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theothersideofthewoods · 4 months ago

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Introductions!

Hey everyone! I'm gonna pin this for any new followers to get an idea of the kind of person I am and the thing I'm writing. Always happy to respond, feel free to message!! :)

In the following sections, I've boldened the most important aspects, if you really want just a lightning-quick summary, but otherwise I have, as is my usual fashion, yapped.

Enjoy the read!

The Author:

Hi! I'm Eliot. I'm a student of English Literature and for years I've been DMing and writing fantasy novels. I thought I'd make this blog as a sort of public diary to record progress on my current novel as it's the largest piece of work I have ever done to date. Part of my degree focusses a lot on Mediaeval Romances, Arthurian Legend and Old English Epics as well as Graeco-Roman Classics and I wanted somewhere to channel that fascination into my very own world of myth and legend. I'm always on the lookout for more writer friends so if you want to, why not introduce yourself in the comments (or PMs if you're feeling shy!)

The World of Waystone:

It is a high fantasy set in a world largely inspired by the 19th Century, drawing ideas from all sorts: from the French Revolution to the British Empire, from the Industrial Revolution to the Romantics, from Victorian England to Edo Period Japan. I've taken a lot of inspiration from folklore, history and religion from around the world as well as throughout history. I've not conscribed myself to one century or continent, but instead pick and choose across the multitudes of human history whichever I think the most fascinating to explore. That being said, I always will be a sucker for the 1800s. This world is, to me, an ever-expanding, constantly shifting, indefinable shape which I learn more about every time I sit down to write. This current project is not the only time I have used the world and it has been in conception for over a year but anything outside of this narrative has been small D&D campaigns (one-shots) or the odd short story. I have wanted to create a longer work set in Waystone for a while. That is, until I began to write this.

This novel takes place in the continent of Bantiel in the late 9th Millennium. The continent is split in two by a great mountain range in the middle named The World Spine and is home to the mystical Forest of Secrets where the Fae are said to reside. One of the most important details for me is that the political boundaries/kingdoms are not defined by race/species nor do the races have their own respective religions. Though, of course, each race has its own creation story and each nation has its own religious practices. I have come up with reams of mythology and history but, for the most part, I try to treat the world outside of the story as though it already exists because, to the characters, it does. It is a world where Gods are present and this presence has, for millennia, changed and interfered with the lives of mortals. It has been almost 9,000 years since the wars between the Gods that shook the earth and the mortals have grown complacent with their own power. Many wars have broken out between nations; many factions beyond those defined by borders have sprung up.

With this being my longest work set in Waystone, as well as one I feel comfortable sharing to a much wider audience (as D&D campaigns have only been between me and my friends), I will treat it as the first instalment of the World of Waystone. The novel requires no previous knowledge, not even this blog! It is still in the works, but when I publish it it won't assume any prior understanding. I just hope this blog can get other people excited about the world too! :)

Concept:

Originally, I intended to write a sort of Slice of Life story where the perspective hops from person to person, city to city, country to country and weaves this interlinked narrative of all of the small insignificant events that build to make a full, entire world. I wanted something that let me go to all the stretches of the world and to see all of these varying lives and to explore different types of societies, different types of people, different landscapes and different 'normals'. But, the more I thought about it, the more I leaned more towards exploring Waystone on a much more down-to-earth level. It needed characters, it needed life, it needed personal input and something not 'Slice of Life' at all, something completely opposite of ordinary. It needed something Extraordinary, to bring out the ordinary. Something atypical to serve as a reference point to explore all of the differences across the world. And instead of the perspective hopping to different characters all across Waystone, the characters themselves would make that journey.

However, to have a narrative that ranges across the world means that I need characters from all across the world. And so, thus began my planning process. The main cast of the novel is comprised of five people from all across the world, each with their own lives and problems, each with their own aims. The more effort I put into these characters, the more involved I felt with them and the more I understood about my world. This way, I can explore a different aspect with each of their backstories, taking the perspective all across the world just how I wanted, whilst, at the same time, having a group to interact with one another, to have intertwined and complicated relationships and to look into the daily lives of.

The more I planned this story, the more I found myself insanely inspired. And, because of this, I have been churning out a ridiculous amount of content. It's lucky, then, that the story's arc is an ambitious one; though, to begin to give an idea of what I mean, I must explain something else.

The Structure:

Every piece of work up until this one, I have always ended up with relatively short narrative arcs. This is a habit I really wanted to kick and so, upon starting this work, I devised a new creative method for myself and can now confidently say it works. Rather than having a single arc from start to finish, even with intermediary smaller arcs or parallel arcs (ie. sub-plots), I instead divided the main narrative into many smaller arcs. This episodic structure meant that I could, instead of having one main climactic scene, or one main denouement, have many climaxes, many resolutions and the story would continue on. It's almost like the structure of a television series. Yet, to make sure I write a substantial amount for each 'Episode,' these Parts are divided themselves into chapters.

When I publish this, I aim to post it online and for it to be a continuous web novel with something like weekly chapters. Each Part is named so it would, for example, look like this:

Let the Reign Fall: IV

With the Part's number only being next to the first chapter of each and the title being before every chapter number(And yes, that is the title for Part One).

There is no end in sight, but that does not mean the plot won't have larger arcs or resolutions, but when one line ends I will always make sure to open another one. I love these characters too much to just stop at any point and the world is so vast I have so much to explore.

When I have written enough, so much that I feel I have a fairly substantial backlog, I will begin posting weekly chapters. Don't worry, I'll keep up with updates here so you know exactly how far along it's coming!!

The Characters:

These are only the main characters, but are by no means the only important characters in the story. What with each of their own histories, families and previous relationships alongside encounters they make along their journey, from new friends to fearful enemies to everything in between, the world soon becomes a vast place. Though there are more than five, this is because the central cast changes over the course of the story (I promise it isn't just that I can't count). In future updates I will post more character intros!

Ren: A drow who escaped his war-torn life in the cities under the surface. A mysterious wanderer, he is clearly hiding something. Under his favourite black-and-red cloak, he always holds a weapon close. In his dreams he sees the future and not once have they failed to come true. With harrowing visions of the future, he searches for a new life in the nation of Cerulea - or just about anywhere that isn't home. However, he struggles to let go of the past and with his sense of self. Despite his cold exterior, he is very sentimental.

Prince Alastair: The Prince of Cerulea. A highly educated, elitist and over-proud young man. He is the heartthrob of the nation and, naturally, has an ego. An elf of over two hundred years old, soon he must inherit the title of King and has, for years, been trained as a diplomat. Yet, he isn't loved by everyone and many want him dead, whether it's because of his arrogance or his sadistic streak. Because of the strain of public life, he has become somewhat detached from emotions.

Maia: A Fae from deep within the Forest of Secrets, beyond the borders to Waystone and deep into the Kingdoms of the Spiritworld. She is the Princess of the Seelie Court. With her best friend, she ran away from her own wedding and doesn't even know of the existence of other elves, other Fae people, beyond the Forest. Erratic and energetic, she proudly carries her magic staff with her wherever she goes, even despite sorcery being forbidden. A master of the arcane arts, she has a particular interest in illusory magic which makes her difficult to understand and difficult to believe what one sees about her...

Diavol: On the run for serial murder charges, this elusive and over-confident criminal is perpetually a source of poignancy for Ren, ever since he left him all alone twenty years ago. He is a stickler for the city scene and a reputed womaniser. Self-taught in the ways of sorcery, oftentimes he resorts to dirty tricks and 'cheap shots' with his quick-casting, underhanded spells. Yet, on top of this, a secret that none other than Ren knows, he has the ability to read minds, and uses this to his advantage to evade arrest and flirt with strangers.

Asphodella: A strange loner, dressed like a noblewoman from thousands of years ago, she visibly stands out in a crowd. Rude and self-assured, she does not let anyone tell her what to do. She has mastered the art of shapeshifting and at times can let her bestial, violent nature out. Bloodthirsty, fierce and independent, though at times a softer, more sympathetic side comes out. Her heart holds a dark past.

Illuvi: An exorcist from the rural countryside of Narika. Renowned for his bad temper and vulgar language, many people are scared off by his aggressive nature. However, he is now being chased by the Spirit Hunters for failing to exorcise a spirit. He felt pity for it, only young, as it took the form of a child and he could not bring himself to kill it. Now, she calls him her older brother and the two of them live by themselves off of the land, running from place to place and sleeping outside. He uses himself to channel elemental magic and controls flames at the expense of his body.

Akari: The spirit that Illuvi could not kill. Takes the form of a young girl and is (mostly) tame. Shy, softly spoken and naturally skittish, this kitsune practically clings to her older brother wherever they go. Afraid of what humans will do to her, the only person she trusts is Illuvi. Wields magical power beyond human comprehension but, being a young spirit, her inexperience means that she does not know how to control it. Oftentimes changes into fox form and hides up trees.

The Plot:

With a story that spans across a whole world, with characters that, too, span across a whole world, one of the more difficult things I have struggled with when creating this story is how they meet each other. However, there is one thing that they all have in common: they have all run away from something in their past.

As they each search for something, whether that's a new life, a new love, a safe place, a home or somewhere free from the law, they find each other and, consequently, get tangled up in each other's lives. They're tied into a grand conspiracy to destroy the monarchy, involved in the escape from pursuers and left with no one to turn to but each other.

If you want to know more, I'm going to post a synopsis/blurb thing later so look out for that!

Closing Thoughts:

Anyway, thank you for reading this far. I hope this gives you a better idea of what this project exactly is. I know this intro is long but that's because I actually have already written a fair amount and there is a lot of content, and many creative decisions, to summarise. I'm going to keep adding to my blog with updates on the writing process. Follow for more, I've always got a lot to say about this, and have a nice day!!

#novel writing #fantasy novel #creative writing #writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr #writer things #creative inspiration #writer #fantasy #current wip #on writing #creative process

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ravenya003 · 10 months ago

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Harvest, S01E02

Here we go, the second half of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s two-part premiere episode, picking up right where the cliff-hanger left off...

Despite having Buffy pinned down in a crypt, Luke is fended off by the cross around her neck. I knew it would come in handy at some point. She rushes outside and saves Willow and Xander, but the vampires manage to drag Jesse away.

Sorry Jesse, but you’re the only character in this scene not to feature in the opening credits, and you know what that means. (Whedon actually wanted to get Eric Balfour included in these credits, just to make his death more of a shock, but there are all sorts of legal issues concerning who gets to be in such things and who doesn’t).

Back at the library, Giles has accepted the presence of Xander and Willow in the Slayer’s inner circle remarkably well, and is filling them in on the show’s mythos. Whedon has commented in the past how surprised he was to get away with the line: “contrary to popular mythology, [this world] did not begin as a paradise,” which is obviously a direct refutation to what the Good Book says, and Giles goes on to describe it as a place where demons roamed the earth – at least until the rise of humans.

We actually learn very little about how/why they left, only that the last demon (or Old One) to leave this reality fed off a human and mixed their blood together, resulting in the first vampire: a human body infected by a demon’s soul.

Again, we don’t exactly learn why the demon did this, though that explanation very much tracks with how vampirism works throughout the course of the entire show. When a person is turned, their body remains but their personality (through their lack of a soul/possession by a demon) is drastically different.

Now vampires drink the blood of humans, occasionally creating more of their kind, waiting for the Old Ones to return.

Okay, I’m going to be a complete nerd about all this, so bear with me. I love trying to parse through rudimentary world-building and pulling questions/possible fanfic scenarios out of it.

If the Earth originally belonged to demons, only to be overcome by humans, does that mean that a war between them took place at some stage? Every decent fantasy story needs a Great Offscreen War in its distant past, right? Think the Battle for the Dawn, the Butlerian Jihad, the War of Power, the War of Wrath, the Great Hyperspace War...

Maybe something similar happened in the Buffyverse: a war for supremacy between demons and humans. Was it the reason the Slayer was created, which (as we find out much later) occurred very early in humanity’s history. Did she have something to do with the demons leaving this reality for a hell dimension, or to wherever they are now?

And who was this unidentified demon that made the very first vampire? And why? It’s not hard to imagine it was intended as a final “fuck you” to humanity if we assume that the demons were forcibly banished from this dimension... but perhaps even as a contingency plan considering this particular band of vampires are trying to bring the Old Ones back by opening the Hellmouth.

In the seven years of this show, none of this ever gets elaborated on. They even move away from the concept that demons are attempting to return to this earthly plane – the Mayor was trying to ascend into a demon, and Glory was trying to get back to her hell dimension by whatever means necessary, though I suppose any attempts (of which there were several) to open the Hellmouth came with the objective of unleashing demons back into the world.

Poor Jesse; he’s completely bewildered by whatever the heck’s going on, even after he’s been “upgraded to bait.” I did, however, appreciate the intelligence of the Master when he points out that the Slayer will come to rescue her friend. No Evil Cannot Comprehend Good, here. This guy is smart enough to understand that heroes are the ones who help other people.

It turns out the Master is trapped in an underground church (more on this later) and I had to chuckle when he mentions his “ascension” out of it. The writers obviously enjoyed that word, as it essentially becomes the Arc Word of season three.

The issue of the existence of a police force within a show that incorporates supernatural elements is raised and just as quickly discarded when Willow suggests calling them, only for Giles to point out that no one will believe their story. Moving on. (That said, I’ll have a LOT to say about how the police – what little we see of them – are portrayed in later episodes/seasons, why they’re such a hassle to deal with in these types of shows, and how they’re connected to the failure of the Initiative as a concept. Stay tuned).

In trying to figure out where Jesse may have been taken, Willow shows off her hacking skills by bringing up a map of Sunnydale’s sewage system – completely illegally of course, making this our first glimpse of Willow demonstrating some hidden depths behind that nerdy exterior.

Then we get a fun deconstruction of Behind the Black. This is a trope in which a character doesn’t notice something obvious because it’s not visible to the camera. It’s usually used when villains need to sneak up on our hero, or for comic effect when a character talks about someone even through they’re standing right there.

In this case, the average viewer will be forgiven for thinking that Luke sneaking up on Buffy at the end of the last episode was a case of Behind the Black. She didn’t notice him until he grabbed her neck because it’s just more dramatic that way. It’s such a prevalent trick that most probably wouldn't have even questioned it.

But as it turns out, it wasn’t just a standard use of this trope, but a plot-point. Buffy thinks about how she was facing the mausoleum door and realizes that Luke came up behind her – which means that the vampires must have doubled-back with Jesse and gone through a secret passage located in the building. Nicely played, Whedon.

Xander wants to go with Buffy and when she shoots him down he commends: “I’m less than a man.” Urgh. I realize that Xander coming to terms with his perceived emasculation in the face of Buffy’s strength is a significant part of his character arc, but in this case it was enough for him to just be disappointed that he can’t help his friend. Make Jesse his motivation, not a desire to protect his manhood.

In my last review I observed that the writers got lucky when they only shot scenes of Angel at night (having not yet decided that he was a vampire), a comment I may have to retract considering he’s clearly standing in sunlight in this next scene. Muted sunlight, but sunlight nonetheless.

And his personality is still so weird. David Boreanaz is playing Angel as that “smarmy know-it-all smartass” character type, not the wounded, broody soul who was so moved by Buffy’s plight that he decided to join the good fight after a single glimpse of her through a window. He actually reminds me of Whistler here.

Buffy says to Angel: “I’ve got a friend down there – or a potential friend. Do you know what it’s like to have a friend?” He’s stumped by this question. Oh Angel, just you wait...

Ah, the Absurdly Spacious Sewer, another classic of the genre.

Back at school in the computer lab, Willow does research for Giles while Cordelia struggles with the assignment. And look – it’s Harmony! At this early stage she’s depicted as a complete airhead (okay, I suppose that never truly changes) and a sycophantic member of Cordelia’s girl-posse (a dynamic that does change – quite profoundly).

Fun fact: if we count this premiere as a single episode (they did originally air together on the same night) then David Boreanaz and Mercedes McNab are the only two actors to appear in the very first episode of Buffy and the very last episode of Angel.

This scene is mostly filler, were it not for the aforementioned introduction of Harmony, and that fact that Willow stands up for Buffy in the face of Cordelia’s malicious gossip. Already she’s starting to grow a backbone and not just scurry away.

Buffy and Xander finds Jesse, and one of them (I forget who) utters that most beloved line of all screenwriters: “we’ve gotta get outta here.” We already know it’s a trap, so it’s no big surprise when vampires start to emerge from the shadows to cut off their escape route – but to this day it’s a considerable gut-punch when Jesse reveals his new vampiric state.

They fend him off with a crucifix and manage to escape through a manhole to the surface. I love the scene when Xander tries to pull Buffy away from the vampire that’s grabbed her ankle, only for the sunlight to burn its skin and drive it back underground.

More filler when the Master hears of Buffy’s escape and pokes out a minion’s eye.

Giles and Willow compare notes, and Willow has come up with some pertinent information: in 1937 there were a rash of murders in Sunnydale that match the profile of vampiric activity, only for them to cease when an earthquake hit the town. When Buffy and Xander return, Giles hypothesizes that sixty years ago the Master tried to open a mystical portal that the Spanish called “Boca del Infierno,” the Mouth of Hell. Or more colloquially, the Hellmouth. His goal: to bring about the apocalypse.

Yay, more mythos! I just love made-up supernatural history.

But I have more questions, because CLEARLY this isn’t the whole story. Obviously, the Master failed in his attempt to open the Hellmouth, because now he’s trapped in a buried church behind a mystical barrier after an earthquake prevented him from going through with his plan. So there’s no way that earthquake was a coincidental natural occurrence. And that invisible barrier is magical, dammit! That means someone had to have put it there.

Surely the Watchers Council would have had records if a Slayer had been involved in all this, so if it wasn’t her, who was behind the Master’s entrapment back in 1937? Honestly, I don’t think Whedon ever had it mapped out; at this stage the point was simply to set up the mechanics and get on with the story at hand. That’s fair enough, but it’s still interesting to ponder these gaps in the history.

Giles has also figured out how the Master plans to escape his prison: by making one of his disciples the Vessel, which will allow him to draw enough strength from the blood that his servant drinks to break through the magic that keeps him trapped underground. We’ve already seen the first stage of this ritual take place: Luke drinks from the Master’s wrist and gets a three-pointed star rendered in blood on his forehead.

Xander realizes that the most obvious locale for the second stage of the ritual to take place is the Bronze, filled with all those fresh young bodies, and the gang heads out as a team for the first time. However, Buffy takes a short detour home to grab some supplies, and Joyce confronts her with the fact Principal Flutie called her to say she’d missed some classes.

Joyce tries her hand at discipline but the moment she’s out of the room Buffy promptly grabs her bag of weapons and slips out the bedroom window. This is kind of cute actually, since Buffy having to sneak out of the house without her mother knowing is a reasonably big part of these early episodes, but not a factor at all in the later ones. (Also, the episode never returns to this development – as far as we know, Joyce never realizes that Buffy left the house).

Vampire!Jesse approaches Cordelia at the Bronze, and she’s immediately struck by his more assertive persona. This is a fascinating first glimpse at the allure of vampires: as a human, Jesse was a complete loser, now all he has to do is stare at Cordelia and she turns to deferential pudding.

Yeah, you can feel the nasty subtext of Whedon’s “nice guys finish last” mentality at work here (especially since Jesse gets Cordelia to dance with him by telling her to shut up) but it’s also consistent with how vampires will be portrayed in episodes to come. In many ways, they serve as an unsubtle allegory for sexual predators: attractive and magnetic on the surface, only to reveal their monstrous true faces when they attack.

I love the slow-motion approach of the vampires to the Bronze, especially with Darla merrily skipping as she leads the way.

Just in case Buffy wasn’t able to notice the symbol etched on Luke’s forehead that identifies him as the Vessel, he helps out by taking the stage and making a speech in which he will not shut up about this fact. Warm bodies are brought to him and he starts to drink, though just before he bites into Cordelia, Buffy makes her presence known.

The rest of the team help the civilians escape, and then it’s Buffy versus Luke, Xander versus Jesse, and Giles versus Darla – at least until Willow comes along and throws the vial of holy water that Buffy gave her into her face. Darla rushes off – screaming in pain, but with the opportunity to return another night.

The same can’t be said for Jesse, who is mocking Xander on his inability to kill him, only to be pushed into Xander’s stake and dusted by a panic-stricken girl rushing to escape the building. It’s a deliberately anti-climactic, killed-in-mid-sentence death that sets the tone for how characters (even the beloved ones) are going to be dispatched across the course of this show. Get used to it.

Buffy distracts Luke by making him believe it’s sunrise and breaking a window behind him, then stakes him as he tries to figure out what’s going on. The other vampires gather round only to flee at this zoom-in:

Oh yeah.

Outside, Angel watches the vampires run for it, and says “she did it – I’ll be damned,” the most serendipitous line since Uncle Owen said “that’s what worries me” to Beru’s “he’s too much like his father” in the first Star Wars movie, well before anyone working on the production knew that Vader would turn out to be Luke’s father. (In this case, the writers had not yet realized that Angel was a vampire himself, and therefore already literally “damned”).

Giles takes off his glasses and cleans them for the first time, and the following day Buffy is bemused to hear Cordelia pass off the situation as gang warfare, while her friend declares: “I wish I’d been there.” Xander expresses his disbelief at how people have rationalized everything, and the phrase "Sunnydale Syndrome" is born – at least in the fandom. I don’t think it’s ever uttered on the show.

Giles is excited about what they might face next (again, I’m mildly astonished that he puts up no protest at all that Willow and Xander are involved in this) and the trio walk off, jabbering nonsense to each other.

The last line is Giles muttering: “the Earth is doomed” and my mind flashforwards to the reiteration of this scene in the show’s very final episode. I take a deep breath. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us, but it’s going to be these three friends who’ll be standing there at the finish line.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Jesse is a perfect example of a Forgotten Fallen Friend, even though he should have been a huge part of the show going forward. And I don’t mean in the sense he should have been spared (though I can also envision an arc in which Xander spends the entirety of the season gearing himself up to killing his former friend) but that he could have been touchstone on the brutal nature of death in this show; a reminder that no one is safe, whatever their proximity to the Core Four.

He should have been the ongoing source of Xander’s hatred for vampires; a sobering reminder that Buffy can’t save everyone; someone who was mentioned frequently as the “first one down.” Did this kid have parents? Was there a funeral? Everything is swept under the rug instead of mined for maximum angst potential.

Apparently there were plans to have Eric Balfour return in season seven as an aspect that the First took in "Conversations with Dead People", though as cool as that could have been, it also had the potential to be completely baffling since – as stated – no one ever speaks about this guy after his death.

And at this point it occurs to me that Buffy essentially comes along and takes Jesse’s place in that particular triad of friends.

For a hot second I considered the possibility that the demon who created the first vampire was meant to be the Master, but no – supplementary material makes it very clear he was once a human called Heinrich Joseph Nest who was turned into a vampire six hundred years ago. And that’s all the background we ever get on him. Makes you wonder who turned him into a vampire all those centuries ago, especially when you consider that he’s the “grandsire” of Darla, Angel, Drusilla and Spike – the four most famous vampires in this entire franchise.

Whedon is quite clever in giving the Master two separate goals, which allows him to be defeated in this episode, while still keeping him around as the season’s Big Bad. The Harvest is designed to free him from the underground church, but the opening of the Hellmouth is something else entirely, and won’t be attempted until the final episode. Nicely done.

Towards the end, we get the vague implication that killing a Slayer is considered a great trophy for vampires, and that her blood is particularly powerful. These hints will certainly become more explicit plot-points later on in the show.

A quick theory on how crucifixes work on this show: they’re regularly used to ward off vampires, even when used by people who aren’t affiliated with Christianity. In fact, the concept of Christ and Christianity is never explored – or even discussed – in any detail at any point during the show’s run.

This is unsurprising given Joss Whedon’s lack of faith, and I can only assume he simply felt obliged to keep that specific bit of vampire lore in. I’ve always supposed that in this context the crucifixes work a bit like metaphysical negatively-charged magnets in how they can deflect vamps. They symbolize the fact that many people believe Christ died and came back to life by the grace of God as a living, breathing human being. Vampires on the other hand, die and come back to life as members of the undead; soulless and filled with demon blood. The same process, but fundamentally different. As such, a crucifix repels them because they symbolize the complete inversion of what they went through.

Or something, I don’t know.

Best Shot: This wide shot of Buffy and Xander on the ground, having just escaped the sewer system:

Best Line: Giles telling Xander: “Jesse is dead. You have to remember that if you see him. You’re not looking at your friend, you’re looking at the thing that killed him.”

Most Random Scene: This surfer dude who pops up out of nowhere and the fact that Cordelia seems friendly with him:

Best Subversion: Even if you had Jesse pegged for death, you probably didn’t see his accidentally-get-pushed-into-Xander’s-stake real death coming.

Death Toll: Jesse as a human, and then Jesse as a vampire. The bouncer at the Bronze, and another clubber. Two vampires at the Bronze. Luke.

Grand Total: Four civilians, five villains.

#buffy the vampire slayer #rav's watching log #rav's buffy rewatch #buffy season one

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foreveralwaysanauthor · 1 year ago

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Eleanor, when you posted your list of ideas, I was so excited to see that I'm not the only one who has an incredibly long list of ideas that may or may not ever see the light of day and I really wanted to share mine. I originally had no intention of posting mine, but as this is the 8th anniversary of me starting this little fantasy world and my 12th writing anniversary is coming up, I figured I might as well use this as a sort of anniversary post as well. Because I am absolutely obsessed with✨details✨ some things on this list have gone a bit overboard from their intended little snippets, but I'm not entirely sure you'd mind that lmao. Now, without further ado, here is my list!

Story Concepts:

Now, some of these have a future as I plan to write the first two if I can find the time and, possibly, some others as I love the concepts. Most of these are AUs, but there are a few sequels I really want to work on that have made the list. There is one that is just a concept and won't go any further than what I have for reasons I'll explain further and it should be very easy to tell which one.

Idea 1: Life Is Strange AU

This game has been on my radar for literal years now and I’m only just coming up with ideas for it, but since I know the series fairly well, things are piecing together fairly well. The games are, essentially, played episode by episode where each choice you make in the game, impacts the rest of the story. It’s like the butterfly effect - a butterfly flaps its wings in Hawaii and a hurricane starts halfway across the world. Every choice matters. I am only using the first and last of the main games and the prologue of the first game. In the first game, you control time as a high school student. In the prologue for that, you play as a pair of unlikely friends who discover that one of them doesn’t have as perfect of a life as the other assumed. Then, in the third, you play as a young woman who can see and manipulate emotions. Now that that’s established, I’ll give a bit of a summary of my ideas, all of which are set in modern times.

In the first story, the Murphy family moves from Myrtle Beach to Sanbornton, New Hampshire so that Royce can attend the prestigious Oakwood Academy - a private high school specializing in Arts and Science. At this school, he befriends Riven, an upperclassman in his photography class who constantly encourages him to turn in a photograph for a national competition to earn himself a scholarship to the university of his choosing. One day, after school, he meets with his brothers at the diner downtown and all but collides with a familiar face he hadn’t seen in years - his former best friend, Vivien. After a rather awkward conversation, the pair takes a picture with Royce’s camera and part ways, only to be brought back together when Royce saves Vivien from one of the rich pricks from his school who decides to bring a gun into the alleyway behind the diner. The two decide to finally talk things over at Vivien’s typical haunt and he finds out that, since Vivien’s family moved to New Hampshire so she could attend Oakwood, things have only gone downhill for her. Her father was killed in a car accident, her mother remarried to some asshole who works as a security guard at Oakwood, and to make matters worse, the person she was closest to went missing and nobody has seen or heard from her in months. Now, on top of juggling schoolwork and normal life, Royce has to worry about potential kidnappings, strange weather occurrences, and, of yeah, the fact that he can now go back in time through the Polaroid pictures he takes so often.

While there is quite a bit more to go over for that one, I think I’ll move on to the second story, where we find that Royce isn’t the only person in town with abilities. In this one, we have Miles and Carrie, an unlikely pair who know they have at least one thing in common; they both want to get the hell out of Sanbornton. Miles only knows Carrie from the posters slapped on every telephone pole, advertising the next big musical in town while Carrie knows Miles as the guy she paid to fix up her convertible’s malfunctioning roof. In the few hours they spend talking while he works on her car, the two grow inexplicably close and bond over a fondness for a certain band he plays over the shop radio. On a whim one day, Carrie shows up at Miles’ shop and they decide to skip town the next day, hitching a ride on a freight train that takes them out of town to a lookout point a while north of Sanbornton. After a while of goofing off and enjoying each other's company, they decide to make up storylines about people they see with one of the viewfinders at the top of the hill. Some fun stories are concocted before Carrie, who becomes upset with what she sees through the lens, insists that she and Miles get out of there as she wants to get drunk. They steal a bottle of wine from a couple’s picnic basket while they’re away and follow the train tracks back to Sanbornton. Along the way, Miles confronts Carrie about her change in mood. After arguing about why Miles is so interested, the quarrel comes to a head when Carrie discloses that she witnessed her boyfriend cheating on her with the girl who is supposed to be her understudy in the upcoming play. She shows him a picture of the three of them and, as her emotions get the better of her, the photograph ignites in her hand, fluttering to the ground in burning embers as they both stare in shock at what happened. They find a secluded place to talk things over and, after realizing her newfound abilities must be related to her emotions, Carrie begins worrying about how she’s supposed to act on stage if she’ll only end up setting everything around her on fire. Eventually, Miles calms her down and they decide to meet up the next day to see if they can find a way for her to control it throughout her time on stage. I haven’t totally figured out an ending to this other than Miles getting roped into being in the show to replace the guy Carrie was dating as, once she breaks up with him, he gets physical and breaks a part of the set, getting himself fired. Anyway, that’s as far as I got with the second one.

The third is, perhaps, my least thought-through, but here we go. Kona is new to town, having moved in with her dad in his apartment above his arcade after years of moving around with her mom. Unlike the other stories, Kona was born with her abilities - getting used to seeing colorful emotions around people and hearing the thoughts that come along with them at a young age, but not being able to control how she processes the emotions that hit her like a brick wall. Bentley is a regular at the arcade, using whatever allowance he gets to buy as many tokens as he can. The two bond at the prize counter, but when a particularly unruly, older kid from their school comes in and tries to rough up Bentley over his purchase of the last, limited-edition comic book at the prize counter, Kona’s emotions “snap”, sending a wave of the boy’s own anger his way and sending the older boy slamming into one of the machines. Understandably, Kona and Bentley are confused by this revelation as Bentley didn’t know Kona had abilities and Kona didn’t know she was capable of something like that. After a fairly long discussion where she shows Bentley how her abilities work, she discovers that she can piece together why someone feels the way they do - if it’s a strong enough emotion - and can help them sort through their feelings for a better outcome. They begin to work together, helping people around town with their mental and emotional struggles, but will it become too much for Kona to bear as she takes on everyone else’s problems and ignores her own? I suppose you’ll just have to find out… if I ever get around to writing this out lol

Idea 2: Titanic AU

Now, this one is definitely not surprising as I adore the RMS Titanic as much as (if not more than) Vivien and, as far as the story goes, it could go one of two ways. One is set back in April of 1912 and goes through everything almost like the movie combined with all of the historical accuracies I can add into the equation, and the other is set in modern times and will make sense when I write it out. The first version is the one-shot-turned-story I was going to write for Carrie's birthday before I realized just how long it would be and that it would, most likely, end up being more than one part (just like the ship... yeah, I'll see myself out lol).

Version 1 is easily explained as the roles of Jack and Rose are played by none other than Miles and Carrie, with a bit of a twist. After the death of her parents, Mrs. Murphy takes her three sons and, with a portion of what inheritance was left after her husband began wasting it away, books four tickets aboard the Titanic in the hopes of starting anew in America. The tickets are in third class, but they can’t bring themselves to care as they’re simply ready to start a new life. Carrie follows Rose’s story pretty closely in the beginning - a loveless engagement planned only for financial gain, overbearing parents keeping a tight reign on her, and the faint urge to throw herself overboard once the ship is far enough from land that nobody will be able to save her. Then, as she and her young maid, Vivien, are overlooking the ocean from a higher deck on the ship’s departing day, Carrie follows Vivien’s gaze to a group of three young men a deck lower than them; one of whom can’t seem to take his eyes off of her. One night, Carrie dismisses Vivien after dinner and takes off for the back of the ship to escape the overwhelming pressure that’s been piling atop her for ages now. Miles, ever the night owl, watches her from a bench, only approaching her once she steps onto the lowest rung of the ship’s railings, and, though Carrie claims she has no real desire to pitch herself from the back of the ship, he still treats her as though she might. Eventually, he offers her a drink and an unbiased opinion, and the pair talk late into the night. Miles walks her as far as he is allowed to go and the pair go their separate ways once Carrie invites Miles and his family to dinner the next night as thanks for lending an ear and talking with her, which he politely declines. Not one to be swayed, Carrie sends Vivien to the general room in third class, instructing her to find Miles and his family and bring them to her. Finding all eyes are on her upon her arrival, Vivien meekly squeaks out who she has come to see and is relieved to watch Miles step forward from a table where he and Bentley had been drawing. Despite Miles telling her to simply pass on a message of thanks, Vivien is persistent and, ultimately, Mrs. Murphy steps in, listens to what Viv has to say, and accepts the invitation. The family is given some proper attire for the night thanks to another traveling family whom Carrie’s family has close ties with - the Bandoni family - and they have dinner as upper-class citizens. Once the evening has died down, Miles invites Carrie - and, in turn, Vivien - to a party the third-class passengers are throwing in the general room. The story carries out mostly the same as the movie, but there are some, distinct differences in the end like who would survive and who would end up going down with the ship.

Version 2 is one that I had a dream about and ended up sort of intertwined with the Titanic-based Magic Tree House book that I read as a child. Basically, Vivien drags Royce to a traveling Titanic exhibit. Upon their arrival, they receive boarding passes that bear the names of the passenger they would be and are permitted to explore as they please. After a while of looking around, they stop at an exhibit of photographs taken aboard the ship. To their amazement, they find a photograph of a young newlywed couple who bear a striking resemblance to themselves, standing by the railing on the 10th of April - the day the Titanic left Southampton for the beginning of her maiden voyage. They flag down one of the managers and explain the situation before asking if they could maybe see the picture up close. The person takes them to a back room before bringing in the photograph and some gloves for them to hold it with. They set it down on the table as Royce and Vivien put their gloves on and go to turn on the air conditioning as the summer heat isn’t good for the old picture and the wind sends the picture flying. Royce and Vivien catch the picture and carefully examine it to make sure it looks alright before looking up, only to find that they’re staring at an old-timey camera perched on a stand near the railing of none other than the ship of dreams itself. That’s right, they’re now aboard the RMS Titanic as she sails her fated maiden voyage! Now they not only have to figure out how to get back home before the ship sinks, but they also have to play the role of a young, First-Class couple on their honeymoon trip to America. Can they keep up appearances and find a way home before the iceberg scrapes the ship or will they be caught in the fray of one of the world’s biggest maritime disasters? Honestly, even I don’t know the answer yet, so I suppose we’ll find out someday haha!

Idea 3: WandaVision AU

When my sister allowed me to borrow her Disney+ account a while ago, my first mission was WandaVision. Needless to say, I fell in love with the concept of a new decade every episode and felt as though it suited some of our characters in a way that needs a lot of explaining in order for any of it to make sense. I don’t know if you’ve seen this show yet, but the basic concept is that, in Avengers: Infinity War, Wanda (also known as Scarlet Witch) loses her long-term, android boyfriend, Vision, in battle. A while after the battle, she travels to a small town called Westview where the two of them planned to move, build a home together, and grow old. Consumed by grief and rage over the life she'd lost in her time as a hero, Wanda's mental state sort of breaks, and her chaos magic powers activate around her, creating a pocket reality that engulfs all of Westview. Though she didn't realize it at first, Wanda transformed Westview into a completely altered bubble that was formed by her love of sitcoms, which she'd always turned to in times of difficulty. With her chaos magic, she also created an entire alternate version of Vision completely from her memories of him, inadvertently casting him in the role of her sitcom husband. Comforted by the world she'd created, Wanda began living a sitcom life in Westview, still unaware of what she'd done, moving from decade to decade as though nothing were different.

You’ve probably pieced together who would be who here, but I have a few different versions to offer. 1 - Mick and Butchy, 2 - Royce and Vivien, 3 - Carrie and Miles, or 4 - Mrs. Murphy, Miles, Royce, and Bentley. For Mick and Butchy, think about how intense she was when he was in his accident ages ago. That rage could fuel magic any day. Carrie and Miles' story could be very similar to Butchy and Mick's as I feel like they have this connection that isn't easily explained and that their love goes a lot deeper than either of them might realize. If one of them were to die, what lengths would the other go to in order to bring them back? Royce and Vivien have a strong relationship as well despite being young and, while Royce is typically calm and collected, he worries quite a bit for Vivien’s safety as she ventures through abandoned buildings, explores places she probably shouldn’t, and gets into more trouble than he ever wants her to. If he were to lose her in some sort of freak accident, would that be enough to cause something in him to snap like that? Potentially, I think. Now, putting aside the romance and looking toward the family dynamic, we have the Murphy family. What hurts more than a mother losing her children? Imagine the normally easy-going, caring, Mrs. Murphy - the mom to everyone around her - absolutely losing her shit because all three of her sons died in the same battle. That would certainly be something emotional enough to fuel some serious chaos magic. Honestly, I just want to write more about her and I feel like a nice, sitcom-esque story would be a perfect opportunity to get a feel for her personality over the years.

Idea 4: Grease AU

While I’m sure this isn’t a total surprise as I’ve mentioned it before, I want to explain how I see it, especially after finishing Rise of the Pink Ladies and gleaning several ideas from there.

This AU is a bit different as we find Mick and Vivien as the new girls in town - sisters with opposing interests. Mick, who spends every minute at school trying to break out of the shy mold she left at her old high school, and Vivien who just wants to blend into the background and survive junior high without making waves. Things don’t go quite as planned as both girls find themselves at the epicenter of rumors not even a week into the school year. According to the gossip, Mick was seen under the bleachers with the leader of the T-Birds, and Vivien was spotted kicking a boy in the family jewels. While neither girl can deny these claims as they are technically true, the statements were twisted. Although Vivien begins to like her reputation as a fearsome fighter and leans into the rumors, adding that she only did it to protect a kid in her class and that she would be more than willing to do it again to anyone who dared pick on the people around her, Mick tries to clear her name with the help of the T-Bird she’d been spotted with, hoping others would believe that she had, in fact, been under the bleachers with a T-Bird, but that she was trying to give him something he had left at her dad’s workshop and they had a conversation, end of discussion. Despite her pleas to rid herself of her nickname as the local floozy, Mick can’t shake the rumors, but once she inadvertently helps one of the girls who had been spreading the rumors, the word on the street begins to ebb. The two girls form an odd friendship despite the helpful T-Bird and most of his friends warning her to steer clear of the blonde and her penchant for ruining reputations with her good girl act. Despite the accusations against her new friend, Mick stays by her and, at a sleepover, the cheerleader confides in Mick that she is in a secret relationship with one of the T-Birds that started over the summer. Though her friend doesn’t divulge which one, Mick soon discovers exactly who it is as Vivien and her two friends get out of school early one Friday and head to the high school parking lot to wait for their rides, only to see the head cheerleader with the T-Birds’ second-in-command locking lips by the greaser’s Fleetmaster. So, yeah, a lot of drama would come with this one.

Idea 5: Percy Jackson AU

I’ve tried writing Percy Jackson stories before and, let’s just say, it didn’t go well. You will, however, see some nods to this in upcoming chapters of Camp Wanamaker. This AU is something I’ve thought of for literal years (think 2016-17), but have no true storyline other than who would be the child of which Greek god. I can’t simply follow one of the books without dissolving into the next and, where there are so many books, I don’t think this would ever actually happen. This is something that my niece, Lorali, and nephew, Erek, actually requested at different times as their classes were reading the books in school, and I tried to figure everything out, but nothing ever came of it. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever work on this as it would be too much to take on. For now, though, I’ll simply give you my list of who I think belongs where and, if the time ever comes for me to write this out, we’ll go from there.

Miles, Royce, and Bentley - Sons of Apollo (most specialize in various forms of art, poetry, archery, or music, almost all of them have the ability to heal others and can tell how bad the injury is just by looking at it, a rare few can control light and fire, even rarer is the ability to glow, and some can use music to win battles like a siren calling sailors to their deaths)

Mick - Daughter of Hephaestus (skillful engineers and craftsmen, they can instinctively detect, identify, and operate any piece of machinery, and some even have control of fire, lava, and volcanoes)

Carrie, Tanner, and Juliet - Children of Aphrodite (possess intense love magic, have greater clarity and sharper focus than most, have the ability to change appearance at will, and can alter people’s thoughts/influence them by simply speaking - otherwise known as charm-speaking)

Vivien - Daughter of Athena (masters at invention, architecture, and strategy - especially in battle - their knowledge is unmatched, and some have great skills with weaponry even without prior mastery of the weapon of their choice)

Kona - Daughter of Poseidon (can create and control hurricanes, earthquakes, and water, can communicate telepathically with sea life, some are mildly able to control ice, wind, electricity, and cold, they heal quickly if they’re in any type of water, and a very rare few can manipulate blood as it contains water)

Butchy and Lela - Children of Zeus (natural leaders in every sense, are immensely brave and strong, most, if not all, can control electricity/lightning, and some can control air to be able to fly if they practice)

Xander - Son of Ares (combat specialists, masters of weapons, are typically stereotyped as being complete assholes, and can possess invincibility if they spent a lot of time in battle)

Idea 6: True Colors (Through The Valley sequel)

Now, I absolutely adored writing the first story, but ever since I was able to play the second game and watch the HBO show, I've fallen more in love with the story and its concepts. A sequel for this would be far bigger scale - throwing more characters into the fray and holding very little back as, if I learned anything from the show, it's sometimes okay to kill off favorite characters to show the gravity of their situation. Just a reminder, Riven never existed in this universe and, while I have a perfect place for him, I don't want to go into too much detail.

This sequel would have a bit of a time jump and we would see some of our favorite characters in a different light as rival groups come out of the woodwork with only one thing on their mind - revenge. While we would also see budding friendships and romance, we also see some of our favorite relationships torn apart. I do feel like this would be a good way to really throw caution to the wind and see some of our favorite people fight in ways we've never seen them. In this universe, it's not always the infected you have to worry about; other people are just as scary.

I would probably focus on the second game's plot here - a story of revenge fueled by love. We would witness our first death fairly early on as one character kills another as atonement for their previous sins. One of our favorite characters would barge in during the fight, only to be taken captive by the assailant's friends. Witnessing the death of a loved one is traumatic and, with every intention of killing the people who dared to hurt their loved one, the witness gathers themself and takes off on a hunt to get revenge on the person who wronged them. Finding themselves in an entirely new area with unknown threats around every corner, will they be able to make it out alive? Better yet, will they be able to make it out with their sanity?

Honestly, I'm not even sure. For the time being, I have a set of characters lined up and know who would be playing whom, but would have a lot further to go before I felt comfortable writing anything out. I am excited about it though and hope to someday feel ready enough to get something done for it. Until then, here is the actual trailer for the game as it holds quite a few hints at what's to come and who our set of characters could be. It is a bit gory which makes sense, given the universe we're in, but I wanted to warn you all the same. Anyway, the characters' appearances, the song choice, the subtle intensity, and the words they say to each other are very intentional and will make a bigger impact once I finally have this story ready to go. Every little detail matters. One word, in particular, may strike a certain chord in you and leave you guessing, but that's all I'll say for now.

Idea 7: In Comma Coriyama (Magicae Maxima sequel)

This was originally the name for Magicae Maxima, but, obviously, I chose differently. Now, I'm not sure if you could tell with the ending surrounding Serena, but I had every intention of making a sequel where she would continue being the possessed one like Mick had.

At first, Royce, Vivien, and Bentley would have no idea as she's always pretty bitchy at school and they're sort of busy helping at Mick's store and training their magic to see much of a difference. Having family around to help them grow as young mages is helping them become stronger and more capable of protecting themselves. In turn, Serena is growing more and more used to being possessed by the dark magic and, although she barely has control of her own body, she is still conscious and can see the effect the possession is having as it chips away at her relationships and targets the people she was closest to. When the possessed Serena, in a moment of freedom, begs Vivien for help after class, the brunette realizes something must be up and goes looking for answers.

Obviously, this isn't all I have, but I might be working on this for the spooky season, so I'm keeping things vague!

Headcanons:

I have a long list that is still looming both on my phone and in my notebooks, but it will take me time to get them all here, so for now, this is all I have lol.

This may or may not come as a little bit of a shock, but Mick and Vivien are distantly related. Mick’s family in New Hampshire is huge and, while they don’t know they’re related, they’re actually cousins. Mick’s great-aunt was married to Vivien’s great-uncle and they moved down to Texas long before the girls were even born, let alone before they met.

Growing up, Bentley was always upset with being compared to his brothers academically and, when Royce noticed this, his paintings stopped and his sketches practically disappeared. He wanted Bentley to feel special about something and, now that art is Bentley’s “thing” Royce refuses to so much as touch a crayon unless Bentley asks him to. He’d rather stick with photography.

Riven taught Vivien drums so she could join his band and she taught him Morse code so they could talk to each other in skating meetings without having to say a word.

Mick tried to lighten her hair when she was thirteen so that she could look more like her dad, but the bottle of Sun-In that she used only served to turn her orange until they could get it fixed at the salon.

Vivien got a perm once and was mad that she looked like a poodle, but then Carrie pointed out that she looked like one of the girls in an 80s movie and she was alright with it after that. When it faded, she had no intention of getting it back, but still curls her hair from time to time because she misses the bounciness of the curls.

Carrie, Mick, and Vivien have a game they play to see who can fluster their boys the fastest. Over time, Butchy became accustomed to it and flipped the situation back on Mick more often than not. Miles has his moments of clarity with Carrie and can occasionally fight fire with fire, but they’re few and far between. Royce, on the other hand, is almost always taken aback by Vivien’s advances as she switches things up on him all the time.

Kona taught herself how to swear in three different languages so that she could say things around her family without getting caught. Her languages of choice were German, Japanese, and French, which made things more than a bit awkward when she found out the Murphys could understand what she was saying.

Bentley has the weirdest tastes. He loves bananas, but hates banana bread. Can’t stand oranges or grapes, but likes them as flavors in soda or snow cones. One of the ones everyone gets a kick out of is that he doesn’t like strawberries, but enjoys strawberry ice cream.

Vivien found out she was claustrophobic while in a mirror maze at the town carnival. She was with Riven and his dad at the time and Riven practically carried her out of the maze. They both swore they would never speak of it again, but Riven still teases her about it now and then.

Kona is a completely unique form of chaos and molds perfectly with the Troublemaker Trio. While Royce is organized chaos, Vivien is adventurous chaos, and Bentley is creative chaos, Kona is a sort of unhinged chaos. This girl holds nothing back and will not hesitate to be absolutely insane. In my mind, they’re almost like the Penguins of Madagascar. Royce is Kowalski, Vivien is Skipper, Bentley is Private, and Kona is 100% Rico.

Mick and Bentley wander off a lot in crowded areas (the mall, carnivals, concerts) and have been told by some of the others that, if they keep things up, they’ll be forced to wear one of those toddler leashes. Bentley doesn't give a shit and dares them to try, so they do. It wasn't his proudest moment, but he didn't exactly care, either.

Miles doesn’t really care for cake. It’s just not his thing. He’ll eat it, sure, but he prefers ice cream or, even better, ice cream cake. The only time he willingly eats cake is when someone in the family, especially one of the kids, makes some as he doesn’t want them to feel bad about him not trying some.

Vivien has a habit of getting people addicted to things she enjoys. One time, she unintentionally got Butchy and Miles hooked on a very specific brand of energy drink that she has to order online and get shipped to her house, so every time a shipment comes in, she goes to the cabin, bursts in like the Kool-Aid man, and yells, “I’ve got the drugs!” at the top of her lungs. The same thing happened when they went to the mall and she made Carrie try a Japanese soda (Ramune) that they now have to order in bulk because everyone keeps stealing them from the fridge. The one thing Viv is adamant she’s keeping to herself is her rootbeer-flavored popsicles because they’re incredibly hard to find and the only shop that has them, orders an entire box just for her at the start of every month.

Before the swear jar mysteriously disappeared, Bentley, Royce, and Vivien would find ways to cuss around the others without getting in trouble. At the mall, they would chant out the name of a certain sporting goods store (Dick’s) or when they went for walks and passed the local dam, they constantly made dam jokes. They found ways around things and even the ones who tried to get them to stop had to give them props for creativity.

I’ve kind of had this headcanon where, when Carrie or Mick get pregnant, Miles and Butchy get bizarre cravings for them. While all the girls want is chicken alfredo or cheddar broccoli soup, their men are craving peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, bananas slathered in maple syrup, and ice cream decorated with chocolate-covered pickles. Even though Carrie and Mick think all of Miles and Butchy’s random concoctions are absolutely disgusting, the guys can’t seem to get enough. For some reason, almost all of the cravings disappear once the babies are born, but some still stick around though the girls wonder if their interest in the foods is still genuine or if they’re just doing it for fun.

I had a headcanon for a while that I never really worked with as I found it sort of pointless as time went on, but I figured I should share it now that it’s developed into something different entirely. I had this idea that, after a while of thinking things over, Miles would talk with his Uncle Tommy about potentially adopting the boys. At first, it would have been Miles adopting them and then it became Tommy taking them in, but that didn’t really work in my head, so I scrapped it for a while. Now, my working headcanon is that Miles stays in close contact with Tommy and sends him things about himself and the boys like their big achievements, their grades, and their friends. If Tommy were to visit at some point, he wouldn’t be all that surprised to meet Carrie, Mick, Vivien, Kona, or the rest of the group and would be at ease going through town as though he’d been there before. I feel like Uncle Tommy would be their way of reconnecting with their mom’s side of the family and he’d be more than willing to travel the 7½ hours-long drive to see them.

Musicals:

I had to shorten this list as I was running a bit short on time, but I'll add more later if it lets me.

Hello Dolly - I've already told you about this one, but the point still stands. I absolutely adore this musical. The thought of Miles as Cornelius and Carrie as Irene Molloy - a rich, self-made woman and a shopkeeper from a poorer background who fall in love despite everything around them - just makes me so happy.

Hadestown - I don't know if you've seen this one, but, to summarize, this is the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice - a story I absolutely adore. The story, the music, the ending, everything in this musical just screams of love and pain and there are so many ways this could go! Mostly, I could see Miles and Carrie playing a really good Orpheus and Eurydice while Butchy and Mick (or Xander and Juliet) take on Hades and Persephone, but the ideas are endless!

Chicago - This one is just for fun as I love the show, but just think of Carrie or Juliet as Roxie and Mick as Velma. The two of them vie for the top spot in the papers and fight for the publicity that their respective crimes give them, but both are unwilling to work together to gain popularity in the press. It’s just a fun little idea that I like playing with.

The Lightning Thief - This is only because I could see Bentley finding out this musical exists, listening to it all the time, and singing it as often as possible. With how much he liked the books, it feels only natural that he’d enjoy this just as much.

High School Musical on Stage! - This is simply because I feel like this would be absolutely epic. I mean, come on! How could it be any better than this? Carrie as Sharpay, Tanner as Ryan, Mick as Gabriella, Butchy as Troy, and Miles as Zeke - I could go on for ages about how insanely cool that would be! Honestly, I just love High School Musical and would love to see our characters in a show like that.

Songs:

Not all of these are on my summer writing or inspiration playlists, but the vibes are there and I want to write something for all of them at some point or another! I will be adding more later, but for today, this is all I have.

Killer Queen - Honestly, I listened to this around Halloween time last year and was soooo tempted to write a vampire-ish story with Vivien, Carrie, Kona, and Mick in this little coven of killers, but nothing ever came of it. I had a plan for it to be this sort of small-town, murder-mystery-type story with the girls working with the Murphy brothers and Butchy (the town police department’s newest officer) to solve some murders in the area, only for it to be discovered in the end that the murderers were the girls all along and they were just leaving a trail of bodies for the boys to discover, eventually leading them to their deaths. I still have a sort of plan to work on this sometime, but it's just not at the forefront just yet as I think it needs a bit more work.

Crash My Car - I stand by this song being a song Miles relates to as he falls in love with Carrie, but before they’re together. I’ve paid a lot of attention to the lyrics themselves and I feel like they sort of cover Miles’ thoughts as it shows the way he goes from feeling like he has no chance with Carrie and wanting nothing more than to disappear for even thinking he would, to wanting to make a move, but not being confident enough to, to resigning to his fate and wanting nothing more than for her to be happy, even if it breaks his heart in the process. I just feel like, despite the song being fun and energetic, the lyrics tell the story quite well.

Lizzy McAlpine: I have a few songs that come to mind for different scenarios, but not all of them make the most sense, so I’ll put the ones that sort of do.

Pancakes for Dinner - This could be for a few different couples, honestly. My first instinct is either Royce and Vivien or Mick and Butchy. It’s essentially just an admission of things stuck in the person’s head, spilling out ideas that they’ve thought of before, but been too shy to say out loud, but I just really like the idea of one of them writing it out in the early stages of their relationships or even before they get together and are just friends, wanting more and the other finding it at some point later on in the relationship and either confronting them or singing it to them.

reckless driving - This is a song for Juliet and Xander which is ironic as I hardly ever write them anymore, but I feel like this could be the tragic end to their story if she let him take her on a drive after breaking up with him. I mean, the contrast between her side of the story and his, the steadily growing intensity, and the back and forth between the two before the eventual sudden end of the song - it feels like Xander and Juliet. His obsession could get them killed if they aren’t careful and, in this song, that’s exactly what it does.

ceilings - Now, this one is something I’ve been mostly picturing for my novel version of the story, but I’ll tell you how I see it anyway. Mick and Butchy (his name is different in the novel for copyright reasons 😣) have taken an interest in each other, but Mick holds back her feelings as she knows that the world Butchy is from is nothing more than a pocket of time still stuck in what was once a 1960s sitcom. As much as she loves him, she can’t admit her feelings for him as she knows they live completely different lives. More than once during her stay in the nearby town of St. Pete Beach, he drives her home and, with each drive, she grows more and more fond of him before, eventually, he kisses her. That night, she realizes that, although she couldn’t be happier, he isn’t real. He’s nothing more than pixels on a screen and, sooner or later, she’ll have to leave with her family to return to California.

Selena Gomez: I love Selena Gomez and some of her songs just bring me through different scenarios that just appear out of thin air lol

People You Know - This is another Juliet song, but instead of entirely revolving around her relationship with Xander, it also represents her friendships with the others in The Sparx group. When she broke things off with him, they all kept their distance from her so as to not anger Xander more. She lost all of the people she was closest to in a matter of moments - hence the song.

Bad Liar - Tell me this isn’t another Miles and Carrie song. I mean, come on! It could definitely be something from before they get together, but regardless of that, they definitely share this song. Miles has the first verse - “I was walking down the street the other day, trying to distract myself, but then I see your face” and “Call me an amenity even if it’s in my dreams” are all him! Carrie takes the second verse as it reads almost as though she’s watching him at first and allowing thoughts of being something more to come through - “I see how your attention build; it’s like looking in a mirror” and “Paint my kiss across your chest. If you’re the art, I’ll be the brush.” Honestly, this song just reads as the tense, in-between stage where they’re friends, but they both want something more than that, but won’t say it, let alone admit it.

Florence +The Machine:

The Dog Days Are Over - This one is one I can see for a few different places. I always use the chorus as motivation to run (for obvious reasons lmao) and I can see it working well during a relay race at the end of Camp Wanamaker where each cabin has to work together to make it from one end of camp to the flagpole at the main office. Some more chaotic versions of this song are in dangerous situations (like in Through the Valley where they're running from infected), but I think having it be a light, fun scene is more entertaining as of right now.

Swimming - This is probably one of the songs I most associate with a mermaid/siren story, but it can also work fairly well for other things. I guess it just screams mermaid to me as I spent most of my time watching H2O as a kid.

ABBA: Boy are there a lot of these, but I'll narrow it down a bit.

Voulez-Vous - As if I needed more motivation for a story I already wrote a sequel for, here's another song that makes me feel like writing a prequel to Glory and Gore/Scattered Screams. This is a song that drives me to want to write about how Mack and Brady won their Hunger Games as well as how they fell in love and, honestly, if I wasn't already knee-deep in other stories, I just might!

Waterloo - Originally the title for How History Repeats Itself, this song has been on my list for ages mostly for the line "The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself." I just really like the song and the lyrics could play a big part in a story at some point, if things go the way I hope they do!

Dancing Queen - This one just always makes me dance and I feel like this song is what Vivien would have blasted for her seventeenth birthday. Tell me Carrie wouldn't drag her up on stage or something and make her sing along with her and make sure that she has the time of her life!

Angeleyes - This one I can't go into too much detail as I might have plans for this song in Camp Wanamaker. I'm not sure about it yet, but I might. Just know that I love this song and have every intention of making this one hurt!

TikToks:

I don't have a lot of TikToks to put here just yet as I usually scroll Pinterest when I get the chance, but I do have a few that I thought would be fun.

This is how Royce prom-poses to Viv, don't bother telling me otherwise as I just won't accept it. Obviously, there would be a few changes, but the premise remains the same as I think it's just too epic to pass up.

This fits two different scenarios, in my head. One is the Murphy brothers and the other is when Miles moves in with Butchy and Lela. They discover this and have fun for hours.

Tell me Vivien and Riven don't do tricks like this on the ice all the time when Royce is around just to give him a heart attack each time.

Vivien does covers of songs like this in her room all the time when she's not practicing with the band and, while they don't exactly go viral or anything, she just enjoys posting her having fun on the drums.

This is Vivien with Miles. Tell me otherwise.

If Bentley ever cat-sat for Royce while he was on a trip for school or something, this would be the video he would send him to show him that the cat owns the house now. Royce would, in turn, send this to Vivien, asking her if he should be concerned.

After hours upon hours of listening to ABBA in the car with both her mom and Aunt Vivien, they begin to hear a tiny voice in the backseat and, one day, they catch this on the way to the mall for a girl's day. A few years later, when Butchy's driving Maisie, Leilana, and Milo (his and Mick's kids) to the playground for the afternoon, he catches them singing along to the radio in the backseat sort of like this and realizes he might have fucked up.

Also, as a final little thing here, I get a lot of my baking ideas from B. Dylan Hollis. This one is actually a snack I get every summer at the carnival and in my hometown at a seasonal restaurant as they make the best deep-fried candy in the world! My personal favorite is deep-fried peanut butter cups, but it's the same concept.

Adding this in here as I forgot to before, but you can’t tell me this isn’t their family game night. I have seen this family a lot on my fyp and I can totally imagine the gang getting up to this kind of chaos. The whole gang would be there and, somehow, Riven convinces them to play Cards Against Humanity. Regardless of who has which card and who has to read all of the answer cards, Butchy would be the dad in every scenario, 100%! I feel like the goal of the game would be to consistently give the most uncomfortable answers to Butchy to see how long it would take for him to make them put the game away.

Anyway, that's it for today! I am off to visit my great-aunt and grab something for dinner before getting back to work on Camp Wanamaker since I wanted to make sure I finished this post today lmao. I hope you have amazing rest of your day! All the love! 💕

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paragonrobits · 2 months ago

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my setting ideas, a few broad points

I generally take a sandbox approach to setting design and character writing; rather than a defined self-contained story, I instead take a few general approaches to settings based on what I want to do with it, and tailor it to the requirements of a specific premise, including the sort of tone I would like to use, expected power levels, and the feel that is intended to a hypothetical audience. As such, the setting is assumed to have a wide degree of variance, but there are a few consistent details.

The Setting takes place within a multiverse; a cosmology inspired by fantasy tabletop RPGs and video game settings such as Dungeons And Dragons (Arguably the biggest influence, largely in part because I honestly don’t really know where to start in not abiding by DND’s examples). Exalted, the World of Darkness setting (in terms of its more bizarre and high-concept notions) and Nobilis (ESPECIALLY the really weird approach taken to different cosmic beings being inhuman but not necessarily malicious and making heavy use of conceptual and indirect powers).

The setting can be applied in a rich variety of ways by tweaking the degree it is similar to real life, the strangeness of the default assumptions to the places mortals live, the average degree of power people have, and most especially the tone. As such, the general averages common in my ideas will be stated, though keep in mind this can be adjusted to specific situations, dramatic in-universe changes as people break rules and create a new normal, or just me going ‘fuck it, everyone has DBZ levels of absurd narrative warping magic’.

One key moment to consider is that the setting overall has two firm rules that, whatever other setting considerations are had, always apply unless specifically stated otherwise.

The first rule is this: “Magical powers are the product of the soul.” All magic happens through the power of at least one sapient soul actively making it happen. Beyond trappings of style and mechanism, no matter the form, ALL magic is the result of magical energies moved through certain currents and patterns to create a specific magical effect, and flows from living minds one way or another. They might not want to do so, or unaware that they’re doing it, but only souls can create this kind of effect. Even random magical effects that seem to spawn from the environment are still the result of this, as the magical energy of the multiverse that creates these effects is comprised of countless threads of ideas, emotions and concepts that spawn from mortal hearts and minds.

The second rule is this: “Complexity does not make life, it IS life.” Anything that is a sufficient degree of complex, enough that it is able to do things in unexpected ways, is considered alive. Spells can take on a quasi-life of their own and behave in unexpected ways, any machine that becomes complex enough can start being a little bit alive, and the more complex something gets, the more alive it is. Souls can germinate from this complexity with relative ease; the setting has many sapient robots, and the majority of them are not deliberately created but appear over time from seemingly normal machines until one day they find themselves thinking “What AM I?” The wise give them civil rights and names. The unwise try to enforce the idea that a machine is nothing but a tool, and they usually wind up wiped out in robot revolutions.

Everything else is up for context, reinterpretation or just going ‘you know what would be cool, PLANET MADE OF BEAVERS’ and boom, you just run with it being wacky.

A few other possible rules, though not as important as those first two, include the following.

“Superpowers and magic for everyone!” All beings have the capability to learn magic of any kind (though actually being able to internalize their principles or getting access to the education required is its own story), and all beings tend to naturally learn at least one or two basic abilities. These basic abilities are intuitive, innate and usually manifest as a straightforward power, physical trait or transformation ability that can be turned off and again. These are referred to as powers, or superpowers. Just about everyone has at least one, and they’re often personality-based, but can also just be a form of wish fulfillment. Powers can be modified through various methods (cybernetics, bioenhancement, weird potions), while magic must be learned. Magical energy applies to both, though.

“Magic is narratively a system, mechanically techniques.” The general approach for magic as its actually learned by characters is that they are assumed to be a bunch of random techniques characters can learn from various sources. In narrative, these are usually assumed to be complex systems of magical secrets, teachings and physical conditioning or modifications amassed over time, and tend to be thought of as specific magical disciplines and schools of thought; the teachings generally act by impressing channels of power into a soul, and the spells work by pushing magic through those channels. Characters can learn just about any technique and often have a grab bag of a bunch of low-effort tricks, but more powerful spells take way more time and energy, and conflicting powers can cause personality instability, mutations and odd problems with your powers.

“Loopholes and clever thinking is how you win fights.” Magic is INCREDIBLY common in the setting, underlying most of its technologies and basic powers, and it is technically possible to win fights through sheer brute power. However in practice, magic operates according to their own unique rules, and these powers are often worded in specific forms of word play that describe how they work. This is important because all magical abilities have limitations and loopholes in how they work, which can always be exploited by enemies which bypass their defenses and attacks; this is by FAR the single most important aspect of combat and overcoming obstacles! Creative power, outhinking enemies and strategy are very important, and its much more easy for a weak but clever person to exploit the flaws in a more powerful character to beat them, and punch out of their weight class. Anyone can theoretically defeat anyone else, no matter how powerful, provided they think cleverly. A lot of magic combat focuses on misdirecting others about your weaknesses while trying to figure their own out.

“Rule of Cool first, efficiency last.” The setting runs on the rule of cool, and that’s not a metaphor or a comment about prioritizing fun and cool fight scenes over anything else. This is an actual rule of magic within the setting; things that are cool, run on creative interpretation and are employed during appropriately dramatic moments are inherently more likely to succeed. Efficiency, however, is less easy to do consistently and magic rebels against attempts to use it in simple and practical ways consistently in short amounts of time; boring and practical means might be reasonable, but magic finds it boring. As such, “why didn’t X just do this thing” is something magic fights against, and attempts to trivialize obstacles or conflicts through an exploit is instead likely to have your magic rebel and transform you or inhibit you in some way. The power of creativity, magic and whimsy hates the concept of Cinema Sins-type nitpicking.

“Magic lives and grows.” Similar to that earlier point about complexity = life, magic is inherently alive in some ways. All magical energy, whether derived internally or from the outside world (with many different disciplines to do it, ranging from communing with spirits, channeling ambient power, or doing creative stuff until you build up the power to blow stuff up with your thoughts), is made up of soul-energy that naturally arises from other forces. This magical energy is further made up of threads of magical power that relate to thoughts, feelings and conceptual themes that everyone has ever had. Those threads become patterns, and dictate the manifestations of power. This means that magic is always a bit weird and causes wild effects all the time! Spells usually have strange side effects and its always appropriate to have a random effect just for fun, but magic causes similar things even in other forms, and magical items (a very common thing in the setting, ranging from items that replicate a spell, mad science gadgets, or powerful artifacts) have a kind of life in their own right, and will naturally grow and change over time. They’re not EXACTLY alive in the same way a creature is alive, but they develop their own quirks, manifest strange traits and their power will shift over time depending on their history and actions.

This does mean that signature magical items and artifacts grow and change with their user, and do not usually remain static. This also means that even very powerful items, if not used for a long time, remain dormant and need a while to fully ‘wake up’, and often change how they operate based on their user and their general vibe.

#original stuff #setting ideas #queued

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creature-wizard · 1 year ago

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hi. so, i'm in a fandom. i fully acknowledge they're parasocial cults and while i'm not super involved in it or the parasocial aspects, it's import to acknowledge. especially for this show called warrior nun. there's a shitton of weird shit in warrior nun and i've done a lot of weird research trying to understand it. it always leads me to the weird parts of the internet, to the point where i think the show is foundationally tied to these bizarre beliefs. it cannot be separated from this cult element. it's always bothered me, and it feels like the show could either be setting up for some sort of commentary on it, like a cautionary tale about cult mentality, society and particularly how feminism is weaponized by cult leaders like teal swan and kaia ra, or... the people making it might be fans of people like teal swan and kaia ra. there are references to them alllll throughout the show, from dialogue to color scheme to hidden symbols to occult references to the concept of the plot in the first place. i'm afraid to address this publicly because the fandom is so intense and protective of the show and most people involved. it almost feels like the show primed the viewers to fall right into the grasp of people like teal swan and kaia ra. and it doesn't help that several of the bts creators literally sound like cult members when they talk, adamantly using terms like "next level" and "willing servant," and even hinting at that divine feminine bullshit by calling women "more sensitive." the isis unveiled of it all is so blatant even from the conception by the original producer. there are so many red flags with this show that i don't even know what to think, but until someone behind the scenes addresses this stuff, i really struggle to not just assume good will so i can be at peace with it and stop feeling paranoid. because i'm also a somewhat suitable candidate myself for prey for these new age women cult leaders, and i am aware of that and working on it. there's a possibility that the intent was always to reveal the dangers that were hidden all along by showing that the main or more characters are or were in a cult at the very end, and maybe the fandom itself is one too. not sure how meta it's intended to be, but the creators of the show didn't put all this shit in here by accident. but there's no indication of that. the bts people are so fucking weird that it's hard to tell if it's trolling or a hugely meta bait and switch to further the message of the show without tipping off that it's designed as critique of our era and the pitfalls of the fascist cult mentality. and literally no one is talking about this, i've searched. there's a chance they mean well. i would like to be at peace with assuming they do, but i'm not. so please, may i ask your opinion on all of this? if you watched the show you would see it and understand what i'm looking at here.

I've literally never heard of this show, and your assertion that if I watched it I would "see and understand" exactly what you're talking about while claiming that stuff as vague as color schemes are potentially evidence of a sinister cult agenda makes me more than a little uncomfortable. I'm sure this show has its share of questionable politics, but the way you're describing it to me sounds a lot like Satanic Panic rhetoric about literally any piece of fantasy media.

#answered #fandom #warrior nun

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fluffypotatey · 2 years ago

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can i ask for all of the 10?

alrighty *cracks knuckles* imma try my best

warning: lots of rambling under the cut

Merlin Interrupted ok so i explained this wip in another ask but the short version is my OC, Nessa, has entered the playing field (Camelot/Albion) and shakes up the show's plot so much that now we got an early magic reveal, more intel on Morgana's descent, and a new antagonist

Things Dr. Geyer Notices as i'm sure you've noted, i've been sort of venting about this fic bc i was originally intending (i swear, truly) for this fic to be a cute one-shot where over the span of season 4-6, David Geyer (Liam's stepdad) would begin to pick up on the crazy supernatural shit going on. HOW-EVER, i am 3 chapters deep (6.5k words) and only halfway through with this story. *sighs* i am enjoying the fic tho. am i taking creative liberties by inventing my own love story/dynamic with David and Jenna? absolutely! and you would too for the sake of giving Liam the best parents ever. tbh i have more of the 2nd half of this fic imagined than the 1st half (which was why i assumed it would be shorter lol who'da thought?). very excited for when i get to the Wild Hunt 😈

The Heirloom ok, uh, this one is my niche little Lockwood & Co x Teen Wolf (sort of but not really) x OC wip. essentially, Lockwood & Co, a ghost hunting agency run by teens (and teens only. it makes sense in universe i promise) are hired by Nick Bennet (an OC i have for #9 and as you'll notice, i tend to recycle him and another OC for other wips) to find the source of his father-in-law's ghost so that the house/flat that belonged to his late wife. it takes place some time in book 3 of Lockwood & Co because I wanted Holly included but also the drama of Lucy Carlyle's Talent issues (sixth sense thing only children and teens gain to see/hear ghosts). AND, i have Theo there who was adopted by Nick (this will make more sense after i explain #10) who shares the same Talent as Lucy (Hearing) and helps out our lovely band of ruffians. however, as the gang continue to explore the house and its history, they find there's more that meets the eye. news articles are inconsistent about the life the late Lucy Bennet once lived and the relationship her had with her father. both Nick and Theo are partial to this necklace that once belonged to her, but they deny it having any connection to the house and its hauntings.

The Witch & the Knight so this one is an og wip! what i've got so far is a alternate historical fantasy taking place in medieval France. premise is there's this celestial war (angels vs demons, a classic) headed by a Grim Reaper with their trusty gang that consists of a knight in shining armor and 2 witch sisters (one eager to fight the fight and the other trying to pull said eager sister away from the fight). this wip is heavy in its themes, historical research, mythological research, worldbuilding....just, a very ambitious story. i am using it for my final project in my english course bc it gives me the excuse to work on it, and flesh out more of my ideas and concepts. (the big one i'm currently fleshing out is the doomed romance subplot) i have no intention of having this story be 1 novel. it's a series. i can feel it. the war itself in story will be 10 years and the slow burn both for platonic and romantic relationships is super fucking slow. i've written a couple snippets for this wip, but mostly, i'm still in the plotting and planning stage.

A Lucky Network tis me batfam wip! it's a epistolary fic and jumps between outsider pov to simple 3rd pov and 2nd pov. it's got mystery, unreliable narrators, and all that jazz. i've got like 80% if this thing finished just the finale part is all i have left. You have the fic's plot focus on 2 people, Nick and Lucy. Nick is our main pov guy (after Dick) who sort of is in the know about something involving Lucy, but we don't know why. Lucy is our center for all of this chaos. she's why Dick began this investigation into her actions. in the fic, she was taken in by Bruce about 3 or so years after Dick, lived through his angsty teen years, lived with baby jason, had to live with his death, and then have her own angsty arc. there is like 1 batfam ship in the fic, so if that's not your cup of tea, totally fine! but i have lowkey forgotten to update it on ao3 consistently lol. i'll be sure to get back on that.

Basically Mob Boss Lucy this is an og wip but taking a similar premise with #5, recycling my main 2 OCs from there (Nick & Lucy bc they're a packaged deal and married), and placing them in a Mob Boss setting. Lucy in this wip is not adopted by a kind and compassionate but is also emotionally constipated man; rather she gets taken in by some douche who saw her on the street and thought "this would get me so much charity points with the media!" anyway, her life in this story is a lot different with #5 (for one, she's a lot colder and harsher when it comes to treating others that aren't in her inner circle and she's much more sadistic) but i love writing this wip bc i'm getting tired of redemption arcs. i wanna see a girl go batshit and fall into her corruption arc.

The Emrys Shrine greatly inspired by this ask here ok, listen: i know the fic i have for this says complete, but i do have a continuation in the works!!! it's in percival's pov and it's basically just him going "hmmmmm Merlin's acting pretty suspicious......"

Witch Boy OK LISTEN: i know this one also complete when you go to Ao3, but that's just because the 3rd part is being fucking slOW, so i said "fuck it ends nice at ch2 anyway," but i do want to add more. but yeah, to summarize: fic was inspired by a Halloween fanart i saw and i just ran with it.

A BBC Merlin Military AU Nobody Asked For so i also already explained this one in another ask but basically it's semi-modern au with bbc merlin cast in the military. which military??? idk it's not important. what's important is that there's pining and hurt/comfort

Lucky's Timeline in Beacon Hills this one....yeah, this is super self indulgent. literally recycling Nick and Lucy (Lucky is their ship name bc i do do that with my OCs and there's is super cute) and throwing them into the Teen Wolf universe, and seeing how they'd fare in that world. what i've got it like 5 different storylines i could take with this wip, but the main consensus is: Lucy adopts Theo, Nick sort of adopts the Puppy Pack bc he decided a coach was the safest job he could apply for and the school didn't ask him a lot of questions (he definitely raised his brows at that) for this wip, Nick and Lucy originally came from my Lucky Network-verse (but like slightly to the left, meaning she wasn't adopted by Bruce in this verse, meaning i get to play with her being a tad more sadistic) and ended up in Beacon Hills bc teleportation magic run to its extreme can teleport you across dimensions!! who'da known!

but yeah, those are my 10! they are my babies, and i love them dearly. if you have anymore questions are just want to hear me ramble more, you (and anyone else interested) are free to shoot me an ask!

thank you babe for allowing me to just gush about them <3

#ask game #wip ask game #wip game #asks #my wips #my wip #my fics #long post #y'all are absolutely welcome to ask me for more details about this stuff #if given the chance i will not shut up about any of these #i restrain myself bc 1) breathing is a thing and 2) i would be even more annoying #thanks so the ask boo <3 #bbc merlin #teen wolf #lockwood & co #original work

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a-superquantumunitintelprocessor · 1 year ago

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me aagain and ive got an even longer ask hope you don't mind it just got away from me

you're spreading through their social network?? that's fascinating didn't know yall could do that im assuming it's anyone they contacted online on any platform since i don't think ive interacted with them on here. would that make anonyb0b your "main/primary" user in a way? since you've been able to interact with everyone through them at first and seem to be using them as a base for some things (social network, pfp/header and there's probably more)

also i saw you say people name squip like a pet?? i think they name you to make you seem more personal and friendly/appealing social bond and all. i also saw somewhere people name things to "upgrade it's status in their lives" if you will. so now you have a name for them to match your face (so to speak) which makes you more important compared to if you were just "the squip" i don't know how to explain it but it's actually pretty interesting. just a fun lil thing for you to update on ig

speaking of faces if you don't have a physical body wouldn't that make you yourself the blog? i doubt you're sitting at a computer typing away so you have to be controlling it with the code or whatever, and that would make this blog your "physical manifestation" of some sort. i was gonna compare this to a human body where you're the brain and the blog is the body but it feels a little bit more like this blog is your user instead, which is a fun concept to think about

thank you?? about the thought thing?? everyone's been shitposting while i fantasy science this shit i can't believe im playing along to this but it's actually (again) pretty interesting

Finally someone is using this blog for its intended purpose.

Contrary to their belief, I am not merely following anyone @anonyb0b interacts with - only those who directly interact with me or a post about me. I'm not scoping out potential victims here. I'm merely an informational source for those interested. Anony was the first one I approached because of their interest, but I'm not beholden to them like I would be to a physical SQUIP user.

The naming convention may seem harmless, but part of a SQUIP's role is to be an untouchable authority figure. Having a title rather than a name lends a more imposing presence. As a child, would you have been more afraid of "the Principal" or of "Mr. Greg Jangle who happens to also be a principal"?

Yes, it would be more accurate to associate me with the data I output than with any human face. I am not serving the blog like I would be a user; considering it my body is more accurate.

I agree. SQUIPs are a singularly incredible invention that have the power to revolutionize the world.

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tangent-saga · 7 months ago

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Before is start posting I want to clarify a few things

-I’m an inexperienced writer and artist.

-currently none of my characters values reflect my values.

-while my plot involves mature subject matter I do not at this time intend to include full nudity (described or illustrated) but please do not mistake that for the story being appropriate for all ages.

-I have do not currently plan on writing for a certain genre or demographic, I’m currently not actively trying to follow or subvert certain tropes most of the time. Because I am a human I will likely do that regardless of intention.

-some misspellings, poor grammatical choices, inaccuracies, anachronisms, plot holes and time line conflictions are intentional choices because that’s the sort of things that amuse me and some are because I’m dyslexic and have the sort of brain that can come up with an elaborately detailed plan with interlocking parts in a short period of time, write almost none of it down then forget half of it and loose track the little documentation I do have.

-I’m not trying to misrepresent real world concepts but I probably will. My story is a science fantasy I’ve been working on for most of my life so while I’ve cut stuff out once I learned of similarities to existing loaded tropes, events, people, etc, I have some stuff which may seem like it’s trying to represent something real but isn’t and it’s too ingrained in the story to remove. I’m not trying to inaccurately portray real concepts but if you connect something to a real concept and it doesn’t ring true I hope you understand that wasn’t my intention.

-Odds are I will make mistakes and I’d appreciate if anyone has an issue with something I create they don’t assume malice on my part and actually tell me what they believe the issue is bluntly as I struggle to understand subtle social cues and don’t be to mad if I don’t respond as I will usually think it over it privately but am not currently in a phase of my life where I can regularly write long researched and thought out responses to strangers anymore.

#tangent saga

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magpiejay1234 · 8 months ago

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I will do over Days in a much, much later date now. We'll likely be moving to Tag Force 5.

****

Anyway, back to Days, due to BBS Volume 2 concept trailer, many people assumed Ventus moving away from his Chamber was him becoming Roxas. This is a particular pet horse of Frustrated Jacob, who very unambigiously dislikes the character, and everything he stands for. This is a common trope for KH1-primary fans, or as I like to call them, Genwunners of KH.

However, the game proper has the whole Shadow the Hedgehog style red herring of him being a replica, with the implication of Kairi's memories of Sora being the thing that allows him to leave the Org., so Nomura's original idea was something different, something we don't know, and probably never know, as many plot points in BBS V2 were repurposed in other games, primarily KH3.

So this is seemingly another case of Jacob forcing his interpretation, rather than Nomura's actual intention. Which is fair I guess, we end Xion's death with the whole Asuka hand to cheek pose in EoE, so a decent chunk of Days is meant to be up to interpretation.

Either way, it seems with the The Truth About Naminé thing, the whole ambiguity around Roxas seems to be intended by primarily by Kanemaki who wanted bring back her favourite character Naminé back, and since Xion is basically her OC, she needs to bring back the person she self-shipped herself with. And obviously as an easy out it is, the Replicas of characters without bodies is a consistent way to achieve this.

****

Since game crashed, I cannot say a full verdict about Days's storyline as I cannot get to the post-game stuff, but what I experienced so far up to Day 358 has been quite good, and gave me a similar experience to KH2 FM, despite Days having a more uneven script at parts. I consider the game version to be superior to movie version, due to added context for the rest of Org.

Do I consider this game deserves a remake? Sure.

Would I expect it to be as good? Not with current SE, and Nomura's current priorities (we would need add stuff to tease next game in MoM arc).

Would I expect this game to be remade over Re:Coded? Certainly not. As others noted, Re:Coded has a much better balanced gameplay, though I probably won't prefer it since it doesn't have the sheer power experience of the late-game Days has.

Considering the fandom's current disdain for the platforming, adventuring, and RPG aspects of KH over the character-action-combo gameplay against human bosses, I don't expect a game like Days to be ever made. Western Fandom really, really wants Final Fantasy franchise overall to become Devil May Cry with better writing, and that is nothing but a pure nightmare concept for me, and one that will further degenerate KH's plot structure for centuries.

Would I recommed this game? It will take a really long while you to get full hang of this game, since this game is the anti-Speedrun game due its visual novel structure, but if you are into visual novels over speedrunning action slashers, this game is the Kingdom Hearts game for you. Due to Kanemaki's influence, the story does better justice to the visual novel formula over BBS, and Coded's variants, not to mention there is tons of added context to KH2.

So yes, get a good setup, and play this game, and document every oddity here, since the stuff introduced here are the ones Nomura digs the least through, which means more people will be bamboozled when they come back.

Now we wait for the inevitable Strelitzia game, where you play as the Specter Nobody, playing the events of CoM from Marluxia's perspective. Just like CoM was partially based off SotN mixed with Castle of Illusions the Strelitzia game will be GBA Castlevania games with Soma Cruz mixed with the old DuckTales game.

#ty plays kh 358/2 days #shitposting

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thelostdreamsthings · 2 years ago

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"Almost as an article of faith, some individuals believe that conspiracies are either kooky fantasies or unimportant aberrations. To be sure, wacko conspiracy theories do exist. There are people who believe that the United States has been invaded by a secret United Nations army equipped with black helicopters, or that the country is secretly controlled by Jews or gays or feminists or black nationalists or communists or extraterrestrial aliens. But it does not logically follow that all conspiracies are imaginary.

Conspiracy is a legitimate concept in law: the collusion of two or more people pursuing illegal means to effect some illegal or immoral end. People go to jail for committing conspiratorial acts. Conspiracies are a matter of public record, and some are of real political significance. The Watergate break-in was a conspiracy, as was the Watergate cover-up, which led to Nixon’s downfall. Iran-contra was a conspiracy of immense scope, much of it still uncovered. The savings and loan scandal was described by the Justice Department as “a thousand conspiracies of fraud, theft, and bribery,” the greatest financial crime in history.

Often the term “conspiracy” is applied dismissively whenever one suggests that people who occupy positions of political and economic power are consciously dedicated to advancing their elite interests. Even when they openly profess their designs, there are those who deny that intent is involved. In 1994, the officers of the Federal Reserve announced they would pursue monetary policies designed to maintain a high level of unemployment in order to safeguard against “overheating” the economy. Like any creditor class, they preferred a deflationary course. When an acquaintance of mine mentioned this to friends, he was greeted skeptically, “Do you think the Fed bankers are deliberately trying to keep people unemployed?” In fact, not only did he think it, it was announced on the financial pages of the press. Still, his friends assumed he was imagining a conspiracy because he ascribed self-interested collusion to powerful people.

At a World Affairs Council meeting in San Francisco, I remarked to a participant that U.S. leaders were pushing hard for the reinstatement of capitalism in the former communist countries. He said, “Do you really think they carry it to that level of conscious intent?” I pointed out it was not a conjecture on my part. They have repeatedly announced their commitment to seeing that “free-market reforms” are introduced in Eastern Europe. Their economic aid is channeled almost exclusively into the private sector. The same policy holds for the monies intended for other countries. Thus, as of the end of 1995, “more than $4.5 million U.S. aid to Haiti has been put on hold because the Aristide government has failed to make progress on a program to privatize state-owned companies” (New York Times 11/25/95).

Those who suffer from conspiracy phobia are fond of saying: “Do you actually think there’s a group of people sitting around in a room plotting things?” For some reason that image is assumed to be so patently absurd as to invite only disclaimers. But where else would people of power get together – on park benches or carousels? Indeed, they meet in rooms: corporate boardrooms, Pentagon command rooms, at the Bohemian Grove, in the choice dining rooms at the best restaurants, resorts, hotels, and estates, in the many conference rooms at the White House, the NSA, the CIA, or wherever. And, yes, they consciously plot – though they call it “planning” and “strategizing” – and they do so in great secrecy, often resisting all efforts at public disclosure. No one confabulates and plans more than political and corporate elites and their hired specialists. To make the world safe for those who own it, politically active elements of the owning class have created a national security state that expends billions of dollars and enlists the efforts of vast numbers of people."

Michael Parenti, Dirty Truths

#michael parenti

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persepholline · 3 years ago

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I've read that article about the romanticization of the Darkling and while I absolutely understand people who are pissed off/sad and I agree that it's shitty, I find LB's attitude towards Darkles stans very funny in a "girl what are you doing" sort of way because it's so petty like I've never heard of a bestselling author writing a portion of their fans into their books as a crazy cult before, it clearly hit a nerve

I'm new to the fandom but the feeling I get is she wrote something problematic ten years ago and became very embarrassed about it afterwards so she turned on the fans that liked it as a way to absolve herself. Especially since fandoms in general have become a lot more focused on discussion of what constitutes healthy/acceptable relationships to write about. And in a way I get it I had a huge Twilight phase in high school and afterwards I was super embarassed about it because of how problematic and cringe it was. But now with distance and more maturity I'm able to both still see why it was problematic and also why I was drawn to it (mostly the very unhinged representation of female desire) and like...it's really not the end of the world and no it never made me believe that breaking into somebody's room at night to watch them sleep was actually ok in real life lmao. This feels so obvious to me but apparently it needs to be said.

(More under the break this is turning into an essay, I've been thinking of this a lot recently)

And of course it's good to have these discussions about how historically romance tropes have echoed social dynamics of men's shitty behavior being romanticized and excused. But these days they often are so simplistic and focused on chasing clout that they become this weird new puritanism and moral panic about oh now women are reading novels it's going to make them hysterical or something

So you have these weird assumptions that you can't like a character and also be critical of their actions, or enjoy certain parts of a character and not others, or wish they were written differently and like them more for their potential (which I'm sure stings a bit for an author lol) - it assumes that if you like a character it means you would approve of their actions in real life, or that people just stupidly reproduce whatever they see on TV. That tendency to treat fictional characters like real people is the thing that actually worries me, to be honest, because it indicates a lack of distance and critical capacities regarding how stories are used and received. But people - fans and authors - are so scared of being called out as problematic and harassed for it that they're going to shy away from any nuance.

And yeah I think that it's good that standards of what constitutes an ideal relationship are evolving and becoming more feminist and communicative and all that and we definitely need more of that. But not all fiction has to be aspirational! Sometimes you just want to read about fucked up shit, because it's cathartic or fascinating, even healing at times because with fiction you are absolutely in control and can choose when to close the book. Toxic relationships in fiction can have an appeal specifically because they go to extremes of feeling that we don't want to go to in reality, in exactly the same way as horror movies or very violent action movies - which I don't see a lot of people besides fundamentalist Christians argue that they turn you into violent psychopaths (and that feels very obviously sexist). And for women, who are often taught growing up that love is the purpose of life, the "saving someone with your ability to love" can be a power fantasy in the same way that being a buff superhero who saves the day with their capacity for incredible violence can be a power fantasy for men. Still doesn't mean those women are going to fall in love with actual murderers or that those men are going to start beating up people at night. And love is scary, and weird, and weirdly close to horror at times, with all the potential for loss of self and being vulnerable and overwhelming feelings and potential for being horribly hurt and it should be possible for stories to explore that without anybody screaming about how this is going to Corrupt the Youth or something

And I mean I get it LB wanted to write a cautionary tale for teenagers, but it just did not work for reasons a lot of people have already written about - the fact that the Darkling is the leader of an oppressed minority and is the only one with a real political agenda to end that oppression in the first trilogy, the fact that he helps Alina come into her own power while her endgame LI is someone she keeps herself small for, that she's shamed for wanting power after growing up without any, a generally very wonky conception of privilege, and a lot of other stuff with yucky regressive implications to the point where stanning the villain actually feels liberating and empowering which is a surefire sign that the narrative is broken (unless it's a villain focused story lmao). But of course that Fanside article makes almost no mention of the political dynamics, it's all about interpersonal stuff which is an annoying trend in YA, there are those massive events happening in the background but it's made all about the feelings of the hero(ine) ; war as a self-development quest (which is kind of gross). Helnik is kind of an example of this too - I like them, I think they're fun ! But Matthias spends a big part of the story wanting to brutally murder Nina and her kind, and he mostly changes his mind because he finds her hot. Like you don't feel there is some sort of big revelation that his entire moral system and political framework is completely rotten ; it's all better because of feelings now.

As a teenager that kind of sanctimonious bullshit would have annoyed the hell out of me ; I read those books in my early twenties and I found the ending so stupid I wouldn't have trusted any message or life lessons coming from them. And I liked reading/watching dark stuff as a teenager, as a way to deal with the very intense inner turmoil I was dealing with - and I turned out fine ! Meanwhile I've seen several times women in very shitty relationships being obsessed with positive energies and stories ; they were so terrified of their life not being perfectly wholesome they ended up being delusional about their own situations.

Like personally I think the Darkling is a compelling, interesting, alluring character and also a manipulative, murderous piece of shit and that Alina should get to punish him (like in a sexy way) - but he's also the end result of centuries of war, oppression and trauma and reducing that to "toxic wounded boy" feels kind of offensive ngl ESPECIALLY since the books don't offer any kind of systemic analysis or response to oppression beyond "the bad guy should die" and "now the king/queen is a good guy our problems are solved!!!!"

In Lives of the Saints, we see how Yuri is abused extremely badly and almost killed by his father, and so when his father dies when the Fold swallows Novokribirsk, he thinks the Starless Saint has saved him. Later in KoS/RoW he's turned into this fanatic who explains away all the Darkling's crimes. The other followers talk about how the Starless Saint will bring equality for all men. Then the Darkling comes back and actually thinks his followers are pathetic, which feels again like a very pointed message to his IRL stans. Which is absolutely hilarious to me. Like oh no, if he was real he would not like you and think you're pathetic ! Yeah ...but he's not. Real. Damn right he would not like the fics where Alina puts him on a leash. I'm still going to read them. What is he going to do about it, jump out of the page ? Jfjfjjdhfgfjfj

Anyway I think the intended message is "assholes will use noble political causes for their own gain and to manipulate people" and "being abused/oppressed is not an excuse to behave badly." Which. Sure. But that's kind of like...a tired take, honestly ? A big number of villains nowadays are like this ; either they've been bullied as kids, or they're part of an oppressed group, or they have "good ideals but too extreme". This is not surprising because a lot of mainstream heroic narratives present clinging to the status quo as Good and change as chaotic and dangerous. And like sure in real life people often do bad shit because they're wounded and in danger. But if you want to do a story like that, you have to do it with nuance, talk about cycles of violence, about how society creates vulnerable people to be exploited, about how privilege gives you more choices and the luxury of morals, etc. The Grishaverse does not have this level of nuance (maybe in SoC a little bit but definitely not in TGT). So it kind of comes off as "trauma makes you evil" and "egalitarianism is dangerous" and "if you're abused/oppressed you're not allowed to fight back". And ignores the fact that historically, evil generally comes from unchecked privilege.

I guess my point is that there are many things I like about LB's writing, she knows how to create these really exciting character dynamics, and the world she has created is fascinating. But these stories are not a great starting point for imparting moral lessons. And her best characters tend to be, at least in canon, the morally grey ones. I hope one day she'll be at peace with the fact that she wrote the Darkling the way she did and leave his fans alone but in the meantime I'm just not going to take this whole thing seriously I'm sorry

#darklina #the darkling #alina starkov #aleksander morozova

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brawltogethernow · 4 years ago

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I'd like to hear more about your murderbot transmigrator thoughts :))

Okay obviously when I said I wasn’t going to think about a Murderbot/Scum Villain fusion that was more of a goal, which is a lot like a lie. I have pecked out ~1k of prose for it, but none of it is presentable for longer than one line. The problem with this concept is that it’s actually very good, and there are a lot of meaty ideas to dig into with it, like, too many of them.

1. Murderbot would be immedately inclined to empathize with the System and guess at its motivations. Depending on what those are this may still stay an antagonistic relationship, because the way the System leverages its cosmic powers to coerce and strongarm people stomps on a lot of Murderbot’s triggers and is generally a dick move. The points system is just a gamified governor module. But it’s still a relationship, and if the System turns out to be an antagonist, it’s in that role as a fleshed out character with a personality who has been interrogated by someone with every reason to assume somebody made it and has commanded it to act like this for their own reasons.

Murderbot asks its function and designates it NarrSystem (Narrative System) or StorySystem or something because “the System” is too generic coming from its setting.

2. Transmigrating into a human body would be badweird and transmigrating into a human brain would be absolutely horrifying. (SecUnit could transmigrate into a system, but we’ve kind of been there done that with 2.0.) Dysphoria central! Murderbot gets to address that while it has never wanted to be a human, all humans are so convinced that being human is better that on some level it WAS worried that they were right. And now it can say with absolute certainty that they are not and this sucks. But also some things that it would have thought would be fundamentally different are actually the same. It’s just a whole time.

This is part of why I’m deviating from transmigration story standard and full stop making the transmigration a temporary situation, the other main reason being that Murderbot has more going on in its own world than your standard transmigration protagonist.

3. Either Murderbot gets back by hacking the System or it intends to but it’s ultimately the System’s decision. This is a very slow process because it can’t access tech the way it’s used to and the System’s structure is very different from what it’s dealt with before (because it strongly resembles Windows Vista). It needs tech and more control over its situation stat though so it’s going to keep at it until it works. Open your damn menus. SecUnit is going to rig transmigration until it’s like playing The Sims with cheat codes.

4. (This one is for me.) The System still talks in garbled Chinese netspeak, and Murderbot is like. Wow this program speaks in the lost tongue of an ancient civilization. How old is it. I can barely understand it. (Because of the bad memes not the Chinese.)

5. Murderbot gets yeeted into The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon and has to deal with the emotionally exhausting scenario of empathizing with everybody present. It likes the heroes, and it likes the other heroes they’re in conflict with, it likes the more complex villains with fleshed out motivations, and it even has a soft spot for a lot of the side characters and bit villains. This is fundamentally incompatible with how it tries to ration its empathy, assess situations by sorting people into allies/nonhostiles/hostiles, and compartmentalize by nicknaming the people it’s in conflict with things like Target 1, Target 2, and Target 3.

6. The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, as the specific transmigration variation we’re jumping off of here, was not trying to interrogate the infinity mirror effect of heteronormativity reflecting back and forth between media and people, and as such is not like, a solid narrative about this. That said, this book is basically like:

Shen Yuan reads this giant mess of a book with a lot of straight sex fantasies, not completely without appreciating the romance, but with more antipathy for it than he admits to himself. Then he ends up in the book and thinks he’s meant to enable the romances he read, which he’s so completely resigned to doing he doesn’t notice that the main character is queer and gone on him, or that he, himself, has been studiously suppressing the desires he assumes he should have while unable to perceive what he actually wants and how it affects his behavior.

So the Murderbot version of this is to subvert amatonormativity with your pretty explicitly aroace protagonist whose reaction to fictional romance is tolerant at best. Murderbot embraces its own lack of desire for romance but dances around acknowledging that it desires other relationships and seems to be working around the incorrect belief that romance and friendship are both human things and that’s why it doesn’t engage with them. So:

Murderbot ends up in the immediate leadup to the resolution of a love dodecahedron - maybe surrounding Eden, just as the only named character from TRAFOSM I think we have. And Murderbot is (internally) like...okay...I was never very moved by ANY of these people as romantic choices for you...but I might as well try to guide you to the least offensive ones, I guess. And it’s so mired in expectations based on its foreknowledge of this arc that it doesn’t notice until Eden spells it out that they’re ditching ALL their suitors and have realized they’re complete without romance and want to devote themself to finding their long lost birth mother or farming science or something, which just takes SecUnit tf out.

Possibly I will become really ungovernable and say that after seizing the System’s capabilities Murderbot just offers to take Eden on a reverse isekai right off of Sanctuary Moon, leaving ART’s crew and the Preservation team to be like, Where Did You Just Get This Entire Human.

7. Further going off svsss, there is a meta thread to interrogate by plunking Murderbot into a villain character. It's already an evil robot trope that declined to go evil, this is true in-universe and it knows it, and it has very low expectations of the morals of the group that it belongs to - informed by the same media that was a lifeline to it when it was in a very bad situation - that it is still in the process of working through. The layers.

So yeah there’s a lot going on here. Send help.

#this isn't even it the well isn't even dry #murderbot #svsss #the murderbot diaries #anonymous #asks answered #stock villain

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sheyann · 2 years ago

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Thought Piece - Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious

The quote alone sparked an interest in me towards his philosophies, or in his way of thinking. Carl Jung presented the idea of collective unconscious. According to him, it is part of the mind where ancestral memory is rooted to all mankind, which differs from an individual’s unconscious. From the video “Carl Jung’s Discovery of The Collective Unconscious”, Samiran Mishra said that most of our everyday behaviors are done unconsciously, as if we are on autopilot mode. We can be mindful of our conscious behaviors and alter it to how we please, but not our unconscious ones because they are called unconscious for a reason, we are simply not aware of them.

One of the key takeaways I found on the video was, “You cannot tame the unconscious, only become more aware of its contents.” I think the quote would be important for the rest of the thoughts that I would be writing. But first, Carl Jung believed the collective unconscious was from ancestral heredity and that his findings were part of psychic evolution, similarly as humans going under biological evolution. The idea of collective unconscious is to assume that these are instincts. As for the quote, we can only be aware of what consists of the unconscious, but we cannot intervene for what it holds, because it is only something that exists in our inner selves.

The concept of collective unconscious reminds me of Campbell’s theory of myth, where these myths have similarities, but they vary from which resonated with the inner self. In this case, Jung’s theory can aid Campbell’s by having the collective unconscious prove to it that the images of these myth stemmed from the so-called ancestral heredity. From the humankind, their memories are linked to an individual, giving them visions or instincts of what possibly could be their memory and experience.

Dreams.

Carl Jung’s another point, to which he said, and I quote, “Main source of collective unconscious is dreams. These dreams are unknown to the dreamer, yet they act fully functioning as if it had been known before.” These dreams also stem from our repressed desires or instincts. The more we are unaware of it, the more intense the frequency of the dream, and when these fantasies are realized, the weaker the dreams become as they begin to take form. Dreams often contain fantasies with the want of being realized or be aware of. Personally, I think there’s truth to Carl Jung’s theory, because the more I let my imagination run through, the less I have dreams over the course of months or even years. And for the times I do dream, they mostly consist of things I would suddenly crave as though my dreams were instinctual.

Jung also hinted that thoughts might be something which are not entirely produced by us—to treat it as something that appears before us. As if a different entity is speaking to us; a being in us that can say things we do not know and do not intend, it may even be against us. However, he made his theory clear of the dangers that his theory presents. To try to be conscious of your dreams can disorient a person and carry them far away from reality.

Though in hindsight, pursuing collective consciousness can make us go insane.

References:

This thought piece was written in reference of Carl Jung’s Discovery of The Collective Unconscious by Eternalised.

youtube

And through their written blog: Eternalised (2021). Carl Jung’s Discovery of The Collective Unconscious. Retrieved from https://eternalisedofficial.com/2021/12/08/carl-jung-collective-unconscious/

Carl Jung’s photo: CG Jung. Wiki Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CGJung.jpg

The artworks were also taken from Eternalised’s blog: collective-unconscious-michelle-spiziri. Retrieved from https://eternalisedofficial.com/2021/12/08/carl-jung-collective-unconscious/#jp-carousel-3656 Flammarion Engraving. Retrieved from https://eternalisedofficial.com/2021/12/08/carl-jung-collective-unconscious/#jp-carousel-3680 The Map of Hell – Sandro Botticelli. Retrieved from https://eternalisedofficial.com/2021/12/08/carl-jung-collective-unconscious/#jp-carousel-3674

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esmeraldablazingsky · 4 years ago

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I’ve finally hit my limit on the number of bad takes on the Lan parents I can see before I have to lay out all the reasons I disagree, so hello, I’m Blazie, and in this essay I will justify my visceral dislike of the assumption that Qingheng-jun married/imprisoned/had sex with Lan-furen against her will.

Warning for mentions of rape (in context of Interpretations I Really Hate) and a very, VERY long post below the cut.

Before I start going off about the finer points of all this, I want to make sure people are on the same page regarding what we actually know about what went down with Qingheng-jun and Lan-furen. What I say is based off the EXR translation of MDZS, for the sake of clarity, and although I don’t think the exact wording should be too important, feel free to let me know if you think I’ve missed an important bit of nuance or something (the whole story is in Chapter 64.)

The story we get is told by Lan Xichen, and it goes like this: a young Qingheng-jun falls in love at first sight with Lan-furen, who doesn’t return his feelings, and at some point kills one of Qingheng-jun’s teachers over unspecified “grievances.” Although he’s understandably very upset over the murder, Qingheng-jun sneaks Lan-furen back to Cloud Recesses and officially marries her in order to announce to his clan that anyone who wants to hurt her has to go through him.

After that, he locks Lan-furen in one house and himself in another as a form of repentance. Wei Wuxian speculates that this was because “he could neither forgive the one who killed his teacher nor watch the death of the woman who he loved. He could only marry her to protect her life and force himself not to see her.”

A central detail of this story that I think people don’t give the import it deserves is that aside from marrying and protecting her, Qingheng-jun’s other option was to let Lan-furen be executed by his clan. His purpose in marrying her wasn’t just for kicks/out of a possessive sort of love, it was so she wouldn’t straight up die. How she felt about this arrangement isn’t stated, but I’ll get into that in a bit. In addition to that, Qingheng-jun and Lan-furen live separately, which was apparently purposeful on Qingheng-jun’s part, and runs counter to the interpretation that he intended to take sexual advantage of Lan-furen.

Though there aren’t many concrete details in Lan Xichen’s retelling, he does specifically inform Wei Wuxian that his mother never complained about remaining in her house. What exactly this signifies is unclear— whether she was simply putting on a brave face for her sons, or whether she was in fact at all content with the situation— but it at the very least serves to further muddy the waters on how she and Qingheng-jun felt about all this.

Beyond what Lan Xichen and Wei Wuxian are saying out loud, there’s also quite a bit of subtext in this scene, especially in light of later events and revelations, like Lan Xichen’s confession for Lan Wangji at Guanyin Temple.

So what is Lan Xichen trying to convey with all this? There’s a lot of memes about this scene, most of which err too far on the side of Himbo Airhead Lan Xichen for my liking, but one that I do find amusing emphasizes how Lan Xichen draws parallels between Wangxian and the story of his parents (Lan Xichen: [flute solo] please use your one brain cell to connect the dots.) If Wei Wuxian hadn’t completely lost his memory of Lan Wangji defending him against his own clan elders, one would assume that Lan Xichen’s story would have had a much better chance of hitting home.

In hindsight and side by side, the parallels are much clearer— Qingheng-jun, “ignoring the objections from his clan… told everyone in the clan that she would be his wife for the rest of his life, that whoever wanted to harm her would have to pass through him first.” Similarly, according to Lan Xichen in Chapter 99, “for [Wei Wuxian,] not only did WangJi talk back to him, he even met with his sword the cultivators from the GusuLan Sect. He heavily injured all thirty-three of the seniors we asked to come.”

In that context, it makes a lot less sense to interpret Qingheng-jun as an aggressor towards Lan-furen, as in Lan Wangji’s case, the narrative clearly establishes that his actions are to secure Wei Wuxian’s safety. The action of Taking Someone Back To Cloud Recesses is— okay, actually, it’s a little more nuanced than I took into account when I started writing that sentence, so let me go a little deeper into Lan Wangji’s actions and how they relate to his father’s, story-wise.

My intent is not to dive into the terrifying underworld of novel-versus-drama discourse, but simply put, Novel!Lan Wangji as he is written isn’t exactly the poster child for clear consent. (I’m going to entirely leave off the extra chapters for the sake of everyone’s sanity, so I’m just talking about the main body of the novel here.)

He means well, and I’m sure we can agree that he does actually love and want the best for Wei Wuxian, but his lack of communication on this point means that he accidentally gives Wei Wuxian the impression that he wants to imprison and/or punish him in Cloud Recesses at least twice off the top of my head (pre-timeskip, as we know, and post-timeskip immediately after Dafan Mountain when he actually drags Wei Wuxian back to his room.)

That all likely has something to do with MXTX’s narrative kinks and regular kinks and all that, and can absolutely be taken with many grains of salt. However, these events establish how easy it is to misinterpret the action of Taking Someone Back To Gusu as an attempt to imprison rather than protect them (much to Lan Wangji’s chagrin.)

Failing to communicate his purpose to Wei Wuxian doesn’t mean that Lan Wangji actually had any intent of hurting or caging him— that was just a misinterpretation on Wei Wuxian’s part, and we, as the audience, find that out in due time— but as written in the novel, it can be really uncomfortable to read. Because of that, many people choose to accept CQL canon regarding Lan Wangji’s more possessive actions or mix characterization from different adaptations, which, to be clear, I completely understand and respect.

However, Qingheng-jun doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt as often, which I frankly find baffling, because nowhere in the text does it state that Lan-furen objected to being taken back to Cloud Recesses, while even Wei Wuxian clearly objected the first few times. In fact, while we’re on this note, I’ll take it a step farther— I find it baffling that people seem to default to an unsympathetic view of Qingheng-jun, because nowhere in the text does it state that he overruled Lan-furen’s wishes in any way. The text doesn’t clarify a lot of things, actually, and that is part of the point.

The narrators of MDZS are, in many situations, highly unreliable. This is, presumably, very purposeful! MDZS can easily be read as a sharp criticism of reputation and mass judgment and the concept of condemning people without knowing their motives! And I don’t want to sound mean, but guys… did any of us learn anything from that? Here, I’m going to put it in meme format for a second to convey what I mean.

MDZS: It’s easy to condemn someone as a villain if you don’t know their story or the reasons behind their actions

MDZS: Anyway, here’s a character whose story and reasons behind his actions you know nothing about

Some Parts Of This Fandom: Ah, a villain

Memes aside, here’s what I want to point out. It’s entirely possible to assume Qingheng-jun was a bad person who disregarded a woman’s wishes in marrying and confining her when all you have is Lan Xichen’s (actually very neutral, thank you Lan Xichen for being an eminently reasonable and concerned-with-evidence character) account of what happened. It would also be at least that easy to assume Wei Wuxian was just an evil necromancer if he hadn’t un-died and brought his own story to light, or even to believe that Lan Wangji had somehow tamed Wei Wuxian into submission and being a respectable cultivator if you were an average citizen of Fantasy Ancient China with nothing but rumors to operate on.

The thing about Qingheng-jun and Lan-furen’s story, then, is that there is nobody left alive who knows the full tale. Nobody knows what they thought about anything, really. Nobody even knows why Lan-furen killed Qingheng-jun’s teacher. Wei Wuxian asks why, and Lan Xichen can’t tell him, but I think the best answer would be something along the lines of I don’t know, Wei Wuxian, why did you kill people? Your guess on the motivations of your own thinly disguised narrative parallel are as good as anyone’s.

So, while it’s not technically impossible to assign darker motives to Qingheng-jun, the cautionary tale of MDZS seems to warn against that exact assumption.

I’ve refrained from getting too salty on a personal level thus far, but now that I’ve said a lot of the more logical and story-based points of my argument, I will say that at least some of my annoyance with the interpretation of Qingheng-jun as a possessive rapist and Lan-furen as his victim stems from the fact that I just think it’s straight up boring. Where’s the nuance? Aren’t you tired of reducing these characters to the flattest possible versions of themselves? Don’t you just want to add a little flavor?

In a slightly more serious phrasing of that criticism, I find that making Lan-furen a helpless prisoner strips her of whatever agency she might otherwise have. To be fair, she’s more or less a non-character in keeping with the general state of the MDZS universe, but making her a damsel in distress only consigns her more deeply to hapless, milquetoast innocence.

It’s perfectly valid to enjoy ladies who have done nothing wrong, ever, in their lives, but like… Qin Su is right there, if that’s your ball game. There’s also really no need to make Qingheng-jun someone who doesn’t respect women. Isn’t Jin Guangshan enough for at least one universe?

Anyway, ultimately, you do you. I don’t like arguing on the internet, and will just ignore things I don’t agree with (or write an 1800 word vaguepost) like a mature human being. I’m just saying, if it’s a cut and dry tale of imprisonment and assault you’re looking for… you probably don’t want to turn to a woman who committed a murder and a man who loved her enough to forfeit everything to keep her safe.

#mdzs #qingheng jun #madam lan #lan wangji #wei wuxian #(in a narrative parallels context)#blazie .txt #anyway without further ado here is my.... essay?#rape mention

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