#And I'm NOT going to deal with people being nasty about cute characters

[campbell-rose]

Alastor Redesign

Omg there’s like over 70 people following me – guys I'm o///O flattered and flabbergasted. 

Anyway, onto today’s main event, Alastor. I hate Alastor’s og design, I hate his twig waist and his shoulder pads and the way you can’t see his antlers next to his ears, and his bow tie ugh viv please and his HAIR what even is that??? Not even mentioning that nothing about his design is really like a focal point. There’s no one thing that’s particularly interesting. At least before this he had that cathedral window looking cross on his undershirt that I found interesting. Nothing about his says he’s from the 1930’s other than dialogue. 

I wanted him to be in greyscale because that’s the coolest aesthetic, and colored photos weren’t a thing until way after the 30s. Recently I saw jjk, and Jogo’s teeth threw me because at some points I thought he was just straight up toothless. But then when I started this design, that colored tooth look spoke to me. Initially his teeth were yellow to look gross like he never brushes them, but then I was like ‘ayo wait, he’s literally a cannibal’, thus his vibrant red teeth to really pop against his greyscale. Initially his undershirt was white, but I feel like that was too much contrast and white is typically innocence, so by instead having a deep red it shows he’s just straight up bloodthirsty underneath his formal appearance. I also considered it being black, but then he looked like a pastor, and I wasn’t too much of a fan of it. The idea of the red on his design is that it leads your eye down his design to take it all in, with his face being the focus. I gave him glasses because I like the way it obscures his eyes a bit and I imagine they do the anime thing where they glow and hide his eyes. I liked Viv’s idea of sinners having marks where they died, and I slicked his hair back to show it off very prominently. His antlers are larger, I gave him cute lil deer ears. Also, under his suit he is lowkey buff. I feel like a serial killer should at least look physically capable of taking someone down not whatever the fuck viv’s nasty twig men can do. Like, in that comic with the cute sheep girl, when Alastor goes demon mode his body looks so snappable I just wanna like grab his waist in my hands and break it like a twig. I also tried to keep his design simple as if this were for animation, I know pinstripes are complicated and so are antlers but other than that I tried to keep his design basic. 

If I were to rewrite him based solely on the pilot, I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. Alastor is a decent character, his voice actor gives him life, the radio filter is cool, and nothing he did made me want to break my screen (ANGELDUST). The only thing I'd change would be his position in hell. Like, viv’s hell is so wack and I hate it, she’s got the princes, then the goetia and the overlords and then sinners and blah blah, it’s a lot to keep track of, not even mentioning the rings and circles thing. I think Alastor should have had dealings with hell as a human, maybe he routinely did sacrifices or something, and he made a deal with the archdemon Alastor and when he died like... uuhhhhhhh. Maybe through connections he’s gained more power? Idk, I just know I hate the idea of his dying and then having like the bestest most powerful demon powers despite not being hellborn. It’s got this mary sue stench. I’ll figure it out, maybe, who knows. 

I’m not gonna start rewriting since there’s nothing to go off of and alter yet, so that’s gonna have to wait until the show actually drops before anything concrete happens lol. 

Also the sheep girl is a sinner that reoccurs in the show now so sorry I don’t make the rules, you can’t give me a cute sheep girl and try to take her away, I’m gonna redesign her and shove her into the plot as someone looking for redemption at the hotel

[ruumirmir]

𝘈 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘛𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 Part I Part II

ੈ♡˳ Author's◇ note - ladies and gentlemen i fear that im just yapping atp. Ough this is literally my own character how hard can it be to not make his dialogues ooc (quite a lot). aNYWAYS lo and behold part 2 of the voicelines. They're all subject to change as far as lorecrafting goes. But for now!!! loverboy has a lot to say:

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4] A big hulking figure followed by the sound of rattling metal chains as he walks...It would make anyone tremble with fear. Celestia knows what lies under that helmet, but you can rest assured that The Captain is fairly merciful to all. It's just a simple matter of being courteous and following orders. Dare I even say it... one thing that I've heard and observed from the grapevine- is that he's one of the more popular Harbingers... if the bold statements from my comrades are anything to go by.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4] Contrary to belief, the Prime Doctore is a completely sane man. His younger segments, not so much. His experiments have killed hundreds, and I'm sure he would continue if it wouldn't threaten Regrator's profits. He works a little too closely with Lord Regrator, which is bad enough for me. I can't stand it when he asks me to keep their struck deals and the Doctor's activities under wraps... but I do it anyway. I'd be happier if they were never in the same room together, but apparently, those two make 'quite the pair' if I had to quote some rumors.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4] Her reputation as dangerous, even among the Harbingers, should suggest you steer clear of her. I once made the mistake of catching her closed gaze while I was at the palace- and a nasty feeling of paranoia plagued me for days on end. However, if you end up under her radar and she deems you 'interesting'... well- I'll send you my condolences.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘦 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

The Knave, Arlecchino... she's quite the enigma. While she and Lord Regrator are both Harbingers, their demeanors, methods, and goals cannot be more distinct. Her methods, to say the least, are a touch... extreme. There's no denying her skills as a master manipulator and ruthless 'Father' of the House of the Hearth. It's certainly an improvement from the late Crucabena, or so I've heard from the older orphans. But then again, I haven't noticed any changes in the mortality rate of her... "children".

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

The old Rooster's influence can be found throughout Snezhnaya, and his connections are vast. He seems to be on good terms with Regrator, but that's the only thing I'm sure of. He serves as an advisor to the Fatui Harbingers, and his assistance goes beyond the scope of his political power. I suspect there's something important that he may be working on, but I have no idea where to start… They say he's a master strategist, but his only plans involve making a show that impresses a crowd. I only hope the next time he assembles the Harbingers together, it will be over his casket.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

Sandrone is the head of a team of engineers who build mechanical lifeforms. Some are small and cute, others gigantic and powerful... but all are emotionless and unfeeling. When I hear the word "creation" I think of beauty and passion, but Sandrone seems to only care about destruction. Just like the mech that carries her around. You'd never see her alone; it's as if the puppet is her true identity.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

Tartaglia, or Childe as some people call him, He definitely has the strength of a Harbinger, that much is undeniable. But he can be impulsive, even downright suicidal at times. It's as if he has no fear of dying. I guess that's what happens when you live for the thrill of the battle. I can't deny that... Even though he's a loudmouth, his skills back up his words. I've seen him cut through enemies as if they were made of butter. That being said, he's still young at heart. Occasionally disruptive for the duties carried out. He's developed an interest in dueling with me ever since Pantalone granted me this title. Lucky for me, I can always request for Regrator's presence whenever I want him to turn tail and disappear.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

The first time I saw Signora, I was struck by her beauty and gracefulness. Unfortunately, my admiration was short-lived as she turned to glare at me the moment she noticed. Arrogance. Ego. Self-conceit- now those are mere words when it comes to the Fair Lady. She was as cold as the snow that covers Snezhnaya and as temperamental as the flames she wielded. She had no tolerance for the weak and would just as easily snuff out a life without a second thought. Although I hold no love for her, I almost felt disrespected on her behalf when the Rooster thought to grant only half a day of mourning at her funeral.

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘐

The Northland Bank is a place of opportunity, a place where you can put your destiny into your own hands... and a place where you can see it stripped from you without warning. I have seen many people come and go in my time here. People from all walks of life, eager to make a name for themselves. Some have found the money and fortune they sought after, while others have fallen flat on their faces.

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘐𝘐 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 3]

I've seen countless conflicts waged with blood and steel, and they pale in comparison to the lives destroyed by the pen. They're both weapons in their own ways. The sword is more direct, no question about it. Yet the pen... it can cut in a more subtle manner, but it slices deep. Both are capable of ruining someone's life. The former requires power while the latter requires intelligence. Really brings out the irony in calling this feathered quill my 'signature' weapon.

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘐𝘐𝘐 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4]

To the untrained eye, it may seem like some sort of cruel joke. A title like ‘Venator Dux’ is usually given to one who would strike fear in their enemies and inspire confidence in their allies. Lord Regrator, however, has a different plan in mind. Pantalone sees me not as a ruthless warrior, but as the keeper of his secrets. Someone who can wield knowledge as a weapon and turn his enemies’ greed against them. To him, the title of ‘Venator Dux’ is a reminder of my duty. In his words, I was a useful piece that could shift the entire board on his whim. And isn't that something to take pride in? Knowing you're the most favored player in a man's game?

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘐𝘝 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 5]

My father died a proud soldier under the tsaritsa's name. He fought and bled on behalf of the nation she created and dedicated his life to protecting. *Sigh* My father would be ashamed if he could see me now, kneeling before a man. Especially after cursing his grave out for dying under another. The irony is not lost on me. Yet, I would rather serve a man who I respect, who I can reason with, than one who demands endless devotion from her subjects. In a strange way, I feel as though I am honouring my father's memory by following my own path.

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: 𝘝 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 6]

Hilarious to think back to my first year of duty. I was no more than a simple receptionist at the Northland Bank back then. Just another faceless pawn, doing my duty to the tsaritsa without questioning her intentions. All I knew was that I was serving the Fatui's goals. I did not kill anyone directly, yet I still had blood on my hands. Every transaction carried the potential for loss and pain, yet I pushed on regardless. I may have been just a receptionist, but I was already well aware of the cost of ambition. Pantalone then, was different from everyone else I'd met in the Fatui. He didn't use force of arms like the other Harbingers; instead, he used his words and intellect to manipulate the political landscape.

In addition, he held a unique perspective on the tsaritsa's ideals. Not once did he preach about blind devotion. He simply told me that if I wanted to make my mark on this world, I would have to be willing to play by his rules. It took me three years to realize what he insinuated... and I found myself gravitating back to him despite leaving the organization of my own accord.

𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘴 Playing the piano, perhaps? I'm no good at it yet... but I've been getting better with some help guiding my hand around the keys. It is... nice to unwind after a long day and let the instrument carry me away.

𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 [Unlocked at Friendship Lv. 4] *Sigh*... I have to be diplomatic with people I despise and feign politeness with those who can’t hold a conversation to save their lives. Sometimes- when I’m in the middle of running an important operation, few of my juniors just keep making mistakes. It makes me wonder how Lord Regrator manages to do the same for days on end with a smile on his face... I'm not like him at all.

𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 I've got a soft spot for a well-seasoned dish of meat. Any kind really— A hearty serving does wonders. Leaves you delightfully stuffed full, satisfied, and warm. I'm not too worried about the specifics of the dish as long as I can savor a mouthful of rich flavor.

𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 Desserts that are too sweet are an affront to my tastebuds and moral values. Sugar is supposed to be an element, not the whole personality. The only thing that does it well is dark chocolate.

𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵: 𝘐 Oh! A thoughtful choice, traveller. The aroma alone is tantalizing. Your efforts are appreciated. Thank you.

𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵: 𝘐𝘐 Hmm... a pragmatic choice. It may not be an extravagant feast, but it serves its purpose. Your gesture is noted.

𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵: 𝘐𝘐𝘐 An... interesting choice. I suppose variety is the spice of life, but I find my satisfaction elsewhere. Nonetheless, your intention is recognized. I won't let this go to waste.

𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 Why is there a celebration? A date marking the day of your own birth... It's simply illogical, but the Fatui celebrate birthdays like everything else, so I'll play along. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! There, I said it. You're now a year older, and one year closer to old age and inevitable death. Oh- haha, don't sulk like that, I'm just pulling your leg. Relax. I wouldn't ignore such an occasion. Here, my gift to you... A box of my favorite chocolates. Freshly imported from Fontaine... straight from a bakery approved by Lady Furina herself. They're a bit expensive; but only the best for people I respect.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰 [Unlocked at Ascension Phase 1] There are depths to my abilities yet untapped. I'm flattered that you thought to lend me a hand.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘱 [Unlocked at Ascension Phase 2] Oh... careful now, I might want to test it out against you.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘹 [Unlocked at Ascension Phase 4]

Oh, I've unlocked something new... Fascinating. That burst of light was unexpected but now... I can feel the power. Everything feels lighter and sharper at the same time. I'd be a formidable force indeed in the coming weeks... Well, back to work. My Lord expects a report on current fiscal state by the end of the week.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 [Unlocked at Ascension Phase 6]

Aha, I can do a lot more now. More power, better focus, and more options. This is truly remarkable... I'd love to see how my coworkers react to this. Lord Pantalone will be especially pleased, I'd wager. He'd never pass up the opportunity to see his prized jewels shine brighter.

Bonus:

𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵

Why not try your luck at gambling if you're running low on mora?

You could con a pretty penny out of someone with a couple of these trinkets. Hmm... no?

This is a pretty fun hobby.

𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺

What? No other companion to recruit?

I'll be charging you a fee of 5000 mora per hour for my services... Ha- I'm just messing with you.

I'm a busy man, so let's keep today's adventure short.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 130 thoughts

MEMCHO TIME!!!!!!! admittedly it feels a bit jarring to suddenly swerve to focusing on Mem following last chapter but I will never complain about Mem Time

This chapter focused on an aspect of Mem that I've talked about before and really appreciate in that it makes a point of saying that Mem is a lot smarter and much more capable than her front-facing persona tends to make her come off. It's not that the everyday Mem or the more mature, capable adult Mem are 'fake' in any way, but Memcho deliberately chooses to emphasize this bold energy of hers as a way of dealing with challenges and ingratiating herself to the people around her. As coping mechanisms for tough times go, it's honestly the most healthy anyone in this series gets lol

It's also possible I'm just saying this as The Ai Guy but it honestly reminds me a little bit of Ai's dichotomy - it's not that either side of her is 'fake' in comparison to the other, but she chooses to put on a more socially acceptable face by playing up certain aspects of her personality.

It's also interesting to see Kana and Akane talk so frankly about the mundanely grimy and nasty parts of being an actor. OnK tends to focus on more large-scale or I guess 'grander' aspects of the entertainment industry's darkness so it was a bit refreshing to see it at least acknowledge something more down to earth like "making movies is expensive and stressful so everyone's on edge"

Extremely interesting to note: We find out that Abiko and Kichijoji also contributed to the movie script even if only in small parts. Not only is the movie drifting further away from reality just by the basic needs of dramatization, it has now also been touched by at least two people who didn't know Ai and who never even met her. Whether the story acknowledges this or not, it's becoming increasingly clear that we need to take any information from this movie with a whole lamp's worth of salt.

After all, while this is a story about Ai... it's not really Ai's story, is it? She's not the one telling it and when you really get down to it, this is just another example of Ai being exploited and commodified for other peoples' desires, with the added tragedy that this is her own son finally taking part in that exploitation in a misguided attempt to grant her wish.

But... we'll get to that.

The note Mem and Aqua's convo ends on is kind of strange. Aqua acknowledging he's using Mem is surprisingly straightforward of him but Mem saying in return that she's glad for it seems kind of odd.

And finally... we get a proper peek at one of the DVDs at last, though only in part.

I'm increasingly curious as to why Ai chose this method for telling the twins whatever she had to say to them on the DVD and the circumstances around them both are pretty weird. Her insistence on Gotanda looking after them and her request to deliver them to the twins at age 15, as if she might not be around to do it herself... I can really see why people have been wondering if Ai didn't suspect her life was in danger around this time, though it's not a theory I'm fully keyed into.

It's also interesting that she split them in two. I'm assuming this means Aqua has some information that Ruby does not but again the question: why this method of delivery? The DVDs as a whole are such a weird little mystery box and I can't help but wonder if even Akasaka isn't sure what he's doing with them.

Cute detail, though: The 'Happy Birthday' streamer up on the wall is from the anime's version of the Ai interview flashforward, which reframes it as a message recorded for the twins by Ai on their first birthday. It's cute to see the anime's creative choices reincorporated back into the manga like that.

Ai on the DVD says she has a request to the 'now all grown up' Aqua and Ruby - she specifically asks it of both of them, which means that Aqua keeping his to himself is particularly shitty of him, but in a way that's in-character and consistent with the self destructive behaviour we've been seeing for a while.

All in all, this was an interesting chapter and I don't want to say it was unnecessary but it felt... weirdly placed, I guess? Similar to my feelings on chapter 127, it feels even more like a story beat we didn't need right now. Obviously, we're still making our way through the movie arc so this structure might make more sense on the other side, but I've got a bad feeling that we're spinning our wheels a bit so Aka can try and keep pace with the season 2 production.

This was volume 13's last chapter so we're on break next week! Who do you think we'll get on the cover this time? Personally, I'm manifesting Melt......................................

[dogydayz]

Not to vague post, and this is especially not anything against the person who brought this to my mind, but I feel the need to make sure people know this since I post a LOT about how I like Sonadow and don't wanna attract the wrong crowds-

I'm NOT okay with Sonadow depictions that are abusive. I'm not okay with ANY abusive ships being seen as cute or romantic. That's a huge thing for me, and it's super triggering to see people romanticize abuse and shit.

HOWEVER. I do not view the rivalry aspect to them as inherently "abusive" so long as it's depicted in a way that's like. Mutual. They enjoy it. They enjoy competing and battling and shit. Because I totally love that idea for them, and even think it's a tad odd when they're shown as /only/ being super affectionate, since their rivalry is sort of intrinsic to their relationship. They're basically perfect for competing with one another, and I've even shown in my Razor AU that I tend to go with the idea that, similarly to the cosmic rule of Sonic and Tails being brothers, Sonic and Shadow are like. Destined to be rivals. Literally star-crossed rivals. They are somewhat of equals in their abilities, they can learn one anothers' powers too, and they both have weird natural Chaos energy. They bounce off one another perfectly emotionally and competitively. THAT'S a huge part to their relationship! (I have no actual problems with the more affectionate depictions of them, I just generally like to show their competitions AS their affection at times. Their fights are like dances. I think that's a wonderfully interesting concept for a ship!)

I will say that their dynamic is very much one of those "it works in fiction, but it wouldn't work super well in reality". Like, their traits are too extreme for reality by default, and their dynamic would, in the real world, simply not work out well since they'd be humans and deal with Human Issues. The fact of the matter is that there are things that CAN BE FINE IN FICTION, but not in reality (do NOT spin this to mean i'm okay with actual proshipper-type shit. That's NOT what im talking about. What i'm talking about is more like.... Like, pairings that would be unstable irl due to lack of environmental control and how human psychology works but can work in fiction because of expanded possibilities that already exist in fiction, such as characters who are assassins but aren't immediately bad guys and shit).

Which is kinda why I got so shocked by some of the tags on AO3 Sonadow fics, because I sorta neglected to consider that there are people who DO depict it as abusive.

Another note is that I like to stick to an older canon for Shadow, but I often like to use details from more modern media for him. Which is probably why I don't see their rivalry and the possibilities for them to have a relationship more than just friends (whether it be qpr or romantic, i dont really care since i'm an enjoyer of both) as really bad. Because I don't really consider the more recent times where they've battled and Shadow's been more "nasty" to him as how I base things on (excluding the Twitter Takeovers since those go off-script and Kirk does his damn best to make Shadow actually more like who he truly is there, so I see those as positive depictions of their banter).

Maybe this post wasn't needed, maybe it could've been assumed by how I talk about them, however it was weighing on my mind to make sure people understand how I feel about this whole topic, because I do need to recognize that there ARE very problematic and gross depictions of the ship and I do NOT support them. So when I reblog art of the guys fighting and shit, just do know that this is how I tend to view it, I'm not at all trying to seem like I'm romanticizing abusive behaviors or anything, I just like the different ways they could be interpreted as rivals and/or as partners

[tequila-solar-storm]

NS/FW

CW mpreg, eggpreg

I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who went A J A W E G G S after that line hahah

Thank you for painting such a delicious picture. I see your vision, I absolutely can't blame Kinich for not wanting to deal with a second Ajaw but what if they turn out to be a second Kinich and tag team against Ajaw lol that'll be somewhat cute haha.

Kinich developing a breeding kink because of ajaw will be hilarious. The saurian relic opened a new horizon for him and now he'll want even more from his partners. Dragonlord be damned!

I'm eating up the hc about his complicated relationship with the tribes cause you're SO right. And ngl I do wanna see what camp two is capable of! lol Trinidad is for sure one of the leading figures in there, he's such a hater HAHAH

Thanks for answering!! Very pleased to have found a space where I can feed my kinich brainrot xD take care author!

—🌻

Feel free to keep sending your brainrot my way! I love it!! You take care too, anon!! ❤️❤️❤️

Response under the cut! Spoilers for Kinich’s character stories and the Yupanqui's Turnfire Tribal Chronicles!

I wonder how Ajaw’s baby would look like 🤔 A direct copy of Ajaw? Pixel? Dragon? A mix of all three? Ajaw’s technically a projection now, which makes me doubt his real form is pixelated, so probably not pixels?

If Kinich somehow had a guarantee that the kid would turn out more like him than Ajaw, he’ll be jumping on that dragon dick without hesitation!

Imagine after a nice long fuck, his partner of the day casually asks him when did he develop his breeding kink? Kinich, being the blunt fucker he is, just goes ‘Ajaw’ and proceeds to give his partner a whiplash because whAT DO YOU MEAN YOU GOT IMPREGNATED BEFORE BY THE??? TINY PIXEL LIZARD?? HOW?? 🤣

Camp Two wanna fuck him so bad they look stupid!! They’re capable of SO many things, but unfortunately defeating Kinich isn’t one of them. His stamina is simply too good + he’s a raging masochist. So no amount of bullying can break his spirit! He thrives on it instead! Maybe that’s why he could get along (Somewhat) with Enjou/Sanka so well. It’s masochist on masochist communication HAHAHA

And of course, we can’t forget Trinidad! As much of a hater as he is, I don’t think he’ll actually do half of the terrible things Camp Two would. He’s still an elder of the tribe and a generally decent guy (I don’t like him denying Huni her dinner when he scolded her for lying/recklessness, but it’s pretty obvious he was struggling a LOT with grief during that time). Not only does he prioritise the tribe’s safety over tradition (I wanted to watch him argue more with Wayna 😩), Kinich himself says the tribe needs people like Trinidad, which emphasises that he’s an okay person!

If anything, he’ll denounce the other members of Camp Two, being like ‘don’t be disrespectful even if you don’t like him! Be the better person!’ and then turn around and guiltily wank to humiliating Kinich 😳 We also don’t know if he has a living spouse, but if he does, I’d love to imagine his partner being supportive in his desire to wreck Kinich. They’re usually monogamous but because Kinich is THAT annoying they decided to make an exception for him HAHAHAHAHA

If they’re going to do it, Kinich’s going to have to be the one initiating. Once he’s serving himself up on a silver platter, though, there’s no way in hell Trinidad will be able to resist. That’s when all the nasty stuff will come out!! The most tame it’ll be is Trinidad aggressively fucking his mouth so he can’t talk back, scolding him with stuff like ‘Not only are you some Mora-obsessed degenerate, you’re also a loose slut! You can’t be further from a hero!’ While Kinich’s just. Super turned on plus super amused at how mad Trinidad is! The more aggressive end of their sessions can get highly physical, with scratching, biting, slapping etc.

Now I can’t get the mental image out of my head: Trinidad sitting on the edge of a bed, face in his hands, dying of guilt/horror/denial/shock at just having the most mindblowing sex with someone he hates. Post nut clarity in its finest. Meanwhile, Kinich’s staring impassively at Trinidad’s naked, scratched-up back planning to goad the elder into fucking him again 🤣

What would their ship name be actually. Trinich? Trikinich??

[nasuversekinkmeme]

Weekly roundups: prompts

Kara no Kyoukai

Ryougi Shiki but she's had Mystic Eyes of Death Perception from birth.

Alternatively, anything with Shiki Ryougi.

Azaka/[Ryougi] Shiki, comedy

Anything about Aozaki Touko (anything about Mahoyo Touko works too)

Anything with Fujino

Tsukihime

Incest tw: Kohaku/Hisui kissing

Unethical Ciel/Hisui

Kohaku drugging Akiha

Cozy pregnancy stuff with Ciel and/or Arcueid

unethical Akiha/Kohaku/Hisui. Something along the vague lines of "Hisui reducing the collateral damage of Kohaku's plan by having it focus on/drug/ensnare Akiha specifically".

Akiha petplay

Ciel/Akiha consensual blood drinking

Cannibalism tw: Arcueid eating Ciel's organs lesbianly

Shiki Tohno being fucked in the ass

Fate/Stay Night

Anything Sakura/Saber

Incest tw: SakuRin in a world where they were never separated

Shirou/rin fluff

Incest tw: SaberMorgan, pining

Illya being kissed

Sakura/Illya

Illya doing some killing

Saber and Illya having solidarity about their stunted growths

Saber/Caster on a date

SakuRider with the same energy that the Saber/Caster scene had

Shirou just discovered that every woman he knows is a lesbian

Saber with facial hair as lustrous and sexy as my icon.

Medusa/Saber

saber and rider should make out and fight to break the other's composure

Caster being a trans ally to Shirou

Rin/Saber/Shirou, Saber as middle spoon/shared goods?

Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

Kirei/Bazett smut

bazett/saber fucking nasty. we love repressed women and the dam holding their desires back breaking

kirei/claudia smut

Fate/Extra

Hakuno/Rin angst

Fate/Apocrypha

Sieg dragon sex

Cute gay fluff with Atalante

Siegfried + Sex Pollen

Karna fucking a dude that is not Arjuna

Transmasc or enbie Mordred(and if you are goin the smut route give him the dick that he deserves.)

Fate/Grand Order

one bed meme with gudako and every alter servant

Barghest/Atalanta/Queen of Sheba/Nightingale

Barghest cooking for Sheba, Atalanta, and Nightingale. Feeding kink is cool with this but not essential

Anne Bonny x Mary Read, something character-driven

Barghest having a fun time. Any type of fun you want, just give that gal something nice

Goredolf getting his dick sucked

Mash/Morgan

Arjuna bottoming for another guy who is not Karna

Charlotte/Ritsuka post-atlantis

All the kings of Chaldea reunite themselves over wich of them is the greatest of them all, over a week long discussion it was decided that the metric to decide who is the best will be a giant orgy, the last one standing being the winner

Anything with Asterios

Nobunaga x Ranmaru, futa mind break

Fujino striking up an unlikely friendship with someone in Chaldea

while at Chaldea, Artoria learns what trans people are and has a reaction that may or may not involve Mordred

Mash and Guda (Whichever gender) double teaming Barghest.

Maou Nobu divides herself between her three personalities and goes full offensive against Okita, both romantically and sexually

El-Melloi's case Files

Age gap tw: Gray having a crush on Waver. Preferably unrequited.

Mahou Tsukai no Hako

something fluffy involving Hibiki and Chikagi

Crossovers

Servants meeting their alternate selves (EMIYA and Muramasa, Sitonai and Prisma Illya, or anything else you can think of!)

Shirou/Mordred NTR (in a "Mordred stealing his dad's bf" kinda way.)

Nasu once said that Taiga Fujimaru's swordplay skills are on the same level as Ryogi Shiki, should they ever meet. I kinda wanna see how that sparring session would go, y'know?

Any fandom, any character

Body horror

a character of your choice coming to terms with being queer (whatever shade of queer you choose it to be.) Would rather if they could be a bit in denial at least at first, rather than just a straightforward "oh ok i'm queer no big deal" story.

kink discovery! A character of your choice discovers they have an unusual kink.

Selfcest

[guildtree]

EXCEPT IT'S WEDNESDAY BECAUSE I DO WHAT I WANT

Anyways, this is meant to be an opportunity for writers to do a "behind the scenes" look at one of their fanfics, something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm choosing Left Behind, my story about Taimi and Marjory becoming friends while recovering from Balthazar, because not only is it my first posted fanfic and one I still love, but because GOOD LORD does it have a story behind it.

So here's the tale: I wrote this thing in October of 2022, shortly after essentially dropping out of college. COVID had knocked me flat on my ass both mentally and physically, so I was still recovering from a pretty severe health crisis/depressive episode and had very little to do with my life. I'd started writing fiction again after a few years of not doing it at all. And then my uncle calls me up and says, "Hey, I'm going to Europe for three weeks, I know you're not busy, would you like to catsit my two kittens while I'm gone? I'll pay you." Obviously, I jumped at the chance to cuddle cute fluffy animals and earn money for it. Easy, right?

WRONG. First off, these kittens were not tiny fluffballs, they were five-month-old former-stray terrors that hadn't been fixed yet and still had tons of nervous energy. They caused chaos whenever I wasn't watching. Second, it took all of half a week for them both to somehow get sick with gonorrhea (honestly, they'd probably had it before and the symptoms just hadn't shown up yet). If you've never had to deal with two hyperactive, aggressively cuddly kittens with diarrhea ... be thankful. It was a disaster. Between taking them to the vet, giving them medicine regularly, cleaning up after them, and making sure they didn't break anything important, I wound up over at my uncle's house way more than I'd expected. Eventually, I just started dragging my laptop along so I could sit on the couch and write for hours while keeping the little fuzzy troublemakers in the corner of my eye.

I'd had the idea for Left Behind for a while - ever since I'd heard that little achievement line where Taimi mentions that Marjory's been calling her a lot and, "it seems like she's kinda lonely." (Which like, Marjory? Lonely? What? But then it clicked for me that she's not only alone, she's alone and injured, and she's probably feeling frustrated about not being able to do anything, much like Taimi has felt over several arcs, and ohhhhh... I can make them friends.) But I'd also be deluding myself if I said that nothing about my situation while writing bled into my work. I mean, I certainly had a good perspective on how much medicine sucks, and how hard being a caretaker can be, especially when the people (or cats) you're taking care of aren't cooperating! There are references to Taimi and Marjory being up at ungodly hours because I was up at ungodly hours trying to find the very small, pitch-black kitten who was hiding in the house somewhere because she really did not want to take her medicine. Some of the more out-there comedy is definitely influenced by that sleep deprivation as well.

But on a more serious note: I think the reason why my first posted story is at it's core about recovery and finding camaraderie in that recovery is because those were the things I needed at the time too. I mentioned that in October I was just starting to come out of a nasty depressive episode? I do mean just starting. I didn't feel good, I merely felt not terrible, which was a significant improvement but still didn't feel like enough. I think, consciously or not, I put a lot of my own hopes, wants, and frustrations into these characters. Hidden in Marjory's rage at feeling useless are a lot of my own frustrations about how my depressed brain simply wouldn't let me do things sometimes. In Taimi's fear of being forgotten are my own anxieties about how in taking a break from college I'd ruined my whole future. And their entire story of healing, growing closer, and finally moving on was what I wanted for myself most at that moment: a way out, a new start, and people who could understand and help me through all of that.

I wrote that entire fic over the three weeks I was catsitting, fending off kittens who wanted to step on my keyboard and chew my laptop wires the whole time. I finished a few days before my uncle was due to come home from Europe, and I was so exhausted and annoyed at that point, I was just like, "You know what, FINE, this is pretty good, why don't I post it." So I did, and then I went to go give the cats their meds and fall asleep, and when I woke up the next day there were 11 comments waiting for me, and I learned that people actually might like my writing and what I had to say. And now here we are 8 months later, I'm in a much better place, I've got a little community of friends and people who like my stuff, and writing has been a valuable hobby that brings me accomplishment and happiness. All because of my uncle's sick kittens xD

This got long, but it was a story I've wanted to tell for a while, so as always: thank you for reading.

[imperial-nuisance-rudje]

Time to start a series of EW effortposts, i guess.

Note that I got sick (AGAIN) and had pretty bad weather-based connectivity issues since i took the earliest of these screenshots, so my memory will be pretty shoddy.

Anyway, postin'.

I've already hollered about the twins' shitty dad so I won't reprise that, instead skipping forward to when you pick who visits you. I've been too busy moving MSQ forward to re-check everything, but given my faves it's probably not shocking that i chose...

Estinien.

I didn't get most of his little speech, but he just wanted to express support and a desire to protect in his cute, awkward way.

Also, jfc if a character as pale as Shayun is nearly invisible due to the cutscene lighting, anyone with darker skin is just going to be a shadowy blob.

Anyway, Estinien flees.

Out the window. You know, as you do.

Also if I hadn't established that Shayun and Estinien are just utterly incompatible this cutscene would have had me making jokes, but no it's just more autism to autism communication.

There's a couple cutscenes I didn't grab establishing both what people are thinking about the Garlean prisoners as well as setting up ominous shadow effects on people.

Which Erenville seems to be able to sense? Not sure if it's a nod to how Viera are typically very magically sensitive in other FFs or just Erenville being sensitive to changes in his environment, since the former hasn't really been established in 14.

Anyway!

So Thavnair has a mild case of the Armageddons (as in, the weather is literally "Apocalypse")! I'm sure it's fine, says the dog sitting in a burning house.

The dungeon wasn't anything special, but the final boss is incredibly fucking rude to the photosensitive--one of its attacks causes the whole screen to pulse red or blue as the tell, and it's really bad to look at. Not quite Paradigm's Breach tier, but at least on the level of World of Darkness. Very nasty.

I still murdered the fuck out of it, of course.

Ahewann trying to convince Vrtra that his fears are unfounded and revealing himself as the true leader of Thavnair would only help.

I can't remember the lead-up to this, but Estinien refuses to let a troubled member of the First Brood pass by without getting into position for Dragon Therapy.

I think investigation into why people were transforming into monsters happens after this? Which, uh, leads me to a major issue I had.

So. Ahewann's death.

Besides being another victim of the two-for-one deal that is Endwalker (if we'd had an expansion+patches to come to know and care deeply for him, his death would have hit MUCH harder--as it is it feels like he jobbed), it's also just really badly blocked out. The last time the WoL has a case of the Glueboots this severe is when Asahi is beating the shit out of Yotsuyu, and it feels just as bad now as it did then. If they didn't want to have the WoL have to pause and attack bc of job reasons (tbf the correct distance for one job to feel right is different from another, so i don't blame them), they at least should have put them further back.

It's just way too obvious that Ahewann died entirely due to authorial decree. It doesn't feel like a natural outgrowth of the events of the cutscene. Given how little time we've had with Ahewann, it also feels like a cheap move for free emotions!

I do not like Ahewann's death.

Oh yeah, and afterward catboy proves that he is also the Crystal Exarch so anyone who thinks i should chill over things the Exarch did can shut it, the game itself says they're the same person now.

Final WoLshot for this post, bc the next post is a behemoth and will need every last bit of image space I can give

that's right it's time for

DRAGON THERAPY WITH DR ESTINIEN (vrtra edition)

[mdhwrites]

I think the fandom knows Amity is a very flawed person, and shows it, but they just wont SAY it. One of the biggest AU's in S1 was 'Amity joins the emporer and becomes awful in the event of Luz leaving.' because they know Amity's motivation for changing was simply- 'Luz kinda cute fr fr.' not as much 'bullying this innocent person is really terrible actually.'

They also dull down how nasty she could get, her first appearance wasnt just a passing remark, it was her being as vicious as possible and then essentially saying 'i'm doing this because you deserve it' with the line 'This is why people call you half a witch Willow'. You can not convince me Amity had ANY reason to be that cruel outside of personal enjoyment.

So I'm actually going to tackle these backwards because it flows from what made Amity's character good to what a major issue with her character is now.

So... You're right and I've actually talked a lot, especially in relation to Boscha, how Amity seems actually like the much crueler bully and it's a fundamental difference in how they see targets. See... Boscha would never have continued to bully Willow had they had the same backstory. This is because Boscha doesn't seem to hold much in the way of grudges. Instead her targets are opportunistic, for a laugh or because they threaten the control and stability of her life.

Amity CHOOSES targets. She holds grudges and pushes people down she wishes didn't exist. This is why you get comments like "Humans can bite it" instead of "Only real witches allowed." One is targeted specifically for Luz while the other can be just an in joke between them about how much better they are referencing seeing Half a Witch that day. Amity being as needlessly cruel about Willow's lack of ability is similar. She didn't need to be that cruel but she is because she would rather Willow just not exist.

And that stems from how early Amity was presented to deal with problems. If you made her unhappy, she was going to do everything in her power to be rid of you, including straight up murder. Even in Covention, you still have her holding this deep grudge against Luz for humiliating her, even if it's still more sympathetically portrayed in that episode. If we want to give the writers credit, this is also why she's so cruel to Willow. As a reminder of better times, Willow is something that hurts her constantly and reminds her of this failure and so she constantly wants Willow to just disappear and never be seen by her again. It's sad and it's painful but it is also far more ruthless and cruel than most other characters in the show.

But then we get to how you talk about Amity being a flawed character and, well... There's a difference between how she's flawed in S1, especially early S1, and S2. See, Amity and Hunter both pull a similar trick in their first appearance and second one that made me coin the phrase "It's a lot easier to make a character arc impressive if they start out of character."

For both characters you have a first appearance where they're cartoonishly evil, care nothing for human life and would gladly kill for their goals. Then in their second appearance, they are given a sympathetic motivation to how they act, never act as evil as they did in the first appearance, and by the end of the episode have shown their true, good guy colors, how they relate to Luz, how Luz can help them become better people, and given a sympathetic backstory as to why they believe the things they do so the audience can forgive them. And after that episode neither character is ever actually bad (Hooty's Moving Hassle being honestly weird after Covention for how aggro Amity is in context of things going forward and even just post Covention) after this and the show then starts retconning them EVER being bad people.

So in S1, you could at least pretend that some of that early Amity still existed. That she cared about power, success, had personal goals beyond Luz, had a character beyond Luz, etc. like that. However, then you have S2 where she's only depicted as studying human things, throwing away her family, throwing away the coven system *screams bloody murder*, and throwing away... Everything that isn't Luz. Anything that might connect her to those first two appearances.

Which creates functionally two different characters because motivations and connections and histories MATTER. If a character no longer acts motivated by any of those things, then there needs to be a good reason and the only reasons presented by the show are "Luz wouldn't like this," and "My parents are bad but not enough to actually influence my behavior with them or others." We even see this in personality where she goes from a serious character who is theoretically intelligent, who summons minions and does things with them in combat to allow for surprise resummons, close and far ranged combat and even multiple threats at the same time to... I punch things. With a fist. And I'm not happy, supportive, honest and seemingly have no baggage related to love despite the only love I've ever known being conditional. I am just the perfect girlfriend. And I am only a girlfriend.

So S1 Amity had the flaws of being too driven, having goals that could conflict with Luz's, being ruthless to those she saw as wrong and also overly worried about her position and how people saw her. Lots of good flaws connected also to her strengths that gave a lot of storytelling opportunities, including for how she could get with Luz (which are never really explored besides I guess "I do stupid things around you," which would feel more honest if she hadn't only been punished once for things she did with Luz).

For S2 Amity, the big flaw is... A lack of them. A lack of much of anything. She has such little motivation outside of Luz that it's hard to write angst, fluff, joy, ANYTHING about her that isn't connected explicitly to Luz. It's hard to come up with concepts for what she does with her free time because her passions are so minimal. She has no hobbies anymore or goals. And every choice she makes can be mostly blamed on Luz, such as her giving up the coven system only making sense when you think about the fact that being a coven witch would make her oppose Luz, who literally can only be a wild witch in the eyes of the law.

And in terms of the fandom, I personally see this playing out in the fact that when I first joined the fandom, I watched Lumity comic compilations. They had a wide variety of concepts and possibilities to them, some playing more into Luz, others into Amity. Nowadays... I see as much, if not more, Huntlow than I see of Lumity. Now yes, how much time Lumity has had doesn't help but also I never see anything leaning on Amity's strengths. They're almost all about Luz because how could they not be? One of the characters exists for the other. It's hard to write a character like that.

As a note, Raeda suffers from a similar problem because outside of Eda's Requiem, Raine is written to be entirely for Eda's character and to almost be a clone of her during Them's the Breaks Kid. And this inherently goes against the concept of "Opposites Attract" which isn't always true in real life but in fiction?

That friction in fiction is why so many of the most popular pairings out there are of opposites. There's actually a lot more, like them covering each other's weaknesses, them having a lot to learn from each other, etc. like that. When the two characters are the same, or one is entirely dedicated to the other... What's supposed to happen? Where's the chemistry? The friction? The joys or the pains?

I mean, outside of blushes and twirls of course. At least Amity got that much for ruining all of her character potential.

(Btw, as Rich Witch was largely inspired by ideas born between S1 and 2 of TOH and with the explicit choice of making the Amity inspired character the main character, guess how much I've had to think about this development for Amity over and over again, especially whenever I think about the explicit moment I have planned for Rich Witch where Azu decides following her heart at one point would make her a GENUINELY WORSE PERSON even if it meant getting a girlfriend? *siiiiigh* And I wonder why writing that story still is hard for me.)

[joy-returns-in-the-morning]

Okay just finished watching all of Downton Abbey!! here are some thoughts. sorry for the length but I need to get this out of my system this has no particular order or reason I am just wringing out my mind like a dirty washcloth.

I feel like everybody here looooves Thomas. Probably like 90% of the Downton Abbey fanfiction on Ao3 are about Thomas. Um you guys know there are other characters in this show right? So I know it's unoriginal. But. I have to admit it. Thomas is my favourite and i love him <3

like they would be talking at dinner about Important Plot Things and Thomas is in the background serving appetizers and I'm like lol. there's Thomas. Then I'd have to rewind cuz I wasn't paying attention

but man he is so nasty at the beginning haha I think people forget that sometimes

I told my (blissfully offline) friend that I like him and she's like, why??? He's so mean???

IDK I like him BECAUSE he is mean! He's terrible and nasty and I like him for it!!

because like why should he be nice anyways? Should he be GRATEFUL to have the immense privilege of holding the door open for someone?? he's been handed an unfair lot in life and why should he be happy about it? poor little meow meow <3 <3

the costumes are sooo pretty. So glamourous! So beautiful! A real feast for the eyes. But like, it does seem all rather silly sometimes lol. Do you really need to wear a special outfit just to dinner. Do you really need so many staff to wait on five people XD

So I actually quite liked Tom's relationship with the family by the end of the series (especially him and Mary) their friendship is very sweet but Tom's arc still frustrates me soooooo much. Like oh yeah suuuure you're all about socialism and equality when you have to drive people around for a living but then you happen to marry a lady and suddenly you're all about upholding the same classist structures that once held you down. 🙄 What ever happened to your PRINCIPLES man?!! He has all the political backbone of a jellyfish. 

And like, Miss Bunting and even Miss Braithwaithe were RIGHT about Tom but they were made out to be SOOO obnoxious, like they were unreasonably painted as villains but at the core of it they were RIGHT. He WAS getting uppity. He WAS forgetting his roots.

Lord Grantham’s like "ooooh it's so sad those terrible brutal communists have been killing those poor innocent Russian aristocrats, oooh how horrifying i do not condone violence and killing" Yeah, but like... it's not as if the Russian peasants weren’t dying brutally at the hands of the rich and powerful for centuries. You weren't crying about it then.

Vera and Lavinia were like the same character to me. The same except so far the opposite it swung around to being the same. Vera was absurdly evil and Lavinia absurdly good and they both served no purpose except to be the obstacle to the One True Pairing 🙄

also Mr. Gregson's wife! Do we even learn her name? Poor lady is having a terrible time of it imprisoned in a mental hospital and literally nobody cares. :/ So much for those wedding vows, "in sickness and in health"

I think! Thomas and O'Brien's friendship is cute! so under-rated. partners in crime. they're in cahoots. >:3c Too bad it had to end like it did :(((

I think the plot with Jimmy would have been more interesting if Jimmy actually HAD led Thomas to believe he had a chance. Like if Jimmy's maybe having some weird feelings he doesn't know how to deal with. But then when push comes to shove Jimmy decides he just doesn't want to risk it and acts all offended to save his own reputation. Because as it is it felt like... a little too sudden. Or maybe I just feel too embarrassed on Thomas's behalf that he made such a mistake.

Anna and Mr. Bates. Ugh. I found their romance SO boring and tedious, so many obstacles were thrown in their way I forgot why they even wanted to be together in the first place. one of the worst subplots and they NEVER let it go

 Daisy was saying a lot of nasty things too by the end of the show honestly. But nooo Thomas is the mean one

 I feel like there is some sort of parallel that could be drawn between Ethel and Thomas. Or I'm not sure if it's a parallel but... how do I put this. If you think that Thomas's lot is unfair, then what happened to Ethel was also unfair. Because what did she do, really? The same thing I bet everyone on here wants Thomas to do. We all love Thomas but nobody really cares about Ethel. :/ idk I thought she had spunk and ambition and it's a shame they had to reduce her to a "fallen woman" subplot

it's so stupid that everyone had to get paired off at the end. Personally I don't see why Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes had to get married. oh the amatonormativity

on the other hand I think Mary and Carlisle should have married lol. XD Yeah they'd be unhappy. but they are suited for each other and it would certainly be INTERESTING haha (dunno how serious i am about this)

Edith’s outfits were always the nicest in my opinion. loved her colour scheme!

everyone's always like "oooohh noo our way of life is dying this is so sad" :((( I mean I guess?? It's sort of sad??? But ultimately. I Do Not Care about the lives of the British Aristocracy.

fun show all round

[travellingwiththedead]

Ok, obligatory long rambling thoughts post for e6, behind read more because spoilers:

Ouch, poor Louis is looking rough. Not sure those rats are gonna cut it. No wonder he took ages to heal if he's not eating properly.

"Flying vampire apocalypse" xD

Fellow physician I like you xD I saw a post that he's apparently a character from the later books but eh, I have read those only once and remember nothing. Anyway, if I had access to a vampire I'd definitely be poking and prodding them and getting tissue samples. I want to know what they look like under a microscope, sue me xD

I laughed for like 10 minutes about Louis yeeting Lestat's coffin off the balcony. It was hilarious xD (also, you lot are really surprised the neighbours think you need an exorcism if you pull stuff like that?)

Why does Lestat in short sleeves look so off? o.o like, I don't think that's a good look for him, nope. No me gusta.

Doc pulling that butterfly needle out looks real o.o the blood effect people did a really good job (or someone on the crew was like "yeah, you can poke me with needles, all good" xD tho I'm pretty sure it's a practical effect). I am way too happy about this when mostly every damn show has no idea how syringes work (no, you do not push them straight through your damn arm, ouch!)

When Louis has Rashid play the re-recorded song is it just me or does Daniel look like he recognizes Lestat's voice? Or maybe he just looks like he digs it, not sure.

Louis really was so pissed off he swam through the Mississippi, huh? And while keeping a hold of the record, too xD

Rashid the little fuck walked right through that beam of sunlight, no burning to be seen and yet, later....ugh, what the hell is his deal xD

Well, pretty sure they trashed Antoinette's bedroom good.

I want to know what household rules one to three are xD

And again with the short sleeves. Why does that make him look like a Florida soccer dad or something? (Or, you know, like Dexter xD )

ok, now can people stop saying he made Paul jump? I don't know where people get that from, anyway

Sam Reid, that whole scene with Lestat talking about Magnus, chef's kiss.

"I have a capacity for enduring"...he sure does

Well, living in that household must have been fun....not. Louis, how did you not lock those two in a room and make them fight it out?

He didn't turn Antoinette yet, did he? They just faked her death, right?

"And brat that he was, he didn't like being told what to do" xD that's him in a nutshell.

Wow, Rashid was very insulted when Daniel called him a rent boy xD those two are gonna have fisticuffs, I tell you.

I laughed way too much about Lestat being nasty in the train cart. But his outfit was on point and he was being a little bitch. But also, doggo.

Well, Claudia's definitely mad now.

Not sure I buy Louis just going along with plotting Lestat's murder like that but we'll see

Loving Daniels dream memory of meeting Louis in the gay bar. Look at them, so cute xD

once again, what the hell is Rashid's thing? Did Daniel just dream him into this but he wasn't actually there? Was Rashid there? Odyssey of Recollection or something something something

And still going strong with the ace erasure.

Ok, I'm done. So rude they'll make us wait two weeks now :(

[faroreswinds]

Japanese anon. A lot of people don’t like the new designs (but also hate that people are going to the artist’s profile to leave nasty comments. You keep that private on fusetter or said in a way that won’t be mean to the artist. Her style doesn’t fit the games, in my opinion, but she was paid for what the company asked her to do). And they’re burned out with how the previous games were treated/invalidated and that a lot of priority seems to be given to Heroes now. So many people are waiting to see what the plot for Engage is before buying. Some memes about the new game are funny though.

Hopefully, a new waifu character will make people forget about Edelgard like how Tharja and Camilla stopped being promoted. Well, Lyn is still being promoted heavily. Lyn isn’t controversial except for being too much in the spotlight.

Hi Japanese anon. :) Thank you for always taking the time to send insightful asks.

A lot of people don’t like the new designs (but also hate that people are going to the artist’s profile to leave nasty comments. You keep that private on fusetter or said in a way that won’t be mean to the artist. Her style doesn’t fit the games, in my opinion, but she was paid for what the company asked her to do).

I agree that the artist did her job, so no one should be going after her. And her work isn't bad! She clearly has talent. I just think this is the wrong franchise for her style. And it seems like I am not the only one who thinks so.

That said I do think Marth looks cute. But like... Marth is Marth. He's cute, lol, and his design is from a different artist.

I'm also not totally surprised at this new direction though. The art has been getting more and more anime over the years. I guess it was bound to happen? It just looks so... not like FE. At least not to me. Especially the girls.

I am most picky about the girls.

And they’re burned out with how the previous games were treated/invalidated and that a lot of priority seems to be given to Heroes now. So many people are waiting to see what the plot for Engage is before buying. Some memes about the new game are funny though.

I would love to see the memes! But same. I may end up buying the game because apparently I have sold my soul to FE. I'm a Zelda blog technically, dammit! But here I am, suddenly a FE blog. Well... I'm not complaining, really.

I do wish they would stop relying on Heroes but.... it prints money. :/

Hopefully, a new waifu character will make people forget about Edelgard like how Tharja and Camilla stopped being promoted. Well, Lyn is still being promoted heavily. Lyn isn’t controversial except for being too much in the spotlight.

One can hope. I'm ready for the new waifu to be irritated at.

Yeah, what's the deal with Lyn? Why her? I don't get it.

[galacticxangel]

Every time I get an urge to open a St@rbound ask blog I’m reminded how dramatic the fandom is and how aggressive it is when one doesn’t follow a largely-accepted headcanon, only leading to ‘Nam flashbacks to our Ye Olde Days back in the Minecraft fandom.

And then I don’t make the blog.

[bucky-at-bedtime]

Stucky Fic Recs

So basically I went through all of my ao3 bookmarks and collated a list of some of my favourites (I couldn't fit all of them on this list, so if anyone shows interest there might be a part two).

Please read tags and descriptions of the works before reading, some of them are pretty dark or extremely horny so just make sure you check that the fic is for you!!

Please please please send me your favourite fics in return! I am always happy to hear fic recs, headcanons and any other ideas/comments you all have!

Without any further ado, here are a few of my favourite Stucky fics:

‘Not Easily Conquered’ series by dropdeaddream, WhatAreFear

Rating: M, Words: 117,692

https://archiveofourown.org/series/115516

“I told you, you heard me: I told you never to follow me into Hell. Now I’m not vain enough to think that’s why you’re out here now — if there’s any person in what’s left of this God forsaken planet who’s part of a bigger picture, it’d be you. But I’ll keep saying it until it sticks. You got nothing to prove. I’m not worth much, I damn well know that, but I’ll ask you anyway: Stay for me. If you leave me alone in this world I’ll turn into something terrible. I’ll turn into the nasty creature that’s growing inside me. This war, it’ll swallow me whole”

[To me, this fic is like the classic Stucky 101 fanfic – if you're a Stucky fan and you haven't read this, I highly recommend it. The authors explore the Steve/Bucky relationship in such an interesting, tragic, emotive way and I cry every time I read it. I couldn't praise this work enough.]

‘Ain’t No Grave’ series by spitandvinegar

Rating: M-E, Words: 131,789

https://archiveofourown.org/series/426577

"Yeah, he never calls me by my name," Steve says. "It's always champ, ace, hotshot, that kinda thing."

"Man, that is flirting," Sam says. "That nicknames thing, he is flirting with you. He's just working his way up to calling you baby or something."

Steve goes redder than a damn coke can. Sam pumps his fist. "Yes, I am so right, I am wise as hell. He did, didn't he?"

"He called me sweetheart," Steve says grimly, "because he's a drug addict with brain damage."

"Or because he looooooves you," Sam says. Captain America throws a cookie at his head. Sam eats it, because he deserves a treat for being so damn wise.”

[I'm currently re-reading this fic and absolutely loving it. The way spitandvinegar writes Bucky's road towards recovery and Steve's entire characterisation – it's all just so good. It's another one that covers some pretty dark themes, so make sure you're checkin those tags!]

'Einherjar' by thecommodore_squid

Rating: M, Words: 71297

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7157024/chapters/16249814

But Steve was fine.

Sure, he hadn’t seen Bucky in months, and sometimes he was at the punching bag so long that his skin started to peel off to expose the bones of his fingers, and sometimes he couldn’t find the energy to drag himself out of bed, and sometimes he went weeks without sleeping, and sometimes he thought about throwing himself head-first off the nearest tall structure, but he was fine.

He was absolutely, perfectly, one-hundred percent, fucking fine.

AKA In which Steve learns how to deal with his shit, and Bucky learns how to stop leaving.

[basically the definition of a recovery fic, I absolutely adore it. This is tragic and amazing and makes me cry and smile. It’s got a bunch of fantastic cameos and It really just ticks so many of my boxes.]

‘Like real People do’ by 2bestfriends

Rating: E, Words: 67,775

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887376/chapters/47103217

“"Ask me what?" demands Bucky. "I didn't hear a question."

Steve licks his lips. "Will you stay with me? Will you come back home, Buck?"

"Home," repeats Bucky in a small voice, and then he's crying for real.”

[Basically soft lumberjack!steve and lonely twink!bucky being horny and in love. This is a comfort fic for that’s really just about my favourite boys falling in love.]

‘This City Bleeds it’s Aching Heart’ by anonymous

Rating: E, Words: 34,537

https://archiveofourown.org/works/835829/chapters/1591736

“The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.”

[The plot in this one is just a good time and i think it’s just a really fun take on the fake relationship trope. Also some really great characterisation.]

‘Home is Wherever I’m With You’ by cydonic

Rating: E, Words: 88,570

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18868081/chapters/44783077

“Bucky kisses Steve and Emma goodbye before they leave for school, which is why – partway down the road – Amelia turns to him and asks, “why are you and Daddy kissing?”

Which is definitely a conversation Bucky’s been expecting since Steve just did it, but it still takes him by surprise. Again, he thinks he should wait for Steve, but Amelia’s not the sort of kid to let anything rest. Plus, Bucky’s taking her to school where she will undoubtedly share the story with anyone who’ll listen.

He also stops to think that Steve’s asked him to stay, which means Bucky must be trusted with their happiness and well-being, at least in some small capacity.

Bucky clears his throat and searches for some explanation that will help Amelia make sense of this sudden turn of events. “Because we love each other,” is all he comes up with.”

[Bear with me, this is a House Flipper!Bucky Au. And dad!Steve. I just love a found family trope I’m not gonna lie to you. Another comfort fic that warms my lil heart.]

‘Lucky Seven’ by BetteNoire (WeAreWolves)

Rating: E, Words: 94,364

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7033105/chapters/16002481

“Back from where--?” James says, the sentence ending in a distinctly undignified squawk as Steve sweeps him up in his arms, bridal-style, and starts carrying him upstairs.

James tenses momentarily then relaxes into Steve's arms and throws back his head and starts laughing. The laughter peals out of him, his body shaking, his amusement occasionally broken by little gasps of pain.

“What's so funny?” Steve frowns.

“You are,” James says, still giggling. “You're ridiculous, Steve Rogers.”

“Behave. Or I will drop you,” Steve growls.

[The shrunkyclunks modern AU of my dreams featuring Mechanic!Bucky and cap!Steve and some really beautiful writing.]

'Dishonor On Your Cow' by mandarou

Rating: E, Words: 111695

https://archiveofourown.org/works/10659162/chapters/23589582

“Sergeant Barnes?”

“Oh, hell no, don’t call him that, man,” Sam warned.

“Captain Fuck Off!” Barnes shouted over him. “Fight me!”

Steve didn’t know whether to laugh or just slink away. He managed to combine the two by pacing two steps and snorting instead. Like a bull.

“I’m gonna need you to calm your ass, Barnes,” Sam said as he went limp again, obstructing Barnes’s struggling under him. “This is so undignified. That is Captain goddamn America.”

“Captain goddamn America!” Barnes repeated, louder. And angrier.

Steve cleared his throat again. “I’ve been looking for you,” he told Barnes.

“I hope you brought lube this time!” Barnes shouted.

[I’m not gonna lie it took me a minute to get into this one but by the end I was crying with them, laughing with them, and just really in my feels. Some very insane things happen so here’s a few of my favourite tags: ‘Seargent Barnes is done with your Shit Steve’, ‘blatant disrespect of a man’s motorcycle’, ‘Steve you ding dong’ and ‘PR nightmares in the form of Supersoldiers’.]

Propietary Information by Notlucy

Rating: E, Words: 85141

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11964402/chapters/27054777

“Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.”

[We were never gonna get through this list without a Sugar Daddy!AU (I have a weakness). This one is… saucy and sexy and sweet and uh pretty kinky so read the tags and all. I’ve read it a few times, and I love the way the author has written Steve in this one, he just makes my heart go '!!!']

‘Roots Have Grown’ by AustinB

Rating: M, Words: 17280

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6912451/chapters/15767941

“Bucky is a mildly agoraphobic veteran with funds to spare, who becomes enamored with the cute blonde guy in his building.

So when Steve mentions needing a roommate to cut down on rent costs, Bucky decides it would be a good idea to volunteer.”

[Another weakness of mine is Roommate AUs, and this one is phenomenal. I tend to go for post serum!Steve stories more often, but this is a pre-serum Steve that I just adore.]

‘The Cold Never Bothered me Anyway’ by icoulddothisallday

Rating: E, Words:75562

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11728869/chapters/26425530

“Bucky Barnes has spent his whole life in a state of mild hypothermia. Steve Rogers has spent the last 70 years in the ice. The two things aren’t related until, suddenly, they are. Shrunkyclunks soulmate AU (AKA the awkward bb au).”

[I think this is the only soulmate AU in my bookmarks? I would totally be down to read more though! This one is really fun and really enjoy Bucky’s characterisation here!]

'War, Children' by Nonymos

Rating: E, Words: 106615

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5373050/chapters/12409394

“After Bucky was released from the hospital, it only took him a couple of weeks to give up on himself. Difficult to believe in any kind of future when the simple act of staying alive was almost too big an effort.

Out the frosted window, across the street, there was a tiny homeless guy burrowing under an awning.”

[An interesting exploration of Bucky’s PTSD with a trans!Steve which was a cool take on his character too!]

'The Company You Keep' by orbingarrow

Rating: G, Words: 51191

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468605/chapters/7613072

“Hurt, hungry, and on the run, the Winter Soldier doesn’t have a lot of safe options to go to for help. Figuring that any friend of Captain Steve Rogers is unlikely to be HYDRA, Bucky takes a chance and reaches out to the first Avenger he can find.

It works out better than anyone could have expected. Eventually.”

[hurt/comfort, recovering Bucky, protective Steve, found family and domestic avengers, need I say more? I absolutely loved this one]

[i-mybrunettelady]

oc ask time! might be slightly late, but ye :) this is something I’ve been working out for my kiddos, so I’ll go ahead and ask you too: which of your characters actually make the trip to cantha and why? and as a bonus, which of the new folks we meet there does nyra get along with best? :) @kerra-and-company

Hi! A lovely question, one I've been pondering about for a while now, so I don't have all the deets but I do have the basic outline :3 EoD spoilers down below.

First of all, a potential point I'm still debating is whether Ren is there from the start. Canon!Commander isn't part of the Pact anymore, but Nyra is, so when she causes an international incident, someone's gotta represent. And who to send if not someone who knows how to deal with all sorts of people and go unnoticed, with experience in high society?

But that's undecided yet, though a very neat little thought. What I know for certain is that by the end of EoD, El is there as well and he gets his final revenge on Mordy! As a magical expert he's called in to help fight the Void, goes with Liv who ends up helping Yao, Joon and Taimi fix the reactor thingie that breaks in the end, while he ends up fighting shadows of the dragons on the platform where Mordy is. Nyra lets him deal the final blow, though it earns him a nasty gash on the thigh that will probably scar but he doesn't care and the best part is that his mind is now whole again (hasn't been since Mordremoth died, a testament of how close he was to turning Mordrem - he's had a black hole that feels like it isn't part of him anymore, and due to trauma he kept expecting Mordy to speak through it even if he's dead.) Him and Nyra manage to stun just about everyone from Tyria by being pleasant with each other in the epilogue, and when Mordremoth is down, he calls her Nyra for the first time in forever (probably partially because he's in literal pain due to injury, but who can really tell) and tells her he will "hunt her down in the Mists" if she fails and she just smiles and says she's holding him to it and they shake hands as a promise.

These two are really out for Trahearne's heart.

Sanne might also be there as a member of the Pact in the very last instances too.

As for who of the Canthans does Nyra get along best, I'd probably say Navan. Joon is too stubborn and though Nyra knows she means well, she cannot help but butt heads with her because she's also a headstrong and dominating person and it's bound to not make a great friendship. She thinks Yao's cute and nice, but she's spoken for thank you very much. Oh, and Rama. They hit it off (in a strictly platonic sense) so quick and she was so cheering him on when he tried to confess to Min,,

[one-abuse-survivor]

Do you have any tips on how you deal with your bad trauma days that you're comfortable sharing? I know they won't work for everyone, but I'm having a bit of a nasty trauma day and I'm not quite sure how to handle it tbh. thank you in advance :]

Sorry to hear you're having a bad day :( I don't mind sharing, and even if I can only share the things that help me personally, I really hope some of this can help you or someone else! And, of course, the following tips are all coming from someone who is not living in an unsafe or abusive situation anymore; so this might not be helpful for someone having a bad trauma day while still being in a traumatic situation.

I think, for me, one of the most important steps of getting through bad trauma days is to realise I'm having a bad trauma day. During those days, it's easy to get carried away by my messy thoughts and emotions and take them as fact. For example, I might feel really hopeless, or defensive, or out of control, and in the moment those feelings are so real it's hard to remember how it is to not feel that way. It's like my brain decides this is what life as a whole feels like and rolls with it.

When this happens, I try to ask myself is this: “was I feeling this way yesterday?” (or an hour ago, or a three days ago?). “Did I feel like there was no hope for me or like everything was too much and too painful yesterday?” Most often, this far into my recovery, the answer is no. I was having a fine day yesterday. Everything felt under control yesterday. And remembering this this helps me believe it'll feel that way again tomorrow and that what I'm feeling right now is temporary—it's a wave I've ridden many times before, and I just have to ride it again.

Once I've realised this, I take a few minutes to accept that the next few hours or couple or days are gonna be rough and messy, and I’m allowed to not be hard on myself for not achieving the same things I would on a normal day. You know those posts that say "your best looks different every day"? During bad trauma days, I make an effort to accept that my best is going to be very very low, and that's okay. It's okay if all I do is survive, rest, and work on soothing myself and riding the wave. With some luck, everything else will be able to wait a little bit—a couple of hours at the very least.

What I do to get through the worst of it varies. Sometimes, I lie in bed stay away from people and my phone for a bit, because I know I might say or do something impulsive or hurtful. I allow myself as much time as I need to go through all the heavy and ugly emotions and cry if I need to, and only move out of bed when I feel a bit more in charge of myself again.

Sometimes, I vent-write about the emotions I'm going through to express myself. I usually write stories where the characters are experiencing the same things as I am but for completely different reasons so I don't trigger myself further by remembering my own experiences.

Sometimes, I do things that comfort and distract me, like watch a feel-good movie I've watched 30 times or funny/cute videos online.

I always try to allow myself anything my body tells me I need in the moment (as long as it's not self-destructive, of course). If I'm craving something salty, I'll eat a bag of chips, for example. If I need to cancel plans, or to turn the lights off, or to lie down, or to put on clothes with soothing textures, or to hug a stuffed toy, I'll do those things. If I start falling asleep, I allow myself to fall asleep. I've found when I'm in distress it's pretty easy for me to know what my body needs, but it's also easy to try to deny myself those things because I feel like “they're silly or I don't deserve them”. So I make a conscious effort to fight that voice and try to treat myself like a would any sick person I was taking care of: with compassion.

In addition, I think it’s a good idea to keep around things or tools you might need in future bad days. For example, when I cry, I usually crave something tasty afterwards, so I try to keep a small stash of snacks around that I can turn to on bad days (since during those days I might not be able to go buy them). Other people might find it helpful to have apps like Calm Harm or Emergency Chat installed, or to carry a comfort item or a stim toy around, or to own an extra soft blanket or something you bought for the sole purpose of breaking it if you really need to break something at any point. 

Of course, not all these things can always be done—sometimes you're not home or you have responsibilities to attend to, and can’t just take a nap or distract yourself. But I think just being aware of your needs during bad trauma days, and allowing yourself to meet those needs when possible even if it means putting almost everything else on hold for a little bit, can really go a long way.

I also think even though an important part of trauma recovery can be to step out of your comfort zone and face things that feel scary and unsafe, during bad trauma days it's okay to stay in your comfort zone and not face those things. So if, for example, busses make you feel unsafe or anxious, but you're making an effort to ride them when you need to (instead of avoiding them at all costs), I think it's okay if facing the bus is too much during a bad trauma day and you end up avoiding it. You don’t need to be hard on yourself for it. Again, your best doesn’t have to look like it usually does. Bad trauma days are survival days, not recovery days. You can work on continuing to recover when you're feeling better again.

Sending a virtual hug ❤ I hope you feel better soon, and if anyone else wants to share their advice, you’re more than welcome to!