#I don't take any of these seriously and a lot probably wouldn't work in canon but still

[jonnywaistcoat]

Hi Jonny, if you don't mind I have a question about the TMA TTRPG! So I noticed that on the player's guide there's this guy, who my friends and I assumed is probably Jon. If it is him, is this a canon design, or more like some of the non-canon stuff that's in the merch?

So, I hope you don't mind if i use this ask to go a bit off on one. I'm not specifically dragging you (I'm actualy glad you asked, as I've thinking about posting on the topic), but all the discussion around the RPG art and how "official" or "canon" it might be is, to my mind, slightly silly.

First up, is it "official" art? I mean, yeah, its art for the officially licenced Magnus Archives RPG. This means Monte Cook Games have commissioned someone to do a beatiful illustration broadly based on some aspect, episode or character from the podcast and it goes in the book. But that's kinda all it means. "Official" is a legal distinction, not an artistic one. The fact that it's in an official product doesn't make it any less one artist's cool interpretation of a character that has only been vaguely described in audio.

Second, is it Jonathan Sims the Archivist? I mean, it's probably based on the idea of him, but it's certainly not set in stone. When we were first discussing art with MCG, we advised that character pictures be more vibes-based and not explicitly tied to specific people (ie. a portrait inspired by Tim wouldn't be captioned "This is Tim" and wouldn't be placed opposite a profile for Tim Stoker, archival assistant.) This was mainly because we wanted the artists to have plenty of freedom to interpret and not feel too tied down by the need to know everything about the podcast. But, to be frank, it was also because we know that there are a few fans out there that are kinda Not Chill about what they've personally decided these characters look like and can get a bit defensive over depictions that differ.

It strikes me as particularly strange to be having this discussion about art that's for a roleplying game book. Something that's explicitly and solely designed to give you the ability to play in your version of the Magnus universe. The idea that this is the thing where we'd for some reason try to immutably establish unchangable appearances for these characters would be pretty funny if some folks weren't taking it so seriously. Similarly ridiculous is the idea we could reasonably have said to MCG "We'd love for you to make a huge beautiful RPG book of our setting... Just make sure you don't depict any of the iconic characters or events from it!"

But... is it "canon"? Now, to my mind, this highlights a real weakness in a lot of fandom thinking around "canon", which is that it generally has no idea what to do with adaptations. All adaptation is interpretation, and relies on taking a work and letting new creatives (and sometimes the same ones) have a different take on it. Are the appearances of the Fellowship of the Ring in the LOTR movies "canon"? How much, if at all, does that matter? Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere was originaly a 90s BBC series made with a budget of 50 pence; is anyone who makes fanart of Mr Croup that doesn't look like the actor Hywel Bennet breaking canon? What about the novel that describes the character differently? Or the officially licenced Neverwhere comic where he looks like neither of them? Which is his "canon appearance"?

Canon is an inherently messy concept, and while it is useful for a creative team trying to keep continuity and consistency within a creative work, for thinking about anything beyond that it tends to be more hinderance than help.

Anyway, all this is to say that the above picture and all the others in the RPG are exactly as canon as every other picture you've ever seen of the Archivist.

[angstflavoured]

I would love to hear more about your toxic pim and charlie headcanons. All I can think of is Pim might be too desperate to prove something and Charlie has that "alpha male" thing

SO GLAD YOU ASKED !!!! I need to rant about this to clear things up bc I think about how Charpim would work so much and it makes me go insane bc their dynamic is fucking incredible.

Ill take this as an opportunity to do a little character study and explain why i think they would inherently be toxic at their very core 👹👹 and how I think their relationship would even function.

First off, a HUGE roadblock is the fact that they have completely different ideals. They want totally different things in life and go about life almost in completely opposite ways.

Pim's been shown in canon multiple times to want a normal, healthy, nuclear family. He wants a wife and kids and wants to raise them well and be the father figure for them that he himself never had. It's apparent that he wants to settle down, and just hasn't found anyone willing to. When he even talks to Shrimpina, he can't help puking and making a fool of himself and tossing and turning at night over it. This makes it clear that while i do NOT AT ALL think he's a virgin, Pim doesn't have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff. It's probably all been pretty awkward and never lasted very long.

I don't think that him or Charlie have any problems with being gay, but I do think that Pim settling down with a guy does inherently shatter his ideals. ESPECIALLY with the way Charlie acts. Being with Charlie wouldn't be a picture perfect movie couple, and I think that would really frustrate and disappoint Pim when Charlie doesn't act like he's "supposed" to. He wouldn't really be a BOYFRIEND to him. Pim is just a lot more romantic and holds a lot more hope in the idea of love than Charlie does. He's an optimist and Charlie is VERYRYYY much a pessimist.

The way that Charlie goes about relationships is MUCH more laid back and casual. His girlfriend (who IS CONFIRMED to be his girlfriend by Zach himself in the commentary videos, you can find it pretty easy on YouTube) is hardly ever mentioned and doesn't seem to hold much weight to him at all. To me, that whole thing with her being there kind of confirmed that Charlie casually hooks up with people/dates a lot, and doesn't really take it all that seriously. He doesn't have any intentions of settling down or moving in with anyone. Even in the ep where the fucken mustard chick was flirting with him, Charlie didn't seem to give two shits or even get a little flustered. He'd USED to that kind of stuff, where Pim isn't.

It's been a joke multiple times that even for a critter, Pim is perceived as pretty unattractive and weird looking 😭😭 and that's the biggest difference between them I think. Charlie is single BY CHOICE, while Pim is single because he can't get anyone who wants to long term date him.

If Charlie and Pim ever slept together or did anything, I think it would hold a lot more weight for Pim than it would for Charlie. Charlie is a fucking asshole! He doesn't show affection well, he's pretty inconsiderate of other people, he's very slobby and hardly takes care of himself. He wouldn't want to DATE pim the way that Pim would want to date Charlie. Pim would want to do all that mushy stuff that he's seen in movies that he's never been able to try, like holding hands and cuddling and going out to cute dinners.

CHARLIE WOULDN'T WANNA DO THAT! He's VERY CLEARLY SHOWN in canon to not be that kinda guy. He can hardly even think about himself, he doesn't have the time or want to expend the energy thinking about someone else on a daily basis. Just look at the fucking difference in their rooms--

They work at the same job at the same position, they should be making the same amount of money. And from the Brazil episode where they talk about funds, it doesn't seem like its a super lot. But Pim spent more time and money making his room look nice and his sheets and pillows match, somewhere with a nicer view and cute painted walls. Charlie just bought the cheapest, ugliest little shithole he could find.

You can fucking bet that they would not be good living together, that is if Charlie even wanted to live with him. You can literally see in the back that his sink is full of dirty dishes bro. He probably uses paper plates and plastic cups for everything so he doesn't have to do the dishes, you can bet he's always ordering nasty ass takeout food.

Also sorry, but like please open your eyes and look at the way Charlie treats Pim in the show. Obviously he cares about him and holds him as a dear friend, but he just is kinda a shitty person and doesn't do it very well a lot of the time. He's constantly fucking negative and rude, and it clearly takes a mental toll on Pim. Pim's always the one trying really hard to invite Charlie out to things, like in the alien episode. Pim just wants to hang out and tried to find something Charlie might like, and Charlie was grumpy and dismissive and tried to leave multiple times.

In the most RECENT EPISODE, he got in a physical fight with Alan and was being a dick about physical contact that he basically initiated. In the alien episode, Charlie was screaming at the aliens and ignored pim, ended up clocking him in the fucking face and didn't say a single word about it because HE WASN'T SORRY, HE DIDN'T FUCKING CARE.

they're both incredibly flawed people in completely opposite ways, and they'd both want entirely different things out of the other one. They'd both be trying to change each other, the way they literally already do in the show.

i love charpim more than anything with my entire soul, and im not trying to be a doomer about it, im just so sick of people potraying them like

Charlie: I... I like you... is that okay?

Pim: yes.... would it be okay if I kissed you?

LIKE GIRL WHAT ARE YOU SAYINGGGG THEY ARE GROWN ASS, DIRTY, GROSS MEN WITH DICK AND BALLS.

There was a whole episode where pim literally turned into a fucking crazy ass creature because he was so incredibly jealous of Charlie getting what PIM had wanted. Pim wanted to be a hero and help people and save the day and live out his little idealized world, and when CHARLIE got that and he didn't, it pissed him the fuck off. He wasn't happy for Charlie, Pim WANTED what Charlie had.

LIKE OH MY GOD, THEY'RE JUST SO DISFUNCTIONAL!!!

Their relationship would be fucking crazy and rocky and TOXIC, and that's like the whole appeal of it imo. that's literally how they act in canon. I think that the two of them could eventually work things out to be pretty happy, but it would NOT be without its hardships and it definitely would still never be anything even close to textbook.

THEY'RE FUCKING FREAKS IDK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also almost forgot, not even to mention Charlie's substance abuse and how its canonically shown he gets rude and violent. like r u kidding.

[bapple117]

Figured there was no harm in double checking lol. So… do you think bill is even capable of desiring or wanting sex? Would he just…….. be doing things to people lmao, can anything of his be touched sexually? Also maybe a weird question, but has Doc even felt anything physically like that, being that they have a human body, or no?

Okay I'm gonna be answering this after the jump - fair warning! My answer is 18+, minors DNI, and anyone who feels weird about thinking about the characters in this context just SCROLL AWAY! I'm serious! I'm answering this in a mature way, taking it seriously as an interesting question. I don't want any judgy looks, so I'm giving you ample time to walk away right now... Okay! With that disclaimer said...

So in regards to what I think about canon!Bill - I think he'd have fairly little to no interest in sexual gratification for the most part, given the fact he doesn't have a corporeal form / genitals (that we know of LOL) in his triangle state.

I think he would probably enjoy the psychological aspects of controlling / influencing someone ELSE'S physical experience, though - in a consensual scenario, I imagine he would be the one exclusively doing things to the other person, getting more of a mental satisfaction from it rather than physical. Like, "Huh! Poking you there makes that kinda reaction, does it? Well, this just got interesting!" sort of deal.

I also think gratification via proxy is an interesting concept too, ie, Bill possessing a human and experiencing what they feel through them. I've read fics exploring this idea - both the human being consciously aware of what's going on, with Bill inside their mind feeling the same sensations and controlling them - I think that's as close as canon!Bill would get to experiencing real sexual feeling / gratification.

Obviously there's scope there for a more non-consensual reading of those situations, but I'm not really one for non-con so I won't comment on that.

In regards to fanon!Bill, I think there's more of a spectrum available for exploration, depending on what that version of Bill looks like. I've seen lots of takes on human!Bill (both art and written) that explore him coming to terms with having human sensations / desires in a really interesting and nuanced way, and I think that's a really cool approach. A non-human entity suddenly becoming human and being like "Ew, gross! This body is weird. But... food tastes nice and being touched is fun..." is a trope I greatly enjoy, personally. In regards to MY Bill, as in, the one I am writing in The Theraprist... Hrm. The one I'm writing is going through a lot of character development that isn't present in canon so it's hard to compare, but I think it would involve a mixture of the above with some slight differences. My headcanon is that he has erogenous zones even as a triangle, so any kind of intimacy with him wouldn't look like typical intercourse, but would be possible in a manner of speaking. Maybe his edges are sensitive to being licked, etc etc.

I won't be writing anything sexually explicit IN The Theraprist, but if I were to explore that in a seperate work (maybe a one-shot or something) I would definitely go for that angle (pun intended.) Obviously, if it was happening in the Mindscape... Well. That opens a lot more opportunities. Anything is possible in there... In regards to Bill's past on Earth, times he possessed humans... Well. That's actually something I'm going to allude to in the fic itself, so I'll keep my thoughts on that up my sleeve for now. As for Doc, I think I'll mostly leave that up to reader interpretation, as I wouldn't want to project my own headcanons on to a character who's meant to be a faceless blorbo anyone can insert themselves in as. BuuuuUUUuut if I AM coming at it more from a "this is my original character" point of view, then I'd say that... Yeah I think they've been around. They've been alive for thousands of years and can turn into anything they want - I'm sure they've fooled around with something at SOME point. Not as a human, though - them turning into a human to be Bill's therapist was the first time they had shifted into one, ever. I touched briefly on the whole "getting used to human biology" theme with them here and there, hinting at the potential for more...

Maybe I will explore it more explicitly eventually! Hope that answers your question :)

[my-pjo-stuff]

I can't go beyond the idea itself so...

Reverse AU, where 14-year-old Annabeth and 12-year-old Thalia find 7-year-old Luke and take him under their wing.

Ok so first off, THANKS for sharing with me. Second off, LET'S GET INTO IT.

So this AU has two ways it can play out. With either Luke being the one to take Annabeth's role (becoming friends with Percy, going on the quest) and Annabeth being the one to betray camp. Or Luke still being the one to betray camp with the ages simply being diffrent. Now I'm not gonna lie I think both versions have MAD potential. My personal favorite is the one where Luke STILL BETRAYS CAMP. (Mostly bc I think that in the other version all would stay the relative same, just with Annabeth and Luke switching roles) Just imagine how much worse the angst would be. Like, just imagine Annabeth. Imagine Annabeth watching Luke grow, trying to take care of him. Imagine Annabeth being the one who Luke came to with all his troubles and issues, promising Luke family. How she would never end up like his own mother or their families. And now imagine Annabeth when Luke leaves camp. Like, let's say Luke went with Percy on the quest instead of Annabeth at 12, but the betrayal still happens at the same time as it did in canon. Think about how she must feel hearing that Luke, at 12 years old, went off and ran from camp to revive Kronos. Just IMAGINE how Annabeth must blame herself. Luke was so, so young still. She promised she'd be his family- yet how come she never noticed this? She knew that Luke had his issues with the gods, but she'd never expected it to get like this. I think that, due to the fact that Luke is SIGNIFICANTLY younger in this AU, we'd lean a lot more into him being manipulated or "brainwashed" by Kronos. Certainly that's also the stories most people at camp and Annabeth would believe- thus instead of "hunting Luke down" being talked about at the very end of TLT it's "rescuing Luke". That only makes it so much worse SOM rolls around and Annabeth will have to inevitably realize that no. Luke isn't brainwashed or manipulated. He is doing this out of his free will. I think Annabeth, being much older, would really take up a sort of caretaker role for Percy. Luke on his end may react pretty badly to it, as he perceives Annabeth as "already having replaced him". He'd also be taken less seriously by other campers due to his age and being less of a caretaker. I think in that case Luke would appeal to many of them as a peer as he plays more on frustration than he already did in canon.

For TLT.....idk how Thalia would react tbh. On one had, she'd probably still see Luke as a traitor. On the other, he's like, 14 in this. And I do think his age would change a lot in terms of him being seen less as evil traitor, and more misguided and used kid. Annabeth would be especially quick to take the sky from him, considering that she's the caretaker of Luke in the AU. Percy may start to resent him though, as he wouldn't have that "oh he's just a kid" mindset with Luke due to their same age. Thalia would probably still join the hunters. The fact that she pushed Luke off the cliff at the end of TCC would probably not paint her in a very good light to Annabeth though (also would be a lot more fucked considering Luke is 14 instead of 21 here.) The only good thing I think could come from this is the fact that Annabeth would probably help Luke should he come to her and ask to run in the time skip between TCC and BotL. I don't think she'd have the heart to drive the kid away she had promised to take care off. Meaning Luke probably wouldn't have gone off and become Kronos' vessel. The gods too might be inclined to mercy at Hermes' urging, considering that Luke in that case would be viewed as a manipulated child. Someone who couldn't know any better and was used by Kronos.

Especially with Luke running away on his own it could work. Should that not happen, and should Luke do end up as a vessel for Kronos...man Annabeth would cry. Because that would mean she failed Luke. She couldn't protect him like she promised. When it get's to the throne room I think Annabeth would apologize. Genuinly apologize for "failing" him. Which is what I think would bring Luke back enough for him to kill himself. At the end of it all having Luke die at 16 would really hammer home the Percy parallel, but it would also hit the 23 year old Annabeth MUCH harder since she sees herself to be directly at fault for what happened.

[moodymisty]

Anon that talked about Fulgrim here. The same thing is happening to Yvraine. Also this a rant sorry

She's such a cool character. I'll say that I haven't read any books on her, I only watched some yt videos and read her wiki page. But from what I gathered, she's a total badass who'll do anything for her people. Then why she's just left as "Guilliman's eldar gf"? Because the people who say those sorts of things don't know how to see female characters. The elf being paired with the humans is essentially an ancient thing now and it also comes from this. But, at it's core (and in the case of Warhammer), it's fetishization.

Let's take a closer look at this: Guilliman is, obviously, the golden boy of the Imperium. He's an hard-working and logical man, in many of the main he is the main character or an incredibly important character. Of course, somebody will relate to him, they'll say: "he's just like me". Then comes Yvraine. She's from a different cultures, she looks much different and she, and her kind, are considered barbarians. She and Guilliman develop an "partnership" on a bases of a treaty but they still hate eachother. They tolerate one another for the good of their people. These people, who previously related to Guilliman, will toy with plot so Guilliman, basically them in this context, will get the xeno big titty gf and live happily ever after. They do this because they fetishize how different Yvraine is. They want the main lead to get the girl, essentially.

I've seen on Reddit (god forbid) people actually ask if this relationship is canon. They depict Yvraine as an hungry whore for the human dick. This went to the other Primarchs too. They make a list of which xeno races would be most compatible with each primach. Fir example, I've seen a lot of art showing the Khan and Lelith Hesperax together. My brother in Christ, that woman hates with all her heart pregnancy and pregnant women. I seriously think she's a lesbian (if it isn't canon already). Poor Khan is stuck in the Warp, probably wanting to go back to his sons. He'll not look at an Drukhari and say: "I'll smash that" 💀. Lelith won't fall at her knees begging for his cock, she'll already either have fought him or is fighting him.

Sexualization is completely fine. Hell, I fantasize about the Primarchs or other characters from any piece of fiction all day long. But when this fanon headcanons become canon to some people, I think we should tone it down. I laughed at the Guilliman x Yvraine jokes in the beginning, but these jokes should just stop, they're unfunny now 😕

The Yvraine x Guilliman is totally canon guys posts are always so insane to me because, they've literally spoken twice. Shortly after guilliman woke up, and before Yvraine left. And Guilliman was very firm in saying 'thanks for bringing me back, but that's it. please leave.'

Like there was no UWU THANK YOU YVRAINE~ and no OOOOO~ MON'KEIGH ~

Like i don't mind the shitposting to be clear. If people want to ship it or meme about it thats fine i don't fucking care, what's frustrating is now that it's been a few years since that event happened, people are coming into the fandom thinking that this stuff is like, actually real. And they have some political secret romance going on and Yvraine is going around getting that primarch dick on the reg. And yeah the fact that she's one of the few female characters i'm sure doesn't help matters.

I just wish the memeing wouldn't blend into people's actual interpretation of the lore, like it has with a lot of fans. Brain melting literally.

[sillygoofyqueer]

I have been summoned by the newest chapter of losing hope :3

Not much happened but I’m taking this as a “I will give you fluff both after and before things go to shit”

Jingyi being Jin Ling’s reluctant friend is honestly pretty hilarious and I can’t wait to see those two start to get close because I feel like that’ll be like “I hate this person with every fiber of my being but if you make him cry there will be nobody searching for your body and no body to find either.” Especially after they realize the type of environment he was in his entire life in comparison to their childhoods. They’re goofy and I love ‘em.

Wangxian being shameless is always amazing (love that it’s LWJ doing it too!) but Wwx missing his sword. Jesus, that made me sad. It’d be interesting to see how suibian communicates with Wwx because in canon we know that the swords have spirits but that’s never really expanded upon. Especially since suibian sealed itself. It’d be nice to see them communicating with their weapons (also imagine suibian mother henning Wwx? Or even Wwx thinking of suibian as a sibling/parental figure? The angst for that would be great especially combined with the scene of Wwx giving away his golden core. Both of them would know Wwx would never be able to properly use suibian again and wow that would hurt. Also I’d imagine since Jiang cheng can also use suibian, suibian does care for him much like Wwx but also it’d be funny if it didn’t particularly like him. Like, the entire time Jiang cheng uses suibian it is fluently cursing at him.)

Jingyi picking up on LWJ pining/flirting is very funny but probably not as funny as it will be when sizhui realizes that A) they’ve both been pining for each other for almost two decades B) 100% they are not in a relationship even if they’re totally shameless with each other and C) they both SOMEHOW have NO IDEA that the other likes them back. The facepalm when that realization sinks in will be funny :3

As always fuck JGY.

Also as always, your writing is amazing four and I wish I could give you more Kudos <3333

Remember to take care of yourself and take breaks!

Just...just picture me holding you close right now. That's it, that's the sentence.

Now, I don't know what you meeeaaaan, there is barely any angst in my fic whatsoever and there will never be anymore angst-...*checks timeline doc*....for nowwww....In all seriousness though, I can't actually remember/decide if there will be any angst next chapter, but oh boy if there was wouldn't that be silly. Wouldn't that be sooo goofy? Guess we'll never ever ever EVER know. I was feeling soft and silly, and this was more of a filler chapter, so I was like, "fluff be upon ye" I guess.

Jingyi and Jin Ling are going to have a very interesting friendship - Jin Ling's been raised differently because Wei Wuxian has kind of been a part of his childhood, so I wonder if that will affect how he builds/views relationships with other people - what do you MEAN I can't foreshadow in my post, who said that?! Anyway, I can't wait to think about it from Lan Sizhui's perspective; dude feels bad for Jin Ling because it is OBVIOUS that this poor guy does not know how to talk to people and if he is befriending what everyone labels as a dangerous criminal, then he is in severe need of friendship. Then there's Jingyi in the background, barking like a chihuahua every time Jin Ling does something that the Lan doesn't like until they devolve into fighting.

Ever since I learned about sword spirits, I've always wondered how Suibian would interact with Wei Wuxian and how they work together. I read one too many SVSSS fics where sword spirits hold a big value in them and it was all downhill from there. Think about it - Wei Wuxian had a lot of people who knew him in Lotus Pier, but he was never truly vulnerable with anyone (except maybe Jiang Yanli, but even then, it wasn't much) because he didn't want to sound ungrateful. So, imagine a Wei Wuxian who found solace in ranting to Suibian. Now imagine a Suibian listening and soothing in their own way. You see my vision, right? Imagine losing that when he needed it the most, during the Burial Mounds. Imagine finally being able to get it back after years of unforgettable trauma and torture, when he desperately needs someone he can rely on without second guessing everything to do with human duality. That doesn't exist with a sword spirit - Suibian just cares.

[cpvnksabm]

Hey Harper!

I was wondering, what your thoughts are on mobility aids as a weapon in each context I've seen it applied to Ricky. Such as Ricky using them, having them in SABM, and even his own creative lore for the character of the space-age bachelor man in a fictitious context. With the issues connected to the trope, how do you feel context differs and affects it here with Ricky?

Thanks!

Hi, good question!

So, for the readers who might be missing context on what this ask means: there's a common idea in media, and in general, of mobility aids secretly being weapons. The most basic version of this is just, for example, whacking people with crutches. But there are more elaborate variations, mostly seen in fiction - seriously using a mobility aid as a weapon in a drawn-out fight, swords hidden in canes, even mobility aids that double as sci-fi weapons.

I've occasionally seen jokes about this in the RTC fandom, in relation to Ricky's mobility aids.

I don't think people often realise that this is an existing trope in media, or that it's an idea a lot of disabled people are frustrated with. I don't think it's inherently problematic to use this trope. In most cases, it's more a matter of personal taste than something objectively harmful.

I do think it's worth learning more about the trope before using it. Some examples of this idea are more respectful than others, and a lack of awareness can lead to people not realising how their ideas may be harmful.

Luckily, that's what this post is for!

So, to start:

Is it realistic for Ricky to use his mobility aids as weapons?

No, probably not.

It's not impossible, technically speaking. Canes and crutches are, essentially, just big sticks, and any stick could be used as a weapon. But the fact is that canes and crutches aren't batons - they're not designed to be used for combat, whatsoever. Whacking someone with a crutch in a moment of frustration, I'll buy, but I find it unrealistic & annoying for disabled characters to have a badass fight scene where they effortlessly fight off the bad guys with a cane.

(Swords-hidden-in-canes do exist, for the record - but they are more for novelty than for actual mobility. They're harder to access than regular canes, more likely to cause legal issues, and most importantly aren't good at supporting a person's weight to help them walk. I've also heard mixed reports on whether they work well as weapons. in short I don't think it would make sense for Ricky to have one.)

On top of the fact that mobility aids aren't designed to be useful in combat, you have to keep in mind that Ricky's disability affects his whole body. That would include his arms, which he's presumably using for this stick-wielding combat. It's easy to forget this with all the cool choreography he does in the musical - the premise of which, I'll remind you, involves him being capable of feats in the afterlife that he physically couldn't do in life - but since Ricky canonically has a disease that affects his whole body, most likely some sort of neuromuscular disease, we can assume he has muscle weakness in his arms. The idea that he would, in a moment of combat, suddenly turn out to be incredibly strong in order to defeat an antagonist - it just isn't realistic.

Again, a lot of these things are possible in real life - but I think they wouldn't make sense in most cases, and I also personally believe that it's generally a frustrating way of depicting disabilities.

Well, what if realism isn't a concern?

I think that, while this trope is generally pretty unrealistic, it can make sense in contexts where realism isn't the goal - for example, fantasy or sci-fi.

First of all: you should be very cautious taking a "it doesn't have to be realistic" stance in relation to depicting disability. This is a complex enough subject to potentially warrant its own post, but in short: if you're not including supernatural elements or something similar in your RTC fanworks, then you should be trying to portray Ricky's disability realistically, because if everything else is realistic then he should be too. If you are including supernatural elements, and there's some sort of reason for his disability to not affect him in a realistic way (i.e. "karnak removed his neuromuscular disease when he died"), you should still be making an active effort to think about how you're depicting this, and whether it would be upsetting to disabled people.

With that said - yeah, I can see this trope working in specific contexts. A full-on fight scene is unrealistic, but Ricky whacking an antagonist's leg with a crutch on his way past is something that could totally happen! Real crutches obviously don't shoot lasers that destroy furry alien spaceships, but in SABM they could! It even sounds like the sort of power fantasy that Ricky would write into his bachelor man fantasies.

But even in contexts where this trope completely makes sense... I still think it's one to tackle carefully. And there's a reason for that.

The Villainisation of Disabled People

I've spent all of this time talking about whether it would be realistic for Ricky to be capable of using his mobility aid as a weapon, but there's a more important question I've ignored: would this be in-character, for the character who has "The bachelor bible has just one commandment: don't be a dick" as one of his most important quotes?

Genuine question, by the way! Maybe it would be - I don't think it's inherently a "dick move" for a disabled person to act in self-defense. I don't even think it's necessarily that bad if, for example, a chronically ignored disabled character resorts to a method that can force people to listen to him. I'm sure there's situations - many of them - in which this sort of thing could totally make sense with Ricky's characterisation.

But the fact is - disabled people are automatically seen as aggressive, untrustworthy, and dangerous, moreso than able-bodied people. It's just a stereotype. The "mobility aid as a weapon" trope is part of this.

Ricky might be the only character in RTC who's in the habit of carrying (essentially) large sticks on him at all times, but he's certainly not the only character who's capable of grabbing a stick to use as a weapon. There are other characters who would be more physically capable of combat, or have personalities that make them seem more likely to resort to violence.

It's worth considering why "hitting people with sticks" is seen as something casual and funny to reference Ricky doing, whereas if (for example) Noel bought a large stick into choir to hit Ocean with, it would likely be taken seriously or at least seen as a bizarre thing to do. Is it because Ricky always has the "sticks" in question on him, so he doesn't have to actively prepare to hit people? Or is it because of a false idea that disabled people simply won't hesitate to hit people with our mobility aids?

This is unfortunately a very common idea in real life, and it impacts real disabled people. By default we are seen as more bitter or more aggressive than able-bodied people, and this idea is used to justify ostracising us as well as to discredit us when we make reasonable complaints about the way we're treated. But specifically, disabled people are often banned from using mobility aids, in specific contexts, because of this idea that we're likely to use them as weapons. In the worst-case scenario some people are even physically attacked, in some attempt at pre-emptive self-defense to stop them from potentially doing harm.

And all of this happens despite the fact that it doesn't make sense - mobility aids aren't very effective as weapons and a lot of us are less physically capable of combat! With all this harassment tied to something that so rarely happens in real life, you can understand how some of us are adamant about emphasising that it's not an accurate representation of us, even if it's technically possible.

None of this is to say that it's inherently problematic for Ricky to ever be violent, in any way. In fact, the other side of the "villainisation of disabled people" issue is that, when we're not seen as automatically more likely to become violent, we're seen as less justified when we do resort to violence. Self-defense is not a dick move, and neither is - situationally - a moment of anger, considering Ricky canonically deals with a lot of ableism.

It's a complex subject. I think you should depict it carefully. I'm willing to give advice on how to do so, for anyone's fic or art - just shoot me a DM with more context and I'll tell you my thoughts!

But in cases where there isn't more context in a serious depiction, and people are just offhandedly referencing Ricky hitting people like it's a given that he would do that... you're potentially referencing a lot here without meaning to, and the joke is a little overdone. I'm not saying to never make the joke. Just to maybe cool down on it a bit.

Sometimes a crutch can just be a crutch

One of the things that bothers me most about the constant "you can use your mobility aid as a weapon" jokes is that, I think sometimes they come from a place of wanting to deny what a mobility aid is. That is - a device that allows a disabled person to get around easier. I think sometimes people are uncomfortable with that, because they're uncomfortable with disabled people in general. And sometimes people deal with that discomfort by pretending, jokingly or not, that a mobility aid is actually for some other purpose.

Frankly - the (false!) idea that mobility aid users are usually carrying big sticks which they intend to use as weapons? That should make you more uncomfortable than the reality, which is just that people are carrying them around to walk with.

I think a lot of the time when people turn fictional mobility aids into something other than just mobility aids, it's an attempt to make them cooler, or more interesting. And this can make sense in some contexts... but why should Ricky's crutches be modified to make them cooler, when other important props aren't?

Ricky's mobility aids are already pretty damn cool and interesting - they let him move around! If he didn't have access to them, he might have severely limited mobility. That's pretty cool to me.

Idk. I'm sure this trope can make sense and be done well in some contexts. But it's just a little overdone.

[boyfridged]

Do you have any more thoughts about Alfred and how to make him a more interesting character? And there's this tag "Alfred Pennyworth is a Saint", got any opinions about that? And what about some different portrayals like the Gotham Tv version, the multiple versions from comics (usually either harsh, sarcastic and emotionally repressed stoic or openly affectionate, offering actual advice and kind), or the super nice and kind ones from the various movies (live-action and animated)?

there's a lot of contradictions when it comes to alfred's character, even within the scope of individual works (that including current canon... post-mortem too): he's supposed to be both harsh and kind, extremely competent and yet - out of picture to a degree, both fundamentally against the idea of batman (mocking it at times) and supportive of it, professional and a parental figure, conservative in appearances but progressive in acts... most importantly, he plays a role of a "sage" -- he is supposed to be simply right.

but you probably already know -- i'm very interested in characters being wrong.

and i'd say the best angle to approach alfred is simply based on the question of who he needs to be in bruce's story for it to work at all. and one of these requirements is that he is not really there. he cannot enter the action too often, even if writers want you to believe he's invincible. he cannot truly make the residents of the manor a family -- there ought to be some distance, because it's bruce's job to be a father (this is interesting in moench's pre-crisis run also... where it is very clear that alfred leaves raising jay to bruce.) and, most importantly, for bruce to become batman -- alfred ought to fail him to some degree.

and i reckon that's why we don't see much of bruce's childhood. there are some conflicting narratives irt leslie and alfred, even in the 80s - on the one hand, it is suggested that they *both* do not know how to handle bruce as a child; on the other hand, you're supposed to believe that there was no way to do that (and to absolve them of their fault). but i'm interested in a compromise... in acknowledging that none of them were equipped nor ready to take that responsibility, but also realising that there was more they could do. because i think that, for example, alfred's conservatism did intrude on the task of providing care. for example -- in some versions of bruce's childhood (isn't it fascinating that we don't even have one official version at this point in canon... it's always so elusive. but that's a topic for another post) he is sent to a boarding school. and that works. he's an old british guy, of course he'd think sending a child even at age 8-10 would be not only normal but also a good idea.

also -- alfred at times comments on bruce's inability to perform house chores, which is obviously a comic relief. but it's interesting because it's alfred who raised him. if bruce does not do his own laundry, or can't cook - that's quite literally on alfred. and again, i do believe it is plausible that alfred would not teach him any of these things. once more, the reason for that is his conservatism.

what i just said does not negate that alfred is a father to bruce and family to other children raised in the manor. however, i think that his own realisation that it is the case should come with some regret... &that his biases and the role of bruce's enabler are flaws that could make him interesting if it was take seriously.

however, there's still plenty of gaps that are hard to fill - for instance, why alfred is a butler at all, given his background (there were obv some attempts at explaining it -- i wouldn't say they were very successful). i know some of it is simply a matter of editors and writers throwing bits of amusing/surprising lore into the story without really considering the wider picture, but it is frustrating. his development was, after all, quite strange -- if you read first issues of batman/tec, you will notice he himself was mostly a comic relief. the whole concept of his links to military, for example, came later... so i had quite high hopes for pennyworth (the show) in that regards, but it did disappoint me. i wish we simply got a well-written mini?

a complete sidenote -- i also quite like how close alfred & damian grow to be. it makes a lot of sense (i do think alfred would be partial to the "biological" child + the way alfred carries himself & the routine he sticks to would be comforting for damian i think...)

[wolfclaire]

How would you think the story would've played out if a different Gem got transported into the games, and I'm not limiting it to just the Afterlife Gems. Like if either Empires Season Gems met Pearl instead of Spider, especially Season 2 Esmp Gem, considering she's essentially the opposite of Pearl in a way?? Sun imagery with butterfly wings and the pointed ears on her skin implies she'd look/be something like a sun elf yet also unlike Pearl she's in almost complete control of her own fate and what 'games' she plays by hopping different universes and LARPing as whatever character she wants. Season one Gem can also be interesting, especially if it's near the end of the season or after the end of the season. Season one Gem getting transported into a death game where her people who look like her friends who are either missing or dead in her eyes messed up in ways they weren't before and one of your closest friends aka Pearl seems so sad and gone from the cheerful queen you knew her as. Also I choose to believe that S1!Gem is at least passively or actively aware of differing timelines cause of her reaction from when she met S2!Sausage and I think she was aware that she basically just three Evil Sausage into a little mirror of her own universe which would be like an alternate ones, I'm kinda reaching, especially since I haven't rewatched Empires S1 yet, but still I can't resist the angst of Gem knowing that these aren't her friends but still desperately trying to hold onto them like they are because the rapture happened so suddenly and abruptly when things were finally looking better and she doesn't wanna accept things. I also can't resist what would be the DL cast's reaction to these two, especially Pearl and maybe Grian

Ngl I really wonder what would be Pearl's and Grian's opinion/impression of them if it were either of them transferred and not Spider Gem

Sorry for rambling I've just been thinking about this a lot and sorry if it doesn't make sense or if it's even in character-

-Sun anon, still happy birthday also <3

Okay...let me just put this into seperated questions...cause this got potential. So ES1 and ES2 Gems would be probably totally different with the reaction to Pearl and everything happening.

ES1 Gem, post rapture (or during rapture), has basically nothing left. No kingdom, no friends, she only has her magic, Violet and fWhip. She didn't "roleplay", she isn't "LARPing", everything happening to her is real, and hurtful. If she was the one transported into the games, she would find familiarity with Pearl, but she would know something is wrong. She is The Headmistres of Crystal Cliffs, she is The Grand Wizard, she would notice Pearl's acting strange (Red stuff) and her and others memories being off.

ES2 Gem, however, wouldn't think of this "transportation" as a big deal at first. I don't think she would take it seriously at the start, as "it's just a game" or "it's just LARPing". She couldn't understand in canon why nobody else (except Pixlriffs and Oli) didn't think of anything as a big deal...she only thought they were good actors in a way. It would take Pearl's death for her to realize that this "game" is not as innocent as she might have thought...

As for Grians and Pearl's reaction? Well...

Grian wouldn't mind ES2 Gem, she looks like a guilable little princess that he can wrap around his finger... But ES1 Gem? Oh, that would be dissaster. He can tell this one is smart, he can tell she has powers on her side... He would try to get rid of her asap, even going as far as killing her himself.

Pearl, on the other hand, would feel a little weirded out by any of those two. ES1 Gem is nice....strangely overly nice, for some reason... And ES2 Gem doesn't seem to take anything seriously...she is very carefree for someone who shouldn't have unlimited lives (Grey names don't work with the same rules as those in from the specific world)

There is a lot of Angst potential, just in a different favour than what my version with Spider Gem has to offer :)

[merpdaberp]

I disagree with people defending the Chameleon's Backstory

So when Kung Fu Panda 4 came out there was a lot of mixed reception from fans. Some hated it, some liked it or loved it, and others found it fine.

Personally, I think it's fine, I don't hate but I don't like it either. It could've been worse and could've been better.

One thing that always bugs me about fans defending the chameleon's backstory is that keep mentioning the shorts and one animator saying not all dojos were as excepting. Which I have several issues.

1. We don't know if the shorts are canon or not. The shorts are character backstories. Especially in the secrets of the Furious Five and secrets of the scrolls. Fans would mention how some of the dojos didn't accept or respect certain species. They bring up Crane not being accepted because he is skinny and looks weak. That sure is fair enough. But the thing is in the same short we have Mantis kicking ass! Now we don't know much about how Mantis learned Kung Fu. This is another thing I'm skeptical of in the shorts especially Secrets of the Furious Five, as it was Po telling the stories as lessons to kids. So we don't know how accurate they are.

Then we have the secrets of the scrolls. People also brought up but it doesn't make sense as an argument. Like Shifu is a master and he's also small. We even see other Red Panda masters. People say when he gets mad at the five as an example. But people missed the point, He was not mad because they were different species, he's mad because they weren't the people he asked for.

My rule is if it ain't in the actual movie then it ain't canon or brought up at all. Unless DreamWorks actually says they are canon but they haven't. Btw I like the shorts but I wouldn't take them too seriously.

2. People keep bringing up one animator on Twitter who says that not all dojos are as accepting as the Jade Palace. That would've been fine but like, the issue is that it's one animator.

We haven't heard from the others and not even the writers. Also, they said that Secrets of the Scrolls is canon. But my criticism is that she only worked on the fourth movie and not the previous ones. Unless it's her personal opinion or headcanon. But like I said if it ain't in the movie it dosnet count. I wouldn't mind it if we saw a flashback to see it happen, but we never did.

Edit: I should also mention that there might be biases, as it is an actual animator, so of course they would defend their work but there is also a Kung Fu Panda fan. I do not hate Abbey btw, I just think we shouldn't take their word for it. The context was someone asking who would defeat Death from The Last Wish and the Chameleon, Abbey tried to explain it and gave a backstory that was never in the film. As a KFP fan, she used the shorts to explain it.

Now, as I said, there's nothing wrong with that; I just have an issue with certain fans using it to explain the chameleons' backstory. Especially since it's only one person saying it.

3. Even if the dojos were rejected just because of her size. It still doesn't make sense because we already have canonically small masters. Like we literally have a Master Rat that leads an army. We knew this because we the army's battle helmet at the Jade Palace in the third movie.

Heck, even in 4 Po mentions a Master Chipmunk. So how unlucky does the Chameleon to find the right dojo? There are probably dojos out there who specifically train small animals. Heck we even saw them in Secrets of the Scrolls of red panda masters (I know I just repeated myself)

So that's why I disagree with some fans. I feel like there trying to make it sense in their heads which is fine, but they acted as if were in the movie? Like in the film Chameleons just said she was rejected because was small and lowly. Nothing else to flesh it.

So that was my rant and stuff. I gotta go to bed. Sorry for any grammar mistakes.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Let's say you have complete creative control.

How would you write a Marinette (non-Akuma/Amok) corruption arc?

If I had complete creative control, I wouldn't do a corruption arc for Marinette, I'd do one for Gabriel. But I'm assuming you want me to pretend I would do one for Marinette, so I will because why not? How I'd do it would depend heavily on when the writing team gave up and shoved the story into my hands. For the purposes of this hypothetical, I'm going to have to lean into the bad writing, so read on at your own risk.

Current state: as of the end of season five, Marinette seemingly knows that Adrien is a sentimonster. Marinette also has anxiety issues and there's a new butterfly villain on the loose whose knowledge regarding Adrien and connection to Gabriel are unknown. We also have Felix's previous less-than-heroic actions and Nathalie's status as Gabriel's former right hand lady. With all these less-than-awesome people out there, fully aware of Adrien's vulnerability, we have a pretty fantastic setup for an arc where Marinette gets ever more paranoid and controlling in the name of keeping Adrien safe from this new villain. Basically have her spiral into Gabriel 2.0 where her love for Adrien is used to justify terrible things. Not a setup I'd want to watch, but it does fit the show's treatment of The Power of Love so, you know, do with that what you will.

Season three up to near the end of season five: Something to do with Lila making Marinette lose all faith in her friends because, if you're going to write them as terrible friends, you may as well own it. Have Marinette feel like she's sacrificing everything for people who treat her like a villain or a child in spite of all she does, so she decides why bother to be the good guy? Why make all these sacrifices when it never works out for her? I'd probably have her stop showing up to fights like Chat Noir did in Kuro Neko, only if Ladybug did that it would be a much bigger deal. You could even have her full out quit and give Chat Noir her miraculous and the miracle box as a bit of a "fine, you do it and see if you can do it better" thing. Basically anything that lets her go fully selfish due to pressure and poor treatment since it's really not fair that Adrien's the only one who's allowed to miss battles and give up his miraculous when he doesn't feel appreciated.

A variation on this could be quitting because of something like her friends are putting too much pressure on her re:Adrien combined with the show's love of never letting her make the right call when it really matters, so she snaps from all this pressure on every side.

Pre season three: I don't think there's really a great lead up to a corruption in the earlier seasons. Things were pretty great back then. Idk, maybe have her snap from frustration with Chat Noir never taking things seriously, so she starts mimicking him, leading to people getting hurt? (Reminder, I think this is a writing issue when it comes to Chat Noir, but it's there and I said we were going to lean into canon's bad writing for this so here we are.)

And there you go! My takes on evil!Marinette. As I said at the start, I'm not interested in writing any of these. While I do think canon has the setup for them, they rely too heavily on things canon should never have done. Things that don't fit my image of Marinette's core character.

I'm also not big on corruption arcs for heroes. For me, they fall under the same category as the broken partnership/team trope: interesting concept, but one that's rarely executed in a satisfying way. They also tend to be too depressing and/or tragic for my tastes.

My two major hobbies are writing/reading fiction and studying world history/cultures. World history isn't all doom and gloom, but there's a lot of harsh, tragic, and sad things to be found in the past. As such, I've never really enjoyed fictional stories with a hopeless feeling to them. I turn to fictional worlds to escape reality. To go to places full of satisfying endings that are, at worst, bittersweet. If I'm reading a tragedy, I want something that's all or mostly historical fact. Not a matter of judgment, just one of personal preference.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

fic writer interview!

totally stealing this from @definitelynotshouting because it looks really fun and I haven't had a chance to yap about my own work in a while!

---<0>---

How many works do you have on AO3?

32! used to be more but I totally deleted some of my old Umbrella Academy fics, sadly - could be around 35 or 36 if I hadn't.

What's your total AO3 word count?

334,360... uh, most of that is from two specific fics haha.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

You Say You Feel Hollow (and you know it's 'cause you are) (HC/Life Series | 775)

INCOMING MESSAGE - COMM RECORDS (HC | 725)

“Man is condemned to be free” (DreamSMP | 547)

I Still Feel Alive (when it's hopeless, I start to notice) (Lunch Club | 488)

Let's Call It An Arrangement (HC | 460)

if you remember my lunch club fics no you don't. also kinda surprised to see the range of fics here - some of my older stuff and then some of my newest too!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! the only time I maybe won't is when it's a second or third comment in a thread and I have nothing else to say. even a '<3' comment will get a response. I don't get many comments, so I take the time to respond to them all. also, I share details about the writing process and lore of fics if people ask. so 🔫😐 comment to get secret knowledge. (in the same vein, I always respond to asks here about my fics!)

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

oh, man... I don't tend to leave fics on completely horrific endings in any case, but I would say probably my boatem pirate fic, It's All Part of Being a Pirate (HC). definitely the fic with the least ambiguously horrible fate for just everyone involved.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

uh... it depends on your idea of 'happy', honestly. Trembling Jaws Can't Stop Stuttering (HC) is a gore/cannibalism convexian fic that doubles as polyamory negotiations. a lot of people say they feel quite comforted by it despite the violence, especially because of the hopeful ending, so I suppose that qualifies as happy. on the other hand, my alternate canon fic, “Man is condemned to be free” (DreamSMP) is ultimately hurt/comfort with a happy(ish) ending, but you have to get through a lot of literal torture and pain first. so... not exactly 'happy'.

Do you write crossovers?

no, but I do come up with ideas for them quite frequently. I'm just not really compelled to actually write them. my favourite universe to put my blorbos into at any given time is the hunger games. I also do get inspired by other media when coming up with my original ideas - there are definitely hints of shows and films I've watched in some of my fics.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not traditionally, but since I write a lot of gore and cannibalism that is quite graphic (and I do properly tag it of course) sometimes I get people commenting that they weren't expecting such graphic violence, or that it disturbed them. which... idk man, read the tags? it doesn't really bother me to get those comments, I usually just remind them that I did tag it all and they chose to click, but I hope they enjoyed regardless.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

my insane AU *ideas* definitely have way more smut in them than my regular fics (which have none). alas, most of those ideas are sealed away in the DMs of my most trusted confidant (you know who you are) and I am way too asexual to actually write it seriously. those ideas also feature more noncon, dubcon, and general abuse trauma than I would be comfortable sharing on my actual account. they are mostly very cathartic ideas that wouldn't get developed into full fics. I do, however, have a post detailing my headcanons for convexian as a trio on the asexual-autistic-cannibalism spectrum. and yes, those three things are inherently linked. that post and the fics that go with it are as explicit as my works get, really. sometimes I will hint at sex / make innuendos in one-off lines, though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope. I've had a few tumblr posts reposted on instagram, but to my knowledge nothing of mine has been outright stolen... sometimes I see people using very similar plots or styles to mine (particularly in the homoerotic cannibalism genre) and go 'haha it would be funny if they were inspired by my fic' but I'm not popular or egotistical enough to be mad about that.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope. that would be cool, but I'm in pretty english-centric fandoms right now. my aunt had one of her fics translated into five different languages, so I have a lot to live up to!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, but sometimes I will get ideas from other people or they will get ideas from me. @angeart and I have co-written our Ari AU (HC), but that is more of a detailed summary than a fic. also go read it.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean come on. did you think it wasn't going to be scarian? (but grumbo, convex, and all combinations of those four freaks, are also up there)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

basically all of them. Kingdoms AU (HC) will haunt me forever though.

What are your writing strengths?

like others before me I'm just basing this on the comments I get - I am apparently very good at getting character voices right (which is something I do try particularly hard to do, but I honestly think sometimes I get it all wrong). one of my other strong points is writing both abstractly and very literally, especially with gore. I like weaving together metaphors and similes with more blunt descriptions of the physical senses. it seems to work.

What are your writing weaknesses?

oh baby I am terrible with action scenes. pure action really stumps me, and it's what I struggle with most in my professional writing too. that and consistent characterisation (I think in fic maybe it's a bit less of an issue, people don't *really* care if a character is slightly inconsistent, but I bug myself with it... 'he would NOT say that' is my internal motto) also sometimes I dive way too deep into the internal world and forget about the external - especially when a character has to do something simple like walk down the stairs or some other quite mundane action. then everything becomes quite confusing and loaded in too much metaphor and weirdness, something I noticed the most when re-reading the first chapter of Kingdoms AU.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I did it once. badly. I'm monolingual and stupid and my opinion on this is just sort of 'do whatever makes the story flow the best'.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

hamilton. i think. but I had ideas for my little pony and team crafted beforehand that I never wrote because i was, like, 10.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

honestly just wanna write more solo grub (grian x cub). hashtag grub violence.

What's your favorite fic you've written?

one of my least popular fics, and second most recent. Who can really tell? (Life Series) is one of the works that feels the most polished and creatively challenging. perhaps I love it so much because it's unpopular, but I genuinely think my characterisation of listener!bigb was some of my best. it remains amusing to me that its sister fic is my most popular fic by kudos. if you're reading this, perhaps go give it a chance ? 🥺 I also have a huge soft spot for COMMS AU (HC), of course. but it feels unfair to judge an unfinished fic against finished ones.

---<0>---

I don't usually tag people in these sorts of things, but if you wanna give it a go then definitely do! I totally stole the entire formatting and idea from shouting. I will tag @angeart a second time, but no pressure my partner in crime ;D

[lycansprites]

Buddy Jepperd Lives AU

This is my imagining of a Buddy Jepperd / Jepp's son lives AU. I got possessed thinking about it a week or two back so now y'all have to suffer with me. I will be calling Jepperd "Tommy" or Big Man in this just because it's a shared last name & might get confusing otherwise!

Again spoilers for at least Season 2 & the comics, read at your own risk!

CHANGES PRE-CANON

Tommy manages to get his son back EARLY. It happens either in a big confrontation with the Last Men wherein he's able to rescue his son but not his wife, OR he still goes the "trading hybrid kids for his family" route. In the case of that second one, he'd quit the hybrid catching business and defect from the Last Men as soon as Buddy is safe with him.

Tldr; he rescues Buddy, and because he's not working WITH the Last Men, he's counted as working AGAINST them and therefore is hunted, actively, and becomes a wanted criminal.

Tommy and Buddy cross paths with the Animal Army a handful of times; yet, they do not get along any moreso than they do in the show. The only thing they can agree on is the goal of taking down Last Men & saving hybrids, and they'll work together for that shared purpose, but anytime else- or once the fighting dies down- they go their separate ways. (And, the Animal Army probably LOVES Buddy).

Buddy and Tommy play ball when they've got downtime, and Tommy makes Buddy feel like a sports star. It's both fun and also helps Buddy develop the strength and muscle to headbutt and tackle bigger opponents, which comes in handy in a tight situation.

DURING CANON

Because of this life on the run, and raising a rambunctious hybrid goat kid, Tommy's leg injury flares up a lot sooner; in fact, it starts becoming a severe mobility issue shortly before meeting Gus. Tommy kinda considers it a godsend that he finds Gus when he does, because Buddy now has someone to rough-house with and allows him time to rest his leg & preserve his strength for travel and defense.

Gus is shy about headbutting and playing rough at first, because- although Pubba taught him to use his natural weapons (his antlers), he hadn't yet met anyone who wouldn't be seriously hurt on the other end of them now that they've grown to the size they are. But Buddy also has horns, and both of them are built a little more resiliently towards blunt strikes & prods, and once they both realize this, well. They're constantly butting heads and throwing each other around.

Tommy is an adept traveler hiding hybrids atp, though plans don't often go unscathed. I like to think when Buddy was real little, Tommy could scoop him up into his coat and hide him there.

Shortly before or exactly when Gus is kidnapped by the Last Men, Buddy is captured by them himself. I haven't really worked out the details of how this part goes, I just know I want an homage to the comics where the Last Men force Tommy into an ultimatum about choosing who to save between his son, and Gus.

That's.. as far as I got lol.

[crazy-dark-rainbow]

What job would Grimmjow have if he lived in the human world? - survey

Another poll! No one expected a poll! Seriously though, this is another thing I want to know what the fandom thinks.

Ok. So. When I imagine Grimmjow after the war in the human world (necessarily with Ichigo, because Grimmichi is canon for me :3) what could he do? Like, let's assume that after all this mess he stays in the human world and has to spend time here somehow (waiting for Ichgo to go to Soul Society, because again - GrimmIchi~). What could he do?

Depending on how he would perceive the human world, whether he liked it or not, I think there would be things that he would eventually like enough to be able to do them, consider them a hobby, passion, interest, job.

I don't have any particular favorite options, I probably prefer some more than others and that's it. Although it depends - whether it has anything to do with the plot of the Fanfiction. Because sometimes it's an important element of the plot of a specific story and it has a significant meaning. And in this survey I don't mean such examples. In his story the author can place characters wherever he wants and I think that shouldn't be a matter of discussion.

Mafia, yakuza, gang, etc. - if we're talking about these "professions" I think that in canon it wouldn't work, but I'll leave this element for the summary. I think it fits better in stories taking place in AU.

I'll expand on this in the summary, because I have a lot to write here (I think~).

Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments!

[hauntingjasper]

What would it be like if Gumball and Marshall were swapped?

Like, vampire Gumball and candy Marshall

(love your art 💗💗💗)

Omgomgomg I've been thinking about that swapping concept and I gotta doodle it someday because I have some ideas,, ,

What I imagined if Marshall Lee and Gumball swapped species: Marshall Lee would still be a candy prince, and Gumball would be the vampire king. Royal boys wow

I think Candy Prince Marshall Lee would be pretty calmer and less chaotic than his Vampire-Demon self, kinda like Human Marshall Lee from the canon spinoff but fancier. Not being raised in hell sure does wonders to a person.

But even though he's not a troublemaker, people would be quick to assume he's doing sketchy stuff behind closed doors... And they're right but that's not the point. He'd have this unusual aura around him, which causes people to have mixed feelings about him.

I like to think he'd still have a vampire-like appearance, always dressing in black, shaping his ears and teeth to look more pointed and sharp… His kingdom would look different too. I'm thinking that he'd have something like living candy statues of Gargoyles perched over the walls of his kingdom instead of Gumball Guardians. People might get freaked out because at first glance they wouldn't know that the statues can move and then suddenly there's Gargoyles flying around their houses at night, and now they feel like they're being observed. I think Marshall would be the type to mess with stuff he shouldn't too, such as dark magic and whatnot. He's a little prince of darkness.

He's also made of marshmallow. Strawberry marshmallow.

Unlike Gumball, he “bleeds” when he gets hurt, like a strawberry jelly. You can't really tell if it's just his filling or if it's actually blood, because chances are that it's both mixed together. Sometimes the dark arts require fresh blood to be successful, and that's his way of solving it.

As for Vampire Gumball, I actually haven't put a lot of thought into him yet, so my interpretation is still a concept up to changes (⁠・⁠∀⁠・⁠)

When I think of him, I imagine a lonely and depressed king who fell from his glory after having his court and minion armies decimated. That kinda sounds like an embodiment of PG’s fears mmmmm

I think he would be less sweet than his usual self. He used to be a more authoritarian and rigid king, he doesn't tolerate reckless behavior, so sit your ass down and only seek for blood when you're actually hungry, not just because you can (he's looking at you, The Star /hj). He probably values discreet work when hunting more than outwardly imposing fear and power, for the sake of surviving longer. Some vampires don't take him as seriously as they should because of this lack of total freedom. This does not mean that he does not assert authority, however. He will smack you upside down the head if you disrespect him.

He would still have some of his original traits despite everything. He can't create life like PG can, but maybe he's still connected to it somehow. Maybe he spends more time studying humans than he kills them, paralleling PG being a nerd lol. Maybe he's kinda like the VK and likes to be around animals too, and has a fatherly streak in him.

He wasn't staked when the vampires were persecuted and no one has any idea where he is now.

Not sure how it would be if Candy Prince Marshall and Vampire King Gumball met. The vampire era would've automatically made them stand on opposite sides, with Marshall Lee looking for Gumball's footsteps and Gumball trying to stay under his radar and manage his bloodthirsty armies at the same time.

But let's say they meet when Gumball is already a fallen king and isn't as big of a threat. Marshall would try to become "allies" with him, keeping him around in case Marshall needs him and having some sort of symbiotic relationship with him, with the occasional borderline flirting on Marshall's part.

I guess Gumball wouldn't be too fond of Marshall's connection to magic and would be sketchy of his sweet-talk, at the same time he'd have a bit of a soft spot for him. “Sometimes I feel like I would have loved to have you in my court”, he might say to him.

Thank you for the compliment and the ask btw 🫶💖

[sass-squat]

Do the Avians stick to their main outfits or do they mix it up? What are their cozy/relaxing clothes?

Excellent question my friend! I would say that for the most part all the Links generally just stick to their usual outfits. This is mainly because the chain is almost always traveling/on the road and their "canon" outfits are much more suited for adventuring then any other alternatives. However, their "everyday" clothes have been modified to have slits in the back to allow for their wings to slip through while still not compromising the integrity of their armor/chainmail underneath. In other words, there aren't really any major changes to their main outfits aside from having thin holes in the back to make room for their wings.

As for the Links cozy/relaxing clothes? They all have their own interpretations of what cozy or relaxing means for them, so I'm just going to group them into 3 general categories that I think they would be in.

Shirtless Gang:

Time - Listen, Time walks around in a suit of armor all the time so pretty much anything else could be considered cozy/relaxing clothes compared to that.🤣 But this man has some MASSIVE wings so I believe that he enjoys clothes that give him the chance to free them and let them breathe easier. Because of this, I would say his standard for "comfortable" would probably either be just a loose tunic or just some regular pants and no shirt.

Twilight - Like Time, this man works on a ranch and likes to wrestle Gorons for fun. Because of this, and definitely not because I'm a simp I believe he's very accustomed to working shirtless and so his definition of "cozy" clothes is honestly just sitting around shirtless in some comfy pants.

Warriors - I don't even have a proper justification for why I believe this man walks around shirtless I just feel it in my soul. He's a very very pretty man and I'm selfish and a simp and I want to see him shirtless. But in all seriousness, Warriors wears a LOT of layers all the time so I just want him to be able to take some off and relax a little bit.

Sweatpants/Pajamas Squad:

Sky - Look me in the eye and tell me that this man wouldn't wear cozy clothes like pajamas and the Zelda equivalent of a hoodie and sweatpants. Sky just gives off such warm, SUNny (pun intended) vibes and I believe he deserves cozy clothes that match that same energy.

Hyrule - This boy deserves all the love in the world and if I could give him the equivalent of a snuggie hoodie I would. Plus I can just 100% see him doing that thing where he forces Legend or Wind or just another member of the chain to share the same hoodie with him.🤣 He is basically the walking equivalent of the, "Get Along Shirt" meme and I will die on this hill.

Wind - There's literally an option in Wind Waker for him to be able to go through his entire adventure in basically his pajamas and for that reason I believe his cozy clothes are just a casual long sleeved shirt and pants. He also just seems like the kind of guy that can and would kill a grown man while in his pajamas and I love that for him.

Shorts/Tanktop Team:

Legend - Legend gives off baggy shirt and shorts vibes. I know he doesn't wear pants but listen...shorts don't count as pants. Give this boy his t-shirt and boxers combination please.

Wild - Wild could honestly fit in any one of these categories because he seems pretty easy to please when it comes to clothing. However, when it comes to relaxing I believe he prefers a casual tanktop and shorts combination because it allows his wings and feathers to breathe while still covering some of his many scars.

Four - Listen, Four is a pretty practical kind of guy so I think he really appreciates the mobility and freedom that a simple tanktop and shorts provide. Plus, I feel like whenever he has the chance he likes to run and crawl around talking to the Minish/Picori and shorts and a tanktop aren't as easy to get grass stains on.

Anyways I hope this answered your questions friend! As always, these are my personal interpretations but feel free to tell me what ideas you have for all the boys! Thank you again for you question!