#yeah all the characters have it rough but its not specifically about a specific part of their identity over and over and over again

[semi-imaginary-place]

Which characters have tragic pasts that aren’t recognized enough?

I think people don't notice because Petra is very active about her situation. She's a political hostage in a foreign land that has turned her country into a vassal state from the war that killed her dad. But she's made the most of it. Petra taught herself a new language, she trains constantly, she's made herself be involved with the politics of Fodlan, and she's always seeking to better herself and hone her skills so that she's not just a prisoner but someone useful to Brigid. Petra's the opposite of passive, she refuses to just let things happen to her, and in a lot of ways she doesn't have a choice either she is an active participant in her life or she will just be shuffled around as a political pawn and hostage against the country she loves. We don't know the specifics of the international agreement about Petra but I can easily imagine it being something like "give us a hostage as a guarantee you won't attack us or we'll continue the war we won, raze you to the ground, kill all of you, and take your land".

Claude's backstory isn't tragic and uh... at least half the cast if not more has had it worse than him but I do want to talk about it since I never see people talk about the struggles Claude has had. I think a large part of it is that like Petra, Claude doesn't show the struggles he's been through nor does he really talk about himself or his past. They both show a strong front and face forward in their lives.

Claude's spent his entire life being alienated, in Almyra for being too foreign and not Almyran enough and then in Fodlan for being too foreign and not Fodlan enough. He's faced multiple childhood assassination attempts just because of his parentage and at least some of these have come from family members. Claude is a rarity among the cast in having not only both parents but having 2 parents that love him. However his parents are of the tough love approach, that what doesn't kill will make him stronger so they offer him little support, protection, or help in a world that is hostile to him at every turn. And so Claude grew up with everyone against him, with his every action used as justification that he's weaker and lesser than a full Almyran. And this has destroyed his ability to trust or be open with people. Claude is very insecure in his interactions with other people because he's used to every slip of information given being used against him. You see this in his supports with Marianne where he sees any information about himself as possible leverage against him so it has to be exchanged like a commodity so that they both have equal leverage against the other. And yet he does genuinely want to help people and cares about those around him as clumsy as his attempts are at making friends. Claude's backstory is not nearly on the level of say Edelgard's or Lysithea's but it's a shame no one is talking about it at all.

Dimitri stans screaming and crying about poor Dimitri and yeah he's had it rough (a lot of 3H characters have traumatizing backstories) but Dedue is right there, what about his pain! The hypocrisy! The Tragedy of Duscar led to the massacre of his family and not only that but he's now a genocide survivor since Faerghus decided to wipe out Duscar, take over their land, rename and settle on it. Not to mention they were wrongfully scapegoated for it. Dedue has had everything taken from him so he doubles down on this life debt to Dimitri because it's the one thing he has left. It's a trauma response coping mechanism that he's rather override his will, opinions, and personhood for Dimitri's sake. And the of course Faerghus hates him and reminds him of that every day.

At this point I'm wondering if its a racism problem that it's Petra, Dedue, and Claude whose struggles are most often overlooked.

[cryptwrites]

writing injuries: 101

hi goblins and ghouls let me teach you how to write that silly little stab would you decided to give your silly little guy so that you could rip out the hearts of your reader, even more.

Hopefully you have gathered from the title that this will be discussing WOUNDS! BLOOD! GORE! OTHER NASTYS! If you disagree with my advice, MORE THAN OKAY! I'd love to hear yours and we can exchange tips! Lets get into it.

Types of Injuries

To write a realistic injury you NEED to know three things: A) What type of boo-boo B) What caused said boo-boo C) Where is the boo-boo D) Who will kiss boo-boo better (optional) edit: according to my friend D is not optional, so. find someone to kiss it better

Common types of injuries

I am by NO MEANS a professional so... take with a grain of salt. There are so many resources out there if you need to get specific but here's some simple shit xoxo:

Abrasion: Remember when you fell on the street as a skin and scrapped the shit out of your knee? Yeah. That. Its broken skin caused by friction against rough surfaces: requires IMMEDIATE cleaning.

Animal Chomps (bites): These can and will cause an infection if you don't treat it. Your 5'3 teenage girl CANNOT brush off that wolf bite apocalypse writers. Get her to the closest med tent.

Avulsion: A injury's caused when a body part is ripped away either partially or fully (HELLO SAW MOVIES). Results in some severe trauma (physically and mentally if they live) Typically caused by gunshot wounds, explosion's, car crashes etc.)

Bruise: Muscle fibers, blood vessels, and connective tissues are damaged with these bad boys. They cause that bluish purply look. Bruises do change colour to a yellow-green the older they are so do your research!

Burn: There are three degrees and a whole lot of different types for this mf and I can do a separate post on burns if you all want, but in general it is damage to the skin caused by heat, chemicals, radiation or sunlight (we all are too familiar with that last one). As some of know it can result in Swelling, Blistering, and scaring. Now if you gave your creature a really bad burn then it can cause shock, death and the destruction of the skin! And it leaves your victim of choice vulnerable to infection! Yay!!!

Fracture: a break in the bone, it literally looks fractured. It causes pain swelling, numbness and possibly deformity. You will likely need to send your character to the doctor.

Laceration: A cut, slice, tear in the skin, these are not stab wounds this is like if you accidentally cut yourself on glass or if someone swung at you with a knife and it sliced you, but it didn't go into your body and stay there. You get the idea.

Puncture wounds: THIS. THESE ARE YOUR STABS. Penetration to the skin caused by any sort of (usually sharp) object. These are the wounds your serial killer might use in the final moments of the kill with his knife, or the final blow to your hero's enemy with his sword.

Sprain: Ligaments (the things you see in x-rays that hold the bones together) that have been stretched or torn which happens when the joins move into unnatural positions. Usually, this results in stiffness, discoloration and swelling.

Strain: NOTE, Sprain and Strain ARE different. This is what happens when a muscle or tendon (not a ligament) is pulled, twisted or torn. Typically caused by over-stretching/contracting. Usually results in pain, muscle spams, and weakness.

Please note, that like I mentioned with burns there are degrees of severity for ALL OF THESE so please do your research this is just a starting point.

Care & Aftermath

LOTS of writers forget this part and its so sad. You want cute scenes between to characters who aren't yet dating but your rooting for? ONE OF THEM JUST GOT HURT AND THE OTHER IS TENDING TO IT. BAM INSTANT CUTE SCENE. Do not forget about your aftermath and medical care. Most injuries if left untreated WILL WORSEN if you leave them alone so FIX UP YOUR GUYS.

Do your research!! Look up the kind of injury your character sustained, the severity of it and you'll find recovery time and the kind of treatment they'll need.

In my experience, the more you focus on the aftermath of wounds, the more realistic it seems even if your dashing hero just got his arm ripped off by a dragon.

Writing the injury

You do not, now listen closely. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WRITE A MEDICALLY ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE WOUND. You're probably writing fiction and not a med student essay. If you are... email your professor I cannot help you here.

Just focus on getting the basics down. What's the bleeding? How bad is the swelling? What's the pain level at? and just leave the rest to the imagination. Unless your character is a doctor or whatever, your little dudes will also not know exactly what an Avulsion is. You can just say that there's a gaping hole or something. They'll be far to focused on the pain or whatever is causing it to diagnose themselves then and there.

Realism

I pinky promise you that as long as you have the basics, your readers will pick up what your laying down. The characters reaction is the most important part. How are they feeling emotionally? Are they having a physical reaction to the pain (Limping, shaking)? Do they have any physical response to the sight of their own/others blood? Do they experience shock? What's their attitude after it all?

These are the questions you should ask yourself. A war-hardened soilder will react differently to a gunshot wound than someone fresh out of high school.

Thanks :] go make the masses suffer :]]

[kobitoshiningneedle]

@nyxinterstellar

The beast... That is narumitsu.

I remember having an entire Narumitsu craze after finishing the trilogy (specifically after Farewell). Now, I admit, I like it less, and even if you scroll my blog you will probably see that I'm a huge Feenris proponent, I want to say that I still respect the sheer impact of Wrightworth and its contribution not only to the fandom we know today, but to the entire anime-adjacent culture as well.

Again, a lot of probably was said about the ship, their dynamic, their chemistry, the way it gets misinterpreted, amd whatnot. So I just stop here to say some of my scattered thoughts

I like my narumitsu with some rough edges. Soft domestic daughter-raising fluff is fine, of course, and both Phoenix and Miles do deserve happiness and Trucy two parents who would truly care abiut her, but angst, exploration of hardships are more appealing to me. Both for Phoenix who chased his friend he no longer knew and seeing what the years of absence made to him, and for Edgeworth opening up and recontextualizing his friendship through his insecurities.

So yeah, I like the trilogy nrmt much more than their post-aj dynamic. DD/SoJ honestly feel like your ususal bumbling idiot/tsundere asshole type of interactions. Honestly, I don't like almost all of post-trilogy portrayals of the OT characters, so it can be the reason of my disinterest for this domestic flavor of the ship.

Ships don't have to rely on canon or be canon-adjacent to be interesting, but I can't help but think that Edgeworth having a severe crush on Phoenix is true. Seeing people pointing at Edgeworth being a hopeless romantic, looking at stars and thinking of Wright's eyes gets me fiercely nodding my head in agreement. Dat true, Miles, you're so down bad for your friend. Get a grip my guy

About whether Phoenix reciprocates his feelings.... That's a much harder question for me. Yeah, there's a lot of tells, but in the trilogy it felt like just a part of his characterization of "having a heart for everyone", and in other canon and canon-adjacent materials (manga/anime/interviews) it feels too much like a clumsy fanservise, and not really genuine at that, so sorry not sorry - it's hard to take it seriously for me

That said! Before you jump at me I want to say this is not that I insist that Phoenix sees Miles only as a friend - only that there are many possibilities to think about how Phoenix will come to see Edgeworth as someone he's in love with. Phoenix as a character is a tough nut to crack, even more so given his different appearances in the games, but it's fun, I think. For instance, the 7yg fics doing just that is a nice and organic solution I can get behind to.

So - yeah, while I'm sorta moved on for Narumitsu, I still continue to appreciate it, not only intellectually. I may have strange opinions about specific and unobvious aspects of it, but it's still fun!

[zmediaoutlet]

so i know we just have to accept certain retcons, but the big one that bugs me is yellow eyes's plan for sam and how it doesn't fit with all the vessel stuff. how do YOU make that work in your head?

hallo hallo anon, you have hit on one of the Great Big Bugaboos of spn canon and also the #1 evidence we have to throw in the face all those goofs who uncritically repeat the "Kripke had a 5 year plan!" factoid. He clearly did not, he was flying by the seat of his pants, and while he managed to put stuff together in a fun way the pants are Not Coherent.

Nevertheless, we can make it work, and the way we make it work is that the various members of the angelic and especially demonic hierarchies do not have complete information. Let's do a rough timeline:

In the beginning Chuck created the universe. This is widely regarded as a bad move.

Then, you know, handwaving on him setting up some version of a 'destiny' story arc which will inevitably end in his two sons fighting to the death, via characters he'll create called The Winchesters.

After inventing demons and being a real jerkface, Lucifer ends up in the cage.

In the 70s or whatever, Azazel goes to Ilchester to butcher a bunch of nuns and talk to daddy Lucifer -- Lucifer says "you have to help get Lilith out of her pit so that the seals on my cage can get broken." Azazel says, "But how, Evil Daddy?" Lucifer says, "This really special child." -- HERE IS WHERE THE RETCON APPEARS TO HAVE HAPPENED, BUT WE CAN WORK WITH IT

Sam Winchester is fated in the demonic archives among the true higher-ups, but lower-level demons don't necessarily know about him and his importance.

Azazel starts seeding the earth with special babies. COMPLETE CONJECTURE TO FOLLOW: While he knows that Sam is the one who will be Lucifer's vessel, he also knows that a series of events will need to occur so that Lucifer will get out of the cage to take his vessel in the first place. The first seal is the most important: a righteous man must shed blood in hell. How do we get that to happen? CONJECTURE TWO: I think that Dean must be the Righteous Man because of his place within the tripartite celestial structure: God-Michael-Lucifer mirroring John-Dean-Sam. I do not think that John could have ever actually been the one to 'spill blood' that would allow the first seal to break. (Ethical conjecture three: perhaps it's the weakness itself which has its own kind of righteousness? John's implacable; Dean is not.) CONJECTURE UHH FOUR I GUESS: Azazel is designing an elaborate scheme to ensure that Sam will die on a particular day (maybe bc it works well for opening the door to hell?) specifically to ensure that Dean will sell his soul to bring Sam back, and thereby doom himself to the hell where he will break the first seal.

This should be 6b but tumblr doesn't work this way: now, would it be a hell of a fucking lot easier for Azazel to just ensure Sam dies somehow? Yeah. But given everything we know about him and the dorky-ass demons who hang out in s1 and s2, Azazel is clearly a dramallama and does stuff for the lulz. Plus, I think there's an element of 'proving' to Sam how much destiny has a hold on him, because that is so important for his grooming into saying yes to Lucifer. If he was just hit by a car or something it doesn't have the same effect than if he's part of the emo hunger games.

Sam dies; Dean sells his soul; Sam lives, and wants to save Dean. But of course, he can't save Dean, because Dean *must* go to hell to ensure the first seal is broken. This is why the angels don't help Sam at all, and why Ruby is allowed to run around with impunity. Happily the writer's strike intervened and gave us a miserable fucking s3 finale where that happened, because that is WAY more interesting than Hero Sammy Saving The Day.

Ruby has been getting instructions from Lilith the entire time, presumably since she became a demon herself, and gets launched literally as soon as Azazel is out of the way to continue the Sam-grooming.

CONJECTURE FIVE(?): Azazel and Lilith fucking hated each other, lol. But it's Lilith who's the *actually* important demon, so she wins and Azazel gets sacrificed for being really bad at teaching drama.

It's not actually that complicated, but you do have to take "the special kids were just sacrifices on the altar of let's see what we can get Sam to do" as a given. If Sam had actually started killing all of them, that'd be one thing, and Azazel could have turned that to his favor before maybe having Ava stab Sam in the back regardless. (Then, a Special Kid will go and open the devil's gate for him anyway, so the demons can get out there and start their important seal-breaking prep.) Since Sam was being such a Good Guy -- well, so what, Ava will kill all the rest of them, and then either her or Jake will get turned easy-peasy and kill Sam too. Dean will make his deal either way, and the apocalypse is off with a bang. Or a sick crunching of knife into bone.

Anyway, that's my theory. It fits alongside my ironclad theory that all of history and fate and destiny was leading toward two brothers standing in front of each other in a cemetery, and the only real free will starting once Dean could choose what to do when Sam-as-Lucifer stood in front of him, and what he chose was to be there for his brother. Thereby giving Sam a solid space to grasp and overcome Lucifer, and then save all the days. The Righteous Man who begins it is the only one who can end it, as they say.

[threadsun]

Hey, you don’t have to respond to this but thank you for occasionally reblogging valid critiques about sdj and its fandom. I’m very new, but as I continue to see the way the game is being handled/directed I can see it straying away from the original vision and it worries me. Sauce’s post about redoing the demo confused me because I felt that it already worked so effectively as a demo and never saw the no route as problematic (maybe unclear and needed minor adjustments like maybe directly confirming with the player if they want to continue), but if they felt like things could be better I wanted to trust them. Seeing the post you reblogged and the tags you posted confirmed my suspicions that sdj is effectively getting defanged which disappoints me because what is the point of making it horror if none of it is fucked up?? I like Jack’s character because he is fucked up. I don’t want some dumbed down, palatable version of him and I don’t want a rinsed version of the story. I just don’t want to see this turn into a project where the ideas behind it were better than the execution. Sorry that got really long. I suppose I went through all of this to tell you that your opinion is valid and I think you should say it more.

Yeah, I mean I don't wanna be too hard on Sauce because I don't think they're the problem. I think the problem is the fandom and especially the fans who have wormed into Sauce's inner circle specifically to guide them into making the game they want rather than the game Sauce wants.

Like seriously, the people in the fandom who consider themselves spokespeople for Sauce and the snaccpop team are insistent that Jack isn't a bad person or that he was too bad in the demo and needs to be fixed. And the alleged "sensitivity reader" misses some obvious shit (I mean who doesn't know about the complex relationship between black Americans and Christianity??) while focusing on scrubbing anything that could possibly be a consent issue from every part of the game.

It's veering more and more towards "good fiction only depicts good things or bad things that aren't real" and away from "good fiction explores every aspect of the human condition and doesn't back down from the worst parts of humanity". idk the idea that dubcon or noncon is "cheap" horror, especially in the context of romantic manipulation and yanderes, is ridiculous.

And the general squeamishness around rape and abuse and all those other things that happen to real people and can also happen in fiction? It only makes things worse for people who are actual survivors and victims of those things. If you can't say rape with your whole chest and write about it as a thing that happens (including coerced consent rape) then you're just increasing the stigma and social weirdness around these things. Being able to talk about them openly and honestly, while making a distinction between fantasies between consenting adults and realities between nonconsenting parties, is integral to having a normal and healthy relationship to these concepts.

Idk. Like I got my degree in gender and sexuality studies, with a minor in sociology (and another in disability studies), I'm an active member of my local bdsm community, and I've been a sex worker for more years than I'd care to admit. I think I'm more than qualified to talk about sex and the impact of things like sex in horror and "problematic" kinks. And the way people in the fandom talk about sex? The way the snaccpop team are handling the no route? It's terrifying. It's not healthy. It shows a fundamental lack of understanding about humanity, sexuality, and social stigmatisation.

And as I said, I don't blame Sauce. Getting stuck in an echo chamber that preys on your most base fears of being evil or fundamentally a bad person is rough. It's not easy to break out of, especially since these ideas and this misguided panopticon has spread so widely that it threatens the livelihoods of independent artists and creators. But the prevalence of people believing in what are essentially thoughtcrimes is terrifying. And the rabid dedication to scrubbing the internet of everything people find personally distasteful or immoral is the basis of all fascist ideology, and that is not an exaggeration.

[ozimagines]

I wanted to tell you all something but I can’t quite remember… oh, yeah…

HAPPY PRIDE!!!

I’ve been out for about five years now and it was the best decision of my life, even though I lost people I was close to because of it.

Oz is a large part of what helped me get there. I liked men growing up but I liked women too, and when I learned what Non Binary was (Deep South, no education) I fell in love with them too. I watched I Love Lucy and had a crush on both Ricky and Lucy. I thought for the longest time that straightness was a choice because I assumed everyone was attracted to everyone like I am😂 For those who don’t know, I’m pansexual fem-leaning and gender non conforming in my choice of gender expression even though I’m a Cisgender woman.

Watching Tobias Beecher, who had a wife, fall in love with a man and struggle to place these feelings that are so familiar and yet so foreign at the same time. I assumed since I liked men at all, that I just needed to choose to be straight. Watching him try to understand whether or not he was gay, and finally come to terms that he is who he is and labels aren’t always for him made my coming out easier. In fact, he’s the reason I knew I was pan. Because I liked everyone, like him, and the love didn’t feel wrong or lesser when it was for the same sex or non binaries. It just felt like more love.

Fiona empowered me to start expressing my gender the way I wanted. I still dress fairly femme, but I like to spice it up with masculine features and clothes. I like the androgyny, even if I also like my she/her pronouns. I got to see her break the mould on what gender expression was. And she looked gorgeous every step of the way, so I figured I could do the same. Bought a beautiful black suit years ago to impress a girl, and it just felt right.

And not for nothing, but LGBTQIA+ has a higher rate of sexual assault, and I was a few years ago. I think that’s why I gravitate towards Peter Schibetta and James Robson. I understand what it’s like to be taken like that. To be reduced. These characters made me feel like it wasn’t my fault, like I could grow past it and be okay one day. During this pride month, let’s make an extra effort to be there for our brothers, sisters, and siblings who were sexually assaulted or raped for being who they are.

I know this isn’t my usual post, but Oz is my quintessential show for many reasons. It helped me understand that I was gay and feel safe coming out. It helped me feel seen after my assault. It’s discourse on mental health made me feel like a person again. Oz is, and always will be, the show that made me feel like it was okay to be myself, and I hope others had similar experiences.

Also, I’m white, but for years now, have been listening to my POC brothers, sisters, and siblings to hear about intersectionality in the LGBTQIA+ community. Think Billy Keane; being a POC and gay is DIFFICULT sometimes. Being a POC and being non-binary is rough. Its important this pride that we spend extra time on our POC community and make sure they’re okay.

And finally, than you to the allies. I understand that supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, but I lived in the Deep South, and had some straight cis friends who mustered up tremendous courage to stand by me as I figured things out. Yes, people should be supporting us, but sometimes they do to their done detriment in their social or romantic lives. Thank you allies, for making the world a little bit better for us.

Happy Pride; I’ll be focusing on lots on Pride themes this month (not like my page is super straight anyways lol) and hope to hear requests from my LGBTQIA+ followers especially if you want something tailored to your specific experience. Because I know it’s hard to find fanfiction for certain genders or sexualities, so I’ll try to come up with some in my own, but also hope for your creative inspiration in making this Oz themed Pride a wonderful one!

(Im also going to continue writing the asks I’ve gotten before this obviously, lol. I got some BOMB ass requests and I’m just spending lots of time on them to get them right. Some are characters I’ve never written before so I’ve been binging their scenes. All will be out soon!)

[writeblrgarden]

PLANT GROWERS - MEET THE WINNERS - SPARROW

Meet Sparrow, who got tenth place in our grow a plant event in november! Sparrow goes by he/him, xe/xim, and it/its, and you can find them at @theglitchywriterboi. He also loves making potatoes and fries (please share). Xe has been writing for his whole life, primarily fantasy, but delving a bit into horror.

Tell us about the WIP you'd like to talk about today.

I'll be talking about Deaths Diner It's book one/five in a multiverse series. Four people who are living some how make their way into the waiting room [basically when you die, you go there, get sorted, go to your proper afterlife], so a few of the residents have to help them make it out alive. Unfortunately, 2/4 of the people needed to properly help them are unavailable. They have to find them before the 4 living die, w/o getting found out by the ruler of the land.

Describe your writing process. Do you like to plan everything or are you more spontaneous?

I have a loose idea of what I want to happen [sometimes it's as vague as "I want the end to be sad. Anything else, idk" & sometimes as much as I know the exact ending, but maybe not how to get there]. So mostly spontaneous w/ the occasional vague plan [though w/ The Obscure Ones series I do have a bit more of a specific idea, though not super planned out, there's still a decent amount of thought in it]

What have you found to be the most challenging and/or rewarding about writing?

All of it - it's easy to spit out words, but it's hard to make it good. Or at least good enough for me to want to share it & consider publishing. But the most rewarding part is having the final story there in front of me & seeing peoples reactions !!!

Below the read more is more of our conversation with Sparrow

What inspires you to write?

Other writers & my love for their stories & going "Omg I wanna make someone feel like this !!!" & also I just love seeing my ideas come to life

Share some advice for other writers.

Write for you !!! At least the first few drafts. Ofc listen to the feedback of your alpha &/or beta readers when the time comes, but when writing make a story YOU want to read, not a story you think will be on the NYT best seller list. It might be ofc, but don't try to make it [in the sense don't throw in things just to try & grab an audience, even if it doesn't work [or you don't actually like it. Make it good yeah, but don't try & hit all the popular book notes at the cost of the story making sense or you liking your own story]

What do consider your writing strength?

Idk personally, but I've been told people like the way I write characters & character dynamics

What has been the nicest compliment you've received or what has been the toughest criticism you've received?

One of my mutuals said this: "and your writing is so so cool. I mean to read more of it so please add me to your taglist because I really would love to see more! I just love the vibes of your wips, they're like grungy nostalgic kind of, and you really nail descriptions in such a cool way and your dialogue sounds hella real and flows so well. The settings are so cool they're so immersive and I haven't even read much but 👀👀👀👀👀" & it still makes me so !!!!

What do you love the most about writing?

The process - discovering what happens while writing it, meeting the characters while writing them.

✨ Sparrow also provided a link for a rough draft of xir wip, which you can read here!

[all-my-writings-and-musings]

Continuing with the Falling Prompt! For those of you who are new to this, I have predone writing prompts and you can request which character to see in them next, and I'll write a short story for it following your specifications! For this one I have one here for Ne Zha, one here for Yin, and you can request the next in my inbox! Here's some Macaque for my fellow edgy monkey fans.

Falling Prompt

"Through one method or another, the reader ends up falling in the presence of a character who's secretly crushing hard, who catches them and feelings ensue."

Macaque x Reader

"While helping him move out of the Dojo, the reader finds out just how badly the building is crumbling, and the Six Eared Macaque jumps in to save them despite his mock ambivalence."

"How much of this do you really need?" you called out from the upper level, briefly setting down the pile of junk you'd gathered to stretch your poor back. A huff from below compelled you to turn around and look down to the first floor of the Dojo, where Macaque was sorting through a much heavier set of items. 

"You know, when I asked you to help me move…" he began, crossing his arms after dropping a metal beam he used for training. Though the resulting thud shook the floor, you pretended not to notice, even if it sent some worrying tremors through the weakened building. He was moving out for a reason… The pout turned more playful as he concluded, "I don't think I mentioned anything about needing life advice."

"Why are you moving anyway?" you asked, fully aware of the answer but still not too happy about it. All of the training he did had undoubtedly worn the building down, but you thought it was still salvageable, and certainly worth salvaging if he didn't have to move. "The Dojo's been your home for so long, I know you're comfortable here."

"Yeah, well… it's kind of falling apart, if you haven't noticed." he replied playfully, using his tail to point to the growing number of holes in the structure he had chosen not to patch. Your heart ached a little when you realized you didn't have a leg to stand on. The new building he'd selected was better suited to his needs, but it was a solid half hour further to walk there… Of course he'd be able to fly to you instantaneously, but if you wanted to visit him…

"It is a little rough…" you conceded, nudging a bit of broken cement with your foot. Goodness, wasn't that an understatement, the floor beneath you was cracked in multiple places. Worries as to its structural integrity were hard to process with so many emotions swirling in your chest, as well as the hope he might be convinced to stay… "But you're really sure about this new place?"

Macaque looked a touch more serious, no doubt picking up on everything you were holding back. "Why wouldn't I be?"

You bit your lip, but decided to be honest. "It's… a bit further from me."

Macaque lit up with genuine delight, which he quickly hid behind a veneer of smarmy delight, tail all but wagging at your admission of affection.

"Aww, will you miss me?" he cooed, making you roll your eyes and stand closer to the edge to give him a piece of your mind.

"Suddenly, seeing you less is a much more bearable idea!" you shouted down, fully aware the two of you were bantering as he always preferred. There was a part of him that very much appreciated your confession, but he would express that through quips as he almost always did. It was another thing you'd miss if he moved away.

"Ouch!" he replied with a hand over his heart, pretending to be wounded. "Don't worry, I promise I'll visit from time to time! One day you'll admit you can't live without your favorite mentor."

You couldn't keep from smiling, arms crossed as you looked down on him from above. "Only if you admit you need your favorite student."

Macaque shrugged and bared his fangs with a taunting smirk. "As if I need you-"

Pushed too far too many times, whatever was supporting the cement beneath you gave up completely and without warning, resulting in a slab of stone cracking free. Thrown by the force of the break, you instinctively shielded your face and curled up as you'd been taught to protect yourself. A single thought of whether or not Macaque managed to dodge was all you had time to consider before the hard ground rushed up at you.

The world righted itself with a flash of purple and a rush of wind. Finding strong arms beneath your back instead of the cold ground, you opened your eyes to see everything had stilled, your fall thwarted by a very fast moving monkey.

Macaque didn't have the time or capacity to hide the emotions furrowing his brows into an expression of worry tinged with panic. You could feel him breathing against you, as well as the secure grip of his protective arms keeping you tight against his chest. That simple fall and the speed at which you'd nearly been hurt under his watch… Macaque was terrified.

Once the fact that you were unharmed dawned on him, he coughed and averted his gaze. "Haha… need you to… say thanks for the rescue."

You were more than happy to give him the out for what was obviously too much emotion for him at once. Patting the side of his cheek, you pretended not to notice when he lit up with a fresh blush. "Thanks, Macaque."

"Now, back to you moving my stuff for free." he coughed, setting you down gently but not gracefully. Dusting some nonexistent mess off his outfit, he looked away for a moment of thought, eyes resting on the broken bit of stone that had sent you tumbling. Kicking a piece of it, he let out a soft breath and appeared to steady himself. "I'll let you… maybe stay at my new place in return, sometimes."

"Awww, you do care." you teased, turning his own joke right around on him. The Six Eared Macaque groaned in a mix of mortification and reluctant pride.

[shirefantasies]

Hello! I’m new to Tumblr, your blog was one of the first I found and followed! I was wondering if you could match/ship/pair me with an LotR character! Specifically LotR if you end up getting around to me, please!

I’m 5’3” with dark hair, though I keep it shaven in a buzz cut style. I’m pansexual, so you can ship me with anyone. I’m also autistic and possibly ADHD and OCD. Still learning about myself and trying to get diagnoses and people that understand me.

Moving on! I’m rather goofy! I’ve got a silly, meme-like side to me that I have trouble restraining. I’ll constantly see references to memes/obscure things I like everywhere and always point them out. I also make random noises and jokes that only those close to me will understand or be able to interpret the meaning of. I’m a good listener, and always try to help solve problems, though I may not be too good at getting the end result where it needs to be. Hahaha! I like to cuddle people, though I’m a little picky with touch because of sensory issues.

As for the other side of me, I am very paranoid, and have anxiety, severe depression, and PTSD, so it’s hard for me to trust people. I’m introverted, too. I always have been but ever since the trauma that caused my mental health issues I’ve become extremely introverted, almost in a comical way. I have some self-hate based behaviors towards myself that I’m working on unlearning. I constantly need reminded to take care of myself, and will have unexpected breakdowns, depression lows, or flashbacks. There are things or actions that will upset/trigger me that may need to be avoided. It’s rough but I still try my best to please everyone.

I hope that’s enough, if it’s not you can always contact me directly for more info or with questions! Thanks for considering!

Well that’s such an honor! Glad to be an early addition to your tumblr family 🥰 heck yeah you can have a lord of the rings character, and I hope you like being a hobbit because because I ship you with…

Pippin!

Sometimes it feels like no one understands him. So when Pippin hears tales of some far-off hermit, he feels a strange kinship with them immediately knowing only that they are the subject of talk, too. Maybe they’ve disappointed people with ways they cannot help, too. Pippin, though, could never run away from people- he loves them too much, enough to try again and again until he gets it right. He doesn’t know why he is the way he is, after all. He just is. Isn't everybody?

He gets lost one day, lost further out in the edges of the hills then he's been yet. Not quite far enough to be frightened, but just enough to see the waning of the hobbit-holes and the thinning of the Shire's green hills. It isn't until the sun descends that he truly gets concerned, rushing to the nearest hole he finds and ringing the bell dangling by its big round door. You answer, looking quite puzzled and not entirely unafraid of the stranger before you. What do you say? "Er, can I help you?" "Well," he begins, "I'm lost, you see. Can I trouble you to stay the night before I return to the road?" Silence overtakes you, ponderance, glances this way and that, before you finally nod and bid him entry. "You've not come to report to the others, have you now?" "I beg your pardon?" "Back in town. All the rumors. Part of why I avoid it, not that it helps them," you shake your head. That is when Pippin realizes he's found his kindred hermit, and you are nothing like he imagined. Contrary to the stories, he thinks there's something about you that looks...friendly.

"You're the-!" Barely resisting the urge to exclaim 'hermit', Pippin glances around your mostly quite normal hobbit hole. "Erm, I always wondered why they told all those stories." "Because they're a fat lot of gossips, that's why," you shoot back, shuffling through your kitchen, "they aren't exactly the champions of anyone who's...different." "That I know," Pippin responds with a nod, voice going a bit quiet. His words have you turning around, peering at him like you've only just seen him. "I see. Well, want anything?" In the end, you share some of your dinner with this stranger, who tells you his name is Peregrin Took, more frequently called Pippin. Pippin doesn't mock the sounds you make, in fact you notice that he seems to find himself mimicking them. As you go through the evening's motions, he doesn't seem to mind that you have your way of doing things. When something you see reminds you of a song you made up, you can't help but sing it, and soon Pippin is joining along. You even make up a song together. When he leaves, you find yourself saying something very uncharacteristic: "If you ever want to come back, well, I'll be here." Something in his smile, the way he nods, has you feeling strangely hopeful.

Come back he does, and sing more songs to and with you in that beautiful voice he does. You're ready for him to recoil, to pack up and leave you behind like everyone else does when he catches a nightmare turning to a breakdown, but as he peers in the doorway he simply asks if he can touch you, hold your hand or even you. When he stays, helps you with breakfast and cheers at your smile, twirling you across the kitchen, well, you can't help feeling a rare peace at your little paradise getting a bit bigger.

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @mossthebogwitch @ibabblealot @kilibaggins @joonies-word @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia @datglutengoblin | Reply/Ask/Message to join 🥰

[immediatebreakfast]

It's time for Marmion, but with religion this time. In this canto we are finally introduced to the Palmer who will aid lord Marmion in his political mission to Scotland.

So, the definition of a Palmer is a christian pilgrim who visits holy places then brings a palm leaf. These pilgrims were esteemed as very religious thanks to their travels made by their devotion to the holy land in Palestine.

Which is why this canto is very charged with religious imagery with the purpose of painting a solid picture of this new palmer for the readers. And I have to say it is very effective in its use, and the construction of this new look.

First we get all of the traveling he did with the purpose of learning about the holy sites within the places he visited.

Here is a holy Palmer come From Salem first, and last from Rome: One that hath kissed the blessèd tomb, And visited each holy shrine In Araby and Palestine; On hills of Armenie hath been, Where Noah’s ark may yet be seen; By that Red Sea, too, hath he trod, Which parted at the prophet’s rod;

The emphasis on what the palmer did in each site is important because it shows how truly focused he is to his pilgrim travels, and his commitment to god. Hence the focus on how he kissed a blessed tomb from Salem to Rome, how he has visited all of the shrines in both Araby and Palestine. Along with the palmer going to places where biblical events happened like the parting of the Red Sea, or the writing of the ten commandments.

For his sins’ pardon hath he prayed. He knows the passes of the North, And seeks far shrines beyond the Forth; Little he eats, and long will wake, And drinks but of the stream or lake. This were a guide o’er moor and dale But when our John hath quaffed his ale, As little as the wind that blows, And warms itself against his nose, Kens he, or cares, which way he goes.

This part is what I think could be the most interesting to lord Marmion becasue, aside from mentioning the Saints who the palmer constantly prayed for his sins, in this one it mentioned that this palmer won't be a weight on his army. On top of knowing how to navigate the land.

It is emphasised that the palmer knows the passes of the North, and that he can guide them for this journey. For a lord that has presented as so knightly focused, this must be a crucial detail to know.

“Gramercy!” quoth Lord Marmion, “Full loth were I that Friar John, That venerable man, for me Were placed in fear or jeopardy. If this same Palmer will me lead From hence to Holyrood,

So it seems that lord Marmion is finally convinced that the palmer is the perfect clergy to join his essemble. He even calls him venerable despite the first impression being so rough... The thing that arises after this is that Marmion has the impression that the palmer will be not only guiding them, but also provide emotional support on the way with his "holy ramblings" as he mentioned. A little weird expectation to have since palmers are so commited to god, and its teachings.

The expectations of jovial tales, or legends is brought first, until young Selby again has to be a small voice of reality.

“Ah! noble sir,” young Selby said, And finger on his lip he laid, “This man knows much—perchance e’en more Than he could learn by holy lore. Still to himself he’s muttering, And shrinks as at some unseen thing.

Yeah this palmer has visions, and in these days it has been noticed that something must be tormeting his mind because he has been staying awake praying. However, nothing have made a change un lord Marmion's mind since he orders young Selby to bring the famed Palmer.

And I loved how the details of his attire are brought up to paint a specific image of the palmer, at least for someone that has never heard of one. Most of the time in more medieval settings the clergy have a more idealistic look to contrast the more grounded characters around them. This is not the case with the palmer. Travel tored sandals, a faded palm branch, broad appearance, and a wild look in his eyes.

Whenas the Palmer came in hall, Nor lord, nor knight, was there more tall, Or had a statelier step withal, Or looked more high and keen; For no saluting did he wait, But strode across the hall of state, And fronted Marmion where he sate, As he his peer had been.

An impressive presence, and a very bold move to simply start to treat Marmion as his equal despite the latter being a lord.

Hard toil can roughen form and face, And want can quench the eye’s bright grace, Nor does old age a wrinkle trace More deeply than despair. Happy whom none of these befall, But this poor Palmer knew them all.

Mmmm, it seems that the narrative is forebonding something more than the travels, the scandals, and the religion. Despair is a really strong adjective to describe what the palmer knows, but for someone like him it does track that he could have seen acts of inhumanity in his travels that have scarred his mind.

Also I loved how mere moments from the palmer's physical introduction to the scene, the poem says this:

Poor wretch! the mother that him bare, If she had been in presence there, In his wan face and sun-burned hair, She had not known her child.

This Palmer is so haggard in both body, and seen mind that his own mother wouldn't recognize him even if they were looking face to face.

[4lph4kidz]

3, 4, 17, 18, 26 and 36 for the writer ask game. :3

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

i play ridiculous music when i can't concentrate and need stimulation. running in the 90s. mad rat monday. spamton CD. this kasane teto song which i have seen (accurately imo) described as penis music.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

i can't really... think of any? there are words i like but i wouldn't say i hoot and holler if i see a chance to use them, or see them crop up in someone else's work. themes and ideas, yeah! specific words... idk.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

i've been doing a lot of probably entirely unnecessary research for my latest WIP which is... hm! how about i dm you about that one.

on the subject of research, i'm under no illusions, catabolic seed is sheer scifi nonsense (affectionate). i've purposefully held off from getting too in the weeds with it because i know i would stress too much about complex worldbuilding and scientific accuracy, so a lot of stuff that isn't directly relevant to the plot is broad strokes stuff. as per the main inspiration, wolf 359, i'm leaning more on the workplace comedy at the start (because, haha, i have a job, he just like me fr) but i may develop the sci fi elements more once its time to fully bring them into the story. what i do have is: detailed bios and job descriptions for each character, a rough layout of the spaceship Hemera, notes on robotics and spacefaring technology, rival factions within the worldspace, some alien biology stuff... i'm a pretty big science nerd, and i enjoy good hard sci fi! but we're not doing that here, we're putting guys in situations. this is about genre. verisimilitude. you're getting good old fashioned technobabble.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

alright, how about this part from ch1 of catabolic seed! i made some pretty big last minute changes to the beginning of the fic because the pacing wasn't working, and i ended up pulling in a scene from much later in the story to serve as a dirkjake meet cute.

i like set up. establishing tone, creating atmosphere... the way you introduce a character, even one known already to the audience, is something i think is important and i enjoy playing with that a lot. originally jane was present and dirk was going to be pulling a bunch of wires out of the wall, which jane described as 'disemboweling her spaceship' but at some point i decided him popping out of the vent and scaring the shit out of jake seemed like a more fun idea so i ran with it. this establishses dirk as a potential threat, which leads to the stupid kabedon moment later, which leads to the jokes about the disney cruise liner and the engineering section flooding... i didn't have time to think it through all the way but as far as choices made on the fly go i think i made it work!

dirk being in the vents was also pulling from wolf 359, specifically referencing the character captain minkowski who i felt was kind of comprable to dirk in terms of her neuroses - it wasn't till i got someone else's eyes on it that they pointed out that i'd introduced dirk exactly like a fucking xenomorph, which was perfect, so i scrambled to insert a textual reference to the alien movies and doing some hasty worldbuilding while i was at it.

in general i think exploring the relationship from jake's point of view is super interesting. in an au where they don't already know each other, dirk is an interesting figure for jake to 'figure out' - aloof, mysterious, other - classic love interest stuff. which is perhaps less interesting than their deal in canon, but hey, i'm having fun running with it.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

hm, i don't know. i hyperfixated on the alpha kids pretty hard so i think i already have quite well-formed interpretations of their personalities and perspectives, it's not hard to dredge those up when i need them. i won't pretend my writing is for sure an accurate reflection of canon characterisation or anything but i'll go read passages from canon when writing and refining dialogue especially. and hmm. i do end up going to dark places sometimes, and nearly every fic ends up quite a bit darker than i mean it to... i'm totally fine. don't worry about it.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

be bisexual, eat hot chip and lie

aside from my aforementioned interests in genre fiction, or biology, i can see what i'm grappling with as a person reflected quite clearly in what i end up exploring in my work. i have the past experiences of being a queer teenager who had no idea what was going on, grappling with mental illness and feeling incredibly alone. or i can draw on my experiences as an adult, finding myself as a person, going out into the world, and all the struggles therein.

[kaleidoscopic-quiddity]

TSATS thoughts

spoilers obviously, you have been warned

yeah wow i am glad i didnt spend money on this book

im not sure if it was the WORST rrverse novel but uhhh,, its definitely up there

ive read fanfictions that better captured the vibe of the rrverse and solangelo specifically than this book did

so many different things about tsats bothered me so im gonna list them off to make myself feel better

will felt ooc, not in the way annoying ppl who only like fanon solangelo say he was but in the i actually read TOA and enjoyed it way

i get that going through the underworld and tartarus was going to be rough on will but he was just SOOO whiney and judgey it was really annoying to read at parts

also the whole storyline of will being a hater about the underworld was so uneccesary like youre telling me will solace, bisexual 2000s/2010s texan boy, healer to a couple dozen diverse kids at chb, literal battlefield medic, would find death and darkness inherently bad and untolerable?? rather than something to reconcile and make piece with??? even though hes literally dating the son of hades????????

like, something very interesting COULDVE been done with will’s character and his feelings towards nico’s past/trauma

picture this:

will, who bases his self esteem on how ‘useful’ he can be to people feels that he has to care for and ‘fix’ nico for nico to love him, he feels inferior because he cant fight as well on his own but he CAN heal people but nico isn’t letting him do that so he feels rejected and insecure

whilst nico doesnt want to let his trauma consume or define him, he also feels like its an inescabaly horrible part of himself that he cant get rid of, and will’s urge to ‘fix’ him makes him feel both unaccepted and that he cant share the worst parts of himself with will

they argue because from nico’s perspective it feels like will is trying to be his therapist and not his boyfriend, and from will’s perspective it feels like nico is pushing him away and if will isnt able to be ‘useful’ to him he fears he wont be loved any more

reconciliation comes in the form of will learning that his self worth isnt determined by how much he can do for other people and that nico loves him for him, and nico learning that part of accepting his darkness is letting people see the worst parts of him and trusting them to still love him not in spite of, but because of who he is

boom, i just came up with a way better, more in character, relationship conflict storyline off the top of my head if i do say so myself

okay back to the other shit that bothered me

why did will not have a weapon?? like??? we literally have that scene of him and chiron stress packing for tartarus and neither of them thinks that will should be armed in some way???

yes obviously will is primarily a medic not a fighter but still, its just such a dumb choice narratively

related to will’s abilities or lack thereof, what was with all the singing will did? he literally said himself in BOO that his sonic whistle was one of his only ‘musical’ abilities and that his talent lied with healing, we’ve seen him heal people w/out siging numerous times, why was this a thing??

also, the fucking care bear stare light blast thing, WHAT

will giving nyx hay fever also bothered me but i’ll admit that has more to do with me just not vibing with plague!will as a concept rather than it being a bad writing choice

speaking of nyx she was so boring

boring villain, boring motives, boring fight, all just boring af to me

the pacing of the book was so weird too

like the jumping back and fort between the trip to/through tartarus and the flashbacks with gorgyra was grating but dealable

but the fact that it took like HALF THE FUCKING BOOK to even get to tartarus was excruciating

there was NO need for all the underworld shit to take that long im sorry

nico also felt ooc, like over the course of TOA he obviously gets a bit softier and dorkier and i really genuinely like that but in TSATS i swear he was laughing or crying every 3 paragraphs and traumadumping to anyone who was (or wasnt) willing to listen like it just didnt feel like nico

all the solangelo pet names, gags

like significant annoyance and glow in the dark boyfriend and will’s various ‘death boy’-esque nicknames worked because they were (affectionate) digs at each other and not used every other sentence, ‘my little ball of darkness’ had the same energy as pookiebear

hazel only getting mentioned like twice was a fucking violation and im genuinely mad that reyna was only kind of mentioned once

like,, i already think thanks to fanon the friendship between jason and nico was/is given way more relevance than it actually has, but reyna was the one who felt all of nico’s pain, who shared her own trauma with him, who watched him kill bryce lawrence, who joined the hunters just like bianca, youre trying to tell me she wouldnt be on nico’s mind literally just as much as jason???

nico and piper have literally never been friends any idk why this book tried to make it seem like they are

im not against a nico/piper friendship or anything but like,,, nico ‘will not share my pain with others unless its literally forced out of me’ di angelo calling up a girl hes barely friendly accquiantances with and crying in front of her as he tells her all about his latest traumas, as her gf who is quite literally a stranger is also there? wack

speaking of bad writing and ooc-ness from nico the story of how he asked out will was terrible

‘i wanted a private date but the dyrads misunderstood and set up a big extravagant public gesture’ feels like something id find in a wattpad fic circa 2015

also theres no way nico went from his levels of internalised homophobia and shame and self loathing in HOH/BOO to publically coming out in front of the entirety of chb and asking will out in literally less than 6 months tf

the real-but-not-real dream with bianca and maria felt so uneccesary and disingenuous to nico’s character like he’d already accepted bianca’s death and that his old life was behind him and to have hades somehow ‘break the rules’ to bring them back to talk to nico was just so fucking jarring

also HADES being the one to send nico the prophecy, putting the responsibility of rescuing bob on his shoulders and retraumatising him and putting him in a position where he could very much die??? the fuck happened to ‘i want you to be happy’???

yet another instance of bizzare ooc-ness in this book ig

bob reffering to nico and will as his sun and star is just,, never rlly explained lmao

also bob is just, kinda, there, despite being the driving force behind the quest in the first place

i thought we’d get some actual will backstory, get to know more about his relationship with lee and micheal and his time at chb or his experiences growing up queer but no

all we got was that will used to travel around the country with his mom and they were attacked by evil pidgeons in nyc once which is how will’s satyr found him in the first place, cool i guess

i didnt mind the story of will and nico’s first kiss as much as their getting together but it still felt really fanfiction-y and cliche ngl

percabeth were WAYYY too fucking chill about solangelo going to tartarus and shouldve tried much harder to disaude them from going

also ik obviously the book isnt about them but it wouldve been nice for their survior’s guill re: bob to be expanded on a bit more, or even just,, better than rick and mark did it

i fucking hate the cacodemons i hate them SO much its SUCH a dumb narrative choice like literally who tf convinced them this would be a good idea and how can i fight them

i refuse to call them cocoa puffs, the REAL nico di angelo would never, do you hear me

also for a hot second there i thought the implication was that nyx had sexually assualted nico and i was like WOAH thats a bit much for a book for 11yros

honestly it still kind of reads that way since taking nico’s trauma, a part of him, and making something else living out of it without his consent is certainly a violation

not necessarily saying an SA-esque storyline has no place in the rrverse or middle school fiction, i think those topics can be tackled in a way thats appropriate for kids, but it felt out of place in TSATS to me

tartarus want nearly as scary or despair evoking this time around, it was just a dredge to get through and only a bit less boring than all the underworld stuff

i do appreciate that rick and mark were obviously having fun with all the body horror elements

i find it weird that will was, like, THAT broken up about him and nico ‘murdering’ octavian when in BOO he literally spoke about how he’d shoot him if he was better at archery lmao

i get hes a healer obviously there was gonna be some complex emotions there but idk it felt uneccesarily melodramatic

why was chb empty?? no like genuinely why

it contributed nothing to the story and doesnt even make sense since surely some of the year rounders have dead or abusive guardians

like??????? im genuinely confused by this writing descision what purpose did it serve to have chb empty????

i genuinely laughed at the geryon reveal because it was so out of left field, gay rights i guess

the fact that will didnt tell nico abt his talk with persephone felt weird and the talk itself was weirder

yeah overall id give the book a generous 4/10, it if was a fanfic id probably rate it higher but this was a real published book written by rick so im pretty disapointed

heres to hoping chalice of the gods is better

[makiswirl]

ive always been confused as to why people ship edxling, it feels so random. nothing against it, it just feels like one of those ships with no basis in canon and is just people wanting to ship two dudes because its gay. also i noticed edxling shippers basically ignore winry and lan fan's existence. so i wanted to ask you, since you seem to really like the ship but also are knowledgeable on fma beyond just shipping, why exactly do people ship edxling and why is it more popular than lingxlanfan?

okk so i DO NAUT know if i'm really the BEST person to answer this cuz i'm rly into a specific niche of ling/ed and not much interested in them as a couple during canonverse (post-canon boys ofc, as i'm known for ^_^)!!!! but i'll like... try to answer why i THINK people like it (′︿‵｡)

○ PART 1. - HOW THEY INTERACT IN CANON

ed and ling have a (relatively) strong basis in canon! they actually often interact from the time they meet, getting more screen-time or time to be around each other in canon than some other characters we see associated with them. and i think the widest appeal most people get from them is that they're boys in the same rough situation around the same age so they can relate to each other, so just the main concept behind their interactions as characters?

i also think a big thing with the interest in them is interpretation. a lot of people kind of feed off of crumbs in canon and view them a certain way which wasn't originally intended but is nice (and entertaining!) to view in a romantic light lol

i personally know that ofc, my main interest with them as a PAIRING isn't in canon but more post-canon starting with ling as emperor and ed ambiguous where there's more interpretation for how they turn out, how they would interact with each other; since they're essentially a blank slate if i wanted to fiddle with a few things whereas with other pairings in fma i can't really do that with because their roles are definitely set and i have to jump over hoops unless i just want to make something not resembling the epilogue in that regard which, if i'm not very interested, makes things difficult for me to really care for a couple which is a big appeal for me imo for them (but i'll stop rambling about that because it's hyperspecific as a writer and getting to analyze the characters and tear them down). so most of why i care for them is really just my interpretation of them and that's why i can't really speak much for why other people are into the pairing

another part of it is tropes..... i think tropes are a BIG one for a lot of people :-) you've got a makeshift and universally accepted sun and moon dynamic with the canon yin and yang colour scheme, you have idiots/idiots, royalty/commoner (who defies the regular trope just by being an asshole and ling not really giving a shit about the royalty thing beyond the principal of him being born into it alone so it isn't tacky ya novel tropey), tall/small, foodie x foodie, battle couple, and just them being a generally normal couple beyond their lives being a gd trainwreck with their positions and shared traumas because the dudes are just kind of chilling out personality-wise with how they act towards each other. they're The Buds Of All Time In Canon If You're Into A More BROTP SItuation™.

there's opportunity for pretty much any genre with them as well in regards to the most simplest categories of angst and fluff because they're both dorks and, as is fma, have Loads Of Baggage and can butt heads if you so wanted to set that situation up :o) they're very flexible characters when it comes to a dynamic!

○ PART 2. - I MEAN YEAH THEY'RE GAY I GUESS

yeah they gay keep scrolling :o))) i don't really have much to say about this one beyond personal takes because i see a lot of people going "people are just shipping this because it's gay!" about literally any m/m or w/w pairing ever and like....... as a gay man i just.... like seeing characters be gay, i don't see issues with that unless it's people fetishizing my identity. i don't want to go too deep into this one because it's more just my personal feelings as a gay man when i hear this sort of thing whereas i usually don't care unless asked out of someone's morbid curiosity

it's one of those things where i think most of the fandom just likes seeing themselves represented and i think worrying about people ONLY liking them from them being a male/male ship isn't an issue at all that you need to really worry about tbf

again it's just one of those things where i think if a person's reasoning for it is "it's gay i like it" is because they identify with the identity they assign to the characters in some way, just like giving an interpretation, so i could care less really........... most of the appeal i'd feel is them looking at ed and ling both and going wow they're both boys and they can relate to each other and they've been through a lot together in the span of canon, and they're (maybe) my favourite characters! i wonder what they'd be like as a couple?

or they fall into the aforementioned trope thing, etc and i honestly don't think that's a big part of it it's just an "oh i like them" thing. it's like picking out barbies at the store like i couldn't really care less if that were the case and if that is a personal issue it's one that shouldn't really be an issue just in a "minding your own business" way

○ PART 3. - NOT CARING IS A WARCRIME

honestly in terms of ling/ed enjoyers "typically" not caring about winry and lan fan, i haven't seen that, like... much if at all but that might only be because i DO NOT interact with the edling enjoyers in this fandom outside of like two other people that aren't me, one of whose favourite characters jump between lan fan and winry when i actually like them a lot myself... because.... they're the girlies of all time

(also i suck at paying attention and i don't mean to it's just a Thing That I Do)

most people into them though that i've observed (at least recently which is kind of skewered since ling/ed content only happens every gd blue moon we are fighting for our gd lives out here it's usually only a few people actually consistently posting on social media beyond casual writers on ao3) usually like edwin and lingfan, put them in a polycule, stir until well mixed, or actually draw/write/like one or the other MORE than them because edling is one of those things where it's like most of us go "well cool! i'll do a thing for this and probably never again" which is COOL and amazing but it's mostly one of those things we look at collectively and go well theyre neat. anyways,

like i don't ONLY focus on ships or certain characters in fullmetal alchemist as a watching/reading experience while definitely having favourites and i usually don't pay attention to people who only do so that............... that might be my issue here.........! :o) give me the clown nose boys

also when it comes to 'ignoring' winry and lan fan i don't think there's much of a basis when it comes to ignoring them because some people might just not really care for them as characters and honestly that's their cup of tea, not much to really get curious or worried about; same with their respective ships

while i personally ADORE lingfan winfan and winpan and can talk about them for a while i don't really care for edwin much because i'm not into childhood friends to lovers and i don't much care for how they were written in canon. it's just a matter of preference really with anything, and on the topic of wondering why lingfan isn't as popular i simply think it's a matter of them being less popular characters and the reason they DO get as much content as they do at all is likely because they're implied to be canon in the same boat royai is

...because ed and roy are, ofc, the titular characters in the franchise :-)

edling/linged being more popular i feel is a case of "edward is the protag that most of the fanbase will cling to immediately therefore it's popular" and people attract to it because if into it they WILL usually want to headcanon him as bi or gay and have a ship catered to their interests to view him in that light

being cross-platform with twitter, ao3, and tumblr altogether i've seen more of people asking why people are into the pairing or saying people into the pairing are overbearing than literally any content or people actually talking abt the gd dudes because it's again.... it's.... it's literally just like six of us locked in this homosexual little room altogether, me included, speaking from experience because i have been Producing Content For Them Consistently For A Few Years Now! Most Of What You're Seeing Is Either Years Old Or Just Word Of Mouth, Goddammit

obviously i'm not gonna toot my own horn about being dramatic over being into a pairing and be like 'fullmetal alchemist fandom.... UNITE to create edling content!' because it isn't worth my time and i'm not THAT invested in them, especially not more than the series itself since it's far more intriguing and open for possibilities to me without romance at all, but like guys we r people just vibing we just think they're neat

○ PART 4. - CONCLUSION TO MY... THESIS

i actually have no idea how long this is or where i was going with this but i tried to address anything from the ask! yeah no i don't really care about debating these guys on the internet or anything about the fandom at all and i try to avoid it the best i can but this just seemed like a question so hopefully this sated ur curiosity anon :^) thank you for letting me rant about my blorbos and hopefully u don't think any part of this was meant to be condescending

obviously no one has to be into these guys but hopefully this helped u understand a bit from my experience :o)

TL;DR: i think people are into it mostly because of how they interact, wanting to project their own identities onto their favourite characters, tropes, and enjoying the character dynamics together! can't really talk about the lan fan and winry situation because i haven't noticed it and i don't think ling and lan fan being less popular is something to get worked up about, relatively

ACTUAL TL;DR: none of the points i've made are relevant to the ship in my personal opinion there is no reason for this post to even Exist. i just like them because i think they're cool. sometimes you don't need a reason u just like them. the pairing doesn't have to be interesting, can be Average or Mid™ just don't be a dick and don't be outwards about that sort of thing with your thoughts in that regard as is common courtesy

[marinerainbow]

I've shared my headcannons for individual characters, but not necessarily Toontown itself. So let's rectify that today!

What's up with Toontown

(Couldn't find a gif of Toontown, so have these cogs that tickled my brain)

How it all started

Over time, Toontown just kept expanding itself. As the fear for toons died down, humans did offer a helping hand by funding construction. Though that was also another way to try to rein the toons in and gain some kind of control over them; by dictating what can or can't be built.

It was founded in 1908, around the time the first cartoon was ever made. Not by humans though, it just... Appeared. No one really knows why it did, nor why it's here in Los Angeles. That, along with the physics and logic toons ran on that went against everything we knew about our universe then, was the first thing that ticked humans off and made them want to control toons (and that's how toon segregation started).

Toontown used to be split up in areas based on the different genres. Such as Fantasy, Horror, Comedy, etc. In these areas, the physics that would apply to that specific genre would be strongest in the areas. For example, Goofy would thrive and be at his best performance in the comedy area, though if he went in the horror part of town, his toon logic would be toned down.

When big name studios like Disney and Warner Bros tarted gaining traction, they wound up becoming some of the biggest funders for toon construction, and thus were able to take large portions of Toontown and create their own 'districts' per sey; having whole streets named after their characters, building whole neighborhoods just for their toons, etc.

So yeah, long story short, humans started seeing Toontown and its residents as property, rather than... You know, people. And why so many people were looking into buying Toontown after Marvin Acme died. It's also why the toons are so worried and grateful for the will since it allowed them to finally have their town back.

I think Toontown itself is... Alive, in a way. I'm not quite sure how to explain it yet, but it's definitely a lot more than just home grounds for the toons.

Uptown

Uptown is, as one expects, where most of the toony shenanigans occur. It's also where all the well off or well known toons are.

Uptown was actually one of the areas that Toontown itself had built, with no interference from the humans. It was mainly where all the shops and businesses were back then though. Some shops have been built Downtown by now, though more often than not toons still have to go Uptown to go to work or shopping.

It is the brightest and most lively in all of town. You can't really go anywhere Uptown without seeing a living building or hearing toons performing their gags. If your a human tourist, it might be best to avoid Uptown unless you have an experienced guide with you.

Uptown doesn't just refer to the city area for the toons. When we see Eddie driving through that forest area when he first enters Toontown is considered a part of Uptown. And that does include other areas too. Uptown for the toons essentially just mean the nicer part of Toontown.

Downtown

You ever heard the song 'Skid Row' from Little Shop of Horrors? That's pretty much how you'd describe Downtown. Where the cabs don't stop, where there's no rules for us, and the rainbow is just a no-show.

Downtown actually used to be a place where the horror toons lived. It was small since horror cartoons weren't so common, but it was home for the horror toons. However, when there was an influx of unwanted toons, the humans just made this place the Downtown area. That's partly why Downtown is far more gloomy and a more serious kind of dangerous compared to the rest of Toontown.

Because of the humans influence and what they want in cartoons, other toons started ostracizing 'bad guy' toons, like weasels and wolves. Not to mention how rough they are drawn to look compared to silly rabbits. As such, Downtown is where you'd find a vast majority of the 'bad' toons.

In my Toon Patrol HC post, I said that the weasels are most prominent Downtown. Smartass started his gang here, and the Toon Patrol out and about around Downtown is not an uncommon sight.

After Doom came into power

Well, the Cloverleaf name started popping up more and more. Not too much where the humans and studios noticed right away, at least not until Cloverleaf started making its presence known in the human side of Los Angeles.

Toons grew more afraid. Especially when the weasels were put in charge. It almost seemed like even Toontown itself was affected by everything going on. Uptown tried to keep cheery, but things just... Weren't the same. When Eddie arrived while chasing after Jessica, all the toons that knew and the town itself literally brightened up with hope.

That's all I've got for now. If you guys have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them ^^

Before Doom made his DIP known to the public, he experimented with it on the residents first. Mainly toons that lived in Downtown, since they wouldn't be missed. There were rumors of some weapon in the making, but neither the humans nor the Uptown folk took it seriously, until it was all finally confirmed.

[spilledmilkfkdies]

I am sincerely asking you to rant under this ask about the Wizards 🥰 I would like to see it. -Jester

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Some of these things have been said before, some even by me, but I'm just gonna hGVHVhbb it all in here anyway-

The wizards were done DIRTY

And I'm not just saying that because favouritism, they were genuinely done dirty in more ways than one. I'm gonna try to avoid jumping from point to point and make it all cohesive and whatnot, but if it happens, it happens:

Their set up was good. Fairy hunting wizards who basically won and are the reason there is no magic on Earth anymore is neat.

Did there have to be a reason for that? Not really. But besides the messy 'if they thought Bloom was the last Earth fairy, why did they only come for her now?', it doesn't exactly harm anything either, at least it's not as egregious as some other things that were added over the course of the show imo-

Really, Earth basically had its own conflict kinda separate from the magical dimension, which is fine.

But this is more or less also where the problem starts? See, the conflict by itself is so very interesting and filled with potential, yet we don't get to hear a lot about it. Which honestly harms the season as a whole, but definitely the wizards as characters and villains. For when the exposition was scraped from the funky season lore blender, the majority of their motivation seems to have been left behind, stuck to the inside of the blender. And that is not good.

If we take a step back and look at the things we've been told- Not shown. Told- It seems to be a rough mix of them wanting to control nature, rule the planet, those things- But? Why? And?? Not really?

I think 'why' as a question speaks for itself, like what would make them try to achieve those rough yet basic goals. I don't feel like those goals are even what they were doing though lowkey? Because yeah, it's not 100% clear how much time has passed between them locking away the Earth fairies and them coming after Roxy, and you could argue that they were too caught up with the hunt to ever get to ruling the planet- But all of that aside. They're really just not. Ruling the planet. They are hanging out. Good for them but huh.

Y'know it's also interesting how, after mostly achieving the 'no more Earth fairies' part of their ''plan''- What, realistically, kept them from continuing their hunt on different planets? Was it Roxy? Would they have kept going after that? Would they even be able to?

Because when Bloom gets sucked into the portal and it doesn't work, Ogron tells the other wizards that "It's the universe spirits, the Circle has rejected her." Sir? The what? These are NEVER brought up again, and some might consider that basic first episode bs and it was simply written out- But in terms of reasoning why they only go after Earth fairies, it's more or less all we got. So is it safe to say there is some sort of entity connected to the Circle that rejects certain fairies? Then why would their fairy magic immunity cover fairies as a whole? Or is that not connected in any way for whatever reason?

It sucks because the scenario of the wizards not being able to drain any fairy that isn't from Earth, as well as the one where it's a conscious decision because their conflict is with Earth fairies and not anyone else, are good?? You could do stuff with either?? If the Circle does have an entity that limits them, does that mean they got their task from someone else? If the fairies of Earth are their only enemies, what's the reason for that? If the show wasn't so horrified by the idea of fleshing out the wizards as villains specifically, we could've seen more of that side of the Earth fairies that was ever so shyly hinted at when they got mad at humanity for ''abandoning them''. So really, a better season overall- But I digress.

Can we also acknowledge how there are no proper interactions between the wizards and the major fairies?? Like you can't just say "She hates us!!" then have the most normal conversation I've ever seen right after pls- Y'all have HISTORY. SHOW US. One little fight with a possessed Roxy does not count.

Moving on to the wizards as characters, in terms of personality and dynamic with each other- As much as I want to disagree with the pretty common take of them being bland and forgettable, there's a reason I've seen maybe 40 different character interpretations for each of them, and rarely having a moment of 'hey, that doesn't fit at all'. Because there is just so much room to add stuff. Pretty significant stuff. That you can just give them. And it would work. Which is fun, but I don't think it's a good sign per se.

Funnily enough!! Someone who doesn't seem to be good at doing this is Rainbow themselves!!

I cannot say with full certainty when some of these things were written, maybe they were made as the characters were created, I don't know- What I can say however, is that it was released separately from the show and some of it simply does not work. Whether it was sadly forgotten about during the writing of the season, or it was created afterwards in an attempt to add some characterization, not all of it clicks. It's a shame watching some of this stuff be reduced to fun facts that nobody who doesn't already somewhat care for the wizards would ever go looking for, when it should've just been in the season itself to begin with.

Can I also just mention how I find it funny that they took one of the few things people generally seem to like about the wizards as a group, that being how they really seem to care about each other, and decided to just write over that? Lmao?? Like you though they were friends? Wrong <3 Ogron is using them <3 And Duman hates Gantlos and Anagan so they decided to just hate him back <3

Anyway, I really would have liked some solid personality when it mattered most, but asking that when they were written to suddenly not care about the death of one of their own, and were referred to as 'Ogron and his men' so often that people don't know/want to know the other wizards' names, it's probably too big of an ask. But this ties in with the motivation point-

I want to know who they are!! Why are they hunting fairies!! What are their thoughts about the past!! Which major fairy did they struggle with most when in battle!! Why do they keep hiding in the smelliest places when Duman has sensitive animal senses!! Last one I'm extra curious about tbh, it feels cruel.

Idk how to smoothly transition to this point, I'm sleepy and not sure where to put it- But why do the wizards fight so poorly? For people with as much experience as them, of course. That's like one of the few things we are told about them all the time, they're supposed to be experienced. They got foiled by an actual dog btw. It's so obvious the Winx were written to be weaker at the start of season 4, like the issue was with them and it was bad. I know it's probably hard to make any enemy feel like a proper threat after the delicious meal that was Valtor, but surely there's a better way to do it than this? Insert situational transformation point, kinda-

Do not let their experience be a lie, is what I'm trying to say. You did it in the show, you did it in the comics, you did it in the games- Stop it. You want 4 successful war lords that have been around each other long enough to work well as a team and have become a no no topic on other planets because of how much of a threat they are? It sounded like that's what you wanted. So why didn't you commit? Cowards? Is that what you are? Are you cowards?

I'm not sure if I said everything I wanted to say but this ask has been awaiting an answer for a good while and I'm very sleepy. If I think of anything else or suddenly remember stuff I'll throw it somewhere mwah <3

[vextried]

Here’s an au I made with my cirque du freak ocs that’s kind of its own story but yeah (all art is by me!)

let’s do this

The King’s Menagerie

Synopsis:

A corrupted king (Or if it’s still cirque du freak a king who isn’t corrupt but uh still a little questionable) offers criminals in his kingdom a choice after committing crimes: beheading or join the kings personal arrangement of jesters. The catch? You can’t leave, and you’re assigned an animal. For every mistake you make (messing up during shows, defining staff, etc) you are slowly being cursed into the animal you’re assigned. Make one too many mistakes, and you’re forever stuck in the king’s zoo as an animal.

Let’s meet our performers!

Performer Number One:

🦊🎟️Madison Moore🎟️🦊

Madison Moore, or referred to as “Fox” is a rather bold and often cunning character. She joined after a rather lengthy fight with a royal, one where she ended up covered in blood.

She has a little fox tail! It’s a fluffy blonde, like her hair. It’s a bit uncomfortable and kind of a pain but hey, it looks cool doesn’t it? She often performs songs for the king as she has one of the nicer singing voice in the group. She’s confident and charismatic, but under her surface she’s always brewing up plans for her friends.

Whether it’s to take down the king and the royals, or to just steal extra food, she always has a plan up her sleeve…

Performer Number Two:

🦁🧡Vere Hernandez🧡🦁

Vere Hernandez, “The Lion”. Don’t be scared by his gruff exterior, he’s really just a sweetheart in disguise. He’s the big brother of the group, the one always looking out for others. Despite how scary he seems, he will do anything for those he loves. He joined after going against orders and protecting the village people of an enemy kingdom.

He has a lion tail, and later in the story fluffy ears, claws, and the eyes to match the fierce animal he’s supposed to be based off of. It doesn’t bother him too much, not for now at least. He likes to dance for the most part or act, putting on a bravado in front of guests.

There’s never anything he wouldn’t do for his friends, even taking hits and blows for those he loves…

Performer Three

🦌🌼Amy Young 🌼🦌

Amy Young, our absolutely innocent and adorable “Doe”. She’s the second oldest and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Unfortunately, kindness is not enough to get you out of punishment. She joined after getting caught stealing food for her family.

She’s the most cursed out of everyone in the group! Due to the amount of mistakes she makes, she’s very close to being completely cursed. She has deer legs, big ol’ ears, antlers, and a cute tail! With everything happening to her she’s extremely anxious and scared to do a single thing wrong. Most of what she does is dancing, and even that’s pretty simple.

If there’s one thing she is good at, it’s dealing with the chaos of performing. Amy’s always able to calm the others down when things get rough!

Performer Four

🐇🧩Adeline O’Conner🧩🐇

Our main character! Most of this AU is focused on her specifically. Adeline’s the youngest and most recent member of the group! She’s sassy and sarcastic, but deep down she’s confused about all of this. Being known as “Bunny” is annoying to her, and whenever she’s referred to as such she rolls her eyes and shakes her head. After the failed assassination of a prince, she joined, too scared to die.

She has a bunny tail! It was doomed to happen eventually, being the newest member and all, but was still a shock to her. She hates the constant singing and dancing but goes along with it all to avoid the risk of becoming like Amy (sorry girl).

Already coming up with ways to get out, she’s a clever girl. Being the youngest and most underestimated does have its perks. They’ll learn soon enough she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Performer Five

🐍🌀Vex Eden🌀🐍

Ah yes, because every court needs their snake. Despite the nickname he has, “Snake” is not much of a snake at all. Vex is mischievous and silly, sure, but quite the opposite of what people think when they hear his name. He’s not deceitful, at least to those he cares about. He was the second most recent member to arrive before Adeline after getting caught in a rather compromising position with an enemy knight.

He has a snake tail, and scales on various parts of his body! He’s kinda like Evra but not fully snake just yet. He’s the one who mostly shows Adeline the ropes around the court. He loves to do everything, singing and dancing.

Vex may be keen on playing pranks on the members of the court, but it’s all in good fun. After all, he doesn’t want to be the next sucker stuck in the zoo now, does he…

And last but not least

Performer Six

🦇🌂Antione Durand🌂🦇

The oldest member of the group! Antione, known as “Bat” is a member who’s quite interesting. He knows all the tricks, all the spells. He’s seen people be cursed, people he knows seem to disappear like nothing. While it hurts, it’s made him wise about everything there is to the court and the king. He joined the circus many years ago after a fight with the king himself.

He has wings growing! They’re quite small, but they’re there. There’s also fangs and claws and dark black eyes that make him creepier than he really is. Or so they say. He’s quite the thespian, not much good at singing or dancing.

Antione is simply thriving out of spite. He wants the king to be annoyed, to be pissed. While he likes being a pain in the ass, he tries to take the brunt of the kings anger, and tries to make sure his friends don’t get themselves cursed like the rest of the people he knows

Conclusion

So I might make more posts about these guys. It may be art, writing, or lore. The story will go back and forth between AU and Original story, some characters in cirque du freak do have roles in this story! (Mainly the princes and Desmond but some others are there as well). If you have any questions feel free to ask. You can also make your ocs into jesters as well, would love to see it!

My next post will go into the canon characters and the roles they have, so stay tuned!