#FixIt Worldbuilding

[pokepasta-fix-it-au]

Miki Lore

-Steven actually did some volenteer work with Professer Oak some years before becoming a trainer, this is when he and Miki met.

-Miki was quite shy and jumpy at first, but thanks to Steven working with her over time she came out of her shell and became alot more confident. This ended up with Miki choosing Steven as her human rather then the other way around. Not sorry Stevie boy, you are the chosen one and your fate is sealed.

-Thanks to the pair having a pre-established bond Miki grew strong VERY quickly. Wasn't long on their journey she outgrew her favourite hobby of letting Steven carry her around outside her ball in his shirt. (Going off the headcanon that her tail fire works like a ponyta/rapidash mane fire, since she trusts Steven it doesn't burn him)

More under the cut to prevent a wall of text!

-Miki ended up trying to copy alot of Steven's mannerisms as the two grew. Including but not limited to; trying to mimic a more human like posture and body language, teaching herself how to speak some basic human language (she could understand it all just fine), trying on wigs to look more like Steven and even trying to wear clothes!

-Miki has a friendly sibling rivalry with Ace (Mike's blastoise) and is also friendly with Mike himself. They even had a bit where she pretended she was gonna bite his head off when he wasn't looking to freak out strangers. (This was comedy gold to her).

-She was awake and aware during the trading accident (which happened in an actual pokecenter, the trading machine had been tampered with by a spiteful third party). While it was painful and scary she quickly came to her senses as a spirit and basically went "Minor inconvenience." to it. She doesn't hold any resentment to Mike.

-Once she realised communication from beyond the grave was out the question she looked for another way, this led her to an evil organisation who were trying to mix pokemon and humans together to make uncatchable super weapons.

-Curiously, she was able to communicate with an "AI" in charge of keeping the experiments stable during incubation to help sway the odds into her favour. Suggesting that perhaps taking a dna sample from a human already undergoing a transformation into a pokemon and then splicing that with pokemon dna would lead to the embryo surviving past incubation. (The "AI" is technically Glitchy but we get to him when we get to him.)

-Of corse she was referring to Steven, who at this point thanks to various factors was undergoing a slow change. (He'd even grown a functional tail at this point!). Once a blood sample had been retreived she once again suggested to mix it with a specific pokemon, anything from the charmander line.

-Her little scheme worked wonders, the new body was stable and she didn't need to worry about being controled by the evil folk, as the method of aquiring the blood sample had alerted Steven & company to their existance. Soon after settling into her new body the hideout was raided and the mysterious egg containing her was retreived. Along with the "AI" who helped her as they didn't like working for the bad guys but still wanted to live.

-Several years pass as she incubates again, but once she breaks out and finally reunites with her best friend turned father she looks ALOT more like him, just like she always wanted.

-Her apperance is that of a mostly human girl with some abnormal features, bright emerald green eyes, long and flowing amber hair that's a little wavy at the roots, tan-ish skin tone with small and glossy orange scales dotted about her body (a couple on her face to mimic freckles, back of her hands and feet, some lines of them on her neck, front of her thighs and knees, elbows and so on), a charizard like tail with more of that amber hair at the tuft just like her father, pointier nails and canine teeth.

-Her natural typing also shifted. From Fire/Flying from her Charizard days to Ghost/Fire. Her focus is in her lungs.

-Dispite all that she went through she retained her boisterous and rowdy nature. More then happy to try and pick fights to settle a problem where words and logic fail. She also butts heads to defend those weaker then her.

[catididnt]

I've seen this take more than enough, and what gets me this point is the assumption that the (original) fiction the commenter is reading never started out as a fanfic. I'm not saying there isn't obvious fanfic-to-original books out there, but maybe some writers can change the story beats and shift genres successfully.

I just think you might be assuming a lot if you're that certain always recognize which book started out as fanfic

this comment on that vulture article about the "fanfic-to-romance novel pipeline" is very interesting and not something i've seen articulated...much to think about...

[mewgatori]

There are some stories where I imitate elements of them out of admiration or fondness for the story they came from, and others where it's more like "well, it wasn't that great in the story that introduced me to it, but thinking about it did give me ideas on how this could be way more fun"

[windamp]

i mean ig it depends on what "a lot of fics" are. shounen anime usually gets a ton of fics bc it appeals to a wide demo. prestige tv appeals to a smaller audience

and then you cut potential fic writers (a small group despite what you might assume) out, and then cut out even more for people who write for something that can fit in that universe or be interested in exploring the world/characters more

this is why smth like undertale has so much fan content, the people who saw it first were already likely to BE in fandoms already (like homestuck! or danganronpa!)

anyway i think it has more to do with demographics as opposed to crappy levels

[nicollekidman]

i'd love to hear your thoughts on the darkling 👀

i binged it recently and left with Some Feelings ... i admire it for being such an all-encompassing and rich spuffy story, but i feel like it did sand down some of doris!buffy's edges that are so integral to her character imo.

if you're looking for toxic canon representation, i think herself_nyc and Sigyn on ao3 do a great job of capturing that spuffy dynamic !!

thanks for the recs, i'll check them out!!

yeah i want to be clear this is a personal taste thing and not an issue with the author's skill because i thought her handle on spike's voice especially was so lovely and the worldbuilding and immense canon adjustments were admirable and overall i thought it was Very Good. personally though the 77 new york stuff worked so much better than the rest of it because the characterization (esp of buffy) felt really grounded and interesting. i'm always going to be someone who thrives in the canon environment and i'm a sucker for angst and really heavy plot so that was always going to be my favorite part. and likewise, i don't enjoy, as a rule, the idea of a "fix it" even when it's done well, so i was kind of heartbroken when spike ended up ushering in a kinder gentler world (and thus a kinder gentler buffy) even though it feels earned and i'm like.... happy for them skdjfhgasjdhf like doris was not buffy! and i love buffy! so that was hard. i also think sometimes i was like okay so what is the actual conflict of this beyond the structural plot elements of the fixit? laughably, they were too in love for me to stay gripped, and then buffy kind of seamlessly coming back was also ehhhhhh for me.

BUT buffy having issues with her canon!spike and then choosing to just bow out and leave and the implication that the next installment will be doris!buffy with canon!spike does have my interest piqued... canon spike my beloved....

so yeah generally i think it was masterfully done but the broad strokes of where the story ended up is not something i would generally read if i hadn't been so sucked in by the 77 new york portion. give me pain and suffering <3 play in the playground we have built <3

[quailfence]

[Image description: tumblr tags that read “#and then she proceeded to infodump about star trek for the next 15 minutes #probably the funniest reaction i've ever gotten to coming out #runner up is that time in high school i came out to a friend who was a couple years younger than me and v sheltered #and i told him he could ask any questions about being trans that he wanted to #and he asked "what would my trans name be?" and to this day i have no clue what the fuck that was supposed to mean #he ended up being one of the best allies i ever met who helped me manage my dysphoria without outing me #and in some ways supported me better than even fellow trans people #but it was just such a funny reaction #oh also that old lady had shaved her head and wore all masculine clothes and went by an androgynous name different than her birth name #and i almost expected her to compare my experiences to her but nope. star trek. iconic”. End description.]

@a-captions-blog @startrekdescribed

no more characters who are nonbinary just because their species doesnt have gender. more characters that species dont have gender but still read up on human gender theory and realized they were still not into this shit

[atla-confessions]

aang was INTENTIONALLY written as tibetan-coded and buddhist-coded so it can racist to deny he is. not objectively but it can be. i don't think you or anybody else who insists aang isn't tibetan and buddhist is racist but i also don't see where the denial he should be comes from???? it's true he's not completely culturally accurate but he should be. so should zuko and so should toph and so should katara and sokka. it was a ball drop when the crew didn't do it in canon and i don't see anything wrong with writing fixits so aang is more accurate tibetan and buddhist rep-i've seen actual buddhist atla fans do it quite a few times actually! same asian-americans in the fandom and zuko,toph,azula,etc and i'm sure you've seen the reworks of the water tribe to be more aptly to their irl culture equivalents already

But that's exactly the problem. They are not supposed to be representations of those cultures. It's not supposed to be accurate brcause there's no accuracy to be had because the air nomads are a distinct seperate culture and distinctly not buddhist. People can headcanon it, and rewrite it to incorperate more buddhist elements, that's fine. But this stance is exactly why it is so frusterating that people call him buddhist point blank, because it comes with the expectation that he needs to fit in this box labeled buddhist. That tears away the world building of the air nomads, it tears away the idea that they are their own thing, that this is a fantasy world of creative worldbuilding.

All of the atla cultures are distinct and fun to explore because they are different from any real culture even if they take a lot of inspiration from one. Trying to make Aang a Tibetan Buddhist, Sokka and Katara Inuit, and Zuko Japanese is a neat idea to explore in fic and in modern aus and stuff like that, and it's awesome if people see themselves reflected and represented in these characters and want to change things to make them even more so. But trying to say that the characters in the canonical show are these things and that they were written wrong because they aren't 'accurate' is missing the entire point of worldbuilding and fantasy. Nobody came to atla to watch a show about modern earth nations (tho, not saying a show with a tibetan buddist, two inuit people, one japanese and one whatever-toph's-town-is-inspired-by wouldn't be an awesome show, that sounds bomb as hell) they came to atla to watch a fantasy show about a fantasy land where people have powers and there are four cultures based on an element that are centered around that element because thats also bomb as hell.

The air nomads are not 'buddhism lite', they are a culture of people who can bend an element and have a deep spiritual connection to air. They are extreme passifists because they have a core concept in the inherent value of life that is far more ingrained in them than in buddhism. (Vegetarianism is not an inherent part of buddhism, though some do prectice it, its not clear if the nonviolence rule is intended to extend toward killing animals for food, unlike air nomads) Their connection with the element of air means another of their core concepts is freedom, which is why they travel all over the world, and why they aren't first and foremost known for being strict and monklike, they are first and foremost known for their humor and free spirits. Which is not exactly buddhist. Air nomads clearly were not encouraged to toss away desire quite like buddhists. They were encouraged to have fun (even at the expense of others, looking at you Gyatso), they allow and celebrate love, even the love between same sex couples, they encourage going out and chasing whims and following them across the world.

They're not buddhist.

X

[gayathreya]

kanguva fixit fic time

okay i've seen it multiple times now and while i don't hate it, i think it's mediocre-below average and it is filling me up with sooo much frustration cos.. it doesn't have to be. there are relatively easy fixes for the script when this much effort has already gone into the production design and setting! i don't mind waiting 2+ years for a suriya film, but i just hate it when i do that and it's bogged down to be another loud action entertainer, a genre i thoroughly despise more and more these days as i age. i say i don't hate it, but tbh... the more i think about this film, the more i'm starting to dislike it.........

SO... I'M JUST GONNA WRITE SOME BULLETPOINT PARAGRAPHS ON FIXING IT THE WAY I AS A FAN WOULD DO i think it will help process some more of my frustration with it after my lbxd reviews. the 3 biggest problems i have with the film are direction+editing (i consider these together, and by extension, the lack of patience and fleshing out given to the worldbuilding which deserves it), the sound and screaming dialogue (also, really, part of a director's failing) and the abhorrent cameo, so my points will seek to address that most.

we open with the present, yes? actually, i think the fact there's this timeline is fine, unlike quite a few saying it wasn't needed. i disagree because if your main plot is about reincarnation, you MUST have different timelines, because the whole mythos and trope of reincarnation is the unfulfillment in a past life coming back to haunt you in the next. there is something that needs to happen, and the related souls cannot rest until a wish is met. if you don't want the present portion, the core plot itself has to change, which meh, i don't want to put in this much effort into thinking about this film cos it irritates me.

i don't want or need to change the entire story cos idc about this film to put in that energy, but one of the first marketing failures is that they seemed almost embarrassed to admit it was a reincarnation story, which i don't get at all. reincarnation themes are one of the biggest and most easily acceptable ideas in indian mythos and storytelling.. why would u be embarrassed about it? there were actual interviews where the background crew involved kept saying it was an ''interesting'' connection and straight up lied that it wasn't reincarnation, which is the main reason why so many fans were coming up with different thoughts on what the key plot was; namely, an immortality curse/boon affecting hero and villain directly and how the elements of faith and the kid tied into that. none of this is true, ofc, and that's fine, i won't slam the film for not giving me what i myself thought. but if they had said this from the start, which isn't even a spoiler cos it opens with that instantly, people would have had a clearer mind going into it. false marketing is worse than no marketing, and i'm still seething about all the bullcrap they uttered about it

my issue with the present timeline really is just the sheer dogshit idea of their jobs and conflict. we didn't need francis as a bounty hunter, he could've just been some guy working a normal job with his ex-girlfriend and he stumbles across the kid, who also didn't need any of that science fiction biomedical shit ripoff to happen. he literally could've just been A RANDOM CHILD who is abused or used in some bad fashion, whom francis accidentally meets and wants to save, cos their bond doesn't let them go. idk, i think these are simple things that could make any movie better, cos it wipes away the unnecessary shit and over the top bs with tech, we don't need that. i have no idea why directors do not want to keep their films simple to focus on the core emotion, instead wasting so much time and money to have hired guns and soldiers in loud explosive action scenes. action sequences and soldiers btw, which were reeeally bad cos the english dialogue writing was horrible

just think about how this portion in the intro and climax could've been soo much better if it was stripped down. none of the aeroplane nonsense and high tech trucks and guns and random white thugs like what is the fucking reason!!! only shitty directors who can't write hide behind needless extravagance. and siva is definitely a shitty director who can't write. i would much rather the kid be a child who is under a kidnapping ring, no matter how cliche it sounds, cos it's still miles better than uhhh *checks notes* giving him mutant superpowers after his brain has been operated on. wowz so cool da. is this 1990.

like this just makes me so angry thinking about it, this artificial inclusion of a sci fi trope, when the film already looks so ugly in that horrible ai intro which looks so ghastly and obviously fake. for that alone, i'm almost at the zone of saying i'm happy this flopped. on top of obviously using ai to ''enhance'' suriya's voice in other languages as they said... like bro.... FLOP DESERVED. if an actor can't even be fuckin arsed to learn the dialogue and DUB IN A FUCKING STUDIO FOR HIS OWN MOVIE??? then piss off. if i were a fan of his from telugu lands or something i'd feel honestly deeply cheated and hurt. what's to stop anyone from saying he doesn't even need to dub in tamil anymore? we have his fake voice coming from a computer that they clearly believe is acceptable to throw into other languages, thinking that emotion and inflections are worthy of their audience. do the same in tamil then. how about it. such lazy, horribly unethical filmmaking deserves to be thrown to the dogs. fuck gen ai use in art and fuck studio green and fuck everyone who agreed to that shit

the period portion... where do i start, man. what a mess. why wasn't there any breathing points.... why didn't we have any lull in the screenplay. that's the first thing i would change, and anyone disagreeing cos they want to make it ''racy'' or ''crisp'' needs to be kicked to the curb. you are not a child. have some patience. horrible filmmaking style that does nothing but induce a headache. i just mentioned this elsewhere but even slow paced 3 hour films would get fans, because there'll be something in there to warrant a revisit. but fast paced vomit spat out onto a script won't, cos there's no rewatch value at all. i have very minimal interest in sitting down to rewatch this cos the scenes are all just blurring together and i can't even catch a breath to analyse anything. imagine if we just had suriya in pain, suffering, a film exploring his psyche about his guilt, betrayal, both physical and emotional hurt, perhaps a disability from the stab wound... just nothing. fucking give me 10 mins of suriya crying or having his wounds tended to, it'd be better than this trainwreck garbage of scenes whizzing by that i can't even separate. i really... HATE!! editing like this. i haven't seen worst editing in a suriya film except in singam 3. this is almost on par imo

there were so many things mentioned in interviews by suriya/the team that never happened on screen. suriya for example, talked so much about the aspect of faith and their deities, how the different clans operate with different economics, worship, even their disposition in relation to their worshipped elements.... sorry, these are either flat out lies or more likely, things told to him in passing that siva never bothered to fuckin put in script. they never had any prior script reading, btw. suriya legit said siva writes his dialogue early morning at 4-5am, and at 7am or so he's given the papers and thrown into set to act. well of course this film is gonna be shit, brother. what else did anyone expect!!! no practice, no script reading, no chemistry between actors to act out and perform, no voice modulation and testing that's why every other scene it's him shouting alternately and pissing all of us cos we can't even watch a movie in peace.... saying ''they're tribals'' as an excuse for the constant shouting is also such a poor understanding and dehumanisation of our ancestors, who also had calm, peace, quiet love and contemplation, in their longings or beliefs. this actually isn't a movie. it's a reels fest for instagram and tiktok wanker teens. it's clear siva didn't think of his whole as a film, but merely events and moments to stitch together, cos there's no way in hell any competent director would create a film like this otherwise. can't stand films crafted solely for events and spectacle, cos where is the character drama and arcs of highs and lows? even an amateur writer would know this.

speaking of breathers... what i really want in films is vulnerability and fragility of the hero to be depicted. i legit couldn't believe my eyes after what happens in the interval, cos i was so sure once that betrayal happens, we'd be spending the next 10-15 mins of suriya hurt, in both physical and emotional pain at his failure in taking care of the boy and convincing him of his good will. i thought we'd see kanga struggling to walk or fight, one of his arms useless to him now, but... notHING EVER COMES FROM THIS!!! we just continuously get pulled into narrative plot point after narrative plot point. there is no time at all to be spent on exploring kanga's psyche.. a better writer-director would certainly think about this. siva didn't. even the present timeline when francis dislocates his own thumb, i thought it would come up - the idea of casting self-injury on himself this time to save a boy who stabbed him in the past, it's almost poetic. but... nothing. just fucking nothing. where is the literary value and tension and poetry that all this potential has???

this obviously extends to all the other moments the movie could have slowed down and added more dialogue or atmospheric tension - the burning at the stake, the rock of justice, any of the worship and politics and economic push and pull these clans have with each other... instead, we get literally nothing apart from ''evil blood clan'' who hates ''good fire clan'' BRO WHAT ARE THEY EVEN FIGHTING FOR!!! what is their conflict? there's no point of moral or philosophical discussion point at all between these clans in the film. this also ties in to the first crime - koduva killing 100 (-99, really) men, and the fallout from that. why not just make him kill 1? then wouldn't there have been an actual avenue to discuss capital punishment and revenge, and eye for an eye vengeance or rehabilitation? where's the conflict point in executing a piece of shit who murdered ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE?! this could've so easily been turned into commentary on how one views justice and crime against the backdrop of tribes. the audience is given nothing for us to think about their sides and who to root for, what mistakes or crimes they may have committed against each other, or any kind of conflict in their faiths or ideology that one goes against. just typical one-dimensional bad guy who hates the typical one-dimensional good guy. you spent almost 3 years making this.. this is what you came up with?? fucking juvenile. even a beginner writer would be embarrassed to put this out. obviously, this happens when your whole team is just thinking about how to make hero mass entry and cOO0llLL YOuTh gEN Z moments, rather than expanding upon the world and potential themes to flesh out. there is no point saying in every interview siva has great knowledge in tamil literature. so fuckin what. none of that shit matters cos his writing isn't literary at all. this looks like a grade school paper a child puts out for what makes a ''cool'' hero and nothing more cos they do not have the capacity for literary analysis.

the cameo.... watha i'm pissed as f. i cannot tell u how angry i was watching that shit first day. sooo stupid and unnecessary, completely spoiled the expectations of waiting for rolex/dhilli clash on screen just cos siva had a stupid idea to make this into 2 parts which didn't need to be. FUCKKK YOUU, MAN!!!!!!!!!!! this should've just been a single, longer movie, and with kanga failing both his promises (protecting the boy like he promised his mother, and letting himself be killed by him), should've just killed himself in the climax. it would've been a great ending for him actually as it intercuts with the present (i did like the intercut of both timelines in the climax actually, i think this is the only portion where the editing is done decent), where in one time we see him throw himself to the sharks to be ripped apart after his failure, and in another time he manages to save the boy from whatever it is, and maybe even inadvertently dies in the process because of the kid due to a past sin of his own in the role of the present kid's harsh life, but dying happily so, creating a bittersweet tragedy of broken promises mending itself in another lifetime. this could've easily been made up to be a tragic literary piece on reincarnation and promise, and it would've worked. idk. i'm just spitballing. it's not that i've had a long time to think about this, these are very basic things i already thought of almost immediately after my first show, and i'm just stumped no one else in that whole shit team bothered to take a step back and think to make this more compact into 1 solo film. if everything just has to be about milking money from the audience and dsp blaring shitty loud music every second, then fuck you.

i think this got longer than i intended. there're still so many other problems apart from direction and editing, pacing, but these above things are the biggest ones for me. cos even with the extremely painful and poor quality bgm by dsp, i also believe it could've been naturally avoided if given a slower film, and he wouldn't have made this so loud for no reason. it'd be very natural for a md to provide quieter moments if the scenes themselves are softer with more intimacy and atmosphere, not stitched together from all high moments, which ofc would only make his job louder.

so many dumb fight scenes... the opening francis fight and editing style with coloured words and childish intercuts (sorry idgaf i am a thallumaala hater because i am not 12 years old thinking this is cool).. the croc fight.... which served literally ZERO PURPOSE. no really. they even dared release a video on that making, to show how much HarDWOrK they put in for it, making a river and animal from scratch, painting and animating it, and it's like ??? tf for???? the only bit that served was to make the boy injured, and to make kanga take care of him leading into the mannippu song. this could've been achieved in soo many other ways... poruva could've been bitten by a dangerous insect. he could've eaten the wrong fruit. he could've slipped and fell down a bad ravine or cliff that looked inviting but is actually deadly. LITERALLY ANYTHING else would've saved them so much time and money, and yet still prove and highlight the same idea to the audience that the forest they've been exiled to is dangerous and not easy to survive in. nothing though.... just nothing.

i can't believe i'm still talking about this given how frustrated it makes me and how lazy i feel these scenes are written in for what they think is mass appeal. spectacle, scale, budget, visuals.. NONE of this substitutes good, calm pacing and editing and story. man, i'm tired. ok whatever i'm done

[plokoonsdisapprovingeyebrows]

SERIES: bring us a light to see by, part 4

Rating: T Characters: Plo Koon, Qui-Gon Jinn, Micah Giiett, Tahl, Mace Windu, a couple side OCS Fic Contains– Plo Koon time travel with fixit intentions, Jedi Temple worldbuilding, Initiates living their best lives

The events of the past become present once more. Plo reckons with the future he's trying to avoid, and Qui-Gon Jinn helps, sort of.

The Plo Koon timetravel fic returns with a oneshot! I'm a bit stuck on the Ilum fic, so here, have some baby Jedi mostly-fluff! :D I can't wait to get Dooku properly involved with this story XDD

[zwoelffarben]

Including any spinoffs and games. Check this blog for the companion poll for cis people.

–

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[pokepasta-fix-it-au]

basic ass glitchy red timeline

long post btw

-Was a normal pokemon before -got along well with trainer -got separated from trainer during storm while still in pokeball (his ass does NOT realize the ball sank to the bottom of the ocean.) -waits patiently to be let out -waits patiently to be let out -waits patiently to be let out -realizes something is actually wrong when he doesn't remember what pokemon he is -breaks out. realizes he got corrupted from extended pokeball stay no sign of trainer -finds land and realizes he'd been trapped for actual years, no sign or mention of trainer -doesn't actually remember who they were, stubbornly keeps living in isolation to try and preserve some memory -ends up just chillin at cinnabar islands coast for more years, not fearful of mankind but does keep a respectful distance -gets to watch an absolute crackhead child steven swim across the ocean and demand to see him -he appears bc he respects the grind -transes stevens gender -keeps getting messages in bottles from baby steven (returns some as well with his own messages!) -eventually gets found by evil guys and gets captured -turned into an ai and gaslit to forget past life -just kinda survives until Miki shows up and gives him a plan -gets rescued by a now adult Steven -stays with them for a bit and slowly starts to remember things -manifests physically and chooses human form to avoid re-capture

[beatrice-otter]

Me: oh, this fic sounds like an interesting take on a fixit premise I love! The writers of the original canon just didn't think their worldbuilding through, and I'd love to see that handled better, or even just differently! Fic: ... and all the problems in canon were created by the Main Female Character being stupid and in fact there were a lot of tragedies offscreen that we didn't see because there was even more thoughtlessness than that caused by the writers not thinking it through, and all of it is solely the fault of the Main Female Character and not any of the men around her who were also in positions of power. Oh, and also, all of the Leading Man's feelings for his Male Best Friend remain, but none of his affection and respect for the Main Female Character does, and now he can see how manipulative and abusive she is! And here's all the manipulative and abusive stuff she was doing offscreen in canon! Me: ... this is why God gave us the "back" button and "close tab" button in our browsers. You know, I was so happy when I noticed that the prevalence of "trash and bash the female characters as an excuse to slash the leading man with his best friend instead" trope was rapidly declining. It's bad on three levels: it's misogynistic, it's a denial of the possibility that healthy relationships can end with mutual amicability, and also, it's just plain bad writing. But alas, it still happens from time to time. I don't care if you break up canon pairings or subtext to bring your OTP together; that's one of the things fanfiction is for. But I do care if you're misogynistic in how you handle it or bash the partner you don't like.

comments Comment? https://ift.tt/vdfExa0

[deuynndoodles]

May I ask to hear about your totk fixit fic wip?

totally!

the intention was to rewrite the final part in which zelda turns into a human. it felt deus ex machina to me bc the whole story had pushed the tragedy of zelda losing herself with no way of returning, only for two dead ppl to use time magic to give link his arm back and his gf. i wanted to include impa, purah and the sages in finding a way to turn zelda human again, grounding it in the present and relying on the characters we've gotten to know well. (i also could write link as an amputee.)

i dropped the wip cuz i couldn't figure out an alternative route easily, and struggled to come up with worldbuilding ideas/mechanics.

.. now that i look back at the fic, it seems to be going the route of "link needs to accept the fact zelda isn't coming back" more than my original intention. maybe i could pick it up again and go that way intentionally :]

and here's a snippet:

Link slides open the door to Lookout Landing, taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. The air is fresh. It smells of new hopes and beginnings.

"Link!" cries Tulin, flapping his wings and smiling. "You're okay!"

Link chuckles, morose. "As much as I will be, buddy."

"That was incredible, my dear friend!" says Sidon, beaming. "You never cease to amaze."

Riju twirls one of her locs, glancing at him with a smirk. "Nice job, Link."

A beat. "Thanks," Link says.

"Do you feel okay, goro?" asks Yunobo, face filled with concern.

"I dunno yet," Link answers honestly. "Eventually."

i last worked on this in august of 2023. it's been a while lol

[tiodolma]

You have finished Kaamelot, right? 😗 So, what do you like more: BBC, Starz or Kaamelot?

Thank you for this ask, @the-king-and-the-druidess

I'm gonna put it this way. BBC Merlin (the show) fascinated and pissed me off so much that it opened me to all other Arthuriana and other modern adaptations because of my desire to understand just why everything went to sht in the series (⌒_⌒;)

Meanwhile I like how solid Camelot (Starz) and Kaamelott were in terms of honest characterization.

Kaamelott may be, at most, a gag/comedy show but the love/passion/genius of Alexander Astier (producer/showrunner and Kaamelott!Arteur) is so real it just shines, you know? The care that has been put in the comedy series.... it shows.. it really shows. Kaamelott is a product of sincerity and love. It is honest. It doesn't shy away from unsavory topics. Not one character claims to be the ultimate good. Not one character is the ultimate evil. All of them are idiots and all of them are smart. It's so human. It is disjointed, there's no real plot, it is funny, heartwarming... but when it hits you, it hits you. IT'S GREAT. That's what I can say. ٩(◕‿◕)۶

Camelot (Starz) is a masterpiece in itself. I like it so I really don't have a lot of complaints about it other than certain choices (esp surrounding igraine and leontes/lancelot). The storytelling was more solid. The characters and worldbuilding were more grounded and mature and closer to the legends. The dynamics were pretty much what you'd expect arthur-centric arthuriana should be on screen.

..........................

What i feel for BBC MERLIN isn't hate... it is more like.. disgusted awe. I do admit that they went to lengths (and audacity) that probably no other modern arthuriana has ventured before. The show left behind more What The Fuck questions, idealogies and propaganda rather than answers though. (And that is insidious especially when the show's cover was that it was "just a family-friendly show" and "geared towards children", YIKES).

BBC Merlin is not my first rodeo on a series where everyone-and-their-mother just wants to "fix it." In fact I am used to stuff that needs a lot of "fixit". However BBC Merlin just has this unprecedented level of fixit potential that I have never seen before. I don't know if that is awful or not. I don't know if it's shoddy writing or not. I am still on dying on the hill that the writers tried their best but the producers and bbc just had other ideas. idk.

Perhaps i am at fault though. I am more drawn to things where everyone is morally grey. In true early arthuriana fashion, BBC MERLIN IS NOT MORALLY GREY. There is an intense Black and White messaging that is so prevalent in the seres. It's so... Christian even when it never mentioned Christianity. There was a clear line drawn between who was the absolute good and absolute evil. Regardless of their actions, the characters were never classified as "doing bad when they are on the side of good" or "doing good when they are on the side of bad" because their roles have already been predetermined. They were just all just either "good" or "evil" and nothing else within the context of the show.

That's the irony of it all. BBC MERLIN being so unapologetic, absolutist and propaganda-like actually made it a lot more "Early Arthurian" in spirit compared to the "i know what i did was wrong but i gotta do it anyway" kind of morally gray storytelling that the other modern adaptations such as Starz Camelot and Kaamelott have.

And that's what sets BBC MERLIN apart from Kaamelott and Starz Camelot. It was so idealistic. It disgusts me. It brings me awe. I can't watch it anymore. But I want to study it. I wanna view it under microscope.

..............

If possible I'd rather have unlimited runs of Kaamelott and Starz Camelot. Five seasons of BBC Merlin was enough. We already got the message. Let the bbc merlin actors rest and pursue better roles without always being pressured to return to it.

[void-tiger]

please tell me more about the fic where Ke/th doesnt get to be a paladin again, i keep seeing shit like how the team abandoned/failed Ke/ith and should have apologized to him when it was literally the opposite (i am sorry but the team almost DIED because K/ith fucked off to run off with the Blades, werent for Kuron entering Black they would have actually died, i do not understand how anyone can see this and say the team was in the wrong/Ke1th was in the right, and still be considered a team player let alone a team leader is beyond me. Really really sorry about salt in your askbox)

No worries! (Although, disclaimer: I had to set aside my voltron fics for a bit ‘cause I can’t work on them without getting salty, and too much salt is bad for you. So they’re…curing, I guess. I’ll stop with the bad salt jokes now XD)

But short answer? Keith’s their comfort blorbo, and it’s incredibly easy to have that become “can do no wrong ever it MUST be EVERYONE else!” and…not recognize that kneejerk bias. Ask The Real Fandom Olds TM who’ve participated in fandom culture since the 80s and 90s and that’s a key issue with Current Fandom and especially younger fans (ie, probably our generation and younger.) Add in that a lot of us online trend (in my antidotal experience) towards having untreated anxiety or depressive symptoms and/or undiagnosed neurodivergent brain wiring that an individual might’ve not quite learned how to cope with yet (and many come with emotional regulation symptoms) in addition to…human brains really just Don’t stop developing until mid20s regardless of someone’s birth gender and brain development is particularly chaotic and…well.

That’s a recipe for a volatile fandom, and since the VLD Characters in particular were geared towards Teens or Teen Nostalgia? [Comfort Blorboing Intensifies.]

Now, in one fic series Idea, Keith DOES become the Red Paladin again, but he has to work for it. Really work for it. Like, the Team is still incredibly hurt that he left and never really apologized for ditching them before THAT Scene where Jiro is forced to step in s4. I think I have in my notes somewhere [coughs] prolly a random post or very buried DM to a friend that Red Lion finally outright takes Keith for a joy ride (much like Blue and Black did with Lance and Shiro) and literally has him bouncing around in zero g and gforces until Red’s really willing to accept him back as Paladin. (Also it makes me feel better.)

[tags: blackbox verse, rewrite the stars, blackbox, veeladee fixit. Note that some of the older posts especially I’ve probably discarded. But I do my best worldbuilding thinking aloud, and hey. It’s fanfic. Who gives af about spoilers? Not me.]

But, in Blackbox verse, I wanted Jiro to have his very own Lion…and the Sincline Meteor is right there. Plus, y’know. Fixing-fixing. Making as much work as I felt like since it was intended to be a series, anyway.

Buuut, that’s not the fic idea you asked about.

The one you asked about is actually a Redo of The Black Paladin’s episode following alteanroyals’ prompt of “what if Shiro’s the one who fights the clone, and the clone gets to just come home. Have his own name.” Because, c’mon. The visuals would’ve been incredible, and Josh Keaton and Studio Mir adores Shiro and Jiro even if the EPs and arguably NONE of the writers (even the better ones trying to patch job before bailing out) gave a shit about Jiro as his own character.

So. Back to Keith.

He actually tries flying Black Lion, same as the (egh) canonical episode…and…

WHOOPS. He gets lasers shot at him for his efforts (hA HA~)

Allura steps in, and has a battle of wills against Black Lion, then realizes that what has Black so torqued is Keith tried to dominate the Lion. (Imo? The only reason why Keith could fly with Black in s2-4 was because of the bond they both had with Shiro. “Help me help you.”) And well. Allura’s learned a thing or two: trying to dominate a Lion does NOT work. She learned that for herself with White Lion, she’s now realizing that’s why Black Lion accepted Shiro as it’s Paladin over Zarkon at all. So Allura changes tactics, senses Shiro’s Quintessence still inside Black Lion nearly two years after he vanished, and calls the others in. They do a reverse-balmera ceremony via their voltron bonds and pull Shiro back out—in his OWN body, tyvm.

And well. Remember how it’s technically a “Shiro vs CloneShiro” prompt? Yeah, they fight. (I’ll try not to have them totally wreck the place. All Shiros are Good Shiros.) And when Black Lion comes for them now that the Lion can get a clear shot? Red Lion also comes.

Because Keith isn’t the only character who holds the needed qualities for a Red Paladin. (Reactive instincts, laser focus, loyalty, but often emotionally volatile.) Jiro does too. And unlike Keith, Jiro stayed even when he “no longer” had a Lion to fly from his POV, and he struggled with the rest of the Team to adjust to Lions that no longer suited them in the wake of Shiro’s Absence. So Red chooses Jiro and flies to him. (Black would’ve saved Jiro, too, even though Jiro wasn’t Black’s true paladin. But seeing a Lion accept him, and further proof that he’s not just a poor copy but his own person and even a Paladin in his own right?)

[gemini fic, shiro vs jiro]

Basically, in starting writing and continuing to ruminate on ideas, I realized that Gemini works best as a single fic, so having Firm Consequences make more sense. Other tidying up?

-Allura and the Paladins take the Castle and immediately head out for the Altean Colony while Shiro (and Black Lion at Black’s literal insistence) go after Jiro. (And with Shiro here to lead and analyze + Convenient Recap/Alternate Explanation, Pidge is able to shut down the virus far earlier before it makes the Castle truly dead in the water.) Haggar never gets her claws into them.

-Keith formally leaves the Blades. He had a family, and he turned his back on them. Those relationships won’t be what they were before (ie, symbolic in losing his Red Paladinship), but this time he’s willing to put the work in to repair their trust in him. Meanwhile, the Blades never were going to help him find his mother intentionally no matter how many times he sacrificed his life for them, and his life and the lives of all the other Blades ultimately meant very little to Kolivan and the Blades as an organization. He surrenders the knife to Krolia, and walks away if Team Voltron will let him stay. It not, he can do better good with the Rebels. (Infiltration was Pidge’s thing, anyway. He’s the showy diversion maker.)

-Lotor returns to Orionde. But when he faces the Ancients and White Lion again, he stops attacking and running from his sins. He sacrifices his full life force, and the Drained Alteans revive fully restored. The tragedy his family caused and he ended up perpetuating ends with him. (That does leave…y’know. The Galran Empire without an Emperor. But hey. IF I finish this fic, that’s potential sequel material, baby!)

-

…anyway. Point is, Keith Antis put a bad taste in my mouth, but the point of “Keith loses Red” wasn’t to punish Keith (okay…maybe a little. But that was still mostly Black blasting lasers everywhere. For catharsis.) The point was, “There are consequence, and while some relationships can be repaired or make new ones with the same people after you’ve hurt them, others can’t. You lose them. It’s important to put in the work, but it’s also important to accept loss and endings, especially after you’ve fucked up.”

And well. I felt that Keith Losing Red, Jiro Gaining Red made things narratively tidy.

[secret-engima]

Now you have me wondering which of the four types of canon is RWBY, and Transformers, in your opinion.

Hmmmm alright then. In case anyone is wondering what this ask is referring to, it's this post that I made not long ago about the different "types" of canon as I see them and what kind of fixits or aus they tend to spawn in my brain.

RWBY used to be Canon Type 2 for me I think, but it shifted into Canon Type 3 during season six of the show and by now it's permanently stuck in Canon Type 4.

Transformers ... honestly that depends on which version of Transformers you mean? Because different runs can have wildly different worldbuilding and characterization. Off the top of my head, going with the runs of Transformers I *know*-

Transformers Animated: Type 2. I have almost no complaints, but Prowl deserved Better and so if I ever ended up writing a strictly TF:A story that would definitely get fixited.

Transformers Prime: Type 3, definitely. I love that setting and for the most part I really respect the way it was handled and the plot choices it made, but I do think there's wasted potential in there so... XD.

I have not watched G1 or read the comics enough to make a judgement on what canon type they'd be for me, and the so called "sequel" show to TF Prime *does not exist*. I refuse.

Michael Bay movies are Type 4. For very obvious reasons.

The new Bumblebee movie is apparently not set in the same universe as the Bay-verse, so for *now* it's in Type 1, but that will probably change if they ever release a sequel set in that specific run of the movies.

For a bonus round using some other fandoms I've actually written fic for: Genshin Impact is a type 1 so far, Horizon Zero Dawn is a type 2, but that mighhhhtt change to type 3 depending on how the sequel game goes. I haven't finished playing yet so we will see, Danmachi is type 3, Katekyo Hitman Reborn is type 4.