#(which you might think would be important since I'm making a comic w/ them ...)

[lunallamaloveshuntlow]

Too many projects, not enough time (or motivation EEP)

[saltineofswing]

Hello! I'm the person that made the rant post about my dislike on the lack of natural dichotomy of the Pyramids and Traveler since the introduction of the Veil that turned into a whole thing. You mentioned a lack of pulp in your reblog and it's stuck with me since then. I wasn't familiar with the term and did some research on it, but I still don't think I get what it is. I tried looking it up but a lot of articles and videos I could find explain the history of pulp and its influences in modern day sci-fi but not necessarily what it is, especially in a way that would give me context to better understand your reblog. If it's not too much trouble, can you explain a little more what the "pulp" is that destiny is lacking?

I’d be happy to try and give you a little more insight into what I feel are important tenets of pulp as a genre/concept! I decided this might be a good opportunity to talk a little about it generally because I am really feeling its absence generally in the past couple years, so I included some historical backing which you’re probably already familiar with – hope that’s OK.

I did a little digging personally, for some good places to familiarize oneself with the basics of pulp as a concept and/or genre. It was nice to re-affirm some info that I’ve felt secure in holding as true without a ton of evidentiary support, and I also learned some cool new stuff as well! I think a good place to start would be to link to the TV Tropes page about pulp magazines, which does a pretty good job of explaining the origins and foundational aspects of the concept in a way that is easy to digest. It also has a lot of examples available to peruse. I also found this cool article on the golden age of pulps, which is an interesting read.

This got long, so below the cut!

To reiterate, the original ‘pulp’ terminology and vibe comes from early/mid-20th century magazines, which were cheap and easy ways to access genre fiction and action/adventure stories before comics, paperback novels, and TV/movies were really on the scene. Pulp magazines spanned a very wide array of genres, but because of a lack of appreciation for the medium, a majority of pulp magazines and aspects of what I would consider to be pulp as a genre have been allowed to fall into obscurity. There are places where I feel it is particularly obvious, especially the superhero genre (don’t get me started we’ll be here all week) but also in fantasy and science fiction – a term which was, in fact, coined by Hugo Gernsback, an editor for pulp magazine Amazing Stories.

They were cheap to make, cheap to buy, and easy to serialize; they could be really schlocky, crass, and unpolished. They could also be fucking incredible! The Shadow is a good example of an early pulp property with screaming highs and frankly peat-bog lows. Lovecraft published a lot of what is considered to be his ‘best work’ in Weird Tales! Conan the Barbarian, too! They kind of came out of the gate with a somewhat negative connotation associated with ‘low-brow’ forms of literature like dime novels, but where other magazines of the time tended to incorporate non-fiction articles and photography, pulp mags tended to be fiction stories only – short stories, or longer stories split into serialized chapters. Early on, not many of them had art, though with the advent of comic books that changed (you could argue that books like Creepy and Eerie are direct offspring of early pulp mags). Similar to what Weekly Shonen Jump does with manga.

If you think of a genre as a toolbox, pulp is a box full of tools that function fine alone, but excel at assisting the function of other toolboxes. I would almost liken ‘pulp’ to the concept of ‘camp’, which are also two concepts that can and do overlap with a high degree of synergy. Pulp has its own foundational attributes that are distinct from camp – for example, camp is gay relies a lot more on its self-awareness, at being able to wink at the viewer or participant, and telling you ���yeah, we know it, but isn’t it fun?’ Pulp, on the other hand, is the (no pun intended) straight man counterpart to this aesthetic sensibility; pulp is at its best when it is being completely earnest. The quippy lines and dramatic proclamations are meant to be taken on their face. Nowadays it’s the kind of stuff that memes are made of – ‘That Wizard Came From The Moon’, ‘I don’t have time to explain why I don’t have time to explain’, ‘Whether we wanted it or not, we’ve stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars’. Saying shit that has no explanation with your whole chest. Trying to be cool on purpose, the ultimate cringe move.

Nowadays I think that this kind of thing has mostly died out of modern media, but the counter-motion is still prevalent in mainstream superhero movies. A good example is the ‘Would you have preferred ~YeLlOw SpAnDeX~’ line from the OG X-Men movie. Hey dickhead! The yellow spandex is cool if you, the guy making the movie, believes its cool! Crucially, while a lot of modern superhero stuff is quippy and irreverent, it often uses these tropes in a self-aware or cynical manner – afraid of being earnest, committing the aforementioned cardinal sin of trying to look cool on purpose.

(God damn it, I’m talking about superheroes again. Sorry. Before I get back on task this is why I loved the recent Moon Knight run so much; Jed MacKay is NOT afraid to have the characters say some absolutely batshit thing but it comes off as so, so cool. And yes, a little cheesy.)

And then, where modern sci-fi typically has an ultra-detailed explanation on-hand, I think a lot of early pulp stuff just… didn’t. Ask a sci-fi property for an explanation on, oh I don’t know, ‘where did these super-humanoid sapient machine warriors come from’ and it will likely have a molecule-deep explanation of how those unnamed machine people were created. Ask a fantasy property for an explanation on the same and it might say, ‘no’. It’s not that a pulp-leaning property won’t give you the answer to that question… it just might not have it. The ‘why is it/how is it’ is not as important as the ‘what is it’ and ‘how is it relevant’; a writer had a limited amount of page real estate, as multiple features were typically crammed into a single magazine. Even if a feature was serialized, much like television episodes (before the binge trend), one had to keep information digestible, and not too reliant on a prior or later edition that a reader might never see.

Explanations tended to be in service of an emotional beat, or to a theme, versus as a grounding agent to immerse a reader in the world. For the record I don’t necessarily think of either method as being better or worse, and heavy worldbuilding can still utilize pulp as a veneer or filter to engage audience expectations in different ways. Pulp stuff relies a lot on suspension of disbelief without utilizing a rigid lore-based framework to – though, you know, your story/setting still has to have its own internal logical consistency.

(I feel that it is important to note, as a partial consequence of the time period in which these magazines were being made, and when pulp fiction was most heavily consumed, xenophobia and racism are also heavily present in pulp works. I think everybody knows at this point about how much Lovecraft sucked but it’s a valuable example of how a lot of ‘fear of the unknown’ in that time was transliterated into ‘fear of the different’, in general but especially relating to genre fiction. If you decide to explore material in this genre, in this time period, be forewarned! Some of it was pretty glaring!)

So, let me tie some of this stuff to my previous statements about Destiny. I think that Destiny is an excellent example of how pulp tropes, aesthetic, and genre conventions can be used to enhance and streamline a setting… and how stripping too much pulp away can have a detrimental impact on the depth of a narrative.

The original narrative and worldbuilding of Destiny drew very heavily on pulp aesthetics to create a foundation, both in its appearance and its lore. The ‘Golden Age of Science Fiction’ was a period of time in the mid-20th century that sort of transitioned sci-fi out of pulp magazines and into its own thing, but the foundational structure of science fiction at this time was still heavily pulp-influenced. I think this is very well-represented by the portrayal of Venus as a ‘garden’ (jungle) world, very lush and with sulfurous and sometimes acidic rains. Before advancements in astronomical technology went and fucked everything up for us writers, Venus’s opaque cloud-covered atmosphere was impenetrable enough that there could be anything under there – and a popular portrayal of Venus was a muggy, humid, rain-heavy world that sometimes also included lush jungles. In Bradbury’s short story The Long Rain (WHICH ran in Planet Stories, a pulp mag, by the way!) this portrayal is a central obstacle to the narrative; it’s also used in Heinlein’s novel Space Cadet.

The color scheme that Destiny uses for Venus also matches a common color scheme for Venus in this era – see this cover for Fantastic Adventures. Visually, I think that this comparison between the postcard that went out with the D1 limited/collector’s edition and this Planet Stories cover for The Golden Amazons of Venus demonstrates the influence, at least regarding terrain and biome.

In fact, I think that you can see from this Eververse postcard – which could have been peeled off of any era-appropriate paperback novel – that the influence goes bone-deep. Destiny even refers to humanity’s halcyon age as ‘The Golden Age’.

(Below: Is this image from Destiny dev, or a science fiction paperback from the 60s? Who knows! I know. It’s Destiny.)

In the modern era of Destiny storytelling, though the visual elements of the universe remain largely rigid relative to this early framework, the pulp underpinning of the narrative has been largely left behind. The original game’s story, and the stories of subsequent DLCs, felt very pulp-inspired – this ranged from ‘sort of effective’, like in House of Wolves, to ‘game-savingly effective’, like in The Taken King. Pulp lends itself to straightforward conceptual executions, and brisk narratives, because of its roots as short-form literature. The narrative of D1 was simple and to the point; Light good, Dark bad, humanity is in the shit, think you can kill a god? The surrounding world scaffold was rich but not deep. As I like to say, sometimes a river can be wide but shallow. This is not a commentary on its quality – something can be good but not complex, and IMO, sophistication is not necessarily synonymous with complexity. Destiny managed to pull off a trick that many high-quality pulp stories employ: it made the river look deeper than it was. This is the whole reason that Lovecraft’s oeuvre has the staying power it has: other writers got to play in the space because it felt very deep, even though the stories themselves were fairly straightforward.

I also don’t mean to say or accidentally imply that ‘morally grey storytelling cannot exist within pulp stories’, because that would probably get me torn apart; that’s just not the kind of straightforward foundation that the original Destiny was built on. ‘It is what you see, but what you see could be anything’, you know? The problem that began to muddy the waters in the Destiny narrative is that they started to say, ‘You know, actually, it ISN’T what you see’.

Tentpole narrative additions to the Destiny 2 game employ varying levels of pulp. As I said in the other post, the Hive have a potent pulp influence built into their foundational coding, and so subsequent portrayals of the Hive as a main antagonist have higher degrees of pulp genre naturally present in the narrative – it’s hard to separate the two of them. Shadowkeep and The Dark Below draw strongly on the ‘sword and sorcery’ convention, a subgenre of fantasy that is a heavy (perhaps 1:1) blend of fantasy and pulp; think Conan, or Elric of Melniboné (who, hey! Showed up in a novella feature, in an issue of Science Fantasy magazine, named… THE DREAMING CITY). The Witch Queen leaned away from pure sword and sorcery and more towards noir/detective pulp – though, I think, TWQ is a good example of the pulp slippage in its narrative, resulting in some more bland moments and things that feel ham-fisted in a bad way. Part of it, I think, is the need to make these expansions ‘long’ and complicated without making the player feel like they’re slogging; in a more pulp-forward TWQ narrative, the reveal that Savathûn is actually NOT evil-aligned and is a potential ally would come much earlier in the story, and the central mystery would be MORE about ‘what the fuck is she trying to do/prevent’, leading to the Witness reveal as the centerpiece of the finale and the ‘solution’ to the central mystery.

The decision to start retroactively appending more complex connections between disparate pieces of content naturally leads to a reduction of pulp prominence, in my opinion. If you imagine Destiny as a vessel that is mainly full of three component liquids – Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Pulp – you can say that adding more of one genre pushes out another to make room. You can always pour more of one genre in to re-balance, but in response to increasing levels of sci-fi the narrative seems reticent to reintroduce pulp back into the mix, instead favoring fantasy. But another problem is that once you take it out, Pulp is really hard to put back; once you solidify and unionize world-lore, every subsequent retcon risks diluting and destabilizing that world-lore until a) nobody cares about it anymore and b) it stops being mutable at all, and becomes sludge.

The lore behind the existence of the Exo was originally very pulp, with no real explanations given for exactly what they were and where they came from, and how they attained sapience. Early hints that Cayde and a few other Exo having once been human didn’t preclude other Exo from having other origins – for example, implications that Exo war-frames eventually achieved sapience as a result of the ‘Deep Stone Crypt’, and that they were originally simple AI-equipped warriors designed and overseen by Rasputin to minimize human casualties. This early mystique around the origins of the Exo is classically pulp: we don’t need to know how the hyper-advanced robots were made, we just need to know what they are, why they are relevant to the story. It allows You, The Player, to engage with it at whatever level you want. In a game where You, The Player, are also being asked to step into the role of You, The Protagonist, this is beneficial to engagement for people (like me!) who like to think too much about the backstory of the your-name-here protagonist on-screen. It is also beneficial to not distracting the player with conflicting information, or accidentally contradicting previously-established lore.

Enter Big-Head Bray. The Beyond Light-era explanation of why Exo were created and how they were made is a retroactive nuclear strike on the Exo lore; it strips away a lot of flexibility and thematic richness from the concept of the Exo, shoehorns them into a single narrow use case, and directly conflicts with early-game Exo lore implying their connections to Rasputin (which they then had to go back and hastily shoehorn back in later) or existence as war machines for the Collapse. If D1 lore is wide but shallow, the D2 lore is narrow but deep. Just because something has a lot of ‘depth’, I.E. many layers to traverse before you reach foundational bedrock, it doesn’t make it good.

Same thing with the Fallen. Season of Plunder felt to me like an attempt to reintroduce pulp genre back into the setting, but it fell flat because of two reasons: it didn’t really want to be pulp, and it was more concerned with its tethers to the science-fantasy exterior world than it was with creating its own cohesive narrative. Why was Mithrax doing evil pirate shit when he was young? Because he comes from a race of fucking evil space pirates! It Does Not Need To Be More Complex Than That! But the exculpation of pulp from the D2 narrative means that if Mithrax doesn’t have a good enough reason, WRT the larger narrative, it would be a glaringly obvious plot hole. By Plunder, Destiny had already undertaken the task of filling out the Eliksni lore with sympathetic science-fantasy excuses for why they were trying to exterminate humankind – the more earnest, pulp-forward explanation would just be that desperate, hurt, suffering people will do desperate things, hurt people, and may perpetuate the cycle of suffering.

Oy. There’s a lot you COULD get into. How the Destiny macro-narrative seems to be decaying the rigidity of good and evil in its original lore vs. how the micro-narrative is obsessed with trying to recapture that good/evil dichotomy in order to give players a reason to like the main characters. How the determination to connect and explain everything has resulted in a general flattening of the background lore, and the subsequent trivialization of many things the game included in earlier iterations of the narrative/lore. How the narrative has basically nothing to do with the Vex because they wrote themselves into a corner by trying to explain them too much while simultaneously not altering the foundational lore of the race, meaning there were too many things they can no longer do without retconning again.

Overall, I guess I will just end by saying that many of the things that Destiny is CURRENTLY doing, feels like the game is straining to rip the part of it out which proudly asks its audience not to think too hard about sweeping, dramatic statements that built a lot of the things people love about the game’s setting and narrative… and in doing so, is just ripping itself to pieces.

[unethicallypleistocene]

hello, me again :) seems like summer is kicking ur ass. i would feed u summer fruits myself but since i can’t, eat them for me? 🥺 but no you’re not ending anything (asks or otherwise) on a depressing note, not on my watch. so! answer some more: 3, 12, 17, 27, 30. also, i love ur ask box title. truly feels like i’m dropping a letter for a dear friend

P.S: thank u for ur unwavering support of my holmesposting & denethorposting! 💕💕 i hope u know that i’m the same w ur cherikposting + can’t deny that they’re v amusing & so is ur commentary on them lolll

aaaaaah I am smooching you platonically!! I actually like summer quite a bit more than winter, but I suppose I have a good amount of Dread coloring my experience. Rest assured that I am consuming summer fruits at maximum velocity! Just this morning I horked down an unadvisable amount of mango (although there really isn't an amount of mango that's unadvisable besides. none) and I hope you're doing the same!! The horrors persist but so does fruit. And thank you for complimenting my ask box! I quite like it too, I really wish I had a similar cozy-looking mailbox irl that was full of the lovely messages from friends I have here! Also: ofc I will always be rooting for your holmesposting and denethorposting! Recently I've been debating whether I prefer holmes/watson as a qpr or a romantic relationship (both. both is good. they might be in a sam/frodo situation here). Thank youuuu for supporting my cherikposting as always! They're so silly and I hate them but that's why they're special to me <333

also. me learning you read my cherik commentary and find it amusing:

On to the actual questions!!

3. What are some of your pet peeves?

Time to get meta with it: when people ask for my pet peeves. I'm never able to come up with something Normal so either I say something actually true that's kind of niche and end up getting weird stares, or I panic and just make something up that's not true and end up spending time feeling bad for lying even though, really, who cares. My autism's kryptonite: pet peeve questions.

12. Something you want to monologue about?

Since I'm still in cherik prison, it looks like there's only one option. Sigh. There's something really tragic about ideology, especially ideologies that are more-or-less aligned, tearing people apart. When an ideology has the power to interfere with a (GAY) relationship, it thereby cements itself as a part of the self. It's more than identity, it's more than a motivator, it forces characters to become figureheads. Of course this is obvious for Charles and Erik specifically, that's been their purpose in the comics since the 60s (and this is especially important in the symbolism/allegory heavy world of x-men comics). Unfortunately for me, I just think their conflict is so much more interesting when they're actually together! They're constantly forced to deal with the cognitive dissonance of the most important person in their lives representing an obstacle to their deepest beliefs. And that's fascinating! I don't think they have to constantly be at the brink of divorce to be at odds, either. From my perspective, they probably increasingly like each other the more they fight, those absolute freaks.

17. Space, enchanted forest, magical kingdom, or underwater city?

Enchanted forest! Let me be an ent!! Let me shepherd the trees!!!

27. What fascinates you about humanity?

A passion for knowledge (of any kind!). People can spend decades studying a single topic, people can spend hours upon hours writing nonstop about a character. That love is so mysterious and beautiful to me.

30. What is your favourite way to create?

I love brainstorming writing ideas by listening to music. If someone opened my brain during my near-daily music session they'd find cumulative hours of animatic-style storyboarded narratives mapped onto songs. I know other people do this too, which makes me SO happy.

[punmster]

Sorry if this ends up overwhelming you and if it does, feel free to ignore them. I’m just bored and curious. 👉👈😅

Which character do you think had the most potential in the Harry Potter series and do you plan on implementing any of your ideas into them?

If DSMSG Draco was locked in a room with Umbridge, Lockhart, and Voldemort and had a gun with two bullets, who would he choose to shoot?(totally not stolen from The Office)

I think you may or may have not mentioned this earlier and feel free to ignore this question if it’s a spoiler, but when does Harry begin having feelings for Draco/act on them?

no worries, i wanted a distraction from my work anyway lol

In terms of potential, I'm not quite sure. My first thought was Draco (Duh) mostly because I wish so badly that they kept the scene in the final movie where he threw his wand to Harry. That alone would probably do so much for his character, and I am very likely going to do something with it in the fic. Plus the whole really weird hug with Voldy thing, kinda seems like Voldy is trying to have a relationship with him that parallels Harry and Dumbledore's. Anyway, Draco's SO uncomfortable all the time in 7th, it makes me very excited to get to it :) I also think Narcissa is pretty interesting since she kinda parallels Lily, and the fact she lied to the Dark Lord TO HIS FACE and protected Harry...I know I make Narcissa out to be just a very overbearing mother (and bad cook) but I hope to make Draco see the other sides to her later on, when he gets his head out of his ass. For now, she's sort of just comic relief, but there are some things set up in the very first years that will come back in the later years.

(also i REALLY need to add neville in some more--thematically he's super important, but he just doesn't get that much screen time yet. I'll have to think more about how to integrate him, but definitely he will appear more in 3rd w/ other characters. Other characters I plan to include are Cedric, Luna, maybe Cho? Marietta, probably, for the whole traitor thing in the 5th book, and ofc Pansy and Zabini, though those two are the flattest in the books so I'm gonna have to make up a lot of stuff lol. gotta add in sirius obvs [he's actually my favorite, which was why he was not-malfoy's fave in the old version], and remus [also we gotta discuss the werewolf in the room, with the whole snape prank thing...])

Draco would probably blackmail Lockhart into taking the gun and shooting Umbridge twice. He isn't stupid enough to try to kill Voldemort with a gun (are the horcruxes around in this hypothetical?also Voldy lived in like. WWII? Although he's ignorant of love magic stuff, he is probably deeply aware of the dangers of Muggle weapons, which maybe relates to his desire to conquer them) but Draco would love Umbridge dead, and he'd want more blackmail on Lockhart lol. The man's main fear is losing his reputation so that's probably a better punishment than death. If it's sixth year Draco he might just shoot himself though

I have mentioned that Draco doesn't want to date as a minor or date minors even if physically the same age due to the weird age gap/time question thing (a really big issue in isekai/transmigration imo, and the bit of this fic that makes me want to just make it platonic--seriously. I read one where this grown man DATED A SEVEN YEAR OLD B/C HE WAS IN A CHILD'S BODY??) but Harry will obviously not be thinking about that since for all he knows, they're both normal kids. You can probably safely assume he starts thinking of romance at the same time as in the books, though obviously his friendship w/ Draco and the whole "it's the nineties and I think I'm gay?!" thing would make him not as proactive about it for a while

[thotslayerdio]

i'm doing some of these. i ramble, though, so under a cut.

2: NGL, probably through the memes. it was about four years ago, in 2019? don't count me on that, though, i have the memory of a dust bunny. anyways my F/O is from JJBA and i love the franchise. it's my special interest ><

5: since he's a vampire, he can't cook for shit -- but i can. i can make the best grilled cheese... and normal foods, too. i promise. 👍

the second number 4: probably. he's a vampire, so i think he'd have, like, corpse body temperature, and would always be seeking warmth (like a lizard). i'd be super awkward about it for a while LMAO but i'd find comfort in it eventually.

due to the cut, some of the numbers are weird, so +4 to the ones below this if they're not making sense with the prompt.

8: i suppose so. it's only for lore reasons, and they're not really my enemy. it's like, "the enemy of my friend is my enemy, too".

9: probably the corpse body temperature thing. not sure what the fandom feels about it -- i don't interact w/it much, outside of reblogging fanart/etc.

13: literally... so many... but they're pretty nasty, and i'd rather not contribute to the horrible public image he can have XDD

17: my S/I is a stand user (by birth) and had to leave america due to troubles with the law (<- murdered someone). i can't give away the whole plot, though! i suck at writing in words and i mean to make more art/comics about it eventually.

18: JJBA is known for the variations, particularly different color palettes. i love the red version a lot, and the black one is pretty neat. he's also got like a dozen voice actors, which is to be expected when yr F/O is from a franchise as huge/old/popular as JJBA. i'm particularly fond of the HFTF and OVA voice acting. the audio drama version is good, too. the anime one ranks last for me, but i still like it. (there might be more variations? IDK, it's hard to tell, since there's so much content...)

19: maybe not my favorite, but i like the swiss cheese tank top in part 6. overall, he's very fashionable. has too many outfits and i like all of them.

24: actually, yeah! i'm not sure how serious i am about this? (<- has difficulty understanding and describing emotions) but TL;DR we are married. no ceremony or anything because i don't have friends lol. i'm SUPPOSED to be getting my ring today, but i don't think that's gonna happen. post office is a dumbass, yk. i got it imported from japan, it's official merch and everything GGRGRGRGR

27: no, i hate kids 💀 he's not a pet person, really, and neither am i TBH. he's got a handful of illegitimate children, but they're irrelevant to the plot (due to the time and location it's set in).

31: vampire 😈😈😈

32: his relatability. sounds weird, since he's a villain and general asshole, but we have similar experiences. i don't think i'd be able to be attracted to him if i didn't relate to him as strongly as i do.

33: angst, hurt/comfort. evil-looking who's secretly nice x nice-looking who's secretly evil.

34: i have to pick one?! he's literally the most meme-d character of the franchise, maybe the most meme-d character in all of anime... i don't want to pick the most often quoted one (it's lame and overused), so i pick "I REJECT MY HUMANITY! JOJO!!!" (<- i've not said his name this entire post. can you guess who it is?) (probably. if not from the info, then from my PFP.)

35/36: me

42: yes. yes. biting is affectionate.

45: me, or my S/I? me IRL, i was immediately like "this is my favorite character", and kept that attitude forever. my S/I barely tolerated him at first. i think he'd think (S/I) would be useful in obtaining goals/etc, but accidentally-on-purpose started genuinely liking them/me.

46: march 28. that's when IRL i said, "yeah. this is my F/O now." i haven't worked that into the plot in-universe yet.

47: i'd feed him to a spider. (he'd probably do the same LMAOO)

56: vanilla ice is envy.png. i don't think anyone else would know. maybe enya, but i don't think she'd care much.

58: RAH 1/6 figure. as a doll collector anime enthusiast, this is a must-have item. not just for me, a doll collector huge fan of the character, but for literally any fan of the series. there's also a resin statue that i really like, but it's second priority. (i own most of the other merch i want XDD)

59: soggy kitten.

62: depends. if he'd come to my world, a lot of things would have to change. notably, my living situation. i'd rather go to his world for the ease of it. (but things would still have to change, ie make me canon-compliant. AKA a stand user.)

64/65: my S/I is pretty much just me IRL, but taller. the difficult part was the stand... (<- like a superpower thing, for non-JJBA people.) not sure how to describe it. it's like a suit (like iron man?). i named it after a queen song (so it'd be canon-compliant).

66: i have a (mostly) canon-compliant version and a non-canon version. canon-compliant is priority, but sometimes you just wanna be coworkers with dio (<- meme reference but that's literally what it is)

67: run away

72: probably obvious, but yellow. (yellow hair, yellow outfit, yellow stand...) and cats. he could be a catboy if he tried.

74: whatever that old summer VHS style is like. yk, with grainy photographs and hazy sunsets? if that makes sense.

75: me. i've decided if a zombie apocalypse happens, i'll voluntarially die. i don't want to be a zombie. IDK what he would do. probably use the zombies to his advantage (lead them to people he doesn't like etc)

76: rule the world 😈😈😈😈 not me, though. i have no goals beyond get rich and die young.

77: he's canonically bi.

78: a caracal. they're yellow and angry. graceful in a different way.

79: cold, both emotionally and physically (<- corpse body temperature).

80: there's nothing to gush about, it'd just be venting and trauma-dumping LMAO.

anyways, if OP happened to read all of this, thank you for reading, and thank you for making this >< i never know where to start when it comes to interaction/posting in general, and this helped a lot.

80+ selfship questions to answer, whether in a post* or a reblog! feel free to pick the ones you want to answer or just answer for all – this is not an ask game :3

a few of these are romantic, but ofc, there are ones you can answer for your platonics!

* if you do it as a post i’d loveeeee if you tagged me so i could see your answers!

what’s something you do to feel closer to them? fanfics, listen to songs, etc.

how did you get introduced to your f/o and/or their media? do you like their source?

what’s one or two things you especially like about your f/o? can be a headcanon!

what’s one or two things your f/os love about you? ( self positivity time babey )

how do you express your love to them? how do they express their love to you?

a gift you’d like to give them if you could, and something they’d give to you!

what do you celebrate together? like halloween, christmas time, easter, etc.

do you sleep together? is it peaceful or filled with snoring? do you both stay up? tell us more! ( how you sleep, when you sleep, do you wake up at the same time? )

what’s one thing you can’t do well that the other can, vice versa ( e.g cooking, playing video games, so on and so forth )

do you have similar tastes in fashion? aesthetic? food? tell us about their taste!

how do they tend to comfort you? how do you tend to comfort them?

if you have a rival or nemesis f/o, why? are there any lore reasons or is it just because?

what are some uncommon headcanons you have for them?

what is your favorite fan theory/headcanon about them?

if you live together, how’s domestic life like for you both?

do you have any scent hcs for them? ( sweet, something like coffee, etc )

is there anything commonly misunderstood about your f/o?

one thing you don’t have in common, and one thing you do

how do you resolve conflicts? how do you both typically react when faced with conflict or whilst dealing with an argument?

have you met their friends/family? how did that go? do they even keep in contact with their friends/family?

tell us as much (or as little) as you'd like about any of your self ship lore/bg! the timeline!

if they have variations (timelines, skills, voiced languages, etc) which one is your favorite?

your favorite outfit/costume of theirs! if they don’t have any official skins or anything, show us something you think they’d look good in!

who confessed first and how did it go?

did anyone know about your f/o’s feelings before they confessed? how did they find out?

if you have multiple f/os, do they fit into any “type?” ( e.g coincidentally they’re all smartasses, blonde, villains, etc. lol )

do you have any favorite scenarios you like to imagine your f/os in? ( domestic fluff, angsty, etc. )

have you ever thought about ( platonic or not ) marriage? would you consider it a good idea? why or why not?

^ if you're planning to get married, then tell us all about your wedding! the honeymoon! the planning!

if you live together, how does your home look like? who decided on the decor?

do you, or plan to, have f/o kids? ( pets and plants count! ) bonus: if you have pets, do they show any favoritism?

what was it like when they first said ‘i love you’? how did you reply? where was it?

if you could make one thing 100% canon about them, what would it be?

how do you kill time with them when bored?

your favorite thing about your f/o, appearance wise

your favorite thing about your f/o, non-appearance wise

what’s your dynamic like? any tropes you fit?

the most iconic/memed on/quoted line or event associated with your f/o

who’s more likely to be the sappy, cheesy romantic in the relationship?

who gets flustered the easiest?

if you were in an emergency or stressful situation, which one of you’s the best at staying level headed keeping the other calm? who is the one absolutely freaking out?

what nicknames do you call each other?

with phones or modern au : what would your contact names be?

with phones or modern au : how do they use their phone? do they have a billion screenshots in their gallery? whats their wallpaper?

favorite memory involving them ( whether in your lore as a scenario, a scene from their media, or another physical experience like when you received merch etc )

are they physically affectionate? if so, how do they express it? vice versa!

any funny or awkward moments you've experienced with them?

who’s more likely to get into, or start fights? whether with each other or with others.

what were your first impressions of each other?

do you have an anniversary date? how was it decided & how do you (plan to) celebrate it?

.... would you still love them if they turned into a worm

how did their personality or lifestyle change after befriending/getting with you?

something you know about them, that many others don’t?

how do they reassure or affirm their love for you?

what’s your funniest or most embarrassing memory together?

what’s their sense of humor like? how easy is it to make them laugh?

what inside jokes do you share?

if necessary, how do you wake them up? how do they wake you up?

any daily routines or habits you two follow?

what do others in source say about your relationship? do you keep it a secret?

if you have more than one f/o from the same media, which one were you drawn to first? any lore connection like did they introduce you to the others? did one make you fall for the other?

dream piece of merchandise or f/o-related experience you’d like to have

how are they like when vulnerable?

describe your f/o in 6 words or less

describe your f/o using only emojis

would you rather go to their world, or have them come to yours?

do you care about ship lore? feel free to tell us about it if you’d like!

if you have a s/i, how’d you go about creating their design? what went into their lore? how do the others in the source feel about your s/i?

does your s/i hold similarities to you, is completely like you or completely different from you? do you even have a s/i?

thoughts on AUs/canon divergent things? do you prefer to stick as closely to canon as possible or no?

quick! your f/o’s just spawned in front of you, now what do you do?!

do they have any superstitions they believe in?

would you or your f/o ever get matching things? ( keychains, tattoos, shirts, etc ) do they find it cringy or cute?

who’s more the scaredy cat out of you two?

what kind of things is your f/o into? games, music, decor, whatever!

the most random thing you associate with your f/o (foods, shapes, even textures! anything that’s not an obvious)

anything your f/o absolutely hates, but you absolutely love?

any aesthetic or -core you associate with your f/o, whether it be due to their design or personality?

who's more likely to die first in a zombie apocalypse lol

do your f/os have any long term wishes or goals? what about your s/i?

your favorite f/o fun fact or bit of lore

which animal represents your f/o the best?

does your f/o run hot or cold?

free space to gush about whatever you want ♡

[emblemxeno]

I remember seeing this theory that Ionius might have been in league w/ Those Who Slither well before Edelgard was experimented on and when he failed at consolidating power the Slithers killed/replaced Arundel to get ahold of Edelgard and experiment on her to create the ultimate emperor to topple the church (and that Ionius was compliant in this and just lied to Edelgard to help form her into someone to topple the church bc if he couldn't have all power over Fodlan then he'd leave an heir who could)--this theory suggested the other noble houses were threatened by the Slithers (which is...somewhat backed by Hubert and Hanneman's supports if you're generous with the interpretation); I'm not doing the theory justice, it was written in much clearer words, but that was the gist and like, it almost explains the uh...utter mess of Edelgard's family and whatever the fuck is going on with her writing, but as you're analysis of her family and the compare/contrast w/ the Nohr siblings shows, 3H's writing is just...a mess. I love deeply analyzing game writing and lore, esp. when there's so much potential for a deeper and interesting thread behind the narrative, but w/ 3H sometimes I have to step back and remember that the writing really is just sloppy and that things were added in last minute or not at all (the translated interview with some of the writers gives me a headache, as a creative, bc why would you be that careless with your own writing). Anyhow, I admire your continued analyses of all things FE, despite the bad writing of some of the games.

That's another theory I can get behind! Because unless Ionius is fucking blind (or some foul play happened along the way) Lysithea says that "pale skinned mages" were sent by the Empire to conduct experiments on the Ordelia household. So he might have been working with them and lied to Edelgard. God, I want the writers to do another interview or release some notes or something to untangle some of this mess. I might look for that theory soon.

And yeah, it's just... 3H is in such a weird position for me. I love the character writing for starters (I think supports are the best written part of the game) but the story writing, logistics of things and basic foundation puts me through a rollercoaster.

I've said enough about the game's Show vs. Tell problems to last a lifetime. I hate that Rhea is put on a bus in 3 of the routes when she's supposed to be an extremely important character. 2 of the routes which explain the true history of Fodlan have the explanations come in the form as lore dumps at the final chapters and lore dumps are just bad, especially since it gives no characters besides Claude the chance to react to the reveals. Characters we're told are important but are never seen, and unlike the writers, I don't think it makes the world feel bigger, I think it's almost comical (and dumb) that the party keeps just missing Count Bergliez and Holst for example, and that gets worse when we do get to see/meet NPCs who are little more than bit players in the grand scheme, like Annette's uncle or Baron Ochs.

Edelgard's Brady Bunch family is just another layer of "What?" on top of it all, and what gets me is just how ludicrous it is. I can suspend my disbelief for a lot (just look at how much I brush aside Valla's magic plot stuff lmao) but the idea of 10 royal children being killed/disease ridden/rendered crazy and no one else seeming to know about it or give a shit with no clear explanation as to why is personally too much for me to let go. Especially coming after Fates and Echoes which both did similar plot points but the former had clear reasons why the concubine feuds were kept out of public eyes and the latter had the general public aware that Lima's heirs died and executed.

3H just has so many details that should be important-and sometimes are treated as such-but are left weirdly ignored, even against all reason. The game needed a few more months in the oven IMO, if only just to sort out things like that. If I remember right, in the interview they said the game became it's own beast of sorts? And I'll never forget them saying something like "there's not even one person among the team that knows everything." Like... that's not impressive to me, that's a sign that the plot seems to be getting out of control.

[madness-in-the-flesh]

bestie help whats a matchup

Okay so starting to pick up MAYBEEE I should have left an example with the post but no matter! >+)

Matchup's are kinda like, You give me some info on yourself and I assign you a character that I think would be the best romantic candidate and in this case, yandere! Although. It's for fun and you can ship w/ whatever character you'd like too! I just do these for fun and I know I enjoy them, So I thought it'd be nice to do! +)

Said info, both from my own and the ones submitter so far:

Appearance

Personality ( whether that be writing out a paragraph or giving me a MTBI type or something )

Likes, Interests, Hobbies

Possible look for in a partner

However you can add anything you feel that would be important or just things you might like me to talk about when writing a bit of what I think your relationship/dynamic would entail. Also if you have a preference on gender ( but the only woman I'm aware of is White hank so </3 but I like to hc Stygian and Deliberator are somewhat female +> then Conductor is enby if that counts.)

Also if that's still a bit confusing, I can also leave an example ( I know those work better for me than actual instructions half the time soo ) so the example is under the cut!! <3

Using myself as the example +)

I'm an introvert at heart, But have been told I'm approachable, laid back and friendly - Albeit accidentally coming off as Aloof. I tend to keep to myself most of the time, But I love making new friends and socializing the few times I do. I'm very dedicated to anyone that is close to me. I'm hellbent on everyone being happy and feeling safe, regardless of them being a compete stranger, friend or even someone I greatly dislike: From personal experience I didn't like it, So I don't want others dealing with it. Also the idea of being close to remotely anyone with my feelings makes me feel insanely awkward so I'll beat around the bush if people want to know about it.

I'm pretty dense thanks to my combined daydreaming and lack of self-awareness in social situations. I don't like talking much and prefer to listen because I love hearing what people are passionate about, although if you get me talking - I most likely won't shut up.

I'm a bit of a nerd: Loving Table top RPGS, Videogames, Movies and Comics. I love writing and drawing ( Shocker 💀 ) - Which I spend most my time doing since I don't go out much. I love brainstorming new ideas for both characters and stories but I'll often get too carried away in my own head. I'm also very into darker horror stuff which reflects into both my clothing style and tone of my interest.

Partner wise - I don't really look for anything outside of someone being generally nice to me but also able to be firm and honest with me. I tend to overthink and miss the point of things sometimes, Which causes me to have super bad anxiety and as a defence mechanism, distance myself. If I know my partner is able to be honest and firm with their feelings then that's all I need.

And then with this information, I'd assign the person who sent it in a character and write some headcannons about it n' stuff!

Of course - That is just my own and I feel I got kinda rambly. But either way hopefully that example is good. If you're still not sure and the stuff closes. Don't worry! I plan on doing it again in future and you can look out for that and use the ones I have answered as examples! You can be as long as you want with them too! Sorry I didn't make this clear earlier dude <3 and do with that info about me what you will lmao.

[athys-obelia]

summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

[caffiend-queen]

Wow! Okay, you made me feel a LOT better 😅 I wasn't sure if I was being weird. Thank you for your kind words and your hug! I will gladly accept it! Thank you for helping me work out my thoughts. It was mainly my dad who would, ah... beat me, so I guess that makes sense that's why the Daddy/sub appeals to me. But... does that make me seem needy? I just... I don't know, I'm a little lost 🙈🙈

OF COURSE it doesn’t make you needy! There’s some key things you lost because of your father, the feeling of safety, of being guided. Those are crucial developmental traits and like others who enjoy Daddy Dom, it’s something (A RESPONSIBLE, SAFE AND SANE) Daddy would offer. I’m cringing because some of my daddy stories don’t introduce the concept of consent immediately, which is crucial to any relationship. I feel like we might be getting into a position where you might want to research and think more about this outside of anything Tumblr can (or should) offer you. There’s a big difference between reading about these experiences and exploring them in real life. I think it would be very important to go through responsible, reputable sites and find the answers you want. This is too important to your safety and your personal growth. 

The New Topping Book by Janet W. Hardy -

The New Bottoming Book - Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy ...

Exhibitionism for the Shy | A Woman's Touch

SM 101: A Realistic Introduction - Jay Wiseman - 

Sunstone (comics) - Wikipedia

If you do want to order any of these, may I suggest going through  The Book Table | Fiercely Independent Since 2003? They’re wonderful.

Or, if these stories are giving you what you need and life is good, then even better. :)

Here’s another hug, just because.

[fanartfunart]

..Ok I wasn't sure whether or not to send this to you buuuut since you're reading it, that means I did it! First of all, I want to say that I *adore* your work, I think half of all AUs I follow might be yours and everything you draw is just sssoooo soft and pretty and aaaaa. Second (and the thing I was anxious about sending)... I have a (vague) idea for a Sanders Sides AU I just came up with and already got attached to. Problem is, I'm.. not all that involved in the fandom nor do I have (1/2)

enough of a plot in mind to write it as a full-blown fanfic. The next thing that came to mind was an askblog, which would probably work best but I’m scared nobody will notice it/send in questions/I won’t be able to maintain it for longer than a week or so/I’ll get too caught up in trying to make art for it I’ll barely post anything. Main point of my question is.. Do you maybe have any advice to spare? Sorry this got so long and rambly ^^“ Thanks for reading this far! (2/2)

First things first, Congrats on being brave enough to send the message! (and glad you enojy my work!)

As for your askblog idea, I’ve certainly got some suggestions to spare! My first being, have fun with it! Explore your idea, know your limits, do your best and you’ll probably be ok!

((rest under the cut))

I’d certainly suggest giving yourself a back-log of little one-shots/doodles/ect if you’re scared of not posting often or regularly. You can make it your safeguard.

Maintenance, is a bit more iffy, and really depends on what’s going on in your life, (I’m terrible at maintaining things) But, I’d say feel free to answer questions via text when you can/appropriate, take advantage of the queue, (I found out that you can press the alt/option key (on mac at least) on an ask and you can save it to the queue/drafts, which has become a lifesaver) and maybe keep to a simpler style for asks, especially if you get a lot.

For getting people to ask questions~

First, make your initial post. This can take a LOT of forms and shapes, but, the key point is that it needs to introduce your main characters, their current relationships, the setting, and your key plot motivator (ie: daydream au, I had Roman (initially just implied) running away, and subsequently meeting, and reacting to meeting, Patton, Logan, and Virgil (and them reacting to him in return)) With that:

A: don’t give them all the answers! (Should be obvious but I can’t believe how often I see people just giving away everything.) You should leave your readership with enough information that they know what’s going on, but just enough left out that they’re like, ‘hey! what about this!!!?’

B: give your askers a place in the story. Either literally or figuratively. You’ve gotta have your characters interact w/ the askers somehow, give them some staying power.

C: Give your askers information about the characters that they don’t know about each other/their situation! it’ll engage your readers and make them go ‘hey hey hey wait, we’ve gotta help them figure this out!!’

D: let your characters lie to the askers! Let them exaggerate! Let them disagree and interact! (just make sure that you portray it as them actually doing so. if a character isn’t prone to lying, make the character nervous about it. If a character IS prone to lying, and is good at it, make sure the reader knows it, and maybe have the characters who know better call them out.)

In the end, you should be guiding your askers to the key plot points, and your askers will guide you in return. And, if you’re stuck or don’t have many asks in the askbox, post a comic or fic or something to get the ball rolling again!

Now, for the whole noticing thing:

A: tagging, use the tags for everything that applies. The key ones for a sanders sides au would be: [au name: ie Daydream AU], Sanders Sides and/or Sanders Sides au, [Character(s) involved in post/ask: ie Patton Sanders], [particular character traits important to au/post/ask: ie Unicorn!Patton, Shapeshifter!Patton, ext (I… don’t think the ‘!’ is super important anymore, but it’s a habit for me)], TS Art and/or Sanders Sides Art, [type of au (if applicable): ie Fantasy AU], [your personal art tag: ie Fanart’s fanart], [trigger/squick warnings if applicable], [other story-specific tags: ie hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, ect.]

put your most important tags in the first 5-ish tags. Do Not tag Every character unless they’re all there. Also, if you’ve got Deceit as a character (even if he’s a minor character), there’s been a Sympathetic Deceit, Villain Deceit, and Manipulative Deceit tag set-up, so I suggest using those as well as applicable (and, tbh, I’d say use the villain/manipulative thing for any of them if you happen to have that)

Then, some people also have tags for the askers, (I personally just have a ‘answered asks’ tag ((that I often forget))

B: if you think you can maintain it, I suggest using a tag-list and/or a master-post ((the master-post got hard for me to maintain personally, but it was helpful in the begining)) The taglist will notify people when you update, and will keep them coming back! the master-post will help people navigate the story, and will introduce newbies pretty nicely. However!! you can also use a chronological link if you’re using a blog purely for the au! this is the set up:

your-blog’s-url-here.tumblr.com/tagged/whatever-your-au’s-main-tag-is/chrono

Linking in bio just type in:Insert Link Here”> insert whatever you want the link to read as here .

into the description. (note, you MUST have the quotes around your link)

(you can’t copy-paste into descriptions (which is plain annoying), and spaces will have “%20″ instead of a space and if you put it as a link in your description it won’t work, which is something I learned the hard way.)

C: self-reblog. Reblog back to your main/most popular blog, do time-zone reblogs, do night/morning reblogs, whatever, just get yourself out there.

…. I also touched on this subject a while ago too (tho less in-depth cause I wasn’t on my computer), and that’d likely be tagged as ‘ask blog’ or ‘advice’ so idk, maybe look at that too, I might’ve missed something here that I touched on there.

Hope this helps, sorry it’s so long!

[wrong--lever]

Your Thoughts for OW’s Lore At Blizzcon

**Edit - would help to tag you hurr durr @freckledmccree

I like how you will indulge in detailed speculation and interpretation of OW lore and don’t center all ideas around one specific (noncanon) idea but will admit occasional personal bias. I also really appreciate that you steer relatively clear from fanon and when people respond to your writings you don’t have an attitude or seemingly disregard them. Sooo, that’s why I wrote this disgustingly long thing even tho I’m paranoid about being annoying.

 (Apology beforehand if you have answered any of these before, I have not properly stalked your blog yet. Also, excuse my rambling I did my best to be coherent. Lastly, I only have one friend who is kinda into OW and I feel bad to bother them 24/7 so I talk a lot in this.)

McCree Speculation

The following assumes that the new cinematic will be McCree’s.

If there is another known character in the short along with McCree, excluding flashbacks, who do you think it would be? 

I have 3-4 ideas even though I would not say they are likely. And with any of these I don't imagine a role any larger than Brig's in Honor and Glory or even Zarya in Infiltration.

A.) Genji. I don't think it's likely but I wouldn't be surprised. It also might be risky on Blizzard's part because many are salty about Genji's abundance of lore compared to others. (Which is dumb and I would gladly rant on it but it's not the point) Reasons:

Notable increase of McCree's interactions w/him.

McCree might've left OW in a less professional fashion than others. Which would mean he may not have anything to be alerted by for the recall. Especially since he went underground for a while.  Winston’s contact info? Long since changed.

From how I interpret “Dragons” it seems that Genji has received the call as well as offered Hanzo a choice to go w/him “The world is changing once again, Hanzo. And it's time to pick a side.” So why not others?

Genji has also been canonically in touch w/at least one other ex OW member. So why not try to get in touch with another member that we know he directly worked with?

My logic - Why would their interactions matter?

McCree's asking about how Genji dealt with the loss of his body emotionally/physically as well as Genji's response leaves room for the implication that Genji knows how he lost his arm.

Why would Genji go in person?

Well, I mean you probably don't wanna broadcast that your getting the highly illegal band back together. In which said band also is also hated by the UN and every other terrorist organization on the planet.

How will Genji know how to find him?

Cause he's a ninja, duh. But seriously McCree most likely said something before he quit OW and if not Genji would just have to look at the news and he'd be there.

B.) Sombra. If anything I wouldn't be surprised by a small reference to her rather than actually seeing her.

Reflections comic (duh)

My logic - I expect Sombra to get involved with a little bit of everything. She likes making people question their beliefs on who is “right” or “wrong”. 

She would most likely know about the recall so if she wants to manipulate that at all she could be the one to tell McCree about it. Idk, she’s a wildcard with anything.

C.) Fio. The Blackwatch Pilot in Retribution. (I used “known” characters loosely) I'm not sure on my certainty with her, tbh. But I do find it rather intriguing. (I said no flashbacks but maybe with this one)

Fio's only lines that are not directly related towards the mission are all directed towards McCree.

The tone of them is clearly on the teasing/banter side of things.

My logic - Why have this side character show any interest in conversation outside of the task at hand? 

If she was just being used for the game mode and as lore filler it would make more sense to have only lines relating to the mission. Or have generalized ones for the team. But she has multiple focusing on the one and only Jesse McCree.

Reasons for that could be that they ran out of time to add other interactions. Which would explain why McCree does not acknowledge her comments. (The only time he was quiet during the mission is when she talked to him, rip you got denied girl) Or it could be that they knew each other previously or trained together in some of the early days of Blackwatch.

D.) Mercy. This one I would be surprised to see but it would have some logic to it.

Losing his arm, depending on the how/when/where.

She is not one of the characters who speak to him about his arm.

My logic - Who fixed his arm up for him?

Depending on how/when/where he lost his arm he may have shyed away from public hospitals. Especially with Talon  seemingly controlling so much of the press. So he may of wanted someone he personally trusted as well as doctor patient confidentiality.

Why does Mercy of all people not ask about the prosthetic? 

Out of the people who question McCree Mercy isn't one of them. Which may seem odd since she has known him for so long and her being a doctor. However, she does call out his smoking. So this proves she does pay attention to his over all health. (Which I am aware is a much older interaction) But it would have been a good opportunity to have her inquire about the arm there if she doesn't already know.

 Do you think McCree will directly receive the recall or from some other source?

What do you think of the fact that McCree lost his left arm specifically?

If the loss of McCree's arm is related to the Deadlock Gang do you speculate that it was intentionally the arm that had his tattoo on it? With how far McCree got in his career/life with OW and potentially spilling info on the gang when caught some people might want him to hurt. Not just die. To me forcefully sawing off the branding of the gang he betrayed would fit the bill. As well as be a good warning for others. (Not that blizzard would show that)

How do you imagine the camaraderie within Deadlock to be?

I ask this since in “Hero” right before the Los Muertos member throws the grenade it shows him actively choosing to help the other gang members (very broken gang members thanks to Soldier 76)onto the back of the truck instead of getting out ASAP. 

I just found that to be notable in how their social structure works. It makes more sense for Los Muertos specifically since they originally wanted to stand up against the politics and speak out for the people still suffering from the Omnic Crisis. They are not formed from the shady work they do.

Deadlock, however, doesn't seem to represent a core ideology. So I wouldn't be surprised if when OW caught some of them the others ran. Especially since McCree would probably still be pretty low in the pecking order at the time.

Can you imagine a shoot out in the warehouse tho, that'd be so risky people could be anywhere and there's no good line of sight except for where the truck drives through. Sneaky teen McCree climbing around and ish

Do you expect/hope for the origin on any mementos to be revealed?

My only idea is his iconic BAMF belt buckle. We know he's had it for quite a while since he wears it here: 

Just  thought Blizzard could do something cute with it if they wanted.

Do you have any thoughts on the Deadlock Torb skin?

Idk, this is kinda silly but people have talked about it. People do have a good point that it’s odd for him to have that skin.

Lastly, do you have any little head canons that you hope to see confirmed? 

Nothing serious just simple personal hopes from the cinematic which may or may not set you up for disappointment cause fun

(When I first started writing this I had two questions, rip. I'm pretty sure I forgot one of the original questions too)

Other Blizzcon Lore Speculation

Do you have any ideas for the new hero?

Personally, I do not have any super strong theories but I do have a few loose ideas. Tbh, I can’t especially convince myself of any these besides the likelihood of said character being a tank.

A.) Talon Tank

Reasons:

Moira’s origin story contains two possible indicators towards this, or another Talon member in general.

We need another main tank added to the roster (opinion)

Talon has a character for every role except tanking (weak)

Popular request (weak)

My Logic lacking- Majority of this idea comes from Moira’s origin story which shows this relatively well known photo with a person or armored suit of some kind on the back panel here: 

I used to think of this to be much harder evidence than I do now since it looks like it could be a uncolored design used for the Talon members in Retribution. However, there’s another detail in the photo (including the version with the different back panel that I believe could point to another member. Each character, excluding Moira, has their line of sight going to the same spot. My doodles for emphasis:

(Reaper is kind of hard to tell but that’s basically his entire role in Talon at this point, lol) Who are they all looking at? This could just be an artistic choice for viewer immersion but it also could be rather purposeful. To me, it looks like a proposition to someone, with the panel in the back for emphasis. If not a proposition, perhaps the workings of a plan or setting clear expectations for said person. (either version works for this context) This someone must be rather important to have them all there. Moira is looking back at the rest of them, seemingly reading their expressions/body language. She seems pleased but then again she’s a tad bit odd.

B.) Mystery Characters

Idek, I added this cause I could. This is not likely at all but will remain on the list of possibilities as long as Overwatch shall live.

Have been shown or spoken of very early on but nothing since

Recently mentioned names but no physical hints of who/what they are

Tying up some long held questions (weak)

Popular demand (weak)

My logic (or lack there of) - I have exactly one tiny speck of logic for this. Mystery characters shown and/or spoken of before the cancellation of the First Strike comic are still occasionally brought up to the OW team. Yet they have conveniently  not retconned them.  Why not say they are no longer a significant part of the story when there has been no updates on them for 2ish years? Maybe they are just keeping the possibility open. Liao and the two from Ana’s origin story are the best (only?) examples:

There is also more recently mentioned characters such as Ray and Fio. Ray was discussed mostly early this year and all we know about them is the following:

We do not know anything else about who or what Ray is. I do not 100% believe Ray is an actual person but you never know. The comment on the beard and his response to has Ray’s combat experience could be some teasing on Michael Chu’s part. To me, Ray is either a person, an omnic, or some sort of computer system used in the Orca.  I should note that another AI other than Athena would seem odd especially with the whole reason OW formed and all.

(Fio I have already discussed but at least we know she’s an actual person, hopefully...OW is weird man)

What do you think of the common theory of Sanjay Korpal being the next hero?

Personally, I think he lacks the look of an OW character. He looks rather plain to me, almost like a background character used to fill up comic space. I do believe his role is going to grow substantially in the lore but as an in game hero? Eh, I don’t know. Another thing I struggle with imagining is him being a tank like a lot of people presume. It would be interesting with what Vishkar can do with hard light technology to have a tank based on that, I will admit. Just don’t see him filling the role of that, he doesn’t strike me as someone who wants to get his hands dirty. I will admit, that this is very strictly my opinion and read of his character and by no means is anything to go off of speculation wise.

 But, if I’m wrong, then next years first cinematic should definitely be a Symmetra/Lucio one and it should definitely have Symmetra kiCKING HIS ASS FOR MANIPUlATING HER foR GOD KNOWs hOW LONG..ahem.

Do you think a comic will be released soon?

They usually put out comics on Wednesdays but they have been odd this year when it comes to them. Idk, if they’ll announce one at Blizzcon. I kinda doubt it. Personally, I’m hoping for a really kick ass Christmas comic since in Reflections it ended with Winston saying he has a good feeling for “next year” (OW’s next year cause timeline) plus last year’s was cute but underwhelming.

I think that’s all I have to ask/discuss for now? I had ideas keep popping up but I kept going back over what I already wrote and my attention span is all or nothing soooo there goes my ideas into the void.

***Random ass question cause you like RDR2. I keep getting a gamestop ad for it and it’s bugging me cause I can’t make out what this guy is saying. It sounds like “I don’t want to kill all you smooth dutch. Just you.” Idk where the exact video is rip, but I feel like I’m really mishearing the guy, lmao.

Non Sequiturs and Stupid Fangirl Squealing

(possibly completely incoherent warning idk how to wenglish when im excited pls ignore mw)

I saw a comic aart thing once and it had young jesse punch Jack in the face and Reyes thought it was the funniest thing and I feel like that’s in character

What if Reyes had a few choices on who to recruit and he was like I want the cowboy chose the instead of the trained older guys. Ana would be like Reyes no and Reyes would be like I want the damn cowboy

I never realised how much I appreciate McCree’s character until the hints of him having a short started popping up. Before I liked him sure, I just never thought too deep into how they could expand on his character. Originally I was just like, “so Reyes picked this kid out of a big ass gang and had him trained among the world’s most renowned soldiers and he still is perfectly content being a cowboy?” Good for you my dudely man, good for you,

wanna see skinny (lean)  young McCree but everyone will want the skin but it wont look the same with his in game model so blegh

I agree with you on how you think reyes recruited him, so many people think he just yeeted jesse at a bunch of angry omnics and was like lol have a cowboy

Imagine McCree being so confused by the weird ass original OW team like y there captain america, my new found father, a dwarf (swede) and an 8 ft german happy meal

He’d be so intimidated by Ana I bench lift Reinhardt for fun Amari being his coach like asdfsdf

But I think with her training it’d be the first real time he let his guard down without him realizing it because he was so in awe of her sniping skills and being able to get taught by her, bonding over shooting people half a continent away yAY

What if we see lil pharah??? I’ll die???

Okay I’ve said this to another  blog but even tho McCree is not my “type” I’m still gonna need to strap my ovaries in place for this short, cause booooooooyyyyyyyyy (I dont even have a type but I guess I mean a lil scruffy?)

[texasthegreatdestroyer]

So, I don't usually do these, because I always felt that shipping oc's with characters from other fan works was socially frowned upon, but since I've been seeing a few of these around, I'll give it a shot. My OC shipped with Auron.

Auron x Texas.

Yes, Auron's current partner in crime, rather he'd liked to admit it or not. Their meeting was rather... comedic. Auron didn't really notice his co worker until he accidentally rested the elbow of his sheifed arm on her head. She was very short, Her height being 4'8. He looked down to find a short, albino girl with wolf ears, and a tail. The whole package. Everything else looked human, she just had a few furry parts to her. Another key thing about her is that she always came off as the, "edgy" type, for her preference in black lipstick, and eyeliner. When he did get to know her, Auron has always found her annoyingly chipper, and overly friendly. The two attended a funeral together once, and she wouldn't stop smiling. Seriously. How does someone smile that much at a funeral??? Auron asked her about it.

Her response: Usually when people die, they don't want people to mourn over them, there for I choose not to mourn.

She wasn't entirely wrong, speaking from his own experiences, however it wasn't exactly the majority opinion, as Auron had to keep the wife of the dead man from trying to punch Tex in the face. Tex was almost always very clingy in the irritating and physical sense. She liked hugging a lot. She would hug Auron everytime she'd see him, and it usually would last 5 minutes before he would have to eventually pull her off. As time went on, and they grew closer, Auron started to notice that something was very wrong with Texas. Her extremely chipper personality was used to hide some dark, twisted thoughts, feelings, and even experiences. He came to this realization when he went to visit her one night, and she didn't answer her door. She lived in a dormitory like area, where there was the bedroom, and then a small room next to it that was a kitchen, and the bathroom being against the the smaller side of the rectangular kitchen. It was a nice little place for someone who likes living alone, but it had its downsides, like paper thin walls. You could hear the inhabitants, and they most likely can hear you as well. After a minute or two of waiting, just as he turned to leave, Auron was startled by the sound of soft, female sobbing, coming from Tex's dorm. He knew for a fact that if Tex was crying, which he had never actually seen her do, something was horribly wrong. He immediately opened the door to find a mess waiting for him. Texas sat their curled up in a ball, hands grabbing at her hair and pulling, make up smeared, wrists bleeding from self inflicted bites. Scattered around her were drawings of morbid, violent, and just horrid depictions, along with words scribbled over them along the lines of, "Worthless", "Dead", "No Future", "I'm nothing." A common sign of depression. If there was one thing Auron always knew about Tex is that she had a talent for art. She did this thing that she called a web comic. Auron, not really being kept up in technology, never really knowing what it was, let alone reading it, thought nothing of it, but he had seen her art, and it was phenomenal. It really opened his eyes to what she truly was when he saw that beauty and talent turned into something so ugly and self degrading. When Tex finally noticed him, her reaction was just to try to hide herself in the comfort of her knees. Auron began snooping around, and grabbing rags, then pried Tex's hands from her head, and wrapped her wrist.

Auron: Moron. What were you thinking???

Texas: ...

Auron pulled her into an embrace, still holding the rags to her wrist.

Auron: Would you like to talk about why you bit yourself up like this? Or the sketches for that matter?

Texas: I-I don't know what to do! My art! My comic! I- the deadline to get chapter 9 out is tomorrow, and I thought I could just push through it in a day with enough effort, but I don't even have content! I don't have a script! I have no story, no art for chapter 9! I'm a fuck up! I'm stupid! I'm nothing! I-... I'm so sorry... you shouldn't have had to see me like this...

Auron: It's fine. You're human after all. I expect you to have emotions, breaking points. As for your problems. Tex, the comic is just a for fun thing, right?

Texas: Yeah...

Auron: Great. Take some time off until you get over your writer's block. The timely fashion of updates doesn't matter, the quality does. If you can't produce anything good, then step back and take a break. It's obvious that it's affecting your mental health. This will make you hate what you do, so step back from it. Take a break.

Texas: You're right, I've just... meh.

Auron: Don't be afraid to show your emotions around me. It shows me that you are human.

That night, Auron didn't leave Tex's side, mainly out of fear for what she might do when she's alone. This opened a pathway for future sleep overs. Auron didn't share his bed with many, but with Tex, it had become routine, and he didn't mind. He actually liked the cuddles. A few months later, he receives a message from Tex. That night, she wasn't with him, she decided to stay at her place to do some cleaning.

Message received at 1:23 am:

Texas: Hey. Are you awake?

Auron: I wasn't until you woke me. -_-

Texas: Oh sorry. I forgot that your ringtone is up all the way usually... I'm sorry. XD

Auron: This better be important if it warrants you texting me at one in the morning...

Texas:...

Auron: It's not that important, is it?

Texas: ... No comment...

Auron: Tex...

Texas: I'll leave you alone then.

Auron: Why do you do this!? Spit it out! I'm already awake!

Texas: Are you sure? It can wait until tomorrow.

Auron: Tex. Spit. It. Out...

Texas: I can't! You're making me nervous!XI

Auron: Why would you be nervous?

Texas: Because it's kinda personal...

Auron: Okay. Pretend I'm not here. Say what you have to say.

Texas: ... that is so unaffective when I'm staring directly at that message...

Auron: Point taken. Just tell me.

Texas: Okaaaaay! ...

The icon at the bottom that says that Tex is typing stays that way for 5 minutes.

Auron: So?

Texas: Okay. Here goes nothing. And when I say that, I mean here goes everything I could possibly hold dear in my life. XD

Auron: Are you going to say what I think you're going to say?

Texas: I would really really really REALLY like to punch you in the face!

Auron: Okay, that's not where I thought you were going with this.

Texas: With my face, gently... I Love you! You are amazing, and wise, and sweet, even when you hide it under your protective layers! I simply love you. End of story. And I was wondering if you would allow me to take you out to dinner! I'm going to go cry now, because I feel like I'm dying XD

Auron: I stand corrected...

Auron: O//_//O...

Auron: No.

Texas: No?

Auron: No.

Texas: Okay then... What? No reason why? Like I'm cool with it, if you don't like me like that, but still. At least give me a reason...

Auron: Okay. I'll tell you exactly why. Yeah. I like you. I think you're cute. However, I don't appreciate you waking me up at 1 in the morning to text me with a confession. You want a relationship? Fine, but take initiative and tell me to my face. Quit being a coward. -_-

Texas: Ouch. My feel goods. Anyways, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow man. Sorry about this...

Auron: It's fine :) Sleep well, Tex.

Texas: You too bro <3

After Auron and Tex finish messaging each other, Auron goes back to sleep. The next day is pretty amusing. Auron waits for his partner. Half expecting she hopes to forget about the previous night. Auron hears running behind him, and turns to find Tex in a suit and tie running up to hi., screaming, "I love you, you sexy, sexy son of a gun!" She knocks his feet out from under him, and steals a very, very passionate kiss, but soon afterwards, causing Auron and Tex both to fall over to the ground. Because her tiny frame is too much for his bigger, heavier frame. Luckily Texas's arm was under Auron's head when they fell, so no brain damage was caused to the older male. Texas turns to Auron, half expected to be heated, and she wasn't wrong, just heated in a different sense. Auron's face was bright red, slight tears to his eyes, he bursts out laughing, black lipstick smeared on his lips.

Texas: What? You told me to take initiative!

His laughter fades to a light chuckle, and then he stops.

Auron: Wow. That was... cheesy.

Texas: Also clearly failed...

Auron: (Still catching his breath.) No it didn't.

Texas: So it actually worked!?!? YAY!

Auron: Just don't do that again. You took us both out in the process.

Auron pulls Tex into his lap, and the two share a proper kiss.

Auron: See. That in of it's self is enough for me.

Texas: Yeah, but it wouldn't be a confession from me if it wasn't stupidly cheesy and didn't make you smile.

Auron: It's missing something though.

Texas: And that is?

Auron: The amazing pick up line from last night.

Texas: Ah yes, you have good taste, my kind, gentle sir. I would really.

Auron: Yes?

Texas: Really.

Auron: Go on.

Texas: Really.

Auron:...

Texas: Really!

Auron: Hopefully this is the last, "Really."

Texas: Like to punch you in the face. With my face gently, romantically, and in other places besides your face.

Auron: Okay. Okay. Calm down. We haven't even had dinner yet...

Texas: Exactly. Dinner.

Auron is very flustered at his now girlfriend's sense of humor. Safe to say, they had a very romantic evening together. ;3

This is my contribution to OC x Fan work Characters. Hope you enjoyed!

[mattelektras]

Can I take advantage of today's 'ask Jessie' Sunday and ask for help to understand something about Elektra? More specifically, about her deaths? Because I understand that she died twice and I know that the first time she was killed by bullseye and revived by Matt, but the second time? And I also read Dark Reign and it turns out that she did things being a 'skrull' but I'm not sure if it was during the DD vol2? In her own comics she was also a skrull? Oh, I have so many questions Jess, help me!

both the skrulls and death are a complicated subject w her lmao so i dont blame you. this is a long ass explanation of how i see it and honestly might not make any more sense 

she first died in dd vol 1 with bullseye. like thats the Big Death. the iconic one that everyone remembers her for 

there was foreshadowing but she was officially back in fall from grace 

she was alive for ages after that throughout her second solo and her first appearance in dd vol 2

THEN enemy of the state happened and she was killed again by the gorgon. not the inhuman one (dont think about her dying AGAIN literally a rooftop away from matt’s apartment whilst she was trying to protect him and he didnt even know!!!)

then she was immediately resurrected by the hand because on anyone else, resurrection by the hand makes you entirely loyal to and controlled by them

imo, her being killed and resurrected by them was deliberate. because a) she knew it wouldnt work on her like it would on others, b) she was trying to take down the hand, c) she knows they wouldnt leave her dead. she’s too important to them and theyve wanted her to lead for ages. d)she was working for fury, who told her to do whatever she had to do, including attack the blackhawk helicarrier whilst pretending to be under their control. but like thats just my take on it idk maybe im biased. but ANYWAY. she was dead again and then she wasnt 

thats where dark reign/secret invasion ties in. in eots/agent of shield, like i said, she was pretending to be under the hand’s control so she could wait for wolverine to come along and kill them all in their own house, but in the meantime, she was leading the hand. just like how she was in the murdock papers issues of dd vol 2 

then she was abducted by skrulls. and in mighty avengers, they fought and killed her skrull imposter who was leading the hand

in her dark reign mini, she was back from the skrull ship but her memories had been tampered with and she didnt remember the events of enemy of the state, eg bringing down the blackhawk, and she believed it had been her skrull self. turns out it wasnt and she was in complete control at the time. which raised the question of where the switch had been between eots/secret invasion

my logic is that... she HATES the hand. she’s said before that she wouldnt even need to be paid to take them down so i dont see her staying as their leader longer than she had to. she’s also not a leader and her behavior in dd vol 2 of ordering her little ninjas around and having them there to back her up.... isnt very her. especially when it comes to matt. there is no way she’d have hand ninjas around to parade her weakness in front of

BUT on the other hand. her obvious emotion toward matt was so in character that no skrull would have been able to fake it imo??? where would they have got that information from??? no one knows how she is with matt other than matt and even that changes regularly?? so some things that make me believe she was herself

(there was no one around like a skrull wouldnt have to fake an emotion when no one’s around. she doesnt do outward emotion unless its something like this n no one knows her well enough to know that)

(he says he doesnt want the fight and she doesnt fight??? why would someone known as an assassin and a murderer not fight when it was the easiest thing to do, just because she was told not to??? because it was matt. it was just TOO in character for a skrull. they learn enough about a person to BECOME that person, but they have to have a source of that knowledge and there just isnt one for elektra. no one knows the specifics and a vague understanding of her wouldnt be enough to fool matt)

but for like. literal chronology terms. she was leading the hand as herself in 2005. and she outed herself as Not Really Under Their Control in 2005. the murdock papers with all of this happened in 2006. which would suggest she was a skrull

BUT her switch with the skrull was shown in a flashback in mighty avengers #16 so there isnt even an irl year for when that happened. and she had no solo ongoing at the time to clarify what was going on. there was a slight crossover with vol 2/eots in terms of years but there was no reference 

basically what’s known, is that she was herself up until the blackhawk incident and revealing herself as not under their control (bc theoretically, a hand resurrection would have worked like it was supposed to on anyone but her, so it had to be the real her since she was immune to it)

what im really saying here is who fucking knows because no one at marvel reads comics that arent their own for the sake of making sense like there’s no concrete answer, but in my head; after she and logan killed all the people that saw her big reveal, no one was left alive to tell other hand members that she wasnt on their side, so she could have carried on leading them to their downfall. when she was switched, she was in japan aka hand town and thats when she was last herself, so again, leading of her own volition with her own agenda. and THAT’s when i hc dd vol 2 to have happened??? she had to keep up appearances to members of the hand so she took some ninjas and acted like a leader, but as soon as they were out of the way, she starts acting like herself. after that she goes back to japan and gets switched to a skrull and then everything else happens, then she comes back in dark reign. TLDR

[bthump]

Unpopular opinion i guess but i really miss the grimdark tone of the early berserk volumes (well except the gross rape stuff). I'm not a big fantasy fan and i started reading the manga bc of the horror-ish/realistic elements in it but since guts new party came into the picture it has gone through a dizzying tonal shift lol. Also griffith/guts is my main emotional investement here and ngl i have a hard time caring about guts new party,griffiths companions and all the other secondary (contd)

(cont’d) characters that have seem to multiplied since the aftermath of the eclipse. the comic bits with isidro and puck are especially tiring. idk i just miss griffith/guts interactions and the golden age/black swordsman arc.

Yk I mostly agree. I love Farnese and Serpico, and I find NeoGriff’s side of the story rly engaging, but overall I’m also not super invested in most of Guts’ posse and I feel like I’m kind of just waiting for half of them to die lol. Like Magnifico, you’re just not necessary man, your cute subplot with Puck adds nothing.

When it comes to tone I also mostly agree? Like I recognize that this is personal opinion and I totally get why people would enjoy lighter, less angsty Berserk just as much if not more, but I’m a big fan of dark stuff, I got into Berserk in part bc it was dark and tragic, and my favourite kind of light fluffy stuff is when it’s bittersweet because of what’s to come (eg the whole golden age), or when it’s a stark contrast to the darkness surrounding (eg when Jill falls asleep on Guts’ lap - great sweet moment, all the sweeter because it’s surrounded by darkness in and around Guts).

So yeah, it’s subjective, but also… tbh I think the way the change of tone has been executed is lacking. Liiike, idk eg the Golden Age had a lot of light, good, funny moments, and the tone of it definitely wasn’t grimdark until everything went to pieces. But the humour was more balanced and natural and plot-based, I felt, rather than the current digressions for Puck to be cutesy and Isidro to be a little brat. Like, Puck also had gr8 funny moments during the Black Swordsman and Lost Children arcs, to balance out the rly dark tone, but they felt better integrated to me then in general, character-revealing and part of the plot, rather than asides that distract from the focus of the moment.

Maybe it’s part of the difficulty of making your core cast larger - like there are a lot of panels now that are just a series of reactions from the side characters to the main action, and it interrupts the flow imo. The secondary Hawks in the Golden Age didn’t get that amount of time dedicated to their reactions to stuff bc they weren’t important except insofar as their reactions added to the tone or to our understanding of the main characters (eg the abject horror when they run into the eclipse, the raiders crying when Guts returns, etc). Now it feels like an obligation to include 8 characters in everything even when they’re not particularly important to the scene.

Also there’s a bit of tonal whiplash with that bc it’s still just as gorey and violent, and there’s still gratuitous rape w/ trolls and ganeshka eg (though way fewer rape threats and attempts at least, which is one blessing for sure). It’s just that there’s more children and elves and their wacky antics too, which makes it a little whiplashy at times.

And this isn’t really related to anything you said but for my part there’s also the way that the first two arcs feel like a self contained story. The Black Swordsman arc shows Guts being a depressed anti-hero, the Golden Age arc shows how that came to be. The rest of it is very open-ended, which isn’t a bad thing obviously because we’re all excited to see where it’s going and that’s the nature of an ongoing series, but it does make it harder for me personally to enjoy some of it because I don’t know what the payoff is yet. A lot of the post-eclipse stuff feels like seed-sowing for later drama to me, and until we get to that drama I’m unable to react to the seeds with anything more concrete than anticipation.

TBH tho that’s just my personal thing. I almost never get into ongoing stuff lol, most of the shows I watch I wait until they’re over because this is how I feel about ongoing works. For lots of other people I’m sure the sense of anticipation and not knowing what’s to come adds to their enjoyment, rather than diminishing it, but for me I feel like I can never truly appreciate something until it’s over. So looking back I might find all this a nice change of pace between dark angsty and emotional arcs, but at the moment I do miss the angst lol.

lol sorry I kind of took this as an opportunity to share my own less positive thoughts on current Berserk. Don’t get me wrong though everyone reading this, I still love it, and it still has a lot of breathtaking sequences and moments, and a lot of great characters. And earlier Berserk wasn’t perfect either by a longshot. But yk, just when it comes to tone and style of comedy and cast of characters I get why people would have a preference.