#not to say the first thing is wrong per se just that it doesn't work for everyone

[aromanticduck]

You’ve heard of ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’, now get ready for ‘make your fun hobby your means of survival and you won’t have a fun hobby any more’.

[dduane]

Do you have any recommendations on what to do when you can’t write?

I’ve been struggling to write for years, but telling stories is all I want to do. I have ideas and plots and characters all figured out! But actually getting the words onto paper? I just can’t do it. There’s a mental block or something getting in the way.

I want to write, I so badly do. I want to tell my stories! But no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I love the story, the words never work properly. I can day dream scenes up perfectly, but as soon as I’m near paper the words all vanish.

I guess what I’m actually asking is: how did you defeat the blank page?

Well, first of all, I can confidently tell you that your storytelling per se is working just fine. You just told me a perfectly cogent story right there, in writing. So that's good to know.

Now let me put your mind a little at rest by telling you something reassuring about the Writer's Brain:

It's not the sharpest knife in the block, if you take my meaning. It can be tricked. It can be fooled. It can be bamboozled into working when it doesn't want to... sometimes with embarrassing ease. (And this approach is, by and large, far preferable to sitting around over-analyzing one's interior life to figure out what went wrong with your developmental process somewhere in the dim lost past. Just hornswoggle the silly thing into working and then do the analysis later, if you can be bothered.)

Sometimes just changing something basic in the process the Writer's Brain is expecting is enough to make it lose the plot (so to speak...) and let you get on with work. And in your case I'd say, more or less immediately: Have you tried telling the story to yourself out loud, recording it, and then transcribing the recording?

Because this problem is a commonplace among storytellers. Sit them down in the pub and give them tea or a drink and start them going, and you'll get half an effortless hour of hilarious prose about What The Cat Did In The Middle Of The Night or When The Neighbors Were Fighting In The Street Again Yesterday. But show them blank paper, or an empty screen, and (now that the pressure to perform is suddenly in place) they freeze.

So try doing an end run around your writing brain. Borrow or otherwise procure a little recorder of some kind. (Or if you've got a smartphone, add a voice recording app to it.) Go get comfortable somewhere and get yourself into that daydream state, and then—making sure the recorder's on—start talking.

It doesn't have to be perfect unblemished prose. The pursuit of that comes later, after draft zero-minus-one. Just tell the story... or some of it. Or a fragment of it. Even a few paragraphs is a triumph, in a situation like this. You may, during the recording, have to talk yourself into the story stage by starting out talking about something else first. Let that happen.

Then when you're done recording, listen to it and transcribe it (typed or handwritten, as you please).

And maybe a day later, do this again. And a day or two later, once more. And so forth.

You're going to have to keep at this, because your Writer's Brain may start suspecting what you're up to, and try throwing spanners into the works. (Its favorite being "Oh, this isn't working, I may as well give up..." Pay no attention to that nagging little voice behind the curtain. Just keep doing what you're doing. Persistence is a superpower.)

The thing to keep reminding yourself, as you settle into this process, is that sooner or later the WB's resistance is going to flag, because you really do want to tell stories. It does too. What you have to teach it is that—to coin a phrase—resistance is useless. :)

Anyway: give this a try. You'll need to be doing this daily for at least a couple of months to find out whether it works or not. So let me know how it goes.

(BTW: once you've broken through the barrier, you may well find that dictation is a good routine way for you to generate your first draft. At that point—should you feel inclined to go a little higher-tech than recording and hand transcription—let me recommend Dragon Anywhere. This is a month-to-month subscription version of Dragon's flagship text to speech program—the one @petermorwood and I got Terry Pratchett to use when he started having difficulty typing. I use Anywhere a lot, on days when it's easier to write stretched out or lying down than it is sitting up. It transcribes what you say, and then you can just email it to yourself and cut-and-paste it into your writing document. Very handy.)

Hope this helps!

[literaticat]

I'm at my wit's end. I've spent a decade trying to break through - 10 years with 5 novels coming super close with a variety of big publishers, who rave about my writing, ideas, etc. Feedback has been mostly positive. One even rejected saying "I don't know why we're rejecting this, it's EXACTLY what we're looking for and ticks all our boxes, but we feel compelled to reject it anyway." Is there just a "Do Not Publish" sign on my head? How to keep pushing ahead after so long and so much rejection?

(OP continues...) "Sorry about the rant, Jenn, and I know there's not much you can say as you don't know my specific situation. But it's just maddening. 10+ years of my life! I know everyone faces rejection, but I seem to mostly get positive feedback and so many "close calls" of almost getting a deal - a lot of interest, but then it just peters out. That "compelled to reject anyway" just made me start feeling like I'm just fated to never be published, no matter what? I'm unagented now, starting from scratch..."

OK first of all -- that rejection, if that is literally what they said, is utterly insane. I have to presume (HOPE? PRAY?) that you are paraphrasing, that that is what it *felt* like to you, but that's not LITERALLY what they said??? Because there are certainly things where, on the surface, yes, this is what a publisher is looking for and it "ticks the boxes", but ultimately, it doesn't have that X-factor, je ne sais quois, or whatever -- so I can see a publisher saying something like, "while the writing is admirable and the premise is interesting, ultimately, we weren't compelled enough to make an offer for publication" -- which is ALMOST what you said, but there's a key difference that makes it actually normal and not insane. Because in YOUR version, it sounds like they are under an imperius curse or something, where they don't know what they are doing or why they are doing it, they just have to do it, even though it is against what WOULD be their better judgment if they weren't cursed. And... it's wild to think that a publisher would make a statement like that. (Maybe they were having a very OFF DAY???) -- BUT ANYWAY, on to the crux of your question/rant:

I understand your frustration. If it makes you feel any better (??), you're not alone. I know many -- MANY -- MANY career authors, who spent 10 years honing their craft, trying and failing, getting rejections, getting close-but-no-cigars, etc. I was chatting with a wise (and now famous) author I know, who spent 10 years or so in the query/wrong-agent/rejection/close-call trenches. She told me a theory that I feel pretty sure is right, though I don't have proof per se, it does track with my observations. She said:

Just about everyone who sticks with writing or the arts in general as a career has about a ten-year rough patch. That doesn't mean it takes everyone ten years to get published! (Though it does take LOTS of people 10+ years) -- Some lucky people get their break a lot sooner than that. BUT. Everyone has to pay the piper that ten year fee, either all at once, or in installments. So let's say you sell your book right away and start raking in the accolades etc -- fab! Just know that nobody stays popular and beloved forever, and at some point, the ten year slump is coming for you. Aren't you lucky that you're getting yours out of the way now?

OK, if that didn't work for you, how about this:

How to keep pushing ahead after so long and so much rejection?

You know you don't have to, right?

Like, if writing and seeking traditional publication is making you miserable -- you can stop. In fact, stopping may be a great idea.

I say this not to be discouraging, but rather, encouraging, actually. I encourage you to give yourself permission to prioritize your own mental and emotional well-being.

If you realize you miss writing and can't live without it -- go back to it! But maybe instead of having "publication" as your goal, your goal can be writing for the pure joy of it, without worrying about future queries or would-be agents or anyone else's expectations. What freedom! Embrace that!

Then when you do have a brand-new shiny manuscript, you can decide your next steps. Maybe it's trying again for traditional publishing, and this is the turn around the track that changes everything. (It should be close, if the 10 year theory is correct!)

OR, maybe it's self-publishing. (Lots of people have a lot of success there -- maybe you're one of them!) --

OR, maybe it's just chilling out and writing some more for your own pleasure -- creating art for the sake of creating it, for fun, for self-fulfillment, etc. Like, you know, a normal hobby, that nobody is expecting you to monetize or make into a "gig".

[luveline]

Okay but what about Eddie and reader having been going strong for awhile and Eddie wants to take things further and ask reader to marry him, but he wants to ask Roan’s permission first bc he cares about her opinion.

I thought this was so cute! it's almost entirely eddie and roan but r is mentioned lots and lots and is also a bit long my bad 🥺 ♡ fem!reader

He really wants to get you a ring.

Eddie Munson can be stupid. He makes rash decisions all the time. He bets on the wrong horses and he's almost always late to parent-teacher conferences. He buys Roan's clothes by holding them up to her body in the middle of the store and asking her if she likes them. He knows there's a thousand wrong decisions to make and half of them he's already made, but he really thinks this is the right one.

He just needs Roan to agree.

You're at your own place for once. Not for Eddie's lack of trying — he'd asked you to move in twice already, and though you'd kissed him silly and told him you loved him an insane amount, you'd reasoned that you should keep your place. (Though you had, in a way, moved in anyhow.)

"I don't want us to rush anything, Eddie," you'd said carefully, eyes on Roan's dark head of hair across the room. He'd followed your gaze. "I don't want to be the evil step-mom."

He'd promised that could never, ever happen.

He probably shouldn't have. While Roan literally loves you so much it makes her cry, things can change.

Right now, Roan thinks that she's sharing Eddie, and she's doing a great job at adapting to all the changes that come with that. Your clothes in his room, your coats on the hangers. Your work stuff where her princess ponies used to live, your fancy shampoo next to her jellybean two-in-one. Getting married would make you her bona fide mom. Eddie's not sure Roan realises that she's the one who'd be getting shared.

Though you act like you're her mom already. It's one of the many reasons he loves you. You've never once made Eddie feel bad for being a dad, or for having Roan full time. You genuinely miss her when she's at Wayne's. You love his daughter. You play games and you sing songs and you cuddle her whenever you can. You wash her hair and take care of her curls, you do plaits and bows and bunches. You'd learned how to do all of that stuff without ever having been asked.

Eddie wants to marry you so badly it's a physical ache.

Which is why he's as scared as he is to ask her about it.

"Roan?" he calls, stretched out over the couch with a coke can on his chest. Moping, maybe.

"What?" she calls back, voice littler still because of the distance.

"Are you busy?"

He hears the tap running and then she appears, water dripping down to her wrists. Eddie swaps her for the coke can, rubbing her wet hands dry with the excess fabric of his shirt.

She sits on his stomach. She's incredibly big and small at the same time.

"What, dad?"

"I got something to ask you."

Roan squirms until Eddie brings his legs up to let her lean against his thighs like a chair.

"It's a big question," he says tentatively.

Roan crosses her arms in front of her, hands on his stomach. "Like, big as you?"

"Right. Super big."

She nods thoughtfully before flashing a huge, charming smile. "Okay."

Eddie lifts his hands to her small face, tucking her freshly shorn locks behind her ears. Long hair like daddy had been a good idea in theory, but she just can't stand all the fuss of it.

"I'm asking because... You're five now. And I know you have lots of big feelings. I wanna know what you think about-" He doesn't chicken out, per se, more like opens softly midway through. "Uh, how you feel about Y/N."

Roan wrinkles her nose. "I love her."

"I know you do. And you don't mind that she spends so much time here?"

Again, Roan looks perplexed. How many times has she cried now because she wants to see you and you're busy? How many times has Eddie told her you can't spend all your time here? It probably doesn't make much sense to her that he'd be asking.

"No. I wanted her for my princess party after and you said no."

He grins ruefully. "I didn't say no, babe. She couldn't come because she's at her own house tonight."

"Why can't she be at our house?"

Brilliant question.

"She has stuff to do." Like make sure moths haven't eaten your clothes. And dust.

You don't really spend a lot of time there.

Roan harrumphs. "Whatever. Why can't we go to her house, then?"

He takes Roan's hands into his and toys with her smaller fingers. "I can't really explain it. But you like when she's here all the time?"

"Yeah," Roan says, clearly bored of this conversation.

He laughs under his breath and steels himself for a bunch of huge questions.

"You know I love you more than anybody else?" he asks.

"I love you more," she argues.

"No, like. Out of everybody in the world, I love you the most. I could love Uncle Wayne the most, but I love you the most." Sorry, Wayne.

And while Eddie loves you so much (and Wayne, of course), it's the truth. You're always gonna be that tiny fraction below, though Eddie's not sure he likes the word below. It's a different kind of love, regardless.

Roan seems really, really happy with this prospect. She giggles for a second and throws her arms out toward him, face landing perfectly under his chin.

"I love you, daddy," she says. She manages to sound both shy and exuberant, little face digging into his collar. "I would pick you out of the world too."

"You would?" he asks. Eddie's not too proud to admit he wells up. He laughs it off, wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he can.

"You first. Um, and Uncle Wayne and Y/N and damnation and Stacey P. second most."

"Damnation your imaginary dog is on the same level as Uncle Wayne and Y/N?" he asks, laughing hard enough to shake under her hug.

"Dad!"

"Sorry. Your totally real and invisible dog."

"Well, maybe not as much as Uncle Wayne and Y/N."

"No, I thought so."

She hides her hands inside of his short sleeves. Eddie lets her get on with it, happy and honestly buffeted by her affection. He feels both the euphoria of having a great kid and the self-satifaction of a parenting win.

"Do you think Y/N loves me that much?" Roan asks. "In the world?"

"Yes," he says without hesitation. "Of course she does."

"Mm," Roan hums, pleased. "I miss her."

"If I ask you my really big question, maybe we can go see her afterward. But it's- it's a big question, Roanie, I mean it. And it's okay if you don't know the answer, or if you feel mad or angry first."

Roan looks very concerned, climbing up on his chest to giggle at him. "Ast me, dad."

He blows her hair out of her eyes with a breath from the corner of his mouth. Heart in his throat, he grabs a hold of her waist in one hand and tries.

"I want to ask Y/N to marry me."

She blinks.

"I don't know if she'll say yes, but if she does that means lots of things would change. We would live together, and we'd maybe not live so close to Uncle Wayne, I'm not sure. Do you know what I mean?"

Roan leans forward. "Marry in a wedding?"

"Yeah. A big wedding. Or actually maybe a little one. I haven't really asked. Roan..."

He drifts off, distracted by her lovely tiny face growing more and more excited by the second.

"She would-"

"She would be my mom?" Roan shouts, eyes wide with a blazing amusement. "She would be my mommy?"

"Sweetheart," Eddie says apprehensively, "I'm not sure-"

"Oh my god," Roan says, already climbing off of his chest.

"Roan, I really need to finish talking to you," he says, listening to her sprint away in defeat. He rubs his eyes for a second, stressed, though slowly he starts to smile.

That's a good reaction.

That's a great reaction.

"Roan, if we get married, that means more- It means a lot of things," he calls, struggling to keep the smile out if his voice as he gets onto his feet to track her down.

"Yeah!" Roan calls.

Eddie walks down the hall and finds her in the middle of her room, backpack in the middle of her floor and upheaved. She's crammed three different teddies inside and a mismatched pair of pajamas, and now seems to be deciding between her pens or her long crayons.

"Babe, what are you doing?"

"I'm getting my stuff!"

He bites back a ridiculous smile. "For what?"

"You said we'd ask the question and go see Y/N," she whines, expecting a rejection.

"I didn't ask my question yet."

Roan shoves her crayons into her backpack and stares at him expectantly, a frenzy of ringlets and a palpable excitement.

He feels suddenly sheepish. "So can I... Is that okay? If I ask her to get married?"

Roan starts laughing like a maniac, the smallest, most intense vestibule of joy that's ever existed. "Dad, I need my shoes."

"No, but you can't tell her! It's a secret!" he warns seriously.

"You said we could go!"

He looks down at his girl. She's frenetic, jumping on both feet with her hands bunched into fists like she's willing to fight him for this. She wants to see you so badly now she's practically vibrating.

"Alright. Alright, come on. Let's get your shoes on."

Roan screams and runs past him, almost barrelling him down. He picks up her backpack and zips it closed, standing in the middle of her room for a few private seconds.

"Holy shit," he whispers.

"Dad!"

"I'm coming, Roan," he says, closing the door behind him.

-

more eddie and roan

[002yb]

Damian draws Jason and Dick in some kind of romantic setting (holding hands, maybe) and *that* is how Bruce finds out about DickJay... At first he's a bit confused, but then he starts to pay attention to the signs, and they are all there.

No thoughts, just Damian sketching life around him more often than not. A habit that starts when all the galas become grating and the 'eccentric artist' persona grants him some peace by virtue of Damian minding his business and looking both unapproachable and busy.

Because it's actually enjoyable, it carries over into casual outings, too. Bruce doesn't mind it, either. Is supportive of it, in fact. It keeps Damian out of trouble.

Bruce never having been too curious about what Damian draws until one day while they're visiting Clark on his farm, Bruce looks over Damian's shoulder and sees Damian is drawing Clark (who is working the farm and looking like a dream while doing it - sleeves rolled up, buttons undone, hair mused and muscles--)

"Is that appropriate?"

"It depends where your thoughts are, father."

To say that Bruce is amused at Damian's cheek is an overstatement.

That besides, seeing Damian draw something so scandalous sets off the overbearing, overprotective parent in Bruce because what else is his son drawing in the pursuit of 'art'? Damian's hardly a child anymore; more a sullen, broody teenager than anything. Bruce remembers what it's like. Hormones. Urges. Damian's interests in all things social would have died alongside the abrupt shift of his relationship with Jon years ago (the abrupt aging, the equally abrupt dating…his poor boy…), so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that Damian would turn to smut for--

And Damian clicks his tongue at him although Bruce has said nothing. They've been partners for years though, so it's no stretch to imagine that Damian was privy to Bruce's racing thoughts.

"It's no wonder Grayson is the way he is."

Usually this would be a compliment, but in this instance Bruce feels distinctly insulted. He just wouldn't know how.

He's calling you a pervert degenerate, sir. Dick's compatriot in foul-mindedness.

The drawing of Clark being utterly mundane. But because Bruce is a thirsty bitty, he projects the superbats UST onto Damian who is really not about this life, SOS

Also, Jon and Damian being fine contrary to Bruce's beliefs. Unless they're not. That's not the point of this ask, disregard.

So Damian tries to diffuse the situation and spare himself by blandly stating: "I've drawn you before, too."

Which is absolutely the wrong thing to say because Bruce's mind makes impossible leaps once again to: oh, my boy needs therapy.

To which Damian clicks his tongue again because omfg, Bruce is actually worse than Grayson. Disgusting.

So Damian flips a few pages back (the pages in between being normal, mundane life happenings -- socialites milling about the gala the night before, the wait staff prepping in the kitchen, Alfred mending a button on a shirt, etc) and then, ah.

It's Bruce. Tucked away in his study, finishing up work he had to bring home from the office. Tie thrown over his shoulder, furrow in his brow and face squished by his own hand. Focused, intent, and woefully oblivious because while he remembers Damian being there sat on the couch, he can't recall that he'd been doing this. Huh.

Bruce being so amazed and pleased because look at that, his boy is an artist.

But then, with lines merged into those that make up Bruce's likeness is another moment captured. Alongside a couple others that could fit onto the page

Not inappropriate, per se, but disarmingly intimate nonetheless

Dick, he would recognize. And Jason?

The way Bruce would be utterly bemused because oh. There's nothing so defined; that's not the point of these exercises Damian does, but it's there regardless. A closeness and familiarity. Softness.

Bruce would have to wonder if this is how Damian saw them or how he sees them; knows it's both

And it's curious, because Bruce has never...

He'd linger on those drawings. Of Dick and Jason sat next to each other, Dick's arm thrown over the back of Jason's chair and leaned over into Jason's space -- Jason being drawn in just the same to look over something on Dick's phone.

And more: with Jason laid back, propped up on his elbows and keeping Dick away with his foot. Dick's hand wrapped so casually around the arch, bending Jason's leg. The follow up after Jason must have reversed their positions, with Jason sat on Dick's hips and leaning back against Dick's propped up legs, his own legs hiding Dick's face, but all his intention showing in the steady hold of his hand at Jason's knee

Bruce leafs through the rest of the sketchbook. Seeking out more. Captivated by it because somehow he missed something important. It's right here, too. Alongside so many other mundane things from their everyday lives.

Hidden among other sketches in varying degrees of completion, lost between strangers and landscapes and animals and individual portraits are his boys, at ease and content and oh, what a beautiful thing that is

And Damian misses the memo of where Bruce's thoughts wander, still grumbling under his breath about Bruce projecting his unresolved whatever with Clark on him, gross. Accusing Damian of drawing smut. Even if Bruce was interested in commissioning, Damian won't do it even if it's Bruce asking. Damian has his line and this is it.

From then on, Bruce being mindful of Dick and Jason's interactions. Subtly observing. And it would be right there, though it's discreet. Bruce would catch the affection in bumped shoulders and playful shoves; games of chase around the cave or across rooftops. It would be there in their briefs/debriefs, with Dick's chair turned closer to Jason. Or with Jason brushing his pinky against Dick's before pulling away, shy and with his hand hiding his blush.

It's the lingering looks and the bitten back smiles; the bright eyes and the quiet, joyful warmth.

And Bruce should say something, do something. It's a liability, a risk, a distraction, but the relief would leave Bruce loathe to intrude. Because he can't remember the last time he saw and was able to appreciate either Dick or Jason being so happy. He'd almost forgotten what it looked like.

So for once, Bruce minds himself. And he stays quiet. And he contents himself with observing, same as Damian.

Who very cheekily frames that picture of Clark and leaves it on Bruce's nightstand with a note to keep his depravities to himself, thanks

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

I'm sorry, but the leader of the LoV was Shimura Tenko. That's the whole point. Wanting to be a hero for the outcast was the part of him that persevered since his childhood despite the grooming. I don't get why people are treating the whole name thing similar to deadnaming or something, because it was a name given to him by his abuser for a character he was creating. Real people vs. their "characters"/alter egos is one of the prominent themes of the story. Any deviation from the character comes from Shimura Tenko, the real person behind the alter ego. Shigaraki Tomura is a "character" the same way All Might, Symbol of Peace, is. He is the Symbol of Fear. It's objectively a bad thing that he was still stuck as that Symbol in the end. Reclaiming the character doesn't work as a positive thing here. It's good that Deku was focused on Tenko, the problem was that he should've seen that Tomura is Tenko too. Instead he didn't engage with anything that had to do with Tomura.

Reading helped me understand why people would prefer the Tenko version, as much as it made me realize how much I disagree with that reading.

( Not necessarily a thi-or-that-is-correct situation. The way I see it, it's just a difference in both our interpretations of the story ).

You mention only one example, but it's you go to other characters for comparison, you're gonna find another themes:

Theme 1:

alter the egos as the real selves— or at least, alter egos revealing traits of the real selves that could not be because of prejudices.

Theme 2:

reshaping / reclaiming a stereotype beyond what others might believe or think of it.

Best example? Deku.

Originally, "Deku" was a mean name for Bakugo to make fun of this weak quirkless kid. It's with the help of Ochako that Izuku reshapes Deku into a new meaning and reclaims it as his hero name. He is not hiding behind it, tho. Deku is the version of Izuku wants to be— brave, heroic, strong.

When the UA kids tell their pro-hero names, they are shaping their future and themselves. Beyond the circumstances, they are deciding who they want to be. Another example of it are "Shoto" and "Ingenium". Shoto takes back his identity as a Todoroki as something to be proud of, while Iida decides he will continue the legacy of his brother.

None of those names mean something bad per se. They are not fake realities. Those names are what helped those kids be more confident and sure about themselves.

Now, the Symbol of Peace is that bad not 'cause it was bad from the beginning.

Toshinori was right at first. Society needed a real reason to believe everything would be okay. They needed an example, a champion. If someone does the impossible, then it's not so impossible, right?

The problem with that name is that people used it as an excuse to ignore individual responsibility.

" Why would I save a child when it's not my job and there are heroes who can do it? "

" Everything bad happens because pro-heroes couldn't prevent it and not because we ignored it out of apathy until it got this bad. "

Those type of things.

The "Symbol of Peace" was destroying Toshinori and the hero society because Yagi lost control over it. It didn't belong to him anymore, it was a myth, a public figure. It wasn't even him.

All Might was created when an insane quirkless kid proved the world wrong getting a quirk and facing the biggest threat out there.

Toshinori Yagi will always be All Might and that is something good. That means hope. That means he doesn't need powers to be dangerous, just like he demonstrated on the final war.

Now, I must mention that the pro-heroes naming convention is nothing like Tomura Shigaraki's situation inside the bnha world. It shares some of the dual identities themes of the story, but when you explain the circumstances, it clicks.

Tomura Shigaraki might have been created by AFO, but to say that the identity belongs to AFO alone because he created it would mean to deny the 15 years Tomura spent living as himself, no memories of who Tenko was.

In fact, Tenko and Tomura both share the fact that they were created by an oppressive person or household that tried their best to shape him as they wanted. The only moment in bnha where Tenko / Tomura decided who he wanted to be was when he chose to keep being the leader of the League of Villains.

By the way, AFO was the Symbol of Fear and they started calling Tomura that because he was going to become AFO's new vessel. He didn't want to be the Symbol of Fear at the end, but the leader of the LOV. When he asks Deku to tell Spinner his last words, he calls himself Tomura Shigaraki and not Tenko Shimura.

The final part of your asks is something I agree with. Deku was so focused on seeing past the mask that he didn't realize part of it was not a mask at all.

Well, let me correct myself.

Deku saw it and couldn't forgive him. Deku saw it and felt unsure about whether he actually saved him or not. Deku stood there, watched everything unfold and couldn't decide if the job had been done. All Might had to reassure him in that regard and we all know how wrong Toshinori constantly is about Tomura.

In a sense, I guess you can affirm that Tomura is Tenko or that Tenko is Tomura. It's more a matter of preference or interpretation what do you want to call him from here on (so far).

[avocado-writing]

hi!! ive.. gone and read so much of ur work in one sitting. its all so much to take in, IN A GOOD WAY, and i absolutely adore every single word

would u be so kind.. to bless my angst durge needs..

Durge Resist tav, was strong for all until the brain was finally defeated but now, with what she believed her only purpose/chance at redemption (brain), they can't help but feel utterly empty and,, unredeemed. They mourn all those they have robbed from this world, nameless, and countless numbers of people they robbed of the life that they were now being given the chance at living. Surely they don't deserve it(Is what they think..)

They are pathetically in love, and if they deserve anything, its to tell their special one just how much they are adored before casting themselves out of society (or taking their own life, if ur comfortable writing such things-)

Rolan, Dammon, Zevlor, maybe even Rugan if u write for that loser LMAO. just.. whoever u write for, its the tieflings i adore most ahegege

if this didnt make sense IM SORRY i havent slept in so long and sleep is not choosing me. i just crave angst, perhaps with a happy ending if u would indulge me so..!! thank u if u read this, so much!!

hi, I don't write fics about suicide, but here's the tiefling bachelors with a durge who's planning to disappear after the absolute is gone and giving them one final confession:

Dammon

senses something is wrong when you take him aside for a heart-to-heart.

it isn't that you avoid these sorts of moments per se, he just knows you only affirm your affections when something big is going to happen (you did it before you went off to fight the elder brain)

he holds your hand tightly, gets you to look him in the eye.

"I love you, no matter what, and I never want to be without you. tell me you'll be there when I wake up tomorrow. in our bed. swear it to me."

you can see the utter adoration he looks at you with, and you think: maybe you aren't so bad if a man like this can truly love you.

the next morning Dammon wakes up. you're not in bed next to him. he panics, getting to his feet - only to find you in the kitchen making breakfast.

he's never been so relieved. walks up behind you and wraps you in his arms. he loves you so dearly, and will keep on loving you until you believe yourself worthy of it.

Rolan

Rolan doesn't quite understand why you're having this great outburst, but chalks it down to emotions running high after the final battle.

says goodnight, kisses you, and heads off to his tower - he has a lot of admin to do after all.

the next morning he comes to meet you at the elfsong, only to be met with the realisation that you aren't there. he curses himself for not understanding why you were so melancholic last night.

he tracks you down. uses all of his resources to scry on you, grease palms with the money the tower has. he's up all night for weeks. Cal and Lia worry about him but he is determined.

and find you he does. manages to locate where you're hiding out, a little hamlet in the middle of nowhere. you burst into tears when you see him, and he just pulls you into his arms.

"come home with me."

you do, moving into his tower. and you never leave him again.

Zevlor

immediately knows something is wrong. takes you to a quiet place where the two of you can be alone and talk things out.

discusses how he feels like being a failure for breaking his oath -- but you always saw past that. saw the goodness in his soul. he wishes you would treat yourself with that kindness.

you begin to cry, softly at first, and then with sobs which wrack your whole body. he holds you ever so tightly.

"I love you. you are not who you were. you have strived to be better every day, fought against your own family, and always chosen a righteous path. you deserve to be happy. I'd want to make you happy, if you'd let me."

eventually your tears run dry and you look up into his face. his eyes are so sincere. he means every word.

when you kiss him, it's a promise: that you're with him for good. that whatever comes next, it will be faced together.

[sayammm]

a bit of a rant to some weird Farcille shippers (those who has read the manga. Anime onlies, I can understand) but it's absolutely funny and weird that they would intentionally reduce the whole point of the story and Marcille's character growth as just the "elf who wants to save her girlfriend"

No. Just no. I'm not saying there's no chemistry between Falin and Marcille. There is. The same way she has chemistry with Laios (this needs pointing out bc some weird Farcille fans are trying to convince Laimar fans that their ship is wrong. Yes, I've seen the convo on DunMesh discord, shut up) Marcille isn't just the "elf who wants to save Falin bc she is in love wih her". Marcille is the elf who wants to study how dungeons works blah blah blah because she has a dream. Because she has trauma and she wants to find the solution to what scares her the most. Marcille studied black magic for Falin

Wrong. Marcille studied that for her dreams.For her own goals. It so happens that what she knows is the solution in reviving Falin. It wasn't just specifically for Falin, per se. Marcille left the academy for Falin Wrong. Marcille left the academy to find Falin who went with Laios. This action is not exclusive to romantic love oh it's bc she's in love with her thing. Mikan of Alice Academy went after Hotaru, her bestfriend, after the latter left for the Academy. Marcille went after Falin to take her back, but the real reason why she decided to stay with the Touden siblings is because they showed her around the dungeon and she realized she can do a field study. Let's not forget that Laios being honest to her about the purpose of their dungeon dives convinced her to stay and study dungeons. Marcille only cried for Falin Bruh. Marcille is one fo the most expressive elf girl I've ever seen. She even threw a tantrum bc she doesn't want to eat monsters in the first episode. Open the manga again and look at the panels where Marcille has shed tears and snot for other characters, not just for Falin. Im not against Farcille because I really believe Marcille has chemistry with Falin. Plus, Trigger's scenes of Marcille smiling softly at Falin is such a nice boost for Farcille shippers.

But I absolute hate how some toxic Farcille fans are reducing someone's whole character into "lover girl". She's not just the elf who is inlove with Falin. She is the elf who will go to the extremes for her loved ones, and will make a deal with the devil bc she is scared of being left behind in the walk of life, and the elf girl who learned that death is a part of life and she has to accept that. Stop over romanticizing stuff to the point that you ignore the whole point of the series. I intentionally made some terms as vague as I can just to make sure I dont give out a lot of spoilers.

[kneelingshadowsalome]

You König work is amazing! Idk why but with that “y/n cant watch something with sweaty shirtless men!” It made me think what would König do if Engel was a gamer and had a guy that liked to game with her

Lol this turned out long and superduper self-indulgent for no good reason

CW: Jealousy, possessive behavior, mild smut

This guy friend of yours has the best equipment and has the best games, so you usually go to his place to play and have a few laughs. You somehow thought things would remain pretty much the same after you met König (silly you) because you've told him about this friend and how much fun you've had over the years. He's just a friend, there's nothing suspicious going on, so why couldn't you continue seeing him?

Interestingly enough, the words we're just friends are the exact wrong ones. "Friend" or no, you're not going to some other man's gaming lair alone.

He tags along next time you see this guy, and it's a bit awkward, because you know König doesn't play. He greets your friend coldly, then goes to "relax" on the sofa with a stiff upper back and pure ice in his stare. You shrug and start playing with your friend, and soon enough the feeling that there is a whole glacier behind your back recedes. You've missed playing with your friend so much!

Meanwhile on glacier König, things are only getting icier. If looks could kill, this other man would be dead already. König won't play, not even when your friend offers him the controller and you try to invite him to at least try. He says he likes to watch.

And boy, does he watch.

He watches you like a hawk, the way you immerse yourself in the game, the way you come so, so alive. The way your cheeks glow and your eyes sparkle, the way you laugh or frown or bite your lip with excitement.

The silence extends all the way back home, and then out of nowhere König starts to complain that the war game you played was poorly made.

"That game was highly inaccurate. The guns for example. M16 wasn't introduced to the field until–"

"König," you set a hand on his chest, "calm down. It's just a game."

He lifts his chin and looks at you, down, down, down, like he always does when he thinks he knows better – and he always knows better. But when you go to bed, he gets unusually touchy and cuddly. You're not getting any sleep before he has given you a hot, sweaty fingering session followed by an exceptionally needy cuddlefuck. You can't help but think whether the shameless display of fingering skills was to show off how good he is with his hands... And how he doesn't need a PS controller to prove it.

He suggests, uneasily, that he could buy you a big tv and five different consoles and all the games you want. You have to explain to him that it's not about the games per se, it's about the company. If you had a gift that allowed you to see under that mask, you would see how his nostrils flare at your innocent declaration.

Next time at your friend's house, you play Mario Kart. It's just what the doctor ordered because everytime you play that game you go into a giggle high. It's just so fun and harmless and silly... Actually, it's the perfect antithesis of König. Even your friend starts to laugh because joy is contagious. The only one who’s not laughing is König, who sits behind you like a monolith or a supervising adult, his stare flashing between you two. (When have you ever giggled like that with him...? When have you ever laughed like you can't even stop?)

The truth is that König is going nuts. First you played a lousy war game (riddled with mistakes), as if the fact that you have a super soldier like König wasn't enough for you. You even sighed 'wow 'when there was an intro scene with lots of explosions and an adrenaline-filled jump from a crashing plane. As if he didn't do stuff like that every day... As if he didn't shoot a real gun and kill real people every day. You would say 'wow' a thousand times more enthusiastically if you saw him doing all that shit for real.

And then? You play what looks like a colorful, nonsensical child's game and laugh your heart out with tears in your eyes. You're cute when you're in your gaming mode, and he just wants to squish you, get rid of that dude, then come squish you again.

And you sort of know that something is wrong and perhaps you shouldn't be seeing this friend so often...

It's not just the fact that you and your friend both try your best to ignore the hound dog who insists on coming along every single time even though he never plays.

It's not the fact that your soldier boyfriend has a special talent of making everyone uncomfortable.

It's the fact that everytime you come home, König is all over you and nearly smothers you with kisses and his tall, demanding frame. You barely get out of your shoes before he gets all touchy, almost gropey.

Next thing you know, you're being put to bed, literally, as he grinds you into the mattress in a desperate fashion. Grunting and groaning high above you, the poorly disguised fury seems to seep from his skin as he gets all sweaty and needy with you. Your adoring doe-eyes, your thrilled gasps and dazzled silence only spur him on.

Usually, he's mouthy in bed, but the need to possess you has reached such heights that he can't even speak. He just towers over you like a furious god, arms caging you in while he makes love to you with pitched grunts. When you ask him if he's angry (in a slightly peepy voice, because the man is actually freaking you out a bit), he grunts a quick "Nein" through gritted teeth. That's how you know he's definitely, thoroughly pissed.

Deprived moans send him over the edge right after you, and you can barely catch your breath before he collapses on top of you, cock still pulsing inside you as he seeks out the sacred little place between your ear and neck, lips burning your skin as he snarls:

"I know you are teasing me, little one... And I'm warning you that it's not a good idea."

[queerofthedagger]

I'm really curious about the Uther things you mentioned?

Ahh hey! Yeah I can talk on that a bit (for context, I think I said that I do find his character intriguing and that my opinion on him has evolved quite a bit, influenced by mostly disagreeing with what a lot of people tend to say?)

So the thing about Uther is that I feel people tend to either go "He's evil, everything he does at any given time is evil, I hate him and there is nothing more to it," or they go "Oh but he loved his children!!!" in a kind of, redeeming-quality-kind of sense. I'm somewhat hyperbolizing, of course, but I do think fandom tends to a very black and white view.

Don't get me wrong, I hate Uther. I hate Uther with a burning passion, and I love to hate him. He's terrible. But I do think the show actually did go to quite an effort to make him complex beyond a simple "tyrannical son of a bitch" (that he was) or "Oh okay but he loved Ygraine and his kids 🥺" (which he did!).

Of course he is terrible. He murdered hundreds if not thousands of people over the guilt he could not bear to live with, that was, in the first place, the consequence of his own actions. I do believe he didn't know that the price would be Ygraine's life; he was still willing to sacrifice someone's life. Which is very Uther. Yes, at the root of that lies grief, and at the root of grief lies love, but the thing (and also imo the crux of Uther's character) is that being capable of loving people doesn't somehow, magically (ha. sorry) make you less of a bad person.

Terrible people can love other people. In fact, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find people no matter how atrocious their actions, who don't have people they love. And most people don't set out to "do something evil;" Uther, in all his atrocities, always had justifications to himself.

I think it says a lot that despite the brutal war he wrought, he was by and large not considered a bad king, per se, by his people and allies. We could dismiss all those instances where the show makes a point to reiterate this as fear of speaking up - and I'm not saying that didn't play a part - but I think that's making it too easy. There is a whole other essay on propaganda and how the war on magic worked, but I'll get to that another time. My main point is that, as uncomfortable as the thought may be considering just what horrors he wrought, he wasn't a frothing, mad bag full of cartoonish evil.

That doesn't mean that he "wasn't that bad, really." Which kind of brings me to the other side of things, the way people like to throw "Well, but he loved his kids," into the mix as a kind of. I don't know, counterpoint to the "tyrannical son of a bitch" side. And like, the thing is, he did. The thing is, that doesn't change a thing.

Yeah, Uther loved both Arthur and Morgana. We see enough proof of that through the seasons, whether it's in the Excalibur Episode where he fights in Arthur's stead at any cost, or in Le Morte d'Arthur where he openly weeps, or with Morgana in various instances to a degree where some people think he loved her more (and again, yet another essay on how his love for Arthur is tangled up so much in his guilt and the hatred that caused, but I digresss), not least in how her 'betrayal' broke him.

Ultimately, though, he also put Arthur in harm's way again and again. He certainly rarely ever told him he loved him, to the point where Arthur is shocked to hear it. He puts his children in chains and locks them away and drugs them and threatens them in all manners, he lies to them and hides the truth from them (Ygraine/Morgana's parentage in the first place) to the detriment of their well-being, and so on. His love is conditional. His love demands obedience and submission. We could argue until we're blue if that's really love in the first place, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter all that much.

People can love other people, and it can be entirely inconsequential, because frankly, most parents love/"love" their kids. That doesn't mean they're automatically good parents, or even good people. In Uther's case it really isn't a redeeming quality at all. It just makes him complex and interesting and multi-dimensional as the villain/antagonist. Because it makes us grapple with the really very unfortunate but inevitable fact that even terrible people are still people. They aren't some removed monster that no one can ever relate to. They love and they laugh and grieve, and they can still turn around and burn people in their frontyard on the daily without missing a beat. They can be willing to die for their children and threaten violence and exile in the next breath.

I think with Uther, at the end of the day, for me it's really both. His atrocities started out of love, and his love is steeped, inevitably, in the violence and twisted moral framework of his character; it's not an either/or thing at all, it depends on each other. And he is a goddamn son of a bitch, of course, even if every once in a bluemoon he still sheds honest tears for his unfortunate children.

[italicized-oh]

hello there~

you asked for a little prompt, so, with that Jace baccarath idea - if Jace managed to ascend instead of Porter, and Porter was for whatever reason stuck as mortal, how pissed would Porter be, and how long would it take him to get over it? Would he keep trying his plan, or would he eventually accept it?

oohohohohoo! <3 brilliant, many thanks!!! this is not an answer, per se, but i hope it satisfies nonetheless

so if porter's pissed (and i say if, because part of my jace!bacarath agenda is that porter did in fact know it was happening - but I digress), the first thing that lets him know that he has not, in fact, ascended to godhood, is the fact that Stardiamond swats his hand away.

Which, okay. He's tried to do that before. But it never works unless Porter lets it. And he didn't mean to let it this time.

But that doesn't just mean Porter hasn't ascended to godhood. Either he's very, very weak for some unknown reason, or-

He looks up at Jace, who is on his knees on the floor of the gym, fretting over Porter. Jace doesn't seem to notice that his eyes have gone solid gold, or that he's now considerably taller, or that Porter's body is actually levitating.

-or Jace has gotten very, very strong.

Porter stays still, unwilling to let go of the advantage he currently has. He catalogs the new-Jace things: gold eyes, check. Incredibly tall, check. Even weirder magic, check. Healing magic–

Healing magic?

Jace was many things, Porter knew, but he was no cleric, that’s for damn sure. What the actual–

Porter. Thank god you’re awake.

Porter winces. He’s not sure Jace notices the way his voice has shaken the entire gymnasium.

“Uh, yeah, I’m–”

Jace hugs him. Tightly. Porter feels his fourth and fifth left ribs pop.

“Ow, bloody hell, what–”

Jace pulls back immediately, blushing. In a kind of supernova-y way. Yikes.

What– are you– did I?

Porter rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Yeah, yeah, starshine, laugh it up. You got one over on ol’ Porter. Ha bloody ha.”

Jace looks confused. If you mean I survived, then I’ll have you know–

Porter turns away, attempts to gracefully roll to his feet from where he’s, you know, floating in the air. 

But he can’t. Something like gravity draws him back to Jace, who’s looking at him curiously.

What is wrong with you? For fuck’s sake, I go to all this trouble, not even a thank you, and–

The gym is rumbling. Jace is rumbling. And Porter, well. Porter is a little bit terrified. 

Porter’s never terrified.

“Oh, yeah, fuck right off, Stardiamond, don’t try your little concerned bitchy mother hen act with me. Fucking ‘trouble’ my ass, you’re a whole damn god and I’m here with two more cracked ribs than I had before I fuckin’ woke up. Piece of–”

Jace’s eyes, gold as they are, have gone wide. His hair is whipping around in some invisible breeze, and there are sparks of lightning at his fingertips.

Porter. Tell me right now what is going on or I swear I will wipe you from the earth. 

Porter swallows. Deliberately ignores the part of him that found that incredibly fucking hot. Spits in Jace’s direction. Tries to keep the venom in his voice as he snaps–

“Well, sweetcheeks, I’m pretty sure you made yourself a fucking god.”

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Into the Ninjaverse: RC9GN AU

Alright, I finally managed to have some time to myself-

I had two different directions for this verse and I've yet to decide which one I want to use. I'll start with one that's more 'true' to the canon of ITSV/ATSV and the idea that OG! Randy takes the spot of Miles Morales (and poor Randy is definitely going to go through it-). I'm honestly thinking that across multiple universes, there are other Ninjas (none of which are Randy, for ahems reasons-). Unfortunately for our hero, he finds one of the Ninjas in his own dimension and decides he needs to help them.

Randy is startled to realize this is the First Ninja, only... different. He doesn't know what to do, deciding he's just flat out bringing him home. I honestly think the reason he makes the connection is either outfit design OR Finja takes the mask off in front of Randy and that's how he knows, but moving on-

So Randy now is finding out other universes exist- this poor kid is a little overwhelmed because he's been the Ninja for less than a year and is struggling to wrap his mind around it. Unfortunately, things spiral out of control when other Ninjas appear- it's now caught the attention of McFist, Viceroy, and the Sorcerer which is a massive problem. The Ninjas will have to face them head on as the final arc, but of course I could still be a menace if ATSV and the "Ninja Society" is integrated into the storyline. We'll be getting to that later!

Option 2 is honestly based off of having OG Randy meeting the different AU's I've created- the problem is just choosing the right ones, or pick the ones my readers (and myself because this is incredibly self indulgent) would be most interested by. I honestly think this could be done as a season finale type thing where I kind of just chuck Randy into a portal and is now stuck in another reality with no way to get home but ends up in other dimensions, and it's a whole mess because reasons

Although genuinely, I'm leaning more toward the first one so! I'm providing a brief depiction of each of the characters- both in the OG and alternate timelines

Randy Cunningham (canon universe)- 14 at the start of ITNV. He's only been the Ninja for a few months and is still adjusting to his duties but overall, he's doing pretty well. He ends up finding an alternate version of the First Ninja and decides to help him (how could he not when he literally finds him unconscious?)

Howard Weinerman (canon universe): pretty much the same as canon! Nothing really changes yet-

First Ninja / ??? (alternate universe/dimension 616): meant to take the role of Peter B Parker, this version of Finja has long since retired from his responsibilities as the Ninja. Due to things going wrong in his timeline, he hasn't been as active as he could be and his meeting with Randy only happens by pure chance

Howard Weinerman/??? (alternate universe): This version of Howard is still in the works, but I like to think he's not the Ninja per se- genuinely thinking of incorporating a version of Howard who works for McFist and Viceroy, or even something to do with tengu! Howard. Only... he's extremely startled and surprised to see Randy (though why?)

Theresa Fowler/The Purple Ninja (alternate universe): I feel like she'd be a little adjacent to Penny from ITSV! Because I said so- there's not really a lot for her right now, but I don't consider Fowlham endgame for this AU at all (i have other things in mind, that's all i'm going to say)

Nomi/Nomicon/??? (alternate canon): y'all are going to hate me for this- or you might not, but I do consider there's the one singular universe where the Nomicon is human and takes on a role eerily similar to Miguel Rivera for... ahems reasons (i think you can figure it out, but for now- consider all of this to be non-canon to the ITNV world! at least for now)

I like to think canon! Nomicon can have a human form but chooses not to reveal themself- as a personal quota to remain cold and neutral to all Ninjas but at the same time, they can't help seeing something different in Randy. This is self indulgent, I'm going to write what I want hahah

There's also a lesser version of this idea where it's more like the Ninjas are still Ninjas, but also have like- spiderman-esque vibes as well? I keep thinking of a fusion between the two, and now honestly I might just switch between the three versions until I settle on one I like!

For now, these are my current thoughts! Please comment on this or something- I genuinely want to see who's interested!

Current Tag List:

into the ninjaverse / ITNV - general tag

ask itnv - for asks about the characters!

itnv talks - responses/answers to the asks

I'm not really expecting this AU to garner a lot of attention but just in case- I have these setup because someone's got to be interested!

[deepermadness]

I do wonder sometimes how much bigger Destiny, as a franchise, would have been if it had been something closer to a traditional RPG. Don't get me wrong, it's been a HUGE success for Bungie over the years, but it's not quite as memorable as say, The Witcher or Baldur's Gate, or Dragon Age, you know?

And I feel it's a bit of a shame. The concepts in the game, and its story, have been incredible over the last decade. The setting is wondrous, letting you explore so much of the solar system. The way you can get random drops for your armour and weapons, and how those weapons work! You literally wield space magic!

But because it's a live-service game, which has to update weekly, you can't keep rolling with the story. The side-quests are time-gated, sometimes being inaccessible for months. Many items are hard to farm because you only get one chance a week. And the gameplay loop is different because there's always a constant push to give players something new regularly, rather than allow them to complete it at their own pace. This is particularly notable because it affects how the story has played out and where it has gone over the years. Bungie did try a more linear game when Destiny 2 launched with items that no longer had RNG attached to them, but this was so negatively received that Bungie switched back to random rolls on gear in a patch soon afterwards.

So what would have been different if it had been more like a traditional RPG? Well, for one, you could follow a much wider story with branching paths. The way you pick up materials, and how they are used, can be greatly expanded upon. The way the overworld changes can be more dramatic as you wouldn't have to consider running missions again for bonus weekly content.

But perhaps the most crucial difference is that you don't have to worry about old and new players mixing in the same way. This has always been an issue for games that play like Destiny does, where you have the "canon" story that you loosely follow, and the gameplay loop that you have to stick to much more rigidly to progress. Destiny was never lacking in things to do per se, however what you can do is very limited so as not to allow players to pull ahead indefinitely. You reach the cap with each expansion quite quickly, and you maximise any skill trees so fast that the first campaign is the only thing that gets affected by it being incomplete.

There's always been this disconnect between players having the same origin in the Cosmodrome, and going through the core of the story. Yet, you play as both "THE Guardian" and just a regular guardian at the same time. You get stuck in this endless scenario of being the hero of all Destiny, but also just some random person who happens to be there at the same time. This is especially jarring as this occurs for players starting ten years ago, as well as players starting today. This doesn't mean that a more traditional Destiny game would have to be single player, however it would likely have to be stricter on how much a level would make in terms of power. Perhaps the game could keep a party system, similar to JRPGs, but you could substitute your player character into a role as you see fit? Or maybe even have a single player and co-op campaign to choose from?

But there is one other thing to consider. Gameplay length. Destiny has built up a huge story over the last decade. Such a story would be spread across multiple games in a more normal series. Would it work as well, as a scope? The main advantage of the world is that it keeps everything active all at once, barring sunsetting (the rotating out of activities). Could a franchise spanning multiple games and even multiple console generations keep all of its content accessible across all of these platforms? How would they do it? Would any of you like to play a Destiny game that played differently? What would you change?

[unlocked-doors-verse]

Origins: Character Headcanons + Lore Thoughts

Good timezone!

So, here's some added development to the AU! Of course, Mystery Kids is still happening but again, I have a lot of prompts to get through

For starters, the readers are not immediately introduced to all of the characters at once; this will be split in about 4-5 one-shots (certain characters will meet the others beforehand and then do a big meet toward the end- that is all i'm going to say for now). Part 1 is actively being worked on - ft. a cross between Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug, but for now- I plan on focusing with character headcanons and some additional lore elements everyone can be privy too!

On one hand, we have Danny Phantom and Miraculous Ladybug where we have Danny Fenton, Adrien Agreste, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng - and their initial first meeting during Secret Origins

Danny Phantom / Miraculous Ladybug Headcanons

~ Out of the trio, Danny is the oldest; Adrien and Marinette are the youngest (there's a year of difference between them and Danny) [author's cut: I based this on when the respective shows came out. Danny Phantom aired in the early 2000's with Miraculous Ladybug getting released sometime in 2014/2015]

~ This isn't spoilers per se, but there's going to be a case of mistaken identity when Danny meets Adrien and Mari for the first time. The rest is spoilers, and I will leave you to try and figure it out! The only thing I'm going to say is that ghosts aren't a common thing in Paris-

~ This is set in an ambiguous timeline- the only thing I will say for certain is that Phantom Planet has yet to happen. A lot of the current canon for Miraculous Ladybug has been completely disregarded- partially because I never got past... I'd say season five? (and what I've heard about the newer seasons sounds like entering the Twilight Zone-)

~ Danny is auDHD because it just makes sense- (he has dual special interests on space and inventions; not to mention his ghostly obsession)

~ Adrien and Mari are definitely some breed of neurodivergent (autistic! Adrien, at least and I thought Mari is ADHD or something- this is canon now you can't tell me I'm wrong /lh)

~ Danny and his family end up in Paris, France during the summer due to reasons

~ so far, no identity reveals beyond the obvious have happened. For Danny, it only applies to Sam and Tucker; in Miraculous Ladybug, Mari isn't willing to share her identity with Adrien (this is done on purpose as this is still early into the character introductions)

~ this is no way a spoiler, but Adrien and Danny are so going to bond over puns and jokes- (and other reasons but shhh)

~ unresolved traumas? oh, absolutely- like on one hand, you have Danny who has definitely been going through the burner with protecting his own identity not from his enemies but his parents; Mari definitely has a savior complex and is so set on saving everyone, she barely puts herself first- and Adrien, my sweet summer child- how do I explain what this kid is going through when it comes to Gabriel fucking Agreste? (author's cut: Gabriel is not a good parent lol- I'm not doing a full meta-analysis on him but he doesn't really have Adrien's best interests at heart)

~ Adrien does try to see the best in everyone, but he is wearing down from certain things- i am not going to sugarcoat things, because this is going to a different level of mature and Adrien does try and cover how he feels

Lore Thoughts + Elements

~ As mentioned before, ghosts are not a common thing within Paris. Danny would be an outlier in the equation because this isn't something the citizens have seen before, and it might take some time for them to adjust further into the first arc of the SQ AU

~ If this somehow isn't obvious, Akuma attacks do not occur inside Amity Park (as for one thing, Hawk Moth has never once stepped foot inside the city and for another- ghosts and Kwamis do not mix, it's just not possible)

~ however, citizens from Amity Park can be Akumatized should they leave or if, say, somehow- they were brought into the city but for now, do what you will with this information. Good luck

~ (implied plot elements) "In the purple smoke lies what you hold most dear; to undo what has been done, break the cycle and rewind the masked's design". (author's cut: i'm sure you can figure this one out, but honestly there is so much more coming, so keep an eye out!)

~ Secret Origins Lore / Teen Heroes AU (the name is still subject to change): as mentioned before, there will be about 4-5 one-shots before the main story releases- this may have a little bit of major plot arcs so read at your own discretion - due to the overlapping themes within the four fandoms, there are multiple sectors throughout the world that are specifically for the current growing number of teen superheroes (author's cut: the Dragon Council, for instance- among others, take with this what you will. of course there's more to come)

~ since this is only the first in the Secret Origins background- character introductions are fairly limited; and honestly, I was going to use one of the specials to push forth the lore but ultimately, I scrapped that version (but I could rewrite the version of events that could have happened: especially since I had tied it back to the New York special-) though the alternate version aside, going back to the introductions- the point is for the sectors to slowly become part of... well, let's just say that certain alliances within this piece are going to be only one part of what's to come-

(Author's Cut: As of right now, this project continues to remain a Work in Progress and of course, I'm trying to limit myself with the spoilers- currently the early stages of the Miraculous Ladybug x Danny Phantom fanfic are being worked on, and I am considering writing a small snippet of it! Without spoilers, of course!

You’re going to see a lot more for this and the Unlocked Doors AU soon. These poor kids are definitely going to through it.)

~ Mod Danny

[lyyy30]

My theories and Heardcanon about the Ope Ope no mi and how the Eternal Youth Surgery works.

Hi! I wanted to express my thoughts, theories and heardcanons of how Ope ope no ni works and my theory of eternal youth surgery. English is not my native language, so I apologize for any mistakes in expression and grammar in advance.

1-Medical knowledge.

I have seen a lot of people saying that to do anything with the ope ope no mi you need to have medical knowledge, but I don't think so. I see it as a tool. I believe that any user of the Ope Ope no mi would be able to do any of the techniques that Law does in combat, except “mess” and personality transplant surgery, which I'll talk about later. Because, I could pick up a scalpel and cut with it, but I can't save anyone's life with it, I couldn't cure myself of deadly poisoning or look for things that are wrong with the body if I don't know what I'm doing. Same with the electricity attack, I think anyone could launch an electric attack, but I wouldn't know the right amount to restart a heart without killing the patient in the attempt. Same with Gamma Knife. (My personal heardcanon is that the Ope ope ope not me per se can launch a small amount of gamma rays to treat cancer, but Law managed to concentrate the energy to form a knife).

2-Re-room and silence.

This is a heardcanon. To me, Law could use Silence long before he unlocked Re-room (and in my humble opinion, Re-room is much more dangerous than K-room. Because a Room that chases the target to have no distance limitations seems lethal to me).

The case. The Room being somewhat similar to Rosinante's sphere of silence, I totally see Law of about 16-17 years, after no longer trying to hide his devil fruit and being able to experiment with it, trying to do an imitation of Calm. Why didn't he use it until his Big Mom battle?

First, because I see him as very sadistic and enjoying the screams of his enemies when they are amputated (he said he doesn't like killing, not that he doesn't enjoy psychologically torturing people he detests, like members of the world government -the poor Sabaody marines- xd).

The second thing, is because I don't think he likes to use his energy in techniques that aren't strictly useful, and Silence, in most cases would be a whim, only in the battle against Big Mom could it have been really useful.

3-Personality transplant surgery.

I personally love it and I'm a bit sad that it hasn't been used more, but I understand that by logic, there are few situations where it would be really useful, because for people with superior haki, you couldn't do it, and for people with worse haki, most cases an Amputate would be faster and more efficient.

On the other hand, I want to emphasize that this is a surgery, not one of the techniques I consider as “surgeon's tools”. Just like the more conventional surgeries you can do, you need to know what you are doing. I believe this technique exists because it will be important later on or is a prelude to the Eternal Youth surgery. It is proof that the surgeon can manipulate the soul and has more control of life than it seems.

4: The surgery of eternal youth.

Well, here I want to express my theory, and I have separated it into several points.

4.1 Give and take.

I think this concept is very ingrained in Law. All his life he felt he owed his life to Rosinante and had to use it to complete his goal, that's why he had trouble understanding unconditional love, they are practically opposite concepts.

Ope Ope no mi seems to me a somewhat self-destructive fruit, in the sense that it seems made to save people at the cost of the user's energy, and the harder it is to save the patient, the more energy it will suck from the user. And it doesn't take forcing the fruit's abilities to harm itself, like Luffy with his gear 2, it seems that all his techniques come at a cost, higher or lower, like when he explained in Dressrosa why he couldn't take care of boxer fish.

4.2 Soul.

Being a surgery, Law could not do it just because he wants to, he has to know how to do it, and for that, I think what he is dealing with is the soul of people. We know the following things about the soul in the One Piece's world, thanks to Brook's fruit and Big Mom's fruit.

1: The soul exists. There is no argument.

2: The soul can fragment and separate from a body. Soul fragments equal years in your life expectancy. When a soul is completely separated from a body, that body becomes inert, dead.

3: Devil fruits are rooted to the body, not the soul. (The Chopper possessed by Franky's personality was still using his fruit).

Souls can be consumed, presumably only people who can manipulate them can consume them, doing so gives you a great deal of energy and can help heal the user.

The souls are the ones that provide the memory and the personality of the individual.

4.3 Is it reversible?

I was thinking. If the surgery is an effect of a devil fruit, does it mean that a strong enough haki is able to negate its effect? In that case, which haki would have to be overcome, that of the immortal or that of the surgeon who did it?

On the other hand, with the personality change surgery we have been told that only Law could return them to normal, it is not known if with haki they could have reversed it.

Because with Hancock's fruit, she said it was irreversible, but of course, the haki had to be used consciously and it is difficult for stone statues to do anything. But in the case of the personality exchange, the victims are conscious and keep their haki.

4.4 The operation.

I believe that the soul in the One Piece's world gradually leaves its body.

Perhaps there is a separation between “personality” and “energy”, one that shapes an individual's character and one that retains it in a body. Likewise, I think Brook's fruit gives him the ability to control the “energy” part of oneself almost completely, while Big mom's gives him the ability to limitedly control both parts.

(And the cursed swords to me possess the “energy”, but only a few hints of “personality” And thus can be held for longer but can be bent with a strong will, and the Klabauterman have “personality” but very limited “energy”, so they only use it in times of maximum need).

The ope ope seems to be able to manipulate “personality”, and not energy.(Or yes, I don't know).

4.5 The consequences.

Anyway, here I am going to bring two alternatives, one extremely cruel for the poor man and one less cruel xd.

The less cruel one is that he gives up his energy in a way that retains the patient's “personality” forever, somehow or other.

For the more cruel one, I want to mention that I surely have very strange ideas that for more than one would not make any sense, so maybe it doesn't make any sense at all. To begin with, I want to remember Drum's arc and Dr. Hiriluk's sentence. “A person only dies when they are forgotten.”

My theory is that personality has an immortal nature, that it escapes from a body when the energy eventually disappears, but is still there forever. And also, that personality also carries people's memories. So, if Law does the Eternal Youth surgery, he would change the immortal character of his “personality” to the “energy” of the patient, making the patient never lose the energy of his body. Then, the personality would die and have an effect similar to Sugar's fruit. Everyone would forget that it ever existed, and it would be restructured so that it would appear as if it was never there in the first place. In exchange for immortality, it would give the surgeon a true death.

4.6 Will he do it?

Please don't. But The main theory is that he would do it to Luffy, and there are two main reasons why the community thinks he won't do it: he would condemn Luffy to eternal solitude, and Luffy wouldn't allow him to sacrifice himself.

But I see two weaknesses here: The first, is that it's surely reversible, if the final villain will be defeated, it's that they will somehow or other overcome it.

The second, Doflamingo kicked Luffy off the roof before they got around to talking about it. That information is something readers know. Luffy doesn't know that if Law does the surgery, he will die.

On the other hand, would Law do it? I'd love to think he wouldn't, but I believe he knows how to do it, and if he learned how to do it, it's either that he lacks a lot of self-preservation instinct, or that he thinks it might become necessary.

Also, in my view, Law is acting a bit like Cora (risking his life and his mission for a poor kid with the D in his name, taking him on a tour for a while and getting attached to him in the process. And we all know how it ended, with Cora trading his life for the kid, lying to him telling him not to be stupid, he'll live).

[illogarithmil]

I'm presently writing* a short Mage: the Ascension adventure for the TTRPG JAMuary jam on Itch, so MtAs is very in my brain at the moment. And it's remarkably how much stuff just in the world feels like it comes straight from Mage:

Walking the dog around a nearby posh private estate absolutely gives an impression of what moving through a different Reality Zone should feel like. Even though it's not really a gated community and none of the people are unfriendly per se, you get a sense of full-body unwelcomeness that just seems to permeate the environment. You can feel that really basic things like interacting with neighbours and moving between estate and non-estate spaces Work Differently Here. I get this with the distinction between the university town and normal town bits of my uni city, too.

There's presently an elaborately set-up stack of three books and a pen which hold my laptop charger in the one specific position where it will keep my laptop alive. There is no obvious reason why it only works in that position. The position changes every 2-6 hours and I have to readjust the books. This is a capital-T Technology which interacts with not-obviously-related objects to produce an effect largely confusing to everyone around me; most obviously, it feels like an Etherite thing, but you could extrapolate out to say that this is sort of what all mages do. It makes sense from their very specific perspective and appears like random, useless chaos and clutter to basically everybody else. (Oh look, the position needs changing again.)

Starting drinking coffee has really adjusted my perspective on how adjusting your perspective (with mind-altering substances or anything else) could be a magickal practice. It doesn't have to be as obvious and direct as 'trip on shrooms until you hallucinate a dragon; now there's a dragon!'** Rather, different perception of the world, greater clarity or somethingity of thought (depending on method), allow you to interact with it from wholly different angles. In a subtle fashion, they shift the entire pattern of life over a course of days so that new things become possible, new avenues that you literally couldn't see or imagine before. Make that magickal: now you can find the alleyways-between-alleyways because your Awakened LSD is (from your perspective) letting you look at angles sideways for the first time... if you see what I mean, there aren't really good words in the English language for this. And then if you want to go super vulgar, apply that more directly - it's not that you're just hallucinating a dragon into existence, it's that you're giving yourself the spike of vision, of possibility, needed to see and talk to the dragon that was always there in a space which is much more accessible than it normally seems and convince it to give you a hand.

I love finding the magic(k)al in the mundane.

*Attempting to write, I'm mainly working on it in the breaks between dissertation work so whether it'll get done... ** Nowt wrong with perception=reality as an element of paradigm of course, but it does tend to prove the point of the MtAw fans who insist that all MtAs mages are basically just solipsists. I've definitely played that character, but it's always good to underline that there can be others within the vaguely Ecstatic-y mind-alteration space