#she just doesn't understand many things that everyone else takes for granted

[miqojak]

From the OC creation ask set: How do you want other people to view or react to your OC?

Little OC Creation Ask List

Gosh, I...really haven't thought about it in this light. I want people to enjoy reading about her, but I don't have in mind how I want them to feel about her - she's a controversial little person. Does her awful past in a concentration camp give her the right to be how she is? Does she have a mental illness that's causing her to act this way (undoubtedly) - does that excuse her behavior? A large part of her, to me, is the awful truth that... she became a lot like the Garleans she despises with every bone in her body, and every fiber of her being. The way they treated her molded her... a lot like Zenos was molded, in a way! She was barely a teen, really, when she ended up in Garlean hands, and the things they did and the ways they treated her (and the ways in which her aether was altered) permanently changed the genuinely kind, and loyal person she once was into... something else entirely.

I used to sympathize a lot with Zenos, but now that we have Zero, I'd ask people to look to how Zero acts, and think about Jak - Jak was socialized among her tribe for a time, and then ripped away and grew up in a concentration camp, as a victim to many war crimes. Her emotions simply do not function like a normal person's any longer - she was a lot like Zero, and is still on a similar journey as Zero... learning what emotions are, really! What's that feeling in her chest? It's confusing, and disturbing...and frightening. She's known fear and loathing most of her life, and she's had...maybe 5-8 years at most in the 'real world', and only one person has really had the patience to help socialize her, and be patient with her while she learns about emotions... both her own, and everyone else's... mostly against her will, lol! (Learning to trust has been a huge journey for her, and still is, so it's beautiful to see a character so like my own in the story - emotionally stunted, and focused on what she gets out of things - and has really dragged me back to the game.)

She thinks a lot like Zero, as well - in bargains. In deals that she takes very seriously. Equitable exchange, or else. (Unless, of course, you let her take advantage of you in said deal, because if you're not as clever as her, she will. xD) Her life has been one of constant mistrust and betrayal, and much like Zero... she's having to learn that there is a world beyond that, whether she likes it or not, and she has to learn how to operate in it. (Apparently, people like it when you say 'please' and 'thank you'?? Ugh, if she must.)

All this said - it's not up to me how people feel about her. Hate her! Love her! Sympathize with her! Hate to love her, love to hate her! Or all of the above, and then some! As long as people are feeling something, that's the goal! She's not perfect, and she's meant to evoke mixed feelings - no one person is any one thing. We are all a mixed bag of good and bad... some more than others. I tried to make her 'human' in that aspect; there's reasons for why she is how she is, but they're not excuses - even when she'd like to think they are.

[enzoarweq]

(im talking about the characters q!, not the cc!)

imo no one else seems to understand the landduo/foolhalo relationship is much much deeper than "he's a friend who annoys me and i love to annoy him" or "they are secretly in love" in fact i might be as bold as to say NO ONE does till this day. which is pretty funny how they understand and notice the littlest things about each other but no one can see their deep bond despite that... tho to be fair Bad has said multiple times that he praises Foolish till high heaven from his skills, smarts, to his good looks but he would never ever admit it or say it to his face. (he RARELY does actually so when it happens, we all cheer and die) same for foolish.

Jaiden, who is probably one of the closest to Foolish rn said recently no one else takes Foolish srsly or that they are like outcasts of the island or that no one cares for Leo (para). and im like um theres literally Bad who cares a lot for Foolish and Leo. and has said multiple times that he is much more intelligent than ppl have granted him to be (but ofc she doesn't know, she doesn't know the early moments where they would hang out together almost all the time, constant banter, she doesn't know of THE convo where Bad literally for his advice and was treating and talking to him like two gamemasters in equal footing talking about the games they will play, she doesn't know should anything happen to Bad, he left Dapper in Foolish's care, Foolish constantly leaves Leo in Bad's care, she doesn't know that Leo loves and adores his Tio Bad, she doesn't know a lot of their "true hidden" relationship/sides, she doesn't know how easy Foolish can read Bad like an open book like that mine roulette game which i think she participated but not when both bad and foolish were playing iirc etc etc) not to mention theres also Roier who cares a lot for Leo and vice versa and constantly thinks about her (but this post about foolhalo so i digress)

There was also that moment with Bagi and Tubbo where they were like go ahead and cage Foolish or smtg. like daring Bad to do it. Bad was like aww thats no fun, its boring (cuz yk theres no song and dance, theres no arguing back n forth, it was just that). so when foolish shows up and bad was like hey could u step in ig *shrugs* Foolish was like urgh ok ig. I still remember Bagi's and Tubbos reaction, they were like mildly surprised. like ok what now. Bagi then said to Foolish, hey Bad is insane. Foolish then replied, yeah i fcking knew that already (in a so what tone) and again, Bagi seemed slightly taken aback. Tubbo then went on a rant about them being in love or smtg idk.

or the time when Bad would make a torture chamber for Foolish which he willingly went along cuz why not. and ppl were making angst about it as if Foolish didn't just walk into the torture chamber willingly to play a fun torture game with Bad smh.

also the time when Foolish was hiding his hurt over Leo's absence but Bad knew deep inside he feels deeply. that time where Foolish will run away from everyone else when confronted about his feelings but finally stood silently besides Bad in comfort, instead of a hug. (wasn't Jaiden there for that?)

--

theres soooo many foolhalo landduo moments where so many fans just blatantly ignore, like they have selective memory. genuinely confuses me everytime, like are we even watching the same POV.

theres also a lot of moments where ppl were gen mad at bad for the pranks n shit, like its 2023 ppl, we've been thru with this already in dsmp, do better pls. (ik them be new fans but still urgh)

[dragonagecompanions]

So I’ve seeing the ASOIAF author!Inquisitor AU has resurfaced. I have a curiosity: how does the DAI companion (perhaps also advisors) feel about the character Brienne of Tarth?

Cassandra: Sir Brienne of Tarth is without question or equivocation the greatest and most honorable character in any piece of literature. She is brave and unwavering in her loyalties, strong of oath and arm. Jamie Lannister does not deserve anything from her, but instead should be honored for whatever attention she chooses to bestow on him. Lady Stark could not have chosen a better champion for her daughters.

Years later, when the last book is finally written, Cassandra will receive the first copy. The handwritten note inside is simple and plain, but the Seeker will weep over it regardless and put it in a place of honor.

'I based her on you, Cass. I'm glad she meets your approval.'

Solas: A stoic and staid knight of little imagination who proves set in the thinking that might is right. Solas has no real opinion on the would be knight, for his attentions are on greater characters. But as Cassandra is one of the few companions willing to debate the merits of abandoning the North with real understanding he is willing to pretend greater regard than he might feel.

Varric: All he sees is Aveline, and while Kirkwall's resident author will never mention it to his friend it makes him smile. Somewhere far away Guard Captain Vallen is keeping his city safe with the same loyal tenacity-- he hopes Donnic sees the same parallels and points them out.

She still hasn't forgiven him for Swords and Shields.

Blackwall: She is fair and honorable, strong of arm and conviction. Everything a true lady knight should be. If she were real he would bet on her in the tourney. As it is her character is a welcome respite from those foul nobles in Kings Landing.

Vivienne: Madame de Fer can appreciate loyalty to one's charges and liege lord, even if Brienne's court manners would fail her utterly in the game. But she is a good role model for young templars in the circles Vivienne wants to rebuild, and so popular a series will help set the example.

Sera: Woof.

Dorian: Even if he is not romantically involved with the inquisitor (which he is, though it hardly grants him spoilers), it would not be hard to see that their resident Seeker is the basis for Brienne of Tarth. The necromancer fancies that his comment on Cassandra needing a blue scarf surely inspired the sapphire waters of Tarth, and is content with his addition to the Seven Kingdoms.

Now if only he can convince everyone else that Dorn is also a strategic name....

Iron Bull: She would be a hell of a sparring partner. The Qun badgers him enough about the books that even if he was not invested the Ben-Hassrath agent would have read them all. But he admires Brienne's singular focus, her loyalty and tenacity. Could use a bit more creative thinking, a little more ease with bending the rules. But she'd fit in well with the Qun.

She is added unanimously to the list of characters welcome in the Chargers. Krem will never admit his crush.

Cole: The characters are hard for him, when so many see them in so many ways. The books help--that is enough.

Josephine: She adores every character, except the Lannister's of course, and every winding path they take. Brienne would be about as difficult as Cassandra to train for social events, but just as useful. She does hope Jamie follows his heart and they wed though. That would be so wonderful!

Lelianna: She is watching greater characters, the horrors above the wall and below it, but something about the oath Brienne swears to Sansa reminds her of...

Of another, sworn long ago in far different circumstances with far greater sacrifices. It is a laughable thing, to sit in Skyhold a decade later and wonder how Shale would handle being compared to a fake human!

Cullen: He's just a little bit in love. It doesn't help that in some ways he sees himself in Jamie Lannister's redemption arc.

[oboetemasuka]

Kicked out

An "Order of Attack" side story.

Part of a writing trade with @good-beanswrites.

Chapter 14 ends on a cliffhanger and doesn't explore the fallout. The next time you see Fuuta and Amane, they're doing better.

But what happened in between those chapters?

(cw: suicidal thoughts, cult mentality)

Amane curled herself up tightly under the blankets. It caused a terrible strain on her ribs, but she deserved it. Now she understood how the cat felt. She might even understand how Fuuta felt.

She thought that just because she could overcome her own trials, he could too. It hadn't dawned on her how much worse he had it. Fighting to breathe, too pained to move… Oh, how could she take it for granted? Just a few months of (relative) freedom, and now she thought everyone was on a brighter road. If she had to be stuck like this every day, trapped in the dark under Kirisaki Shidou's constant watch, wondering if Kotoko was going to return, would she too wish for the pain to go away permanently?

She should apologize to Fuuta. Tell him she was so caught up in her own world that she didn't consider other people's suffering. But she couldn't. The day she left, Shidou had closed the proverbial (and literal) door behind her. When she had returned the next day, he gave her a stern lecture.

"I will not allow you to see Kajiyama-kun again after all the harm you've caused him. You've proven time and time again that you can't be trusted around him. Sabotaging your healthcare is one thing, but inciting him to do the same? He is in a very vulnerable mental state right now. I will not have you pose a danger to him."

Was this how the good doctor would finally take her seriously? As a danger. A liability. If she would just stay out of the way, then Fuuta might finally-

Light filtered in through the blanket. The sound of quietly approaching footsteps echoed through the room.

"Amane-chan…" Of course. Who else would come to visit but Mahiru? "Do you need help?"

In response, Amane let out an animalistic growl, which was apparently considered an affirmative. A blinding light poured into her eyes as the blanket was lifted off her face.

"Amane-chan! Can you even breathe-"

Amane uncurled herself painfully, but she also accepted Mahiru's help this time. Anything to not have her running off to that doctor again. But she couldn't meet her eyes.

"You don't have to answer..." As if she would take silence for an answer. "But I'm really worried. You haven't run off like this since…"

Since the day Amane was discharged from the doctor's care. She never wanted to relive the helplessness and fear of being attacked, and yet she was doing that all over again. All she had to do was cry into Mahiru's shoulder, and the scene would be complete.

She would not put that final piece in place.

So they just sat in silence. Amane fought not to fall over.

Sister dearest was certainly waiting for an answer.

Amane wasn't going to give her one.

So they continued to sit in silence. Amane's head was spinning as she recovered from the pain of curling up.

…

"Why? Why do you always come over? Why do you keep trying to push your values on me and get me to live how you would? My end goal is the same either way, so why bother-"

It was like staring in a mirror. Wide eye(s), mouth slightly agape, perfectly matched.

It wasn't like Amane to snap like that. It was like she was airing someone else's grievances. This…

"This is about Fuuta-kun, isn't it?"

Amane kept her head down. "All I wanted… was to inspire him to live a more virtuous life. I should have realized…" She found herself crashing onto Mahiru's shoulder.

"Oh…" Mahiru carefully wrapped her arms around Amane. "You couldn't have known. Too many things were in play. I talked to him too. Shidou-san kept watch around the clock. Fuuta-kun hasn't been in…" She tapped her fingers, trying and failing to find the words.

"And what do you mean about Kirisaki Shidou?"

"So much has happened to get to this point. If he's making you feel like the blame is all yours, I'll have a word with him."

Tempting. Amane straightened her back and her expression. "Please do."

Mahiru stood up and gave Amane a pat on the head. "I promise you'll be able to visit again in no time."

[elw00woo]

Saw your prompt thing and 👉👈 how would you feel about Lithromantic!Sanji and Aromantic!Zoro QPR? I have ideas. Like. So many. I gnaw on this dynamic.

Just. Sanji who loves to love. He's romantic and passionate, but as soon as someone reciprocates it all starts tasting rotten in his mouth. That's why he expresses his love for women that he knows he'll never see again. There's no possibility of it going anywhere. Falling in love with Zoro was... Unprecedented. And maybe he's not sure how the guy would take his feelings, but not wanting to make him genuinely uncomfortable.

And Zoro who just kinda. Doesn't mind the attention. Sanji is not as slick as he thinks he is, he just loves so openly that trying to squash it when it's for Zoro is impossible. But Zoro worries one day it won't be enough to be loved at a distance and Sanji is going to ask for more than Zoro can give him. He's worried his lack of feelings will ruin the relationship they already have.

I could. go I for so long. I would love you forever if you wrote something with this that didn't end with them getting together or with unrequited love being a curse/sad thing.

I hope this is what you had in mind, @the-sprog ! This was double hard for me, as I have never written something relationship centric + didn’t know lithromanticism was a thing.

I do like the dynamic though and think that this label probably fits Sanji very well!

Zeff used to say he was a big bag of love, filled to the brim, overflowing. Sanji couldn’t say that was wrong, exactly. He fell in love all the time, one person at a time, and mostly people he knew would never love him back.

Loving women was easy. It was what everyone expected him to do and he was all too willing to give. It was well enough for him that Nami-swan and Robin-chan would never love him back. They were beautiful and brilliant and he wanted to give them all the love and adoration they deserved. So he gave them: his cooking, every meal and snack and drink that they could wish for; gifts of flowers and jewelry, clothes and books, anything they would ask for; his attention and gratitude and love and adoration.

And there was nothing he wanted in return.

He had a friendship once with the daughter of one of Zeff’s cooks. She had the most brilliant red hair and big brown doe eyes and Sanji’s heart had been lost on her the moment they met. She had been kind to him as they played. And he had treated her the same as he treats women now. He had given her compliments and enjoyed her company, he felt himself fall head over heels. And then she had told him she liked him, asked him to be girlfriend-boyfriend. And he… stopped. Suddenly his heart wasn’t in it, he no longer felt as he had before, felt dread at the idea of what she expected him to give her now. He felt angry somehow, betrayed by his body and her with no chance of understanding why.

She and her parents had left the baratie soon after and he never got to apologize. Zeff still called her his little girlfriend, leaving him a flustered mess unable to put words to his emotions.

He had it figured out by now, accepting that he wasn't able or willing to give others what they expected of romantic relationships and completely satisfied with simply the pre-stages of the whole affair. The wooing and seducing and flirting. He loved it, loved the hints of romance, the vent to his overflowing abundance of love.

And then came Zoro.

The brute, Zoro. The angry masochistic and self-sacrificing idiot of a man. Zoro, who showered once a week and smelled accordingly. Who never complimented his food and took everything for granted.

Zoro, who protected his crew with all he had and never backed down from a fight. Zoro, who was one of the strongest people he’d ever known and who didn’t think of him as weak. Who respected him as an equal. The man who cared so much about Chopper and was good with kids. Luffy’s first mate, who saw him for what he was (the future goddamn pirate king) before anyone else did. And who always cleaned his plate, simply because he knows that it means a lot to Sanji.

How could he not fall for him?

He tried to play it down, keep it a secret. He knew the man had about as much romance in his bones as a dead fish, so Sanji wasn’t going to lie to himself about this.

He caught himself making three snacks instead of two and unwillingly brought the third plate up to the crow’s nest, where Zoro was working out. Sweaty, smelly, and glistening in the late afternoon sun.

“What’s that?” He grunted between reps, putting the weights down with a heavy clunk.

“Just a snack. You’ve been up here a while and your body needs nutrition with all the energy you’re using.” He put the plate and a bottle of water down. “You also need to stay hydrated.”

“Whatever.”

Yeah, Sanji supposed, whatever.

“Don’t get used to it.” And with that, he left.

Sanji wished it had stayed at this one slip-up, but instead, he found himself with three extra treats instead of two more often than not and the others have started to notice.

“You’ve been buying more Sake, Sanji-kun.”

Sanji felt himself freeze, knew his face was bright red, and knew he had to react quickly. “Well, you see-“

“Zoro has been getting a lot of free passes, lately.”

“Uhm-“

Mellorine, lovely mellorine PLEASE shut the fuck up. He wanted to bury his head in the sand, or better yet, explode it in the oven.

“Please don’t say more…”

She stayed quiet and came up beside him, where he tried very hard to keep his hands busy at the stove, unwilling to see the look on her perfect little face.

“Sanji… do you you like him?” What does he even say to that? Of course, he liked him, he adored him. He wanted to bury himself beneath his skin and never leave. “He’s okay.” She just smiled.

“You’re not being sly. Give him some credit, he isn’t always as dumb as he looks, okay?”

And with that, she left, but not before stopping in the doorway to the galley and turning around again. Sanji readied himself for her words of wisdom, advice that would surely help him cope.

“Oh, and Sanji-kun… stop wasting money on things we don’t need.”

Perhaps Dinner was mostly Zoro’s favorite food. Maybe it was accidentally, maybe it was deliberate. Sanji wouldn’t tell.

He watched him closely as he ate. He never said outright whether he liked something or gave an indication when he disliked something, but there were small things that Sanji had noticed.

He talked less when he really enjoyed his food. Sometimes he would stop and take a sip of his sake and when the different tastes of his food and drink mixed, he would close his eyes and hum quietly, gently, enjoying the luxurious tastes as Sanji had intended. Sanji kept a mental note of every time this happened.

Zoro stayed after dinner and stared him down.

“What is it, marimo? Can’t find the way out?”

But Zoro just shrugged and reached for the dish towel and started drying the plates he cleaned. It made his heart clench in his chest.

They stayed like this for twenty minutes, in companionable quiet, Sanji basking in his attention.

And then Zoro broke it. “You’re courting me.”

It took all his willpower not to break the plate he was holding. “No!” He heard the high pitch in his voice and decided to deny it vehemently if it should ever come up again. “Calm down, cook. You’re not making it a secret.” Sanji should really work on this.

“Never mind. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t mind? Don’t get me wrong if you start calling me stupid stuff like marimo-swan I will cut you, but…” It was his turn to blush and Sanji had to hold himself back.

“You like being pampered?”

“Don’t call it that!”

But the blush remained and neither looked away.

“I don’t like relationships. I’m not planning on spending all my time with you or doing your romantic shit… I like my freedom and I want to concentrate on becoming the world’s greatest swordsman. I don’t want love and relationships, but I do like…”

He likes me.

Sanji felt his own excitement at the thing Zoro seemed to be proposing and it fit him just right.

“In return, I’ll have your back.”

You already do, you dumb oaf. He wanted to say but kept his mouth shut because he understood that this was the best he had to offer - his blades, his protection.

Shit, it was really easy to love that man.

[just-me-venting-cause-life-sucks]

The Biggest Gold Star A Student Can Earn

lol. Welcome back to "I thought of a thing and now I must write". It's placed under the cut again, for convenience

Getting used to the suitcase was a... long process. Diggers wasn't even sure if he was used to it yet, if he ever would be used to it.

It's a big enough place that you could easily just never run into someone, but it's also small enough that everyone is friends by proxy. Diggers is no exception, forming a close bond with Regulus and Zima, even if the poet didn't speak much, and ending up as a sort of friend with everyone else.

So, when he was told that he would be going on a mission with people he had never met before, he wasn't too surprised. Vertin tends to give a rundown of what the other members are like before they go off on a mission, and none of them sound all that bad.

What he didn't expect, however, was that one of those people would be... Her.

He doesn't have anything against 37, he doesn't know her well enough for that. But as soon as he realizes where he remembers that name from, he hates it with a passion.

Diggers trys to refrain from talking to 37 directly, although he knows it would do them both some good. He hates thinking about his time in Manus Vindictae, and it isn't her fault that she reminds him of that.

The silence doesn't stop 37 from recognizing him, however. She knows his number, and she knows it well, although she feels like something is... different. She shrugs it off, trying to talk with Diggers as if they were old friends. He doesn't respond to anything she says, he just curls into himself a little bit more.

The mission is simple. Go to a place, get whatever macguffin the Foundation wants now, and deliver it back to base. Diggers has done countless of these in the past, even before he joined Vertin's team.

Of course, things are bound to go wrong. And things do, infact, go wrong, because the Manus tend to have their noses poking in the same places as the Foundation.

The Manus Believers prove to be stronger than most. One even takes a swing at Bkornblume's arm that almost chops it clean off. Tooth Fairy is mainly there to just keep them alive at this point.

Diggers ends up with a face full of dirt, the only things in his nose being blood and moss. One of the Manus Believers digs its heal into his back, and he can hear his spine crack into a position it definitely should not be in.

37 is quick to react, but even her help isn't enough to get the foot off his back. He thinks that these must be his last moments, so he treats them as such, and lets his mind give him as many ideas as it can master. He can hardly understand half of them, but 37 is still at the front of his memories right now...

He feels like he's truly losing it, but it won't matter if these are his last moments. He wants to spend these last moments feeling some sort of conclusion, to find some sort of answer to everything. And his mind gives him a circle.

He trys to make sense of it. Is it a circle in the same way his glasses are made of circle shapes? Or maybe it is a circle in the way 37 taught, how it will never be perfect and how it has no corners. Or maybe it's something he doesn't understand, that he will never understand.

37 sends another attack against the Manus Believer, and it takes his foot off of Diggers so it can attack back. Diggers knows that this is just delaying the inevitable. Tooth Fairy is still focused on how Bkornblume's arm is holding on by a thread of muscle, and he doesn't want to burned her with even more. So he takes the extra moments he was granted to try to figure things out.

Circle... What could it even mean? It doesn't have a specific color, or any defining features outside of being a circle. He can feel his vision slowly give up on him, his legs feel too heavy to move, and it probably isn't a good idea to move anyways.

Maybe he should take a creative view on it. Maybe the circle is a stand in for life and death, and this isn't actually his end. The Ouroboros, no clear start and no clear end. Maybe it isn't about him specifically, and life will continue on as if nothing happened. Then, something clicks, and he gets an idea.

Moving isn't a good idea, and he knows that, but he moves anyways. His legs are shaking, and he can hardly even tell if he's standing or laying down. His aim is just as shaky as his legs, but he puts up his bubble gun, and aims anyways.

The gun fires, and he loses feeling completely at that point. The last thing he sees is the bubble floating in the air, not a sphere, but a tetrahedron.

Diggers slowly opens his eyes again. His entire body feels numb, but he is... breathing.

He doesn't quite know where he is, but he knows he's being carried piggyback style. His vision is blurry, but he can make out the vague shape of 37 nearby. She's calm, and if she's calm, it means that they're safe. He looks down at her hands, and sees the macguffin, a black box.

He blinks, and he must have passed out again, because the next thing he knows, he's on the couch in the living room of the suitcase. He slowly sits up, his body begging to just keep laying down. Then he notices 37, sitting on the ground, staring up at him.

"Morning!" Diggers doesn't respond, just giving a nod. 37 takes it as an invitation, and moves up to the couch. "How is your body feeling?"

"Tired, and... heavy."

"I see... Do you feel strong enough to talk right now?"

"I... guess?"

37 smiles slightly wider, and pulls out something from behind her back. "Diggers... As your former teacher, and new friend, I'd like to give you this laurel wreath."

Diggers stares in shock at the bundle of flowers carefully crafted into a wreath. "You'd... what?"

37 doesn't explain, placing the wreath onto Diggers' head. "There we go! I didn't think it would be possible, but I guess you are really odd... How did you change your number?"

"I... what?"

"Your number. It was a negative infinite repeating decimal, but now it's positive. How did you do it?"

"I'm not quite sure. I just... I realized something."

"Hm? What was that?"

"Math isn't the language of the universe, it's people trying to give it a voice. It's all about perspective... Just like art."

[ilikekidsshows]

Thoughts on Marinette being empathetic? i saw someone saying that she was super empathetic but I can't really get behind that idea cause I see her as more sympathetic instead. Like she can feel sorry for someone but I don't think she's all that good at putting herself in their shoes and actually realizing the situation beyond "this person I know/care about is sad"

---

I myself have actually analyzed Marinette’s method of relating to others as empathetic rather than sympathetic, because Marinette is completely incapable of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling from context clues. Neither can she anticipate how someone might react to something. She can only project her own emotions or fears onto others. This is actually a skill Gabriel is incredibly good at, which I once noted as the number one difference between the two.

But, I also think that Marinette's empathy is highly situational. Marinette can't understand logically or emotionally how someone is feeling, unless it's a situation she herself is or has been in. However, if she can recognize someone's situation in her own life, she's suddenly so empathetic she can't contain herself. Notice how she was totally fine with bullying and sabotaging Kagami, until she found out Kagami was desperately yearning for a boy she has no relationship with, just like her. Then suddenly Marinette “My Adrien Problems Are The Number One Priority Always” Dupain-Cheng is so empathetic that she actually feels conflicted about getting in the way of their romance.

Still, when the situation someone is in is something she hasn't experienced, Marinette just can't relate or understand at all. She has seen a parent abusing their child in three different contexts, yet she insists all these parents are good parents because her parents are good to her. She completely ignores Cat Noir trying to tell her that he’s not emotionally fine, projecting her idea of Cat Noir onto the real Cat Noir, until his problems directly affect her, and then she proceeds to project her own thoughts and feelings on what's going on, like assuming that, just because her biggest problem is unrequited love, that's all that's bothering Cat Noir as well when he has been telling her otherwise for weeks if not months.

Marinette's main problem is projection. She acts like she's the center of the universe and the main character. Like, she is both of these things, but a fictional character isn't supposed to know that unless the writers are trying to be too meta. So, Marinette doesn't know she's the universe's creator's daughter, but she acts like she does and that makes her act entitled and selfish. She can't be bothered to take basic manners or decency into account when she needs to score a date with a hot guy. She will humiliate a classmate and supposed friend and deny him something he was really looking forward to if it means she gets to do something she could also do any other day of the week if she wasn't a coward, like asking the guy she likes to play video games with her. Marinette is absolutely convinced that her crush problems are the most important thing going on at any given moment and everyone else are just supportive characters in the drama that is her life.

While Marinette doesn't seem to live in a fantasy world entirely, she certainly goes around one foot in one. She doesn't go around outright calling her classmates extras and bit parts, but she certainly doesn't treat them as real humans with real feelings either. Even when she helps them she does it like a video game protagonist trying to max out a relationship value. She acts like she already knows what to do, like she's reading a guide, but she gets it wrong so many times so the guide is faulty, but she still gets a free pass every time because “she had good intentions”. I’ve never seen a 14-year-old get granted this much slack for such blatant disregard of others’ opinions.

Whether it's empathy or sympathy, whatever method Marinette is using to relate to others, she is bad at it.

[thenixkat]

just i would like more info for Plumeria in general it would help make picking/writing for her easier

Just... we get maybe a small handful of lines from fucking Masters of all things that adds more to her backstory of how she and her bestie met. Not even in the Sun/Moon/Ultra games -> "A long time ago, someone in town tried to pick a fight with me. Another person saved me by challenging them to a Pokémon battle. I really…admired that compassion. Pain, failure—it's not easy when things don't go the way you'd like. I don't think I'd admire that person as much as I do if they were strong and nothing else."

She does think Guzma is as much of an idiot as the grunts. And she also thinks that dummies are cute and worth protecting. -> "That stupid Guzma… He really is a prime idiot, isn't he!" -> "I help keep Team Skull together. I'm like a big sister to all these numskulls. You have realized what idiots all these guys are, right?" "But don't you think some dummies are cute in their dumbness? You know what I mean, right? You picking on my cute, dumb brothers and sisters is really annoying me!" -> "The guys in Team Skull just don't know how to live their lives. Just dummies doing dumb things. They've just wandered and gotten a little bit lost for a time, is all. It's my duty to protect them and keep them on the right path. Don't know if that really makes me a leader or whatever, though. I think it's more that I'm just nice enough to keep Team Skull together so they don't go off on their own and do anything stupid."

She might be from Ula'Ula if Nanu and Molayne could give her another Z-Ring to try and redo/complete her island challenge. -> "Those old dudes Molayne and Nanu somehow talked me into doing this. I'm starting from scratch as a Pokémon Trainer and doing it right this time. I've got a Z-Ring and everything, so I might actually be able to live up to their expectations."

We certainly know she has self-esteem issues given dialogue and the fact that she is in the self-esteem issues gang. Also fear of failure/takes failure poorly. -> "Hunh! I can't even stand myself right now!" -> "I failed again…like I always do. I promised myself I wouldn't! I told myself I would never fail again! It's all right to feel a little jealous, right? How else am I supposed to get stronger? My team and I really did take out so many Pokémon to make it here!"

Also her take on not getting what 'everyone' says about people being able to understand each other via battling is interesting given how the Pokemon world feels about battling. -> "I don't believe that people understand each other if they battle, but I'll face you anyway."

And it's very much interesting that she's not jealous of Lusamine at all. She doesn't like that woman's vibes but acknowledges how strongly Guzma feels about Lusamine. Like that is something to factor into writing them b/c no matter how you interpret Plumeria and Guzma's friendship (I personally go with friends with benefits from some of the visual stuff going on in the manga), Plumeria is ok with Guzma having other people be super important to him/having a crush on someone else. Granted if we are taking the manga into account Plumeria would kill for her guy so don't endanger him or play with his feelings. True ride-or-die gal right there. -> "See, Guzma… he really likes the president. She's the only adult who ever seemed to see how strong he was." -> "President Lusamine… He was glad to have a chance to help you again."

[cryptids-of-spielzeit]

Candles

Present 3: Sharing

(A Marching Hare Story)

For the past month leading to her 5th birthday, Charlotte had been preparing for when the Marching Hare would return. She invited everyone she knew, pretty much the entire town, to the party. Now, the reason why everyone was invited wasn't given to them, they just saw it as a gesture of goodwill. But Charlotte had something in mind, something that she'd show everyone, and hopefully, they'd join in.

Susan and Grant had been helping their daughter prepare for the party, getting the cake ordered, making the decorations, the like, while Dee had handed out the invites. Everything was coming up nicely.

The day before the party, most of everything had been set up. The cake had been completed, sealed up tight, and their yard was adorned with streamers and brightly colored lights. There was only one more thing that was needed. A gift.

Charlotte had gotten a piece of construction paper and a marker, and went to work. She had her mother make sure it was readable, it was important for the receiver of the gift to understand. She spent all night trying to find the right words, what to write down. And, finally, with a finishing touch, the gift was ready.

It was the day of the party. A majority of the town was there, all the kids that could make it were there, they were playing, and all the parents talked amongst themselves. Susan was the only one still out of the loop, even after the night she returned home she still had no clue what this "birthday bunny" was, and why everyone else seemed to take it at face value.

"Oh, it's just a little thing the kids made, I believe."

"Are you sure? They all take it so seriously."

"Well of course they do, mein freunde, what child doesn't?"

Susan took a moment to reflect. Why question this, it's just kids being kids, after all. But why go through so much effort, inviting all of these people, just for something made up? Why not, if everyone has a good time?

Charlotte was anticipating his arrival every second she was there. She had her gift for him in hand, never letting it go, even when playing with the others. She was optimistic, why wouldn't he show up? It was her birthday, he had to.

She waited. An hour passed, no sign, lunch had been served. She waited. 2 hours, no sign, all the games had been played. She waited. 3 hours, no sign. All there was left were cake and presents. Her optimism withered with each hour. If he didn't show before the party was done, then what was the point.

"Alright honey, do you want to do cake or presents first?"

"Cake, please. Just in case he arrives."

"Alright, Charlotte, go and sit at the table. Daddy and I will light the candles."

She took her seat in front of the cake, 5 long, rainbow candles adorned it.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, all were lit up.

"Alright everyone, are you ready? 🎵 Happy bir-"

A loud clang was heard in the distance, silencing everyone. Another clang, and another, the faintest sound of static alongside them.

"HE'S HERE! MOMMY, DADDY, DEE, EVERYONE HE'S HERE!"

Indeed, he was. The Marching Hare, there for everyone to see. As he took his steps, he started to notice just how many people were there. So many, just to celebrate that little girl's birthday. The static almost sounded like giggling. He marched only a tiny bit quicker, before finally stopping right in front of everyone. All but the children stood in shock. The parents couldn't believe it, Susan especially. He was real.

It had a great, big pinecone in its mouth, dropping it. He bowed, slowly starting to turn around.

"WAIT!"

Charlotte cried out, stopping the Hsre in its tracks. She stepped down from her chair and walked over to him, her gift in hand.

"Can you read, Mr. Bunny?"

He nodded slowly, tilting his head in confusion. She handed him the gift, a note.

"Dear Mr. Bunny. When you first visited, I was very happy. And when you visited everyone else, you made them happy. You gave all of us gifts, but you didn't get anything. I want to fix that. I don't know when your birthday is, so all of our birthdays are yours too. And presents are included. Thank you, Mr. Bunny.

From Charlotte Reed"

And below, a little drawing of the Hare, a big smile on his face. A tear started to form on his beady eyes. The static was increasing in intensity, he wanted to say something. After a bit, he managed to get it out, as warbled as it was.

"T̸h̶a̷n̵k̶.̴.̶.̷.̶y̷o̷u̴.̷.̸.̴.̶ "

He put the note in his mouth, and then marched away. Charlotte walked back to the cake, blowing her candles, the pinecone in hand. Everyone turned around, clapping as one would at any other birthday party. Charlotte, with a few tears of her own, stood in.her seat, shouting.

"Happy birthday, Mr. Bunny!"

Bunzo giggled. He'd be getting really old, wouldn't he? A few more tears wouldn't hurt.

[sonseulsoleil]

Alright, I've seen a lot of P&P takes, and I obviously made my Persuasion comparison post. But I'm not done talking about Austen parallels because Emma is my favorite one, and there are so many things to talk about here. Under a cut because I have no self restraint and it got so long.

First, I want to get the parallels to Gabriel and Beelzebub out of the way because that was the first thing I noticed.

Gabriel is so much like Frank Churchill. Frank has been controlled by his aunt his entire life because she controls his fortune. The second he steps out of line, she'll cut him off. He hides this with charm and arrogance, but it becomes clear by the end of the novel that none of his choices are his own. He falls for Jane Fairfax, someone his aunt disapproves of because she is below his station. They're forced to keep their a relationship secret. But ultimately, once his aunt dies, they're able to reveal the truth and get married like they planned.

This should be sounding familiar by now, I think? Like Frank, Gabriel is coerced by Heaven into becoming what they want him to be. Like Frank, he wears a mask of arrogance. Like Frank, he falls for someone he isn't supposed to look twice at. Like Frank, Gabriel becomes the envy of another character in the story, who desperately wants what he seems to have.

Which brings us to Crowley and Aziraphale. Crowley is Knightley and Aziraphale is Emma. At first, I noticed some similarities between Aziraphale and Knightley—namely the repression and the dislike of change—but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Aziraphale and Emma are incredibly similar characters. They’re both obnoxiously self-righteous, believe they know what’s best for everyone, and are deeply stubborn.

It takes Emma almost the entire novel to accept that she’s in the wrong—that she shouldn’t have looked down on people below her socially/economically, that she shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business, and, of course, that she’s been in love with her best friend this entire time (which she only comes to terms with when she’s faced with the possibility of losing him forever).

And, come on, throwing a ball to try to get two people to dance and fall in love? That's literally a move out of Emma's playbook.

Of course, Crowley and Knightley are similar as well. Knightley is a character who is very kind and warm-hearted, but is simultaneously strict and demanding. He has a strong sense of morals. He is the sensible one, the brains, the guy who always sees things for what they are. He's not afraid to call people out, and he's almost always right when he does. I see a lot of Crowley in these qualities. Crowley may be a demon, but his sense of morality is very strong. It just doesn't align with Heaven or Hell's moral code.

On top of all that, Knightley is the only character in the novel that ever actually challenges Emma. Like, Crowley, Knightley is always calling Emma out, pointing out the flaws in her reasoning, hoping she'll see his side. And she is always measuring her judgements against him, even when she doesn’t realize she’s doing it.

She values his opinion over everyone else’s because he’s the only one she can truly trust to be honest with her, even when she doesn’t like what he has to say. Just like Aziraphale is always listening to Crowley, even when they disagree, and often ends up coming around to agree with Crowley's stance, like in the Victorian flashbacks.

Like Aziraphale and Crowley, Emma and Knightley argue and bicker A LOT but it’s always with an understanding of the deep friendship and care that underlies it. And when they fight for real towards the end of the book? It’s devastating. And it’s the final nail in Emma’s character development. Faced with losing the one person she took for granted would always be by her side, the one person who has always been entwined into her life, the person she can't imagine being without, she has to own up to her mistakes.

The last thing I'll say, is that Knightley and Emma are my favorite Austen couple for a reason. They are lifelong best friends, and that is the basis for their romance. Knightley is the only one in the novel who sees Emma, flaws and all, and loves her unconditionally. Aziraphale and Crowley are like that, too. They see each other, really see each other, imperfections and all, and they love each other so much.

[invisibletinkerer]

Leonhart

Oh, Leonhart. The spiritual predecessor of both Cecil and Kain.

For one thing, he's the origin of the "dark knight" class. It's not in fact quite the same as Cecil's, since Leonhart's title is ダークナイト: the English words "Dark Knight" spelled out in katakana, while Cecil's is 暗黒騎士: Ankoku kishi, "dark knight" in Japanese, though that distinction would be impossible to preserve in English translation. I think that in FF2 it's more intended to invoke Darth Vader than anything else, but it's interesting that FF4 took the concept and ran with it.

But more than that, Leonhart has the same basic character arc as Kain. He starts out as a member of the main party, turns into an antagonist for most of the game, and then rejoins the heroes. This is interesting, and there's something complicated going on with him as a character that gives him staying power in the imagination. It's no wonder they tried to make a more fleshed out version of this aspect in FF4 a few years later.

Because unlike Kain, the game doesn't give us any sense of why this happened with Leonhart.

He gets separated from the other heroes (his sister Maria, Frioniel and Guy) in the prologue, and when we meet him again he's the evil emperor's right-hand man, wearing a dark armor and calling himself the Dark Knight. The heroes meet him a few times, but only briefly, without knowing his identity. When the heroes find out that it's their friend/brother under the armor, the idea that he might be possessed or mind-controlled is brought up, but it's only ever a thought, no confirmation either way.

After the heroes kill the evil emperor, "the Dark Knight" takes his place as the new emperor. When the heroes - having found out who he is - go to confront him, he tells them that power is all that matters, and he's not letting go of this power. He's ready to fight them, and the only reason there is no fight is because the old emperor comes back as a demon, and predictably smacks Leonhart down from the throne. And since the demon is about to kill them all, Richard the Dragoon sacrifices his life to allow the others (including Leonhart!) to escape on his wyvern.

In the next scene, we see the three heroes + Leonhart meet with princess Hilda. She's understandably shocked that they brought the Dark Knight back with them. Frioniel asks her permission to keep Leonhart with them, and she grants it, basically "Yes, I'll leave managing the Dark Knight to you." And then he's a party member! Yay?

We get no explanations. Was he under some kind of spell (that lasted beyond the emperor's mortal death)? Was he brainwashed? Did he actually think the emperor's idea of conquering the world under a single empire (and killing anyone who resisted) was a good idea? Was he seduced by power after being powerless for most of his life? Even if he did everything on his own accord, it still makes sense that he'd want to destroy the demon emperor who has now declared that he want to erase the world and kill everyone in it, so that in itself doesn't mean Leonhart is a "good guy". We just don't know anything about his motivations.

In the ending, he leaves on his own. When the others ask him to stay, he says "We now know too much about so many things. We can't go back to how things were."

Know too much? About what? About him? "We" implies this goes both ways. Is he lamenting that both he and his friends found out about the darkness within him? But we never see him express either regret or justifications for what he did. Or maybe he means knowledge about how the world works, how power works, what they're all capable of? Leonhart knowing he's not the same person as he was, and therefor not wanting to stay with his old friends doesn't even have to be angsty. Maybe he goes off to try to become emperor again? That would be a possible reading!

I kind of wonder what was the intent with this character. It's like he's trying to be both FF4's Kain - a friend who was forced to become an enemy against his will, and later got freed and is a friend again - and Chrono Trigger's Magus - an enemy who is forced by circumstances to become an ally. Or rather, he's the somewhat confusing ancestor of both.

I do have headcanons. But in the game itself, it's frustratingly vague. Complex characters in video games weren't really a thing in 1988, so the writers were trying something new and didn't quite stick the landing. It's still a fascinating and very influential attempt.

[clayaffinity]

Genora (20), in a brief moment of her life. One where she tried to meet the expectations of her uncle and have a sensible lifestyle and a stable job. Well. as stable as one could have being a bard for hire.

She was quite good at playing music for all kinds of settings, whether small taverns or dance balls. It's quite easy to get a tavern full of drunk folk tipping the live performance. And using the money she saved, she was able to afford more presentable clothes and advertisements for the higher class. (including a portrait like the one i drew).

Given the semi recluse nature that she developed as she got older, she was also quite mysterious. It was easy to fantasize the kind of person she could be, behind the talent and grace she presented. So many would hire her due to the intrigue that would spread over her. It didn't take long for the brave or cocky few, who would see her and decide to get to know her more than the mysterious violinist who seldom spoke. So that opportunity would arrive during her breaks or after the final performance of the night, when she would go where the least amount of people were and would be nose deep in a book. As well as writing in a journal. And sometimes, for the lucky few, they can find her unoccupied. That's when people are able to get a look into her eyes. Many would look at her and see someone who is naturally enchanting, the way her eyes twinkle and glisten. But anyone keen enough could tell that her gaze is not really there. She is looking at some intangible thing that is so far away, and the glisten in her eyes is a yearning for something else.

Yet those who continued to talk to her felt that they could one day change her or convince her that it's better if she doesn't be herself. One of those people led to a physically intimate relationship. Where their ideals and dynamics were just too clashing. Which becomes one of the reasons she decided she cannot keep being this Idealized bard. She had to be herself; the woman who wants to write a guidebook for all who wish to be a hero one day. A book that would given everyone access to the resources needed to understand, what makes a hero a hero?

The first ever folk to approach her would go on to gossip about how very eccentric she is. She would seem either flat out disinterested in the whole mingle and make social transactions during these high class get togethers, or she would ask the most uncouth questions. Things like "How often do you find you or your colleagues preforming act of kindness?" "Do you believe, being of the high class, that your blood grants you the titles you were given? What of those who get their titles through hard work?" and the like. So many after talking to her would see their own fantasies of her shattered. Her awkward, rude, and on the rare nights where someone asks and talks the right way to get her to open up will find that she is quite excitable when it comes to her passions, ones that she has tried so hard to keep in the back burner since trying to appease her uncle. So many would not seek her out again. You can count on your hand the times the people who aren't intimidated by the shift in there ideals of her.

Not long after this revelation, she tried to balance these two worlds, Still preforming with the violin but also spending late nights creating ventriloquist puppets of her favorite historically real heroes. She lived like this just long enough so that she can venture off and find inspiration for the answers she seeks.

it's rlly late and i dont feel like re reading this so :P whatevs

[grymmdark]

my sister is such a difficult person to live with. she's always miserable but hasn't taken any actions to be less miserable and just wallows in it instead. and that makes it everyone else's problem too cus then me n my parents gotta deal with her being miserable and not doing anything about it. and it feels like she things because she's miserable it means what she wants matters most of all and it feels like she really takes for granted that our parents actually do care deeply about us and have done/are doing so much to try and give us good lives. and yeah our parents have fucked up and done things that caused us both harm but they're people and they weren't fully prepared for/understanding of our various difficulties. she gets upset at everything and takes everything personally and it's so hard to live with her because of it. and i know her problems arent her fault but she still acts like that means they're not her responsibility and that other people should do things for her because shes got problems. and what makes it so especially frustrating is i have so so many of the same shit going on but i had to put in the work basically all on my own because everyone else was so focused on her that i had no one to really help me. and i wish i could do something to tell her to actually take responsibility for herself and put in some fucking effort but she takes even tiny things like massive personal attacks and would probably act like i was telling her to suck it up or just stop being depressed. and i want her to get better not just for my sake but moreso for her sake. but she isn't getting better and she wont if she doesn't actually fucking do anything fo get better

[silenthillmutual]

3 & 18 for Alfred the Executioner, 24 & 25 for Artemy Burakh, and 10 & 48 for Heather Mason!

alfred<3

3. What first drew you to this character?

this is such a fun question for me because i've been asked this once or twice. i genuinely have no idea! i started playing bloodborne in like. uhm. 2022, i think? and i'd gotten far enough in the game to meet him. but i generally didn't think a whole lot about bloodborne at the time because so much else was going on in my life. i couldn't even tell you when or why my brain decided to fixate on bloodborne, much less on alfred. i just kind of woke up one day and my brain was like "yes alfred my best friend alfred!"

if i'm going to hazard a guess, i'd say it's because he's fucking crazy. i love it when a guy (or gal tbh) is covered in blood and laughing like a maniac. i am also admittedly quite fond of the voice acting. i wish all the characters in bloodborne got more screentime, but at the same time i think everyone does a great job with what they're given. the absolute snide turn in his voice when you give him the cainhurst summons is just so good.

18. Do you prefer to see this character suffer or know peace? Angst or comfort? Both?

SUFFER, BLONDE BOY!

i have a whole thing planned out of how i'll get him to interact w my oc and all but the peace lasts for... i don't know. a couple hours? maybe? the rest of it he is suffering. his natural state. even when i take him out and dust him off and put in him pathologic he is suffering. but that's bc i see him as someone who hasn't quite figured out yet that you're not meant to hinge your entire existence on a singular thing: a person, a goal, a label, an ideal. i don't know how to better explain it other than that i think he's got many things wrong with him and can't/won't look inward, but that's not something anyone else can make him do, so it doesn't particularly matter where he is. he's going to continue to suffer.

artemy<3

24. Do you ever dream about this character? If so, describe a dream you once had about them.

i have had dreams about artemy in the past but i cannot for the life of me remember what happened in them! my dreams typically aren't all that memorable unless they're really, really bad. i haven't had one with him in it recently, though i think the first time i had artemy show up in a dream, i was daniil.

25. What kind of fan-fiction do you read about this character? If you don’t read fan-fics about them, why not?

i went through a period where i was trying to read absolutely every pathologic fanfic. i got caught up a couple years ago, and then life caught up with me and i haven't really gotten back to the mines in that sense. now i tend to prioritize what my friends write before reading anything else... but i do like to read gen fic about artemy that focuses on him actually struggling with the outcome of the game. and i feel like this is sort of a rare thing to find. i'd be happy with reading a burakhovsky fic like this if, you know, more of them existed? because so many fics make it The Dankovsky Show. and i get that daniil is a very interesting and important character, but so is artemy! people tend to write artemy as being endlessly understanding and kind, and artemy (in patho 2 at least) is relatively quick to forgive people who have wronged him, it just doesn't sit right with me that people make him a doormat. so i do still read fics where artemy is present, but i don't... go looking for them necessarily, because it doesn't feel like a lot of people treat him very fairly. he gets a better deal than clara, granted, but not by much.

heather<3

10. Do you see yourself in this character even without projecting?

hmmm... i think i probably saw myself in aspects of heather back when i was playing the game at like, 18 or 19 years old, but i think that was more with the heather we're presented in shattered memories, who is deeply hurt and grieving something she never got to have. it was something i could relate to, and the heather of silent hill 3 had something i never did, in having a loving father. i think i probably identified witht he rage she feels in the game, and the fear (since i was peak unmedicated for ocd, which itself is like being in a neverending hell) - but that was probably more of a 'heather lend me your strength' kind of way than in actually being able to see myself in her. though i did cosplay her!

48. What’s your favorite physical/design feature for this character?

i've always absolutely loved her outfit. i used to closet cosplay her all the time - my mother would never have let me bleach my hair, but i had the vest & the skirt & the boots. i actually always loved boots like that, though i don't have them anymore. i'm actually coming back around in the questions here - now that i'm older & harrier & fatter & vaguely more masculine, my cosplay lineup is looking more like travis grady (from silent hill: origins) and alfred.

honest fave character asks~

[higaneion]

your character in 5 quotes

Repost, don't reblog.

Tell us your favorite quotes from your character. Give us an idea of who they are by five things they’ve said. Then tag your friends.

"Come on…be brave. Take that first step to live without fear…"

"So…everyone should have told me, you know…? They’re just…too considerate… I’m not…that weak…"

"Roy…please… Don't fail…"

"I just feel that you're not a bad person. I…trust you."

"I shall make Ostia a country in which our children can always be happy."

I was gathering her lines from FE6 and decided now is a good time as any to post them. There are extra notes on my thoughts below the cut because I feel like a lot of these need context.

This first one comes from her recruitment conversation with Gonzalez. I have read her supports a lot and honestly forgot about the recruitment conversations, but they are some of my favorites.

This is right after Hector's death, she is not having a good time, but she's trying her best! What else is significant about this quote is that before this she eggs on Eliwood about fighting and joining Roy and she gets shot down twice, painting a small glimpse of how she (and women in Elibe) are treated. Granted, she is 15 at the start and he is saying this because he doesn't want her to get hurt for fear of telling Hector, but he also sends his 15-year-old son to be the tactician and leader of the army, different circumstances I guess, but I don't know really. Tangent aside, I think this also means something to her because in her mind, she was going to find out eventually, but she just feels hurt that no one told her sooner, allowing her to believe that things were (sort of) fine outside of the walls, pointing once again to that bubble she's lived in all her life.

Okay so this is her death quote. HAHA But the way I interpreted it is that she basically says: keep moving on for the sake of Lycia, for peace, even when I'm gone, keep moving forward. Obviously this is a mouthful for someone dying unless you're an Engage character, so it keeps her last words short and bittersweet.

So, the context here is this is part of her support chain with Garret. She tries to befriend him, or at the very least make conversation with him as she does with many members of the army, regardless of station. The reason for me choosing this one is that thinking about what she's been through and what trust and honesty mean to her. You could look at it through two different lenses, one being she is just pure-hearted and believes there is good in everyone; this is true by the way. And the other being that she was betrayed by rebels under Ostia's banner, so I'd imagine that there is at least some reluctance to trust others, though her natural instinct is to do so anyway according to her supports/conversations. But to this end, she does give reasons later about why she does aside from "just a feeling"/intuition, that if he was going to kill her, he would have done it already. As she talks to people in the army from different walks of life, this aids her understanding and emotional maturity we see throughout the game.

This one is almost a red herring because the real star of this support chain is Ogier/Oujay. He has such banger lines that make me c': For a boy so young to have such sad but powerful lines... when in Fire Emblem... But anyway, talking about the quote, this one is kind of my least favorite out of the ones I picked but dialing back from the emotional maturity she does eventually develop, we see in this support just how out of touch she is with the rest of the world. She's very concerned in the moment with making friends and learning more about him that she doesn't consider the world they live in. Like, he says their family was poor and he's the breadwinner and she presses him with casual questions about his family like the small talk you would hear in school or something. Girl... But I think it works out in the end as it shows not only her flaws, but she admits to being so hasty and ignorant and tries to be more open-minded.

[transpersian]

So when other people dedicate a portion of their time + energy to calling out / bringing attention to an abuser with a platform, who harmed them personally (and many others), it's good and understandable. But when Milena does it she's just being "obsessed"? 🤨 Interesting....

I don't know if these anons just aren't seeing the impact yesterday's drops have been having on other platforms or what cuz like-

(I do hope you're taking care during all of this though. 🤍)

Yeah, that's the part that's honestly confusing to me. At least one of them should get a Twitter account and just look at the inferno that I've set over there. It's fucking glorious, and more victims of theirs are popping up in my DMs to thank me. They're warming their hands on the fire we've set and it's providing comfort to people who didn't think they'd ever receive it.

The responses to PZ's bullshit are almost universally revulsion and horror.

As for strategy and taking a while on this...

Yes, we sat on Noehflake's screenshots for a bit until they streamed about it. Then we dropped it mid-stream and watched them continue to drop lie after lie that they didn't realize we'd already dropped the proof against. It was beautiful.

Yes, I was sitting on Spawn's screenshots for months, waiting for the right time because it was an incredibly sensitive and risky thing to release. We waited for the right time, and when I did decide to release them, it finally accomplished exactly what I'd been waiting for.

And yes, it took me this long to get to the AH2 doc, but that arose from finally prepping for Lux' stream, which took a while to build towards.

And then we dropped it yesterday and it's been fucking sublime.

People want to criticize me for not focusing on Poppy's sexual abuse of someone as a teenager. Let me ask something: after you make that initial accusation, if the person you're speaking to doesn't think it's enough or wants more details, what's your move? All you have is that initial accusation. You have no rock-solid backing other than "this is wrong."

Granted, that should be enough, but in the real world, it's NOT.

You know what does work? How about receipts of Poppy being weird towards a bunch of people that she said were under her age limit? How about receipts of how she abused her kid as recently as last year? How about receipts of how she blackmailed an immigrant into silence publicly? How about receipts showing how this whole campaign against Neohflake has been utter bullshit?

How about working with a streamer with 30k+ followers and several ex-PZ mods to craft the most effective message possible?

But yeah, walk out there and throw out "Poppy raped her cousin when she was a teenager!" and watch her go "yeah, I'm very open about that."

You don't get people like this on things like that. She successfully kept people against Dormiyu by not denying the accusations at all, just reversing them and mocking their validity. She will swipe that accusation away like a fly.

Again, my tactics have been getting fucking results. It's plain as day. Everyone else sees it. All they have to do is open their eyes and actually LOOK.

I may be fueled by outrage, but it doesn't define my strategy. I'm a fucking tactician and all you have to do is look at my results to see that I'm fucking good at it.

Taking a more measured approach is not the same as "hiding shit."

And again: my approach has been working.

In the end, that's more powerful evidence than any fucking argument they have trying to blame their mania on me.

So yeah. Thank you for seeing what should be obvious to so many. Thanks for writing in. Thanks for your support. 💜