#( * i. ▸ get out of jail free card ! / ╰ ✧ ◦ * ◃ ooc. )

[shatouto]

⚠️ content warning: possession ; blood ; grave injury

please click below to read the rest!

[letsriddlemethislucifer]

[hypermascbishounen]

I honestly keep forgetting about N!Juste bc he's such a travesty, so wnv I get reminded of him I'm just as angry as day one, lol. I just mentally delete N!Juste every time I see him, like dragging a corrupted file to the recycle bin. Tbf he's easy to forget, bc he's also boring and the least of Nocturne's problems so far, but obv I'm going to dislike it a lot as fan of HoD.

What gets me most I think, is how most ideas I've seen of a post game Juste, have him in a mentor or at least respected ancestor role to Richter(if not just outright his dad, lol). Even with bad end Juste - in fact *especially* with bad end Juste - it's hard to imagine Juste being so checked out on his descendants. If anything, Juste having a controlling/overprotective streak, seems to be a possible thing with him, which you would think sudden catastrophic loss would actually make worse.

(imo a bad end Juste would react to Richter like Marlin in Finding Nemo, but forced to train him excessively instead of being able to shelter him. Especially when Richter *is so similar to Maxim, who he lost.* I think he would have every motive to try and ensure Richter has the best odds possible against anything.)

And this idea doesn't come from nowhere - A lot of elements of Juste (and Maxim) as characters, right down to gameplay, is backshadowing SoTN and Richter in particular. It's very much an implication that Richter inherits traits from the both of them, whether by blood, fate, or literally being trained by them, or relatives that already had been. Juste's connection to Richter in this way, was the only reason to even bring him into a Richter storyline in the first place.

And the Juste we know from HoD has an incredibly strong and distinctive personality. "Ooc" doesn't even really begin to describe how off N!Juste is. He's basically a reused stock archetype. He's the cookie cutter they used to make N!Trevor, thrown on the tray after they ran out of dough.

And tbh they didn't even need to do this, so it's baffling why they chose to. I can't claim to see into the genius peak minds behind nfcv, but my nearest guess is that not only do they not see No Legacy as a narrative problem for Richter, they see Legacy itself as an active threat. Bc Juste was genuinely their last Get Out of Jail Free card to give Richter a legacy and they wasted it, specifically to reinforce Belmont's as Useless. They actually could have had him just be a mentor to Richter that influenced him from a relatively safe distance in the script, while changing not a whole lot, imo.

The only other explanation is that they were just too scared have anyone as cool as game Juste or his friends anywhere near their watery product, lol. He is just full of too much prettyboy protagonist style while also being loaded to the balls full of magic power and having real Belmont swag. They could not have even a backstory version of this man that wouldn't threaten to upstage their constantly berated Richter, or their precious fanservice Alucard they just redesigned. He is too powerful.

Regardless, they felt the need to literally take away everything that makes Juste recognizable - his outfit, his powers, his friends, even his face!(that beard really is horrendous, it actually feels like it is there to hide his face istg). He can't even have his character flaws, they had to be replaced with ones that make him more suitably disaffected. All for the completely 0 pay off of another Useless Belmont.

[starlitwishes]

((Me thinking I’m not gonna pull anything angsty for the Lantern Rite Event:

“Heheh... Seeeee, I can do fluffy happy stuff too!”

Me when I realize I’ve already established that Evan is severely triggered by sudden loud, explosive sounds and Fireworks are known for their bright flashes and extremely explosive, loud sounds:

“... Aw shit--”))

[monstriiss]

ooc: I have been on tumblr for 9 years and while I have encountered some unpleasant people I have never felt it necessary to actually go out of my way and post a call out on them, and it’s good to be skeptical of call outs because you can never tell if there is a motive behind it, but just look at how many people have been hurt by miles and its the same story EVERY TIME. He has no respect for your boundaries, he will guilt trip, lie, harass and bully in order to get what he wants and then play the victim card if he doesn’t get his way. Don’t get me started on the copious amounts of shit he has done like grooming minors, shipping incest etc. I used to scoff at DNI’s before but I’m so tired of seeing this nasty person slithering his way into friends when I know he’s just going to use them. I’m sad because I know I’m going to lose friends over this, but I need to do it for my own sake. So yeah, don’t interact if you follow miles please and soft block me. Just please be fucking careful.

[capncook]

the match cuts were beautiful, the homage 2 walt and what jesse learned from him despite the sheer evil he inflicted was palpable, there was closure in so many little areas that i didn’t even ASK for

the bad guys were Meh and i’m a lil bizarrified at jesse going full arthur morgan high noon with a .22 KLSDKFKDLSF but i’m not Mad at anything, alaska is obvious but a lil clich�� but OTHER THAN THAT

i gotta ramble somewhere about lil details !

- jesse wears like NOTHING of his own in the entire movie like he’s given clothes from todd etc, skinny + badger (beanie esp), new ones that don’t reflect him at all at the end, like it rly reinforces just how isolated he’s gonna be forever like alaska is all well and good but jesse’s only got a small slice of freedom, he can never have his own identity again and has to live under a guise pretending to be someone else EVERY single day, just seriously reflect on how fucked that is

- love all the lil things that i EXPECT tbh thanks to brba, i.e match cuts (shower scene especially), colour theory (yellow + red most prominent in el cam.ino it seems but also GREEN - money), parallels and allusions (i could be here all day listing), lighting (jesse + walt walking literally into the shadows / jesse and lighter / flashlight), soundtrack (search montage + ending), the acknowledgement that walt taught jesse as much as he destroyed him, the callback to brock at the end without a full blown reunion (would’ve been unnecessary and cliché)

- jesse’s mindset was PRISTINE i didn’t disagree with a single choice he made as pertaining to his characterisation : shaving at the beginning despite the risk bc he can be CLEAN again, still trying to see the good in the worst people, i.e. trying to find justified reasons for todd to kill his cleaning woman - did she steal your money? what did she do?, then the gut instinct of wanting to escape but relenting to subservience (pepperoni pizza scene) - big dick energy of not having anything left to live for and therefore no longer being scared to die (SO easily paralleled to early season brba scenes w/tuco), killing so easily at the end was not surprising

i also liked the cameos! i wasnt drenched in characters from brba but had enough scattered to make me nostalgic and familiar, his parents were adequately reinforced Assholes but i like that they balance out with the attempts at parenthood - picnics, turn yourself in, their behaviour during the phone call as well as jesse’s reassurances to them - like they clearly tried but it was minimal effort thrown out the window at the first sign of a more conventionally talented son so FUCK them, it rly speaks wonders that while walt did Way more to ruin jesse he also did way more to support him like y’all are THAT bad at parenting huh ...

also we KNOW my thematic refs to bugs in my portrayal so lil beetle scene was v good to me :) and ed’s desc of jesse as having a tat of a large insect above his brow like yes give me associations x

[therealdorthyspinner]

what’s the point of being magical if you’re just going to sit in mansion and tell people they’re doing things wrong?

[tossawary]

For whatever reason, my brain fed me a “Shen Yuan transmigrates in as Linguang-Jun” AU. Probably just as a one-shot thing to explore a SY & MBJ relationship. This happens when MBJ is an older child or a young teen, I think, so LGJ has done some shit, but the shitty relationship isn’t totally set in stone yet. SY panics, of course, because he has no idea how to be a demon. 

SY eventually settles on trying to make good with MBJ (within the limits of the OOC locks at first) so that Mobei-Jun doesn’t grow up to kill him. Young MBJ’s first reaction is that this is a trick of some kind, albeit an extremely confusing one. Young MBJ eventually witnesses something (SY utterly failing to use his demon powers while he’s still trying to figure them out) and it clicks for MBJ that his uncle has been possessed or replaced. 

MBJ eventually decides that his uncle has been permanently possessed by a dream demon or the like. Should he tell someone about this? Maybe! But he kind of likes this version of his shitty uncle better. This version of LGJ isn’t trying to kill him and, like, serves that bastard right getting his body stolen by an apparently incompetent dream demon. 

SY fakes it until he (kind of) makes it as a demon. LGJ has been scary enough over the years and has MBJ’s father’s protection, so SY doesn’t have to jockey for power too much. SY is also kind of good at playing elegant, handsome villains when he’s called upon to do so (SY could consider what this says about him as a person, but he’s not going to). SY is mostly left alone to study horrible monsters to his heart’s content. 

And also hang out with young Mobei-Jun. MBJ takes advantage of SY to, idk, get his hands on some family weapon locked up in a vault where kiddos can’t get it, like a child tricking their uncle into giving them car keys at twelve. Uncle-nephew trips consist of MBJ using this new LGJ!SY who wants to win his favor as a get-out-of-jail-free card. 

Shen Yuan: “MY darling nephew? Steal YOUR demon horse? Unlikely! How dare you make such an accusation!” 

Mobei-Jun: *absolutely did do that for kicks and is very curious to see how far he can take this before someone calls him on it*

Eventually, a teenage or young adult MBJ meets Shang Qinghua. He doesn’t tell SQH about the dream demon possessing his uncle, nor does he tell the dream demon possessing his uncle about SQH. At least, not until he overhears SQH use a word that MBJ has overheard SY use before, something like, “WTF.” And then MBJ is like, “What does that word mean?” 

Shang Qinghua: “My king-?! Oh, uh, nothing! Nothing, really!” 

Mobei-Jun: “I have heard this word before. I know it means something. What does this word mean?” 

Shang Qinghua: “...You’ve...? Wait, what?!” 

And then MBJ gets badgered into letting SQH meet the new Linguang-Jun. SQH does not play this subtle enough for MBJ not to have questions, so MBJ exits the room and then blatantly eavesdrops on the conversation because SQH and LGJ generally seem to forget about the extent of demon hearing. 

Shang Qinghua: “Proud Immortal Demon Way?” 

Linguang-Jun!SY: “...Another transmigrator?!!!” 

And Mobei-Jun is like, “Oh, Shang Qinghua is also a dream demon. This makes sense given the many strange things about him. I am very clever.” 

Just because, I really like the idea of MBJ actually being able to perceive transmigrators to some degree? Given his family’s bullshit about consuming and stealing power, he’s always on the lookout for possession (but he’s unfamiliar with humans, so it’s harder there). So, like, there’s Mobei-Jun and his two “dream demons” who are quite bad at pretending to be the powerful demon and the ordinary human they’re possessing. He’s cool with this. 

SY gets MBJ to treat SQH decently. Kind of accidentally, but still.

Anyway, I’m going to assume that #1 LBH fanboy Shen Yuan finds an excuse to go “check” on the poor young protagonist at some point. He badgers Shang Qinghua about how the kid is doing and SQH is like, “Oh, yeah, that kid is definitely being abused.” Shen Yuan talks himself into becoming a secret demonic patron and mentor, just to make sure that the protagonist doesn’t end up growing up to kill him, you know. 

LBH ends up taking a lot of away missions from the peak to stay away from SQQ, who is basically like, “Yes, fuck off. If you die, that’s fine.” And LBH keeps running into his “secret demonic patron and mentor”. And maybe being saved by SY several times. SY kind of digs the idea of being able to offer wise advice to the protagonist. That’s not a bad position, right? 

LBH falling in love with this mysterious and weirdly kind demon lord? It’s exactly as likely as you think. Age difference? No issue in LBH’s mind! 

(SY probably accidentally runs into Liu Qingge too, and saves and kind of seduces the man, of course. Liu Qingge makes it his mission to track this demon down because he is VERY ANGRY about this.) 

If SY can make SQQ into LBH’s type, then he can absolutely make LGJ into LBH’s type. When Shang Qinghua cottons on to this, he’s just like, “A handsome ice demon with villainous character design? My, uh, protagonist and I have very similar taste in men, I guess. Holy shit.” 

Mobei-Jun and Post-Abyss Luo Binghe face-off for Luo Binghe’s rights to court the totally oblivious “dream demon” possessing Mobei-Jun’s uncle. Because I like the idea of Mobei-Jun repeatedly giving the protagonist “impossible tasks” just to fuck with him and then being mildly surprised when LBH keeps succeeding, while LBH can’t bully MBJ because MBJ is SY’s “darling nephew” and LBH doesn’t want to upset SY. (Very smug MBJ face here.) 

Eventually Mobei-Jun is like, “Go conquer the Demon Realm, I guess?” So LBH spends the next 5 years or so doing that, sending SY many, many gifts and letters. While Mobei-Jun is like, “It won’t actually help him. Dream demons are very stupid and must be told directly of any romantic feelings.” 

Shang Qinghua: “Haha, I guess. Wait- dream demon?!” 

Mobei-Jun: “Oh, I forgot to tell you I knew.” 

Mobei-Jun’s face turns extremely judgmental. 

Mobei-Jun: “You really didn’t know that I know what you are?” 

Shang Qinghua: “...No...?!” 

[bard-llama]

The Taint of the Common Man (Meve/Reynard/Gascon)

Okay, so I finally tried to play Thronebreaker again and it turned out that my comptuer/steam/whatever had actually kept my save!!! So I didn’t have to start over, which was good, because the beginning was kinda boring, which is why it took me so long to continue. But it’s also kinda bad, because now I do not remember anything about Gascon’s introduction beyond “they fought, Meve won and threatened to hang him next time”. Which like... I could probably make it work, but knowing the details seems important for writing Meve’s feelings and reactions to Gascon. 

Anyway, this is a continuation of the thoughts that this lovely post inspired, and because I’m me, those thoughts grew a plot. Both the link and the rest of the story involve a VERY dubcon/noncon premise, so please engage only if you can. Also, spoilers for Chapter 1 of Thronebreaker (aka major plot things that happen once you reach Lyria’s capital).

Okay, once again: HUGE WARNING for Dubcon/Noncon stuff. Like, it’s how the story starts and it’s gonna be something dealt with through the whole story. My idea is basically a story that starts with Meve losing EVERYTHING, and then, through her quest to reclaim her throne, she learns how to be a better queen to ALL of her people, not just the noblemen. End game is intended to be Meve/Reynard/Gascon, but tbh, idk how they get there. Like, at first, Meve and Reynard hate Gascon A LOT, so they have to learn to love him and that takes time.

I’m kinda still learning about these characters as I think this through, so apologies if you find them ooc or if I contradict canon (without meaning to. Sometimes i do it gladly lol)

So we start with Meve returning to the Lyrian castle, only to find that her son and the Council of Peers (read: ruling council that advises the monarch and consists entirely of peerage aka nobility) have betrayed her and surrendered to Nilfgaard. She’s thrown in a dungeon and though her son orders that she is not to be harmed, she knows enough about reality to know they’d never let her live. 

She’s on guard, waiting for the guards to come and kill her - only when footsteps approach, it’s not the guards at all, but the fucking Duke of Dogs, the leader of the Strays of Spalla, a gang of bandits that plague merchant caravans and noblemen alike. Gascon, the proclaimed Duke of Dogs, opens the cell door and steps in and tells Meve that he’s freeing her, because the Council of Peers used him and his men and he can’t abide betrayal. But there’s one condition - Meve has to ask him, all nice and polite-like.

Meve, of course, refuses, because she’s nothing if not prideful. So Gascon closes the cell door and leans back against it and says something like, “guess we won’t be leaving, then. Unless, of course, you’d prefer to do something else on your knees,” or some sort of implication like that that makes it clear he’s suggesting that she blow him in exchange for release. And Meve is furious and her pride cuts at her, but dammit, she has no hope of freeing Lyria from Nilfgaard’s grasp while stuck in here. So she goes to her knees. And Gascon is surprised - from his view, she could’ve just begged him??? - but like... the QUEEN is on her KNEES for HIM, a (decidedly un)common bandit who she’d threatened to hang not a week prior. 

Also, I think there’s also a part of Gascon that blames Meve for the massacre of his family. According to the wiki, the year before King Reginald (Meve’s husband) died, Gascon’s family revolted against the king and were soundly squashed, with Gascon at a mere 8 years old the only one to survive. From there, he fell in with the Strays of Spalla and eventually became their leader. Remember this bit, ‘cause I’m definitely gonna come back to it. But anyway, Gascon doesn’t like Meve. He’s doing this because it’s the right thing to do and a little because having the queen indebted to him feels awfully good. Also, Meve is good with her mouth.

So good, in fact, that she drives him crazy, taking him to the edge and teasing him and teasing him and teasing him until his legs are shaking and the cell door is all that’s holding him up. I don’t think he actually begs, because his men are around the cell watching this, but he has to bite his lip hard to keep from doing so.

For Meve, there are many complicated feelings happening. On the one hand, this is humiliating and degrading and it’s shameful that she’s fallen so far as to be forced to service a fucking bandit and even worse that his men are SEEING this happen.

On the other hand... look, Meve was widowed 8 years ago. Somewhere in there (or before?), she comes to love and trust Reynard - who her husband, upon his deathbed, told her that he alone could be trusted. But she hasn’t made a move, because it wouldn’t be appropriate and she doesn’t want to ruin things between them. 

Point is, it’s been 8 years since she’s had sex and she has had cause to desire some sex. Queens can probably get amazing sex toys, but like, an actual cock? it’s been AGES since she’s been able to play with one and she kind of missed it. 

Additionally, in an effort to combat her shame and humiliation, she decides to flip the script on them. Gascon wants her to blow him? Fine, she’ll blow him so well that he utterly falls apart. And maybe she’s a little of practice, but Gascon is young anyway, he probably doesn’t even know better lmao. (But later, she’s oddly grateful that she had this chance for ‘practice’ before it actually mattered)

Eventually, she lets Gascon come - or maybe he uses his grip on her hair to pull her onto him? (She may decide to make it a good blowjob, but that doesn’t mean he’s earned deepthroating) - and the Strays, who have gone from hooting and hollering over the queen’s humiliation to flushed and aroused at the skillful way she destroyed their boss, let them out of the cell. 

Next, they go to the city jail to release Reynard, who was arrested as soon as the coup happened because everyone knows that Reynard’s loyalty to the crown is absolute. Reynard is sitting against the wall and he smiles brightly at the sight of her, so Meve strides into the cell to unshackle him. So of course Gascon, who now stands in front of the door once more, suggests something like, “such faithful loyalty deserves ample reward, does it not?”

And Meve is conflicted. Because AGAIN, the Strays of Spalla are watching them and Gascon is trying elicit sexual favours from her. But also, it’s Reynard. She’s wondered for so long what Reynard’s cock would be like and how he would treat her. And, she justifies to herself, she was already forced to give a piece of filth like Gascon a blowjob. Reynard most certainly deserved better.

So she orders him to stand and goes to her knees and is almost eager to get him in her mouth. And Reynard is caught entirely off guard here, because he was ready to skewer Gascon for the mere suggestion, and then she’s ACTUALLY DOING IT!!! And it’s not like she’s alone in having thought about it, but he always assumed that he would be the one on his knees. So for her to do so... he’s awed and a little horrified that he is party to degrading his queen in this way. And also aroused. REALLY fucking aroused, because Meve is on her knees for him! And unlike Gascon, he has earned deepthroating. Fortunately, he’s already leaning against the wall, so he doesn’t collapse. 

If Gascon hadn’t had the most intense orgasm of his life like 10 minutes previously, he’d definitely try to see if he could join in, even though they really don’t have the time for that sort of thing. But suffice it to say, Gascon remembers each and every moment Meve spent on her knees vividly.

Reynard comes (and Gascon is reluctantly pleased to have a companion in the wait-you-want-me-to-fight-after-how-hard-I-came!? club) and they all leave the dungeons - and get found by a patrol of guards. They have to fight their way out and Meve thinks Gascon managed to slip away - right up until he comes to their aid with his whole crew. With Gascon’s help, their motley crew flees the capital of Lyria (largely by traveling thru the sewers).

That night, they set up camp somewhere and instead of the royal supplies she’s used to, all they have is whatever the Strays of Spalla had, which means stolen and/or threadbare, ‘cause they’re not exactly living the high life. And Meve knows she should get some rest, but she can’t stop thinking about what happened in the prison(s) and she decides that, as long as Reynard was willing, why shouldn’t she pursue the man she loved? 

So she goes to the mess tent and it’s predictably full of drunken soldiers - well, drunken warriors. This rabble didn’t deserve to be called soldiers - and clusters of people playing dice and cards. She spots Reynard at one of the card tables - but sitting across from him is none other than the motherfucking Duke of Dogs. Half-formed plans to kiss Reynard drown under the flood of fury she feels and she summons Reynard to her, ignoring Gascon, who definitely tries to flirt with her. At this moment, she has VERY conflicted feelings about Gascon and most of them are negative. But also, they need him. She is very much aware that his men are the only reason she has any chance at all of taking back her home.

Anyway, Meve confronts Reynard, who explains that he doesn’t trust Gascon as far as he can throw him and whatever mischief Gascon is up to, whatever he thinks he can gain from helping them, Reynard is ready for the doublecross. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer is very much his philosophy, compounded by the way he has learned not to reveal - well, much at all. People probably find him very... is softspoken the word? Not like he speaks soft, but like, he doesn’t say a lot. He learned to keep his mouth shut after he managed to survive insulting the king, so he plays things pretty close to his chest and people find it hard to guess what he’s thinking. 

Gascon, for his part, is helping Meve because it’s the right thing to do (and a little because again, queen indebted to you? Very handy). He’s probably aware that Reynard doesn’t like him, even if Reynard acts friendly enough? Like, literally Reynard is so loyal to Meve that he was imprisoned and she was sure of his fealty. And Gascon has found ways to rationalize what he did i.e. raping Meve - she could’ve just begged! She had a choice! - but even though Reynard got a blowjob out of it, I’m sure Gascon would assume that Reynard would want him dead for the blowjob that he got.

I don’t precisely know what Reynard and Gascon’s relationship is like during this, tbh. I think it’ll be Meve’s POV, so she may have a limited view, but I think it’s definitely complicated. Made worse, of course, by both Meve and Reynard beginning to see the redeeming qualities in Gascon. But that comes later.

For now, Meve accepts Reynard’s explanation and knowing that he would do anything to protect her soothes some of the ruffled feathers from a very trying day. So she decides to subtly ask him something like, “come to my tent?” that like, isn’t blatant ‘cause they’re surrounded by drunk men, but also is pretty clear. And Reynard’s eyes widen and it hurts so much to do, but he tells her no. She’s had an intense fucking day - betrayed by her son and court, imprisoned, forced to give multiple blowjobs and work with lowly bandits and shit. Like, she’s been through a lot and he knows that she’s not able to be in her right mind. So he says no, part of him hoping that if she actually means it, she’ll try again in the morning.

But what Meve hears is no, not interested. Which makes this the third time today that she gets to be humiliated in front of the fucking Strays of Spalla, because not only is the man she loves rejecting her, but like... is he rejecting her because she’s tainted now? How is she supposed to interpret him enjoying a blowjob from her one hour and rejecting her advances the next? 

And the taint... I think that’ll be a theme in this fic (thus the title). Like, at the height of her power before the fall, Meve was “pure” - which in this case means firmly assured that she was right in everything, as she was always destined to be. There’s no questioning of the world order or if she’s qualified to lead. She simply knows that she is.

But now she’s been betrayed, her nobility and her title ripped from her grasp. And not only that, but she’s demeaned herself with a common thug! She even says it in the game - “look how far we’ve fallen, to be surrounded by peasants and deserters and bandits”. For her, this entire situation is almost like “being common” is reaching for her, trying to pull her in, and she wants to resist, because she’s always been taught that the nobles are BETTER than the common people. But as she works with her army of thugs and commoners, she starts to learn that poor people are people too (gee, who’da thunk it?)

That journey takes time, though, and we’re barely at the start of it! 

So, Meve gets rejected. She’s hurt and humiliated and at the moment doesn’t have a kind word for ANYBODY. She maybe cries herself to sleep and hates herself for being weak.

Then morning comes and she has her regular strategy meeting with Reynard, as she did every morning. And it’s awkward and Reynard is as silent as usual, always so deliberate about every word that leaves his mouth. And she wants to ask, but yesterday’s humiliation was enough. She can’t repeat it.

So even though they SHOULD’VE gotten together, they fail to, because Meve is stubborn and prideful and Reynard is closelipped and proper. And Meve kind of hates even the sight of Gascon, but since he IS the leader of the army that is currently only at her disposal because of him, she invites him to join the strategy meetings every morning. If Gascon helps provide a buffer between her and Reynard, so much the better.

Okay, I don’t actually know how everyone ACTUALLY gets together, BUT as they travel through the countryside of Lyria towards the Aedirnian border, a couple of important things happen.

1) Meve sees the real conditions of the people living in her realm. Even in areas that the lords had reported prosperous, people were starving and dying. She starts to learn that these are her people too.

2) Meve and Reynard get to know Gascon. Not just over their strategy meetings, but as they observe him and the Strays of Spalla they (Meve especially) begin to realize that their judgements were all wrong. Because yes, the Strays of Spalla are bandits. They steal from wealthy merchants and even wealthier nobles. That had always been enough to know before.

But now they come to know that that stolen food and blankets and supplies and coin went to the starving peasants in these lands. Hell, most of the Strays are from these areas. These are their people, even if Meve hasn’t figured out that they’re hers too.

Anyway, idk how they get together or how the story ends - is it with them getting together? Getting to Vengerberg to ask for help to reclaim their home? Ousting Villem and taking Lyria back? idk, I haven’t even gotten that far in the game yet lol.

So yeah, here’s a very long synopsis of a story that manages to have almost no porn and lots of angst, despite being inspired by a purely porny post lmao.

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Fic Title

Who We Are

10000% I would use this as the title for any fic where Izuku has a kid who is a reincarnation and have...

 Idea. Oh shit this is hilarious.

Okay so, Wanda and Xanxus are reborn as the siblings of Tomoe- triplets. Wanda keeps her powers as does Xanxus and they have WILDLY different reactions.

Like Wanda can pick up his thoughts so she KNOWS he’s a reincarnation of an assassin. She also had joined Hydra of her own free will so she’s like: I won’t fuss over this. (I will forever headcanon Wanda only joined the Avengers cause she didn’t want to go to jail, but then slowly began actually wanting to be good-and I only added that part because I decided fuck canon after WandaVision and have her OOC because she makes no sense otherwise.)

She tells Xanxus this, also picking up that they are in fact in a different universe. Xanxus is kinda weirded out but also goes: Oh so like Mist Bullshit.

Anyway, one thing they both agree on?

 The fact their new baby sister is adorable and their mother is a hardworking saint who is a young mom trying to go to school and raise them. So they are the absolute best angels they can be for her.

 Yes this is Fem!Izumi with a similar backstory as in POTSOD. (Xanxus calls dibs on murdering their sperm donor)

 Wanda and Xanxus show signs of their powers early and Izumi kinda frets because she isn’t sure if she can then provide for them, meaning she might get them taken away.

 She ends up unknowingly picking the phone up before her mother does one day to talk to her dad and she expresses this worry.

“...What? You... your mother didn’t tell me this.” Oops.

 Inko is DRAGGED by her husband for not telling him and also because he does NOT trust her anymore, sends Izumi a debit card and tells her he can’t wait to get pictures.

Xanxus and Wanda are feral about protecting their mother and have no shame in lowkey terrifying Inko into not causing a problem and also lowkey terrifying everyone at daycare for how they treat Tomoe.

Honestly... I dunno, the title was going to have me go into a serious like debate about reincarnation and shit but now I’m just cackling over two kids who have every reason to like be feral over family and their reaction to Izumi getting OFA, going to UA and nearly DYING multiple times and... *cackles*

Pairings: You know what, it’s an AU let’s set a pairing as one I’m like 90% sure I won’t use... which is SeroDeku.

Notes: Just... hoestly there would be some moody ‘who we are’ moments with Wanda and Xanxus brooding... but then Tomoe waddles in to play with her brother and sister.

[olderthannetfic]

Hey. I have a bit of an in-depth fannish issue to ask you and no worries at all if you don't have the time, or the inclination, to answer. I'm coming to you because I'm not really part of a fandom community at the moment and didn't know where to direct this question! I love your blog and check it frequently for general fannish discourse, especially regarding transformative works . I hope you don't mind me sending you an ask! The issue is – I realised last night that an author on Wattpad (1/3)

whose fics I LOVE has actually copied these fics word-for-word from stories on AO3 and FFN (in different fandoms to the one she's writing in). She's changed character names, plus removed a few lines that don't make sense. Also, her fics are kind of 'cobbled together' from these stories. E.g., one of the AO3 originals is 250k words long, and she has taken bits from the different chapters and put them together to make something shorter. In case you're interested, the fandom she's writing in (2/3)

is RPF (bandom), while the AO3/FFN fics are not RPF (they're anime and video games). My question is, what the heck should I do, if anything? I completely appreciate that you might not have a direct imperative to offer, but equally, I thought you might – I simply don't know what either the etiquette is here, or the 'moral' right thing to do, if describing it in this way isn't overkill. I feel bad for the author who's being plagiarised (?). Equally, the Wattpad author's works are (3/4 – sorry!!)

kind of... transformative – fitting the characters she's writing about SO well, despite having been written in the first place about completely different characters and bringing a lot of new insight. Then again, she doesn't credit the original author anywhere; she accepts praise for this writing. That doesn't matter that much to me, but it might to others, e.g. the original author. Help! Have you ever come across sth. similar? All caveats at the beginning withstanding – thank you.

This is what standard fandom plagiarism looks like, actually. (And Wattpad is particularly rife with it from what I hear, though it has been a constant for the whole time I’ve been in fandom.) Cassie Claire didn’t take stories and find and replace the names: she put some great lines or some paragraphs or a few pages into a longer, cobbled together piece.

Historically, the reaction has generally been to treat it as 100% plagiarism that is not at all transformative, freak the fuck out, and try to drive the offending party from fandom forever. Whether that’s the correct approach is another question, but that’s how fandom communities typically respond. I know of people who are basically blacklisted forever for having pulled something similar a decade or two ago. Others, like CC, retain staunch defenders. It’s mostly down to how popular the person was when they got found out, not the character and frequency of their plagiarism.

We excuse people we like. We relish having ammo against people we don’t.

My personal feeling is that this isn’t meaningfully transformative. It’s more an illustration of how fortune cookies and horoscopes work, if anything. In other words, it’s the Forer/Barnum Effect.

I could take almost anything, including my real life, put bandom names on it, tweak it a little, and have a fic that would read as an interesting--but not completely OOC--AU to people. Hell, my college roommate did this with our actual lives and Harry Potter. It wasn’t plagiarism, obviously, but my dumb college behavior wasn’t specifically IC for Ron Weasley. It was just plausible for a person (sadly) and my roommate is a good writer, so people liked it.

Basically, I’m saying you shouldn’t offer the author a get out of jail free card just because you like the finished product. I don’t think they’ve done much to earn that love. They’re just a garden variety plagiarist.

You could tell the author you think it’s wrong, if you do indeed think it’s wrong. You could report them to Wattpad. You could inform the authors they’re plagiarizing. Ultimately, there’s no particularly good answer because the plagiarizer probably doesn’t think what they’re doing is wrong or doesn’t care. You can possibly get their fans to turn on them or get their account deleted.

But what’s fundamentally going on here is that someone wants attention, and they want it badly enough to take a shortcut by stealing someone else’s work. That’s not something you’re going to be able to address as a rando who reads their Wattpad stories.

[steveyockey]

I'm 100% with you about Chuck, and Cas and Jack, and I even think that in the moment Dean would do all those things people say are ooc. I just wish they had used that to make him aware that he was becoming John and him trying to work things out with Jack (like the prayer in purgatory "justified" all the things that happened between him and Cas since Mary's death). I'm not sure if I'm being articulate (specially since English is not my first language). What do you think? (Happy six months Ziz!!)

I absolutely think everything dean does in dabb era is in character especially CONSIDERING his previous eleven years and how those have molded him to be more complacent and taught him to view himself as a “justified” moral force in the world. obviously the show does a disservice in that, by binding itself to dean needing to be right all the time, it leaves very little room to critique dean’s actions. but I think it’s also a bit cavalier to ignore that you could say similar things about the lack of atonement for pretty much every season of supernatural — the show is not big on people sitting down, owning up to misdeeds and growing relationships in meaningful ways, you either suffer exponentially for what you have done or you get off scot-free. and maybe I just have a worse estimation of dean from earlier seasons but his moments of cruelty and callousness in dabb era don’t strike me as excessive compared to anything else he has done or at least don’t seem inappropriately scaled up. and, as always, the chuck villain reveal is indeed the ultimate get out of jail free card where, if there was any moment I felt dean was being forced into a decision for the sake of the narrative, well guess what! textually he was! literally he was made to do all that! which of course leads to some very delicious contemplation around what actions we own or do not own when our lives are being dictated by someone else. I like that he’s mean I like that he’s messy I like that he can’t accept jack as his son as long as he can’t accept cas as his romantic partner. I don’t feel the need to condone any of his actions because many of them are not condonable in the same way much of supernatural isn’t. he’s not my role model he’s just a guy.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

Like, I get that the show will never address the aftermath of “Ladybug”, but I’m kinda surprised that it hasn’t show up in any salt fic (Or at least the ones I have seen): Lila gave herself in a silver plate to Marinette.

And even if Marinette is not a vindictive person, still, Lila made sure that Marinette getting expelled was an extremely public thing, painting herself as a victim... and then the girl who supposedly cheated on a test, stole from her and pushed her down the stairs returns the next day(s) as if nothing happened... people talk, and at the very least, it would be very in character for Alya to question things (It would be OOC if she just accepts that Mari is back, her reaction at least should be “good thing they caught the person who framed you”, but we know canon loves to make her OOC to make the plot move). What I’m saying is that Alya would eventually find the real reason. That Lila has a condition that makes her lie her ass off. And she will apologize to Marinette, even if pointing out Lila’s lies come out as a bit ableist, Marinette wasn’t aware of that condition either. And she will be more careful around Lila too.

OR, if Marinette gets more vindictive, Lila has given her a “get out of jail free” card. Even if she doesn’t expose Lila, she can simply go to miss Bustier and/or Damocles and accuse Lila of anything she wants, and if Lila tries to deny the accusations, Marinette will feign preoccupation and wonder out loud if her “condition” is acting up again.

[the-thursday]

okay i promised i’ll put this AU on tumblr as well. i worked this AU out together with @araluenrangerdanger . i think you’ll find it maybe ooc in some cases. i am not that proud of it either

Halt doesn’t meet with Crowley right away like he does in The Hibernian. For some reasons (imagine whatever suits you) he joins Morgarath. So basically he goes against Crowley. On Morgarath’s orders, he kidnaps Crowley. Crowley is then held prisoner at Gorlan. He gets tortured for information. By Halt. Over some time, in his feverish dreams, he starts calling out to Pritchard. Halt starts to have some doubts over himself, he starts to question himself and starts to compare himself to his brother. He starts being kind to Crowley, helps him to get his strength back and helps him escape. 

They don’t see each other for a long time. When Morgarath loses the first war against the crown, many of his lieutenants get captured and Halt is among them. One of you guys proposed that Halt gets capture when he’s saving Will (i am so sorry, i have no idea how are you called on tumblr). (Halt does more things like this as the war is nearing to an end). Now, cards are turned and Halt is being visited in jail by Crowley, who talks with him and the two of them get to know each other. 

The captured are about to be executed but Crowley pleads for Halt’s life. He mentions Halt’s skills and his relation to Pritchard, so Halt gets an offer. To be executed or to become ranger loyal to the crown to the very end of his life. So basically, he can’t ever quit being ranger. Years in the future, Duncan considers him redeemed and “sets him free” (jeez this sounds so bad), which means Halt can quit being ranger. However, by that time, he’s already friends with everyone so when Duncan brings it up, it’s really awkard.

Okay so this is short version of it (yea i know). i decided to write it as a fic, however, as you all know i suck at writing anything that has over 2k so i decided to write it as series of one shots that won’t be time related. it will solely depend on my mood. if anyone is interested, the first chapter will be on archive in few minutes

[gossipgirls]

LBR if the show was made now, it wouldn’t be as good because of the moral and social conscience that exists now (which is good). Shows like gg, tvd, pll, friends, etc relied on the shock factor and heinous storylines for shock value to get tv viewers. Now that shows are being streamed, they don’t have to focus on crazy storylines that seem ooc or ridiculous. I don’t critique the awful things in gg as much cuz Ik that it was for entertainment purposes

my stance is that it’s important to criticize the media you consume, regardless of how old ago it was made. i’m consuming it now in 2020, so i’ll criticize it now in 2020, by 2020 standards. while i’m completely aware that the writers likely did not even think of these things as they were writing it and i certainly keep that in mind as i watch, that’s not exactly a get out of jail free card. it was definitely made during a different time, and its intentions plot-wise were different than many shows now, that’s 100% true, but smart, critical consumption of media is crucial - media is a really powerful tool in the dissemination and normalization of certain behaviours and world views, whether creators intend it to be or not. it’s important to stay aware in order to avoid internalizing some harmful messaging. there’s no harm in saying “i love this show and will continue to enjoy it, but this part of this show is sexist/racist/etc.” in fact, there’s more harm in saying “i love this show therefore it has no issues at all,” or even in saying “this show has this issue therefore nobody should ever enjoy it and this shouldn’t be allowed on television at all.” very true that gossip girl was never meant to be a politically correct show; it was meant to be salacious, intriguing, entertaining, a guilty pleasure. which is why i think all of the “this show is toxic can’t believe people like this garbage 😤” is ridiculous (we know it’s toxic... but sometimes that’s what is entertaining, to see something on screen that you don’t see in real life - this is probably a controversial statement, but a true one - that’s why soaps have always been so popular - hell, that’s why tragedies were so popular in ancient greece!). but gg was also intended to be watched by teen girls, an awfully vulnerable demographic when it comes to messaging about misogyny and rape culture. acknowledging this and attempting to mitigate the show’s damage is a good thing and is, in my opinion, the proper, safest way to consume media. it’s good fun to watch the show, to ship the characters, etc. because that’s obviously what television is for! but it’s also really important to not get into the “every girl needs a chuck bass 😋” stuff, which is the risk we run if we aren’t proactive in pointing out a show’s faults. a balance is needed, and fandom culture tends to lean too far in one particular direction rather than accepting that enjoyment and criticism are both important parts of media consumption.

i get asks like this rather frequently and i’m not sure if it’s because people think i do this too much––my personal fear is that i don’t do it enough––but it’s something that i will never stop doing. i’m not a “this is awful and needs to be taken off television and we should never allow this type of content to be shown on tv” type of person because i think that is dangerous in a different way and is also just unrealistic, but it’s also not in my personal nature to sit back and not notice issues.

[capncook]

i just worked 18 hours and instead of goin to bed i’m FINALLY watching el ca.mino gg