#how about your own telekinesis? does it work the way you think it does or is it fucking with you too?

[antirepurp]

post-06 silver who's permanently fucked up and beyond saving. he lacks any memories beyond a moment of existential terror he had one morning after waking up in a world he didn't belong to, and doesn't remember the timeline he's from that's now gone. someone who slowly loses more and more of their inhibitions the more he starts to vaguely understand the workings of time, but never truly grasping how everything works. his future remains safe and unchanged and the skies are blue, but sometimes when he travels to the past he describes apocalyptic conditions he's convinced are real. everyone believes him, because they could not even dream of arguing against him when he's the one who's time traveling. maybe he catches on to it himself eventually, that something's very wrong with him, but there's nothing he can really do about it. no one has the ability to correct you when you're wrong, to ground you in reality, when they can't tell your lies from the truth. even you don't know where you are really from, where the home you long for supposedly is. is this real, are you even real anymore? did you travel to the past or fall asleep? when was the last time you were sure you were awake, anyway?

[siddyyyyyyyy]

damian has a magic girlfriend. you can choose what powers they have. but reader sometimes uses her powers to play tricks and or entertain depending on the circumstances. maybe reader saves him with her powers and idk angst?

Is this Witchcraft?

Older!Damian Wayne x fem!Reader

wc: 0.6 K summary: small prank teehee warnings: none, no use of y/n a/n: loooooove the idea, THANKYOUSOMUCH!!! But I just made a small drabble about it, I'll probably do another part to it, but currently I'm working on something bigger,so....... just wait it out(thanks again for the request)

»Could you pass me the book over-« And the book he wanted to grab is already in his hands. No matter how many times you do that, it never fails to faze him. He tried to figure out the science behind your power, but never got further than researching for telekinesis, reading hundereds of books about it, and learn that there is no possible way of him to fully understand it.

You, however, think it's amusing and also admireable how he tries and wants to figure it all out. Good thing he gave up after a few weeks, but still studies you intensely whenever he thinks you aren't looking.

Once, he got scared because you moved his stuffed animal to another place when he wasn't looking, doing it every time he turned his back to the plushie. He thought he was going insane until you revealed it and had to deal with a grumpy Damian for the rest of the day. But that didn't stop you from pulling pranks on him at all. In fact, it was funny to mess with him in various ways, especially when he doesn't get it at first.

Like now, he is focused on some case, sitting by his computer and currently solving it slowly but surely. Hanging out like this was usual between you two, just enjoying each other's presence like this while doing some stuff. But it does get boring sometimes. Especially when he has been at it for four hours and haven't said much.

You look through his room again, searching for something to distract him with. It won't hurt distracting him a little, right? You focus on his bottle water standing by his desk, carefully moving it up and let it circle around his head. Damian sighs out, trying to fetch the bottle in the air that floats around his head. He fails as you get the bottle out of his reach when he does so, getting a kick out of his attempts to stop your shenanigans. Finally, he turns around in his chair and looks a little annnoyed, while his water bottle still floats around by his face, even doing some small flips and circles right in front of him.

He manages to snatch it from the air, putting it back onto his desk with a small thud. »Are you doing this on purpose?« Bad question, but he still asked it.

»Do what on purpose?« Damian rolls his eyes at your words, standing off his chair and walks over to his bed, where you lay sprawled out on. He doesn't waste any time on laying down beside you, laying on his side to wrap his arm around your middle.

»Sorry for neglecting you. The case is really interesting.« He murmurs softly as you shift to wrap your own two arms around him.

Once he feels like you are getting comfortable to cuddle, the water bottle from before nudges his head gently, but irritating enough for him to curse it out in arabic. He knows it's you who does this all, but it doesn't stop him from getting at least a little grumpy again.

»I swear, if I see or feel this bottle move on its own, I will figure your power out just to make sure you won't be able to use it anymore.« Now, that's a threat. But you know he isn't serious. Maybe.

»You're no fun... can't even annoy you without getting death threats.« You sulk and place the bottle back onto his desk before snuggling closer to his chest.

He huffs out at your words and wraps his arm tighter around you. »That was not a death threat. Just a small warning.«

A small warning. Sure thing. But now with you both cuddled up, you are not complaining or messing around with his stuff anymore. Finally some peace.

a/n: I promise you all, there is going to be more parts to it probably but not now 😭😭 have a few things going on, i'm sure i'll get to it sooner or later. hope you enjoyed it!

←MASTERLIST

[hxrukii]

Heyy! Thanks for doing my request of Pinkie Pie! I loved it 😭 can i request another one? May i request Vil, Rook, Floyd, Azul and Lilia with a female Rarity reader? Again, thank you for the request 💞

❝I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.❞

╭・๑ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲︰ʚ Some of NRC student with a Rarity!Reader.‧₊˚✦

‧₊˚↷ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫(𝐬)┊❝ Vil Schoenheit, Rook Hunt, Floyd Leech, Azul Ashengrotto, Lilia Vanrouge. ❞ ⸜⸜*

↷︰ʚ 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 ‧₊˚✦ Reader is female and is implied to be Yuu. Sorry if this took some time! There will be a part 2 of this because I made a mistake. Also I'm so sorry this took so long, Floyd and Azul's part troubled me so much, and it's probably shorter than the rest :')

╰・𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬) ‧₊˚꒰ Spoiler for book 3. ɞ‧✦

Vil and Rarity!Reader will get along like two peas in a pod.

Vil absolutely loves talking about fashion with Rarity!Reader.

Would ask Rarity!Reader to make his clothes from time to time, and is very impressed with her talent and thinks that the clothes she makes are beautiful.

Thinks that Rarity!Reader's generosity is a great trait of hers but often reminds her to not be too generous, since most people at NRC could probably take advantage of that generosity.

Rarity!Reader helps Vil with giving advice to the rest of Pomefiore when he's to busy, Epel probably likes her very much since she's definitely less strict then Vil, and better at showing that she's doing this because she cares.

Since telekinesis isn't very known in Twisted Wonderland, most people don't know how to use it so Vil is very impressed by how Rarity!Reader is able to use sewing and cutting tools with ease through telekinesis.

Is also impressed by how Rairity!Reader is able to find gems very easily using her magic.

When Rarity!Reader gets carried away with other things instead of what she was working on, Vil is often the one to convince her to get back to work, to which she is grateful for.

Whenever Rarity!Reader gets stressed and starts eating buckets of ice cream, Vil usually gets her to take a break and eat healthier food while scolding her for eating to much ice cream and saying how it's not good for her health, Rarity!Reader knows he mean well though.

When Rarity!Reader mentioned that she used to work as a fashion designer back in her world, Vil proposed to help her start a business in Twisted Wonderland too, even proposed to help her promote her work.

Rarity!Reader is most likely to refuse saying that she wants to make a name for herself using her own hard work. And when she does, needless to say that Vil is very proud of her and will support her all the way.

"Darling? You need to take a break now, to much stress is not good for your health."

Rook would absolutely love Rarity!Reader.

The two of them would probably go on and on about everything that they find beautiful for hours on end. Vil will have to drag Rook away.

The two of them were probably talking about how inner beauty was just as important as what's on the outside.

When Rook learns that Rarity!Reader can also speak French? It's over, he's fallen in love all over again. Now most of your conversations will be in French, and the rest of NRC (- Vil probably) will be extremely confused on what the heck are those two saying.

When Rarity!Reader ask him to try on a clothing she made for him, he will be absolutely delighted and over the moon.

Rook probably feel in,ove with Rarity!Reader with how generous she is ngl. Will stop anyone who even tries to take advantage of her, not that Rarity!Reader can't defend herself since he once saw her punch someone in the face when they tried to hurt Grim, that's when he learned that Rarity!Reader was also skilled in martial art.

Probably admires Rarity!Reader's control on her magic a lot, often ask her questions on how telekinesis works and tips on how to be precise while using telekinesis.

When Rarity!Reader mentions that she used to be a fashion designer and used to have her own shop, Rook would probably be the first to encourage her to open a shop in Twisted Wonderland as well.

Rook is 100% Rarity!Reader's number one fan, there's no competition.

If Rarity!Reader were to consider the idea of opening a shop, Rook would probably convince Vil to help or something.

Whenever Rarity!Reader get stressed, Rook will be the first to know and the first to be there to calm her down.

"Ma chère! You look tout simplement magnifique today as well!"

Floyd is said to show some interest in fashion, in particular for shoes but still in fashion so he's most likely to talk about fashion with Rarity!Reader. When he's interested that is.

Sometimes even Rarity!Reader is shocked about how insightful Floyd can be about fashion when he wants too, sometimes even picking up things that catches her eyes and giving it to them.

Sometimes ask Rarity!Reader to design shoes (does Rarity even make shoes? I forgor) or clothes for him, will probably complain if she takes longer than she promised.

If Floyd ever were to let Rarity!Reader I to his and Floyd's shared room, I think that Rarity!Reader would have a stroke seeing how messy his room was.

Floyd would just half heartedly encourage Rarity!Reader while she's cleaning up his mess (she really is his cleaner-shrimp) until he is bored.

If Rarity!Reader were to open her clothing store in Twisted Wonderland, Floyd will basically become a bodyguard at this point, squeezing any rude customer till they can't breathe anymore. Who needs a bodyguards when you have Floyd as your s/o.

Depending on his mood, Floyd will either be willing and very very happy to be a model for Rarity!Reader clothes or straight up refuse. At least he's honest you know.

Now if Rarity!Reader were to get stressed, Floyd will have to ways to deal with it depending on his mood. If he's in a good mood then he'll probably just drag Rarity!Reader out to do something but if he's in a bad mood then he'll probably join Rarity!Reader in eating ice cream.

There's a great amount of chance that Floyd would ask Rarity!Reader if she can carry him using either her strength, since she is skilled in martial arts she must be able to carry some weight right? Or will just ask if she can carry him using telekinesis.

If Floyd is feeling a lil silly, he might as well try to eat one of Rarity!Reader's gems tbh.

"Shrimpy! Look at what I found! Wouldn't this look great on that new outfit you were working on?"

Azul thinks that Rarity!Reader would fit in perfectly in Octavinelle, after all, benevolence and generosity are the same right?

Whenever Mostro Lounge is having a special event, he would often invite Rarity!Reader and ask about her opinion on the decoration. He wants everything to be perfect after all.

If Azul found out about Rarity!Reader's magical abilities (telekinesis and finding gem) before his overblot, he will most definitely try to get them, with a contract of course. But I feel like Rarity is the type of person to have her lawyer on speed dial whenever there's a contract to sign so he'll probably fail. (How does she even have a lawyer in Twisted Wonderland when she's from another world? We will never know.)

If he found out after his overblot since he did say he would be be trying to change his ways of doing things, he will probably just ask Rarity!Reader for how her gem-finding ability works and how can she be so precise with telekinesis.

Will blackmail anyone who insults Rarity!Reader's work.

Will probably also be the one to suggest that Rarity!Reader should open her own clothing shop in Twisted Wonderland, doesn't having a inter-dimensional branch sounds amazing? What about the paperwork? Don't worry, Azul will take care of it. For a price of course :)

What would the price be you ask? Azul would probably just ask Rarity!Reader to promote Mostro Lounge or something. A fair deal wouldn't you say?

Would also offer to take care of any work contract and things like that for Rarity!Reader, he wouldn't want her to get taken advantage of after all.

Would be kind off embarrassed if Rarity!Reader proposed that Azul try on one of the clothing she made for him, would try to play it cool though. Rarity!Reader would probably see right through him, but wouldn't mention it.

"Dear, what do you think about this new decoration for the Mostro Lounge's next event? I think it's quite good no?"

Now Lilia is 700 years old and likes to travel all around the world, so even though telekinesis isn't usual in Twisted Wonderland, he's probably seen one person or two use it, so he sin's very shocked, but still impressed nonetheless by Rarity!Reader's magical ability.

Is also fairly impressed by Rarity!Reader's combat skills, has probably seen her punch Sebek in the face because he scared her or something. Wonders if she would be willing to train with both Sebek and Silver.

Lilia likes being cute so he would probably ask Rarity!Reader for fashion tips on how to look even cuter, not necessarily asking her to make him an outfit, just some tips.

Not that he would mind if she actually made him an outfit, on the contrary, he would be quite happy, showing it off without any hesitation when he can.

I don't think anybody at NRC would mess with Rarity!Reader since being close with Lilia means being close with other Diasomnia students, and well, most student from other dorms are scared of Diasomnia, especially Malleus.

I feel like Lilia also knows how to speak French so he and Rarity!Reader could also discuss about things in French together!

If Rarity!Reader wanted to start a business in Twisted Wonderland, Lilia could probably help with choosing a place, since he probably knows where fashion design will be extremely popular etc..

Lilia along with Silver and Sebek could probably help set up the place and carry more heavy things, even if Rarity!Reader could probably carry them with telekinesis. They just want to help!

Whenever Rarity!Reader get stressed, Lilia will help by distracting her with other things and get her to take a break. Once Rarity!Reader does calm down, Lilia will most definitely proceed with stealing the ice cream bucket she was eating and eating it himself. Might share if Rarity!Reader ask nicely.

"Hm? This would look cute on me you say? Kufufu, it's no surprise. After all, aren't adorable in anything I wear?"

꒰ ◁ ꒱┊❝Back to Vil, Rook, Floyd, Azul, Lilia's Masterlist❞

[physalian]

Plot Holes and How to Fill Them (Or, The Hidden Potential in Your Mistakes)

“But why didn’t they just do that earlier!”

“You can time travel – so time travel!”

“Doesn’t X have Y spell? Why aren’t they using it to escape?”

“You. Have. Telekinesis! How are you this stupid?”

Plot holes! The bane of every writer’s existence. You think you’ve polished your beautiful manuscript, you have it all sent out for the masses to consume and praise and shower with compliments and adoration… and then they start tugging at a thread that may or may not begin to unravel your entire story. You’ve read this thing top to bottom, forwards and backwards and upside down, so many times the letters are burned into your brain. You mumble your monologues in your sleep — how did you not see this? How do you fix this?

See this post about beginning the writing process that might help you avoid opening a plot hole entirely with a solid enough script and outline.

Types of Plot Holes

Your magic system’s established rules have just been broken for TeNSioN

Your Deus Ex Machina really did come out of nowhere and is quite out of character

Why doesn't Character just run away from a fight they can't win?

Characters forgetting they have superpowers, extreme intelligence, handy tools or weapons, survival skills, common sense, or crucial information to escape and/or solve a situation

Characters dying for the above mistakes when said death could have been avoided

The entire story could have been avoided had Character A just told Character B the truth

Character X should have known ___ all along given their profession/backstory/friend circle/education/personality

And variations of the above, I’m sure I’m missing a couple. Fixing plot holes generally come in two camps: Those you can fix by rewriting the existing manuscript that contains the hole, or those you have to work around from a previous manuscript that’s already been published.

Why Plot Holes Happen

Plot holes happen in reality. Expecting your first, second, or 15th draft to be completely foolproof is utter nonsense. Real people forget stuff they’re supposed to know all the time, tools that would be useful are left behind, GroupThink makes very bad decisions.

The difference is: You are writing fiction. Your goal is to be entertaining, not necessarily realistic. A character simply *forgetting* Macguffin X at the climax of the story does not make for an entertaining read, no matter how likely it might be to happen in the real world.

You’re making this entire world up as you go and that alone is an impressive feat millions of others can only dream about – cut yourself some slack, okay? Everything is fixable.

Plot holes also happen because we’re so engrossed in our own story that we forget it’s all made up. You’re 22 chapters into a 24 chapter novel and you’ve just realized your psychic hero would never have been caught unawares like this. “But that’s just how he is!”

No. Stop. That’s not just how he is. That’s just how you wrote him – and you can go back and un-write him. Any excuse you can dream up you can un-write, and unfortunately, you’ll likely have to do a fair bit of it if you still have the opportunity.

Plot holes generally open long after the inciting incident that causes them. If you’re going to fix it, duct-taping together a solution in that very same scene isn’t the way to do it. You have to figure out why it’s a hole at all, then go back and fix its foundations.

Finding Your Own Plot Holes

Sometimes you’re lucky enough to stumble upon them before it’s too late. A fair bit of the time, though, your audience has to tell you. Finding your own plot holes requires stepping back from your work and looking at it like you’re just a reader, not the author.

Read your plot out loud to yourself and keep asking questions like:

Does this make sense for the scene?

Does this only exist to look cool at the cost of logic?

Are these rules I wrote too easy to break or contradictory in any way?

Is there any other way for this character to escape this situation?

Is the only solution here too contrived?

That, and having an army of beta readers who should show you flaws you’ve overlooked. Even then, some things just aren’t obvious at all until someone too smart for their own good points out something no one else considered before.

It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world.

Filling Plot Holes

Fix your broken magic system

A “magic system” broadly describes any type of powers/abilities/supernatural entities that function in your world. They can be in high fantasy, urban fantasy, sci-fi, or any genre really. The Force is a magic system, as much as is bending in Last Airbender even if no one calls it “magic”.

For example: Force users are telekinetic… and yet don’t simply repeatedly spam the “chuck my enemies into a wall/off a cliff/anywhere that is away from me” button. It’s what you’d call a “soft” magic system, it doesn’t have explicit rules on how and when it can and should be used. It just *is*.

Fixing holes in your magic system first demands examining why you wrote it the way you did, why you gave it these specific rules, or why you didn’t, and all the ways characters should otherwise be able to use it when your story demands they get creative.

For soft magic systems — never let the magic system win the day. It invites far too much scrutiny. Gandalf from Lord of the Rings is a Wizard. He can do an undefined number of spells and has an unclear number of abilities and limit to his reach. Gandalf’s magic is never the saving grace of the Fellowship. So asking “why didn’t Gandalf just do X” isn’t ever a question people have because success never depends on Gandalf doing X.

Everyone hates on the time turner in Harry Potter, as they should. Time travel is essential to the plot of Prisoner of Azkaban, without it the heroes fail. And yet, because it is time travel, why it never existed earlier and why they never use it again to solve more massive plot problems is a valid question. As goes with many spells and abilities in the series.

For hard magic systems — remember that you wrote the rules, you can go back and change them at any time before it’s published. Bending in Last Airbender is rarely the focus of any conflict. Yes, two benders will fight each other, but it’s not “who’s the stronger bender,” it’s “who’s smarter with their element”. Who better uses their environment? Which one is racing against a clock before reinforcements arrive and overwhelm them? Which one runs the risk of exposing themselves if they start bending? Whose mental state is crippling their bending today?

These are all character-driven explanations for why certain abilities do or don’t manifest in a given scene… until the finale when it really is just a clash of red and blue aura lasers.

There is never a scene where a character is trapped when they shouldn’t be. Never a “why didn’t you just X” moment, because it’s never about the bending, it’s about the bender.

Turn plot-reasons into character-reasons

This means taking a “why don’t they just do X” and making the reason because one of the protagonists is morally against doing it, not because the hand of the author demands it.

In Last Airbender, Aang is vocally against simply killing the Fire Lord. It would be easier, it would risk far less casualties and carnage, it’s fastest. And yet. Aang doesn’t do it simply because he’s not strong enough or he doesn’t have some magical super weapon, or the stars have aligned and now he’s lost a very convenient ability – Aang doesn’t want to take the easy road because that’s who he is as a person.

He’s been raised as a monk to value the preservation of life above all else (ignoring any accidental casualties over the course of the series). Him being desperate to not simply kill Ozai is central to his character and even when he has the chance in the climax of the fight, he still doesn’t take it.

Now “why didn’t you do that earlier” does, still, concern the “energy bending” established out of nowhere just for the finale so Aang doesn’t have to compromise his morals to win… but the show is so damn good and Ozai’s just desserts so damn sweet it doesn’t really matter.

Making these plot decisions character decisions, so long as they are in-character, gives some juicy potential for schisms within Team Protagonist as fan favorites clash over ideals and morals and whether or not the greater good is worth them sacrificing something so central to their being.

This also applies to characters not sharing crucial information with each other. Make them distrustful of the others, or let them attempt it anyway and have some other consequence for the effort. Anything is better than a character sitting on valuable info simply to maintain the mystery.

Avoid Deus Ex Machinas

The “surprise reinforcement cavalry charge” is one of my favorite deus ex machinas in fantasy. Everybody cheers, it looks amazing, the music is swelling, our heroes on the battlefield realize they haven’t been forsaken by their friends, etc. In Lord of the Rings, yes, Theoden could have arrived 30 minutes earlier and saved even more lives, but we already knew he was on his way moving as fast as he could without exhausting his horses. Theoden’s army also took care of the bulk of the battle so when Aragorn arrives with the second surprise reinforcements, it’s less a decisive blow that comes out of nowhere and more the victory lap.

In “Battle of the Bastards,” Game of Thrones has its third surprise cavalry charge of the series, only this one much more explicitly comes to save the day. The difference between this scene and Theoden’s charge is: Audiences had no idea Littlefinger was on his way, and neither did Jon Snow. Had Sansa told him she had a plan, Jon could have waited. He wasn’t backed against a wall and forced to fight right then and there, he could have stalled an extra hour by just not showing up to the battlefield to wait for his cavalry. With Sansa inexplicably not telling him, she risked his life and the lives of his entire army because the hand of the writers wanted to keep it a surprise. Worst of all, when the battle is over, he compliments her decision, despite all the blood on her hands.

Surprise reinforcements, saviors, powers, and abilities always run the risk of “why didn’t they do that earlier” and you should be asking yourself the same question. If you can’t come up with an explanation other than “because it’ll look cool” go back to the drawing board.

Or, have your very own characters pissed that the savior didn’t just do that earlier. Have your characters ask where this special power was, have it mean something to them and the story at large. Had Jon been angry with Sansa, given their incredibly pyrrhic victory and the potentially avoidable death of their youngest brother, it might’ve made for some interesting character drama.

Give your saving graces deadly costs

“Why didn’t they just do X earlier?”

“Because doing X would have killed Character D, dummy.”

Giving your super special magic, mutant, super, or supernatural powers costs, drawbacks, and limitations forces the characters who use them to not resort to them every single chance they get. Their magic drains their physical stamina, or the demon they made a deal with camping in their brain threatens to overtake their psyche, or the sword is cursed and every time the hero raises it in battle, they lose a little piece of themselves. Or, using this creepy power strains their relationship with their friends or community.

Without risk and consequences, you cannot avoid “why didn’t they do that earlier,” because the only answer you have to give is “because I, the author, said so.” The only time a character is allowed to have selective amnesia about their superpowers is if it’s been established beforehand as a potential problem. Then it’s not “this came out of nowhere.” Then your audience is dreading the entire time waiting for that chekhov’s gun to fire.

Don’t compromise your story for sensationalism

I can complain about ~subverting expectations~ in another post, but what I mean here is this: Are you writing this scene purely for shock value, for the sake of a twist, because a story this grim demands at least one character death, or because it’s going to look epic?

In this post about pacing and this post about how to write tone, I talked about making your scenes pull double duty. You can write a scene for shock and awe, but if it’s at the expense of a character’s integrity or intelligence, come up with another way to make it spectacular.

You want the villain to monologue to give the heroes time to save the world? Then write a villain with an ego and personality that would monologue. You want the hero to be a one-man-army? Then write their personality as the lone wolf type and have it be a flaw of theirs that they keep striking out alone, consequences be damned.

You absolutely need the hero to not take the easy road and fight the bad guy without using their most effective weapon? Give them a reason to stall this fight. Maybe they really do need to simply run out a clock, or they don’t actually want to kill/subdue their opponent, or in doing so, the villain’s death is what causes the Bad Thing to happen.

If I write a character that can kill with just a look, every time I put them in a dangerous situation I need to then justify why they don’t do that over and over again, unless it’s by their own stubborn integrity that they choose not to.

If I write a villainous plan so devious and well thought out, the only thing standing in the way is living protagonists? I need a reason the villain doesn’t just murder the heroes every chance they get. Maybe they’re internally struggling over actually going through with it, or their ego demands the hero doesn’t get a quick or honorless death, or they do actually need a living hero for the plan to work.

Fixing Plot Holes in Sequels

All of the above is advice for issues within the same manuscript. What happens if you’ve already published and have the chance to address a known plot hole in the sequel?

About the worst thing you can do is slap in a throwaway line or hasty explanation to cover your ass. Everyone reading and watching will notice. Saying nothing is better than saying that.

See the duct-tape in Rise of Skywalker when the heroes explained that they couldn't just hypersspace-jump another ship into the enemy fleet because it worked so horribly effectively last time. Doesn't matter that they could have put it on autopilot or sacrificed a droid, or that, at any point in the history of Star Wars, someone else could have and should have done this desperate maneuver. For the sake of "looking cool" it opened an entire sinkhole.

Less a “hole” and more an inconsistency — the pegasus Blackjack in Percy Jackson is explicitly a mare, a female horse, in one book, and then inexplicably male in later books. Why? Well the author made a mistake, simple as that. He did *not* attempt to explain this error away or dig the hole deeper. It just is. Though I’m not sure why Blackjack couldn’t just stay a mare and how he didn’t reference the previous book when writing the sequel is a bit baffling.

If your heroes can no longer use the Deus Ex Machina they used before – have them attempt to use it, and then come up with a solid reason why it’s not possible. Maybe it was one-time use, or the savior simply doesn’t want to, or the cost/risk is too high to attempt it again, or it simply can’t be found and it’s very frustrating.

Have the heroes be morally opposed to doing what they did before, or overconfident, or skeptical that it will even work again only for that choice to bite them in the ass later. Have the magic item all used up, the recipe to recreate it lost to history. There’s a hundred better excuses than the hand of the author simply saying so.

—

If you aren’t going to write a sequel and you accept living with the plot hole unfilled… chances are people are going to love the story despite its flaws. Harry Potter is the poster child of “why didn’t they use X spell to solve the problem” or “they have a spell for X, yet they don’t have a spell for Y?” and how many people love that story?

In the end, a plot hole can be tiny or massive and chances are the story you told is entertaining enough to make up for it. It’s just a story, it’s just fiction. Learn from your mistakes so the next piece you create is even better.

[hugsandchaos]

Dadow Boom AU snippets and ideas while I try to make sense of it! Hooray! :D

Shadow having a soft spot towards kids, especially his own, means Tails is off limits when/if fighting. He dodges all attacks made by the young fox and tries to disarm him without dealing damage. He’ll even step in if Eggman’s attacking and he’s around to help protect Tails.

Silver is around 8 biologically, but 1,000+ chronologically. He’s a little shorter than Tails.

Warning to all villains: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT try to kidnap Silver and hold him hostage against Shadow! He’ll have you begging for the sweet release of death! Kidnapping Silver is a one-way ticket to hell!

Silver gets along with Tails well. Silver doesn’t always understand him, but he tries his best, and Tails appreciates his efforts to understand and honesty when he doesn’t.

Shadow does his best to keep their past under lock and key, but sometimes, Silver will say something that sounds like they were struggling a lot before finding Bygone Island.

Silver’s still practicing his telekinesis, but he’s very good at it! According to Shadow, the edgy looking hedgehog himself was accidentally and quite literally tossed across the room by Silver once. Knuckles and Sonic aren’t allowed to help Shadow teach Silver because they tried making him do all these things that were dangerous.

Shadow is a tired single parent, Sonic and Amy are both working together and fighting each other to make him not a single parent. Shadow doesn’t understand what they see in him. Silver disapproves of them flirting with his dad.

The reason they fought in the first place was because Team Sonic took some strange crystals that Shadow needed, so he went to get them back and it escalated into a fight when they refused.

Eggman once picked Silver up because he thought he was a lost child because Silver was practicing his teleportation skills and showed up at his door. It took Shadow so much not to rip Eggman’s head off when he discovered that Silver was in Eggman’s lair.

Shadow being unbelievably pissed and out for blood if someone dares to lay a hand on his son, partially due to past experiences.

Shadow growing Black Arms features (tail, third eye, wings, bigger claws) when he either needs it or when he just wants to. Silver is completely used to this “monster form” as Sticks put it and will ask to be carried during flights.

Because Silver was created with significantly more hedgehog DNA, the only Black Arms feature he actually has is a longer tail, which is still white. They’re not quite sure where the extra fluff came from, but maybe he’ll grow out of it? (Spoiler alert: He didn’t.)

Here are a few bits I’ve thought of, but might not fit in this AU.

Possible Sticks and Shadow meeting before the rest of the group?? Sticks being an honorary aunt for Silver?? Sticks and Shadow solidarity. Sticks making “old man” jokes towards Shadow. Sticks not asking Shadow much about the whole “half alien” thing or much of his past, just enough to understand the bare minimum and then stop despite her curiosity.

“Hey, Sticks, is your friend single by any chance?” — Sonic

Silver climbing on Shadow, pouncing on him, pulling him, shaking him, whatever it takes to get him up so they can play while the rest of the group watches in horror. Shadow either suddenly waking up from a fake sleep at just the right time and grabbing him, or does the whole “Alright, I’m up, I’m up” thing. Just the group being surprised how patient he is with Silver, I guess.

I don’t usually headcanon Shadow showing signs of age or having old scars because the scars are supposed to heal completely and he doesn’t age, but I think this shall be an exception and give Shadow maybe one or two old scars. Maybe. I haven’t decided yet.

[lilbitdepressed27]

Wednesday Addams/Fem!Reader

Summary: She feels like she doesn’t deserve your love

Warnings: none

WC: 891

Authors Note: not proof read so sorry for any mistakes It’s a little short anon I hope you like it tho :)

"Hey Wednesday." You smiled brightly at the shorter girl. Ever since you met Wednesday last year you couldn't help but to grow attached to her. She had been the polar opposite of what you were. Where she was darkness you were light. But you've always said that every dark room needs a light. Since the year before you had helped Wednesday in her case. You had been the only one to believe her about there being a monster. And that something had happened to Rowan.

With your help, you also happened to have the power telekinesis and energy manipulation. You were able to get Wednesday in places she wasn't able to get into by herself. You couldn't help but to fall in love with her every second you spent with her. As the school year went by you had made sure that Wednesday knew of your feelings. You had never been shy about your feelings.

Especially when they came down to Wednesday. You would love her to the end of times if you had to. You never wanted her to feel uncomfortable but you also wanted her to feel loved. Every person deserves to be loved in their own way. And a certain hand told you about how she returned the feelings. Not that you would ever rat him out.

"Hello Y/n."

Wednesday looked away from her work to look at you. You had taken the vacant seat next to her. Your presence already lighting up her day as much as she hated to think that. There were times she had thought (still thinks) that she doesn't deserve this love you give her. The amount of times she had said that she would never become her father. But here she was having those absurd feelings. There were times she looked at you and the thought of letting you go cause of the love she didn’t know how to return made her feel, miserable. You had become a parasite in her life and she wasn't so sure she wanted to get rid of it.

She knew the way she spoke to others, they have said that the way she says things they come off offensive. She had spoken to you like how she does with everyone else. But you always stayed. Never taking her insults to heart. She didn't know how to feel about it. She knew from the moment she met you, you were different.

The way you looked at her, it was always different from the way you looked at everyone else. It made her feel uncanny. But she had grown to enjoy the feeling. The way you spoke to her, the way you acted towards her had always been different from the interactions you had with others. You had your own special smile reserved just for her.

Even after how she acted, how she spoke. You always stayed.

Wednesday looked at you as you set down her coffee in front of her. She had noticed how you always paid attention to her. Using your powers for her gain.

Wednesday watched as you got to work on your homework your unoccupied hand resting on your lap. She couldn't understand why, why domine like you felt so strongly towards her. What did she have that had you like the way you were. Wednesday had been called many things. Evil. Gruesome. Going as far as calling her death. She couldn’t understand why someone like you would feel love of all feelings towards her.

She’s asked. In her own little way. The answer she got in return had always been the same.

“Cause I see you Wednesday. You can been cold all you want. My feelings toward you will never change.”

That response had left her feeling, unnatural. The spiders in her stomach made her feel nauseous. She knew that what she felt for you was, love. She knew it was but she didn’t know how to show you. You showed your love to her so openly, not in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. But just enough for her to know how you felt. The way your pinky would link with hers under the table. The way you’d buy her, her favorite things. You had gotten her new black dagger with her initials(it had become her prized possession) a new black sweater. That was so soft and it fit her great. You would hold her hand under table and it would her bring so much comfort. The tiniest of touches from you made her feel so much.

She showed it by making sure no one messed with you. Xavier had been her latest victim. Sometimes you were too nice and people would take advantage of that. Xavier had been throwing insults at you all day. Wednesday knew he was just jealous. She wasn’t blind, she knew he had feelings for her. But she only had feelings for one person. That person was you. Even though she felt like she didn’t deserve your love.

Could you love me though I don’t deserve it

You would always be there to prove her wrong.

:)

[wintervalewritersecond]

witchy woman - rowan laslow

requested: yes! requests: open! hii can u make a rowan x witch fem!reader fic about him feelings inscure being her bf because the reader is a popular girl in nevermore. thanks before head!

A/N: i dont know a lot about witchcraft, so please let me know if i got anything wrong! i love rowan though, so i wanted to write it still :) thank you for requesting and i hope you like it <3

wordcount: 2,905 warnings: incorrect witch information, rowan doesn't go insane, insecure rowan </3, she/her pronouns, mean character, might be ooc, cursewords

When Rowan overhears some conversations and gossip, he gets insecure about your intentions.

You had said goodbye to Rowan, heading into the woods to clear your head and collect some small plants and other greens to use in your spell bottles. Sure, you could have gone to Jericho to try and find what you needed, but finding it in the woods was more fulfilling. You believed that being in the open air not only helps you to find yourself but also the ingredients that you need.

Rowan decided to stay in the Quad, working on some of his homework while waiting for you to return. It is still early, and some classes are still going as small groups of students walk through the Quad, sitting down to enjoy lunch or also do breakfast.

None of them sit with Rowan though.

Rowan has always been the outcast of outcasts. He didn't really excel in anything. Fencing wasn't his strongest suit, and though he did get good grades for other classes, but it wasn't like Bianca at Botany. No one really hung out with them, especially because they think he is going insane.

Word had spread about his mother that attended Nevermore years ago. Telekinesis had driven her insane as she destroyed her own dorm, luckily being stopped before she could do any more damage. But the word had already reached the others.

"Rowan!" You cheer, running up to the table he is sitting at.

He looks up from his laptop, a smile on his face.

You are unlike the others. Though you are extremely popular amongst the students and teachers, you never treated him any differently. Not in a bad way, that is. You had been paired up with him once for a project, and ever since then you never left his side. No matter how many times he insisted that it might have been better for you and your reputation if you just distanced yourself from him.

"You will not believe what I just found," you open your tote bag, pulling out a small fabric package.

In it are different flowers and other herbs, most of them unfamiliar to him. He has seen some of them before, but the names are hard to remember.

Even if he does not understand anything, he is still happy to see what you find. You can talk to him about any kind of spell or potion you made, and he will listen with all his attention. He would drop anything for you, just like you would do for him.

"Now I only need to buy some small bottles, candles, rosemary," you nod. "What are you working on, Rowan?"

"Nothing big," he awkwardly laughs. "Just some homework."

You smile at him, watching him as your head rests on your palms. He is so mesmerizing to you. The way his glasses slide off of his nose, the freckle underneath his eye, his face when he looks focused. You could go on for hours.

"I might join you," you pull the journal out of your bag, "I don't have too much homework left, but I will stay here. We can maybe even get some drinks at the Weathervane afterward?"

The journal is one of your prized possessions. It is filled with spells you have done or want to do, some important ingredients for spell jars, and sigils that have been drawn.

After making homework in the Quad, the two of you decide to just get some dinner before just hanging out in Rowan's dorm. He would often allow you to mix up all sorts of potions or try out new spells as he would watch or read.

Two hours had passed of the two of you just messing around, taking some small breaks in between to drink, eat, or kiss. A knock on the door before Xavier comes into the room, dressed in his workout clothing.

"Hey Rowan, hey Y/N."

You greet him back before closing your journal, placing everything in your bag before standing up.

"Hey, Xavier," you smile as you turn to Rowan. "I will see you tomorrow?"

Rowan nods with a big smile on his head, pushing his glasses back on his nose. You look at him for a second before taking hold of his cheek, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.

"Good night, Rowan."

"Good night, my love."

-

Rowan is so head over heels for you. Even if you have been dating for close to a year, he often still can't believe that you are his girlfriend. He tends to get a little bit insecure, especially during the beginning of your relationship. He would think that you weren't serious when you said you liked him, or when you thought he was attractive. He had been told otherwise his entire life.

You were sitting next to him in class, your left hand on the table as Rowan scribbled some random shapes on it. He would often feel a bit nervous, and the drawing distracts him. Plus, it gives the two of you a reason to hold hands.

"Oh, Rowan," you suddenly remember. "I have to show a new kid around."

Not that you were looking forward to it too much. Normally, Enid would be the one to introduce everyone, but as she had classes longer than you today, you have been tasked with showing the new Nevermore student around. You were popular among the rest of the students, so Principal Weems found you the obvious choice.

"That's okay," Rowan smiles, still focused on the small scribbles on your hand. "I can wait for you in the Quad when you're done?"

"That would actually be perfect!"

The bell rings, a signal for you to go to the Principals office, and a signal for Rowan that his day has ended. A quick kiss on his cheek and a 'goodbye'.

Classes have ended for him, but that did not mean that he didn't have any plans. He asked Xavier to let him use his bike to go to Jericho so he could pick you up some small gifts. The boy would often buy you small presents; you could say it is his love language.

Though he wouldn't admit it, he keeps a list on his phone with all the things you ever said you liked, wanted, or needed. He would carefully pick some items to buy you, even if you insisted that he didn't need to spend any money on you. But he wanted to.

"Where is the rosemary?" He mumbles, a shopping basket in his hand which is already filled with different items.

Snacks and drinks, but also some objects that he has seen you use for spell jars. Cinnamon, matches, bay leaves, and a bouquet of roses. A smile is on his face just thinking about giving you everything.

Finally, the rosemary has been located. After paying for everything at the register, he puts it in his backpack before leaving for Uriah's Heap. It was the only place in Jericho that sold... strange items. He only needed some incense and thin candles, but it was the perfect place for it.

Once back at Nevermore, he packaged each and every little thing, making sure to put a little note in it as well. He always felt too nervous or scared to say things out loud, and a note was a perfect way for him to express how he was feeling. You never blamed him for it though, you love him exactly for how he is. He is deeply grateful for it; you have never pushed him out of his comfort zone, and instead helped guide him to what he wanted himself.

-

"And this is the Quad!" You smile.

"Wow," George laughs. "And everyone is some type of outcast?"

You nod, leading him around the Quad to walk past the different tables.

"There's werewolves, vampires, sirens," you count on your fingers. "We also have gorgons, faceless people, telekinesis, visions, spells. You name it, and Nevermore probably has it!"

The tall boy nods, leaning against one of the pillars as he looks down at you with a smile.

"And you?"

"Oh," you didn't expect him to ask that. "I do witchcraft. Spells, crystals, candles. All that stuff."

George hums, it's different than his power. He doesn't fully control it just yet, but from what he knows, he can control water. He had told you at the beginning of the tour, but never thought to ask you about what you did.

"Does everyone usually stay grouped together? Based on skills, I mean."

"Sometimes," you admit. "Bianca Barcley is one of the most popular girls. She is a Siren and most of her friends are as well. A few exceptions, including me and Yoko. Mostly, people stick together. There are some smaller groups with different powers, but it's not like the Normie schools. No nerds versus popular people."

He lets out a laugh.

"Good to know. I was actually popular at my old school," he grins. "Where do you fall? Popular, or not so much?"

He surely knows how to ask awkward questions.

"At Normie school? Not that much. But here it's a bit more to the popular side, I guess," you shrug. "I just try to get along with everyone. That's it."

George pushes himself off of the pillar, looking around the Quad again. Something about him feels off. It almost seems like he is looking around for prey. Someone to pick on.

"So, a popular girl then?"

Then, his eyes fall on one person in particular.

"I thought you said there were no nerds here at Nevermore," he snickers, sneakily pointing to something across of the Quad.

You frown, looking at where he was pointing. Through one of the gates walks Rowan, a goofy yet nervous smile on his face as he holds a small basket in his hands.

"Who layers a checkered button-up underneath a zip-up hoodie?"

If looks could kill, then George would have now been dead and buried. He should really watch what he is saying.

"And the glasses- He knows contacts exist, right?"

Rowan gets closer and closer, slowly picking up more from the one-sided conversation.

"George-"

"I know you are more of a popular kid here, but I didn't think Nevermore would stoop this low. I have seen the website, and I thought they only let special people in."

"George, I swear-"

Your tone gets a bit more aggressive every time you have to say his name. Rowan thickly swallows, looking from you to the taller guy. George, as you called him, might be right.

"I don't think studying for eight hours a day is a superpower. Makes you more of a freak-"

"Stop it, George. I'm serious."

Rowan is standing too close to you already, if he turned around now, it would only make him seem weirder. He taps your shoulder softly as your murderous gaze changes into a soft, loving one when you see him up close.

"Rowan!"

With an awkward smile he holds out the package to you, his hands shaking as he tries to avoid George's gaze.

"I uh- Is this a bad time? I have something-"

George suddenly stands behind you, hovering over you as he looks at Rowan, a smirk on his face. He is only a few centimeters taller than him, yet Rowan feels intimidated. It's not like he talked shit about the poor guy earlier.

"I don't think you should talk to her, man," he raises an eyebrow. "You don't seem like the type for a popular girl-"

Your face morphs back into a hateful one as you aggressively throw your elbow back into George's chest. He stumbles back, clutching his chest as he looks up at you with a shocked look on his face.

"What the fuck?!"

You grab his collar, pulling him down to you as you glare at him, your eyes almost on fire. The tables close to you look at you in shock. They have never seen you this aggressive.

"You better watch out," you grit your teeth. "Say one more word about Rowan, and I will make sure you leave here with more broken bones and curses than you can count."

The second you let go of his shirt, he stumbles to the ground. You turn back to Rowan, who is staring at the ground, now shaking more than before.

"Hey, are you okay?" you whisper, stepping closer to him before placing your hands on his upper arms. "Rowan, come on. Let's go."

The two of you walk away to your dorm, leaving behind a confused George and a surprised Quad. Xavier lets out a laugh as he walks past the guy on the floor.

"That was a bad move, man."

-

"I will make sure he has a horrible time at Nevermore," you groan, rummaging through your drawers to find ingredients for a new spell jar. "I am serious, Rowan, if he says one more word about you I will actually kill him."

You turn around to face your boyfriend, but he hasn't moved an inch. He still sits on the edge of your bed, staring at his hands as the small package is placed next to him. Your shoulders slump as you immediately place everything you were holding onto your desk, sitting down next to Rowan.

It is silent for a second before the boy finally speaks up.

"Do you think he was right?"

You turn your head to face him, your eyebrows creased. His voice was shaking and his eyes are full of tears.

"Maybe he is," Rowan whispers to himself. "I-I... What if I am not really your type? George could be- He is taller and more popular-"

"Hey," you look at him, your heart sinking into your stomach. "Rowan, that is not true at all."

He slowly looks up at you, his lip trembling as he blinks to try to keep the tears at bay. What if George was right?

"You are the most loving, the most caring, the most beautiful, and the most perfect person I have ever met," you smile. "You are the only one that I ever want to spend my life with. I don't want anyone like that asshole."

You press a kiss on his forehead before wiping away some of his stray tears.

"I want a boy with telekinesis who just so happens to look extremely good. Especially with glasses."

A small laugh escapes his lips as he nods.

"Okay," he whispers, nodding before looking at you. "I love you."

You pull him close, pressing a soft kiss on his neck before running your hands up and down his back.

"I love you too, Rowan."

He slowly untangles himself from your grip before placing the small package on your lap. The insecurity had gotten to him, totally forgetting that he was going to give you the gift.

"I uh- I got it for you," he sniffles, though a smile is on his face. "I knew you wouldn't have any time to go to Jericho this week, so..."

Your eyes grow big as you slowly unpack the items.

"What?" You exclaim excitedly, gasping as you look up at your boyfriend. "Rowan, I can't believe this!"

You jump up with the small basket in your hands. Everything you were planning to get, was now in your hands. Small bottles, candles, incense, even roses! You retrieve the small note which sits at the bottom. Rowan would often write you notes or letters, and you kept each and every one of them. Some of them were stuck in your journal, others were placed on the whiteboard in your room, and there were even some you kept in your wallet.

"I have the best boyfriend ever!"

-

After trying out some new spells, you had finally fallen asleep. The incense had to wait for later; you knew Rowan was quite sensitive to it. You didn't want to risk anything happening to him.

It was time for breakfast, which means that most of the Nevermore students collect in the Quad. A knock on the door catches your attention and as you open it, you are faced with a smiling Rowan. He would pick you up from your dorm so you could get breakfast together in the mornings.

"Good morning," you give him a kiss before fixing his tie.

"Good morning," he replies before taking your hand.

After a long talk yesterday, he finally felt a bit more relieved. You assured him that he had no reason to be insecure, but that you did understand him. You aren't going to laugh at him for being insecure, not at all.

Rowan and you sat down with Xavier and you couldn't help but let out a laugh. Next to the fountain sat George, all on his own.

"So much for being a popular kid, huh," you giggle as Rowan looks over.

"Watch this," he whispers back, quickly moving his hand.

The movement makes George fly off of the bench and into the water. Your hand flies to your mouth as you try to hide your laughing, letting your head fall onto Rowan's shoulder, hearing George scream in the background.

And though Rowan does sometimes feel insecure, he does have something he can hold onto. Your hands, your words, your reassurance. You are his as he is yours. Besides, if anyone else ever talked bad about him, you were quick to react. Be it by a spell, or by your fist.

[alwida10]

What's your opinion on the new Loki powers from the second episode? (Energy blasts and moving shadows, as I know you don't wanna watch it -- completely understand, it's really out of sync and tries its main character like shit)

Hi dear anon! 🤗

First of all - I’m so honored by this question!! I kinda considered myself an outdated part of the fandom since I don’t watch the show anymore, and getting this ask gave me such a warm feeling!! 💚

Before I start: I said I wouldn’t watch the show, and I did not, so all I answer here is probably a bit awkward, as half-knowledge tends to be. I did. see the scene in question in the trailers and base my answer on that. If I forget anything or don’t know I’m happy to get corrected or supplemented.

I assume this is the magic we’re talking about:

I saw four types of magic: the green blast, the illusionary doubles, ripping the temped from Brad’s hand, and the shadows grabbing Brad.

In the movies, Loki has often used illusionary doubles. To me, his powers in phases 1-2 have been an integral part of his characterization. A mirror so to say. Or like a curse turned to advantage.

Loki had been stolen from Jotunheim and made something he wasn’t? -> he can appear to be someone else to a degree not even the whole population of Asgard realizes it’s him when he poses as Odin.

Loki was ignored, shut up, and silenced by his family? -> he learns to hide himself from Heimdall’s eyes, and even turn invisible to the shield agents in Thor 1.

Loki was lied to about his heritage, how people treat him, and even his future? -> he learns to forge lies so well that they become illusions that make people believe the wine turned into snakes, Loki was standing in front of them, and many more.

Loki’s rage on him being locked away and forgotten to the point only a guard lets him know Frigga died? -> his rage manifests in a shockwave that destroys everything in his cell.

There are more examples, but my point is Loki’s magic was mirroring what was done to him. It’s adaptive, and telling.

Now, regarding season 2.

Many people criticized season 1 for having Loki work too little magic. Season 2 seems to be “improved” in that regard, but my personal opinion was always a bit more complex. I do agree Season 1 had too little magic, but at the same time, I don’t think any magic is an improvement. If they introduce him doing powerful magic we haven’t seen before it will always lead to the question of why Loki didn’t use that magic against Thanos or the minutemen that arrested him in season 1.

Why didn’t he use the green energy blasts and go for a knife? Why didn’t he magically rip the prune sticks from the hands of the TVA agents and instead talk down to them from a stone? Loki’s journey in the MCU has been long and that makes adding magic incredibly complicated.

But even when we look past this, his new powers imo lack the elegance of his former powers. What does the blast connect to? It’s a push, I guess. Loki was pushed around so now he can push as well? Okay, I guess, but it’s also a very stereotypical way to use magic. The Jedi do it, the Dragonborn does it, the Witcher does it. It’s standard. I don’t think the writers put much thought into it. The same goes for the telekinesis. No worldbuilding or characterization-based explanation. Just some power many fictional characters have.

So, last but not least the shadows. I must say, the visual of the horns growing was … distracting for me. It reminded me of a snail stretching its eyes. 🙈 but of all his new powers I do like this one the best. The connection to the character is shady at best (see what I did here? Bwahaha) but at least I could see Loki trying to get out of Thor’s and Odin’s shadows by learning how to control his own.

Did this answer your question? 😊 if not, do not hesitate to put a follow-up one in my inbox!

[heavencasteel420]

Maddie - Yay, great! 👏🏼

Here are the questions! Looking forward to reading your responses… 😊

I mostly have ideas for multi-chapter fics, especially when it comes to Jancy, but I think I like writing one-shots more.

I usually do a very rough outline before starting a chapter (a list of scenes/plot points/goals) but revise it a lot as I go (like deciding to combine two scenes or insert a new one).

Usually I have a couple of vague ideas about plot points and vibes first. For example, with Drive All Night, it occured to me that the S1 Jancy scene where they practice shooting in the woods had Bonnie and Clyde vibes, and then I saw the 1932 movie Wild Boys of the Road and liked how it escalated from "teen comedy set during Depression" to "bleak chaotic Depression Era social drama with really satisfying violence." I let those ideas percolate a little and maybe ramble about them on Tumblr or to my IRL friend who's never watched Stranger Things. Then I write a first chapter to see if it has legs. If I'm having fun and feel intrigued about what's going to happen next, I continue. With one-shots, I usually have a specific idea I want to convey, so I think more about the overall arc I want and how each scene pushes towards that.

I get a lot of ideas from watching other media and deciding that I want to put characters in that kind of situation. I have a Jancy-Byler idea (pretty low on things that I'd actually write) where Jonathan, Will, and El are siblings who have powers (mind-reading, being a medium, and telekinesis, respectively) during the 1930s and work for carnivals before deciding to run a con on the town of Hawkins (particularly the Wheeler and Harrington families, about to unite through the marriage of Nancy and Steve). This came about because I love the movie The Brothers Bloom and had recently watched the remake of Nightmare Alley. Sometimes fandom discourse provides inspiration. For Tonight, Tonight, for example, I got annoyed with people not understanding why Jonathan initially thinks Joyce is losing her mind re: the lights and so decided to write an AU where his worst fears come to pass; exploring the consequences for Nancy kind of followed from that.

I've participated in a lot of writing workshops and really appreciate constructive criticism in the right context, but on a fanfic I've already posted, from someone whose tastes/goals may be very different from my own, is not that context. People are entitled to their opinions, but at that point I'm probably not going to change anything.

I don't have my work beta'd.

I have two dual POV WIPs going right now (Tonight, Tonight and my not-yet-posted Robin-and-Jonathan friendship fic) and two fics (Drive All Night and Ugly as Sin) with a single POV. It depends partly on who's the main character (Ugly as Sin is way more about Chrissy than Eddie or anyone else), who's going through the more dramatic changes (Nancy in Drive All Night), and how much information I want to convey.

I like the middle of a story, because that's when everything gets complicated. Endings are the hardest to write.

Yes, I comment, but not as much as I would like to!

“Look, I get it,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Robin’s the pretty one. But she’s also really immature and flaky, and she’s never going to go out with you.” [Spoken to Jonathan by one of Robin's friends; he knows she's a lesbian and does not in fact want to go out with her, but he's like "hey" on her behalf.]

Off the top of my head: already wise, already worn by throttlegainwell; How Do We Get to There from Here? by nyctanthes; and where the hours bend by fakelight.

I don't need a ton of feedback, but just one person saying that they like or want to see more of something makes all the difference.

Don't get too attached to your vision of how a scene/chapter should go if it's not working in the moment. Also, if I want to do something weird or risky or gross, it's probably actually a good idea.

Sometimes emotional scenes come really easy, but other times I have to sit down and outline everything the characters might be feeling so I can decide how much to reveal/describe. There's always a decision to be made how direct to be about a character's feelings; there's a time to convey it really subtly through how the character perceives their environment and their body language and all, but there's also a time to go "he felt like shit." And I do feel what the characters feel, quite often! I cried a lot writing Tonight, Tonight, let me tell you. I also draw from personal experience a lot, although it's not always super-direct.

There's so much pressure in writing smut scenes! I generally don't try to make them "sexy" so much as I try to convey what the characters are feeling (i.e., that they like looking at each other and enjoy what they're doing). How graphic I get usually depends on the character's attitude and the pacing of the story. I value sexual frankness in writing in general, though.

Three active WIPs (two posted) and twenty other ideas, roughly. My two big ideas are (a) a slice-of-life No Upside Down AU centered on Nancy, Jonathan, Mike, and Will and (b) a film noir homage with some Gone Girl stuff going on.

I leave it for a little while. Then I go back and try to figure out where I stopped getting interested, or I skip to the "good part."

I usually come up with a title towards the beginning of the writing process and then change it a million times. Mostly I get titles from song lyrics.

Looking at "additional tags" only, "Child Abuse" and "Minor Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler" are in the lead. Jonathan and Chrissy are both going through it usually, and I do like writing Steve and Nancy as a temporary romance.

For some reason, "Jonathan buys a used car from Lonnie" is a scenario that comes up a lot? I like writing about food, clothes, and money. I like putting in random stuff that isn't really part of the current pop culture vision of the 1980s, like holdovers from the 1970s or how much awful TV everyone was watching.

Probably! I used to write stories with my best friend when we were in middle school (mostly original stuff) and that was always really fun.

I probably wouldn’t write a crossover with a work that’s already shown up a lot in the fandom (like It, The Black Phone, or Scream).

If you cut a passage from a story, save it in a separate document because it could be useful later.

So many people insist that “cum,” not “come,” should be used as a verb for orgasming, but that’s not true unless you’re going for the sleaziest vibe possible (no judgment).

I've been happy with the response on all my fics, but Tonight, Tonight, the Highway's Bright has a special place in my heart because it's so weird and sad.

Drive All Night, due to all the murders and crimes.

My favorite part is when you get a really good but unexpected idea, either out of the blue or after mulling things over for a while. My least favorite part is getting stuck on a scene because you can't figure out how to say that a character got up from a chair or something really silly like that.

250-500 hundred words, probably.

I'm a slow writer but I edit pretty fast. I check for typos and I take out unnecessarily wordy bits.

I share bits of rough drafts but not the whole thing.

[logarhythm-bees]

The Carousel Kingdom 🏰 CH4 The Great Divide

Masterlist

Prev - Next

Virgil cannot do this.

After breakfast, Patton had suggested that they had packed up a couple travel bags just in case, and while Virgil had agreed initially, he was now regretting most of the decisions he had made in the previous 24 hours. Curse his need for new furniture and his cheap budget and his interest in cool old gothic looking carousels. He didn’t like packing, or traveling, and he super didn’t like the idea of going into another world, but he was going to suck it up and do it anyways, because Roman complimented his pancakes and unfortunately had pretty eyes that made Virgil want to fix whatever was putting sadness into them. 

The doorbell rang, which meant Patton was back from his own apartment. He’d taken Roman with him because apparently, in addition to pancakes, Innova did not have things like cars, and people there traveled by animals or by magic. Virgil wished he was so lucky as to not have to pay for gasoline all the time. 

However, Virgil was not so lucky, as he did have to pay for gas, and also Patton was there and ready to go into another dimension and Virgil had been standing in his bedroom holding a bag containing three band t-shirts while staring at a pair of socks for the last fifteen minutes. 

The doorbell rang again, and Virgil jumped to action, shoving his basic necessities and then pretty much every article of clothing within reach into the backpack and sprinting towards the doorway.

“Hi,” Virgil said, while definitely not still trying to cram a hoodie into the bag. 

“Virgil,” Patton said softly, moving his hand from where it had been poised over the doorbell ready to ring it again, “You could have told me if you needed help.”

Virgil shrugged. Patton took the backpack from him and came inside, unzipping the contents and emptying them on the coffee table to refold. “Where’s Roman?” Virgil asked. 

“Experiencing the joys of adjustable car seats,” Patton said, folding up the hoodie and placing it into the bag. “They were so excited by the glove compartment, y’know? It’s glove-ly to see them being excited about things,” he winked. 

“Yeeaah.” Virgil said, watching intently as Patton folded things and put them back in the backpack, picking up a shirt of their own to help. “Anything about…their world? Besides the lack of cars and pancakes?”

“I think they’re trying not to think about it.” Patton replied, folding another shirt. “They mostly just asked about how cars work and raved about your cooking.” 

“That good, huh?”

“Your pancakes are great, Virge. You’re syrup-sly talented!” Patton said, tucking a pair of jeans into the bag as Virgil placed the last shirt on top. “And besides,” Patton whispered, as if they weren’t the only two in the apartment anyways, “I think they really appreciated you showing that kindness to them. You wanted to help them feel better in any way you could, and I think it meant a lot after waking up somewhere they didn’t recognize.” Patton, switching from his genuine tone to a lighter one, giggled. “A choco-lot!”

“Right.” Virgil said, swinging his backpack on. “We’re taking your truck?”

“Righto!” Patton said, taking Virgil’s arm comfortingly and leading him outside. “Onwards!”

Roman, true to Patton’s word, was moving the front seat of the truck back and forth curiously. “There’s no magic involved in this, you say?” Roman asked.

“Only the magic of hydraulics and electricity,” Virgil said. 

Roman contemplated this. “I’ve never heard of hydraulics. Is it like telekinesis?”

 “No, it- it was a joke,” Virgil explained, putting himself and his bag into the backseat. “Hydraulics aren’t magic-magic, they’re like, compressed water and valves and stuff.”

“Oh.” Roman said. “I know what electricity is, though! Logan says it’s how the non-magic light bulbs work. I know there’s something about a current involved?”

“Yeah, that’s how electricity works here too,” Virgil said as Patton started driving to the junkyard. “How does telekinesis work? I mean, we have the concept of it, but it doesn’t exist yet in this world.”

“Well, it’s a skill, and not a spell,” Roman said, which didn’t make a lot of sense to Virgil. “Magic users can use their ambient magic to move stuff around. It’s really cool!” Roman fiddled with his thumbs. “Logan was starting to teach me how to use it, but I can’t quite do it yet.”

“It’s cool either way,” Virgil replied, which made Roman smile, which made Virgil feel warm inside. He promptly looked out of the window at the buildings going by, imagining a little guy jumping over them as Roman began to chatter with Patton in the front seat about how the air vents worked.

“We’re here,” Patton said after a while, the truck pulling onto a dirt road and then stopping, the engine shutting off as Patton took the keys and hopped out, rushing to the other side to assist Roman with the step. “Let’s see if we can figure out how to get you home, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Roman said. “It was…a carousel where you found me?”

“Over here,” Virgil said, having hopped out of the truck to head to where they’d been yesterday. “Hopefully it didn’t get buried or moved, I don’t know if they do junkyard maintenance or somethin’.”

Roman nodded understandingly, but Patton picked up a shoe from the ground. “I dunno Virge, I think that would de-feet the purpose!”

“Put that down, Patton, it’s gross,” Virgil prodded light-heartedly. He walked around a pile of rebar and wood, stepping just out of sight. “It’s still here, anyways.”

Roman sprinted around the pile, tail swishing behind them. “Whoah.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Virgil said, as Patton came to join them. 

“I would love to admire it, were we not on a mission here.” Roman said, stepping closer to the carousel. “It’s..”

They stopped a few inches far of touching it, but fingers extended towards the center pillar, covered in old but beautiful art of grassy fields and a castle.

“This painting,” Roman said, breathless, “this is Innova.”

“It is?” Virgil asks. Roman nods.

“This castle, the greenery…” Roman whispers. “They can take me out of it, but I’d recognize my kingdom anywhere.”

Their fingers drift closer, moving wistfully towards the castle. Roman’s skin comes in contact with the paint, though, and the quiet moment is broke, suddenly, by the carousel coming alight. The painting becomes vibrant and alive, and music comes from somewhere inside as the horses gleam, the old and chipped coats becoming new and clean.

Beneath Roman’s hand, the painting of Innova ripples and opens, and the two worlds rejoin.

[heliads]

Tasm!Peter with male reader who’s basically Jean grey telepathy and telekinesis ALL THAT GOOD STUFF, and they patrol together but since reader is a telepath he picks up on peter crushing on him the whole night and waits for him to ask but he doesn’t which leaves reader confused

all that good stuff? not just some?

masterlist

You are waiting for an event that hasn’t happened yet. Technically, you shouldn’t know about it at all. You have never been one to stumble for long in the unknowable dark, though; not for lack of trying, not for any particular hatred of ignorance, but for something utterly out of your control.

You first read someone’s mind when you were about ten or eleven years old. You were young enough that it didn’t seem strange, just another part of growing up. It was silent, and then you heard someone speaking, the words floating to you as if over radio lines. It would have been perfectly normal were it not for the fact that no one had ever opened their mouths to breathe a single syllable.

You caught on to the fact that this was unusual soon enough. You kept it to yourself, having read enough comic books and seen enough movies to know that such secrets were best hidden from any and all grown-ups in sight. You still can’t decide if that was a good decision or not, but it feels too late to suddenly confess to your parents that you have been able to tell everything they’re thinking for years now.

Besides, it’s not just telepathy anymore. A few years after that first mind reading incident, you started to notice more anomalies. You can levitate objects with your mind, crumple soda cans from across the room, and flick off your lightswitch with a single thought. At first, it was confusing, trying to keep straight everything you did with your hands versus the background tasks you could conduct with your mind, but practice enough times and you can do anything.

Control came frustratingly slowly, but at least it came. You’ve learned how to put on the blinders regarding telepathic communication, what it feels like to carefully block out everything but the words rattling around your own head. You’re never quite certain that the inner monologue wending its way around your senses is one hundred percent your own, but it’s the closest you’ve ever come, so that must count for something.

The same thing goes for telekinesis. Sometimes, when you get angry or hurt or experience some other tidal wave of emotions that makes it difficult to keep such a tight lock on your mind, your control slips and the objects around you start to go a little haywire. The radio in your car starts to switch rapidly between stations whenever your knuckles go tight on the steering wheel. The lights flicker when someone says something a little too cruel.

Still, no one’s figured you out yet, so you mark that down as a win. You think that might be because you found a rather unusual extracurricular. It won’t be going on your college applications anytime soon, that’s for sure, but it does let you have an outlet for all the otherwise pent-up mental activities that aren’t suitable for normal eyes.

Your city tends to frown upon vigilantes, especially the police and newspapers, but you’ll be damned if they don’t need you like crazy. It feels like there’s a robbery happening on every street corner, a mugging in every alleyway. You’ve certainly stopped enough to make it seem that way, at least. The first time you put on a mask and decided to put a stop to all the wrongdoings to cross your path, you thought you’d never rest. Every time you dropped your fists, someone else showed up to try and ruin the city all over again.

You’ve learned how to rest since that first day, though, and that also comes with practice. You know when enough is enough, how to drag your beaten body back to bed for a good night’s sleep before school the next morning. Part of that is a need to maintain some kind of work-life balance, but another reason is your favorite of all, and that would be your partner in anti-crime.

You had never intended to work as a pair of heroes instead of just by yourself, but Spider-Man surprised you. You can still picture the first time you saw him, how he came swinging down out of the dark nowhere of night to save you along with the most recent smash-and-grab victim. You’d chewed him out for ruining your perfectly good heroism, of course, but both of you knew you’d been outnumbered anyway.

The harsh front hadn’t lasted for long, of course. Spider-Man has a way of breaking down your barriers, of making you laugh even when you’re sure you’ll never smile again. It’s just what he does best. That, and leaping off of tall buildings to save lives with all the agility of the very arachnids he claims as a namesake.

Spider-Man’s not his real name, of course. That he told you free of charge. No, Peter Parker is and will always be Peter to you, forever more than a mask. You hadn’t wanted to read his mind to gain that particular secret, but Peter had shared his real identity soon enough.

He’s also the only one who knows about your abilities. That night had truly been something else. Peter had stood opposite you on a roof, the wind blowing so hard it almost stole away his words before they even reached you, and told you exactly who he was. No secrets, no alibis, just his truth, bloody and bare and yours without a second thought. He took off his mask, and your first thought upon seeing his face was that it made perfect sense. Of course a boy that sweet would have a countenance that kind to match.

You followed suit, and then it was Peter and Y/N until forever. Two boys up there in the starry sky, exchanging phone numbers and stories of your real lives until you lost your voices. You were in class the next day and saw him at the water fountain, trying to swallow down enough liquid to heal his throat again. As if the evidence of your secrets could be washed away with something as simple as lukewarm water. As if anything could stop the two of you from being connected with something better than the blood you’ve spilled for each other.

That day was one of the best of your life, but also one of the worst. Once you saw Peter’s face, you can’t seem to stop looking. He has a way of hovering there in your periphery, reminding you of all that you have that no one else will ever know. If you could sink every moment of your life into those patrol nights, when the moon is high in the sky and the sun is gone from sight, when the city belongs only to the two of you, you would without a second thought. You need him to fight, to breathe, to die.

The most confusing part is that you know for a fact that Peter feels the exact same way about you. You hadn’t meant to read his mind, really you hadn’t, but it was almost impossible to avoid. Peter has been all but screaming his thoughts ever since the moment you met. No amount of mental blinders can stop the fact that he is broadcasting his truth your way every second of every day.

You can hear this internal monologue of his with particular strength now. The two of you are sitting listlessly on the edge of a rooftop, waiting with no great patience for the next crime to occur. The two of you really do make terrible vigilantes if you’re hoping for a good robbery or murder attempt, but peace is rather boring if you’re trying to maintain it.

Your fingers tense at your sides as you try to focus on you and only you, but Peter’s mind is stuck on an endless, deafening loop of how much he really, really likes you. Every few seconds, his train of thought keeps circling back to one main point, which is that tonight is going to be the night that he’s going to finally ask you out. Tonight. It has to be tonight.

You already know what you’re going to say. Yes, of course, a thousand times yes. You haven’t had a single romantic thought about anybody since you met him, not even a pointless crush on someone cute in your physics lab. Peter is the one for you, not anybody else. You have pages of proof that he returns your affections, so all you have to do is wait for him to just get it over with and ask you out.

Waiting has never been a great strength of yours, though. This should come as no surprise; you’ve almost exposed your powers in front of your friends and family about a thousand times over because you’ve used your telekinesis to summon something to your side rather than waste the seconds in walking over to get it. Efficiency is your best friend, and the minutes seem to stretch into eternities as you wait and wait and wait for Peter to finally get himself together.

Seeing as Peter mentally decided that he was going to ask you out about a thousand times tonight, you assumed that would mean he would actually do it. However, when your patrols finally come to an end and he still hasn’t asked you, it occurs to you that all that talk was just that, useless murmurings.

You tried to seem like nothing was the matter, but maybe Peter’s just as good at guessing your emotions from your face as you are by reading his mind, because he holds out an arm to stop you as you move to leave.

“Wait,” he says, grabbing his mask from beside him and sticking it in his pocket, “what’s wrong? You’ve been fidgety all night.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” you claim, but Peter just rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, right. Come on, spit it out. What’s got you so frustrated?” He asks again.

You sigh, then look away. “Why haven’t you asked?”

Peter pauses a moment, then speaks carefully. “Why haven’t I asked what?”

You glance at him cautiously, then give in. “Why haven’t you asked me out? You’ve been saying you’ll do it all night, but nothing. Did I do something wrong to change your mind?”

Peter is dead silent, then: “You were reading my mind again? Y/N, boundaries–”

He’s halfway to a laugh, though, which is what lets you give in and shove him jokingly on the shoulder. “I didn’t want to, you dork, but you were practically yelling it the whole time. I literally couldn’t avoid it if I tried. And I tried. Several times. For days. Honestly, I think this is your fault.”

Peter sputters. “My fault? How is this my fault?”

You grin. “You couldn’t just ask me on a date. Come on, Parker. Six words. You can do it.”

He groans. “You’re really not making this any easier, you know that? Hey, since you already know what I’m going to ask, how about we cut to the chase and you answer me?”

You shake your head. “I’m not letting you off the hook this quickly. Ask.”

Peter gives you a sour look, but the corners of his lips are already starting to prick up into a familiar smile again. “Fine, fine. Y/N, will you go out with me?”

You spread your hands. “See? Easy as that.”

This time, Peter’s the one to swat you. “Answer. If you’ve made me struggle all this time, I deserve an answer, and quickly.”

You laugh and do as told. “Yes, Peter, I would love to go out with you.”

“See,” Peter smiles, repeating your own words from earlier, “easy as that.”

Both of you are grinning too hard for the teasing to matter much. At the end of the day, you have each other, and that counts for far more than anything you’d dare hope before. It’s official now, too. Nothing could be better.

marvel tag list: @namoreno, @thatfangirl42, @rogueanschel, @mycosmicparadise, @ellobruv, @callsign-scully, @with-inked-solace, @sher-lokid7, @amortensie, @watchreadfangirlrepeat, @gods-fools-heroes, @w1shes43, @deafsuperhero, @fadedver

[jadagul]

Despite the obvious craft and polish of the game, I think FFXII is settling down into the bottom half of the series for me.

The hunts are cool, but they make it incredibly easy to overlevel. The past several story bosses my strategy has been almost entirely "stand there and hit them until they die". For some of the bonus/hunt bosses, my strategy has instead been "hit them until they put up the fuck-you I'm-invincible field, then stall until the field comes down, and then hit them until they die."

I really don't like how many abilities are gated by finding a random treasure chest on the map (especially since that interacts with number 1). Makes me feel like I have to be obsessive about checking everything, and I still miss some. I never found Blind or Silence, for instance! And it's not at all clear to me whether I missed Telekinesis and Cleanse, or if I just haven't gotten there yet. (Cleanse in particular seems like it should shove itself in your face, assuming it does what it sounds like.)

Red mage (which I gave to Ashe) seems really badly balanced. For a while in the midgame it's spectacularly overpowered, when it can do the best available black and white magic as long as its own stuff. And then you unlock Esuna and Firaga and it's suddenly pretty weak!

I do wish it were a little clearer how the disconnected parts of the license grid works. You can unlock them by getting the right espers, but that whole thing is a bit opaque, and it's not clear to me whether Red Mage will realistically unlock Firaga, or Time Mage will get Protectga.

(Side complaint: "Protega" and "Reflega" sound way better than "Protectga" and "Reflectga", guys.)

And the story still seems really underwritten. It's not bad, it just leaves us to fill in way too many of the gaps so that every character beat seems like it comes out of nowhere.

It's still a high-quality final fantasy game and I'm still enjoying it. And it incorporates some of the grindy stuff that isn't necessarily good for me but that really works for me anyway. But I don't think it's great, and I think I'd rather replay FFIII than this one.

[imthepunchlord]

Did eventually the holderrs eventually can spam their powers like shadybug and claw noir?

Thinking about, pretty much a lot of the powers can be spammed. A Horse can make numerous portals, Mouse numerous clones, Fox numerous illusions, Peafowl can rewind time endless though one at a time (same for resetting time), Mantis doesn't have limits on how many times it can use telekinesis, nor does Bee have a limit on it's plant manipulation.

For the timer, I'd say that for these powers that can be used with no limits, you do have that five minutes to use them initially, and eventually can use them with no timer to limit you in that use. So you can start making as many portals as you for five minutes, and gradually, the longer you use Horse, the timer will cease to be and there's no limits in your teleportation.

But there are a few that are a once per transformation and can't be spammed, no matter how bonded you get to a Miraculous. And a lot of this pops up with the upper tiers. The Zodiac are the only tier that don't have the once per transformation limit. A benefit to being the lowest tier.

Lionheart is a once per transformation use and you must recharge Valrr to use it again, as this essentially allows you to be any superhero you want to be, a Butterfly that can skip out on relying on another. And knowing how OP the powers Butterfly offers,

Withdraw is a once per transformation as it takes a lot of energy to travel to a whole other dimension, even if it's a pocket one that is smaller than where the wearer lives.

Hive Mind is as it can be potentially dangerous and ruthless in use (especially the potential of forcing wills onto another), so once the connected minds are severed, this power cannot be used again until Pollen is recharged.

Second Wind is Songbird's once per use as the ability to reset Miraculous without even detransforming and recharging the kwami can be OP and overwhelming, so that's a one time use.

Wandeer is Deer's as it takes a lot of power to travel to essentially a mirrored reality, a whole other plane of existence, like the Upside Down in Stranger Things, but nicer. And empty. And has a cool silver-blue filter over everything. Once you wander out, you'll have to recharge Sillva to go back.

Mind's Eye is Mantis as it mentally connects the user to the cosmos, allowing them access to various knowledge and answers, which can be overwhelming and addicting, so that has a limited use on it.

Celestial Body is Bear's, it's effective and diverse, but it is using your own spiritual energy to form and be of use, and for precautions for the human, that's why it has a limit.

Liberate is Eagle's a lot of the same reasons for Second Wind, it can be pretty OP in the restrictions it can remove, so a good limit is the once per transformation use.

Meta is Butterfly's, with a similar reasoning for Lion's limit, this is a very OP power so makes sense to have it limited to used once per transformation.

Miracle Worker is Ladybug's, I did think of Lucky Charm to work off canon, but honestly, making an animated golem/puppet/doll that will perform one task, and can be very emotionally and mentally complex, that's a powerful ability, much more so than generating a luck related item. It'd be one creation per transformation. And I will add, it is technically possible to have multiple Workers by not dismissing the initial Worker, retransform, and make a new one, but when you detransform, those Workers are going to take energy off the wearer to continue to exist, make 3 or more, the user will probably be sleeping most of the day and Tikki may go out of her way to dismiss them herself.

Foxtrot is Fox's as you can only one partner per dance, and if there's someone you want to absolutely evade but already picked a partner, you're going to have to retransform with a recharged Trixx to reset it.

Nine Lives is Cat's largely due to the necromancy aspect, and you got the shades of previous users to assist you. It was not a fond thought to have the ability to do this endlessly.

Fantom is Peafowl's, as fully pausing time and able to move freely through is arguably Peafowl's most OP time power. So makes sense for that to be limited to once per transformation in use.

[askaniritual]

One more for the road. I really like how you're super interested in the inner workings of troll society particularly like the quadrants and stuff. For me one of the most interesting parts is how trolls have natural superpowers and how this affects their relationships. I guess my next question is how do you think Sollux and Terezi approach the concept of power and wield it or not wield it. I think both have really interesting parallels with their exes (so to speak) in that they wield similar powers (telekinesis for Aradia and Sollux) and Manipulation (for terezi and Vriska) but have various sharp differences (aradia being immune to vriskas manipulation, while terezi manipulates simply through like understanding of dynamics rather mind control). Do you think the two view power in relationships in a similar way or a completely opposed way. I know you mentioned they have certain ways of viewing their trauma as to maintain control, but do you think this is mostly internalized or is also externalized to their (and other relationships). Also just gotta say I've really been appreciating your Homestuck posting.

ooo a very interesting question w a lot of layers

ill put this under a cut so as not to torture everybody but the short answer is i think both sollux and terezi's conception of power is extremely tied up in their positions in the hemocaste system in a way that then affects their interpersonal relationships

i think especially for sollux it is pretty clear that any arrogance he affects over his own power is primarily a defense against the ways that society seeks to strip him of autonomy and agency. he's extremely powerful but this raw power comes at the cost of his life and his future. in this way, power is extremely important to him on alternia because it's the only way he can claw some respect from a world that refuses to give him any, but at the same time people being aware of that power is exactly what will ultimately strip him of agency.

terezi on the other hand needs to cultivate power in order to continue to survive. she's blind in a society where that is something you could be killed for and the only way she can survive is to be that much better than everybody else.

what i'm getting at here is that i see sollux and terezi as people who are both concerned with power, and with being in absolute and perfect control of themselves at all times, but in the broader scheme of their lives its important for terezi that people see her as as powerful as possible and for sollux its important that people underestimate the true extent of his power. for both of them, this is intimately related to their position within the hemocaste system and the opportunities (or lack thereof) afforded to them as a result.

as far as how this affects their relationships, i think thinking about how that might affect relationships on alternia vs relationships in whatever hypothetical adult life they would have in a non-scratch universe is pretty different.

purely talking in terms of the comic, sollux knows he's working on a time limit there, and i think we see pretty clearly within the comic that he is nearly always willing to go along with what aradia wants for him, up to and including abandoning the rest of their friends. presumably he is willing to cede power because he knows he was always going to have to cede control of his fate eventually.

for terezi i think we see multiple instances throughout the comic where she unwisely cedes power in pursuit of romance (lets all take a second to remember terezi passed out in her boxers covered in faygo on the meteor). i think for terezi, this is because she does hold herself to such a high standard that there's something appealing to her about subordinating herself within a relationship, or allowing herself to give into specific impulses

anyway these are just sort of general thoughts for a very broad question, i think you could do a lot more analysis of any of these points, especially wrt how sollux talks about his psionics and his coding ability. but that's basically how i see them!

thanks so much for the question, i'm really glad to hear you're enjoying my pondering! i am having a lot of fun sharing the pondering lol

[saldrath]

Magic System In Saldrath

This is a quick explanation of how my magic system in my conworld Saldrath works! It's just a introduction to my short stories (and future novels) im gonna write in this universe! ____

Mage population in general

Magic in Saldrath is something not as common as one may think. Only a small percentage of the world population is born with an aptitude to feel mana, but even less actually make use of it.

Why is that? Well, for a few reasons - first of all, learning magic is expensive. You would think that countries would try to sponsor young children who can feel mana to learn magic so they can have their own private army that can raze cities to the ground in a matter of minutes, but no! As a matter of facts, a lot of countries believe that magic is something that only nobles should be able to use. So if you were born with a great talent but in a poor family, you're fucked. Well, that was until the Great Magic School opened up, but we’ll talk about that a bit later.

Most of the old school mages are home-schooled and nobles, but nowadays almost every mage graduates from one of the many magic schools. 

Mage Ranks

Mages are ranked, in order with their progress in their Path Of Magic (more about that a bit later).

The ranks are:

- Halfling - you know nothing about magic, and can only feel mana. You don't even know how to cast spells, manipulate mana and in general have no clue what to do.

- Apprentice - you just learned how to use some and know how to cast some very basic spells. You still haven't really stepped onto your Path Of Magic, but you're getting somewhere. 

- Mage - this is it. From this moment onward, you can officially call yourself a Mage. You have stepped onto the true Path Of Magic, you started to understand what magic is and how it works. A mage can cast a lot of different spells (though not very complicated ones) and manipulate mana at some basic level.

- Great Mage - it's a big step up from a Mage. At this point you're in the top 5% of Mages in the world. You can use more complicated spells with ease, but you're still following someone's Path Of Magic and you still haven’t found your own, you only follow a path someone else laid out before you, but damn you followed it well. You can be considered a true master, and a powerful mage. With enough time you can easily raze mountains (or create them).

- Half-Magus - you finally realized what Path Of Magic is. Congratulations! You're one of the very, very, very few people who understand what these words mean. You finally took a big step into the unknown and decided to make your own path instead of following a path someone else made for you. It is still in the baby steps, and very incomplete but it's still your path.

- Magus - you have stepped outside of the path you were following before, and left it behind, abandoned all of your accomplishments in it and now follow your own and unique Path Of Magic. You have reached the epitome of magic. 

Path Of Magic

So what exactly is all this *Path Of Magic* we're talking about so much, huh? Well if we want to keep it simple: it's a class, your specialization.  Everyone is better at one thing, and worse at other things, right? Well, Path Of Magic is a way for the world’s mana to guide you to choose the "specialization" that suits you best. 

Let me give an example: you are really good at using telekinesis, but you're not so good at using any kind of elemental magic, then the world of Saldrath is going to guide you into a path that focuses on telekinesis. It can be a path made by someone else, or made by the world itself.

So what exactly does it mean to "make a path"? Well it means that the mana isn’t guiding you anymore, you are guiding it. You decide in which direction you want to go, and how you want it to work. It's just that - it's a very simple step in theory, but in practice not many people know this. 

What's also important is that people who realized what a "Path Of Magic" is are prohibited by the world to speak about it with people who don't understand it. 

How exactly does magic work?

Magic in Saldrath works in a very simple yet refined way. By the usage of correct formulas you can guide the mana into making certain things real. What are formulas then? To put it simply, it's pure math. You may ask "if it's math then why can't everyone use magic?", because you need to be able to feel mana to use it.

Every mage uses mana in a different way, some try to guide the mana, some force it, others manipulate it - and all these ways will have their own advantages and disadvantages. 

Every person is born with two very important aptitudes on how to use magic:

- The first one being how precisely can they feel the mana, we call that the mana sensitivity, people with higher mana sensitivity can use much more precise and delicate spells with ease

- The other things is how much mana they can handle at once, we call that the mana capacity, people with higher mana capacity can use a higher quantity of spells and bigger ones with ease

So what is Mana?

No one exactly knows what mana is, but it's everywhere even though it is invisible to the naked eye. It's mixed with the air, it's inside of every grass, stone, tree and even in every living being. 

Every living being has a unique type of mana inside of them, and it can't be found anywhere else. 

Mana is not an infinite resource; it is limited and will flow back into the world once the spell has dissipated. There were only a very few occasions where the amount of mana in the world has diminished or increased. 

Magic Aspect

This is the last thing when it comes to magic: aspects. Everyone is born with a certain aspect that is applied to their person and is engraved within their mana. For certain people it's something very simple, like increased sensitivity or capacity, but for others is something far more unique. 

One of the most unique magic aspects in the world belongs to Midas Vose Hathe. It is something he calls “Eternity”, which allows him to keep a spell active indefinitely.

[suck-on-a-fire-ball]

The writer of this letter was clearly excited; the letters almost seem to bounce off the page, at times. There is a small drawing in the upper, right corner: A stick figure is holding a book in its hand. Above it, is a bubble of text: ”The owner of this object has stubbed a toe, and likes wearing orange underwear…” Next to it, another stick figure is standing, rolling its eyes, saying ”You were supposed to tell me about the weapon she created! What kind of a psychic are you?!”. At the bottom of the page, someone has tried to draw a tabby. It looks like a constipated badger...

Hello again, Anders!

Thank you so much for your letter! I was in a fairly dark place mentally when I received it, and it immediately made me feel better. So many new thoughts! It’s also a great relief to know that you have found safe ways of exchanging these letters. I admit I was worried, what with Kirkwall being the way it is.

I’ll save Atlantis for next time, as that is going to be a long story and I want to do it justice. It may, however, relate to many of the things I’ll be bringing up in this letter. You brought up many fascinating things that I can’t wait to dive into! First of all, I want to respond to a couple of things you mentioned. I’m afraid you are right regarding how we found some of the medical knowledge we have today. I’ll tell you more if you like, but I should warn you that it’s depressing. And yes, a heart treatment similar to what you suggested does exist here, but it took us quite some time to figure it out! About the electricity in our brains – sometimes it’s impossible to help or save people here, too, even if we can tell that their brains show signs of activity. Please don’t be upset that you, as you put it, may have let some patients die. With your healing abilities you most likely save lives that we wouldn’t be able to!

You asked if there are any rules limiting the creations of AI, and truth be told it is being discussed a great deal. Some say that we would have to find a way to program ethics into the AI, so they don’t hurt people. But, as you pointed out, whose ethical opinions should be accomodated? One possibility could be to program a variety of ”Asimov’s three laws of robotics” into them, although that too would be problematic. These three laws were invented by a scientist and fiction author (Asimov) many years ago. They are more or less as follows:

1. A robot may not harm a human.

2. A robot must obey all humans, unless doing so conflicts with the first law.

3. A robot must protect its own existance, provided that doesn’t conflict with law 1 or 2.

I suppose they would just be a foundation on which to build, for there are many things that could go wrong! Still... I’d like a world in which we work together with the AI, on equal terms. They shouldn’t have to be servants or slaves.

The witch hunts and executions… yes, they were terrifying. In so many ways. I hope it never goes that far in your society! From what I understand, it’s bad enough as it is. If fear of magic wasn’t constantly being encouraged, I think your society would benefit a lot! Being aware of risks is one thing, fearmongering another. But I don’t need to tell you that! There are actually those here who say that they can do magic; summon spirits or demons, manipulate energy, curse or heal others… It doesn’t seem, however, that they can do anything even close to what mages are capable of in your society. No fire balls or lightning bolts! Nevertheless, there are phenomena here that sound like magic to me. If even five percent of the personal accounts I have heard or read are true, and don’t have another explanation, there is definitely something interesting going on!

First off, we have what we call telekinesis or psychokinesis - the ability to move objects with one’s mind. Perhaps I’m wrong, but isn’t this what you call force magic? It isn’t common here, but some people claim to have done it on purpose, while others seem to have this happen to them involuntarily. It’s supposedly more usual among young people about the age of 11-12, especially girls. At what age does magic manifest in your society?

Then we have telepathy, or mind-to-mind communication. Some are also supposedly capable of communicating with animals this way. In our society, a medium contacts spirits, or the souls of the departed, while a psychic may claim to be able to see the future, ”read” the minds of others/ feel their emotions, remote view through time and space, hold an object in their hand and tell you about the person it belongs to or its history (psychometry), seeing auras, astral project… Any or all of those things. These abilities are referred to as ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), and whether they exist or not is often debated. It’s of course difficult to know whether a person is a genuine medium/psychic, or not. And the source matters – just as you said. What spirit is this medium in contact with, and what is it’s intention? (I do hope you meet that tabby one day, by the way! They are so lovely…!) As for guardian spirits, I personally believe that we all have them and that they may be souls we have known and loved (in this life or another, as I am a believer in reincarnation). Or perhaps other benevolent spirits. Sadly, I have never seen my spirit guide.

Some of our scientists believe that there are many dimensions, or realities, parallel with each other. They can, for example, exist in the same place but be seperated by time. To me it sounds almost as though there are a form of membranes between them. Or a kind of veil. We are unable to see or hear the other realities most of the time. It is claimed by some, however, that there are portals or openings in certain places - and those places are often ripe with strange phenomena, some of which appear to be paranormal. Do you think the Fade could be what we would refer to as another, parallel dimension? It could perhaps, if so, be that we are drawing on power from another place. But I wonder if maybe it is within us, somehow, like electricity. What do you think?

I can understand why you’d take comfort in Andraste. She sounds kind. Caring. Similar to Jesus, in a way.

I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences regarding all this! Please be safe, my friend, and pet the cats from me! It’s really too bad people can’t purr, come to think of it...

AidanTheCryptid

The author of this letter (first of all adores all the little figures you draw on your letters) has once more sent you a crumpled bunch of papers he attempted to smooth out with his hands, only to have some of the ink smudge – aka, the second page (bottom half of this letter) is a little difficult to read despite him trying to fill out the letters again. The wrinkly letters have been neatly folded into a fancy envelope, which has the Hawke crest on it again.

A little note has been added for you that reads: “Pardon my friend’s abhorrent manners, I’ve sprayed the papers with some of mother's perfume for you so it wouldn’t smell of healing draughts (those make me sick to the stomach and I didn’t want you to go through that) – Hawke”.

At the top of the letter, Anders has drawn a cat in the same style as yours – not intentionally. He’s a healer, not an artist.

Hello, my friend @aidanthecryptid (have I ever mentioned how I adore your name?),

I am sorry to hear that you were not feeling good mentally last time. Knowing these letters help you oh so much was incentive for me to write this response quicker. I hope by the end of this that I managed to do so too. Scribbles have been inserted at a later point here, with ink of a slightly different colour, reading: (I needed to move my clinic, things have been hectic… Kirkwall is getting less safe each day. I am sorry this letter reached you so late, my friend! A close friend of mine has helped me send this to you with swift mail only nobles get access to.)

It’s fun to hear that we have so many future things to talk about! In a world ever changing, and ever dangerous, it’s nice to know that I have two familiarities grounding me in life. Our letters. And cats.

In the future, when we get the change, I would love to hear more about Atlantis and even the heritage of your anatomy studies. It is okay if it is a little depressing, there are plenty of heritages in Thedas that are depressing – sometimes the depressing heritages are the ones worth continuing to discuss so we never forget and never repeat prior mistakes!

Thank you for your kind words. Saving people is one of my priorities in life, and even thinking I might have doomed people to their death (people that weren’t Templars, mind you) was quite painful. Does it beat my love for cats? No. But it definitely nudges it.

I’ve read through this Asimov’s three laws, and I find them quite intriguing. Perhaps I find them the most intriguing from a point of view of fear – I don’t condone slavery, in any form, however these three laws seem… ruthless. Perhaps specifically the second one. If a robot needs to defend itself, it is not allowed to do so if a human is attempting to hurt it? If a robot disagrees with a human’s moral standards, then it is not allowed to do anything about it? That is scary. Then again, they sound like a power capable of destroying humans easily, so rules need to exist… Still, living alongside them requires trust. I agree, they should not have to be slaves or servants, these rules need tweaking before robots are created! Let’s hope AI will not walk among you before a trust is built.

I think the notion of trust is lacking in our society concerning magic too. As you say in relation to witch hunts (although how far away aren’t we from that with the way Templars drag mages out of their homes…), fearmongering is never a solution, nor is it a proper way to control a people. Far too often have those with agency over others used fear to stay in control. What purpose is there to fearmongering? If your power is no longer needed, have you not succeeded in reaching a goal for your people? Why cling to power through fear? Help your people in some other way… Though, I digress, and I apologise. The second my brain even hears a whisper of mage rights, I go on rants. I haven’t had the time to write much on my manifesto as of late, and the words are itching to be written down!

Nevermind that. You write of interesting things in your society! For a place that says magic does not exist, you sure have quite a lot of mysterious “unexplainable” things happening! If the people you speak of tap further into these abilities, you would have full blown mages, I have no doubt of that!

Magic appears in each person at different ages here in Thedas, and with various degrees of intensity. For some it appears at age 4, for some at ages 12. I had a friend who had magic manifest to him at an early age, only for him to never be able to fully tap into his mana, leaving him rather useless at the Tower in relation to magical lessons. He ended up becoming very good at potion making instead though, which one can do without magic. I wonder what happened to him… whether he is still alive…

And, to answer your question, that sounds exactly like force magic! I have a friend in Kirkwall who is very keen on Force Magic. He has adapted it to be strong enough to push people away from friends in a battle. Saved my life quite a few times! Although, he does prefer punching with his hand. These people you speak of, they talk about their Force Magic openly? Without repercussions?

Oh Maker, telepathy? I would not openly admit I am scared of any magic (aside from, perhaps, certain kinds of blood magic) but telepathy? I don’t want people to know what I am thinking of them. Specifically if said person has a nice… behind… Once more I am surprised by the amount of magical attributes many of your people claim to have, and yet magic is not a subject of discussion amongst your leaders? Oh how such a thing sounds like such… freedom. I could open a clinic and heal those in need of it, those who believe in me, with my magic without fear of being found. I could openly move objects around with my magic without hermetically sealing each and every window shutter first. Amazing!

Though, you touch upon an important point too. How safe is this freedom? If people do not take it seriously, do people stay safe? Are there books to guide those who need it? Are there teachers you can find easily? Schools? Spirits can easily claim to be someone when in reality they are demons. One needs to know how to walk the path in order to not stray into the dark forest.

And do not fret, my friend! Spirit guides will reveal themselves when they feel it is right. Sometimes they also reveal themselves in your surroundings rather than directly (of course, I speak now of our teachings, I do not know how it is in your part of the world). They can also appear in dreams when we walk the Fade (or wherever your mind takes you). Look for signs. Look for what your eyes are drawn to, look at what symbols you see each day. A cat? A crow? Multiple people wearing a red scarf? And think of what you remember from your dreams. Your spirit guide might already have revealed itself to you but you have not noticed it yet.

Your scientists believe in multiple layers of the Fade? Interesting… Would that entail there are multiple… aspects of me?

In regards to your questions, yes. I believe the Fade could be what your scientists have found, or seen. I believe the… “portals” your people speak of could be where the Veil is thin. Strange occurrences appear in places where the Veil is thin. Demons can pour out, spirits or other creatures too, and they can attempt to manipulate their surroundings the way they are used to in the Fade, only for it to not be possible. Instead, things are flown around. They get upset, scared, or angry that their surroundings are not what they are used to, and they lash out. Sometimes, demons pour out purposefully to find a willing host so they can stay. What, exactly, is alluring about the mortal world is something I do not understand just yet.

Whether these dimensions, the Fade, can exist within us…? This is an interesting concept. Perhaps it is a bit of both? Perhaps where we go when we dream, whether you are a mage or not, is a part of the Fade which our souls are connected to. Perhaps this within us is an internalisation of the connection we have to the Fade, creating an entire world within ourselves? Or, perhaps, it is simply a connection in the form of a leash which we follow to the Fade when we dream, and follow back out when we wake? I do not know. I know I can tap into a pool of mana, which in turn is the Fade, or dangerously close to the Veil at the very least. It feels as though that exists within me. But I can also feel it outside of me. It is a comforting thought nevertheless, no? To both not know for certain and be able to believe something that puts us at ease, and to be aware that there is something that potentially connects all on this world… Something that connects us, and shows us that despite differences of culture or otherwise, we all belong together.

Perhaps, that is sometimes more comforting than my belief in Andraste.

I will admit, my thoughts were all over the place. You bring such interesting subjects to the table! Your world is a wonder, truly, and so different from mine with SO much unexplored still! It is new, filled with mysteries and close to breakthroughs. Hearing of your world is fascinating, and I hope I can offer some interesting thoughts to you too.

I have let a certain tabby (yes! I found a tabby down here! And he lets me pet him) sign off this letter for you. He says hello (I think, I can’t do telepathy the way some of your people can!). He is purring very contentedly as I write this last paragraph, though if I purr back, he gives me a strange look. If even cats look at us strangely when we purr, perhaps that’s why we don’t.

Yours truly, Anders.

Below Anders’ name is a blob of snot (not intentionally put there by a kitty sniffing the paper) and a cat’s paw print!

DA letters guidelines Scroll through other letters here Buy me a coffee here