#I don’t know where to try integrating that into my understanding of the character because quite literally two seconds ago Ryuji was ready t

[fellhellion]

Granted, I’m only just past Ann’s awakening in my replay so there’s a decent chance for me to change my mind but man. Ryuji ogling Ann’s costume feels so much worse tonal dissonance to me than Junpei and Yosuke’s casual misogyny because it comes straight off the heels of him raging at Kamoshida being the catalyst for Shiho’s attempted suicide and Ann’s own violent rejection of Kamoshida’s predation upon herself.

[naarlar]

Okie so hot take: I don’t think Melinoë is as good of a protagonist as Zagreus. And here’s why.

It all comes down to motivation. Why did Zag go through the events of Hades 1? Because he was living in an abusive and volatile household and had to find some way to make things better for not just himself but his house. Otherwise he surely would have lost his mind having to deal with the abuse he got (remember at the beginning of the game basically only Nyx and Achilles were helping him. Everyone else is either neutral towards him or outright hostile). He needed answers, he needed to find out who and what he was by trying to find Persephone. And in the end he succeeded and was able to create a better life for himself and his house. Hell, even his relationship with his dad improved.

Now let’s look at Mel (yes this criticism is only addressing Early Access Hades 2). Why is she going through the events of Hades 2? Because… she’s been groomed since basically birth to kill Chronos. She doesn’t really have any other motivation than because it is what is expected of her essentially. She even says during her confrontation with Chronos, AFTER HE THREATENS TO HURT HER FAMILY, what do I care I barely know them (yeah sure she could just be bluffing to Chronos but that is still a very chilling thing to say when supposedly all of this is to save them and it makes her reunion with Hades lowkey ring hollow or weak). In another scene she even says the same thing to Hecate and says Hecate is more her mother than anyone else. Heck even in the flashback scene with young Mel and Hecate (which was very cute I’ll admit) she says she would want her mother to come back so Hecate isn’t sad. This makes all her motivations to kill Chronos and save the Underworld seem very… disconnected from the main component of the game? Being saving the house of hades and her family??

Like it’s expected of her and she was raised at birth to basically be prepared for this but she doesn’t have any personal reasons for doing any of this than just not letting Hecate and the others in the Crossroads down. Hell when she comes back from killing Chronos for the first time it honestly feels like Hecate is more interested and invested in what happened than Mel herself.

It makes her a really weird protagonist especially when comparing to her brother and how effective he was as a protagonist. Think about it, with Zag we got really in depth and character revealing moments where as the player we understand why he is doing all of this and so it is easy to go along for the ride because we like Zag and want to help him. Mel says she cares a lot about what is going on and wants revenge, but it all feels surface level (and which is understandable she doesn’t know these people, all she can say is “the titan took my family” when let’s be real she sees the people in the crossroads as more of her family). It honestly just seems like because she is expected to kill Chronos since she could think, she feels she has to do all this. It feels weird how she is disconnected from the core point of the game being to save the house of hades when Zag was so integral to that same core point in the first game.

I dunno, just my thoughts, I’m curious to see what everyone else thinks.

Edit: just fyi cause I feel with the comments I’ve been getting from my posts, I like hades 2 I am excited especially for the official release. I recognize my criticism/analysis could be wrong or out of date since the game isn’t finished yet. These are just my initial thoughts.

[my-mt-heart]

Believe it or not, I was already going to make a post about the shipbaiting today, but thanks for the scarring visual aid I guess, AMC. I’ll start by saying that I see how the new teaser tries to center the story around Daryl’s and Carol’s anticipated reunion, but you know what? It doesn’t make me feel better because once again, their fans are expected to dig and dig for some subtle hint of the story they want while ageist and misogynistic EPs happily throw a painful image in their faces—one that simulates sex between Daryl and a nun—and for extra shits and giggles, they use an anti-Caryl media outlet to do it.

The 206 sides that were leaked a couple of months ago tell us the beat in the teaser is Isabelle’s ghost appearing to Daryl while he thinks he’s dying, so those of us who follow spoilers know that it’s “not as bad as it seems.” Caryl fans have had to sing that song for years now, and clearly AMC thinks this time won’t be any different. Not sure what that means for all of the fans who aren’t active online.

Despite fans shouting about it for over a year, AMC still doesn’t understand that shipbaiting of any degree does irreparable damage. It doesn’t matter that Isabelle dies. It doesn’t matter that Daryl leaves with Carol. The how and why is what matters. Character integrity fucking matters. For example…

Scenario 1: The scene in the teaser plays out exactly how it reads in the sides. Daryl thinks he has nothing to live for despite reuniting with Carol, he sees Isabelle’s ghost, there’s face touching and closeness, she gives Daryl hope to keep going, he meets back up with Carol and then treats her like a complete stranger.

Scenario 2: The scene in the teaser plays out, but when Isabelle tells Daryl to bet on hope, he has memories of Carol. That encourages him to get up and when he finds Carol again, he holds her tight, not wanting to let go.

Scenario 2 is still shitty for a number of reasons, but the shading keeps Daryl in character and positions Caryl as the romantic unit, not Isabelle and Daryl. Daryl in scenario 1 is a douchebag James Bond wannabe who takes Carol for granted. Daryl in scenario 2 is a loyal man who knows where his home is. He's the only Daryl I recognize and the only Daryl I want to watch. I wonder which version we’ll get. Or rather, which version Gimple, Nicotero, and Zabel will let us have because apparently they’re allowed to run amuck whenever they feel like it. (Notice how the vast majority of panelists for NYCC are non-cast members? What are you promoting, AMC? The show or the EPs?)

How does releasing a Carol poster—that reverted to the old logo by the way—make things better after a really disturbing teaser? That’s like kicking us in the teeth and then handing us a bandaid afterward because you still want us to watch. That’s unethical and abusive. I don’t want insignificant consolation prizes. I just want a fucking good story for my favorite characters, but that’s never going to happen as long as AMC keeps letting those EPs ruin everything. Will they even blame them if the season doesn’t do well or will they predictably try to blame it on the woman?

Melissa deserves 1000x better and so do her fans.

[lovelyo]

Why Eloise is My Favorite Character

First off, look at that beautiful face. Claudia is deadass pretty. But besides that, she’s the one that has visibly gone through the most character development and it was subtle as well. When I watched season 3 part 2 trailer(garbage like I predicted it’d be) watching Eloise and the maturity and concern she had for her brother, insisting Penelope to tell him, that she can’t lie to him and expect him to love her(which he’ll end up doing anyway but fuck Polin) and even given Penelope a chance to tell him. The mercy she showed Penelope despite what she’s done and the pain she caused her; the trailer made me finally come to the conclusion that she’s my favorite character.

I was iffy bout Eloise at the beginning of season 1. I know many were annoyed with her and said she was a pick me girl—I even thought, “booo, here we go, one of those annoying buffoon feminists who don’t know how good they have it.” She wasn’t annoying, but she sure was self-righteous about women’s roles in society and how they shouldn’t have to be subjected to the marriage mart and all the feminist bible thumping bs and saying this from her ivory tower.

But you know what she did? She walked down those tower steps, willingly left that ivory tower to go expand her views and learn outside of it, something that women in the ton wouldn’t do. She put herself at risk to broaden her horizon.

“You wish to follow your heart. I wish to nurture my mind.”

Eloise didn’t reject Theo’s criticism of her limited understanding and her privileged position. She took that to seek greater understanding beyond what she knows so I really don’t know how in the living shit people think she’s self-absorbed, especially after she starts interacting with Theo.

Eloise is brusque and may come off as abrasive, but she has integrity, is gracious, and is kind-hearted. She sought out LW for a selfless cause: to help Penelope and her family from ruin. She helped LW escape from the Queen.

The times Penelope has come with her crocodile tears, Eloise dropped everything to comfort her despite Pen insulting with her “pretty Bridgerton” comments(but she’s a bad friend, amirite?)

She didn’t see the lower class as beneath her but as people to learn from(but she’s blind to her privilege, right Penelope stan?)

She was one of the few who showed compassion and understanding for Marina's situation. Despite her being sheltered(that a lot of anti-Eloise fans get their rocks off in exaggerating), she knew that Marina was in a shit place and treated shamefully.

She knows there aren’t many women who share her views and thought processes, but that doesn’t stop her from having them and voicing them and hopes that women would also go against social conditioning.

“How else should I be? Married and silent?”

She kept Penelope’s secret for months. She didn’t try to destroy Penelope or get back at her. She just cut her off and moved on with her life. She took the high road in this situation, a thing that some adults don’t even do.

When she realized that her gossiping hurt Penelope, she sought her out, admitted fault, and apologized. That was incredibly brave and mature. She might be angry at Penelope, but she pushed back when Cressida was mean, even apologized to Pen on Cressida’s behalf.. She didn’t push Colin to be cruel to Penelope just because she had a fall out with her. Eloise is A LOT better than me because if I was in her shoes, Colin finding out bout Whistledown would be the least of Penelope’s problems.

Eloise is just a joy to see on screen, especially in S3 where she is literally the only voice of reason and her suffering with this LW business got me weeping(especially since we know Pen will suffer nothing from it). She better have a good conclusion by the end of the season. The show has failed in almost everything this season.

Don’t fail on Eloise.

[brian-in-finance]

After the onslaught of criticism about her IFTA look, I thought of putting together some of Cait's quotes, a look into her character and what she's about.

“I respect and admire people who put work before fame, and life before work.”

"I think as women sometimes we can judge other women's journeys, actions a lot more harshly than we would if it was a man."

"I think there's something in the DNA of actors that we thrive on the lack of stability or regime. I relish the unpredictability of it in many ways."

The sexiest things about a man are, "Integrity, smarts and kindness".

"I just want to be happy in my life. I want to stay sane. I'm lucky that I have a job that I love. It's very important that your career can't be your only thing. So, I feel lucky that I've also found someone who makes me very happy. As long as I can keep those two things going well, then I'll be good."

"While 'Outlander' is a brilliant period show, Claire represents so many qualities of a 10th century modern-day woman: someone who is forging her own path, fighting for what she believes, and doing so with integrity."

"It's such a compliment when people say they can see 'thoughts' on your face. I started theater before modeling and the frustrated actress within me made work interesting by viewing a character or story in the head with interior monologues."

"Life is meant to be lived and not put on the back-burner for one day when you will have time. I love my job and I love work but it can’t be the be-all and end-all." 

“You have to fight to create the life that you want. I’ve been lucky and had a very varied and interesting career so far, but I’m always thinking about the next chapter.”

"I'm very young at heart but combined with a bit of an old soul. I have two sides of myself, one side is this cray-likes-to-party side, and then the other side likes-to-hibernate-and-keep-quiet-and-read. Those two sides constantly battle and that's why I'm crazy!"

"It was something I've been wanting for a while. There's sometimes fear about actors who become producers—that they're going to try to throw their weight around. For me, it's an expansion of growing within this industry. I like to problem solve. I like to look around at what every single person is doing, and [ask], how can we make things better?"

"Wrinkles equal time, equal life . . . trying to love them."

"SM brings out the very worst in people and makes us feel worse and worse about ourselves. So I'm trying to do, at least one day a week, hopefully 2 days a week, where I just step back and, I've been trying to do it recently and because I really felt like I needed to ... there's so much anger going on and there's so much "uhh" that it was making me feel just awful about everything."

"The modeling industry is completely what you make it. I've had a really great career but what some girls fail to understand is that it is a business like everything else. It's a job, not an opportunity for you and your friends to go away together a lot. You have to remember that the reason you're flying off to an exotic location is that you are there to deliver a job."

“The hardest part when I decided to move into acting was trusting I'd made the right decision.”

Thanks for the message, Anon. 😃 I’m happy to share the impressive list you’ve compiled of Caitríona’s quotes, and I hope people enjoy the walk down memory lane. As for the onslaught of criticism about her IFTA look…

One of the things you and I and everyone else are entitled to is an opinion. Some people liked her IFTA look, some did not. I sometimes post “fashion,” but have no expertise in that field, and I don’t necessarily like or dislike the garments or jewellery or footwear or accessories, or how they’re worn.

As for Standing Ground’s collections, unsupported breasts and nipples abound. I’d like to say it’s by design (wee pun), but I don’t know if it’s the designer’s intent in keeping with his natural scheme or if it’s the model’s choice to go braless. (If I were writing in DM, this is where I would say, “Blah blah blah.”)

What I do know, if I owned “the IFTA” dress and could wear it the way I chose, I would be wearing a bra. Everybody, every body, is different.

Most of the time, when I disagree with an opinion, I silently 🙄 or 🤦🏻‍♂️ or 🤯 or 🤬 or 😂, and scroll along my merry way. The odd time when I both 🤬 and chime in is when someone says it’s their opinion Caitríona is not married to Tony.

Literacy Ideas

Remember… opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes. — Voltaire

[compact-turtle]

How would Atticus be like with a Mexican reader?? I just wanna call him, “mi amor, guapito, hermoso, mi corazón” !!! All the cute names. Teaching him Spanish, how to dance, cook, and usual customs.

It would be super cute just him asking what does the name ur calling him by mean and u say some lovey dovey shit. Also the fact that we kiss on the cheek for greetings. *gasps* or how he is pretty isolated so he’s either gonna have to get comefortable with random family pulling up or reader giving him an ARMY of kids. Just so that they don’t get lonely cuz family is hella important!

"Mi amor, where's the salt? I can't find it" You called from the kitchen, "I need it to finish making dinner."

"Reckon I saw it sitting in the spice drawer."

-Atticus strolls into the kitchen. He notices you standing near the counter looking for the salt. Quickly, Atticus rummages through the nearby spice cabinet. Without missing a beat, the salt is located. He slips the salt into your hands.

-You thank him then continue cooking. For a few minutes, Atticus just continues to watch you cook. The smell lingers in his nose and his mouth began to salivate.

-A small sense of curiosity began to bloom inside him. Multiple times, he remembered that you would call him mi armor. He couldn't figure out what it meant. Were you unhappy with him? Is this why you called him that?

"What'd ya call me earlier, Doll? Me a-more?" Atticus asked.

"Its mi amor, Atticus. It just means my love in Spanish."

"Hm."

-Atticus comes up behind you. His arms slither around your waist. Slowly, small kisses are littered all over your face. Your nose, cheek and forehead are all claimed by his lips. Not a single inch is spared.

-You laugh as he buries his face in your neck. His warm breath tickles your neck. As you try to squirm out of his hold, Atticus tightens his arms around your waist.

"Let go now. I haven't finished." You say as you playfully pushed his arms away.

"No."

----

-He would love pet names in a different language. It makes him feel so happy that you thought of him. He'd try to learn Spanish to give you one as well. (Honestly would probably butcher it and give you something that sounds funky. You'd totally have to correct him and teach him what it really means).

-Would eat up telenovelas and get super invested in them. At the end of the day, he would pull you into his lap and you would watch it with him. Theorizes about future plot points and characters with you.

-Struggles to make food with you. He can only cook an omelet, oatmeal and potatoes. However, Atticus really enjoys your cooking. He finished it every time and always asks for more.

-Super lost when it comes to your culture. However, he understands with time. You just have to be patient and explain it to him slowly. Would enjoy participating in it with you. sees himself as special since you took the time to integrate him into your culture.

-----

-At first, he wouldn't like being around someone else's family too much. It gives him anxiety because it reminds him of his own messed up family dynamic with his parents.

Also, having to many people around. He's not used to it. Eventually, he'd come around after repeated exposure. Even grows on the children in the family. Comes to learn that not every family dynamic is abusive or hurtful.

-Would be super nervous to have his own kids. A little afraid that he might turn out like his father BUT knows better. He's a bit strict with them since he wants them to learn discipline. However, reminds them about how much he loves them through his actions. (Ex: taking them on special bonding trips)

-Absolutely adores when you're pregnant. Gives your stomach little kisses and wants to listen to the baby. Tries to cook all your pregnancy cravings (fails but A for effort) Messages your feet and back.

-Refuses sex. He's really afraid it'll hurt the baby somehow. Only does it when you coax him into it. Very gentle and constantly asks for reassurance.

----

[cowpokeomens]

Ayfuckingo, who’s stealing work👀👀👀 (Who thinks stealing someone’s hard ass work is fun? Wtf)

Yknow I thought abt deleting this ask and my post but I’m feeling feisty and fed up today, actually! This is not directly specifically at you anon 🫶 anyways read at your own risk lol

I’m not dropping names because I’m not a gossip blog, but I think the tendency of certain celebrated “authors” to dip into other people’s creative endeavors for their own work is gross and completely diminishes the whole point of fandoms. Like, this is supposed to be a community. Instead it’s turned into a competition that literally no one wants to be a part of where people say “oh yay, another _____ AU!” Instead of “wow, that’s awfully hyper specific and pretty flagrantly rips off of soemthing I’ve seen before?”

I think we, as members of fandom, have become soooooo wrapped up in the culture of needing to “consume content” that we disregard artistic integrity. We don’t care that the idea is stolen because we love the idea so much. I’m not talking about tropes (ie; enemies to lovers, grumpy!character x sunshine!character, fake dating) I’m talking about the actual creative thought that goes into making a fic. I understand loving someone’s creativity; I’m an artist, and I am constantly absorbing and thinking about art from other people. It’s inevitable that some ideas will trickle into your own work. But there comes a point where there is a clear difference between “inspired” and stolen.

I’m not trying to say this as some kind of writing authority - there are SO MANY talented and hardworking writers on this platform who make beautiful work leagues better than my stupid horny rambles. And like I said, I’m not naming names- the plagiarizers are fully aware of what they’re doing. But the way in which y’all treat fic is really disappointing sometimes. It’s not all about the next update, y’all. This is someone’s art. It’s not just a “good idea” in public domain for you to pluck and use in your own work as you please. It is someone’s art.

I just can’t help but feel like it circles back to a deeply ingrained need to devalue artists. If there was any respect for author’s and their work, this wouldn’t even need to be a conversation. Don’t fucking steal from people. Why do you value the work of an author so little that you feel it’s okay to take something they’ve worked incredibly hard on? Obviously you like it enough to try and pass it off as your own, so why steal at all? There’s a reblog button, you can add comments to let them know how much you love it. What are you gaining?

I’m coming from the position of an artist, not just a fic writer. This has nothing to do with my writing personally (as far as I’m aware, no one is trying to pass off my ideas as their own.) But as an artist, I cannot put into words how saddening and downright violating it is to have someone look at a thing you made, something you put your experiences and thoughts and emotions into, and think “it’s completely fine for me to take this idea and run with it.” That is insurmountably shitty.

Y’all are too damn smart to not notice. I think too highly of y’all as readers and creators to chalk it up to misunderstanding. You probably already had a fic in mind as you were reading this! I think we, as a community, really need to work on our intentionality and integrity with regards to art making. Stealing ideas is not conducive to making art or maintaining any semblance of community in fandom. Anyways this was long, I apologize for nothing, byeeeeeeeeee

[yangscowlick]

You're tags about early hiatus leading to calcified headcanons makes me think about why certain parts of the fandom are so against the idea of yang being butchier and cling to her beacon persona so hard. Odd to me beacon yang's whole thing was she was putting up a front to hide her insecurities, yet early fandom portrayed her as some femme fataleish fashionista that flirted with everyone and talked about her boobs nonstop. But even beacon yang was never like that, and now we have a yang that wears big butch boots and overalls and bomber jackets and likes to manspread and actually it's her gf that likes to get prettied up for their dates while yang watches with heart eyes from afar. Sorry for the essay, I just wonder why early fandom saw a show that telegraphed pretty well that it's about turning tropes on its head and decided "no I want the surface level version of these characters and any change or development that differs from it is bad"

I totally agree and ended up writing an essay in turn!

I think it’s especially annoying when fandom does that with Yang’s V1 “persona” in particular since (1) she got the least amount of development of the girls in V1 (we really don’t “meet” Yang til we get her backstory in Burning the Candle — hell we don’t even get an explanation of her semblance until Painting the Town) and (2) all the girls have grown and changed since we met them, so why are some folks SO stuck on early Yang? But I do think it taking so much longer to really “meet” Yang means there were huge chunks of time between the Yellow Trailer and V1 and then V1 and V2 where people filled her character in how they saw fit and have clung to that.

I think there are sort of two buckets. In the bad faith group are the weebs who saw big boobs and an empty vessel of a character they could project onto. To your point, the show told us from the get-go in her trailer and in her song that she was “more than meets the eye”, but the shonen-brained who are accustomed to fanservice and 2D female side characters saw Yang and assumed she was for Them (and feel betrayed that she isn’t and have made it everyone’s problem). I dont have a lot of patience for those types — they can go watch 99.9% of shonen anime if they want that (though I hope for their sake they expand their media diet…).

I have some more patience for the second bucket who just don’t really understand the lesbian experience and how it can be to re-contextualize your identity once you’ve figured yourself out. Because in some ways you only really “get it” if you’ve gone through it. Yang settling into herself is SO cool to me, because I was similar. In high school, I was pretty femme / assumed I was straight / etc. And even once I understood I liked girls, knowing your identity and integrating your identity are two different things. It’s so normal to me to see Yang “become” Yang as she has (from the way she dresses, her posture, the way she sits, her chivalry, etc) because I lived it. But I think it is lost on some people who just see her “dykeyness” as a retcon and not a development — so to them, I want to try to be patient because I realize what’s obvious to me comes from my lived experiences. (Again, the bad faith folks who wanted surface-level digestible anime waifus don’t get my patience here).

But to those coming at Yang in good faith, Yang coming into herself and getting more butch as time goes on (Yang was always going to be more than her first projection - they spelled it out) is no different than Weiss and Blake settling into their ‘true’ selves (and their color schemes have slowly come to match their aura/soul colors). It’s also a pretty common experience when sexuality is yet another thing piled on top of the identity crisis that is your late teens/early 20s.

I also find it a little silly that people glom onto V1 Yang as this flirty party girl because it’s not even supported by actual canon. Yang plays video games and is like a super-nerd about the table top game they play in V2, but none of those “I miss V1-3 Yang” types are like “why doesn’t she play video games and board games anymore? What a betrayal of her character”? Like why isn’t “gamer bro” Yang part of That fandom’s flanderization of her character? There’s more support in canon for that than her supposed puns…

Anyway, went off on a tangent there, but TLDR: Yang’s butch-ness is completely organic and part of her settling into herself, just as the other characters have settled into their true selves. I dont have time for the folks fueled by entitlement, but I can have time for the folks with empathy who might not have all the inputs to understand it but are willing to listen (and my inbox is open!).

[imabeautifulbutterfly]

Once Upon a Time on the Razor Crest

Summary: Din tries to conduct an interview, while feeling her out.

A/N: Hello lovelies,

Hope everyone is having a splendid week. Mine wasn't too bad, had a few rude people at work, but I did my best not to have them get to me.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy the next chapter. Love oo

Due to the past history of the OC there will be discussions alluding to past domestic abuse, please note that as it could be a trigger for some.

Warnings: implication of past domestic trauma, mistrust, testing a person's integrity, starting over, I think that's it, if I miss anything please let me know.

AO3 Link |   Words: 1,185 |   Previous -> Next

Main Master List   |  Once Upon a Time on the Razor Crest

THE RAZOR CREST SEVEN

CHAPTER THREE

Din eyed Ann carefully, observing her character and physical traits, she was shorter than Camilla, not that that mattered, really. She seemed guarded and capable. However, he noticed how her hands were soft, too soft for someone who was about to do a lot of hard labour, and for someone who claimed to have some farm hand experience too. His eyes slowly focused on hers, he was always able to read a person’s true nature by the look in there eyes, she seemed like a kind person, albeit there was a hint of nervousness in her eyes, but more than anything there was a fire fuelling those eyes. Whether that fire had to due with something in her past or had to do with not trusting him, either way he needed to know what was behind that fire. He needed to try and push her buttons to see what kind of person he was allowing into his home. 

He readjusted himself in his chair, it was time to get this so-called interview started, “You want me to believe you have experience working on a farm, with hands as smooth as yours?” He motioned to her hands.

“You can believe anything you like, I’m here because you need help and I’m willing to help”

“You always this difficult?”

“You always this mistrusting?”

“Mistrusting? Really? That’s rich. I’m here talking to a stranger, who ‘claims’ to have worked on a farm when her hands look as though they’ve been manicured on a regular basis all her life. From your perspective this is a job, but from mine, this is my life, and I’m the one who’s inviting a stranger to live here with my son. So yes, I'm mistrusting.”

He had a point, but I also had a point too. Just because my hands looked manicured didn’t mean I didn’t know how to handle hard work or that I was shy about physical work. Yes, I would be invading his house, but I was also trusting him to treat me properly. However, it seemed no matter what I possibly could say, he appeared to have his opinion set. What was the point of trying to start over, he obviously didn’t want me here. 

“Listen, I understand where you're coming from. However, I’m here because Cobb thought you needed help. I’m willing to provide it, I’m a hard worker, and I’m stronger than I look. But, if you would rather question my integrity, before even giving me a chance to prove myself then that’s fine. I guess all you guys are the same, you’d rather have some burly …”

“Hold on, there Ann. Take a breath.” 

His hand clenched against the armrest at her biting comment, “First, let’s get one thing straight, this is my home. I don’t know what your deal is, if maybe your last employer was a jerk or something, but you don’t get to talk to me like that in my home.”

I let out a breath, closing my eyes, quelling the anger that was beginning to boil inside of me. I was here for an interview, there was no reason for Djarin to trust me. He had every right to question my integrity and who I was, especially if I was going to live in his house. He didn’t know me, and I didn’t know him, he wasn’t my ex who questioned every little thing about me. Making me feel unworthy of being in his presence. 

I shook my head, guilt slowly rising, “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s …” I ran my hands through my hair, “Sorry, I apologize, Din. It’s just … the way you answered the door, like I wasn’t even there … then criticizing me about something as small as my hands, it … it reminded me of someone. I’m sorry, I’m more wound up then I realized.”

Din let out a deep sigh, he noticed how her fingers were wringing against Cobb’s jacket. He needed to test her, but he clearly went the wrong way about it, guilt began to settle in his chest, “No, I’m … listen I’m sorry. I was just on the phone with my brother, he's… let's just say he knows how to press my buttons and always puts me in a bad mood. I apologize for the way I greeted you. How about this, let’s start over again.” 

Din reached his hand out, determined to put his best foot forward, “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Din Djarin, and you are?”

My eyes looked from his hand to his face, there was a smirk on his face that made me feel at ease. Once again, he had made me feel comfortable, I reached out and shook his hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Din Djarin, my name is Ann Jones.”

“Pleasure. Now I understand you're looking for work, at least according to what Marshall Vanth told me.”

“Yes. I’m new to the area. Marshall Vanth raved about you, he told me a few things that you were looking for with regards to the person who would take this position. Here’s a few things that I can do, I’m a pretty good cook” thanks to working as a fry cook for three months, when I first left my situation. “I know how to get rid of the most stubborn stains,” working as a laundress for five months, when I left my bad situation for a second time. “I know how to tend a garden,” helps working at a community garden for six months, when I left for good. “I can also help with tending to the animals on your ranch” absolutely no experience for that, but how hard could it be? I mean okay I did assist a veterinarian for three months, when I had to hide after my identity was found out at the community garden, but still, “you know whatever needs to be taken care of around here, and anything I don’t know, I’m willing to learn. From what Marshall Vanth was saying it seemed you were looking for someone who could help in general.”

“Yeah, I need someone who could be available 24/7, hence the live-in situation. There are times when I get called out to help with corralling lost farm animals or whatever. Either way, I could be gone anywhere from a night to a day, sometimes a few days, on the rarity it could be up to a week or two.”

“Is that what you do, track lost animals?”

“Partially. I am a skilled tracker, one of the best out here so during the hunting season I get called on a lot. Usually, I’ll take a hunting party out, find some deer or elk for them to hunt, or track the injured animals the hunters couldn’t finish, before the wolves get them, just depends.” The idea of leaving Grogu alone with Ann didn’t fill him with the same sense of dread as it usually did, when he left him with Pelli. In fact, he felt comfortable in her presence, almost at peace; for a brief moment, he didn’t think about Camilla. 

AO3 Link |   Words: 1,185 |   Previous -> Next

Main Master List   |  Once Upon a Time on the Razor Crest

@littlemisspascal@sprout-fics@liadamerondjarin @badbatch-simp24 @spicymcnuggies @lady-ren @firstofficerwiggles @darkangel4121 @discofern @kavecika @monako-jinn-stories @ladykatakuri @avathebestx @theroguesully @furyhellfire66 @carodealmeida @ciramaris @twinkofthedink @dindjarin-mandalorian @tortor-mcgee @littlemisspascal

[whalesforhands]

i want to say so many things abt stsg & mc in dyf au so bad omg. i feel like their characters aren’t getting across and i don’t feel like talking in fic writing language i just want to vomit everything out

and also bcs nobody talks to me in asks :(

dyf IS an alternative universe where gojo and geto get together late first year/early second year if you haven’t already noticed.

i headcanon it would be around christmas when it’s so called ‘official’

it’s just?? kind of decided unanimously one day that they get together since they get each other so well? unsaid lovers kinda thing

dyf!mc actually assumed they were already dating during the start of the first year. its definitely love at first sight when they butt heads as often as they do right? she swears that ppl with that type of relationship either end up in a grave or in bed together

i’ve said this before but stsg’s relationship is something i view as far more than friendship or just a romance. there is this… unsaid understanding between them despite their differences. i imagine them as mirror images of the other, two halves of a whole, soulmates ykwim

everyone thinks gojo is the horny one, but it’s geto x190%

when do all 3 get together? officially, not yet. third year aus are typically them teetering ON romantic relationship, but definitely holds no water yet. but there is an increase in skinship that dyf mc had settled comfortably into and thinks it’s perfectly normal.

i mean, she does that with shoko right?? what’s the diff if she does it with these 2 that she loves just as much (and may or may not have a crush on)

anyway, back to dyf mc

i don’t know if it’s super obvious to everyone yet, but dyf mc definitely has some degree of social anxiety and depression, explaining the way she pulls back and gets lost in her thoughts instead to feel safe

she understands what she feels, but it’s very very overwhelming u get?

mc is also shown to be sensitive to cursed energy if u also didn’t notice loll,,,, to the point she can pinpoint the 3. or is it just because she has trained herself to feel for their specific auras hmmm??

anyway. since stsg are ‘dating’, she does try very hard to suppress anything romantic she tends to feel, and WILL convince herself that lITERALLY anything they try on her is STRICTLY PLATONIC bcs she just can’t believe these 2 will ever like her in THAT manner yk

and shoko? shoko is single. shoko is pretty. shoko is flirting with her. but since stsg treat her LIKE THAT, she thinks this is what happens when you’re getting close to others right?

she likes it a lot. she hopes they continue to stay close to her. (LMAO DENSE ASF)

tbh i didn’t intend for shoko to be so involved with mc. i wrote it that way bcs i had an equally huge crush on her and it just integrated itself naturally into my writing LOL

also, the smut threesome fics were all practice fics lolllll. i’ve never written threesomes in my life and they were my first cracks at it

something special for getting all the way here bcs im just rambling haha. i’m trying to get ppl to interact with me i’m so sad and lonely writing all by myself

in the bully! satosugu au

gojo and mc were actually childhood friends! imagine that. growing up in the neighbourhood with that spoilt, but kind little white-haired brat but him moving away soon after

only to see him again when you’re way, way older!and that other black-haired guy that he seems to be super close with. you’re gonna be friends again, right?

and he’s never been so excited to see you! he’s so much taller now and his arms are so strong, so different from the weak chubby flab of the child him that you thought was adorable, so you’d always ask your mom for extra snacks to eat together!

but now he’s literally picking you up, your feet barely touching the ground as he holds you so so so tightly, as if afraid you’d disappear

it’s nice catching up with him, sitting with him and a close friend of his, geto suguru at lunch, following them to the convenience store after school to get a quick snack

only for him to ignore you the next week when you bound up to him smiling, greeting him with excited cheer. he quirks a brow at you, shoving you out of the way before walking away…

what… did you do wrong? what’s wrong with him?

[nekoannie-chan]

Secrets chapter 4: The Beginning or the End of Everything? Part III

Pairing: Steve Rogers X OFC, Brock Rumlow X OFC.

Word count: 1052 words.

Summary: Sometimes keeping secrets can be dangerous or a heavy burden, which is what Kathleen has been doing for years. She will also be in charge of guiding Steve Rogers into this century; meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be looking for a way to kick-start the Avengers Initiative by integrating her as one of the superheroes, but that won't be the only danger they face.

Warnings: None

A/N: After long time working on this longfic, I finally post it. If you wanna be added to the taglist, let me know.

My native language is Spanish so I wanna improve my writing skills in English if you notice any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them.

I don’t give any kind of permission that my fics to be posted on other platforms or languages (I translate myself my work) or the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this), I did them exclusively for my fics, please respect my work and don't steal it. There are some people here who make dividers that anyone can use, mine is not this type, please look for the other's people. The only exception is the ones I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. If you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts, please let me know. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

You can read it on Wattpad and Ao3 too. Secrets masterlist. Previous chapter. Next chapter.

𝟸 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇

 It had already been two years since she joined S.H.I.E.L.D., and her missions so far have been successful. At the moment she was in her office reviewing the proposal for the Insight Project, the board of Directors had rejected it. She didn’t understand the reasons. Everything seemed in order. She sincerely preferred to do that over the other missions. He knew she helped people by stopping those criminals, but that didn't mean she liked being on some missions. She preferred to do office work or go on some missions with Brock.

Despite everything, she was still checking everything related to the project. According to the manuals and protocols, everything was in order; therefore, it didn't make sense that it had been rejected... Unless it was for monetary reasons.

Fury entered the office with a folder, and without saying a single word, she turned to see it. She knew that it could only be something too important, so much so that the rest of the missions would be postponed until further notice and the personnel would participate more. She took it and began to leaf through the content, but she didn’t understand well what it meant. In truth, she began to believe that it was a joke by Nick, although she was no longer a little girl to laugh at the jokes that Nick used to make.

"An hour ago, some Russian tankers sent us these photos; I need you to analyze them; you have less than two hours; it's urgent, as it can't fall into the wrong hands," Nick ordered her.

Kathleen nodded and got to work. She also called Cameron; she would need some help. Together they managed to get the results in less time than she required, but she could not believe it. He was most likely dead; no one would resist even those conditions and probably not even the magnitude of the impact; it was the ship, but she was not so sure if he would be in there. The best thing to do was to send someone to check and, if possible, get what was left and try to recover it because if any of the enemies did it before them, they could try again to replicate the serum or use it for some experiment, and that meant more problems.

Now more questions popped into her head. How would they break the news to the world? What would happen now? Would they examine the discovery? Should she worry?

Probably, there would be a memorial or some ceremony to thank him for his service or something, she didn't even know why she was worrying about the situation, she just had to do her job.

It was three in the morning when Nick Fury's phone rang, and he immediately answered to receive the news that Captain America had been found, or at least his frozen body. Under those conditions, they could not be sure if he was alive or not, so he gave precise instructions: they had to get him out of there and take him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities in New York so that the doctors could take care of him and he would be submitted to some tests before telling anyone else since he didn’t want rumors to spread to the population.

He knew who was the perfect person for what was coming, plus it would be easier to know what was really going on, although he was sure she would not give any statements to the media, so they could prepare whatever was necessary.

A few minutes later, he spoke to Kathleen to assign her to the mission, which was simple: to be present while they took the Captain out of the ice to try to read his mind and thus be able to corroborate if he was alive, as well as to be by his side during the transfer and the doctor's examination, and in case he was alive, she would have to help him adapt to the present time.

Kath's mobile phone rang, she mumbled something unintelligible, and she wanted to continue sleeping, but if Nick was talking directly to her on his personal mobile phone instead of his work one, it was really something exaggeratedly important. She moved Brock so she could answer; she had lost count of the times they had been together.

Although they weren't in a romantic relationship as they had agreed, they had repeated that night of the mission several times, sometimes at her place, sometimes at his apartment. Although neither of their feelings had changed.

Even Brock was thinking of trying to have a relationship after a while, to convince her, although first, he had to find a way to keep her safe.

She got up and dressed as quickly as possible to arrive on time as soon as she heard the news. She left a note with a vague explanation for Brock to see when he woke up; she still had to go through some documents with Fury so they wouldn't have any problems since it was something secret and no one could find out that they had found it to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

She opened a portal to get to the place where they found him as quickly as possible. She gave the documents to the Lieutenant, they had already taken him out of the ship and were preparing everything to take him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities, although Kath didn't know which ones, so she had to hurry, otherwise, she would have to give explanations to Fury.

Someone tried to stop her, but she practically threw the document Nick had given her and went up to the ship with them. She couldn't perceive much, not counting the noise of the others' minds; she had to concentrate. She couldn't have Cerebro with her; she didn't want anyone to know she had him, so she had to think of something different to see if she could catch any thoughts.

She reached over and put a hand in Steve's hair; it still had some ice in it; however, she had no idea how they had gotten it out of there, and since it wasn't completely thawed, she started to pick up some slow and vague thoughts that meant he was alive.

Ꭲꭺꮐꮮꮖꮪꭲ:

@saiyanprincessswanie  @sinceimetyou @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad

@navybrat817 @angrythingstarlight @shield-agent78 @charmed-asylum @pandaxnienke  @real-fbi @smokeandnailz @white-wolf1940  @tenaciousperfectionunknown  @xoxonotme @bluemusickid @leyannrae  @harrysthiccthighss @marvelatthisone @caplanbuckybarnes  @sapphire-rogers​ @lizzieolseniskinda @notyourtypicalrose​ @hallecarey1​  @nana1000night​ @talia-rumlow​ @mylifeispainandiloveit​  @writingshae​ @alexxavicry​ @azulatodoryuga​ @daemonslittlebitch​  @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ @jtargaryen18​  @chaoticcollectivenightmare​ @endlesstwanted​

[scoobydoodean]

I think part of the reason Cas hates Crowley and dislikes Benny (at first) so much is that both of them don’t self-sacrificingly resist from ever asking Dean for anything and do pursue a relationship with him (argue over whether it’s romantic, or whatever). I think Cas is sort of unable to handle the transition between the way things work in heaven (heavily regimented, everyone knows who they are to each other) and on Earth (lots of feeling out boundaries). I think the disconnect people are expressing is they don’t understand that Cas’ discomfort isn’t Dean’s fault, even if it is relatable/makes sense from the perspective of a very isolated character who has already lost all sense of belonging and fears jeopardizing that further by asking for literally anything from the few friends he has left. Cas didn’t hide how he felt for Dean’s benefit (though he may have told himself that), he did it for himself. And that’s totally understandable, but like you said, you can’t have a real relationship if you never communicate what you want out of it. And that is again, not Dean’s fault.

That's interesting about Crowley and Benny. This is definitely all a perspective I can respect.

I think from my perspective, what Cas struggled with with Benny early on (and Purgatory is a good example of most of Dean and Cas's problems actually), is that Benny immediately wanted an answer as to why Cas abandoned Dean in Purgatory. Dean actually would have been willing to brush it under the rug (this is the guy who rewrote his own memories of what transpired at the portal to make it so Cas didn't intentionally let go of his hand). Benny was willing to poke into the issue, and he did, in fact, find some hot air in that balloon. Cas and Benny both agreed that Cas was a liability, but Cas did believe in his own integrity (at least when it came to his choices on "The Best Ways To Protect Dean Winchester"—which in this case, involved bailing). The thing is... "protecting Dean" isn't the entire explanation for Cas's actions (see 8.07), and that's why Cas didn't like Benny poking at him. He'd suffered enough hits to his self-image and didn't want to deflate any further (and I'm not entirely sure Cas knows yet why he might deflate further if pressed—but Benny—the person with the objective outsider's view—is shrewd enough). Even if "Protecting Dean" was the sole reason for Cas's actions, it's bullshit anyway, because Cas proves while doing it that he doesn't actually see Dean's opinions and feelings about the best ways to protect Dean as relevant to protecting Dean, and... they are. Not just because Cas isn't always right and needs someone to challenge his perception (maybe abandoning Dean to a pack of gorilla-wolves isn't the best way to protect him... shocking idea I know), but also because Cas isn't capable of understanding Dean better than Dean understands himself, and actually has no idea how badly he can actively harm Dean (the exact opposite of what he is trying to do) through actions that are intended to protect Dean.

Does Cas realize that he treats Dean's feelings as irrelevant when he is off doing Hot Girl Summer things, and that he frequently wounds Dean while trying to protect him? Of course not—which is how he isn't actually Chuck or John 2.0. He's got a lot of issues going on in his life, like being raised in the equivalent of a weird religious cult where free will was frowned upon, losing a lot of his strength over the course of the series which he stocks the majority of his self-esteem into, lots of siblings with very different expectations, speciesism, homophobia (speciesphobia?), repeated lobotomies, and like you said... cultural differences (we actually don't talk about this enough lmao).

As a clarification, what I'm arguing isn't exactly that Cas didn't communicate what he wanted out of the relationship and therefore his stans can't blame Dean for Cas's issues (though I would agree with that argument). I'm actually arguing that Cas pre-decided, without an actual conversation or input from Dean or clarification of what he might think if all the cards were on the table, that a relationship with Dean was impossible. What he wanted was something he could never have. So he specifically did not communicate his feelings. Instead, he slotted himself into Dean's life in a very specific way—and it wasn't in a romantic way (move over, "Dean needs to pull his head out of his ass" truthers—your ideas aren't just patronizing—they're wrong—hope this helps <3). Cas intentionally slotted himself into Dean's life such that he was Dean's guardian, ready to be martyred in his name to achieve sainthood. The object of his affections was Dean Winchester though, not Moloch, so that blood offering wasn't smelling super tasty to his god of choice... and Cas never did quite get that part—that every single one of his blood offerings smelled less like tasty morsels of bacon and pie and more like repeatedly stacking proof that Dean Winchester is poison and anyone who falls in love with him slated for a violent horrible death... his touch is worse than Midas's.

[crestofshame]

@knowledgeseeker01

I hope you don’t mind me responding to this with a post so I’m not restricted by the limited reply character count!

But, yes! I really, really loved that scene. My understanding was that the intention of the silence was mostly just to add a feeling of suspense for the audience, seeing that we experience the show with Suletta as our protagonist. While we do have a more omniscient understanding of the characters than we would if we were entirely restricted to a Suletta POV only, especially with the show’s use of dramatic irony to build conflict, the show is written for us to root for Suletta. So, during that silence, we have that extra sense of dread because we can clearly see Miorine shouting, but can’t hear anything until the moment Suletta wakes up.

I agree that it is a very well-integrated callback.

So much is the same from the blue light

To the headbutt (which is not really easy to get a screen grab of from episode 1 because that one was mostly a folly effect that conveyed it).

While it’s true that these two scenes were intentionally very similar, I feel like a lot of their relationship is in general centered around them saving each other in both a figurative and a literal sense.

Besides these two scenes, there’s also the one where Miorine drags Suletta out of the way from that first duel she witnesses. Then Suletta stops Guel and his lackeys from trashing Miorine’s greenhouse (which is very personal to her). Then we have Miorine trying to step in and fight Suletta’s duel against Guel for her and struggling, so Suletta steps in and takes her place. There’s also the instance where Miorine saves Suletta in court from her father and throws away her chance to escape to Earth. Suletta also continues dueling over and over to ensure that Miorine isn’t married off to some jerk. Not to mention that Miorine starts a whole-ass company to save Suletta from going back to court. Then you have Suletta having the spiral where she feels useless and Miorine confronting her and reassigning the work she originally thought was burdensome on Suletta so that she knows that she is wanted and needed. Suletta also literally KILLS someone to save Miorine at Plant, and Miorine responds in horror when she realizes how deep Prospera’s influence runs and she decides to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of Suletta not being tainted by the whole “sins of the father” premise that we see through the show.

We see another small reference to all of these instances after they’ve been separated for that time after their “breakup” where we see Mio spiral into a depression for platforming someone to start a war, and is pulled back into reality by Suletta (which I could write another analysis on in itself). Shaddiq even asks Miorine if her change in character is “because of that Mercurian Girl,” which shows that their strengthening relationship is palpable to other characters. So, to me, to see that this whole cycle of building trust and feelings for one another through saving the other person start and end in the same way was confirmation for just how important it is that their relationship is mutual in what they provide for each other, which is generally one of the primary factors of a successful and loving relationship. The sequence being the same is just a beautiful cherry-on-top for this whole “I want you to rely on me” / “Now I want to ask her the same” cycle.

[my-mt-heart]

I obviously haven’t been very stoked about a lot of choices this first season—the opposite if I’m being honest—but when I first listened to the radio scene, it felt like a reprieve from those feelings. Norman’s performance is perfect. I could sense his urgency to get a hold of Carol, and of course once he does, his tone melts into something much softer, something we know he reserves only for her. I appreciate the long pauses he takes to study her voice. He hears something in her words that we don’t (🤨). He worries that maybe she’s not really okay.

Carol’s line “you never need to worry about me, Daryl” makes me think back to her “I love you too” in the series finale, or more specifically the weightlessness of it. Melissa said it was Carol’s way of taking care of Daryl. She wanted to make it easier for him to leave, and at first, I wondered if this time was supposed to represent more of the same. We understand why Daryl sounds excited because we have the privilege of reading his body language. Maybe when Carol hears it, she thinks he’s enjoying himself out there. Maybe she's reluctant to admit how much she misses him because she doesn't want to take him away from where he really belongs.

Here’s where I’m struggling though. Theoretically, Melissa would’ve had Norman’s footage to play off of while she recorded her side of the conversation. That's how it's typically done. We know both of them always play off each other brilliantly. We’ve seen it countless times. It’s why their chemistry works. It’s why we ship them. But in this scene, I'm not getting any of that. There’s no emotion behind the words, none of Melissa's nuances, and the more I listen to it, the more I realize it isn’t Melissa’s voice at all. It really pains me to say it, but it sounds like AI.

If that’s true, then you'll have to be patient with me while I take the time to fully process my feelings about it. After everything—booting Melissa from the show in the first place and then gaslighting her fans about it—AMC wants to use a copout loophole in Melissa's contract (what many actors have had in their contracts hence the need for a strike) to jeopardize Melissa's integrity, deny everybody what they've had to wait a long time for, Melissa, and cheapen what could've been the most impactful scene of the season? Are you fucking kidding me? That’s just lazy, manipulative, disrespectful, and infuriating.

I was really excited to analyze a new Caryl scene today. Believe it or not, I don't want to keep hating on the show. I want to enjoy my two favorite characters, but as others have said, I’m tired of bending over backwards to arrive at some—any—hopeful conclusion about Caryl’s future. It’s hard enough when the writing is as inconsistent as it has been, but now AI is involved? No one should have to exert energy on analyzing a performance that doesn't exist. It's a poor reflection of Melissa's talent and a huge disservice to Caryl's story. I'm heartbroken.

Good to see her trending though. She deserves all the love she's getting today.

On another note, because I don't want to make a separate post about it, I also watched the scene where Daryl gets mad at Laurent. **TRIGGER WARNING*** As someone who grew up in a very "loud" household and experienced PTSD from it, I wasn't put off by the anger. I understand Daryl wants to go home, and the kid ruined what seemed like his only chance. It's the name-calling and Daryl putting his hands on Laurent that specifically crossed the line for me. The show is clearly trying to force Daryl to draw comparisons between him and his dad, but this feels like something Daryl has already worked through on the flagship show. The moment he saw Carol flinch on the farm, he knew he wanted to be different. Carol and TF helped him be different. He is different. He doesn't need to prove that to himself or anyone else anymore. Enough of the character regressions.

[compacflt]

hey! seeing your post about iceman and hamilton reminded me of the 1812 au that you had posted about previously - do you mind sharing any of your thoughts on that, specifically Ice & Mav's reactions to the politics of war back then, before the US military and Navy were such huge institutions (in today's standards)? EDTS Ice & Mav are decidedly anti-war (more Ice than Mav I think), but would that same sentiment be true for them back then & how would Ice feel about war hawks like Calhoun & Clay? there's obviously a pretty big role that war plays in forming national identity, especially in early US history, and with external forces like impressment & embargoes & all of the international relations nightmares that came w/ early state building, I'm really interested in how that may have an impact on how Ice and Mav view military service and duty. I would love to read this fic if you're still planning on writing it (really I love to read everything that you write tbh) - also hope you are doing well!! 😊😊

hiya!! i hope you are also doing well!! I am not sure if im ever going to post the 1812 au to be honest—i would really love to but i think it would be so long it would have to be my first priority for a few months, and I’m not sure when I’d have time to do that. but i have it all planned out at least, so maybe we can compare notes.

So here are my notes.

IF i were to complete my 1812 AU… It would not be about Ice at all. Which is how I’d be able to stomach writing about Ice’s death. AND the characters would be very very different from the characters i wrote about in EDTS (i.e. confessed their love for each other way back in the 1770s). And what I want to tackle in this AU is exactly what your ask is about—duty to your fledgling country! Im interested in a version of TGM maverick who had to be away from the love of his life, on his deathbed, to serve the national interests of his country. *questionable* national interests, in TGM’s case, or *forgettable* national interests in the War of 1812’s case. The War of 1812 is sort of America’s forgotten war—its causes were nebulous & hard to rally around/understand today, and there were no real heroes until the end, unless if you count Andrew Jackson as a hero (i really try not to). So this would be a direct attack on the heroism we are presented with in TGM: what is mavericks mission really accomplishing in the grand scheme of things? Using the 1812 war, itself forgotten and largely irrelevant, as a meta backdrop for that question of heroism.

So—this version of Ice & Mav are: actual factual war heroes. Revolutionary war heroes who were genuinely educated & truly believed in the American experiment of representation & freedom from tyranny. Fighting the British 36 years apart. (Something i really really like & will take advantage of… the 36 years between 1776 and 1812 exactly equaling the 36 years between 1986 and 2022… it was meant to be.) They’ve spent their whole lives together in the romantic sense, in a world where they couldn’t live openly together but at a time when sexuality was also understood completely differently. But they have to be apart when Ice is dying because Maverick has been handed a mission, a duty, by the USG that he has to take care of. (Part of the reason I’m stalling on this project is because I don’t really know what that mission would be… something something naval warfare, something something Captain of the “USS Dagger…” but im a better romance writer than an action writer… idk how to come up with those plots at all. And I’m not super well-versed in EARLY naval warfare [I prefer wwii navy stuff] so idk how ships like sailed clippers & schooners etc actually work. That’s a completely different wheelhouse for me & is integral to a story like this, and fundamentally im kind of a lazy person who doesn’t put a lot of effort into research if I don’t have to)

the AU would be written in two parts—the warm summer of youth vs cold winter of old age. Confronting my own fear as an author of getting old & dying, tbh. What does it mean to be a hero and die of old age? Shouldn’t you want to die WHILE being a hero? Part one: 1776-1782 is… ice & maverick falling in love and dealing with goose’s death together and cementing their hero status in American naval history (like they do in the original top gun). Then part 2; 1812/1813… ice is retired from being the first USN commodore/secretary, but he’s dying and maverick has to choose between being with his de facto husband in his last days VERSUS being out at sea, serving his country, but for a war that he (a bit metaphysically, to serve my metaphorical aims) knows will be forgotten. He can be a hero or he can be there for the love of his life but he can’t do both. Duty & sacrifice. Ice persuades him it’s time to let go, maverick goes out to sea, and then ice dies while he’s at sea. & the 1812 war was kind of forgotten, and their love will never be known by history because they were two men, so what was that sacrifice really for? Shouldn’t he have been home with ice?

Which leads me to: I am also slightly interested in an interpretation of the TGM mission as a possible su*cide attempt on mav’s part, post-ice’s death. Trying to die a hero. So, there’s that. That would be in it as well.

Some issues: that’s pretty simple & i submitted a 4k short story with this exact premise (1776 war hero has to choose between one last shot at heroism in 1812 vs staying with his male lover at the end of his life) to one of my writing workshops last semester and they loved it. But, by god, does it get 10x more complicated once you add Bradley to the mix. It’s ALWAYS made it more complicated & it’s why I’ve had so much pain trying to edit EDTS over the last 8 months (as you know). Because LETS PLEASE BE REAL TGM did NOT give me much to go on there. Like the emotional turn that is I think SUPPOSED to happen in the scene where ice and mav talk in TGM—I don’t understand it & I think that scene was only written for fanservice because it serves no purpose in the story and I’m not sure what emotion we’re supposed to take away from it. Maverick says “please send me ice, don’t ask me to send someone else to die,” (is he asking ice’s permission??) and ice DOESNT actually answer that request, doesn’t even acknowledge it; he says, in a COMPLETE AND UTTER NON SEQUITUR, “It’s time to let go.” Maverick says, “yeah I know,” so what does that actually mean? Who is he letting go??? Bradley??? Goose??? ice himself??? Is ice giving mav permission to go or not???? It’s so vague it means absolutely nothing, and i have no idea what ice’s emotional/story purpose in TGM is except to bail mav out of sticky situations and nostalgia purposes, and don’t even get me STARTED on how out-of-character it was for MAVERICK (guy who hates having his papers pulled from the Academy) to pull Bradley’s papers from the Academy in TGM, both of which are why ive struggled so much trying to fit Ice into the mav/Bradley narrative of betrayal & loss etc. And in a two-shot piece where all those years in between are kind of skipped over… idk. I feel like I would sort of have to sacrifice the Bradley storyline for the overarching icemav duty-sacrifice-heroism theme. With WWGATTAI, i was KIND of able to do both, but only after MULTIPLE rounds of very very intense editing & like 50k words of rewrites and even then it’s kind of awkward so… idk. For a quick two-shot like this I’d have to pick. I don’t have the energy to write another 50-100k reinterpreting that story all over again lol

So to answer your question it would be way less about the actual weird politics of the 1812 war and more about providing a place for me to get into mav’s emotions dealing with ice’s death and the historical implications of a mission like that, kind of glossed over in the movie … though this ice & mav are veterans of the XYZ affair / battles with the Tripoli pirates, so that probably affects how they see things… but mostly, duty is still duty & orders are still orders, but sometimes following orders means sacrificing what little time left you have with your family… following the TGM timeline where ice only has about 2 weeks left to live from Mach 9.

So, pros of the 1812 au: lots of the purple prose poetic writing i shamefully really like. Icemav open and honest with each other from the very start ❤️. Dealing with the themes and emotional consequences of ice’s death finally. Focusing only on mav instead of only on ice. Penny & sarah in a lesbian relationship. Some discussion of the cyclical nature of queer history (i.e. we’ve always been here making history and we always will be). Mav finding reasons to live after ice is gone.

Cons of the 1812 au and why I’m hesitant to really get invested in writing it: don’t know much about pre-diesel naval warfare so can’t come up with the technical action elements of the plot & too lazy to do that much research. I have a sailing license, so I know like… knots and rigging and mainsail vs jib/genoa/spinnaker and sloop vs schooner etc, but i do NOT know anything about THAT kind of sailing. Warship sailing, tactics, “dogfighting” equivalents, etc. Also: would probably have to sacrifice the whole “getting Bradley kicked out of the academy-equivalent” storyline, just to make the story less complicated. Not sure how much of the original ice and maverick the story would retain as a result. Also: i know wayyy more about the early national period (1776-1800) than anything after about 1808, but even then the last time i was really into this period of history was my freshman year of high school, so i can’t necessarily claim to know what im talking about when it comes to the intricacies of the early American state (as i think is pretty obvious here). Also too lazy to do that much research.

But, here are some notes/snippets etc if you would like. they’re solidly 6 months old now & unedited & largely unresearched, just throwing words on the wall in writing phase one, but whatever

[toaarcan]

I want to get back to writing eventually, but this is just on my mind at the moment:

Re-integrating a character like Fiona into the Freedom Fighters post-Mecha Sally is weirdly easy, just because of how much shit they’ve been through in the past few weeks.

Fiona: You're being weirdly nice to me. It’s kinda confusing.

Sally: Last month Eggman shot me, rewrote the universe, roboticized me while trying to do the same to the entire planet and nuke every piece of technology on its surface, peeled my skin off with a blowtorch and shoved a bunch of guns in me while I was still awake, rebooted the universe again and tried to kill me with a failsafe when he lost. And while that was happening the council I set up to limit the power of the crown gave said crown to Ixis Naugus, who proceeded to exile one of my best friends from the city and make an alliance with Eggman to assassinate my brother. I'm finding it really hard to care about the small shit* these days.

Fiona: Are... are you okay?

Sally: No.

(*I’m referring to Fiona’s betrayal as “small shit” for a few reasons, 1) People in-universe don’t like or respect Scourge and treat his actions with appropriate scorn, and 2) Sally in particular has recognised that she was an abuse victim and so she’s more vigilant when it comes to other people in similar positions, which includes Fiona (do not challenge me on that, I have receipts), so she is substantially more willing to offer an olive branch than she otherwise would be. Also, 3) It had basically zero impact in the comic itself. Sally already didn’t like or trust her, Amy was upset about what Fiona said for one issue and then immediately got over it and also never exchanged words with her again, Ant took it as motivation to propose to Bunnie and then neither of them ever mentioned it again either, Tails was more angry about Sonic dating Fiona than he was about anything Fiona did within seven issues, and Sonic himself stopped giving a shit after 172 itself closed. Least impactful betrayal ever.)

I have it in my head that Mecha Sally was the turning point. It changed things. These characters just went through an intense amount of trauma, and it’s altered a lot of their perspectives. I recognise that, had this been an official continuation, they likely would’ve snapped back to normal fairly quickly. But I’m not trying to write an official continuation, I’m doing my own thing. And I say “Trauma responses for everybody!”

Eggman overstepped the line at warp speed, and that’s going to cause him problems. And not just because he pushed them so far that they decided that “Waking up the 3000-year-old apocalypse robot” was a risk worth taking.

(Art by @nicholas-anderson)

Fiona either escaping from her previous situation, or being forced to return by circumstance, would be coming back to a group of people who aren’t the same as they were when she left, and are in a position where they’re a lot more capable of understanding her perspective too.

And also, like, Sonic not going back to save her when they were kids is actually addressed. And explained.

(Sidenote: The explanation is that he did go back and save her, but it was actually Auto-Fiona 1.0 that he found. Being young and not knowing what an Auto-Automaton was, he assumed that Fiona had always been a robot and gave up on trying to save her. He didn’t know she was real until she turned up in Knothole after he came back from space.)

Things between her and the FF would still be fairly rocky in places, but honestly that has more to do with Fiona’s own trauma response being anger and self-isolation than anything else, and that the last people who were unexpectedly nice to her really didn’t have her best interests at heart.