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NOT ME WRITING THIS WAY BACK IN IDK 2018 AND THEN THIS LITERALLY BEING THE PLOT OF XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 3 in 2024 LMFAOOOOO

i have peas for a brain, but i’m playing xenoblade 2 a lot right now (i know, im owning up to not writing…) and i’m still on chapter 5 but i LOVE the deal with the blades technically living forever but getting a reset every time their driver dies/they’re bonded to a new driver, and having all their memories wiped fresh.

and i know a lot of people in the pjo fandom aren’t console gamers and don’t really know what the hell i’m talking about, but like. i would die for xenoblade!solangelo. like imagine Nico and Will were your average rare blades who went down through many drivers. Sometimes they’re allies bonded to the same driver, sometimes they’re enemies, but in their first life, they were lovers, and despite having their memories wiped, Nico and Will can always feel…something wriggling in the back of their head when they’re with each other.

but of course, there’s no way for them to actually remember what happened in the past, and they’re constantly stuck with this tip-of-the-tongue feeling around each other, for the rest of eternity, where their relationship starts new at every reawakening and plays out over and over again.

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My kink is unloved characters suddenly being loved unconditionally

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i also wanna engage more with tumblr again for the ff side... it was really fun back in the day 🥺

im just not in fandom anymore in general lmao, and i guess i never really was cuz i just post about things that capture my interest. but i will try and be back, maybe.

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my story tastes have changed a lot since weaning off the 'i need romance or im bored' train from my teens, but i ended up liking the divine speaker way more than i thought i did, especially since i started playing classic japanese otome games afterwards and found it severely... lacking in comparison (amnesia: memories, for reference)

anyways, all this to say my writing inspo is back and i wanna write a cyne/raen alternate canon fic. cyne #1 😭

im just not sure if the christmas special or prequel changes any of the canon that i might need to look into before committing to any writing!

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i was watching my brother play dynasty warriors: origins, and it just hit me that fire emblem: 3 houses was also a riff off romance of the three kingdoms/sangoku

i think in the west we're just so used to it being harry potter inspired, so we only see harry potter in 3 houses, which is true, there is a lot of harry potter-esque imagery and inspiration, but romance of the three kingdoms is hugely influential in the east, and it shouldn't be overlooked.

as for who represents what, i can see possibilities for:

shu = golden deers, a de-facto all around "good guys" route, or blue lions as well (felix, dimitri, sylvain possibly similar to guanyu, zhangfei, and liu bei?)

wu = more likely to be golden deers, a kinda afterthought route that later allies with the "good guys" route, or finds themselves on a similar side. (hilda gives sunshangxiang vibes with being a warrior princess, and mercedes and annette's bond can be referred to as sisterly if youre not going down the wlw route and compared to the qiao sisters)

wei = black eagles, both because i dont think the black eagles can be represented by wu or shu, and that edelgard gives the same ambitious the ends-justify-means as cao cao. that and given the rise of jin/cao cao doesnt even get to see his empire gives me those who slither in the dark vibes.

obviously the territories-to-houses are my own assessment, but id be curious what other people think! i'm not as deeply familiar with romance of the three kingdoms beyond dynasty warriors lore, which is wacky in and of itself, because i havent actually read it lol.

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i need a xenoblade 3 x fire emblem 3 houses crossover fic, but i also dont want to be the one to write it

(but i probably will once time management stops being my enemy, which, haha.)

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Exploring Sexualisation in NieR Automata and Xenoblade 2

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS FOR BOTH GAMES. OH AND I USE BRITISH SPELLINGS.

THESIS

Yoko Taro’s NieR Automata and Tetsuya Takahashi’s Xenoblade 2 both explore humanity through non-human characters, yet they couldn’t be any more different. The protagonists of NieR Automata are proactive, morally ambiguous and aggressive while Xenoblade 2’s protagonists are reactive, “good” and pacifist, and in that sense, Automata’s narrative is a corruption of Xenoblade 2’s. This corruption is perfectly exemplified through the core themes both games explore humanity by - obsession in Automata and love in Xenoblade 2.

When looking at humanity through the lenses of obsession and love, sex has to be considered as it is a cause and an effect of human obsession and romance both, and for sex to be considered within the fiction, sexuality has to be established by the fiction. Both games do not establish sexuality using events but rather characters and visual design, and anecdotally speaking, I have encountered criticism of both games for their use of sexuality in character design without considering the effect of said sexuality on the fiction, both elevating and undermining. I would not say these criticisms were undeserved, because in some regards they are perfectly deserved. So I’d like to consider just one aspect of the sexualisation employed in both games -  the broad subject is way too big for one post and I just don’t have time.

PYRA

I will not defend Pyra’s design - it is a sheer contradiction of the character held on through loose threads of excuses and apparent reason. Her character design does not communicate her mellow personality or general reservedness, but there’s nothing more I can say about it that others haven’t said already. It’s just pure and simple fetishisation that undermines the narrative, and I will leave that there.

DOMINANCE and SUBMISSION

Let’s address the idea of dominance. It doesn’t take much analysis to consider that both Mythra and 2B are dominant over Rex and 9S respectively, which allows them to carry their sexualisation and use it to enhance their character rather than reduce them to objects. This is not to say that they are not fetishised - 2B’s design is based on an arguably fetishistic fashion movement, to begin with. However, their dominance over their counterpart gives the audience a sense of agency and thus produces the illusion that their sexualisation is not to serve the audience’s fetishism but rather a choice made by the character in presenting themselves. As illusion is the means by which dramatic art functions, the audience is susceptible to illusion the moment they pick up a game or watch a film or theatre production due to the suspension of disbelief. Ergo, this technique works in distancing the characters from their sexualised designs through sheer dominance and conviction.

When does the illusion break? In 2B’s case, I’d argue never throughout the core narrative. There’s, of course, the infamous self-destruct mechanic, but this is a case of the transfer of dominance from 2B to the audience rather than a change in character dynamics within the fiction, and one that is not required by the narrative to progress. 2B’s vulnerabilities are explored outside of 9S, and so they preserve the illusion of 2B’s control over herself, in contrast to Mythra who is moved to a submissive position relative to Rex for terrible comedy immediately after her introduction. The sleepwalking scene, for example, renders any agency she had demonstrated previously null and void and while she slowly rebuilds the illusion of agency, it is constantly in a state of flux relative to Rex, unlike 2B to 9S which is constant, never breaking the illusion.

Now, let’s fully address submission. Submission is never explored through character dynamics in both games regarding 2B or Mythra, but it is done through narrative framing. Rex is never fully dominant over Mythra, or Pyra for that matter, keeping with the game’s secondary theme of equality, yet it is Rex’s wishes that are granted by the Architect and therefore, the author - it is Rex that the game’s narrative frames to be dominant, which in turn affects the way the audience views Mythra, who with less power, fails in selling the illusion of agency, becoming sexualised. In contrast, 9S’s dominance is not created through the actual framing of the narrative in regards to the view of the audience, but rather the lack of 2B’s dominant force. This only emphasises 2B’s dominance as we come to understand the power it holds in keeping 9S at bay, further stabilising the illusion of agency.

CONCLUSIONS

So, why is this the case? Why does Automata succeed at selling sexualisation as part of the suspension of disbelief where Xenoblade 2 fails? It could easily be a case of priorities. Automata’s use of sexuality is required by the narrative because it hinges on 9S’s visceral desire to “****” 2B - whether that’s to “kill” or to “fuck” is irrelevant - both create the same sexual effect for 9S according to the information revealed in Jackass’s questline. Thus the handling of sexuality is a make or break situation for the plot’s effectiveness. For Xenoblade 2, sexuality is a byproduct of the teen romance. In a chemical equation, sexuality would a reactant for Automata and a product for Xenoblade 2. Where Xenoblade 2 stumbles is in attempting to use this product as a catalyst, resulting in a higher yield than it could handle.

Or, it could just be a case of too many cooks. Xenoblade 2 is documented to have three writers - Takahashi himself, Yuichiro Takeda and Kazuka Hyodo with Takahashi handling the broad scenario, Takeda writing for the even chapters and Hyodo writing for the odd. I do not know the dynamics between the three, however I did notice that Takeda’s even chapters were generally weaker, not just in the depiction of Mythra (the aforementioned sleepwalking scene is in Chapter 4) but overall moment to moment writing as well (Chapter 6’s climactic scene basically amounts to a session of bad LARPing - “Haha, I teleport behind you!” “But I have a laser.” “But I’m faster than laser.” “But you’re not faster than the laser beam.”, but I digress). While Automata also had two other writers besides Taro, their work may not have been isolated as such and could have produced a more cohesive whole, but at this point, it’s just pure speculation as I do not know how the development occurred.

Well, that’s my interpretation of this case, but I could be looking at this the wrong way, or have missed a crucial element of their narratives, so I’m always open to talk about this subject. Thanks for reading as always.

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fic rec friday 4

hi!! welcome to fic rec friday. every week, i pick five fics i have bookmarked and rec them with a little review. check them out!

Serenade by @porcelaincas

“Will Solace,” Nico said. They were so close now that Nico could see that there were golden flecks among the blue in his irises. “Are you trying to serenade me?” or the one where Nico falls for Will even before the battle against Gaea and it all culminates on a warm summer night.

i am always a deep deep sucker for fics where will and nico know each other, at least slightly, before BoO. theyre so fascinating and for what. in this one in particular...oh will helping nico in the bronze jar is crazy. i don't want to spoil it but my ass was sat on that seat reading.

2. Stupid Teens by tihsho

Will likes getting gifts, and Nico likes the way Will blushes whenever he gives him anything. It should be a simple situation, but nothing's ever simple for Nico. Something's bothering Will, and Nico can't do anything about it. Never mind that he still can't seem to put a name to these feelings, either. Maybe there's a point in here about anger and nuance, or maybe it's a point about being young, or self acceptance, or whatever else. Or maybe Nico's just reading into it too much.

yes the homophobia scene is a little gratuitous. HOWEVER. the beginning scene is so dorky and ridiculous that i actually smile WIDE every time, first time i read it i laughed out loud. and the whole nico likes to spoil will a little bit (a lot bit) even well before they got together headcanon is GODSENT its one of my favourites. and i also like in this one how will maybe needs a minute to get comfortable in his sexuality too!!

3. Find Happiness in Misery by percyspandapillowpet

"Nothing can make me happy, Solace," he spat bitterly before turning away and wiping furiously at his face. "I like to try." --- In which Nico is searching for happiness, for his childhood, and for a Christmas present.

this is an older fic, but i think it still holds up!! i love any fic that goes over the whole mythomagic thing tbh. theres so much story potential there and this fic had a very sweet premise.

4. Looks Like We'll Be Trapped Here For A While by percyspandapillowpet

Nico stopped in his tracks and turned towards Will. “The Aphrodite cabin is planning to prank us. Today.” Will raised his eyebrows. “How do you know?” "They were talking about it. I just heard them.” Sighing as if it were just what he was expecting to hear this morning, Will reached up to scratch the back of his head. “Okay. What do you want to do about it?” Nico pondered this for a moment. “I think we should hide.” “Hide? Where?” Will asked. “We can’t leave camp, and it’ll be awfully boring to stay in the forest or something all day.” After a quick mental scan of all possible locations, Nico realized there was only one unfortunate solution. “Um…how about my cabin?”

cheesy and fun!! the mythomagic scene in particular made me giggle. in particular i love this part and feel like you should all be made aware of it:

“It’s…a game I used to play, when I was little,” he replied carefully.

Will looked up at him. “Do you still remember how to play?”

He felt his entire face turning red. “Well…kind of, I guess, but I’ve outgrown it…”

Will glanced at the back of the box. “What’s the attack power of Athena?”

“Five thousand,” Nico replied automatically, and then immediately groaned. That stupid game was so hardwired into his brain, and now Will was going know how much of a weird geek he was—

But Will was smiling. “That’s adorable. Teach me how to play.”

nico being physically unable to hold the stats back....unbeatable headcanon. adore

5. Pawsitively Perfect by percyspandapillowpet

“Is that…” Nico couldn’t even finish is sentence when suddenly the thing mewed. A moment afterwards, it revealed its tiny brown face, turning to face the son of Hades with round, curious eyes that seemed much too large for the rest of its head. Nico would be lying if he said it wasn’t the most adorable little creature he had ever laid eyes upon. But soon enough, the reality hit him. Will had a cat. Cats were not allowed in camp. Will had brought the cat into the Hades cabin, so if they were caught, they would likely both get in trouble. Not that Nico was scared of getting in trouble with the cleaning harpies—it was safe to say he’d been through a lot worse. What he didn’t think he could handle was the shame of being ridiculed as the kid who tried to hide a kitten with Will Solace. Jason would never let it go. Nico glanced from the kitten’s face back up to Will’s, which was somehow equally as endearing with his pleading-blue-puppy eyes. He knew what he was going to ask just from his expression. He sighed. “Will, you can’t keep it.”

bleeding heart will my beloved. sweatshirt thief nico u are so real. honestly a power couple what more could u want. a kitten? there's a kitten, rest assured.

thank you for joining me this friday!! happy reading!!

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aww nasa has a page for space technology terms you can use in science fiction

nerds

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everybody is so bored while stuck inside bc of covid-19 that i just got an ff.net alert that a fic from 2009 i was following updated with a new chapter for the first time in FIVE YEARS

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For anyone who’s ever wondered who they’d be in a 19th century novel, the wait is over: I put together a 19th Century Character Trope Generator!

If you’d like to reblog, put your character in the tags because I’m curious.

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There was an angry mob in my notes demanding an enemies to lovers design 

see the others x x x

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In all honesty I’m not surprised because this happens a lot in the manga scanlation world where people set up bots to rip translations that people do out of volunteering to put on their third party sites (called “aggregators”) that are infested with ads and malware and sometimes even cryptocurrency mining from a naive visitor’s browser.

While I do think the backlash may help, just be prepared for a lot of bootlickers coming in and saying “well fanfic technically isn’t legal anyway bc you’re just taking someone’s copyright and no I do not understand what “parody” categorization means”. I do hope it all works out in getting this shut down, but aggregators are extremely resilient to these kinds of issues in my experience from the manga side of the internet, not to mention that they often develop a rabid and defensive fanbase at a rapid pace. (Eg. Mangago)

Because the pocket archive app is more of a door to AO3 and not actually reposts of work, All of my fics as well as anything anyone ever wrote for me on AO3 show up in the app that's making money off our stuff.

The making money off it is what folks are angry about. AO3 doesn't make a profit. The author's wrote this for free. So why should unofficialao3app make money off it all?

So that we have an easy way to read fics on mobile? No. Because personally I've never had a hard time viewing AO3 fics on mobile to begin with, directly from archiveofourown.org

I've seen several of my favorite writers talking about taking down their stories now. Please don't. Instead just edit them to only be viewed by registered AO3 users.

I tested it out and from the app it prevents your stories being viewed even if you are a registered user (like me). In other words if someone wants to read your stuff they have to go directly to AO3 and be registered with them to view.

I've reported and left a bad review, and until this all blows over and a solution is found this is how I'll be dealing with it.

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Woodsign fanfic app on the App Store

Lots of people have been pinging me in posts about this company and their various apps (pictured above). I don’t own any Apple products, so I haven’t been able to see these apps myself, but my understanding is that they pull data from AO3 and present it in the app, sometimes for a fee. 

If you’re wondering whether your own stories are being hosted on these apps, you’ll need to either check for yourself or find a friend who can check for you.

I emailed AO3 Support about the subject, and here’s what I got in response:

Thanks for asking about this app. We checked with the OTW Legal team and our coders, and have some information to pass on. “The OTW does not own the works posted on the Archive – they are all owned by their respective authors. 

For that reason, although the OTW can (and does) rely on trademark law to make sure that people don’t make confusing apps that would make people think the OTW or AO3 is associated with them, there’s nothing we can do about apps or services that contain works owned by AO3 users.  That is up to the authors themselves, who own the copyrights in their fanworks. 

“Many sites have procedures (known as DMCA takedown procedures) that allow copyright owners such as fan-authors to request that their works be removed. The Fanfic Pocket Archive Library may have such procedures.   Regardless of whether those procedures exist, copyright owners can always demand that their works be removed from places they are not authorized, and as a matter of copyright law, sites should comply with such demands.

“The Apple App store also has procedures for reporting apps that infringe copyright:  https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/appstorenotices/#?lang=en 

“The Google Play store has similar: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905 

“To be clear, to the best of our knowledge, the app is not wholesale scraping and storing data - they’re displaying content from the Archive in a very heavily modified format. Because the app’s subscription fee can be explained as "to support the app’s code base” and not for the content itself, it is within legal bounds. Our only suggestions are for the creators of the works to issue DCMA takedowns to the app developer, and to the appropriate app store if they find the developer response unsatisfactory.

tldr; There’s nothing that AO3 can do in this situation. It’s up to individual authors to report the copyright infringement to protect their own work. Start with the app itself and then go to the app store if they don’t do as you requested. 

If you could signal boost this post, I’m sure AO3 Support would appreciate it. I can only imagine how many emails they’re getting about this right now. 

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♡ Main Quest