#But at the end of the day canon is a sandbox to me and I like knocking over and rebuilding stuff

[irisintheafterglow]

move like an odd sight, come out at night

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ now playing: hozier - "movement"

summary: you escape to hell's kitchen, but your reputation follows you no matter where you run. the vigilante on your roof, however, believes you're more than just a weapon.

wc: 2.9k

cw/tags: black widow!reader, canon-typical violence and blood, minor injury, explicit language, pre-ddba bc i put bullseye and fisk in this as antagonists, angst with happy ending, iris loves matt murdock's ass

note: *cautiously approaches 'marvel x reader' writing tag, sets this on the doorstep like a cat with a bird, and runs away*

likes, reblogs, and replies are appreciated <3

Truthfully, neither of you were very skilled at working with other people. It’s why you were vigilantes, not superheroes; heroes worked on teams and played nice on the playground. You preferred more direct forms of getting the job done, of swinging your pink plastic shovel and beating away kids threatening to invade your square of sandbox territory. Or at least, you did in the past. As of late, you only donned your tactical gear again because unfortunately, the best hiding place you could find was truly a shithole. 

“Got anything yet?”

“No. Whoever’s talking about you, they’re making a point to do it quietly,” he replies, his expression blank as his ears sort through the noises of Hell’s Kitchen trying to find a needle in a city-sized haystack. He’s crouched on the brick ledge your legs dangle off of, looming over the street below like a gargoyle guarding a cathedral. “What was your plan the other night?”

“The night where you crashed my surveillance spot, you mean,” you quip. “And the same night I made the Devil jump out of his skin.” He sends a heatless glare in your general direction.

“What I’m hearing is, you didn’t have a plan and you’re avoiding the question.” Smart-ass.

“My plan was to listen in on police comms and get some extra energy out, but there was a trespasser on my roof.” He hums, satisfied with your answer. To your unwelcome surprise, you ran into both of his identities within twelve hours of moving into your crummy little apartment–Matt at the deli down the street and Daredevil on top of your building. Both times, you also caught him off guard to the point where he nearly threw the nearest cylindrical object at you. The first time it was a sandwich, and the second time it was a baton, but you only had Foggy to save you in the shop. 

You can’t go throwing sandwiches at pretty ballerinas that come into the shop, Matt, you heard Foggy say when he thought you were out of earshot. 

They’re a ballerina? Foggy snorts, assuming that Matt already knew you were jaw-droppingly stunning. In fact, he was waiting for the day his best friend came out as not actually being blind and only using it to reel in women.

Yeah. You would know they were a new teacher at the studio down the street if you weren’t busy trying to assault them with pastrami. 

They caught me off guard, Matt dodges. What’d you want me to do?

Not scaring them off would be a good start. Jeez, I thought you were the charming one in this duo. 

“I can’t say I’m a fan of a spy who can slow their heartbeat,” he admits, finally cracking the smallest of a smile. “It’s a cool trick, but pretty unfortunate for a guy who relies on hearing the bad guys.”

“Good thing I’m not an opponent, Murdock.” Like you, he’s not used to people knowing both his vigilante and his civilian faces interchangeably. You pieced together each other’s alternate identities the moment you interacted on the roof for the first time; your mind clocked his gait, his height, and his voice while he sensed the faintest scent of perfume he smelled earlier in the deli. Because of the accidental encounter, a severe lack of information regarding your new home, and a few other reasons you were purposefully hiding until the need arose, you begrudgingly asked Matt if you could run surveillance with him. He agreed, shrugging and asking if there would be people trying to come after you. 

A buzzing in your pocket grabs your attention and you scowl when you see the dollar sign notification with a hefty amount of zeroes. “Problem,” you huff. 

“What is it?”

“He put a bounty on my head.” The muscle in Matt’s jaw clenches. “Said to bring me in alive, thankfully, but I guess he doesn’t like I’ve been ghosting him. He also didn’t verify how alive I had to be.” 

“He’s used to getting what he wants,” Matt explains with severe distaste. “Fisk isn’t a kind of guy you say ‘no’ to. Last guy who tried to tell him something he didn’t like–”

“Got well acquainted with a car door,” you finish unexpectedly. “Intelligence community, remember? We hear everything, including the brutal executions. It’s why he wants me in the first place.”

“A Widow in his pocket’s like having the Winter Soldier for a genie.”

“Ex-Widow,” you correct. “You know, I met the guy once. Big metal arm. Scary blue eyes. Not my type, especially the greasy hair.”

“Oh?” Matt allows amusement seep into his tone, despite the fact that your freedom just had a price tag put on it. “And what is your type?” You loose the first thought in your head like an arrow straight into his heart. 

“A blind vigilante with a ton of Catholic guilt really get me going,” you answer casually and bite back a smile when he tries to hide his speechlessness. “I figure it’s easier to explain my history to him than Martin the accountant living a few doors down. Plus, the vigilante’s got a nicer ass.”

“I’ll bet,” Matt remarks and you allow yourself to feel the flutter in your stomach at his softer tone. You weren’t used to having a friend, let alone a friend who would help make sure you weren’t used as a weapon again. It didn’t hurt to flirt with him, just a little bit. 

His head suddenly jerks to the side, concentrating. “Found ‘em.”

“Where?”

“Warehouse six blocks down. Fisk’s best prepping for a hunt.” A chill runs through your body and you exhale slowly through your nose to center yourself. It’d been months since you were freed from Dreykov’s mind control, weeks since you first arrived in the Kitchen, but the need to fight for your life was something that would never disappear. It constricted your throat, blurred your vision, and made your palms too clammy to hold a knife. Without the one-track-mind of a Red Room assassin, you found yourself able to feel fear…and it terrified you. “You alright?”

“Peachy,” you deadpan, your voice no longer melodically carefree. 

“You’re not telling the truth,” he says and you swallow thickly. “It’s the one time I hear your heartrate go up, when you’re afraid.” Up until now you would work exclusively solo and you’re unfamiliar with someone who would call you out when you were scared. Your defenses raise immediately.

“Yeah. What about it?” He takes your standoffish nature in stride, rising from his crouched position and holding out his gloved hand to help you from yours. You take it with only a moment’s hesitation and let him give it a comforting squeeze. 

“You’re not fighting alone anymore, you know. As long as you don’t shoot me, I’ll have your back if you have mine.” You nod and even if he can’t see it, it’s mostly for yourself anyway. “Unless, of course,” he continues with a shit-eating smirk, “you’ve got another blind vigilante in mind you’d rather–”

“Alright, Murdock. You’re done,” you chuckle, feeling more at ease. “Let’s get this done quickly; I’ve got class tomorrow.”

—

The confrontation could barely be considered a fight, and you easily would handle them on your own had Matt not been with you. Though, it was much faster having four fists throwing punches instead of two. 

“You didn’t use the guns at all,” he notes once you’re both done knocking out and disarming the three dozen enemies in the warehouse. Catching your breath, you stick your batons in the sheaths on your back and shrug.

“You’re the one who said not to shoot you,” you point out.

“I appreciate the thoughtfulness.” His head tilts and you watch him listen to the labored breathing of a nearby thug. “One’s still conscious. I’ll get him.”

“He’s all yours.”

He stalks toward a guy who you would’ve assumed was unconscious and grabs him by the collar to reveal him very much awake. “Why’s Fisk after them so badly? Answer,” he hisses, “and I won’t break your hands.”

“I’ve found they talk if you dislocate their shoulder,” you suggest nonchalantly, your voice muffled under your mask. The guy’s eyes dart over to you, wide and bloodshot with fright. “Then, relocate it but slightly misaligned. Makes a weird kind of friction if you swing it back and forth.” Matt visibly pauses, considering your stomach-churning advice for a good ten seconds. He wasn’t used to working with others, let alone someone with your skillset; it was like having a slightly more stable Elektra, and that wasn’t much of an improvement. He doesn’t have time to act on your words, though, because suddenly the dam of information in the guy breaks.

“He’s scared of you!” The man exclaims and your eyes narrow. 

“Scared of who?”

“Both of you,” he squeaks and looks back at you. “You were supposed to kill the Daredevil, not team up with him, you deceitful bitch!” Shit. Matt’s body goes deathly still. 

“Fisk hired a Widow to kill me?” He asks lowly. Shit!

“He tried. That’s why he’s pissed.” The scene feels frozen, like a snowglobe on a high shelf. You didn’t necessarily feed Matt a lie; you rejected Kingpin’s offer the same night you went up to your roof, looking for a way to punch out your anger. “And you weren’t supposed to get involved,” he spits on the cowl and it’s the last thing he says before Matt knocks him out cold. 

You stare at his back while he stands, your muscles tensed and ready to retreat or fight, however he reacts. 

“You can take your hand off your gun,” he says without looking at you and your attention flicks down to your hands. You hadn’t realized your fingers found the cool metal on pure instinct. They feel naked without access to any immediate weapon.

“Are you upset?”

“Why would I be?” He turns to face you squarely. Every nerve in your body wants you to run, but you root yourself into the floor because your mind can’t understand how this so-called ‘friend’ could ever hurt you. 

“Because I was supposed to kill you. Your archnemesis wants me to kill you.”

“And you didn’t,” he states patiently. “Your heart is racing.”

“I’m waiting for you to attack me, so I’m not sure what you expect,” you reply carefully. Puzzlingly, his posture remains relaxed, and it’s impossible to read what he’s thinking. “I lied to you. Aren’t you angry?” 

“Why would I be angry for actions you didn’t take?” You blink and look down, suppressing your reflex to bolt when he approaches you until his boots are in front of yours. He murmurs your name, so quietly that only you can hear it. “I’m not Dreykov. You don’t need to plan an escape if you do something I don’t agree with. You’re your own person now.” 

“Am I?” You whisper. “I get out, and yet I still feel like I’m nothing but a weapon.”

“I don’t think you’re a weapon.” Your body is still stiff as a board, waiting for a berating or a beating that won’t come.

“Then what am I?”

“A friend.” 

Your mouth opens to reply, but a flash of movement catches your eye in the doorway you used to enter the warehouse. Acting on its own, your body shoves Matt to the side as an object goes flying past you and a stinging sensation blooms on your upper arm. You duck behind a storage container and find that your self-proclaimed ‘partner’ has disappeared into the shadows. Warmth drips down your arm and you remove your gun from its holster for the first time that night, steadying yourself. 

“Alright, Widow. The boss is mad, so let’s not keep him waiting,” your assailant announces, his voice echoing off rusted metal walls. You hear him make a noise of disgust and kick something solid. “You left a shitshow to mop up, too. I thought you people were supposed to be clean killers. Quick with your target, just like me.” You fight through the adrenaline and finally piece together his identity with one word: target.

“Fuck off, Poindexter. I’m not going,” you snarl and immediately change positions to avoid a small knife that moved with the precision of a homing missile. The blade lodges itself in the metal where your head used to be and you don’t bother trying to yank it out. “Missed.”

“That was a warning, darling.” Creeping carefully from container to container, you catch the reflection of his nearly-identical Daredevil suit in the broken glass on the floor. It crunches beneath his feet as he paces leisurely, waiting for you to reveal yourself. “Let’s go, Widow. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. It’s just you and me here.” He thinks it’s just you.

He doesn’t know that Matt is here. 

“How do I know you’re not gonna kill me when I step out?” Another phrase, another quick change of positions. 

“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be alive to mouth off.”

“You say that with such confidence.” 

“This confidence is turning to impatience, so let’s go. Don’t make me take you in struggling,” he warns.

“Fine, but don’t throw anything at me, asshole,” you say with as normal of a voice as you can muster, reholstering your gun and stepping into the exposing moonlight. “Entrance in the front’s too exposed. There’s an alley out back we can go through unseen.” Without another word, he follows you to the rear doors and, for once, you’re relieved for your heart to be beating out of your chest. You figure it’s easier for Matt to track your movement.

“Fisk is pissed about your little tantrum the other night, but enough groveling will get you back in good graces.” 

“Like I care about that,” you retort. 

“You should. He won’t stop hunting you.”

“If he does, I’ll come after him myself.” You step out of the warehouse and the top half of your face is hit with frigid air. He was lurking somewhere, you could sense it. A small rectangle of paper crinkles under the toe of your boot and you peer down at it, smiling when you recognize the familiar font of Nelson, Murdock, & Page. “I’m not an asset anymore, Poindexter,” you declare once you’re both shrouded in the dark alley. “And I don’t fight alone anymore.” 

Your stealth training takes over, slowing your heartrate and disappearing from his senses, if only for a moment. Before Poindexter can attempt to find you, there’s a whoosh of air in front of you and the sound of gravel beneath another pair of boots. Matt doesn’t give his enemy a chance to grab any projectiles, bruised knuckles striking in the darkness while you slip behind and knock out his legs. 

When your enemy regains consciousness while slumped on the wet asphalt, there is no trace of the Daredevil or the Widow to be found.

—

Your students catch wind of your fondness of the ‘hot lawyer down the street’ a few weeks after you move into his apartment, and Matt doesn’t do much to keep your relationship a secret.

“Let’s, uh,” your voice trails off when you see him enter the studio for the first time, his mere presence making your cheeks outrageously hot. “Let’s run that combo one more time and call it a day, yes?” Your students follow your eyeline to the man waiting for you by the door and they all perk up at the same time, dancing with near perfection that makes you wonder if Matt should show up at the end of all your classes. 

“Hope it’s alright I came to walk you home,” he greets with that easy smile that sends all sense of reason into the atmosphere. 

“You were a definitely a distraction, but considering that we call the same place ‘home,’ I’ll let it slide,” you reply. His hands pull you by your hips and you press a kiss to the corner of his mouth, your forearms resting on his shoulders.

“Can we go out tonight?” 

“Don’t we always?” You ask, confused. “We’re out so much where I think our collective sleep hours are in the negatives.”

“Not on patrol,” he corrects. “Let me take you to that place you’ve been wanting to try. The one with the rotating pie stand.” Your mouth gapes. If there was someone who had a worse work-life balance than you, it was your boyfriend. Yet here he was, recommending you both skip patrol. “I wanna give you a proper date. Please?”

“Since when are we allowed to take nights off, Murdock?” You tease.

“Since I made a deal with Spiderman to swing through the Kitchen once a month,” he drawls, attempting to kiss you and frowning when you gently pull back like you’ve offended him. “Sweetheart.”

“You can’t kiss me until you tell me how you managed to pull off a deal with Spiderman.” His forehead creases above his red-lensed glasses.

“I called in a favor.” You know he can hear the skepticism on your face. He exhales before continuing, “I told the kid I’d proofread his friend’s job application. Some opening as a photographer for the Bugle.”

“You tell him you were a lawyer?”

“I told him I’m a very good lawyer.” The last of your students wave goodbye, their eyebrows waggling as they leave the studio.

“Well, counselor, if it is your professional opinion that we should go on a date tonight, I’d be happy to oblige.” 

“God, I love you as a partner,” he breathes.

“For romance or vigilantism?”

“Both.”

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[soul-collectors]

SOUL COLLECTORS MASTERPOST

FULL CHRONOLOGICAL TIMELINE

PART 1; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4- 5 | PART 2; 1 - …

SOUL COLLECTORS ASKS

(Al & Ditto) 1 - 2 - 3 -...

(N/A) 1 - ...

(World/Random Timelines) 1 - 2 ...

SOUL COLLECTORS BONUS(es)

(This will be catigorized into serious/fully canon bonuses and silly/non canon bonuses soon)

it's time (not really) - Asriel Dreemurr takes off - 100 notes - can't shatter SOULs - Twitter special PT.1 - Twitter special PT.2 - squeezable Soul - Undyne's boots - wet jacket - UTY Special (1) - UTY Special (2) - UTY Special (3) - Good Boys - Skeleton teacup - Pie tasting - Fellsweep loss - Gaster's followers - Fall - Lego and S'mores - SOUL Chain! - Vess goes to jail - 2025 New year! - hello Vess! - Interesting. - Anon and Maker - Maker's glasses - Chatting - Sunflower - Pot&Liz doodle - Every Time - ...

CHARACTERS

[SOUL] - Design - Intro

[MAKER] - Design(s) - Intro

[LYGO] - Design

[MEMO] - “Design” - Intro (ongoing)

[VESS] - Design - Intro

[AL] - Design

[DITTO] - Design

(...)

(OTHERS)

[CROW] - Design - Intro

[EDU] - Design

{BG CHARACTERS} - Pot&Liz - Cloak&Dagger - Sap - …

SC; MAKER TIMELINE

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - ...

(In progress...)

GENERAL INFO

(click on keep reading!)

SOUL COLLECTORS 101

1. ANOMALY SOULS

2. SOUL COLLECTORS

What is 'SOUL collectors' (THE UTMV)? (and why is it called that?)

SOUL Collectors is an Undertale multiverse for several different Undertale OCs I have created.

A collection of their interactions with each other, the multiverse, and their arcs into achieving their wants or needs.

It's also sometimes Open to Asks towards or about the characters!

basically my sandbox for ideas and OCs lmao-

SOUL Collectors is a passion project that only has me, @pathosketches working on it, It doesn't have a specific schedule for posting and not everything is set in stone, I'm only having fun here :]

SOUL Collectors is also the name of a group of Vessels seemingly able to "collect" SOULs, Soul (the poster boy) being one of them!

BASIC INFO ON SOUL COLLECTORS

what makes this Multiverse special? (Why do SOULs look like that?)

The SOUL Collectors MV has a special 'glitch' that appears in some timelines after a run has ended (pacifist, neutral, or genocide) that gives the fallen 6 Human SOULs (sometimes other humans as well, but rarely so) shape and prevents them from being shattered.

They’re called Anomaly SOULs.

BASIC INFO ABOUT ANOMALY SOULS

(From part 1 [5])

You'll learn about them and how they work from the story as it progresses and from Asks-

How many 'Stories' are there? (what is Maker timeline?)

SC has two main 'stories':

'SOUL collectors' itself.

'SOUL collectors: Maker timeline' a subplot/Secondary story that takes place before the events of SC. It (mainly) follows a Gaster variant that learned of his inevitable "fall" into the CORE and how that affected him and his timeline.

'SC: Maker timeline' will usually be drawn in a 'sketchy' style :)

Can I draw the SC cast with my ocs? / Can I draw the SC cast?

Yes!! absolutely!! Any art made of my silly characters would make my day!! and interactions with ocs are so much fun to see!!

Just remember to be respectful! (No NSFW/excessive gore/weird things/etc-)

Can I make my own SOUL Collector/Anomaly SOUL/Monster affected/Maker ocs?

Yes of course! I'd love to see what ocs you come up with! And if you have any questions in making them, I'll be more than happy to help without spoiling some major plot points haha!

(This post may be updated in the future, I hope you come to enjoy the freaks I created ˘͈ᵕ˘͈)

[greenerteacups]

Hi GT. I hope this message finds you well. I am sending all the good vibes and we'll wishes your way! ♥️♥️♥️ I hope you've had a wonderful summer.

I'm such a big fan of your work. Lioneheart is amazing and has stuck with me for such a long time.

I was wondering if you had any other stories you'd like to explore one day (even if you never get the chance to write them.) Whether it be fanfiction or original work, I was just curious because sometimes I feel as if I have hundreds of stories inside that I could tell, and I am not sure how to pick just one and see it to completion.

First of all, thank you! This is a fun one. I have a few enduring ideas for longfics I may or may not ever write (i.e., ideas that would have been projects already if I didn't have an ongoing longfic). I don't get stuck in them mostly because I try to remind myself that the idealized story you imagine when a concept occurs to you will never actually exist as it does when it's unshackled by the constraints of execution. What you'll get if you actually sit down and hack it out is (1) a real and imperfect piece of writing, and (2) the satisfaction of having written it, which is by far the more reliable source of motivation, if we're being honest. That being said, here are some ideas I've always wanted to explore, if and when I finish Lionheart:

I've always wanted to write a longform canon-divergent Tomione fic about Tom Riddle's 7th year at Hogwarts. Big honking political melodrama ft. the original Knights of Walpurgis, a Triwizard Tournament, and realistically functioning time travel (hence why this one's always been kicked down my list of projects, because writing a time-travel plot is like running through a minefield made of trampolines). I've already got character concepts sketched out for the Hogwarts cast — sooooo many fun ideas for the teenage Walburga. But I'd still need about a week of solid fic preproduction on the plot alone before I was ready to boot up and start writing, and it'd take at least 250k words — closer to 300k, if I'm being honest about myself. So this probably won't see the light of day anytime remotely soon, if ever.

A canon-compliant Dramione war fic, diverging from the Malfoy Manor chapters in Book 7, picking up from a speculative thread I read once about what would happen if the war didn't end after Voldemort died at the Battle of Hogwarts. I've always thought it would be fascinating to see who Hermione and Draco would become if they were actual soldiers in the war (and my disappointment with how Book 7 handled the "war" of it all has been established). That being said, Book 7 of Lionheart will probably give me a lot of similar ideas to chew on, so I don't know what my appetite for this one will be once I'm finished with it.

Durmstrang AU. This one's barely a fic concept so much as it is a mental moodboard — I just want to worldbuild the hell out of Durmstrang. And the international wizarding world, generally. It's a delicious sandbox.

A longform canon-compliant fic or series of fics about the previous generation of Blacks (Sirius/Bellatrix/Narcissa, namely). If you look at the books, there's a huge amount we don't know about the fall of the Blacks. I always found it bizarre that the sisters and Sirius seem to be the only ones left by 1995. No one else has a claim? No one else from this all-powerful wizarding family wants to step in and claim this big honking townhouse in the middle of London? Or its attendant fortune? Dude, what happened? Also, we don't see nearly enough of the Black family melodrama in canon. They lose 4/5 children of a generation in the span of almost single decade. And then (presumably) all of their parents die in the span of another. Goddamn. Just imagine the character work you could do there.

A No Chosen One/Voldemort Wins (The First Time) AU where Hermione never gets her letter, and meets Draco much later in life as a self-taught witch. The dynamics I have in my head for this are really enjoyable, and it would be a chance to finally write Hermione POV, plus the Draco I've cooked up for this universe is [chefs kiss]. I also just love the idea of Hermione as a feral witch-child running around muggle London. I love it a lot.

[hoboblaidd]

I’ve had this in my rules for forever but I want to highlight it specifically on the dash -

If you’re not a pc (Inquisitor/Hawke/HoF/Rook), I will default to my world state/other pcs to the extent that pc/world state is relevant to our thread. I’ll be open about what that is as we plot and we can discuss how to mesh mine with yours so they fit.

The sandbox should be 50/50. RP is collaborative writing, not ‘karen come and play in my novel.’ It reduces me to a spectator or a reaction board. That’s not fun at all.

My Solas has important character relationships just like your character does. We should both be able to develop our muses as we write together, and to do that requires an even split. I will always ask you ‘is it ok if I use X’s Rook as the Rook in our thread’, for example.

Same goes for world states. I won’t change my character to fit how you want him. I won’t accommodate your Solas headcanons, pre-established relationship with him (unless we’ve discussed), or canon divergences that affect Solas. I think that’s pretty self-explanatory. If something tangentially affects Solas, we can discuss and I’ll decide if I’m cool with it.

If something is incredibly important to your character, talk to me before we write. If we’ve written together before and I’ve been using your world state/pcs, know that I’m doing it very happily and want to continue. I’m especially happy to accommodate relationships you have with other people’s muses.

End of the day, this isn’t set in stone and I tend to be more flexible than this post suggests. All I ask is that you don’t assume or try to force it on me. Just talk to me beforehand and be respectful of the fact that we both want to have fun, and that I might say no.

[indierpgnewsletter]

Murder on Arcturus Station

In 1983, Games Designers’ Workshop released an adventure module for Traveller called Murder on Arcturus Station. It’s a straight-up sci-fi murder mystery – an early landmark in Traveller‘s goal of taking play out of the dungeon and zooming off in every direction possible.

There’s lots to like about this little adventure. The dead body is a sleazy capitalist, who in the premise of the adventure has just screwed the players’ characters out of payment for their last job. There’s also labour strife brewing because the aforementioned bossman is screwing everybody on this little mining station. There’s almost a dozen suspects, each of them having some kind of grief with him. It’s the slick neo-noir vibe of Picket Line Tango but done with all the lack-of-flair of 40 years ago.But the best thing about the module is that there’s no canonical murderer. As a part of prep, it asks the GM to decide.

But the best thing about the module is that there’s no canonical murderer. As a part of prep, it asks the GM to decide.

I love this because there’s a lot of discussion these days about games that use Brindlewood Bay‘s mystery system. And while this isn’t the same thing by any means, it’s still mucking around in the same sandbox. Essentially, you could say that games like Brindlewood Bay or Apocalypse Keys are just respecting that time-honoured tradition of storygames and redistributing the role of the GM.

When I read Arcturus Station, I have this lovely premise dripping with potential and I don’t want to puncture it. If I was running this in 2016, I would’ve just used smoke and mirrors – pretended that I knew which suspect did it but really I would just see what my players thought and then use that to decide. (Someone on Bluesky called it “planning behind” rather than “planning ahead” and I find that phrase very funny.) All these new games do as far as I’m concerned is let me be honest about my smoke and mirrors.

But the creativity of Arcturus Station doesn’t stop there, it offers two more ideas, half-baked in that classic old school way but still very endearing: what if the one of the player’s characters did it (makes sense, they have a motive, they just got screwed) and what if instead of playing adventurers, the players took on the role of the NPC suspects and basically larped it.

The designer of this module, J Andrew Keith, doesn’t actually know how to pull either of these two things off. Well, the first one is a bit easier. It just requires planning and collusion between one player and the GM. But the second idea is just tossed in at the very end of the book. All that Keith has got to offer us is: “One other possibility which there was no time to explore in detail here is to dispense with the standard player characters and use the suspects as player characters. Give players the information on Katarin Xuan, Eayukheal, and the others, and have them play those roles; of course, one of them will be the murderer…”

Like with many other art forms, one way to read the history of RPG design is the push and pull of experimentation and consolidation: there are periods of obvious and widespread experimentation and then consolidation as the most popular experiments become the norm. But then people get bored of the norm as it looses the novelty that made it popular in the first place and a new phase of widespread experimentation follows.

It’s never so simple, of course. You can have experimentation in one space and consolidation in the other. But it’s interesting to see the creative overreach of the first decade of RPGs – people imagining possibilities but not really having the tools to implement them. It’s the same spirit that draws me towards the current indie games era (and the Forge era, and so on). It’s excitement for the possibilities of play.

[sickofthistoxicshit]

Thanks for your response to that other anon about Tommy; you’re totally right. I also was intrigued, even liked him and Buck after their first kiss. But his closet comment and behavior on their first date, like he didn’t care that Buck has LITERALLY just figured out his bisexuality and that’s A LOT to process, his dismissive attitude towards Buck’s ideas and feelings (the bachelor party henley, the “enjoy it while it lasts” at the medal ceremony)….and then add in the way some fans have gone 0 to 100 on them so quickly, even calling them endgame, and likely at least in part JUST because it’s two men…it’s become such a turn off. I was neutral, even wanted to like them at first, but now am counting the days until it ends. And it’s not because I’m a BoB or would dislike any Buck LI that isn’t Eddie. And I don’t agree with anyone getting HATE (we can sideeye and judge people’s actions ($cameos$) But I think seeing Buck in a canon male/male relationship has caused some people to lose their damn minds. Ship and let ship! Stay in your sandbox, we’ll stay in ours!

LOL I am so removed from all the crowing bummies that I have to ask wth is BoB?

I actually went to look it up and found some interesting options, I am going with this one:

"Bob" is a generic and common name, and using it can be a way of avoiding formalities or creating a relaxed and approachable atmosphere

If you have the other meaning go ahead and tell me, like bummies I understand what benefits me in the moment😂

I kinda wish ppl will look up the meaning of "comphet" (I actually looked it up) that Ryan keeps bringing up in his interviews - that way ppl can stop saying crap things about him being the one to derail Eddie-T because he was supposedly against it. - Which is bullshit, Tim repeatedly said it was because the Natalia actress couldn't come back and M actress could. - Also, Originally T was supposed to be Lucy, she just couldn't come back so they took Lou in a pinch, so Obviously the endgame sure as shit wasn't the pilot.

And you're right, T's attitude was condescending at best, I was talking about it with a mutual the other day, and said that if they really had an interest to build BT properly, also by the time they came up with BT they knew they were being renewed for S8, they could have slowed into this. Actually make Buck's coming out story, a coming out story, not "So first date was a bust, how bout you come to my sister's wedding?" like who does that?

They could have started as friends with Lou being a gay guru, they could have had private dates until Buck was actually out to everyone and ready to be seen in public.

There could have been feelings involved that developed over time.

I gave the example of Tim-Ashley vs Nolan-Bailey from The Rookie, while Ashley was fairly kept to the background (btw she got more screen time than T, just saying) while Bailey was constantly and still being weaved into the story, intricated into Nolan's life, because he was meant to end up with her.

What ppl, who seem to have never watched good tv in their lives, don't seem to understand is that there is a way to write a story, and 911 not only screwed up spectacularly with Buck and Eddie's storylines, but they managed to make it clear from the get go that any LI to come along would be written just bad enough for it to be clear that they are not lasting.

Even furious, Eddie never walked away from Buck. Even when Buck was an asshole in 2x01, Eddie stood his ground and insisted they sort it through making it clear that they are on the same side, that he cares about him and wanting to be his friend. - His partner, a team.

Tommy, like all his predecessors, walked away as soon as something didn't fit his little comfort zone. Tommy walked away on that first date, he didn't contact Buck after that, Buck had to make contact and apologize for not being comfortable on his first date with a guy, like how messed up is that?

And Tommy's little acid retort in front of Eddie in the restaurant before that? From the side it's hilarious for someone who was never in that position. It was mean and uncalled for, but not exactly a surprise because T was never much of am understanding person, he was pretty much an ass from the get go in S2, only difference now is that he is out of the closet.

How did Athena put it when Michael first brought his new bf home after they got divorced? "If Michael had cheated on me with a woman, no one would have expected me to slap on a fake smile and welcome her into my home."

And that is exactly what the GA expects us to do, so what if Buck injured Eddie for attention? He's bi now.

So what if T was an ass and pretty much dismissive towards Buck and talks to him often in a bored way like one talks to a child? He's gay now.

A certain sexual preference does not excuse bad behavior. A person's behavior is supposed to be taken at face value, and not excused just because that person is now seeing someone who happens to be of the same gender.

Crappy behavior is just that - crappy behavior - equal accountability and all that.

I actually liked Taylor for Buck in S2, I think Lucy could have been perfect for him in S5, but the writers made sure to smear their characters in the eyes of the GA from the beginning, thus ending up with another failed relationship, while Buck's relationship with Eddie thrives from one episode to another for the last 7 seasons. One has to wonder about that even if they don't ship buddie.

Same pattern here with T. I was prepared to like him with Buck, I was prepared to see Buck making his way out of the closet with someone who would make him feel safe to do it, not kiss him unprepared under the pretense of coming originally on Eddie's behalf. Not that crap show that was that restaurant date. Not Buck apologizing after feeling insecure and exposed in public for the first time out of the closet and so many other things. - I'm getting the same vibes as Taylor looking through her phone in disinterest in 4x11 as Buck recites some google fact.

And you're right, the fans going from 0-200 after one kiss was just ridiculous, like chill people have you never seen two men kiss before?

I have, on screen and in RL, I grew up with lovely lgbtq+ friends from childhood, it's not all that. When my gay best friend dated someone who didn't treat him right, I told him to get rid of him. When my cousin's gf treated her like property and like she owes her something I urged her to find a better more nurturing person to be happy with.

Two men kissing is not endgame making, hell, from experience two men having sex (hot as it is) is not endgame making.

Love, passion, trust, security, fun, friends gatherings where they're cute and gross, can be made into a healthy endgame making relationship.

Buck and Tommy have physical attraction, they make for a steamy picture but nothing else.

And Lou, I am just... I don't know, I would have preferred not to find out the things he's done as cast of 911, I am just so disappointed.

I loved Lou, now it's just meh. Like he's trying to make as much money as he can before he finishes his way in the show is all kinds of wrong. Also very misleading to the ppl who are hanging on his every word. (And I don't think Oliver likes it either, he is pointedly ignoring any scene with T, not promoting anything that doesn't involve Eddie and Christopher or Buck's own development).

Even Ryan didn't know he was going to get shot until he got the 4x13 script, he was sure he was being killed off until he talked to whoever was showrunner at the time lol.

So Lou can't know he just talks out of his ass and make himself look bad in the process.

And I agree, ppl should be free to ship whoever they desire, but they are not entitled to force their desires upon others, I'm talking about both sides of the ships not just one. (Although I gotta say I've never got hate asks until a certain ship popped up this season. A lot of hateful - now blocked anons - that I refused to give stage to.)

These toxic battles are useless and made this season worse than it's writing.

All that's left is kick back and hope this season's last episode can salvage the poor and repetitive storylines we got this season, - I mean even Henren and Bathena got a replay of S4.

And don't even get me started of the fart shaped storyline Eddie got after switching last minute.

I'm tired lol

didn't mean for this to become this long monster, If you made it this far thank you, sending LOTS of love. ❤️

[strangerthingsfanworkrecs]

Can I nominate rebelfell.

A truly gifted writer, her stories have me hooked and leave me day dreaming about the worlds shes created. An all round lovely human too, I’ve seen them add ideas and blurbs to posts/ fan art, makes moodboards and just generally spreads good vibes wherever she goes. such a joy to have someone so encouraging and supportive in this community 🖤

Introducing @rebelfell

We're highlighting Sarah for her written fics and moodboards! All recs tagged #rebelfell will be for her works. She answered some questions about her process below

What's a fandom interaction that made you really happy?

So aside from reblogs/commentary/any sort of engagement with a story (which is its own joy), I love the moments where we can be downright silly together. I think of fandom as a big sandbox where we’re all playing pretend, bouncing ideas off one another, and not taking anything too seriously. One person will post a random thought that will resonate with someone else and before you know it there are like 5+ people batting ideas back and forth, adding on and getting more ridiculous every time. It’s beautiful to see.

What's your favorite character or aspect of Stranger Things to create for?

The short answer is Eddie <3 He’s how I got into Stranger Things, he’s what’s kept me here, he occupies my brain permanently and I have no plans to evict him. But I love the interactions between all the characters, canon or imagined, and I love playing in a world that is semi-established, but that we can kind of make up our own rules for as well.

What's your artistic process like? Any tools you favor?

Bold of you to assume I have a process (just kidding…sort of)—but I think my process essentially boils down to chasing those moments of inspiration when they come rather than trying to force them. I’m always sort of writing in my head, and when I hear a line that actually sounds good, I do my best to get it down before it evaporates into the ether. I also like to just imagine scenarios or conversations and fill out the details of who is saying what and why later. Sometimes I’ll think of one good line of dialogue and that’ll be enough to carry me through a whole scene, and the scene will ideally be good enough to expand into a whole story. Like for The Third Date, the conversation in the second part came to me almost fully formed and I had to go back and write the first part to figure out how we even got there.

What was it like to work on the Third Date?

I wrote the bulk of The Third Date before I even dared to start posting my writing, and I think part of me believed I never would. The character borders on being an o/c, or more of a me-insert, but I was still learning the mechanics of x reader fics (I never even knew that was a thing before ST). In the description of the fic I pretty much say I wrote this to have someone say all the right things, and that’s what I got. But it was cathartic for me and by the end I felt compelled to share it because I was proud of it and because if there was someone else out there who it resonated with, I wanted to offer whatever sliver of comfort I could just by saying, “hey, I have this too, if you have felt these things or something similar, it’s not just you.” I feel like a lot of my work is just me calling out into the void like, “this isn’t just me, right? anybody?” And I’ve been so, so lucky to have people answer back.

What was it like to work on This Summer Is The Apocalypse?

This Summer is the Apocalypse, I did not plan on writing in the slightest. It came out of seemingly nowhere and just possessed me. All I had was this hazy vision of Eddie jumping in a pool, and this person telling him off. Then one night as I was falling asleep, I started hearing the lines in my head and I had to get up and get them down. It literally poured out of me in one night and I posted it thinking that was it. But then each new part kept coming to me just from reading people’s reactions and letting my imagination take over. People’s responses were so kind and they were so invested in what happened. Even when I got to the middle and had no real notion of where I was headed, talking it out was such a massive help. It was just Fun, and I fell so in love with the two of them and their little love story that I didn’t know was even gonna be a love story?? I included things that were going on in my life, and little cameos of real items I own. I put myself in that story, quite literally.

[mosaic-briar]

I will make a season 2 predictions chart later cause they are fun and I wanna make meme content for the people (I'mma put Alastor discovers furbies, and Cyrimni doxxs the gang and shit like that on it)

but I also wanna say as a multishipper with no investment in any particular ship (except things like Chaggie and Huskerdust but thats also the plot) that I will be watching S2 as an Alastor sporting event

there is nothing more fun than a sandbox that has already revealed the rules, Alastor isn't just canon ace, he's canon ace and "doesn't know what that is" and while I'm sure his dynamics and relationships with all the other characters is going to be challenged and grow we know he isn't going to get any on screen relationship scenes in any traditional sense.

which means watching season 2 will feel like reverse queer baiting for the fandom shippers. Maybe its an animator nod or just a reference to a fandom joke or maybe its just that Alastor and another character are meant to engage in the plot but every episode is a CHANCE for new sandbox content that isn't fully defined yet.

like, its just how the song Hells Greatest Dad ended up creating two of the mainstay motifs of radioapple which is putting them in restaurants and nun outfits. I cannot tell you how much fanfiction I've read in the last year about a sad divorced dad who works at a restaurant and fucks around with a busboy named Alastor, its actually incredible. It's more fun because the sakes can't hurt the ship directly even if one the characters fucking dies and they never talk cause the sandbox wasn't concerned with that anyway. This doesn't even touch on how every person or friend group slowly morphs there own interpretation of the character. Like, radioapple itself ranges from camp and fluff to literal dead dove and gore, which is like having a new sandbox inside of the first sandbox. holy fuck two sandboxes!

anyway, I am gonna run an Alastor ships score board for technical ship victories throughout S2 because to me this is the equivalent of the world cup. I do think that the Vox x Alastor lovers are gonna have the highest highs and the lowest lows, that's my early prediction! I also guess there will be some random ass crack ship that ends up with insane power like fucking Husk and Lucifer, cause yall keep fucking around. Every time I see someone crack ship them its the same "huh so random but I guess maybe if they ever looked at each other" but those two old men would fuck drunk and blind and not bother discussing it the following day there is always a chance is the Hazbin Hotel babyyyyy that a throw away bit can burn and build ships. okay my wildest call someone from Hazbin Hotel ends up in a canon ship with someone from Helluvaboss, Paimon and Sera obviously connect the dots.

[ot8spreadsheetstay]

organizing my thoughts here because 1) accountability, 2) the drag and drop to rearrange paragraphs function is actually kinda peak, so

LONGING OF OUR PASTS

(aka LOOP, a kpdh reincarnated soulmates au)

headcanon bible

note: no one has to follow all (or even any) of these if they choose to create anything in a reincarnation and/or soulmates au of kpdh; i do not own or claim the concept of a 'reincarnation kdrama romance' au, nor the concept of a 'rujinu soulmates' au, but i wanted to create a solid and fleshed out 'sandbox' to play in if folks want to, like the big aus for homestuck, miraculous ladybug, mlp:fim, etc

this 'bible' is only intended to keep myself oriented in the process of writing my own fic. but if you want to use the names / characters / relationships / life events i came up with (so like, the archer in the gen1 hunter trio being named sungji and jinus sister biasing her, NOT like rumis mom being called miyoung because thats canon from the movie), please feel free to! i only ask that you just include a link back to this post in whatever you upload that was inspired by it, because i have put SO MUCH RESEARCH AND EFFORT into this silly little pretend make believe story. also maybe shoot me a link to whatever you create because i wanna seeeeeee

JULY 3 2025 EDIT: also my deepest apologies for accidentally publishing this before it was ready. theres still some things i need to figure out, like names for the rest of the gen1 hunters, names for jinus parents, etc, but like... i thought i had entirely lost this post when i couldnt find it in my drafts the other day, so im just glad i didnt lose all that work. anyway, if anything is culturally inaccurate, please tell me so i can fix it; i know so little about joseon era, korean naming conventions, etc and i want to know more

table of contents

the most important aspect of zs reincarnated soulmate au

name meanings and pronunciation guide

things that are canon to this fic

things z did not make up, that are canon to the movie

secret bonus content

1. the most important aspect of zs reincarnated soulmate au:

rumi and jinu are romantic endgame soulmates. there will be a happy ending for them (and for their loved ones)

spoiler warning for kpop demon hunters below the cut

also content warning for mentions of canon-typical violence, brief suicidal ideation, and major character death (not suicide)

2. name meanings and pronunciation guide

gwima: 귀마, 'gwi' 鬼 ghost / demon / sinister, 'ma' 魔 devil / fiend / unnatural; vowel sounds rhyme with 'weed moss', with the w having an almost h aspect to it, and almost no oo at the beginning of the w sound

also, unlike all the other names on this list, im confident that this hanja reading is canon because the word for demon ghost / devil / satan / evil spirit is 'magwi' 마귀 (魔鬼) so they would have just swapped the characters around

jinu: 진우, 'jin' 珍 precious / treasure / rare, 'u' 愚 foolish / stupid / fool JUST KIDDING, 'u' 佑 assist / help / protect, sounds like 'jeen ooh' just like in the movie

named this way because his father was a farmer and his mother hoped he would grow up strong and able to help out

i picked this reading because he was a precious protector to rumi

eunjung: 은정, 'eun' 恩 mercy / favor / grace + 'jeong' 貞 pure / virtuous / faithful; vowel sounds rhyme with 'good just'

named this way because her parents hoped she would grow up kind and gentle and be a dutiful daughter

i picked this name because she was so faithful to jinu that she even got herself reincarnated for another chance at saving him

sungji: 성지, 'seong' 聖 noble / holy / sacred, 'ji' 知 knowledge / understanding / wisdom; vowel sounds rhyme with 'but beet', sounds like the english words 'sung gee'

given this name to bless her with a steady mind as she carries out her noble mission

i picked this name as a tribute to han jisung honestly, but also because she wasnt the 'leader' of the first hunters, but she was the ranged fighter, so she would probably be more of a strategist than the rest

miyoung: 미영, 'mi' 美 beauty / beautiful / pretty, 'yeong' 永 eternity / forever / permanent; vowel sounds rhyme with 'beet but', sounds like the english words 'me young'

named this way for the lasting beauty a shaman predicted she would bring to the world. tragically, due to her losing her life at a young age, she is in a way permanently at her most beautiful

i did not come up with this name, it came from the flashback to the gravestone, but i chose this reading because i like the irony of her name including 'forever' instead of the more common reading of 'flower petals' (英) because yknow... she died young

jinjoo: 진주, 'jin' 珍 precious / treasure / rare, ju 珠 pearl; vowel sounds rhyme with 'sheep shoe', just like jinus name does

same generational name as her brother, but with the hope that she would grow up beautiful and resilient in spite of her struggles in life, like a pearl forming because of sand and grit

i chose this because of the pearlescent colors of rumis ultimate-form demon stripes and huntrixs 'what it sounds like' outfits, because i think it hits harder if the three of them reminded jinu of his little sister in that moment and thats why he chose to be self-sacrificing instead of selfish, to try to make up for failing his sister back then

3. things that are canon to this fic

things about huntrix and the sunlight sisters

rumis mother was named miyoung because a shaman predicted before she was born that she would bring about a beauty in the world that would last forever [see section 2]. this was commonly interpreted by fans of the sunlight sisters as being about her music, as she was the primary songwriter of the trio, but amongst the hunters, it was taken as proof that they would be the generation that would succeed in turning the honmoon gold (it actually was a prophecy about her future daughter, but thats the thing about prophecy, you cant know whether or not you are interpreting it correctly until it happens. quantum uncertainty or whatever)

ryu miyoung [see section 4] went by 'ryumi' with her friends ever since she was a preteen, because there were usually at least two other miyoungs in her classes (the other sunlight sisters would usually just call her 'unnie' though). only her family and romantic partners ever called her 'miyoung'. her stage name was aurora (the third sunlight sisters stage name was stella)

miyoung met the man who would be her future husband, byungho (병호, 'byeong' 炳 bright / luminous / glorious, 'ho' 昊 vast sky, vowel sounds rhyme with 'yum oh'), at an airport when a fan pushed her off-balance and she fell into his arms (he was disguised as a bodyguard, and was intending to kidnap the sunlight sisters, but he fell for miyoung immediately upon making eye contact with her, and was done for when she smiled and gratefully thanked him for saving her. absolute anime meet-cute moment)

celine was secretly in love with miyoung, and as she watched miyoung get closer and closer with byungho, hated him more and more every day because of it, even without knowing or even suspecting that he was a demon. but, what with celine being a pro idol, you would never know it

after a few years of reliably guarding the sunlight sisters, byungho was promoted from bodyguard to manager. whenever gwima asked him what was taking so long to follow through on his plan to defeat the hunters once and for all, he would insist that they didnt yet trust him enough

when miyoungs engagement with her manager and former bodyguard was announced to the public, the majority of sunlight sisters fans were overjoyed because of an enormous fan theory that all the love songs miyoung wrote were about someone she worked closely with (before the airport incident, she had never written a love song, only girl power songs, with one exception: a song called 'yearning' that was about wishing to find ones soulmate, and that was only ever performed live, never officially released. she sang it at her wedding as well, but it is now considered lost media)

when the sunlight sisters discovered that byungho was a demon, stella was convinced there was a way to use their powers to purify his soul. celine, on the other hand, was furious, feeling like she had been betrayed by both stella and miyoung. this was the beginning of the end for the sunlight sisters, as the trust was, from celines perspective at least, irrevocably broken (how could she trust someone to have her back while fighting demons, when that same someone chose to marry a demon)

celine is a reincarnation of the first generation hunter with the hat. she betrayed the hunter with the bow and arrow so deeply that she had to be reincarnated as her caregiver and face being abandoned by the child she raised poorly

the first time rumi had her patterns appear was after the idol awards celine took her to as a child (where she wore the ruffly pink dress, and the idol awards logo was gold on black with a star) because that was the first time she felt real shame over who she was. some comment about her moms passing made her feel like it was her fault, and if she hadnt been born, the world would still have the sunlight sisters

things about the first hunters and rumis past life

the first generation of hunters were born around the same time as the first humans were fully turned into demons by gwima. they were meant to save human souls from shame and despair (aka gwima) by igniting them with hope and love, and the honmoon was supposed to be a gate they could pass through at will (like everyones favorite tiger and magpie can) to save human souls from gwima, not a fortress to keep demons out of the world. in fact, the golden honmoon was never going to permanently seal all demons away, because demons are a natural part of the world; it was going to make it easier for the hunters to enter (and exit) the underworld. the problem was not with dokkaebi and jeoseung saja and all the other demons interacting with humans, the problem was with gwima forcing them to steal human souls for him to consume, which kept those human souls from being reincarnated (think billionaires hoarding wealth instead of that wealth circulating freely in the economy)

in her past life, roughly 400 years ago, rumi was the hunter with the bow and arrow, in the very first hunter trio. her birth name was eunjung, but when she left her village to train as a hunter, she was given a 'stage name' to protect her family. this name was sungji

eunjungs best friend growing up was a boy four years younger than her, named jinu, who would always follow her around and play his bipa while she sang. sometimes he would even sing with her

when sungji and her fellow hunters saved a gisaeng house from a demon attack, one of the noblemen who had been visiting the house invited the hunters to live at the castle

one day, the king heard a rumor that there was a bipa player with an incredibly beautiful voice in a certain village, nearly skilled enough to rival any one of the hunters themselves in terms of performance. the king summoned the hunters to a private meeting to tell them of this rumor, suspecting that such a voice must belong to a demon if it truly compared to the power of a hunters song. when sungji admitted that the village in question was actually her hometown, the king ordered that this performer be found and brought before him. if that village could produce a singer as incredible as sungji, then maybe this bipa player was worth adopting into the kings circle of entertainers (especially since the hunters had to travel the land fighting demons, and thus were absent from the castle as often as not)

the bipa player was brought to the castle while the hunters were on a mission fighting demons, and when they returned, eunjung and jinu finally reconnected, quickly shifting from childhood friends to secretly courting each other

jinu kept sungjis past as eunjung hidden (as much as he could, but the more demonic he became, the more access gwima had to his thoughts, knowledge, and memories) and she tried her best to keep their blossoming relationship from the other hunters so as to not let them think she had a priority greater than that of demon hunting

jinu only ever asked sungji for one favor: to protect his family in his stead if they were ever again threatened by demons (he couldnt admit to her that he was the threat he was most afraid of)

one of sungjis biggest fans, ever since the hunters saved her and her mother from a demon attack in the middle of the night, was a widowed farmers daughter named jinjoo

jinjoo had lost her brother to royal servitude only months before the attack that introduced her to sungji and the other hunters

sungji was jinjoos bias because she taught her how to shoot a bow and arrow the day after the thwarted demon attack, so she could protect herself and her mom while her brother was away serving the king (it was jinjoos request and she would not take no for an answer)

things about jinu and his family, prior to his deal with gwima

as a child, jinu had a puppy love crush on a village girl four years older than him, eunjung, who had a voice like magic, even from childhood. he started studying the bipa at a young age to impress her, because he knew he would never be as good at singing as she was, but he was still her dedicated accompanist for all her performances in the village, playing his instrument and occasionally singing harmonies for her

jinu was ten years old when his father died defending his family in a demon raid (i truly do not care if that is ten international years or if he was ten by korean age reckoning, it doesnt make any functional difference, i just feel like a ten year age difference between him and his sister makes sense and will be easily remembered) and about half a year later, his younger sister was born. the first time he heard gwimas voice was the first time he visited his fathers burial site with his heavily pregnant mother, realizing that he would never be able to carry the weight his father left behind

when eunjung came of age, she was 'discovered' by a traveling merchant who told her family that she was good enough to sing before the king (the 'merchant' who took her in was actually a shaman who had seen a vision of how to defeat the demon king, and was searching for performers who could ignite souls). jinu was heartbroken to see her leave their village, but also proud of her, so he worked hard from then on, determined to someday be able to be by her side again and accompany her with his bipa in a performance fit for royalty

but as much as jinu wanted to focus on music, he still had to help his mother tend to their farm and help raise his baby sister. they lived a modest life for a few years, but when their family farm was destroyed in another demon raid, jinu started performing with his bipa in the local village. it was such a small and poor population, though, that it didnt do much to support his family. still, he stubbornly refused to pursue any other career path, determined to succeed with his music so that he could someday be reunited with his first love

jinu rejected gwimas offers for years before he finally gave in when he told him that a reunion with his first love would be possible if he lived at the castle

things about jinu during his enslavement to gwima

jinu was not the first human to make a deal with the devil, and he was certainly not the last, but he was one of the early ones. as far as demons who used to be human goes, hes considered a 'senior in the industry' for sure

jinus voice was not a gift from gwima, all gwima did to get jinu into the kings good graces was to send a few demons to kill and replace some palace guards, and have them talk about an incredible performer in a certain village where the king could overhear. jinus voice was so good because he grew up singing with eunjung (which was effectively like jogging every day with weights on your ankles)

the castle jinu moved to, after his deal with gwima, was actually pretty far from his home village, and the memory of his sister holding his hand at the castle gates as guards pointed weapons at her and his mom was originally a nightmare he had on his first night away from home, traveling with disguised demons (eventually, gwimas manipulation and memory modification would convince him it was real). in reality, he left his family under cover of night after kissing his sister on the forehead while she slept. his mom knew that he was going to perform music for the king on a long-term basis, but not that the noblemen who told her this were demons in disguise

at the castle, during the first festival he was able to attend there, he met the hunters, and despite having been out of touch for years, he immediately recognized the magical voice of his first love

jinu was still mostly human when the first honmoon was created. it was weak and fragile, but it managed to quiet the voices in his head for the first time since he had lost his father. whenever the honmoon was at its weakest, gwimas voice in his head was at its strongest. for the first few years, the hunters didnt know how often the honmoon needed to be restrengthened. eventually, it was discovered that it had to be reinforced at least once a year, with the support of as many people as possible. this was done at the castle in the form of a festival where the hunters would perform for the king (and for the people, of course)

the hunters had to travel often, but whenever they returned to the castle, jinu and eunjung would try to steal private moments together. he taught her how to play the bipa and she told him stories from her travels

jinu tried his best to hide his spreading patterns, but he knew that it was doomed to fail sooner or later. he knew that eventually he would lose his humanity entirely and become a demon just like the ones that had destroyed his home, killed his father, and fought the hunters. so one night, after trying to tell her the truth but chickening out at the last moment, he asked sungji to do all she could to protect his mother and sister

one night, right before a honmoon reinforcement performance, jinu saw his family in the crowd, and gwima took advantage of the weak honmoon to convince him that he was a failure of a son for abandoning them to chase a silly childhood romance, with someone whos entire life was dedicated to hunting and vanquishing monsters like him. he pushed his buttons until he snapped, losing himself in a demonic rage

that was the first time jinu and the hunters met each other on either side of a battle, and he nearly killed one of the hunters before sungji, who recognized the bracelet she had tied onto on his wrist the night before she left their village, threw herself into his arms, begging him to come back to his senses

this did not go over well with the other hunters, who did not recognize that the demon was jinu, but who had already been suspicious of him in the first place just because of how he always tried to get sungji to come out on her own with him

the honmoon ritual the next night nearly failed because sungji was preoccupied worrying about jinu

when jinu next saw eunjung, with the honmoon freshly restored and his senses returned to him, he apologized for hiding the truth from her. already full of regret and shame over his cowardice, and expecting to never see her again because a born demon hunter and someone who chose demonhood could never be together, eunjungs earnest forgiveness overwhelmed him with guilt, giving gwima a chance to break through even the fully powered honmoon and dig his claws into him once more. he lashed out in a blind rage, seriously (but not permanently) injuring eunjung, and when he saw the fear in her face, he vanished, arriving at the foot of gwimas mausoleum

gwima tortured jinu for his defiance and corrupted his memories of everything that meant anything to him; his father (what a disappointment you must be to him, abandoning your family like that. though perhaps they are better off without a leech like you who wont do the hard work your father did, only chasing fame and glory and comfort), his childhood friendship with eunjung (no wonder she abandoned you as soon as she could. youve always been selfish. even if you werent a demon, you would still have to share her with the world. she has a duty. but you wouldnt know anything about duty, would you. you just do whatever you want, regardless who it hurts), and his time at the palace (you should feel ashamed of yourself for enjoying all this comfort while your mother and sister starve)

when gwima was satisfied that jinus spirit had been thoroughly broken, he offered him a single mercy: 'i can make you forget all of it. no more regret, no more guilt, no more suffering. all you have to do is bring me the soul of a hunter, and i will make all this pain go away'

jinu agreed (because torture will do that, eventually the tortured person will agree to anything just to escape the agony) and was sent back to the surface, just in time for the preparations for the next honmoon ritual festival. in broad daylight, fully demonic in appearance, looking out of his mind. the hunters were summoned immediately, and sungji was the first to arrive. jinu fell to his knees and begged her for her help, forehead to the ground. while the other hunters watched uneasily, ready to attack him if he made a single wrong move, sungji brought him someplace private

jinu told her everything he had been through, and she held him through reliving it all. she promised to help him, to free him from gwimas clutches no matter what it took

'he wants me to give him your soul... but how could i take something so precious?' 'my soul is already yours, along with my heart. it always has been. i have always belonged to you, and you have always belonged to me. how else do you think we were brought back together like this? we must be fated to be together' 'do you really think so?' 'if it isnt so already, i will reshape our fates with my own two hands and make it so. no force in the universe could ever keep me from you'

the next day, the hunters and jinu decide to take the fight to gwima. mostly eunjung convincing the other two while jinu tries to hide the guilt and shame and worry filling his head. the hunters (and jinu) pass through to the underworld through the door they created, and they even manage to rally some demons to their side, reminding them of the time before gwima started using them as his servants, but even with their support, it does not go well. one of the hunters (not the one with the hat) is consumed by gwima, and jinu (along with the other sympathetic demons) puts himself in the way so the other two can escape back to the human world

when they are back in the human world, eunjung calls for the shaman who trained them, but the other hunter (the one with the hat) slices her throat 'so that gwima wont be able to steal your soul. i hope, in your next life, you know better than to trust a demon'. she holds her as she dies, weeping over needing to kill someone she once trusted with her life. the shaman arrives, the only living hunter says that they were betrayed by the demon from sungjis village, and sungji and the other hunter are given burial rites, even though they only have sungjis body

months later, after more torture, jinu makes his way back to the human world by following a pair of spirit messengers (its the only way for him to pass through before the honmoon grows weak again, because he cant pass through a strong honmoon without the hunters) but when he finds the gravestone with the name sungji carved into it, he falls into despair, guilt, shame, misery, etc. gwima offers to erase jinus memories in exchange for the soul he brought him. jinu, who would rather be dead in the ground alongside his love than listen to another word from gwima, tries to tear his own throat open, but despite his sharp claws, he can do no harm to himself. gwimas laughter is mocking 'you think you can end your own life? you belong to me. you die when i allow it. not before. but... since you did bring me a hunters soul... my offer still stands. i will let you forget her. entirely'

jinu leaves the bracelet she gave him on her grave and accepts gwimas offer. because of how much of his life was centered on eunjung, he is left with only the memory of the nightmare he had about abandoning his family to live at the castle, not why he wanted to live in the castle in the first place, not why he started playing bipa, not anything from his own childhood, nothing real from his human life. only a false memory that gwima twists and embellishes, convincing jinu over centuries that he was always a selfish coward

for hundreds of years, all he knows about the hunters is what the other demons talk about: how their songs sealed gwima out of the human world and now they are his slaves. all he knows about himself is from that nightmare: poor, starving, willing to abandon his family for comfort and success. he doesnt know he was in love with one of the hunters, or that he was ever anything but selfish

...until his humanity is restored to him, by rumis connection with him. he is freed from gwimas control and memory suppression (by gwima killing him and thus nullifying his contract with him), and he (now nothing more than a soul) realizes that rumi is the soulmate he had been missing for so long without realizing it

now he just has to figure out how to be with rumi as an actual person, and not just as her sword

4. things z did not make up, that are canon to the movie

... or at least would have been canon if not for executive meddling (rip isac scene, you will always be remembered)

rumi wore a sleeveless dress to an idol awards show celine took her to as a child, and did not have visible patterns. this could have been makeup celine put on her before going out into public, but it could just as easily have been before any patterns started appearing on rumis skin

rumis moms name on her gravestone was ryu miyoung (류 미영)

rumi plays guitar. this was actually one of the first facts that made me want a reincarnation au, because i imagined her being drawn to learn guitar because of her past life connection with a handsome bipa player who might have taught her how to play it in secret (i cant find any screenshots of her actually PLAYING her guitar, and i cant take one myself, thanks netflix and their imho excessive drm, so we have to settle for it in her room on its stand, by the balcony windows. its just past her right side, in front of the curtains, mostly hidden by the bed)

the first hunters saved a mother with a pitchfork and her daughter whose soul illuminated when she made eye contact with one of them, and that mom and daughter looked A LOT like jinus memories of his mother and sister

the first hunters had a member who had a bow and arrow, and a long braid

like the archer in the first hunter group, rumi has a pauldron on her right shoulder as part of her 'golden' outfit

not quite AS canon, because it got scrapped due to executives not knowing what isac is, but rumi and jinu were originally gonna be doing archery together while talking about her patterns and how much she hates them, rather than signing autographs

"That [scene] eventually became a fan signing event. But, for a very long time, they had Rumi and Jinu doing archery, as they were having that conversation." [source: Forbes, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Director On Getting K-Pop Culture Down]

5. secret bonus content

sequel title: TIED (together in every dream)

or, a kpop demon hunters missing scene / missing first person narration / missing context / etc movie novelization meets fix it fic

it was fun when i did it for ofmd, might as well try doing it for this one too

threequel title: BOND (before our nights disappear)

or, a kpop demon hunters previous generation flashback fic that follows the relationship between miyoung and her demon husband, and also follows rumi meeting her father and getting his help bringing her soulmate back to life

because i accidentally put too much development into miyoung and byungho to never write about them

[lurkiestvoid]

So I posted a copy of The Article the other day but deliberately didn't include any of my own thoughts; I just stumbled over it, saw it was paywalled, shared a ladder. But I do have thoughts and this is the post where I'm putting them and then I'm moving on (publicly at least; privately as always I reserve the right to rant in my shower) and continuing to enjoy my sandbox.

I have always been a huge fan of the whole DA+ME suite. I enjoyed Andromeda and Veilguard, not even to 'spite critics' or anything I just Enjoyed Playing Them. I found ways to connect to and play with the characters in my own way, with my own understanding of the lore and my own canon; I'm used to BW's canon Sacrificed Dalish Warden, for example, and not my surviving Paragon Brosca, and in my writing I like to play with the effects of that and other changes anyway (like making all my Wardens+both Hawkes+all Inqys bc extra timeline shenanigans + all my Rooks simulcast canon lol).

I just like these sandboxes. Call em a special interest or a hobby or whatever, but I've been playing with this sand since I first picked up DA2 at my wife's recommendation while I was postpartum 2013.

And I honestly, at first playthrough, did not like DA2. HOWEVER. On my begrudging later last-chance playthrough, I decided to maybe glance at walkthroughs now and then, just to make sure I wasn't fucking things up, and boy howdy, yeah, I'd fucked it.

Somehow I'd powered through just the main plot without much of the side quests, had my combat settings way too high for my comfort level, only skimmed a lot of actually important stuff (mostly from not getting References to DAO/lore so I just. Skipped a lot of dialogue and made random choices) and generally met my boss fights way too early, making them near impossible for my gear and level without a lot of angry grinding. And that ending was rough, everyone peaced out with a general attitude of 'meh' and I didn't even really understand why.

Anyways, second go-round with a Guide and it went so much smoother. And that's when I fell in love. DA2 is still my favorite. Grabbed DAO (only had Shale's DLC iirc), and then played them back to back in between similar reruns of Mass Effect until Inquisition released. Played those 4-5 times through by themselves, then started my rotations over with the newest additions. I did get to play Andromeda once on an old roomie's PS4, and had started my second run before we moved. I fully intend to add VG to my rotations after I've had my fill of it and feel like I really know it well, same as the last ones. I've read most of the books but I forget which ones, I need to do a few more rereads, and I've read An Amount of fanfic and have a massive to-read pile still. (I have, of course, played lots of other games and read lots of other things in between all this; it's been a long 12 years, I just enjoy reruns of fave media, like a palate cleanser)

All this to say: I love Veilguard, because it's Veilguard. And because it's unique in the way the other games were unique, and expansive the way the other games were expansive, and just for having yet another big new piece of the puzzle.

But I have and will continue to maintain (again, mostly privately hereafter except when I get a wild hair up my ass abt it and I can't promise I won't) that EA fucking murdered Dragon Age. No, not in the 'killed it's quality' way, this isn't a statement of quality but of intent.

EA kneecapped specifically the DA team at nearly every step of the process, and then put the Mass Effect team in charge and gave them whatever they wanted. The DA team was shut out of DA meetings. And funding. And time, and structure, and support, and resources. No backtracking allowed, this train only goes forward at top speed forever, line only go up. Limited platform release, ramp up the graphics make it neotech-accessible only. Make it multiplayer, no, wait, nevermind, just use what you have. Rework all the dialogue it's too unserious, oh your VAs' union on strike? Too bad just cut it anyway, we release next month.

The DA team, post-Inquisitorial success, was slowly beaten with hammers, and their project was handed over to a team that had no respect for the team NOR for the franchise itself, despite that team's last game having notoriously tanked???

And when a half-strangled labor of love, who was barely like three months old yet, didn't manage to still perform to exceedingly high expectations, EA took it out back and just fucking shot it.

The Storm/Executors would have made a bangin' cinquel wrap-up to a beloved series, and we could have partied hearty with the devs instead of their private, mournful, reminiscent sendoff; they deserved so much better. If the DA team had been treated like the ME team from the get-go, we could maybe have had something absolutely mindblowing in all directions.

I'm happy with what DA devs managed to get us, as I figured I would be. But I am both unsurprised and still deeply pissed that EA/BW treated the writers and devs the way they did, and I'm disappointed in how the ME team treated their peers.

Aaaaaand i'm going to bed. 💜 thanks for reading!

[whoatherebigguy]

Answering a few asks about character's identities [+etc] in Cyclogenesis, bc it’s pride month and why not.

a couple of these get a little gay so if that’s not your vibe, then here’s your heads up, since im fairly sure most ppl r here for the shitposts lol

preliminary disclaimer: cyclogenesis isn’t meant to reflect canon, it’s my lil sandbox to explore ideas that uses giant monsters as the primary actors.

secondary disclaimer: so, none of these guys are human and therefore probably wouldn't use/understand human words/concepts in relation to identity, but i understand the question/s and i'll try to answer in the simplest terms

okay, 1:

this is a really interesting question [to me at least] because there isn’t really a “correct” answer. There's too many factors at play within Iris and she doesn't really have time to form an identity. I think ppl are free to interpret my version of the character however they like!

I use she and they when talking about Iris because 2 of the 4 components that comprise her feel very strongly about being referred to as such and it feels weird [to me] to do otherwise.

Here’s a goofy doodle explaining that a bit more.

2.

This one caught me off guard tbh, I’m wondering what tipped you off haha. My IRL friends joke that she is, but in-universe, the turtle is unlabelled and does not actively seek out any kind of companionship. Although, that may be mostly due to her being a machine and not wanting to have to outlive somebody. If she were to one day have a partner in defending the universe, they’d probably need to have a lot in common with her and be pretty much immortal.

2a. The main gyaos that shows up is meant to be lol.

3.

How many Gamera shitposts? Oh. So Many. Like, I maybe post 15-20% of the stuff I draw. Albeit, most of the stuff i don't post is unfinished, too cringe, too stupid, or some cursed combination of all three lol. I try to polish some of it up and post it in big piles.

and finally, the first one I got and the one I was most worried about: 4.

so I have actually been asked this (privately) before, which is funny because while i have been intentionally kinda vague about them, I’ve also only ever referred to them as allies or friends. But then again, they live on a spaceship together so I understand why there's a question.

I mean, I could go on a whole long tangent about how they’re both aliens with alien ideas about relationships and gender, or how Viras‘ history and being a composite complicates everything and makes it hard to define exactly what’s going on. But to be honest, that’s mostly just me trying to skirt around the question and over-complicating things when the answer is yes. Well….sorta. They’ve got a long history, are certainly deeply codependent and are very invested in keeping the other alive. I have a lot written for them in terms of the background for how they ended up so close and I try to lightly sprinkle it into my posts, but again I know that’s not really what most people are interested in and I don’t want to bore them. Depending on how this post goes over, I might make their dynamic a bit more overt in some of my comics…. They are the most fun to draw interacting and I find there to be something oddly wholesome about them.

-> tagging @trey-42399 bc i'm pretty sure one of these is yours, sorry it took so long to answer!

Anyways yea, happy pride month and I hope these were understandable.

[whatisamildopinion]

are you planning on continuing your aasimar au through junior year? i’m super interested as to what you’d do with kipperlily and riz’s dynamic, as well as riz and kristen’s relationship through her (insane) campaign

hi anon!!! thanks for the ask!

as of now, I am definitely planning to continue aasimar au through junior year. we've got a few chapters left in sophomore year to wrap up the school year, deal with some of the consequences of of our aspects altered from canon, and set up some of my relationship arcs for junior year. rest assured, I have Plans, and I'm feeling delightfully evil about them.

this one is gonna be a little long, so I'll slap it under a cut for those interested. warning for minor spoilers in terms of talking about general character arcs, but with very few specifics in terms of plot beats or specific scenes. I've got to keep some secrets about me ;)

it was always in the plans to do a junior year if I was still feeling passionate about it by the time I finished with sophomore year. Aasimar Au is, fundamentally, a little sandbox for me to play around with these characters, and it's more of a long-form character study than anything else. that said, the broader arc of Aasimar Au, and what, exactly, is the point of all of this, hinges on the execution of the third act, junior year. I have been setting shit up for it since Day One. if, for some reason, I don't finish junior year, freshman and sophomore year are totally fine to stand on their own, but I'm definitely extremely excited to have all of my various little thematic plot beat chickens come home to roost in junior year.

as far as the specific relationships you mention, HOOOOO BOY those are some hefty ones here. kipperlilly and riz have this fascinating relationship in canon where they haunt each other in the abstract. they hardly ever actually interact, but riz is haunted by the idea of being like kipperlilly, and kipperlilly, obviously, is both jealous and hateful of riz. in aasimar au, they are both more and less tormented by this relationship than in canon. for obvious reasons, kipperlilly initially hates riz and is jealous of his "unfair advantages", which, in this story, is more generally based in his status as aasimar and the intense trauma that came from that negotiation of identity. "this kid is already experiencing the oppression that comes with with being a goblin and he's ALSO experiencing discrimination from the prominent helioic sections of Elmville, and his angel father isn't in the picture but he still gets special magical abilities from his heritage? god, what a spoiled fucking brat. what a privileged little asshole. why couldn't that be me?" in aasimar au, riz is cosmically significant from birth. and kipperlilly hinges her biased hatred on this fact. "look, he's LITERALLY special, look, he's LITERALLY privileged. look, this heritage makes him a better adventurer and it's unfair." The thing is, she's also hinging her hatred on the idea that riz has a leg up because of the magical trauma of the situation and of his father's absence. which, of course, falls apart for a couple reasons. the first being that riz actually gets more effective and more powerful as an adventurer when kristen helps him unpack that trauma and actually begin using his magic again in freshman year. the trauma wasn't actually helping him. but, the much more important and damaging aspect to this mentality is when the end of sophomore year/junior year rolls around, and Pok comes back. he becomes a regular and stable facet of riz's life. and, to rub salt into the wound, the bad kids have gained a whole recurring cast of emotional support that comes not from trauma but from the active and intentional building/rebuilding of community. Yvoni, Gorthalax, Pok, Harathina, Katalina, Aetolana, Zaphriel, Garthy, etc etc. the bad kids effectively have a support network that somehow balances back over into appropriately supportive and capable, if not particularly normal, just like kipperlilly's parents. it undermines everything about her argument that trauma and instability is what provides an edge in adventuring.

but that's just one aspect of it. the other deeply, deeply fun aspect of their relationship in aasimar au is that her presence as a narrative rogue foil is utterly undone by the fact that riz, by the time junior year rolls around, is a multiclass rogue-PALADIN. he's spun around to begin delving into a class that is utterly different in terms of key strengths and potential abilities. he's taken a healing class!! it's a strength-based martial class!! it demands charisma and allows spell-casting!! kipperlilly has spent two whole years foaming at the mouth, seething about this boy and his advantages, but she's also built up this idea in her head that they are foils, that he and she are similar. she's a mastermind. she's got a plan. she's going to be him but she's also going to be BETTER than him, more IMPORTANT than him. better rogue, better adventurer, and then she has Won. what Aasimar riz does when he multiclasses into paladin is that he effectively stops playing the game (that he didn't even know he was playing). he's not being her foil anymore. a lot of the focus between kipperlilly and riz will be on this horror. the horror of being one-half a foil duo, and then your partner stops playing along. how is kipperlilly supposed to prove that she's better than him when he's focused his attention on skills she doesn't share? what do you do when the person you've been marking yourself against for years starts changing, and you stay the same? their relationship will, in form with canon, be developed very much in absences of interaction, but all of it will more or less hinge on this horror, and the narration of stagnation vs. growth.

(also, less narratively important, but hilarious to me to mention that paladin is a charisma-based spellcasting class. aasimar au riz has good charisma. he's a strange and strangely charming young man. he's aguefort adventuring acadamy's Silly Goofy Guy, nevermind that he ate a dragon and is just as unhinged as everyone else in his party. he's charming! he's polite! he's generally less of an asshole to the student body than his party members! kipperlilly can't complain about riz to the student body because everyone will make faces like she just suggested kicking puppies for fun. it drives her FUCKING CRAZY.)

riz and kristen, on the other hand, are charting a course that is even more closely intertwined than in canon. they are following the aasimar au gukgak tradition of a Relationship(tm) that is definitely some flavor of deeply queer in nature, but don't ask them about that please, no thank you. they'll never talk about it. they're also just, fundamentally, Best Friends. riz believes in kristen So So Much, and he's paying her a lot of attention because of the ways in which she's struggling with her faith and her school. riz has seen kristen do work. riz has done work with her! he knows she's not lazy or incapable, but she struggles so much with her school setting. riz is the president of the Kristen Applebees Support Group. he's also the vice president and the group organizer. kristen, likewise, is the president of the Riz Gukgak Support Group. that's her best friend and her partner (no, stop asking if we're dating, I'm a lesbian and he's not interested. what the fuck is it to you?) she's a little more aware in aasimar au of what's going on with him in canon re his scholarship worries and the situation with Baron, and she's definitely trying to be a little more cognizant of how and where he's extending himself on her behalf. she's making sure he eats, she's making sure he sleeps, she's trying to get himself to stop stretching himself so thin. the campaign is a little bit less stressful for him in this sense, and actually a little bit less stressful for her as well (because, well, look! proof that I've accomplished something! my efforts count and they matter! it's good reinforcement for her. positive feedback loop of Good Results). they're both trying to figure out what their futures look like, and how the other one fits in it. it's all very much about love and devotion and the ways in which a platonic relationship can be the defining thing in our lives. but they've also got a lot of relationships happening in tandem with the same other people. principally, tracker, who both kristen and riz are negotiating where they stand with her after sophomore year. tracker-kristen-riz in aasimar au are in the messiest queer triangle you've ever seen in your goddamn life. they all love each other so much, but unfortunately they are all highly traumatized, and also Teenagers. emphasis on the Teenagers part. this means that they make dumbass decisions sometimes, even and especially about the relationships that matter the most to them. they're negotiating an intense web of jealousy and love and the complications of relationships and internalized biases about themselves that they haven't quite worked through, and it impacts their relationship. but fear not! this is a Happy Ending story. if I catch any of you being mean about how these three are behaving in the end of sophomore year through junior year I will fill your shoes with mud But also, they're interacting with other, now reunited family members (Pok and Bucky) quite a bit, which impacts them both in different ways. and they're also managing their positions within the network of the divine alongside Fig, who is joining the web of Complicated Queer Divine Best Friendships.

in summary, riz and kristen will of course have challenging moments with one another junior year, because stressful times plus Teenagehood makes for challenging moments, but they are, overall, confronting junior year as a team. it's a united front where they both know without a shadow of a doubt that the other person is In Their Corner, which makes things easier for them in a lot of ways. aasimar au, at its core, is a Power of Love and Community fic. it's about the ways in which people can support one another and make life better for one another. it is, to steal from The Good Place (which informs a startling amount of this story) about what we owe to each other.

anyway. tldr, yes, I intend to continue aasimar au through junior year! thanks again, anon!

[mischievouswork]

I respect the hell out of the person who loves 2011-2013 Loki but acknowledges that 2017 Loki is also canon; good for them. However, you do not have some kind of obligation, as a fan, to accept all MCU content as “canon”.

The MCU has been, for some time, a group of people squabbling over their toys like kids in a sandbox, with the ultimate goal being to make as much money as possible.

If you’re in the fandom but canon ended for you in Phase 1, that’s perfectly valid.

If you accept the comics but not the films as canon, that’s fine.

If all films are canon to you but none of the TV shows, that’s okay too.

And, of course, if canon, to you, is the MCU before it became so popular, back when it actually had to try to be good to appeal to audiences? That’s fine too.

As a fan, you are allowed to say, “this subset of the franchise is canon; everything else is insufficiently prominent, is problematic, or is created with contempt for the content it engages with, and is therefore dead to me.”

This doesn’t give anyone an excuse to go out of their way to harass other fans for having a different opinion about what is/isn’t canon. But it does give everyone every right to refer to fics that go off different parts of canon as ‘Non-canon compliant’ or ‘OOC’ in their own space and circles.

You don’t see Legend of Korra fans going, “Bolin/his costar actress is a valid ship that’s just as canon-compliant as Korrasami”. In fact, from what I understand, most of them ignore that entire arc. Because the creators of that show were pulled in so many directions and jerked around with little warning, and sometimes they ended up making things that weren’t great or didn’t fit well with the overall story.

Many Game of Thrones fans are united in their agreement that the eighth season did not happen and “canon compliant” fics can safely ignore it. Absolutely no one needs to accept that season as canon anyway, because it was, quite frankly, absolute garbage.

There are Captain America fans who refuse to accept Endgame as canon, because it directly contradicts the canon established for him in previous films, and because it’s just too freaking sad.

Nobody should be going out of their way to call out other fans, but also… if something is incompatible with previously established canon, it doesn’t matter if it’s part of the official media from the franchise or not. You can decide on your own cutoff for what is or isn’t canon, and ignore the rest. It’s what fans have been doing since the comic days, before superhero movies were around.

[lunar-years]

obviously Jamie not being in season 4 would suck mostly because I simply want Jamie to be there and to get more of his story and get to enjoy more interactions between Jamie and the other characters. At the end of the day though, I can just not watch s4, which I'm perfectly okay with.

what sucks EVEN MORE to me, and is far harder to avoid, is that not having Jamie in the show totally changes the *canon* of the character in a way that will inevitably bleed over into fan spaces, regardless of whether or not I'm actively watching. However they write him out (I assume it would just be having him go to another team) becomes the new "Jamie Tartt canon." And that small thing totally changes his story and we don't even get to see it play out! When i was perfectly happy playing in my sandbox of a million equally valid possibilities.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Hey hello

I just read the new chapter and oh boy I've been almost crying in more than one moment lmao

Tomura discovering his sexuality and sexual preferences was cute somehow, him biting the bullet and agreeing to sub for Aki hurt me much more than how you probably intended lol

And him fucking up everything with Dabi was *chef kiss* because he's still young and he's still human, so it's almost expected that he can't know everything and can't always be spot on

And Dabi. Dabi. Aaaaaah my baby, he was just Trying His Best™, trying to keep himself together and Shouto safe and allow them to live in the most dignitose way possible with what little he could make. Self sacrificing idiot indeed, I love him so much and I love how he cares for his little brother -maybe it hits the spot because I'm an elder sister too, so I can relate, I don't know, it's just Good.-

AND GIRAN, so worried for his adopted brats wellbeing. I love him too lmao he's one of my favourite characters and I've never found until now fics with him written enough to be relevant to the plot if that makes sense

(On a side note, another thing that I love about your stories in general is how the ocs are always the same lmao

I mean, different settings, different dynamics, different plot, but we always find Simon. And now we find Aki, and i love It lol every time I find somebody I know I'm like OH HELLO YOU HERE TOO and it makes my day)

Bwahaha, EXCELLENT! Oh I had so much fun with Tomura thinking that he knew everything and could handle anything and then getting absolutely knocked on his ass when faced with the genuine emotions of someone he's been using and having to see how that hurt Dabi 💕 oh boy was it nice to just see him fucking things up so badly! And I definitely had fun with him discovering his sexuality, thinking he's in control, and not really understanding how fucked up the situation really is 🥰 maybe he'll deal with that at some point or maybe he'll just lose his mind when he finds out that Dabi is not just a virgin, but still hasn't even kissed anyone in all the time they've known each other.

And I definitely did just Put Dabi Through It in this chapter. Poor boy, he just wants to make things better and keep his brother alive. He's fucking trying and standing up to Shigaraki and getting torn down by Shoto was definitely a step that he needed to take even though it sucked the whole time for him. Hopefully he'll do better in the future!

I'm glad that you're enjoying Giran and my stock of extras! I like running with the canon that elements like specific locations and characters exist in all of my stories! In addition to Aki, Iha, for instance, is a character who showed up for one scene in Instinctive, and the safehouse from Gray Area is the same one that the League ended up in at the end of A Cat By Any Other Name! It's not necessary to have an encyclopedic knowledge of any of this stuff, but I think it's a fun way to flesh out the general world that I use as a sandbox for my writing!

Thanks so much for commenting!

[cawster]

hello everyone. I am a fellow minecrafter and I'm here to defend A Minecraft Movie because it has been receiving a lot of undeserved hate and im genuinely disappointed in our community for this.

i believe the minecraft community to be kind and supporting and the lash back at A Minecraft Movie has went against that belief in many ways that lead me to question our community as a whole.

i, too, hated on A Minecraft Movie when I saw the teaser, but the minecraft live before 1.21 changed my view regarding the Movie.

it was an interview of the directors. there, they explain why they did what they did. they made it live action because there are already so many extraordinary minecraft animations on youtube. they wanted to make something unique to convey how unique minecraft as a game is.

this isn't a super mario scenario where there's already a bunch of lore and canon stuff that the directors have to abide by to make the fans happy. if minecraft did have a canon and the directors were knowingly going against that, I would understand. but minecraft doesn't have a "canon."

minecraft doesn't have lore or canon facts. that's what makes minecraft so... great, I guess. minecraft is a sandbox game that many have come to love purely because they can create what they want. they can make their story just as much as any action game or TV show or even book series.

people share their minecraft journey in many different ways. and not every story begins the same way either. most begin with punching a tree, but some don't. most end with defeating the ender dragon, but some don't. and that's what's so great about minecraft.

you don't have to follow a set of rules. sure, there are gamerules, but minecraft is so customizable, you can change every aspect of the game.

mods and data packs and even resource packs make the game look different and act different, but it's still minecraft at the end of it all.

minecraft is made purely to help players express their creativity in ways they couldn't in the real world.

that's what the directors are doing. the directors are sharing their minecraft story in their way.

minecrafters around the globe, I beg and beg that we at least show a little bit of appreciation for this bold leap that the directors are taking. it doesn't seem normal now, but overtime, I'm sure everyone will grow to love it. just like every update the game gives us or new minecraft-themed game we receive.

all in all. A Minecraft Movie directors deserve the community's support and appreciation. just as much as any other player sharing their story deserves.

repost if you can, just to spread the word. have a blessed day, fellow minecrafters ❤️