

Sometimes I forget people aren’t used to consuming Chinese media like I am so they expect any bl to be explicit.

Like today someone referred to Childe and Zhongli as potential “queerbaiting” to me and I had to pause for a moment and consider this. I always take things in stride when it comes to what is called “queerbaiting” in Chinese media because we don’t know how strict censors are (sometimes bl seems mostly okay, sometimes it seems a little less okay, sometimes it seems okay as long as it’s not “anti-gov”... Oh, and the topic of censorship is a whole ‘nother complex discussion due to it happening because China rebuilt itself with all-new policies and was also westernized after suffering under colonization...).

Like I can’t objectively tell you if some of these series with bl are queerbaiting because it arguably challenges censors and in many ways, is entirely meant to be taken as canon—so is it really queerbaiting then?

Take Childe and Zhongli and their fenghuang chopsticks. That seems entirely intentional. A Chinese game using a traditional Chinese theme for an object exchanged between two men that represents unity, harmony, and marriage? That’s pretty much intentionally gay if you ask me, but maybe that is just me. 😆

But we all remember The Untamed and how Wangxian exchanged loving glances, touched each other constantly, basically got married (through symbolism of the forehead ribbon and the exchanging of chickens), calling each other a term that could mean either “life-long confidant” or “soulmate” and so on.

We never got a canonical scene where they kissed or said “I love you,” but we can see the intent there. We know what they’re saying. The same applies for the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua. The manhua is more obvious about it, but they still cut a kiss scene... But since it appears it was still drawn, we can take that as it having still happened. And Mo Dao Zu Shi Q takes this further than the regular donghua too because the censors are more lax on them.

And yes. They are based on a bl novel, so it’s a little different from Genshin Impact, but if you consume as much Chinese media as me, you can usually tell when a team/author is intentionally using symbolism to suggest a canon couple, often with a traditional Chinese theme. Like why use the fenghuang theme? They really didn’t have to do that, but they did it. 👀

The animated movie Jiang Ziya used language that suggested Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya could be a couple, but it was never explicit. But hell, they basically adopt a daughter! I interpreted them as a couple but didn’t see it as fully intentional or canon until talking to a good friend of mine whose Chinese is better than mine. There were more hints and reasons to believe they cared about each other in that way, so we concluded it was way more obvious than we would’ve thought at first glance. And that’s kind of how China does it when the main focus of a story isn’t bl but there’s a potentially bl couple.

And even when there are censors, there have been a variety of ways Chinese media has skirted censors in the past. Like in Beryl and Sapphire, we get the “survivor’s cut” where things are censored and the “director’s cut” where things aren’t censored (so characters can hug, kiss, confess, cuddle, and so on). And Beryl and Sapphire, while originally designed by the author as two males, are designed so they can be in any story (bl or not) and were originally drawn in the comic as stick figures so you could imagine their gender as whatever you want (so they could even be girls’ love if you so desire!).

Or how in Spirit Pact the male leads kiss to give each other power or exchange vows but the manhua’s creator said it’s “not necessarily because they’re in love.” There was debate this is queerbaiting, but could the creator just be avoiding trouble with censors? The very fact the male leads kiss so much and care so much about one another suggests intent.

Now contrast that to Hualian from the Tian Guan Ci Fu donghua, where things are so obvious and it’s even gayer than the novel in some areas. People keep questioning how they got it past censors, and that makes me rethink how I view Chinese censors. However strict they truly are, Chinese media is very purposeful in how they depict bl couples.

So I don’t really think about whether something is queerbaiting or explicitly canon in Chinese media. I basically see something that can be read as bl through symbolism/language/metaphor and I see that as intentional. The creators are letting you choose how you want to read it, and you may never get the kiss you want, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t “canon.” There’s often intent behind it, and because of varying levels of censorship, I take the idea of “queerbaiting” in Chinese media with a grain of salt.

For example, Kaeya and Diluc use a term in Chinese very similar to sworn brothers, which can be romantic in Chinese. With modern day China, creators often use “sworn brotherhood” as a way to depict romance and skirt censors. And yes, I know the English translation labels them as two adopted brothers, which is also okay! But as I’ve confirmed with multiple native Chinese speakers, the original Chinese language used is not exactly family-oriented, and that can be viewed as intentional (that’s why you see some Chinese fans ship Diluc and Kaeya while the western fandom views it as incest). Language is complex! There’s no clean, clear-cut answer.

Bl is popular in China, but it’s not always the main focus of every series (you know, sometimes bl is the side couple). We could say You Shou Yan features an intentional bl couple with Sibuxiang x Tony/Tuye or Fei Ren Zai and All Saints Street feature the intent of potential bl with Yangjian x Guanyin and Nick x Lynn respectively; or Are You OK is bl even if the story doesn’t focus entirely on that but it does feature more than one bl couple; or Wo Jia Dashixiong Naozi You Keng is bl because it features guys crushing on other guys and sharing moments, even though the manhua isn’t about that bl romance explicitly; or see Nezha as having bl potential because of how it interprets the Nezha and Ao Bing relationship (to the point of even changing the depiction of the relationship between Ao Bing and Nezha from the 1979 animated movie to be more domestic rather than as enemies); or even say mihoyo’s other game, Honkai Impact, arguably intentionally features some girls’ love too.

https://youtu.be/vw-nx26xUQI

Maybe it’s just because I identify as ace and I don’t mind if there’s no signs of sex scenes and I’ve even grown accustomed to not seeing kisses. I love seeing other signs of love—like protecting your partner, being their sugar daddy, hanging out with them a lot, and all that jazz. If there’s a kiss, great! If not, that’s fine too because there are other things to suggest they’re canon.

So is Zhongli and Childe queerbaiting? I don’t personally think so. Those fenghuang chopsticks suggest marriage or at least harmony in unity, and marriage or “being together” can be seen as quite canon. Will they say it out loud? I guess not, but we have to acknowledge the context that it’s still from China and there are censors for them to deal with.

But if you don’t want Childe and Zhongli to be canon, that’s totally okay too! I mean...it is also a game, and games even more than media can be interpreted differently since every user’s experience differs.

Love is love—and that includes whether there’s a kiss or not, when the author/team intends it and lets you interpret it any which way, you can interpret their symbols as signs of how canon your two favourite characters are!

Oh, and as a finishing thought, here’s a list of donghua recommendations for anyone who wants to check some of these out! I include a lot of good donghua with pictures, descriptions, and links to where to watch. 🥰

[105ttt]

Hi sorry if this was already asked before but could you explain a little further abt the things devsis has done?? I haven’t heard abt a lot of the stuff you mentioned I don’t mean to sound rude or anything I’m just genuinely wondering

I can tell you mean it genuinely, it’s okay! I’m happy to answer because you want to know. I’ll go through everything I said.

The Valentine’s 2021 fanart video, posted on the official CR YouTube channel, is a compilation of fanart drawn for Valentine’s Day that fanartists submitted. Some of the art submitted was chosen BY DEVSISTERS and put in the video, but not all art made it in. Two pedophilic ships, Red Bean x Snow Sugar and Roguefort x Walnut, were featured in the video. Red Bean x Snow Sugar was featured TWICE. Snow Sugar and Walnut are confirmed to be children while Red Bean and Roguefort are HEAVILY implied to be adults. Devsisters allowed the pedophilic ships to be shown in a fanart video for a holiday primarily about romantic love, therefore putting their seal of approval on these pedophilic ships. Despite fans saying it should be taken down, the video is still up as of today.

Related to the video and Devsisters’ promotion of fanart on official Twitter accounts, they are known to promote fanart that whitewashes the Cookies. This applies to not only Cookies like Cocoa and Mint Choco, who are clearly black, but also Cookies that are tan, like Alchemist. This approval of whitewashing has been going on for literal years, and when an artist was called out for a piece that Devsisters promoted, Devsisters sided with the artist and claimed that they should be respected rather than made to understand why whitewashing is bad.

Both the Dreamy Cookie Land event and the 2021 April Fools GingerBrave Trial contain sections that are known to harm photosensitive people by either giving them seizures or seriously hurting their eyes and causing immense discomfort and pain. While Devsisters altered the maps in Dreamy Cookie Land to make them less likely to hurt these people, the 2021 April Fools Trial has not changed. Devsisters should have made sure these maps were safe BEFORE publishing them to thousands of people (or more).

Devsisters misgenders its own characters on official Twitter accounts and in game notifications. Squid Ink Cookie was referred to as “she” on a Puzzle World Twitter post, despite this Cookie never having pronouns anywhere in the game. Mocha Ray Cookie was referred to with “she” in a game notification despite having no pronouns listed anywhere in the game, including cutscenes. Devil Cookie was referred to with “he” in a Twitter post despite the game canonically using only “they/them” for them. In addition, a statement from the Thai branch of the Devsisters team claimed that you can use any pronouns for a Cookie since they are born sexless (and they conflated sex with gender). This gives transphobes the “right” to misgender canonically nonbinary characters. Lastly, before the Guild update and before OvenBreak, Dark Choco and Cinnamon had no pronouns. After the Guild update, Cookies referred to Dark Choco as “he”, and in OvenBreak, Cinnamon’s Story uses “he” for them. This erases two canonically nonbinary characters, as cis people will see “he” being used for them and assume they are male rather than he/they nonbinary people.

Devsisters is not subtle about their homophobia, as well as their goal of appealing to cishets who hate gay people. They show their homophobia in how straight ships are treated compared to gay ships. Firstly, in the Valentine’s fanart video, there were mostly straight ships. I believe I counted only 4 or so gay ships, and 3 of these were either selfcest or pedophilia. Despite the majority of the art being shown being heterosexual, many people who regularly follow the CR tag on Twitter and Instagram claim that there was a lot more gay ship art submitted compared to the proportion shown in the video. The gay ship art shown was also ambiguous enough that cishets who hate gay people wouldn’t get mad at Devsisters, while some of the heterosexual art was blatantly romantic. Secondly, the treatment of ships like RaspRose and PrincessKnight, popular straight ships, is much better than the treatment of popular gay ships by Devsisters. For example, RaspRose got a merchandise item in a set of cups that also featured a cup with Sea Fairy and Moonlight and Orange and Lime. The RaspRose art on the cup is explicitly romantic. The art on the Sea Fairy and Moonlight and Orange and Lime cups are ambiguous or platonic instead, despite both of these ships being historically far more plausible and popular than RaspRose. Finally, Devsisters has been gaybaiting with Madeleine Cookie and Espresso Cookie in Kingdom, but they refuse to make them canon because that would be gay. Gaybaiting is homophobic in itself for using gay people as a way to advertise something without fulfilling the promise of gay representation. It’s also worth mentioning that they once gaybaited with Milk and Purple Yam on Twitter, but the art shown was not romantic at all, and only the caption hinted at a ship (and the caption was vague enough to be interpreted as the Cookies merely appearing in an art piece together).

Multiple black CR fans have spoken out and said that Purple Yam Cookie is a racist caricature of black men, ESPECIALLY when he is juxtaposed with Milk, a white man. Indian and Middle Eastern CR fans have spoken out and said that Yogurt Cream Cookie and Lilac Cookie are caricatures of Indian and Middle Eastern people. These are not debatable. Google the history of the portrayal of black men in non-black media, and you’ll see what I mean for Purple Yam. The evidence that Yogurt Cream is a caricature comes from the very fact that people compare him to Aladdin, specifically Disney’s version of the tale, thereby showing that their only exposure to Indian and Middle Eastern people is stereotypes in white media. Note also that Dark Choco Cookie is the stereotype of a solemn, lonely, strong black person, and this has leaked into the fandom so much that people draw them unrealistically buff and mostly draw them suffering from angst instead of having any actual character.

There was an IRL sex crime in South Korea perpetrated by a club called the Burning Sun, and a certain Guild named itself after that club and changed their usernames to the names of the people who committed these crimes. They were only forced to change their names by Devsisters AFTER people protested. They were NOT forced to disband the Guild or banned from the game. Keep in mind that these people named themselves after a REAL-LIFE SEX CRIME that harmed REAL WOMEN AND GIRLS, and the only punishment they got was a forced name change. Fuck Devsisters.

Lastly, the trigger joke. Back when Ion Cookie Robot and Cyborg Cookie were new, the official CR Twitter account made a Tweet captioned as “triggered”, and below that caption was a GIF of Ion Cookie Robot becoming angry and shifting to their Red Dread Costume, thereby implying that Ion Cookie Robot was “triggered” and became unreasonably angry. This was posted during the time when ableists were using the term “triggered” as a “meme”, which harms people with PTSD. The Tweet was deleted, and another Tweet was made that apologized for the previous Tweet, but this was only after backlash from fans. However, notice that Purple Yam Cookie is also a trigger joke. He has PTSD from being burned alive in the Oven for so long, and as a result he is easily angered (anger is his stress response). The game treats this as a joke and minimizes his suffering just because other Cookies were in the Oven (before coming to life). His anger is treated as unreasonable and unwarranted, and it’s treated as a joke. Does that sound familiar? Now take into account that his anger is juxtaposed with Milk’s “kind”, “gentle” demeanor. Yikes.

BONUS ROUND:

DevSam, a worker at Devsisters, once said that GingerBrave had a Costume in LINE that was a “sexy cat costume”. GingerBrave is a minor, and the Costume was literally not sexy at all. Why did they refer to him as sexy if he’s a minor??

Images from an official CR account showed a person dressed as GingerBrave giving gifts to a person dressed as Pink Choco Cookie, a Cookie associated with romantic love. This can be easily interpreted as romantic and is therefore pedophilic because GingerBrave is a child and Pink Choco Cookie is an adult. Why post this at all??

Buttershell Fox referred to Maple Panda with a word that was VERY close to a slur against black people in the original text of the Secrets of the Hidden City cutscenes. This was only changed when a popular Twitter user let everyone know about it and asked people to email Devsisters about it.

I can provide links and screenshots for proof if needed, but please DM me or send an ask to ask for these. I’m definitely forgetting other things they’ve done that are bad, but this already should be enough to raise eyebrows.

[just-antithings]

a hot take, sorry this got long: I know from personal experience, through painful and endless discussions, that a lot of antis very blatantly and very deliberately ignore the fact that Loki is canonically genderfluid in almost all of their takes because many of them genuinely believe that any nb character presented in media who:

1. isn’t afab 2. doesn’t use they/them and 3. isn’t overtly androgynous (can be any combination or just one of these, depending on who it is)

...is actually just a cis man who is only nb to serve two purposes: empty and meaningless representation OR to serve fetishistic women. Maybe you’ll find one exception here or there that they will accept, usually because the rest of the media is acceptable and representative enough to them, but if it isn’t, they most certainly won’t.

That is why, even though we do need to keep in mind marvel has a history of lacking representation, people so easily denying and discarding Loki as valid representation makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. Of course only antis do or say this. But I do know it feeds what they keep spreading about masculine and/or he/him amab nbs in games and media, which categorizes us into always bad unless we eradicate as many links with (what is considered to be) masculinity. As we are obviously nothing but frauds for one reason or another, we need to be held to higher standards of being acceptable into the queer community. (/s)

👆👆👆👆

[jaekaicx]

so ive decided to give my two cents on the identities of the humans of undertale/deltarune. even if most of the fandom is dead, this still has to be addressed.

first of all, let me make it clear that frisk, chara, and kris all CANONICALLY use they/them pronouns. in chara’s case, it also uses it/its pronouns along with they/them. dont try and argue with me about what pronouns can be used for them when it’s made perfectly clear in their respective games. it’s canon: frisk and kris use they/them, and chara uses it/its.

now, just because the humans dont use typical binary pronouns (he/him or she/her), that necessarily mean they’re all nonbinary. yes, a lot of nonbinary people use they/them, but not all of them do. remember, PRONOUNS DO NOT EQUAL GENDER. just because someone is nonbinary doesnt mean they use they/them. it also goes the other way. someone who uses they/them pronouns isnt necessarily nonbinary. this goes for frisk, chara, and kris.

as far as i know, toby fox never confirmed any of the humans’ genders. regardless, frisk, kris, and chara’s pronouns are non-disputable. no matter what you headcanon the humans as, you MUST use their canon pronouns. disregarding their pronouns is erasure of they/them and it/its representation, and its just rude. its not that hard to use someone’s pronouns. we’re not asking much at all.

and before someone brings up the “they’re supposed to be characters the player projects onto, so their genders are up to the player!!11!1!” arguement, let me say this. first of all, there’s plenty of proof that frisk, chara, and kris are their own people. theres other posts that explain this in more detail, so i wont go into it. secondly, what about other “blank slate” protagonists with canon genders. there’s tons of games with silent protagonists meant for the player to project their feelings onto, like link in the zelda games. you’re able to name link whatever you want to, yet no one seems to argue about link’s pronouns. if frisk, kris, or chara had only used he/him or she/her pronouns in the game, no one would be arguing against that.

it sucks that one of the few times a video game protagonist uses they/them pronouns canonically, everyone seems to ignore it, continuing to use whatever pronouns they see fit. name one piece of media as big as undertale that has a main character use they/them pronouns. go on. im actually curious if there are any. point is, there’s a huge piece of media with main characters who use they/them pronouns, yet so many people decide to ignore it and misgender them.

tl;dr: frisk and kris use they/them. chara uses they/it. stop misgendering them and stop using the wrong pronouns. its not hard. also pronouns dont equal gender.

if any other trans or non-cis ppl wanna add to this, feel free!