#and work around that and its limitations bc its so interesting to see the story As it exists ans how you can interact w all of its poeces

[lemongogo]

cant describe how nice it feels 2 see canon!vash again after bejng surrounded by fanon for days. its like waking uo from a nightmare . trimax vash my fresh glass of water

[hannigramislife]

for my own gratification bc i just ran into nie mingjue hate in the wild, would you mind making a post that defends my poor good boy? he worked so hard and got gaslit to shit before getting murdered terribly ;; literally everyone sat there telling him "youre being too harsh" and he's just responding appropriately. like yeah, if you witness a murder, ya kinda got to do something about that as a clan leader. its kinda your responsibility, even when you care about the person who did the murdering. he was also a really young when he took on the role of clan leader and idk, it just made me rlly sad to see people dunk on him cuz wtf he's literally just trying his best in an impossible situation WHILE being perpetually fucked over by his clan's own traditional cultivation cuz now the stronger he is as a leader, the closer he is to going literally insane and dying bc of it. (mingjue did nothing wrong i will die on this hill) ((sorry for going on a tirade, im just sad and defensive of my good boy rn))

Oh no! I'm so sorry you had to go through Nie Mingjue hate! Truly tragic. I went through that once when in the beginning of me reading the books, when I still had no proper opinions, and never again.

I'm more than willing to make a post about Nie Mingjue! I'm always down to talk about Nie Mingjue tbh, he's my heart and love and if I were to have been given the opportunity to be his right hand person, I would have simply never betrayed his trust and married him. Rip Jin Guangyao but I'm different.

Anyways, I, huhhh, actually think you?? Covered it all??? Pretty much?? Yet I will talk about it. This will be long and non-coherent, because I don't have the books rn to find quotes in them and honestly, I could write essays on Nie Mingjue either way.

Nie Mingjue is a central piece of the narrative, despite the limited amount of appearances he made, and the fact that he wasn't close to the main characters at all. The entire second part of the plot revolves around him- it happened because of him. His murder is a tragedy; literally, by greek standards, man has Cassandra Curse all over him, so I don't get how people can tell me, confidently, that his death was warranted. I've been told the man had asked for it, and this has mostly been by Jin Guangyao apologists.

So let me make something real fucking clear.

Nie Mingjue did not deserve to die. Let's get that out of the way, anyone can fight me on that. Nie Mingjue had more good qualities than half the people in this fucking story, despite his flaws. After his father was brutally murdered when Mingjue was only in his teens, Nie Mingjue stepped up as clan leader. We can only speculate the hardships that await someone leading a clan at such an early age. Yet, political challenges weren't the only thing he had to battle; Nie Mingjue knew about his clan's harmful cultivation, and he knew he was going to die young. So what did he do? His best. Literally his best, always. He was always giving 100% of his abilities, because that's who he was.

Let's talk about who Nie Mingjue was, shall we?

When Jin Guangyao, still Meng Yao then, describes Nie Mingjue, he finds himself perplexed, because Nie Mingjue isn't like other men. He is not frivolous, and he has no vices; Meng Yao describes how Nie Mingjue never showed an interest in arts, or alcohol, or women. All he did was train, and fight the Wens during the war. It shows that he had a one-track mind from the start, and has got a strict discipline; yet this strictly disciplined man, leader of a clan that prizes strength, continuously indulges his lazy and undisciplined half-brother, his one and only heir, despite not understanding his interests. We gather, pretty quickly, that Nie Mingjue is a bleeding heart for his brother, and for the ones he loves in general. We see the same softer side displayed in the presence of Lan Xichen, and of course, for some time, Meng Yao.

People seem to think Nie Mingjue took Meng Yao's betrayal too harshly. As if somehow seeing a man he thought to have been just and honest commit premeditated murder, then cover it up, was something he was just supposed to get over. To this day, I can't believe how Lan Xichen was so understanding of it. But not only did Nie Mingjue catch him in a cowardly act - Meng Yao proceeds to manipulate him, using the fact that Nie Mingjue cared about him, to stab him in the back. Or front, however it happened. I get that Meng Yao was in a difficult position, that he suffered at the Jins, that he felt backed in a corner; but Nie Mingjue was a man that had extended his help to Meng Yao before, and even then, he went to find Meng Yao in righteous fury, ready to help him again. To Nie Mingjue, the idea that Meng Yao "had no other choice" but to kill - to kill in the manner he did - it could have been nothing but a betrayal.

One thing that I personally highly respected Nie Mingjue for was the fact that he did not judge Meng Yao for his background. This is not up for debate; Nie Mingjue stood up for him, quite publicly, quite vocally, when Meng Yao was being insulted over it. And not only that, but he promoted Meng Yao to be his right hand man, just like that. Because he's impulsive, and to prove a point, but it was still huge of him to do. Not even Lan Xichen would have done that - In a society built on power dynamics between social classes, Nie Mingjue was one of the few characters who did not let that define his actions. It wasn't because he was born privileged (though he was) but because he he didn't let anything other than his judgment direct his actions. Nie Mingjue also never shied away from anything; if it had to be done, he did it, no matter the cost.

Nie Mingjue was decisive, and had an iron will. When Meng Yao killed the Nie disciples in Qishan, he wanted to kill Meng Yao. Meng Yao told him, paraphrasing, that "don't you understand that if I hadn't done that, it would have been your corpse up there?" and Wei Wuxian takes it to mean "Translation: I saved you so you can't kill me, because that would mean you're in the wrong." So Nie Mingjue hesitated for a second, then said: "Fine! I'll kill you, and then take my own life!" And the only reason he didn't, was because Lan Xichen was there. Otherwise, Nie Mingjue would have killed his former friend, then followed him to whatever afterlife awaited.

Nie Mingjue is often portrayed like he doesn't understand stuff, like he's stupid, simply because of his black and white sense of morality. That's not correct: Nie Mingjue understands motive, but he doesn't accept the ends justifying the means. Scratch that, he doesn't accept or justify either, if they're unjust. The murder of the Jin commander, the murder of the Nie disciples, not executing Xue Yang - how can Nie Mingjue possibly understand Meng Yao's decisions, when Nie Mingjue would rather die, any day, than live thanks to vile actions?

And then, Nie Mingjue starts falling into qi-deviation. We know that it affected his temper the most, and his judgement. I don't understand how it works, really, so I don't know by the end how much was Nie Mingjue and how much was the mess that the spirit made of him - maybe a combination of the two. But what is certain, is that the rapid qi deviation changed him.

But I could write a hundred more pages on him, meticulously going over every single scene he has ever appeared in, because I find him that interesting. I find him the most interesting, and the most appealing character, because in a story where the navigation of the cultivation world's complex politics and hierarchies with tact and diplomacy is crucial, Nie Mingjue stands uncompromising in his principles, choosing duty and honor over anything else, even when it's hard.

[cafeinthemoon]

King - Chapter III

Chapter 3

Wordcount 4k

Title Dragonet

Fandom Shuumatsu no Valkyrie / Record of Ragnarok

Pairing Poseidon x reader

Previous chapters

1 . 2

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 🖤

Warnings: Mentions of blood and piercing; mentions of nudity

Tagging @cloveradora @the-dumber-scaramouche @mikkies @sl33py-zer0 @nooneknows8976 (If you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just leave a comment on this chapter or send an ask or a message)

N. A.: So, after almost saying sorry for the wordcount in the previous chapter, here I am with an even longer one lol I've put much effort in this one, specially bc it's the wedding night ;) (wedding nights are, apparently, on of my fav things to write).

A few words about the title: dragonets are a group/category of small, colorful fishes of "shy" behavior, greatly appreciated for people who raise fishes in aquariums. There are really interesting things about them to research :)

Also, I want to apologize in anticipation for the use of the word "manhood" in this chapter bc though I think it sounds good when it's isolated, it feels kinda ridiculous when you contextualize it (but this is just my opinion as someone who doesn't have English as their first language lol)

The Lord of the Seas, as silent as his own domain before a storm, didn’t give any signs that he has noticed your presence in the room until he stopped by your side before the altar, but a moment under his glare was enough to make you wish you were invisible.

He kept looking at your whole form, examining your appearance, that is, his servants’ work through the aspect of your hair, your skin and the gown you were wearing, analyzing your movements, the way you were staring at him, your breath, your shivers, everything. Those eyes, you guessed, were the eyes of someone who was used to have people’s lives and deaths in his hands, and you had no doubts that he could finish you right there if he decided you weren’t worthy of his time.

Fortunately for you – or not, you still didn’t know – you were worthy, and after his examinations, he opened his mouth… doing this to give you an order, as expected.

– Come forward. You are too distant from the altar.

Unlike you imagined, Poseidon had a soft, low voice, typical of a young man.

You hesitated, though you understood what was said, and for the first time a wrinkle of irritation appeared on his forehead.

– You are too distant from the altar, human.

The sentence was repeated in a slightly higher tone, but not even this was enough for you to make a move toward him. When he took one step toward you, it was the end of your self-control: you stepped back, and would have run away if he hasn’t reached you in a second. Your legs almost failed you, and it was a miracle that you didn’t let out a scream.

He raised his hand and you closed your eyes tight, too scared to see what was going to happen, but you opened them again when you felt his hand closing around your jawline; his skin was warm and his grip was far from rude.

What he did after that, however, made you doubt what you were experiencing.

First, he moved your face from one side to the other, as to verify its conditions; the second step was to raise his free hand to your ears’ height and snap his fingers beside each one, making you flinch; he then put his hand at your eyes’ height and showed you three fingers, moving them and observing as your eyes followed everything.

– Tell me – he ordered – How many fingers you see here?

You replied with some difficulty, less because your movements were limited by his hand than because of your nervousness.

– Three… – and, before you forgot the appropriate treatment, – Poseidon-sama.

Finally, he lowered his hand and let go of your jawline. Less patience was sensed in his voice when he spoke again.

– Now, tell me. If you can talk, if you can see me, hear my voice and understand what I say... Why don’t you respond when I speak to you?

You swallowed, and no word was heard from you. You could barely raise your eyes to him, but when you did, you saw him raising an eyebrow, and the corners of his lips curving themselves in a smirk.

What? A god can do this type of thing?

Apparently, not only he could do that, but he had also proficiency in teasing.

– Are you defying me, or are you just anxious?

You felt your cheeks warming up and looked away, but not before sensing his fingers touching your hair, brushing it behind your ear.

– So quiet, so hesitant and small... – he commented; and, with a chuckle, – I thought I would find a human here tonight, but instead of this… What are you? A dragonet?

Your eyes widened at the comparison. Now he was giving you names? What kind of man was that?

Your tongue was almost freed at that moment for you to make that very question, but before the words left your mouth, Poseidon grabbed your arm.

– There is no use for shyness here, woman. Come, now. Let's finish this.

He then led you to the spot he originally ordered you to take.

Now that you were seeing the altar from close, you could see details that went unnoticed before. For example, alongside the earrings, there was a white, folded piece of fabric on the tray, which use you didn’t find hard to guess: in case the bride didn’t have her ears pierced already, she would bleed, and the fabric would keep her clean. You used to wear earrings, but your last pair was taken away during the preparations for the wedding, as well as any other metallic object or jewel you might have had with you, so that you would be at least spared from the pain and the mess.

Poseidon took one of the pearls and approached it from your lips, holding it with his fingertips.

– Kiss it.

You obeyed, despite the strangeness of the instruction. He then moved your hair away from your right ear, exposing it, as well as your neck and collar, and pinned the earring on your lobe. You flinched at his touch, but one look from him and you stopped avoiding his hands.

The process was repeated with the second pearl, and you knew that the easiest part of the ceremony was over.

Poseidon was the first to speak after it.

– These pearls are the sign of the Emperor’s wives – he started – Not only for the others, but for yourself. From now on, your heart, your mind, your body and your spirit belong to me. Whenever I tell you to come, you come. When I tell you to leave, you leave. When I tell you to speak, you do it, and if I want you to be silent, you do it as well. You will carry my children, and only them; no one else can touch you and stay alive, for these pearls must be their only warning. No attempt of removing them will be tolerated, nor even if they come from yourself. Always remember this, and you will stay in my favor.

Finally, he raised the back of his right hand and told you to kiss it, as the ultimate sign of your compliance. No, you weren’t really agreeing with all of that; you never asked or expected it, but you gave him the kiss. You knew it was marking a permanent change in your life, but how many things have already changed since you were taken away from home? Even when you were trapped in the depths of the seas, marked as a god’s belonging, you still had hopes of finding your way, if not out of his domain, at least through it, but you would have to navigate between many things to get there, most of them unpleasing. You still had to learn where you were stepping into, and for this you had to study the territory.

Your study already began, with your arrival at the lodge and your friendship with Alyssa, and now it would continue with this strange wedding.

With the kiss, the ceremony was over. Poseidon held your wrist and, without any additional explanation, walked you around the altar, to the doors through which he arrived. With one hand, he pulled them, and a new path appeared before you.

His steps were steady, too fast for you to follow without panting; you would have stayed behind if he wasn’t holding you. At some point, when you almost stumbled, he finally stopped and turned to you, disappointed.

– Too slow.

You just stared at him, unable to speak.

– Humans used to be a bit stronger in the past – and, assuming a more serious tone, – I am not sure if I like what I see now.

And before you could think of a reaction, he grabbed you by your waist and threw you over his shoulder. You let out a little scream, and had no response from him but a tightening on his grip before he continued to walk on the same pace as before.

This is so humiliating.

The only advantage of this – if you could call it an advantage – was that you were spared from any anxiety that a longer trip to the chambers where your marriage would be consummated would provoke.

***

Poseidon only put you down when you passed the chambers’ entry, closing the door behind him.

You immediately stepped away from him when you reached the floor. You haven’t gone too far when you felt a warm, comfortable texture under your feet; you looked down and found a black carpet that covered the entire place, forming what seemed to be a black sea.

It was when you realized the wideness of that place.

It was like two or three rooms with your lodge’s size were built together, but without walls to separate them, and the existing ones were even higher, leading to a ceiling that reminded you of the skies out there, toward which you saw the bright star flying at that night. All around you, there was a cold, bluish light that touched everything, from the decorations on the walls and the furniture to your skin and gown, yet your sight was as good as if you were under the daylight.

Some meters ahead you, at your left, there was an enormous canopy bed with four columns and a golden shell on the top of each one, and with curtains and sheets so dark that they could be black or indigo under that light; the curtains were opened, but you couldn’t help wondering if you’d feel like drowning in an abyssal zone if they were closed around you. Not so far from it, there was a small table with a bottle upon it.

There’s oppression in each corner of this room.

All of this you noticed the instant when the door was being locked behind you; you turned to it, passing your arms around yourself. Your wedding night was going to happen, then.

Poseidon turned to you and, when he started walking at you direction, Proteus’ advice came back to your mind in a flash.

Trust the silence, the modesty and the compliance, and everything will be good for you.

Everything would be good if you chose to become his Lord’s wife. If you acted like he instructed, you would survive.

But would you still be you?

Anything that goes beyond this you will do at your own risk.

He spoke as if your death was a certainty in case you dared speak. However, if you didn’t do anything now, you would lose what made you human.

My freedom.

And maybe Proteus-sama needed to know more about humans, because if he understood that trying to prevent you from doing something by threatening you with the unknown was the precise way to encourage you to do it, he would never speak like that to you.

To him, my voice means my death. But, to me, it always meant change.

And because, besides a human, you were also a merchant.

And the best thing a merchant does is to trade.

You stopped trembling, and decided to make your first offer.

Right now, Poseidon was going to untie the stripes of his robe, but was still dressed with it. You pulled back and knelt on the carpet, with your palms before your head and your face hidden upon the ground.

You couldn’t see Poseidon’s expression when he saw that, but a sort of annoyance – and maybe a bit of confusion – was sensed in his voice.

– What is the meaning of this? Are you really going to beg for my favor right now?

You tried not to stutter in your reply.

– Yes, my Lord.

You heard him sigh.

– Well, whatever. What do you want to ask?

It was the moment.

– Please, my Lord… Kill me.

Now, a slight change in his voice was sensed: whatever he imagined you asking for, it was clear that he wasn’t expecting something like this.

– What?

You raised your eyes to him, afraid of going too far but eager to observe the emotions on his face while you spoke:

– Please... Kill me... Make me one of your servants... Or just throw me away... But do not make me a mother.

It was hard to tell if Poseidon was shocked or offended by your request. The best you could say was that he was intrigued.

– Do you understand what you are asking from me, human? I can finish you with a move of my hand if I want, yet you would prefer this rather than having my children? – and with a hint of indignation, – What kind of plead is this?

You couldn’t risk his patience now, as much as you couldn’t risk having your request denied. You took a moment to adjust your posture, kneeling with your hands upon your lap, not looking directly into his eyes, then started to speak lower, as if opening your heart to him.

– Poseidon-sama, if you give me a death like this, I would be honored. But if you make me bear a child, it would be the longest, the most painful death I can think of – your hands gripped on your gown – Please, show your wife mercy and don’t give her such fate.

The Lord of the Seas spent a moment observing you. Then, without saying a word, he turned his back on you and walked toward a corner of the room, out of your sight. When he came back, you shivered: he has now returned to his previous spot and had his Trident with him.

So... this is the fate he chose for me.

His grip around the weapon’s base increased, and he extended it toward you in the blink of an eye. You only had time to bow your head...

But the strike never came.

You looked again, and found the three blades pointing at you, at your eyes’ height, the metal shinning under the blue light.

He's not going to kill me, then?

– Touch it – he instructed – Beware of the blades.

You understood you were supposed to put your fingers upon the symbol beyond the blades, and did it. Despite not being made of the same material of them, it was sharp, and freezing to the touch. With all the possible caution, you moved your hand away, back to your lap, and the Trident was pulled back to his owner’s side.

– Here you have it. The sign of my favor. Now, on your feet.

You obeyed and he went to return the Trident to its place, then passed by the small table where you saw the bottle. He opened it and brought it to you: it was an interesting object, with an elliptical shape and a rounded cap, entirely decorated with small, reddish jewels and aged gold. Before you understood what was going on, he grabbed your jawline just like he did before and approached the bottle’s neck to your lips, making you swallow part of the content. You took two shots of the fluid, cold and bittersweet down your throat.

You coughed a bit when he moved the bottle away, putting it back on the table.

– What is this, my Lord? – you had the nerve to ask.

– I am simply answering your request – his reply was unfazed – With this, you will not be able to conceive for one month. The next month, on the same day, you will take it again.

You frowned.

– I don’t understand. If my request will be answered, why do I have to...

You never finished the sentence. You blinked and the next thing you knew it was your lips being silenced with his index finger, after he returned to your side in an instant. Apparently, moving so fast that mortal eyes can barely follow him was one of the Sea Lord’s abilities, something that you supposed to be both impressive and lethal.

He had the same smirk as before when he replied to you.

– Let me tell you something, dragonet. Killing you, thus making you a subject of my elder brother, would be rather a waste after bringing you here. Even worse would be making you a servant with these frail hands of yours – he grabbed your wrists and approached your right ear, whispering – And, concerning sending you away... do you think you would survive as a rejected offer? Do you even understand what it means?

You opened your mouth in shock and he chuckled.

– Not even your people would have mercy on you.

You remembered the relief in Alyssa’s tone when she said she was glad for being accepted.

So, there’s really a taboo surrounding rejected offers.

You didn’t have much time to think of this. You felt his arm passing around your waist and pulling you to him, in a way that you were forced to stay on tip toes, your hands upon his chest, with no chance to escape. With his free hand, Poseidon took a lock from your hair, approaching it from his nostrils, smelling it intensely as he let it slip between his fingers.

– Finally, I conceded you the favor of not becoming a mother, but you are still my wife, you understand? – he approached his lips to your neck, brushing them on your skin as he spoke – You were the one who took me out of boredom this year with this absurd request of yours. Who told you I would not want to see more of you?

Your eyes widened with that. So, he was indeed willing to keep you around.

Staying this close to him was not that bad, though: not only he was handsome, but his body was warm and the fabric of his robe was soft; besides, from him you could sense a deep, addicting fragrance that reminded you of the sweetness of flowers, with a hint of the salinity of the seas. You inhaled it in silence, wondering if it was elaborated to make women compliant.

All of this was observed carefully by Poseidon, and what he said to you about it made you hold your breath.

– Not only this, but you are a terrible liar, you know? – he whispered in your ear – I can sense, smell, your warmth, your arousal from here... It is still just a tiny bit, but it can always get better…

Just like at the beach, when you stood with the water at your waist and your body was too slow to react and avoid the next wave, there was no way to escape the one brought by the god who commanded all of them: the strength of his arm keeping you close to him, having only the thin fabric of his robe and your gown to separate you; his fragrance, which you still weren’t sure to be a perfume or his natural scent; his breath upon your ear, your neck as he spoke; his voice, soft and composed yet youthful, sweet even in the coldest threats and mockery, invading your thoughts like a lullaby, numbing your senses, making his authority acceptable.

If this is what facing a god feels like… how do I fight him?

Not knowing how, you didn’t fight. However, you hoped that one day you would find the answer, for the path to it was right there with you.

The answer is himself.

This thought barely crossed your mind when Poseidon suddenly released you from his grip, and you almost fell. Before you did, you felt his hand holding your left arm, while the other grabbed your gown by the cleavage and pulled it with no hesitation; in a second, the pretty piece was turned into shreds that were promptly discarded with one move of his hand.

You covered your mouth, then your chest with the shock. That was the reason behind that servant’s laughter and the enigmatic response of her partner: you didn’t receive anything more because you wouldn’t need anything more.

His eyes passed all over you, in a way that nothing escaped from them – not even the tremble in your legs. It wasn’t clear that if he approved what he saw, but whatever he might have found displeasing, he would discuss it with his servants later. You pitied them for the tyrannical lord they had to serve.

Poseidon let go of your arm and unraveled the stripe of his robe, getting rid of it as fast as he did with your gown. The blue fabric fell to his feet, exposing everything and making you understand that it wasn’t for nothing that he held such prideful posture.

He was perfect in every possible detail.

At that moment, none of you spoke, and you kept observing, feeling something between embarrassment and awe: the absence of flaws impressed and enchanted you, from the uniformed tone of his skin, to the thin, golden layers of hair shinning over it in different parts of his body; the line of his muscles, as defined as if made of marble; his broad chest and strong arms; the shape of his abdomen, his groins and manhood; his firm thighs and legs. It was hard not to imagine yourself being held, touched, taken by him, and that was precisely what he wanted you to think of, for he stood there long enough for you to catch all those details, fix them in your mind and give room to desire.

Of course. He expects me to give him my undivided attention.

And it was the easiest thing for him to get it, you had to admit.

He came closer to you again, but unlike you imagined, he didn’t surround you with his arms: instead, he held your left shoulder as to keep you in place while his free hand held your chin, in a way that looked more like a study than an attempt of seduction.

– I am going to prepare you first – he spoke more to himself than to you – Most humans use kisses for this type of thing, don’t they? It worked with the previous one – his thumb caressed your lips as he approached his own, whispering – It might work for you as well…

And it worked. As he approached his mouth and put it over yours, you closed your eyes, afraid that he would just suffocate you with greed, but none of this happened: he started with small, brief touches on your lips and the corners of them; noticing your compliance, he made the kisses longer and experimented with them, sucking your lower lip, opening your mouth to reach your tongue with his, while his hands started caressing your face, your neck and shoulders, then go all over your body, warming up your skin; they were strong, but didn’t lack gentleness.

As he extended his kisses to your chin, your neck and collarbone, with his hands continuing to work on the rest, you began to feel sleepy, even relaxed.

Even when humans aren’t common here, he really knows how to do it with them. Maybe these things are not that different with other folks.

When Poseidon understood it was the right time, he took you in his arms and carried you to the canopy bed. Concretizing your fear, he indeed closed the curtains when he laid you on the mattress, so the apprehension of being surrounded by darkness couldn’t be denied, but at the same time it was good not to have yourself exposed as before.

As cold ripples that reach your feet when you first enter the sea, you felt his hands touching your feet, then your legs; it tickled you, but when you tried to move them away, you sensed his hand closing around your ankle and pulling you down to him.

– Where are you going, dragonet? – he put his body over yours, and you sensed his hand leaning on the sheets beside your head – It is too late for this.

You didn’t reply. With his other hand, he searched for your mouth, and carried on with the kisses when he found it. At the same time, you felt his knee moving your leg to the side, separating it from the other as he laid upon you.

You were now one of Poseidon’s wives.

Chapter 4

[maguneedsalife]

OK so I know it's been FOREVER since we talked BUT I have been watching a stream of someone playing FFXIV from the beginning and then I was also talking to a friend about the story of FFXIV and I thought of you.

I know if I get into FFXIV it will eat my life (and sometimes I consider it) but if I do, how should I start?

Also, what are the best parts of the story and/or gameplay?

(also Aoife is cool, I like her a lot, and I've just been casually following you long enough that she's like... my default WOL, just so you know)

aaa ty for the ask! (and it doesnt feel like forever somehow bc we reblog each other's posts all the time lmao)

anyway this ended up very long so im putting it under a readmore, but aaaaa im so happy you're interested in trying the game!!

ffxiv will absolutely eat your life, but! if you're interested in giving it a try to see if you like it, (deep breath) have you heard about the free trial of the award winning mmo final fantasy fourteen with no restrictions on playtime and content up to level 70 including the heavensward and stormblood expansio--

jokes aside, the free trial is my personal rec for where to start. you can play as most of the available races (viera and hrothgar are locked to shadowbringers unforch, but as part of the story you get an item that you can use to remake your character if you want, so if you decide to buy the game later you can use that to make the bunny or lion of ur dreams). there are some limits on things like buying items off the mb and how much gil/items you can have, but for the most part there's like 200+ hours of content that's just available for FREE. Idk if you have mmo experience, but if xiv would be your first foray into MMOs i would definitely try the trial first to see if you like it! and since stormblood is included in the trial now you can meet my favorite robot beetle without paying a CENT

the other thing to consider is that there is a big expansion coming at the end of June, which will also include a gigantic graphical update for the characters and world. right now the game is doing its best with ps3-early ps4 era graphics, but come june everything will look a lot prettier! (not that it isn't already pretty, but i won't miss the pixelated grass...). They'll also be adding furry lion ladies if that's your thing (though they won't be free to play as; you'll have to buy the full game to make a hot lion). the downside is the new expansion will be a tough time to start with everyone trying to get in for the new story, so I'd say if you want to start, either do it before dawntrail (easy to log in) or end of july (login queues have eased, and you get to see everything in the pretty graphics!)

normally here is where I'd put my "if you want to play around with the character creator, there's a free benchmark program you can download that includes it!" buuuut the dawntrail benchmark has uh, let's just say wip character models, and they're actually working on putting out an update to it sometime in the next couple weeks.... but when that update does come out, it'll be a great way to play around and see what kind of character you want your wol to be!

WHEW. Okay. that's the first part of your question.

Second part of your question - i wont discuss details of the story bc imo it's worth experiencing firsthand, but i think my favorite part about the story is that your little guy is at the center of it. a lot of the wol's narrative is left open to interpretation, and you are free to imagine how your character responds to the plot. every single person who plays this game has a different and valid experience with the same story, simply due to how they envision their character participating in it, and i think that's beautiful. i can't think of a lot else like it out there.

you'll see a lot of people online arguing that some expansions are "skippable" or base game is "skippable" but they're all lying to you. play all the main story. watch all the cutscenes. there's no need to zoom through it. the reason you are crying your eyes out at the end of endwalker is because you have watched your wol grow from the time they were killing level 1 ladybugs in the starting area. some parts might be stronger or weaker than others, but it all comes together to make one of my favorite stories videogames has ever told.

(also, no spoilers, but shadowbringers is still my favorite expansion for a reason. you've probably osmosized a fair bit of it from my posts about it but it's soooo good. it's worth seeing in person.)

also there are some surprisingly good storylines in the "side" content (raids, trials, etc), so it's definitely worth picking up those blue plus quests and seeing what adventures are to be had. not to be biased but the omega storyline is my favorite ("yes ren we KNOW you like the robot beetle"). some are serious (there's one about child soldiers) and some are goofy (in one questline you solve zany mysteries with the world's least competent detective) but all of them have heart, and a little final fantasy corniness.

as for gameplay, its probably obvious that i love the fashion aspect. Gear you obtain can be seen on your character (even jewelry!), and there's a whole system for saving outfits. people joke that glamour is the true endgame but i literally, like an hour ago, cleared a high difficulty raid because i wanted a specific shirt. So obviously the dressup aspect is a main draw for me gameplay wise.

but other than that, one of the game's strengths is there's something for everyone. if you want to be the sweatiest raider and optimize your rotation and get BiS and clear ultimates, you can, but it's not the only way to enjoy the game. i have friends who enjoy just dinking around in roulettes, friends who love to fish, friends who roleplay, friends who organize rare monster kill trains, and friends who spend a ton of time on minigames in the casino. that's just scratching the surface. there's so much to do!

anyway, whew, i think that maybe answered your question? or maybe you now have more of them?

i am always available here and on discord to answer questions and help you get started in eorzea :3 ty again for the ask!!!

and aaaaaaaaaa hearing that you like aoife makes me so happy 😭

[kerizaret]

YAYYYYY TY!!!!!!

I was wondering what exactly your process was when it came to worldbuilding? ,:3 I remembered when I rambled to you about my polysho au and you had so many questions that I hadn't even thought about which I thought was really cool and when I see your rambles about your own aus they're so intricate and detailed and stuff and I always wondered how you did alla that :3 sorry I'm not good with words um. TLDR I want to know your process of world building if you're okay with it ,:3

OH. MY PROCESS. UH. I.. don't really know if i have a concrete process??? I'm just a Perfectionist who needs to have everything figured out as much as possible HAHDHS

It just sort of happens? It's really really hard to explain how I think. I just really want things to make sense and for that I need to know why they are the way they are and have explanations for any questions people might have for them. Think about it like, if I was told about [situation/power] without context, what would I ask about? What would I want explained to me?

But well. Thays very vague. I'll try to write down some of how I think below but i don't really know if it'll make sense ahahdh

Usually when I come up with a new idea, it's because I come up with a certain scene or concept I think would be interesting, and just build the plot around it? And then I just ask myself questions all the time. How would we reach that point? What's the process? Why is someone acting like this? Why this character in particular? How does it fit them? How does this work?

Generally the most important question I need an answer to is – what am I trying to achieve with this? Where am I leading the story towards? What's my end goal, or at least a certain point late in the story that I want to realise? Am I trying to lead the polysho au to joint marriage or for them to choose? Do I want something happen to the hina tenmas? Will the opposition in the cpdw au win against the oppressing system? (I know i haven't shared much of this au bc there's so much going on there but I promise I will soon)

I also definitely always try to think up a background for the story. What is the situation and how it affects what's happening? How did it reach this point? Is it a finished process or is something still developing? Will the background situation change and somehow affect the story later on?

If the action is in a city/country/land, what's that place like? Is there something happening in it that's important? If it's a seaside village wary of mermaids, why is it like this and what happens if a mermaid appears? If its a cyberpunk city oppressed by the system, what is the oppression like? Is there a resistance, and how does it fight back, how does it hide, what are their struggles? If it's several kingdoms, what's different about each of them that makes them separate countries and not one and the same thing? How are the relationships between them? Things like that

But other than that it's hard to pin down exactly one route i take, you know? The thinking is really like, unique to each au. For example the polysho royal au was inspired by one ruikasa scene that randomly appeared in my head (that I can't tell you about because it's happening later on and is important) and I just thought "well. Now I have to somehow make it make sense". And then I came up with the arranged marriage thing, and how emunene work into this, and had a basic concept. (I wasn't PLANNING to make an au out of this, but you guys got interested and I decided might as well try. And now I had to figure out how the relationships develop and why)

For hinamatsuri au, the concept for toy-fixers tenmas came first, and only then I started figuring out how I could work other characters into it, and how exactly their "magic" works. I haven't shared it yet because drawing this is. A process. But I have a whole lore reasoning for why toys even move in the first place, what the Tenmas' abilities depend on, their limits. Their creation and why they broke later, how this affects them

Why did Tsukasa's power fail, in the last comic? Was it a one-time thing or will this continue? Why does Saki start crumbling sometimes? Why does tsukasa forget things? And other things

I like it when a power has its weaknesses or limits, when a situation has its consequences and reasons for it. You take whatever concept you have and think, where did it come from? Where does it stop? How does it change things? Why did I choose this person for it?

I generally also like to and try to reference the original story somehow too. Like the hinamatsuri au characters' stories. I tried to - as much as was possible - do something similar to their Canon situations. Like toya being harumichi's puppet whose strings tenmas cut off, like honami being mistreated by her owners but still choosing to stay with them at first, like nene being thrown away because of her voice failing.

In cpdw au emu finds herself fighting against her family who works for the system she doesn't agree with. Ruinene have a whole backstory together as childhood friends whose contact grew apart. Tsukasa let the system manipulate him with idea of fame into working as their propaganda idol

If it's possible, I like to keep the characters' personalities close to canon – except sometimes I emphasise their certain characteristics. Like for hinakasa I took the big brother energy and multiplied it tenfold, but toned down a bit on the impulsiveness as you've probably noticed

I don't know what else is there really? It all comes down to me just taking the idea and taking it apart to be able to know it inside-out and from all sides. Ask yourself questions! Be curious! Think about where things came from, how they work and what they change!

Or, talk to someone else about it. Heavens know how much it helps. There's ALWAYS going to be a question you won't come up with yourself that someone asks you and you go completely blank. And it's great! It lets you develop things better! It gives you a new perspective! And most importantly you can scream about an idea you like as much as you can. What could be more fun?

I'm always happy to listen to new ideas and ask questions to help if you ever want to!

[handweavers]

maurice (the book, the movie which is pretty close to the book all things considered, etc) has a lot of problems like fundamentally it's definitely a product of its time and of the man (e.m forster) who wrote it and the state of the british empire and culture in his lifetime, his biases and failings of his ideology are clear when reading his writing.

but there really is something so endlessly fascinating to me about it Because of that, if that makes sense, because it really does capture the mindset of an Edwardian era middle class white British man and all that entails, and how the quintessential version of that man might react when faced with his desire for men and only men, and the ways in which that might very realistically be experienced and expressed.

this is especially notable because he wrote it privately, knowing he couldn't publish it until after he died or until some distant day when british culture could cope with a book like that, and so many of the characters are inspired by himself and the other white British gay men he knew from all walks of life and it's sort of just written for them and so it feels very personal and insightful to that entire mindset and experience of the time. like it functions as such an excellent snapshot of that time and place and group of people and it's simultaneously a work of complete fantasy and the overwhelming whiteness and britishness of it and the very premise (as well as the solution offered by it) is something entirely a product of itself, if that makes sense, like this book only could have been written in these conditions and in this context.

analysing it feels like placing an entire worldview and experience in a fish tank and spinning it around - noticing what it says and what it doesn't, what is left out, how events are framed, the thesis of the story, the entire thing is fascinating no matter what angle you take and it's so self indulgent and confessional it's just the whole thing laid bare in a way that is really rare imo

especially w the emphasis on class in particular as a defining thing in the story, like maurice is fundamentally an exploration of class and forster tries to grapple with these things clumsily and using the only language and approach he knows how to because of the circumstances of his own life, and you can see the limits of his understanding of class dynamics through the book, the fault lines in his thinking and his contradictory opinions on working class people and old money gentry and the middle class and all of that. like it's Not a marxist look at class whatsoever but I always find things like that really fascinating because they're trying to grapple with class consciousness and they're so close and yet so far and in maurice it's wrapped up in anxieties about white male masculinity and british propriety and the specific strange brand of late victoria /edwardian period misogyny and you get the benefits and consequences of empire and british racism laid bare on a kind of deeply insular, commonplace level without ever once mentioning let alone featuring a nonwhite person at all. like the Lack of mention of these things feeds into the fantasy aspect of it and the self indulgence of it.

bc at it's core it's just all so loud and it's an edwardian era white cis gay affluent british mans fantasy of his ideal man and ideal relationship and that fantasy of escaping class society to some """"primitive"""" state where they can just Be but there's no room for that within the british empire and it's so so so so indulgent in that way and so revealing. theres so much to unpack and so much that still feels relevant to the experience of white middle class gay people in the imperial core today and their mindset and anxieties and the whole thing is just endlessly interesting to me in a "I want to study this in a laboratory" way. like it's the kind of book that makes me want to do a marxist analysis of the entire ideology on display here and how it's still relevant to current class anxieties and fantasies of escapism within certain communities - like the cottagecore thing - and pick it apart and examine its innards because it reveals so much at just a rudimentary level and whenever I reread it there's something new I think about and come away with

[grassbreads]

Writer Interview Game

I was tagged for this by @torterrachampion . Thank you!!

Since this is my fandom-specific account, I'm going to keep these answers mostly limited to fanfiction.

When did you start writing?

I have been writing my entire life. I was one of those kids that was convinced I was going to write a novel at age 10 (although I never got further than a couple of chapters). For fanfiction specifically, the first fic I ever wrote was a halloween story project for middle school that I turned into D.Gray-man fanfiction. I started writing and publishing fic for real the following summer, when I was 14. (Much like the novels in elementary school, I never actually finished one of the longfics I started in high school).

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Big time lmao. A *lot* of the original fiction I read is horror, and although I've played around with the idea of writing a horror fic, I'm yet to find a good concept for one. I'm also a huge lover of long multi-chapter fics and elaborate AUs, but I publish mostly oneshots.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I honestly cannot remember ever having my work compared to specific other writers?

But as I said, I love elaborate longfic AUs yet really struggle to write them myself (long projects are my enemy), so I would sell my soul to be able to emulate the works of travelingneuritis or oxfordroulette, both of whom I really admire. I've written whole long posts before about how much oxfordroulette's Homestuck fics impressed and impacted me when I first read them like 6 years ago.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My writing space is anywhere in my apartment :). Sometimes I write at my desk, but more often I'm curled up or crosslegged on my couch or futon. Gotta be cozy and comfy.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Since fic is a pretty casual hobby for me these days, I mostly just kinda write when inspiration strikes (hence why I publish roughly one fic per year). That said, rereading canon scenes featuring the characters I'm writing always helps me get their voice into my head.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I don't know if I write enough to have big recurring themes? I like writing about characters that aren't doing well mentally, but that's both broad and not always applicable.

I suppose it does always make me laugh when I see "Christmas" listed among my most-used tags on Ao3. I'm not even a christian, but I've written two fics set during christmas bc gift exchanges make for good fluff, and with my output, two times puts it in my top 10.

What is your reason for writing?

Sometimes a story worms its way into my brain so deeply that canon just isn't enough. I need to live in that world to a degree beyond what I can get from canon content alone. And when there isn't enough existing fic by others to scratch that itch, or when there isn't enough of the right *type* of existing fic, I simply have to sit down and make my own.

Also, writing fanfiction is fun :).

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I'd like to think I'm good at characterization, at least most of the time. And I think I'm good at making sure things flow.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I really like a majority of the things I've written, or at least the stuff I've written as an adult. My really old writing makes me cringe a little sometimes, but I look back on it fondly, and I still reread newer stuff like An Act of Trust and Idle God, Idol Gossip for my own amusement.

The brief answer is that overall, I'm quite proud.

If either of you are interested in joining, I'll tag @cinammonelles and @azapofinspiration :)

[tau1tvec]

got back in sims 4 cause i missed my sims so much, but i'm struggling with the immersion especially the world-wise. wanted to ask how do you deal with it?? cause you're right when you say it really breaks the game + was wondering if your save is a base game/ea save that you're modifying with lots and tool as you go on or if you started with a blank save or something like the plumbob kingdom one that already had some tool in it

Weirdly enough I don’t use custom saves, so I just fill worlds with lots I find here or on the gallery as I need them. I use TOOL, but sparingly, since despite being useful, it’s still quite time consuming, and I spend long enough working on sims and actual lots as is. Especially since it isn’t so much how the world looks that pulls me out of it, but how tiny, empty, useless, and sometimes void of other sims they feel. Sims walk around it yes, but it’s obvious that they’re just there for the purpose of convincing you the world isn’t empty, so it all ends up feeling very Truman Show, as opposed to The Sims 3 where they walk around town, bc they actually have things to do, and jobs to tend to.

Now I’ll be honest, there really isn’t any way to avoid a lot of these feelings, I’ve tried, but this game will always find a way of frustratingly reminding me these problems exist, but I think the most I really enjoy playing this game is when I create a household I really like ( or a few to rotate through ), and build the world up around them for their specific needs. Giving them plenty to do off of their home lot helps keep things interesting, if for a while until you burn out, bc sadly the biggest issue The Sims 4 has is that its just very limited, in almost all aspects save a few.

You need to be willing to micromanage, and fill in a lot of the blanks with your own imagination, bc many of the systems and gameplay to do that for you is virtually non-existent, or stuck in the UI, and mods can only add so much to a game that lacks a lot of the content it needs to build off of.

This does have its pluses though if you’re a generally creative person, who doesn’t mind interpreting stories through pictures, but if you’re just purely playing ( as opposed to posting ), you’d probably be better off focusing on challenges, or idk, building a giant death trap for a bunch of unlucky sims to see who survives, as I’ve done at times when regular gameplay gets boring, although at that point I’d just likely play something else. 😆

[sowthetide]

heyyyyyyyyy im back (this is TeaInABowl). this is a bit late i guess but i havent been online in a few days (✨family crisis✨) snd just got caught up in reading the other asks. i wish you luck with your own family issues, little brothers are just Like That sometimes (i would know).

honestly the quen-verse is real. and its fucking with my mind. but i also have been having brainworms abt how much the story would shift with genderbending other characters. i dont want this ask to get too long and i know this is a sideblog for your quen fic but oh gids can i talk abt it pleaseeee

also you must have put some sort of spell on this story, i think. bc (here it comes) i dont ship throbb. and i dont like genderbent aus. yet… here i stand (???) i dont even remember how u found this fic, but it has me rooting for a ship that i found annoying on a good day???? ok maybe i should clarify, i dont like genderbent aus in modern settings, but asoiaf is such a gendered world tgat theyre actually interesting if done right (as you have!!!) and i dont HATE throbb i just. wasnt very fond of it. but one thing i DO love is whatever sort of gender fuckery theon has going on, so when i saw your story i thought “screw it, who cares abt the pairing, hell be at war snyway lmao i wanna see how many more problems squidboy can have” but now i want him back???? come home???? wheres the boy?????? our boy???

as for song recs, i have too many, and probably need to compile them in a more cohesive ask. in the meantime, its not quen related but i dare you to listen to “house of gold” by twenty one pilots while thinking of catelyn and robb. i fucking dare you.

"I should have known better. Asha knew how it went with little brothers... A little brother may live to be a hundred, but he will always be a little brother." Sigh. Truer words have never been written. I hope your family issues work out too! We are Fellow Strugglers in that.

The Quenverse is so real!!!!!! It's something goddcoward and I have discussed at length, including (but not limited to) full genderbend Throbb (with Quenlyn & Robyn) and the Ironborn-Tully "Let's Fuck Nasty" Initiative (with increasingly unhinged pairing up of Greyjoys/Harlaws and Tullys. This includes Alannys/Catelyn, Rod the Reader/Brynden the Blackfish, Gwynesse/Lysa, Aeron/Edmure, etc.) goddcoward also has a bunch incredibly fun AUs, including what has been affectionately dubbed "sigil furries", where the Greyjoys are actual humanoid cephalopods and the Starks are werewolf-maxing. Not to mention goddcoward's AU take on Quobb with arranged marriage, which they're still working on... ;-)

PLEASE talk to me about your vision!!!! Also PLEASE send any song recs you've got!!!!

I'm so incredibly flattered that this fic got you to like Throbb, even just for the purposes of this story. Also, confession: I didn't really like genderbends either- that is, until I started writing this story lol. I think it's just because I didn't feel like genderbends were often well-handled in ASOIAF fics, even for a world as Gendered as Westeros? (Not to say they all suck, I've just run into a few that I thought were... Ungood.)

Theon's experience with gender is so incredibly fascinating, and the prospect of him being born female raises so many interesting questions about who he would even be (and thus this fic was born lol). See vivacissimx's theon's gender was always broken, which is prob the #1 Theon Gender primer.

I'm also glad you came around to Robb, haha. You're sounding like Quen in my inbox: "now i want him back???? come home???? wheres the boy?????? our boy???" For a long time, I was mostly interested in Robb as a compliment to Theon and Catelyn's characters, but I've really come to appreciate him in his own right. I can't wait for all the tender Quen-Robb moments in the endgame of this fic 🥲

[rockybloo]

Thinking of writing a fanfic crossover where Jack and Nana end up in Decking city after a magical accident (Still fleshing out the details of how said accident worked).

If comfortable answering:

I'm curious about how you think Nana and Jack would react to such a such a big change in a new place like that, in a general sense. Especially if there's a bigger issue bringing them here and they realize they have to solve it to go home.

Thank you, and lovely day either way ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

A fanfic of Jack and Nana would make me screech because they are the most ship ever for me and I'd be overjoyed. 😭💚❤️ The concept of anyone considering taking time out of their day and writing a fic about my OCs in general makes me happy.

and WOW my brain waves are powerful because I was literally thinking of an old Beanstalked plot point that basically dealt with the idea of how the main team get yeeted from Lore to Earth and have to figure out how to get back and how to tie it to Glitter and Guilt for a funny little crossover arc.

I won't go into detail about the ACTUAL events that cause it to potentially happen (bc I dunno if I'll do it...I mean I probably will but as a separate oneshot from the main storylines of both stories) BUT I can def answer how Jack and Nana would respond to a similar situation.

This will be a long one so buckle in

First thing to know is that Lore and Earth are two separate planets in the same solar system. Both are waaay closer than either think.

Lore occupants know about Earth, specifically they know it as "The World without Magic/Happy Endings/Fairy Tales/etc." It's kinda of mythicized.

Earth has no idea Lore is a thing because Lore has magic rings (kinda like Saturn's but cooler I dare say) that spin around it and make it invisible.

Bloopers are a glitch in reality in Lore where things from Earth often pop up there. Often old or lost objects.

Jack works part time for Baba, who tends to have a whole bunch of bloopers in his shop, which means he has very mild knowledge of Earth. Not a whole lot but if he winded up there-he would know "Oh! This is Earth!" and he'd be able to point out some stuff and name it. So he would know a car when he sees one-it's just a matter of actually being aware of how one works.

Hazel and Kettle have a TON of bloopers they hoard in their bedroom which serves as the attic for the inn Miss Castor is the keeper of. Specifically, they have the super fun bloopers like retro game consoles and comic books. Chances are, they even have some Sweetheart merch but are under the belief that she is merely fictional character.

So Jack is vaguely aware of Sweetheart. SPECIFICALLY as "The pink hero my little siblings thinks is cool".

Merch of villains is a whole lot more locked down with most being illegal save for what is made for the Decking City Park of Heroes AKA the Disney World/Universal Studios of Decking City entirely focusing on it's homegrown hero culture.

So Bitterbat is def not someone Jack is aware of.

When it comes to Nana, she doesn't really dabble much in bloopers or even learning about Earth. Unless it's from Jack's ramblings or mini adventures, she tends to limit herself to Lore and its shenanigans. She spent most her life living in a forest and is just now branching out to learn more about Briar Patch and Lore as a whole thanks to Jack making her realize "Oh hey the outside world is kinda fun".

She's taking baby steps and Earth is a very big jump she ain't trynna make yet.

So when it comes to them getting yeeted to Earth, SPECIFICALLY Decking City, Nana is def more reliant on Jack when it comes to knowledge. Where ever he is going, she is gonna be right there, hugging onto one of his arms for dear life because neither wants to lose the other.

Decking City is very interesting with how it's the least mundane setting for Jack and Nana to wind up in, which works perfectly because they come from a fantasy world. They will ironically feel a lot more comfortable when they see a giant monster attacking or some hero versus villain battle going on than dealing with crossing the street with a buncha traffic or even walking through a grocery store aka over stimulant central.

The biggest problem would be adapting to their temporary stay. Decking City is loud and busy and both would be overwhelmed quite easily from just the sights and sounds alone. A city is vastly more imposing than a kingdom when it comes to its buildings and even then, Jack and Nana spend most their time in Briar Patch which is a small humble town.

Nana would have the worse time because her keen Lupine hearing means every car honk, screech of tires, Kaiju alert siren, civilian yelling at another civilian, would lead to the biggest headache.

Protecting the other and making sure they're safe is their main priority. They care deeply about each other and seeing the constant look of discomfort on Nana's face and how nervous she is is enough to break Jack's heart. And the second anyone so much as breathes in the slightest bit of irritation at Jack seeming to not know where or what he's doing, under the belief he's a tourist, would lead to Nana snarling with her full set of chompers on display.

That's enough to cause anyone in the proximity to steer clear of them...or at least treat Jack very nicely because it's very obvious the two are traveling together.

ULTIMATELY, both would want some safe place so they can gather their thoughts, which are currently being scrambled by the city sights and sounds, calm down and figure out what they need to do to get back home.

Whatever they need to do, they are def willing to accomplish because they are used to being in some slice of hell situations. They've always figured their way out of them. Back on Lore, the gang adventures a bunch and have encountered a lot. Some of which I cannot share for spoilers but just know they are no strangers to dealing with the unknown.

It's just a big matter of figuring out exactly what unknown they are dealing with this time.

[urzfanclub]

what interests me about the end of 3 is so much is that i can see all the moving parts and where they don’t quite align but almost did… like disclaimer that im wearing my “me3 fan” shirt & probably giving them too much credit but I think the ending(s) get so much shit bc people were expecting them to be satisfying & they were so open ended… yet they almost fucking worked…. that is before they shot themselves in the foot

and everyone under the sun with far more brain power has analyzed these endings down to the last pixel & ive talked to myself about them for years but I do think (sits in my corner) one of the biggest factors in how confused and frustrated people were has to do with the lack of development during 3 for the reaper AI

just spitballing here

1) IF I RECALL RIGHTLY… the wiki glosses over your conversation with them where this is revealed… the leviathans you speak with are not the ones who first created the intelligence that would become the reapers. which is already fascinating and immediately creates a parallel between them and the quarians with regards to their creation of AI that gained consciousness and then sapience and turned against them.. inevitably (as bioware Loves to fucking write) leading to war (which is nasty in many ways and a problem they have overall, not only here.)

2) it would be not only interesting but i think its necessary for the coherence & success of the trilogy’s story to let us speak to the reaper AI outside of the “death and destruction beyond your comprehension” monologues, and if not, to at least acknowledge and discuss what the AI’s intention is within those speeches. why bother to converse with us at all…….

3) there is a definite connection between the reapers and geth from the beginning with the heretics regarding sovereign as “one of the old machines” and that really Really should have been elaborated on especially re the morning war vs the cycle of reaper harvests

4) I think this is what they were trying in part to accomplish with the synthesis ending. not to humanize the reapers in any sense but to forge an undeniable link between the reapers and EDI and the geth and the question of sapience and the validity and POSSIBILITY of one’s existence “unshackled” from a creator’s imperative. (TIM, the quarian engineers of old, the leviathans… and that’s not at all meant to imply comparison beyond their similar histories with the AI they develop, lose control of, for the most part don’t believe to be sapient. though with the quarians of course we meet members who firmly believe the geth have been wronged.) Which goes into my next incoherent bullet point

4.5) the reapers do not get the same sympathy as EDI and the geth and i think this is chiefly due to their contrasting goals; those two want to live with autonomy and dignity and the reapers only exist to destroy. (bear with me but this is one hallmark of the reapers’ tragedy, that they do not possess desires the way EDI and the geth do.) their impersonal malevolence is explained as a directive “gone wrong” but it does go hand in hand with their deliberate rebellion against their creators and their creators world (!!). similar to the geth, but in 3 we see an inarguably sympathetic side of the geth whereas the reapers do not receive this.

not that im arguing for sympathy. I do think complicating the identity of the reaper AI would have given their side of the story fascinating nuance and TRAGEDY bioware’s big favorite thang to wave around…

and none of this is going into the reapers’ sole identities as tools of conquest and how their rebellion against the creators who trapped them within the cycle must be expressed in the cycle itself because of how they’re constructed to interact with the world around them and the values and priorities of their creators. ie a limited scope of life mandated by their creators’ will….not their own…which sounds like an echo of indoctrination to me

and while im here its a fascinating window on the reapers as an antagonistic force…they don’t have the same love of anomaly as the geth do…indoctrination is about forcing you to think like them, imposing their will over your personhood (again this is the inheritance of the leviathans) and you lose your skills and talents as you lose autonomy. versus EDI and the geth’s arcs: in part about gaining their autonomy, cultivating new skills as a part of a team with organics where both mutually seek to understand one another & cooperate. i think this is another piece of the reapers’ tragedy

5) ultimately the end (any end, but especially synthesis and control) doesn’t work due to many factors that many much smarter people have talked about at length; one being Perhaps that they invested so much into the “horror of the harvest” aspect and the “war against evil robots” aspect so they don’t have enough room to develop the AI plotline especially in 3 where it needs to gain a lot of credibility way before they attempt to cash emotional checks at their big finish. (either for synthesis or control) so the premises are fascinating but they don’t have as much weight as they could bc the reapers were not given the same screen time as the other sapient AI and so their leg of the triad falls flat

^ there’s been metric tons of meta written on why the endings don’t work and this is just a toothpick’s weight of an opinion and the application could be totally off mark but i stand by the reapers being underdeveloped in 3 and serving as setting pieces rather than characters

6) the destroy ending Fascinates me because of bioware’s choice to make that the one that offers the best hope of shepard surviving…IF we are working off the equivalency of geth - reapers - EDI (and what some of the writers have vagued about on Twitter though i dont have sources just my shitty memory) and IF we are thinking of the reapers in a similar light as sapient AI attempting to find its own place in the galaxy but ultimately stymied by their own nature as mandated by their dead creators (IE: as a tragedy)…destroy is a sad ending that irreversibly alters the ecosystem of the galaxy, since the reapers could be seen.. in part.. as a piece of the galaxy’s process of succession..but at the same time they are very Very much a horrific artifact of the leviathans’ empire

& the fact that the story of the trilogy says that’s all the reapers are & that’s all they can ever be without any hope of change is honestly kind of sad. versus edi & the geth whose hope of positive self definition is almost like this autonomous recursion that proves itself against the reapers’ tragic doom by virtue of existence

& im going off the rails here but imo control ending could have been possibly more hopeful in its way, if the reapers had been developed in 3 half as much as EDI… you could approach it in bitter-er or sweeter angles but either of those would require bioware to take a stance (or the illusion of a stance) instead of hand-wavy “isn’t that bizarre and fucked up? goodnight” which doesn’t quite work anyway for a story with as much of a plotline about coming together to stand against despair and oblivion as 3 has. In my honest and biased opinion.

and to imply that the destroy ending is where shepard might have a chance to live… always seemed very haunting to me that you (possibly part machine via cerberus) may live to see an entirely new galactic future only if you irrevocably destroy this first and oldest of sapient AI. and then they made it so all other sapient AI, taking steps toward a new form of self definition for the first time in their cycle’s history, in..id argue..a rejection of any remnant of the leviathan empire… die with their predecessors by your fucking hand. yeowch

But then again. bioware and tragedy

[heatherra]

drives into your inbox full speed in my little barbie jeep. river can you perhaps give me some headcanons about maybe sierra's childhood OR your vision for sierra healing in the future :3c

HI REN!!!!! ^_^

Sierra's childhood was. Not the best. I hc her mom as a single mom, and we know that she had some sort of thing with Chris. So, growing up, Sierra was lead to believe that this was how you love! She saw her mom do it with Chris, and I feel like Sierra was driven to the internet bc she didn't have many irl friends. You know. Me moment.

And so, maybe watching Total Drama was an escape for her. Yeah, maybe she started it bc her mom put it on bc it stared Chris. And there, the whole Cody thing started. She thought he was cute. But, she thought she was in love. Which then started her own Cody problem.

Sierra never knew her dad, and her mom kept telling her that Chris was her father. Did Sierra believe it? She couldn't give you a real answer. Maybe, just maybe, she believed her mom's stories. But also, she was aware of the fact that her mom has a problem, and she has the problem as well. So the answer always changed whenever someone asks her. It doesn't help that Chris jokes about it too, behind the cameras.

Being on the internet for Sierra was interesting. Early internet days, she would post about Cody, Total Drama, all these things. She though acting like that was normal. From seeing her mom do it to being around people who act like that as well, Sierra thought it was normal!

Her time on World Tour proved to be that it wasn't. The way Cody acted around her, the way she treated the cast as celebrities and not as humans. She loved them, yes, but she didn't know that. Until the longer she stayed on the show, the more human moments she got see from them, she realized that yes, her behavior is not normal, and she needs help.

Sierra's healing would involve her stepping away from Total Drama. We all know that. And maybe that also involves stepping away from the total drama people in her life (blinks at my url). Sierra gets off the internet, enjoying the real moments in her life. Not trying to sound like a fucking loser but Sierra just needs a break from having an online presence.

And so, Sierra cuts contact from her mother, because her mother is contently asking her about Chris, how he was behind the cameras, how the cast was, if she kept anything from Chris, Chris this, Chris that, and nothing about her time on the show and just how bad it was to be in that plane explosion. I feel like Sierra's mom would be mad at Sierra for blowing up the plane.

Sierra cut's contact for the Total Drama related people in her life for a little bit. She started going to therapy, and her therapist told her to do it, so she does. She misses them, of course she does, these people shaped her teenage years, and the bonds she had with some of them is something she will most likely never get with anyone else. But It takes months, or even years before she even reaches out to someone from total drama again. Who that someone is? I do want to say Heather, and maybe it is Heather. Or maybe its Alejandro. Or maybe even Zoey.

And she never speaks to Cody again. For Cody and Sierra to get better, that never have to speak to each other. I can't see how that would be good for either of them. Im not a fan of coderra, and even platonic coderra pushes my limits. How can Cody still be around her after she treated him life that?

So. It takes years of work. To heal. To get better. And that's okay, because Sierra is making improvements. For herself, and for those she loves. Because the way she loved before wasn't healthy for her and those around her. But she works on herself, and she wants to share her love in a healthy way.

[writernotyetauthor]

I so excited for your CanLiet Scott Pilgrim vs the world au idea

I who love to read that fanfic, omg i so excited

So my AU idea—

It’s not a 1:1 comparison of the story/characters for obvious reasons 🫥 spvtw has got its own issues but AnYwAy:

Our boy Matthew takes the place of Scott Pilgrim as he attempts to win the heart of Ramona Flowers *cough cough I mean* Tolys! And by defeating his seven evil exes. The ideas for the exes are as follows (some I’m more certain of than others):

Eduard: kinda iffy on this one, but I could see him fighting with the nyos as a tie in to the “demon hipster chicks”.

ALFRED: need I say more? American movie star slash skating star played in the movie by Chris evans of Captain America fame???? Match made in heaven.

Feliks: so this one gets interesting. Tolys and Feliks are exes, but who is the singer of The Clash at Demonhead? The ex of Matthew and current gf of Tolys ex #3? I think Ukraine. The vegan (or whatever else gives Feliks his special powers) police are Czechia and Slovakia.

Natalya: “You had a straight phase?” I think we’d all prefer this battle to play out like in the comics instead of… what happened in the movies 😬. But I also think she would totally rock Roxanne’s outfit!

⬇️

Lovino & Feliciano: So these two I feel like is the biggest stretch, esp since I’ve never really seen any feli/ tolys stuff but dangit I needed another pair of siblings Tolys has some connection to and I’m starting to run out 😭. When it comes to the battle of the bands, I keep imagining some kind of Måneskin thing for them & I think that’s be sick.

Ivan: 🥲🥲🥲

When it comes to ideas for a Knives Chau-ish character (bc euugh Scott why) the ppl who came to mind were either like, Ludwig or Gilbert. Who are in college at least. I’d be leaning towards Gilbert because of the prucan precedent and because of Tolys and Gilbert already having somewhat of a rivalry. He’d be some kind of international grad student or something.

For other characters I…. Havent thought about as much 😅. Sex Bo-Bomb would probably consist of a bunch of Matthew’s friends/exes who haven’t already been giving roles.

If I were to develop this more, I think it could be cool to expand on the music aspect of it, esp with alternative punk/rock/whateva music from the different countries. My knowledge of that is kinda limited but I’d love to learn more about it!

So yeah! That’s the bulk of my idea. Ya mentioned reading it as a fanfic but I think it could work as a real fun hetagame too! If I wasn’t bogged down with other projects & hetagame ideas I’d make it mself. Until then imma keep rolling it around in my brain and maybe draw Tolys with a bunch of different hair colors.

[the-gadabout-gander]

It's important to note, as I return to this blog after over a year, that I am ganloose trash.

Anyway i was browsing inducks, as one does with a reawakened hyperfixation, and specifically was looking through the Gyro index for stories featuring Gladstone, and going chronologically.

Loved the ones I found that actually had interactions with them; there's such a fun flavor of Entitled Prince Gladstone and Pushover-With-Limits Gyro, and once Gyro hits those limits its very satisfying lol.

But in specific I noticed a neat little thing re. Those Limits between 2 stories, those being The Lost Rabbit's Foot and The Bear Tamer. In both stories Gladstone is running to Gyro with a need for an emergency invention. In The Lost Rabbit's Foot, Gyro is in his workshop with a sign stating that dreaded phrase "The Customer is Always Right". Gladstone predictably weaponizes this sign for all its worth, namely making Gyro dive down into murky water and face angry octopi while looking for the Rabbit's foot, bc Gladstone insists he won't go down there unless Gyro finds it to be safe. Gyro survives the ordeal thanks to Helper, but after that is Rightfully Peeved and makes Gladstone go down himself.

Meanwhile, in the Bear Tamer, Gladstone needs to tame a Bear for his Lucky Boy Club, and wants Gyro to make something to prevent the bear attacking him. Gyro does as asked. But this time when Gladstone tries yet again to make Gyro go ahead of him to make sure it's safe, Gyro simply shoves him in right away. While it's likely Gyro's hanger is also an influence, it's a funny bit of continuity and one I enjoyed immensely.

On the subject of continuity and older characterizations, actually, an interesting thing is Gyro's opinions on Gladstone's Luck; which is, that he seems to find the mythic regard in which Gladstone (and presumably everyone else) holds his luck to be overstated. He doesn't deny or downplay the existence of Gladstone's Luck, but he does question and challenge the stock Gladstone puts in it. (Throughout The Lost Rabbit's Foot, from the beginning even, he pushes back at the idea a Rabbit's Foot would have any unique ability as a talisman and chides Gladstone for believing it. He ends up making one from cotton and wax that works, and his comic-ending conclusion is that Gladstone gives luck to the talisman, not vice versa; in The Bear Tamer he comments, on hearing that Gladstone's Fancy Club For Lucky Boys is challenging its members to show their luck by taming a bear, that he would simply join a different club in that scenario; the story It Takes Two To Tangle is literally abt the two of them wagering over whether Luck or Smarts is more widely useful in life. The end result seems to say that both are equal, with Gladstone remarking as much, but Gyro is actually the one to end the strip on a high note, still slightly vindicated in his position that Smarts > Luck)

And idk I think it's a compelling angle for a pairing to bounce off of! Especially as, once his character and Luck became relatively more solidified, Gladstone-centric stories often come back around to the idea of his being stuck in spirals of loneliness and hollow relationships due to ppl caring more abt his luck than him, so having this early dynamic with Gyro where the latter refuses to regard Gladstone's Luck as monumental, even if he will concede to it being special...it's cool.

It's also cool to see him push back at Gladstone and yet, neither of them end their conflicts humiliated; even if Gyro "wins" in the stories it's not actually at Gladstone's expense.

And of course my favorite little meta ship fodder that Gyro's very introduction came thru an interaction with Gladstone, in a Gladstone-centered story

Tl;Dr: 50s/60s Ganloose dynamic is top tier

[blueiight]

I think we also need to note the show made Louis gay as in that's his only sexual preference whereas AR's vampires are all sexually fluid per her own words. No idea if that has any later relevance or if its just better to tell his story as a gay man whose life was extremely limited in 1910s vs if he was bisexual he could just conform to society if he needed to? Or they just wanted to completely avoid any incest/pedo vibes between him and Claudia? But I feel that's a departure from Rice.

ur onto somethings… its important too that not only is louis canonly gay but even in the 1910s-20s his character self identifies as a gay man [saying im creole, queer to juxtapose himself to french bi les]. even if he was bisexual bi ppl do have preferences n individual standards that do not always align w heteronormative standards… lord knows the ‘dl black man’ is a loaded stereotype so maybe thats why they made louis gay instead? idk. but im more inclined to thinking the choice to make louis a gay man had more to do w how utterly lacking lew’s female love interest/s was outside of the claudia rigmarole + how they didnt really contribute much to the story that amc wanted to tell. claudia was aged up physically [tho younger mentally than her book counterpart] primarily due to child labor laws + ethics, & nothing rules out claudia trying to escape the paradigm of being louis’s ‘daughter’ or even ‘sister’ to something else yk? i dont think the show has any qualms necessarily about going there w claudia’s ends but we shall see. but i do agree w u in that louis’s view of claudia & even how she was made is a change from the books that worked well. i dont think amc louis has the same oedipal longing for claudia that his white cousin did. i think he has more of an inappropriate sense of emotional dependence on claudia and selectively adultifies/infantilizes her for his own ends.. it was p clear that amc louis had a desire for children “of his own” from ep2 & the rewrite was where louis is the one who wants to save a dying girl, and lestat is now the one who reluctantly acclimates to this child whereas book wise it was the other way around. works well bc u have amc louis crying about how he would never have kids in ep2 bc hes both gay+a vampire or w/e so the buildup was there

[gontagokuhara]

I just read the most recent chapter... PERFECTION. I'll talk more about it when I leave a comment, but it was so worth the wait. I'm so interested in the lore of this story, it's definetly transcended both source materials and become its own unique thing! I have so many questions, but I just want to ask the ones that probably won't be revealed from the story itself to try and prevent me from bombarding you with them all😭

For now I'm gonna guess that Kaede knows Peko from a camp visit or something! I think it was also alluded that she/Tenko knows Chihiro/Chiaki as well. What's it like when the other Gods visit (or when the triplets visit)?

Also, I'm not sure how to phrase this, but how were the demigods born to established couples like Naegami/Sakuraoi? [Bc like, gay supremacy, obvi, but like, idk how😭] And also also, why did all the gods decide to reproduce like rabbits all at once 😭 I know that in Greek mythology they were all just freakin but like I'm wondering what caused it in pointy objects, did the y2k craze also get to them

(I wanna save most of it for my comment on ao3, but I really liked how we got an update on so many outside characters, as well as new characters! What happened right after everyone at the camp realized they were gone? I feel so bad for the other half of the kids💔)

hello hello!!! i very eagerly await your comment, but that's for later — for now, there's a few other things!

first: your interest and passion for my writing is so incredibly appreciated and enjoyed and inspiring and just !!! it means more than you know, and since *im* crazy insane about this fic too, i am more than happy to answer questions because my god the brain worms are so bad and they've been there for YEARS.

second: the answers to your current questions! for anyone who may not want to see (for spoiler or length reasons) the rest shall be under the cut <3

i love offering little insights on things that i just don't physically have space to put into the main fic, so that's where i'll start with your first question! godly parent-birth child interaction is a big no-no under junko, so the gods have had to get creative in how they make contact with their children. in the case of peko, kaede is familiar with her because tenko lives with her (with their relation being aunt-niece) except during the summers. as an aside, tenko and himiko also attend the same boarding school during the year, and so when it's summertime, it's often been peko that's dropped the both of them off at camp. however, kaede is also privy to maki's family situation in a way that no one else at camp really is, so she's aware of fuyuhiko being maki's 'godfather' and that he and peko are very close, and work together.

in mentioning chiaki and chihiro as examples, there's a few reasons for the other campers to be aware of them enough to like them. lots of phone conversations, first off — junko can do a lot of things, but monitoring every possible means of communication for every demigod is unfeasible — and boring (at least when not considering certain gods she has specific vendettas against). chiaki and chihiro are all around "better" parents than some of the others, and that naturally lends itself to them coming by camp on very rare occasions to visit their children. other gods also will (very occasionally) visit to speak with hajime and nagito, but the barrier and its ability to keep them from interfering is most of the time enough that they'd rather call a meeting. so, tldr: gods come around camp sometimes, but in very limited circumstances. it's mostly phone conversations, texts, and facetimes that are used between the demigods and their parents (though not everyone has that privilege. i'll leave it at that <3)

and VERY good questions, about the logistics of all these damn kids LOL. there are a lot of reasons for this, so i'll use a few specific examples to expand upon.

makoto and byakuya are first-time parents with rantarou. in godly terms, they've been together for a long time (though not nearly as long as others like hajime/nagito or sakura/aoi, whose relationships are actually ancient). however, for various reasons — hesitance on byakuya's end that he may be a poor father, hesitance on makoto's end to not only have a child as a Big Five god, but also to have a mortal child that he will outlive — they put off having children until relatively recently. sometimes it's as simple as they're just waiting for the right time, and that's what they did. in rantarou's case, he is byakuya's biological child, and his conception was the result of a very rigorous process of finding a surrogate both byakuya and makoto were comfortable with. and it worked out; they were given the child of their dreams, the center of their whole universe, and the very well taken care of surrogate is paid for all of the work she does and more, and she retires richer than god.

aoi (as angie's godly parent) had her in a very similar way — sperm donor, from someone she trusts on her home island where she lives with sakura and a few hundred mortal islanders that know of their status as goddesses and worship them accordingly.

and finally the VERY good question of Why The Fuck Are There So Many Demigods. there's a few reasons for this! a lot of the kids we see are the first children that a god has had — this is true in the case of gundham's child, rantarou, tenko, and a few others that will become important to the fic itself later. there were also several couples between the gods that developed relatively 'recently', which plays a role as well. others, who have had children before, grieve the ones they've lost and decide if/when to have another child in very different ways. this is a non-exhaustive list, but sonia, chihiro, leon, komaru, aoi, hiyoko, mahiru, and nekomaru are all examples of gods who have had children more than once. some — like sonia, chihiro, and aoi — make the choice to have more children despite the issues that arise regarding their immortality. and in the case of those three, all of them just happened to feel ready enough to have kids again at the same time a few spring chicken couples were popping out their firsts, and a few others were making questionable parenting decisions, and some had kids...without knowing they did.

BOY this sure got fun! but it was so fun to write. if this hasnt made it clear, i'm more than happy to talk about this fic for literally ever and ever — so long as i'm ducking around spoiler territory. your last question, about what happens immediately following the gang being discovered as missing, will come up to at least some degree in pointy objects. however, for years i've maintained a list of possible one-shot ideas that don't fit within the main pointy objects narrative, and that has been on there for ages. so if it's not expanded upon enough in-verse for my liking, i'll definitely either write something supplementary (WAY in the future tho LOL) on ao3 or lore drop here. we're a ways off from that, though!

but thank you again, and i hope you enjoyed this little offering! i certainly did <3