#bandit trope challenge

[flightyquinn]

thinking about how cursed objects work in most fantasy RPGs.

typically, they wind up just kind of being a big middle finger from the game master - a kind of "whelp, you should have been more paranoid, so now you get hosed" sort of deal. which includes the somewhat game-y trope of objects that you can't get rid of. it's kind of an un-fun mechanic, when you think about it, which is why in most games I've been a part of cursed items often don't see much play, unless it's as a "punishment", or part of a story arc.

...which naturally leads me to think about how to do it better. in the past, I've tried using a curse as a kind of limiter. restrictions or drawbacks to a mostly functional item that is still worth using despite being "cursed". that's good, but it doesn't let you draw on truly nasty curses, because the item needs to be worth using, but also still needs to be balanced.

so, I'm drawing from a lot of sources here, like the cursed shield in Final Fantasy VI, and especially the comics by @foldingfittedsheets, where curses exist to (literally) teach the recipient a lesson

MEAT OF THE POST STARTS HERE:

what about cursed items that have a way to overcome their curse?

it's actually a fairly common trope in classical literature / fairy tales. every curse has a way to be broken. yet in D&D and Pathfinder, most often the only way to break a curse is to find someone with the specific curse-breaking spell.

so, give each cursed item a condition. perhaps a weapon that fuels a person's anger and causes them to fly into a blind rage in battle waits for them to sincerely forgive a hated enemy. perhaps boots that slow the wearer are actually making them heavy with the weight of past transgressions and a sufficient act of atonement will free them. maybe the perpetually bloody doll that gives its bearer horrible nightmares simply waits for someone to be motivated to action by them, either to right some past wrong, or generally bring a certain number of murderers to proper justice.

...maybe a Bag of Devouring. which is technically actually a creature, not a cursed item (but usually classified with them), can be befriended by figuring out a treat it likes, and will not only carry things for the player if fed and cared for, but even cough up a few things that previous bearers had stuffed inside.

the specifics aren't too important, but the idea is that any item with a curse on it has a reason for that curse, and a way to break it. the players can drop the item at any time, sell it off, give it to someone they hate, whatever, but if they put in the time and energy to actually breaking the curse, it becomes better than it was before, sometimes simply losing a drawback, or sometimes gaining new powers.

for an example, let's look at how that doll idea from earlier could work in D&D 5e;

while the party has the doll in their possession, they will all be afflicted by horrible nightmares, seeing themselves as children being attacked by a group of eight bandits with indistinct features. the details of the dreams change each night, and the players awaken before learning their ultimate fate, but the general gist is always that they are completely helpless, and subjected to harm.

after a long rest, have them roll a Wisdom or Charisma save (challenging DC, but not too difficult), or take a small amount of psychic damage.

if the players bring murderers to justice - meaning deliver them to the proper authorities and see them punished for their crimes - the content of the dreams starts to change. one bandit gets caught or killed by the end of the dream for each real world criminal successfully punished, possibly hinting to the players what they need to do. once eight murderers in total have had their sentences enacted, the next morning the doll will be in pristine condition with a serene expression, emitting a faint glow. thereafter, any player may attune to the doll to gain the ability to cast the Guidance cantrip without components (as thought the doll's ability to project what it wants the players to do into their mind was turned to their benefit.

[kedsandtubesocks]

WILD RIDE: a writing challenge

So I wrote my first ever multi fic series Let’s Rodeo at the beginning of this year & to celebrate i’d thought I would finally host my first ever writing challenge to welcome the new year!

So here’s how the challenge will work…

- The boys will be divided into 2 groups: one with prompts occurring in modern day & the other set in old west/western times

- 14 slots: once a prompt is taken it’s gone… so be sure to grab the one you want!

- Each prompt has a moodboard attached (which you can use as inspiration or just enjoy for the vibes)

↳ So what’s the extra wild ride part of this prompt?

✨send in an ask with the Pedro boy of your choice & a number between 1-20 & I’ll reply with a trope to add to your fic! If you’re not feeling too wild about the trope you got, then no worries, ride on & write what feels right!

⚠️ Rules:

Even if you don’t decide to use the trope given - please stay within the prompt’s boundary & given time frame each has been placed in

500 word minimum - other than that you’re free to write to your hearts content!

Tag me & use the hashtag #kedsandtubesocks wild ride so I can update the masterlist

Deadline: February 28 [of course if you need to send it in after just let me know …we can always use more cowboy fics at any time]

🌾 MODERN DAY PROMPTS

✦ Marcus Moreno: Rodeo Rescue

✦ COWBOY LIKE ME: Dieter Bravo: Movie Cowboy @chaotic-mystery #15 [meet ugly]

✦ Say Cheese, Cowboy: Marcus Pike: Cowboy Themed Party @secretelephanttattoo #8 [workplace romance]

✦ OLD TIMER: Joel Miller: Retired Rodeo Cowboy - @pedgito #12 [forbidden love]

✦ Love In A Bar: Jack Daniels: Honky Tonk Cowboy Bar Owner @jennaispunk #5 [childhood friends]

✦ Oberyn Martel: Spanish Ranch Owner

✦ Pero Tovar: Rodeo Bull Rider @perotovar #16 [rivals/competition]

🌵 OLD WEST ERA PROMPTS

✦ Javier Peña: Rancher @savedyounine #11 [love at first sight]

✦ Tim Rockford: US Marshal @crowandmousewritingco #2 [only one bed]

✦ Ezra: Corrupt Sheriff @beefrobeefcal #3 [lovers to enemies]

✦ Outlaws till Sundown - Javier Gutierrez: Bandit/Outlaw @bluestar22x #8 [workplace romance]

✦ Dave York: Hired Gun [Mercenary]

✦ Frankie Morales: Solider turned Cowboy @hauntedhowlett #17 [secret dating]

✦ dandelion sun - Din Djarin: Hired Gun [Bodyguard] @corazondebeskar #1 [enemies to lovers]

Here’s to the creations & wonders, the wild rides, you will write and take us on! Can’t wait to see all the magic y’all create!

If you have any questions please message me! Also I can’t thank @perotovar & @pedgito for inspiring me, cheering me on, to finally host this - this wouldn’t be here without them 💛

tagging some yeehawin’ cute mutuals that might be curious about this rodeo (if not, no worries!)

@hauntedhowlett @burntheedges @saradika @nothoughtsjustmeds @jolapeno @tonysopranosrobe

@nothoughtsjustmeds @almostfoxglove @amanitacowboy @sp00kymulderr @chronically-ghosted @beardedjoel

@morallyinept @schnarfer @lowlights @julesonrecord @quinnnfabrgay-writes @guiltyasdave @secretelephanttattoo

@ghotifishreads @corazondebeskar @chaotic-mystery @seventeenpins @yxtkiwiyxt

[avelera]

A cursory glance at the current makeup of Dreamling fics coming out this day shows a preponderance of AUs that range pretty far from the source material, human AUs or stories where otherwise Dream and Hob aren’t “Dream of the Endless, eldritch being” and “Hob Gadling, immortal medieval peasant”.

That sort of AU is not really the sort of thing I personally enjoy reading (except in rare circumstances, like by a particular author), I’m more of a “slight canon divergence at most” person. But I completely understand that a year out from the show’s release this is sort of the natural evolution of where fandom tends to go with a ship in search of fresh material to explore.

But I’m a perverse and contrary creature, especially as a fandom writer. I see a popular trope and can’t resist trying to do the opposite or turn the assumptions involved on their head somehow, especially if they begin to calcify as sort of “accepted fanon”.

So skimming over some of the latest summaries enough to get a sense of these trends really makes me want to return to the source material and then some. I’ve been fascinated by the idea of trying to pull a bit more of Dream and Hob’s rougher, more stoic energy from the comic into my fics. I want to give the sense of physicality of a Hob who knew life as a medieval soldier and bandit. I want some of the forbidding otherworldliness of a Dream who is truly the god-king of a shadow realm of nightmares, his power over mortals unquestioned save by his own scruples and certain unknowable cosmic laws. And for them to be insanely into each other because of this, not necessarily in spite of.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the softness and fluff as much as anyone and I read the heck out of it. But I think for my own part because I gravitate towards writing softness and affection between them even in spite of my intentions to write a more historically and eldritchly informed characterization, it will be an interesting challenge to mentally set the bar a little further back into their rougher more forbidding comic selves as a starting point from which to get there.

[crestfallenyh]

𖥨 alchemy of the soul: masterlist

“Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age old pain,

it's ancient tale of being apart or together.

As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,

clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time.

You become an image of what is remembered forever.”

COMING SOON!!!

summary: loves comes in many forms. throughout our time, the soul will be steadily fed, by friends, by family, by lovers... but what if, eventually, your once in a lifetime comes around? what if, against all odds, for better or for worse, destiny will put you in the path of cosmic love?

or, a short series of exploring the ancient, destined soulmate trope.

pairings: reader x ateez. not poly, each part is assigned to one single member.

content warnings: majorly fluff and angst with the occasional hint of spice. each chapter will be tagged accordingly with appropriate warnings but keep in mind this series include mature topics, sexual talk, death and rebirth mentions, violence, lots of corny love and a lot of emotional hurt. chapters will not be posted in age order and updates may (will) vary in waiting times. please note that although this is a bunch of stories clumped together by a common trope, stories are not intertwined and are meant to be read individually. links to each chapter to be slowly updated.

𖥨 007. meet me in the twilight.

hongjoong x reader. a peek into the red string theory. a pirate and a princess will never belong into each other's world, unless there is something stronger than them pulling them together. where fate and duty play chess, only the smile of a carefree sea bandit can help lean the scale.

𖥨 003. dreaming a dream, every night.

seonghwa x reader. just two lovers who only get to meet through the dizzying daze of a shared dreamland and the glimpse of past memories. what's real and what's not? if they will ever get to feel complete by also meeting in this earthly plane, they don't know.

𖥨 023. run!

yunho x reader. in this world, physical injuries to a person cause equal pain to their destined partner. a mosquito bite or a bump on your toe with the corner of a sofa you can handle, but honestly... what in the world is your partner doing for you to feel such agony, almost everyday?

𖥨 015. shades of love.

yeosang x reader. pink for love, green for hope, yellow for joy. the rest is always grey. you can only ever see colors related to the emotions your alleged soulmate has felt throughout their life, a connection you cannot break or run away from as much as you would love to. you don't know this person, but you surely hope they're (not) enjoying your blues, reds and deep purples. a variation of the sunshine and sunshine protector trope.

𖥨 010. hope springs eternal.

san x reader. hope springs eternal, or that's what they say. san has never been a believer, after all, he's still an outcast who sees the world in a scale of black and white. quite literally. unable to see any color in the absence of what people call a soulmate, he's determined to trick destiny and find love in you.

𖥨 009. round and round, the wheel keeps spinning.

mingi x reader. in a world where soulmates are meant to live and die together of old age, a tragedy has taken his heart with your last breath. life after life, he will look for his heart in the smile of a stranger, hoping that one day, he will get to find you again and live his happy ever after.

𖥨 026. lucky strike.

wooyoung x reader. throughout your life you've always known that the only way of getting out of your imprisonment and reaching the outside is by finding your destined match, marked at birth. this regime was installed long before you or your grandparents were even born, you would never dare challenge it. as luck would have it, you're partnered up with the most anti-regime, most challenging human you've ever met and he is seemingly your only hope.

𖥨 012. last night on earth.

jongho x reader. in a world of war, love is never welcome or sought after. mass destruction and loss will harden the heart of even the most whimsical of warriors, and the slight faint of a tattoo no longer engraved in jongho's skin will only serve as a lifelong reminder of a forfeited future, of a missed promise.

[libertineangel]

Skyrim being full of bandits at the time of the game could even make sense if they put a modicum of thought into it, like the province is in the midst of civil war only a few decades after the Great War with the Thalmor and a significant amount of historic banditry was the result of former soldiers bullying civilians on their own terms when they weren't getting paid to do it under a standard, like there are actual stories that could be told there which fit and enhance the setting without even really challenging the "bandits exist as general low-level enemies" trope

[gravedigest]

Vaguely in the realm of HNMT.

2BDad things.

Thunderstorm trope.

“Dooooc?”

Sleep is hard to come by, harder to keep ahold of, hardest to let go. In that hazy state, he doesn’t know what’s pulling him away from the sweet comfort of rest.

“Doooooooc! Doc?!”

That’s panic. He hears panic.

He snaps awake.

Bolting up, heart pounding, scanning the room as he reaches for the gun-

“Do-o-oc!”

Deimos.

That’s Deimos.

He darts, all traces of sleep having drained from his body as he unlatches the barricades from the door, ripping it open to see-

To see…

Oh.

Oh, dear.

“What’s wrong?” He has to lower himself to his knees to make it to the same height as the kid, the poor thing’s face drenched in snot an tears, shaking like a leaf.

Thunder crashes, and Deimos nearly jumps out of his own skin, diving to burrow himself into Doc’s coat. Oh. Oh no.

He’s found something his little terror is afraid of.

When the lightning flashes through the cracks of the boarded up window, Doc presses his palms to both of Deimos’ ears, gun clattering to the floor.

It doesn’t help, the kid still jerks and sobs over the sound.

Right. Enhancements.

The wind is howling through the battered building, rain leaking in through the unstable roof, everything shudders as it holds out against the storm. Not the best place for someone’s first thunderstorm.

There’s nowhere to go that’s quieter, no deeper basements to afford safety, but the cubby that constitutes a bathroom doesn’t have windows. He heaves Deimos up and tucks him close, barricading them both in the enclosed space, hunkering down on the edge of the dusty, stained bathtub.

Deimos’ breaths are heaving, his own hand clamped over his ears now, face making a huge, disgusting wet mark that Doc can’t be assed to care about at the moment.

He’ll have quips about it when the storm passes.

For now, he tries to sort out the situation, figure out how to make the crying stop.

He’s been so easy to take care of, like a well trained dog, following Doc around and right on his coattails. The only reason he’d been barricaded in that room was an attempt at some mediocre safety, in case the nearby bandit camp caught wind of their stop. Futile hope that they’d pass up a hard to open box.

Perhaps that was a bad idea.

He can have some bad ideas.

He hasn’t noticed his own anxious rocking, not until Deimos starts to relax a little bit. Right.

“Do you know what’s happening?”

A shake of the head against his shoulder.

“It’s a thunderstorm. When there are a lot of clouds- Like we saw earlier, they…” How does he explain this? “… You know how you made static with your socks?”

“… Mhm.”

“It’s sort of like that. The particles in the clouds are moving, and it creates static. When there’s too much static?

“… Shocks.”

“Right. This? This is how we discovered electricity. It’s a lot of electricity exploding, so that’s why it makes that sound-“

On cue, another clap of thunder undoes all the calm, driving Deimos to crush his ears with his hands. Doc can tell he’s trying not to wail- it breaks through as a whimper. Doc keeps rocking.

“I know it must be very hard when you can hear as well as you do,” What can he do?

Christ, he hopes the temperature drop doesn’t cause a tornado.

Not something to think about right now.

The next clap is closer. It must be right above them.

“It’s moving fast, it’ll be over soon, alright?”

He doesn’t get a word out of the kid, just terrified shaking.

What can he do?

For once, his foresight gives him an answer.

He zips his coat up around the extra body, hefting the kid back up to make a strategic run back through to where he’d dropped his bag, grabbing it up and making a hasty retreat. Back in the safety of the bathroom, he changes his seat to be down in the tub, digging through the bag just long enough to pull his tablet-

And the headset.

Hooking it together in the dark is half a challenge, but- Yes, he checks the sound, then unzips his coat.

“Move your hands,” A rough shake of the head. “Just for a second, if it doesn’t work you can punch me.”

The promise of light violence tends to win Deimos over, but not even that gets him to budge. Doc goes for prying the little hands away instead, getting the headset pressed over his ears in the short, upset wrestle that ensues.

Deimos pauses.

… He’s heard music before, hasn’t he?

Doc’s too tired to recall, on the edge of pulling the headset off the moment Deimos shows distaste.

But the kid presses the cans closer to his ears instead, the next roll of thunder disguised in the sounds.

Alright.

Alright…

He leans them both back, the lumpy bag works well enough as a pillow, the kid a little furnace on his own. It’s not comfortable whatsoever, Doc’s back is going to be in agony when they have to move in the morning, but this…

Deimos’ shaking calms, reduced to sniffling and kneading his hands as he works out the panic, calming down.

It’ll work.

[randomkduck]

I feel the need to explain my au a lil bit. Cause I have more ideas than brain (like independent of each other) that I also want to give a lil attention to like my loz story au thing, and another one for four swords that actually has a story and not just vibes.

Warning for a wall of text and also mentions of child abuse.

The "Four Separate Paths" au is an au that was partially based on a dream, partially based on a story I made based on four swords that just went full circle back to it. In the au, after the defeat of Vaati, when they normally would have re-merged under normal circumstances, they don't, and three out of the four of them argue about what to do next.

In the original draft of the au, Vio is kinda just, stuck in his own head thinking about what to do next. Barely listening to the argument as he tries to figure out where he could start in his path to getting them back into one Link again. In the comic I added her to help verbalize some of what Vio was thinking to more fluidly share it with the readers.

But the RBG boys have already kinda... made peace with this. They care less about remaining four people, and more about where they want to go and what they want to do next.

Green wants to go back to how things were, basically. Thinking that with all four of them it would be easier to defend the kingdom, and now that they know how to work as a team they would be even more effective than Link was alone (I realize now I kinda put Red and Green in trope version of themselves. I fking love the two of them and their characters... doesn't mean I always know what to do with them narratively ,Xb).

Red wants to focus on repairing the kingdom, and helping others around the kingdom learn to better defend themselves from the dangers of people like Vaati and Shadow.

Blue wants to travel and expand helping people to more than just hyrule (something I stated in the comic)

Vio ends up going with Blue when they all split ways because he knows that, once he figures out how to get them back to being one, Blue would be the hardest to track down. In Vio's mind this is just another challenge to overcome, and he thinks that- rather than being okay with staying split -the other three just don't think about how to "fix the problem", so now he has to do it.

Shadow's still alive in this au. He's just a part of their shadows more permanently. Not sure if I want him to be revealed to all of them or if I wanna stick with the funny idea I had of only Red knowing he's still around and the two of them bonding over Shadow filling Red in on what's going on with Blue and Vio over tea.

Blue and Vio travel for awhile, Blue slowly making a name for himself as a "wandering hero" as he does exactly what he set out to do by helping people. Anywhere from small shit like helping an old lady carry her groceries to bigger stuff like stopping burglars and bandits. Vio spends most of his time researching magic and stuff, hoping to understand why they stayed split even if he doesn't have access to hyrules magic books, but he helps with the bigger stuff even if he prefers staying to the background (good thing Blue purposefully makes it easy for him by making his personality 2x bigger).

Eventually an old man finds Blue and Vio while they're in between towns. He says he's been a world traveller his whole life and can tell them little tidbits of information and guide them on their adventures. Both are reasonably of a suspicious old man approaching them in the middle of nowhere as the sky darkened, Vio being like "this guy is clearly doesn't have good intentions, we should entertain him and then ditch him at the next town" and Blue is like "idk, maybe we should take him up on his offer, keep you enemies closer and all that, plus, free guide!" And so they let the old man stick around.

The old man turns out to be controlling af. Hiding behind the two of them at the first sign of danger, and then telling them off for having fun. He also starts telling people that mister "wandering hero" is his protege, and that he "taught the kid everything he knows."

It makes Blue and Vio really uncomfortable, but they put up with it because A) he's kinda useless in a fight so "isn't able to do any real damage", B) they do technically need a guide being that it's saved them a lot of problems, and C) Blue finds it funny to get back at him by immediately after the old man walks away turn to the person he lied to and tell them that he's "senile" and "confusing himself for grandma!" ... that sentence made sense, right?

Anyways.

At one point Blue comes across a family of boys that have been terrorizing a few towns for years. After him and Vio investigate more they learn the disturbing history of the family. The father is forcing his sons to do this stuff for his wealth, while the few daughters the man has are forced to clean their shitty-falling-apart-mansion until they get sick, and also being used to keep the brothers in line.

Blue doesn't want to kill these kids, especially after overhearing one of the younger kids complain about having to do all this stuff he knows is wrong only to be silenced by an older brother afraid of seeing his sibling get hurt for speaking out. So he figures out a plan to save the kids.

He kills the father, gets the ill daughters to a hospital and then fights the people of the three towns to keep the sons out away from the gallows. He does save the kids, but the older kids do still go to prison, though they do it willingly.

The old man, later in the day, has the gall to reprimand Blue and say he should have just ended the whole family because whether it was by force or not they were still guilty of doing some bad shit. Blue fights him on this, Vio stepping in when it starts to get violent. The old man leaves the inn in a huff, and the two don't see him for the rest of the night. Vio unable to sleep thanks to the sense of foreboding.

The next morning, when Blue goes to visit the kids to say goodbye before heading off to the next town wrapping up with the older kids, he finds the old man standing in front of the cell while two guards escort the boys there out of the cell. After being asked what's going on, the old man says "they're being hung for their crimes. Obviously." Which, y'know, sets off Blue, who tells him he's being monstrous.

The old man tells Blue that he's being stupid to let them live, and that his kindness "weakness" will get him killed one day. To prove his point he pulls out a charm Blue had never seen before from his pocket, and yeets Blue into the dark world, out of sight of the guards and kids to make sure the next part of his plan goes smoothly.

Vio sees it though, and he hides for a little while, trying to figure out what to do while he keeps an eye on the old man.

The younger kids are brought forward with the older kids, and the people of the three towns (who had been brought together for this) are confused about what's going on and why the kids are being put in line for the gallows despite the fact that they had agreed that- given the context -the punishments the kids received were acceptable?

The old man claims that the kids killed Blue, and holds up a blood stained blue tunic that Vio thought had been thrown away after the fight they had weeks ago. He doesn't understand how the people think an obviously dry bloodstain came from at least a night ago, but I digress. The old man spins a conspiracy story of the kids teaming up, the ones in prison telling the ones not in prison what to do. Thanks to his position as Blue's "mentor" they believe him.

Things are looking bad for the kids. Until Vio gets a really bad idea. He's standing relatively in the middle of the crowd, easy to miss, at least until he starts laughing like a maniac. He's surprised with himself for how much like evil giddy glee the forced laughter sounds like. "You think it was them that killed him?"

Vio goes on to tell the confused and startled crowd that he killed Blue, and that the old man may have been convincing, but trying to pin their act on those kids was cowardice.

Yup, "their" act. Vio's dragging the old man down with him.

The people get out of Vio's way as he walks over to the old man, looking much more confident then he feels. Vio smugly turns back to the crowd and stats spinning his own story. One where he's jealous of Blue's fame and tired of being in his shadow, a story more than a little inspired by Shadow himself. He claims the old man had helped him, then says the old man just wanted the kids out of the way to make it less messy to clean up themselves, but Vio was "bored of that idea", so changed their plans.

Long story short, the people of the towns chase to two out. The old man showing more of his true colours.

Turns out, old man knows a shit ton of magic, and can fight better than Vio and Blue thought.

The old man starts hunting Vio down, eventually catching up to him and sealing him away in a different place then Blue.

The Cabin had nothing in it. Just one fireplace parallel to the door, cabinets that stored an infinite amount of food in them, a sink to wash dishes and get drinking water from, and a stack of wood for the fire. There was one note: "Don't let the fire go out. EVER." The Cabin was surrounded by eternal night and eternal soft snowfall. There was no bed, no blankets, no chairs. Just him, food, a fire, and firewood.

Meanwhile Shadow is loosing his mind over this whole situation. Goes into the dark world to get to Red and tell him about this (because I imagine the dark world is like a dream world, and makes it easier to travel from one place to another if you know how to travel through it, because dream logic is applied everywhere) and bumps into Blue, who's like "great! Can you get me out of here????"

This is how Shadow discovers he actually can still become hylian-shaped in the real world, it just requires help from Zelda. Whom he gets help from Red to tell that there is a major problem tm.

It takes awhile to get Vio out again, because they have to track down the old man and (ahem) convince to tell them where Vio was.

And that's kind of where my ideas run out. I know... not the greatest ending. Mostly because its not an ending. But it's all I've got for now.

[yanderefairyangel]

This is going to sound like gatekeeping and I probably should not say it but here goes: I think Raxy should not play any of the other Fire Emblem. It's clear that he hates the medieval tropes that Fire Emblem entails, not to mention the human and dragon co-existence message which conflicts with his HFY desires. At this point, if he's going to shit on the entire franchise because it's not like his pwecious C//F, he's going to make a total ass of himself.

Sorry for the vent, on another note, Engage has been a lot of fun and I got to ch 22.

Hello Anon. Don't worry about it !

Frankly, Idk too much about the Raxy guy but the main question I ask myself is whether or not he acts like that in every fandom he is in or only in the Fire emblem since you don't necessarily have the same discussion/contribution to a fandom depending on the media cause if he is like that for every fandom he partakes in ... yeah...

I haven't intereacted too much with the guy but the little I saw made it very unengaging for me to see his content. And at the risk of comming off as snobbish, he doesn't seem to understand how media analysis works or to respect fandom etiquette. I mean, I blocked him on tumblr all to find him responding to me on twitter about a post claiming and I quote : "There is a clear wealth disparity problem between the royals and their citizens that should be adressed; perhaps Celine shouldnt be praised for sending death squads after people who steal food when she lives in a giant more luxurious version of Mont Saint-Michel" about Céline and Alear's A support.

When I challenged him to find me any canonical evidence that the theives we fight in chapter 6, paralogue 2 and that the higwaymen in Céline's/Alear support were practicing banditry because they were poor and starving, he didn't gave me a single answer. He claimed that the fact that there was one main story chapter, one paralogue and one support chain was enough to say that Firene has a problem with banditry and therefore is built on a flawed economic that creates wealth disparity problem when Solm has more chapter with banditry and that we are essentially talking about a franchise where there is bandits in EVERY game, and for literaly no reasons. They are just there burning village for fun. Kostas is literaly the only bandit that have a plot relevance lasting past 1 chapter.

And that's not all. When he and some mutuals of him claimed that Eddie's real plan in sending Kostas to kill Dima and Claude was actually to just scare off the new teacher, he and his mutuals never answered my simple request or providing me an explicit quote from in game of Eddie making such a declaration.

Or that one time when he tried to prove that the twist in chapter 10 of Engage failed arguing that the only way for Alear and co to escape the cathedral was to never enter... ignoring that at that time Alear still had the dragonic crystal so they could have rewinded or could have break out the door since they still had the Emblems when this scene was actually to built up Alear falling into the sins of hatred and pride, 2 sins in buddhism.

I also have been hearing tales of him blocking evading or having his friends go to blog that blocked him so that he could sporke it etc.

So yeah, that doesn't give a good look at all. Really.

But since I never went too much from his blog I can't tell if he is a 3H baby, or an Awakening baby or a Fe7 baby or an ancient (there for the first game ever) since I know a lot of people didn't like Engage because it was different from 3H who gave them expectation when 3H is the outlier of the franchise, and as you point out, CF is probably the most Anti-Fe a route can get. That a game not really keen on being accurate about medieval setting or the source of banditry etc. isn't that surprising, heck even 3H isn't that derogatory to that rule when all ending in 3H ends up with different models of monarchy. And I agree, if he sees dragon as evil, better drop Fire Emblem since the humanity and dragon can co-exist thing was already there since Fe1, Naga and Tiki being supporting role for Marth.

Anyway, sorry for the long reply. Also, glad to hear you are having fun with Engage ! I hope you'll stick around with my blog, I still have a bunch of essay to write

[rawwkfingers]

The Visitation

What a perfectly average serial!

A storyline that's been seen countless times throughout the Classic era (including the second time the Doctor has accidentally been the cause of a famous fire.) Nothing overtly wrong with it, but also nothing especially praiseworthy

I do feel like this serial is a great example of the shortcomings of having team Tardis be 4 people. The best part of the serial was the tagalong guest of the serial, a classic bandit with a heart of gold trope. He was charming and I liked that they resisted the temptation to give him the stereotypical "overcomes his selfish cowardice to save the hero" plot, ending his story in much the same way it began

But by giving him so much attention, which I do think was the right decision, it draws attention away from the already crowded cast. Every serial so far this season has had one of the companion trio essentially be absent from the plot and I do think the story suffers because of it. In this case, Adric did nothing but wander from place to place with a random scene of him piloting the Tardis at the end to try and justify his presence. And next serial is only two episodes so I'm sure this problem will be even more noticeable there

Some other things I noticed but dont deserve a whole paragraph of me rambling:

Adric choosing not to tell the villain everything they wish to know challenge: impossible

This was the most Tyssa serial we've had yet, lots of scenes between the two of them and correct me if I'm wrong, but Nyssa built the sonic booster in Tegan's room right? Not her own

Really noticing the whole "5 is written to be emotionally distant from the companions" thing that is mentioned a lot with his era. Such a shame

[isa-the-trans-dragon]

More dnd news!

Instead of sleeping like a responsible person, we're gonna be posting 2 whole dnd stories!

So, for starters, we got a cursed item seller

His name is Shkam, and he's literally stolen from a game I played, and other than that he had a curse on him that basically possessed him, one party member removed his agony temporarily but took psychic damage, finally used his Cool Ability, and fixed Shkam temporarily. He sold the party some totally-not-cursed magic items (Gumgum now has a greatclub, watch out), and the party collected their reward from the Guards.

One party member violently interrogated 2 innocent graverobbing goblins in a very similar style to the "NOOOOO DONT KILL ME IM JUST A WITTLE GOBLIN NOOOOO" meme, learnt No valuable information cus they didn't ask the right questions, nearly blew up the place, and caused a maybe enemies-to-lovers trope to start happening between the fighter and alchemist?-

The party then rolled a deadly encounter on travel dice and fought a homebrewed Mantrap somewhat based on the fairy lure mantrap from critical role, fought the now zombified bandits from their first ever encounter, and bought some shtuff in town. Gumgum learnt the trade of Blacksmithing and began fixing a cool armor set he found.

Ended around there, tl;dr, cursed item seller, cursed item sold, violent interrogation, romance, deadly encounter, goomba

BUT THERE'S MORE!!

For but a few hours ago, I had finished session 0 of a gritty campaign i began dming for my dnd veteran father, uncle, older brother, and cousins. (Multiple people, not one person)

And by gritty, they're first 2 encounters were CR 3 CREATURES. CUS GOD DAMN THIS CAMPAIGN BOOK WANTS THEM DEAD

The best part? Minimal injury. No death. One even had surprise and lost. At level 1.

AT LEVEL 1.

Im honestly terrified, this book might not be enough to challenge them-

[mareenavee]

Countless Ages Ago

Thank you to @paraparadigm for the additional challenges tacked on to the prompt for this and for the phenomenal beta work <3

Without further ado, please enjoy this wonderfully weird meta Morrowfic!

The Prompt

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” ― Mary Oliver

The Caveats

Open ended. Non linear, unsettled sense of time. Unreliable narrator. No more than 2 pre-applied tropes. 3k or less. Second person.

Countless Ages Ago

You gaze out over the red wastes which lead to your doom, or the doom of the one who has become your enemy—a choice which you did not make of your own volition. In the haze, light glints off the ring which has adorned your hand for time out of mind—twenty years or more. Moon-and-Star. So familiar, you could have sworn it had been there all along. Fragments of memory float through your mind depicting deeds you thought you’ve forgotten, fluttering like the pages of a journal, torn apart and scattered. The handwriting is yours, though the words seem so new, scrawling themselves before your eyes.

The land is scarred and barren here, where once rivers of fire flowed down from the Mountain. The air smells of flame, ash stings your eyes. Your armor feels too heavy, though not quite as heavy as some purpose or another passed down through generations. You’ve heard the story before, the prophecy. It unsettles as much as it inspires, because you’ve seen what is to come. It does not make the next part easier. And yet, it does, if luck or other nonsense happens to be in your favor.

As your thoughts drift, you drift with them, circling outside your body. You are yourself, but somehow changed. Or erased. You haven’t decided. Either way, though the face is different, you are not. This life is not. But where have you been? When? In the time it takes to mull over the path you must have taken to get here, things reset. They always do—one moment, a bandit, the next a nix-hound, though you swear you’ve been staring at the same spot. Each fight a roll of the dice, each slash never a guarantee.

All it takes is a quick step and you’ve shifted through mountains, cliff racers circling above, sun stuck behind endless clouds and torrential rain. You grasp a daedric sword in one hand and hear the hiss of an extinguishing lantern held in the other. Ah yes, you remember now. You were headed to face your fate, or so you’d been told. But this is Balmora. And that is a silt strider. They do not travel the path you had just been walking, the one overlooking the end of all things. You glance down at yourself, worn clothing patched over and fraying. The sword has disappeared. Instead, you wield a rusty dagger. Your shoes are full of holes, into which swamp water flows. In your pockets, naught but a stolen ring and a directive. Ah. And a crushed coda flower tucked away for later. The rain chills you, but not enough to sway determination. You keep walking; persistence is the only way forward. -> read the rest on AO3.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

I hope it’s alright to ask about my favourite minor theory

Do you think Makinos child is Shanks? I kinda believe it because of the hair colour being brownish RED in official colouring, the fact that Oda himself said the father is “that person” so probably someone we know, in Ace novel there’s a moment when Benn asks Shanks if he thinks Makino got prettier and he agrees (teasing?), and on one of the cover pages makino is seen with a ring on her finger and on the other Shanks was attending some wedding 👀.

Do you think there’s actually something going on or it’s just wishful thinking?

I kinda like the idea of Luffy giving the hat to that kid at the end to start a new cycle y know. Thoughts?

hmm. not sure what i've done to make people think i have authoritative knowledge of one piece! let me assure you otherwise by revealing i straight up did not know makino had a kid until i got this message. just overlooked those pages, i guess?

buuut i'm always happy to speculate! so let's do that.

a bit of wiki searching tells me the kid is a post-timeskip development, which makes the kid being shanks' a bit... logistically challenging, to me? makino doesn't seem to ever leave windmill village, and i can't see shanks leaving the grand line for long during that post-marineford upheaval time period. he's got whitebeard's old territories to claim/protect on top of his own, yknow? he seems very busy.

so… hard to see how a shanks/makino baby (a/o wedding) happens in that time period. i guess anything's possible? really, they would only need to meet up once to make it happen.

and at the same time… who else is there, lmao

like, i guess oda could be trolling with the "that person" comment and just mean "her husband"? but i think you're right, the phrase is suggestive that the father should be someone we'd know, and adult men in windmill are thin on the ground. it's like, woop slap? garp? a couple shopkeepers? some unnamed background citizens and mountain bandits??? maybe the party of party's bar is a person, and makino's running the place with her husband? why wouldn't we have seen him on screen though, that one seems like a stretch.

so i'd say the theory is… plausible? i'm not wild about it—the Absent Father Because He's Too Busy Being A Pirate trope pisses me off, i don't like the idea of shanks joining their number—but yknow, them's the breaks.

as to your "passing it on to the next generation" idea: that's really sweet! tbh i think i'd like that ending (luffy returning to windmill, meeting a kid at party's bar who is eager to be a pirate, and giving them the hat) regardless of who the kid's father is! one piece does a lot with "heir to your spirit, not your blood" as a concept, so the kid's dad not being relevant or revealed would play into that nicely, however frustrating it might be for theorists.

[warncdandwiles]

I love the tv tropes page for Redwall discussing how when people make fan-works they often deconstruct the 'all vermin (foxes/stoats/rats/weasels, etc) are bad' trope, and personally, yeah. Loved the show as a kid but now I almost see Redwall as like, a challenge. I know the author was just translating 'normal peasants' into mice, bandits into rats, scam artists into foxes, etc but it came with some 'unfortunate implications'.

There's a book in the series where a ferret is adopted by a Redwaller. Who names him 'Veil' as in 'evil and vile'.) They found a baby in a muddy ditch who had been abandoned and called him that. Yes he grows up stealing and eventually becomes murderous. But how much of it was 'nature' and how much was it a child being surrounded by creatures that made no secret of hating him? This kid had no chance.

That, and Vitch was only taken in because they thought he was a mouse. Redwallers. Redwallers. We need to have a talk.

[your-local-femboy-bitch]

I mean you adress things very well, like how Kataang felt forced because you're kind of right, Kataang wasn't handled well, they perfectly captured the awkwardness of it but they failed to show any depth or chemistry.

Kataang and how it was handled was one of the only elements in my opinion that held the show back from perfection.

But Aang is one of my favorite blorbos so I've got to defend him. I feel like how the narrative rewards him, isn't really the fault of the character himself, but I don't fully grasp it, the balcony scene at the end of ATLA was a misstep it definitely boiled Katara, the waterbending master into a trophy.

But that's the only real example and maybe it's too egregious for 2cnd chances but Aang's story is great in its own way, you brought up that Zuko's story shines more but I don't feel that you can really compare the storylines of characters.

Think about Katara's story of overcoming all difficulties and adversity, being incredibly passionate and fiery, being so supportive and helping, kind, and becoming an incredibly powerful master of waterbending.

Sokka, becoming an incredible strategist and seeing that he's worthy and important, even without bending skills or being the most skilled fighter, rising to challenges and becoming an incredible leader.

Toph was honestly fully realised even before joining the GAang, she was already the Blind Bandit but what she did gain was freedom and even made metalbending.

I bring up the storylines of other characters because they're incredibly different to the point where you can't compare them and before I get to Aang's story I have to analyze what makes Zuko such an interesting character which is because of the *drumroll* ......

Dark Foil/Mirror writing trope.

Zuko is so interesting because he's the dark reflection of Aang, which is made clear especially clear in the Season 1 episode, The Storm. You know, the fact that Aang and Zuko's story were told as the seperate plots.

There are so many parralels to their story.

Aang left home

Zuko was banished from home.

Aang ran away from responsibility

Zuko embraced responsibility

Both were punished for it.

Aang's story is incredible and powerful because he stayed true to his guiding principle.

That his people were strong and deserved to exist and that his people hadn't died out, that they never would, their culture would live on forever even in the face of tyranny

That he was able to prove Ozai wrong, that power isn't removing compassion and that his people deserved to exist.

Even in spite their lack of armies and military force and that their guiding principles being peace, compassion, and non-violence.

Sure, maybe Ozai and Aang don't know eachother well but they know the other person incredibly well through their ideology, I'd argue that the battle between Ozai and Aang was even more personal than the Final Agni Kai because they know each other past physical terms like brother and sister.

And.

Zuko's story is so powerful because he abandoned his previous principles and rejected his nation's policy.

His ability to change and grow and retrospect, his ability to realize, his abilties of compassion.

His abilities of compassion that his father and nation rejected, because of their beliefs that strength was based on anger, death, and destruction.

But when he discovered the Dragons and learned from them.

When he carried the first fire of the ancient dragons.

He then discovered that true strength and firebending was peace, life, tranquility, serenity, grace, and compassion.

But what makes both of their stories even better is when their stories are compared, is what makes it truly powerful.

Their parallels, their differences, yet how similar they were and how they grew to be like brothers and make peace with eachother and the world.

Zuko changed to truly save himself and know who he really was in a world in which he had every incentive to remain stagnant and let his ancient and true culture continue to die.

Aang endured to stay himself when the world was determined to change him and ensure that his culture would die.

They amplify each others stories and are the reason for either of their stories to happen.

hey there!

please don't take this the wrong way, because i'm genuinely just asking. i've seen your criticism of aang and kataang appear on my dash from time to time, and it just got me wondering: how can you enjoy the show?

i understand that you feel passionate about katara, and i suppose about the entire story, but. aang is like on screen 90% of the time, and he gets his happy ending too (as happy as it can be, of course, with having his entire culture and people on the brink of non-existence). how do you reconcile your love for the show with your dislike for its main character and how the narrative rewards him?

and once again, please understand that i'm not attacking. i'm just curious to see at what point does someone stop being a fan and start being simply critical of a certain media, if you know what i mean.

thank you for answering if you do, and cheers!:)

I just don’t pay attention to him very much. Even in the finale, Zuko’s ending and story stands out more to me. Him standing before the crowd in his sparkling crown, announcing that he wants to bring in a new era of love and peace, that’s powerful to me. Watching Zuko go from an abused boy who thinks his only worth comes from accomplishing an impossible task in his desperation to appease his abuser, to a literal king taking back his power and using it for good, is a powerful story.

As for Katara, to me, her true ending is the Agni Kai. I wrote a whole post about it. That is the culmination of her arc, where she is able to display her power and use it to overthrow the regime that she’d grown up being terrorized by. And then after Zuko was nearly killed, Katara was able to save his life just like he saved hers. The way their stories intertwined was beautiful, and it was a beautiful conclusion to Katara’s story, watching her not have to feel helpless for once and bringing the change she’d always dreamed of.

As you can probably tell, these are my favorite characters so I was satisfied by their endings. To be honest on my rewatch, I usually kind of just skim the Aang vs. Ozai fight because it’s just an anime battle. The characters hadn’t even met prior to the fight, so the emotional depth is lacking compared to the Final Agni Kai.

As for the balcony scene? I don’t watch it. And I think it says a lot that by simply not watching it, nothing is lost. It adds nothing to either character and only serves to give Aang a reward. Before that moment, nothing about the finale suggested Katara wanted that at all. Neither character played a significant role in the other’s finale arc. There was absolutely no narrative significance between them.

But there was for Zuko and Katara.

To me, Katara ended the story as a heroine and warrior, not a love interest. With Zuko, that was her ending. So that’s the real ending to me, because that’s what her character means to me.

[aworldforastage]

progress from the reading slump

just me rambling about the (danmei) titles I've been reading for the last few weeks while I'm trying to get out of my reading slump.

my "couple of pages every day" book: 九千岁 by 绣生 -- historical political intrigue with double rebirth, between a crown prince and a powerful (fake) eunuch

my "try a different media" audiodrama: 游龙随月 by Er Ya -- historical mystery action-adventure, between a war hero prince and a scholar/physician

my "try something different and random" book: 合意 by 楚寒衣青 -- modern romantic comedy with two CEO's

In my current mental state, these titles ended up in the perfectly awkward spot of "too good to be dropped outright" and "not interested enough to stay on my mind"

"read couple of pages every day": 九千岁 by 绣生

Synopsis: In the past life, the Crown Prince Yin Chengyu was deposed and exiled, but eventually returns to court and becomes the Emperor by making a deal with a powerful eunuch, Xue Shu. (Xue Shu is the gong, and a real eunuch in the first life.) They have a volatile relationship, and any genuine feelings they may have developed for each other cannot cut though their complicated power dynamic. YCY dies a few years into his reign due to ill health and overwork, and finds himself reborn as his younger self. He prevents XS from being castrated, but sneaks him into the palace as a fake eunuch and secretly helps him rise through the ranks. Eventually XS regains his memories of a previous life, and they work together to secure YCY's reign.

Current progress: 65% -- This novel has a lot of self-indulgent tropes. YCY, armed with the memories of a previous life, slowly but steadily takes down the people who wronged him in a past life. He swings between hot and cold while he tries to process his rage and feelings towards XS. As the party who had less power in the past life, it's comforting to see YCY getting the time and initiative to restart the relationship on his terms. YCY obviously wants to have a normal relationship with XS in this lifetime, and he can be downright ruthless in the way he flirts and teases the poor subordinate who isn't allowed to react. XS is just completely devoted to him; there isn't a rival in love for either of them across two lifetimes.

While their relationship arc is sweet, the story is just not that interesting or novel. We have seen all these tropes before, and even if I couldn't predict the exact ending, I feel like I can anticipate all the possibilities. There is a lot of substance in the political plot, as the Crown Prince travels all over the country to tackle serious cases of corruption, plague, bandit rebellion, foreign tribes, snow storms ... but every challenge feels like it's starting with a bang but ends with a whimper. Between YCY's knowledge of the future and the power he has consolidated in this lifetime, there is no real sense of suspense as he works through these "challenges". I don't find myself really "hooked" on this novel even though it sort of work as a comfort read.

"try other forms of media" : audiodrama of 游龙随月 by Er Ya

Synopsis: By the author of SCI Mystery Series, and with the same AD principal cast, this story is a historical-mystery-action-adventure, which I initially started in August. The Emperor's young uncle, Ninth Prince Zhao Pu, is a famous war hero and also famously dislikes defenseless scholars. He meets Gongsun Ce, an extremely smart scholar and physician, and becomes impressed by his skills and character (and beauty) as they travel to the capital together. As they deal with numerous cases ranging from scheming bandits to corrupt politicians, they are joined by Gongsun Ce's adopted son, a side CP of jianghu heroes, and other famous characters from the folktales of Justice Bao.

Current progress: 80% -- Both SCI and this series are technically fanfics based on the same cast of characters from a Hong Kong film, which in turn is based on Chinese history and folklore of Justice Bao. The author has written around 8 million words for these characters across three series/continuities, despite some controversy over the positioning of these stories as original fics vs fanfics (and as fanfics of the film vs historical domain characters) . The main couple in most of these series are actually the side CP in 游龙随月, so I plan to look into the other stories later.

With 游龙随月, I don't think the mystery aspect is handled effectively -- the audiodrama certainly feels like the action is being "told" rather than "shown". The relationship and characters that are cute at first got old really quickly. It often feels like the flirting gong and other characters who "sees through his true feelings" (including the kid) are pushing the tsudere-style shou into a relationship that he isn't ready for. And poor Xiao-Sizi, like so many kids in danmei, is reduced to a mascot to bring the couple together. I want to scream every time he is taught or rewarded for lying and other inappropriate behaviors just to bring the CP together. However, the production of AD is pretty good, and the chemistry of the side CP (voiced by the main CP in the AD's for SCI Mystery Series and Saye) is magnificent, so I still put it on when I have the time.

"try something random": 合意 by 楚寒衣青

Synopsis: This (relatively) short enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy starts with two CEO discovering their respective lovers are cheating with each other. However, Du Yanli comes through with his meticulously-managed image intact while Shan Yinsheng's emotional outburst ends up splashed across the tabloids. DYL signs strict contracts with his lovers to manage his relationships, so SYS asks to become a contracted lover to learn from his "excellent management of his personal life". While SYS's real goal is to ruffle DYL's impeccable feathers, he ends up falling in love for real. Meanwhile, DYL learns that his heart will not always stay within the bounds of his own contracts.

Current progress: 50% (but it's only 1/3 the length of the other two) -- The joy of this kind of romantic comedy is it's just so fun and free of tension. SYS thinks DYL is a high-strung and pretentious. DYL thinks SYS is an idiot for asking to become a contract lover. SYS wants DYL to fall in love with him to make a point, and then realizes he may have fallen for DYL for real. DYL thinks SYS is capricious and unreliable, but ... ends up chasing down pickpockets with him ob a bicycle during an island vacation??? I'm not sure what I was looking for in this novel, and I certainly didn't know what to expect, but it's been a fun ride so far.

[matth1w]

Prettiest Girl He’s Ever Seen

Pairing: Frank Castle/The Punisher x Reader

Summary: "My dog ran you over in the park”

Warnings: Pit bull dog

Rating: All

Word Count: 367 words

Note: For Bandit’s Trope Challenge from @banditthewriter​; Trope 23: My dog ran you over in the park

The light breeze was blowing through your hair as you looked on to see Lila, your almost one year old pit bull puppy - romping through the park grass. You were sitting on your blanket, enjoying the pleasantly cool early fall weather. You were enjoying the moment, and trying to calm your nerves, glad the park was relatively empty.

Your friend was on leave and you had set up this hang out, not a date but hopefully a date, time with him. He should be arriving in... you checked your watch... about fifteen minutes.

You put your arm back down to prop yourself up when Lila froze, looking intently in your direction. Before you could ask your fiercely protective puppy what was wrong, your eyes were covered with hands and you heard your friend’s familiar laugh behind you.

Suddenly, before Frank could remove his hands or even stand up properly, Lila came bounding over, barking and ready to defend her mom. You were about to call out her name to let her know you were okay when you regained your sight from Frank pulling his hands away.

You saw her flash by you before you heard Frank tumble to the ground. You turned around to see the hilarious and heartwarming sight of Lila standing atop Frank, who was laying on his back and fighting between the desire to ask you to call off your dog and pet her fiercely because she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen... second only to you

You stood up, brushing the dirt off your knees, and looked at Lila with a loving smile.

You shook your head,

“C’mere, pretty girl”.

Leaning down, you gave her head rubs and scratched under her chin. Turning your attention to your friend, you smiled at him,

“The Marines teach you how to combat that, Frankie?”

He shook his head, pretending to be offended at the question. He was here less than a minute and you were already teasing him just like old times.

“Wasn’t the warm welcome I was expecting from you, Y/N/N.”

Glancing over at the now calm Lila who was sitting at your feet, he nodded,

“So... can I pet her?”