#they also were made for a specific purpose and I feel like they accomplished that purpose. to an extent

[sergle]

I kinda have the itch to make more floral self portraits again, but it feels more complicated now, with the knowledge that those pieces are the ones that most frequently get stolen. Used as social media content for other ppl’s onlyfans, (poorly) traced for clout, reposted in terf spaces, resold reprinted redrawn repackaged. And that’s without mentioning all the messages I’ve been getting about my body Post-Breast-Reduction-Gofundme. Like, am I still supposed to feel okay about putting my body out there?

[recycledraccoon]

Minor thoughts on Oisin and how he seems primed to fuck over Adaine specifically. The flustered ping-pong balls that were a plan all along. The quoting her own words on the previous Elven Oracle back at her in regards to the storm.

I mean...imagine you're a skinny little dragonborn wizard, in a class with a cute elven girl. You don't talk to her, but one of your adventuring party members is pissing thinking that party is getting preferential treatment, so you KNOW about her. You watch from the corner of your eye or from a spot on the back of the class whenever she's actually there. Partway through the year she goes to jail, and when she comes back she and her adventuring party save the world from a dragon. (A dragon of whom your Grandmother had been fond. ((Also, coincidentally, the Vice Principal.))) One of them created a god.

(Your entire party is being groomed into rage by two of your teachers.)

You're in her class again. She is the Elven Oracle, already an accomplished adventurer. She and her friends are popular. She's very pretty. She does not know your name. She does not know who you are, just a skinny dragonborn a few seats back.

You go on your Sophomores Year Spring Break Adventure and don't bother to think about her party at all.

(You and your party are going to kill a god. Your teacher is going to ascend to godhood in their place and you and your party will have Made That Happen. You are angry and determined with each final blow you deal.)

You return from Spring Break angry and with a sore chest.

You find out the elven girl's party has resurrected a dead god and the live streamed the entire fight. They must think they're so much better than you and your party. You'll show them.

(Your friend refuses to change her faith. She cancels the paperwork. The rest of you kill her, confident she will make the right choice and join you again as a proper Champion for your new god. You help kill her. She does not get back up. You hide the body and none of you can say anything. You're so so angry.)

The world descended into darkness and you can do nothing. The sun finally breaks across the sky again right before Junior year. You and your party have made plans and are on the cusp of greatness. You've gained muscles to spare and ink on your scales in carefully selected runes, no longer just a skinny little dragonborn.

(You have a new cleric. He's not your friend. He's a haystack hick from that cult-church from Freshman year, and he's here because the god you're going to kill needs a Champion and he fits the bill, nothing more.)

The first day of school the plan starts to be put in motion. Immediately that party of kids is interfering, in your way. It rackles. You push on anyway, seething inside even as you act the part of being reasonable.

You go to a party at the houses of one of her friends. You've been practicing making spell runes on the inside of ping-pong balls. You're ready.

The pretty Elven girl in your class finally looks at you. She approaches you, gives you a drink, and chills it in your hand. She has to ask your name. You have shared certain wizarding classes with her since Freshman year, tho she was barely there. You have to tell her that.

You chat. She clearly gets flustered, calls you great, and flees back into the house. Your friend teases you for others to overhear. It's a convenient excuse to use your geometry and apply physics to miss every single shot and lay your trap. The drink isn't so perfectly chilled in your hand anymore.

(You talk to her. Play nice. She isn't smooth, but she smiled at you and maybe a part of you is vindictive in seeing her flustered. It's a shame she turned down the diamonds, as dragon madness would have been so poetic. You steal her summons to steal something from the house. She didn't know your name. Didn't remember you. You feel justified. Your anger burns cold like frostbite, like static in the air. You purposely don't wonder if that first miss was intentional or genuine.)

You see each other in class sometimes.

You plot and kill monsters the woods. You will win the battle. You will win the war.

Your parties have a standoff in the cafeteria. You play your part to diffuse the situation, your teacher has been harping on your friends to stop antagonizing the other party. You feel her mind touch yours gentle probing of intentions, her friends all around her as you lock eyes.

(The devil's honey your group gets from that bee girl all goes to your teacher. He is preparing himself to ascend to godhood, and he needs it for his prayers.)

She is searching for your intentions and feelings. You tell her only 'Sorry'. She believes you. You are not entirely sure why. She and her party will hopefully die during their Last Stand exam, and have no way to revive themselves in time, be trapped there until after elections.

Maybe she just wasn't perceptive enough to see the deception.

(You hate her and all her friends. You have had no devil's honey. She believes you. Briefly, you wonder if it was a lie at all.)

They catch you. They know. Your team goes to ground and waits out the remaining days 'til elections and the culmination of everything you've been working for.

It rains at the party, and you have no more masks. You are angry. She must never have been that good of an Oracle at all, and you take joy in mocking her with her own words from long ago.

She's nothing more than an elven girl in your class who was full of herself to remember your name.

(There is nothing left now to stop you from being as openly angry as you like.)

[rebeltarot]

RELATIONSHIPS ➕ Your next friendship

"[...] and then she knew that you could become homesick for people too."

[3 piles] ・ [6 decks] ・ [12 cards for each pile] ・ [letters, songs]

Hello friends, we will investigate who your next friend is in this reading. What is their personality, and how will you guys meet? All these questions will be explored within this reading. I wish you and your upcoming blossoming connections all the very best. ♡♡

Painting: The Triumph of Venus - François Boucher (1740)

Helpful Links: How to choose your pile ➕ Request a reading

18+ only - This is not a blog for minors. Warnings: None.

Your reblogs are highly appreciated. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

© rebeltarot 2023-2024 - all rights reserved ・ do not steal, copy, change, or redistribute my content.

PILE 01 ➕

Disclaimer: All Tarot readings on this blog are meant for entertainment purposes only. My Pick-a-card readings are based on my knowledge of the tarot and my intuition. Tarot is a divination tool and should not be considered a replacement for medical or professional guidance. It is not intended to be used as such, and any choices made in response to my readings are your own responsibility. All interpretations are speculative, and whether you believe in it is your choice. Readings are for self-reflection purposes only; take what resonates, and leave the rest. My readings are timeless unless stated otherwise.

CONFIRMATION

Signs and confirmation that this is your pile. This can be anything from your initials, astrological placements, significant messages or signs, places, songs, etc. Please use your discernment.

C, U, R, E, L, G, Aries, 2nd House, Jupiter

Song: Water - KREAM, ZOHARA

YOUR NEXT FRIENDSHIP

Tarot: 3 of swords, the world, page of wands, (5 of pentacles)

Oracle: seeker rx, humpback whale, occupation, mule, fly, boot, broken ring, don't make plans

Their Personality

Hello, Pile 01, and welcome to your reading! Your next friend is someone who has a keen eye for warning signs. I feel like this person has experienced their fair share of trauma and heartbreak, which makes them a great detector of red flags. Your friend is someone who might very well still be in a grieving process when you guys meet. They might have recently experienced a loss, and generally, I do feel like your friend might be leaning toward the realistic/pessimistic side. Some of their behavior might be strange to you too, given that they were coming out of a difficult situation. The world card is all about completion, success, clarity, celebration, and travel. Your new friend is an accomplished person—someone who has achieved their fair share of success. I do think that your new friend is aware of things and can discern situations accurately. In this specific deck, this card is associated with fans. This is a cheerleader—someone who loves seeing other people win. This new friend of yours will live through your highs and lows with you, and they will continuously cheer you on and support you. They might also be the type to motivate you to celebrate small wins. They might send you gifts and flowers for your achievements, no matter how little they are. A genuine supporter. They are also well-traveled, or they might be from another part of the world. Either way, they are cultured and can adapt to new circumstances and surroundings. We are looking at someone who is curious and shows genuine interest in others. Your new friend is also creative; they might be involved in the arts in one way or another. I do think that this is a fun friend—someone with whom you can go on spontaneous adventures and someone who inspires you to be more confident and to follow your intuition. With this friend, the sky is the limit, honestly. They will be on board with the wildest ideas and support you through them. This is someone who is free-spirited. They have broken free from society's expectations. It's the type of friend that, if you like it, they will love it! We are looking at a confident person here, or at least at someone who appears to be this way. Again, your new friend has experienced their fair share of trauma and heartbreak, and I do think that based on their past, they do tend to struggle with a pessimistic outlook at times, especially in areas regarding security and safety, aka. money. They might have a lack-mindset, but again, it feels mostly related to jobs and food security (there is an apple on the woman's head in this particular deck). I also feel like this is someone who struggles to commit. Again, this does not relate to your friendship but more to areas where your friend struggles with a lack-mindset. Anything that promises security is something they struggle to trust, so they might be the type to do job-hopping, etc. Your friend could have a beautiful and soothing voice. They might even be a great singer. What's certain, though, is that we are looking at a truly wise person here, someone whose words can soothe one's soul. Your friend is a great guide, especially because of their own life experience. They have learned a lot of lessons and accumulated tons of valuable and life-changing wisdom. Again, their words have the power to touch one's soul. They are determined. Even if they are capricious, especially when it comes to their work, they are clear on what they want. They have direction, and they are true go-getters. Their approach is just unconventional. Your new friend is someone with a purpose, and they are doing their best to follow it and be worthy of it. So in essence, this is a person who takes their roles seriously. They try their utmost to be deserving of their titles (be it a friend, a position at work, etc.).

How will you meet?

You guys will meet at work, that is for certain. I feel like the person who is new to the job will be you, given the sequence of the cards. The mule card shows us that there is a situation that seems hopeless; this most likely relates to a person who is stubborn and unwilling to change. This will lead to a period of bad health and even a depressive period for you. You might be struggling at your previous job. These circumstances will lead to you looking for new positions and eventually severing ties with your previous employer. This all seems unplanned; this change was not something you expected or even planned for, but something that was inspired by your experience with this stubborn person. And wherever your career journey leads you, that is where you will meet your new friend. 

Your reblogs are highly appreciated. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

© rebeltarot 2023-2024 - all rights reserved ・ do not steal, copy, change, or redistribute my content.

PILE 02 ➕

Disclaimer: All Tarot readings on this blog are meant for entertainment purposes only. My Pick-a-card readings are based on my knowledge of the tarot and my intuition. Tarot is a divination tool and should not be considered a replacement for medical or professional guidance. It is not intended to be used as such, and any choices made in response to my readings are your own responsibility. All interpretations are speculative, and whether you believe in it is your choice. Readings are for self-reflection purposes only; take what resonates, and leave the rest. My readings are timeless unless stated otherwise.

CONFIRMATION

Signs and confirmation that this is your pile. This can be anything from your initials, astrological placements, significant messages or signs, places, songs, etc. Please use your discernment.

A, D, I, E, U, A, 1st house, Gemini, Pluto

Song: Hate Myself - Tate McRae

YOUR NEXT FRIENDSHIP

Tarot: the moon, 7 of pentacles, queen of wands, (wheel of fortune)

Oracle: judge rx, tiger, mature man, forest, pig, eye, camel, arms

Their Personality

Hello, Pile 02, and welcome to your reading! Your next new friend is someone who holds a lot of depth. They might feel magical and maybe even a bit unreal to you. It's a person who religiously follows their intuition and is just really good at picking up subtle signs and changes. Your new friend might struggle with anxiety, though, as they tend to overthink a lot. But yes, this person is hard to read and hard to decipher. Your friend's motivations are often honorable. They tend to do the things they do for the right reasons, usually to uplift others and improve given circumstances. They are a hard worker, someone who is constantly learning, growing, and changing, and has a lot of stamina. They persevere, and their hard work usually pays off well. Everything they achieve, they deserve. They also pay attention to what they do and what they invest their time in. Your new friend is an intentional person; they always know why they are doing something. This by no means indicates a calculated person, but rather someone who is present and mindful. Your new friend is confident and courageous. They are truly independent and get along well with the people around them. Again, we are looking at a driven person, someone who does not shy away from hard work. They are determined to achieve what they set their minds to. With the wheel of fortune as their bottom deck, they might feel like someone who is quite lucky at times. Yes, they work for what they achieve, but their achievements might come with extra benefits, etc. They might be coming from a privileged background. This is genuinely a kind and good person, and they are always teachable. This is not the type of person to get their ego in their way when it comes to criticism, etc. They remain teachable because they know they are not always right, which just brings them a lot of good karma. I do think, though, that they can be harsh with their words. This is a pragmatic person—a person with reason. They never do anything without intention, so their criticism might sometimes appear destructive to others as they apply their values and their idea of the world to their judgment. They are not the most sensitive and delicate with their words. Again, this is a fiery and driven person. They appear to be unstoppable. Their passion is their driving force and their power, and they are bold and brave. Things always seem to work out for them, honestly, because their force is so powerful that everything just seems to align for them. They put their money where their mouth is.  How will you meet?

You might meet your new friend through a mutual connection—most likely a mature man. This could indicate someone who is in their 50s or upwards, someone who is just simply older than you, or someone who is more mature or has more experience. I feel like this person will connect you two during a time when you are confused. When you might not see clearly and when your values are all over the place. I do feel like you will follow your intuition here. You might reach out to this mutual connection in hopes of help or guidance, and they will connect you to your new friend. Again, you are reaching out for help to overcome a problem in your life. It might not be the easiest journey to one another, but in the end, you guys will embrace each other, and I do feel like your new friend will be more than willing to help you; they will be welcoming. 

Your reblogs are highly appreciated. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

© rebeltarot 2023-2024 - all rights reserved ・ do not steal, copy, change, or redistribute my content.

PILE 03 ➕

Disclaimer: All Tarot readings on this blog are meant for entertainment purposes only. My Pick-a-card readings are based on my knowledge of the tarot and my intuition. Tarot is a divination tool and should not be considered a replacement for medical or professional guidance. It is not intended to be used as such, and any choices made in response to my readings are your own responsibility. All interpretations are speculative, and whether you believe in it is your choice. Readings are for self-reflection purposes only; take what resonates, and leave the rest. My readings are timeless unless stated otherwise.

CONFIRMATION

Signs and confirmation that this is your pile. This can be anything from your initials, astrological placements, significant messages or signs, places, songs, etc. Please use your discernment.

B, I, N, G, O, H, I, Libra, 8th House, Saturn

Song: Me & U - AleksSounds

YOUR NEXT FRIENDSHIP

Tarot: the high priestess, 5 of cups, the magician, (9 of wands)

Oracle: angel rx, swan, house, fair woman, broom, may, mountain road, back

Their Personality

Hello, Pile 03, and welcome to your reading! Your new friend is a wise and intuitive person. Someone who is in alignment with their subconscious mind and who can read others easily. This person might seem magical to you, but in a way, they might be hard to read, and they might seem unpredictable. Sometimes their actions might be without rhyme or reason, but there is always consistency behind them, which is them following their intuition. Your friend might have experienced some losses in their life, and there might still be situations that are eating away at their conscience because they are regretful. The past might still be hunting them, and I do think that they struggle with letting go, especially when they know that they failed a situation or someone. Your new friend is truly resourceful, and they know how to wield what they have to achieve their goals. They are great at manifesting and achieving their desires. This, to me, feels like someone who is lowkey a perfectionist. They struggle with failure and they struggle with loss, and when experiencing it, they might be pessimistic about it. Your new friend is a powerful person; they are unique and authentic, and again, they follow their intuition. The only action your new friend takes is inspired action. They are resilient, for sure, and extremely courageous. They fight for what they want and protect their loved ones fiercely. This is not the type of person to give up easily; they are persistent and also great at setting, keeping, and respecting boundaries. I do not think that they are easily approachable in the sense that they are guarded. They are protective of themselves and the people in their lives, but once you are in, you are in for good. I feel like your friend's first impression can be misleading. They might appear innocent and angelic at first, but they are quite the opposite. Again, this is a strong person, but it might not be evident in their appearance. First impressions are misleading here, and they usually tend to use this to their advantage as they are aware of others's perceptions of them. Your friend is quite graceful. They hold so much wisdom, and it feels like the way they go through life is just effortless. They are a great teacher, especially when it comes to elegance and grace. They inspire with dignity, and I do think that they have a great eye for beauty and aesthetics. This seems like a truly classy person.  How will you meet?

You guys will meet at someone's home. This is either the housewarming of someone you both know, or you might be moving to a new neighborhood or a new home, and they might be living in the same apartment complex or on the same street. Either way, a fair woman is involved; this specifically describes their hair color, which ranges from blonde to gray and white. Whatever it is, it will most likely happen in May or start in May. Your move or your way there might not be easy, and there might have been a few hiccups along the way, but eventually, you are getting there, starting a new life and a new path. I do think that this person is meant to support you through your new chapter in life. You might even share a home, perhaps? For some of you, this could indicate a roommate, etc. For others, it's a neighbor, and for a small group of you, it's the housewarming of a close friend. But what all of you in this group share is the fact that you will meet this person during a new chapter in your life. And May does play a role in one way or another. It could be either timing, someone's birthday, or hold another meaning. Take what resonates, and leave the rest. 

Your reblogs are highly appreciated. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

© rebeltarot 2023-2024 - all rights reserved ・ do not steal, copy, change, or redistribute my content.

[n3xii]

2022 wrap up- what you need to know

This reading will explore what lessons you learned/need to learn, what energy to leave behind and what's coming towards you in 2023

Pile one

lessons you learned/need to learn-

You learned that ignoring and not utlizing the resources around you lead to inaction, delays, lack of progress. Specifically, you were not ultizing painful lessons from the past. I feel like a smaller energy I'm seeing here is that some of you learned that they must inact painful things in order to see movement in their life- Sometimes you have to separate from someone or distance yourself from situations in order to stop repeating cycles. But the bigger or overall enegy I'm picking up on is this pile needed to learn lessons from past pain, breakups, separations, traumas. You were letting those lessons go to waste because you felt they had nothing to bring you but more pain. You've repeated alot of cycles this year because you didn't want to examine the impact something had on you, but in reality you were just dodging powerful lessons. I feel like you guys also needed to learn that impulsiveness doesn't mean bravery or progress. This year you learned that the action you take needs to have a purpose, goal or a plan but this felt difficult to do because you felt insecure in yourself. You lacked the ability to believe in the goals and desires you already had. You know what you want you just didn't know you were able to accomplish those things. But I see you starting to step into that energy of bravery and self confidence, just make sure your actions have purpose going forward into 2023. Let your painful experiences teach you and not victimize you any further. Last but not least, some of you were attracted to reckless enegy but mistakened their enrgy to be brave and confident. Careless, impulsive and egotistical doesn't mean confident, and that was a big lesson you learned this year. People who are mean, pushy, bossy, or overpowering are actually more insecure in themselves. You may have tried to emody this energy or felt attracted to someone like this

What you're leaving behind-

I feel like people who chose this pile thought that over occupying themselves made them more mature, hardworking or efficent and you're actually leaving that behind. This left you drained. You're leaving behind the need to overcompensate for any failures or preconceived failures. I feel like people whose this pile feel like a disappointment, you think that if you take on more shit you will proove yourself to be a hard working, rational and responsible. You're leaving this behind or need to leave this behind in 2023. This is behavior of overcompensating and not self improvement. Your not a disappointment. Any setbacks or "failures" you had this year do not define your self worth but serve as lessons. Circling back to what I said about ultizing painful experiences as a resource, you need to look at any failures or setbacks you had this year as a lesson and not a punishment. Let go of overcompensating and learn from mistakes.

What's coming towards you

I feel like there was a petty, hostile or mentally distressing situation that you had to be around through obligation that is departing from your life. Online or irl situation, doesnt matter. I'm seeing you finally give up on trying to remain in this situation and holding back. It feels like you just give up on this entirely either because you're not obligated to be around it anymore or because it naturally dissipates. I see you finally being able to just relax and not have to be on guard anymore. Whatever this conflict was I'm seeing it leave and resolve in 2023. You no longer feel on guard or like you're gonna say the wrong thing and piss everyone off. You no longer feel like you have to stand your ground or fight for your place to be heard. This could have been a verbal bully, toxic reltionship/friendship, or just bad coworkers. Regardless this toxic and mentally distressing energy is leaving. If there isn't a toxic enrgy in your life that you can think of, this is you giving up on trying not to offend others or appease them. In 2023 you will be speaking your mind without feeling like you have to win every argument.

Pile two

What you learned/need to learn

This pile needed to learn to listen to their intuition when trying to make descions. In 2022 you got stuck in stalemate with yourself because you couldn't decipher what to do or where to go. you were logically trying to figure everything out but you had so much spinning and going on in your mind that it made it impossible. The whole time, the answer was within you, quietly answering you questions. You didn't know how to feel or what to think when it came to important things in 2022 because you didn't quiet your mind and listen to the part of you that already knew. This process is very hard. Intuition itself is difficult. But overall you learned this year that the answer is not always found when overthinking and frantically searching for answers. You cant google your way into intuition lol. This year you got too caught up in your head trying to figure things out but your mind is so disenfranchised and disorganized that it only lead you deeper into confusion or stalemate.

What you need to leave behind

There has been alot of unfair shit said to you this year or even way before that. Unresolved conflict, unsaid things, wrongs never righted, leaving this behind will serve you, not hurt you. Maybe you never got the last word, maybe you never got the apology you needed, but moving on with your life is not dependent on those things. I'm being shown that whomever this is was never gonna give you the closure or remorse you deserve. People are just cruel. The people who said awful shit to you did so because they knew you well and what would hurt you. they exploited your vulnerabilities and took action. They were cold and calculated. Leave their ass behind. Leave your anger and need for resolution behind. You don't need it. Everyone thinks that clairty will help them move on but the clairty they need is that healing is not dependent on someone else's remorse.

What's coming towards you

I'm seeing a sense of depression, displeasure or lack of purpose coming into your life because you might keep comparing your progress to other people's progress. I'm seeing you actually obtain alot of blessings and opportunities from your hard work next year, but never celebrating it or feeling good about it. You keep focusing on what you're doing wrong or what's not going right. In 2023 you have alot of success coming to you, you will build your own sanctuary and create alot of pathways towards success. You may be working independently, from home or generally by yourself and because of the solitary nature of your job, you feel sad and like you're not doing enough. Just know that it may because you're not around as much people. Depressive states are pointing to the possibility that you need to go out more and reconnect with people. you are enough. 

Pile three

What you learned/ need to learn

The lessons you learned this year had to do with your emotional reactions to people and needing to know when to withdraw, set back and let your feeling settle. When you are in an unstable emotional state, when you feel urgent, angry, distressed, your mind goes frantic. You feel disorganized and confused even. You learned or need to learn that in order to react appropriately to situations you need to take a step back and withdraw so that you can mentally get in order. When you get riled up, angry, hurt and confused you say or do shit that causes more hurt. You may have anger issues, issues with emotional immaturity, and you learned how important it was to take a step back and reframe situations before immediately reacting to them.

What you need to leave behind

Codependency. Some of you need to learn independence and not relying on people to make you successful, you have to work towards your goals. you have to egnerate self love, not find it. take the wheel and be in charge of your life direction. Be the leader of your own life. Relationships, parents, friends, or even god etc whoever it is is not gonna make you successful if you don't take charge and act. Leave behind the need for praise and approval. You don't need validation from other people, apart of the reason you are co dependent is because you want their approval and validation. This is your life, your independence is what matters not someone's approval. Your worth is inherent. You are worthy of everything and more. Your attachment to someone else does not define your worth. Some people are co dependent on a God to give them approval of their life choices, others are co dependent on tarot, a relationship, their parents even. You litterally don't need anyone else's approval, take the lead over your life. You make shit happen not other people

What's coming towards you

Alot of achievement. Your reading had some brutal honesty but I hope you stuck through because your 2023 year will be amazing. The work and effort you put into shit will pay off and reward you. I'm seeing alot of flexibility come into your life as well, your adaptability helps you graduate into the next step in life. The type of achievement I'm talking about is graduation, spiritual maturity, certificates, getting a good job/internship, degrees. I'm seeing you be cut to the throat, straight forward and strategic in 2023. This energy is very mental, you may come off as cold or uncaring in this time. But it's just because you're investing in your own success next year. You're not playing games or getting distracted, but at the same time you're giving yourself the room to have ups and downs.

[jabberwockprince]

ok y'all got two really cute OCs from me, but it's time for the big bad and mandatory sona <3

as usual, you can find the template here! made by @fetusmeme! pls check out their art and OC!!!!

some info about them under the cut!

Along with Paige & Tabby Trouble, Mx Wolf is also a character exclusive and created specifically for the animated Welcome Home show! Mx Wolf was meant to be a recurring antagonistic character - not a full villain but just mean enough to cause a big chunk of the conflict. Y'know like every annoying rival in every kids show.

...And since the show follows Wally (and the viewer) then I like to think that Mx Wolf has that one trope where the protagonists are the only people who aren't fooled by their shenanigans and lies <3. Basically I want them to Not Get Along with Wally and You, I think its fun!

Their status as a celebrity is never expanded upon and it changes everytime it's brought up - like, yeah he can be a singer, a model, an accomplished writer or whatever is convenient for the plot. They're probably lying anyway! The only thing truly real is that he's very popular outside of Home.

They're also based on many of my fave wolf-related fairytales for no reason other than I love shoving them everywhere I go <3. Mx Wolf is a liar in honor of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, they have no proper residence in home and stay over at everyone else's houses as a nod to the wolf in the Three Little Pigs. And they're half-goat as a nod to the Seven Goats story. And bc my main sona is a goat. but ANYWAY <3

I wanted to give them a red suit instead of salmon, so it could be a nod towards Red Riding Hood but I also wanted to keep the pastels - their palette being muted instead of vibrant and colorful is deffo on purpose, to make him feel out of place with the rest of the cast.

Mx Wolf also grew up with Paige and Tabby Trouble, so pretty much everything that people find annoying about the siblings is something they picked up from Mx Wolf. I like to think that Mx Wolf is the reason the siblings were kicked out from the Big City, so they're in very awkward terms but they fear him just enough to still act as little henchmen from time to time. Dysfunctional found family stuff!

[iam93percentstardust]

Welp it's been almost an entire year since the last hate comment in my inbox, so I figured I was due for another one (and trust me, dear nonnie, you have nothing on the three months of targeted bullying and hate I went through at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023). But I think this is a good time to spend some time talking about authorial intent. Now, don't get me wrong, I think there are many, many things wrong with this comment, but their complete misunderstanding of what I wanted to accomplish with this fic is indicative of a wider problem that I'm seeing in fandom at the moment, so we're gonna talk a bit about critical thinking and authorial intent.

So I could point out that this comment sucks because the fic they're complaining about is a gift fic and the giftee loved the fic so anyone else's opinion doesn't matter, and thinking that your opinion matters more than the giftee's is the height of entitlement (but let's face it, being called entitled doesn't matter to this person).

Or I could point out that this fic was tagged with "Infidelity" so they had to have known what they were getting into when they first opened the fic and shouldn't be so horrified that the cheating fic contained cheating (but let's face it, we all know that they didn't read the tags, and I'm not even sure they read the fic since both characters were cheating, not just Tony).

But what I really want to focus on is how badly this person misunderstood what I was writing. This is a smut fic masquerading as a breaking up & making up fic. I wrote this fic specifically so I could write 6 sex scenes (which was the original prompt anyway). I didn't really want to focus on the feelings. They're there, they're present, they get mentioned to set the stage for the sex, but I don't spend thousands and thousands of words talking about the feelings and mental states of Steve and Tony.

Which means that for the parts where Steve and Tony are being "toxic" and "shitty," I don't go into a whole lot of detail as to why they're being toxic and shitty. I have a personal headcanon as to why they're acting like this, but it doesn't actually matter. What matters is that I made a deliberate choice not to include the justification for their actions so I could write the smut instead. I knew that I was writing Steve and Tony as toxic and shitty because that was the entire point.

Now, let's be honest here, this commenter doesn't care about any of this. "Disgusting" and "grossness" are a deliberately inflammatory word choice, and as my friend pointed out, they're being puritanical and moralistic. In other words, they're like any other of the growing number of pearl-clutching members of fandom I see these days.

But this post isn't really for them. This post is for everyone who's only reading fic through their own lens and forgetting that the author also had a purpose when they wrote the fic in the first place.

This isn't the first time someone has completely misunderstood what I was trying to do with a fic. It's one of the meanest, but it's not the first time. It happened with the professor/student fic I wrote in 2022 where I argued that just because two people were wrong for each other when they were younger that doesn't mean they're still a mismatch when they're older. The pining Tony/serial one-night stand Steve where almost all of the early comments were about how it should be switched and missed that that was the entire point (that Steve is the obvious choice for pining, and I wanted to explore what would switch that dynamic). The Christmas fic in 2021 where someone straight up told me I tagged it wrong just based on the summary.

So here's the thing: death of the author is only one interpretation of literary criticism, but it's by no means the only. Authorial intent is a perfectly valid way to interpret a fic, and in this case, it's arguably more valid than looking at it through the lens of death of the author because if the reader isn't considering my reasoning behind why I wrote the fic the way I did, then the point of it will go right over their head. Getting so hung up on my intentions, my background, my style of writing not mattering, on only their interpretation mattering, means that they only read the surface level of this fic. And that works just fine in other fics, but it doesn't work here. At all. Because the entire point of this fic is my intentions. I intended to write a smut fic that glossed over the feelings of the two characters involved. I intended for it to look like a toxic relationship from an outsider's perspective. I intended to write the prompt I saw for the person who prompted it.

And if you're not looking at it through what I intended, then all you're going to end up with is dissatisfaction and the belief that I made a mistake somewhere instead of realizing that I achieved exactly what I set out to do.

[oneshortdamnfuse]

The Duffer’s early characterization of Billy as a racist bully is a problem, and not because Billy didn’t actually say or do anything racist. It’s because their supposed “inspiration” picked from IT (specifically Henry Bowers) and their push for Billy to have more overtly racist lines is not appropriate for the story they were telling. At all. I go back and forth over whether or not it would have been better for Billy to be this one dimensional villain, like Jason Carver was in season 4. However, given the type of story they were telling I am glad that we were given the opportunity to see a “bully” type character who had a backstory that explained his motivations. It added layers to his and Max’s character. It made the fight against the Mindflayer more dramatic and compelling. That being said, as an abuse survivor whose ACE score is an 8, it was still hard to watch and even harder dealing with the fandom fallout that is still stuck in the mindset that Billy is basically the Duffer’s version of Henry Bowers - something they never truly accomplished.

Stranger Things is not IT, no matter how many nods they try to give to it. IT is inspired by real racist and homophobic violence in a small town. Stranger Things does not touch upon either of those things with any authenticity, and it was never meant to. It doesn’t mean that fans can’t or shouldn’t care about those things. However, there is absolutely no good reason why the Duffers should have been faithful to their original vision of Billy being as overtly racist (using slurs, even) and violent as Henry Bowers because it serves no narrative purpose other than to traumatize characters and vicariously viewers with minimal long term consequence to the plot. This is not IT. They spend more time on this show tormenting abused people than they ever do addressing systemic hate. So fans should not treat it like IT, and they should certainly not treat Billy as another Henry Bowers or act like he’s ever done anything on par with that character’s actions when there is no canon proof of that.

My ongoing problem with the Duffers is that they don’t utilize trauma in a thoughtful way that connects to the overall theme. They are writing a generic good over evil story, which is okay but it’s not what people inflate it to be. Instead trauma is like decoration. You are meant to look at it and maybe it will evoke some feelings but it is just decoration. Stephen King’s IT is not that. Trauma is integral to the plot of the book where an entire town is not made “sick” by supernatural experimentation but rather the systemic hatred and disregard for life that is pervasive in their community. Henry Bowers is symbolic of that hatred in his words and his actions, which is why he becomes a willing pawn of IT unlike Billy who is taken against his will and forced to relive his trauma. For Henry, this union is liberating and exciting. Henry never stops, either. He never backs down. He is unrelentingly racist and homophobic, as opposed to Billy who leaves Max and her friends alone after a single incident. Henry also never feels bad about what he does, unlike Billy who dies apologizing.

Any time fans justify their feelings towards Billy using the Duffer’s words, I can’t take them seriously because their vision re: his characterization was never realized and it’s a good thing it wasn’t. They wouldn’t handle it, and you know how I know? The very scene where he attacks Lucas has minimal narrative consequence despite the way it made fans feel. Like I said, it’s just for decoration. This is not Henry Bowers. This is not IT. They never intended to explore racism in any meaningful way, just like they’re dragging their feet in terms of queer representation four seasons in. It. Is. Just. Decoration. Instead, we got to see fans cheer as they made Billy suffer and die while his trauma was put on full display after doing heinous things against his will. That’s not a villain’s satisfying end. That is a tragedy. It’s extremely sad, and the season 4 finale as well as the overall lack of emotional maturity in this fandom has not only reopened the wound of seeing his trauma mocked but rubbed salt in it with every screenshot of the Duffer’s words that gets reposted.

I cannot reiterate enough that trauma is decoration to the Duffers, which isn’t just evident with Billy but I digress. Yet, some fans hang on to their shallow words like everything they say or suggest is narratively true and fully realized. I can think of no better example of this than when fans say Billy is homophobic because Henry Bowers is homophobic, even though there’s no evidence he is and in fact Billy is called a f****t by his father. Just absolutely no critical thought there. If I don’t stop somewhere I will never shut up about it but to this day it makes me unbelievably angry to see anyone dare make comparisons with IT and Henry Bowers when that’s not what Stranger Things is about no matter how much they borrow aesthetically from Stephen King. Being critical of Billy is fine and encouraged by me, but not when you’re using it to make ridiculous claims or simply justify hating abuse survivors. We’re not all good little survivors who are soft and demure, but we still deserve a chance to heal. You don’t need to be a jerk about people who wanted that for Billy.

[markantonys]

I haven’t read the books but I do know what they have done with Moiraine and Siuan’s relationship is way more than it was in the books. On the one hand they developed it fully, have given them a very clear and deep 20 year relationship. And on the other hand, they also destroyed it fully by the end of season 2. Where do you think they are taking this? Will they stick to the books and give them their other relationships or will they weave them back together. It’s anyone’s guess but am interested to hear what yours is. I like the theory that their fallout was preplanned and part of the reason the episode was called daes daemar. But me liking something does not equal logic and fact to be sure

imo there's 0 chance that either of them will have their book relationships, that's just not happening and i find it a little silly when people (not you! but i've seen others doing it) immediately panic and think the show broke them up for that purpose haha of course i can understand why people are worried and upset! but it feels so SO unlikely that either character would ever have a romance with anyone but each other in the show, so that is one worry i think it's pretty safe to set aside altogether. (for time constraint reasons if nothing else; giving moiraine and/or siuan a brand-new love interest and having to develop that relationship would be far from the best use of the show's limited time. plus, i remember rafe outright called moiraine a lesbian in an interview once, so i highly doubt he's got plans for her, at least, to have a male love interest at any point.)

this got a little long so putting a read more!

personally i don't buy the preplanned fallout theory because i think the waygate scene doesn't work with it. if their goal was to make rand trust moiraine, then they accomplished that with their scene in the throne room; there was no need for siuan to chase them down to the waygate, she could've just let them leave if she was in on moiraine's plan here. the only time this theory felt plausible to me is when someone suggested they were in on it together UP UNTIL siuan saw moiraine channeling after moiraine had told her she was stilled, and so everything before that point was an act but everything after was genuine. but even then, it's tricky to explain why siuan would have even chased them to the waygate in the first place - unless she just wanted to make sure they got away successfully and/or wanted leane & co to think she made an effort to stop them, but then catching moiraine in an apparent lie made her change her mind and actually try to stop them? but yeah, imo there's no way the waygate scene was not genuine, but it's possible (but still unlikely; again imo) that the scenes before it were part of a scheme.

and to me, that's okay! to me, as a queer person myself (but ofc i'm just speaking for myself, not for All Queer People), giving queer characters and queer relationships the same narrative weight as het ones also means letting them be flawed and have conflict, rather than keeping them up on a pedestal of perfection and ultimately relegating them to the background of the story because you won't let them face obstacles or develop. i understand why others don't feel that way and were upset by the way things went down in 2x07, but that's just my personal feeling and that's why i personally wasn't bothered to see siuan and moiraine have major conflict here (especially since, unlike the Queer Traumaporn in so much media, this conflict had nothing to do with them being queer - it just felt like a natural conflict that arose from the two characters' specific personalities and life circumstances, as opposed to feeling like they were being punished by their world or by the narrative for being queer, you know?)

duty is a huge theme of WOT and here we saw how moiraine and siuan are both so committed to duty above absolutely everything else. they are both willing to sacrifice anything for what they each see as the greater good, and here, when they realize they have different ideas* about what best serves the greater good, they sacrifice even their relationship with each other because they feel they have no other choice, because they've spent 20 years training themselves to think that the greater good is more important than their personal happiness. to me it's so beautifully tragic! and to me it felt like the best kind of tragedy, one that's rooted in the specific characterization of the individuals involved and on all the previous choices they've made that built up to make the moment of tragedy an inevitable outcome.

*and both are reasonable and in-character ideas that were set up last season. we saw how in their discussion of "can the prophecies be trusted?" in 1x06 that moiraine is skeptical of tower tradition/protocol because she's been out in the world and largely cut off from the tower for 20 years, whereas siuan tends to trust tower tradition/protocol because she's been in the tower leading it for 20 years. and now in s2, from moiraine's perspective they need to break with tower protocol because the tower is too fractured and they have too many enemies within it, but from siuan's perspective they need to return to tower protocol because they tried going rogue and doing so freed the forsaken and was a huge mistake.

all this being said, i do not by any means think the relationship is 100% dead and over for good. like you say, the show put in work to make their relationship much deeper than it was in the books, and i don't think that was for nothing! i think that siuan in particular has been set up for a really meaty character development arc and that this is only the very beginning for her, and that by the end of the show we'll see the two of them reconcile and come back together. maybe i'm totally wrong and maybe it'll turn out that i shouldn't have given the benefit of the doubt, but as of now i don't feel there's reason to worry the show has completely trashed their relationship for good. but season 3 will be a make-or-break season, so by the end of that, depending on how certain book events play out, we should have a much clearer idea of their long-term plans for siuan and siuaraine!

[heyclickadee]

Tech’s Alive, Part 6: The Matter of Weight (cw for discussions of death, suicide mention, genocide mention)

AKA, why “Tech should stay dead for the stakes” and “Tech should stay dead so the moment he sacrifices himself retains its weight” are arguments I will not be entertaining in this household. And by this household, I mean my blog. But also probably my actual apartment here in real space.

So, this isn’t really an argument for why Tech is alive, per se. It’s more just me trying to counter the two most common arguments I see people making for why he should be dead, whether the person making the argument thinks he’s dead or not.

Stakes:

The first argument, that Tech should stay dead for the sake of the “stakes” is, to me, the most nebulous. On this here interwebs we tend to talk about “stakes” purely in the negative; everyone’s going to die, the villains are going to win, everything is going to be sad forever, etc. But stakes in a story are really just about potential consequences—what could happen if the characters succeed, and what could happen if they fail. And while it’s true that killing a character can raise the stakes in a story, it’s best accomplished by killing off a secondary character, and it can really only raise them in a story in which death was never a potential consequence.

Death has always been a potential consequence for these characters, not just for failure, but just for existing in the world in which they live. Scratch that, dying is quite literally what they were made to do. This is a series in which two genocides have already taken place—that of the Jedi, then of the Kaminoans—and which has us watching a third ongoing—that of the clones themselves. Almost every new named clone we’ve met has died, and died violently. The clone force 99 characters have all almost died about once an episode so far, and every time they do, the show tends to treat it as a serious close call.

So killing off Tech doesn’t raise the potential consequences of failure to “death” because that potential was always there. Killing off a secondary but known clone character like, say, Howser could have made heightened that risk more effectively. Heck, Mayday’s death does a better job of raising that risk for Crosshair, for example; the only reason Crosshair wasn’t the one who died in the avalanche was was because Mayday noticed the rock and pushed Crosshair out of the way. Killing off Tech and leaving him dead, by contrast, would actually, in a way, lower the stakes—because, again, the risk of “potential consequences” is gone (it’s just reality now), AND stakes are also about what could happen if the characters succeed and get what they want. Meaning that if Tech’s gone for good, the potential positive consequences are much, much lower. The positive consequence of the clone force 99 family reuniting—the thing the story keeps making us want—would just be gone. There’s only so far you can ratchet the spring of tension before it snaps.

That said, when some people argue for Tech’s death in favor of raised stakes, I don’t think the above is really what they’re talking about. They’re mostly making a somewhat edgelordy argument about death needing to feel real in the star war and darkness being the “mature” option. Let’s say I bought that argument. Let’s say I actually thought “the reality of death” and “maturity” were valid reasons to kill off a main character. Let’s even push aside all the reasons why I think killing off any one of the bad batchers permanently would break the story. Let’s do this thought experiment. Killing off Tech in this season and leaving him dead still doesn’t work, specifically because so much time this season was spent on developing and helping the other characters to understand him better.

You can spend time building up a character and developing them for the sole purpose of killing them and giving them a send-off if your show has an unserialized format. Think Gray’s Anatomy or Bones; unserialized shows are just taking the characters and putting them in different combinations or scenarios until the end of time without really worrying about arcs or narrative threads, so in that format spending time with a character before killing them off makes sense. Spending an entire season of a serialized show building up a character and their relationships, using them to develop certain themes and narrative threads, using them to push certain parts of the plot forward, and then killing them off in which a way which does nothing to resolve any of those arcs, themes, or narrative threads, though? That’s just a waste of time. Of limited time—because fully serialized shows have an ending. I’d be more willing to buy into this line of argument if it was Wrecker, not Tech, simply because he hasn’t had the kind of development Tech has.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d still absolutely hate it and would see perma-deathing Wrecker as just as story breaking as perma-deathing Tech. But if we’re doing the thought experiment where I’m talking about stakes the way some people seem to be doing, I could see it working better in that context than perma-deathing Tech. People can make that argument about Tech’s “death,” sure, but what they’re really advocating for is bad writing. And hey! Maybe we’ll get to the end of the show and it will turn out to have been badly written! I just…don’t really buy that right now.

(Of course, this is all moot anyway, because I fundamentally disagree with the definition of stakes being used by some people making this argument and see this line of thinking as somewhat edgelordy bologna anyway. But! Moving on.)

Wanting Tech’s Sacrifice to Have Weight:

So, I’m more sympathetic to this line of thinking. I don’t agree with it, but I can kind of respect where it’s coming from. I’ve mostly seen this from people who really hate the idea that Tech is dead, but don’t see a way for the moment in which Tech sacrifices himself to maintain its emotional weight if it turns out he’s alive, and who want the writers to respect Tech’s choice. And I get that. I’ve watched more than one show that had some big emotional moment that got completely ruined by being undone or having some other development come up later on. So it’s not that I think this argument is invalid; I just don’t think it applies in this specific case.

Because…okay, first, when it comes to the writers respecting Tech’s choice, I want us to think really hard about what he’s choosing to do. Because he’s not choosing to die. Not exactly. He’s choosing to do something extremely risky that will probably get him killed, and he knows it, in order to save his family. And I know it maybe doesn’t seem like there’s a distinction there, but there is one, and it’s important, because—I mean—listen to that last heavy sigh he gives before his last line. He doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t want to die. He just doesn’t see any way out for the others if he doesn’t risk it. (Also I feel like the “the writers need to respect his choice argument” really kind of…not…real great bad, actually, it’s real bad guys, even if he was choosing to die, specifically, because that’s way too close to advocating for suicide for comfort. I don’t think that’s what anyone is intending by this argument but….)

Second, I don’t agree that Tech’s “death” is what gives that moment its emotional weight. Let’s say that Tech does die here. Let’s say he really isn’t coming back. In that case, his death is kind of meaningless, because he was going to die anyway. If we’re saying he died, then it was either all of them die, or just him. Which means that the thing that gives that moment weight can’t be his death, because he had no way out of dying, if we’re looking at it that way and accepting that he’s just gone for good.

The thing that gives that moment weight—just a warning, I’m about to get tooth-achingly schmaltzy here, and I’m not sorry—is love. It’s everyone in the batch’s love for Tech shattering into a million little pieces of grief and horror as they watch him fall. It’s Tech loving his family so damn much he refuses to even consider letting them fall with him. It’s Tech, not knowing that he’s a character in a story, looking at the situation, knowing what he’s about to do will probably kill him—because if he wasn’t a character in a story, it probably would—knowing that if he does it he’ll probably never see Crosshair again, never see Echo or Hunter at peace, never get to hear Wrecker laugh again, never get to see Omega grow up, and still choosing to take the fall for them because there’s no chance he’d let them take the same risk. That’s why that moment has meaning. And because that’s where the meaning comes from, I can’t see how that meaning or weight would evaporate if he came back.

I mean—let’s say you were waking down the street with a friend. You step out in front of a bus, purely by accident. Your friend notices and pushes you out of the way, and in so doing steps in front of the bus, gets hit, and miraculously survives. Does their survival do anything to decrease the fact that they were willing to get hit by a bus for you? Are we really going to argue “death, or it doesn’t count” when it comes to self-sacrifice?

Furthermore, the “Tech has to stay dead for his sacrifice to have weight” argument seems to be made at least partly from the point of view that “dead” and “fully abled” are the only two options. They’re not. Other people have covered the possibility that Tech will come back with a physical disability that he has to adjust to way better than I ever could, but that’s a very real consequence the show could deal with.

I don’t really have a conclusion to this. Basically, while I have seen the stakes and weight arguments floating around, I don’t really see either of them as valid narrative arguments for keeping Tech dead, and I wanted to explain why.

[its-wabby-stuff]

Okay, in the first season of Rise, the boys trade out their old weapons for new ones. The glowy ones. I always believed that Draxum had imbued each of these weapons with their mystic ability, and that is shown throughout that series.

Upon learning that the boys actually have their own mystic abilities, the most they play with it is making more advanced versions of their previous mystic powers. All good, work with what you know and such.

But now, I’m curious.

Were the weapons always meant to produce its specific outcome, or do the weapons work more as a mystic focus rather than actually having powers? Think Thor’s hammer, how he can use that to focus his powers but his powers don’t come from the hammer.

To clarify, since I don’t know if that made sense.

Was Leo’s Odachi created with the intention of opening portals. Like that’s what it was designed to do, anyone who grabbed it could use it for that purpose and that purpose alone. Done. The sword does all the work. The basic, we already know this about the sword.

Or was it meant as a focus. Meaning if Mikey had decided he wanted to switch it up and use a sword now, and he grabbed the Odachi, he wouldn’t open portals with it, but he could light it on fire, as it pulls from his own mystic ability. The sword is only as powerful as those who wield it.

Now, I hear what your saying, because we’ve seen other people (like Splinter) use Leo’s sword to make portals. Clearly it was designed for that purpose right?

Perhaps that’s a level of atunement. The weapons atune to someone and carry that power. Like how Thors hammer allows other people to wield Thors magic. So if Mikey, on that particular day, had felt like switching it up and grabbed the sword before Leo, it would now atune to him and his abilities, allowing other people in contact to also use his ninpo.

Frankly, Draxum himself is no help on uncovering this since he barely gives any reaction at all to the boys wielding the weapons. No sense of- so that’s what that does, or even I can’t believe you fools can’t use them. But if I’m wrong please feel free to tell me. (It’s been a minute)

All this could just means that the boys unlocked parts of their ninpo far earlier in the series, and could provide evidence that ninpo is unique to each person who wields it. They didn’t just pull from a large pool and focus it into something they already knew, but rather that skill was chosen for them.

Why each skill was chosen would be another question entirely.

This could explain why Mikey got ahold of his mystic ability rather easily, since it all came naturally. Raph as well. And why he was able to awaken greater power through the tonfas, in an action that very much replicates how their actual Hamato ninpo works, surfacing power in times of need. In fact, their ninpo awakening without weapons happens in a way that mirrors when Raph pushed more power into the tonfas.

It also adds to Leo’s difficulties using the Odachi at first, because he was pulling from himself. And it’s very hard to accomplish something when you don’t actually believe you can do it. Hence why the sword always worked best when Leo believed in himself.

Donnie is actually a great example of this, seeing as he had no previous experience with mystics and didn’t have a power to pull from, yet awakened an entirely unique mystic power.

God I wish they hadn’t cut the Karai training arc cause I would’ve loved the Donnie finally caving into mystics story (along with the slightly angsty parts of him feeling like he can’t do it). Argh!!! We were robbed. (Just gonna go write it myself…)

While either option doesn’t really matter as of right now, since the series is over, I do think it’s fun to think about when imagining the cut Karai training arc. Or if anyone is writing a separated AU or collision, or if people are just interested in analyzing the hell out of a show like I am.

After my entire tangent, I’m curious if you agree.

Thank you for your time! I’m trying to get attention so likes and reblogs are much appreciated! 😊

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the tags or comments. I read all of them.

[aspoonofsugar]

Just had a thought rewatching Pyrrha and Mercury’s fight that another reason Merc forfeited could’ve been the risk that Pyrrha would discover that it wasn’t just his legs that were robotic? And in that vein, maybe even subconsciously fear of her semblance and what it could do to him?

Hello anon!

I mean, I think consciously Merc forfeits because he has discovered Pyrrha's semblance and doesn't want to reveal too much about his own abilities...

However, I think the scene and Mercury's attitude towards winning and losing has a lot of subtext. I have commented on it in several posts, like these two.

MERCURY AND PYRRHA

Personally, I think Pyrrha has left an impression on Mercury, even if he doesn't show it. Specifically, I agree with you. Her semblance is a bad match up for Merc both on a practical and on a psychological level.

From a practical point of view, Pyrrha can win against Mercury just with her semblance. From a psychological point of view, Pyrrha can strip Mercury from his legs and coping mechanism, all at once. Mercury needs to believe Marcus's abuse has somehow made him stronger. It gave him mechanical legs (his triumph card) and strengthened his fighting abilities. Well, Pyrrha's fighting technique is top notch and she can take away Mercury's weapon. Surely, this isn't something that makes Mercury happy :P

In my opinion, Mercury's dialogue with Cinder later on kind of gives away his feelings over Pyrrha.

Cinder: Ah, the invincible girl. Mercury: She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible.

First of all, he immediately refuses Pyrrha's nickname and tries to debunk it. Secondly, he looks for reassurance that Cinder (aka his authority/parental figure) can deal with her for him:

Mercury: You should be able to take her no problem.

And Cinder's answer summarizes their shared mentality:

Cinder: It's not about overpowering the enemy. It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time.

Why evolving yourself if you can take away others' powers? Why struggling to grow if you can just drag others down to your level?

This is Marcus's teaching in a nut-shell. And isn't it interesting Cinder's wording references the idea of "taking away people's powers", when Marcus stole Mercury's semblance?

WINNING AND LOSING

All of this brings to Mercury's twisted vision of winning and losing. In a nutshell, the importance isn't to win, but not to lose or to make the other lose.

Consider Mercury's major fights at Beacon... with the exception of the Vytal Festival first 2 rounds, he basically never wins, but also never really loses.

He fights Pyrrha, but forfeits before the fight gets real and it is discovered who is the best fighter. He technically loses, but it doesn't matter because he succeeds at finding useful info.

He fights Yang, but doesn't really have to worry about winning because the plan is for him to throw the match. So, he isn't really forced to give his best in order to win. That is "dumb", while manipulating things from behind the scenes is "cooler". Again, Mercury loses, but in the end he accomplishes what he must. And delivers a worse humiliation/setback to Yang.

He fights Ruby and there is not a clear resolution to their fight. However, once again Mercury manages to stall his opponent, so that things work out according to plan. He doesn't hurt Ruby, but by the end she is left crying and desperate.

Throughout the first volumes Mercury either fights opponents he can easily defeat (the panther faunus, Coco and Yatsuhashi) or faces stronger opponents with the sole purpose of dragging them down. The objective is not to lose or to make the other lose, never to win. This protects Mercury's ego, but ends up being damaging in the long run because it doesn't let Mercury face his shortcomings. Hence the moment he really fails (aka Heaven), he reacts with frustration in a way, which is almost childish. Still, this is exactly the point. Deep down, Mercury is a child, whose growth has been stunted by abuse and violence. So, he needs to believe others are just as frail and breakable as he is to get going.

Thank you for the ask!

[theshushdragonsleeps]

for the qsmp ask game!! :D 6, 9, and/or 11?

-polkados (<- qsmp/fandom sideblog lol)

6. Who's your favorite duo?

Goldfinch! (Jaiden and Foolish) they were so silly together and their combining lore from liking cucurucho was really freaking cool to me!! Plus I liked that even though they seemed so unserious they could still accomplish really cool things and relied and trusted each other

9.Whats your favorite build?

Bobby Fields~ The love and anguish Jaiden built into a beautiful home that is also a memorial in hopes of keeping the happiness she felt when she was Bobbys mom. Built in a desperate attempt to escape all of her sadness and guilt! Just, AUGHHHHHH!!!!! It was the most clever and emotional build to me

11. What's been your favorite arc so far?

I don't think I have a favorite? Mostly cuz I don't really think of things that have happed as an arc. But maybe Purgatory? More specifically Baghera's story arc throughout both purgatory's and eventually returning to the island. From feeling (and being made to feel even if not on purpose) useless in the group, to becoming very co-dependent on the others and helping instigate the "we are a family" in hopes of feeling a part of the team, to seeing her daughter die in front of her and then being abused and used by the Watcher. Seeing the egg signs leftover and finally getting home to see her daughter alive and well and so is everyone else!? Like they had all emotionally moved on from the things that had happened in Purgatory but she was still stuck. and how much that all fucked up with her psyche but no one was really able or willing to help!? Like, holy crap was that emotional to watch and I loved it so much!

Would you believe me if I told you I don't really like sad stories? LOL

[aristocratic-otter]

Top 10 vs. Personal Top 10

Thank you for the tags, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe and @facewithoutheart. This is bound to be fun and difficult. How do you choose between your children? Well, I'm going to try.

AO3's Top Ten

Oh, Have You Seen The Fairies Dance

Back To Start

Playing With Fire, Treading Thin Ice

A Fucked-Up Cinderella Story

A Real Doll

A Tale of Two Tails

Careful What You Wish For

The Watford Games

Gates of Ivory and Horn

More Than This

Some of these are high scored because they're older, and some because they were just popular in comparison. There's a lot of overlap between this list and my favorites, but there are some differences.

One thing I notice is that the fics that were 'gift fics' where they were written to a specific prompt, or Carry on Reverse Bang fics, written to art that was made before the fic, didn't make my top ten, probably because it feels like the creativity that built them wasn't wholly mine. I still love those fics, but just not quite as much.

Also, other than Raising Dragons, I didn't include WIPs, though they may become favorites when they are done. I'm especially fond of Saving Simon Snow, my forced marriage fic, which I think is getting close to finished. I'll probably start posting that one by April!

And the experience of writing was a huge factor in my choices below. Getting to collaborate with lovely people, or finding myself as a writer features in all or most of my favorites.

Here is my list of faves:

A Fucked-Up Cinderella Story. Ok, the butt plug joke is my favorite joke of anything I've written, Ok? Not to mention, this is the Erotic Gropefest collaboration where I first met and worked with my dear friend Fristi and learned what a joy it is to collaborate with a brilliant artist.

Back To Start: I've called this fic my baby, and it is. It's the first fic I wrote where I really felt like a competent writer, and you don't forget that feeling. I used a whole lot of my life experience in writing Baz as a baby and child too, so it's especially dear to me.

Careful What You Wish For: This was my second collaboration, and @ivelovedhimthroughworse Apricot is the sweetest, most supportive partner anyone could ask for. And this fic is my favorite type to read: angsty, science-y, plot heavy with loving smut.

The Watford Games: This was the first plot driven fic I ever wrote, and I'm proud of what I accomplished with it. And it's also another type of fic I love to read: AUs that put Simon and Baz in place of well-known characters.

The Blue and The Gray: Written for COTTA, this fic didn't make the AO3 top ten, and I think that's because the American Civil War is probably of lesser interest to non-Americans. But I love it, and I think it was the first fic that made me feel like a writer. You don't forget that.

Raising Dragons: Even though this is unfinished, I've had so much fun writing pregnancy and childhood shenanigans in the SnowBaz universe. Not to mention getting to work with Fristi again!

A Real Doll was from the Monster Under the Bed fest, my first non-COTTA fest. This is the first smut fic I ever wrote solely for the purpose of smut, and I think it turned out pretty decent! (Also was the first fic that got a comment from Aralias, which meant a lot to me).

New Year, New Me: This one again didn't make the AO3 top ten, most likely because of the mpreg tag. But it is the exception to the 'gift fic curse', because again, I got to put so much of myself into it. The song @moodandmist and @cutestkilla wrote for it helps elevate this one for me too!

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun: I'll be honest here. I'll read PWP for the usual reasons, but it's always been one of my least favorite categories. I like plot in my fics. But this idea of Baz and Simon having a foursome with their own clones came to me and wouldn't let me go. And the fact that I got to work with Ashton, @artsyunderstudy? That is absolutely the reason this makes my top ten.

The White Chapel: This one is very new and will likely score higher as I get some distance from it. But as an adaptation of my all time favorite movie, Xanadu, it was a pleasure to write from start to finish (and it's also an exception from the gift fic curse, I'm now realizing--but it wasn't written to a prompt and I think that makes the difference).

Probably everyone has done this, so I tag all the folks mentioned above, plus a few others, just in case. @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, @annabellelux, @krisrix, @nightimedreamersghost, @otherworldsivelivedin, @prettylightsbigcity, and @whatevertheweather, I'd love to know what your top tens are!

[pacificwanderer]

Soooooo what are your thoughts on the Rey film?

Hey Nonnie,

I have a lot of feelings LOL. None of my ire is directed at you, and I'm trying not to get too worked up given that we know who the director will be and that Daisy will be in it (everything is meant in a general sense, and it's just my feelings on the matter so whatever). Also, given their track record with directors and writers.... we'll see how it all ends up going!

As far as story, well...

So this is such a coincidence, given that I just saw Su//zume and was thinking that if anything that follows up TRoS ISN'T at least thematically similar to that movie, I don't want it. It still holds.

This is my interpretation, and if others don't agree. That's fine. I'm not really looking to argue with anyone or win anyone over lol. People are allowed to have different interpretations of media, but for me, TRoS didn't work. Both as a fan of the ST and as a lifelong fan of SW. And I don't know how they plan on moving forward with that fucking albatross weighing them down! I really don't!

My problem was and remains that TRoS IS NOT REY'S STORY or really any of the ST characters, it's all focused on the past and that's not a great way to build a point to go forward from. Hell, it's not really even a story so much as characters moving from one set piece to another in an effort to disguise how it's a movie that's basically serving one purpose: address and make up for prior criticism (mostly from re//ddit and prolific you//tubers).

I could go point by point about how that film was set up to make up for "disappointing" certain fans with how TLJ went, but I don't have the time rn for that (I have a lot of work to do in the next few days and not much time, but here i am on tumblr lol). I'm sure it's been done to death, anyway, but people far more eloquent than I.

That film is and was and ever will be is a reactionary film that was made to be an answer to very specific criticism from a very specific subset of the fandom, and it failed. Not only to address their criticisms but to stand on its own as a film. That story takes Rey, takes her character and her story, and reskins her to be Luke 2.0.

But they didn't want that. Those fans didn't want her to be a stand-in for Luke. They didn't want her to symbolically be a Sky//walker, they wanted her to BE one via BIRTH (Luke's daughter or whatever). What we got was insulting to those fans and to fans of TLJ. It's one of the more blatant examples of pandering that I can think of (even if it's badly done), and I really don't know if I'm ever gonna get over it entirely lol. Like I've mostly moved on because there are storytellers out there busting their ass telling stories that deserve to be told, so I have other things to focus on.

Rey's story needs to be her own, and I don't know how they're going to accomplish that given what's happened in TRoS. She's not her own character anymore. She's just... a vessel. Fuck I hate that. I hate saying that! I HATE IT! But that comes from the creators themselves! I love Rey! I wouldn't have written like three-quarters of a million words of fanfic about her world otherwise! AND THEY DID NOT. AND IT SHOWS.

And it's personally offensive to me that they took a character that I loved THE WAY SHE WAS and tried to make her fit for people who were committed to hating her from the start!!!! How dare they! And not just her, but what they did with the rest of the ST characters makes me so fucking angry i have a hard time being chill about it lol.

Anyway, I have some reservations about their ability to craft a tale that's going to honor her character and not just be some sort of way for Luke to jump in and take over the narrative again. As he's done before and will do again (hi there, man//do, nice luke you got there for no fucking reason).

Anyway, I very much try to keep to my own corner of the fandom because I just don't have the energy for much these days, so I'm sure other people have different feelings about it all. I hope it goes well! I doubt it will! Like Andor was great, but Tony is a great storyteller, and I don't think the person they've tacked on to finish the Rey script is capable of doing her justice (sorry bro, PB is good, but it's tragic, do I want that for Rey??? no).

Storytelling should be the first and foremost thing they're focusing on, and... I don't really trust them in that regard anymore. The SW ip is too all over the place, and there's a certain note of cynicism that just seems to infect everything these days. I'm fucking tired of the american monomyth, i'm tired of campbell redux (with no deeper thought or criticism of the aforementioned, just shallow retelling to tick of fucking plot points and NOTHING MORE).

It just... feels like they're trying to find their way without really thinking about what got them to this point. I hope it doesn't suck, but if it does, then there's always fanfic.

PERSONALLY idgaf about rebuilding the gd jedi temple, so i hope THAT changes because it's been done and they fucked up REPEATEDLY like how many movies do we really need of that!!!?? God, there's a whole wide sw universe out there, and they make it feel so small.

So fucking small. What a waste.

TLDR:

Anyway! Hope it works out for anyone who's interested. If anyone's really interested in how I'd like a post-tros narrative to go, please go see su//zume. i fucking adore it to bits and pieces.

Cheers, Nonne!

[thepeanutbutterwizard]

Idea for Dr.Julien:

Wu met Julien before the latter died.They talked about prophecy and Zane's role in it.Julien was confused,but trusted Wu.

Years later when Wu found amnesiac Zane he was confused.He went to the forest where he met Julien before and found out that he died and that Zane is nindroid.

options:

Julien gets resurrected for the purpose of having someone able to repair Zane just in case.When Wu gets enough influence over Borg to have him repair and/or modify Zane without questions he either gets rid of Julien or still has him around for different purpose. Julien had tried to get to Zane through falcon,but Wu got rid of it and threatened Julien that if he tries something like that again, Zane will get hurt.Julien is too afraid to risk anything.

Another option:Julien stays dead.

Another option:Julien gets resurrected or doesn't die similar to option 1,but Wu actually tricks him.Magic,tea,lying and all the other stuff.

I appreciate the ideas, but my problem with Dr Julien isn't about where to fit him into everything, it's a matter of characterization

Like, they way everything with him is framed and the way all the other characters talk about him in cannon tells me the writers intended for him to be a very good person and outstanding father, but there are a few things that he actually does that, well, rub me the wrong way to say the least.

First off, there's Echo. I know that from a meta perspective he was left behind bc everything after S2 is a retcon, and the writers needed to give Jay a team of allies to fight Nadakhan with and didn't seem to fully think the implications of 'a rusty Zane clone that Dr Julien decided to never mention has been in the lighthouses hidden basement since the last time the ninja were there' through. 

But that leaves us, in universe, with the father of one of our main characters building a copy of his son, presumably due to loneliness, and then never acknowledging this copies existence once he got the original back in his life, abandoning him in an environment that is actively harmful for him.

Next, the memory switch. There are two big things that bug me about the memory switch.

A) Why install a memory switch in the first place? I can't think of a good, not-creepy reason to add a switch to my robo-son that literally turns his memories on and off. Was it specifically for when he died, bc he wasn't like super old when he first completed Zane, and the flashbacks seem to imply that Zane and Dr Julien lived in the treelab for a few decades. If it wasn't to try and spare Zane the grief of losing him, than what could have possibly motivated Dr Julien to instal it?

and B) Dr Juliens outright refusal to remove the memory switch when Zane asked him to. Not only did Dr Julien completely ignore Zanes very reasonable concerns (having a memory switch is a massive liability that could have easily been used against him and his team), he denied Zane his own bodily autonomy bc he felt Zane was perfect the way Dr Julien built him. And if the guy who made him thinks he's perfect, than who cares how Zane feels about the body he's stuck in? ((As a trans person with parents who don't support that part of me, this issue really hits close to home. Can you tell?))

All of this put together gives me a picture of a man who see's Zane as an extension of himself and his accomplishments, and doesn't truly see Zane as his own person. Which doesn’t exactly jive with what cannon is going for, and could lead to things going much differently, especially since I think I’m going with a route where Zane hasn’t regained his memories or even confirmed he’s an android by the time Dr Julien is found.

So that’s my issue with Dr Julien. Do I go with him being the good man that cannon frames him as, or do I lean into the more accidently shady traits that the writers gave him? Bc the way I end up going with him could lead to some major changes, especially for Zane.

And it will also influence whether Echo exists.

[blueskittlesart]

So I have been reading you BotW/TotK analysis and I have gotta say that your insight is really impressive. I do have 2 points to make on the subject. Assuming that Calamity Ganon’s (the one that is fought in BotW) purpose is to draw attention to the underground (where Ganondorf’s corpse is) than that has some terrifying implications to how he operated in BotW. If there hero and Princess were successful in sealing away his calamity (which they were), than there is no way that someone like Zelda, who has both curiosity and altruism in spades would ever leave this problem unresolved. She would be determined to seek out the source of the calamity to make sure that no future generations would ever suffer as she and Link did, which in doing so would likely break the seal that was on Ganondorf. And if they failed to stop the calamity than Ganon wins and the calamity would destroy Hyrule (accomplishing his goals).

In regards to TotK, I do believe that Zelda will be physically incapacitated (either dead or in a stasis like state like in SwSd), though she will likely be involved spiritually as there is many ways she tan grow as a character (especially if there are flashbacks to the events 10,000 years ago, and even if she does die, resurrection is something that is present in Zelda so I doubt it will be a permanent death). I have a feeling that the ending will be bittersweet with both Link and Zelda surviving and perhaps breaking the curse of Demise. However I can see the Kingdom of Hyrule being annihilated beyond recovery, bringing additional meaning to “Tears of the Kingdom.”

Anyway love reading your thoughts and predictions of the game, makes the wait for May a lot more bearable.

yeah as to your first point that's exactly what i think is going to happen! because these games operate cyclically when predicting these plot points i'm constantly thinking about what has precedent, and there's a notable precedent in previous cycles for the princess's attempts at resolution to unintentionally lead to more problems for hyrule, forcing the princess to confront her own lack of agency and experience. I think that the calamity is playing into zelda's curiosity and moral compass specifically in beckoning her and link deeper under hyrule castle, knowing that she won't be able to resist trying to confront the problem once and for all but lacks the knowledge that might keep her from unleashing human ganon accidentally.

as for your second point, i sincerely doubt that death going to be zelda's fate in totk. call it optimism, but considering how she's been written up until now i can't see a way that death, even temporary death, would bring a satisfying or thematically cohesive end to her character arc. this is a girl we've seen do nothing but struggle her entire life. She is so, so, SO strong and stubborn and persistent that to cut her life short at seventeen (mentally. we're not getting into the 100 year gap here) just seems like an openly cruel treatment of a character so central to the game. A more cohesive end to her story, narratively, would be to allow her to live and heal when the game is finished, and i hope & believe that this is the direction totk will go. Zelda was the driving force for everything that happened in botw. she is the beginning and end of these games. to remove her from the final chapter completely would be a detriment to both her character and the game as a whole.

I also don't quite agree with the idea that the end of totk will be the complete destruction of hyrule. botw is, at its essence, a story about growth and healing. its characters convey this theme on a smaller scale, but more largely, botw shows us the ways in which hyrule grows and heals around destruction and calamity. to end its sequel with destruction and no hope of recovery is to trample over what made botw so impactful. in my perfect world, totk will end in much the same way as botw--with the promise that link, zelda, and all of hyrule will continue to grow and heal.