#ask a simple either/or question

[veliseraptor]

Novel Xuexiao or CQL Xuexiao ? Or both ?

a secret third thing: my personal frankencanon mix of both

I'm not being flippant here! genuinely I feel like I do end up kind of mashing together my canons as I please when I'm writing fic, usually tilting one way or another but not necessarily committing to one specific canon unless I really really have to. the great thing about this when it comes to Yi City specifically is that a lot of the actual changes are...pretty minimal, in a core thematic sense? like, the major differences that come up are:

Different first meeting - we don't see the scene from Villainous Friends where they encounter each other at Jinlintai (and the CQL timeline is such that it wouldn't work). Instead they encounter each other after Xue Yang has killed the Chang (and apparently others on his way there, which I guess is a more dramatic difference but since it's never really followed up on...). It's unclear how much Xiao Xingchen is involved later on in the confrontation with Jin Guangshan once Xue Yang starts working with the Jin, but he's not the one initially arguing for his punishment right off the bat.

The impact of the fierce corpse "they're not dead they're just uhhh something else" edit - a-Qing not being a ghost rather than whatever she's supposed to be is the biggest one here, since Song Lan not being technically dead (strictly speaking, look, everyone knows what's going on there) doesn't really impact much.

Don't get the whole of Xue Yang's story, particularly in the way it's split up between the storytelling scene and the confrontation later on. The way that MXTX chooses to reveal information is significant and I think it's relevant that this one comes in two parts; as far as we know in CQL it only comes up when things are really going to pieces.

Less of a sense of the relationship between a-Qing and Xue Yang as something less than totally hostile all the time, which is really not that huge a thing but is important to me.

The Wen and Yin Iron stuff/Xue Chonghai connection.

and while these are all, I guess, significant on a plot level, the thing is that they don't have a huge amount of impact on how I read the characters/overarching themes of the story. to a certain extent the details I choose to go with depend on what specifically I'm talking about, the kind of fic I'm writing, or the context of analysis I'm doing at the time. but when I'm just freewheeling it rotating xuexiao like a rotisserie chicken, I feel like what I tend to end up going with is an unholy mashup that more or less looks like this:

Drop the Wen part of Xue Yang's timeline and the Yin Iron subplot.

Their first meeting is at Jinlintai, but both Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan are there at the Chang massacre. (Only really changes if it's important to me that the characters interacted with the rest of the cast at some point.)

Regardless of whether he tells it or not, the entirety of Xue Yang's backstory remains as it stands in novelverse.

If we're talking post-Xiao Xingchen's death, A-Qing is her semi-fierce-corpse-y self from CQL if I want to bring her back somehow. Otherwise she is a ghost.

It's important to me that Xue Yang personally beheaded Nie Mingjue. I think he deserves that opportunity.

Song Lan kills Xue Yang in Yi City (rather than Su She snatching him away at the last minute), unless for some reason I want Xue Yang to not be definitively dead (i.e. nurture the tiger).

All Yi City characters look like their CQL designs in my head.

but really it's just...it depends? when I'm writing fic it depends on the story I'm trying to tell what I choose to go with on various points of canon, whether I consistently stick to one or the other or borrow from both. the same is true for headcanon nattering. if I'm doing any actual meta/analysis, I try to at least be clear where I'm drawing my evidence from/the textual source for my argument, or focus on one version of the text at a time.

I guess if I had to choose at sword-point or something then I might narrowly go with novel xuexiao, because the novel fills out the story with more detail than CQL did. when I think about the show versions of the characters, it's hard to do that without it being on some level informed by the background information that's on page but didn't make it on screen.

#conversating #none shall caricature me #ask a simple either/or question #get...this #the sad queer cultivators show #xuexiao #xue yang #xiao xingchen #anyway i love them.

[greenerteacups]

Re: your recent response about Draco wearing blue - fashion is not something I tend to pick up on (or understand very well generally), so I’m always curious to hear more about it! Do you have any other fashion thoughts you want to elaborate on? You’ve talked a bit about Draco and Hermione’s fashion, what about Harry or Ron?

Aw, yeah! I'll preface this by saying that the following is a combination of canon and headcanon; some of this is evidenced in the text of the fic, but some of it probably isn't, it's just something that's in my head when describing them.

Harry's pretty small in Lionheart, as a consequence of chronic malnutrition in childhood mixed with a genetic predisposition to it (James is canonically a short king, cf. "Hairy Little Christmas.") That means a lot of his muggle clothes don't fit well, being hand-me-downs from Dudley; in contrast, his school robes, which we know he got tailored at Malkin's, seem to fit normally (i.e., Harry fits better in the magical world, it's his home, it suits him). In general, Harry's fashion is "adequate, but not great," which makes sense; he never had the chance to choose his own clothes growing up, and then he went to boarding school with a uniform, so when would he develop a sense of style? Honestly, it's a relief for him to have one fewer decisions to make.

Like Ron, Harry's uniform isn't super meticulous, but he seems to make an effort. He does his tie and keeps his shirt clean, etc. (which makes sense; Harry cares about belonging here). When we see Harry out of uniform, he's usually wearing baggy t-shirts and jeans, which are the least nice clothes you could give to someone while still expecting them to last; they're also clothes that fit loose and hang long on his body (very late-80's + early 90's).

Ron, on the other hand, doesn't have any qualms about belonging in the magical world; he was born to it. This manifests as a laziness with his robes. He doesn't bother with his tie as much, if at all, and when he does it's not the right knot (Draco points it out in Book 3); since he's the brother of not one but two Head Boys, we have to assume that's deliberate, or that at some extent his lack of attention is a deliberate manifestation of something. Ron is youngest boy, he has self-esteem issues, and the way this manifests is by Ron never asking for anything and then getting sour when nothing goes his way. He doesn't try, so he can't feel bad when he fails. Besides which, when Ron does try to dress nice, it backfires; it's either an uncomfortable costume, like in "Operation Prewett," or it's a horrible hand-me-down, e.g. the Yule Ball outfit. Contrast him with the other Weasley boys, many of whom — especially the three oldest — have their own cultivated aesthetics, because they all know who they are. Ron is figuring that out, and it manifests in stylistically messy ways.

#fun fact: the scene with Harry and Draco at Madame Malkins is a scene I axed for efficiency #but I like to imagine they both went they just did on a different day #I looped back around to it at the end of book 3 like oh haha actually Narcissa prefers Savile Row #like I get why Harry's here — why is Draco putting off his tailoring until they're about to leave? #come to think of it: Draco grew up in a pureblood family. Doesn't he already own a set of robes? Or several? #Are the Hogwarts robes That Different from the bog-standard garment you'd have in your wardrobe as a 10y/o wizarding child? #this is of no consequence whatsoever #except on the set-dressing question of what it is the hogwarts robes actually look like #because the movies give us this simple (easily mass-produced for their billion extras) black hooded situation #I THOUGHT I read somewhere that the ties-by-house theme was fanon but I cannot be arsed to check #I just know that Harry is able to clock people by their House even when he doesn't know their names #which implies to me there's a visual marker; either a badge or a tie #greenteacup asks

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Hey no pressure if you don't remember off the top of your head but was there a Bigfoot episode of The X Files?

the closest they came iirc was The Jersey Devil in season 1 and Detour in season 5. a lot of the "stereotypical" folkloric stuff kind of got subverted, i.e. the episode that makes you assume vampires actually isn't, etc. one of the only ones in the first couple seasons that I remember that the assumption is played totally straight is the werewolf episode in season 1 or 2.

#which is part of the fun! the first assumption is often either a red herring or just the wrong angle #one episode in s2 where you expect a spooky or spiritual element right off is then played as simple human evil but then is revealed #to actually be a cult so it kind of loops back to the initial assumption thus making the red herring a red herring itself akskskfjdlgns #the first few seasons had such good writing and the plots were so interesting #ANYWAY!! hope this answers your question :) #Lu rambles #asks #txf

[kakusu-shipping]

Hi, I would like to understand why do you ship Mario and Luigi? You don't have to answer if it's not comfortable for you. 🙂

This soooooo immediately reads as a bait question, but I'm trusting you here anon I'm trusting you asked this in genuine good faith which I don't know why you would but if you want to know;

The short answer is Because I Want To and I Like Them. Plain and simple, there doesn't have to be a deeper reason. Sometimes we just ship things because we want to. Understood? Okay cool.

A slightly longer answer would be because they're the kind of Ship Dynamic that brings me the most comfort. I love a ship where they are each other's other half, they understand eachother and support eachother and just get eachother in ways no other person ever could. Loving eachother, being together is all they've ever known, they can't imagine a world where they're not together, side by side.

Platonic or Romantic aside, Mario and Luigi are a perfect pair, that's their entire thing. Mario is Reckless and Headstrong, Luigi is Calculating and Sturdy. Mario charges forward, Luigi holds the line. Mario picks mushrooms out of his spaghetti, and Luigi eats them. They fill in the gaps the other leaves, they compliment and communicate and trust one another undoubtedly.

I love a love like that. Of course it's you. It was always going to be you. It could never be anyone but you. I am not me without you, and you are not you without me. They are eachother's everything

They are a bonded pair, do not separate.

#Shipcest #Mariocest #Did I explain myself well?? I dunno #I don't trust you anon but I'm willing to answer your question anyway #The simply answer is; They're my comfort ship and I love them and they love eachother #Romantic or Platonic I don't care I adore them either way #There's like a third reasons kind of but Tumblr's recent TOS update kind of puts me on edge talking about it #Sense people have already lost their blogs over the kind of conversation #So for now you get the simple answer of #I like they're dynamic. I love that they love eachother no matter what #I love how completely they love eachother #There is NOTHING you can do to make me love you less #That kind of thing #Brothers Lovers Best Friends and more they are eachother's everything #I feel like I could have answered this better with more like #Insane Red String Cork Board style rambling and evidence #but you caught me at a bad time Anon I just finished cleaning my ENTIRE house #And sense you're on Anon I didn't want to leave the ask sitting too long #So you get an I'm tired and can only bare minimum answer you for now #If I didn't explain something right ask again I guess maybe off anon this time so I can let it sit a bit #Or don't idk #I hope you got the answer you were looking for #Thankyou for asking

[selkiecoded]

to meee :3 akechi and sumire arent exactly friends throughout january, (they only get really close several years later) but as a side effect of neither having anything better to do and the two constantly haunting kichijoji i think they inevitably fall together more often than not. ren takes sumire out for darts and shes weirdly better than she was last time (sidebar but the fact that sumire and akechi both mimic your throws but sumire sucks shit at darts too much for it to do any good is so cute) and shes like oh yeah akechi-san has been teaching me. oh wow i got a forty! unaware of the way she just blew rens mind.

#the clock chimes at midnight #its not all about you ren!!!!! #sidebar to the sidebar. of course sumire imitates your dart throws. of course. #again theyre too busy fighting for their respective lives in the time loop to actually become friends in january #but i do think in the years before meeting again they think of the time with fond bittersweetness of what couldve been. #theyre not really going out together but more mutually keeping each other company lol. its generally a pretty quiet affair. #sumire doesnt really ask him for advice as she puts herself back together (he tends to get acerbic if she tries) #but he can be a pretty decent sounding board for either really simple (red or blue glasses) #or really philosophical (do you think my time as kasumi irrevocably changed who i am and if so am i still sumire) questions. #he does not tell her anything concrete about why the other thieves are so tense with him and she doesnt ask outright #but she able to glean a bit more about him through these discussions. and sadly for both of them they both actually sort of like each other #they get food. play darts. practice mementos on their own a few times (THEY GET A SHOWTIME STOP LYING TO ME!!). #and i sort of think akechi smokes either hes always done it or very recently picked it up now that he no longer needs to be personable #and sumires like well. im going to remain myself but i still want to do smth self-destructive. smoke me up man. #(also all her clothes smell like kasumi and its freaking her out. she doesnt mind smelling bad if itll distinguish her.) #idk. akesumi smiles gently.

[hyperionshipping]

Couple ask game: 2 and 9 for you and Kayne?

What are your pet names for each other?

Tricks: Pet names for...? For HIM? I don't- I don't call anyone a pet name. I don't have time.

Kayne: Avoiding the question? Oh, how typical! Well, I'll answer then. "Demon. That thing. Love." [He winks]

Tricks: You've called me none of those.

Kayne: That you've heard!

---

What was your first impressions of each other?

Tricks: Th--

Kayne: Oh! Oh, oh, oh! It was a sneaky little thing. I almost didn't notice it. You blend right in don't you? It was blocking MY view. Aren't we just made for each other?

Tricks: [It glares at Kayne] My first impressions of him were... They- I thought that- [It pauses, thinking of what words to say.]

Kayne: I knew Tricks liked me from the start. I mean, why spend so often thinking about me if you DON'T, hmm? [He laughs]

Tricks: You're like a schoolboy! Tease, tease, tease. You know, Arthur and John are in a tight situation. Don't you have to pay attention to them? I think something's wrong with dear old John, Kayne. Didn't you do something?

Kayne: Oh! I was only helping. I mean, he needed it! Another stomach wound. It was real nasty. [Kayne shivers. From the look on Tricks' face, its disgusted. As though it knows Kayne is enjoying the memory far too much.] Poor John, without his light. Why, it's a story for the ages darling! You know this!

Tricks: ....Right. I'm done here. I have to go.

#tricke answers #((im not actually sure on Kayne's pet names. Know he uses them for Arthur and John but like...... for me???? Yeah idk. My answer feels like #a copout haha)) #((do not ask either of these two questions they have no idea about simple answers))

[heraldofcrow]

I saw your ff7 vs bb meme and now I am curious

who do you like more, Bloody crow or Sephiroth? 🤣

mother of god, if that ain’t the question of the year. um.

I’ll choose the best answer and just say Eileen the Crow because she wins and most likely wouldn’t try to kill me if she was real, so there, I’m free. Yipeeee!!!

Ok fineeeee—a specific answer just for you:

Bloody Crow wins by default because Soulsborne is just my “home” fandom forever. Besides LOTR ofc. But that fandom is too big and old for me to feel like I could find a secure space, so Soulsborne it is and has been for years. I just live here, and Crow is the only Soulsborne character besides Lady Maria, Eileen, and Ciaran that I really, really went to work for in terms of developing a backstory and complicated personality for. He is more like an original character at this point for me specifically, and so very precious. My crow boi <3

Sephiroth is weird because he feels like a character I have been looking for or “knew” for years, but it doesn’t make sense lol. I grew up surrounded by friends that loved FF7 and I never got it…I guess?

In fact, I actually didn’t like it sjdhshs. I admittedly judged by appearance, but I was like, “The characters all look like these bizarre supermodel action figures with oversized weapons!!”

Meanwhile, my hypocritical ass with Soulsborne:

“It’s peak game design.”

But I really did not like Final Fantasy or FF7. I would see Sephiroth around, specifically the shot of him surrounded by flames from Advent Children, and just think, “There’s that fucking guy again” and I ignored him. I didn’t figure out until later that the reason he pissed me off so much is because I knew, I just absolutely knew, that if I gave him my attention for longer than five seconds, he would probably take over my life. Help.

I was terrified. I even remember seeing some of the Remake trailers a few years back and actually hearing some of his lines for the first time, and I kid you not, I felt the slightest pull of, “Wait…” and then IMMEDIATELY went, “Nope, fuck you” in my head and walked away 💀

My reaction to him was always incredibly visceral, so naturally, one night I was having a chill discussion with my friend ABOUT BLOODY CROW from Bloodborne and somehow we ended up making a Sephiroth comparison of course, and then it happened.

I was like, “Oh hahaha yeah Sephiroth, that guy. Let me watch some clips to remember what he’s all about again, hahahaa.”

Hours passed and I didn’t sleep that night, like at all. I watched every available canonical cutscene video compilation of Sephiroth on the internet and read every bit of information I could find and immediately started playing the FF7 games and reading fan-fiction and listening to One-Winged Angel for entire days on repeat and talking with people on tumblr and twitter and researching for seven days without sleep until I emerged to burn down a small village and AAAAA—so yeah.

I was freaking out, like literally trying to tell myself to stop as I just kept falling down the rabbit hole. I was so mad. It took over 20 years but I finally caved and here we are. I’m not okay. This character actually makes me insane, and believe it or not, it’s not even simping. I’m aroace as hell and pretty impervious. He just gives me brain severe damage for weirdly personal reasons. Lmao.

I’m honestly shocked with my level of self-control because I want to write essays on the character but I just stay pretty quiet.

So anyway, I guess I just like characters with silver hair :)))

Much love, anon <3

#god i’m so tired #sorry anon gfdhyjus #it was a simple question but i am bursting at the seams here #see i am writing Crow myself so he is just forever special but i rarely have had an actually developed character affect me so specifically #i don’t…get to have this very often?? I guess?? like characters other people have written that i actually have a personal connection to?? #it’s either that or i’m just reliving my 10 year old self’s obsession with vader/anakin skywalker again because i loved villains as a kid #who knows #anyway i’m normal #lol #asks #anonymous #bloody crow of cainhurst #sephiroth #ff7 vs bloodborne #fandom stuff

[braisedhoney]

Quick question cap! For your Stanley and Narrator, what animals do you think would represent them best ^w^?

i've never really thought about it so 'scuse me while i take this chill question waaaaay too seriously (way more than i thought i would.)

uhhh... y'know what, i think narry would be a peacock. might be basic as a metaphor so he could be another kind of showy bird, but i do like the idea that he's all about showmanship and impressions and aesthetics bc he's a perfectionist at heart. he's prideful and loud and wants to make his opinions known, but ultimately he's also deeply insecure abt the idea of people NOT liking him or his game. and peacocks aren't showy for themselves, y'know, but it is in their nature to strive to be impressive. even if it is to their detriment sometimes.

stanley is difficult bc he doesn't really have a personality. totally subjective based on whoever it is that's characterizing him, right? so he could be anything depending on how you think he feels: if he's a mischievous little shit who defies the narrator of his own will bc he thinks it's funny and enjoys the different ways things can end or change, or if he does it out of a desperate desire to reclaim some part of power in his life despite being trapped in what's essentially an endless loop where he either dies or fades to black. does he take it all in stride? is he just a reflection of narry himself...? or of the player who puppeteers him? are he and the player in cahoots or is it another layer of control he doesn't know he doesn't have?

anyway twitter had a thing where stanley was a ferret and i like that a lot as a concept so. ferrets are cool. maybe he's a ferret.

also could be an argument for narrator being a cat. like. he does spend his happiest moments staring at and chasing after the lights in the zending room. also he's a prat but we all love him anyway even though he would totally sweep things off your desk to annoy you.

#ney's chatter (ask answers) #yeah i... don't know where this came from either #funny animal question sent me down a rabbithole ig #also it could have gone way longer if i was looking at less basic animals but #i wanted to at least keep it a LITTLE simple y'know #the question was quick but the answer sure wasn't im so sorry lmao

[factorialsotherfandoms]

From @cubitodragon

I know nothing about xcom but I do love hearing all the au babble SO: how did the morning crew form in this timeline? Are animal hybrids a thing or is it more a unit/call sign reference? What brought the various teams into contact with one another? What order did egg children show up in their lives? (Do bad and forever still have dumb arguments about politics during not!date dinners?)

Hihi! Okay so I'm running with XCOM2 specifically, which is a turn based strategy game where you run a group of resistance members who live on an alien spaceship they stole, and fight against aliens who invaded earth ~20 years prior, recruiting people, making contact with other resistance cells, gathering proof of crimes against humanity, etc. For sake of the AU making sense I cut this time down to like ~10 years ago. There's the very basic premise.

Okay so question one! So we actually have a couple of answers here. The simplest is that there's a shift pattern for who is on comms and checking the airship is going the right way (and also shift sleeping as there's like 10 beds for the entire group), and they have the morning shift. Very basic. HOWEVER, at the start of the missions, Tazercraft are missing. Tubbo also doesn't go out on active combat duty, being Chief Engineer. Tazercraft used to have that job but, well, there's a reason they're both missing and the Chief Engineer no longer goes on combat missions... Tubbo was about 14 when Mike found him blowing up a Federation base via rewiring their electrics, and took him back with them. Pac and Mike took him as their joint apprentice, and he got forced into their job when they vanished. Fit and Philza both showed up a bit later. Fit and Philza knew each other before the invasion, but were split pretty soon after it began, each ending up being heavily involved in different resistance cells which later folded into the main one. Philza knew Tubbo as a kid, though lost contact a bit before the war. Fit and Phil have actually been on the ship a couple of years when shit kicks off for plot, just not quite as long as Tubbo. It's a little funny - if you need one of the five the place you need to look is the engineering quarters. At the start it's Phil dragging Fit to check up on Tubbo, once Tazercraft are back (because of course they will be eventually), it's Fit dragging Phil there on vague excuses of getting gear fixed to make puppy eyes at his crush. Either way, if its one of the five of them you need, you check engineering first. Philza's the least likely to be there, Tubbo is most likely, but even if its Tubbo sleeping in a cupboard someone will be there and will know where the others are. Forming wise... Well they just kinda stumbled together. I think you can piece it together from the above?

Haven't quite decided on hybrids and such. On the one hand, all human is more sensible. On the other hand, hybrids are fun and I'm soft for wingfic and it'd help the eggs settle in... Better. If human society is used to hybrids of some forms. They're a bit... *vague gestures* off.

At the start of everything the egg children have yet to show up at all! I am still in the process of placing them all but currently... Operation Shadow Tomb brings Chayanne and Bobby Operation Rotting Wail brings Pomme and Richarlyson Operation Pungent Father brings Trump Operation Crypt Hand beings Dapper, Ramon, and Leo Operation Dismal Paramore brings JuanaFlippa and Tallulah Operation Haunting Night brings Tilin While those words have no meaning to you, they are in order lol. There are reasons they go this order (mostly who has parents where when, but also some of them due to plot happening in specific places). All of the eggs are safe from death, you will be pleased to know. I also reserve the right to add Hope and/or A1 in, but... Well A1 would take Trump's place, who would instead have to end up with Flippa and Tallulah. Memory would take Tilin's place, who would be dropped back to with Pomme, or even back to Bobby and Chayanne. It's not really to do with their canon ages or aught (okay bar the triplets coming as a three), but yk. It's not actually until Trump/A1 that they actually have any idea what the eggs /are/, beyond slightly odd children. Their parents love them anyway.

Bad and Forever have dumb arguments about literally everything all the time, and when he's injured Bad /will/ use the fact he's one of the squad captains, and therefore writes reports, and Forever is the commander of the operation, and therefore reads reports, to demand Forever bring him snacks/attention while he's injured. It is, unfortunately, a little hard for them to get time and privacy to have not!dates. Living on a single airship with like 40-ish other people once vague background NPCs are accounted for

I've picked out characters I struggle with (Bad, Forever, etc) to have to write a lot of the in-universe documents, and the entire main plot is in-universe documents and then I flesh it out piecemeal like the one fic I did already as takes my fancy. In theory. Not much is written.

#qsmp x xcom #tumblr won't remember my tag and I don't either hiss #it's 1am so I should sleep but please do ask follow up questions and I'll get to them after sleep #I'm also working on little backstory summaries but like i'm 3 in and they're not as little as I want oops #tazercraft are the worst but once I get to Cellbit he'll give them a run for their money #thankfully most characters are not plot integrated so can be shorter #like etoiles #etoiles is a simple man backstory wise #he thinks aliens are bad. he stabs aliens to protect his family. he and his family were offered jobs stabbing aliens. easy pie. #meanwhile forever's is like... mid complexity but more traumatic than one might expect

[ruinakete]

cannoli - how does your muse express love? how do they act when in love that differs from how they act around others normally?

PASTRY LOVE HEADCANONS ・ not accepting!

hrm hrm hrm ... under the assumption that love, at least for the first question, extends to its platonic and familial forms, then the simple answer would be the phrase from her inspiration tag, "love is pain. pain is punishment". the third part would simply repeat, "and punishment is love".

although I've discussed her view on romantic love in small headcanons, I do not think it would stray too far from her ideals surrounding familial and platonic love. after all, are all forms of love not customary for obligation? is there not something to be given and laid in your partner's hands no matter the bond?

while I highly disagree with the notion that Zephia had any actual love, whether romantic or any, for Sombron, as she debunks this thought when speaking to Griss in Chapter 23, the way she behaves towards him is what she would expect from her partner; obedient, eager to please, and attentive to all she says. since he was the one to find her, centuries ago, she is the one who owes him all she is. servitude is the only expression of love that she believes is genuine.

anyone can say they love you. anyone can perform grand feats of public love. anyone can open their coin pouch and buy a gift in your name. but only a few can, without hesitation, throw themselves at your feet to make you smile.

the only difference between romantic, familial, and platonic love is the degree of affection; and how much you would sacrifice and lose in their name. "love is pain. pain is punishment. and punishment is love." can you really love someone if you are not willing to cut out their heart at the happenstance of betrayal? what of infidelity? failure? pain and punishment will always have a place in Zephia's heart, and, as such, will be equally taught to those she loves.

if you do not commit to the part, then you will be punished. if you do not reciprocate, then you will be hurt. to be loved, and be able to love, is the consent to withstand the inevitable pain that follows any relationship. and because Zephia will only love someone she sees as worthy, first, then her approach calls for their servitude, not the other way around.

love is pain, but that pain is not a two-way street until you tilt the scales of the hierarchy and step out of line.

#alliberacio #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ to appease the handmade goddess ・ 【 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ she; the daughter known by her teeth ・ 【 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 】 . #gonna knock these all out today before i continue work... keeping them short and simple let's go #i hope i fully answered the first question but yeah! zephia's idea of love doesn't really change between romantic familial and platonic #either way you're to walk on eggshells around her. her fangs are never hidden behind her lips. her intentions are never veiled. #it's why i'm wary of romantic ships with her despite being very open to the idea and little fun ooc discussions #nothing about zephia is healthy and there's no one in the monastery so far that would please her enough to evade the abusive cycle #i need to actually expand where her ideals came from and break them down but i'm delaying that since i need to figure out some things first #also being “in love” is an emotion i don't really think zephia is capable of fully? ugh i have an entire thing about this but GIVE ME TIME #OH AND TY FOR THE ASK ASTERRRR mwah mwah!!! always the first in my inbox :softsmile:

[boysdontcryboycry]

i don't creelarke much cuz im focused on other things but this sequence of mr clarke actually looking el in the face is veeerrrrry interesting if i do say so myself

#creelarke #it isn't even a question to me that el is henry's daughter #like recent discussions about it have surprised me cuz i thought we all figured it out midseason #like 1+1=2 that simple. when papa couldn't control me he tried to recreate me and soon children were born? simply #like this is a kinda weird question to ask like either he's tangentially involved with the lab. science man. mr mustache in the elevator. #or uh he knows her face for another reason

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Charles & Hawkeye

Thank you anon! And thank you to @marley-manson @majorbaby and @charleshawk4077 who also all asked me about this same pairing. Feeling very beloved amongst the CharHawkers this week <3 My friends and allies from a neighboring land to which I venture gladly and often <3

Sidenote I wish that highlight color was blue but I couldn’t figure out how to get a colored highlight tool in any fucking program I know so I had to use the stupid yellow snipping tool highlighter. Life is so fucking hard when you have to have everything be Just Right but also you’re incompetent. But we’ve all seen The Light That Failed so moving on.

So these two are sooooooooooooooooooo

Listen. I’m just gonna say it. Hawkeye/Charles has about as much canonical evidence as Hawkeye/BJ to me. Like there’s more Hawkeye/BJ content/fodder/moments/whatever purely quantitatively because they have more scenes together but in terms of the level of homoeroticism and bonding and tenderness and all that, qualitatively Hawkeye/Charles is on equal footing. You know what I mean? Obviously the dynamic is super different but just in terms of the quality. I mean look at all these tropes. Enemies to friends to lovers. Rivals. Clown and straight man comedy duo. The Round One And The Pointy One. It’s almost too easy.

Sometimes I think that’s why it’s not a personal passion of mine, even though its fantastic potential is obvious to me. It’s kind of the same problem as Donna/Charles. It’s just too easy. It feels like Charles speedruns his character development in these two relationships a bit, compared to the rest of his character arc (as much as he has one lmao). I’ve talked before about how when it comes to fanfiction, I don’t require the whole slowburn play by play for these ships, but in canon the cute moments do sometimes feel, not unearned, but not earned quite enough. Especially since the constrictions of the episodic sitcom format means Charles’ development and Hawkeye’s treatment of him completely regresses whenever the plot necessitates.

In the end it also ties back to my main Charles grievance. Hawkeye (and everyone else by extension) is somehow always treating him both too kindly and too cruelly. It grates on me, you know? Like the yellow highlighter. 

But in spite of all that: excellent duo, obviously. The chemistry is fantastic, every episode centering on their relationship is a total classic, all their moments together are memorable. The fandom really DOES sleep on this one, and it genuinely puzzles me! CharHawk nation rise!! RISE!!!

#me seeing normal people do this ask game and just post the bingo without an accompanying rant: #Ah so smart so simple so streamlined. Could not be me. #Starky loves Anons #Starky loves answering questions #CharHawk #mash #''So what even is your opinion?? That you don't ship this pairing but you think everyone else should???'' Yes :) #also I don't NOT ship it it's just not my OTP for either character #like in my supreme alpha reality Hawkeye is in a Hunnicutt sandwich and Charles is disowned for sucking working class tgirl dick #but in another also very nice reality CharHawk are living out a little hallmark movie together. because you MUST admit. they're v hallmark. #[announcer voice] Coming up next; a new heartwarming Hallmark Original Movie (TM): Christmas In Crabapple Cove! #anyways THANK YOU FOR ALL THE ASKS!!!!!!

[linecoveredinjellyfish]

i'm founding a new school of media criticism which i've decided to call Bitism. the Bitist school of literary analysis asks a simple question: is this work committed to the bit?

you see, any work of fiction is either committed to the bit or it's not. the worst thing a piece of media can be is ashamed of its own premise, of the genre it in habits, of the tropes and aesthetics we expect from it. to be committed to the bit does not inherently make it good, but it makes it more worthy of respect than those which are not.

also, that's not to say that a story cannot parody or criticize the genre it inhabits or mimics. we can discuss the bit, we can deconstruct the bit, we can ask ourselves whether or not it's a good bit, but to commit to it first will strengthen these discussions, not detract from them. commitment to the bit is, after all, the first step to genuine sincerity. and sincerity will exalt and elevate parody such that it can stand on its own feet.

commitment to the bit turns melodrama into camp, elevates parody to biting commentary, and allows cringe to open up into a resonant, if unpolished, expression of true emotion.

fully expect bitism to take the literary world by storm sometime in the next few years.

#something something just saying words recreationally #it speaks! #bittism

[maikaartwork]

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD (EDIT: I know it might not be a lot for some work. What I mean here - way higher than your asking price, 100 and 300 are standard rates they give). They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

#art resources #artist help #artist advice #commission advice #scammers #instagram scam #please share with your fellow artists

[the-winds-of-destiny-xxx]

.

#men piss me off man #just poor communication and vibes #(this isn’t romantic btw) #it’s even a male friend that’s annoying me #annoys me when I ask simple questions #or ones where it’s literally either a yes or no response #and they air it like #it’s not that deep #if you have the time to open it u have the time to answer #like I’m not messaging u for the shits and giggles

[rileyslibrary]

It’s lunchtime at the military base, and you can’t decide what to eat. Ghost is getting hangry.

———————————————————————

“It’s a simple question,” he says. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know, Lieutenant.”

“Are you hungry?” He asks and lifts his hands.

“Yes, sir.”

“What exactly are you hungry for?”

“I-I don’t know.”

He drops his arms to his sides and sits at the corner of his desk. He touches the back of his neck with one hand while supporting himself with the other.

“Every fucking day, you do this to me,” he murmurs. “If you don’t decide this time, I’ll go eat alone.”

“Oh! Is that so?” You squint and hunch forward at your desk.

“Yes!” He yells as he stands up and walks towards you. “Yes, I will. In fact, I would love to.”

Your eyebrows shoot up, and your jaw drops. How dare he? You’d been teammates for years, sticking with him through thick and thin, never betraying him once. But now he...

“...Would love to?!”

“That’s right!” He snaps and slams his hands against your desk. “So, for the last time: What. Will. It. Be?”

You lean back in your chair and bite your pen while considering your options. Ghost’s gaze darts from you to the pen, then back. He groans and grabs the pen from your hand, tossing it to the side.

“Pens are off the menu today,” he declares, snapping his fingers, “I need an answer. Now.”

Dumfounded, you stare at the pen on the floor. If someone else had done this to you, you would have slapped them in the face. Worse, if he had watched anyone else treat you that way, he would have ripped their limbs off their body.

But he’s hangry. As insignificant as this conversation appears, he doesn’t handle his hunger with the same poise he handles other, more complex situations. Not only that, but your indecisiveness doesn’t help, either. You need to make a decision quickly, so you sit up straight and place your hands on the table.

“What are my options again?” you ask.

“Pizza or burger.” He replies sternly.

“I don’t want piz—”

“Burger it is, then,” he says with a nod. He knocks his knuckles twice on the desk and strides towards the office door.

“W-wait, Ghost, wait!”

He sighs and leans against the door, his hand on the handle.

“I don’t like the base’s burgers.” You mumble.

“Nobody likes the base’s burgers!” he yells. “But we still eat them!”

“I was wondering,” you say and lower your voice, “if there is another choice?”

He’s softly bashing his head against the door, and you try to persuade him that there should be a third option—a vegetarian meal, perhaps. In response, he begins making whimpering noises. He’s the one getting on your nerves now.

“You know what?” you snap, “I’ll go check by myself.”

He extends a hand in your direction and shows you his palm.

“No, no, no, no!” he cries. “You join the others in the queue, and the entire base will starve until you decide!”

You scoff at his sarcasm, and he opens the door.

“Listen,” he says, “I’ll go check and call you, okay?”

“LIEUTENANT!” you shout, but he slams the door behind him. You peek over at his desk. “You forgot your phone...” you murmur to yourself.

The lieutenant was a very cold man when you first met him. His responses were limited to yeses and nos with the occasional shrug, and he never joined you in everyday job activities, especially at lunchtime. You’d always eat alone in the mess hall, and if your breaks coincided with that of Gaz or Soap’s, you’d sit with them and eat lunch together. Ghost would normally sit in the office or hide in a corner around the base and eat since he didn’t want anyone to see him without his mask. But slowly, he came to trust you all with his face, and you’d eat together, locked in your office.

You look at the time. Given his hunger when he left, he should have returned five minutes ago. What if he gave up on you and is already eating with the rest? Sure, your indecisiveness annoys him, especially since he has to deal with it daily, but he’d never let you eat alone, right? On the other hand... he may be trying to teach you a lesson.

You take another glance at the time. This doesn’t feel right. You start cleaning up your desk to head for the kitchen, but someone knocks on the door.

“It’s open,” you announce, “come on in!”

“I’ve got my hands full.” You hear Ghost reply.

You walk up to the door and swing it open. Ghost stands there with a serving trolley full of dishes.

“Thanks,” he murmurs while he pushes the trolley inside the office.

“You forgot your phone!” you inform him.

“I didn’t forget it,” he says as he stops the trolley in front of your desk. “I’d rather put my bare hand in a fire and let it simmer than add a third option to your dilemma and let you decide while there’s a queue of starving soldiers behind me.”

He removes the plates from the trolley and arranges them on your desk. “Here’s the fucking pizza, the fucking shitburger, and the tofu version of the shitburger.”

He places another plate with five pizza slices on his desk. He removes his mask and immediately slaps a piece in his mouth.

“That’s a lot of food, Lt.,” you whisper, scanning the plates before you.

He turns his head towards you and keeps chewing. “Yeah,” he says, swallowing, “better have all the options in front of you than squeeze any reserve of patience I have left.”

You take a slice of pizza from your tray and bite into it.

He stares at you, raises his plate to the sky, and rambles about how “you didn’t want pizza before.” You clarify that, while you still don’t want pizza, it appears to be the best option among the three.

“However,” you continue, “I would murder for a good burger.”

He swallows and takes a second pizza slice from his plate.

“I know a place,” he explains. “We can go tonight.”

“Lieutenant, you smooth operator!” you tease, “like on a date?”

He nods and takes another mouthful. He doesn’t even bother looking at you. He’s too preoccupied with nourishing his massive body to worry about your mocking.

“What kind of a place is it?” You ask.

“It’s a shithole,” he says, “but it does the best burgers you’ve ever had.”

“So, what should I wear?”

He stops eating and aggressively shakes his head.

“Nuh-uh,” he says. “I won’t get involved in your woes again—I’ll give you the address, and you’ll be there at 8 p.m.”

“Are you going to email me the menu so I can decide what to eat ahead of time?”

He swallows and looks at you. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” he says, taking another bite.

“Why?”

“Because there’s no menu at my place.”

———————————————————————

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley x y/n #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon riley x y/n #call of duty #simon ghost riley #modern warfare 2 #simon riley #cod mwii #ghost cod mwii #ghost cod #ghost call of duty #ghost mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #simon ghost riley x gn!reader