#And they do it in a way that is as ez as possible (basically just tacking on Halsin with tav and not rly being the 3 of them equally)

[elusianknight]

Some ppl gotta remember game mechanics exist and the lack of some poly routes in bg3 is undoubtedly due to the complexity of additional scenes, dialogue and programming flags/checks it would cause

[vyl3tpwny]

do you have a preferred method to get vsts and other such instruments for a DAW?? im poor as heck and dont know ANYTHING about piracy, im so scared of getting goobered by people on the internet

i wish i knew more about the best go-to sites for pirating rn unfortunately i have no clue. ppl on the internet can have such shit intentions too so i dont even know where to look or who to ask. but also here's some free + VERY cheap things u may consider (below the break):

vital synth (i will always shill for vital bc i use it constantly and its free lol)

ob-xd synth (it says buy for $49, but the free download is on the left. the buy link is just a donate)

klanghelm plugins (all these are made by one dude. mjuc is a great vintage style compressor, the dc8c is a pretty featured compressor for the price, sdrr has a particularly nice tube saturation/distortion, and vumt is a great metering plugin, i have vumt on every single project since 2019)

analog obsession (if you donate $5 to their patreon you can get every single plugin they make. also all made and maintained by one person. lots of different things, so i recommend just downloading everything and exploring the functions of the plugins)

tokyo dawn labs (all very high quality mixing stuff. they have free versions of most of their premium stuff and they're quite featured despite being free. ez.)

kilohearts (they recently made all their main effects free. and if you want their flagship stuff, its all rent-to-own as well.)

sforzando (soundfont player. if you dont know what soundfonts are, theyre essentially really condensed, lightweight sampled instruments. they can often sound rlly cheap or tacky [which might be good, i definitely love that sound] but just install this and google [instrument] soundfont and just find lots of free instruments that way)

togu audio line (some free effects and instruments if you scroll down. but i also recommend TAL Sampler if you want a cool sampler and can afford it)

meldaproduction (has a free plugin suite. theres an annoying watermark at the bottom for free versions, but everyone understands. shit is expensive)

native instruments (they have the komplete start bundle which is just a bunch of free decent stuff)

musicradar FREE SAMPLES (ive sworn by a few of the sample resources that i've gotten from musicradar as far back as 2011 lol)

looperman FREE SAMPLES (looperman is a user-sourced sample website where ppl upload samples they've made* and you can just download and use them for free. sometimes people request specific credit, so check for that if you can. *NOTE: its very possible for people to upload unlicensed samples or stuff they didn't make so use your best judgement when sorting through stuff)

freesound FREE SAMPLES (freesound rules always reliable)

synth1 (AHHHH IM SO HAPPY I CAN RECOMMEND THIS RIGHT NOW!!!! synth1 used to be abandonware but was finally picked up again and is supported by modern systems once more. i used this religiously from 2013-2017. and i'm going to start using it again honestly)

valhalladsp (this is the only exclusively premium thing i'm going to leave in this thread [aside from bitwig, below], but it's just that god damn good. every plugin of theirs is $50, so if you can manage to go for ValhallaVintageVerb and/or ValhallaDelay you will basically never need another reverb/delay ever again; would recommend NOT pirating from them if you can help it bc theyre definitely a very small company but u know.. ur call)

bitwig (if you need a DAW, i can now heartily recommend Bitwig. it's on the rent to own program through splice if you're ok getting it legally...)

—

i know this isnt what u asked but i hope its still helpful. i've also rescinded my recommendations for spitfire audio bc the company was revealed to be run by a bunch of queerphobic knuckleheads. everything in this list i have personally used for my own music and can vouch for them from actual experience (YES even bitwig, i made the song "Futura" on Carousel exclusively with Bitwig, making it the first time i've made an entire song outside of Ableton since 2014).

again i hope this helps, forgive me for not knowing enough about pirating at the moment 😭 please make so much music and please look at this animal:

[raayllum]

Something I’ve been noticing a lot in my current rewatch is how Rayla and Soren are foils…Soren being the failed crownguard (“failed” in large part bc of his father’s choices) who ends up on a quest to kill his little king… Rayla trying to make up for her parents’ failures as dragonguards and going every extra mile to protect Zym but taking Ezran under her protection as well (sometimes FROM Soren)…, Soren runs Viren through for trying to kill Ez but he’s just an illusion, the real Viren is trying to kill Zym, and Rayla is prepared to die to stop that…then Rayla goes but Soren stays, and when she comes back he’s taken up her role as the moral center of the show, arguing points that she used to make

I tried to see if you’d written anything about these two being foils specifically but tumblr search is… you know lol. I would love it if you could point me to a relevant meta if there is one! If there isn’t, I hope my thoughts were interesting lol they make me emotional

Y'know funnily enough I don't think there ever was a dedicated Soren&Rayla from almost anyone (of course I could've missed it, but at least not from me) precisely cause from what I remember of early post-s3 arc 1 days, their foil relationship was just... a general fandom consensus of everyone going "Oh yeah that checks out" and kinda left at that.

After all, Soren is the princes' sworn protector who tries to kill them, makes his way back onto the right side, and then 'kills' Viren (his father) in order to protect them... whereas Rayla is their sworn killer who defects from her father in order to protect those same princes, and then she actually kills Viren (if Aaravos and Claudia hadn't intervened) in the same episode. More than that, they both leave behind their previous "hey kill these kids" roles in favour of being a Protector of their respective princes (Soren with Ezran, Rayla with Zym) respectively likewise in 3x09.

You're absolutely right that Soren and Rayla both rely a lot on their physical fighting skills, and this parallel in regards to failure always stands out to me in S3:

Soren: As crownguard, it was my job to make sure that nothing happened to him. No matter what. So when the Moonshadow elves came I did everything I could to protect him. But it wasn't enough. I just... don't want to fail you, too. Rayla: It's me, and it's all my fault. I failed them. I let them all down. They're right to reject me. I'm not good enough, and I never will be.

as does this one for Runaan-Viren, because Runaan may have brought his teenage daughter on an assassination mission, but she's never seemingly scared of him the way Soren is of Viren

even if both fathers take issues with 'fear born' weakness at least in theory

And of course there's some other parallels scattered throughout, which makes sense: 1x01-1x03 is basically Rayla speedrunning Soren's S1-S3 arc of perpetuating the cycle of violence to actively trying to stop it by joining forces with your previous 'enemy'.

I think in a lot of ways Soren was exactly the sort of human Rayla had prepared her whole life to kill -- he's proud, he lies, he's not a 'good' person (at first) -- but of course, now they're good friends and it's very sweet to see. Arc 2 has less direct foils, but it's still there, y'know? Just more quietly in the background.

For example, enough has changed since 2x07 that now in 4x05 their roles have virtually switched, since Soren is the one campaigning to save the dragon while Rayla, although not the aggressor, is saying to walk away. I expect S6 Rayla to take some of Soren's 'protector' quality on further in regards to "doing everything you can" when Callum gets possessed. Possible 5x08 parallels also stand out to me with the concepts of identities (names), ownership vs agency, and compassion against the enemy currently wailing on you through future possessed!Callum and Elmer parallels.

The two are also in for a real pickle since they're the most "these people are the bad guys, we're the good guys" in the show... and it's like sir your sister is evil and ma'am your boyfriend is going through a corruption arc, you're in for some rude awakenings. That said they do have their unbreakable bonds of love with Claudia and Callum respectively, so who knows. It'll all work out. (Eventually.)

On that note we can also see some parallels between 2x02 and 3x03 perhaps... Rayla accuses Soren of trying to kill Ezran but explains it poorly, so Callum gives her as much as he can but doesn't side with her in the moment (which to be fair it is Quite a leap so like Callum you're so valid) VS Soren poorly explaining Viren asking him to kill the princes and Claudia not siding with him. The difference is that in the face of more evidence in favour of Claudia + Soren, Callum still sides with Rayla, and in the face of more evidence against Viren ("You'll understand when you see the first to change" -> "Claudia, you're changing too"), Claudia still sides with Viren, but I digress.

I'd also argue that Ezran is the moral centre of the show (at least to me) simply because he's the only one in the main cast who hasn't entered the 1) you did terrible things in the name of love/protective relay and 2) he's pretty measured and compassionate 99% of the time (but I do love the 1% when he's not let me tell you).

I talked about it in this meta (which is 2+ years old jc) about how like a good moral line event horizon measuring stick is "how does this character treat Ezran" and if they're treating him poorly they're not doing the right thing, and if they're treating him well then they Are, but it doesn't go into S4 or S5 so like. Mileage may vary

Last but not least: I do have a Sorayla tag for headcanons edits brotp content in general so if you want more of them, that's what I'd recommend, with fics such as "flower crowns" (oneshot) and "if heaven and hell decide" (completed multichap, 60k) for their dynamic

[anonymous-dentist]

Okokokok I need some help understanding something and you’re a writer so I trust your judgement. I keep trying except I’m just making myself more upset. I just want to start enjoying the new story with everyone like normal

In a story, how do you take revenge against something/someone with plot amor?

I feel like the revenge>failure>anger>revenge cycle would get a bit repetitive right?

I’m just trying to think of this in term of story and character development and I’m failing to grasp how this will work in a way that’s productive

I think that the events over the past few weeks or so are meant to show that the Federation doesn't have as much plot armor as you think it does. Because it's spread so fucking thin right now between the kidnapping of Ron and the murders and the dark matter and the Mini-Mes getting taken and the eggs and the president going missing. They don't know what's going on and the workers are scared and in hiding and literally only Foolish is chill right now, and that's because he's become such a good spy that even the "higher ups" love him. He's currently in the process of doing what Cellbit spent months trying to do, and he's going to succeed.

But this isn't about the Federation, it's about Cucurucho, aka the thing Cellbit really wants to destroy even if he's telling everyone , who was apparently proven to not even be a part of the Federation at all today! Apparently, the Census Bureau isn't a Federation employee like. At All.

So this begs the question: how do you kill a God?

The answer is that... well, you don't. Not when you're Cellbit, and that's exactly the point of what he's doing now. He's not going after Cucurucho specifically for a reason: he knows he can't win. Which is why he's going after the regular workers first. That way, he can start dismantling the Federation from the outside as others dismantle it from the inside (he knows about Fit being a spy, and he technically knows about Foolish even if he doesn't believe him all the way.)

We all think the Federation has plot armor, but it really doesn't! All things considered, the islanders have won against it several times! Between the eggs basically going rogue and breaking whatever programming they were under as Federation creations to get attached to their parents, ElQuackity the Federation Plant losing the election due to islanders' interference, Cellbit keeping the Federation from killing him by killing himself, the Mini-Mes being stolen, Pac and Mike escaping prison, Felps and Cellbit escaping their prison, Baghera escaping the island in the first place, the islanders becoming friends with several workers to the point of said workers defecting from the Federation, Forever and Pac being freed from the influence of the Happy Pills, and literally everything Fit and Foolish have managed to do while undercover, we've seen the Federation lose, and I think we forget about all of this because, well. It is Torture Island.

The plot armor here isn't necessarily the Federation's. It's Cucurucho's, and it's Cellbit's real target. But he knows he can't do anything to it yet, and so he's going for everything around it, and then, when he's strong enough or whatever, he's going to go for Cucurucho itself, and he's made it bleed before, actually, way back during the first Hide and Seek game day. He's just waiting for another opportunity, and he's waiting very patiently. (LOL)

It looks hopeless now, but this is legitimately day one of the arc. It's no use doomposting or anything when we haven't seen who's gonna help Cellbit out, because we know that some of the strongest people on the island possibly would. Like Etoiles, who legit doesn't give a fuck about killing Federation workers because he did quite literally kill like 20 in ten minutes or so, EZ. And Roier, who is genuinely one of the strongest non-Etoiles pvpers on the island. And Maxo, who has a literal nuclear bomb.

My advice as a writer? Just chill and don't think about it too much. I can see how awesome this arc is going to be because Cellbit is an EXCELLENT storyteller. It's not worth worrying about when we don't even know all the factors in play yet.

[giuliettacapuleti]

No but the way Júlia and Tybalt (In Rómeó és Júlia especially but in every adaption actually) perfectly mirror each other in the way they are being stifled by the role they play due to their gender and how it fucks them up, as well as the way they completely reject their roles (specifically in Rómeó és Júlia)? We have Tybalt, who was forced to be as violent and protective of his family as possible despite the heavy implication that he was a sensitive and dreamy child, not to mention the way his views of sex and love were shaped by social conventions (and specifically his father).

I’m going by the Italian Renaissance societal mores here, even though resj presumably takes place in a quasi-dystopian or post-dystopian future/Alternate Universe. During the Italian Renaissance, male children spent very little time with a nurse because that was considered ‘feminine’, and were sent off to school at a very young age. Although family was still considered the most important thing, actual familial relationships were hard to cultivate presuming that child was away at school. Now, it could be that I’m looking way too much into this and no one even thought about Tybalt’s childhood regarding him going away to school or being taught by a tutor at home, so I could be way off, BUT my point is that the emotions regarding family were strictly based on the masculine ‘protector and provider’ aspect rather than tenderness and actually spending time with family.

You can even see this in modern western society! It is only within the past few decades that men started to spend more time with their children, and do traditionally ‘feminine’ things for their kids like changing diapers, feeding etc. The idea of a Father being a provider rather than a caregiver has even carried over to society today - men are still praised for running errands with their children and doing activities with them without the mother present. These men are just seen as being ‘babysitters’ ‘helping out mom’ when they should simply be seen as parents doing their job as parents. It’s unnecessary to go into the negative impact this has had on both men and women, but my point is that this ‘nuture vs provide and protect’ view is still prevalent today, and was 100x worse in the Itaian Renaissance Era (and presumably society in resj).

So Tybalt is burdened with the duty to protect his family, but we see he, unlike his father, actually wants to be close emotionally to his family. The best evidence for this is his relationships to women in his family. I’ve made another post about this, but basically Tybalt’s father has taught him that women are literally ‘objects’, and the goal is to sleep with as many women as possible with absolutely no emotional attachment or respect for the women they sleep with. Tybalt, per his own admission in Ez A Kéz Utolér, mentions sleeping with many women indiscriminately, and not being emotionally attached to any of them. But as the song goes on we realize that he doesn’t want that. He is in love with Júlia, and clearly does not see her as an object. He doesn’t believe any man is good enough for her (least of all him).

Now, I’ve seen it argued that he doesn’t actually see Júlia as her own person, only the ideal of her, and even has the whole ‘Madonna/Whore Complex’ going on, which is certainly a valid argument, but I’m not sure I agree with it.

I think he sees himself in Júlia - the sensitive and loving child he never got to be. It’s possible a part of him does not want to see Júlia lose her innocence (not necessarily in a creepy way), and become like him.

Don’t get me wrong, his love for Júlia is definitely creepy and a good amount of his rage comes from romantic (and presumably sexual) jealousy. He mentions that he never loved any of the women he slept with, and has only ever loved Júlia. According to his father, love is just a weakness and women are just for sex, but clearly Tybalt doesn’t agree.

Possibly the ONLY healthy relationship he has (err, had) in his life is with the Nurse - he is seen holding her hand at the ball and she embraces his body after he dies, and has to be pulled away by a servant. I believe this is possibly a nod to when the Nurse calls him the “best friend she had” in Shakespeare (another reason I love resj is the Shakespearen nods while doing its own thing).

Lady Capulet obviously loves Tybalt (judging by her reaction to his death), though his uncomfortable attraction does not seem to be reciprocated. The inclusion of his attraction to her could be another nod to Shakespeare - though it is not actually in the text, a fairly popular theory is that Tybalt and Lady Capulet were lovers (it’s possibly worth noting that Lady Capulet was likely closer in age to Tybalt than Lord Capulet). Personally I don’t think there was any inappropriate relationship in Shakespeare, but in a way it works specifically for the Capulets in resj - the relationships they have are not healthy at all: they lack boundaries, can’t communicate, and can’t express their (familial) love until it’s too late.

Obviously, Tybalt doesn’t have a healthy relationship with his aunt and has some kind of weird attraction to her, possibly as a result of only caring (in general) about the Capulets. Yet he seems to listen to Lady Capulet in a way he doesn’t to Lord Capulet - Lady Capulet orders him to find Rómeó, and later presumably to kill him (when she talks to him in his room).

So, my point is that Tybalt, despite claiming that women are just objects, has the most important (and possibly only important) relationships with women.

Anyway Tybalt is messed up and complex and the Capulets are even more dysfunctional than in romeó et juliette send tweet.

[sludgewolf]

Soren Relationship/General Hcs

Disclaimer: do not copy, repost, take or feed to AI or NFTs anything I post

Masterlist

You fell first but he fell harder kind of deal

post Battle of Storm Spire tho, before that he had negative rizz

seeing him grow from under his father opressive gaze into the crownguard you got to know, it was hard to not fall for him

Though he's still the little camp boy the castle has always known, he sings and hums camp songs to you all the time

he's still a dork at heart, making puns at any oportunity, trying to draw a laugh from anyone around

Soren takes great pride on Ez trusting him with being the crownguard, basically trusting him with his life

on top of that he tries the hardest to keep the royal brothers' inner children alive, in spite of everything that has happened in these past few years

Viren pressured Soren to grow up fasters, of course it didn't work like he wanted to, but the pressure still weights down on him and Soren refuses to see it happen to Ezran and Callum

especially with Ezran, who had the weight of the whole kingdom thrusted on his shoulders at such a young age and Soren refuses to let them suffer through it alone

so yes, despite anything you say Soren still spoils the shit out of the kid, even sneaking behind your back for him sometimes

but it's mostly harmless, many times ending with some fun little adventure around the castle

Mr Crownguard still wears his pajamas under his armor, claiming that it's the best idea ever

you judge him hard but you know that it won't stop him anyways

you manage to make him agree to change pajamas everytime he uses it outside

After the Battle of Storm Spire Soren and Amaya grew close, bonding over their dutties and exchanging battle strategies like pokemon cards

they ended up growing really close, with Amaya treating him as another nephew and trusting him with taking over things at Katolis

that's why he was heartbroken when you couldn't attend her wedding due to his deadbeat dad coming back to fuck everything up

thankfully he had you by his side, or he wouldnt be able to handle everything that happened that night

Loved dragons when he was a little kid, after everything he still keeps his dragon plushie on the bed while not using it

on the first oportunity he showed it to Zubeia and Zym

Many of your dates end up being third wheeled by Hat since none of you have the heart to say no to the little guy

As anyone who knows Soren can attest, he loves to exercise to keep in shape

laps up and down the tallest tower every morning are a must do for him

Soren always asks you to join him in his workouts, even if it's just for you to sit on his back and count as he does push ups

will run up to you and easily lift you up in a hug everytime he sees you to show affection

you were surprised by his strengh at the start, he claims it's due to his ridgid workout rotine but it's actually due to the spell used on him when he was a small child

Viren's so called perfect spell thankfully seems to not have negative effects other than maybe him eating way more than humanly possible

and after Claudia's healing spell his healing and strength get even greater, almost clearly supernatural but Soren would be the last person to notice that

and you're not going to be the one to tell him that, knowing him it would only make him even more reckless

jumping off in front of danger in order to protect others with little regard for his own safety, especially if that someone is you

then he'd fight a dragon again just to protect you

Sor-bear ironically used to be scared of bears as a little kid, his mom had to stop telling the story of Goldy Locks to the siblings due to that

To this day Soren still has nightmares from when he stabbed Viren and seeing Claudia's reaction to it, even if it was an illusion it still haunts him

before you were a thing he'd struggle to fall asleep, usually prefering to exercise to the point he'd drag himself to the nearest surface and passout from exaustion

now with you he likes being the big spoon, your smell and touch calming his nerves enough for him to fall asleep

Through the night Soren holds you thight and close to his chest, almost as if he's scared that like his family you'll vanish too

If you liked this pls reblog and comment so I know to write more like it

[thekingofwinterblog]

Thoughts on people saying "Kuina dieing to the stairs is anti-climatic!" To me it works, because that seems to be the conflict of Zoro's ark: pipe dreams vs cruel, sometimes even banal, reality - Kuina feared that she wont reach her dream do to simple biology, and she died because of something that could happen to anybody who is human and not a demigod - hell Zoro in the end is also a human, so what are the chances that he has the best swordfighter genes?

Guess the only flaw could be that in Arlong park the fishmen were said to be 10* stronger than humans, so by Zoro easily defeating them it kinda proves the point mute and makes Kuina sound like a brat "Well a man is 1.6 times stronger than a man, but fishmen are 10 times stronger, and I defeated the ez gg, git gud"

I really like Kuina and her story, but there is no denying that the original message it was trying to convey has been diluted HARD by One Piece's later developments.

The message of the tragedy of Kuina's death is indeed that simple, Banal reality is very much a thing that can upend pretty much anything. It's basically the same message of Usopp's backstory. his family's plans fell to pieces for the simple reason that his mother got sick and died after his dad left. no grand battle, or dramatic circumstances behind that. she just got sick and died.

It is very similar to Kuina's death, in how ambition, plans, and desires of Humanity can be derailed by mundane and cruel reality. That is life. To claim othervise would be naive. People Die.

That part still holds up.

The other big part does not. Namely her father's line "Humans are fragile beings Zoro."

The thing about this line, and it's importance in the context of One Piece has been destroyed over time to such a degree that rather than the feeling of grounded reality that it once brought, instead brings laughter by how untrue it actually is.

Early One Piece had a much, much less uncomfortable relationship with death than the Modern series which is terrified of killing people off.

This is not to say that tons of characters died, on the contrary, not counting flashbacks and chapter 1, you can probably count the people who died in East Blue on one hand(I can only recall Zoro's skinny opponent during the Kuro Arc), but Death was treated in a very different manner than it would be later.

When Oda had this random bandit gunned in the head in chapter 1, it was to set a tone. None of these characters are playing around, wheter they were pirates, bandits, marines or bounty hunters. They lived in a world where getting killed in a fight was a very real and expected risk.

When Usopp gets laughed at by the Black Cat Pirates, Luffy throws a huge boulder at them, and tells them in no uncertain terms that if they laught at him again, he WILL kill them all.

In the context of this world, Kuina's story has very specific point. Namely it's there to showcase that even if you do overcome your doubts and fears, and do commit to chasing your dreams, that is no guarantee for success.

You can still die, and in the stupidest ways, because this is not a universe where death is cheap. It does not take much to kill a human being.

This is also hammered in with what happened to the cook Pirates, a strong, and experienced crew that sailed and survived the Grand Line, and seemingly the New World as well... And they went down toa single, wave in the East blue they hadn't positioned the ship for.

despite their strength they went down like complete chunks.

Just like Kuina.

With all of this in mind, within the context of East Blue, Kuina's Death by a broken neck makes sense from a thematic standpoint.

If you look at it from beyond that era, and into the grand line, where death became as cheap as salt by the sea, it instead makes her going down to something as simple as falling down the stairs and breaking her neck, as something frankly hilariously silly, given just how many characters in this series cheats death, in the dumbest ways possible.

I could make a list of characters who the story would be better off if they died, and i would literarily be able to put up a list with at least over a hundred characters.

The simple fact is that the old tone where death is treated as a serious thing that can happen in any fight, is dead and gone, and has been for a long, long time in One Piece.

Thus removing one of the big thematic points of Kuina's death.

As for the other point, Kuina's actual strength, I dont really see that as a problem.

The Reality is that neither Kuina, nor Zoro knew ANYTHING about the "Real World" so to speak. That was mostly what Mihawk's entire speech during his and Zoro's fight was about. The fact that he was a big frog at the bottom of the well, who had never seen just how wast the world actually was.

While she was at a disadvantage in terms of the fact that her training would begin to produce slower results than Zoro's due to simple biology, the reality is that the strength ceiling of One Piece seems to be the same for men and Women.

After all, Big Mom was by all accounts just as strong as Kaido, able to fight him to a very comfortable draw withouth any greater injury.

Hell, you could make a very good argument that the reason why Big Mom never managed to surpass Whitebeard and had to settle for just being one of the other Yonko who were not the Strongest Man in the World, was because she let herself go really, really hard. Who knows how strong she might have become if she had kept herself in shape rather than just indulge in hedonism completely and become utterly decadent.

There is also the reality that Kuina is drastically underselling her own strenght and potential, because by all accounts, Kuina was a monster in her own right.

Zoro used to train by lifting boulders over his head while training to fight her.

And Kuina was stronger than him. and not by a small amount either given her unbroken 2001 win streak.

Her greatest problem was, at the end of the day that despite being blessed with immense natural skill and strength(much moreso than Zoro) she had a fragile self esteem, in large part caused by her father's upbringing that told her she was destined to failure.

Her story was about overcoming that, and her tragedy was about the fact that after doing so, her dream was still snuffed out to something completely unrelated to any of her worries or struggles.

[paeliae-occasionally]

OC Questionnaire

Thanks for the tag @theink-stainedfolk!

I will answer for Xaeren, Kell and Apollo.

1. What's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done? Would you do it again?

Xaeren: Probably deciding to travel the world. I am glad I did it. I would never have found Ez and Rin’s research otherwise, and I would never have had the best days of my life in Zairel.

Kell: Following a random stranger to a different city to learn magic. I would do it again in a heartbeat. This has changed my life, I am top of my class in casting and have a promising future as a mage. That is much more than I would ever have had in Daliva.

Apollo: When we escaped the Ponturesi, I decided to experiment with some of the runes, I tried using Zyr fly and it nearly worked. I wouldn’t do it again now because I know that I need it in combination with Usoul to lessen my weight before the air can support me.

2. If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be and why?

Xaeren: Muliva Kazi. Assuming I can choose the day, she is quite dead now. She was the first to design ways of killing the gods in the godly war, her research would be very helpful to me.

Kell: Febras Ollati. She is the voice of the council who run house lysandri and the most powerful mage in a generation. (She is kind of my hero.)

Apollo: The head of house for The Vandris. I would like to give some orders to the rest of the house on the limits of cruelty that we accept. Then I would cause as many problems as possible in his house and leave.

3. What's one thing you're passionate about that might surprise people?

Xaeren: I love travelling and learning new languages and cultures. Most people who know me have only ever met me in Zairel, but I have been everywhere I could reach before Schaeres found me.

Kell: I love cooking. I haven’t done it since I left Daliva but when I worked in the tavern I used to help the cooks prepare and it was the only good thing about that place.

Apollo: I love learning. I would have gone to school and studied for my whole life just to learn more about history, magic and the world. Tyro would tell you that I already know basically everything and most of the people at camp think I am fine with an ability in the runes but I want to know more. They are probably right that it is not useful, but even still I want to know.

Your Questions are:

What is your favourite time of day?

What age do you expect to live to? Do you want to live longer?

You have to destroy a building, how do you do it?

Tagging @drchenquill, @the-golden-comet, @somethingclevermahogony, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @thecomfywriter

@rivenantiqnerd, @leahnardo-da-veggie and @frostedlemonwriter.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Mystery of Chopper Base"

Spiders. Why did it have to be spiders.

So first off, it's hilarious and adorable that they named it "Chopper Base". Did Chopper claim dibs on the name since he's the one who found it or did they name it after him to be all, "Okay, yeah, you did really good this time." as a nice little way to honor him?

*chants* At-ol-lon, At-ol-lon, At-ol-lon, At-ol-lon. :D

Ahhh haven't heard the mellow variation of the Main Titles theme in a while.

Actually I think this is the same cue that opened "Path of the Jedi" I recognize these little string ditties.

Kanan and Ezra have been sparring in the cargo hold for hours, it's implied, and Sabine has been watching. You can already hear from the modified buzzing that the sabers are in training mode, and Kanan is performing a lot of basic strikes, reminding Ezra of the fundamentals maybe?

In light of his internal decision in "Shroud of Darkness" Kanan has apparently resolved to cram in as much last-minute lightsaber practice as possible before they have to go off and possibly confront Vader and the Inquisitors. He's pushing Ezra a little bit hard, and you can hear Ezra's frustration.

Something interesting I notice during this sparring session is that Kanan seems to be particularly focusing on getting Ezra to get out of situations where he's pinned against a wall.

HOO BOY all the little tiny things that wound up being horrible portents of things to come this episode.

"You win by surviving." Kanan already trying to correct Ezra in a "how we choose to fight" fashion.

Ezra's particularly snippy after all that, normally Sabine complimenting him would make him beam and try to say something cute or clever back but here he's just huffy and irritated.

"But since when are you my enemy?" *CRIES IN SIX MONTH GAP BETWEEN SEASON 2 AND SEASON 3 FEELS*

Hera's expression turns somber and downcast (which Sabine notices) riiiiight in time for us to have a fanfareless titlecard.

A very broken-down variation of the "Shenanigans" cue, with precise military-drum percussion accompanying it.

Hera unamused by Kanan's "excited face" lolol.

"So I can expect them to be late all the time then." Lol, yep, sorry AP, you picked a very disorganized scrappy band of underdogs.

Ha ha spoke too soon, Rex. Spoke too soon.

I feel so bad for Dicer, she didn't deserve to be spider chow. :(

Some clever foreshadowing with the dokma crouching under the sensor though.

"Everything you need." "...Except you and Ezra." :((((( Ugh the way Kanan and Hera's thread this episode feels vaguely like a messy divorce/separation in places.

Just because Hera understands and accepts that Kanan and Ezra have to leave to keep the rest of the base safe doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, doesn't make her any less worried and anxious.

Lol Chopper running straight into Ezra while chasing the dokma that got in.

Ah frick this scene.

This whole episode has this melancholy feel of the calm before the storm. Building up an anticipation of major narrative shake-ups, giving us a breather before things get really crazy.

"The deep breath before the plunge", as it were, since I know the nerds working on this show adore the Lord of the Rings films.

It permeates the whole story, infused in every small sad expression, every innocuous line of dialogue that hurts so much more afterwards.

Catch me crying forever about Ezra and Zeb's friendship and how close they've gotten and how sweet it is.

ALSO PLEASE DON'T THINK ABOUT ZEB THINKING BACK TO THIS MOMENT AFTER THE FINALE HAPPENS, WISHING AND HOPING FOR THE DAY WHEN HE CAN KEEP HIS PROMISE TO SWAP WAR STORIES WITH EZRA AND MISSING HIS LITTLE BROTHER TERRIBLY.

Ahhh I see we brought back the Fyrnock cue, once again signaling something dangerous and hungry lurking in the dark.

NOOOOOOOOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. I DO NOT LIKE THE KRYKNA I DO NOT LIKE THEM.

"Aim for the eyes." Right and it turns out to be actually very hard to hit the eyes so that helps only slightly.

Cheeky Ezra with his lightsaber flashlight lol.

"We've got to get used to not having them around." :((((( No one knew at the time how long Kanan and Ezra were going to be separated from the rest so this hit a lot sadder back then. Still ouch tho.

Sabine so worried about Hera. :(

HA HA LOOK AT THIS BOY HE SEES A STRANGE NEW DANGEROUS CREATURE AND HIS EYES JUST LIGHT UP ALL, "I WILL MAKE IT MY FRIEND! :D"

He's so excited to try and connect with it aww.

Hints to the strained tension between Kanan and Ezra, they immediately fall to bickering once the threat is dealt with.

I... don't even wanna think about what they were going to use Rex for, probably storing him for food after they ate Dicer.

People complained about the fact that shots kept missing the eyes but I appreciate this little bit of realism about shot accuracy. Even trained marksmen will have trouble with a small moving target like that, they won't always hit the eyes every single time first try.

Lightsabers be more effective. :)

See, this is what I'm talking about, Zeb has great clustering, but the eyes are a four-inch round bullet hole on a moving hungry target with long legs.

Ezra's nervous little, "Well, we're safe in here, right?" and Hera's inability to confirm it.

These things even shrug off turret blasts ghgshkjh.

AND Hera's trick with the electrified hull that worked on the Fyrnocks.

The tense situation is fraying Ezra's already raw nerves. Love Sabine rolling her eyes all, "Okay chill for a minute drama queen."

"What am I doing on the ramp?"

Lol Ezra's idea is "Hurl girlfriend at problem to make it go away."

That panic in Kanan and Ezra's faces when they think they've flung her too far. <3

Badass family shot.

Sabine glancing from Hera to Kanan all, "Soooooo either of you gonna talk about the issues? No?"

Sabine sounds so sad here. :(

That palm to her forehead all, "My gosh this idiot." There's this hurt in her eyes and voice when tells Kanan, "[...]you're still walking out... and taking Ezra with you." A very loaded phrase and an interesting one. Sabine's choice of words here, "walking out" feels like a bit of a call forward to her backstory reveal, and also possibly more how she feels about the situation, rather than Hera.

Mayhap there be a niggling negative voice in her head that's saying, You're abandoning me and you're taking away my best friend too.

"We're gonna be okay" wow the layers in that one. We as in him and Hera, relationship-wise, we as in him and Ezra, physical safety-wise.

*SOBS OVER THIS EMBRACE AND "WE'LL SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, I PROMISE."*

Frick they really know how to pull the Harsher In Hindsight on us.

Ezra still trying to connect with the krykna. :(((( That was the one talent he was better at than Kanan, that made Kanan so proud of him just a few episodes ago, and now it doesn't work.

Imperial March sliding into the strings there, as the convor heralds Ahsoka's arrival.

OH.

OH WAIT.

WAIT.

FFFFFFFFFF--WAS THAT DELIBERATE??!!???!

Wide-shot, pan up, Ezra walking towards the camera as the pan drops him out of frame, THAT WAS DELIBERATE WASN'T IT???!!???

ANSWER MEEEEEEE.

Ezra's theme plays haltingly one last time, the last note souring and the ominous Imperial March taking its place.

And boy if my levels of dread had not been sky high before lol.

As I said before, this episode is permeated with a sense of impending change, portents of doom hanging over us. It was very effective at setting the stage for "Twilight of the Apprentice", mentally preparing us for that crowbar piledrive into our kneecaps.

This is NOT filler it is NECESSARY connective tissue between the finale and the rest of the season and I will hear no slander about it.

It's just good writing.

[not-so-avid-fanfic-writer]

Alien Blues

Pairing: Keigo Takami/Hawks X autistic reader

This one shot contains fluff, nesting, maybe some angst, and something that I always call 'autism dominance' (idk the real term for it, but it's basically and autistic individual who's traits are more noticeable than usual, probably due to stress)

DO NOT REPOST/PLAGARISE

Reblogs are greatly appreciated.

Based on this post

Quirk is from my Fan Fic series, Endless Forms Most Beautiful (but not the same universe) and you can read the info sheet here

Right now you just wanted to cry, but you almost visibly recoiled at the thought of your face feeling wet and sticky with salt.

The whole day, all you wanted was to be buried in your lover's arms, wings wrapped around each other, tucked into the corner of your apartment that was turned into a nest.

But instead you were stuck shoulder to shoulder with every type of stranger possible on the subway home from your dream-turned-nightmare 9-5 job.

You swear you've almost been fired a couple of times today. From your 'informal' work attitude because of you're stimming, to not wanting to give you're sweaty palmed and just generally unclean superior physical contact.

You can almost feel how moist your bones are inside your body, and count every air molecule that that you felt pounding against your skin as your finally freed from the metal cage of nightmarish speed. Speaking of nightmarish speeds, that's the one you chose to run at to guarantee no more sensory problems on your way home.

You wish you could fly, you really do. But the contract your company had with you which meant you couldn't use your quirk, unless it was for what was classed as a genuine reason.

As you closed the door to the apartment, you peeled your feet out of the ridiculous dress shoes the company had you wear so you could morph you feet into a more comfortable and natural state.

Stretching your wings and arms above your head, you wander your home searching for pillows, blankets, and most importantly, your beloved, Keigo Takami.

You heard the door open and close mid forage, and you whip your head around, eyes locking on the intruder.

"Keigo!" You sobbed, not realising your love was going to be home so early. Soon you found yourself breaking down in his arms.

"Hey, hey. Baby calm down. Let's get you into the nest, and I'll get you some snacks." He offered, and all you could muster was a quiet 'mhm' , and as soon as your body hit the circular mattress in your living room, you went limp, and Keigo left to get something to eat from the kitchen, as well as the blankets you had dropped.

"Today was shit." You spat out. "They kept on touching me."

"I know, baby bird. How about we finish the nest, order some takeout, and watch that ghost show you like?"

You look up at him from your spot in the nest, baffled.

"You're willing to watch Lockwood & Co. with me? You never do this."

"Sometimes sacrifices need to be made to make people happy."

~*-*~Timeskip~*-*~

A few pizzas and a finished nest later, you and Keigo were cuddling, your back to his chest.

He suddenly spoke up,

"I don't think she did look in the mirror."

You turn to look at him with a raised eye, questioning him.

"The one with the curly hair? I personally think she had enough time to look while George got the net."

. . .

There was silence for a bit before Keigo spoke.

"Nah, I don't think so, c'm'ere."

And before you knew it, you were pinned, deft hands working at your sides, causing you to writhe and giggle, almost to the point of pain.

"NO KEI- STOP, PLEASE." You squealed.

"Only if you stop being such a smart ass."

"AAAAHHH, FINE FINE JUST STOOPP, PLEASE."

. . .

Keigo flopped down onto you, and you welcomed it, the pressure grounding you.

"Y'know," you said, "I lied about what I said earlier." You admitted.

"Oh, shaddup."

That was fun to write

This prompt was made by @mirukosbitchywife

I hope I can use more of them in the future

Anyways, bye for now :]

-Ez

[babiebom]

Doctor Who Villains and how I Feel about Them

A/N: idk why I’m on a doctor who streak right now(yes I do it’s taken the place of number one special interest again) but here’s some more of my scuffed content regarding it as a person who has only seen the revival of the show. Though I’ve said I probably won’t watch classic who the edits are getting to me and I might watch all of classic who literally just for Sarah Jane and the Doctor(all of them) being chaotic in a different way than they are in nuwho(I did not know the man used to throw hands like that why did no one tell me?). No the master is not included as a villain because they’re the loml and neither are the Ood it’s not their fault people be mind controlling them. The ratings are how much they scare me so 10 is a lot 0 is none

Tw: mentions of murder, cursing, death, yk dw things!!

Bc: at least 3 or 4 for each maybe more lmao

Doctor Who Masterlist

Daleks

Idk they’re not really scary to me

Like I’d probably be killed by them but they don’t scare me

Like oh no they can shoot at me

I’m from Texas people have guns here that’s like basic

Like I don’t think they’d let me get close enough

But if they did I think I could beat a dalek up

I would actually find a way I genuinely think they’re annoying

EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE

Literally became one of the sounds I copy

Kinda iconic ngl but they show up way too damn much

I feel like the characters should be allowed to curse when Daleks are around

Like oh my fucking god YOU AGAIN?

DO YALL EVER GIVE UP DAMN????!!!!!

Literally I’m on season one of classic who and they show up HERE like WTF

6/10

Cybermen

Cybermen only scare me bc they kinda give me uncanny valley vibes bc they’re used to be humans.

Like that creeps me out

But I do think I could survive them if I hid well enough

Like actually they’re like only finding people who are making it obvious that they’re hiding

I’m turning off all the lights and opening the doors to make it look like my house has already been gone through

Like zombies but robots

8/10

Weeping Angels

Terrifying

Actually I hate them so much

Like WYM IM NOT ALLOWED TO BLINK

and as a black person I do NOT want to be sent back in time

I think I’d attempt to do the blink one eye at a time thing but I think I’d fail bc I’d be to focused on that

I WOULD however attempt to hit them with a sledgehammer

Like actually I would try to destroy them and then probably be sent back bc I don’t think that’s possible unless it is

I haven’t seen anyone try to just wreck they shit

15/10

Slitheen

They’re not scary at all

What are they gonna do fart me to death

I’m pretty sure it’s something like baking soda that you can kill them with

Like actually they’re no match for my feralness

And since they need larger people (in size and in height) they won’t go after me bc even though I’m chubby I’m short so they won’t try to get me anyways

Literally so easy

And I think they could just be straight up shot

2/10

Sontarans

They have no necks how are they gonna get me fr

Like actually again all they’re gonna do is shoot me

What are they gonna do CHASE ME?

Like if I hide well enough I can bonk them like Donna did

EZ

I feel like if I asked for hand to hand combat they might indulge me

They don’t know I know this one simple trick (being an absolute menace)

4/10

Beep The Meep

Unlike Rose Temple-Noble (or Noble-Temple)

I would not have been nice

I would’ve killed him with a hammer bc wtf

But probably if I didn’t kill him he would’ve killed me bc it’s hard to manipulate me because I’m always confused

Like he would actually get tired of me

And I don’t want the police at my house so you gotta go sorry

Like my dogs will tear you apart get out of here loser

3/10

The Empty Child

SCARY

Have you seen my mommy

Like actually scawwy

Like he’s just a baby and I would be gasmasked immediately bc I can’t help but try to comfort a child

I mean I literally work in childcare it’s something that I can’t help but to be like “omg well find your mommy baby it’s gonna be okay!!” Then immediately I’m possessed or whatever he did to those people

Kid is adorable tho

7/10

The Carrionites

The witches

Eh

They’re not really scary

And I don’t think I’d be in their way because I’m a woman and not powerful at all

So they won’t try to kill me or anything

Like actually irrelevant to their plot and they’re irrelevant to mine

Kinda funny tho

3/10

Cassandra

I mean in the words of the ninth doctor what is she gonna do? Moisturize me?

Like she’s a sentient trampoline she’s not scary at all

Literally throw something at her and she’s dead

Like somehow she managed to take over Rose’s body but like she wouldn’t do that to me

Not scary at all

Moisturize meeeeeeeeeeee

-2/10

The Celestial Toymaker

I LIKE HIM

I want to be twirled around by him!!!!!!!

But also I’m bad at games and can only win by accident

So I would actually be trapped in his dimension bc I would lose

But like eh? Not so bad me thinks

Especially if I can get him to change the terms of the game

He just seems so fun but tbh I think I would get tired of him quickly lmao

5/10

The Family of Blood

I’ve only watched the episodes once each because I actually hate them

So I don’t remember anything other than Martha threatening them with a gun

And honestly if they could be killed by that I think I’m fine

Like what were their powers or like ways of killing people

I don’t remember honestly just possessed people I think

Like that’s like not really scary seeing as they weren’t climbing walls and their heads weren’t spinning as far as I remember

2/10

The Thing in Midnight

Terrifying but also funny

Like haha you’re copying me

Jokes on you I’m not scared I’m just gonna be amused bc I’m gonna make you say stupid things

But also scary bc do not take my voice or my movement that’s mean

I just wanna make you say things that I think are funny be NICE TO ME

like actually I would’ve had fun but would’ve been scared in that episode

Though again in not easily manipulated so I wouldn’t have been part of the screaming and panic

Like would I have committed violence against stupid married couple and the train lady like WYM KICK HIM OUT OF THE SHIP ARE YOU DUMB

I feel like they all lacked common sense that episode but again I’m supposed to be talking about the thing

6/10

Futurekind

They’re literally just people but cannibals?

With sharp teeth

Like that’s not really scary that stuff exists right now

Like it didn’t looks like they ran faster nor did they have like special abilities

We’re afraid of guns and could be kept out by a fence

Actually just people

I could literally just shoot at them and they’d leave

Like okay you’re cannibals so are people now you’re not special and people get body mods all the time.

1/10

Judoon

Scary because they’re dumb

Like they don’t really understand anything except for their concept of justice and would kill me in an instant

Also kinda ugly

SHO TO RO TO LO TO FLO TO

I like the way they talk

But also if you’re innocent odds are they’ll leave you alone?

Unless you try to fight against them

So not really scary just like…honestly similar to the bad cops out there

Like scary but I shouldn’t be in their presence because I don’t think I do anything wrong

7/10

The NotThings

Honestly I just think clones are scary

Like you know that thing that’s like what would you do if a clone of you was right in front of you and it’s like fuck it or whatever

I would kill her

Not because I hate myself but seeing myself would terrify me and I would have to kill her out of sheer panic

And the fact that the more you think or talk the more they copy until they’re 100 percent an exact copy of you.

And irl with my friends I do have an unhinged sense of humor so they wouldn’t even be able to tell anything is wrong bc I talk about eating them and keeping them as a taxidermied thing every day because that how I portray my love (I swear I’m normal)

So they would be able to say all sorts of shit and my friends would be like lmao yeah that’s her unless they eat or do something I would absolutely never do

9/10 scary

The Silence

Do they even do anything except for be there?

Like I don’t think they bother people unless they’re feeling particularly evil I guess

They’re literally just npc’s

Like the most terrifying thing is like them being there when I poop or shower or something and I just keep forgetting they’re there.

So scary kinda but not really

They’re just kinda ugly

4/10

The Beast

I don’t remember anything about this person or thing

Other than it’s just like…satan?

Don’t kill me but I haven’t gone back to watch any season 2 episodes so I don’t really remember

So not really scary just alien satan

Like all I remember is the drawing on dudes face like oh well

And I’m pretty sure the doctor defeated him by breaking some vase or something

Because I don’t remember he gets a low scare rating

3/10

The Smilers

I DONT THINK I WATCHED THIS WHOLE EPISODE

But I was not happy with the doll head thing turn around and look angry

Like NAUR WHAT DID I DO?????????

Was this the episode with the big ass space whale????

I think they were feeding the whale

They kinda terrified me bc imagine going to like a fortune teller booth with the little fake people and it just gives you a bad fortune and it’s face is mad at you now

Like HUH was misfortune am I gonna have because of this

Like 6/10

A literal Sun

BURN WITH MEEEEEEEEE

I just rewatched 42

Honestly scary in the fact that I hate the sun because it’s too hot and I hate it when it’s hot

And the fact that it’s a LIVING SUN and can POSSESS PEOPLE

Like WTF do you mean??????

But also I would have never done what miss girl did so I would not be forced to burn

Also I just read a hella good fic on ao3 that’s tenmartha and the sun is still possessing ten and is OBSESSED with Martha and literally only wants love.

So that has also changed my opinion

So like 5/10 scary but wouldn’t try to kill me because I’m nice.

Tecteun

THIS BITCH

I’m not scared of her nor will I ever be

Would beat her to death with my own hands

Or with a hammer

Deserves no kindness

Like actually who takes advantage of an actual child?????

Insane people that’s who

She better hope she never sees me out in these streets

-5000/10

Toclafane

This just makes me sad

Like they really wanted to go to Utopia and ended up as these things???????

Also just balls that can shoot you????

I think a baseball bat and a good swing would allow you to survive as long as it’s only like one or two

They also have the spinny knives but I think you can avoid them if you try and aren’t trapped

Like haha you stupid metal ball try to get me now as I go in all the hidey holes that you can’t fit in because you’re METAL

6/10

Vashta Nerada

THESE EPISODES WERE NOT OKAY

like what do you MEAN there’s little monsters in shadows

I have to SLEEP in the dark

What do you MEAN they’re responsible for the bones left in roadkill WTF

actually terrifying

Can just kill me whenever it’s dark?

BFFR

They’re name is actually cool though

Also the episode we meet miss mother river song

But like can turn me into just bones in a second

That’s rude

Literally no way to survive unless you’re always in light

And they can turn lights off (I think) so like ur fucked dude

10/10

The Autons

Terrifying

I’m already scared of mannequins and this is like a nightmare come true.

The only way I survive this is if I immediately run

Like I don’t think y’all understand I HATE MANNEQUINS

Also the fact that their limbs can still move detached is scary

Like actually being an adult that’s already afraid of these things I would actually just piss my pants and die on the spot

Only funny part is nine being choked in the back ground and even my first time watching I was so nervous for him

And auton Mickey is actually a nightmare I hated that

9/10 hate them

[dragonholler]

Dear Eze,

I’m sort of a high-profile person, and I have a bit of a problem, so I appreciate you keeping this anonymous.

Without going into too much detail, I have a certain relative that seems to be under the impression that I am a threat to what we’ll call the family business. They took over after my father passed a few years ago, and to be fair to them they’d initially done a fine job.

Very technically I am my father’s only heir, but because I was below the age of majority when he passed, it made sense for my relative to step in when they did. I was sent away to boarding school shortly after- my mother had already passed when I was a child, and her wife shortly after her, and there were no other relatives available to take responsibility for me -and, while my boarding school wasn’t always a perfect environment, I mostly view it as a positive experience.

After I finished school I was offered the opportunity to do something of a work-study/continuing education sort of thing in a field I really enjoy (call it an art discipline), so instead of returning home I went a little farther abroad to study under my mentor. I fell in love with the practice, and ended up studying under her for three more years.

But a few months ago an old steward of my father’s sent me a letter insinuating that my relative was not necessarily keeping up his obligation to our employees. This was obviously concerning, and I immediately made arrangements to travel home. When I arrived, it was to find that my relative had let go of more than half the staff- legacy employees that I had known since I was a child- and replaced them with people working for a fraction of the positions salary. Everyone who stayed was managing their own jobs in addition to a mix of responsibilities for positions that had been dissolved. Beyond that, all of our clients were receiving sub-par product for outrageous prices.

My father would be ashamed.

To be completely honest, I don’t have any particular desire to take over the business. I love the work I do in my field, and if I had it my way I would be able to entrust the business to my relative permanently while I pursue my true passion. That being said, I feel a strong sense of responsibility and obligation to these people. My great-grandfather sort of ran the business into the ground before I was born, and it was a combination of my grandmother, my aunt, and my father who put in the work to build a company we could be proud of. Frankly, I no longer feel that my relative can be trusted to continue their legacy.

Shortly after I arrived, I confronted my relative and told them that since they had shown themselves incapable of maintaining the business to our families standards they needed to step down and return the business to me as my fathers heir.

They took it poorly.

I could have possibly been a bit more diplomatic about my declaration, but I had just come from a tour of our facility and had found some truly appalling evidence of neglect. I did not feel like I could leave the transition another day.

Unfortunately, I had failed to recognize that my relative had gone to the trouble of employing some very capable bodyguards who are quite invested in their boss maintaining their position. I’ve been hiding out ever since.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’m an art major. I know the basics of business (my father let me learn at his knee pretty much from the time I was born), but I’ve never had to challenge someone like this. I know I need help, and very probably recognition from some outside authority to prove my claim, but I’m working with limited resources here and could use a hand.

Do you have any advice on the kind of people I should be reaching out to, or maybe just ideas about how to stay in one piece while I wait for my various calls for assistance to reach their destinations?

Thanks for listening,

Running in [REDACTED]

------------------------------

Dear Running,

It sounds like you're in a bit of a pinch!

First off, I applaud your commitment to your family legacy. It can be difficult to let go of ones dreams in the name of taking care of other people, but I believe your family would be proud of the way you are stepping up.

Now, I don't want to presuppose too much about your situation, but I'll do my best to highlight some actions that I strongly urge you to consider:

You are absolutely correct, you need legal counsel. I don't know where you are or if you have someone already familiar with your family's business, but I will say that a good place to start is usually local. If your family has an in-house lawyer, consider if they are a smart person to reach out to. If they've left the company, they might be worth speaking too. If they're still working with your relative, definitely proceed with caution. Get you hands on any legal documents that show you are the rightful heir, and find someone who can argue your case in court.

If your local constabulary is upright (hard to verify these days) I'd consider getting in touch, and maybe declaring Right of the Vulnerable- usually achievable, especially if you have evidence your relative has tried to harm you. If this is not accessible, for whatever reason, do the opposite and stay well clear. Getting the Watch involved is not usually my first recommendation, but it all depends on where you're at and what you're relationship is with them.

Definitely ask for help. I'm glad to hear that you have people in your corner, but this is absolutely a situation where more is merrier. You want as many people behind you as you can manage. If you haven't already, reach out to your mentor or another trusted friend with a detailed account of everything that has happened and everything you are experiencing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Document Everything. You want recorded and verified testimony in whatever way you can create it.

As for staying in one piece- if you know your relative is searching the area, you have to weigh the risks of staying in one place and possibly being discovered against the risk of moving from location to location and getting discovered in transit. Both strategies have their pros and cons, and it's going to be up to you which one is the best for your situation.

In the staying put camp: you've got people who are invested in your safety, so it sounds like whoever you're bunking with will make the effort to keep you hidden if they get searched. It also doesn't sound like your relative has the legal grounds to be busting in and searching private property, so if you can count on them to mind their manners and keep their nose above board, you might be okay here. That being said, my understanding is that they're not too concerned with convention at this point, and they have a lot to lose if your case is heard.

In the staying mobile camp: again, you've got a crowd invested in your safety, and might have more than one person who can take you in for a night or two. Moving around may make it harder to pin you down, but it does put you at risk in a pretty significant way while you're exposed. You'd be relying heavily on your speed, and, unless you have some shapeshifting abilities (hugely helpful in exactly this scenario), you'd likely need to get good at disguises.

Other things to consider, regardless: you are sending out communications to allies, how are they going to get back to you? How long do you estimate you will need to be in hiding? At a certain point, staying in one place for too long becomes a bigger risk than moving. If you're planning on a longer engagement, it might be smart to get out of town (if you can do it safely) and come back with your allies, good counsel, and a authenticated writ.

I hope this finds you whole, hearty, and ready to move. If myself or anyone else at the Holler can be helpful to you, please reach out. We love a cause for the people.

Best of luck!

-EzeC

[kurczeno]

first of all this person is called leliana's bong and i just think its the most amazing name ive seen. Im serious.

Also, yeah, I also like Fenris (used to hate him in my first run, ngl). He is well-written, his hate makes sense, even if he fails to see reason in the banters especially, his va is fucking great, we know where his prejudice and paranoia comes from obviously. His rivalry romance doesn't really change that much, makes him a little less hateful, but in comparison to the other companions it changes less and makes him more critical? about you? I mean with Merrill and Isa you change their mind about many things, Fenris just stays the way he was, more or less.

Sera's writing is just as good, or maybe even better (imo) considering that shes less unreasonable. Still prejudiced, even if we don't go that deep into her story and why she acts the way she does, she's less hateful, more... reluctant. Still shitty, but you can also remember that she's much younger than the other companions and quite childish, therefore shes still forming her opinions(although, Fenris living his whole life as a slave is, I guess, also young, by some standards). I wont get into Sera rn, bcs i always do it in the craziest way possible (ive already written quite a lot) so Ill just say - shes more "tolerant" (being quite good friends with Dorian, while Fenris can't stand any other mage, being just absolutely awful towards Merrill for example - Sera hates Solas and Vivienne mostly because they are arrogant and because they themselves find her annoying) and she does slightly change her attitude in Trespasser, if you play an elven mage at least (which i always do because im a basic bitch, except my dwarf runs, but then I usually play as a guy so). It doesn't mean she's better, but her getting just so much hate, while I've seen almost none when it comes to Fenris is quite. Interesting.

ALSO ILL NEVER FORGIVE THE WRITERS FOR NOT MAKING HER A MAGE IN THE END. I MEAN THAT WOULD MAKE ALL THIS SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING BUT!!! shes a mage in my book, sorry. its waaay more fun this way. andruil reincarnation? even more hilarious (i personally believe that was their intention at first with Andruil and they just backed off seeing that Sera is quite universally hated)

I could also write a whole comparison between discriminated Sera's internalized racism vs Solas hating the modern elves for what he has actually caused and thinking elves are a superior race while he comes from times when they actually were but I've written enough and let it be known ive bested my adhd alone ez

mfs when fenris says that all mages should be locked up and you're the only one that deserves freedom: oh, hes so cute and sad:(

mfs when sera says shes not exactly fond of magic, but you're one of the good ones:

(for the record, I don't hate Fenris. Not exactly my favourite companion, but he's fairly well-written. It's just that for some reason it was Sera who got all the hate. And he's just as "kind" to the elves as she is, maybe even less so)

[raayllum]

AU concept: King Callum

The assassination was successful for whatever reason and both Harrow and Ezran have died. That leaves Callum as the next rightful heir. How does Callum grapple with his enormous loss and also the new weight of the crown placed on his shoulders that he was in no way expecting nor prepared for? How does Viren feel about this and what might he try and do? What’s Rayla up to (is she okay?)? Claudia? etc.

- food for thought. >:)

King or regent Callum is something I usually don't engage too much in bc it feels a lil bit too much like displacing Ezran (and he's our one dark skinned character of colour in the main cast - also i Love him too much that thinking of him being dead-dead hurts my heart) however:

It would depend on where the divergence happened. Has he already met Rayla and they've found the egg, and Ezran dies to Runaan on the battlements? (In which case I don't think much would change, i.e. Callum would still leave to bring the egg home but now it's particularly heavy because it's what Ez wanted - and he and Rayla would develop a much more like, jaded but still ride or die kind of bond? Basically S4-ish Callum but with extra layers of grief and probably more anger toward her initially because it's gotta go somewhere, and then guilt because he does like her and there are moments of happiness, etc etc)

But in a world where Ez never found the egg, two alternatives:

1) Ez dies and Callum assumes the throne as the surviving heir. Not discovering the egg means he has no reason to not trust Viren. Callum refuses to have a regent outright (the throne is all he has left of his family and he desperately wants to feel in control) but it doesn't keep Viren from whispering in his ear or from growing closer to Claudia, even as the two mages are more aware than ever that if Callum ever discovers they kept the Dragon Prince alive, he'll have their heads. Thus, Callum walks a razor's edge of being furious with Xadia, probably too cautious to launch anything full scale but maybe being willing to seriously encroach on the border and send in minimal troops, just to test things out, and become a brutal strategist child king.

He never entirely loses his good heart, of course - but he's far less trusting (ironically saving him from falling to Viren's influence entirely) and far less willing to listen to said heart (again, like S4 redux but with zero support system). I think Opeli would look after him, but he'd resent that too in a way, feeling like she's treating him like a child (which he is) but very much feels like he is not, after what he's been through

Assuming Rayla is here, I think it could go a similar route as @zuppizup's excellent fic "purgatory" of her being unknowingly imprisoned before being discovered, somehow, or escaping loosely on her own. It would certainly be a stilted alliance to begin with and a lot of lingering hurt / anger on both sides, but I do think eventually they'd come to work together in an odd sort of "almost no one else is as fucked up as we are" partnership that becomes more jovial and benevolent over time

2) Ez survives but being young and reeling from grief, Callum becomes regent in an effort to shield him. This leaves Callum with one strong pillar and still the possibility of the egg being discovered (as Ez is still familiar with the tunnels) even if past the point it was found in show. This means the role of king is probably split roughly 60% (Callum) - 40% (Ezran) between the brothers and they become their own team, even if Callum may be even more over protective with no way to ensure that people wouldn't come back for Ez. Hence why he insists on being king-regent in his brother's stead, probably, and Ez is tired and unsure enough to let him (without thinking through the full consequences, maybe). This could lead to a rift as they get older as Ezran wants to acquire more power but Callum continues to be over protective. This also means Viren has significantly less influence and is constantly tempered by Ez and Callum's influence on each other, leading to more frustration and perhaps more back handed attempts to get rid of the brothers. Perhaps an imprisoned Rayla (or an older Rayla who missed out on the first mission, and has been sent to finish the job years later as repayment) could enter the story as a surprising protector? And having to put up with Callum's sharp tongue after years of learning how to handle things diplomatically, perhaps being more back handed himself in terms of getting information, etc.

Either scenario would bring Callum's snake boi tendencies out in full though, I think 👀

There's a lot of ways it could go and these are just my first thoughts, but I hope you enjoyed 'em! I always love a good canon divergence

[twig-gy]

so i already know it’s going to be like. a collection of scenes. but

1) longterm. how will we make scenes interesting every time? how will we make the relationship develop and make that clear? i can’t just have ‘argument-slightly okay interaction-argument’ the whole (pun) time i need to think it through a little.

okay so aside here: once as one of my extremely few longfics i was writing fic called ‘love-hate’ which is basically soulmate au where you can’t think ill of your soulmate/not for long at least so it would be bkdk developing into an extremely toxic relationship. and i REALIZED. i wasn’t actually developing the relationship meaningfully! i was just making deku angst scenes! which like okay, cool, but That Was Not The Point. so i find it cool that these projects are basically ‘a collection of scenes showing how whatever relationship develops without focus on A Plot or anything’. and i need to learn from that and make my scenes more directed which will be hard because I Hate Outlining. No. but sometimes i do need to think it through!! which is what i’m doing rn!!

2) shortterm WHAT SCENE IS COMING NEXT. HELP. AAA. ooo wait i could break up the mind-heart interaction with mind asking help for once….. however i feel mind would only Ask For Help at some sort of breaking point. that has to be a climactic moment i think……..

okay so what To Do Then. well obviously he attempts to put his new thesis of ‘don’t bully heart every millisecond of the day’ in practice. but in what way does he do that, also make that interesting perhaps????? hmmm maybe like he tries to help heart out of depression instead of diss track

also Side Note. pretty sure this is ooc. like in Just Apathy he’s trying to help heart? but no actually, rembering just apathy i don’t think that was really true??? aughhh i’m remembering why i hate writing because CHARACTERIZATION. i’m so scared and afraid i cannot write the thing in a way which is canon* so.

anyway let’s try to get back to point 2. shortterm. because i need to write something. well should i actually try to outline scenes???? i Really do not want to. outlining = distasteful (such a mind word btw).

so i don’t have to post this so i’ll just have a few basic ideas of what could transpire

mind realizes maybe bullying bad idea, instead try to coax heart -> possibly go back to old patterns/instinctively argue/forgor his thesis

i mean like. what will i get out of This Scene In Specific. that’s probably an important question. like how is this scene going to help the “”plot””?

i don’t want to think about this ughh why do I have to ask Myself these questions. ug i guess i’ll just find out for myself /reference

an easy idea is just. he realizes this Is Not Going To Be Ez GG. so there’s that. is that enough for a scene? hm

or just have him like. boiling with repressed anger the entire time as he tries to Interact Normally. just the whole time he’s like ‘okay he’s fine. i’m fine. i shouldn’t insult him. i need to remain calm and cordial. okay. this is fine’. that would be a teeheemaxxing idea

i think we’ve reached the Main Question, the longterm question again, ‘how will we make scenes interesting every time? how will we make the relationship develop and make that clear?’ because i need to figure that out if we’re to find that golden hue /reference Okay unnecessary reference aside. we need to figure that out if we are going to figure out the scene’s purpose. so we need to somehow show a sense of growth through the whole (pun) fic

okay but How. could you please imagine a big whiteboard right now. and the only thing on it is the word ‘HOW?’ circled thrice in very big handwriting. jeez guys this is a lil tricky….. a lil difficult, an unreal question if you will, hard to figure out, catastrophically challenging (2 at the same time!), not a medium amount of hard, horrific and nowhere near easy… i’m going insane it’s just so terrifying, even tho i know that’s an extreme reaction, i can’t help it being intense bc this question is just so remorseless and i hope i don’t have to cut my hopes down to nil….

so if you didn’t get that completely unnecessary reference those were jtoh difficulty names bc jtoh difficulties are easy (a bit harder than mega fun obby), medium (ooo wraps?? whar??), hard (okay getting a bit tricky now..), difficult (this is where it starts to get real with all the jumps), challenging (actually becoming spooky now), intense (big jump from challenging), remorseless (gameplay becomes even tighter, ridiculous wraps), and then sc difficulties which are insane, extreme, terrifying, and catastrophic, then we have the difficulties so hard they aren’t canon: horrific, unreal, nil

diatribe aside i need to get answer. i kinda just wanna Write And Then Figure It Out but it’s not like answers will miraculously appear to me that way???

hm. so i was planning to have them have lots of difficulties (pun) with this, setbacks, and i was trying to think of a way to justify that… but maybe i don’t have to give each and every one a purpose, besides showing … well that it’s hard! and that they’ve been arguing for so long it’s hard to figure out how not to. and that even when you’re trying your best, you can still lapse into old, destructive patterns, but that doesn’t mean you’ve failed, nor that your progress has gone away. there’s still hope, there always is. you’re trying, and that’s all you need at the end of the day

and this is fanfic, which like. i don’t have to give every scene a reason? that sounds bad but well. i don’t have to be so serious about it?

what i’ve learned from this diatribe: writing is hard and i am confused

if you read it all and are interested in what i’m writing PLEASE SAY SOMETHING I LOVE PEER VALIDATION‼️‼️‼️‼️ also go to my ao3 if you dare………….

[talenlee]

CoX: GG-EZ

Time to time, I write up an explication of characters I’ve played in RPGs or made for my own purpose.  This is an exercise in character building and creative writing.

There were two people he used to be. Once, he used to be a quiet, insular kid who wore hoodies all the time and grumped about being short and feminine but never dared to say anything. The other was a raging, loud, abusive asshole on the internet, winning the game and making everyone involved feel bad. Even himself.

He did lose once though. That loss came with it a dare and a bet and a crossplay and then that got him attention from another cosplayer, and that became a friendship. A friendship that wasn’t based on bullying and winning or on shame and shortness. Took some time, but he learned through it to bring who he was together; he could be a cute, short, prettyboi AND an apex gaming predator AND he could be a friend, all at once.

Then six months later, his friend came back to him and asked him to join her, to pilot a big, stomping, videogame-powered mecha, the realest cosplay possible.

Most of the people who work with GG don’t know who he is. They may know they’ve worked with a heavily mechanised tank called the EZ. It’s quite large, about three meters tall, and defended at all surface levels with an electrical shield that serves pretty well at defending people who are standing around or behind it. Sometimes through brute magnetism, where a lot of metal equipment gets stuck to the outside of the EZ, sometimes it’s through super-science chicanery where the field distorts the path of lasers and pulse rifles.

The EZ is a big, brawling tank equipped with stun pulses. It is very hard to destroy, though it can be temporarily immobilised, and it reboots itself with enough time to run maintenance. Even tearing bits off it is challenging, with the device’s impressive engine letting it use mediport networks to re-teleport components back in place, and re-fuse them, with a glittering hex effect when it does it. It has ranged attacks like charges of lightning and thrown electrical bolts, and it can even speed up for advanced terrain exploration.

The EZ, in its basic form, is a real physical walking tank that can treat the world like a videogame character.

That’s the EZ, though, which often fights entirely without any communication from its pilot. The actual pilot of the EZ, callsign GG, name Gigi, is a short young adult male who fits the mecha mostly due to his being so small, and for whom the mech was custom fitted. He took an unlikely path towards being perfectly suited for piloting this kind of mecha, but he’d never have found it through normal means. Seems that he had a real problem building and maintaining social connections – something that other people notice when they’re talking about the EZ, which normally fights in silence. It’s not because the pilot is being cautious and keeping from talking to teammates, it’s because the pilot is a dick and doesn’t think it’s interesting to talk to other people when he could be sassing friends on personal comms.

In some visions of his personality, this is GG being an asshole, and in others, it’s GG trying to avoid making sure anyone has to deal with him when he’s being in his own mind, pretty toxic.

Mechanics

GG-EZ is a electric armour/radiation melee tanker. Tankers are, if you’re not familiar with the results of the changes, really, really strong on Homecoming, because some people looked at one of the best archetypes and said ‘uh but sometimes a brute makes me feel bad in 1% content’ and for some reason as a result I got buffed in all the ways I like to play. Weird.

Particularly, Gigi’s build is what I consider very, very cheap. It hasn’t got purples. It hasn’t got PVP sets. It doesn’t have ATOs or Winter-Os (which sounds like a cereal. It’s just stuff you can buy off the market, most of which he did at retail and didn’t spend more than a hundred million doing. There’s a lot of room to push the build, and yet this cheap build has:

37% Smashing/Lethal defense

47% melee defense

Capped resistance to Smashing, Lethal and Energy damage

100% global recharge, without Hasten or its attached crash

AoE coverage in the form of Ball Lightning and Electric Fences

Two damage auras, which I love

Room for taunt and stealth infiltration powers

It’s great! It’s a really good, very cheap build that hits a lot of goal numbers. It’ll wear buffs really well, so any large group environment it works great, and the only time it’s a real problem is when someone is asking him to hold down large groups of challenging enemies without any fire support.

If you want to look at the build, you can click this link to do it.

Backstory

Remember that character, Trancer?

She got her start as an idea of using the City of Heroes engine to replicate the Overwatch characters. Not quite replication, but certainly ‘inspired by’ with the idea of cosplay and identity play being a part of how these characters all held together as a circle of friends. GG started out as part of that group, and got refined a little through some roleplays, where he wound up as a hyper-competitive gamer geek who got a little too competitive when he knew the stakes didn’t matter.

The funny thing is I’ve been told is he definitely ‘feels like a male D.va’ but I don’t know anything about the kind of personality D.va has. She’s just a pretty advertising banner for a game I could never get into. Any resemblence is therefore a coincidence.

But I do like a lot the idea that what got him out of his shell and into a friend group was a mix of defiance and play, where someone challenged him and he lost, and he refused to give up on what he was doing just because of that loss. That meant he could run away from or run to the embarrassing task, and rather than give up on it, he pushed himself to do it. Defiance, see.

Basically, it is entirely a story that some guys fear comes about from hanging around trans folk, where what if they trick you into emotionally maturing and having fun with things you find you enjoy doing? Jesus christ, wouldn’t that be fucked up or something.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!