#I don’t feel like any of these are inherently pretty strange

[t-tomuras]

BREAKING INTO YOUR HOUSE VIXEN

what are yours and your fav’s little idiosyncrasies the other adores and maybe one they don’t like as much if ur feeling spiiiiicy

This took forever because I am THE WORST lol I even had to look up the definition about this so I also want to use the physical attribute that they adore

I have a few severed nerves in my face so when I smile one side of my lip / face doesn’t rise as much as the other does. It’s gotten better over time (or like maybe I’ve gotten better about favoring the other side so it doesn’t look weird) but the boys love it. Gyuutaro always passes his thumb over the apple of my cheek and grins and Ten always kisses that side of my face first even if he’s positioned on the other side.

They also both like (and have adopted incredibly easily) how I don’t like to talk about nightmares in particular before breakfast. It’s a weird superstition I was taught growing up that you shouldn’t talk about a nightmare before you’ve eaten or it’ll come true (how that makes sense I’ll never know)

And I don’t think it’s a weird behavior, maybe it is who knows LMAO but one they don’t like is when it’s time for bed and I have too much energy I WILLLLLL rut my hips at them lmaooo. Gyuutaro thinks it’s funny for like 2 seconds then it’s like ALRIGHT CALM DOWN Ten will immediately turn around and scowl before arranging us to where I’m now little spoon and cannot pretend to give them the good dick™️ lmao

[parachutingkitten]

Why is Pixane So Queer?

Some thoughts on Asexual Romance.

[warning, long post below the cut]

The Ninjago fandom had a very potent reaction to The Quest for the Lost Powers repeatedly describing Pixal and Zane as being 'very close friends'. This seemed quite contradictory to many who assumed the confession of undying love at the end of the last season might have been a small hint at a romantic relationship of some kind. However, after closer examination, it turns out Pixal and Zane don’t ever actually refer to themselves as a couple, and the show has never once referred to them being in an active relationship.

But there’s something here, right? Sure, it’s not explicitly stated, but you are lying to yourself if you can watch them and tell me there is zero romantic subtext going on here. A lot of people got very defensive that the children’s book stated they were friends, especially when it also seemingly confirmed that the much straighter straight boy ship, Kailor, was apparently canon, despite being only implied as a possible future for ages now. But I find this backlash to be a bit strange. Sure, Zane and Pix aren’t exactly ‘just friends’ but, what do you want them to say? That they’re boyfriend and girlfriend? You want these two to say they’re ‘going out’ with each other? You think these two robots are ‘dating’ each other, like they’re just susin’ out the partner pool. Are those the words that fit this relationship to you?

I found myself feeling weirdly offended at everyone, and I think the reason was that these two love-droids haven’t chosen to define their relationship in traditional terms, and so everyone’s insistence that they should be boxed into some sort of traditional term seems inherently strange. It’s like when two elderly people are dating, it feels weird when they say “this is my girlfriend” because despite it being factually true, there’s so much baggage that comes with the word, part of that implication being youth, which is directly at odds with the immediate situation. It’s the correctness of the word paired with the incorrectness of the societal implications which forces you to assess if those societal implications should exist. And that- that is what makes this relationship feel queer. That’s why there’s this undeniably different kinda energy radiating off of it. It’s that rejection of the traditional labels, the refusal to be put into a box, which forces it to be a-typical. But, why? Why does Pixane have this rejection of labels radiating off of it? Their ages, while being literally whack, are presented as being your typical teenage to young adult age romance. Their genders present as a typical hetero pairing. And it’s not like they don’t follow your typical cliche love at first sight plot. I mean, Pixal was pretty explicitly created as a generic love interest character. So, what is it? Why is this queer? Spoiler alert: It’s because they’re asexual.

So, what is asexuality? Strictly defined, it is a community of people who experience little to no sexual attraction to anyone. This is distinct from aromanticism, which is a lack of romantic attraction, and sexual engagement or urges which are their own separate boat, but often have overlap with asexuality. However, for our purposes, we are focused on just the sexual attraction part. You can think of it as the difference between finding someone hot and finding someone cute. That’s the distinction that made it click for me anyway.

Now, as a disclaimer, I am not going to be considering other queer interpretations of this relationship. Not to invalidate them, because of course they’re valid, but specifically because I feel there isn’t precedent for them in the text, and I feel there is for asexuality. This deep dive is particularly about validating asexuality as being queer, and so to do that we have to eliminate any other outstanding factors. People are extremely quick to pin asexual queerness to something else, and that in itself can feel invalidating, even if it’s only attempting to validate other communities as well. Asexual romance is so easily read as straight romance, that any queer undertones have to have an alternate explanation, because asexuality doesn’t seem like enough to cross the barrier. Yes, enby interpretations of Pixane are great, and fantastic, and I would die for your right to follow those headcanons, but to pin the in text queer vibes on the fact that they technically don’t have biological gender, despite having very clear presenting and unwavering genders in text seems like a real easy way to dismiss the asexual coding which is staring me in the face. While things like non-binary or aromantic readings validate communities who have immense oppression and are continually called fake or confused, which is insanely important, asexuality, especially as it stands apart from aromanticism, is often confused as not being a difference at all. You’re just pure! You’re just wholesome! You’re just so sweet and innocent! And yes… yes, I am, but also, it’s more than that. It’s fundamentally something different about the way my brain is wired, and I feel a need to defend the fact that it, specifically, is queer. And in no way am I trying to say that the aces are the most oppressed actually, I don’t want to start the oppression Olympics here, and if we were to, I would probably argue quite the opposite, but I am saying that there is oppression, and it comes from outside and inside of the community, and it is a thing. It’s a different flavor of thing that’s maybe not as severe, but also sits differently. Maybe it’s not as much a pressing thing as other things, but… it’s my thing. It’s what I feel. It’s something I can speak on. So, I’m going to speak on it.

Perhaps one of the largest factors asexuality has to offer is the necessary separation of romance and sex. The packaging of sexual attraction and romantic attraction is so ubiquitous that the term ace is often assumed to be referring to aro/ace people, despite there being a term for that… aro/ace! Asexuality is not an easy queerness to explain, precisely because of this deeply held integration. It’s not a difference of experience necessarily, it’s a lack of a certain experience. I’m not saying this is something you can’t understand, because, unless you’re aromantic, I know you understand it! You are going to be able to like and relate to and feel seen by asexual romances, because the main component it requires is that you have romantic attraction- which is most people. And so many people get confused when you point to an asexual thing and go “I get that! This! This is me!” Because they just respond with “You’re not special, I get that too. Is this supposed to be different?” And, yes, it is, primarily because everything else includes this giant other thing as well, which is sexuality.

When vegans get excited about finding a meal which is especially delicious and also meets their food restrictions, they get particularly excited. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that same vegan meal- no doubt it probably tastes incredibly delicious to you as well. But you likely won’t get that same feeling of excitement, because you don’t live under the same restrictions as vegans do. That’s the same thing I feel when I see an asexually coded romance. I can enjoy the full meal without having to pick things out or ignore vital parts. I have no doubt that others can thoroughly enjoy asexual romances, but you’re going to have to look at it in context of all the dominant romance stories in the world to understand why it’s so different and special to me.

Now, have I cracked the code on asexual romance in media? No. I only have my own experience with asexuality to lean on, and the very limited discourse on the topic I’ve come across while discovering my identity. All of this is simply a theory based on my own thoughts and observations, but these are some explanations as to what might possibly be included in a framework for an asexually coded romance, at least to me.

So, what makes romance asexual? It’s not simply a lack of sexual suggestiveness. Any number of romances aren’t sexually suggestive, but still glaringly heteronormative- especially in children’s television. And it’s also not a lack of initial attraction, as that would throw Pixane out of the running for sure. Well, I have a few things which I feel may contribute to asexual coding of a romantic relationship, and wouldn’t you know, Pixane is a great example of all of them.

Asexual romance may, as many have remarked, come off as more innocent. When you shove all of the focus of characters onto the romantic, emotional connection, rather than any underlying sexual tension, things end up feeling extremely innocent to the layperson. You get the sort of old married couple effect. Two people deeply in love, who just sort of stare at each other in awe, and that others can comment on how cute they are. Again, asexuals don’t necessarily find anything hot. Cuteness is the main operative factor motivating their attraction, so it follows that their interactions would radiate that factor back at observers. The characters might in fact be very touchy, have sex, enjoy that physical touch, but that’s not at the forefront of anyone’s mind in the story. This is an aspect of Pixane that can be read very clearly. Their romance is quite easily described as pure and wholesome by all who have the pleasure of observing them. The way they interact with each other is extremely gentle and supportive, and their level of old married couple vibes is by far the highest of any pairings in the show (aside from perhaps the actual old married couple of Ed and Edna).

Asexual romance, I find to often be less conflict driven. Take the classic enemies to lovers plotline- it’s built on a tension between an innate irrational attraction, and a perceived logical personality conflict. While romantic attraction is certainly not always rational, from my understanding, sexual attraction is often rooted in factors that aren’t at all related to logical compatibility or personality. This means the enemies to lovers plot is primed to work much better when sexually charged, because it presents a clear path to create the hate/love conflict. Not to say that asexual enemies to lovers is impossible, or that asexual partners don’t have conflict between them, but that it is less of an obvious threat to incorporate into asexual romance.  Because there are less factors and layers of attraction to get involved in, there’s less room for conflict and contradiction between them. It is much easier to get tangled up in a situation with more strings. Pixane is a relationship which certainly doesn’t hold much internal conflict. The one disagreement they did have is solved quite neatly with basic communication skills in the middle of season 8. Most of their conflict comes from external factors which separate them or cause misunderstanding, rather than conflict from within the characters themselves.

Asexual romance also has the obvious potential to challenge traditional dating norms. Because there is no impulse to escalate things physically, it makes sense that the progression of an asexual romance would differ from traditional relationships where that escalation is expected. Your asexual romance is bound to get emotionally intense with each other quicker, or at least have it be the focus of their story, because there is no other facet to deal with. Asexuals don’t commonly have sexual fantasies for themselves, but rather romantic fantasies. Not to say that most people don’t have romantic fantasies, but… that’s all we’ve got. And when your impulse is ‘let’s get married, and then maybe I guess we can kiss’, it might seem like things are progressing out of order to the average person. While asexuals don't all hate physical contact or even sexual connection, it isn't an attractive or motivating factor in the same way it is in most romances, so even on a base level, the level of physical contact is likely going to be less than average. Pixane progresses ridiculously out of order. Zane is willing to split his soul for her- it’s only at this point that they romantically hold hands for the first time. It’s the emotional connection between the two that comes first, and all classic tangible symbols of affection and romance that are secondary. The most pronounced physical contact we’ve seen is a cheek kiss, and their most common type of physical contact is enthusiastic hugging (which I’ll dive more into later).

Additionally, because physical affection is more of an afterthought, it would also make sense for labels to come slowly. If you have an incredibly close personal, soulful connection, but you haven’t kissed yet, it makes sense for people around you to assume you’re just really close friends, or perhaps just crushing on each other still. Terms like “girlfriend” and “boyfriend” invoke rather physical tactile images, and so to attempt to apply them to an asexual romance isn’t necessarily wrong but may feel a bit off putting because of this dissonance. Again, it’s this dissonance between the romantic meaning of the word, and the sexual undertones which forces discomfort onto the viewer. Pixal and Zane have yet to kiss each other after years of dancing around each other’s obvious romantic feelings. It remains unclear if they even are in an active romantic relationship at all, or are still mutually pinning, as no labels have been given to their relationship in show. I have no doubt part of this is the lack of planned dates or physical affection which are common outward signals of a traditional established relationship.

A lot of the saucy flirting which accompanies many classic heteronormative romances can seem rather pointless to asexuals. I would venture to say that asexuals are likely more direct and up front with their emotional vulnerability and feelings, because that’s the connection which they are seeking to make. To dance around it with innuendo and mind games is rather unproductive in achieving the end goal. There is less of a pressure to “perform” romance, and instead just be honestly romantic, because the romance isn’t a prelude to sex, or physical affection, it’s the end goal in and of itself. To only pretend to do it is entirely pointless. All of this is likely going to result in a romance which puts less focus on the “game of dating”. I mean, can you imagine Pixane ending up in a Jaya style love triangle? It’s almost an absurd pitch to make, right? There is no performativity to the Pixane relationship, it is exactly as it appears at first glance. And when Zane attempts more traditional, cheesy flirting tactics like in Ninjago Confidential, Pixal is nothing but confused and annoyed by his attempts.

The most prominent example which I feel exemplifies the inherently asexual coding of Pixane applies to many robotic romances- and it’s the characters’ relationship with skin. A lot of sexual suggestion and tension is based on skin. The revealing nature of skin exposure, the feeling of skin on skin being a sexual touchpoint, skin is essential to the sexual experience in most instances. This is part of the reason I love writing romance but have yet to write a kiss between anyone. The sexuality of a kiss is inherently uncomfortable to write for me because you’re encouraged to lean into the physical feeling of the touch of skin. Robots bring to the forefront the idea of this physical contact because their skin is often not exactly skin, and that in itself gives a sort of de facto distance from sexuality. There’s a moment which happens repeatedly with Pixane, and shows up in other robotic romances, like Wall-E and Eve, which I feel highlights this essential separation from the skin of sexuality. Pixane and Wall-Eve both have the ‘clink’ moment, in which intimate physical contact is made, (in Pixane’s case, all of their many hugs) and accentuated by the sound of their metal skin meeting with a loud clink. This sound not only highlights their lack of skin but serves to suck any sexual energy out of the interaction immediately and leaves it purely with the romance intended by the action. It’s not uncommon for people to find the sound humorous, precisely because of how desexualizing it is. It highlights the couples’ incapability of indulging in sexual skin on skin contact, and instead the closeness and companionship the act of touching provides.

And this is why I feel robots are in fact a decent candidate for asexual characters if done properly. Robots being coded as asexual can be a very negative stereotype, particularly when their asexuality is explicitly linked to their lack of emotion and feeling- but media about robots has been trending more positively recently. In fact, robots, if used correctly, may actually validate asexuality explicitly. Robotic characters are often used to explore the idea of what makes humanity human. If we give these robots human-like enough traits, when do they become human? Are they perhaps the most human? And it seems like fictional consensus agrees that sexuality is not required to achieve human status. Stripping away the excess human emotions may be part of what makes robots asexual (or aromatic, if your robot is also incapable of romantic love). The medium of robot literalizes the disconnect that asexuals have with their physical bodies, most notably their skin, and serves to put additional distance between the character and sexual contact, at least in the traditional sense. I mean, think about it, if you want your robot to be sexual, you need to go out of your way to establish that it has sexual capability, because no one is going to simply assume that your fictional robot was designed with that capability in mind. Why would it be, unless that was its explicit purpose? In a way, robots are sort of de facto asexual.

Pixane is queer because it’s asexual, and it’s asexual because they distill down only the purely romantic parts of a romantic relationship. They’re able to do this, in part because of their individual characterization, but also because of their robotic bodies, which make the separation between romance and sexuality just that much easier. They highlight the necessity to separate romance from all of the convoluted sexual layers which often accompany it, and so come out feeling distinctly untraditional and subversive.

That's the theory, again, all hyper based on my own personal experience with asexuality, which is of course not all encompassing. I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

[transmascissues]

i think we need to talk more about the very specific language people use to talk about trans men&mascs’ bodies, because the language they use evokes a very particular image. they call us dirty, ugly, deformed, mutilated, poisoned, ruined, and just generally “gross” and what it boils down to is a very pervasive sense of body horror.

people are genuinely disgusted by the mere existence of our bodies. i’ve experienced this in my own life, most poignantly when my father (who has otherwise been relatively supportive of my transition) replied to my desire for top surgery with “it’s not natural! nature doesn’t make people like that!”

transmasculinity — particularly visible, tangible, bodily transmasculinity — activates something in their subconscious that they don’t know how to reconcile with. they see us and immediately fall back on disgust because they can’t make sense of us any other way.

and this kind of visceral, all-emcompassing disgust is very specific to how people treat trans men&mascs. you might see similar things directed at other trans people, but it’s never quite the same. there is a very specific disgust that cis people (and honestly, a lot of trans people) reserve solely for us.

this is something i think all trans men&mascs have grappled with at some point in our lives, especially if we pursue a medical transition. any steps we make toward a body we feel good about will require wading through the cognitive dissonance of knowing that the bodies we strive to exist in will only ever be seen as dirty and ugly and wrong.

i can attest to this personally: when t started making me grow facial hair, i had to convince myself not to immediately shave it off because even though i loved it, i couldn’t shake the feeling of how other people would look at my face differently.

more generally, when i look at pictures of myself pre-t, as strange and uncanny-valley-ish it is to see myself like that now that i look much closer to how i want to look, i can’t help but be struck by how *pretty* i was. i know that’s all anyone else would notice — not how much more comfortable i am, but how pretty i used to be and how i gave it up.

just a few days ago, i had a moment in the shower where i just closed my eyes and imagined shouting at my mother: “this body is not yours this body is not yours this body is not yours” over and over because she, more than anyone else, has made it abundantly clear that every step i’ve taken has ruined my body somehow and she, like so many other trans men&mascs’ mothers, has made it her mission to clean me up and pretty me up and make me presentable again.

because that’s how the world at large sees our bodies: unsightly and corrupted and in many ways the grotesque physical manifestations of of some social sickness that they believe will destroy everything they value.

the disgust expressed toward other trans people tends to be a more abstract one — often a moral disgust, expressing that the action of being trans is objectionable to them. even bodily disgust is surrounded by these more abstract themes (think of people talking about transfeminine expression as a perversion of femininity — it’s not inherently the expression that’s the problem but the actions someone took to get achieve that expression, because femininity is supposed to be something good and pure and putting it down outright would go against that).

but when it comes to trans men&mascs, there is nothing abstract about that disgust. it’s incredibly physical — a visceral, tangible horror at the existence of our flesh and bone. they hate us down to the blood in our veins. they hate us down to our cells.

[jeonqkooks]

isn't it romantic? | myg (prologue)

⟶ SERIES MASTERPOST

Many things in life have a polar opposite: left and right, night and day, yin and yang, you and Min Yoongi... Hopeless romantic meets gloomy cynic. The only thing you seem to share is a magazine column but even then, you still can’t seem to understand how Yoongi can be called ‘The Love Doctor’ when he is the antithesis of everything love represents. 

pairing: yoongi x f!reader; past taehyung x f!reader

rating: 18+ (minors dni)

genre/warnings: coworkers to lovers, fluff, angst, eventual smut; crying, central themes of cheating, that's pretty much it for the prologue

word count: 777

note: the yoongi brainrot is real y'all. he's really wreaking havoc on my life and forcing me to drop everything to focus on him when i have no much other shit to write 😩 but anyhow, this is exciting !! my first yoongi fic aaaa !! please show her some love y'all cuz this may or may not be a deeply personal story to me 💕 i wanted to say more but i forgot just as i sat down to write this a/n lmao. ANYWAY, massive thanks to @daechwitatamic and @luaspersona for beta'ing this for me on such short notice (and jo for telling that there's stuff in here that i should go to jail for bc that's always the best thing to hear 😌) y'all are awesome and i love you <3 and @jeonwiixard for being hurt by this 😚

— as always, i’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, and please drop a like and/or reblog if you enjoy reading ♡

You are 7, and life is good, as life should be for all children.

You have two parents who adore you, and a sister with whom you constantly bicker but that’s okay, because it’s how siblings love each other. You have constellations hanging from your bedroom ceiling, someone to read your bedtime stories every night, hot meals on the table every day. Every summer, your family takes a trip somewhere beautiful and a week feels like forever when it's just the four of you together, surrounded with only warmth and laughter. You don’t know any other way to live life.

Love is abundant, because that’s what love is supposed to be.

You are 7, and you don’t know how to accept that everything can be different in just a blink of an eye.

When your father comes back from a business trip, the first thing you do is dig through his bag in search of his phone, to look for that video game that you don’t understand but love playing so much. What you find instead, is a picture he took with a strange woman, on a beach somewhere, wearing straw hats and tacky shirts and bright smiles. You show it to your mother, and life forever changes.

Children can be nosy sometimes. It’s inherent to being kids.

You don't know what it means. It's just a picture. You just want your game.

You are 7, and how is a child supposed to react when their world is turned upside down?

No one reads you bedtime stories anymore. Your mother rarely goes out of her room. Your sister has to grow into an adult when she herself is still a teenager, to take care of you, to make sure that you’re fed and clothed and have all of your books when you go to school.

You don’t know that people can be sad even as they’re smiling and laughing. People can be sad even as they’re telling you that they aren’t, and that everything is just fine. People can be sad even when they’re happy.

Your mother doesn’t have that same light in her anymore. You can’t tell if she’s just tired, or if there’s something else bothering her, a secret gnawing at the back of her mind that she doesn’t let you in on.

Answers to simple questions like “When is dad coming home?” used to be “In an hour,” or “He’ll be back to read to you before bed.” Now, she answers you with tears in her eyes before she turns away, and you have yet to discover that words have the power to hurt, and hearts are things that can break even when they're healthy and beating.

Your sister learns to be more careful with her words because she knows things that you don’t, things that you’re too young to understand. She knows of burdens that you have yet to bear but will inevitably have to.

You are 7, and your parents aren’t holding up the sky anymore. Occasional late nights at the office turned into a constant absence at the dinner table. Laughter has since dulled into taut silence that never relents, only stretches on and on and on, until it forces you to adapt to the absence of joy in your home.

If someone were to ask you what envy was, you wouldn’t be able to tell them the definition, but you can describe to them what it’s like. It’s a foreign concept, yet so familiar at the same time. Before, you used to feel envious when you see another kid holding a cooler toy or wearing a prettier dress. Now, you’re envious when the other children at school have parents waiting to take them home after a long day. You don’t want your sister to be the only one who shows up. You want love to be abundant again.

You are 7, and you haven’t yet learned how to hold back tears. You miss your father because he rarely comes home anymore. When he does, your parents would argue. Yell at each other. Sob until screams turn into hiccups. Slam doors. You cry because the house feels like it’s going to collapse. 

You still remember the picture on your dad’s phone, or at least, you remember the color of the water. It was blue, like the color of the sky on a beautiful sunny day. Blue, like the cover of your favorite fairy tale, splattered with golden sparkles. Blue, like the walls of your parents’ bedroom. Blue, like the feeling that no child should experience. Blue, because that’s all you have to remember your stolen childhood by.

You are 7.

— all rights reserved © jeonqkooks. reposting, translating and/or modifying is not permitted by any means. [posted 24.04.2023]

[toytle]

Anon who was trying to get into superman, back again! I took your suggestion and watched the 1978 movie, it was so fun! “Nonhuman character whose best quality is how human they are” is such a good trope 😊 (Foo fighters flashbacks haha) I do wish Clark before he goes to metropolis was a little more like his Clark Kent act, made me a little sad to remember it was just a bit 😔 I think it would be nice if his “real self” was sort of in the middle of his two lives.

I also read Gene Luen Yang’s Superman Smashes the Klan graphic novel and enjoyed it a lot. Do you have any thoughts on My Adventures with Superman? It looks very cute though I haven’t had the chance to see it yet.

Oh also, wanted to share this with you, the only thing I could picture after the 1978 movie. https://imgur.com/a/7P6tjIO

[response to this ask]

i’m so glad you liked it!! non-human characters defined by their humanity is one of my fav tropes, i knew i liked ff for a reason (said the fake jojo fan who never finished part 6 😓)

i agree, it would’ve been nice to see clark’s personal life feel more connected, but they paced it out rly well for a movie, esp an origin story! i think he exaggerates his clark kent persona fs, but i don’t think it was totally a bit either, esp w the 2nd movie—tho the sequel was also much more ridiculous, so i think everything got amped up in general. personally, i loved younger clark! to think of this gentle giant as having a bit of an arrogant personality, well… we all had our awkward teen years, right? i don’t think they’re mutually exclusive, but it is an interesting comparison

as for MAwS, i only got as far as ep6, but i don’t think it’s my thing. someone who’s further ahead can correct me, but it’s pretty much what you’d expect on the tin: superman for a she-ra or voltron audience (cartoonified anime style, interpersonal melodrama, fanfic scenarios, etc). def not a bad thing, but it just didn’t hit any of my personal interests when it comes to superman, and also anime boy-fied slade wilson was so fucking strange that i’m still reeling. i think i only ended up caring abt jimmy last i watched; lois frustrated me and clark felt empty, which are not rly opinions i’ve had for either of them before

that’s not to say that i didn’t have any fun! but i don’t think the fun moments were enough to motivate me to finish. i do hope ppl are enjoying it tho, i hope it’s a fun intro for new fans or a refreshing take for longtime ones (it has a lot of deep-cut references apparently!). maybe i should finish it some time before i rly make up my mind on anyone

and ty SO much for this image btw. so so real

in exchange, have some live reactions from my most recent donner superman rewatch:

(proof that fanfic scenarios are not inherently bad)

[adobe-outdesign]

Have you reviewed the nacli line yet???

(This is a rollover review from yesterday; any new asks will be answered tomorrow.)

When we first heard about Nacli (great name) through leaks, I thought that a salt Pokemon was one of the more interesting concepts mentioned. It was definitely a concept that hasn’t been explored yet, and the natural square shape of the mineral could lend itself to some interesting visuals.

Nacli’s about what I was picturing in my mind from the original leaks, and I have to say, I do like it. The mushroom shape is inherently appealing, contrasting the very square chunks of salt with a more naturalistic sedimentary bedrock layer. It also lends itself to some interesting top-down symmetry, with the body mirrored by the chunk of salt at the top. It’s simple and instantly appealing.

The colors are also very nice; the brown makes sense for a rock-type and compliments the whites in the design nicely, while the orange makes the eyes pop.

I will say that said eyes are the only part of the design that throw me a bit, just because they seem to be hollow, and can also change color. Granted, I guess it’s not any less strange than Geodude just straight-up sporting human eyes, but I would’ve at least liked a lore explanation as to what’s going on there. Everything else about the design is pretty perfect.

One thing I like a lot about this line is the way it evolves. Instead of evolving in a very linear way and sticking to one body shape, it instead “rearranges” as it evolves, going from a mushroom-like shape to a quadruped to a biped. It makes sense (as rock doesn’t have one specific shape it has to take), and makes it so the middle evo is its own thing, fitting between the other two but a worthwhile Pokemon in its own right.

For Naclstack here, I like how the palette has been expanded on to include darker shades of brown while still being monotone, which keeps the line looking cohesive while adding a good deal of contrast. The head being white helps draw the eye to it despite the otherwise relatively complex design, while the square head and legs mirror each other.

I think my only problem with this design is that I feel like it’s maybe a bit too blocky; there’s still some bedrock present, but only at the back. I feel like the brown chunk that forms the body could’ve still been all bedrock (as I don’t know why salt would be brown anyway), to give it the same texture contrast that Nacli has going for it. That would also make it so the head and chest would be similar to an upside-down Nacli, which would be a nice visual nod.

Also, the legs float, which is a bit odd.

Garganacl is akin to a golem, and follows in the proud Pokemon tradition of “big weird hulking third-stage rock-type”. It feels suitably powerful compared to its pre-evos, and as mentioned before, the body shape changing each time prevents it from looking too similar to either Nacli or Naclstack.

This might be weird to say, but I’m going for it anyway: I love the way this thing’s limbs look. Going from the super dark brown in the middle of the body and then gradient-ing out to light brown and white just looks super pretty, and helps focus the eye towards the middle of the design. The chunky three-fingered hands are also delightful, as are the nice mineral sparkles sprinkled into the bedrock layers.

What I’m not as big on is the upper body. I feel like the “shoulder pads” are just WAY too huge; they completely dwarf the head, to the point where it’s kind of hard to even figure out what’s going on with the face. The middle piece of salt on the top of the head also feels extraneous and only adds to the problem. I guess it’s just there to mimic Nacli’s similar head block, but Naclstack doesn’t have it anyway. I don’t mind it having the shoulders in the first place; I just would’ve liked to see them dropped down like 40%. If you did that and made the head dark brown—maybe even remove that white waist piece in favor of more brown—you’d have a clear focus on the core of the body and the head, and the design would be much easier to read as well. It’s still very good; it just could’ve been stronger.

As a side note: I love how Garganacl’s salt is used to heal wounds. Not only does it work as a play on “rubbing salt in one’s wounds”, it also works as a pun on the word cure (which means both to heal something and to preserve meat with salt). Absolutely brilliant writing right there.

Anyway, overall, a strong line. The concept is unique, the colors are incredibly pleasing, each stage has something going for it, and there’s interesting textural contrast in the design that you don’t see often with Pokemon. The only thing holding it back is Garganacl’s shoulders and head, which get to be a bit hard to read; otherwise, it’s quite nice.

[mlb-a-rewrite]

Miraculous Ladybug: A Rewrite; Episode 1

Origins

Synopsis: A new school year has begun and someone new has joined Marinette's class. Adrien Agreste, a child model Marinette has fangirled over since she was little, now sits behind her in class, but he's different than she thought he'd be. She isn't given any time to worry about this though, as something magical has entered her life that might change it forever.

Villain: Mr. Pigeon

Pigeon caller/whistle

Can mentally control pigeons after blowing his pigeon caller 

Conflict: Adrien and Marinette decide if they will be heroes + Marinette learns to be nice to Adrien + Defeating Mr. Pigeon.

Key Events/Scenes:

Ladybug (LB) and Chat (Noir) are introduced

At the end of the episode, Chloe tries to be bitchy to Marinette but she stands up for herself and Alya is like “way to go girl”. It’s not like the whole class cheers and rallies behind Marinette; it's a personal step.

UMBRELLA SCENE!!

Notes:

Marinette fangirled over Adrien like most teenagers follow celebrity crushes (idfk my aroace ass wasn’t built for this). She liked him in theory and whatnot but when she actually sees him and interacts with him a couple of things happen

One, she realizes he is a real person

Two, she realizes she knows personal details (that he shared publicly, she didn’t stalk him) about him

Third, she realizes she knows a lot of personal information about someone she has never met before, and finally

Fourth, she is incredibly uncomfortable with all this. She realizes she was treating Adrien like he wasn’t real and so it was okay to say how in love she was or have pictures of him in her room but now that she’s met him it feels strange.

So at first, Marinette is kinda rude to Adrien. She distances herself from him and is standoffish because she doesn’t know how to act around him. She feels weird and gross (even if she wasn’t doing anything wrong or abnormal) and so she kinda avoids him

This takes the place of the whole gum thing in the original Origins. During the umbrella scene Adrien is basically like, “I don’t know what I did to bother you, but I’m sorry and I hope we can be friends” and then instead of, like, falling in love with him, Marinette realizes she was being an asshole and tries to slowly open up to being his friend

She is still awkward and uncomfortable at first, but she makes an effort to push past it and be friendlier with him and that awkwardness slowly fades away

Adrien/Chat Noir is so terrified the entire time he is transformed. He is very hesitant to do anything in fear of causing problems/stepping out of line

By the end of the episode, Adrien/Chat is a little more confident but it is barely noticeable.

He’s used to following orders and being told what to do and not doing anything wrong and being Chat Noir feels inherently wrong to him so he’s very hesitant to do anything in fear of messing up or being in the way.

LB is very clumsy and doesn't know how to deakumatize so she just captures the akuma in a little plastic box

Hawkmoth eventually deakumatizes it himself. She doesn’t really have any knowledge that he is doing it and thinks they just like, run out of battery and eventually revert back to normal, and then she releases them

Deakumatization is Marinette’s third power she hasn’t unlocked yet. (See my post Miraculous Make No Sense for more information)

Also when Tikki/Plagg are talking to Marinette/Adrien to convince them to be heroes, Mari/Adrien ask about their secret identities and the Kwamis explain that people need a reason to suspect their true identities

So people can look at an image of Marinette and Ladybug side by side, and unless they have a reason to suspect that Marinette is Ladybug, they won’t

So if someone sees Marinette run into a bathroom, a flash of light, and then Ladybug run out, they have pretty solid proof that Marinette is Ladybug, and if they truly believe that Marinette is Ladybug, the face blindness goes away and they can clearly see they are the same person

This makes it so they can still have their secret identities but they have to be careful about it.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Love train 🚂💖💖💖! Send this to all the blogs you love! Don’t forget to spread the love! 😊

It was in the dead of the night that Time found his eyes opening with his body in a cold sweat. It was a prickly, nasty feeling, the sensation that something was inherently wrong, and he slowly sat up, blind eye staying open as he looked around in the dark. Malon snored gently beside him, the old wood of Lon Lon Ranch occasionally creaking in accompaniment.

When nothing was apparent in the immediate vicinity, Time detangled himself from the sheet covering the couple and slinked into the hallway, grabbing his sword on the way. He crept quietly, knowing which floorboards would announce his approach and which would hide it, until he'd cleared the entire hallway. He heard a strange sound coming from downstairs, like a blade being sharpened, or something being cut into or--

Wait, he knew that sound. Clarity rang through his sleep addled mind, and he slowly propped his sword against the wall as he made his way downstairs. Sky was on the ground, carving a wooden figure or some sort, barely visible in the moonlight.

"Sky," Time said quietly, and the knight nearly flew into the ceiling he was so startled. Time bit back a laugh. "What are you doing up?"

Sky gasped for breath a little before huffing a laugh at himself. "I... wasn't sleeping well. Did I wake you up? I thought I was being quiet."

"I tend to be pretty aware of my surroundings," Time offered, not wanting the boy to feel guilty that the creaking Time had heard was likely his own doing. Besides, if he taught him the secrets of the house, then Sky could sneak around better, and Time... didn't want any of the boys to know how to do that.

Heaven knows what chaos would happen.

"Sorry," Sky said quietly.

"Don't be," Time replied with a gentle, dismissive wave of his hand. "Why weren't you sleeping well?"

Sky shrugged, returning his attention to his carving. Time walked to sit across from him, gingerly lowering himself to the floor.

"I'm glad you have Malon," Sky said abruptly, carving the wood with a careful eye. Time watched it a little worriedly - it was far too dark to be handling a blade like that, but somehow it seemed like Sky hadn't hurt himself accidentally. His words caught the man off guard, though, but before he could ask, Sky continued, "I'm glad you have a home like this. Somewhere safe, somewhere... I'm glad you have this."

Time watched the young knight carefully. He wasn't entirely sure what the boy was getting at. "Do you have a home to go to?"

Sky laughed. "O-of course! Yes, I do. I have a home. I have people who love me. I'm glad you do too. Sometimes... sometimes it seems like not everyone does."

Time watched him a moment longer, and Sky cleared his throat, hastily scrambling to his feet. "Good night, old man."

"Sky," he called after him as the boy started to climb the stairs. "Is that all that's bothering you?"

Sky threw a smile over his shoulder. "I'm okay, don't worry. Good night."

[lovelyisadora]

HELLO ELABORATE ON UR TAGS???? WHAT

So I am pretty certain this was about my Forgotten AU. So uh. Yeah <3 This is part 1 because it got long <3

*In the blink of an eye, people begin to go missing. They disappear one right after the other, always in the middle of the night, almost as though they’ve vanished. Septimus is twenty now, living in an apartment a few floors lower than Marcia’s and attending university, and after a child no older than eight disappears, he asks her to look into it.

*Marcia feels terrible for the families with missing children and loved ones, but there isn’t anything she can do. There is nothing inherently magykal about any of the disappearances.

*Septimus can’t let it go, despite being told to stay out of it. Something isn’t right at all. He decides that if Marcia won’t look into it, he will, and he gets deeper and deeper and deeper into conspiracy. He loses sleep over it. He talks to families. He drags up archives, to see if anything like this has ever happened before. People are going missing, and no one can figure out why. He details his findings in his journal, and he keeps records of everything in his apartment. He’s so focused on this he begins to isolate himself. He starts skipping classes, failing to turn in his assignments.

*He eventually finds something bone-chilling. This did happen before. People were reported missing, one after another. These same people were later found dead, but then something strange happened. Six months after they died, they suddenly reappeared in their beds. No one he’s spoken to has ever mentioned anything like this. Amongst the list of those missing is a name he recognizes, though—M. Overstrand. Septimus is shaken.

*He is so shaken that he decides he needs to show Marcia, to ask her what she knows. It can’t have been her, or at least he doesn’t think so, but she must know something. He stops by his apartment first, to make note of what he found, but when he gets there, he isn’t alone. Marcia is there, a horrified, deeply worried look on her face. Behind her is what is best described as his conspiracy board, and in front of her all his notes and his journal. She’s here because she just found out he’s failing his classes, and she’s angry. She told him to stay away from this. “Septimus, you need to step back, step away,” and then says that she thinks it’s best he moves back in with her, permanently, that he get rid of these things. It isn’t healthy, and he should pause, re-evaluate, re-access. But Septimus doesn’t listen to her, and he shows her what he found.

*“How horrible of you to bring my father into this,” she snarls at him, and Septimus has never heard her use this tone with anyone, let alone him. She will not let him do this, this is stopping now, and they say things to each other that they will never be able to take back. Septimus yells at her for doing nothing, saying that it is happening again. She argues that there is no evidence for this, even accuses him of fabricating all of this in a gross attempt to force her hand. “I expected so much better from you, Septimus,” she says, and he realizes that nothing he does or says is going to get Marcia on his side. “I don’t need you then,” he says to her face, and he doesn’t care that her angry, worried expression twists and breaks. “I’ll find the missing people myself.” Then he runs out of his apartment.

*He is faster than Marcia, whose joints don’t work as well as they should in the winter and spring. She shouts after him, stops the stairs, even goes as far as to order him to be stopped and to lock the silver doors, but Septimus manages to get down the steps and out the doors and into the courtyard. By the time Marcia gets to the silver doors, they’ve locked in front of her on her own command. She isn’t able to go after him, and she knows she won’t be able to find him if he doesn’t want her to. She immediately orders a message sent to the palace, to anywhere he’s likely to have run, but Septimus isn’t there. He isn’t anywhere.

*Septimus is added to the list of the missing days later. Marcia is now involved and announces that she will personally do everything she can for the missing people. She does not take the same route Septimus did, because he sounded crazy and there’s no evidence it happened despite the handwritten report he found.

*Milo is making dinner silently and Marcia is pouring over the little information she does have. She is just about to throw everything off the table in a fit of frustration when there is a knock on the door. She gets there before Milo does, but he follows her anyway. She asked not to be disturbed unless any of the missing people were found. “Where,” she demands of the messenger, prepared to be there in seconds. But the messenger is trembling, and Milo is the only one to notice. “The morgue.”

*“No,” is Marcia’s immediate, fierce answer, but Milo sees the sudden weakness in her stance and reaches for her. “No. No.”

*“All seven bodies were found this morning—”

*Marcia slams the door in the messenger’s face. Milo tries to grab her hands, make her look at him. She doesn’t let him, and her eyes meet his for one terrified moment. He can already see that she’s denying it. That the words in her head are jumbled and disappearing. “No,” she says again, and her voice nearly cracks. So much is conveyed in just that one syllable. “No.” She leaves without another word, and he doesn’t go after her. Moments later, he hears their bedroom door slam.

*Milo is also numb and in shock, but it wasn’t his child who went missing. It isn’t his child in the morgue. He despairs for Marcia, so upset to learn that Septimus was found, but he wasn’t found alive. He opens the door again. The messenger is still there. He gives Milo the rest of the message. The bodies were found that morning. Milo asks if the families have been notified. They haven’t been. He has no authority, but he tells the messenger to do so.

*Then he goes and knocks on their bedroom door, asking Marcia to let him in. She doesn’t answer, so he opens the door anyway. She’s pacing the room, clawing at her elbows, clearly trying to process all of it. Tears have not yet fallen. “No,” she says again once she notices him, like it is the only word she knows. Milo keeps his distance, even holds his hands out to show that he won’t come near her. “We need to go to the morgue,” he tells her gently. “No.” “Yes,” he argues, because Marcia needs to do her job before she can grieve, and that’s just a sad fact. He holds out his hand. “The families need to be told.”

*She finally snaps. “Someone else can do it!” She shrieks, sounding so unlike herself it hurts him. “There is no someone else,” he reminds her. She got involved. It is expected of her. Her lower lip quivers and she holds herself so rigidly, but still tears do not fall. He’s seen her compartmentalize before and it’s scary, the way she forces herself to solely focus on a task and nothing else. When she’s done, she says she wants to see the bodies. She doesn’t say Septimus’s name. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Milo murmurs. “I don’t think I care,” Marcia snaps, and her voice is even nearer to cracking.

*Neither speak until they get to the morgue. She goes in alone. When she comes back out, she doesn’t say a word. Her eyes glisten with tears.

*Silas and Sarah are the last to arrive. Marcia cannot give them any answers as to how, only that the bodies were recovered that morning. Sarah wants to see him, she won’t believe it until she sees him, and Silas knows just by the expression on Marcia’s face that it can’t be anyone other than Septimus. It was horrible enough being told his child was dead the first time, but the second is so much worse. He kisses Sarah’s hand, tells her he’ll be right there, and Milo offers to escort her so that she isn’t alone. Sarah is so frazzled she allows it.

*Silas asks her what happened the moment they were alone, thinking that Marcia must know, and hadn’t wanted to say in front of Sarah. But Marcia just stares at him, so quiet, so lost. “I don’t know.”

*Milo stays to help grieving families. It’s who he is. When he gets back to the apartment, Marcia isn’t there. He finds her in Septimus’s apartment, staring at his conspiracy board and papers. She doesn’t say anything at first, but then she tells him that Septimus had put himself in danger, convinced of—convinced of something. She can’t really remember any of what he told her, she’s too focused on what she said and the last memories he’d have of her. She speaks until she can’t, until her emotions catch up with her and she tears down the conspiracy board. Milo tries to calm her, and she eventually lets him hold her, her knees unable to support her weight anymore as she breaks down into horrible, horrible sobs that make her entire body shudder right there on Septimus’s floor.

*Answers are not found, so Marcia has none to give. When no one else disappears, it’s considered done. Jenna yells at her for it. “Why aren’t you finding out who did this? Why are you just carrying on like nothing happened?” When she can’t get through to her, she leaves. There is a funeral. Sarah is inconsolable and can’t get out of bed. Silas, never one to drink before, suddenly finds himself at Sally’s more and more. Milo can’t reach Marcia. No one can. Eventually his apartment is packed up. The spare room in her apartment was still his, so Marcia packs that up too. She even covers the stars on the ceiling. His room in the palace is left exactly as it was. He had stayed there the night before he disappeared. Sarah had known he was out of sorts, and she wishes she hadn’t let him leave.

*Six months pass, and the world moves on for everyone but the families of the dead. Marcia is staring out the window during a thunderstorm one night, trying to focus on the lightning, when she gets an odd feeling. It feels like Septimus but that is impossible. He’s six feet underground. Tomorrow, she tells herself. She just has to keep making it to tomorrow. She moves away from the window. Tomorrow.

*But Marcia wakes up tomorrow, and something is very wrong.

[unrooms]

The first thing you get right away from the newly dubbed chat is a kind of complicated sequence of things to try in the plant room. With those plans in mind, you first grab one of the sharper chisels in case it comes down to trying to threaten the plants in the right direction. You also remember to set an alarm this time. Then you leave the stone room for the plant room. As soon as you step into the pool room, though-

“-Oh! -Flesh?”

It looks up at you and smiles. “That’s right. I made my decision. I don’t want to stay here forever. I thought I would explore a bit, and I’d probably encounter you soon. I suppose I was right.”

You're surprised by its appearance, but also just pleased to see it. You walk over to sit on the pool rim next to the flesh.

“You look... human. Kind of. -Uh, that’s the species I am, if you don’t know.”

“I didn’t know that. But I know... well, it’s not exactly knowledge. But, from the walls, the floors, the ceilings, and everything within them, I got some very vague images of people like you. Humans. I thought I would try to emulate that shape. How do I look?”

It looks... distinctly uncanny-valley. It’s naked but doesn’t have genitals or nipples and doesn’t really feel naked, somehow. It looks like an alien with a very mediocre idea of what a human looks like tried to make one from scratch, which you guess is what it is. It looks rather unsettling and wrong.

“You look like yourself,” you say, “I like it.” You mean it.

The flesh grins at you. “Thank you.”

“How does it feel?”

“...It’s strange to be disconnected, but I don’t think it feels bad. I think it will take some getting used to. Moving around in this form is also a little difficult.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. You probably just need practice.”

“I think so. And if it turns out I don’t like this form, I can still change it.”

“Man, I wish I could do that... Eh, well, anyway, I should probably get back to getting keys. I was about to go into the plant room and try to figure out the puzzle, do you want to come with me?”

“Alright. That sounds nice. Oh, before that-” It points at the strange liquid in the pool. “This is void. I thought you might want to know that.”

“Oh, huh...” You stick a hand in the... void. “I would have thought void would be more... dangerous? But I was sitting in this stuff when I got here, and that was fine.”

“I don’t think any of the elements are inherently dangerous to any other element.”

“Well... that’s definitely interesting, thanks for telling me. Shall we go now, though?”

“Alright.” It stands up awkwardly and follows you into the plant room. “Hm... I like this room, I think.”

“It is pretty pleasant, isn’t it? I still wanna get out of here, though, so...”

You tell the flesh about what you’ve seen in this room and what you plan to do.

“Oh by the way, maybe you wouldn’t know, but do you know if it would be safe for me to eat this fruit?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, I mean, at least in my world, some plants aren’t safe to eat for humans.”

“Well... I know the walls, the floors, the ceilings, and everything within them doesn’t want to harm you. But I can’t be certain it wouldn’t do so by accident.”

“Hm...” You turn the fruit over in your hands. You’re... pretty hungry... “...Well, maybe I can just try a little, and if it seems okay I’ll try more later.”

So you carve out a bite-size chunk of fruit using the chisel you brought, then another chunk on the flesh’s request, and give it a try. You like it; it’s mildly sweet and just a little spicy, and sort of reminiscent of pear flavor. You feel fine for now. You refrain from giving in to temptation and having more, though. Instead, you let the flesh have the rest- it’s apparently a big fan.

As the flesh messily devours the rest of the fruit, you kneel down next to the big clock and tentatively try moving the minute hand. It turns easily, and as you turn it you find the angle of the light changing noticeably. Unsurprisingly, it’s more dramatic when you try the hour hand. You fiddle with it until the room feels like sunset, the beam at a dramatic slant so that it’s not shining on the tree’s branches anymore. You watch hopefully for a long moment... but the branches don’t budge.

“Hm...”

It’s disappointing; you thought that seemed like it made a lot of sense. But you guess you’ll just move on to the next suggestion.

You tell the flesh you’re going to go to the water room just for a bit, and it elects not to follow you. It’s still going at the fruit. So you head over on your own.

You were planning to look at the false door to see if there was some way you could get the water out, but before you can do that you notice a change. At the base of the pillar, you find a large glass pitcher, and above it coming out of the pillar is a faucet.

Hey, that’s convenient!

Sure enough, turning the handle, water comes pouring out. You fill the pitcher and turn off the faucet. Looking at the crystal-clear water in the pitcher, you inevitably feel the dryness of your tongue.

Is this safe to drink..?

It looks just like ordinary water. Doesn’t have a smell. You dip a finger in it and taste a drop. All of your senses are telling you it’s regular water. You really want to just gulp it down, but you decide you should follow the same principle as with the fruit; try just a little and go ahead and have more if nothing bad happens after a while. ...Although. That does mean that you’ll have to wait even longer for the water, since it wouldn’t make sense to try both of them at once; then, if you did get sick, you wouldn’t know which one did it.

“Ughhh...” you whine out loud. You feel kind of silly for it, but then again, you think you’re allowed that in this situation.

Tragically, you don’t drink any water and instead just bring the pitcher back to the plant room.

“Oh, you found some water. That seems like it will likely be useful.” You suppress a laugh when you see how much juice is covering the flesh’s face.

“Yeah, hopefully. I guess we’ll find out.”

You dig around with your foot at the base of the tree and follow the root that seems to be pointing most toward the keyhole. When you find the end of it, you pour some water a little farther, out of its reach. You and the flesh both watch, but again, there’s no change.

“Jeez, what does this plant want?”

“Hm...”

Well, I guess it’s time for violence.

You whack one of the branches a bit with the chisel, and after it doesn’t respond you even cut off part of it, but it still doesn’t move. You sigh, but you’re not that surprised. That was the idea you were least optimistic about.

A second after you give up on that, you notice the next idea from chat coming in.

“...Hey, flesh, did that fruit have a pit?”

“No. Just regular seeds.”

“Hm... oh, right, I also wanted to go try something...”

You explain what you’ve been thinking about, about the keys and how to get the right shape, and whether there’s actually anything behind other doors than the one in the water room.

“Oh, but maybe you know anyway? You said you know the basics of the layout...”

“There are more rooms outside these five, but they’re not connected. I don’t think you are supposed to be able to reach them. But, about getting the right key shape... I could always create a flesh key the same way I did before, with the shape that fits the keyhole, and you could use that as a model.”

“Oh! That would be perfect, then!”

You and the flesh agree to go work on the stone key, but before that... it’s been a while since you ate the bit of fruit, and you’re feeling fine. Maybe you should wait a little longer but you don't want to. So, you get the flesh to pick another couple fruits from the tree- it can reach higher than you, especially because it has no problem stretching its body unnaturally to get taller.

In the stone room, you (messily. chisels were not made for this) cut up some fruit to share with the flesh, and you discuss.

“I mean, I think I could take one of the bricks, but would the walls, the floors, the ceilings, and everything within them be okay with that? I don’t want to make it angry...”

“I’m not sure how it would feel about that. I don’t know how you’re supposed to get any of the keys besides mine.”

“Hm...”

Before you can think about it much more, though, your alarm goes off. The flesh jumps.

“What is that?” it asks as you shut off the alarm.

“Oh, it’s just- um- you don’t know what a phone is, do you?”

“No.”

“Well, this is my phone. It’s useful for a lot of things. I set it to make that sound at a particular time, so I know, y’know, that it’s that time. That's all it was.”

“It knows the time?”

“Yeah. I’ve been using it to keep track of the ten hours. Right now, the seventh hour is about to end. That means... jeez, there’s only three hours left.” That thought makes you feel pretty anxious. You sigh. “...Which I guess means I should probably go ahead and gouge out one of those bricks, and it can tell me if it doesn’t like that. But I’ll do that once the hour has changed.”

The flesh watches you curiously as you watch the time. You feel a little self-conscious. Finally, though: 9:00 am.

What now?

--HOUR EIGHT--

[the-casual-cheesecake]

WHAT A GREAT QUESTION, ANON! I have been wildly (and uncharacteristically for me, an ex omegaverse hater) obsessed with omegaverse Exos since I got into Exo, and my thoughts on them recently changed drastically, so what good timing you have! 

I’ll first start with saying that I don’t like betas, and never include them in any thoughts about omegaverse. I just think they’re boring– though I do have friends who have managed to make them VERY interesting; I just think I don’t have anything insightful or interesting to say about them myself.

And for a second note, I think it’s important to describe what I think omegaverse is for really: because it has many meanings that change based on who’s writing in it. For me, omegaverse makes most sense as a formalization of power dynamics. One could make the argument that it’s inherently kinky (and in fact, I do). It’s less about inherent sexuality OR gender, and more about inherent power structures and how someone could play with them. This is not to say that interesting discussions can’t happen in omegaverse about sexuality or gender– because they absolutely can and do, but I think mostly, it’s about biological power, in a way that our actual society thinks exists and tries to enforce (violently and forcefully), that is actually made real via omegaverse.

For the Fandom Olds among us, this interpretation would not come as a surprise, considering omegaverse took the place of BDSM AUs in fandom!

A third note, all of my omegaverse content always and forever will be poly! Poly packs 5eva!!! 

ANYWAY, EXOS!

[vibrates] they are pack, your honor… 

Pack alpha: Minseok

Alphas: Junmyeon, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo

Omegas: Yixing, Baekhyun, Jongin, Sehunnie

Minseok:

As the oldest, and from the fact that Minseok in canon refused to be Exo-M’s leader, it just makes so much sense for him to be the pack alpha but not the band leader. He has the character of a supervisor dom. He’s not involved with everyone in the band and entangled with them– because, frankly, they are too loud and too messy, and he has no energy to deal with so many people needing his attention and involvement. But he is a steady presence that they can all depend on. He listens to their problems and pets them about them. He scruffs the alphas into place when necessary (and reassures them that even if they fuck up, he’ll be there to help), and spends time with the omegas when they need him, and makes sure that their needs are taken care of and that they don’t feel too lost in the pack. 

I’m pretty sure that even in omegaverse, Minseok is queer, and he probably prefers alphas to omegas; less mess, and more satisfaction in bringing them to heel.

Naturally, the person he’s closest to in the pack is Jongdae, this is canon in any and all universes. They’re the gossip husbands, drinking late at night and talking about the rest of the band like two intensely invested aunties, but being steady and gentle with the others the rest of the time. They probably sleep together, but they’re definitely not monogamous, and as in canon, probably are both aware that Jongdae would actually like to settle down with a mate at some point.

Minseok spends the omegas’ heats with them if they want him to, as do all the alphas– because the Exos are all very very busy and alternate being with the omegas depending on their schedules. His favorite is probably Sehunnie though, because Sehun is whiny but pliant and obedient in heat; the rest are complicated (will get to them!)

Junmyeon:

I imagine him to be as neurotic in omegaverse as he is in canon. He’s a sadist and is terrified of this fact. He takes his job as leader so seriously that it fucks with his head and makes him make very strange personal decisions. He’s an alpha and a dom, but the fact that he’s so scared of his sadism makes him show his belly to his pack and try so hard to be gentle and soft that the overcorrection makes him seem awkward instead. 

I think, if I were to transplant canon onto omegaverse, that Junmyeon did not overcorrect so hard until a while after debut; because at first he would punish the Exos for mistakes as harshly as a supervisor, and oooof that probably gave him such a headrush that it turned into kink for him IMMEDIATELY.

Junmeon is Like This in canon really, so what makes omegaverse so much worse for him is that it formalizes all the power dynamics in head in a way that makes it so easy to take advantage of. And he is so convinced the sadism makes him a bad person, that having omegas begging for him in heat, crying and in pain without him even having to do a single thing to them except be there, simply would take him to pieces. Just imagine canon Junmyeon with the power to bite someone and claim them biologically forever… the man wrote the Exos’ names on his damn body, he would lose his fucking mind!!!

Anyway, I think therefore, that Junmyeon is terrified MOST of Baekhyun and Yixing, the resident omega masochists in the band– and to an extent, Chanyeol, who is a masochist but not omega. So, I would imagine him being SO WEIRD with all three of them. Too strict and mean to Chanyeol, and so wary as to almost be avoidant of Yixing, and strangely both overprotective and overconfident in Baekhyun.

Hilariously, he and Sehun click very comfortably, because Sehun isn’t a masochist or a sub. He’s just very into being indulged and having things done for him and to him, and it makes him vibe enough like a sub that it’s hot, but not enough to terrify Junmyeon or cause him to have intense sadistic emotion about Sehun. This also means they’re not super compatible actually lmao, they’re just comfortable enough that they stick together.

I think Junmyeon and Minseok have an interesting relationship, where Minseok would like to be hyung and head alpha for Junmyeon but Junmyeon is too weird about being perceived to be submitting to anyone that whenever Minseok tries to support him, Junymeon just pretends to be Fine™ harder.

Generally though, Junmyeon is a good leader. He’s incredibly competent when it comes to the band’s relationships with management, and he’s incredibly protective and invested in the wellbeing of his pack members. All of his weirdness sort of impacts him internally, but it works to present him the way he desires his image to be externally.

Yixing:

[vibrates] He… the baby… 

He’s an omega and a sub. He came into the band with much Trauma™ (familial, as in canon D: ), which made him need so much affection and love that it makes him seem hungry. He pushes himself so hard that it makes him ill often, and it makes it difficult to care about him, because to do so means people have to constantly love him and see him be hurt. He doesn’t have the instincts that lets him trust people to catch him if he falls, so he simply always feels that he’s on his own, even if he isn’t.

In omegaverse, he probably has very difficult heats. Trauma and hormone fuckery do not go well together in any universe, so his heats probably fuck with his emotions massively. And the fact that most of his injuries are spine-related, means that his pelvic floor is just fucked, and would mean his heats actually physically hurt!!!! 

The emotional part means that during his heats, he clings so hard to the people next to him to make sure they don’t leave, that he leaves bruises and scratch marks. He probably cries and howls if any of the alphas get up to get him food because he’s scared they’re not coming back and that he’ll be abandoned. He probably wants to be mated and sobs when he isn’t, even though outside of heat he would know it would be a bad idea to mate.

The physical part means he’s in miserable (very unusual) pain throughout.

This makes it a large ordeal to deal with for the pack. Especially considering they are all so tired and so busy and barely have time to rest anyway. And the fact that they have a rotational system for alphas spending time with the in-heat omegas so they don’t miss schedules, which in Yixing’s case simply doesn’t work. 

They do love him, but he’s difficult to help. It stresses everyone out and makes the alphas feels horrible and bad at their jobs.

Yixing probably gets on suppressants at some point and simply never comes off them, especially when he starts spending more time in China without any pack around :( 

Outside of heat, he smells sweet and is comforting to be around. He’s so skin hungry that he’ll always want to cling to a pack member when they’re home, which they are only happy to do. And he’s good at being hyung to the younger members. He’s also massively good at his job as an artist, it just, you know, kills his body oops… TT

Being away from the pack does make everything worse for him, though. It’s a sore subject for Junmyeon and Minseok especially, that they let one of their pack omegas run off that way where they can’t help him at all. It makes everyone sad.

[Cake lies down on the floor] Yeah… Yixing… 

Baekhyun:

He’s an omega, a sub, and a sadist (masochist too, fun combo!) Baekhyun is highly invested in being important to everyone. He wants to be loved so much that he wants to own all the Exos and be owned by all of them, but he’s very aware of how this sounds so he’s just privately insane about this, but publicly all jokey and fun, rather than deeply intense.

The fact that he’s a sadist makes him a strange omega for alphas. So, I bet Baekhyun enjoys being with the omegas most often– bet it almost makes him think he’s like Minseok, and likes omegas more than alphas; but that’s not true. What he really needs is an alpha who would put a hand on his neck and put him in his place but also lets him bite and scratch and be mean to them as well. He needs to sub for his health and well being, but he also needs to feel that it’s safe to sub by being allowed to do horrible things to his alpha/dom and feel like he has power in the relationship. Subbing is so so vulnerable for Baekhyun, it makes him terrified to his bones, but he also wants it really badly.

Anyway, as in canon lmao, Minseok finds Baekhyun too messy and difficult to deal with, so he just flirts and toys with him a little, and probably sleeps with Baekhyun during heats if he’s needed, but doesn’t really let Baekhyun in his bed outside of heat. 

Chanyeol is too vulnerable to deal with Baekhyun’s barbed wire words and pointy claws, he takes it too personally, and Baekhyun has to be careful around him. Though when Baekhyun is careful, they’re good friends, and Baekhyun does enjoy sleeping with him and toying with him a little. 

Sehunnie is probably Baekyun’s go-to for sex outside of heats (points to the unreal amounts of Baekhyun biting Sehun photos in canon.)

Junmyeon and and Baekhyun are insanely compatible but they have no idea. Junmyeon is terrified of being too much and hurting people but if he actually does hurt Baekhyun (sexy), Baekhyun would lose his goddamn mind. Because Baekhyun needs intensity most of all, he needs to feel like his partner is obsessed with him: and Junmyeon is the most intense person in this band.

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun probably have good sex, but Kyungsoo has absolutely no tollerance for Baekhyun trying to exercise power– which is hot! But you know, it doesn’t let Baekhyun relax entirely with him. It’s the same with Jongdae probably, except Jongdae is nicer about it. 

Chanyeol:

He’s an alpha but he’s not interested in holding power over people, it makes him deeply uncomfortable. He’s not a dom, and not a sub, but he does enjoy power games when they’re meant to bring people closer together and build trust. 

He frequently goes through periods of being super insecure about how he presents as an alpha, and trying to be more masc and domineering, but it only ever ends up making him feel worse. And during those periods, he often feels like going to the other alphas for help and support is a weakness and tries to do everything himself, including figuring out his own mental blocks– this almost never works.

He clashes with Junmyeon a lot, because he both wants Junmyeon’s attention and admiration and praise, and wants Junmyeon’s to see him as an alpha and respect his authority, and Junmyeon is, as stated before, WEIRD about power things!!!

Though Minseok knows how to be good to Chanyeol and often compensates where Junmyeon fails. So does Jongdae, though he spent a while not really understanding why Chanyeol is the way he is and why he struggles with the things he struggles with. 

Kyungsoo’s steadiness and assuredness in himself makes him a good friend to Chanyeol. It helps to look to Kyungsoo when Chanyeol is in flux and feels like nothing is static enough to hold onto. 

Sechan are like canon Sechan, naturally. They are weird about power dynamics together in a way that helps both of them. It makes Chanyeol feel at ease that he’s not holding any power via the fact that he’s alpha or hyung over Sehun, and it makes Sehun happy to feel like he holds Chanyeol’s leash and can make him do whatever he wants. What Sehun often wants Chanyeol to do though, is to take care of things for him: take care of food and buying things, and making sure Sehun is comfortable, to fuck Sehun well and not make Sehun do things, and to praise Sehun in front of other people and let Sehun bask in the fact that he’s getting everything he wants. All of this makes Chanyeol feel good and useful and like a good alpha! It’s great! 

Jongdae:

He’s one of the people I hesitated for a very long time before assigning an omegaverse dynamic to. I eventually settled on alpha because he’s a caretaker and – although subtle– is actually a little bit of a control freak. He also finds too much contentment in, for example, calming Baekhyun down and making him behave, for him not to be some sort of flavor of dom. 

He and Minseok fit well together because they both respect hierarchies a lot, and they respect inner pack workings. They also have the same casual but firm way that they approach their own internal moral compasses. They’re both stubborn and hard to convince to change, which makes them both comfortable, considering they are also both very influential and find it easy to change other people just by being around. They make each other feel safe to exercise the full breadth of their inherent power without the threat that this would affect the other in any way.

The fact that they are both doms, however, makes them incompatible long-term as sexual and romantic partners, even though they adore each other and probably do sleep together often. It’s a fact they are both aware of– though I am unsure if they both feel the axact same way about it. I change my mind often about this. Is Minseok sadder than Jongdae about this? Are they both just Fine? Don’t know. I’m not a Xiuchenist for real, but I do believe in them! So, I find myself thinking about this often. 

Jongdae, like Minseok, finds Baekhyun too much to deal with. But he finds Junmyeon funny and gets less stressed out about the fact that Junmyeon won’t let him help than Minseok does. Because Jongdae isn’t the pack leader and he’s younger, he finds it easier to insert himself into Junmyeon’s business and meddle sometimes, without stepping to hard on Junmyeon’s toes. 

He is soft with Yixing, and is sad for him, but Jongdae is very strict with himself about things which he cannot change, so he doesn’t let himself dwell on this often. 

It took him a few years to understand Chanyeol’s little neuroses but he did eventually, so now he knows how to care for Chanyeol and that satisfies him greatly.

He’s generally very gentle and full of advice and pets for all younger and older pack members.

He has a stroke of sadism in him, but it’s not consuming like Junmyeon’s is, and he’s Normal about it. It’s very to do with sex for him, rather than his personality.

Kyungsoo:

He’s an alpha, and he’s possessive as fuck. He’s also a very sensible person, and has decided very early on that he will not be getting romantically involved with any of his members because they’re all insane and they’ll drive him out of his mind if he wants to go full possessive alpha on them! 

He does think Jongin is incredibly hot and is very soft with him. He’s also known to be soft with Sehun, though he’d never admit to it. 

He’s a neutral party in the pack, though he has a deep sense of justice and will stand with whoever he thinks is wronged in an argument. 

I don’t have many Ksoo thoughts, he gives me a headache, his personality is impenetrable! Sorry 🙈

Jongin:

You might have noticed I’ve not spoken much about him with the other members, and that’s because I firmly believe that, while he is a part of this pack, he’s bonded to Taemin. Taemin is his alpha, and they are each other’s persons. Jongin only spends heats with the pack when Taemin is unavailable.

In the Exo pack, Nini is soft and baby. He lounges over the alphas and scents the other omegas and takes care of them. But he’s also stubborn and strong, and because he’s been mated for such a long time, thinks that all the others and their weird relationship problems are so tiring and silly! 

That’s why he gets on with Kyungsoo a lot. Kyungsoo does not have weird relationship problems, because he simply has no messy relationships in the band XD They get to make fun of the others from their little cocoon. 

Nini knows how to depend on the others to help him, and he’s very good at being a stabalizing and sensible influence in the pack.

Him and Taemin make each other so much better, and take care of each other’s needs so well that Nini effectively doesn’t need a pack. They just add to his life and he adores them. It makes him a very steady presence.

Sehun:

He effectively takes the role of a pack omega but not because he needs it, because the pack does. It’s good for them to have someone they can spoil and love this way. He gives them the opportunity of all feeling like they get to take care of him and be good for the pack by doing so; and by doing so, he gets to comfort them and take care of them without them feeling like they’re asking for care. 

Sehun has large emotions about the pack, he needs all of them, and feels like they all need each other. He’s mostly quiet about it, though, he’s not a words person. He just flops in someone’s lap when he’s having emotions.

As in canon, he’s been in love with Chanyeol for years, but it takes them an insanely long time to work out what they are to each other. This lands Sehun in Junmyeon and Baekhyun’s beds often. 

He’s an omega, but not a sub or a dom. Like Chanyeol, he enjoys toying with power dynamics broadcast trust. Though he would melt into the center of the earth if Chanyeol bit him and mated him. And he would die if Chanyeol had a collar on and let himself be ordered around by Sehun. It’s all very deeply unusual and not standard bdsm XD 

I feel like I talked about Sehun’s relationships with the other members throughout the answer above, so I won’t repeat them here! 

Anyway… wow that was long. Anon, I am so sorry if this is way more than you expected!!! I hope you enjoy it regardless!!!!!!!! I have many thoughts about this, clearly! XD 

[annerbhp]

By any chance, would you have any tips for being an adult fanfic writer for a tween/youth targeted series?

I have just started to publish my own fanfic after many years as a fanfic reader (and Changeling/Armistice are personal faves) … but I’m feeling like I’m really “other” as an adult writer within the fandom demographic.

I’m literally writing because my kids got me into a series they love… but now I’m a generation removed from the audience. It’s… strange, and I don’t know if there’s some secret to navigating it!

I suppose I have two main directions that my thoughts go to:

Audience. I think the very idea of young adult and youth designations on media (books, tv shows, whatever) is pretty strange. On the one hand, these designations might often be about reading level or signalling that certain inappropriate adult content is not present (for some measure of adult and some measure of inappropriate). But that's more about why someone who is younger might not or maybe should not engage with adult content. That isn't about adults not engaging with youth content. I guess I'm trying to say that the demographics of an audience is simply who engages with it, not who it is aimed at? You are part of the audience. You're not removed from it. It's a piece of media you engaged with and meant something to you in some way. That's real!

If you are interested in writing about teens or other youth experiences as an adult, the only thing that immediately comes up to me is that you should write from your own experiences. And I don't mean this as a trite "write what you know". When I wrote The Changeling, it wasn't about Harry Potter or the youth demographic who might be reading it, it was about my own experiences being a young girl, the questions I had, and maybe some of the things I wish I had had, some of the conversations that would have meant something to me. It was never about preaching to anyone or trying to speak to someone else's experiences, it was a dialogue with my own younger self. We've all been there, right?

I mean, let's be real a minute. Who exactly do we think the authors/writers of the original content were? Were they kids? Likely not. You're engaging in media written by adults for a younger audience.

I ultimately refuse to believe there is anything inherently cringe about any of this. Which is not to say that I never paused and thought about it or wondered. I just believe that if you enter authentically, are willing to self-reflect, the writing itself isn't really an issue.

Now, the bigger issue might be if you are interacting with other fans, in that way I would be very careful and never make any assumptions about the people you might be interacting with. Don't assume you are speaking to other adults. I'm not saying I never interact with younger fans in any spaces, but I set very clear boundaries and do my best to conduct myself in a way that is respectful not only of others, but of myself. Be authentic and lead with compassion. Those are never bad things to center around.

[mskinkyafro]

THTH/LITG VENT…if I want to even call it that. Mostly about THTH. With LITG it’s whatever.

(Please don’t come at me with some bullshit, this is me just getting shit off my chest. If you don’t agree, just scroll pass. Pls and thank you).

There’s this strange sentiment that I’ve seen from the audience on mainly the subreddit (the cesspool I know 🥴🤷🏾‍♀️😭) and what why say about certain characters and how they perceive them. And I find the logic flawed and weird.

For some reason 👀 they pretty much “uplift” for lack of a better or almost excuse one characters more consistent and horrible treatment as “well they are upfront and you know who they are” vs “this other character is pretending or fake, and that’s the worst kind of person”.

But not the person who has been harmful….or insulting…since day one? Okay…

And I take it as the latter are not allowed to exist and can’t possibly be as multi dimensional vs their counterparts. Instead, nope they HAVE to be a liar and fake and that’s worst.

Which is…just strange.

I can at least scream this in a void and not be harassed or gaslit as if I’m always making this a race issues. Bc believe me as long as I’ve been playing, I realize it will always happen but damn it just hits harder this time around bc I feel like the black characters can relatively do minimal damage and they still find a way to twist it to them being public enemy number one.

And all it is, is “moving the goalposts” or just the upholding black characters to different higher standards.

And I’m sorry, I’m a black woman, I’m gonna always look at media with my own lens and is not always about intention. It’s still a matter of there’s bias that some have subconsciously that make it easier for you to perceive these characters a certain way.

Like with THTH, I have no problem being upset with Julian bc of his hypocrisy with spending the fund. That’s fine, I get.

But even before that, the something about him I can’t stand or his just so annoying (given) but it’s like, they latch onto one like thing and just salivate at the chance to pounce of the character when they do something “inherently” wrong. And then that’s all the are. Or they aren’t allowed to be more than just that.

But before Sean’s small moments of backstory are revealed if you even earn it, you got people talking about, “clearly he has Been through something, I can /want to fix him”.

But Julian has been adhering to Sean’s relentless attacks and bullying and when he gives it just as bad back. (Whether it’s right or wrong, that’s a consequence Julian should have to pay for. Just like Sean, however Sean hasn’t been held accountable for.) Or for his incessant spending, there’s no curiosity to his own trauma or why he is this way. No he isn’t afforded that empathy. And it’s literally just crazy.

And now we are seeing them slowly shift their sites for Gigi. And blame this black woman for the actions of two GROWN ASS men.

Why didn’t she get in between two grown ass men? Why didn’t she do more? Why is she not sticking up for Sean during this moment of vulnerability? Why is she not coddling Sean’s irrational insecurities or taking iniatice and controlling Julian’s crush on her. Why hasn’t she spoke up for her said, friend.

Like with her not telling Sean not to speak or treat Julian a certain way, at first I fell into a trap of, damn she ain’t being that great of a friend to let your man talk to your friend any kind of way but then I realize, she’s in the middle of her journey. She will get to that realization. But at this time in her plot or arc, she doesn’t see it.

And that’s the gag, we allow characters like Sean to maneuver their arcs and journeys and give boosters and understanding to their redemptions. (Which I’m firmly believe he is written to not have one. Just like Justin or even non romanced Antoine in S2. The realize too little too late)

But Gigi and Julian, nope. No grace, no wiggle room, and they are no dimension. And it’s just funny to watch over and over.

Idk I’m just over it.

[dzthenerd490]

I have some complaints about certain things in the SCP:HMF. In your au, you explained to me that there were “foundationist” basically immortal fascists of the foundation. I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t like the “foundationists”. Like it is so strange to have the staff being immortal and being huge jerks against regular humans, it feels so out of place, it feels like they belong in a different canon of your AU. I also don't like how it is achieve so easily, yes there probably is a SCP that easily do it but I don't like how 05 just easily does it like you said they really don't care but they should because there is literally a canon where the foundation realizes that death is a necessary part of life. The cannon is called “The End of Death” if you are wondering. 

This brings me to my second problem, which is the portrayal of the global occult coalition. Like you portray the GOC as just typical genocidal maniacs that want to kill all anomalies in the world. Like the foundations are supposed to be the protagonist of the HMFverse, however because of the Foundationist thing of them wanting to recreate a SCP-5000, like how can I root for them? I support the GOC more because of those “facists”.

I don’t blame you for just portraying the GOC as “KILL ALL ANOMALIES” it's that how they were written back in the early days of the SCP wiki. Nowadays, GOC should be a professional, elite organization as the anomalous wing of the UN and essentially a global organization with the governments of world powers supporting it and should be as powerful and well equipped (if not moreso) than the Foundation. 

 The GOC are anomalous themselves (literally made up of 108 paranormal organisations, religions, and other groups), their leader is D. C. al Fine, a shapeshifter, thaumaturgist, and ontokinetic. Heck in the canon UNFOUNDED (basically a canon where the SCP Foundation doesn’t exist and the GOC are the protagonist) she is a grown up version of Sigurros.  

And to the extent of which they destroy anomalies. In most cases when said anomalies are inherently dangerous and can't be reasoned with. As a matter of fact they are pretty cool with people with powers living normally as long as they don’t use said power to hurt people.

Woah! Okay let's get to work I'm going to chop down your main points to answer them but please be aware I am in no way disregarding any of the details of your points I'm just organizing my answers.

Your Point on Foundationists - I actually forgot about the "End of Death" Scenario when I was coming up with the immortality thing. I just didn't want time to be a hinderance since I do have a timeline in SCP: HMF and figured it was stupid that the Foundation had so many ways to strengthen and rejuvenate the vitality of its employees, yet it was only ever reserved for the O5. That was mainly my own frustration in manifest.

HOWEVER, I also have other things planned for the Foundationists which is why I won't be getting rid of them or the immortality concept, sorry.

But you made a good point though, and it has got me thinking about how I should potray the Foundationist's form here on out. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks!

Your Point about the GOC - ... Okay I have a confession to make I don't like the GOC. I know you're a GOC fan, but I don't like them I actually hate them. since there with the UN I think of them as politicians and Bureaucrats that waist time, not focusing on the real issue, and often make things worse for everyone even themselves.

Yeah, I know the GOC has anomalies within it, I've made it a rule that they make exceptions for SOME anomalies (mostly more human looking ones). I've been trying to find something or think of an OC SCP that could possibly work with being allies with the GOC instead of the SCP Foundation, but I haven't got much except for some Resident Evil characters (minor spoiler, though I won't say who).

The main reason I made the SCP Foundation describe the GOC as a bunch of gun nuts is because in the Foundation's eyes they destroy opportunity. YES, the GOC doesn't destroy every anomaly the come across but for those they DO destroy the SCP Foundation feels as though it's a loss in potential anomalous science. In the eyes of the O5 even dangerous anomalies can be useful, therefore they want to contain everything anomalous. That's why the GOC calls them Egg heads that send good soldiers to die for suicidal science... or they call them SCP Fucks like everyone else.

I haven't made this clear as of late, that's my fault and your right. I'll try to make more tales in the future where the GOC and the Foundation can have actual conversations and talk about their organization's philosophy to each other rather than just insulting each other.

My overall Response - The Foundationists and the Global Occult Coalition. These are problems I actually already had planned to deal with; HOWEVER, that is not an excuse. I thank you for giving this criticism because one you have actually pointed out a few flaws I didn't consider like the immortality problem which I'll be sure to make a few more tales that will be specifically about that issue. two, now I'm sure to which tales and files to put a rush on after my break. Though I still have the queue so it will take a while... sorry.

But seriously though, thank you so much for your criticism. I know everyone wants to be told their writing is flawless and amazing which I'm guilty of that too but that's just now how it works. For creativity to thrive it must go through new experiences and criticism is quite possibly one of the best experiences as it helps it grow the strongest under criticism. Also being told what works best, that works too... actually I think both works great together. I'll be sure to use yours to make my writing better. Again, thanks!

[vivinavina]

Sage of Swords Chapter 2: Scars of War/Don’t Be Afraid/Prayers Repeated

Author rambling on the second chapter of my TotK AU fic, Sage of Swords. You can read the chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48501826/chapters/123298054#workskin

So, chapter 2 thoughts. First off, oof, poor Link. A comment said it best when they said Link was doing Bad. Y’all, Link is doing bad, and will be getting worse because her entire world just fell apart. Like, when Zelda got poofed away in the main game, she was totally unharmed, suddenly super safe, and surrounded by a world literally tailor-made for her. Zelda fits in the Ancient Hyrule way more than she does in the modern day. And she can inherently feel that all the things she loves—her friends, the people, etc—are safe because Link is there to protect them.

But Link was literally molded by the modern Hyrule. All Link’s skills are geared towards surviving modern Hyrule, her ability to socialize tied to that open, trusting Hyrule where everyone is banding together happily to survive and thrive. And it was surrounded with things that feel comfortable to Link. She traveled all over Hyrule before BOTW, so things are familiar, if only in that nostalgic way she can’t quite place.

Here in the Ancient Hyrule, she is alone, surrounded by strange people and locations, and she doesn’t have any reassurances that anything else will survive something that nearly killed her. Because keeping the things she loves safe is her responsibility! So she’s dealing with the fallout of all that mess, unaware that the people who could help her are right there!

Sonia and Rauru’s chapters felt a bit rough, but they were really necessary and I had to keep extending them because there were things I needed to include, but Link was not in a mental state to narrate on them. Things like the look of Link’s arm brace and Secret Stone. I do like the portrayal of Sonia with traits more traditionally shared with Link, the impulsivity and fearlessness to run towards trouble, while Rauru is the more measured, thoughtful of the two. They’re definitely not supposed to be perfect analogues, and the characterization will be worked on through the future chapters. But, I hope I illustrated Sonia’s a bit with being the first to run to Link’s aid, and being the one to try and help Link even as she actively gets a sword pointed at her. I probably should have increased the amount of dialogue between them, but it also didn’t feel right to break up what they were doing to speak… eh, I’ll make a note that those sections will be the first on the list if I’m looking to rewrite.

Link’s Secret Stone is fun. I won’t elaborate too much on the mechanics of it besides that it makes sure the Gloom doesn’t kill her. A lot of people write Link’s Stone power to be similar to Zelda’s, or manifestations of the Champion abilities, but I decided to augment her resilience. If surviving near death who knows how many times, her determination and ability to survive are one of Link’s most important traits.

Fun fact, looking up the kanji I wanted to use for Link’s Stone, I found that both the words for healing and courage can both be pronounced yu. This is probably wrong, but I’m going with it. As for which one specifically is on the Stone, I leave it up to interpretation.

The distress signal idea spawned pretty early, just as something Link would do while distressed. But I sort of elaborated the idea, with the Sheikah Slate in BOTW being able to pick up the signal happening nearby it and pinging it off all the other Sheikah Tech or important magic items (Master Sword, Secret Stones, etc) like signal towers. And then that morphed into the idea of Link sending out the signal and it bouncing off of… nothing. Right now Link thinks she’s in a land far away from Hyrule, far enough that it can’t pick up Sheikah Tech to get the distress signal far enough to reach her friends. And… she’s technically right…?

[dmsden]

Taking the Low Road - Tips for a low-magic campaign

Hullo, all. This week’s Question from a Denizen comes to us from yet another Anonymous source. They ask, “ So, I have this idea I have had on the back burner for a while that I now want to try and commit to putting it into practice. What are some tips you would provide to someone wanting to run a lower magic setting, specifically one with a horror-survival elements?”

Well, my Anonymous friend, I actually just did an article on survival horror fairly recently. Here’s a link to it so you don’t have to search backwards: https://dmsden.tumblr.com/post/697733766358171648/survive-the-night-using-survival-horror-tropes

So, having addressed those types of elements, I thought I’d look instead at the low-magic aspect, with an eye towards how that would work in concert with a survival horror campaign.

D&D is not a game that immediately lends itself to low magic. Many of the classes, sub-classes, races, and so on trend in the direction of a high magic setting. As a result, the DM of a prospective low-magic/survival horror campaign (let’s just say LMSHC from now on) has a bit of an uphill battle. The first thing I would do if I wanted to run such a campaign would be to (say it with me folks) Talk to My Players. I swear, if I ever have a shirt made for the blog, it’ll say that on it.

If I ran a LMSHC, I would explain to my players what I had in mind. I would make sure that they were all cool with the idea before I got far in development. After all, if I say “I want a campaign of all humans,” and my players have their hearts set on being an aarakocra, a rabbitfolk, and a firbolg, then this might not be the best campaign for them. In a situation like this, I might offer this campaign to other players, or I might plan a different sort of campaign.

You don’t have to play all humans to be a low-magic campaign, but it helps. Human, half-elf, half-orc, halfling, and dwarf all lend themselves easily to such a setting. Wood elves could work, but high elves tend to be a bit too magical, as are dragonborn, gnomes, and tieflings. Some other races, like orc, kobold, goblin, hobgoblin, could fit as well. Other races, especially ones with inherent spellcasting, flight, waterbreathing, and other, similar effects, are likely inappropriate for such a setting. If you really want it to be all humans, you might even work with your players to have them play a character who is cosmetically human but who has the racial traits of another race, such as a dwarf. In a situation like this, they might just be a very hardy human who’s very knowledgeable about stonecraft and smithing.

Many of the classes are likely going to be off-limits. If you’re trying to keep things to low-magic, then you pretty much need to eliminate bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, and wizard. You’ll probably need to think about classes like paladin and ranger, too, although the powers these classes have could work, depending on how the players role-plays them. Some of the sub-classes like eldritch knight, soulknife, arcane trickster, arcane archer, and the like are probably out, too. On the other hand, Artificers might shine in a campaign like this, especially the artillerist.

Now all of this is not to say there can’t be any magic or spells. Usually in a low-magic setting, however, magic is mostly in the hands of the enemies. Wizards aren’t trusted by many, and for good reason, as they’d tend to be more like warlocks, trucking with dark powers for the magic they possess. This will make the magic they wield feel special and scary, since the players won’t have access to the same abilities.

Monsters in the classic sense should be rare, with most combat encounters happening with other humans or humanoids, animals, giants, giant animals, strange beasts, and the like. Even something as “mundane” as an owlbear or an ankheg could be a sign of a sorcerer going rogue, or maybe they spring from ancient evils. A monster like a chimera is an absolute abomination, while summoned devils or demons are blasphemous entities that must be sent back to their home planes. And a full-on dragon should be an encounter that the players will never forget.

For magic-items, things like a wand of wonder or an apparatus of Kwalish isn’t something very low-magic feeling. Appropriate items would include basic magic weapons and armor, enhancing items like an elven cloak, amulet of health, or gauntlets of ogre power, some potions, and similar items. Ultimately, you’re the right judge of power levels and what feels right for your LMSHC. To get any magic-items, however, especially powerful ones, there should be a big adventure. Such items were obviously made by the gods, by magical beings, or by ancient empires using long-forgotten techniques...perhaps the vanished dwarves and elves.

The nice thing about a LMSHC is that it makes running the Survival Horror elements much easier. Undead are WAY scarier when there’s no hope of a cleric to turn them or to use radiant magics to combat them. If there’s no character with the ability to create food and water, then you don’t have to worry about supplies not being an issue (a staple of survival stories and often a powerful motivation).

I hope these suggestions are useful, Anonymous, and you have a good time with your LMSHC. Until next time, may the dice fall ever in your favor.