#Always love seeing original arcs that aren't in the source material

[ablackonyxz]

When certain plot points make more sense or get a huge expansion when the oc is added. That is when you have a good oc-insert fanfiction.

[commsroom]

I'm really glad for all the love you've put into w359 fanworks. every time I see you post about it, my heart glows a little.

I'd originally felt that way while listening to the show, and your interpretation & vision feels so tightly knit to the source material. you even go farther in your explicit discussions about hera, her autonomy, her emotional depth, her treatment by other characters, and her arc as a trans allegory

totally understand why you might feel embarrassed, but I wanted you to know: thank you 💜

oh, that's so sweet of you to say!! i'm honored you think so.

i genuinely think there's a case to be made that eiffel/hera is as canon as the parameters for romance in wolf 359 allow it to be. like: gabriel urbina's policy was always "never confirm or deny 'on-screen' romance unless absolutely necessary" and from the AMAs we know they at least discussed it with regard to eiffel and hera, though we'll never know how that conversation went. it's not really a secret that sarah shachat and zach valenti, at least, viewed it that way. i still think about zach saying (paraphrased) that he thinks his non-answer is an answer, because if he didn't ship them, he could just say so.

and that's kind of how i feel about eiffel/hera within canon. like. anybody at all familiar with shows the wolf 359 writers like (especially things like btvs and farscape) can tell you there are plenty of scenes that mirror and meta-textually reference scenes from other shows. both gabriel urbina and sarah shachat were huge fans of the new doctor who, and whatever you believe the intent was, i find it hard to believe they didn't at least know they were evoking "if it's my last chance to say it, rose tyler, i-" with "and hera. hera, i-" it's what isn't said, the fact it has to be left unsaid, that speaks the loudest.

and anyway, talking about hera and romance / sexuality is especially interesting to me because it's not a given for her. it's not assumed to be something she should want or can have, and the way that intersects with her canon disability and with readings of her as a trans woman re: autonomy and desirability is very interesting (and very personal) to me, especially in the broader context of stories about AI women. but that's a topic for another post.

it's not a new observation by any means, but i think there can be a tendency to treat romance as separate from character analysis, and that's always sat poorly with me. romance isn't unique in either a good or a bad way, it's just... one type of relationship people can have. i think a lot about the unique approach wolf 359 has to romance because, while i understand why a lot of people would find the lack of romantic subplots refreshing, the characters aren't written to be intentionally disinterested in sex or romance (in some cases, textually... the opposite, even), so much as the writing carefully skirts around it. and... i don't know! there's something fascinating there.

obviously, i think you can recognize what's important about eiffel and hera's relationship (that it's the most equal one hera has ever had, that he has no real hierarchy over her or expectations for her other than companionship, how they share values and mutually support each other, etc.) without needing that to be romantic. and i think you can even acknowledge there's some degree of romantic intent without being invested like i am or "shipping" them. but i do think there's some intent there, and i think the the themes of the show can be expanded in some interesting ways to explore that beyond the intentional ambiguity of it. if you want to.

i would also never deny having an emotional bias here!! complete objectivity is never possible because we always bring parts of ourselves to our interpretations of art, and that's only amplified by how close to my heart wolf 359 is as a story. but i do really want to communicate, to the best of my ability, how much love i have for the show and how much thought i put into it. and i definitely don't mind being known for my love of eiffel/hera; they're my favorite characters from anything ever, both individually and together. but i do get kinda embarrassed when i talk about them too much, because it's not that i don't have plenty of thoughts about every other character and aspect of the show, it's just... that they are close to my heart in a particular way. anyway. i really appreciate it, thank you!!

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

this seems like a thing you'd have thoughts about. I'm annoyed over the recent rise in expecting an author to do something and getting annoyed when they don't. this applies to ships, deaths, ending. obviously being upset over them not doing something in fine, but I've seen a ton of people expecting the author to bend to their will. it's like the cosmic opposite of death of the author. 'the author is alive and living in your walls and must act based off what they hear'. a new book i've been wanting came out today and I hadn't blocked the tags for it yet and i saw a post that started with 'it's the author's fault that-' before i aborted and blocked the tag but i'm like yes?? usually the author has plans and if your (or even a whole fandom's) wants go against that, chances are they aren't just gonna....change the whole plan? i've seen this a lot for ships, or even in certain characters, people going 'this is the wrong narrator'. idk, to me it feels like you're going into it not as someone consuming media, but someone wanting to alter the world. and obvs fanfiction is great for that but (esp in certain fandoms) they expect things to be more choose-your-own-adventure-y? I also just in general think fans have become super obsessed with the concept of things being "right", so if the author writes something OOC (technically impossible) for plot purposes or has character growth in a way the fans don't want, the fans riot and call it poor writing. as a writer it weirds me out cause I *know* where I want to go, I *have* plans, and obviously they'll change, but I'm not sure the changes will be based on tumblr rants. plus for shipping, not everything is queerbaiting if a hinted at gay ship doesnt go canon. idk, this seems like something you'll have insight on

(to be clear, this ask will be touching on audience as it pertains to death threats, harassment, and other adverse reactions to characters and ships ONLY. nothing else.)

THE COSMIC OPPOSITE OF DEATH OF THE AUTHOR: THE AUTHOR IS ALIVE AND LIVING IN YOUR WALLS AND MUST ACT BASED OFF OF WHAT THEY HEAR.

hi, i'm alive and well because of this phrase, thank you for bringing it into my inbox. and you're right. i do have thoughts on this (though you've managed to capture a lot of them perfectly in your ask).

namely, that anyone who thinks a character is OOC is in denial. either that they've just sorely misinterpreted a character, or that maybe the source material just isn't For Them anymore. it's hard to reconcile with for sure, especially when you love a fictional world with your whole heart.

i can even see how the loss of control over something you care so deeply for could be painful or overwhelming. and that wound to the ego might make you livid. but it's just that: a wound to the ego. a loss of control over something you fooled yourself into believing you had even an ounce of control over, when you didn't.

you were always just along for the ride.

it's concerning that people would jump to say "you didn't do this right! you ruined everything!" to the author, rather than realising that they just didn't vibe with what the author wrote. there needs to be a way we can express a disagreement in preferences without making it a death threat.

or, perhaps more urgently, there needs to be a way we can all realise that expressing our every opinion loudly isn't always wanted or needed. because in the case of fictional worlds, our opinions often don't matter. in the case of seasoned and/or published authors, they aren't warranted.

i think authors can do a poor job in constructing character arcs, or keeping characters consistent through a longer series. i think, sometimes, they can use character decisions for shock value instead of something that is maybe more in line with what we've previously been told about the character.

but the fact that the phrase "OOC" even exists in the context of the original creator has always been laughable to me. ultimately, it's their decision how they portray their characters. it's their world. not ours.

you can choose to be part of it or you can choose to move on.

[curetapwater]

I've made lots of decisions behind your back on my own for this AU, but this one specifically I feel as though I want your input:

Should Sonic propose?

My biggest gripe is that while I technically have them aged up a bit, probably 19 or 20 the both of them, it still feels. A little young.

Sonic in original source material is already pretty marriage-averse (we stan an aro-coded icon). I can however flip his idea of marriage on its head like "I thought that marriage would cement me in my place and I'd never have any freedom but our relationship has been an adventure and maybe marriage would be the start of a new adventure I'd love to embark on with you."

Marriage proposal cements that Amy will never reclaim Sonic as her partner therefore cementing her as a family disappointment, so it feels almost... necessary to push her to the edge...

But I don't feel like either of them would want a public proposal, much less a televised one, much less one in front of Amy, who they've both been avoiding for a long while. And I've already played the "finds out about major plot point through the news which sets off an event bigger event" card. I'd rather not be repetitive.

I'm going to ask more people, but your input is always incredibly appreciated.

Firstly, it honors me to no end that my input is so valued by you! I'm sure you know since you're asking others too, but of course these are just my thoughts and if you take them in a different direction than me I still have faith that you'll execute your own plans very well! Anyway, imo for the purposes of the narrative (especially Amy's arc), I do think it's important that Sonic and Shadow get engaged. A few thoughts:

The age is certainly jarring by our standards (I'm about to be 21 and I certainly am not ready for that kinda commitment lol), but I think considering the setting (assuming you're keeping the heavy fairy tale/Disney inspiration) I don't think marrying as a young adult is too shocking. Most Disney Princesses are roughly 15-19, and the majority of them marry or at least get engaged to their princes by the end of the movie (the implications there are ripe for discussion), so if D!Mobius is drawing from that source material like Auradon does, then I don't think them getting engaged at 20-ish will raise any eyebrows, especially since that doesn't necessarily mean they're getting married immediately. My parents married at like 21/22 if that means anything regarding my perspective on this.

I agree that canon Sonic would never marry, although I think you're right about how D!Sonic's perspective on it could be a little more open. The way I see it, a lot of Sonic's aversion to committed relationships is that he doesn't want to be slowed down by being tied to another person (valid), but Shadow is literally one of the only people who can keep up with him. I think that viewing their marriage as their next big adventure works really well! Especially since I assume D!Sonic probably lived a pretty quiet palace life before he met Shadow.

Yeah, publicized marriage proposals that aren't discussed prior rub me the wrong way, because that's a huge commitment to put someone on the spot like that with. I'm not sure how you'd go about portraying the proposal, maybe the actual proposal happens privately but their announcement is public? And because Amy is a princess (or however nobility works in this AU) she's a large public figure and just Has to be there to hear the announcement regardless of how anyone feels? Like, "oh the king is making a big announcement today, the noble Rose bloodline has to show up" idk

I imagine because this'll be prose it's no longer gonna be a musical (not that that's impossible to pull off) but I just wanna say that in the movie I love that in this scene they have a callback to Did I Mention because in D1 that was the scene where Audrey first felt betrayed.

But like I said, that's just my thoughts! I'm excited to see where you take this!