#**PLOT SUBJECT TO CHANGE OVER TIME BTW**

[nobodieshero-main]

i brought up the concept for to feed an ocean to some friends but the conversation turned kind of. intense. in a stressful way so it's just been stewing in my head since then, and this is pretty much how it's taken shape:

you are a child born into godhood, and you are not allowed to feel because your emotions bleed out of you in lightning storms and earthquakes, they are ugly and loud and too much and so you are taught to feel quietly. to not actually feel at all. 

you’re a kid with a best friend who lets you feel Everything and you love them so you learn to love them with everything in you. because nobody else wants it but he craves it. craves your sadness and joy and anger, the way it crackles through the air and over his skin. you’re taught to feel quietly so you channel all of your feelings into one thing, one person.

and then that person dies. for you. a sacrifice for a sacrifice. a goat to save the lamb. and you believe that you have doomed him, tainted him with your everything.

you always talked about crawling inside each other's skin, making a home in the cage of your ribs, falling asleep to the beating of his heart. 

you were a child born into godhood and your feelings bleed out of you like tears, like pouring rain and the relentless ocean tide. and your feelings drive your hands and your mouth and there is flesh in your teeth because you will keep him. you will keep him with you, always, under your nails and in your veins and in the lining of your stomach. 

you kneel in the sand, stained red red red, and the sky is crying with you and you hope he will find peace in the lullaby of your heartbeat. you do not want to be alone. you do not want him to be lonely.

the main characters are two boys from The Burrows

Slova is one of the first casters to manifest outside of the royal family, because of this is village consider him blessed and he becomes a sort of religious figure to them

he's taught not to feel, because back then casting was a lot harder to control so it would react to his emotions and things could get messy

R is from a Makai bloodline which gives him the gift of foresight but he doesn't actually know that at first, he just has odd dreams and weirdly accurate predictions

Slova is almost sacrificed, the village believing that spilling the blood of the blessed will bring them rain, but R saves him

they run away from The Burrows to the ocean because R's always had these dreams about it and he feels like the answers lie there

R's gift grows stronger and starts like. fucking with his head. because, similarly to Slova, he's never learned how to control it - touching or even looking at someone too long fills his head with visions

they're obsessed with each other in really gross, intense ways

[obsidianpen]

These questions about Lightning make me wonder what direction you plan to take it. I know you don't use the same things in every story, which makes them so delightfully unique. This is just my wishful thinking for you to explore the prophecy more. I know that in the books the power that defeats V is love, but for some reason I feel like there's something more to it than that. Harry is the chosen one, and that could mean so many things. Jamie, have mercy on me and please tell me something about this new story of ours 🥺🥺

omggg what me ramble about my the plot of a fic im not writing? Please

okay so

SPOILERS in case I ever do get around to writing Lightning

Here’s what I know so far about how the beginning of the fic is going to go (and I may, ofc, change my min entirely):

Harry, a young auror in training, goes back by accident, due to a dark ritual involving the ring, an illegal time turner and human sacrifice that he Ron and Hermione attempt to bust on their own, ignoring ministry protocol. Things go very awry, Harry ends up in 1950 ish, alone. Oh and he has a ton of gold, thanks to an interaction Draco that happens earlier that day - how lucky

Harry carries a terrible blood curse with him, and knows immediately that this shit is going to kill him and soon if he doesn’t seek medical help. But he also knows that time traveling like he did, no matter the circumstances, will send probably him to Azkaban, if not off as a test subject to the DoM. He knows they’ll look into his memories if he comes off as suspicious at st mungos, because it’s a real dark curse, and he’s a horrible actor and he’s awful at Occlumency and he knows it, so

harry concocts a ridiculous plot that allows him to pull out alllllll of his memories but with a plan in place to get them back after his curse is lifted, and sets things up so he wakes up right outside st mungos, where he knows they’ll take care of him

he is well taken care of, the poor lamb, to be attacked on Christmas Eve!!! and spends a few days there, maybe makes some hospital friends who have also had their memories fucked with

they assume he was the victim of some awful mugging, and that the perpetrator wiped his memories after and did such a terrible job and that’s why Harry can’t even remember his own name (they deduce his first name is ‘Harry’ only because he wrote it on the inner tag on his robe beforehand; a healer tells him that next time he writes his names on his personal belongings, he ought to put his last name, too)

but he still has his wand - how lucky! So they tell him he should go to ollivanders, as it looks like one of his (man remembers every wand he ever sold, ten galleons says he’ll remember you)

so Harry does, and the moment he asks, ollivander’s face goes slack - he’s clearly been confounded. He goes into a back room, hands Harry a moleskin bag, and bows him out of his shop without another word.

Harry goes back to the room he’s renting, and it’s NYE btw, and he opens the bag to find a shit ton of galleons and two vials, both glowing silver, one so bright it’s almost blinding. There is a handwritten note on each one. ‘Before you died’ and ‘after you died’

another note reads something along the lines of, ‘hi Harry, these are all your memories. I’m not even sure if you should take them all back or not; it might be better if you didn’t. It’s not often you get a chance to start over. But I know you - ha - so you’ll definitely end up taking them back. Maybe think about it first. It’s not great. I think I’d take the do over. really, think about it. Oh, and while you’re considering it - avoid Knockturn alley.’

harry does indeed find this all ominous, and assumes he must have been a horrible horrible person. He probably stole all this gold! What if he killed people for it! So he takes his sad amnesiac self down to the Leaky and starts to day drink heavily as the new year approaches

he is friendly with the young bus boy named Tom, who swears he’ll be running that pub someday.

as if gets busier later in the day, quite crowded, Harry gets more depressed. At one point, half the bar seems to cheer when a new person arrives. harry looks. He’s tall. He’s very handsome. He immediately makes Harry’s mind go on high alert and he’s instantly anxious and doesn’t know why.

tom the busboy tells him that if he keeps staring like that, the bloke is going to notice. Sure enough, he does. Harry looks away and is having a crisis (why am I staring at that handsome man? Why do I keep calling him handsome? Am I gay, and I forgot? Wtf is wrong with me)

so he goes to leave, but Tom the bus boy got busy, so he shouts to get his attention so he can say goodbye to his bestie. “Tom!”

”…Yes?”

wrong Tom. Harry is suddenly eye to eye with the very tall very handsome very scary man. He’s staring down at him, looking confused. “Have we met…?”

harrys body acts without his consent. He moves in ways he did not know he could move - in a flash he has his wand out, pointed at this man’s temple, has him backed up against a wall, his elbow across his throat, pressing on his windpipe.

about a dozen people around them are ready to kill Harry at once, but mystery tall man calls them off with the barest gesture. Harrys heart is pounding and he is having all these horrible confusing thoughts, like ‘should tear his head off, lock him up, stop him now, ruin him’

And he’s looking right into his eyes while thinking all these things, so TR is just drinking it all in, unbeknownst to him

Owner of the bar yells at harry. Harry, so very confused and too guilty and panicked to even apologize, just leaves. he goes somewhere far away for a bit… and decided to take the first vial of his memories then

mental crisis ensues

aaaaaaand I actually have a lot more than that semi planned but that’s the exposition 🥲

[vasito-de-leche]

I have some thoughts in my mind lately in the Self aware au R1999 (I'm invested so badly), I was wondering are there any arcanist that resented the player maybe at first or still having resentment on them? Because if the player wasn't there they would be " free " (which I would doubt since there are many players and it would still happen nonetheless but just speaking from there perspective) did they just helplessly or casually got over it after some time and accepted the fact it was a game I mean they were levelled up by the player,the player was the reason why they were getting stronger and winning every battle but I have a feeling some arcanist would have some doubt in them since everything was just a script in the first place all the things that happened to them were meant to happen for the plot, I don't about how to reach when they find out that the player was a human though.. But just like earlier if the player never was here then they would be " free ",they wouldn't know it was just some game (they gonna go bree since they wouldn't exist)(RAHHH I might have wronged what I said in this😭 I just have a thought in my mind about them doubting, feeling frustrated and all...Btw I am badly down bad for your writing 💜💜💜 I admire it so well.. 🥹🫶🫶 can I get a hello Please.. ?💜🥹💜 I'd go crazy being noticed on a writer I admire)

hiiii helloooo hola bonjour and many other greetings o7 really glad you like my writing!

your question is very broad, so I can only make a quick list to categorize all the characters and how I think they'd feel overall towards the Player within this AU! since you only mentioned arcanist, I assume you mean the playable characters only, so that's also the group I'll be tackling

I don't have a good grasp on every single character, so some of these are subject to change as I learn more about them too o7

It's very, very complicated.

Vertin. Door. Mesmer Jr. Bkornblume. I consider these characters to be "outliers" in terms of how they perceive the Player--in the sense that their opinion fluctuates and varies a lot, so they cannot be easily labeled in any of the other categories. They're contradicting or find themselves at odds with themselves, seeing the figure of the Player and everything the Player represents as positive and negative influences simultaneously. To them, you're a close friend and a distant stranger, a saviour and a harbinger of ruin, a source of knowledge and the end of everything--you're all of these, all at once.

as for the rest, I only described the opposite ends of the spectrum and the neutral category!

Extremely resentful and hateful

Desert Flannel. Erick. Mondlicht. Oliver Fog. Pavia. Sonetto. Sweetheart. This one is pretty straightforward--these are the characters who are defensive, who feel like your mere existence is mocking them, who have gone through so much and feel humiliated to know you're casually looking at them from above, so out of reach and superior and unbothered by their pain. But also characters who are combative or quick to identify you as a threat, such as Pavia and Sonetto, because you go against everything they believe in.

Stressed, requires a lot of time to get over it

AliEn T. Bette. Bunny Bunny. Charlie. Ezra. Kanjira. Matilda. Pickles. Ulu.

Mostly troubled, but open to change

6. Mr. APPLe. Darley Clatter. Diggers. Druvis III. La Source. Lilya. Melania. Ms. Moissan. Poltergeist. Zima

Neutral, indifferent and/or unaffected

Baby Blue. Click. Dikke. Jessica. John Titor. Rabies. Sputnik. Tennant. Tooth Fairy. Twins Sleep. These characters remain neutral, but do not confuse their indifference or lack of reaction for ignorance. Some of them aren't quite lucid, conscious or old enough to fully understand their surrounding, such as Rabies and Twins Sleep, but I would say the rest are grounded enough as to not let a figure such as the Player affect them in any intense or extreme way. Some of them simply don't care because this entire reveal doesn't exactly change their routine nor perception of the world. Some are choosing to remain neutral until they gather more information to form a solid opinion.

Mostly curious, but open to change

A Knight. Cristallo. Kaalaa Baunaa. Ms. NewBabel. Necrologist. Satsuki. Spathodea. Voyager.

Eager to learn, requires a lot of stress to be affected

37. An-an Lee. Centurion. Eagle. Horropedia. Leilani. Nick Bottom. Shamane. Sotheby. X.

Extremely intrigued

Eternity. Medicine Pocket. Ms. Radio. ONiON. Regulus. TTT. The Fool. Regardless of how your existence affects these characters, their curiosity and the new opportunities and possibilities you bring along are much more important to them. These are characters who seek to profit from you in some way, who see you as a fascinating subject to study, who may even relate in a way to the role you play as the Player, who may pity you.

[mrpibbleswildride]

hey sweethartfemme/puppycatfemme/femmesunbream/ earthfairyfemme whatever the fuck is back and going by bloodlustgf now jsyk 😭🙃 ik u have that thread u update

lol yeah ive gotten enough of these now to confirm it! if anybody who had this gross loser danger to our community blocked before (full thread here, used to go by sweethartfemme/earthfairyfemme/lesbunnyfemmebatdollyfemme/saturnfemme/dollheartedfemme/sunkissfemme/stemmefawn/femmesunbeam the list goes on 😭) for their absolutely vile actions before including but not limiting to racefaking, catfishing the butch they were dating for 2 months, catfishing using MULTIPLE girls photos who they did not have permission for, catfishing using a girls photos after she'd asked them to stop multiple times only to have her and all her friends blocked, catfishing using photos of that girl as a 14 YEAR OLD MINOR on her NSFW ACCOUNT next to posts talking about in depth r*pe fantasies and other kinks (again after this girl had already begged her to stop using her photos), sexualized this girls photos and talked about nsfw situations with them, said that their ex butch @ursaius deserved to be catfished and lied to bc hes white, impersonating @toothfairyfemme (pretending/telling people they were them, claiming to have the same first and last legal name, stealing photos, pretending to be mexican/filipino), pretending to be an adoptee from mexico, and gaslighting n harassing n sending sooo much hate to toothfairyfemme for speaking up about it. this person is dangerous and harmful to the butchfemme community and has shown no signs of maturing since they keep trying to hide this shit and act like it never happened ‼️‼️‼️

"a femme who's done nothing but apologize to the internet again and again over shit that was never that fucking serious to begin with"... right. bc were supposed to believe youve learned so much from ur actions and grown and changed when ur saying THAT. 💀 how tf are we supposed to take you seriously or believe you're changing when youve barely apologized to anybody and keep changing your names/spellings/blogs every other week to avoid accountability!!! any time this subject comes up u stil act like u are in the right here and everyone else has been harassing u for things so minor and small and u dont deserve any of this. to this day you are STILL telling ppl that all u did was "copy someones bio" when asked what u did wrong. like dont be shy tell ppl what really happened bc ACTUALLY PEOPLE ARE MAD AT U FOR POSTING PHOTOS OF A 14 YEAR OLD TO UR NSFW ACCOUNT AFTER SHE ASKED U NOT TO..... PPL ARE ALLOWED TO BE UPSET ABOUT THAT STILL like log the fuck off its over!!! 3 months going by while u double down on ur actions not being that big of a deal does not suddenly make everything fine and what u did ok 💀💀💀

ive said it before but ill say it again "making your whole personality about loving and PROTECTING butches after you catfished a butch you were dating with a strangers photos you were asked to stop using several times is fucking INSANE btw. not to mention a lot of those photos being of a literal 14 year old and being posted to your NSFW ACCOUNT. and catfishing several other minors as an adult for like 3 years. insane."

also so sick and twisted how theyre like "oh it was only two months of catfishing" as if ANY catfishing is okay and as if ursa hasnt said before PUBLICLY how that was one of their biggest fears and said he mentioned it to you multiple times. you took advantage of that poor butch!! receiving fallout for your nasty actions for longer than your relationship lasted means nothing when those actions were so beyond vile! not to mention everybody else you hurt and catfished for YEARS pretending to be other people... like we have LOST THE PLOT!!!

anyway if u had this person blocked before under their old usernames be sure to block again bc this is a NEW account! would recomend blocking because they change their username all the time. they are a master manipulator and are rlly good at hiding the truth and rewording what they did to make it seem like not that big of a deal. i think everybody who wants to avoid interacting with this person has a right to know that this new account is them. plz rb this if u can to help spread the word we cannot keep letting them get away w this 😭😭💜

[lord-of-cactus]

A LIFE SERIES X GENSHIN AU?!?!?! TWO OF MY MAJOR FANDOMS AT THE MOMENT??? AN IDEA I'VE PONDERED OVER MYSELF ON OCCASION?!?!?! YES PLEASE!!!!!

I'd LOVE to know your thoughts on who has what visions and/or weapon classes!!! Or, if there's plot to this au, I'd definitely find that interesting too!!! Basically, whatever you want to share, I'm excited to hear about! (Your piece of Jimmy receiving his vision is so cool btw!!!)

THANK YOU SO MUCH :))

Here's a list of everyone's vision/lack-of and which region they're originally from, I might organize it in a different way later but for now these are subject to small change when I get past chapter 1 of the fic!

Jimmy- Khaenri'ah (Residing in Snezhnaya) - Cryo

Grian- Khaenri'ah (Residing in Mondstadt) - Anemo

Pearl- Khaenri'ah (Wanderer/No Loyalties) - Pyro

Martyn- Khaenri'ah (Residing in Inazuma) - Dendro

BigB- Khaenri'ah (Residing in Sumeru) - Hydro

Mumbo- Fontaine - Electro

Taurtis- Khaenri'ah (Deceased) - Visionless

Sam- Snezhnaya (Deceased) - Pyro

Biffa- Inazuma (Deceased) - Pyro

Scott- Mondstadt (Residing in Inazuma) - Cryo

Tango- Natlan (Residing in Fontaine) - Pyro

Impulse- Liyue - Geo

Skizz- Mondstadt (Residing in Liyue) - Anemo

Joel- Sumeru - Dendro

Lizzy- Snezhnaya - Hydro

TFC- Sumeru - Geo

Cub- Sumeru - Cryo

Scar- Liyue (Mondstadt -> Liyue) - Geo

False- Natlan - Electro

Oli- Mondstadt- Anemo

Iskall- Sumeru - Dendro

Wels- Inazuma - Visionless

Ren- Natlan (Residing in Sumeru) - Cryo

Doc- Fontaine - Electro

Xisuma- Liyue - Visionless

Etho- Snezhnaya - Cryo

Bdubs- Inazuma - Anemo

Cleo- Wanderer/No Loyalties - Delusion Holder

Gem- Liyue (Residing in Mondstadt) - Hydro

Xloy and Pix- Fontaine - Both Visionless

There's some vague plot-talk under the cut, not too many spoilers tho! I have no much planned and there's way too much I have drafted to spoil in one post anyways 😭

It doesn't take Genshin lore 100% straight, there are some plot points, characters, and events that are changed/straight up don't exist to make the story flow better and make more sense (also Genshin is extensive as HELL and there are virtually a million things going on at the same time).

While the plot is about the Evo group as a whole, the story itself mainly follows Jimmy, as he and Lizzy work to become harbingers. Why are they fatui? How are the main 5 from Snezhnaya yet the plot takes place in present-day Tevat? How did they get there? Why aren't they together? These are all questions that'll be answered through the fic or as I update on my silly little blog :) !

(And to not hype you up too much, I AM A BAD WRITER! TERRIBLE EVEN! Ive written 1 chapter already but I'm still trying to find a beta-reader cause I'm too nervous to post it 😭)

[emry-stars-art]

tell us about the royals au!!! (im on my knees. please.)

Ohhhhh my friend you have started me on a RANT I hope you’re ready!!!

I don’t know that I’ll ever actually write it so I’m not too worried about spoilers, and the wonderful people in my dms (which are still open btw) bouncing ideas with me are always going to come up with great ideas so I’m putting WIP in big red letters, things are subject to change! But for now, some ideas. Most of what I have will be under the cut, but if you want to know more about a specific part/have any questions please I’d love to chat :D will link to the art/posts I have so far!

(In this au I’ve been referring to Neil as Nathaniel at first and then Abram (hello names as a plot device), and everyone else right now is some version of their name)

Kevin and Nathaniel were raised at Evermore castle, Kevin to be in direct competition to Riko/see which of them might claim the throne (not thought out yet), and Nathaniel as the Moriyama’s attack dog, born and raised to take his father’s place as such. The two never met in person, but Nathaniel knows and recognizes Day because of course he does, and Day knows the name Wesninski means a very, very dangerous person. Essentially the top assassin on the continent.

But as we do, Day decides he can’t/won’t handle the treatment anymore, whatever the last straw may be, and runs off to Palmetto in a kind of desperate chase of the stories his mother used to tell him when he was little. He knew she loved that kingdom. Somehow he finds Wymack - the twin’s royal advisor - or Wymack finds him, and once Wymack realizes who this kid is and has reason to believe he’s not here on Evermore business, he puts Day’s incredible talent and training as a tactician/commander to work as his pupil.

Meanwhile Nathaniel is still at Evermore, mistreated and learning from his own failures and mistakes until he’s nearly as good as his father at the family business.

I don’t know how long Nathaniel plans it, but he either plays the part for long enough or his skill is so undeniable that when the Moriyamas have plans for the Palmetto Kingdom, they send him and one other accomplished fighter to kill the king. Nathaniel goes quietly and decides he’s not coming back if he can help it.

So instead of killing the young king, Nathaniel’s panic has him turn on his partner at the very last second, stopping them just before they can get to the king. He takes them somewhere far away and does what he does best, leaving no one to report back to the Moriyamas. From then on it’s a waiting game to see how long the family will wait before they send someone after him.

Day’s followed them, and Nathaniel turns around from the body and sees this man he hasn’t seen in years, alive and safe away from Evermore. It’s as elating as it is crushing - because Day heard his partner call him by name, and there is no way Day will ever let a Wesninski walk away alive. Not if he knows what’s good for all of them.

Except Day doesn’t kill him, even when Nathaniel asks him to. (Better Day than Riko, Nathaniel knew that even when they were all stuck at Evermore). Instead, he takes Nathaniel back to the twins/Wymack, gives him a little bread, and they sit until he can pry out an explanation. (See the comic of this first meeting here.)

Day and Nathaniel spend most of their time together because Day refuses to let Nathaniel out of his or Wymack’s sight until he proves not a threat to the royal family, which proves an issue because between Andrew’s rotation of personal guards (he never gets along with them well enough that they stay/aren’t fired) Day is Andrew’s guard, which sometimes means Nathaniel is stuck a lot closer than Day would like. But after a long, long time, Day and Wymack decide Nathaniel was serious about the whole “runaway” thing and isn’t playing spy (maybe there’s some dramatic event/Nathaniel protecting a twin that convinces them or maybe it’s just a lot of little things over time). Andrew, after a rough spat with the latest guard, is again in need of a new one. Finally Day just asks “is there ANYONE you could possibly pretend to get along with that can do the job” and Andrew knows Nathaniel is dangerous he just doesn’t know exactly how or why (but oh he is curious) so maybe he just straight up says. “Wesninski.” And Day has to go “…. Fine.”

So boom. They knew each other superficially before, but now Andrew and Nathaniel are spending most of their time together and miraculously - no arguments. No spats. Day thanks the gods there’s no physical altercations (that’s probably what got the last guard fired so quick). Nathaniel is just a mystery with shady ability to tell the truth and Andrew can’t help his curiosity. Good old fashioned andreil :D

From here the timeline becomes essentially nonexistent, I have no idea when these things happen in relation to each other but so far they’re all things I like and want to include!

1) there’s plenty of games and competitions at Palmetto, we love a good tussle, and Nathaniel usually does quite well - he’s not good at playing fair, but his underhanded methods are not technically illegal and usually he can use his preferred weapon - dagger rather than sword. He does well except for the one time an opponent accidentally says/does something that was constantly said or done to Nathaniel while “training” at Evermore, and he comes back to Andrew and the tent he watched from in the beginning of a panic attack. Andrew doesn’t know anything about Nathaniel’s past at this point, but he knows a panic attack when he sees one. In trying to talk him through it, Andrew realizes that yes Nathaniel is scared of being hurt, but he’s more afraid of hurting others. Nathaniel won’t let Andrew call him by name, he flinches every time Andrew says it. After, Andrew asks what he should call him instead, and Nathaniel finally asks to be called Abram.

2) Balls! Masquerades! Abram doesn’t have many outfits, he wears the regular issued uniform to every event. Andrew will not stand for this. Abram always wears clothes that cover him fully, which is fine, Andrew can work with that. He’s still seen Abram in a tight shirt or two. So he commissions one of the most knowledgeable people in the court (we’re thinking it might be Allison, she’s a noble but she’s great with textiles/embroidery/etc) and gets Abram a new outfit. It still covers him, its still protective material, but it looks better. (Find Abram in a corset here). Andrew handles it totally normal and rational in his head when he sees Abram actually wearing it of course.

3) Day probably assumes for a little while that Andrew and Abram have got a more or less normal guard/charge relationship, even thinking it’s slightly antagonistic considering this is Andrew we’re talking about. (This doesn’t fit the timeline, but here’s a mini comic of one of Day’s misunderstandings hehe)

4) king Aaron! He became king at 18/20/whatever age we decide this universe deems old enough because he is in fact the elder twin here. I imagine their parents have both been dead and gone for at least a few years at this point. Dan is Aaron’s guard and she and Abram hit it off great as coworkers and friends. More on the uncertainty of the twins backstory later. (Drawings of Aaron and his queen Katelyn here!)

5) the angst. The Moriyamas should have heard from the Wesninski boy months ago - something somewhere went wrong. So, naturally, they go to collect their property. If they get away with it, we can imagine how it goes. What I don’t know is if the twins, Day, and Wymack know for sure he was kidnapped or if they have a little nagging in the back of their head that wonders if he’s only run away from the castle or if he’s run back to Evermore with everything he’s learned.

When he’s recovered, Day doesn’t let Andrew too close too often for a while. If Abram forgets where is for even a second too long - waking up from a nightmare, having a flashback - it’s long enough for it to be fatal to whoever might get too close to Abram. It’s already almost proved fatal for Andrew, after Abram played normal so well that Andrew let it slip - he forgot Abram was taken back to Evermore for them to finish making him into a thoughtless weapon, and they’d nearly succeed. He wakes Abram too quickly and ends up extremely lucky Abram recognizes both his voice and the way Andrew didn’t call him ‘Nathaniel’ or ‘Wesninski’. There’s really a huge amount to possibly be covered about this point so I won’t go into detail here - but if you like hurt/comfort you know where to find me 👀

6) the biggest thing we haven’t figured out is Andrew. Either he was kidnapped at a young age and only recovered in his teens, or the elder King Minyard didn’t much care for his second son. Though I’ve always liked the idea of Mr. Minyard being a good man who died shortly before the twins’ birth and their mother just couldn’t handle the grief or knowing that the twins look like him. Anyway a lot of the twins’ issues after both of their parents are dead are the advisors or other people around them that try to take advantage of their youth and inexperience for their own gain, without realizing that both Aaron and Andrew have had to grow up much too fast, each for their own reasons. They can usually see right past the tricks. It’s why they both trust Wymack so much - he’s one of the few adults that are truly there to help them, and not make decisions for them.

Im sure there’s more I missed, but this is long enough as it is lol. People have asked about the Trojans/Jean in this au, and I’d love to include them! My brain’s instinctive response is that Jeremy is some sort of high end noble/royal of a faraway kingdom, and Jean (always last to leave the nest, im so sorry baby) somehow gets over there, but I don’t have an idea of his or anyone else’s roles yet. Renee could even still have a hand in him getting there if we really want.

So I’m still writing snippets and drawing over here lol but i promise I don’t bite if you want to talk :D

[twistedtavern]

prithee, what is your ace rant

big spoilers for the new self aware au plot hi hello

DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN TRAPPOLA WITH THE METAL CHAIR!!!!!!!!!!!

this is not all final btw! esp the parts about playful land bec i have not played it or watched it or what have you as of making this post! this is subject to change

sweet jesus. where do i begin. uhm. Ace DID like Player when the actual game was in progress. he wasn't their favorite, so he wasn't Crazy about them the way others were (looking at you Leona) but he did help protect them at first. He died for it, and pretty early on too. It wasn't like he laid down his life for them, but that didn't stop whoever killed him (didn't plan that yet) from doing it.

Now we hit the post-reset. He and the Player do NOT hit it off. Neither of them even remember who the other is. Ace gets a permanent, mildly irritating pain inside him that never once goes away. He does have chances to make up and apologize to Player, but actively chooses to avoid them, since he's still bitter and wary from the first interaction. It's taking a toll on him mentally, as is the nature of this effect, but something more has to push him towards the edge I think. I don't know exactly what it would be, but maybe Player tries to initiate something because they feel more confident at that point, and something goes awry. Either way, the feeling gets worse than it was before. He does not like this.

I'm keeping the Halloween events (that exist so far) in the game, just spacing them out more along the year. Playful Land DOES happen. Ace reaches a bit of a snapping point, seeing them be so happy and give so much warmth to everyone else, and watching them all being so friendly toward Player. He tries to kill them, or get them injured and make it so they aren't found in time to be saved. He is interrupted by the events happening around him, and his attempt isn't noticed. What IS noticed is the aftermath of Player being scared shitless of Fellow.

Seeing a grown man, uneducated but surely intelligent, reduced to an animal to the point where Leona had genuinely feared that he was rabid and sick, it shifted something. That could have been him. If he had gone any further and still failed, it WOULD have been him. He looked over in horror at Player, being comforted and fawned over as always, and he just wondered...

What the fuck made THEM so special?

It's this question that really defines his character arc and subsequent spiral. That single question. Even when he technically does get his answer, it's not enough. It's nowhere NEAR enough. It makes things worse, actually. His response is very simple.

They had to die, and he would have to be smart about it.

crazy time, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ITS SUCH A GOOD CONTRAST WITH A CHARACTER I WILL NOT NAME BEC THATS GIGA SPOILER. ITS LITERALLY JUST A REVERSE OF HIS ARC. this is appearing to be Quite centric to that one character i will not name. huh. he really IS closest to all the action isnt he. do i disclose this. i will be vague. He does certainly get his revenge for Deuce dropping that cauldron on him.

If i had to summarize via those "if x characters were charged for their crimes" things, then here is the current list as of me typing this

Assault and battery (uncounted amount of times)

2nd degree attempted murder

Conspiracy to commit murder

Aiding and abetting

Identity theft(? i'm probably keeping this but idk)

My knowledge of the law is limited, admittedly. But that's it so far! I am withholding the more major spoilers, but I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts! He really did just take some of Malleus's old evil didn't he

[bacchanaliae]

BABY, YOU MAKE ARMAGEDDON LOOK SO EASY ⸻ introducing yoon eunseok, d7.

wait till you hear about this next nominee: YOON EUNSEOK, born on the 8th of SEPTEMBER, 1993 and bears a striking resemblance to SONG KANG. they’re a FOURTH year BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION student and ACED EVERY COURSE WITHOUT AN ATTENDANCE COMPONENT — impressed yet? rumor has it they’re hoping to be the COO OF THE YOON GROUP, but personally, i think they should aim a little higher — something like the king’s club, for one. now, that suits them a little more, don’t you think? guess we’ll just have to see if they’ve got the talent for it in our upcoming recruitment round.

hello!! i'm shrimps, (25, she/they) like the fried rice, and i'm very excited to terrorize your lovely muses with my lil guy eunseokkie! i'm hoping to get around to my dms soon-ish (i'm kissing your foreheads, btw), but feel free to leave a like and i'll appear in your walls! if you'd rather plot on disco, just lmk.

BACKGROUND

pretentious nonsense full bio

tl;dr : guy who's a supporting character in his own story suffers a minor existential crisis in deciding between (a) wanting to do his own thing and (b) fulfilling the role he was quite literally created to play. unfortunately, he's made this everyone else's problem.

this is subject to change if needed to fit with e2, but i imagined the yoon family to run a silicon mining business that skyrocketed in no small part due to eunseok's father marrying into a family that manufactures semiconductors.

eunseok's father . . . now there's a real schemer. everything he did was designed to gain control of the family company, and eunseok was no exception. eunseok has grown up acutely aware of this, and is completely normal and unaffected as a result.

eunseok wasn't always a menace!! eunseok always had a predilection for mischief, but genuinely tried to be the perfect heir as a child — though he soon realized that nothing he did really mattered. if he did everything he was supposed to do, fine. that was the minimum expectation. if he acted out, the consequences would just be swept away like the trouble never happened. yoon eunseok had a very particular role to fulfill, you see, and something like proper parenting wasn't going to get in the way of eunseok's father's plan to take over the family company.

and so a monster was born.

2013 (+ 2016) : invited to the club to terrorize the other initiates. wish i was joking about this one. driven to succeed because (a) he plays to win and this is the sort of environment he thrives in, unfortunately, and (b) as a fuck you to the other initiates in his class. interestingly, the actual benefits of being in the king's club are at most a tertiary motivation to eunseok — i guess one of the weaknesses of never concocting your own schemes is that you aren't great at long-term planning. throws notorious parties. kinda notorious, period — there are rumors that he'll hook up with anyone tall and beautiful, regardless of gender (this is true); that he races mclarens on the weekends (this is false); and that he bribed (true), slept with (false), and physically threatened (technically false) his way to the top end of the class. endlessly ambitious and seemingly insatiable, you might be wondering: what's the point, if eunseok's whole deal is that he'll trot obediently back to daddy's side when the man calls?

well, i'm not saying that it's the painful crash at the end. but i'm not not saying that, either. i don't think eunseok really knows, himself.

2024 : the pawn is put in play; the dog is leashed. placed as an evp somewhere, then named coo upon his father's ascension to ceo/chairman/whatever. appears to have chilled out dramatically, but time will tell whether this is maturity, resignation, or mere suppression. :)))))))

PERSONALITY

entj. waffles between chaotic neutral and chaotic evil.

character inspo/parallels include roman roy, sylvain gautier, dorian gray, the cuntier end of taemin's solo discography (stream eternal out aug 19!!!!), the weeknd's trilogy album, nero, and lestat de lioncourt. also my uni roommate's various finance-bro exes. lmao.

all of this to say: think of the most annoying guy you know. think of a shark in the water. think of a poorly-trained bloodhound let off the leash. think of blood, generally — something slick and thrumming and visceral. if eunseok wants something, he will take it, because honestly? eight times out of ten, the taking is what he really wants, in the end.

weirdly intense but deeply unserious lol.

he's no master manipulator . . . moreso a cudgel lol. does very little plotting for how often he seems to be Making Moves(tm). how things never really come back to bite him should be studied in a lab, or maybe made into a hbs case study, but he's smarter than most people give him credit for, particularly in actual business management (unironically i think he would thrive as a logistics guy), but he cares little for mind games and saving face and also likes baiting fights for fun so. yeah.

thinks everyone playing nice is a hypocrite and a dummy! comes across as super arrogant but like in his mind . . . he's just being honest? like, yeah. he's rich. he wins a lot. by virtue of him winning, someone else, e.g., you, are a loser. life is short so why are we wasting time pretending otherwise?

ooough i wanna punch eunseok just reading this back. ironically i'd still absolutely go to the club with him because despite it all you know our boy is good fun. also you'll probably leave with an insane story. but i digress.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

these r. rough but! i'm really very open to brainstorming!!

a childhood friend — someone who witnessed eunseok's various metamorphoses and who is probably the only person, other than eunseok's father, who was unsurprised when eunseok fell in line after graduation. i'm flexible re: the exact contours of the relationship (ride or dies for life! drifted apart! bitter enemies), but i like the idea of someone knowing eunseok better than he knows himself.

2024 : if yr muse is involved with electronics: i present to u the (pending) heir of korea's largest semiconductor manufacturer. mwah ok.

2016 : love, hate, whatever — the point is that eunseok is used to evoking strong reactions. your muse, however, doesn't seem to care at all, nonreactive to flirtation and fury, and that really doesn't sit well with eunseok. tensions are high; maybe this volatility comes to a head.

2016 : alternately, maybe an initiate who has gotten the idea of gaining eunseok's approval into their head (get well soon!). get ready to have your time supremely wasted, buddy.

2016 : another envelope-pusher. yeah, the king's club parties, but you two party, making recklessness a game.

2016 (+2024, maybe!) : the person whose door eunseok finds himself stumbling to when the party's over. in the haze between intoxication and sobriety, you get to see a eunseok that even eunseok doesn't get to see — one that voices insecurities and worries. it's a weird sense of trust, and not even one necessarily tied to fondness (though it could be!). it could also be fun, i think, if they didn't keep in touch but for eunseok drunk-dialing your muse. that'll make the reunion exciting, eh!!

friends. enemies. flings. i don't necessarily know that eunseok's capable of holding down a relationship but i think it could be funny to see him try. in 2024 his family's probably trying to set him up with someone, so that could be something, maybe?

[ok-sims]

Good Omens 2 and playing with expectations

so I watched good omens for the first time in like 2020, had a blast but didnt really think about it again until s2 came out.

and now i realize that one of the things that caused me this obssession brain rot this time around is just how the whole season, but specially the ending, completely subverted my expectations, yet everything that happened is extremely coherent with season 1.

crowley has been asking aziraphale to run away with him for quite some time now. and aziraphale has been "choosing" heaven over him.

smaller things are very coherent too. crowley and taking part in nebula/planet/starmaking. aziraphale and forgiveness. crowley being "unforgivable". alpha centauri.

how can such a coherent finale surprise and smite me so much?

I guess part of it is the queerbait that many fandoms have been subjected to, historically (I was very much into sherlock back in 2014-2017, so you can see where I am coming from...)

but another part is how the final fifteen have a very different tone to the rest of the series. of course, there are some heavy moments in both seasons (the Golgotha being the main one), but those were taken from the biblical lore and not directed to aziraphale and crowley. while there is some drama between them in s1, it is never really serious .crowley was devastated when he thought aziraphale was dead, but we (the audience) knew he was fine. soon, they reunited and faced the end of the world together. there was the fight over holy water in the flashbacks, but we see then make up in the very next scene. so our expectations were set to having crowley and aziraphale have their conflits to be: silly and/or quickly resolved.

I guess that, along the fact that their feelings now have an undeniable romantic nuance confirmed to them, was my fall down the rabbit hole.

I did not expect the series to acknowledge so clearly, very much on screen, the romantic connection between them. before that, this was really heavy subtext, but the leap to text is still pretty uncommom in similar works. even more rare is having the characters kiss, because it leaves no room for subtext anymore. it changes the dinamic between the characters, as well as the perspective of the audience. tv often runs from this sort of change, because it is a risk, but I'm very glad the show took that risk and went with it without looking back.

the risk of changing the tone (even if just for the final fifteen) is also often avoided. "is this show not a comedy?" "isnt everything fine at the end?" so we were left with our expectations completly subverted in both aspects. and yet it all makes sense with everything good omens has showed us before. we were blindsided by the expectations that were firmly constructed for us, the audience, but the ending played out in consonance with the narrative built all through seasons 1 and 2. aziraphale creates situations just to have an excuse to see crowley. crowley is always coming to aziraphale's rescue, no matter what trouble this may give him in hell. btw, crowley could not care less for hell or heaven. "we can go off together, angel". "listen to yourself".

s1 and s2 are so very much in line. I'm glad good omens had the courage to take the leap and subvert everything we were expecting: be it subtext to remain subtext, or a comedy to have its conflit being easily resolved in time for the credits to roll in. and it did it all while making perfect sense for the narrative, with no last minute ill-planned plot twists. it's no wonder we haven't been normal about it since july: when was the last time you watched something like this?

[hadescabin]

why do you want to get rid of tigerdove instead of trying to fix it??? no shade or anything.

TW// GROOMING, MANIPULATION because quite honestly, there's nothing there to fix. it's just bad from the bottom down. i've seen really great rewrite aus that age tigerheart down to dovewing's age, so that they pursue each other as apprentices, which is something i considered doing since it doesn't really change much in terms of the story. however, i've come to the realization that the age gap isn't the only thing wrong with the relationship. That aside, Tigerheart is very manipulative and awful towards Dovewing, throughout the entirety of the time they've known each other, and even now that they have kits. Someone in my TigerDove is grooming post brought up a great example of how he even went out of his way to have a whole incel breakdown to Ivypool when she stood up for herself and cut off their relationship when he was trying to pressure her back in.

("Your sister who I've groomed since she was 13 put her friends and family over me" is a crazy thing to say and rage about btw. People like to say that bumbledove is worse for the incel stuff, have completely forgotten that Tigerheart, or many men in the series really, throw a fit when they don't get what they want. It's just worse when you keep in mind that he spends 4 books isolating and manipulating her into a relationship with him since the moment she was a child, and lovebombing her when she fights back. See: their argument about Dawnpelt in The Last Hope). People seem to have this misguided view that Tigerheartstar is this sweet himbo blorbo who loves his wife and kids, when in reality he's the complete opposite. Canon establishes him as someone who is very sneaky and great at manipulating the people around him to get what he wants. This isn't just an "Ivypool is biased" thing (though I do admit that she does hold some), it's just canonically established as the type of person tigerheart is.

(This actually isn't the first time someone points it out in the book, though I decided to stick with Squilf since she is a lot more reliable than someone like Bramblestar LOL). While it's certainly true that he cares a lot about his family, to the point where he selfishly puts them above everything else, it's also true that he just isn't the best father. Let's not forget how he actively victim blamed Shadowsight for being manipulated by Ashfur, and ordered him to constantly remain in close proximity to care for someone who took advantage of him. Between that and him kicking out nomads from their own territory, Tigerheartstar can be interesting in the way that he's consistently written as having these glaring flaws such as poor judgement and selfishness. Which, as much as I hate the guy, I do like that about him, and therefore wish to keep that in. However, I run into 2 problems. To start off, I don't feel comfortable writing a grooming relationship in my rewrite, it's not a subject I wish to touch. Second of all, even if I do age down Tigerheartstar, I really don't want Dovewing to be trapped in an abusive relationship, especially since her arc is about escaping that. It wouldn't make sense for her to escape to the same clan of the guy who manipulated her. It honestly makes more sense if they just remain good friends, not every forbidden meetup plot line needs to be romantic (like Firestar sneaking out to meet Princess). Maybe there will be a point in time where Tigerheart(or Goldenheart/paw in my rewrite) tricks Dovepaw for herbs or something, but it's established as awful on his part, and it very much nearly ends their friendship, which serves as a small wakeup call for him (Goldenheart is very spoiled in my rewrite so he's just used to doing whatever to get what he wants even at the expense of others). I don't know though, I still need to workshop it. TLDR: Outside of the massive age gap, similarly to relationships like BrambleSquirrel, TigerDove is unintentionally written to be too toxic (in this case it's grooming) for me to try and fix. "Fixing" TigerDove, would be "fixing" Tigerheartstar, which you really can't do, since him being awful is just his character. I really don't feel comfortable trying to pretty up a grooming relationship anyways, best to cut it out. edit: i decided the "evidence" i used with jayfeather wasn't exactly accurate in showing what I was trying to say, and that it would be best to cite from a more recent book. so i decided to replace it with an excerpt from Squirrelflight's Hope. dont get me wrong though it's still very much an example of him being antagonistic in the series even way back during OOTS.

[usergreenpixel]

MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 19: LA MÁSCARA NEGRA(1982)

1. The Introduction

Greetings, Neighbors. I missed you and hopefully you missed me too!

Anyway, you already know that I kept rescheduling because a lot of stuff has happened, so let’s not waste time on explanations and talk about this obscure swashbuckling TV series made in Spain in 1982.

I found it on IMDb a while ago, under the category of Napoleonic movies and series. Since I have a soft spot for swashbuckling stories and hadn’t seen anything of the genre set during Peninsular War, you can imagine how curious I got.

Luckily, the entire 11 episodes can be found on YouTube, but only in Spanish so yeah… it’s a bit of a bummer, unfortunately.

Either way, I do speak Spanish fairly well, so at the very least I can make a review out of the series! Let’s see if it’s actually an interesting subject. Also, this review is dedicated to @josefavomjaaga , @that-enragee and @koda-friedrich .

2. The Summary

Obviously, the classic swashbuckling formula with a masked hero definitely applies here. Our protagonist is one Don Carlos de Zaráte, an adventurer who returns to Madrid right before the beginning of the Peninsular War.

Although reluctantly, Don Carlos eventually assumes the identity of The Black Mask, a folk hero fighting the French and their collaborators, all while pretending to be a collaborator himself by day.

3. The Story

The swashbuckling genre in its classic form isn’t exactly known for that much originality, but, as someone who grew up on such stories, I don’t actually mind the classic formula, as long as the story and characters still appeal to me.

Luckily, here the story has a twist: Don Carlos is not the original Black Mask, but rather he assumes the mantle of the hero at the beginning of the story, succeeding the person who had the alter ego beforehand.

And at first Don Carlos is reluctant to do it until he decides to fight the French invaders, which makes room for some nuance in the story and the character arc. The show could have benefited from having nuance in the French characters too, but usually swashbuckling stories don’t have the most complex villains so there’s that.

I did like the pacing, the semi-episodic story structure and a bit of an ambiguous ending that still neatly wrapped up the plot.

Also, I find it refreshing that many historical events are a backdrop for the actual plot, unlike all the stories I’ve seen where characters help shape history (nothing wrong with either btw).

4. The Characters

Don Carlos is actually a pretty complex character. Instead of merely pretending to be a foppish aristocrat, he actually used to be one before the story and only during the series it becomes merely a facade to ward off suspicions. He grows and matures a lot over the course of the story while still remaining the same person at his core, so the change feels realistic.

He’s also very cunning and ingenious, using various tricks to aid him in his escapades. Not above seduction or gambling, but, again, often uses it to maintain cover and gather information.

Then there’s Elodia, a young hat maker who Don Carlos takes under his wing. While she is too young to help The Black Mask, sometimes she does have an important role in the adventures and she also has a found family kind of dynamic with Don Carlos, which is sweet! She is very mature, but still a realistically written child.

Don Diego, younger brother of Don Carlos, is a much more hotheaded and idealistic youth than his brother and his role, while quite small, still sets the main events in motion.

Francisco Goya, who is basically a minor recurring character, stays neutral (at least publicly) but in reality is appalled by the war and isn’t afraid to speak through his art, even though it’s still very dangerous. He even plays a prominent role in one of the episodes.

Joachim Murat, who makes a few appearances, surprisingly isn’t made stupid! Sure, he is very ruthless, but at the very least he’s smart.

Joseph Bonaparte is name dropped and at least one character calls him a drunkard, but not Pepe Botellas.

Soult is mentioned as well but doesn’t appear in the series.

5. The Setting

Actually I like the setting. Not very high budget but still quite nice and seems accurate enough, at least to me.

I especially liked all the landscapes like hills, the shores, etc.

6. The Acting

Amazing job all around, especially when it comes to Sancho Gracia, who plays Don Carlos. This particular actor actually appeared in a lot of media set during peninsular war. A few actors are a bit too old though, like the one who played Murat.

7. The Conclusion

Honestly, I did enjoy the series! Flaws aside, it’s a pretty solid adventure story with an interesting twist on the usual masked avenger formula so, if you do know Spanish and are looking for a fun series to kill time, I recommend it!

Anyway, that would be all for today’s soirée. Thank you for coming and stay tuned for more reviews!

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

I have quite a few hang ups with Come Morning Light, the hunger games au I posted one chapter for back in November and have yet to update.

The first and foremost personal challenge is the fact that I, PCE, a certified Angst Wimp, am gonna have to kill off sooooo many of my faves. Like Hunger Games has some dark ass subject matter, kids forced to kill each other. I’m struggling with that, especially with what I have planned for Craig.

Along that same line, it’s gonna be a HUGE cast of characters, which I’ve had difficulty with in the past, it’s one of the reasons I primarily operate in oneshots. I love a good The Gangs All Here fic, but fleshing out 20+ characters is HARD. Bc a fluffy 2k word oneshot of Stan and Kyle in an awkward meet cute where there’s maybe one other character (usually kenny lmfao I’m a creature of habit) is a WHOLE different animal than a multicharacter multichapter. That’s something I had to figure out recently with TWITR, and character introduction held me up a lot in ATLCTS.

Okay this one may seem really inconsequential to a lot of people, but one thing I didn’t think about when developing this concept was the fact that there’s not really away for me to get around Stan eating meat lmao that’s one thing that over my time writing sp fanfiction has become ESSENTIAL to me characterizing that boy. I’ll probably just have him make a comment about how he could never kill animals himself WHICH BRINGS ME TO:

Kyle as our Katniss character. So if you’re familiar with my bs, every time I write Kyle, he’s inherently less angry until it’s called for, he’s very idealistic in his worldview and it takes something actually really pissing him off for him to snap. This is NOT gonna be the case here!!! This boy is ANGRY BY DEFAULT, the worlds out to get him? fuck the world right back! Plus, the entire story is gonna be from his perspective, bc I love writing Kyle, but it’s gonna take all my willpower not to turn him into my usual empathetic to a fault sweet people loving Kys.

Also, I usually tend to leave the adults mostly out of my stuff, but they’re gonna play quite the role in this. We got Garrison as Haymitch, Big Gay Al as Effie, fuckin Mr Slave as Cinna. I’ve never even WRITTEN the three of them. The dynamics gonna be fun tho.

Ofc there’s the problem of it being an adaptation too. There’s a fine line between just replacing hg characters with sp names and copying the plot, as opposed to making it your own. I do have some plot changes planned, but this is an issue I faced with We’re Gonna Sing It Even So, and that almost led me to abandon that fic when I felt like I was just plagiarizing Hadestown.

Also I’m not planning to adapt more than the first book. I reallllly couldn’t handle Kenny taking out Ike with his trap in the third one.

BUT!!! This won’t be abandoned, it’ll just be slow going!!! Ya wanna know the main reason?

Because the first idea I had for CML (other than Kyle volunteering for his little brother) was STAN AND KYLE IN THE FUCKING CAVE SCENES. A major change is that both of them are already deeply down bad, but those scenes??? Yeah no one’s playing for the cameras. I wanna fuck Stan up in the arena so bad lmfao that boy is my original sp whump muse and NATURALLY Kyle taking care of him I love that shit. Girl we gonna GET that prosthetic leg the movies left out (Ship In A Bottle Stan moment, I love that fic btw) as the Style Injury Dealer, I MUST deliver.

So, yeah, if anyone’s down, I’ll eventually pick it back up lmao.

[fideidefenswhore]

so i heard henry felt he needed a son because if he died all the york heirs would fight over who'd would be king, and mary would get overthrown or need to marry one of them. so is there evidence is actually believed the yorks would do this (apart from the general unrest from no male heir caused)?

see i'm thinking if it's true, henry probably didn't just think it in 1527, he was thinking it in 1516, maybe even before when there was no heir at all. but he was friends with the yorks (except buckingham obv) then, and even when they sided with koa henry only really moved against him after the exeter conspiracy

(which i find really ironic btw. he wants a son to stop the yorks but they only plot against him when he has one. and the plot probably made henry feel he was right all along)

i just don't get if henry was seriously thinking, damn, these guys are just waiting for me to die, and thinking they were all liars pretending to be loyal, and thinking this like 10, 20 years before they seriously tried anything, how he ever had a good relationship with any of the poles, courtneys and staffords.

i mean...that was what i thought the tudors did really well, underlining that he believed this because from childhood that belief was actively being shaped. granted, these were often yorkist pretenders, but like...one of his most formative experiences was probably being invested as duke of york, and the context of that ennoblement ceremony was perkin warbeck claiming the title first.

at the same time, he starts off favoring them, in contrast to his father, but then i think when the buckingham treason case happened he came to regret this. as this case was unfolding, margaret pole was dismissed from princess mary's service, for instance, and many of her relatives were interrogated. eventually she is given this position again (years afterwards, iirc), but i think that seeded his distrust and wariness of them. the GM exacerbated this also, because most of them cosmetically supported hviii, but, really, supported coa and, as he saw it (and as, was sometimes-- not always, as in the case of carew, who favored the french-- true) the emperor and pope (again, cosmetically not, as they all swore the oaths) by extension, over him.

tl; dr the picture of the poles and hviii is more complex than it's often made out. reginald pole actually originally began in support of hviii and his attempted annulment from catherine-- he argued in favor for him, and of this. he did change his mind, eventually, as it became clear this was going to be contingent on separation with the papacy (and/or, maybe he did believe all along the case was a weak one, but found it politic to dissemble and conform at first, or simply came to believe so in the process of further study)...but there was a very tangible reason hviii felt betrayed by him, and it wasn't just that he had funded his scholarship. there was an actual reversal that probably sowed a lot of mistrust and suspicion upon his family by extension.

anyway, i'm not going to get more into the weeds of all this, but i would reccomend Margaret Pole: The Countess in the Tower by Susan Higginbotham, on the subject of the exeter conspiracy, and henry's relationships with all the courtiers involved there. The Children of Henry VIII by John Guy, while not explicitly about this subject, does have a very salient section on this subject, as well.

[marciabrady]

Why do you say that Lily James and Kenneth Branagh completely misrepresented 2015's Cinderella and ruined the character? (I apologize if you've already spoken about this in depth, but I'm relatively new to your blog and could only find this subject mentioned in passing a couple of times). Thank you 💙

Hi there! Thank you for the question and no worries at all- just for reference, I have talked about it here and here before, but it has been a while and- as you said, you are new- so I can definitely list some reasons again!

So, to start off with, I think the crux of this issue is two-fold: fire and foremost, Lily and Kenneth both don't like the original animated Cinderella property and set about to "fix" it as opposed to faithfully interpret it, so the foundation that the house of "Cinderella 2015" was built upon is already shaky. And before anyone tries to "educate" me, I'm aware Kenneth has spoken favorably about the fairytale of Cinderella but he's intensely disparaged the original film, as has L*ly James, Cate Blanchet*e and Richard Mad*en at length. Secondly, I think instead of going about in trying to bring Cinderella to life, Kenneth and Lily went about in trying to portray the ideal woman to our 2015 sensibilities and, in doing so, obliterated anything that made Cinderella unique and herself.

On this last point, Lily has said over and over again that her Cinderella won't be so reliant on her Prince and won't be so passive and waiting around and has even gone so far to say that she tried to infuse as much of Belle and Jasmine into her Cinderella as she could...which, why? Belle and Jasmine are Belle and Jasmine- they don't have to be Cinderella. We can acknowledge that there are different types of women and that's okay. We don't have to dilute how women are and make them lose their individuality just to appeal to more people because there's more than one way to be a woman. But every trait they fill their Cinderella with is just what was favored at the time and it never really amounted to anything or was unique to her. We see Lily James' Cinderella with a book to show us that she's intelligent, like Belle, but it's really just for optics and that book/reading never becomes relevant later on, nor is it unique to her since every heroine after Belle has been seen with a book due to have popular it was with Belle. We see her horseback riding her frustrations away so that we could have a "powerful" shot of her, but she doesn't use her horseback riding to any purpose in the plot. She asks the Fairy Godmother to keep a semblance of her old dress so she can feel like she's taking her mother to the ball with her, but when the FGM changes it, she isn't upset at all. We see her have resources through which to leave her home, but then tell her friend she isn't so she can fulfill a promise to her Father in never leaving the home...which she ends up leaving later on. We see her "talk back" to her stepmother and stepsisters in that scene where she speaks French to them (even though this movie was set in France) but, again, that doesn't really mean anything because, if she's meant to be putting them down, they don't understand what she's saying and neither do we? Even the way she yells at the Prince "just because it's done doesn't mean it's what should be done!" just feels so...eh

That's the other thing...the entire production/cast is so hypocritical? They went on an entire press tour bashing the original Cinderella- that made their production possible btw- calling her a doormat and passive and submissive...but then in turn gave us a heroine that was infinitively more of a doormat, passive, and submissive? They tell us that the original Cinderella was reliant on a Prince, when she didn't even go to the ball for the Prince (unlike her Stepsisters) and didn't even discover the man she was dancing with was the Prince until the next morning. Meanwhile, Lily's Cinderella meets the Prince in the woods before the ball and only goes to the ball for him since she's met him prior? That is a HUGE step back by the rubric they were judging the original Cinderella by. And passive? Where the original Cinderella had snark to her and was banging against the attic door to be let out, hollering and screaming, and where she tried everything she could to get out- it was ultimately her idea and quick thinking in getting Bruno to chase off Lucifer that led to her descending upon the stairs toward freedom- Lily James' Cinderella twirls and sings passively in her room like someone who's lost it while the Duke is downstairs. She's literally discovered because a mouse accidentally opens up a window and they hear her singing...like I'm sorry but this is ridiculous to me! And here's the thing- I see people defend this version and say it's okay she's passive or whatever. And it's fine, she can be whatever she wants to be, but my point is they validated criticism that had no merit and signed off on it of the film that their movie was based off of, claiming theirs would be something different, when they ended up giving us a product that was closer to what was criticized in the original!

The cast was also very selective with what they were progressive on. Again, they were happy to throw the animated Cinderella under the bus all day, but this production pushed an unfair dichotomy of beauty. No woman in this production was allowed to be "conventionally unattractive"- every female character was made thinner, with more makeup, and youthful in appearance than their animated counterpart (Lady Tremaine with her fire red hair and bright matte lipstick, Anastasia and Drizella, the bedazzled Fairy Godmother). Again, is it bad that they're conventionally attractive? No, but you can tell the film's direction is intended to turn the original on its head by saying "see, we're not implying ugliness is bad because everyone is beautiful but of a different character" but in doing so they're showing us thin, white women with euro-centric features and they're telling us that is beautiful, with no other look to showcase and...oof. And don't even get me started on the controversy around the waistline...and this is where their selective activism comes into play again. Where they were happy to badmouth the original Cinderella, who was a victim of abuse, and inflict an victim-blaming narrative upon her, they scoffed and said it was anti-feminist to talk about Lily's body and that she was naturally a skinny girl. And she is naturally skinny- but not that naturally skinny and those weren't her proportions. She admitted to being on a liquid diet to fit into that dress and said she couldn't go a few minutes without belching into Richard's face when they were filming from how tightly she was laced into it (how charming). But God forbid anyone talks badly or questions their production! They can use Cinderella 1950's platform to badmouth her and benefit from her success while not doing anything unique, but if anyone earnestly questions anything about their film, they're pulling a reverse uno and calling you misogynistic! Which leads me into the whole values thing. Again, the live action version is becoming favored and many people think Lily's has more depth than the original (even though Ilene's Cinderella was so realistic and nuanced and strong and it makes me so sad) that they've even started to incorporate the designs from the live action into animated Cinderella's world in books:

And have even used live action Cinderella's slogan on animated merch:

Which...I hate this saying lol I don't think it makes any sense or matches the animated Cinderella at all. Animated Cinderella was kind and got along with everyone when she needed to, for survival, and she definitely avoided conflict where she could but she wasn't blindly nice to everyone all the time. She stuck up for herself when she needed to and that didn't always win her friends and she wasn't always agreeable. This message of "be kind" all the time to people who consistently do you wrong is so backwards and makes no sense and honestly is kind of problematic in how we see it leads to Lily enabling the behavior that's shown toward her (how she pretty much offers to sleep in the attic, namely, and even when she thinks the stepfamily is going to give her a dress for the ball...it just made her look dense in a way the animated Cinderella wasn't?) but also just...a deep dive into "have courage and be kind" makes me frustrated because, what they're doing is "rescuing" the perceived weakness/traditional femininity of "kindness" by marrying it to the traditionally masculine "courage." In other words, kindness would have no value if courage wasn't in front of it. Which, in a nutshell, is Lily's Cinderella. Instead of showing us who she is in action, the way the animated Cinderella does, she preaches even when it makes no sense to? (Which I hate being told what a character is- show me!) Animated Cinderella knew when to keep a trick up her sleeve. She didn't reveal the glass slipper until the last minute because she didn't trust her family and she knew there was no point in doing so, as they would never see eye to eye with her. Lily's Cinderella blatantly tells the Stepmother to her face that she doesn't plan on going along with her plan which...eh. And even the whole "love is free, kindness is free" is the perfect example of how sanctimonious she gets for no reason instead of showing us those attributes in action. And, again, it'd be one thing if Lily's Cinderella existed in a vacuum on its own, but this is coming out after all of the "Cinderella ate my Daughter" books where public perception of Cinderella was really bad! And instead of protecting Cinderella, the cast aligned themselves with the Cinderella detractors and then gave us a product that was more indictive of what was being criticized as opposed to what the original Cinderella truly was, and now everyone's favorite Cinderella (2015) is closer to a version of Cinderella that never existed but everyone believes it did...I really could go on forever, but this is my least favorite movie ever lol

[cios-correct-opinions]

post here

DISCLAIMER BEFORE ANYONE SAYS OR ASSUMES ANYTHING ABOUT ME: i am not a proshipper. i am not an anti. i do not use any shipping discourse labels because i've been actively traumatized by both communities and have no desire to put that label on myself. i am just a person capable of critical thinking who enjoys analyzing media sometimes. i do not condone harassment over fiction, and i also do not believe any form of media is free from critical analysis or criticism, especially if it includes harmful propaganda and/or portrayals of marginalized peoples/societies which serve to perpetuate or legitimatize a pre-existing societal bias. do not call me an anti. do not call me a proshipper. do not assume things about me in bad faith. ive got no time for that and ill block you if you do this.

i actually think i kinda have a grasp on what's being said here so lemme explain this bc this is kinda how i feel? i'm gonna explain as best i can since its nearing 3 am and im a lil tired. forgive me if i dont explore every angle of nuance here btw again im tired but the adderall is in my blood so.

ahem.

my main talking point is this: there is a difference between exploration of something, which can include varying depictions and portrayals of a subject, vs propaganda for something, which has the intent of swaying you towards one side or away from one side or blah blah blah you know what propaganda wants to do i'm sure

exploration of dark and taboo subjects such as CSA/SA/abuse in general, paraphilias, mental illness, incest, so on and so forth - especially when done by survivors of those things - are almost never propaganda, no matter how they're being portrayed. someone using fictional characters within a fictional context to cope with their own trauma is, 99.9% of the time, not trying to endorse that behavior in real life. they also often assume the people reading it will understand that they the creator are not trying to endorse that behavior in real life.

example: most people who create fiction based off the mafia do not actually want to be mobsters, nor do they think others should be, nor do they endorse the real life mob, even if their portrayals can sometimes be problematic in other ways and/or contribute to certain problematic societal ideas about gang violence esp when committed by white people, but that's an entirely different issue than the one at hand and has more factors in play.

a deeper example: while a work of fiction can definitely reveal certain creator biases and/or how the creator feels about certain topics, it doesn't mean that every detail in the fiction is weighted the same way. someone may have clear biases towards, for example, women, in their work based on how they write their female characters, but not condone murder in that same work just because murder is part of the plot and/or is framed as a net positive in the storyline. you can have a work which clearly shows a creator's true feelings or thoughts or philosophies or what-have-you on one topic, but not on another, within the same work. learning which of these is true and when is a learned skill. i can't tell ya to do it myself as i am not a teacher

despite it seeming like it should be easy, on the other hand, spotting propaganda can actually be really fucking hard. i am not here to talk about how to spot propaganda, and perhaps will reblog this at a later date with links on how to do that as i am too tired to both write this and look for reliable resources on doing that, so if you want that for now, sorry, you gotta search elsewhere. however, this difficulty often leads to the main conflict i see online:

people believe that an exploration or portrayal of a dark/taboo subject or a subject which contains something that is immoral or illegal in real life, which does not outright condemn that thing, and/or appears on a surface level to be a "positive" portrayal (air quotes bc what counts as positive changes depending on who you ask) even when made by real-life survivors of the thing being explored, is the exact same as propaganda meant to push the emulation of that thing or behavior in real life, by real people, to real people/others/whatever.

this is the issue i and others keep running into online, over and over and over again. people are unable to tell the difference, they are unable to tell the target audience of a work, they are unable to understand why someone would make something a certain way, and ultimately the material upsets/triggers/disgusts/bothers/etc them, and all of this leads to them treating the first group of media like the second. because of that, they assume those creating that content are encouraging its real-world application and that the creators think these actions are okay, or that they will/want to/have perpetrated those acts in real life as well. once they've decided this, it's essentially impossible to convince them otherwise

ignoring the fact that you cannot make these assumptions about a stranger online in good faith literally ever, this is a huge problem. a nazi creating propaganda indoctrination white supremacist fantasy fiction material is nowhere near the same as a CSA & SA survivor creating works of dark fiction/art to cope with their trauma, but a lot of people consider it one and the same because they literally are incapable of seeing the difference. they can't analyze either work by either creator, and are unable to see how the nazi's fiction is different from the survivor's. even if the subjects portrayed in the works are different, too

these people will also insist that any humanization of a villain they deem "bad" or "problematic" enough - which, again, is dependent on who's making those decisions and not any kind of clear standard - means that the creator condones/believes/enjoys those things the villain does, and people who enjoy that character also condone/believe/enjoy those things the villain does. the ultimate irony of it all, of course, is that these people are consuming the exact same media with the exact same characters and exact same story and exact same plotline as the people they are attacking, and many of those people also enjoyed that media. they just seem to think because they enjoy blorbo blingus The Good Guy(tm) instead of zorbo zingle The Bad Guy(tm), that makes them morally superior instead of, yknow, just someone with a different opinion who is reading/watching with a different lens than someone else

obsession with moral purity, moral superiority, and in general an abstract concept of morality, is what has ultimately led us here. in an attempt to be seen as "acceptable" by the masses of the world - regardless of whether they participate in fandom or not - for whatever reason one has, has led some of us to turn on each other within fandom spaces

fear of predatory abusers lurking in the shadows, as well as an inability to actually identify the signs of a predatory abuser caused by a society whose goal is largely to protect those same predatory abusers, as well as a sadly large and growing number of victims of abuse growing up online and sometimes being abused and/or preyed on online (as i myself was) who thus are hypervigilant for this sort of thing due to their own trauma, has all led to a willingness to attack and destroy anyone we think might possibly maybe sorta kinda be a little suspicious without a second thought to the actual probability of that person's guilt, as well as the inability to stop and ask ourselves what we're really doing when we attack people over fictional portrayals of things as well as whether or not these fictional hypothetical transgressions are truly worth destroying someone's livelihood and life over or whether they're something we can simply block and ignore and not worry about

simply liking or disliking something in media has become a source of literal panic attacks for a lot of people because they drive themselves mad looking for a "good, moral, logical reason" to like or dislike something rather than just accepting it for what it is

our lack of understanding combined with an unwillingness to be open to the possibility of alternative interpretations for anything has driven people to commit atrocities. someone is literally dying right now because of it. actively dying. will die soon. because of antis deciding their creations meant it was okay to lie about them being a pedophile (they weren't), get them fired from their job due to these false claims, resulting in them losing their health care, which has 4 years down the road, resulted in their eventual death.

we. must. do. better.

[hiemaldesirae]

please. I'm begging you for more crumbs about VADD!Shen Jiu and also that Roxana AU you have from that art post you did of the two.

As a VADD AND SVSSS fan, especially as a fan of the original villains— please. I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FOR MORE. I'm actually in the process of outlining a crossover with the original goods of both.

God, the Roxana one as well— please, PLEASE TELL ME SJ IS ROXIE HE'S SO ROXANA-CODED SOMEHOW. GIVE HIM BUTTERFLIES AND POISON AND— *gets knocked out*

by the way, LOVE your artstyle. scratches an itch i did not know existed in my brain. your chibis as well. they're so cute!!

oh you have no idea how long ive waited to talk about them. this mayyy get a bit long so ill leave it under the readmore.

disclaimer: i intend on finishing these fics so what im going to be talking about is inspirations and unfinished / abandoned ideas and other ideas i have for the works instead of anything relating to the plots themselves

for svadd, sj is a lot more complicated than he appears to be on the surface. im not so sure if what i have written currently is what i /want/ exactly because i know i want his character to go a certain way. the relationships between him and his modern-day friends is one meant to parallel the in-game "shen qingqiu" sj compares himself to and in much the same way, mirror the way that sy contrasts himself with sqq in canon: but instead of being condescending and viewing sqq as a one dimensional character, sj is able to appreciate his nuance while still being rightfully angry over his actions

to me, sj is supposed to be an unreliable narrator who constantly enforces his own thoughts. he tells himself over and over that he misses his home and that he wants to go back, that he absolutely needs to- but then, he turns the other way and finds himself being sucked even deeper into this different one.

i also really wanted to explore how sjs dynamic with a lot of the characters would be affected knowing that they were "based off" his real friends, but again im not very confident with how it came off lol

there was a lot of points in the story where i attempted to add in foreshadowing for the ending i want the story to take... in any case, it definitely wont go the same way as vadd, though i did toy with the idea of a "version" of sy being the main villain haha

(it might still happen for shits and giggles)

as for the roxanna au there are a lot of things ive wanted to do with this au and its good that i havent posted because it means i can keep revising til i come up with something good lol

its a liujiu au with some bingyuan / cumplane thrown into the mix (the cumplane is overwhelmingly toxic btw bingyuan is the healthy one out of the two here 😭) where yes sj is xana !!! he really just makes such a good manhwa villainess haha

i had been puzzling over what i wanted his motif to be-- after all, sj is typically associated with the simplicity and calming bamboo so the glittering butterflies wouldnt work with him- but after some deliberation i decided with using moths for him :3c still subject to change ofc but i think im happy with this as is

the story is somewhat similar to how roxanna goes but surprise sj isnt the transmigrator here! (and honestly, roxanna wouldve been sm better if xana hadnt been a transmigrator... or maybe i just think that because it was only used as a convenient plot point for her to know crucial info. sigh.)

my outline of how the roxanna au goes is basically this:

lqg fucks around and finds out

sj who has been seeing dreams of the "book" sy read knows what will happen to his family if lqg dies

etc

at the same time: sy, transmigrator, attempts to make sure his only surviving older brother lives to a long happy life and the only way he can secure this is by fucking up that hack author

also i killed off qi-ge and idk if i want him to come back. he'll be like the stereotypical dead anime mother for this au lmao

hmm and i think thats all i have to say for these aus... thanks for giving me a chance to ramble on haha ~ much appreciated !! and thank you for the compliment, im flattered!! 🥹🥹💕