#I feel like I'm going insane lol

[cq-studios]

(Hello! Future me here. This has an Ask Blog now and not everything here is still canon to the AU please keep this in mind while reading ^^)

Brain rotting about a KHUX AU I came up with right now

TW: Doomsday Cult, Mass Suicide, Child and Animal Death, Child Abuse (let me know if I'm missing something here and I'll update it)

A know that's a lot but hear me out.

Its the real world, late 30s early 40s. MoM's some rich dude who takes advantage of the influx of orphans to make Daybreak Town, which in this universe is essentially some sort of experimental orphanage. He stages the "War against Darkness" (the Keyblade War equivalent) which is a mass suicide. The Dandelions are to make sure they can defeat darkness again in case it ever came back (since MoM genuinely believes in what he's doing). The NULs are in charge for a while but then the government finds out and relocates all the Dandelions to normal homes. The NULs are mostly separated and need to adjust to normal society... but they're also determined to find each other again.

(My notes are under the cut... still developing everything I'll probably add more later)

Timeline of Events (Pre-relocation):

MoM is very rich and bought a massive property and built Daybreak Town on it

MoM adopted the Foretellers and Luxu, about 13 years before he bought the property, they are orphans from the Great War

Daybreak Town was a self sustaining cult masquerading as an orphanage

A lot of farming and hunting happening

All the ‘keyblade wielders’ are orphans from the Great Depression

MoM and the Foretellers basically convinces the kids KH lore (a la time of Fairytales) is real

Every “Keyblade Wielder” has a “Chirithy” which is just a cat

The “Keyblade War” is a mass suicide designed to destroy darkness

This happens halfway into 1939

They killed most of the Chirithies too

Luxu is the only Lost Master who survives this (and he leaves soon after)

The Dandelions are to “keep the light alive”

Ephemer and Skuld save Player from the “War” by stopping them from drinking the poison

They end up switching their cup with another Dandelion’s

Ven overhears Dandelions talking about surviving and ends up switching his cup with Strelitzia’s in a panic

He realizes afterwards that she was important and filled in out of guilt

He also totally mixes his memories around here and forgets what he did

Elrena is the one who buries Strelitzia and is the one who tells Lauriam she’s dead (only once he asks about her though)

The NULs are in charge for about a year and a half before the government relocates the Dandelions

The NULs were not particularly close before then

Basically the social events of Union X (minus the murder reveal, the relocation stops that before it can happen)

The NULs and Player try their best not to be separated but end up being relocated to households decently far from each other

Ephemer ends up alone

Brain and Player are pretty close together and meet up rather quickly

Skuld, Lauriam, and Ven end up a decently close together but far enough that they don’t know yet

Elrena is placed in the same household as Lauriam

(Post relocation stuff I'm still working on but I do have some ideas)

Additional Notes:

It’s the real world, USA, and the early 40s, whoop

1941 (at the relocation) to be exact

World War 2 is in full swing and the States are involved… I think

MoM (and the NULs afterwards) were totally bribing the people who were checking in on Daybreak Town before the “war” so he could keep it open… either that or there were just too many kids to actually check to see if they were all accounted for

Probably didn’t help that they would use any dead bodies as fertiliser for their garden so there’s no clear graves for anyone

Everyone drank something during the “war” (it’s easier to convince people if they don’t think anyone’s going to survive), the Dandelions just drank from glasses without the poison

Daybreak Town is significantly more accepting of than the greater society

The NULs are completely taken aback by any type of bigotry

Poor Player gets misgendered all the time and is forced to wear masculine clothes even when they want to be more fem

Skuld cannot with gender roles

like she’s actually gonna explode with all this lack of rights business

Everyone (outside of the Dandelions) assumes Ephemer and Skuld are dating

To be clear, they are not

Player and Brain both refused to be separated from their Chirithies

Ven’s Chirithy finds him

Oh my lord these kids don’t know how to be normal

They were essentially brainwashed so they’re all stuck on the KH lore they were taught as truth

They’re all severely traumatized, obviously, but on top of the whole “Keyblade War” thing and you know, other doomsday cult stuff, they had awful healthcare and so kids would die very often and gruesomely

The NULs’ instincts are still a main reason they’re still alive

They brush off death very easily because of this, normal people are alarmed

They’re way behind on education because of their situation

Brain is definitely the most literate out of all of them but he was still limited in what he could read

Brain loves making (and deconstructing) things whether it’s sewing new clothes and plushies (something he did quite often in Daybreak Town) or the new technology, like radios and telephones (something he takes to once he’s relocated)

Brain would make plushies for “wielders” who had nightmares they were often amalgamations of various animals (just like the spirits)

He prefers to learn things through trial and error rather than being shown and he is incredibly stubborn about that

Teachers hate him for this

The new parents of Brain do their damndest to convert him to Christianity but he ends up just becoming an atheist instead

He is not quiet about it either

He probably gets beaten because of it

People find Ephemer kind of off putting

He always has a new theory about something going on with the authority based on his KH lore upbringing

He’s also one of the NULs the deepest in the delusion (Ven is the only one I think is deeper)

He’s starting to pull out of it but it’s a very slow process

He brings up death way to casually, and is always talking about his friends and their weird adventures together

Even with all that though he doesn’t really behave his age since he was forced to grow up so fast in Daybreak Town

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[gingermintpepper]

I would really like to read one piece of writing, amateur or not, that features Apollo and Zeus having a positive relationship. One. Any one. It could be 30 words long for all I care. I just need confirmation that one other writer actively producing content in the Greek Mythology sector doesn't think of Apollo as Zeus' toy, sexual or otherwise, or of Zeus purposefully surpressing Apollo because he doesn't want him to surpass his power, or of Apollo only being obedient to his father over all else because of fear and physical abuse, or of any other reason possibly invented except some sort of mutual understanding and respect.

It should not be this difficult to find content where they do not hate each other.

[sleepis4theweak]

WARNING: I AM GOING TO BLOCK PEOPLE

OKAY OKAY LET ME CLARIFY- I've noticed that I've gotten more suspicious followers lately, and a bot was dming me the other day so on Sunday- YES THIS SUNDAY SEP 24 2023- I am going to be going through my followers and blocking all (possible) bots.

I wanted to let you all know beforehand so that if you have an account that LOOKS like a bot (aka, having nothing on the blog/no pfp or anything) you can have time to change that.

I really don't want to block actual people by accident, so pls pls pls put something on your blog if you are not a bot... literally anything. Repost this if you want to, and then delete it Monday. (Tho really I do recommend changing something on your blog like your profile picture because I think most people are just gonna block you automatically).

OKAY THANK YOU BYE <3

Edit: I have successfully m*rdered 22 bots YAY!!

[emometalhead]

I will never shut up about Electric Touch. Ever.

[hajihiko]

Not gonna lie, I saw somebody say polycule? no, poly ecosystem and my first thought was what you had going on here because like, everyone is connected somehow, some way, different connection for each individual but still has a place in the whole group and there's an "Apex Predator" wherein, oh, you can take them away, sure, but it Will change up the dynamics a lot because they're intrinsically connected with each one even if there doesn't look to be a solid line between them because their very existence helps keep the balance just by being there.

Poly-game of Mikado, pull out one stick and the rest teeter on the brink.

[rosykims]

brought a new pc with 2 terabytes of storage and the power of a small space station last night <3 for solas <3

[mintjeru]

hop, step, ooh~ one more chance! 💔 i did an art collab with the talented pubbles!! we drew the seven's proud members masatoshi (me) and sueyoshi (pubbles) in the rabbit hole mv outfits!! when two artists with the exact same music taste meet, we go a little off the rails 😌

open for better quality | no reposts

[saturnskyline]

a bit under the weather today, so i'm giving myself a little treat... now rewatching kinnporsche episode 7!!!

[vaguely-concerned]

It's really interesting that Wynne actually has quite a measured, bordering on downright sympathetic response to hearing what Jowan did in the prologue -- if the mage Warden says "I still can't believe Jowan was that stupid", her answer is something like a thoughtful "Stupid, or desperate, or merely curious?". She seems to think of Jowan as a kid who got in over his head, rather than any less charitable interpretation. I do believe she genuinely is as against blood magic as she publicly expresses and as the Circle party line demands, but as a private person she clearly has a more nuanced and potentially kinder understanding of the reasons why someone might resort to it, at the very least.

(related: when she says that part about Irving telling her what happened, there's no dialogue option in the first stage of the conversation (except choosing the 'leaving the conversation' one) that doesn't net you +2 approval! no matter how the warden feels about it, she is ready to recieve it. I think that says something sweet about how Wynne conceptualizes younger mages and the honest real affection she has for them. if you didn't snitch on jowan and say you stand by that decision, though? +3 approval, apparently! what Wynne says and what Wynne thinks is not always the same thing indeed, her idea of where personal loyalty and integrity stands vis-a-vis a mage's responsibility to the circle may be more flexible than she'd have people believe, you'll be surprised to learn lol)

I have always liked wynne and found her interesting, in all her hypocrisies and her earnest care, but with slightly older eyes she's extra fascinating to me in the same ways that Iron Bull is -- seeing someone whose mind has had hollows carved out in it by the need for double-think and compartmentalization imposed by the oppressive systems and ideologies they live under, and the quiet fight of the self to still preserve vital parts of itself that the system deems unacceptable in the hidden backstage areas of the soul, as it were. (and for both of them part of that self is love and protectiveness of specific other people, beyond what their 'role' dictates is acceptable for them.) I think Wynne has managed to sneak more of her internal self through the meatgrinder relatively intact than Bull overall, but it's the same logic underlying it, for me, and it makes me feel such intense affection and compassion for them both to see how hard they try

[c6jpg]

HOLY FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

[ridl]

Something i rlly dislike abt Ganyu's characterization in fandom is how ppl see her being read as a stupid weak stereotype, and they just retaliate with another stereotype but from the other end of a spectrum.

She can be strong, competent, knowledgable and have very important role in the Liyue Qixing for years, but also be kind, humble, avoiding conflicts and NOT always knowing everything. those are not mutually exclusive!!! Yes she's old, no that doesn't mean she's now perfectly confident, knows everything and is good at everything. She's not some untouchable, divine being, better than everyone else. Stop removing humanity from her, when that's the whole point of her identity!!!

When i see overly confident, dominant, bitchy, smug, flirty Ganyu i start throwing rocks bc that's not Ganyu, begone impostor.

I just want Ganyu to be actually herself. Not a submissive secretary caricature. Not a dommy mommy caricature. JUST Ganyu, with all her complexity, strengths and weaknesses.

It's like treating Ganyu's personality as inherently weak and boring, so in the act of "justice for women" ppl just remove it and replace with a caricature of a strong woman. It's driving me insane when those "women defenders" are just slandering them, without even thinking abt it. If someone thinks a woman being quiet, kind, humble, avoiding conflict etc. is inherently "misogynistic" and needs those traits to be completely removed and replaced, then they just hate women

[talkorsomething]

I have Got to get more transgender

[dandyshucks]

Abandoning the fae realm must have been quite the undertaking, and yet, somehow you managed it! Now, how about a second time, "Dandy"?

Dandyfae gets dragged back to the fae realm after a few months (freedom was just too good to be true!) and Wardell believes they've abandoned him and thus has no interest in helping them escape again. the rest of Taraxacum Court is Not happy w Dandyfae for the little stunt they had pulled a few months prior. uh oh!

[running-in-the-dark]

it's so funny when I rewatch a show but with a new/different/additional crush. like I'm rewatching the librarians with my partner right now and it just feels soo different lol

[keeps-ache]

think this is funny. anyway. the Thoughts are back at it again