#his devotee's answer

DO IT TAKEO- NOOOOOO TAKEO WHY DO YOU HAVE A FISTFUL OF HIS ASS

Sorry if anybody else has asked this before I’m just curious

oh boy. i've tried to avoid this question because a lot of people will disagree with me.

i don't like the decision they made when it comes to his ideologies. i think there were way better ideas they could've gone for. BUT i really don't get the witch hunts towards people who like the character, something i've seen especially here.

i like the warden, and he's part of the confederacy, whose racial laws inspired the nazis. does that make me a confederate? a racist? fuck no. your taste in fiction does not affect who you are as a person as long as you are a grown ass person who is educated. my values and morals are not so unstable as to be swayed by a fictional character, and i'm sure that goes for everyone in this fandom. if that were so for everyone, you'd have to go after literally anyone who enjoys Outlast and has a favourite because all the characters are terrible people in that damn game. you'd have to go for ultimis richtofen and director richtofen fans as well, as ultimis sexually assaulted dempsey, while the director performed a vaginally penetrative, nonconsensual surgery to remove eggs from samantha, which falls under medical rape.

do i think bo7 richtofen has attracted a lot of bigoted fans? absolutely, but that is not because bo7 richtofen was the one to make them bigots, that's just silly. they were already bigoted to begin with, so i don't see why we have to go after people who have shown to care about others and clearly go against said ideologies as if liking the new richtofen is suddenly going to make them a fascist.

obviously, that doesn't mean people, especially those who are Jewish or have / have had victims of the Holocaust in their family, can't be or won't be uncomfortable, — they have every right to — but that is Not an excuse for harassment. if you are uncomfortable with someone you block and move on. we're literally on tumblr!!! the site that gaslights whoever you blocked into thinking your account doesn't exist!!!! i'd kill to have that on twitter or other platforms i use more frequently!!!!

my advice when it comes to these characters is to be careful. you make sure your love for a character doesn't override your morals, which is pretty fucking simple. you accept richtofen is a bad person, you acknowledge it, and you move on. this whole rhetoric about your favourite characters having to be 100% innocent and pure or you are just as bad as them does jackshit for the fandom and in general is completely untrue. i've seen plenty of terrible people who like characters that are absolute sweethearts, and i've seen plenty of absolute sweethearts who like characters that are terrible people. i like the warden, a terrible piece of shit confederate, and i like blanchard, the one and only absolute sweetheart in codz who has genuinely done no wrong other than trust richtofen and let him pull the wool over his eyes, so what now? am i some sort of secret third thing? no! that's stupid.

don't take this as me saying we shouldn't go after the bigots in our fandom, who might i add some seem to still be walking around free of consequences despite saying heinous shit out in the open, we totally should, but liking a fictional character, AGAIN, does not make someone a bigot. if they, in the case of the new richtofen, walk around spreading holocaust denialism and get upset when you call them out for it ( yes, i've had that experience ) then yes, you should talk some damn sense into them and, if all fails, call them out over it, but if they acknowledge richtofen's ideologies without trying to water them down to make him more palatable, i don't see the problem.

At the same time, you can't really blame the fans for minimizing the situation. Ignorance, lack of first hand experience, being in an environment where racism is normalized, or all of the above. It was up to Treyarch to actually do the topic justice and they drastically failed at that.

So most people will make light of the situation and treat it as "verbal jousting" as Richtofen said himself because why would they do anything else when the writing didn't challenge that notion. Especially when the fans in question aren't old enough to even play a +18 game.

Next map's reveals won't undo the image he was given in the first 3 maps, everyone still view him as the quirky nazi boy outside of Tumblr.

i don't recall i ever said it wasn't a touchy subject. i merely said liking reichtofen wasn't telling of your morals and values, and that people shouldn't witch hunt fans that have clearly shown their morals do not align in any way with reichtofen's.

on the contrary, i do agree it can be a touchy subject to talk about, but i don't understand why this topic is only brought up with reichtofen and not, say, the warden, or even a more "og" character like ultimis takeo. if you're going to witch hunt, why not also go after the fans of a confederate soldier or an imperial japanese captain? you won't, because a majority of people and most likely you have only ever been taught about nazism, and not the severity of confederate america's crimes or imperial japan, who allied with nazi germany.

i do agree it was on treyarch to handle the topic seriously, and so far, they haven't done it justice, which is terrible when you consider the bigoted — or at the very least uneducated — side of the fanbase who don't fully grasp the severity of nazism.

i can assure you, though, no one outside of tumblr considers him a "quirky nazi boy." if anything, every person i've seen comment on how terrible he is, especially after finding out his rank is one behind himmler, was outside of tumblr. every piece of information i bring here i take it from outside tumblr. i've only encountered a problem with someone considering him "just quirky" or watering down his actions once and i've long since called out that person's behaviour to the community, who i'm glad to see reacted accordingly.

continuing off the last paragraph, people outside of tumblr have morals, and i'd even go so far as to say people are far more mature there because, as you similarly said, the fans here are mostly under the age of 18. on Twitter, for example, — which is the platform i use most — the age range is much wider; there are seldom any fans under the age of 18, which leads to more mature conversations regarding certain topics in call of duty zombies. people's minds here, on the other hand, — and i mean this as politely as i can — would explode at the mere idea of calling ultimis richtofen a rapist or a sexual assaulter when that is exactly what he is.

eat them.

kiddinggggg . . .

❥︎ Ultimis

an ideal romantic date for Ultimis Shadowtofen would be a nice stroll around a destroyed and corrupted Agartha. maybe they mess things up on the path even more. if they have the time, they could even go check up on a certain Keeper.

they would sit down and admire the Apothicon Sun after getting tired of walking. just them and the beautiful blue light, enjoying each other's presence and talking about even the most insignificant of things, with no one else getting in their way.

overall, while such a date idea is certainly unheard of, they'd have the time of their lives. there is no Monty to approve their date, but i think his answer would be obvious.

❥︎ Primis

with Primis, they'd go — or, rather, Shadowman would make Richtofen go with Him — back to Morg City, perhaps in some pub or restaurant. think of it as those anniversary dates between couples where they decide to spend the evening where they first met, but with even more of those weird spores growing around the city.

most of the date would be Shadowman talking and Richtofen, who is much more worried about the tentacles that have him bound to the chair, pretending to listen, but Shadowman would get his attention one way or another, either with flirtatious comments or threats; they're both the same to Him.

the date would be nice and fit more "normal" date ideas, —if you ignore the specifics — but certainly not Monty-approved. he really just wants them to stop moping around and continue the cycle.

❥︎ Director

i believe the Director would enjoy those cliche, romantic, candlelit dates, the kind with roses in a glass vase at the table. if Eddie rejects the offer, Shadowman can always shapeshift into Mary and try again.

the date would go as you'd expect, two lovers reunited at long last, which, while it is what they both believe, Eddie doesn't exactly understand who he's really reuniting with. just don't focus too much on her violet eyes, Director, i'm sure it's just the lighting.

the date would go smoothly, not much to add. maybe they'd get dessert at some other place. Monty is too busy in the Dark Aether to approve, but at least it is tummy approved.

❥︎ Dark Aether

i don't have much for him since we don't know much regarding other aspects of his character, but they could go to Exit 115, or take a look around in the museums on Mars.

there wouldn't be much conversation from Shadowman, as He would be more busy staring at Richtofen's face and wonder if His Edward ( Primis ) would've looked like that too had He succeeded in corrupting him. a face like that seems nothing more than a taunt now.

Monty is gone, but at least the date is Warden-approved, even if it's just because he gets to feast on Richtofen's soul more after the date.

i hope that satisfies your question !! i had fun writing these :) have some shadowtofen drawn by my good friend @dinkyshield

UAHHHHH i wish i could like asks so people could know i saw their ask and just need to find the time to answer

oh my fuck i had to write this twice because i went off the app for a minute and for some reason tumblr decided to remove all my progress fuckkkkk

❥︎ Ultimis

i think a relationship with Ultimis Richtofen would be very.. chaotic, and very telling of the Dark Aether's effects. Ultimis Richtofen is very blunt when he wants to be, especially when it comes to his sexual comments, and, while pre-corruption Shadowman isn't a prude, he obviously wouldn't be too used to that. Shadowman would also probably find out about his own fate, mostly from Richtofen calling him his Lord or his Master and Shadowman trying to get him to elaborate on that.

later on... he would be staring off into space and muttering to himself something about "Is this what it's like to be human?" after the Revelation. maybe with Richtofen cuddling him, maybe with Richtofen still rambling about his present self.

overall, i don't think Shadowman could handle a long-time relationship with Ultimis. i think, to Shadowman, Ultimis Richtofen's personality would be a constant reminder of his fate. Also, Ultimis isn't meant for healthy, long-time relationships in general. They have to be destructive and obsessive in the worst ways possible.

❥︎ Primis

a relationship with Primis Richtofen would already be much calmer, though Primis still has his own issues that would show during possible arguments or even in his behaviour towards others, and it would be hard for Shadowman to understand him as he's never interacted with a human before. he would be wary of Shadowman at first, but it wouldn't take long for him to realize it isn't present Shadowman, especially due to the absence of his facial markings.

i can see them in Richtofen's lab, perhaps letting Shadowman catch up on everything on his own ( because Richtofen is too busy with that damn Kronorium ).

or, in The Great War times, i can see them in a grassy field, Richtofen in his war-torn clothes and Shadowman in his own pristine outfit, or maybe something similar to what he wears in Revelations, finding a moment of peace admist all the bloodshed. it's a scene i've thought about a lot, Richtofen with his head on Shadowman's lap looking at the sky above them, though usually i see it as a dream of Richtofen's, or a hallucination. ( which i don't mind... )

in general, i think a relationship between these two could work, but due to the story, Richtofen would be a tad too busy trying to guarantee his perfect tomorrow.

❥︎ Director / Dark Aether

i don't have much for Eddie and Reichtofen, and i doubt anyone really cares for this category, but i have thought about Eddie and Shadowman laying down somewhere and talking about Agartha, maybe Shadowman helping Eddie with his memories of Agartha, as Eddie canonically has nightmares about it.

Reichtofen... i can't see the meeting not ending with pre-corruption Shadowman punishing Reichtofen. i don't even mean this in a "oh i want my fav to be woke" way because i definitely don't think post-corruption Shadowman would care other than considering it evidence that humanity is ignorant and disgusting, so much so as to turn on its own, i just genuinely can't see pre-corruption Shadowman not punishing Reichtofen for his sins. he may be considered a sweetheart by Monty but that doesn't mean he would let that kind of violence slide if he had the power to stop it, or at least part of it. he wouldn't prolong it, though, just crushes his skull. efficient, quick, and easy.

that is all . . .i still cant fucking believe i had to write most of this twice because i was looking for a shadowtofen image to add at the end . you were gonna get cute fanart , but now you get this . edward richtofen drop farm.

SHADOWMAN POSSESSING RICHTOFEN !!! i don't talk about it a lot here or in general really but just . . Shadowman taking over whenever the hell He wants !!!

I always thought of Richtofen's blue eye ( because I headcanon him to have heterochromia , one blue eye and one green eye ) to turn a sort of violet when Shadowman is in control . . . not a full purple but just one that you don't even notice at first glance.

Since Apothicons don't really have eyes I imagine Shadowman still depends mostly on echolocation, at least when He can't see his goal, other than that He's just really aware of His surroundings, which is helpful considering everyone in that body is so vigilant, including Him.

I also imagine, during this time, Richtofen ( Shadowman ) would be much more annoyed by Schuster's presence, merely because the man can be so observant when it comes to Richtofen, so having to make up excuses as to why He's covering an eye ( or just keeping it shut ) gets irritating at times . .

Meanwhile, with Yena, He doesn't try to hide it, If anything, He uses it as a scare tactic. He knows Maxis won't believe him, anyway.

Groph doesn't question it, and all of the body's hosts haven't seen Sophia in a while.

Peter is... well...

Maxis is too convinced that Yena is simply restless to the point of seeing things to look any further into it, and if he were to ever catch Richtofen ( Shadowman ) off guard and see it, — an impossible feat — he'd brush it off for the same reason: not having gotten enough sleep.

Like either out of boredom or “I’m mad at you so suffer”

depends on which version...