#but he's still exceptionally capable and he's still there to be an image for people who see themselves in him

[science-lings]

okay this has been going through my mind for days and I have to get my thoughts out before I explode

Disclaimer, this is not talking about a specific artist/person and would never condone or participate in anon hate or online bullying for any reason but especially this one. 

I get why people are mad about Link being portrayed as this buff, hypermasculine, tall guy. I am too (again don’t fucking attack people over it though) and it seems like such an infuriating way to change the character just to fit into some ideal of hypermasculine attractiveness or to make a ship fall into a more hetero lense by making him a decent foot taller than whatever girl he’s being paired with. 

The world of video games and action movies and every form of media ever is extremely saturated with male characters that are swole and manly and whatever other descriptors people are trying to push onto Link that don’t fit into his actual character. There are so many characters out there that already fit this male standard and having a clearly androgynous elf guy was like a breath of fresh air. 

Link was literally designed to be a character whose lines on gender were blurred, ‘a girl with a masculine touch or a guy with a feminine touch’ so that anyone could project themselves onto him. His physical design in botw/totk was specifically made to be feminine enough to wear a certain outfit to pass as a woman (which includes a nearly mandatory cutscene where he puts on the clothes and blushes after being called pretty, like you have to be blind to think that its an experience that he doesn’t like at all) and in totk there are a bunch of outfits made for Link that are blatantly gnc, ones that are practically dresses, include nail polish and lipstick, you can even dye his hair bright and vivid colors and that’s half way to giving him new pronouns. The whole reason Linkle isn’t included in more mainline loz games was because her existence would force Link into a gender dichotomy, if there's a clearly female version of the main hero, that means the main hero has to be a man, and they would rather abandon a potential reoccurring character than make Link conform to a gender binary. 

So pardon me when it feels disingenuous and even malicious for him to be morphed into these clear masculine ideals, where he towers over any female romantic partner (even when in canon he is regularly depicted as noticeably shorter than her) or even in m/m fanworks he’s really beefed up, perhaps to make the scene feel more gay or something. 

Perhaps it’s because his more twink-y/ femboy body type is so heavily sexualized (though obviously when people are sculping abs on him it’s totally not because they’re horny about it) and that’s an issue in itself that bothers me. But it’s just so tiring to see one of the very few popular main characters who is short and feminine and androgynous be molded into just another bland muscle-headed action hero over and over and over again. 

I’m not mad at the creators for portraying him differently than how I like him portrayed, I’m mad because we really do get so few characters like him in good popular media, and to be honest, I really like him the way that he is. I love that he’s tiny and has long hair and has the option to dress any way the player likes. It seems a little distasteful to make him taller than a female love interest just because that’s how straight couples have to be, there’s just never been a real straight couple where the guy is shorter than the girl, that’s just Impossible! (/s) 

#i doubt anyone read this all i just needed to get it off my chest and this felt like the best place to do it #again i don't think it's a reason to bully or even just say mean things to people over their portrayal of link #but i get why it's so frustrating to people #like... link is lowkey a hero for trans guys who aren't tall and aren't ending up as masculine as they had hoped #but he's still exceptionally capable and he's still there to be an image for people who see themselves in him #idk this is just a rant #rant #zelink #loz #botw #totk

[rosie-b]

Follow the Red Wooly String

A soulmate story written for day 6 of @adrinetteapril, "Red String" (with art!!!)

The art is a commission from the talented @sinkdraws! Her commissions are still open, so consider getting some of her art for yourself, and reblog the non-png version of this image from her, too!!

Without further ado, you can read the fic on AO3 or just below! I hope you enjoy :D

The first time Marinette saw the strings, she thought she was hallucinating.

Everyone knew about the Seers, the few people capable of seeing soul-binding strings, but it was exceptionally rare to meet one, let alone develop the Seers’ ability oneself. And, well, Marinette knew herself well enough to know she couldn’t fully trust herself after pulling an anxiety-and-ADHD-fueled all-nighter. Last time it’d happened, she’d been fully convinced that Nino had grown his hair out into a mohawk and loudly complimented him on it several times before passing out in the middle of class. In the aftermath, Nino had sworn to never wear a new hat without telling Marinette about it first again.

So, Marinette had been more dubious than shocked when she closed her eyes for a second too long on her walk to class in the morning and opened them to see a mess of red, white, black, and yellow strings tangling and shifting around on the pavement in front of her. It was a cool hallucination, she knew it was, but Marinette wasn’t about to celebrate having a new power that she’d most likely daydreamed up.

Her heart still did a happy, nervous dance when she saw the deep red string that had just appeared on her finger, though, and Marinette really didn’t want to quash the hope that her vision was coaxing to new life in her chest! She’d wanted to know who her soulmate was for so long, before becoming Ladybug and meeting Master Fu, anyway. What if she finally had a chance to find them?

On the other hand, though, it was probably safer for her not to find out who they were.

Chat Noir had always believed that they were soulmates. He’d asked Master Fu, the day they’d been invited to his home and the turtle kwami had revealed that Master Fu was a Seer, if he’d chosen them because he could tell their strings were connected. 

Master Fu had only chuckled and said that he’d chosen them because he knew they would work well with Plagg and Tikki, not for any other reason. Besides, if Ladybug and Chat Noir really were soulmates, and if Master Fu told them that now, he’d claimed, that would add to the risk of another Seer seeing the string while they were detransformed and telling them each about it, thus revealing their secret identities.

They both knew what that meant— they’d have to give up their Miraculous, even if they were platonic, not romantic, soulmates. Their secret identities were crucial in the fight against Hawk Moth. So, Chat Noir had given up his hope of confirming their bond, and Ladybug had reluctantly given up her dream of finding her own soulmate (or soulmates). After all, if a Seer did take an interest in finding out whose string connected to hers, wasn’t there a risk that the same Seer might find out Ladybug’s identity, or at least who Ladybug’s soulmate was? 

She didn’t want to put herself or her soulmate in danger like that, so she’d suppressed her childhood dream of being brought to her soulmate by a kind Seer and a little red string.

But sometimes, Marinette couldn’t help but stare at Adrien’s pinky finger during class and imagine a scarlet red string there, connecting his soul to hers. Love was a foolish thing, but Marinette wished she could afford its risk for the sake of being with Adrien. As Ladybug, though, she’d never be able to, so even after Master Fu handed over the Guardianship to her, she ignored her dream of being connected to Adrien as much as she could. Because she loved him, she didn’t want to put him in danger with her foolish hopes.

Today, though, as she approached Ms. Bustier’s classroom (only five minutes late!) and watched as the string trailing down from her finger seemed to grow taught, Marinette couldn’t help but hope that maybe, the universe was making an exception for her. Maybe, if she really was becoming a Seer, that meant she could finally find her soulmate without needing to worry about her secret identity!

Maybe this was a sign… if it wasn’t just an exhaustion-fueled hallucination, that was.

Marinette slid into her seat with a quiet apology to her teacher, who sighed but didn’t act surprised, since this kind of behavior wasn’t really that uncommon for Marinette. As Ms. Bustier resumed her lecture, Marinette found herself staring down at the string on her finger again.

It’s still there. What if it is real? She wondered.

Marinette looked around quickly, to make sure no one was watching her, and then gently poked the place where the string seemed to be. If the stories were true, only Seers could physically touch the strings. Everyone else phased through them or avoided them, as though by instinct, but the Seers could follow a string to its owner by sight and touch, and they were even capable of untying the string, releasing the bond between soulmates. That only happened rarely, Marinette remembered as she grasped the thick, red string tied around her little finger.

As it turned out, her string was soft, like it was made with fluffy wool. She touched it again, marveling at the texture under her fingertips. It felt so real! 

In front of her, Adrien shivered.

“You okay, dude? Classroom too chilly for you today?” Nino’s whisper barely reached Marinette’s ears.

Adrien hesitated and then shook his head in response as Ms. Bustier shot Nino a meaningful look. There was no escaping the teacher’s attention for students in the front row.

Marinette turned her attention back to the string for another moment before leaving it alone to at least pretend to take notes. In her sleep-deprived state, her notes usually left something to be desired (legibility, for one), and she shot a nervous glance at Alya, who caught her gaze and offered a smile and nod in return.

“I got you, girl,” she mouthed, and Marinette smiled and mouthed a sincere thank you back.

Class moved on, and Marinette lost herself in trying to pay attention, and then in the way the light from outside fell on Adrien’s hair, and then in several doodles serious notes until lunch. At that point, she decided it would be okay to sneak another peek at her soul-string, if it was still there.

It was, trailing down from her finger to a small, coiled pile on the floor between her and Adrien. Marinette traced it with her eyes as she slowly began to pack up.

Then, Adrien got up to leave, saying something to Nino about lunch at the mansion today, and the pile of Marinette’s soul-string began to unwind itself. Some of it began to follow Adrien, and Marinette jumped up in a panic. 

Her heart rate spiked as she worried about what this could mean; was this part of the hallucination? Was the universe telling her that Adrien was taking her heart away for good? That she’d never have him, but never be able to move on from him? No! She couldn’t accept that!

Marinette knew there was only one thing to do: she had to get her string back from Adrien before he stole it all away!

Alya, who was giving Marinette a concerned look, snapped in front of her face. “Girl, are you okay?” she asked, sounding worried. “What is it?”

Marinette gave Alya a serious, determined look.

“He’s taking my string away,” she declared with a frown, and Alya’s face pinched. 

“Who’s doing what? Sorry, Marinette, but what do you mean?”

Marinette began speed-walking out of the door, leaving her things at the bench. “My string is following him, but I’m not gonna let him steal it from me!” she exclaimed, and hurried off in the direction of her string. She stared intently at the ground, watching as the string tangled and weaved through a mess of other ones. She couldn’t let it escape her sight!

Alya sighed and stayed behind. “Oh, no, don’t worry. I’ll get your stuff for you, Marinette!” she called. “And then you’re taking a nice long nap,” she muttered. Marinette ignored her as she hurried along until she caught up with the culprit, the thief of her treasured string.

Stopping in front of him, Marinette posed dramatically, sticking her hand out and demanding, “Adrien, give me my string back!”

The students in the hallway muttered to each other as Adrien stared at her with a completely perplexed look on his face.

“Give you what? Marinette, what’s going on?” he asked, sounding concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Marinette frowned, and her face went red in the usual fashion even as she stuttered out her defense. She couldn’t let herself be distracted by a pretty face, even if it was Adrien’s!

“String, you keep, uh, thief, uh, give it back!”  She launched herself toward the string, grabbing it and pulling until she reached some invisible knot near Adrien’s finger. He flinched in response, looking hurt and surprised.

Nino, who was standing beside Adrien, looking confused, suddenly lit up. He reached out, stopping Marinette before she could untie the string and take it back.

“Marinette, wait! You said Adrien has your string?”

Marinette paused, looking at Nino suspiciously.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “He’s stealing it; I saw it follow him when he left class!”

Nino nodded, furrowing his brows as he came up with a response. “So, is the string still attached to your finger, too?”

Marinette blinked. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of checking!

She peered down at her own hand, stepping back from Adrien as she did so, and noticed a familiar red string still tied around her finger.

“Yes,” she answered as the gears in her head began spinning, “Yes, it is.”

Adrien choked, and Nino nodded, relaxing. “Cool. So, dude, it sounds like Adrien’s not stealing it, then, right? Since it’s tying you two together,” he said, elbowing Adrien with a small grin.

Adrien’s face turned bright pink. “Nino,” he hissed, looking embarrassed. Nino kept going, though.

“And if it’s your string, and it’s still attached to you, and it’s attached to Adrien, then that sounds like a soul-string to me. This must mean you guys are soulmates!”

Marinette stared at Nino, then at Adrien, and then at the red string still connecting her finger to Adrien’s.

“Oh, no,” she whimpered, the horror of what she’d almost done hitting her. She’d almost untied the string binding her soul to Adrien’s! What kind of half-rate, half-witted Seer was she? “Oh, no, Adrien, I’m so sorry! I—” 

Just then, Alya came out of the classroom, walking up behind Marinette and offering her the backpack she’d forgotten inside. 

“Girl, you are a mess today! Are you sure you— wait. What’s going on?”

Alya looked around at the huddle of students in the hall, who were still staring at Marinette, Nino, and Adrien.

It was all a little too much for Marinette, who’d had a very long day for someone who hadn’t gotten any sleep that past night.

She reached out and grabbed the bag from Alya. “Thanks-see-you-later-bye!”

Before anyone could say anything (before she could embarrass herself further), Marinette took off running towards her home.

It was, without a doubt, the worst morning of her life.

__*__*__*__*__

Finding out who her soulmate was by trying to untie the string binding them together was possibly the most embarrassing thing that had happened to her, Marinette reflected. It hadn’t even been the weirdest thing she’d done — jumping into a dinosaur’s mouth was definitely higher on that list — but she knew the morning’s events would be featuring in her nightmares for years.

She’d almost rejected Adrien, her true love, as her soulmate— by accident, but still! It was hard to fathom a more awkward situation.

Still, after a short lunch and a semi-refreshing nap, she shouldered her backpack and headed back to afternoon class, full of resolve. She couldn’t run away from the mess she’d made! She had to make sure Adrien knew she wasn’t upset that they were soulmates, and that she hadn’t meant to hurt him earlier.

She’d only tell him the color of their string if he wanted her to, though. After all, just finding your soulmate was a big enough occurrence; being told whether the soul bond was romantic or platonic might be too much to find out in one day, especially considering how the reveal had happened.

Marinette hoped Adrien hadn’t decided to stay home to avoid her after what she’d done. He’d seemed pretty overwhelmed by her sudden attack on the soul-string earlier, but not unhappy when Nino had figured out that Marinette and Adrien were soulmates, so maybe that was a good sign. He had seemed really embarrassed, though, about as much as she’d been, herself, so maybe he’d choose to stay home, after all. Goodness knew his father would be only too happy to keep him there.

She didn’t have to worry, though; as she walked onto the school campus, Marinette could already see Adrien standing by the stairs. He looked nervous, she noticed as she walked closer, and if she concentrated, she could feel a kind of tension in their soul-string. She swallowed, mustered up a smile, and waved somewhat awkwardly as she approached him.

Marinette paused there, not quite sure what to do or say, and her eyes flitted over to Nino, who was standing beside his friend again, in hopes of some hint or encouragement. Before Nino could react, though, Adrien stepped forward. He opened his mouth, but hesitated, flushing, and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

Then Marinette felt a slight push at her side from inside her purse. Tikki had encouraged her to tell the truth earlier, at home, and she knew the little kwami was counting on her to set things right.

So, Marinette mustered up all her courage and reached out for Adrien’s hand, the one with the string attached to it. Adrien looked up sharply, nervous and hopeful at the same time, if the emotions Marinette could lightly sense through their soul-string were correct.

“Hi, Adrien,” she said, smiling lightly as she shook his hand as if to introduce herself. “I’m Marinette, and it’s nice to finally meet you, soulmate.”

A brilliant smile broke out on Adrien’s face, and he pulled her into a hug as their classmates cheered around them. Marinette felt her face heat up, but the butterflies she felt in her stomach were happy ones, for once. After a long moment, Adrien finally stepped back, and Marinette noticed that his face was a bit pink, and it looked like he was crying. A spike of alarm shot through her, and she gripped his hands tightly.

“Are you okay?” she asked, feeling worried.

He squeezed her hands back, and Marinette felt a powerful thrum run through their soul-string. 

“I’m more than okay, Marinette,” he told her, “I’m just so happy! You’re not upset you’re my soulmate?”

Marinette’s face hardened. “Never,” she vowed. “I could never be upset about that, Adrien! I’m glad you’re my soulmate.”

Adrien wiped a tear away from his eye, smiling. “This is the best day of my life,” he choked out.

Nino grinned and clapped his back. “I’m really happy for you, dude,” he said, and Alya, who’d come to stand by him and was holding her phone suspiciously like she did to take pictures of the heroes, nodded in excited agreement.

“I feel like a proud mother duck watching my babies swim for the first time,” she joked. “We need a better picture. Pick a pose, sunshines!”

Adrien’s eyes widened, and he hastily dried the rest of his tears away. “A picture? I can’t even think of any poses right now, I’m too excited!”

Alya hummed. “The model can’t think of any poses? Well, that’s fine, I can! How about you dance with him, Marinette? Use up that excited energy before you have to sit still in class!”

Marinette flushed, looking up at Adrien. “A-are you sure, Alya? I can’t even dance, not really, I’m so clumsy!”

“You weren’t clumsy at Chloe’s party, Marinette,” Adrien said shyly. “I thought you were perfect.”

He offered his hands to her, smiling shyly, and she slowly reached out to take them. Nino pressed a button on his phone, and the two of them began swaying to the gentle beat of the music that started to play.

Alya exclaimed and cooed over them, and as the final minutes before class ticked away, Marinette relaxed as she and Adrien began dancing more naturally. She fell into the lead almost by accident, and Adrien grinned up at her as she dipped him while the music swelled. 

“Got your perfect picture, Alya?” she asked with a cocky smile as she spun Adrien around one more time.

“I think I do,” Alya confirmed, grinning at the two soulmates. “Should we head into class? I’m sure Nino can trade Marinette seats so you lovebirds can sit together.”

Adrien blushed and Marinette stuttered, but in the end, they slid into the first row together happily, smiling so brightly that even Ms. Mendeleiev seemed affected by the adorable scene, not mentioning the fact that they were a few seconds late to class the way she usually would. 

As she sat in class, Marinette reflected on her crazy day. She’d gone to school after pulling an all-nighter, discovered her soulmate, almost untied their soul-string, and gone back to school and made it up to him. And her soulmate really was Adrien! Her day could hardly get any better, and now she realized that maybe the universe had been sending her a sign, after all.

If another Seer was going to find out her identity because of the soul-strings, it had probably happened by now. She was no more at risk than she’d ever been, and she’d have to get used to the new feeling of freedom and fear that knowledge brought.

But it was a good feeling overall, a really good one. Maybe she’d even offer to find Chat Noir’s soulmate for him and spread the joy she felt over to him, too! Marinette smiled at the thought of her partner gushing about his new-found soulmate to her. He’d be so happy when he found out about hers, too!

For now, though, she was happy just sitting next to her soulmate, holding hands under the table and taking pride in the happiness radiating from his end of the string. Today had been a good day, after all! 

#and yes the title is inspired by 'follow the yellow brick road' XD #adrinetteapril2024 #ml fanfic #soulmates #adrinette #lovesquare #rosie-b writing #crack and fluff

[stranded-labyrinth]

Hi I wanted to know your take on the Will and Abigail dynamic? I know Hannibal nurtured that paternal feeling in Will, but Will never truly knew her. He had this version of her in his head that he could control, how she reacted to him etc but barely talked to her irl. yet I feel like their relationship is exaggerated when people discuss it or portray it in fics. Will too, in a way, saying how he still dreams about her, that he’s teaching her how to fish. Why do you think Will holds on to the ideal? bc if Abigail had lived, she wouldn’t live up to this image he created. She’s flawed and actually more like Hannibal than Will. Sorry for the rambling but it’s interesting to dissect!

okay, so here's the thing for me.

Will had a version of her in his head, certainly, but between him and Hannibal, Will was NOT the one using Abigail as a tool. Hannibal did definitely care about her, we know that for a fact, but she was still a tool for him to use. Will was coping to hell and back, but fantasizing about fatherhood is different from straight up using her to tie him closer to someone else like Hannibal did.

Will didn't get to interact with her much because the opportunity was taken from him. granted, he felt exceptionally betrayed when he realized what she had done and contributed to, but he didn't want her dead. the next time he sees her is Mizumono, and that's where he discovers that Hannibal's plan this whole time has still been to essentially craft this little family with him, to start back from what they had before. a family Will never got to fully engage with unless Hannibal sewed the seeds for it, only for the opportunity to be taken from him. twice.

i feel like people's exaggeration of their relationship is a two way street, honestly: some people exaggerate the bond they had, while others exaggerate the lack thereof.

i also like to try to turn people's attention to the fact that Abigail was shocked when Hannibal gutted Will. not just because of the act itself, but because Hannibal had been allowing Abigail to expect that the three were going to leave together. Abigail fully expected this little family to come into fruition, because Hannibal invited her in on his plans for it, seeing as she had literally no one else to turn to. that doesn't necessarily mean that Abigail was going to somehow love Will like a father, but she did anticipate some kind of family dynamic, just like Hannibal had allowed Will to anticipate back in season 1.

while Will and Abigail both certainly have agency in what happened, i feel like people have a tendency to put the blame for their messy dynamic on Will instead of on the one who filled both Will and Abigail's heads with the idea that they would be a family. Hannibal is the one who named Will's feeling as "paternal", and he fed that as much as he could.

not to mention, Abigail is plenty capable of manipulating those around her. she knew exactly what she did, and she knew what she had enjoyed doing. she allowed everyone to believe she was the perfect victim, because it was saving herself to do so.

there's a lot more to say about the concept of Abigail having believed Will to be more like GJH when Hannibal was more like him, but i don't want to just end up rambling more than i already have LOL. i just believe that if the murder family became a thing, Abigail would probably end up manipulating the shit out of Will by feeding into his paternal feelings because it would save her, much like she did with GJH, and much like she did even with Hannibal. only, with Hannibal, nothing could save her.

#sorry this was LONG and probably doesn't make sense whoops

[the-void-writes]

"Its okay, you can let go"

I’m really sorry this one turned out so long lol, but I really wanted to develop Marius and his relationship to the Lockhart family, especially to Val. Hopefully, I’ll finally know which direction to take this story.

TW: There are brief mentions of child neglect and abandonment in the first paragraph. Nothing prolonged or violent, but it could still be bothersome.

SOLM - Home

The snow was Marius’ first home. Bright, slow, colorless flakes had graced his skin for longer than his own mother’s hand. The chill of the mountains held him in its embrace when his own father never dared to touch him. When they left him beside the hospital, the cold wind had carried his cries through the windows, to the ears of Doctor Carrol.

The harsh winter had saved his life, in a way. It loved him when his parents wouldn��t.

Now, Marius admired the snowfall from beside the fireplace in the library of his new family. The Lockharts had been exceptionally kind to him since he first arrived. They never kept secrets from him, not even about his parents, or of the town’s “immortal” state. Their curse didn’t matter to Marius— they had shown him more kindness than his first family had.

Even with their love, though, Marius still felt like an outsider. He had no interest in the games that the other children played, but he was also too young to understand some of the adults around him, some of whom were nearly two centuries old. The Hawthorn Curse didn’t leave many children his age, either. Most of them were either stuck in their more youthful years, or had already grown up.

Marius lowered his book with a sigh and watched the grandfather clock in the corner. The rhythmic ticking of the hands nearly pulled him to sleep.

TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK…

He didn’t really need friends his age, he thought. His family was fine enough. Nanny Freya and Kristine could have suffocated him with their hugs, but they were kind and eager to answer any of his questions. Viktor was a wonderful source of conversation, even with his silliness. Even the detective, Mister Haywood, was a kind and knowledgeable man.

After Rosalind was born, the manor became even more lively. Her voice reached every hallway, and she nearly tumbled down each staircase in her rush to see something exciting. She was a pain to wrangle, but the comfort she brought to Marius with her presence made it all worth it.

Then, there was the master of the house: Cyrus Lockhart, his new father. Marius had struggled for years to figure him out. He was an imposing figure, who was followed by a cold aura everywhere he went. Perhaps it was the curse’s effect on him, but there seemed to be something more to it. Marius didn’t believe in ghosts, but always felt that whenever Cyrus entered a room, he was never alone.

His eyes fell to the portrait of his father on the wall. For a moment, the painting seemed to stare back at him, following his head as he tucked himself further into the armchair.

The portrait bewildered Marius, as he didn’t think his father was capable of vanity. He only ever thought of others, often going into town to help those in need. People would rarely refer to him as “Mister Lockhart,” only Cyrus. Everyone loved him, laughed with him, as though they were family. Their love was near obsession, practically worshiping the man.

Perhaps that was why his portrait covered the wall. It wasn’t an act of vanity, but rather a gift to a god from his disciples. The idea made him uncomfortable— not out of hate for Cyrus, but for the fear of having to live up to that image.

The library doors creaked open softly. Marius turned his head slowly, ready to hear his sister scold him for skipping dinner. Instead, he watched as his “mapa” emerged from the dim hallway, into the warm firelight. They smiled at Marius, and never in his life did he ever doubt its sincerity.

“Not hungry?” they asked.

“Not right now,” Marius said.

Val walked across the grand yet cluttered library. Their long, red skirt ruffled and flowed like a ruby sea, and the curls of their hair bounced limply as they moved. Even when they were clearly exhausted, they looked as though they had leapt out of a classical painting.

According to Doctor Carrol, Marius had latched onto Val as soon as they held his little hand. The theory was that Val still retained some of their human warmth, since they had only accepted the curse recently, so a human child like Marius would be more drawn to them.

That wasn’t the only reason to appreciate Val, though. They were calm and quiet, unlike most people in Hawthorn. It wasn’t that everyone around Marius was bad, of course. It just happened to be that Val’s presence was the most comforting in the manor.

Marius shifted in the armchair so Val could sit next to him. They adjusted their glasses to read the print on his book, and their smile got brighter.

“The Tale of Prince Marius,” they said. “How fitting.”

“Did you really name me after this book?”

Val chuckled. “Actually, I named you after a ballet I used to love. I’ll show you one day, if I can find it again.”

Marius nodded. “That sounds much better than this prince. He’s just a pompous fool looking for money around the world.”

“Ah, that’s a shame.” They brushed his hair. “I’m glad we’ve got a better Marius here.”

He smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

Val’s smile faltered. “Are you okay with the name? Because if you’re not, we can always change it—”

“I like Marius, don’t worry. No matter what, it’s better than whatever name I had before— Not that I’d ever want to know it.”

He realized the hem of his shirt was tightly wound in his fist, and he quickly let go. Val’s sigh made the warm air feel heavy.

“If it makes you feel better,” they said, “I don’t know my birth name, either.”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t think I was around my parents long enough to get a name. They gave me up pretty quickly.”

It wasn’t often that Marius felt the deep burn of anger in his soul, especially since he was just a boy— but whenever he heard about his mapa’s past life, it filled his mind with fury. Someone as kind as them should never have been treated so cruelly.

“My adopted parents named me after someone they used to know, and that’s where I got Val from… and some people wouldn’t even use that.”

A tear fell from under their glasses. Marius leaned over, pressing his head against their arm and taking their hand.

“Thank you, dear.” Val tried to smile again. “I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“I know, Mapa,” Marius said. “You’re here with us, and we’ll take care of you. You’re allowed to let go now. They were never worth the time.”

Val kissed the top of his head. “You’re such a smart kid, you know?”

“Smarter than Rosalind?”

They chuckled. “We’re not starting this again.”

Marius hopped up and put his book back on the shelf. Then, he grabbed his mapa’s hand and helped them out of the armchair.

“Do you think the kitchen is still open?” he asked.

“Oh yes, Freya always has something cooking, just in case. I used to hide out with her whenever the show crew—”

Their words trailed off, halted by a memory that tightened around their throat. Their eyes darted across the room, looking from shelf to shelf, as though they were watching someone walk around them. Marius patted their hand. It hurt terribly to see them in such a state so often.

“It’s okay, Mapa.”

Val squeezed his hand and released their breath. “Thank you.”

“We’ll help each other move on, okay? There are no more bad families, it’s just us.”

“You’re right… It’s just us.”

They left the library and walked down the hall hand-in-hand. Val’s mood lifted significantly as soon as they heard Cyrus and Rosalind talking in the parlor, a reminder that they weren’t alone anymore. When they were fully smiling again, Marius smiled, too. As strange and foreboding as the Lockhart Manor was, he was so glad to have a real home, with people who loved him.

In time, he was sure, his past would be nothing but a hazy dream. His first and only home would be with the Lockharts.

#writeblr #ask games #wip: secrets of lockhart manor

[the-pale-goddess]

Ethan & Tiffany: Endgame (HC)

A quick reminder: I've rejected canon Third Year completely, so mind that none of OHTY bs happens in my E&T canon timeline.

A/N: I tried my best to write every major fact down - hopefully the final product isn’t too messy or too boring, I’m new to the headcanon business and this isn’t even written in the headcanon form because I’m a rebel lol

Huge thanks to the lovely Anon who requested this HC and every single one of you still interested in E&T’s shenanigans, your support is the greatest gift I could ever receive! If you have some more specific questions about these two, feel free to hit my askbox anytime 💕

Now let’s check what’s in store for Tiffany and Ethan!

Children

Neither of them planned children in their lives; they were perfectly comfortable in the relationship they had—living together, advancing their glittering careers while supporting each other, slaying the game as the ultimate power couple.

But life has its ways, of course, and a week prior to their third anniversary Tiffany found out she was pregnant. The news sparked blind panic in the 30-year-old doctor; she thought her whole world fell like dominoes. Tiffany wouldn't intentionally start a family: she'd just started turning her dreams and plans into reality and she didn't even consider herself fit to be a mother (even though deep down she craved it).

She'd spent an entire week full of doubts, listing all her options, before she finally shared the news with Ethan. His reaction was surprisingly calm, considering his stance on having children. Based on the evidence gathered throughout the week, he'd already suspected pregnancy and did some calculations on his own.

They both agreed it wasn’t the best time—their busy schedules didn’t allow them to even reconsider the concept of starting a family. Nevertheless, the baby was coming, and their hearts filled with strange excitement. Having a baby on board seemed surreal at first, but after the dust had settled they felt oddly content about the unforseen circumstances.

E&T's world turned upside down the second their son was born. Raising a child happened to be the greatest challenge these two brilliant doctors had encountered. Luckily, they both relish a good challenge. Guided by the unexpected overflow of affection, they quickly settled into the alien routine of parenthood.

Nathaniel Jonah (also known as NJ, Nate) turned out to be a perfect blend of his parents' most prominent features & traits: Ethan's ocean eyes and stubbornness mixed with Tiffany's smile and warm heart.

Three years later, another surprise awaited. The most shocking thing about the second pregnancy was that it didn't happen sooner (they'd been exceptionally careless). Nicolette „Letty”, a spitting image of her mother, stole Ethan's heart from the start, bringing even more joy to their controlled chaos.

The fancy condo was too small for a family of four, so The Ramdams were forced to find a new home. They moved to a dreamy house in the Boston suburbs merely a month before their daughter was born.

The third one (for a change) received a proper invitation to this world. Tiffany wasn't the biggest fan of the idea of having another baby, but her window was closing (she was 38) and Ethan's palpable excitement tipped the scales. Everyone jokes Aine must be adopted because she's the most unproblematic angel, unlike her parents.

The family wouldn't be full without pets: Nettie (British Shorthair cat) & Hopper (English bulldog).

Marriage

Marriage was never on their agenda. Neither of them felt the need to make their relationship formal, it wouldn't change anything between them—they were already acting like a married couple. Both Tiffany and Ethan think there are more valuable symbols of love than some paper signed in the presence of everyone they know. Partnership they were in seemed like the most comfortable and obvious choice.

The topic resurfaced with the pregnancy news. Our good guy Ethan, our Mr Must-Do-What’s-Right, proposed to Tiffany on their third anniversary dinner, right after they discovered they were expecting. He did it because it made sense. Because it was convenient. Because it was a decent thing to do.

But guess what...Tiffany rejected the proposal. She didn’t want to marry out of obligation. If they were really going to jump into marriage, she wanted it to matter. Ethan understood her point of view, though it didn't stop him from jokingly annoying her on every given occasion that she rejected him.

He waited two years before popping the question again. This time she said yes.

Dr. Grumpsey was willing to agree on a lavish wedding if Tiffany would insist. Lucky for him, his woman hates big, conventional weddings and all that unnecessary attention around the reception. They're both very private people, so they planned the wedding they were actually excited about.

They eloped to Miami where it all started, exchanging vows to the accompaniment of the ocean waves, with little NJ by their side. The wedding reception was just three people enjoying their day at the beach.

As you may suspect, their friends and family flew into a rage when they found out the wedding took place behind their backs. Jackie's death threats were particularly disturbing, so E&T decided to throw an afterparty for their loved ones only.

Career

Tiffany saw her future in diagnostics and followed that path, balancing her personal goals with striving for improvement in patient care. The word about her accomplishments with one of the best diagnostics teams spread fast; shortly after her challenging yet successful residency, Doctor Addams quickly proved to be one of the most valuable and respected diagnosticians—not only at Edenbrook, but also statewide, and later nationwide. She cracked some of the toughest, most hopeless cases, saving lives of many patients considered lost causes.

During her first pregnancy, her career was already on high speed and the situation made her even more determined to keep it that way. She didn't want to sacrifice her newly established position and Ethan did everything he could to support her and her career development.

She remained a vital part of Edenbrook's Diagnostics Team under Ethan's leadership for a few years. Their minds combined gave spectacular results and above it all they truly enjoyed working together. However, when Letty was born sharing responsibilities at home and managing the time got significantly harder. With minimal hesitation, Ethan decided it was his cue to leave.

He'd been thinking about the change for much longer than he was willing to admit: over the years he'd accomplished everything he could dream of and Edenbrook had become more of a duty than a challenge. So he quit, leaving the team in the most capable hands of Doctor Addams-Ramsey.

For a year and a half The Ethan Ramsey was a stay-at-home dad, juggling family, research for his second book and setting up his clinic with none other than Tobias Carrick.

Ethan wasn't 100% convinced if starting the practice with Tobias would be a wise move, but the clinic exceeded his expectations. Apart from the great sense of accomplishment, he finally gained full independence at work. And there were no bloody interns to babysit anymore.

When little Ramdams got older, he approached Tiffany with a job offer; the best diagnostician in the country was the last missing link in his clinic. She let it marinate for a few years and accepted the offer at the launch of her second book, soon after Letty's 18th birthday.

____

If there’s a typo or a mistake somewhere...No, there isn’t kgjdkgjdk

Thanks for reading 🥰 I have a few exciting fics in the making (both AUs & canon) and I hope I’ll be able to finish them soon!

#ethan x tiffany #ethan ramsey #open heart #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #tiffany addams

[hualianff]

How To Piss Off Your Boss

Chef HC AU

A few months ago, by some miracle, Hai Ye successfully earned a position at Crimson Embers–a lavish dining establishment serving an array of traditional dishes from different regions. It has outstanding reviews praising the exquisite interior, seasonally rotating menu, and delicious food.

It’s been HY's goal since entering culinary school to work in a kitchen with other professionals who have the same visions as him when it comes to cooking. After completing his studies and working in a small restaurant in his hometown for five years, HY finally gets to pursue his dream in the big city.

Crimson Embers opens at 3 p.m. and closes at 10 p.m. Only seven hours of business, and yet, it’s one of the most popular upscale restaurants in the region. Reservations line up months ahead of time; walk-ins are still encouraged too because of how spacious the establishment is. Those seven hours are one of the most stressful shifts HY has had the experience of working in. He’s very proud of the work he does, as a cook and as a collective whole with the kitchen too.

On a regular Monday, everyone arrives for their shift three hours ahead of opening to prepare the fresh ingredients, sauces, meats, drinks, etc. The sight of the CEO of Crimson Embers, Hua Cheng, cleaning the already spotless counters greets them when they arrive in the kitchens. Apparently, HC has decided to not only visit this particular branch for the week but also take on the head chef’s duties and monitor the workers himself. 

All the cooks rush to throw on their aprons, tie back their hair, and wash their hands. HY follows his colleagues, blood pounding in his ears as his nerves threaten to get the best of him. Everyone naturally forms a line in front of the longest counter to stand at attention as HC waits expectantly at the front of the kitchen. 

“Everyone, it’s been a while since my last visit. I see some familiar faces-“ HC’s eye flickers down the line, landing on HY, whose posture is as straight as a rod. “-and some new faces. Regardless, I welcome you guys to another day of hard work, teamwork, and top-notch cooking. Every single one of you is here for a reason. This team may be smaller than others, however, you guys are just as capable of serving the best foods in the country and ensuring excellent customer service.”

HC shrugs off his maple-red long coat to reveal a chef’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. HY spots a hint of tattoos peeking underneath the sleeves, intrigued. HC doesn’t exactly portray the image of a CEO in the restaurant industry. He’s relatively young, long hair swept back into a braid, inked up, and with an eyepatch to top the look. HY has nothing but admiration for him.

“Let’s do a great job today. Let’s do our best,” HC says resolutely. He slams his palm down onto the counter with a loud thud! “Begin.”

“Understood!” Every cook shouts in unison, then scrambles to their stations to rapidly food prep for the night shift.

The hours leading up to the restaurant’s opening are a bit maddening. Everyone is on their best behavior, zoned in on their work under their CEO’s watchful gaze. As soon as customers start filtering in, the impending shitshow is set to begin. All the employees have arrived, including the servers who zip in and out of the kitchen doors like a hoard of worker bees. 

HC is very firm and direct with his orders. His voice, though not the loudest, holds the most power, which he wields as an experienced leader to run things smoothly. Unfortunately, when it gets extremely busy during the night, the head server requests HY to leave the kitchen to seat people because the other servers are busy, and HY has almost a decade of serving knowledge under his belt.

When HY walks to the entrance, there’s a man at the front of the line, dressed in plain black jeans and a white, long-sleeved turtleneck. His long hair is neatly tied back into a low ponytail, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His outfit is simple in style, but he pulls it off exquisitely. HY swallows nervously before asking if the man has a reservation.

“No, I don’t. Though I was hoping I could get a table for two?” The stranger asks with kind eyes. The glasses don’t do anything to obscure how vibrant they shine in the bold lighting of the restaurant. 

“O-of course. Right away, sir,” HY replies. The man in white smiles warmly and HY’s heart skips a beat. He gestures for the stranger to follow him, leading the guest to a quiet corner near the window. Luckily, since it’s only the man and whoever he’s dining with tonight, a small table was readily available. 

“Can I get you started with anything to drink?” HY politely asks. The handsome man quickly looks over the drinks menu. The strands of hair too short to be contained by the hairband fall to frame the man’s face. He quickly tucks them behind his ear, then points to one of the cheapest options. 

“I think the Makgeolli will do. It’s my partner’s favorite,” the man orders. HY enthusiastically nods. 

“I’ll have that out right away, sir.”

“By the way, is the owner free? Hua Cheng?” The man inquires. He crosses his legs in an elegant display that shows off their muscles and length, straining against the jeans’ fabric. HY tries not to stare as the man’s glasses slide down his nose a bit, to which he pushes them back up with a flick of his slender fingers.

“Hua Cheng is here, yes. But he's very busy,” HY informs apologetically. “I’m not sure he has time at the moment.”

The man tilts his head, looking slightly puzzled. For a brief second, he looks as if he’s analyzing HY’s appearance. After an understanding nod, the man relents his question.

“No worries. Thank you for seating me,” the man says, maintaining his mellow tone. HY bends at his waist in a half-bow, then heads back into the kitchens. He has to go back to his station to add the finishing seasonings on the meats–not before informing a server of a guest who requires Makgeolli.

“A full bottle,” HY adds. Just to be generous. No one thinks anything of it.

Ten minutes pass as the kitchen is bustling with bodies moving in all directions and the chopping of knives on cutting boards. That is, until the head server bursts through the doors with an ultra-panicked expression on her face.

“Why did nobody tell me Xie-xiansheng is here!?”

The chaos in the kitchen comes to a dead stop: mid-slice, mid-fry, mid-mix, mid-squeeze. Everyone stares blankly at the head server, who waves her arms towards the dining area with wild eyes.

“Xie-xiansheng is out there right now, sitting ALONE, and just ordered the special meal he and Hua Lao Ban always share,” she frantically rushes out. This snaps several workers out of their shock. 

“Oh shit-“

“Xie-xiansheng has been here the entire time and we didn’t know-!?”

“Someone get Hua Lao Ban-“

“NO! Don’t get him yet, otherwise he’ll skin our asses alive!”

“Fuck, put the special at the top of the list- go go GO!”

HY’s mind spins with the casual conversations he overheard about HC’s partner. He doesn't know much besides how many find HC’s husband to be exceptionally kind and beautiful. HY hasn’t even had the chance to look at a picture of XL, much less meet him since HY has started working at Crimson Embers.

Wait a damn minute.

Was that man he seated…HC’s husband?

HY feels like throwing up upon realizing he had unknowingly signed his death wish. 

“Why the hell is no one working? Do you not see the crowd of guests out there waiting for their food?” An authoritative voice barks, entering from the back of the kitchen, holding up three plates of exquisite, garnished roasted duck. HC walks through the kitchen with his shoulders set back in confidence, his tall height bearing over the other cooks. “Everyone, get back to work! NOW!”

Before anyone can stop him, HC exits through the kitchen doors to the dining lobby, serving the dishes to the guests himself. The employees look at each other with fearful expressions. Their hearts have nearly stopped beating in their chests, HY’s heart skipping a beat for a whole other reason now. 

They are so screwed.

《II》

#tgcf #heaven official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #hualian #hualian au #xie lian #hua cheng #cerdrabbles #TBC #twoshot #OC #not beta read #nothing of mine is beta read oop #typos galore

[maxwell-grant]

Charlie Chan. Who is fascinating, because he was created explictly to be an anti-Yellow Peril character. Unlike most Chinese characters of the time, he's both intelligent, physically capable, and unambiguously heroic. In the novels, he's simultaneously proud of being Chinese AND proud of being an American citizen. He gives orders and instructions to white people, and the narrative treats this as perfectly normal and acceptable. There's a bit in the first book, when an attempt to trap the..(1/2)

(cont'd)There's a bit in the first book where an attempt to trap the protagonist fails, because a message supposedly from Charlie clearly isn't because Charlie's English isn't broken, it's like poetry. Etc. The movies made him more stereotypical, & played by white actors in yellowface, but still, he's a heroic Chinese man, who is as capable and patriotic as any white man. Nowadays, he's thought of as racist caricature. Which he is, but still, it makes one think.

I'm not nearly as acquainted with Charlie Chan as you are (and I definitely suspected he was less racist in the original books because that's nearly always the norm when it comes to pulp characters) but yeah, that "Which he is" is forever going to be the most unfortunate and saddest part of it all when it comes to Charlie Chan. For all the virtues that can be bestowed on Charlie Chan, for everything great that the character had going for him and inspired, the fact that the least offensive image of the character I could find to put here for illustration's sake is from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon kinda exemplifies the big elephant in the room when it comes to Charlie.

Charlie Chan is a great example of two things: One is the way progress is never a fixed quantity and often what was progressive and forward-thinking in it's time can become something outdated and backwards and downright offensive given enough time, and the 2nd is my constant stressing that this is all the more incentive to reclaim the pulps and either highlight or fix aspects of them, instead of dismissing every aspect of them based on the preconception that everything about it's history is unforgivably bigoted and must be handled with the nuance of a sledgehammer.

I stress time and time again the need to highlight and understand the prejudices that went into pulps, because either ignoring them or wielding them as a weapon to attack them does no favors to anyone. The pulps weren't exceptionally bigoted - look at literally any medium in it's time period and you'll find bigotry and prejudice and hatred - and they were exceptional in the number of POC heroes and heroines. Pulps were a medium of experimentation and cheap entertainment that gave way to much, much more varied kinds of protagonists than were permitted in films, serials, novels, comics and radio serials of the day. Imagine if no one was allowed to bring up and discuss superheroes without mentioning the Superman Slap-a-Jap posters or the Captain Marvel story so horrifingly racist it was recounted by an American ambassador after it deeply offended a friend's son and a major influence on the 1950s anti-comic trials. "Pulp fiction had deeply, unforgivingly racist depictions that deserve intense scrutiny and cannot be ignored" and "Pulp fiction was significantly ahead of every other medium at the time in regards to authors and editors striving to publish stories about heroic POCs, this cannot be dismissed and is something that needs to be perpetuated" are not exclusive facts. "A product of it's time" is not an excuse and never was, but it's a fact nevertheless.

Every time someone speaks favorably of Charlie Chan in any capacity, they have to start with a long preface of everything positive that the character had going for him. Yes, he's a deliberate subversion of the Yellow Peril, he's a heroic protagonist, he's plump and good-natured and humorous but far from a joke, he's friendly and pleasant and well-educated and wise, he's a good dad and family man and a terrifically sharp detective who's so good at his job he gets called to solve crimes all over the world, and none of these traits are apparent to people who have to google the character and repeteadly see a white man in awful make-up into every single image of the character, who watch the movies and cringe at the broken English. It's hardly relevant in the face of all the Asian-American critics who acknowledge the character's virtues but rightfully point out that this fortune-cookie spouting caricature, acting subservient to whites and whose virtues are based around his proximity to a white American ideal, doesn't represent them and they shouldn't pretend it does.

Which isn't to say that to like Charlie Chan is "wrong", a lot of East Asians love Charlie and the character's obviously got fans in Asian Americans. It's a complicated subject and I obviously cannot begin to vouch in a subject so heavily based around perceptions I cannot experience. And I deeply detest the idea of speaking for others on their particular experiences on this kind of matter, which is something Americans do a lot everytime they talk about representation in media.

So instead, I'm going to tackle this on a roundabout manner by going on an unrelated tangent to bring up an example of representation that isn't quite representative of what it's supposed to be, has a lot of issues that have been dissected by critics among the people it was supposed to represent, and none of that stopped the character from being popular and beloved and from being claimed anyway. And it's a Brazilian fighting game character, which means it's completely within my ballpark.

Yeah, obviously Blanka doesn't look like anyone who lives in Brazil (whatever resemblance he bears to redheaded jungle protectors of Brazilian folklore is purely accidental). Obviously neither Jimmy nor Blanka are Brazilian names or even exist in the Portuguese lexicon. Obviously there are issues in Street Fighter's approach to representation across the board, sure, and I'd actually say Laura is much worse than Blanka in that regard (again, my opinion, obviously not universal), but the fact remains that Blanka is and has always been pretty controversial. Obviously there's Brazilians who took offense to Blanka and they weren't wrong to do so, and I obviously do not speak for everyone here, that goes without saying.

Obviously the idea that Brazil's major representative in a global cast of characters, the first big name Brazilian character in videogames, is going to be a freakish jungle monster who roars and bites faces has problems, as is the fact that all the others get to be regular people representing fighting styles from their countries while Blanka doesn't. None of the Brazilian SF characters represent Capoeira, which is kinda shitty to be honest. And there's a whole stereotype of Brazil as a backwards land of beasts and savages that Blanka's creation played into. There's no shortage of ground to criticize Blanka's representation and Ono actually apologized in an interview once, but then he learned one teensy little thing:

Street Fighter is very popular on Brazil. Would you like to leave a message to the fans from there?

"Ono: Yes, I'm aware. At the time of Street Fighter II a lot of the arcade machines produced went there, so I knew we had lots of fans there. A message to Brazilians, well, I'd like to apologize. I know Blanka's a weird character and I don't want any Brazilian to feel uncomfortable with that.

When Blanka was conceived, we knew there were forests in Brazil, and so we thought he could look like that. I was actually kinda nervous knowing I'd meet Brazilian journalists. Still, this is the first Street Fighter in ten years, so we'd like all fans to play, including Brazilians, which are many.

Thanks. Well, but you should know that Brazilians love Blanka

"Ono: Ah, good! I was scared of getting beat up if I ever went to São Paulo! (laughs)"

(That's from a 2012 tv special called The Greatest Brazilian of All Time where over a million viewers voted to elect whoever they wanted, and Blanka was going to win. He was polling ahead of Aryton Senna and PELÉ, fucking Pelé, yes this happened. He wasn't even disqualified for being a cartoon character, it was an open poll, he was disqualified due to canon stating he had been born in Thailand, which I think may have been retconned since then. Again, A MILLION BRAZILLIANS voted for this contest, and Blanka was going to win.)

Blanka is great and sweet and lovable, he made the best out of the incredible shitty hands fate dealt him and became a cool and strong green man who shoots lightning and flies, a self-taught warrior who rides whales and planes to fighting tournaments, and he loves his mom and friends and kicks ass and after he's done he dances in joy and gives the kids of his village piggyback rides, and Brazil loves him. He doesn't represent any existing person or fighting style, he's rooted in a negative stereotype and incorrect assumptions, he's not even really Brazilian, and he's our boy and nobody can take him away from us.

No criticism of Blanka, no matter how in-depth or even right it is, is ever going to affect that, because regardless of what was wrong or misguided and offensive about him, we claimed him and loved him so throughly that Capcom kept playing up Brazilian representation in every subsequent game post Alpha, and because of Blanka's impact and reception in such a big game, Brazilian characters have become a staple of fighting games, and that's how we got much more diverse representatives in those games. Fighting games have more Brazilian representation than LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE on media not produced here. It started as BAD representation, with way less thought put into it than Charlie Chan, and it still mattered to a lot of Brazilians who reclaimed it and made it better than it was ever intended to be, and as a response to it, it gradually became better. 

Progress is not a fixed quantity, it's an uphill battle, and it's not unwinnable. Everything's gotta start somewhere.

The Good Asian is a ongoing comic that I think does the best job I've seen yet of handling an Asian American detective protagonist, which is not really a high bar in the first place, and more to the point, The Good Asian illustrates the 2nd part: the reclaiming. The Good Asian deals a lot with the realities that a 1930s Asian-American detective would run into, the strained circumstances and relationships between said character and the world around him, because it's born from an author who took a look at Charlie Chan and Mr Moto and the like and recognized the potential in those stories that could not be fulfilled in it's time period by the people writing said stories. 

The Good Asian pays little reverence to Charlie Chan, but it acknowledges that it cannot exist without Charlie Chan, and it reclaims the Charlie Chan premise at the hands of someone more adequately equipped to tell a gripping story that goes places none of Charlie's contemporaries would ever go. Regardless of how good or bad of representation Charlie Chan was, Charlie Chan mattered and was beloved and inspired a better example for others to improve on or rebel against.

I desperately wish that I could google Charlie Chan without having to look at a guy in yellowface, and the ONLY way that's going to happen is if the character ever gets meaningfully brought back and reclaimed for good by people who can meaningfully tackle the character and present him as he should have always been presented.

And then, I imagine it would be a lot easier to show people on how swell Charlie really is. A true, positive role model and hero, who no longer has to look like a gross cartoon to be able to exist at all. Who can finally be what he was always meant to be, and always was deep down.

#replies tag #pulp heroes #pulp fiction #charlie chan #detective fiction #the good asian #street fighter #blanka

[toweroftickles]

UNCATEGORIZED FILES: Completely Random Ticklish Character Examinations

Exploring the multiverse for ticklish test subjects is surprisingly tedious sometimes. There’s so much data to sift through, tons of organization, and you’re often stuck with the same popular victims.

It’s fun to go after underutilized, unknown, or obscure entities. As of yet these personality profiles cannot properly be sorted within existing folders.

Mary Smith (Mary & The Witch’s Flower)

Most Ticklish Spots: Arches, Belly, Knees

A kind but proud witch student…skillful, protective of own image. Can’t stand being tickled - considers it humiliating and frustrating. Post-release, will immediately curl up into a ball, or cover her stomach with her arms and pout.

Sad-sounding laughter that really lers you know that she hates it. Helplessly begs for it to stop.

Will react with fury, and fight back.

Tickle Talk: Playful teasing with plenty of giggles, if she’s the one who starts it. If enacting revenge, however, she taunts aggressively and angrily to embarrass her playmate as much as possible.

When allowed the use of magic, imaginatively utilizes tickling finger spells, as well as object manipulation and stasis.

Teased about how ticklish she is by her boyfriend Peter. Tickle fights common.

Add. Notes: Comparisons to (her contemporary) Kiki are all but inevitable - not quite as ticklish but much less open to enjoying it. Direct side-by-side comparison may be beneficial for studying the impact of magic on sensitivity.

Razor Lemay (Starlink: Battle for Atlas)

Most Ticklish Spots: Feet, Abs and Belly Button, Upper Ribcage

This no-nonsense metal band pilot is highly resistant - use stronger restraints in future. A violent thrasher. Headbanging skills came in handy when freeing herself.

Never ceased to let me know that I’m a “sick weirdo.” Consider this possibility.

Though toned and muscular, her skin is surprisingly soft. Weak to any kind of tickling.

Most effective tool: backscratchers

Has an airy laugh that is mostly gasps and wheezes; runs out of breath quickly.

Used the phrase “oh my god” more than any other subject studied so far. Offered up nonstop torrent of swearing, violent threats, and begging for mercy.

Jojo McDodd (Horton Hears A Who)

Most Ticklish Spots: Sides, Feet

Hates it. Becomes embarrassed and angry when tickled. Will frustratedly sulk rather than fight back or seek revenge.

Usually groans through teeth but can’t prevent the odd chuckle from slipping out. Skilled at holding his voice in. Press the matter further.

Involuntary reflex - noodly arm flailing if not restrained.

Very responsive to poking and light, fluttery touches.

Often depressed. His mother, Sally O’Malley (who, according to him, is also quite ticklish - investigate) used to tickle him in attempt to cheer him up, but abandoned this years ago upon realizing it bothered him.

When his younger sisters want to pester him, tickling is a go-to option.

Add. Notes: With their long, fuzzy, highly-animated fingers, natural mischievous mirth, and piano-playing aptitude, the Who species has evolved anatomy well-suited for tickling others.

Schell The Spacewitch (Yooka-Laylee)

Most Ticklish Spots: Belly, Armpits

Considers tickling to be her “one true weakness” - doesn’t hate it, but it renders her utterly incapacitated.

Has one of those hearty laughs that carries well over distances.

Feathers are very effective.

Will eagerly return the favor - once used feather tickling as an interrogation method on a fellow spacewitch.

Interplanetary adventures have put her in conflict with various alien plants and monsters, some of which accidentally tickled her with tongues or tentacles or the like - take samples for further lab testing.

Sphinx (Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy)

Most Ticklish Spots: Belly Button, Feet

The adventurous and heroic sort, he’s a little bit cocky….tickling is a good way to make him slightly less so.

A surprisingly effective technique is to tickle his stomach with his own tail. Good results.

He himself occasionally uses his tail this way to flirt with girls.

Not excessively ticklish, but ticklish enough. Will at least squirm and try to pull away.

Doesn’t show much strong emotion…more vaguely weirded out by this than anything else.

Pipirika (Magi: Adventure of Sinbad)

Most Ticklish Spots: Toes/Balls of Feet, Ribs, Inner Thighs

Unusual Ticklish Spots: Inner Elbow

Loud and rough, unrefined. But also very friendly, excitable, and loves to laugh.

Like all Imuchakk people, huge in stature and musculature. Between her large size and insistence on always going barefoot, she’s a tempting target.

If you ask if she’s ticklish, or for permission to tickle her, she’ll gladly say yes and volunteer with a big smile on her face.

That said, she frequently seems to find herself much more ticklish than she remembers.

She likes it but she’s a kicker. Hard to pin down and will not hold still. Tough restraints essential.

Will always seek playful vengeance or start a tickle brawl. Loves to tickle her brother and friends. Often giggles and laughs more than the people she tickles.

Hearty, rumbling belly laugh. Very cute.

Can’t keep a secret; will tell others if you like tickling. (Not out of malice - she thinks it’s hilarious.)

Fire (Adventurers: Masters of Time)

Most Ticklish Spots: Feet, Lower Tummy, Belly Button

Self-described as “a total tickler. You better watch out!”

Her default attack when trying to escape an enemy’s grip is to tickle them. Has done it more than once. It’s canon. So there.

Claims to have used her school’s time travel computer specifically to visit and “play tickle pranks” on famous historical figures. Seemed very excited by the multiversal capabilities of the Tower.

Spunky and playful. Very energetic. Tickle Talk: mean, merciless, and will make fun of her victims for being so ticklish and weak.

Apparently aware that her constantly-exposed belly invites tickling. Will dare others to start a tickle fight with her “because you’ll lose.”

Most vulnerable to rough tickles (especially brushes).

Always laughs wildly and tells her tickler to stop, but seems to enjoy it at less-intense levels.

Add. Notes: I like this girl. She could be very useful.

Saki Amamiya & Airan Jo (Sin & Punishment/Smash Bros.)

Most Ticklish Spots (Saki): Feet, Belly, Lower Ribcage

Most Ticklish Spots (Airan): Toes, Sides

Virtually inseparable couple. Could not tickle one without the other.

A highly skilled gymnast and gunner, Saki will jump out of his skin when tickled. Airan will lash out physically or curl up into a defensive ball.

Saki is the more ticklish of the two. He’s a live wire of sensitivity; a poke can cripple him. Has a high-pitched giggle.

Airan has a low, wailing laugh. Quickly tears up and complains about how much her tummy hurts when tickled.

Airan sometimes tickles Saki awake in the morning and teases him when he squirms.

Both hate being tickled: feel it’s a silly, embarrassing vulnerability.

Neither are particularly touchy/physical and never really tickle each other. Don’t think about it often.

Saki eventually develops Ruffian physiology after an experiment with his blood - effects of this on ticklishness unknown.

Tess Darrett (Pole Position)

Most Ticklish Spots: Arches, Armpits

Unusual Ticklish Spots: Upper Back, Under Chin

Rarely far separated from her stunt rally cars and spy technology. Exceptionally difficult to apprehend.

Resourceful and skilled in combat. Exercise caution.

Once captured by a criminal organization and interrogated with feathers to make her reveal the access codes to her stunt car computer AI, Wheels. Strong willpower - laughed and laughed but refused to talk.

Otherwise is only ever tickled by her younger sister Daisy (who reportedly is also very ticklish, and has also been interrogated to force her older siblings’ hands).

Not usually a tickler. Avoids going after her younger brother, because he’s not ticklish and would definitely get her back.

Typical sibling relationship: her brother used to pin her down and tickle her when they were kids. She hates it.

Add. Notes: If a woman who is deeply entrenched in the seedy underworld has big 70s/80s hair and often wears a jumpsuit, just assume that she’s tough but with a soft side and also very ticklish. (See also: Fujiko Mine, Carmen Boom, April O’Neil.)

Conclusions:

I might indeed be a sick weirdo. This merits further study.

Breaking character…yeah, IDK what the hell this is and I’m assuming none of you care. Just kinda wanted to blow off steam. I like weird characters that nobody else really cares about.

And why the hell do I even write some of my blog entries this way? Deliberately making things “less fun” seems kinda like a bad idea.

#tickle blog #tickling #tickle #tickling community #tickling headcanons #headcanon #tickle fic #tickle headcanon

[internalsealpanic]

Dick Grayson x Mercenary Reader HCs Part 1

a/n: This is basically a Dick Grayson/ Reader thingy that has been stuck in my head for months but I haven’t plotted out an actual fic for. Basically, I have the relationship mapped out in my head but I have no scenarios. I was hoping someone could suggest a plot I can play with. This part is mostly platonic with hints of a future relationship. This is pretty much in a weird version of canon running around in my head. 

masterlist

You’re Deathstroke’s apprentice. (This version is the version from the Knights and Dragons movie so he isn't a complete and utter asshole. Look, I just really like that version.) Let's just say you had more moxie than self preservation. It also helps that you’re a meta with a pretty unique power. Anything drawn on your skin turns into a physical object. (You basically have a bunch of permanent markers on you in addition to your usual equipment.)

Dick doesn't like you because of your profession but has a grudging respect for your skill. You think Dick is annoying for getting in the way but you understand that he's just trying to do his best to help the city in his own useless way.

YOU LORDING YOUR HEIGHT OVER DICK WHEN YOU'RE KIDS AND YOU QUIETLY CURSING WHEN YOU STOP GROWING.

You and Dick never set out to be friends. You honestly had no clue when this even started. Maybe it was because you keep accidentally saving each other or maybe because you two have a lot to bond over such as murdered parents and emotionally inept mentors. 

When it actually started: You, in full  costume, recognize your least favourite bird and see that he's crying and that he not only has an ugly bruise in his face but also a bunch of other injuries. you simply sit with him and throw your arms around him letting your muscles relax as if to tell him ‘it's ok and that you’ve got him’. You let him cry into your shoulder. You understand that you have a little more in common than he's willing to admit. You use one of your motion tattoo wings as a cover from the rain and the other to keep Dick warm. When Dick finally calms down enough to think, he's jarred by how nice you are acting. your general demeanor loosened at this point you let your offense show and the very petulant look on your face draws a tired laugh out of Dick. your angry look melts to give way to something resembling relief. You stay there for a while not speaking before Dick decides he needs to leave. Without a fuss you let him go.

After that, instead of fighting each other during encounters, you two kind of just sit together and start talking about what happened since your last encounter. Or you two play rock, paper, scissors to see who ‘won’. 

Dick realizes that your personality is hilariously incompatible with your chosen profession. You rant about how Slade lectures you about learning how to lie better and when they tested how bad you were at it Dick was sure Alfred would politely word it as wooden. you had good control over your body language but you had a look caught between pain and annoyance etched on your face. 

Mini scenario: 

Dick is really stressed out with school and vigilanteing and with Bruce that he just starts wandering around Gotham. 

It was a bad idea. Wandering around Gotham is generally a bad idea especially if your head isn't on straight but there is something relaxing about just wandering around. 

Dick ends up at one of Gotham's old movie theatres. One of those businesses that you're pretty sure is a front for something because you can't wrap your head around how they could possibly still be in business. 

Then there you were a foot from the ticketing windows. His mind instantly recognizes you. You, in turn, recognize him instantly. 

When neither of you launch into an attack, you decide to watch a movie together. After bickering for 15 minutes about what movie you should watch, you decide on a coin toss. Because you won, Dick was subjected to your love of terrible movies. 

You go out for burgers afterwards and joke about the movie. You complain about the bad acting and the ridiculous story line. You even come up with how they should have done it.

Your lunch was spent outside in the parking lot of the burger joint. 

You walk around some more after you explain that you haven't been to this part of Gotham and Dick gives you a mini tour. 

You talk about a mix of mundane teenager things and some complaints about their occupations.

You check your watch and explain that you need to go to the grocery store for ingredients. 

Dick goes with you just because. He won't admit that he's having a lot of fun.

Being teenagers they fuck around. Being exceptionally athletic and intelligent teenagers you fuck around entertainingly. 

At first, you play 'the price is right' because Dick wants to prove he isn't a spoiled rich kid. He doesn't prove jack. You don't do much better but it's on the opposite end. 

You get bored and frustrated so you start a scavenger hunt much to the terror of the other customers. How would you feel about 2 terrors zooming around screaming about butter and backflipping over you?

Dick is busy gloating about his victory when the store gets robbed. Dick can't do anything because right now he is a rich boy extraordinaire and should not be capable of fighting. you on the other hand is sore from losing and just yeets a can into one of the robbers faces. 

Everyone's attention pans to your as you ready to lob another can at them. The robbers run leaving their unconscious friend on the floor bleeding. 

You still pay for the can but ask Dick to get another one. 

 Walking down the street, Dick notices how many take out places are on the way and asks why you don't just eat from there. you simply tell him you like home cooking more. He notes that for next time. 

You exchange phone numbers so you can plan a next time. 

The next time they hang out you both bring homemade snacks to sneak into the theater.

They start hanging out in civvies and do really mundane civilian stuff you want to try and that Dick doesn't get to do enough. 

You become a sort of hub of normality for Dick. He can talk to you about all the weird stuff without worrying about your not getting it or your judging him while also doing the most mind numbingly human things. 

What do they usually talk about:

Casual nerdy stuff

Weird history shit you reads about

Vigilante stuff

Funny henchman stories from the perspective of a vigilante and a higher level henchman

Sometimes they talk about trauma but they only vaguely mention it

They debate over dumb things like whether there's too much variety in cereal. Guess who's on which side. 

Sometimes they discuss fighting techniques. 

Dick teaches you Romani and about the Romani culture

You sometimes explains various myths and superstitions from your own culture

Dick sometimes talks about school and galas and you end up making fun of weird rich people. They also end up making fun of the various rich people who hire you.

You'll talk about almost everything with each other

You bring him to one of your safe houses for a home cooked meal after he tells you how he lives off of cereal. You were horrified. 

The Titans, Batman, and Alfred get really suspicious about Dick's new civilian friend. 

Slade gets suspicious of you frequently visiting certain cities. 

Somehow they figure out that you are the wraith. 

They all lecture Dick about it. 

Slade just finds the whole thing amusing and debates on whether he can actually convince you to give up some of Grayson's secrets. 

I just love the image of them casually hanging out in civvies with Batman questioning Dick's life decisions and what your has been influenced by his relationship with Catwoman while Deathstroke and Wintergreen are just quietly amused by the situation at some point they were worried about you discussing merc stuff but neither talk about current business unless it's safe to. 

Wintergreen isn't particularly worried since Grayson is a good kid. Wintergreen once joked that you should convince him to join their side. You said that Dick didn't have the right personality to be a merc. The irony of this was completely lost on your. 

You spending a ton of your hard earned mercenary money to win a stuffed toy that you think little Rose would want. Dick making fun of you for not getting it then he ends up spending too much money but he eventually gets it. You and Dick pass by a shop and you see the exact same stuffed toy in the shop window for a sixteenth of the fortune you spent at the arcade. Good news though, Rose still has the stuffed toy. 

 Both of you being petty at dance dance revolution. 

When you rant to each other in less than private areas, you rapidly switch languages.

Unbeknownst to Slade, Dick actually knows a bunch of his safe houses and unbeknownst to Dick, those are Deathstroke's safe houses.  You are technically not lying when you say it's yours. 

You have a silent pact not to blow each other's covers unless they deem it completely necessary (when people's lives are at stake). The only person who knows this pact is Jason and they have bought his silence. 

You will both go out of their way to help each other out of a bind. 

Sometimes when Bruce and Alfred are out of town and the stars align to have you visiting for a job, you end up helping Dick babysit. Jason gets confused and defensive at first. You have dealt with distrustful youngins. Neither Rose nor Joey wanted anything to do with you at first. You, however, grew up wanting siblings so you tried your darndest to look after them and it is really fucking hard to not let this munchkin grown on you. 

When you're old enough to hit the club they often go drinking together. You once tried to have you wingman for Dick. Using the ‘fantastic’ negotiating skills you got from mercenary work, you ended up getting the number for yourself. You once told Rose and Joey about it and both of them made lighthearted jokes about it. 

Dick gets confronted by Slade at sword point and asks what his intentions are with his kid (He honestly isn't at all serious but he likes how scared Dick got because the man is terrifying.)

Dick also gets interrogated by Joey and Rose because, you know, this is their big sister. 

You often insist on family dinners at least once every 2 weeks with your siblings, sometimes with their mom (Adeline is kind of not ok with you and Rose being present but is trying her best for Joey's sake), sometimes with their dad, occasionally with their uncle Wintergreen. 

You usually just casually call Slade 'pops'  and you drawls 'dad' when you’re pissed and 'papa' when you’re emotional. You try your damndest to only call him Slade or Deathstroke on the field but sometimes you slip up and calls him pops in the field

You have batnapped each batkid at least once. Batnapping meaning seeing a baby bat and throwing them over your shoulder when you’re pretty sure they’re going to get killed. This isn’t limited to kids. You still do this when they’re adults. The image of you throwing Dick over your shoulder when you two were tiny gives me life but you throwing Dick and/or Jason over your shoulder when they’re huge has me cackling.  

You basically accidentally become a de facto big sister/ mom friend to the batkids purely through your friendship with Dick.

Images from this scenario I can’t get out of my head:

Stargazing

Teaching Dick how to cook. He just ends up going to your place for a meal though. 

Running around during a rain storm huddled under a jacket with Dick because neither of you checked the weather

Casual affection you two share because you’re both tactile people. Casual affection as in just sitting on the couch in each other’s space, bumping shoulders to communicate, leaning on each other, hugging each other when greeting each other, and all that good stuff. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading! I’m really sorry for the grammar and disorganization. 

If you guys are interested in the more bickering dialogue heavy part 2 either comment here or send an ask or pm me. *shrugs* This is just really self indulgent on my part. 

taglist: 

@idkmanicantenglish

@birdy-bat-writes (I will stop tagging you when you run out of good ideas for me.)

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson #Deathstroke #parental #Slade Wilson #BatFam #batfamily headcanon #rant #my writing #merc!reader #batboys #batkids

[belfrygargoyles]

I Answer Questions I Get About Star Wars Fanfiction

So, when I made this post a while back, I did end up getting quite a few people coming to me for advice!

And while I was happy to give what help I could through tumblr DMs, there was also quite a bit I was realizing was a bit Much to be conveyed just through the DM format.

So, while this is by no means a catch-all, comprehensive list of what to do and what not to do, I thought I’d make a post going into a bit more detail! I’ll specifically be addressing questions/concerns that have been brought to me, mostly

Because of the specific subject matter of the original post, most of the question askers were white/cis/het women, so much of what I cover will be directed at authors of that specific demographic.

The brunt of the post is about writing reader-characters of different demographics and why “gender-neutral” reader-inserts tend to fail to reach that mark, but the first two points I address are related to racism and fetishism in writing. Because of this, I want to preface: I am White, and I will never be an authority on what is or is not racist or fetishistic. These are questions I, specifically, have received, and needed more space to elaborate on. Everything I say, I have learned by listening to fans of color speaking out about the ways they and characters of color are treated and by doing my own research into the subject- my experience and advice is not exhaustive, I cannot cover every important facet, and my word should never, ever come before that of a person of color speaking about the same subject.

If while reading, you come across something that is not true, is offensive, harmful, or otherwise just not good advice for me to give, please contact me and I will remove or edit as needed.

I’m a White, cishet woman, and I like to write fanfiction about characters I find attractive who are men of color. How can I avoid writing fetishistic or racist stereotypes? 

To recognize fetishism, you first need to understand racial stereotypes and why they’re harmful, even if they’re “positive.”

First thing’s first: there is no such thing as a positive stereotype. All stereotypes bring with them the very real potential to harm people, demean or belittle them, isolate them, impact their social life, work environment, and how they interact with the world and the people around them, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, or body type.

It is very important that you seek out and listen to the word of these people themselves. Understand why it is harmful to write a story about a “savage” tribal man seducing a White colonizer (and why “savage” is a terrible word to use to describe someone in the first place). Understand why it is suspicious to be obsessed with the sexual prowess of dark-skinned men. Understand why the common tropes and stereotypes you see associates with people of color are harmful, and understand that this is not about you. This is not about what you want to see as a reader, this is not about the specific fantasies you want to write out with a certain character, this is not about your fulfillment and enjoyment, because you are the person writing and putting your writing into the world for others to see and consume. The way you portray your characters and the situations they are in is important.

Second: you need to learn how to step back and examine your own thoughts and behavior for bias, conscious and subconscious.

Would you think the same way about a character if they were a woman? Would you write a character with the same personality if they were White? Would you think two characters have the same romantic tension and chemistry if they were different genders?

For example: In the game Subnautica: Below Zero, the player character is Robin, a Black woman. At some point in the game, she expresses defensiveness in response to unintentionally rude remarks about the human body, from a source that would have no idea that it was rude. Her offense and defensive tone is not at all unwarranted or unreasonable, nor does she hold a grudge, but upon first playthrough I found myself thinking, “man, Robin’s kind of a bitch.”

Then I remembered the fact that Black women are frequently seen as aggressive, rude, and “pushy,” and that Black women in media are commonly seen by (White) fans as “mean” in comparison to other (White) characters who act the same way, if not worse. I realized that at no point in the game does Robin ever act spiteful, cruel, selfish, or vindictive towards the source of the offending comments. She was someone who was proud of her physical capabilities and the hard work she put into her body’s fitness, and she was not in the wrong for getting offended at the implication that her body was flawed or inefficient. Throughout the game, Robin is patient, driven, compassionate, and forgiving, and expresses grief, frustration, offense, and anger as is appropriate for the situations she finds herself in.

What I had done was subconsciously put Robin in a set box of character traits based off of racist stereotypes and characterizations frequently seen in media and fanworks. I didn’t realize I was doing it in the moment, and had to take a step back to examine the source media and my own behavior, and realized I was projecting a completely false idea of what Robin, a Black woman, should be like as a character.

That is an example of subconscious racial bias. Subconscious racial fetishism can look more like...

- Believing male characters of color all have insatiable sexual appetites and massive penises

- Automatically headcanoning characters who are large, burly, strong, or aggressive as Black or dark-skinned

- Putting East Asian women on a pedestal for being beautiful, pure, innocent- or, on the flip side, as beautiful and “please queen roundhouse kick me” treating her as “beautiful but fierce.”

These examples, alone, in singular instances, aren’t fetishism- headcanoning a single man of color as sexual and being well-endowed isn’t fetishism alone, headcanoning a single physically large and strong character as Black isn’t fetishism, thinking an East Asian woman is exceptionally beautiful and elegant isn’t fetishism.

It’s how you do it in relation to how you interact with other characters. Do you only ever write about a male character of color in a highly sexualized context or only ever talk about how big his penis is and what you want him to do to you? Is that large and forceful character the only one you headcanon as having dark skin? Do you fawn over East Asian women as beautiful goddesses and “dragon ladies” but never actually explore them as anything else but just being there for decoration?

(Warning for the next paragraph: intersex fetishism, racist tropes in Star Wars fandom)

Something I commonly see in the Star Wars sphere of fandom is, particularly with the clones, use of the word “savage” or “feral.” For the sake of not singling anyone out, I won’t use URLs, but an example I recently saw firsthand was a prompt about Stewjonis (e.g. Obi Wan) all being intersex and “fertile” and as such exceptionally desirable to the clones, described as having a “hunger” and having “savage, animalistic instincts,” including having a violent, animalistic rage they unleash when they think the White man they think they own is in danger.

The author is fetishizing intersex people (making Obi Wan, a White man being paired with brown men, intersex for the sole purpose of making him “fertile” and able to be impregnated for the sake of a breeding kink- he’s not written as intersex just to be intersex representation, he’s written as an idealized fantasy of intersex for the sake of keeping him “male” but also able to get pregnant to fulfill the author’s bioessentialist fantasies of aggressive, animalistic cis men of color inherently desiring and being unable to help their “instincts” around a “fertile mate.”) and using a common racist stereotype for brown men: that they are “savage,” “animalistic,” sexually aggressive, sexually driven, violent, and sexually dominating over “smaller” (Ewan Mcgregor is 5′10, Temuera Morrison is 5′7. Even if you headcanon the clones as 6′0, as Wookieepedia defaults every adult male human to, that’s still only two inches of difference) light-skinned love interests (who have a vagina).

At a very, very basic level, I can get why the idea of such a dynamic might be appealing: the idea of someone finding you desirable and protecting you/fighting for you without reservation, the idea of “instincts” showing someone’s true feelings they can’t fight for you, etc. etc.. When that’s what you’re going for, it’s a case of you really, really needing to think long and hard about the characters you’re using and how you’re portraying them. I mean, you need to really think about it.

And I get it if it’s a trope you really like or a dynamic you really want to write, but I repeat: this isn’t about you. It’s about the image and stereotypes you may or may not be reinforcing about people of color, men of color, and intersex people to yourself and your readership.

This is the best advice I can give you: Take a step back. Check yourself. Check the way you think about a character, the way you write them, and the way they are portrayed in canon. Think about why you want to write the situation you want to write. Think about how you are portraying the character, and how it might be interpreted by people who aren’t in your brain. Ask yourself if you really think the character would act that way, or if that’s just how you think they should act, and then ask yourself why.

If you find that what you are writing might be falling into fetishistic or derogatory tropes or stereotypes, that’s where you stop. Identify what, specifically, about the situation or scenario appeals to you. Identify why the characters appeal to you. See if you can use those elements in a way that doesn’t reinforce those stereotypes.

2. When does a smut fic involving a man of color become fetishistic? What if an author is simply exaggerating pre-existing character traits for the sake of a smut scenario? Is writing characters partaking in specific kinks or tropes fetishism by default because they’re played by men of color?

I’ll go down the line:

- The short answer: when you use fetishistic tropes. The longer answer: when you use tropes in a context that could be considered fetishistic, and do nothing to add depth to the situation. Show that you put thought into your decisions, and show us why you believe the character would do/act/think that way. If you can’t because it doesn’t make sense and it’s just something you want to happen to engineer a specific trope (E.X. Clones never getting any sex ed ever and freaking out at the thought of a vagina), don’t do it. Are you focusing on a character as a dominant party in bed? Then analyze how you’re portraying that, if you’re using animal comparisons, references to how small and petite his submissive partner is, if you’re portraying it as a healthy sexual relationship or if you’re implying that he’s always possessive, domineering, and intimidating towards his partner- it very much helps to have beta readers.

- Then the author needs to put effort into the scenario they’re writing and really examine why those are the character traits they’re exaggerating in a character of color. Why, of all the character’s traits, are you choosing to play up his strength, size, and aggression in the way that you are? If you still really want to write it: write the characters discussing it as a BDSM roleplay scene or show aftercare that tells us that’s not what the character is normally like, but was an act he was putting on in a pre-agreed scenario. Oftentimes, the issue can be that the author makes no effort to show that this isn’t how the character acts outside of the bedroom, or even erases that line completely by showing no difference between how the character treats his partner in day-to-day life and in bed.

- Not at all. You can write Boba Fett being a Dom and having kinky sex all you want- but it needs to make sense. By that I mean-  writing OOC, shallow smut isn’t a sin, but when it involves men of color, especially in situations where they have already been highly sexualized and fetishized, you, as an author have to think about how you’re writing them. You have to think about if you’re just using them as sockpuppets to write out a dom fantasy you already had pre-engineered, and you need to think about why, exactly, you want to use that specific character in that specific role. Are you writing about the character, or are you using their name and face as a prop to play out the fantasy?

3. I’m White/cis/het/female and I write reader-insert fanfiction, I...

a. ...try to keep my readers ambiguous, but I think I still mess up.

First: Accept that some measure of character description is needed for your readers to not feel like they’re inhabiting the fictional body of a ghost. You’ll never be able to be 100% ambiguous, and that’s okay. Parts of who we are and the way we experience the world will always leak into our writing, and that’s just part of the experience. What’s important is that you’re able to recognize where your experiences are not universal, and decide on if that’s something you can change in your writing.

Next: Some basic tips for common whoopsies that are easy to overlook.

- Hair length, color, and texture

Instead of saying something that implies a particular hair type, such as the way it blows in the wind or how the reader-character brushes or styles it, you can reference that they just have hair without going into detail, such as:

“He found himself unable to sleep that night- normally, he would count the rivets in the ceiling until they blurred together, but now he had a new distraction catching his eye. Your hair against his pillow was new, novel- he found his eyes tracing the strands from root to tip, the way the dim light catching on the strands almost hypnotic, and before he knew it he was delicately tracing his fingertips along a patch near your ear that had grown in what was, to his sleep-deprived mind, an utterly fascinating whorl.” Vs. describing a character running his fingers through the reader’s hair.

- Body type

I will say: sometimes, it makes a reader-insert infinitely more engaging if we have just scant details about the reader character, but that’s usually if the details are uncommon in the genre. By this, I mean: if a reader-insert specified that the reader-character was actually buff and very tall, I would already be more invested, because I never see reader-characters like that.

This being said, when you want ambiguity, when it comes to body type avoid referencing the reader’s weight, size, musculature, height, and build- nothing about curves, nothing about hips, nothing about stomachs.

Again, you can reference that the reader has these things, but without specifying that their stomach is flat or their hips are curvy or that they look small and delicate compared to the love interest. What I see the most of is references to the reader being notably shorter, lighter, or weaker than other characters. If someone is targeting the reader over, say, Din, because they look like they’d be an easier target, instead of saying that it’s because the reader is the smaller, “weaker-looking” target, make note of it being because of some other vulnerability- armor, lack of visible weaponry, hands aren’t free, distracted, because they saw the reader choke on an apple seed in the market earlier and it made them think they were incompetent and easy to take out, etc.

- Skin color

This one is the most basic, but also easy to mess up. Along with things like hair type being correlated with race (ie if you describe a reader-character with long, fine, straight hair, you are excluding the possibility of the reader-character being Black), something that can be easy for lighter-skinned authors to forget is that blush, flush, sunburn, and pallor aren’t easily visible on all skin colors.

If you want to write things like that but don’t know how to portray them without indicating skin tone, try instead using temperature. Reference the reader feeling heat rise to their cheeks, or the uncomfortable warmth radiating from a minor burn, or how cold and clammy their skin feels.

- Unnecessary references to the reader’s gender (E.X. gendered bathrooms, dressing rooms, calling the reader-character things like “the girl” or “the woman”)

If you’re writing a fic with a gender-neutral reader, you do not need to use any of those in the story. I promise, you don’t. If you have to, either find a way around it or just... don’t. If you want to make the reader gender-neutral, you don’t need these. I promise.

If you’re writing a gender-neutral but explicitly AFAB reader: also don’t use these, because it defeats the purpose of you saying the reader is supposed to be gender-neutral. In fact, make the reader’s gender the absolute LAST thing you put in the fic. Write the whole thing as if the concept of gender doesn’t exist.

- Typically gendered characteristics such as voice pitch and tone, face shape, chest, hips, hands, height

See above. The thing is, none of these things are inherently indicative of gender, but for many people, they are. If you say you’re writing a gender-neutral reader, but include reference to very feminine-associated traits, you’re telling the reader that you wrote the reader-character as essentially Girl Lite.

Something not enough people realize is that there are AMAB nonbinary people, there are cis AFAB women who are very masculine, and so on. “Gender-neutral” shouldn’t mean “Female 2″ or “tomboy.”

- And think to yourself: Would I write a male character acting this way?

This is... self-explanatory. And also very important. And why I say to make gender the absolute last thing you put in the fic. I’ll talk more about this specifically at the end!

Something important to note: Nonbinary is not the same as gender-neutral!

Nonbinary specifically refers to the gender identity in which you are neither strictly male nor strictly female- your gender identity exists outside of the male-female binary.

Gender-neutral means that references to the reader’s gender are removed and it can be read by someone of any sex or gender without being taken out of the experience by gendered traits or situations.

...want to start writing readers who aren’t like me, but don’t know where to start.

Just do it, really. That’s the best way to do it. You don’t have to make it a major part of the fic!

I can only really speak on the experience of being nonbinary and reading fics written by cis authors, and again, at the very end I’ll go more into personal feelings and experience, but I really do mean just write it. Get a beta reader, or friends to look it over. Ask people from different reader demographics what they want to see. It doesn’t have to change the entire course of your writing.

...am afraid of writing a different kind of reader-character and getting something wrong.

It happens! No one can know every experience under the sun, and if you’re not writing from experience, you’re bound to get one or two details wrong.

But! That shouldn’t stop you from doing it! This is where getting a beta reader or having a discord server really helps, you can get viewpoints from people with different experiences to tell you what does and doesn’t work.

At the end of this post I’ll talk about things I, specifically, would like to see as a trans person, and how being nb affects the way I see things.

4. What’s wrong with dysphoria fics?

from here on out is personal conjecture

Nothing. I just don’t like them because, well.

They’re basically the only time I ever see fics with an explicitly trans reader, and they all follow the exact same formula: Someone or something triggers reader’s dysphoria, the reader is sad and having a bad time, the love interest comes in and validates the reader’s gender and it’s all better.

One: I’ve never seen this done with a trans woman reader.

Two: It’s... tiring, having the only representation you ever see of yourself being about dysphoria. A lot of the fics are written as personal comfort fics or were requested by a trans person with dysphoria, and that’s fine, but I want to see a grand, multi-chapter fic with an engaging plot and reader-character engagement that just... has a trans reader. It’s not a thing, they just are, because trans people’s lives don’t constantly revolve around how trans they are.

There are more “nonbinary” reader fics than there are fics about trans men or trans women. And all the nonbinary readers are AFAB- I have not seen a SINGLE AMAB nonbinary reader-insert in the Star Wars fandom.

It’s just one of those things that is just... it’s not bad, it’s just kind of exhausting? I’m the kind of person who wants to see stories of people like me just on adventures, not more about how miserable we are because our bodies are wrong or something.

I don’t speak for every trans person, I don’t and I never will. But I think a lot of the people who request dysphoria fic... don’t actually want to read about that. Body dysphoria is touted as the defining trans experience, and a lot of people genuinely believe you have to be dysphoric to be trans. Not only is this not true, but it’s also harmful. Hating your body sucks. Hating your body specifically because you know people use it to judge how to treat you super sucks. Thinking you have to hate your body or else you’re not really trans and are just pretending? Ultra suck.

I’m nonbinary, my partner is a trans man. I’ll paste his thoughts on the matter (minor edits to punctuation and paragraph breaks):

“But in all honesty it’s very very tiring, I think the majority of people asking for a dysphoria fic don’t actually realise they want something else. Many trans people feel dysphoria, myself included, but not all of them do, and it doesn’t make them any less trans, but the overall focus on dysphoria has made it this be all end all thing in and out of the trans community. It’s what people often think of when they think of trans people and while it’s certainly a thing, I think the focus has become entirely too toxic. I think newer trans people tend to internalise dysphoria a lot, especially if they don’t experience it to an extent which is ‘acceptable enough to be considered trans’.

Given that context I think that what a lot of people are looking for when they ask writers for dysphoria fics is actually validation and gender euphoria. They want validation of their gender identity because they’ve recently experienced dysphoria and are looking for escapism. It’s something I myself have only come to realise recently despite being out as trans for a considerable amount of time. I don’t expect cis writers to fully understand the intensely personal and nuanced relationship every trans person has with gender and identity, nor do I blame them for using dysphoria as a go-to, especially when the request was for a dysphoria fic. I am however asking writers to instead try more validation and less focus on the bad aspects of being trans such as dysphoria and discrimination.

Again, this is a very complicated subject, and I am only one trans person and one opinion. However I do believe people get stuck in that focus on dysphoria, and it’s not a healthy mindset to be in. For cis writings including trans people in their reader inserts, I’d recommend making them explicitly trans, whether it be male/female/nb, because you cannot have gn pronouns and call it a day, especially not if it’s an nb person because it’s simply not the same as gn pronouns in a fic. Cis writers tend to have a stereotype when it comes to trans people, especially on tumblr where trans men are always seen as soft twinky UwU Bois and it gets real old real fast. I cannot name a single fic I’ve read that’s had a trans reader not in a binder or on hrt. You don’t have to transition to be trans, but it would be nice to see some variation and have some guys only have top surgery or only have bottom surgery or have no surgery and be okay with it. Medically transitioning is by no means the be all end all but every trans experience is unique and it’s very bland to see the same trans story every time you read a reader insert. I am of course speaking from the point of view of a trans man, I can’t imagine what it must be like for trans women because those fics are even less common!“

5. Okay what was it you said earlier about stuff you’d come back to?

Glad you asked!

Look, I’ll be straight up and honest, this is something that’s hard to put into words because it’s such a nebulous experience, and I don’t know how to describe it to cis writers but.

Sometimes the way gender neutral, nonbinary, and trans male readers are written really comes across like the author wrote a female reader and just went back to change the pronouns.

The reason why it’s hard to explain at times is because there’s nothing overt, but there are specific patterns in the way authors write reader characters and their love interests, like... female-coding.

The way the reader-character interacts with the world, the way they’re written interacting with characters, the way characters are written viewing them, the way their body language is described- things that, if you take a step back, you’d realize “oh, I wouldn’t write a cis male character like this.”

Again, it’s... really, really hard to put into words, but it’s a pattern my partner and I have both noticed that’s made it hard to enjoy a lot of trans/nonbinary reader fics. The issue isn’t that the reader-character is feminine in any way, the issue is that that’s all anyone ever writes them like.

Reader-insert fics already have a very homogenized experience of “reader-character is extremely passive in their narrative and has little agency in their story other than to exist alongside a canon character for him to eventually fall in love with.” Even in fics where the reader is explicitly a cis woman, there are these... unnecessary references to her being female that, to me, just seem to serve no purpose.

This is. Incredibly just Me saying this here. But it’s genuine, from someone who hasn’t actually Had A Gender in over a decade now: Is... being a woman really that prominent in cis women’s lives? Is it really that big a part of who you are? I want to know, because it’s so wildly different for me, and if I’m going to give advice on how to write reader-characters of other genders, I kind of. Really need to have that one ironed out.

If your gender plays a large role in who you are and your perception of yourself: that’s great, chase your bliss, it’s good to know who you are and what you’re comfortable with! It’s just a theme I keep seeing in reader-inserts that... takes me out of it? Someone whose gender is featured so heavily in their identity and the way they interact with the world might not realize that, say, a nonbinary person, just... has a completely different relationship with gender.

And I’ll say this, too: Trans men’s experiences and relationships with their gender is also wildly different to that of a cis woman. There is overlap in some places, yes, but it is still a completely different relationship, and cannot be treated as the same.

I think this is where the problem lies, and why I never see trans woman readers or AMAB nonbinary readers: consciously or not, cis female writers write what they know, and are applying their experiences and relationship with gender to trans AFAB readers assuming it will be the same or similar enough.

I will say, as a general rule of thumb: it really is not. Do not treat it like it is, please. This is why I say to write as if gender doesn’t exist. Just write the character, write the story, and then worry about their pronouns. Don’t even think about what they look like or their voice if you find that stopping you.

Write the reader as a character, not as a woman.

Now that that’s out of the way.

6. How can I make my reader-insert stand out?

I’ll let my partner, Felix, take over for this one again:

“People write what they know so expand your knowledge by talking to others.

Reader inserts are often very passive, too. Try to have your reader become the driving force instead of letting plot happen around them. For example, try to imagine why the reader and the characters would have a reason to talk/bond, what would be reasonable motivations for the reader? Why would the characters care about the reader?

Easy ways to do this include having an already established relationship between the reader and character that you can draw from, the reader has to accompany the characters for an amount of time on a joint goal, anything other than ‘reader is sexy lamp and characters like reader because reader is sexy.’ If you’re gonna write about a one night stand, then write about a one night stand, but don’t try to shoe horn in a whole relationship.

if you’re gonna write tropes then you have to:

1) Make it your own. “School for superpowered kids” is the core of several IPs: my hero academia, Harry Potter and xmen, but all of them are very different to each other. If you’re writing for reader inserts, a common trope is ‘reader whisked away by character to start a new life.’ This trope is everywhere, and it’s fine, but art is all about that execution.Think more about why these things are happening; why is the reader being whisked away, why does the character care about them, why would they stay together after the initial danger has passed? Don’t explain it to me either, show me the events leading up to the scene you want. Don’t tell me ‘ever since character rescued reader he’s been in love with them,’ show me those events, show me the lead up, show me why I should give a damn. If the fanfic wasn’t specifically reader insert, would it still be interesting?

2) Execute your tropes well. Execution is the most important thing when it comes to art. You can have the most brilliant idea in the world but if you don’t execute it properly it’s worth about as much as dirt. A movie can have a great idea, but if the pacing is off or the lighting bad or the sound design shit it’s not gonna work is it? Best example are the original Star Wars trilogy vs the prequels, I could go on for ages about the differences between them and the behind the scenes, but the gist is that during the filming of the og trilogy Harrison Ford, Carrie fisher and mark Hamill were constantly rewriting the script during scenes to flow better and sound better, Lucas’ wife was the editor and was the reason we have those great scenes that are seared into the memory of our society.

With the prequels many people had credited Lucas as being the sole reason the og trilogy was so successful, therefore he had more free reign and bogged down the movies with things that, yes, might have been interesting lore wise, but served no purpose for the actual story. His execution was bad. Your execution of your fic doesn’t have to be on the grand scale of a million dollar budget movie, but you do have to make the effort if you want to make a good story. You wanna write a horny smut fic? Power to you, do research into bdsm and healthy safe sex practices. Go into depth about how that makes the characters feel and how it connects to them as people. You can do a fantastic character study just from bdsm practices because of how personal and intimate that situation can be. Even without hard smutty stuff you can still write a deep and personal fic about a character falling in love with the reader if you just take the time to actually develop the relationship between them.”

Phew, that was a lot. Those were really the Main Big Questions I hopefully answered to a satisfactory degree. Ask box is always open, though!

#star wars #reader insert #star wars reader insert #star wars x reader #x reader #din djarin x reader #boba fett x reader #the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #y/n #okay to reblog

[shra-vasti]

Hello

Pairing : Kim Mingyu x reader

Type : Soulmate au, idol au

Genre : Fluff

Warnings : none

Word count : 3-4k approx

Soulmate au type : In which the soulmates have spirit animals who guide them towards each other and the spirit animals themselves are each other's soulmates too.

Mingyu is someone who has always set himself as his priority, there was a time when he was insecure about himself but he has learned to not let his insecurities take a toll on him. He worked hard to be the Mingyu he is today and he's thankful that his members were by his side through everything.

He has a reputation in the kpop community, he's outgoing and is very friendly in nature which helps him in having many connections to expand himself and his group further into success. It's his way of making himself useful for his group and not feel pressured that the group's responsibility lay only in the hands of leaders.

With that said, even if he tried his hard he gets tired, there are still the times when he feels insecure and useless but asking members to always cheer him up would just make him look like he's trying way too hard so he never asked their help.

He instead opt for going out with different girls, he enjoys people being wrapped around his fingers, it gives him satisfaction. He doesn't date seriously he wants to save his love for the one fate has tied him to. But he doesn't like being lonely. He never stay with the same girl for long and doesn't keep them blinded just so they don't potentially hurt themselves. He is very clear about his intentions and avoids all sort of feelings involved.

The members don't approve of his behaviour especially the 3 oldest ones. Seungcheol doesn't want him to go wrong way, Jeonghan wants him to maintain his image for the sake of his soulmate's feelings as he knows how it feels to hurt your own soulmate and potentially wither the bond and Joshua has been in the very unfortunate situation where he had recklessly fallen in love with someone else and ended up hurting himself and his soulmate and he doesn't want the younger to go through the same.

But Mingyu isn't getting emotionally involved with anyone, he likes hooking up with them and hang out casually nothing more serious, he just wants to be his best version for his soulmate.

"Where are you going?" Mingyu turn his head towards the voice to see Jeonghan leaned on his doorframe eyeing him with a questioning gaze. Mingyu turned his attention back towards the mirror taking one last look at his outfit and spraying some perfurme on his neck and wrist ready to go.

"Date." he replied simply looking into the elder's eyes through the mirror.

"What about coco? Has it shown itself lately?" Jeonghan asked raising his eyebrows talking about Mingyu's spirit animal, a puppy, who summons itself whenever it can feel his soulmate's presence and try to lead Mingyu towards his soulmate.

"Nope." Mingyu shrugs disappointment laced in his voice but bears a nonchalant look on his face. There hasn't been much time since he got his soulmark and coco has shown itself not more than once or twice from then till now. For Mingyu the occurrence of Coco is his one in a million chance and he had witness himself passing out the first time it showed up ultimately leading the members to take him to the hospital and him losing his chance to meet you. The situation itself was funny and pathetic enough and he beats himself regularly for being such a dramatic guy.

"I hope you meet your soulmate before you meet up with your fling though. I don't understand how you even get them to agree with your stupid deal." Jeonghan exclaimed as he turn around and made his way towards his own room which was located right beside Mingyu's. There wasn't a point in trying to explain the cons of the situation Mingyu was putting himself into, he had done it countless of time.

Mingyu shook his head still processing Jeonghan's words as he grabbed his jacket since it was cold outside and phone and left the dorm to meet up with his date.

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You stood up from your reception seat to greet your senior who was promoted recently to a higher position. He was the one who handled the reception before you did. You were the intern in the pledis building working on the reception area by the main entrance as a part of your internship program held by your college.

"How's the work going? Are you comfortable?" he asked trying to have a small talk. It hasn't been much time since you started and you were still getting a hang of things. You nodded at him.

"I'm still trying to get used to being busy all the time." he laughed at your response telling you about the time when he was new in the building and how much struggle he went through as well as complimenting you for doing way better than he did at his time.

You haven't met any idols here yet not all atleast. You have seen few members of nuest and bumzu and other than them majority of your time you had just met the trainees who were working hard to reach their goals. You hadn't met Seventeen yet, although the group is the most active group pledis ever produced, because they had a world tour when you joined in and then they moved to bighit building all together.

You finished up your remaining work without a break after your senior left, determined to finish all the work tonight itself so that you can get a day off of finishing the work and focus on other aspects of your internship and relaxing.

You looked at the watch as you kept your last file inside your drawer, cracking your knuckles and moving your head up and down to ease the numbness built up due to constant sitting. It was past midnight as you blamed yourself for not keeping a track of the time. Walking alone at night wasn't a good idea, you could have just finished the rest of the work at home. It was going to be your first time going home this late so you were a bit worried.

You packed your stuff and got your coat as you made your way out of the building. You head towards the main gate when a car pulled up in front of you, the windows rolled down as you saw your senior get out of his car surprised to still see you in the building.

"What are you doing up this late?" he asked as he stood in front of you hands clad inside his pockets as he waited for your answer.

"Lost track of time while trying to finish off the work. I'm heading off to my house now so I guess I'll see you around." you bowed as you continued to walk when he stopped you.

"It's midnight and I don't think it will be good for you to go home alone. Let me drop you otherwise it will keep on bugging me that I left you all by yourself. I'm your senior I am just looking out for your safety." he suggested, you contemplated for sometime but gave up when you realized he was right and being with someone atleast a bit familiar to you was better than being anxious while going home.

You made your way towards the passenger seat and he drove off. You gave him the address of your apartment complex as you relaxed on the seat.

"I had some things to discuss with you about working at the reception." he said, his eyes still trained towards the road ahead. You looked in his direction.

"What about it?" you asked as you played with your fingers.

"Wanna talk about it while having a drink? I bought this new wine and wanted to drink and this is the perfect opportunity to do it in the name of you successfully getting the internship program and me welcoming you to the building." he said as he nonchalantly eyed you before once again bringing his attention towards the road.

"It's totally fine, I'll just head home as I'm really tired." you politely declined his offer when you felt him narrowing his eyes at you.

"The drinking isn't the main reason just so you know. I said I wanted to discuss somethings with you and also give you some files essential to carry out the task more easily." he said matter of factly his tone a bit off in offense. "Are you thinking I'm going to take advantage of you or something?"

"No no it's not like that." you mumbled frantically waving your hands in the air as you tried to come up with a better reason. "I'll go with you." you sighed as you turned your head to look out of the window cursing at yourself for bringing yourself to this situation. The drive was quiet of a while before he spoke again.

"You look more beautiful with your hair like this. Not that you don't look good always but you look exceptionally good today. Just wanted to compliment you and nothing else."

You heartbeat quickened as you mumbled a quite thanks trying to avoid any sort of conversation with him. You were going to talk to him about the work, take files from him and head towards home straight.

Your eyes narrowed in confusion when the car stopped in front of a big mansion. The name plate in the main gate gave you that it's your seniors house. Why would he bring you to his house?

"To clear your confusion I have the files in my house so let's get them." he said as he made his way towards his door and opened it motioning you to come inside as he did too. You made your way towards his door and decided you would just stand there till he bring the files and leave.

"You aren't coming in?" he asked as he realized you weren't following him. You shook your head telling him to just give you the file and leave.

"At least have a drink with me now that you have came this far." he said getting impatient by the fact that you didn't seem to gave in to what he had to say.

"No sir I would like to kindly reject the offer." you said as your breath hitched when he angrily stomped towards you.

"You know I'm capable of making your life miserable at the building right?" he mocked as he looked towards you laughing. "You haven't hit the rock bottom till now right? You should just give into me, your internship will run more smoothly if you would do so."

"I'm a college student ofcourse I'm already at my rock bottom what's the worse that can happen? I've my pride and I would like to decline your offer I can manage my life myself." you said as you bowed him one last time before making your way out of his door.

"Then go ahead. Do what you want and just go to your home by yourself I'm not dropping you off I'll see how you manage to go home now, my house is in completely opposite direction of yours." he said as he shut the door on your face harshly.

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Mingyu fixed his shirt's button as he made his way out of the house of the girl he was on date with. He put on a mask and his jacket, too much disguise bring more suspicion so he preferred to not disguise too much.

He got inside his car as he started driving towards the seventeen dorm. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he lightly hummed to himself. He hung out with her and made out not feeling in his system to hookup with someone for a quite while, he decided he would just head to the dorm as it was 3 in the morning.

It had started to rain lightly making Mingyu check the weather forecast, it was winter season and very unlikely to rain, he shrugged he was in his car so it wasn't much of a hassle. The unlikely occurrence of the rain wasn't much shocking as compared to the shock he got when Coco, his spirit animal summon itself and started pacing furiously on the dashboard of his car making Mingyu stop his car in an instant.

"Are they near?" Mingyu asked as he began opening his car door. Coco nodded his head, completely understanding what he was saying. "Lets go."

Mingyu's heart was beating fast as he locked his car door cursing at coco for not stopping for him as it was already running towards the direction where it could feel its soulmate's presence. Mingyu's one hand was above his head, an unsuccessful and useless attempt at keeping himself dry from the rain.

He kept on running and running till he stopped, watching as Coco was straddling another small spirit animal, puppy, which he assumed was of his soulmate. They looked happy but where were you?

He looked here and there to see a silhouette near the bus stand watching the two puppies playing around. No one other than the owners could see them. He smiled as he saw your expressions change in realization, a shock clearly evident on your form as you finally locked eyes with him.

He made his way towards you while his hands came up and he waved his hands towards you, smiling up at bit. You got up from your seat, all drenched in rain feeling cold but happy at the same time as you took small steps towards your soulmate.

Your feelings were overwhelming you at this point. The earlier event and then suddenly meeting your soulmate together was too much for you. You were all alone with no buses at such time making you wait for the earliest bus possible for returning back home. You had been sitting on this bus stop for 3 hours straight with no one else and it started raining.

The sight of Mingyu was enough for you though. He came near you speeding towards you when he noticed your drenched form and your scared face. He hugged you the moment he came close enough not bothering to even introduce himself as you hugged him back and finally started crying holding onto him tightly.

He was confused as to what has happened for you to react this way, it was sure that it wasn't his fault considering how tight you were holding onto him. He patted your back with one hand as the other run through your hair softly as he mumbled in your ear that you were safe with him and that you can let it all out. He figured it has stopped raining as your cries subsidised too.

"I'm sorry." you sniffed feeling embarrassed that your soulmate had to meet you this way when you haven't even property glanced at him. You pull away after that wiping the tears from your face as you pulled your head up to look at him.

"No worries. I'm here for you from now on."

"Mingyu?" your eyes widened at the sight of the idol in front of you. You had heard and saw a lot about Seventeen and you never once even thought that the visual of Seventeen was also your soulmate.

"You know me?" his eyes widened as you nodded your head.

"Hello." he awkwardly said making you laugh loudly. "Are you perhaps a carat?"

"No but I do like your music and you are very popular so I know." you told him as you felt yourself getting flustered the more you look in his direction. You didn't know if it was the bond or he was actually that attractive but you know that he already had some sort of effect on you. He was more beautiful than tje pictures you have seen from the magazines and subways.

You attention shifted towards the puppies who were now beside you as they faced each other with their tail wagging furiously.

"What's its name?" you asked eyeing the unfamiliar puppy playing with your spirit animal. Both of them looked so happy with finding each other. You suddenly felt sorry for not paying attention to your spirit animal as you were focused more on yourself to even notice the fact that the creature only summons itself when your soulmate is near.

"Coco. What about yours?" he asked as he felt amused as to he wasn't the only one who named their spirit animal. He felt like he was weird for naming it but not now.

"Chips." you said as you duck your head down in embarrassment. The first time your spirit animal showed up was when you were out for buying chips and hence the name.

He raised his eyebrows at your answer then laughing slightly. "So they together become Coco-chips then?"

"Oh god they do." you laughed alone with him watching as the two puppies played with each other.

"Let me drop you home you'll get sick if you keep on wearing those clothes." he said as he intertwined your hand with his and dragged you back towards where his car was. Both of you were silent all through the time when you were going towards his car and making your way towards your house. The only words shared between both of you being your name and address.

He didn't ask you anything about how you ended up so far away from your home at this time of the night and you were more than thankful to him for giving you your time. He kept on holding your hands and draw meaningless pattern on them with his thumb.

"Here." you welcomed him inside your house as both of you reach your apartment. He nodded at you as he took off his blazer and put in on the table. He was not drenched in rain as he wasn't out in the rain unlike you so he made himself comfortable on your couch as you excused yourself to get changed.

"Do you want some coffee?" you asked as you made your way towards him after you change. He shook his head and motioned you to join him. You sat on the couch as you contemplated on what to say.

"Are you alright now?" he asked concern laced across his face as he spoke to you. You nodded your head smiling at him.

"Mind telling me about it? Only if you are comfortable though."

"I was returning from pledis building to home when my senior asked if he could drop me. It was already midnight...." and you went on and on telling him about each and everything that happened till the time he found you.

At this point he was by your side, his arms around you as he swayed you back and forth as you let all the frustration out.

"You don't have any schedule tomorrow?" you asked after sometime.

"I do have but not untill later. So I get to spend some time with my soulmate." he grinned at you making you blush.

"I'll protect you from now on. You don't have to worry about him I'll make sure he is out of the building tomorrow so you don't have to face his shitty attitude. I don't know if it's too early but I will do anything for you to not get hurt." he smiled as he kissed your forehead telling you to just go to sleep after the hectic night.

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"You, these kinds of feelings I hope I’m not the only one who has them. You, more than mine I'm curious about your feelings. You, from now on I want our days to be each other’s days, me and you."

#seventeen fics #seventeen scenario #seventeen x reader au #seventeen #seventeen au #seventeen drabble #seventeen fanfic #seventeen imagines #seventeen blurb #seventeen dk au #mingyu #kim mingyu smut au #mingyu smut #kim mingyu au #kim mingyu imagine #mc gyu #meanie #mingyu fanfic #mingyu imagine #mingyu oneshot #wonwoo x mingyu x reader #wonwoo x mingyu #mingyu au #kim mingyu au #kim mingyu smut #mingyu wonwoo au

[thorne93]

The Stars Made Us (Part 32 - FINAL)

Prompt: In this world, you’re one of the “lucky” ones who got a soulmate, but what if the universe gives you more than you bargained for?

(Prompt challenge – You live in a world where your soulmate can write on their skin and you will get the writing on your own and vice versa. Where they can wash away the ink on their own skin, however, the writing is forever scarred onto your skin until you meet face to face)

Word Count: 2578

Warnings: angst and language throughout

Notes: This was supposed to be for @sorryimacrapwriter​​​​​  and their challenge like a year ago, I think? I still loved the prompt though and have been working on this story for quite some time. This aesthetic was made by @dontshootmespence​​​​​, thank you so much! Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​​​​​, couldn’t have done it without you, as well as @carryonmyswansong​​​​​ and @arrow-guy​​​​​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​

Also, I’ve never really liked the whole soulmate AU thing idea, but this felt so right and it was amazing to write. I hope y’all love it too!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"There you have it, gentlemen. A world without Y/N. Get used to it," Rebecca said from behind her spot in the small room.

"You have to leave that room sometime," Stephen said as he looked at her through the two windows. 

"Oh, that's the beauty of it, see I can leave and you never even know--" 

A crackling noise caught her attention. Her eyes flashed to your form as the stone started to crumble away from you.

Stephen narrowed his eyes in response. "Uh, Charles," he started, not taking his eyes off your form. 

"What?" he choked out through a sob. 

"Look at this," he instructed. 

"What?" he repeated as he started to turn around, getting up and wiping his face. "What--What's happening?" he asked, confused.

"No, no," Rebecca suddenly said. "No, no it can't be. No!" she roared.

The stone continued to crumble away from you for another moment before finally, all of it was gone and you saw your two soulmates, a look of relief on their face. 

"It isn't supposed to end this way!" Rebecca yelled, distraught. 

Her voice set off something inside you and you pulled against your restraints. They suddenly disappeared, vaporized off you. You jumped off the bed and turned to face her in the small room.

"You--You can't come in here," she said shakily as she picked up a gun. "I have precautions!" 

Your blood boiled at the sight of her. You aimed your hand at the door and fired a shot of what looked like fire at the door -- it ceased to exist. 

She began to turn away from you, to what you were assuming was an exit door.

"Not so fast," you said, conjuring a whip and grabbing her with one hand. The other hand conjured another whip, grabbed the gun out of her hand, and pulled it into your hand. As soon as it hit your hand, she looked at you with fear. 

"No, please, don't," she begged, the conjured rope still wrapping her tight, keeping her put.

You disintegrated the gun giving her a look filled with hatred. Your eyes filled with black as you stared at her.

"Don't worry, I'll just do to you what you did to them," you said, gesturing back to your loves. "I'll take your world away." You focused your power, this new instinct on her. You let the rope go from her as your other power bled into her. 

"Wha--what's happening to me?!" she screamed as she looked around, horrified. She held her arms out just as someone would who lost their sight. "I--I can't hear anything, I can't see anything!" 

You smiled at her, putting a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to her knees. You looked up at the glass window that separated you from Stephen and Charles. You fired at it and it ceased to exist.

"What did you do to her?" Stephen asked. "What... What happened to you?" 

"I don't know," you admitted. "I just emerged from that stone and... this all feels so... natural. All I did was rob her of her senses. She can't hear, smell, taste, or see right now."

"Well, that's impressive, but what are we going to do with her?" Charles asked. 

---------------------

Stephen and Charles helped you get her into the elevator and all of you went above ground as the authorities were called. They had arrived, you lifted your powers and they took her away. 

"Charles, can I have a moment, please?" Stephen asked as he got extremely close to you. 

He looked at you and you nodded so he nodded as well, walking away to talk with some of the police. 

"I'm so happy to see you again, even if I did almost die," you said with a bit of a smile.

"Why is it, every time we meet, someone is having a crisis?" he asked with a laugh, one that you returned.

"I don't know." you admitted through chuckles. 

He put his hands on either side of your face. "Y/N, I love you."

"I know," you said, wondering why he was telling you this.

"Will you be mine?" 

You looked down. "Stephen, I can't go do this again. I've already told you that I can't choose--"

"I'm not asking you to," he suddenly said, cutting you off, making your eyes go up to his. "I'm saying, will you be mine and his? I want to know if you'll be mine, as well as his?"

You felt like you lit up a million degrees inside. "What? Yes, of course! Absolutely!"

He smiled a thousand-watt smile and picked you up, holding you tight to him before kissing you. 

"What made you change your mind?" you asked when he sat you down.

"Charles did. We talked on the way up here, and he made it very clear that you love both of us, and I shouldn't worry about you choosing one or the other, or favoring one, or leaving one. He made me realize that so long as we love you, and you love us back, everything will be okay and I can live with that. I've seen you almost die too many times, and I don't want to live another day without you being mine."

All you could do was hug him again before kissing him. 

“You do know what all that entails, right? You won’t get soul rights to me. I am free to come and go as I please.” 

He smiled, nodding and laughing, he said, “Yes, yes, whatever you want, just please, be with me?”

“I like the idea of whatever I want,” you mused in a low voice before giving him a chaste kiss. 

--------------------

As it turned out, you were an Inhuman. Charles and Stephen sought to find you answers, to see what Rebecca had released on you and why you emerged with innate powers. They found a group called Agents of Shield that had information on the crystal and the process you underwent. This would mean your parents were Inhuman as well, but they didn't know it because they hadn't been exposed to the Terrigen mist. 

Once you knew what you were and that it wasn't some odd side effect or something that could harm you, Charles worked with you on getting your powers controllable and seeing what all you were capable of. 

A year went by and you were the happiest you'd ever been, you were sure you were the happiest anyone had ever been. Time with Stephen and Charles was perfect. You spent your nights between the Mansion and the Sanctum. With Stephen able to open a portal between the two hour time gap wasn't even an issue. If you wanted to see him, he'd open a portal for you. If you spent the night and needed to get to work, he'd portal you there. If you wanted to go back to Charles, he'd send you there too. He was just thrilled to see you.

Balancing life between the two seemed oddly easy. There wasn't really a set schedule but for the most part you spent every other day with each man. Most of the time dinner was reserved for Charles and breakfast was reserved for Stephen, it just aligned with their clocks and schedules better. 

On a few occasions, Stephen still teleported you two exotic places for dinner, or lunch, or just to sight see. Charles had picnics with you. In a surprising twist of events, a few times, Charles drove you to the city for all three of you to have a day together. He knew Stephen couldn't leave the sanctum much so he tried to keep things close to him. Not only did they have a few dual dates with you, sometimes you caught the two of them at each other's place, chatting. It turned out they had quite a bit in common, that wasn't too much of a surprise. Both rich (or at least were), doctors, genius-level intellect, both were a bit arrogant and cocky, but above all else, both were very good men who just wanted to help people and two men who loved you with all their beings. 

Charles and Hank began to re-open the school, at your insistence. He was beyond thrilled to have the children in the house again and you promised to help keep the image of the school in a positive light. Stephen was learning everything he could about the mystic arts and you helped him every chance you could. Your practice was in full flight and you were doing exceptionally well in your field. 

One hot summer day, July 4th in fact, you walked into the foyer of the mansion.

"Charles? Darling? I'm home!" you called out. "I got everything we need for the barbecue tonight." 

Charles appeared from his office. "Hello, love. Here, let me help." He took a few bags and you went into the kitchen. You began to pull everything out when Charles grabbed your hand. "Would you come with me a moment? I'd like to show you something." 

"Oh, sure, just lead the way." 

He pulled you gently by the hand to the back patio. When you got out there, Charles stepped to the side and you saw Stephen. You glanced to Charles with a bit of happy surprise painted on your face.

"Stephen? What are you doing here?" you asked, before you ran full speed into Stephen. He picked you up and spun you around. "I didn't know you'd be coming." 

"Well, we wanted to surprise you," he informed. 

"Consider me pleasantly surprised. Oh I am so happy," you said as you watched Charles come over to stand beside Stephen. "I'll go start making the food right away so we can start the party." You started to turn but both men reached out and grabbed your hands. 

"One second, darling," Charles said. 

You peered at him with a curious look.

"Two years ago, out here in my backyard, on this very day, I told you I loved you for the first time. You and I kissed for the first time. It was long overdue, but I cherish it all the more because we waited until we were together in person, and in the right state of mind," Charles said.

He looked over to Stephen, as if passing on the turn to speak to him. A confused look crossed your face but you remained silent. 

"And one year later, in Nepal, you and I did the same."

"That was July 4th?" you asked, astounded. "I had no idea."

"I know, but luckily for us, I was keeping track of the days. Not to mention, how could I not remember the day you and I first said we loved each other and consummated our bond?" 

You hummed happily at the memory.

"Guess July 4th is kind of my lucky day with you two, huh?" you asked, a bit amused. 

"We hope so, because you have been a gift to us," Charles said. 

"You loved us when we couldn't love ourselves. You saw us through the darkest times and put up with us when we weren't the easiest to be around, let alone love," Stephen added. 

Charles continued, "You are selfless and bend over backward for everyone you meet. Although our situation isn't quite what most expect, or even understand..." 

"It works, and we wouldn't have it any other way, because it makes you happy," Stephen said.  

"We couldn't dream of living without you. You complete us, and we hope we complete you." 

You smiled at them. "What is this?" you asked, curious and amused. 

The two of them traded a mischievous look, smirking at each other before they looked back at you. The two of them reached into their pockets quickly before both of them lowered to one knee.

"Will you marry us?" they said in unison, peering up at you with love and adoration as they exposed rings that reflected their unique personalities. 

Your hand flew to your mouth. You were completely blown away. Your heart was racing. 

Finally, you realized you hadn't said anything. You said, "Oh my god, yes, of course, yes! A million times yes!"

Fireworks began exploding on the horizon as they grinned and got to their feet and wrapped their arms around you. You took turns kissing them quickly before they slid their rings on your finger, looking perfect side by side. Just as they were in your life -- completing you in ways you never knew you needed. All you had to do was trust the stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#the stars made us #charles xavier x reader #charles xavier fic #charles xavier #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fic #stephen strange

[kisilinramblings]

I saw many people tweeted that Chloe is not deserved the threatment she received in the show (i.e being her miraculous taken from her, being bashed, etc), she helps lb selflessly only for lb to take her only way to redeem herself, to show she can be better person and the only reason why she's treated badly is because Thomas hate her, that's why he refused to give her a redemption arc and instead keep calling her a villain. What do you think of it? And what do you think of Chloe as a character?

I’ll come off clean right away. I too believed in Chloé. I too hoped for her to get better and gave her a chance. Was I disappointed by the turn she took? Yes. Just like Ladybug and Chat Noir too were disappointed I’m sure. Was I surprised by this development though? No. 

It all comes down to 3 things that lead Chloé’s development to this result.

Chloé’s traits and motivations. 

What the Bee Miraculous represented to Chloé

Chloé’s trust toward Ladybug

Let’s go back to the beginning of Chloé’s development. Despair Bear. Chloé is forced to make an effort and be nicer otherwise she will lose Adrien’s friendship.

Chloé : How can [Adrien] do this to me, Jean-Michel?

She doesn’t understand why she has this ultimatum. She isn’t reflecting on her actions. She just want Adrien to be her friend again. With the help of her butler though, Chloé works her way through. It’s a bumpy road and she obviously doesn’t like doing this. At. All. She always questions the point of this nice action or that other one, but she forces herself only not to lose Adrien’s friendship which obviously means a lot to her, but she finds this whole experience is annoying.

During the Akuma attack though, she does rescue Ladybug from being Catalysmed by a Chat Noir controlled by Despair Bear, but what does Chloé say immediately after she has realized she had been actually helpful for once?

LB : Thanks, Chloé Chloé : Hey! I was really nice just then! Did you see? No?

She boasts about her actions, wanting people to notice her. The whole audience doing the Anime Fall™ illustrates that boasting about being nice defeat the initial purpose. Doing nice actions should be because it is the right and natural thing to do, not to expect glory and reward afterward, even if Chloé instinctively wanted to protect someone she deeply idolizes.

After helping Ladybug out to defeat Despair Bear, Chloé realizes there are some benefits to being nice, yes, but what does Chloé do after showing she is capable of making an effort and secured back Adrien’s friendship? She sighs of relief, a burden lift out of her shoulders, and reverts back to her usual self.

Now I know people will say “It’s just to maintain the statu quo”. But when you look back at this episode after Miracle Queen or even after Miraculer, you realize Despair Bear had a lesson in it that concerns people like Chloé. That is they can make an effort to be nicer and can sometimes be helpful but if they don’t want to become a better person, to be kinder to others, then they won’t change.

Over S2, we see Chloé under a new light. She isn’t just a spoiled rich bully. She is human too. When she is hurt, she hurts back. Marinette -- and by extension the viewers -- learns to see that side of Chloé and empathizes with her. But while it explains it, her snobbish, mean and entitled attitude still isn’t acceptable. Not when living in society. 

But Chloé does make some some progress through S2. Small. But still, progress. Like during Zombizou, where Chloé admits for the first time her actions has hurt people.

Or the end of Queen Wasp where Chloé finally accepts to give back the Bee Miraculous she had found to Ladybug, admitting she had been irresponsible with how to use that power. 

Or during Malediktator, when Chloé opens up to Ladybug, telling her the truth and how useless she feels.

That was a start. Chloé showed us she was capable of doing that when renouncing or not expecting to have a Miraculous. However, after Queen Bee is officially recognized as one of Ladybug’s allies, something else happened. 

After actually saving Paris during Malediktaor, Chloé got a party celebrating Queen Bee, celebrating her.

Marinette was trying to do some positive reinforcement to encourage Chloé.

Marinette : Well, she did save Paris, so... maybe  she just may be able to save herself too, am I right? [...] If she feels like she can be useful, I’m sure she’ll change her attitude.

“[Chloé] just may be able to save herself”

It isn’t Ladybug’s responsibility to change Chloé so she could become a better person, but Chloé’s. Ladybug can help her a bit, by showing support and guiding her, but it is ultimately Chloé who has to work on herself in order to save herself AKA to begin redeeming herself if she wants to. Like how Chloé desired to save her dad and fix her mistake. However, Chloé’s secret identity being publicly known has jeopardized that process. 

Look at the ending of Malediktator. Chloé has a party but instead of taking pics with her and the crowd, or with people she cherishes or is thankful about, what do we get? 

A selfie of her with her with no one else around her posted on her social media, showing us her self-centred image. 

This behaviour repeats itself during Heroes Day as well. Everyone has prepared a nice action for the day and what was Chloé’s? Accepting to sign autographs since now she is a superhero. 

And at the end of the finale, yes, she is included in the group picnic, but how is she staged on the set?

She sits on a lounge chair, not directly touching the ground where everybody else is sitting. She refuses to eat home-made meals, preferring fancy sushis. And finally, she has her butler break apart her chopsticks for her, without even politely asking him by looking him in the eyes.

What does this scene tells the audience compare to the scene where Chloé is dismantling her Bee “Lair” without any help at the end of Malediktator, telling her butler she’ll do it because she has to do this herself. (Translation : I have to fix that error of mine myself”).

As S2 concluded, since Queen Bee is now officially one’s of Ladybug superhero teammates and that everyone knows QB is Chloé, she feels above everyone else, refusing to sit at the same level as them. She still doesn’t care about others’ feelings. She expects people to serve her. Even her “benevolent” action of signing autographs for Heroes Day revolved more around herself than acutally helping others. 

This is where Chloé’s character stands. This is what she values. Herself. Her needs. She feels morally superior. She has ascended to greater heights. She acts entitled because Ladybug has trusted her with a Miraculous once or twice. And it is this attitude Chloé never tries to fix and that has lead her to her descent. 

The people who are mad about Chloé’s development throughout S3 often misinterpret the real reason why Chloé constantly wanted to be Queen Bee to begin with. What the Bee Miraculous truly represented to her. 

Chloé didn’t want to be a superhero because she wanted to help people nor was it because she felt bad about how awful she had been to everyone in general and wanted to make amends. Chloé didn’t need a Miraculous for that. She could have accomplished that progress simply as a civilian if she had wanted to. 

It wasn’t because Chloé still had something to prove to her mother either. That was settled at the end of Queen Wasp. Her mother had acknowledged her and was staying in Paris, with her. Audrey finally gave the recognition Chloé longed for. (Though I admit “you are exceptionally mean like your mother” is a shitty reason, but hey! At least Chloé got her mother’s attention and love now, so little yeah...?) And in Malediktator, we see Audrey taking Chloé’s side, agreeing they should leave for New York together.

As for wanting to be loved by others, Chloé has already the affection and attention from other people such as her butler, Sabrina, Ms Bustier, and even her father who overly spoils her, satisfying every of Chloé’s desires. They were there for her even before she got her hand on a Miraculous. And it wasn’t because Chloé wanted the power to protect the people she cared about either nor was it her symbol for a second chance.

No, Chloé only cared about herself and the reason why she wanted to be Queen Bee everytime she could is because, to her, having a Miraculous means you are part of the elites. 

Miraculous Holders are chosen ones. Litterally! There are only a few select of them. They get to be famous, glorified, celebrated (Heroes Day). They get movies made about them (Animaestro). They get to be on the news, interviewed. To have their image show everywhere. To have fans. To be adulated, respected, listened to. They are exceptional. Superior. 

And this isn’t new with Chloé. Ever since S1, fame and status has always been a motivator for her to do things. To be exceptional. Not just to be seen by her mother (though it started it like that), but for everyone to see it. 

In fact, when there is an Akuma attack, is Chloé helping others around her or is she abandoning everyone and heading straight to light her bee signal while buzzing with excitement? Does she stay steady just in case Ladybug needs her or is she expecting Ladybug to ask for QB’s help every time? Is Chloé resilient about QB not being needed all the time or frustrated to sit on the bench? What does Chloé do to fix this? Does she give herself a purpose as a civilian or does she cling even more to Ladybug to bring her the Bee Miraculous?

Basically when Chloé is offering her help, in reality, she just want to be a superhero for the glory of it rather than actually caring for or helping people around her. 

When Chloé asks for “her” Miraculous and constantly clinging for Ladybug to give it to her, it means she only sees value when she is Queen Bee. And when Queen Bee wants to be reliable to Ladybug or fears to disappoint her idol, ultimately, Chloé wants to not screw her chances to be Queen Bee again. 

Thus, yes, Queen Bee does her part when battling Akumas, but does Chloé actually grow as a person after Malediktator events? Did Chloé work on herself? Does she continue reflecting on her actions? Does Chloé even sometimes try to help her classmates with their normal problems or is she resting on her laurels? How does she treat others in general? Did Chloé truly become kinder or humbler or did she instead got the big head and still is rude to them? Does she views herself as a normal person or as a superior being? If you are unsure about any of the answers, just rewatch Startrain.

Chloé just stops improving because she took her Miraculous for granted. She is an hero recognized by Paris and therefore deserve the hero treatment and doesn’t need to continue to work on herself. 

Sure, Chloé isn’t provoking as much akumatization as in S1 and S2, but she didn’t become better either by receiving a Miraculous. In fact, she is even more condescending. She is Queen Bee, she is a superhero thus she is better than you, peasants!

Chloé : In this world, there are those who work and those who shine. Forever there would be this division between us, Dupain-Cheng.

And this mentality contributed to Chloé’s sense of entitlement to the Bee Miraculous, calling it hers and expecting to have it back as if it was her rightful right. Except Miraculouses belong to no one as illustrated by the Turtle Miraculous who gets shared between Master Fu and Nino. And initially, LB wanted to hand over the Bee Miraculous to Alya because LB needed help and Alya had already been trusted with another Miraculous before. 

Anyway, during Heroes Day, it was part of Scarlet Moth’s plan to use the Bourgeois against Queen Bee. To destabilize her and it worked. And if he could do it once, he could attempt something again.

And this is what motivated Ladybug to be careful and ideally not give back a Miraculous to anyone who’s secret identity is known by Hawkmoth. And for the record, yes, Chloé is the first one truly affected by that rule, but she isn’t the only one through S3.

This decision is made by LB with CN’s approval because they wanted to protect Chloé and her loved ones from HM. And unbestknown to them, their doubts were found as Chloé was being watched over by HM and Mayura.

So it wasn’t because Queen Bee was doing a poor job, nor because Chloé's attitude was getting worse. This was done to protect her. Except they couldn’t protect Chloé from herself. 

Yes, Ladybug did a mistake which is to not inform Chloé of this decision earlier. As a result, in Miraculer, Chloé felt ignored. Rena Rouge and Carapace were often called to help while Chloé was standing there waiting next to her bee signal. 

But even if LB had told Chloé sooner, chances are the result would have been mostly the same. Because Chloé has an inaptitude to let go of things she desires.

After learning the truth, Chloé was clearly not satisfied by this decision. And while Chloé cooperates and hands back the Bee Miraculous, she is in denial.

Chloé : I understand, but I’m sure you will need me again, Ladybug. I know that I will be Queen Bee again someday. I’ll always be Queen Bee.

What allowed Chloé to not be akumatized during Miraculer was precisely because she still had faith in Ladybug then, despite being mad at her. She is still convinced LB would come ask for Queen Bee’s help again. But after that revelation, once Ladybug has left, Chloé tears apart the picture she had hold on to the entire episode. 

By S3 finale, we see Chloé never accepted the reality of ever be Queen Bee again. And since the finale theme revolved about loss, well, it was time for her to be confronted to it.

We all agree that Hawkmoth exploited the situation during Heart Hunter. He planned the Akumatization of André and Audrey Bourgeois. Nathalie was on place to sabotage of the Bee Signal. And finally, they planned to find the Guardian to get the Miracle Box and offer the Bee Miraculous to have Chloé on their side. 

Everything was there to manipulate Chloé, play with her emotions in order to turn her against Ladybug. But keep in mind that during that scene where HM is meeting Chloé, everything he says rings true to Chloé because this is what she internally feels. What he did was only amplifying the feelings Chloé already has since Miraculer and even a bit before that.

Chloé felt ignored, rejected, not allowed to be a superhero, to be a Queen. When Chloé answers Ladybug has done nothing for her, we know it’s not true. Ladybug gave her a second chance. We also know Ladybug is avoiding to give Chloé a Miraculous because she is trying to protect her and her loved ones from HM. Chloé knows that since the end of Miraculers events, however when her loved ones are indeed in danger during Heart Hunter, Chloé expected this would be THE occasion to be Queen Bee again and prove Ladybug wrong by helping Ladybug save her parents. 

Now, Ladybug has been distracted and didn’t think of things clearly and yes, there is a chance that on other circumstances she might have picked the Bee Miraculous to give it to Chloé, but there is also the fact Chloé kept repeating the same mistake. 

We have seen through S3 Chloé is constantly building her expectations up, only to set herself for disappointement. And instead of realizing that about herself, especially after Miraculer, she continues doing that and gets angry and put the blame on others. The only one making Chloé wait is Chloé herself. All the other temporary Holders have other things to occupy themselves and they do what they can as civilians, not expecting LB to come and give them a Miraculous. 

But Chloé’s entitlement to the Bee Miraculous clouds her judgment there and now, HM is there is offering Chloé something Ladybug has denied to give her again.

So, Chloé prefered being Queen Bee over doing the right thing. She had the chance to double cross HM, but she didn’t because of how hurt and furious she was at Ladybug. And even after being deakumatized, that angers and feeling of betrayal persist.

And this is where Chloé’s action matters the most here. Chloé not only tries to be reakumatized by choice again, she blantantly explains she isn’t on Ladybug’s side anymore, doesn’t care if HM who terrorizes Paris is the ennemy, that she will keep the Miracle Box for herself. Chloé also rudly orders the Kwamis around without knowing how it works. She even tries to run away with the new Miracle Box and finally, when everything is falling appart and doesn’t go her own way, Chloé throws at tantrum at Ladybug, insulting her and the other temporary Holders and affirm she will leave with the Bee Miraculous to New York.

Even HM who laughs at this at first, commenting he doesn’t need to do anything, that Chloé is one of the bad guys, eventually is disappointed before leaving her behind.

Ladybug? She tries to reason with Chloé, giving her another chance to fix her mistake like at the end of Queen Wasp. When Chloé is putting all the remaining Miraculous of the Box on her, LB asks to stop because she knows how dangerous it is to combine their powers and still doesn’t want Chloé to get hurt. It’s only after Chloé tries to run off with the new Miracle Box that Ladybug stops her. And when Chloé is done talking, LB has no choice to stop this and take back herself the Bee Miraculous from her, even apologizing for doing this.

Ladybug has been very patient. She knows Chloé. She knows she is hurt and is hurting other because that’s how she copes, but Ladybug cannot let Chloé keep that Miraculous. Heck, she even feel sorry for Chloé when she finally leaves. 

Is that truly the face someone who is satisfied with this result? This wasn’t what Ladybug had hoped for Chloé either.

If, through S3, it was no one’s fault for the Bee Miraculous to not be given to Chloé, her being destituted of the Bee Miraculous at the end of S3 was the consequences of Chloé’s own actions and her refusal to change. And all of this could have been prevented if Chloé didn’t become entitled to the Bee Miraculous, if Chloé had found another purpose AS A CIVILIAN rather than to depend on the prestige of her Queen Bee persona

This isn’t the end though. It only means Chloé has more work to do about herself. And that giving Chloé a Miraculous isn’t the solution to improve her. 

#Anonymous #miraculous ladybug #chloé bourgeois #ml analysis #sorry it took so long anon #here you are #I hope you enjoy!

[princeasimdiya12]

Talentswap-DR1 Kids with V3 Talents

So I came across a post made by @mythgirlimagines who gave some headcanons that featured the kids from the first game with talents from the V3 game. I really enjoyed the idea and I began to think of my own headcanons for each kid and how their lives would be different with their new talents. So with their permission, I was able to come up with this. I hope you like it!

Sayaka Maizono as the SHSL Adventurer

As a kid, she spent all her time at home since her dad was always working and her mom passed away.

She found comfort in watching TV programs that showcased different countries and cities and loved seeing the people having fun together.

Wanting to find happiness like those people, Sayaka began to secretly wander around her home city and partook in sight seeing and trying new foods.

She also practiced interacting with the people and asking them different questions.

After getting enough practice, she began traveling around different parts of Japan before making her way through the Asian countries followed by the rest of the globe.

She vlogs her travels by uploading pictures and videos of the food, fashion and festivals in each place she visits.

The popularity of her vlogs has resulted in her gaining contracts with multiple tourist companies who want her to visit their cities to boost tourism.

Mukuro Ikusaba as the SHSL Pianist

Mukuro doesn’t really care about playing the piano. She only took it up because her sister insisted that she do something useful with her life

She spent most of her freetime practicing the piano and would perform for hours on end to see how far she could go before exhausting herself.

She’s won multiple awards and critical acclaim for her performances but they mean nothing to her if they didn’t come from her sister.

When Junko decided to become SHSL Despair, Mukuro began to channel her talent to her sister’s instruction.

Her music can manipulate the emotional states of anyone listening to her and increase it based on the melodies she performs.

Ex. A somber tune can make people into sobbing messes while an aggressive song can make listeners become hostile and violent towards each other.

Junko would use her sister’s talent to either influence new followers or to dispose of unlucky victims.

She mainly wears a slim black dress when she performs on stage.

Leon Kuwata as the SHSL Tennis Player

Just like in canon, Leon doesn’t like his talent. Particularly the heavy training that’s involved.

He mainly uses his tennis player image to become a celebrity.

This involves staging photo sessions with him posing in his tennis uniform or performing cool moves for the camera.

He mainly performs solo and the few times that he partakes in a doubles match is if his partner can boost his image.

This has resulted in him getting into arguments with them because of his lazy nature.

He ended up in multiple flings with various fangirls which tarnished his image as a celebrity.

His wardrobe consists of a white polo shirt with orange stripes, shorts and a red sweatband. 

Chihiro Fujisaki as the SHSL Maid/Butler

(As to avoid potential discourse, I’m going to gloss over their backstory and headcanon them as genderfluid)

They find cleaning and organizing rooms to be mentally relaxing.

They take pleasure knowing that a clean house or room will become much refreshing and comforting to their client(s).

Most people are surprised that someone as small and fragile like them is capable of doing multiple chores and duties in a single day.

They prefer to work behind the scenes or with as few people watching over them.

Chihiro often has difficulties when it comes to making public announcements to large groups.

Some days they dress up in maid uniforms while other days they dress up as a butler.

Their specialty when it comes to cooking is making perfect creme brulee. 

Mondo Oowada as the SHSL Artist

As a professional artist, Mondo can make a variety of artworks.

His area of specialties include sculptures and murals.

Despite making tons of money with his artworks, he secretly dislikes the rich people who buy his pieces due to their snooty personalities.

He initially hated his talent because he was hoping to be good at something that was more manly or cooler.

His big brother was the reason for why he became an artist to begin with.

Having been Mondo’s main parental figure their whole lives, Daiya wanted to ensure that his brother would have a secure career that he could be proud of and that he wouldn’t have to risk his life for. Just like he does as a gang leader.

After his inevitable death, Mondo took his art career more seriously to honor his big brother.

He wears cargo pants with a white tank top and has a paint splattered bandanna around his neck.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru as the SHSL Aikido Master

He took up aikido believing it to be an ideal practice of mastering self control

He devotes most of his freetime to studying the different forms of aikido aswell as the religious aspects tied to the skill.

At his old school(s) he became popular for taking down various delinquents who would terrorize his defenseless classmates. But what really moved everyone was how Kiyotaka invited each delinquent to join him so that they can master self control and change their lives for the better.

He ended up becoming the president of a large club dedicated to aikido.

Despite his popularity, Kiyotaka is still very awkward at friend making as all he can discuss is his general studies and aikido. 

All of his relations with his peers are purely professional.

Hifumi Yamada as the SHSL Anthropologist

He started out by watching foreign cartoons and dramas and wondered how different they were compared to the ones shown in Japan.

This led to him binge watching multiple foreign shows while taking notes and analyzing the cultural norms displayed in each show.

His hard work paid off when he landed a spot on a TV show where he showcased his research and the popularity for each show in their respective country.

He does most of his research in his hometown but sometimes he’ll travel to specific cities either to showcase new research or to analyze a TV show/movie production.

He dreams of being remembered as a hero who was able to connect every culture and bring world harmony.

He often reaches out to Sayaka in the hopes that they could do a travel collab together but she politely denies his requests using various reasons.

Celestia Ludenberg as the SHSL Inventor

She uses a steampunk lolita ensemble whenever she makes public appearances and speaks with a Victorian accent.

She’s able to maintain her composure when she’s in an environment with an exceptionally hot temperature.

Celestia takes pride in being able to take apart the most mundane of household appliances and rebuild them into something better and praiseworthy. 

Several companies have already commissioned her to make service drones.

She’s willing to make any invention that’s requested provided that the client can afford her extravagant prices.

There’s rumors that she’s been secretly making inventions that can brainwash people and turn them into her obedient servants.

She’s openly expressed interest in studying Kyoko’s existence but the robot makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be involved.

Sakura Oogami as the SHSL Entomologist

While she underwent extreme training thanks to her family’s profession, she has caused conflict among them for refusing to continue the fighting legacy in favor of her true passion.

She’s earned the nickname “The Mountain Woman” on account of how she’s always spotted hanging out in the mountain range studying bug life.

Sakura earned publicity by researching every individual insect found in Japan and how they interact with one another in their ecosystem.

Sometimes she allows the more dangerous insects and arachnids to bite/sting her so she can develop an endurance towards their toxins.  

She also does environmental activism by stopping companies from illegally destroying the forests.

In her spare time, she enjoys meditating in the middle of the woods or by waterfalls.

Aoi sometimes asks if Sakura could lend her some of her butterflies for her magic shows.

Junko Enoshima as the SHSL Supreme Leader

She’s a cult leader. Plain and simple.

Using her analytical talent, Junko can analyze any person who’s unfortunate enough to talk to her.

By lending her ears, she gives them the impression of a person who genuinely cares about them and their problems no matter how pathetic they may be.

Most of the people who are drawn to her are often poor unfortunate souls who have been hurt by society or loved ones.

Wanting to fight boredom, she used her initial members for manipulation games and mental torture to see how powerful her charismatic personality can be.

She uses her findings to establish herself as a prominent figure of the 21st century.

A figure that can guarantee dramatic change if her subjects are willing to follow her commands.

When she decides to become the SHSL Despair, she uses an alternate persona via Monokuma to broadcast messages of despair and hard truths to the listening audiences.

And to keep Hope’s Peak and the police from catching on about her plans, she makes it so that she runs an exclusive club for intellectual and high class individuals. 

Makoto Naegi as the SHSL Astronaut

Despite being average, he wanted to show everyone that it’s possible to accomplish the extraordinary even if you’re ordinary.

He loved the idea of going to space and seeing the beauty of the stars and the Earth down below.

Ever since middle school, he’s been training his body so he can be prepared for space travel.

He’s studied different star systems but he has difficulties when it comes to mechanical engineering and repair.

The closest he’s been to space was traveling in ships that reach high enough for him to experience zero gravity.

Despite being the youngest member of the space program, all the staff members adore him for his bright personality and his eagerness when it comes to completing missions.

In his free time, he tries to learn English and Russian should he be assigned to work with astronauts of the US or Russia.

Kyoko Kirigiri as the SHSL Robot

Her creator was her grandfather Fuhito who wanted an heir for his engineering business.

Her design was modeled after his young granddaughter who had died alongside her mother.

Having familiarized herself with the ongoing grudge between Fuhito and Jin, Kyoko can’t help but wonder if her creation was born out of spite.

She’s willing to follow along with her grandfather’s wishes but she does question if her actions are because she was programmed to follow them or because she herself wants to do it.

She’s built with a titanium body armor that can endure any extreme forms of damage along with providing her with super strength. 

Given the right resources, she can also hack any computer system and gain access to any information found in said system.

Jin had conflicting feelings about allowing Kyoko to enter Hope’s Peak due to her bringing up feelings of anguish for his lost daughter and needed to be pushed by his dad to accept her.

She prefers to stay in the background analyzing the actions and behaviors of her classmates but she will show no hesitation in using force to resolve potential conflicts. 

Byakuya Togami as the SHSL Cosplayer

In this reality, he lost his chance of becoming the Togami Heir and was banished from the family.

He still wanted to make a name for himself and decided to pursue a career that no one in his family would cross paths with him in: cosplaying.

Initially, he was depressed for a month after losing his big chance and immersed himself in anime shows to drown out his depression.

In a way, he found inspiration by watching the protagonists who continued onward and decided to make new paths for themselves despite failing to achieve their initial dreams.

If he wanted to be like them, then he could try dressing like them.

He only watches anime that has an enriching fantasy setting or has historical themes

Using what was left of his money, he funded a public fashion show that displayed the elaborate costumes of famous anime characters.

He became a big hit and was given sponsorships to produce more cosplays. 

He has a love/hate relationship with his talent. On one hand, he prides himself in being the best at cosplaying. But on the other, he hates it because it’s a reminder that he lost his right to be a Togami.

Touko Fukawa as the SHSL Detective

Having grown up reading mystery novels, Touko became familiar with the cliches and expected tropes found in each given mystery.

Before going freelance, she served as a secretary for a private detective.

When looking over his cases, she pointed out the familiar patterns for each case while explaining her reasonings behind her deductions. She ended up being right 9 times out of 10.

The PI decided to give her simple cases that involved family drama and cheating spouses to test and expand her knowledge.

Eventually she would be hired for more extreme cases involving drug rings and murder.

Because of her abusive childhood and upbringing, Touko still has Dissociative Identity Disorder and created Genocider Syo as a coping mechanism to protect her.

But rather than killing people like a cliche yandere, Syo shows up whenever Touko ends up cornered or captured by dangerous criminals.

While she has no idea what gloomy got herself into, Syo has no issue with thrashing the low lives who would threaten her existence.

This has often led to the criminals becoming seriously injured or even being killed as a result. When it comes to the latter, Syo takes special care to ensure that it looked like an accident or that the criminal died by someone else’s hand.

This unfortunately resulted in Touko having a bad reputation as a loose cannon detective.

The detective decided to cut ties with Touko to maintain his business but ensured to tell her that she has what it takes to be a true detective.

She still thinks badly of others and is quick to point out the negative qualities associated with that person.

Yasuhiro Hagakure as the SHSL Assassin

The reason he got into assassination was to own up for his mistakes.

When he was 13, his gambling habit led to him and his mother losing their house and having to live on the streets.

Wanting her son to learn responsibility, Hiroko called in an old friend who had ties with the local yakuza and requested that he give her son a job.

Unbeknownst to the two, the only job that the friend could offer was being an assassin. And wanting to make his mom proud of her boy, Yasuhiro accepted the job without telling Hiroko.

After years of brutal and life threatening training, Yasuhiro became the clan’s go-to hitman and was handsomely rewarded every time he successfully got rid of a clan enemy or someone who couldn’t pay their debts.

His preferences for killing involve drugging the victims with slow but lethal poisons or attacking them when they’re alone. His appearance requires him to be extra cunning as to avoid being detected.

Eventually he was caught by the authorities but was contacted by Hope’s Peak who learned about his unusual career. 

He was given two choices: he could go to jail for his murder or he could attend HP so that his talent could be studied while also receiving the school’s protection. Even a moron like Yasuhiro knew what choice to take.

When he went to tell his mom the good news, he found that she disappeared without a trace. Some say that Hiroko left out of shame when she found out about her son’s crimes, others believe that she was kidnapped and killed by revenge driven enemies. Regardless of the rumors, Yasuhiro has a gut feeling that she’s still out there and he intends to find her to make things right.

He uses the SHSL Fortune Teller title to keep his assassin career a secret.

He still maintains his carefree and ditzy personality both because no one would ever expect him of being a professional killer and so that he can keep pushing forward in life without falling into complete despair.

His baggy clothing and dreadlocks make it easy for him to hide knives or bottles of poison.

Aoi Asahina as the SHSL Magician

Ever since she was a little girl, Aoi loved everything about magic.

She read different types of fairy tales and myths so she can learn more about it and use them for her shows.

When she first started, she would perform tricks for her brother Yuta and would ask for his input regarding each performance and how she could improve herself.

Her costume is based on the classic witches mixed with a magical girl theme. (Think along the lines of Little Witch Academia).

Her magic shows put alot of emphasis on spectacle and enchantment so the people watching could fall in love with the concept of magic.

When she has the time, she bakes her own special donuts and offers them to a certain number of lucky participants.

Despite her friends and family encouraging her to participate in competitions, Aoi doesn’t feel that it would be right to use her magic tricks to compete for publicity.

She wants her magic shows to be an inspirational thing that brings happiness and wonder to the people watching.

She enjoys performing for children and often performs at schools, hospitals and orphanages.

The trick she’s best at performing is the underwater escape challenge.

#danganronpa #dangan ronpa #talentswap #sayaka maizono #mukuro ikusaba #leon kuwata #chihiro fujisaki #mondo oowada #kiyotaka ishimaru #hifumi yamada #celestia ludenberg #sakura oogami #junko enoshima #makoto naegi #kyoko kirigiri #byakuya togami #touko fukawa #yasuhiro hagakure #aoi asahina

[kara-knuckles]

What the heck is Flat? 3

Finally, my oldest theory. It contains my take on "it" and Flat's "mechanical" nature.

Perspective 3 - Human Computer

I think that the "it" that Flat sees is a residue/afterimage/some other byproduct of spells. "It" helped Flat to avoid magical assassinations both in the past and during the story, but not a non-magical one. He also thought that Waver saw "it" when Flat was using magecraft to force smiles. Flat is shown to be capable of reading and rewriting other people's spells with ease and is noted for being exceptionally good at detecting magical stuff. That would be easy if he actually saw an interactable "image" of a spell and knew what to do with it, and in fact Case Files anime shows him literally seeing Waver's curse and how it connects to the object that causes it.

To use a programming analogy, Flat perceives the world as "true" and "false" data. He has an  inane understanding of "true" (how the world looks naturally) and can correct the "false" (data changed by magecraft). His ability is to turn "false" into "true" (and anything he does become "true"). Because of this it is easy for Flat to interfere/rewrite other people's spells (in theory, he can use the same amount of energy as the caster put in a spell+his own, so his spells trump other person's), but he can't do much on his own (since he can only use his own energy and maybe some atmospheric ether, which is impressive, but limited). It also explains why he can't cast the same spell twice: he already turned it "true", he can't do it again unless it is tampered by someone else's magecraft again.

As mentioned before, Flat is described in mechanical terms fairly often. Him being called a "stand-alone" shows that he is inherently disconnected from others' "network". His magecraft is basically magical hacking. He can intercept other people's "devices" (him using other people's familiars to watch Gil Vs. Enkidu fight), rewrite others' "programs" (his stint in police station), erase parts of "codes" (completely erasing attack spells from Svin and Luvia during Iselma case), add some programming of his own (expanding Trimmau's knowledge and, maybe, enhancing her AI), and he may be interested in how others work in a mechanical sense (he expressed interest in dismantling Add). When he interacts with people, he comes off as an "AI text generator" (thanks jibetatravel, I think this describes Flat perfectly). He developed emotions by trying to understand others illogical thinking, and his Boku self even says that emotions are something he copied from outside, it wasn't something he was supposed to have. Speaking of, Boku basically goes full robot in the prologue of volume 6.

My conclusion here is kind of the opposite of what I theorized about in the previous post. Namely, Flat is actually an incarnation of order, which is often depicted as rigidly following a set of rules like a robot (or maybe I just play too much SMT). It is his job to "correct" things on a large scale. Which may be either by turning everything "true" (leading to Extra/Miyuverse scenario of magic disappearing too quickly for the world to adapt) or "false" (Age of Gods-like scenario in theory, Notes-like scenario in practice since too much magic would be poisonous for modern people). Either scenario leads to lots of people dying hence the need to dispose of Flat once he starts fulfilling his purpose. By the way, I also saw a definition that by putting a chaos symbol into a circle you get order. Maybe that will play into this story as well. Still, it's pretty amusing that in this interpretation Flat's "order" is everyone else's "chaos".

#spoilers #Flat Escardos #Fate/Strange Fake #Lord El-Melloi II Case Files #Nasuverse #sorry if it is too hard to follow/read #after a month of non-stop translating of occasionally bad English #i feel like I forgot both languages i speak -_- #theories and headcanons

[brooklynislandgirl]

4. What is your oddest turn on? 7. Would you play strip poker? 13. Is there anything sexual that most people consider "normal" that you'd consider out of your comfort zone?

A Little Light/A Little Dark || -

IV. What is your oddest turn on?

It comes as no surprise that Eric finally asks her. It isn't like she hasn't noticed that he's been...well. He's shown interest in her in that way for a while now and Beth knows she comes across as sometimes entirely absent, sometimes cryptic in returning the varied forms of affection offered to her.

And that feeling rises in her belly, the one that makes her a little queasy with anxiousness because she doesn't really know the answer. And that turns into her pulse throbbing throughout her body and raising armies of shame to lay siege to her cheeks. "I...ah." Starts...and stops. Starts again. "I don' really...know...for sure. Like...I can look a' someone ~boy or girl~ an' I know dey attractive or not, by cultural standard. Like you...tall, at'letic build, dark auburn hair, blue eyes, face lookin' like a talented sculptor's mastah-work...I'd put money on da fact dat ya got people comin' an' goin' all day dat...well. Have a distinct lust for ya. An' I can see ya, I know ya handsome...but...it's not..." She wipes dry the plate he just washed, and half shrugs. The movement is inwardly turned. A critical statement about herself, and not him. "I'm not sure I'm really capable of havin' d'ose desire, ya know? Not back in kid time, not now. An' da few times I...ah... uhm... try self....love... it wasn' any kind of person in my mind, or any specific t'ing. Jus'...like... feelings. Love an' trust...and comfort, da kine ya get from like ya bes' friend. An' even den...no kine really happen." The queasy feeling doesn't go away, but it does completely impair her ability to look Eric in the eye, because she's afraid to see what's there. ~*~

VII. Would you play strip poker?

Rain lashes the Irish coast making it too dangerous to take him out onto the water, and that is something they both recognise since the storm had blown in the night before. However, the hotel suite has a cozy sitting area and a fire which burns cheerfully, keeping the gloom and the damp at bay. Beth had managed to half drowse herself with the flames and the tea readily available, and almost didn't catch Eric's voice in the stillness. When the words do manage to trickle in and she parses the hearing mishaps to make sense of it, she manages a small laugh, and slants a half-lidded teasing gaze toward him.

"Mistah Brandon, how forward of ya," she says between winsome giggles. "I have, an' would do so again. But only if ya a brave man an' not afraid t' get beaten by one small wahine." Many people would say Beth has an exceptionally lucky streak when it comes to games of chance, particularly with cards. If she were to tell the truth, it's simply a matter of statistics and counting, and math has always been her strong suit. ~*~

XIII. Is there anything sexual that most people consider "normal" that you'd consider out of your comfort zone? In hindsight, maybe Beth shouldn't have ignored the postings about private beaches, though in her own defense, she hadn't realised that's what they said until she and Eric had crossed over to the Dark Side. And by that, Beth means... until they came across the other couple. It was clear by the amount of visible flesh that could be seen that it was in fact a couple, who on their stretch of sandy heaven, had felt like being intimate. Unfortunately that intimacy involved the man's bits being all up in the girl's quite spectacular cleavage, and there was fervent evidence of their passions. Which immediately set Beth to blushing. Then turning. Then taking Eric's hand and running back the way they came. She could not say how long or far they'd gone until she collapses against one of the wooden legs of the pier they'd come from, breathlessly panting and trying to laugh and trying to not be so mortified and so many other things. She still holds onto his arm and has to lean forward to slow her breath enough to get even the few words she can out. "Is....is dat....a...uh....da kine? Like...do people...actually..." She can't though. She can't imagine saying it aloud even as she tries to scrub the mental image out of her head. And she's fairly sure she knows how bodies are supposed to go together. Maybe she's a little embarrassed that she doesn't have enough breast tissue to even make such a thing possible without considerable effort. "Have you...evah...I mean..." She lets go of him and collapses down on the sand beneath. "Like...really?"

#Mahalo!Caz <333 #Kindly He Spoke|Eric Brandon #Two Riders|Eric and Beth #Princes Kept the View|The Thief and the Nurse #Viennese Waltz|Austria