#(they don't really give out wishes or super forms without the influence of more than one person)

[sonicprim3d]

" It's a common misconception that the Chaos Emeralds can work by themselves and with only one person to get you what you want. By themselves, the Chaos Emeralds are simply a source of infinite power and energy, but when influenced by someone who's managed to collect them all together and those around them, perhaps even the whole world, they can do just about anything the main person, or persons, influencing them wants. It's why I've only gone Super when others need me to, like when I went Super to save the Master Emerald for Knuckles, or to defeat the Titans to free my friends. "

[circeyoru]

Hi,

I love your writing a lot! It's really creative and life like, great job!

I have a very embarrassing question: is making a blog on tumblr easy to do? I'm trying to set my own up on my account for writing and I've read and watched videos on how to do it but I'm still unsure about going about without messing somewhere.

I know this is random question but I just don't know who to ask. You don't have to answer if you don't want to I completely understand.

Hello there~! Thank you for your praise and kind words!

No worries! It's not an embarrassing or random question. I'll try to answer with my own experience if that's okay with you. See if it helps you at all.

Making a blog on tumblr is easy. Super easy. Like I didn't even read or watch anything before I opened this one. Just takes an account and you to make it happen really. There's nothing to mess up because it's your blog and your blog means your style. There's no right or wrong in art so long as you think it's good then it is.

What I did was just set up my blog with whatever I had going at the time and started posting to see if anyone would visit my work. I experimented with the functions and stuff. That's all I did.

Before I opened this blog, however, I was a lurker on tumblr. I use it to read fanfics, headcanons, prompts, etc. All this is in another account now cause I like keep it separate (to not influence other readers and stuff). So in some sense, I have experience and know what or how I like my blog and posts to look like.

The question you should ask yourself before you make a blog would be: Will you put time into it or will you commit to it?

I'm not sure what or how you're using this blog to do, but you should expect some form of interaction and posts. For me I post my stories that I write on a whim and share my ideas for my fandoms and current obsessions. If you go back to what I posted in the beginning, they were works I wrote with my own ideas. Later on, there were requests or ideas sent in that I wrote for. Then asks on my work or something about myself or even these types of questions.

Point is, don't create your blog on a whim or just for a spontanous fun. Some reader might/will grow attach and want your work/response. There is commitment. I'm not saying to post 24/7, I'm just saying you need to know why you're making this blog to begin with. I take breaks and pause requests, even putting some of my longer series on hold so I don't get worn out to drop the story. My other friends on tumblr also take long breaks and map out their writing and posting schedule (way more organized than me, I'll admit). Either way, there's commitment.

One more. You will definitely have bad interactions or experiences, as much as I hate to name this here. Some irresponsible and selfish individuals might take advantage of you and try something. From the smallest rule breaking to the outright cursing sent to your inbox that demands an update from you. Be ready for those situations as well. I wish no one deals with those, I never even thought I'd have those as long as I'm nice, but you can't control others.

Still there are times where I feel so happy from this blog and the people that support me. Be it from anon thanking me for my work or asking more about my ideas, even giving gifts. A heart for my work or a comment is enough to make me smile. So it's not all bad. I say I continue even with all these bad things cause I think the positive ones outweight the negative. I've also made friends here, so I'm not dropping my blog anytime soon.

All in all. Ask yourself if you'll commit to this blog and if you really want to do it. Putting yourself on social media is a responsibility you take yourself.

I hope this helps in some way and you read this.

My Works: MASTERLIST

(sorry about the tags, it's cause I have no idea which side this anon came from so I'm doing both fandoms)

[max-praise-archive]

Toto Wolff opens up on what life without Lewis Hamilton will be like 👀🏎️ | Aus GP 🏁 | Fox Motorsport (8:16 - 12:25)

Q: Do you think having Max in your car right now would add to performance?  No. He's extraordinary. But we would give him a car that's a handful, difficult to set up and drive. I'd rather make that step and be out there and say this is a car you could drive because it's going fast.  Q: Do you think that you're going to have a decision on that anytime soon? What is the timeframe around actually knowing who that person is going to be next to George?  We were taken aback by Lewis' decision so quickly, now I want to really take my time. We have a slot free. The only one in the top teams, unless Max decides he goes, then the slot is not gonna be free with us anymore. There are a few options that are really interesting for us. From the very young super talent, to some of the other ones who are very experienced, and that's not gonna happen in the next few weeks or a month or so. I want to continue to monitor the market.  Q: So when is it likely that you'll have a decision? Is it something that you do post season at the end of the year?  Towards the summer. Q: Will George's performance influence the decision that you make, ultimately on the teammate that he'll have?  No, he's a bank. He's having that seat. He has been part of our junior programme for a long time. The reason why is because he's great. It's about the second seat.  Q: But by that I mean, if George can perform this year you'll look for someone that is younger and less experienced to be second to him or perhaps if it doesn't go his way, do you need to offer experience?  Well, I don't know yet. It depends also what Max does. Then we have a young kid that is very promising. Don't want to put more extra pressure on him but it looks like he can be one of the great ones. But we also don't want to drown him jumping so quickly in an F1 car by 17. There's a few options that we could play with. Obviously there's Fernando, who's very exciting. And Carlos, very good. So there's a few ones. Q: You have a huge decision to make, don't you?  Yeah, but this time I'm going to play like the bride: difficult to get.  Q: Excellent. You had an opportunity to sign Max before he signed for Red Bull. How do you look back on that time now? Is he the one that got away? I mean, like I said, hindsight is a beautiful thing.  You know a lot about us. Yeah, I've seen him in Formula Three and he was very good. And I have a good relationship with his father. So we sat down in my home in Vienna and said what can we do? I wasn't able to give him a Formula One seat. I said let's do F2 together, it was GP2 back in the day. We fully fund it and then I'll guarantee a seat next year in the car. And they said well, we have an offer from Red Bull for an Alpha Tauri basically from now on. That was it. I knew that we wouldn't be able to compete with it. Half into the season, he replaced another driver in Red Bull and took the seat and here we go. He's a three time world champion.  Q: So there it's a little bit poetic between you two then if you were able to snatch Max, it would sort of come full circle considering what you've been through together.  Exactly. It's always the kind of relationship that needs to happen at a certain stage. But we don't know when.  Q: He's your number one pick?  Yes, I mean, you see what his performance levels are, but I wouldn't want to discount the other ones too. We have to look at ourselves and say what is it we can do with this car, and then it becomes much easier whoever drives the second car. It becomes much easier for George, because he has the potential of being a world champion. Much more the team's problem to solve than really looking for a silver bullet with an amazing driver.  Q: Well Toto I'm wishing all the best for the Australian Grand Prix. You're not promising anything but you've come from behind much further down the grid so anything is possible in Formula One. Thanks for joining us on Fox Sports and all the best for the rest of the year. Thank you very much.

March 25, 2024 youtube.com Archive link | Original link

[alison-anonymous]

I Want to Write a Mikayuu Series

Okay.

So um.

If you're reading this, HELLO. All of you long time ONS fans probably don't know me, but I'm Alison and I'm a hardcore Mikayuu, Mitsunoa, Gureshin, etc shipper. I've been in the ONS fandom for almost a year and dear god. The amount of people telling me that Mikayuu is queerbait is just making me really sad 😅 I'm a writer, and I'm the type of person who honestly feels like the author of a series should have the ability to choose how a story ends without influence of their readers. I mean, if it's their story, then it should be their ending, right? However, I also do have some qualms when it comes to how this "love triangle" between Yu, Mika, and Shinoa is being portrayed. This is entirely my personal opinion, but I feel like Shinoa seems to be forcing herself to love Yu. I honestly don't think she cares for him in a romantic way, but more of a very deep-rooted admiration or even envy that she's trying to convince herself to be romantic love. And Yu has said multiple times that he values Mika's life above his own, that he doesn't know what he would do without him if he were to die again (I mean the fact that he suffered seeing his best friend and potential lover die a first time was definitely scarring enough, PLEASE STOP TORTURING OUR POOR BABIES). And it's basically confirmed by now that when Mika said I love you in the manga, it was in the romantic sense. Even though I wish, I hope, I dream, and I pray that Mikayuu will become canon, I honestly can't say for certain what I think will happen. I think it could sway any way, with Mikayuu becoming canon, Yu and Shinoa becoming canon, or it being one of those ambiguous endings where it's heavily implied but nothing actually happens. And in order to make myself feel better when stuff like this happens, I tend to rewrite the entire story with the ending that I would have liked to see ;)

You're probably wondering where the hell this stranger is going with this. Well, I want to write a book. A series, actually.

One that's inspired by Seraph of the End.

Now, if you're interested in hearing me out, then feel free to keep reading. But if not, continue on with your scrolling, no hard feelings. But if you do, and I really hope that you do, give me a chance to explain.

I want to write a series inspired by Seraph of the End called Bloodsucker (working title, obviously). And this series is going to be a reimagination of ONS with an ending that I would have loved to see in the anime and manga. I plan to have three main characters (please keep in mind that I'm going to have name changes): Yuichiro, Mikaela, and a brand new character, Epic.

Now, I would begin this series a bit before the anime and I'm assuming the manga begins. I'd start with introducing our main three characters as they meet in the orphanage (yes, Epic would be a part of this orphanage as well) and how Epic and Yu try to make moves to run away only to be stopped by Mika and Akane.

I plan to include a scene between Epic and Akane where Epic tries to run out in the middle of the night only to be stopped by Akane, and this is what caused Epic to develop a crush on her (Epic is a girl btw). Then I would begin the whole shit with the vampires and how they set the world on fire and shit, but instead of the apocolypse, I'd make it so that most of the adults died in the fire while the kids were taken alive (because young blood is better and whatnot). This includes our little Hyakuya family. The directors would have tried to trade the kids lives for their own, and due to their selfishness, the vamps killed them and took the kids anyway.

This would begin my first story arc: the prewar.

Epic, Akane, Mika, and Yu would all be living under the vampires at this point along with the rest of the kids in their orphanage. I plan to include lots of moments of bonding that heavily imply Epic loves Akane even though she doesn't know it yet and Mika loves Yu, but Yu is fucking oblivious. The four begin to plot their escape, but while Mika and Akane (yes Akane too) are making deals with the vampires to help out with their family, Epic is constantly finding herself getting dragged along to visit Queen Krul. The pink haired vamp has a soft spot for her for some reason and often tells her that Epic and her family are "special" or sum shit. And she's super confused and semi grossed out. But none of the vamps ever dare to hurt her so she thinks it's fine. Then one day they all plot their escape and it's much more planned out and lengthy and less rushed than it is in the anime. Things almost seem to work out until the vampires stop them

And Mika and Akane DIE.

I know. I'm horrid.

Epic is standing here in shock as she watches the love of her life die before her and Mika BEGS for Yu to take Epic and run while they can. So while in the series only Yu survives, he obeys Mika and both him and Epic survive this. They're found by Guren (a new character I haven't come up with yet lol) and Yu is super protective over Epic, not wanting anyone to take the only piece of his family he has left (he's a fucking mess without Mika let's just be honest) and Guren ends up taking them under his wing.

Now we hit the second arc. Still with me?

The War.

Hold onto your hats everyone because this is where shit is about to get complicated. So I do plan to have a bit of a time skip into the current spot where Yu and Epic are attending school with Guren as their father figure and they've become very close. So close that Yu refuses to work with anyone else but her. They end up getting onto Shinoa Squad (obviously going to be completely different in my version) and they get put onto the battlefield. But here's the catch. Well, two catches.

Yu and Epic do have demon weapons. I do plan to try to incorporate that into this. BUT the backstory is different. I plan to make it so that the vampires obviously see the humans as fies. Insignificant things that are more playthings than threats. And they didn't want to have to deal with killing all of them, so they sent demons in their place to handle it. But the humans were able to form deals or "contracts" with the demons and therefore turned the vampires' own secret weapon against them.

Now, catch no. 2

So, Epic, Mika, and Yu aren't seraphs in this. But they are something else. I'm going to try to explain this as simply as I can, but each of them (besides Mika since he doesn't have a demon) have 3 souls inside their body:

Soul 1 is their current soul, the one that identifies as Mika or Epic or Yu.

Soul 2 is their demon soul, like what Asuramaru is to Yu.

And soul 3 is their archangel soul (I might change that name later on).

So I'm just going to come right out and say it. In this series, Epic is the villain.

Yes.

You read that right.

Epic is the villain. But she doesn't know that she is. These Soul 3s were reincarnated into the current bodies of Mika, Epic, and Ari (and I know that's not exactly how it works but screw logic this is just a fucking concept) from their lives centuries ago.

These souls existed way before vampires existed and Epic (or Essie) was very close friends with Yu (or Aytigin). Aytigin was in love with Haru (Mika) but for one reason or another, they couldn't be together. Essie wanted to do something, willing to do anything to make the two of them happy. So she made a deal that brought the vampires into creation so that Haru and Aytigin could be happy. She was willing to sacrifice everything that they stood for so that the two of them could be in love together.

She had good intentions, but of course Haru and Aytigin were furious because now the vampires were turning against the humans and they all basically died. Until they were reborn respectively, but unknowingly.

Now picking back up in the present, Yu and Epic are fighting in one of the main battles and the two are very confused when the vampires make a very deliberate attempt not to hurt Epic. They're unsure as to why, but Guren tells them not to worry about it.

Suspicious bastard.

Anyway, it's revealed finally that MIKA IS ALIVE

BUT HE'S ALSO DEAD

Yes he is a vampire. And Yu falls in love all over again upon seeing him, and after a bunch of struggling, Epic gets kidnapped. At first she gets strangled by Lacus and then she gets kidnapped by Ferid who doesn't kill her surprisingly.

Oh and uh... Ferid is nice in this. He's still a fucking creep, but he's a lot nicer than he is in the series. I plan to make Queen Krul or whoever I turn her into be the villain.

Anyway, they take Epic back to the vampire palace or whatever and Queen Krul and Epic are reunited! And Krul is the one who reveals to Epic exactly who she, Mika, and Yu are and this is what sparks Epic's fall to insanity.

I mean, she's the killer. She's the one who brought them into this world. She's responsible for every death the vampires cause.

I would go crazy too.

So, she manages to escape (partially thanks to Mika) and the two join Yu and the others again and it's revealed a second time exactly what is going on. And while no one actually blames Epic on the Shinoa Squad, that doesn't stop people like Kureto and even herself from blaming.

And this causes her demon to go haywire.

She begins losing her marbles, almost killing her teammates and trying to kill herself, all while the three begin to experience dreams or visions of their Soul 3s.

While all this shit is going on, there's heavy romance between Mika and Yu because these two lovers just got reunited and FUCK did they have glow ups but yes -

Oh. And there is another spark for Epic, even though she doesn't think she's worthy of love.

Okay. I'm just gonna say it.

Lacus falls in love with Epic. Yes. You read that correctly too.

I plan to make the two of them get trapped together at some point and they have to work together to escape. It's during this time that Epic realizes he's not all that bad and has some form of self control and he realizes that she's the most interesting thing he's ever met in this disgusting and boring life and damn do her eyes look pretty-

But yes. She forms a permanent alliance with him that he jokes about as marriage and they meet on other occassions too, but lol yes.

Anyway, blah blah blah, more fall to insanity, the Soul 3s take over their bodies on multiple occasions and there's a lot of bonding and fighting and Epic and Mika somehow manage to get some of the vampires on the human side.

And in the end, Epic and Yu basically sacifice themselves to save the human race and kill Queen Krul. It's a very rough ending I haven't quite perfected yet, but Yu has a moment like he did with the King of Salt. But though he inflicted a lot of damage, it's not enough. So while the team is worried about him, Epic takes this opportunity to fix her and Essie's mistakes.

She allows both Essie and her demon to take control of her body and dies on the battlefield. Queen Krul is eliminated. Most of the vampires are gone. The humans won.

Horray.

Epic is dead.

Kinda. Yu and Mika take her back home and this is the preview to the last arc where everyone's in the hospital and Epic's in a coma. Mika and Yu barely ever leave her side and it's only when Lacus of all people comes to visit that she fucking wakes up.

Okay. Are you still with me? Now come with me to the final arc.

The Post-War.

No my friend. It doesn't end there. Because Mika and Lacus are still vamps and life still sucks and I drank too much coffee this morning.

No it's not over yet.

So flash forward a couple years and Kureto and Crew are working as the heads of this city. Stuff is being rebuilt, people are settling down in homes, Lacus and some of the other "good" vampires find jobs, and Mika, Yu, and Epic get a house together (in case I didn't mention before, Epic is pansexual. She loved Akane dearly and I plan to include scenes where she sees her in her mind and dreams like Mikayuu so she's never truly gone, but she falls for Lacus too when he's not being a sadistic asshole). Things are going strangely when

BAM. Epic and Yu come up with a cure for vampirism.

How, you may ask? I don't fucking know, I haven't read about it in the manga yet but before we come up with an idea for it, imma say they came up with it through a spell. They share their findings with Guren and soon all vampires are being cured, most notably Mika, Lacus, and even Rene.

BUT and there's always a but, Kureto passes a new law claiming all vampires to be property. That any vampire or previous vampire or even vampire supporter/owner that tries to disobey these new laws is to be killed immediately. Now Epic and Yu are in jeopardy because their ex-vampires are in danger (Epic and Lacus have been hanging out a lot more and he's proven himself to be a decent guy. Contrary to popular belief, I headcanon him as not really knowing what to do when he actually cares about someone since he's been a heartless vamp for so long. So when he turns to Mika and begrudgingly asks him for LOVE ADVICE of all fucking things, Mika is ready to die). So basically, Mika and Lacus end up getting locked up along with the other ex-vamps (including Ferid which was a pain in the ass) and did I forget to mention that there's a proposal?

Oh yeah, Yu proposes to Mika and the blond still has yet to give him an actual answer because poor baby is still having a hard time accepting that Yu can love a "monster" like him.

But anyways, now Epic and Yu are furious and SHINOA SQUAD IS BACK IN BUSINESS. With the help of Guren and Shinya and everyone, they form a sort of rebellion and blah blah blah they manage to get Mika and Lacus and everyone out and blah blah blah they all get separated and Lacus begins to get INSANELY protective of Epic and ends up confessing his feelings to her before he nearly dies and blah blah blah did I forget to mention that I'm making Mitsunnoa and Kimizuki x Yoichi canon and blah blah blah.

Epic kisses Lacus as an instinct. Lacus kisses her again. Mika accepts Yu's proposal then almost dies AGAIN. I kill off some characters for emotional tugs and after a ton of more fighting and revenge and psychological breakings later, Kureto is killed. And Guren (or someone else haven't decided yet) is the new head of their city.

Epic, Mika, and Yu finally let Akane and the kids go. There's a lot of Shinoa Squad bonding but this is a summary so I haven't included much besides the main three. Epic and Lacus becomes canon. Mika and Yu get married. Guren and Shinya get married. Shinoa gets pregnant.

And everyone gets the FUCKING HAPPY ENDING THAT THEY ALL FUCKING DESERVE BECAUSE FUCK

I do plan to be slightly ruthless like the creator and include a lot of heartbreaking scenes, but it's going to be much different than ONS but I still want it to hold on to some core relationships.

I just want them to be happy. And I just want to make other people happy because fuck I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY

So. Yeah.

That's Bloodsucker...

So my question to you is... if I wrote this shit.

If I sat down and typed about 30 books roughly inspired by Seraph of the End and Mikayuu and Mitsunnoa and shit...

Would anyone read it?

♡ a.a.

[gayregis]

do you have any examples of the witcher subverting common fantasy tropes? (other than the obvious like ciri being the chosen one but doing evil actions, the male lead being a pacifist etc) i like the books but i have friends who don't wanna read it bc they think it's just another generic fantasy story based off the netflix trailer, i obviously am not gonna force them to read it if they absolutely don't want to but it always hurts when good works go unnoticed because of misinformation

okay!! i won’t give book quotes for this one, this is just off the top of my head, because i think including quotes would take a really long time and wouldn’t helo the point. also there’s probably things i missed here

geralt 

tropes: Icy Cold Killer / Witches Stealing Kids

actuality: is a very emotional man who was born into his profession of killing and never had a choice in the matter. doesn’t want to kill for a living, is a pacifist at heart. adopts ciri because he truly is a good father and loves her and eventually teaches her witcher skills so she has a form of self-defense.

yennefer

trope: Bitchy Witch

actuality: sincerely selfless woman who risks her life multiple times to save her child from harm, does many things to save her lover, only seems bitter and closed off to the most of the world because she has been hurt by everyone she knows and doesn’t let everyone in.

ciri

tropes: Prissy Princess / Chosen One

actuality: she is a princess for approx. 1.2 seconds and then she loses everything she’s ever known, and will continue to lose everything she’s ever known. 

as the chosen one, her powers don’t help her much, she’s super powerful but still super vulnerable and her life continues to be shit - she loses everything again because of her powers, which make her a target. everyone is after her for her powers, she’s the macguffin of the story, she’s been reduced to the holy grail because of them. being the chosen one is more of a curse than a blessing.

dandelion

tropes: The Coward / The Freeloader / Slovenly Bastard

actuality: okay yeah he’s all of these things never mind he demonstrates incredible bravery and loyalty (doing something even though you’re scared to death to do it is bravery), he keeps being by geralt’s side not as a nuisance or a leech, but because geralt genuinely needs him there as his best friend.

milva

trope: The Girl of the Company

actuality: isn’t just there to be sexy while shooting arrows, is not a love interest to any of the main male characters, literally just exists in the company as a woman and no one is creepy towards her because of it. pregnancy arc is handled relatively well and she is given actual story and emotions of her own instead of being reliant on any male characters for developent

regis

trope: Every Single Vampire Trope Ever (esp. being heartless/part of an evil organization)

actuality: “the epitome of humanity,” is a healer/medic/surgeon whose profession it is to preserve life, is kind and acts with goodwill. 

the vampires in the witcher don’t drink blood to survive like hungry beasts or out of evil cultlike activities, but instead it’s like alcohol to them and they face the same social issues as humans surrounding it. also of course every other vampire trope is broken, like sunlight, garlic, wooden stakes, running water, religious symbols...

cahir

trope: Evil Soldier of Darkness

actuality: he is a young man who was manipulated by his family and his society into service of an imperialist nation, he never wanted to cause harm to ciri but raher just sought honor for his family. he then spends the entire rest of the saga redeeming himself.

angouleme

trope: Shitty Orphan Does Crime For Fun

actuality: she’s an extremely young woman who has faced abuse her entire life and has stolen and killed out of pure survival. she is actually a genuinely good person and warns geralt of the attempt on his and his company’s lives.

the sorceresses who were on thanedd and of the lodge

trope: Vain Women Get Nothing Done And Only Think About Men

actuality: 10 insanely powerful women form a powerful political cabal, at least one is a lesbian, they unanimously decide to bar the organization from men because they speak about how men are too emotional and can’t be trusted, they are capable and dangerous as an organization and would have succeeded if not for freak accidents.

witchers in general

trope: godless fiends who thrive on violence

actuality: they were created as a profession to eliminate monsters as being threats to humans, but the threat of monsters has faded and now finding work is more difficult than ever.

sorceresses in general

trope: witches steal kids

actuality: sorceresses take in unwanted daughters, from families who gave them up, and if they show magical prowess they continue to be trained

the striga (princess adda)

trope: Horrific Monster

actuality: a 14 year old girl who has been mistreated all of her life

a grain of truth

story: beauty & the beast

actuality: the real beast is the beauty who tries to rip her boyfriend’s head off

the lesser evil

story: snow white & the seven dwarves

actuality: snow white is no princess, she has been forced into a life of killing which she has become comfortable with

the last wish (heading into the bounds of reason)

trope: love at first sight

actuality: electrocute your ass at first sight, yennefer and geralt fight in the last wish, and after they fall in love date for 4 years they inevitably break up again because love at first sight doesn’t exist and they’re both too immature to hold a sincere relationship until much later

the bounds of reason

story: a peasant can kill a dragon, dragons are beasts that attack villages

actuality: you’d need professionals to kill a dragon, and also the dragons were trying to protect their child and are sentient, intelligence, respectable, and beautiful creatures.

dudu

trope: Evil Doppleganger

actuality: dopplers are incapable of being evil, they mimic forms to survive in this world dominated by violent humans.

the aen seidhe

trope: Elves Are Pretty Boys Who Don’t Do Violence

actuality: these pretty boys do a lot of violence. they kill humans because humans have usurped nearly all of their territory and pushed them out.

the aen elle

trope: Elves Are Pretty Boys Who Don’t Do Violence

actuality: these pretty boys do a lot of violence. they’re colonizers and slavers who take over entire worlds.

unicorns

trope: Unicorns Are Pretty And Docile Creatures

actuality: unicorns and elves have been at war, unicorns are incredibly intelligent and sentient and are their own civilization

nilfgaard

trope: Evil Empire

actuality: it is an imperialist nation, thus it is evil, but there are many nilfgaardian POVs throughout the saga which demonstrate that even though they are committing atrocities they are still very much human. they’re not faceless evil.

geralt’s company

trope: Grand Quest To Save The World

actuality: geralt in the saga, i think as one of the sorceresses said, is just running around lost, getting upset. geralt running around with his gathered company in the wilderness is not a grand march towards power or fame, but rather the journey of how geralt becomes a better person and a better father, he finally accepts help, he finally becomes a leader.

the quest doesn’t concern power or being a grand hero, it’s not a beautiful march. it’s a bunch of idiots traipsing through the forests, grasslands, and marches, trying to dry out their boots and footwraps because the ground is muddy. 

the goal of the quest is not to save the world or find great power or complete a prophecy or save a desperate lover, but rather to just get geralt’s daughter back. his daughter. because he loves her and wants her to be safe. that’s all.

you can’t step two inches in the witcher without breaking a trope. they’re strewn everywhere, like crackers on the sidewalk. step, step. now the pigeons are eating the crumbs

i think largely you have to look at sapkowski’s personal history with writing and fantasy bc iirc he was a scholar or something about arthurian legend and also he was influenced by many polish folktales

[yuurivoice]

(1/2, maybe /3, I dunno) I've been wanting to get this off my chest for a while, comment this with you, senpai, I really hope you don't get me wrong. Don't you think your portrayal of Guzma is a little... OOC? Like, "[about Guzma] actually be caring for their crew and special someone???? And are also DUMB?" I can see Guzma being in his best behavior around his s/o but he is heavily implied to use his anger issues and bad temper as a form of manipulation towards the Skull Grunts, Senpai :-/

“(2/2, maybe /3) The Grunts do admire him, yes, but some are very scared of him and aren't afraid to comment that with the player. Reminder that he also jumped into a wormhole with Lusamine without a second thought and left Team Skull behind without the least bit of consideration for them. I mean, think about it: if Guzma was truly a kind man and had nothing about his behavior to change (which he totally does), then his entire character arc would be pointless, don’t you agree?

(3/3) Also, Guzma ISN’T dumb??? The anime AND the games have clearly shown that our boy has brains and is quite intelligent! He's a great battler, a great strategist and is implied to have an interest in geography (from the world globe in his bedroom in Po Town). He understood that the experiment with Nihilego was a success the moment he sees it and I’m sure he didn’t become the Boss for nothing.“

Alright Anon, you very clearly feel strong about this and have presented your thoughts in a non-confrontational way and I get the vibe you genuinely just want to pick my brain so I’ll bite.

First off, pure canonical representation is far from what I ever set out to do with any character. I like presenting my interpretation and take on a character, which definitely does take influence from canon but honestly??? Some of my favorite things about fandom is when the fans take a character and run with their take on them. Is it always totally accurate, no. Is it sometimes more exciting and interesting than what a strictly canonical take would look like? I think so!

So, that’s something to make clear early on. Also, when I say “dumb” I do not mean lacking in intelligence or stupid. I mean...silly? I think rather than going super dark and making Guzma a toxic asshole who uses his followers and abuses his power or doesn’t care about Team Skull would bore me.

You can consider it an AU, consider it a bad interpretation, consider it anything.

I consider it a shitfuckton of fun and I think, just maybe, a lot of other people think it’s fun too! Because telling stories with fictional faves is fun! And sometimes you can explore different ideas with those characters, or give them a different coat of paint that the canon didn’t give them.

I wish I had something more tangible to say outside of “...alright?” but man idk what to tell you aside from I hear you, and you raise good points, but what does it actually matter unless I was somehow trying to stake a claim and say that “my Guzma” was somehow more correct than canon representations. 

It’s also a little curious that you’d bring this to me specifically when a very significant portion of the fandom enjoys the sweeter, sillier interpretation of Guzma and Team Skull. I’m not the only person producing that content, and honestly from what I’ve seen it’s almost overwhelmingly more of a softer, comedic approach with him. Because it’s fun. And ultimately, doing stuff for fun is what I’m all about. Big bonus points that people also enjoy my interpretation of him.

Another thought: I enjoy the softened/silly portrayal of Guzma in a sense that maybe it’s more of an act because he feels a softer demeanor will help him make things right with those who once feared him. 

I think there’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief you have to accept when consuming any kind of fan content, and showing up with a list of things and going “WELL, ACTUALLY” is an exercise in missing the point.

And that goes for all sorts of characters in all sorts of fandoms. People love the “oh he’s a bad guy but WHAT IF HE WAS ACTUALLY BABY” and I love it too...because it’s fiction, and it’s a great deal of fun!

[whysperingwoods]

I'm interested in spirit work, but concerned about the relationship btw spirits and deities. i don't believe in god(s) in the sense of omnipotent intelligent beings but am open to fluid conceptions of "self" that would also apply to nonhuman beings. I'm esp. curious about Jinn (my understanding of them comes from Islamic folk stories). do you have any tips, suggestions, or questions to consider that would be useful to start with? also, it's really kind of you to answer these asks. thank you.

Thank you for sending in your questions! This isn't something I've talked about very much yet although I work with a variety of entities. Thanks for being so patient in waiting for a reply, I know I've had this sitting in my inbox forever but I knew it was a longish reply and wanted to be as thorough as possible.

My usual disclaimer first: everyone approaches spirit work differently and has a different concept of what spirit work even entails. It's extremely personal and how or who or what you decide to work with is up to you and only you. Additionally, anything in this post is going to be based on personal experience (unless otherwise indicated), so take it with that in mind. 

All that said, the choices you make do have an impact on who will want to work with you and in what instances. As much as Tumblr likes to spout that "intent is everything", that's absolutely not the case when it comes to working with spirits or deities. Your actions matter, who you are as a person matters, who you worship and who you don't matter. Not all gods are friendly and nice and fuzzy. Some are scary, some won't work with you unless you’re afraid of them or unless you agree to certain conditions. Changing their mind isn't going to happen. You're dealing with entities that have thousands upon thousands of years of existence in some cases. 

I've barred myself from working with a ton of deities because I refuse to participate in worship or any type of spiritual hierarchy. That's a decision that I made a long time ago, and one I'm perfectly comfortable with, but it does have consequences. There are gods I would have liked to work with and can't because of this, and that's something I've accepted. On the other hand, I've been able to work with entities that I never would have even considered or been approached by. 

Basically the idea here is be honest with yourself about your values and how they mesh with who you want to work with. Remember that respect does not equal worship. You can respect a deity, use some of their tenets, actively enjoy them even without worshiping them. Worship and dedication should be taken seriously and requires effort. (NB: "effort" doesn't mean physical expenditure of energy, it can be psychological, spiritual, emotional, etc.)

Side note here on the definitions of spirits vs deities vs gods etc. I tend to use these interchangeably. I shouldn't. I apologize if that's confusing in my posts and I'll try to develop a more specific vocabulary in the future, but just for the sake of this reply I want to make it clear that I don't interpret "gods" in the "all powerful, all knowing" sense. I use it in the sense of "an entity that is beyond time and space, that feeds on belief, and has a marked influence on certain domains".  

All this brings me to the question you had about Jinn. I'm using them as an example, but the following pretty much applies to any entity you desire to work with. 

Before I get into that, I just want to point out that I'm not Muslim. I did study Islam for a time because I was entertaining the possibility of conversion, but ultimately I am a white person raised Catholic, currently atheist, and therefore can't speak to what is and isn't cultural appropriation in this context. Islam is a partially closed religion in that it requires conversion and accepting Allah as the only god (although like with any religion there are more than plenty of people who believe this isn't necessary as well, it depends on the Imam and on your mosque). I'm answering this ask from the angle of how spirits and deities work, but I'd recommend investigating whether or not cultural appropriation applies to you before you make any decisions. I wish I knew who to tag here for more info, but I don’t know anyone who would be familiar. Tentatively tagging @spiritroots and @witches-ofcolor in case they know of anyone. 

Working with the previous statement that gods require belief, this also implies belief in the systems and faiths they're a part of. In the case of Jinn, believing in them would also imply a belief in Islam to some degree (although the particular interpretation you choose is open). In the Qur'aan, speaking and especially working with Jinn is considered haraam. This doesn't mean you can't work with them, but it does mean that working with Jinn would go against the wishes of Allah who is believed to be the bigger more powerful god. There are definitely people who practice Islam who have also worked with Jinn, or other spirits, but you need to be aware of who you are working with and the possible consequences that might lead to. Remember that Jinn are trickster spirits as well, and it's in their nature to mislead even those with good intentions. The power of controlling Jinn was given to the Prophet Suliman and he is the only one who has "permission" from Allah to do so. Here is one link about this. And one more. 

None of the above paragraph is applicable if you intend to work with pre-Abrahamic arabian gods, but then you’re still working within a belief system. I think you get the idea. Just know that no deity exists in a void. Here’s a fun list of pre-Abrahamic deities in case you’re interested in that, they’re pretty awesome.

Here is the tl;dr:- Before working with a deity or spirit, ensure your belief systems are compatible- Be prepared (do your research)- Be aware of the possible consequences and outcomes

After you've done all that and made the decision to work with spirits or entities, you'll find them much more likely to approach you on their own in some cases. Once you start doing spirit work, you will tend to naturally attract them (for better or worse). Learning warding and protection is crucial. Protect your physical, spiritual, and mental space. Know your limits, and when to take a break. I can't give you one specific surefire way to communicate because it depends on you, and it depends on who you're talking to. Look to the god’s realms of influence and interests for clues on how to communicate with them (for example, fire reading for a fire god). If you're comfortable with any forms of divination it’s also a good place to start. Tarot is incredibly helpful for communication, but you could also pick up a really big book and randomly select sentences and try that route. You'll be amazed at how in-depth a conversation you can have. 

I realize this probably leaves a lot more questions and there are things that could stand for more clarification, but this is super long already and hopefully a good enough start at least to get you headed in the right direction. If you have follow-up questions, feel free to send them and I'm happy to clarify further on any points. In any case, good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for!