#I discuss canon

[uc-beepboop]

How Canon Was My One Arc 11  Fic?

“After the three-shot imma do an analysis comparison thing between my Elanthielrian fic and what happens and rate it on a scale from 1-10 on how canon it is LOL”

As promised on that previous tumblr post, here is future me, and I give it an 7/10 and I ramble more below the cut. Arc 11.5 On the Rocks SPOILERS.

Here’s the fic, “You’re The Boss” if you want to check it out: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45524443

I think I gotta rate it an 7/10 for canon-compliance, which was MUCH HIGHER than I thought while watching the livestream, and I’m also very impressed with myself. My intention was to keep things kinda vague during my fic so it would, ideally, be totally canon-compliant. I also have the benefit of being in the patreon, so “The Last Stop” being the name of the bar was dropped in the discord: I don’t have some coincidentally power of guessing the exact same words as the UC cast.

Here are some big things that I didn’t have and hence make my fic an AU.

Atelut and Suds are no longer working for Albion rail… I mean gosh if they go back now you know!

Rian and Atelut is a slowburn, but it went much faster than I thought considering the end of the Finale *ahem sharing the same bed*

The resistance already did some damage! Yo? Killing some Albions ya know? 

Rian having the counterpart to Atelut’s ring of suffering: oh that was genius by Dillan and Dylan.

Atelut is an Albion. I mean, if I guessed that part, I’d be some omnipresent God. But hey, if any post-11.5 stream fic writers wants to write about that part? Go for it.

BART BEING REVIVED???

Here’s some more points I thought to bring up

Resistance is a hot mess:

One bit that I thought hit really well was the fact that resistance is kind of a hot mess and we love that for them. My “revolution” was a bit more put together, and I get into that in the next part. By the time my fic occurs, I think Atelut would have already known that. And guess what? She’s stressing over plans and worrying about if something might go wrong over the course of said plans! Oh no. As the writer, I didn’t consider that the resistance would be as much of a hot mess, but it kind of worked out anyways.

Atelut at The Last Stop:

Also another thing I didn’t consider: I think every other fic pre-11.5 has Atelut working in her position at Albion rail. But I had Atelut working on plans at The Last Stop and not even being a part of the main attack. Honestly, that’s how I see her after 11.5: she’s using her managerial skillset and organizing the revolution into an actual force to be wary of. And I think she’d be so good at it too. Maybe that’s this AU’s reason for having a more put-together revolution

Lack of Contact: (a Dissimilarity actually)

Another thing to consider was that I didn’t realize that in-canon, Atelut and Suds never made any direct contact with the resistance group until 11.5 begins? They were so so careful and damn do they care about this revolution so much you know. Anywho, in my fic Atelut and Suds just straight up went right to The Last Stop while being employees of Albion Rail. That being said, what stays the same is how meticulous each time they contacted the other group.

Who is the Boss?

One of the highlights for me is in (I think episode 2?) of 11.5 was when Rian just gives Atelut the “You’re not my Boss anymore” line and it stabs you in the gut a little. Anywho, in my fic Atelut’s the one who says something like that: “I’m not your manager anymore. You don’t have to give me these undeserved, free drinks.” And guess what? My fic ends in a similar way as the 11.5 stream did, with Rian calling Atelut “The Boss” once more. 

We’re the REVOLUTION for a reason (Extremity):

Okay, look I knew this, but I had a much more Suds approach to it where it would be this soft approach to fucking up the Albions. I didn’t realize that Rian was full on ready to do some murderrr, and hey he succeeded quite a bit. In my fic, “If all went according to plan, the company would experience substantial information leaks, financial losses, and destruction of property. It would be the biggest move the revolution had ever attempted.” So yeah. No murder, no death, just some good ol ouchie for Albion rail. I think… it was the second of the live Verbal Components for 11.5, and each player mentioned what would happen if their character was the only one left. And, in this potential scenario, iirc Atelut slowly chips away at Albion rail, kind of like I did in my fic.

That’s all I could think of off the talk of my head thanks for reading my rambling

[egophiliac]

Hi it's just to let you know that the official romanization of Revaan's name is Raverne ! Also they have romanized Baul's name to Baur !

Twst coming back at us again with the least expected romanization! thank you everybody (oh god my inbox) (no it's great, I literally asked for this and the reactions have been INCREDIBLE, thank you all!)

I do like Raverne though, I think it's got a nice fancy sound to it! (I had kinda suspected it was going to be an R instead of an L, so the fact that it's SO close to Laverne except for that is hilarious to me personally.) and Dragoneye Duke is honestly probably the best translation for his title, I wasn't envying the localizers that one. :') Baur instead of Baul I was NOT expecting, but in retrospect I think his name's supposed to be a reference to the Bauru crocodile, so that actually makes way more sense!

someone else also said Meleanor has become Maleanor, which is the REALLY weird one to me, because I was so surprised it was written as Mel instead of Mal in the first place?! oh god no I can't decide which one I like better. 😭 (I wonder if they might change it to Mal...they have made romanization changes before) (like I remember House of Distraction being corrected to House of Destruction in Playful Land) (I did check and she's still Mel for now, but I dunno, they might Mal her up and some point and save me from having to make a decision about which one to use) (HECK I CAN'T DECIDE)

uhhhh thank you for letting me ramble about anime names, let's just say MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS FOR EVERYONE

[freyadragonlord]

What Han Yoojin thinks his life is like:

What Han Yoojin's life is actually like:

[malewifenandor]

as a writer, my honest guess is that the wwdits showrunners were like “we wanna slowburn nandermo to draw out the tension, but a gay slowburn from one side looks like queerbaiting to an audience that has been relentlessly gaslit for decades, so we’re gonna compensate by making every other aspect of the show as gay as possible” and now laszlo gets to have gay sex once per episode. good for him

[chappelroans]

XELIA MENDES-JONES as Dane in Fallout (2024)

[lgbtlunaverse]

Most annoying NMJ or JC take is when someone that dislikes them is like "oh you're a fan of him? *scoff* Well obviously you've only seen cql, where he was super watered down. In the novel he's a dislikable asshole and that's the objectively superior canon I'm working from instead of your woobified fanfic." Meanwhile your main canon is novel canon and you genuinely find novel Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue complex sympathetic characters.

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

[otaku553]

Finally did Susie! That finishes up the three of them :) I’ll see if I can tackle marx, ribbon, and adeleine next :)

[neverenoughmarauders]

Sirius Black did not know that Barty Crouch Jr was a Death Eater! He didn’t know that Severus Snape was a Death Eater! He did not know that the dark mark was branded into Death Eaters (and could thus never have expressed the sentiment: Regulus got / took the mark). When Harry told Sirius about Karkaroff showing Snape something on his arm, it confused Sirius.

Death Eaters operated with masks and in secrecy of each other (that’s likely why Snape didn’t know Peter was the spy).

Nobody knew shits in the first war!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Bingqiu ponies (Happy Birthday @Piosplayhouse!)

[simplyender]

spiderpeople that could defeat spot first try:

1. spider-ham (cartoon logic dictates that he can just pick up the holes)

2. sun-spider (disabled solidarity. would probably get spot to come to the realization that hes 100% disabled and be empathetic about it)

3. spider-punk (would explain that a majority of spots problems originate from the shitty system hes in and that capitalism is the problem, not miles)

[ooctlt]

Op, I find it a bit weird the way you go about with Harrow. We've seen her have sweet moments, we've seen her have a chance to be vulnerable in the books and in some pretty terrible conditions too, and I find it a bit uncomfortable the way you portray her because she's "without treatment/without meds" as if she's fully incapable of being anything but mean and defensive. Maybe it's because personally I envisioned that being outside of the most traumatic environment, with people that kinda give a shit about her, she'd be doing a bit better and having a nicer time, which wouldn't be her being all sunshine and rainbows, that's not her, but it pains me to see it seems people want her secluded and closed off to everything and everyone regardless.

Your Harrow makes me sad.

harrow got out of a cult circa last year, where she moved to an old apartment with two people that she only recently started regarding as her friends; she was open to giving information when first asked, however following this there were multiple asks -akin to strangers- asking about religious details, her parents' deaths, and many more straight up asking why cant harrow just leave the small bubble of people shes known if she doesnt like it there. i considered ignoring most of these but with the number of questions being repeated i decided to show harrows reaction in order to 'close off' that avenue for productive discussion.

harrow is capable of being more than mean and defensive: she plays games. she cooks. she will, however, be mean and defensive when pushed.

this blog isnt a very "traditional" ask blog: the asks people send in matter, and are often compiled to develop bigger narratives that will be permanent in this setting. i have drafted storylines set aside for when someone asks something that will potentially 'trigger' it. i dont mean to say "this is everyone elses problem to send in asks she hates", just that you, the viewers, are seeing a very tailored result and dont have the full picture yet.

lastly, this is personal preference: i dont plan for harrow to be miserable and closed off forever. but i feel like whats the point of showing her already in the process of healing when there is no anchor to compare this to? i dont want to show her past as like, a distant backstory shes healed from because she has people that care about her. it has heavily traumatized her and she will continue to confront this as she grows

[barawrah]

been extra miserable about them this past week

[serpenlupus]

About Wyll and his horns (and what they mean)

Let's say I was writing a part of my Tav's story with Wyll directly connected to the dialogue he has during the tiefling party, and while struggling with this bit, I've realized there's quite a few misconceptions floating around. I felt compelled to add information to the table that might clear them, so here we go.

First, what exactly happens to Wyll when he disobeys Mizora in act one? Well, he doesn't get turned into a devil, he certainly doesn't get turned into a tiefling, he's not a half fiend, not a demon, none of that. Wyll stays human, but he has horns and red eyes (and other features we can't see on his model as of now).

(Everyone has their race listed, Wyll's remains "Human")

This is because when a warlock fails to uphold some part of their contract they can suffer a certain number of consequences, Wylls is “The character grows horns, a tail, or some other devilish features that can't be removed by any means short of divine intervention. As long as these marks persist the character detects as a fiend when subjected to Detect Evil and Good spells or similar magic.” ( from Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, page 214)

And I’ve come across some people that think it wasn’t so bad of a punishment, that he was being racist towards the tieflings, or just not being justified in being upset after having his body forcibly changed against his will. I think they are missunderstanding just how insidious Mizora’s actions were, and here I just want to give some context to maybe bring a better understanding to the situation. Your conclusions are up to you.

Gonna start by using a not exact analogy, but I think it’s going to make the explanation easier. Stick with me for a minute.

Remember Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean? He had a branded “P” on his arm that marked him as a pirate. A murderer, robber, criminal, etc. in the eyes of the society he was a part of. What did Jack do to earn the branding? (if you don’t know this I suggest you look up the “people aren’t cargo mate” scene) He refused to transport slaves and later freed them, and Beckett had him marked as punishment.

Then, in the first movie, he saves Elizabeth, a woman he didn’t know, from drowning. Right after however, when Norrington sees he has a branded “P”, he’s like “alright, off to jail with you, and then hanging”, no other option crosses his mind. Again, Jack doesn’t know Elizabeth, isn’t indicated to think he is going to be rewarded for helping her, he just sees a drowning person, sees that no one else is going to help, and chooses to save them. That is a pretty selfless/good aligned thing to do, for no other reason that he was the one able to do it, yet the branding in his arm overrides any good action he could ever do, marking him as a criminal for execution and no further thought.

In a way, that’s what Mizora did to Wyll; she forever visibly branded him as someone that has made deals with devils, and that in the world of DnD is a VERY BAD THING. Personally I really like the mod that gives him more devilish features, but at the same time I think there was something clever about choosing to leave him looking more human. He can’t be confused with a tiefling, he doesn’t have the ears, the claws, the tail, all those features that characterize them. He looks kind of uncanny, and that would be like a red flag for anyone in that world. (Beyond the already existing hate for tieflings that I’m not gonna tackle on here because it’s a complicated thing that deserves its own post). And Wyll wants to do good, he wants to help people, to be a positive force in the world so, so badly. This dude got abducted by a nautiloid, got tadpole’d, and the first thing he did right after that was come across the Tiefling refugees and be like “Oh you need help? No worries let me teach you self defense. Oh you being attacked by goblins? Let me blast them real quick”. His way of saying fuck you to all the awful things that have happened to him is being aggressively good and kind. Mizora knows this very well, wants to see him suffer for her amusement, wants to remind him he can't escape her claws, so her choice of punishment was to forever taint his future interactions with mistrust and suspicion. Some people can go real fast from “oh thank God they saved me” to “oh no, are they gonna rob me, are they trying to trick me, are they in cahoots with the ones that attacked me first?” just because of outward appearances. Especially in DnD world. And that deserves its own conversation, but we're focusing on Wyll here.

(Mizora, when I catch you Mizora)

“Well, maybe he shouldn’t have made a deal in the first plac- - “ He was seventeen, alone, preyed upon by Mizora and put in an impossible situation. Please PAY ATTENTION to the story you’re witnesing.

Anyway.

About the tieflings. I know it’s easy to think his words can be derisive towards them, but it’s less about the horns and more about his body being changed against his will. Imagine instead that he got half his face burned, or something that disfigured him. I think his feelings at the moment were closer to that, and yeah they are pretty insensitive words to say to someone with a similar condition (horns or disfiguration), but when feelings are fresh and raw like that it’s easy to say insensitive things. Not saying it was ok for him to say them, but there was no malice in his words. I’ve also seen some people share that they think Mizora wanted to change him more to make him unrecognizable to his original self, the Wyll Ravenguard kid, and I think there is some truth to that too. She wants to make sure that Wyll remembers that he belongs to her, there's no question to that.

(MIZORA, WHEN I CATCH YOU MIZORA)

Whether the Tieflings refugees would feel unsettled by Wyll or not? Yes. In a way, they would. From reasons aside from the ones I explained above, remember that these specific tieflings come from Elturel. If you didn’t pass the History check or don’t remember, Elturel is a city that was literally ripped from the land and dragged to Avernus, First layer of hell (it left a hole on the ground and everything) because their mayor made a deal with the Archdevil Zariel some decades back in the timeline. He sold the souls of all its citizens and the city itself.

This was probably one of the worst times of their lives. Some even got captured and forced to participate in the blood War, like Dammon as a mechanic. And after Elturel got returned to the surface, the tieflings lost their homes because they reminded the other citizens of the literal Hell they’d just gone through, and they kicked them out. And remember, they met and saw Wyll as a human, and then saw him with horns. It’s not unreasonable to think that by looking at him they would be reminded of all the events that led them to the awful situation they’re in. Because of someone that was making deals with devils, just like Wyll. Even if his situation is completely different. And Wyll knows that, that’s why he tells you the tieflings are unsettled by him and chooses to stay away during the party.

It was never just about the horns.

And I know Wyll calls himself a devil but I think it’s because it’s the closest thing he looks as; devils are a whole different race with their own intricacies, although humans can be turned into devils ONCE their souls go to Avernus and they start climbing the power hierarchy there (Mizora and Raphael are cambions/ half-devils btw, which is a different thing,  there are plenty of videos exploring those details more in depth).

Do I think Larian should have made some of this information clearer/easier to access? Maybe? but to be fair, it's a game focused and dedicated to a crowd that was already somewhat familiar with the source material, that blew up waay out of what they originally expected to reach. Hopefully they’ll add some clarifications like they did to other quests. 

Anyway these are my two cents to the conversation, have a nice day, and don't hesitate to add your two cents if you feel like it!

[doomedlemur]

Does Crowley actually destroy the "bad" plants?

I think not!

Neil Gaiman notably suggested once that he makes the shredder noise to frighten the plants, then sneaks the plant with leaf spots out and gives it to the old lady downstairs.

However, this was just in response to a question asking what could be told to a child who was upset by the scene, and so could not be considered canon. It does seem in character, but trying to be mindful of not headcanonning Crowley into too much of a meow-meow, I was prepared to believe either possibility.

But then, I was reading the book. And though much of the scene in the show was taken line for line, in the book it doesn't say he shreds the plants, or that the sound of a shredder is heard, or anything like that. It says he leaves the flat with the offending plant, and returns an hour or so later with an empty pot.

About the right amount of time to pop downstairs, have a chat and a cup of tea, and re-pot a plant, wouldn't you say? Hmmmmmmm.

[bumblingbabooshka]

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